GOLLOPS STAR / LASER SQUAD TEXT COMBAT TEST KIT 0.2 26 October 2026 This is a playable text prototype, not the finished free base game. Use six ordinary D6, coins or counters, pencil and squared paper. You can roll shots sequentially, so no large dice collection is required. Print the text files or keep them open beside the board. Draw squares large enough for your counters; there are no rulers or weapon range measurements. FILES 01 Quick reference: attack procedure and AP costs. 02 Soldier cards: five soldier profiles, rank skills and XP rules. 03 Equipment and enemy cards: starting weapons, armour and enemies. 04 Test board and scenarios: board legend, setup and encounter instructions. 05 Full turn rules: detailed movement, sight, actions and alien behaviour. 06 Playtest record: blank results sheet. Start with Scenario A to check the rules. Scenario B isolates cover and weapon differences. Scenario C tests rank unlocks using an explicit test-only XP starting value. The board is an original test layout, not Olympus Station. Mission1's D4/D5 correction is still outstanding. No art, STL or paid generation is included. Health, damage bonuses, AP costs, rank thresholds and encounter difficulty are provisional. Agreed accuracy, Blind Luck, free turning, Voss free brace and MG cover penetration are retained. VERSION0.2: Blind Luck uses one attack die needing6, then one luck die per point below accuracy+1, each needing4+. No accuracy floor. Attack-die rerolls do not reroll luck dice. Updated Voss probability examples. No other balance values changed. PRINTABLE CARDS INCLUDED Laser-Squad-soldier-cards-A4.pdf: five soldier cards plus squad reference, on three landscape A4 sheets. Laser-Squad-equipment-cards-A4.pdf: eighteen equipment/reference cards on two portrait A4 sheets. Print both single-sided at100% / Actual size; disable Fit to page. Cut on card borders. See Printable-cards-read-me.txt for sizes and details. These PDFs use current text kit0.2 rules. ACTION REFERENCES, BOARD AND COUNTERS See 07 Starting equipment and print setup.txt for assigned equipment and the two additional printable PDFs. ======================================================================== GOLLOPS STAR / QUICK REFERENCE ROUND Refresh soldiers to4 AP; clear brace, old overwatch and reserves. Activate all conscious soldiers in player-chosen order, one at a time. Activate revealed aliens by contact number,4 AP each. Resolve mission events, pressure and timed effects; advance round. Unused AP is lost except marked overwatch reserves. ACTIONS Move one orthogonal square1 AP; turn0 AP during own activation. Open/close adjacent door1; pistol attack1; shotgun/MG/sniper attack2. Melee1; brace1 (+2 ranged accuracy); Voss braces free. Overwatch setup1 plus enough reserved AP for a full selected-weapon attack. Interact1 unless mission overrides; secure log2; medkit2 (discard); trade1. ATTACK One enemy per attack. Pay AP once for all weapon shots. No range limits or penalties. Sight required; front180-degree arc. No ranged firing when adjacent to a conscious enemy. Accuracy = soldier + weapon + bonuses - applicable cover - other penalties. Cover: soft1, hard2, full3. Use strongest applicable cover, not a sum. MG Cover Penetration1 reduces cover by1, minimum0; not armour. There is no lower accuracy limit. Resolve EACH shot separately: +1 or higher: roll that many D6; any6 = ONE hit. 0 or below: roll one attack D6, needing6. If successful, roll (1 - total accuracy) differently coloured luck dice; EVERY luck die needs4+. Examples: accuracy0 =1 luck die; -1 =2; -2 =3; -3 =4. Stop at the first failure. Luck dice can be reused sequentially. Per-shot chances: accuracy0 8.33%; -1 4.17%; -2 2.08%; -3 1.04%. One shot never scores more than one hit. For a hit: roll D6 + weapon damage bonus = attack strength. Shotgun vs orthogonally adjacent target: double attack strength. Then subtract natural armour and ONE equipped armour item's reduction. Minimum damage0;0 means deflected. Apply HP loss immediately. After target dies, remaining shots are spent; no retargeting. Melee ignores cover and facing; otherwise same dice/damage procedure. BRACE AND OVERWATCH Brace+2 lasts until moving, being downed or next squad refresh. Free turning does not cancel brace. Brace never stacks. Entering overwatch ends activation. Reserve AP; keep facing fixed. During alien phase, visible alien moving/opening a door can trigger it. Pay reserved weapon firing AP; resolve full attack before alien continues. One attack per watcher per trigger; later triggers can use remaining reserves. No reaction turning except Okafor's unlocked Watchful skill. RECOVERY At0 HP: downed, no actions, sight or movement blocking; no further targeting. Medkit heals3 or revives to2 HP; cannot exceed max HP. Revived soldiers next activate in the