Basic Rules

Below are all the rules you will need to know to play a basic game of F.A.D. Once you are familiar with these rules you can move on to trying some of the advanced rules and larger forces.

Gameplay

A game of F.A.D is divided into turns, in a turn both players will activate and perform actions (moving, shooting, calling in support, etc) with all of their units. Once every unit has activated the turn ends and the next turn begins.

Turn Sequence

Each turn, determine who goes first by rolling 1D6 each, the player who rolls highest goes first. On a draw, the side that lost initiative last turn moves first this turn.

During a turn, players will go back and forth activating their units one at a time. The first player activates a unit, then the second player activates one. No unit already activated this turn may be activated again. Players alternate in this fashion until every unit has been activated once during the current turn. If one player runs out of units, his opponent may activate his remaining units one at a time.

Optional Card Activation Rule Players can make a deck of cards, one card for every unit in the game. Shuffle the cards, place it face down on the table, and turn them over one at a time. A unit is activated when its card is drawn. When the deck is exhausted the turn ends. Shuffle the deck and begin the next turn.

Quality Tests

Throughout these rules units will be called upon to make "Quality Tests" (for moral, repairing damage, setting explosives, etc). To make a quality test, roll 3D6 and compare the value rolled on each dice to the Quality Level of your squad (shown below). Each dice that equals or exceeds the required number is considered a pass. The action in question will inform you how many passes are needed.

Table 9: Quality Level

Rabble	Conscript	Regular	Elite
5+	4+	3+	2+

Unit Activation

Each time a unit is activated it must first determine it's willingness to fight by Checking Resolve. If the unit is unbroken, it may perform one of these Actions:

Engage the Enemy: Infantry can Move and either Close Assault or Shoot (at the beginning or end of their move). Vehicles can Move at Cautious speeds and then Shoot.

OPEN FIRE: Infantry and Vehicles may shoot with a +2 Fire Effect bonus but may not move this turn.

Move Out: Infantry units can Rush to get into a better position, but may not shoot. Vehicles can Move at Standard speeds, but may not shoot.

Command (Advanced): Infantry units can take any two of the following actions: Demolition, call for Indirect Artillery Fire, Recover Wounded, Scout or Shoot.

Once all actions for the active unit have been resolved, remove any Under Fire or Pinned markers.

Movement

If you choose an "Engage the Enemy" or "Move out" action, then the unit you have activated can move a number of inches. The distance they can move is dependant on he action you chose during activation:

Move

A Move represents a cautious advance, making use of available cover. During a move, infantry may travel up to 6” but all members of a squad must remain in Coherency (see below). Units who move can either shoot before or after they move, or Close Assault (both are covered below). When moving into a Close Assault squad members gain a +4” charge bonus.

Vehicles can move up to their "Cautious" movement rate and can shoot or close assault (but do not gain a +4" bonus). All vehicles may turn as often as they please during this movement and may move forward or in reverse. Vehicles also  never concern themselves with Coherency, unless they form into "squads", when they must stay in a Coherency of 10”.

Rush

A Rush represents a determined dash or desperate sprint (to cover as much ground, as quickly as possible). When rushing, the movement rate for a unit is doubled, but Coherency rules still apply. Units cannot rush into close assault, nor can they shoot. Note that any bonus or penalty to the movement rate is applied to the unit base rate BEFORE it is doubled for rushing.

Instead of rushing, vehicles move at their "Standard" movement rate, but still cannot shoot or close assault.

Optional Variable Movement Rule: Players who prefer infantry movement to be more unpredictable may instead roll 1D6 when a unit is activated and add 2”. Elite units roll 2D6, and pick the best result and if rushing add an additional 1D6 + 2” to the movement rate of the unit.

When using this rule players should declare their movement intent prior to making the roll. For instance, “This squad will attempt to rush across the road to that brick wall” and regardless of the result, the unit must head towards their stated objective.

