Wednesday, May 14, 2014
In the year 2552 humanity is at war with the alien alliance
known as "the covenant". Is a lost war, with millions of world burned
to the ground and billions death in this genocidal camping humanity only hope
lies in the brave soldiers of the UNSC to defend earth and avoid extinction. This
rulebook provides the rules for fast, tactical miniatures battles (skirmishes)
in the Halo universe.
The entire Halo universe forms the backdrop for this
fast-paced, action-packed miniatures game. With all the heroes, villains, vehicles
and aliens of the creatures to choose from, you command forces that can sway
the course of history—or at least the next battle!
You pick your faction. You select your troops. You command
your forces. And it’s up to you to prove yourself against the competition in
head-to-head action set in the fantastic Halo universe.
The two ways of play
Halo Tactics is a modular game build using the Halo ActionClix/HeroClix
rules as a base set of rules and expanded into new ways of playing, this game
have two basic ways of being played: Grid system or Open terrain, leaving to
the players to choose his favoured mode of playing.
Open Terrain: The open terrain game mode is the
standard way to play Halo Tactics. In this mode, the game will set up in a
table in which the player will set up 3D terrain that will use in the battle.
Grid system: When a player chooses to play using
the Grid system the will use a battle map (a 2d map that show the terrain
features from a top point of view) which is divided in a square grid of 1"
(also called 1 UM). This system is also used when a miniature move inside of a
building. The rules for playing in a Grid system is explained in the chapter X.
Measure units (Sidebar)
In Halo Tactics we will use MU, also call
Measure units, in order to determine distances. One MU is equal to 1 inch.
Basis of the Game
In a
skirmish, a UNSC squad and a Covenant squad battle each other. The winner
is the player whose squad defeats all the enemy characters. For other sorts of
scenarios, including multiplayer and team skirmishes, see Scenarios on page 25.
THE MOST
IMPORTANT RULE!
Halo Tactics is an
involving game, with many different factions, weapons and possibilities. In a
game of this size and complexity there are bound to be occasions where a
particular situation lies outside these rules, often when unusual models
interact. At other times you may know the rule is covered but you just can’t
seem to find the right page. Then again you may know the rule, but the reality
of exactly where your models are on the table may make it a really close call.
All of these instances can lead to arguments, so it
is important to remember that the rules are just a framework to create an
enjoyable game. Winning at any cost is less important than making sure both
players – not just the victor – have a good time. If a dispute does crop up
then work out the answer in a gentlemanly manner. Many players simply like to
roll off and let the dice decide who is right, allowing them to get straight
back to blasting each other to pieces. After the game you can happily continue
your discussion of the finer points of the rules, or agree how you will both
interpret them should the same situation happen again. You could even decide to
change the rules to suit you better (this is known as a ‘house rule’).
The most important rule then is that the rules
aren’t all that important! So long as both players agree you can treat them as
sacrosanct or mere guidelines – the choice is entirely yours.
How to Win
You win by defeating all the enemy
characters. (Other scenarios and ways to win start on page 25.)
Tie-Breaker:
If no character has
damaged an enemy character, made an attack roll, or forced an enemy character
to make a save for 10 rounds in a row, total up the points for characters that
have been defeated. The player who has defeated the most points’ worth of
characters is the winner. If players are tied, the winner is the player who has
a character closest to the center of the battle grid. If players are still
tied, the player with the highest-cost character nearest the center is the
winner.
DICE (D6)
In a Halo Tactics battle you often need to
roll dice to see how the actions of your models turn out – how effective their
shooting is, what damage they’ve done to a vehicle, if they avoid an explosion,
and so on. Almost all of the dice rolls in Halo
Tactics use standard six-sided dice (usually referred to as ‘D6’).
ROLLING A D3
In rare circumstances you may be
told to roll a D3. Since there’s no such thing as a three-sided dice, use the
following method for determining a score between 1 and 3. Roll a D6 and halve
the score, rounding up. Thus 1 or 2=1, 3 or 4=2 and 5 or 6=3.
MODIFYING DICE ROLLS
Sometimes,
you may have to modify the result of the dice roll. This is noted as D6 plus or
minus a number, such as D6+1 or D6-2. Roll the dice and add or subtract the
number to or from the score to get the final result. For example, D6+2 means
roll a dice and add 2 to the score, giving a total of between 3 and 8.
You may
also be told to roll a number of dice in one go, which is written as 2D6, 3D6,
and so on. Roll the indicated number of dice and add the scores together, so a
2D6 roll is two dice rolled and added together for a score of between 2-12. Another method is to
multiply the score of a dice by a certain amount, such as D6x5 for a total
between 5 and 30. Finally, a combination of methods may be used, such as 3D6-3
giving a total of 0-15.
Re-rolls
In some
situations the rules allow you a ‘re-roll’ of the dice. This is exactly as it
sounds – pick up the dice you wish to re-roll and roll them again. The second
score counts, even if it means a worse result than the first, and no single
dice can be re-rolled more than once regardless of the source of the re-roll.
If you re-roll a 2D6 or 3D6 roll, you must re-roll all of the dice and not just
some of them, unless the rule granting you the re-roll explicitly specifies
otherwise.
Roll-offs
If the
rules require players to roll-off, this simply means that each player rolls a
dice and the player that scores the highest result wins the roll-off. If the
players roll the same result, both dice must be rolled again until one player
is the winner.
Measuring distances
In games of Halo Tactics, distances are measured in inches
("), also called measured units (MU), with a tape measure o a measuring
stick. You can always check any distance
at any time.
This allows you o check whether your units are in range of their
target before they attack
Distances between models and all other objects (which can be other
models, terrain features and so on) are always measured from the closest point
on one base to the closest point on the other base.
For example, if any part of a model's base is within 6" of
the base of an enemy character, the two characters are said to be within
6" of each other.
Sometimes the rules will call upon a character to move directly
towards another character, or some other feature on the battlefield. Where this
is the case, draw an imaginary line from the centre of the miniature to its
destination, and move the character forwards along this line a number of inches
equal to the distance stated.