following round. All soldiers down simultaneously = defeat. XP Standard kill1; warrior kill2, to the killing soldier only. Each marked primary objective gives every soldier1 XP, once only. Recruit0 / Trooper4 / Veteran10 / Specialist18; cap18. New skill takes effect at next round start; no AP refresh. Skills accumulate. XP resets between missions in this draft. SHOTGUN EXCEPTION: may fire at an adjacent enemy while engaged; point-blank doubling applies. It cannot fire at distant targets while engaged. ======================================================================== GOLLOPS STAR LASER SQUAD Soldier skills and rank progression Draft 0.1 | 26 October 2026 AGREED CHANGES Turning is free during a soldier's own activation, between actions. No mid-attack turns. Outside the activation, facing stays fixed unless a skill says otherwise. Turning does not cancel brace. Voss can brace for free during his activation, including after moving. Brace grants +2 ranged accuracy and ends on movement, being downed or the next squad refresh. No extra bracing rolls or stacking. The MG gains Cover Penetration 1: subtract one from the target's applicable cover level, minimum zero, before applying that cover penalty to accuracy. Soft becomes none, hard becomes soft, full becomes hard. This affects cover only, never armour or line of sight. Every MG shot benefits. XP AND RANK PROPOSAL A mission begins at XP0 and Recruit rank. All soldiers have their starting skill immediately. Track XP individually on the character card. A soldier gets 1 XP for killing a worker or other standard enemy, 2 for a warrior or other elite. Future enemy cards print their XP award; bosses require an explicit award. Only the soldier dealing the killing damage gets kill XP; never award XP twice for the same enemy. No assists in this first draft. When the squad completes a printed primary objective, every soldier gains 1 XP, including downed soldiers, once per objective. Mission1 awards this for securing the log and for clearing all hostiles, each once. Recollecting or passing the log gives no XP. Mission designers must mark XP-bearing objectives; routine interactions do not award it. Objective XP helps support characters advance without competing for kills. The XP track runs 0-18, with milestone marks at0,4,10,18. Cap XP at18 for this prototype. A large reward can cross more than one milestone. Mark the new rank immediately, but apply newly unlocked abilities at the start of the next round; they cannot alter an attack already being resolved or refresh AP. A downed soldier keeps XP and unlocks and can use them once revived and eligible to act. All unlocked skills are cumulative and mandatory; no branching selections in the introductory set. Higher-rank accuracy increases add to the printed starting stat. Rank does not automatically increase AP, HP or damage; only the listed unlocks do so. Ranks: Recruit0; Trooper4; Veteran10; Specialist18. These are original tabletop thresholds, proposed for testing. XP resets each mission so the free base missions have a stable starting difficulty. Persistent campaign advancement requires separate encounter balance; do not carry XP between missions by default. Mission1's five workers and one warrior yield7 kill XP; its two objective awards yield10 total distributed objective XP. That is17 XP across the squad, not17 each. This introductory mission should showcase a first unlock, not reach the top of the track. Longer basic missions need explicit enemy/objective budgets if later ranks are to be reachable. REYES - RECON Starting accuracy+1; proposed HP8; Ceraweave reduction1. Recruit0: Quick Step. Once per activation move one orthogonal square for0 AP. Obey occupancy and terrain rules; this move cancels brace. Trooper4: Spotter. Once per activation, mark one visible enemy for0 AP. The next ranged attack by a different soldier against it gains+1 accuracy on every shot, then removes the mark. One squad mark maximum; a new mark replaces it. It expires at next squad refresh. Cannot mark during a reaction. Veteran10: Steady Hand. Permanently gain+1 accuracy (base becomes+2). Specialist18: Pathfinder. Quick Step grants up to two consecutive free squares instead of one. Both occur as one movement action; stop after the first if desired. No attacks between them. CHEN - ASSAULT Starting accuracy+1; proposed HP10; Combat Plate reduction2. Recruit0: Breach Lead. Once per activation, opening an adjacent unlocked door costs0 AP. Closing doors still costs1. It reveals contacts normally. Trooper4: Close Assault. Once per activation, reroll one failed accuracy die from a shotgun shot at an orthogonally adjacent target. Reroll it once; keep the new result. With Blind Luck, this can reroll the failed attack die only, never a luck die. After a successful attack die, resolve all