Table 1: Vehicle Movement Rates

Vehicles as Transports

Some vehicles are designed to transport squads of soldiers. When all figures in a squad are onboard, the vehicle and squad are treated as a single unit (activating together). If the vehicle is "soft skinned" (has no armour) then the squad may shoot as well as the vehicle.

To embark a squad, all members must come into base contact with the vehicle (remove these figures and place them off-board).

To disembark, place all figures back on table within half their movement distance of the vehicle, they count as having moved and may go no farther this turn (but can Close Assault any enemy in range or Shoot). Disembarking troops counts as a cautious move (so the vehicle cannot move this turn) but it can still shoot. The two units may be activated individually next turn.

Difficult Ground

Some terrain can be challenging and either slows or restricts movement. Examples could be deep streams, swamps, thick woods, tangled vegetation, high walls, rocky patches, steep slopes, etc. While moving though "Difficult Ground", all infantry (and some vehicle's) movement costs are doubled. Thus, to cross a deep stream that is 4” wide will take 8” of movement.

Players must agree before a game begins what counts as "Difficult Ground".

Coherency

During movement, members of an infantry squad can be spread out in any way you please, so long as the gap between squad members does not exceed the allowable distance below:

Table 2: Coherency Distance

If coherency is broken, the squad must make every effort to restore coherency, unless it does not move. In this case it is assumed that everyone in the unit hugs the ground and stays where they are.

Shooting

As part of an Engage the Enemy, Open Fire or Command action, units can shoot an opposing unit in range. Infantry squads shoot as a unit at a single target resolving most fire with a single roll of the dice. Squad support weapons such as flamethrowers and grenade launchers are used to augment this roll and are not rolled for separately. Vehicles fire individually, but may designate a different target for each weapon they carry. Heavy weapons teams, snipers and officers (all Advanced Rules) fire individually.

NOTE: Only vehicles which did not move, or which moved at Cautious speeds may shoot and they may shoot all their weapons once.

The methods used to resolve shooting vary, based on the type of unit being targeted and whether or not weapons with a blast radius are being used. Before any shooting can be resolved, the firing unit must ensure the target is within Line of Sight, Fire Priority and Range (covered below).

Line of Sight

The shooting unit must be able to see the target in order to shoot at it. If shooting at a unit of infantry, you can only hit those figures you can see.

Optional Squad based targeting: To speed up gameplay, if at least half the unit is visible, it is safe to assume you can shoot at the entire unit (even those members you cannot directly see).

Fire Priority

When selecting which enemy unit within line of sight to fire upon, a unit must choose from a number of the closest targets, based on their quality level:

Table 3: Fire Priority

EXAMPLE: A unit of regular troops may fire at any one of the three closest enemy units.

Range

As well as being within line of site, the target must also be within range. To determine the close range of a weapon, take the Base Range (based on it's Quality) and multiply that by the weapon’s Range Multiplier. Medium range is up to double close range and long range is up to triple close range. Nothing can be targeted beyond long range.

Table 4: Base Range

EXAMPLE: A Regular squad (Base Range 4”) armed with assault rifles (multiplier x5) can fire their weapons up to 20” and be in close range, 21 to 40” at medium range, and 41 to 60” at long range.

Determine Fire Effect

To resolve shooting roll 2D6 (for squads), or 1D6 (for individuals or a vehicle), pick the highest result (do NOT add them together), and add any modifiers which apply from the table below. The result is your number of Fire Effect points, which allow you to determine how many shots have hit.

Table 5: Fire Effect Modifiers

* Applies only to infantry units. 
** Squads are Bunched Up if at least half the squad members are less than 1” apart.

Example: A squad of marines fires at an opposing squad, there are 6 marines in the squad (one of which carries a SAW) and they are of Regular Quality and are in close range. The shooting player rolls a 2 and a 3 on 2D6 and so chooses the 3. The total Fire Effect points would be 10 (3 from the dice, +1 for Regular Quality, +2 for the SAW, +2 for being in Close Range and +2 for having 6 troops in the squad).

