Operation Rules

## Flow of the turn

**Step 1: Establishing Initiative**
Determine who goes fist by **having each Unit Test Speed**, and use the result is **the Unit’s Initiative. The highest Initiative number goes fist, with the order of play progressing to the next highest number and so on.** Units may freely trade their Initiative results with friendlies at the beginning of a new Round.
**Step 2: Entering Formation**
At the start of an Operation each Unit enters formation, if there is a Base Unit it deploys fist, usually at the edge of the battlefild. Other than Base Units, which always receive priority, the Unit that takes its turn fist is also the fist to enter formation, the same is true for the second Unit, and so on until all Units have taken their place. Squads with a Base Unit may either deploy a number of Zones away from their Base Unit no higher than their Speed or dock inside of it. If there is no Base Unit, each side usually starts at the edge of the battlefild.
**Step 3: Setting Tension**
**Set Tension to 1** before the beginning of the fist Round. **Tension rises at the end of each Round by 1.** Whenever a Character performs an Offensive Action that necessitates a Test, **they add the current Tension as a bonus to Might Tests.**
**Step 4: Starting the Round**
Once Round 1 begins, the Initiative Order proceeds from highest to lowest, giving each Character an Action during their own Turns. Turns are divided into three Phases, so we’ll tackle each part of a character’s Turn in order.
**Step 5.1: Beginning Phase**
**During the Beginning phase, the Unit refreshes all Energy spent and decides how they will act this turn.** This means they decide what they will do and how. They may also use abilities that do not require an Action to be performed, such as the use of Setup Genre Powers. Once the Player is done using abilities and has decided on their Action for the Turn, the phase ends and the Action Phase begins. A Unit with multiple abilities that do things ‘at the beginning of a Turn’ can choose the order in which they happen. Also any abilities activated during a Player’s Turn that have a duration of one Round will end at the beginning of their next Turn.

**Step 5.2: Action Phase**
**As part of taking their Action for the Turn, the PC may Move a number of Zones equal to their Speed Attribute before the Action proper takes place, but not afterwards.** Actions generally require Tests, and after resolving the Test you are to proceed to the End Phase.
**Step 5.3: End Phase**
The Player and GM describe and narrate what has taken place during the Turn. When a Turn ends, the character next in the Initiative order starts their own Turn, and the sequence continues until the Round has ended.
**Step 6: Ending the Round**
When the Round fiishes, Tension increases by 1 and the order of Initiative resets back to the fist Unit. You do not have to reroll everyone’s Initiatives. Repeat Steps 4 through 6 as necessary until the Operation has ended.

### Movement and Ranges

Mecha can provide cover for each other. This means Weapons **may not target through Zones occupied by Enemies to reach other enemies behind them** (but they can target through Zones occupied by Allies - those just get out of the way). You must make your way around them or try to break through enemy lines by moving into the same Zone as the Unit providing cover, or past it.
Multiple Mecha can occupy the same Zone with no noticeable effects other than being very close to each other.

## Actions

There are many types of Actions and most of them are available to everyone, the ones restricted to specific equipment are described later in the corresponding section listing all Mecha abilities. You can only take one Action per Turn. **As part of any Action you may Move a number of Zones equal to your Speed before the rest of its effects.**

Offensive Actions ===

These are the bread and butter of Mecha combat. Whenever the rules reference attacking someone, they are talking about these, all of which involve a Might Test - except Aiming, that one does not count as an attack. When attacking you can only pick targets within your Weapon’s Range. **Offensive Actions only let you Move towards the target or to circle around them, they don’t let you go backwards or otherwise increase distance between you two.** Offensive Actions may also be used without making any Movement as well. **Only Offensive Actions benefit from Tension.**

Attack ===

To Attack you **Test Might against the target’s Defense** (or the Defenses of all targets, when you are using something like a Blast weapon). If you pass, then you **deal the amount that exceeds the DN as Damage**, causing the Enemy to lose that much Threshold.

Aim ===

You take your time to make your next attack more precise. Choose a Weapon and a target, your next Offensive Action **gains an Advantage to the Might Test** with the chosen Weapon against that target. If you continue to take Aim, you will not gain further benefits after the fist Aim Action. If the target ever becomes invalid for the chosen Weapon before you make your shot, or you take any Action that is not to continue aiming before the shot is made, then the benefits of Aiming are lost.