required luck dice normally. No use during reactions. Veteran10: Steady Hand. Permanently gain+1 accuracy (base becomes+2). Specialist18: Breach and Advance. Immediately after using Breach Lead, move one legal square for0 AP. This move cancels brace; cannot interrupt it with another action. VOSS - HEAVY Starting accuracy+0; proposed HP12; Exo-Plate reduction3. Recruit0: Weapons Platform. Brace for0 AP during your activation. Moving removes brace, but you may brace again before your next attack. Turning is free and does not remove brace. Brace never stacks. Trooper4: Controlled Burst. Once per activation, reroll one failed accuracy die from one MG shot. Keep the reroll; it cannot be rerolled again. With Blind Luck, this can reroll the failed attack die only, never a luck die. After a successful attack die, resolve all required luck dice normally. No reaction use. Veteran10: Fire Discipline. Permanently gain+1 accuracy (base becomes+1). Specialist18: Sustained Fire. Once per activation, one MG attack fires4 shots instead of3 for its normal AP cost. Declare before rolling. All shots target the same enemy. No reaction use. MG Cover Penetration1 is a weapon effect, not a Voss skill; another soldier using the MG also gets it. OKAFOR - MARKSMAN Starting accuracy+2; proposed HP8; Ceraweave reduction1. Recruit0: Precision. Once per activation, reroll the damage die of one sniper hit before armour is applied. Keep the second result. This does not reroll accuracy or alter the number of shots. No reaction use. Trooper4: Watchful. Once per alien phase, when an alien triggers overwatch, turn freely before checking whether that alien is in the new forward sight arc. It must still have an unblocked sight line; no seeing through walls. Sufficient sniper firing AP must already be reserved. Other overwatch rules apply. Veteran10: Deadeye. Permanently gain+1 accuracy (base becomes+3; starting+2 is not a permanent cap). Specialist18: Armour Hunter. Sniper hits gain Armour Penetration1: reduce combined natural and equipped damage reduction by1, minimum zero. This affects damage, not cover or accuracy. PARK - MEDIC AND SYSTEMS Starting accuracy+1; proposed HP9; Ceraweave reduction1; two medkits. Recruit0: Field Care. Once per activation spend1 AP to heal herself or an adjacent conscious soldier by2 HP, capped at maximum. No item consumed. Cannot revive; only medkits revive in the introductory rules. Trooper4: Efficient Treatment. Using a medkit costs1 AP instead of2; still discard it. Healing and revival amounts do not change. Veteran10: Steady Hand. Permanently gain+1 accuracy (base becomes+2). Specialist18: Trauma Specialist. Field Care heals3 HP instead of2. Medkits used to revive restore3 HP instead of2. Medkit use still consumes an item. CARD LAYOUT SPECIFICATION Front: portrait, name, role; starting accuracy, current accuracy marker, max/current HP, natural armour; one equipped-armour slot; weapon and carried-item references. Print four rank skill rows with threshold, name, concise effect and an unlock box. Show current base accuracy separately from temporary brace/spotter bonuses so they are not double-counted. Bottom: XP track0 through18, with prominent rank milestones0/4/10/18. Use numbers and rank names, not colour alone. Add a small Pending unlock marker area for thresholds crossed mid-round. Once-per-activation skills get a used token space, cleared at the start of that soldier's next activation. Watchful gets a once-per-alien-phase token space instead. Rank unlocks must not require flipping away from core character stats. If four full effects do not fit legibly, keep a concise skill summary on the front and full text on the reverse/reference sheet. No card artwork has been authored by this specification. UPDATED VOSS BENCHMARK Before rank upgrades, Voss's free brace and MG-1 give total accuracy+1 before cover. With Cover Penetration1: Exposed: accuracy+1; per-shot hit16.67%; at least one hit in3 shots42.13%. Soft: same as exposed. Hard: accuracy0; per-shot hit8.33%; at least one hit in3 shots22.97%. Full: accuracy-1; per-shot hit4.17%; at least one hit in3 shots11.99%. This excludes Controlled Burst and later unlocks. Free brace allows two2-AP MG attacks in a4-AP activation. A turn using move1 + overwatch setup1 leaves2 reserved AP for one full MG attack; free brace may be applied before entering overwatch. At Veteran, braced base accuracy is+2 before cover: exposed/soft30.56% per shot, hard16.67%, full8.33%. These are exact dice probabilities, not evidence of encounter balance. BOUNDARIES AND TESTS No rule here introduces ranged distance checks. Shotgun adjacency remains the only distance-based ranged effect. At most one hit per shot; all shots of one attack target one enemy. Cover and armour penetration have distinct names and icons. Wall blocking