Determine Hits

Once you know how many Fire Effect points your attack has generated you need to determine how many shots actually hit your target.

If the target is in open ground, you score one hit per 3 Fire Effect points.

If the target is in partial cover (for example in light woodland or behind a low wall) then you score one hit per 4 Fire Effect points.

If the target is in heavy cover (for example inside a ruined building or a foxhole) then you score one hit per 5 fire effect points.

NOTE: If the target is a squad, then at least 50% of the squad needs to be in cover. If the target is a a single figure or a vehicle, at least 50% must be in cover.

For each hit you need to determine damage. Hits are always assigned to those enemy figures closest to the shooting squad.

Example: A squad of marines fires at an enemy squad taking cover in some woodland. Both players agree this is "partial cover". The squad shooting gets 10 Fire Effect points, which equates to 2 hits (one for every 4 Fire Effect points).

Optional Hit Allocation Rule: Players who wish may choose instead to allocate hits randomly, or simply allow the player of the targeted squad to select the figures hit.

Determine Damage

For each hit, the attacker rolls 1D6 and adds the damage rating of either the basic squad weapon or the weapon fired. Some weapons have an armour piercing (AP) value, if this is the case then reduce the defender's armour by that amount (unless the armour value is 6 or less).

Compare this value to the defender's armour rating, if the attacker scores less than the defender nothing happens (it was a near miss a superficial wound, etc).

If the defender is infantry and the attacker scores equal to or greater than the defender, the target is either incapacitated or killed outright, remove the figure from play.

If the defender is a vehicle and the attacker scores equal to or greater than the defender, the vehicle is Damaged (add a damage token next to it). If the attacker exceeds the defenders armour by 3 or more, then mark the vehicle as Critically Damaged instead. If the vehicle has been Damaged or Critically Damaged a number of times equal to twice the crew’s resolve, remove it from play (or leave it as wreckage).

NOTE: You must make a note of how many times a vehicle is Damaged or Critically Damaged, the crew will need to make moral checks as well as the damage check.

Example: The attacker mentioned above scored 2 hits and rolls 2D6 (one per hit). The attacker's squad us equipped with Assault Rifles, which have +2 damage. The attacker rolls a 3 and a 4, which becomes 5 and 6 (+2 damage). The defender's armour is 6, so one hit fails to damage and the other succeeds.

Optional Squad-Based Damage: Players who prefer quicker results when can use this method. Instead of rolling for each hit, the attacker rolls 1D6, adds the Damage Rating (as above) and compares it to the Armour Rating of the targeted squad. For each point that the defender beats the attacker, 1 hit is saved. Any unsaved hits are kills.

Area Effect Weapons

Weapons designated as Blast weapons can affect a wide area. Blast effects are only used when firing at infantry targets, and a blast cannot affect any vehicle target.

If the weapon has an AP rating, this is used only when performing non-blast fire against a vehicle target. Thus the player must designate whether he is firing an anti-vehicle shot or a blast shot.

Fire Effect for Blast weapons are only used for damage purposes against infantry, never when firing in an anti-vehicle role.

Ranging In

To fire, the weapon must range in as getting a shell on target in a close range fire-fight can be problematic. Make a Quality Test, two more successes indicate the shell is on target, less than this means the target was not acquired, or the shell went wide with no effect.

Option Scatter: Area effect weapons can end up landing in very inconvenient places (even hitting your allies). In this case, for every dice that misses results in the shot scattering 1D6" in a random direction. The centre of the blast will never scatter more than half the distance it has originally travelled.

Random directions can be determined by an appropriate “direction die” or simply rolling a D6 and seeing which direction the 1 is pointed (use the 2 if the 1 is not visible).

Determine Impact Area

Select a target point where desired. Each blast capable weapon will have a radius (in inches). Any squad, individual or weapons team (including friendlies) that has figures within this radius is a potential target and has strike effect rolled against them. Mark all  targets Under Fire.

