Skirmish Aid
Skirmish Aid
Skirmish Aid
Each player brings up to 40 points worth of deployment cards (be sure to select the skirmish, not campaign,
versions of deployment cards, if there is a campaign or skirmish icon near the name of the deployment card)
o Maximum of 1 of each “unique” deployment card (cards with a bullet point next to the name of the card), 2 of each
elite (red) deployment card, and 4 of each regular (gray) deployment card
o “Skirmish upgrade” cards with a negative deployment cost allows the player to include more than the standard 40
points of deployment cards in the deck (for example, if a card has a -4 cost, the player can include 44 points worth of
deployment cards in their deck)
Each player brings a deck of exactly 15 command cards, with a total cost of 15 or fewer points
o Command cards have an icon or dot next to the card’s cost. Each icon or dot represents how many copies of that
card can be included in the command deck (most cards only have one icon or dot).
The player with the lowest total point cost of deployment cards chooses which player starts with the initiative token
(choose randomly in case of a tie)
Players shuffle the entire skirmish mission deck and draw one card. That card is used as the skirmish mission to be
played, and the board is set up. The skirmish mission deck cannot be customized.
The player with initiative chooses either the red or blue deployment zone, deploys their figures to that zone, and then
their opponent does the same in the other zone
o If a player cannot fit all of their figures in a deployment zone, they must fill as many spaces as possible, which may
require removing some figures and redeploying in a different order. If all the figures still cannot fit, the player deploys
the remaining figures in the spaces closest to the deployment zone.
Each player draws 3 command cards, and the skirmish begins!
Skirmish Turns
Activation phase
o Resolve any “start of a round” abilities, including on the skirmish mission card
o The player with initiative activates 1 deployment group, and then the other player activates 1 deployment group, then
the player with initiative, etc.
o If a player has fewer ready deployment cards than their opponent, that player can choose to pass (if a player passes,
their opponent will activate 1 deployment group like normal, then the player who passed last time may pass again if
their opponent still has fewer ready deployment cards, etc.)
o There is no hand limit for command cards, no limit to the number of command cards that can be played per turn, and
command cards can be played at any time (even during the opponent’s turn)
o A player cannot play multiple copies of the same command card at the same time
o If multiple effects resolve at the same time, the player with initiative decides the order of resolution
o Once all deployment cards are exhausted, players proceed to the status phase
Status phase
o Ready exhausted deployment cards
o Draw 1 command card, plus 1 additional card for each terminal the player controls (a player controls a terminal if the
player is the only player who has a figure on or adjacent to a terminal). If there are no command cards in the deck,
the player does not draw any additional command cards.
o Resolve any “end of round” effects, including on the skirmish mission card
o Pass initiative to the other player and proceed to the activation phase
Skirmish Differences
Attachments: When deploying units during skirmish setup, if a player has 1 or more attachment cards, place up to 1
attachment card on each non-upgrade deployment card (some attachment cards can only be placed on certain types of
deployment cards, such as “trooper” cards)
Attacking: Only 1 of the 2 actions a figure receives may be to attack, including “special actions” (actions with an
“action” icon) that involve performing one or more attacks, but “abilities” (text on a card without an “action icon”) that
cause damage are the exception
Crate tokens: Figures do not draw supply cards from crate tokens
Skirmish upgrade trait: Rules and abilities that reference “deployment cards” do not affect, include, or manipulate
“skirmish upgrade” cards unless stated otherwise (for example, a card that exhausts a deployment card cannot exhaust
a card with the skirmish upgrade trait)
Strain: If a figure suffers any amount of strain, they suffer that amount of damage instead, or may discard 1 command
card from the top of the command deck to prevent 1 damage (may discard multiple cards to prevent multiple damage).
Figures cannot recover strain in a skirmish.
Rest: Figures cannot rest in a skirmish