overrides both. Test Voss's two braced volleys per activation, Park's repeat healing between fights, and XP distribution to ensure support characters gain a first unlock. Skills are original proposals rather than copied rules text. Updated numerical values supersede historical benchmark interpretations. D4/D5 map correction and printable card production remain outstanding. ======================================================================== GOLLOPS STAR / EQUIPMENT AND ENEMY CARDS Values are provisional. Weapon cost covers the whole attack. PISTOL | Accuracy+1 | Shots1 | Damage D6+0 | AP1 No range limit; sight required. Starting users: Reyes and Park. SHOTGUN | Accuracy+1 | Shots1 | Damage D6+2 | AP2 POINT BLANK: against an orthogonally adjacent target, double D6+2 before subtracting armour. You cannot use ranged fire while adjacent to a conscious enemy under the current engagement rule: see TEST NOTE below. Starting user: Chen. MACHINE GUN | Accuracy-1 | Shots3 | Damage D6+1 | AP2 COVER PENETRATION1: reduce applicable cover by1, minimum0. Does not reduce armour or bypass sight blocking. Starting user: Voss. SNIPER RIFLE | Accuracy+2 | Shots1 | Damage D6+4 | AP2 No range limit; sight required. Starting user: Okafor. COMBAT KNIFE | Accuracy+1 | Shots1 | Damage D6+0 | AP1 Orthogonally adjacent target only. Ignores cover/facing. Every soldier has a knife for this tabletop test. CERAWEAVE | Equipped armour | Reduce every hit's damage by1 Starting users: Reyes, Okafor, Park. COMBAT PLATE | Equipped armour | Reduce every hit's damage by2 Starting user: Chen. EXO-PLATE | Equipped armour | Reduce every hit's damage by3 Starting user: Voss. Only one equipped armour item; stacks with natural armour. No armour HP bonus. MEDKIT | Consumable | Use2 AP; discard Heal3 HP or revive a downed soldier to2 HP, on self/adjacent soldier. Park starts with two. Her Trooper skill reduces use cost to1 AP. WORKER | HP5 | Natural armour1 | Equipped armour none | AP4 | XP1 Base accuracy+1. Fangs: Accuracy+1, Shots1, Damage D6+0, AP1. Move1; open adjacent unlocked door1; melee1. No ranged attack. WARRIOR | HP10 | Natural armour1 | Carapace reduction1 | AP4 | XP2 Base accuracy+1. Plasma pistol: Accuracy+1, Shots1, Damage D6+1, AP2. Claws: Accuracy+1, Shots1, Damage D6+1, AP1; adjacent melee only. Move1; open adjacent unlocked door1. Total damage reduction2. No range limit; sight required for plasma pistol. No brace or overwatch. TEST NOTE / RESOLVED RULE CONFLICT The generic no-ranged-fire-in-melee rule would make shotgun point blank impossible. For this kit, SHOTGUN POINT BLANK explicitly overrides it: a shotgun may fire at an orthogonally adjacent enemy while engaged, but cannot fire at a more distant enemy while engaged. Other ranged weapons remain prohibited while engaged. This is a necessary provisional exception, not a change to the agreed double-damage formula. ======================================================================== GOLLOPS STAR / TEST BOARD AND SCENARIOS This original board is a combat test, not the Mission1 map. Coordinates use letters A-L and rows1-10. Each character is one square. A B C D E F G H I J K L 1 # # # # # # # # # # # # 2 # . . . . # . . . . . # 3 # . . . . # . . S . . # 4 # . . . . D . . . . . # 5 # . . . . # . . H . . # 6 # . . . . # . . . . . # 7 # . . . . D . . F . . # 8 # . . . . # . . . . . # 9 # . . . . # . . . . . # 10 # # # # # # # # # # # # # solid wall: blocks movement and sight. . floor: enterable. D door: initially closed; open/close whole single-square door for1 AP. S/H/F: enterable test positions granting soft/hard/full cover respectively from ALL directions while standing on that square. These are deliberately simple test symbols. They are not solid terrain. No adjacent-square cover benefit in this test; do not infer cover from neighbouring letters. Door squares are enterable only while open. Figures occupy one square; other conscious figures block movement and sight. Diagonal movement prohibited. Trace sight centre-to-centre on your drawn grid. Wall-corner contact blocks. All starting soldiers face east; aliens have no facing limits. SCENARIO A / CLEAR THE TEST CHAMBER Use Recruit skills only; XP0. Deploy Reyes C3, Chen D4, Voss C6, Okafor B8, Park D8. Workers: contact1 J3, contact2 I6. Warrior: contact3 J8. All aliens are active, not dormant, even while hidden. Use the cards' full HP, armour and weapons; Park carries two medkits. Play normal rounds; no pressure increases, spawns or mission events. Victory: kill all three aliens by end of round6 with at least one conscious soldier. Otherwise lose. The clear-chamber objective awards every soldier1 XP. Kill XP is awarded normally. This encounter has no log objective. Record difficulty rather than assuming these numbers are balanced. For enemy decisions use full turn