Determine Strike Effect

Roll 1D6 for each ranging in dice that passed, ADD them together and add the Fire Effect bonus for the weapon. The number of hits and resulting damage is determined as per normal fire.

NOTE: The number of hits scored are assigned to ALL squads in the blast radius.

Under Fire

When any unit is shot at (infantry or vehicle), place a marker next to them to indicate they came under fire. Units under fire operate less efficiently (being more concerned with self-preservation). Infantry with an Under Fire marker in place will suffer the following penalties:

1. -3 penalty to all Fire Effect rolls.

2. -2” penalty to Move.

3. May Rush only if it stays in cover, is rushing to get into cover, or is moving away from the enemy.

Any additional fire targeting them will suffer a -1 Fire Effect penalty since the squad is now being extra cautious and making maximum use of cover.

A vehicle marked as Under Fire will suffer no immediate effects. However, upon their next activation, they are forced to check resolve.

Note: The Under Fire marker is removed after the unit completes their next activation (the unit will suffer the effects for one turn). Do not place multiple markers on a unit, there is no cumulative effect.

Optional Crossfire Rule: If a squad is fired upon in the same turn by two enemy units which are at least 12" apart, it must make an immediate Pinning Test. If passed, the unit is not Pinned, but is still marked Under Fire.

Pinning

Occasionally, an infantry unit may experience incoming fire above and beyond the norm for a typical battlefield. Examples are an especially intense artillery barrage, extremely large units pouring forth a hail of fire, and massive bunker or vehicle weapons coming to bear.

For these and similar extreme situations, an Under Fire marker is insufficient. Any time a Fire Effect roll exceeds the value on the table below for the targeted infantry squad, mark the target as Pinned instead. Replace any Under Fire marker with a Pinned marker.

Table 6: Pin level

An infantry unit with a Pinned marker in place will suffer the following penalties:

1. The unit cannot Shoot.

2. The unit cannot Move or Rush, even if they become Broken and are expected to fall back.

3. The unit cannot initiate Close Assault.

4. Any additional fire targeting them will suffer a -1 Fire Effect penalty since the squad is now making maximum use of cover.

NOTE: Never place more than one Pinned marker on a unit, there is no cumulative effect and vehicles are never Pinned. The Pinned marker is removed after the unit completes their next activation, so a marked unit will suffer the effects for one turn.

Damaged

Vehicles that take damage in a turn are marked as "damaged". This means that the vehicle has suffered enough damage that it must be repaired in some way by its crew. Damaged vehicles must make a quality check on their activation (in addition to any moral checks they may need to make for resolve).

If two or more dice pass then the vehicle is considered "repaired" and can act as normal.

If only one dice passes then the vehicle remains "damaged" for another turn.

If all dice fail, the vehicle is "beyond repair" and is removed from play (though you can leave the model on the battlefield as a terrain piece).

When a vehicle is marked damaged it can only move at cautious speeds and cannot fire or perform any other actions.

Critically Damaged

If a vehicle ever gets marked as “Critically Damaged” then one of the dice used for the Quality Test automatically fails, you must make the test on two dice and add one failed result.

Close Assault

Sometimes the only option available to a unit is to engage another unit in close quarters fighting. This is represented by a Close Assault (which can be performed as part of an Engage the Enemy action). A Close Assault is not for the light hearted though and can result in more losses to the assaulting unit.    

Assaulting Infantry

The attacking unit must declare they intend to Close Assault another unit, that unit is then allowed a free shot at their attackers. The Range will be from where the assaulting unit starts their movement. Do not place Under Fire or Pinned markers however, the assaulting troops will be too psyched up!

If the assaulting unit survives, move it so that at least one squad member is in base contact with an enemy figure. The two squads are now considered to be engaging in the Close Assault, move all figures from both sides into base contact.

Note: A unit gains a +4” charge bonus to initiate a close assault, and that players may pre-measure the distance to see if the target is within range.