Assist ===

You make someone else’s job easier by distracting and meddling with a common foe. Choose a target and an Ally, then **attack the target at a Disadvantage.** Your chosen **Ally gains an Advantage** to their own Might Tests against that target for a Round. If you would not be able to Attack the target with said Weapon, or you would not need to make a Test to do so, you can’t Assist with it either. Weapons with the Blast, Burst or Line abilities or that affect Zones cannot Assist.

Suppress ===

You disrupt the opponent’s plan of action by drowning them in covering fie, entering a grapple to pin them down, or otherwise using a Weapon in a non-standard way to provide support rather than going in for the kill. **Attack an Enemy, halving the final amount of Damage you would have dealt.** Suppression attacks are never at risk of hurting a friendly Unit that is in a Duel. If you pass the Might Test, the Enemy will be impaired with **one Disadvantage to all their Offensive Tests for a Round.** Additionally, should the **Enemy Move with their next Action, they take the other half of the Damage you would have dealt to them.** Should you inflct enough Damage to Maim an Area, **you choose which Area is Maimed.** If this would Destroy the Enemy, **you may also choose to spare them and disable their Core instead.**

Engage
You choose one Enemy and attempt to single them out from the battle at large to have a Duel with them. You must **Attack using a Weapon from Range 0,** which is to say, while in the same Zone as the target. You may Move in position fist and Engage with the same Action. Whether you actually deal Damage to them or not, **both of you are now engaged in a Duel**. You may not Engage a Base Unit unless you are a Base Unit yourself. **Units in a Duel are locked at range 0 and may not Move with their Actions normally.** At the beginning of their Turn they may make a Contested Speed Test against their opponent. The winner gets to Move both participants in a direction of their choice for a number of Zones equal to the lowest Speed between either of them**. Anyone who tries to attack either of both engaged Units will have to Test Might against both of them at once**, like when using a Blast Weapon. **If the result of the roll is an odd number they hit their Ally, but an even result lets them hit their Enemy.** If the Might Test fails against one duelist but not
the other, then the one with the lower Defense is the victim. **Attacking any other target than the one you are locked in a duel with will give your opponent a free Offensive Action against you.** Butting into the Duel is impossible - there is just too much going on. **The only way to help break up the Duel is to destroy one of the participants. Similarly, the only way to break out of a Duel is to Disengage or to see that your opponent is destroyed.**

### Utility Actions

Utility Actions let you Move in any direction. Mecha can do a lot more things than just these few Actions presented here, but these are the ones you are more likely to need clear rules for.

Boost ===

You accelerate as much as possible in one direction, ideal for charging and pulling back. **Move two times your Speed with this Action instead of the regular movement rate.** Boost **does not require you to Move in a straight line**.

Maneuver ===

You make yourself a hard target by taking cover, releasing chaff, or launching dummy balloons similar to your Mecha. **Choose one of Systems or Speed. You increase your Defense by an amount equal to that Attribute for a Round.**
You may give this Defense bonus to an Ally within 1 Zone of Range from you instead of keeping it for yourself. Multiple Maneuvers do not stack together, using only the highest Defense bonus of the bunch, and Docked Units may not Maneuver for others at all.

Delay ===

**Choose any other Action and another different Unit’s Initiative. You take your Action right after that Unit’s turn.** You don’t need to specify how you want to use your Action, you can say you want to Attack but not say which Weapon you will use, for instance. Delaying counts as an Offensive Action if you use it to take an Offensive Action.

Disengage ===

You can escape from a Duel you’re in and return to the main battle, **moving your Speed away in a direction of your choice.**
No Tests are required, but this still uses your Action for the turn, making for a stalling tactic at best against a foe bent on engaging you one to one, unless you have friends to watch your back.

Dock ===

If your Squad has a Base Unit within Move Distance, you may dock inside it. You may redeploy as a normal Action afterwards coming out within a Zone of the Base. Units will move with the base wherever it goes and they cannot be attacked or damaged until the base has been defeated.
A Docked Unit can expose itself and take Actions, even Offensive Actions, without having to undock fist. If they do, they still cannot be targeted but are now vulnerable to Blasts, Bursts, Lines and Extreme Terrain for a Round. Even if they choose not to expose themselves again with their Action afterwards, they will trigger Extreme Terrain at the beginning of their next Turn.