rules section10; contact order1,2,3. SCENARIO B / CONTROLLED FIRING TEST This is a measurement exercise; enemies do not activate or move. Open both doors. Remove all other figures so they do not block sight. Place one soldier at H4 facing east and one worker at J4 (exposed), I3 (soft), I5 (hard), or I7 (full). Test each target position separately. Use only one target at a time, at full HP before every attack. For each weapon/cover combination resolve10 full attacks; record shots, hits, deflections, damage and target kills. Continue recording all shots for hit-rate measurement, but never count overkill as HP actually removed. Keep both potential damage and actual HP removed in separate columns. Test normal equipped soldiers: Reyes/pistol, Chen/shotgun, Voss/MG, Okafor/sniper and Park/pistol. Voss uses free brace. First test others without brace, then repeat with brace and include its1 AP setup cost. For shotgun point blank, place Chen at J3 with a worker at I3, then J5 with a worker at I5, and J7 with a worker at I7. In each case they share an edge; face west. This keeps the target's cover unchanged. Also test exposed adjacency: Chen K4, worker J4, Chen facing west. The shotgun exception in the equipment sheet permits these attacks. Reset position/HP between trials; no XP or rank changes in this exercise. Ten attacks give rough observations, not a reliable estimate of rare Blind Luck rates. Compare results with exact probabilities when reviewing. SCENARIO C / UNLOCK TIMING Repeat Scenario A but start everyone at3 XP, with Recruit skills only. This is an explicit test-only XP override, not normal mission progression. When a soldier reaches4 XP, place a pending marker. Their Trooper skill becomes available at next round start, without AP refresh beyond the usual. Test Veteran and Specialist skills in separate runs starting at10 or18 XP with appropriate skills already active. Do not mix those results with Recruit balance results. EXPECTED RULE CHECKS Voss free brace plus two MG attacks uses4 AP and fires6 shots. Voss move1 + free brace + overwatch setup1 + reserve2 uses4 AP. Chen adjacent shotgun attack costs2 AP, not2 per accuracy die. Reyes Quick Step is one additional free square, not+1 AP. A worker next to a soldier can spend4 AP on four melee attacks; record whether that is too lethal. Each attack needs its own hit/damage rolls. Rank unlocks never change an attack already being resolved. No measuring ranges; only shotgun orthogonal adjacency matters. ======================================================================== GOLLOPS STAR - LASER SQUAD Turn order, actions and action points Rules draft 0.5 | 26 October 2026 STATUS The accuracy pool, Blind Luck, cover penalties, individual shots, damage and armour rules reflect the agreed combat system. Turn structure, AP costs, overwatch, bracing, movement and recovery below are proposed playtest rules. This sheet supersedes conflicting turn/action rules in the initial Mission 1 proposal. Mission-specific events can explicitly override these rules. 1. ROUND ORDER A round consists of four phases: 1) Squad refresh. Every conscious soldier receives 4 AP. Remove all previous overwatch tokens, unused reaction reserves and brace tokens. AP never carries between rounds. Downed soldiers receive no AP. 2) Squad activations. Players choose a conscious soldier who has not activated this round, complete that soldier's activation, then mark them activated. Continue until every eligible soldier has activated or passed. Finish one activation before starting another; no splitting activations or passing AP. Players may discuss plans and choose a different order each round. In solo play one player controls the entire squad. 3) Alien activations. Each active alien receives 4 AP and completes its activation before the next alien starts. Activate in ascending contact number; new missions may specify another order. Unrevealed/dormant contacts do not activate. Aliens revealed during the squad phase act in this phase. Aliens revealed or spawned during the alien phase wait until the next round unless their mission rule explicitly says otherwise. Apply overwatch interrupts as described below. 4) End of round. Resolve mission events, pressure and timed effects in that order, then check any end-of-round defeat condition. Increase the round marker. Remove temporary alien AP. Newly awakened contacts wait until the following alien phase. Check immediate victory and all-soldiers-downed defeat after each fully resolved action, including its overwatch reactions. Resolve all shots of an attack before checking victory. An explicitly timed mission condition takes priority over this default. 