Determine Victor

To resolve the close assault each player rolls 2D6 (for squads or vehicles) or 1D6 (for individuals), picks the highest result (do NOT add them together) and adds any modifiers which apply. The highest total wins combat (note a draw is possible).

Table 7: Close Assault Modifiers

Determine Casualties

Both players now roll 1D6 for each friendly figure and consult the table below. If the roll is equal to or greater than the kill number shown, one enemy figure is removed as a casualty.

Table 8: Close Combat Kill Table

Players select their own losses, any survivors on the losing side must now fall back 6” (or, on a draw, each squad falls back 3”).

Overrun

If either side scores twice or more the total of the other, an Overrun occurs. The losing squad is completely wiped out. The losing player still rolls 1D6 for each friendly figure, but an enemy casualty is only caused now when rolling a 6.

Assaulting a Vehicle

Charging an armoured vehicle is not for the timid. Therefore, once an infantry unit has declared their intent to do so, but before any movement is done, the squad must test their nerve. This test is not required when assaulting an unarmoured vehicle.

To test their nerve make a Quality Test, if two or more dice pass the test succeeds, otherwise it fails, the assault falters and the current activation ends.

NOTE: Infantry gains a +4” charge bonus to initiate Close Assault, players may pre-measure the distance.

Determine Damage

The attacker rolls 1D6 for each figure in base contact with the vehicle, and adds any modifiers which apply. The defender rolls 1d6 and adds the weakest Armour Rating for the targeted vehicle.

For each attack result that equals or exceeds the defense result a penetrating hit is scored. You must mark each hit on the vehicle with a damage token and also mark the vehicle as "damaged".

If the result of the close combat is the vehicle is destroyed and the vehicle was carrying troops, all passengers are killed.

Transports

Vehicles carrying troops are assaulted in the same manner as any other vehicle. The attack is considered sudden, and there is no time for the passengers to shoot or disembark to engage the enemy.

The next time the vehicle is activated, any troops being carried may disembark per the normal rules for doing so. If this places them in base contact with the enemy, then they initiate a Close Assault. At this point, the vehicle is no longer the target, and the troops that originally assaulted the vehicle are now fighting for their lives. Treat this as an infantry assault.

Checking Resolve

It is rare for every soldier to fight with the same level of confidence and ability. Training, experience and leadership can all influence their state of mind. In FAD, levels of fighting spirit are known as Resolve, their function is to indicate how much punishment a unit can take before it breaks.

Each time an infantry unit is activated, check their dedication by comparing current casualty levels to their Resolve on the following table:

Table 10: Infantry Resolve Table

If casualties equal or exceed the level shown the infantry unit is Broken, and it must take a Morale Test to see how it may act this turn.

Each time a vehicle is activated, their resolve is only checked if they are marked as Under Fire. Compare the number of penetrating hits the vehicle has sustained to the Resolve.

Table 11: Vehicle Resolve Table

Morale Tests

To resolve a Morale Test, make a Quality Test:

If two or more dice pass the unit will rally, become unbroken, and may act normally this turn. 

If the unit is infantry and only one die passes the unit remains broken and must fall back, unless they are in cover and no enemy unit is within 8”. If they move it must be away from the enemy, they cannot Close Assault and if they Shoot suffer a -3 penalty to their Fire Effect.

If the unit is a vehicle and only one die passes, the crew remains broken and must fall back (if the vehicle can still move), away from the enemy at the fastest possible speed. If the vehicle is "Damaged", the crew will bail out and flee.

If no dice passed the unit (infantry or vehicle) immediately routs or surrenders. In either case, remove the unit from play.

NOTE: A nearby powerful armoured fighting vehicle will provide a significant boost to the morale of any infantry. A squad within 8” of a tank or walker is automatically successful on one of their dice when testing morale.

NOTE: The effects of broken morale override any other psychological effects except for being Pinned. Troops that are Pinned will remain so, refusing to budge.