2. SOLDIER ACTIONS Action AP Move one orthogonal square 1 Turn to any new facing 0 (during own activation) Open or close an adjacent door 1 Fire pistol 1 Fire shotgun 2 Fire machine gun 2 Fire sniper rifle 2 Melee attack 1 Brace 1 Enter overwatch 1 plus reserved firing AP Interact with a mission object 1 unless mission specifies otherwise Secure Mission 1 station log 2 Use medkit 2 and discard medkit Trade one carried item 1 Pass / end activation 0 An action must be paid in full before it starts. An attack's cost covers every shot printed on its weapon card, not one payment per shot. Weapon/equipment cards may explicitly replace a default cost. No grenade cost or blast rules are locked by this sheet; a grenade requires a complete equipment card before use. 3. MOVEMENT AND FACING Use square tiles. Move only north, east, south or west; no diagonal movement. Every move must end in an empty, enterable square. Soldiers cannot pass through or share squares with other figures. Walls, closed doors and solid terrain are impassable. Cover symbols alone do not make a square impassable: solid terrain needs its own blocked marking. A move may go in any direction without changing facing. Turning is free during your own activation and may select any of the four cardinal facings, including a 180-degree turn. You may turn between actions, but not between shots of an attack. You cannot turn during an alien activation or overwatch reaction unless a skill explicitly permits it. Soldiers may take actions in any order and repeat actions if they can pay for them. For this facing draft, a soldier sees into the forward 180-degree half-plane, including the boundary. With east facing, for example, targets in the same column or any column to the east can be in sight. Trace a straight line between square centres; walls, closed doors and solid sight-blocking terrain block it. A line touching a solid wall corner is blocked. Figures block shots through their squares. Cover is not automatically a sight blocker. Ordinary floor seams do not define sight. This facing restriction is provisional; it adds a reason to turn. There are no range limits, distance penalties or measuring rulers. The only distance-based weapon rule is the shotgun's orthogonally adjacent point-blank bonus. 4. RANGED ATTACK Choose one living, visible enemy. All shots of the attack must target that enemy; never transfer remaining shots after a kill. Pay the weapon's firing AP once, then resolve each shot separately. Accuracy = soldier accuracy + weapon accuracy + bonuses - cover and other penalties. At accuracy 1 or more, roll that many D6; any 6 scores one hit. Multiple sixes do not add hits. At accuracy 0 or below, roll one attack D6, needing a 6. If it succeeds, roll (1 - total accuracy) differently coloured luck D6. Every luck die must score 4+ for the shot to hit. This is Blind Luck. There is no lower accuracy limit. Luck dice may be rolled sequentially, stopping at the first failure, or together after the attack die succeeds. Each hit deals max(0, D6 + weapon damage bonus - natural armour - equipped armour reduction). Only one armour equipment item can be worn; its reduction adds to natural armour. Zero damage deflects. Resolve armour effects according to their card. Soft/hard/full cover removes 1/2/3 accuracy dice respectively. Use only the strongest applicable cover protecting the target from that firing direction; do not stack cover features. Shotgun point blank doubles D6 plus its damage bonus before subtracting armour. Facing and sight must be legal even for Blind Luck. Starting weapon cards: pistol accuracy+1, shots1, damage+0; shotgun accuracy+1, shots1, damage+2; MG accuracy-1, shots3, damage+1; sniper accuracy+2, shots1, damage+4. These weapon damage and AP values remain provisional. If a target is downed or killed during the attack, remaining shots are spent without further damage or retargeting. There is no collateral fire in the introductory rules. 5. MELEE An orthogonally adjacent enemy may be attacked for 1 AP. No facing restriction and no cover penalty apply to melee. Use the melee weapon's accuracy, shots and damage values with the normal dice and armour rules. A soldier cannot fire a ranged weapon while orthogonally adjacent to a conscious enemy. Turning is allowed. Leaving adjacency is a normal move with no free enemy attack in this draft. For testing, a combat knife has accuracy+1, shots1 and damage+0. The tabletop starting kit grants a knife to every soldier; this is a deliberate change from the video-game equipment slots. 6. BRACE Spend 1 AP to place a brace token. Gain +2 accuracy on ranged attacks, including overwatch, until you move, become downed or reach the next squad refresh. Turning does not cancel brace. Opening a door, firing or using equipment does not cancel brace. Bracing does not stack with itself and never increases damage or armour. Voss has a free brace action during his activation. It cannot interrupt a move or attack and grants no AP. He can brace again for free after moving. Turning does not cancel brace. His MG has Cover Penetration 1: reduce applicable cover by one level before calculating accuracy, to a minimum of zero. This does not reduce armour. His braced accuracy against no/soft/hard/full cover is therefore +1/+1/0/-1 before other bonuses. Rank and unit skills are detailed on the separate progression sheet. 7. OVERWATCH During an activation, choose an equipped ranged weapon, spend 1 AP to enter overwatch, and reserve enough remaining AP to pay for at least one full attack with it. Finish that activation immediately. Mark the reserved AP on the soldier card. Unreserved AP is discarded. The soldier retains their facing and brace if present. During the alien phase only, after a visible alien finishes a move or opens a door, that alien can trigger overwatch. If it is in the watching soldier's sight and the soldier is not adjacent to a conscious enemy, the soldier may spend reserved AP equal to the selected weapon's firing cost and resolve one complete attack. No free turning or weapon switching is allowed. All shots target the triggering alien. Resolve reactions before the alien takes its next action. Multiple watching soldiers resolve in player-chosen order; each checks that its target remains alive and visible before spending AP. Each soldier can make at most one attack per trigger, but may react to later triggers if enough reserved AP remains. An alien that survives continues with its remaining AP. Attacking or standing still does not trigger overwatch. Reaction attacks cannot trigger more reactions. The overwatch token stays until the next refresh, but no attack is possible without sufficient reserves. Alien attacks can down a watcher and cancel its overwatch. Aliens do not use overwatch in introductory Mission 1; later cards may add it. 8. DOORS AND OBJECTIVES An orthogonally adjacent soldier can open or close an unlocked door for 1 AP, without needing to face it. A door spanning multiple squares is one assembly: one action changes the entire door. An occupied doorway cannot close. Opening a door reveals newly visible contacts immediately. Locked or destroyed doors follow mission rules. Interact with an object on your square or an orthogonally adjacent square. Mission 1's log takes 2 AP to secure in one action. Place the log token on that soldier's card. Passing the log to an adjacent conscious soldier costs 1 AP as a trade. If the carrier goes down, drop the log in their square; recovering it costs 1 AP on or adjacent to that square. The recovered-log mission objective remains complete, but extraction missions can require a conscious carrier. Mission 1 retains its recover-log-and-clear-hostiles victory condition. D4/D5 room geometry must be corrected before its map is considered final. 9. ITEMS, MEDKITS AND DOWNED SOLDIERS For 1 AP, give one carried item to an adjacent conscious soldier who can carry it. Only the giver pays. Ordinary worn armour cannot be traded or changed during a mission; select it during setup. A mission or equipment card may override this. A medkit costs 2 AP and is discarded. Use it on yourself or an adjacent soldier: either heal 3 HP, capped at maximum, or revive a downed soldier to 2 HP. A revived soldier cannot activate until the following round. Being revived does not refresh AP or restore discarded tokens. Park starts with two medkits; further medical abilities require a character-card rule. At zero HP, a soldier is downed. Lay the figure down; it cannot act, blocks neither movement nor sight, and is not targeted again in introductory play. Reviving a soldier whose square is occupied is not allowed; clear that square first. There is no bleed-out or permanent death in this draft. All soldiers down at once loses the mission. 10. INTRODUCTORY ALIEN ACTIONS Workers: move1 AP; open an adjacent unlocked door1 AP; melee1 AP. Warriors: same movement/door/melee costs, plasma-pistol attack2 AP. Aliens have no facing restriction, do not brace, close doors, collect items or overwatch unless a card explicitly says so. Their ranged shots require sight and are blocked while adjacent to conscious soldiers. At each action, an alien targets the nearest conscious soldier by shortest legal orthogonal path, allowing closed unlocked doors in path planning with their opening cost included. Other conscious figures block paths; an alien may plan to a free square adjacent to a soldier. Break target ties by lowest current HP, then Reyes, Chen, Voss, Okafor, Park. Break equal movement-route choices north, east, south, west. If adjacent, melee while AP permits. Otherwise, a warrior fires at the chosen target if visible, not engaged and able to pay; otherwise advance toward that target, opening intervening doors. Workers advance and melee. If no path or legal attack is possible, pass. Alien cards supply accuracy, damage, health and armour; do not use automatic melee wounds from the earlier draft. 11. EXAMPLES WITH 4 AP Reyes: move1, fire pistol1, fire pistol1, move1. Turning is free between actions. Chen: move1, move1, fire shotgun2. The whole shotgun attack costs2. Voss: move1, brace free, enter overwatch1, reserve2 for one three-shot MG attack. All shots target the triggering alien. The single MG attack uses the entire reserve. Okafor: fire sniper2, fire sniper2; or move1, brace1, fire sniper2. Park: move1, open door1, use medkit2. A soldier who passes discards unused AP. The only AP held for the alien phase is explicitly reserved overwatch AP. NEXT VALIDATION Test these budgets with the probability benchmarks, especially repeated pistol shots versus high-damage weapons, brace plus overwatch, and alien melee frequency. Cover distribution and the updated Blind Luck probabilities still require encounter playtesting. These examples verify AP arithmetic, not game balance. REVISION 0.4 Free turning during own activation; turning no longer cancels brace. Voss braces free. MG gains Cover Penetration 1. See Soldier-skills-and-ranks.txt for proposed XP and skill unlocks. TEST KIT OVERRIDE: A shotgun may fire at an orthogonally adjacent enemy while engaged, applying its point-blank bonus. It cannot fire at a distant enemy while engaged. Other ranged weapons remain prohibited while engaged. ======================================================================== GOLLOPS STAR / PLAYTEST RECORD Date: __________ Players: ____ Scenario: ____ Starting rank: __________ Rules version: text kit0.2 Duration: ____ rounds / ____ minutes Outcome: __________ Conscious soldiers remaining: ____ ROUND | SOLDIER | MOVES/AP | BRACE AP | FIRING AP | SHOTS | HITS | DAMAGE ______|_________|__________|__________|___________|_______|______|_______ ______|_________|__________|__________|___________|_______|______|_______ ______|_________|__________|__________|___________|_______|______|_______ ______|_________|__________|__________|___________|_______|______|_______ Duplicate this sheet as needed. Track damage rolled and HP actually removed separately when a hit overkills a target. SOLDIER | HP LOST | HEALING | KILLS | XP | ROUND OF FIRST UNLOCK Reyes |_________|_________|_______|____|______________________ Chen |_________|_________|_______|____|______________________ Voss |_________|_________|_______|____|______________________ Okafor |_________|_________|_______|____|______________________ Park |_________|_________|_______|____|______________________ SCENARIO B: weapon ____ cover ____ brace? ____ accuracy total ____ Attacks ____ shots ____ hits ____ zero-damage deflections ____ Potential damage ____ actual HP removed ____ kills ____ AP including setup ____ Did Voss dominate exposed/soft-cover fights? __________________________ Was the shotgun useful without being overwhelming? ___________________ Did cover encourage movement or merely stall the game? _______________ Did each soldier contribute? _________________________________________ Was Park's healing too easy to repeat safely? _________________________ Were four adjacent worker attacks too punishing? ______________________ Any facing, sight or door dispute? ____________________________________ Any rank skill unclear or forgotten? __________________________________ Change ONE variable for next run: _____________________________________ ======================================================================== LASER SQUAD / STARTING EQUIPMENT CHECKLIST All start at full printed HP, 4 AP at refresh, XP0, Recruit skill active. Natural armour0 for every soldier. Equipped armour is subtracted once. Reyes: pistol, combat knife, Ceraweave. HP8, accuracy+1. Chen: shotgun, combat knife, Combat Plate. HP10, accuracy+1. Voss: machine gun, combat knife, Exo-Plate. HP12, accuracy+0. Okafor: sniper rifle, combat knife, Ceraweave. HP8, accuracy+2. Park: pistol, combat knife, Ceraweave, TWO medkits. HP9, accuracy+1. Place weapon and armour cards beside their soldier card, not in a shared draw pile. Put both medkits by Park; discard each when used. No random equipment draws in this test. Carried items may be traded using the rules; worn armour stays fixed during the mission. Use one action card per player, or one per soldier if sharing control. Soldier cards show this starting loadout; equipment PDFs contain exact counts. ADDED PRINTABLES Laser-Squad-player-action-cards-A4.pdf: 5 named action references, worker/warrior references, shared round/status reference; 2 A4 sheets, 90x130mm cards. Laser-Squad-test-board-and-counters-A4.pdf: 2 map halves (25mm squares) plus counter sheet; 3 A4 sheets. The board is the existing kit test scenario, not Olympus Station. Cut on map edges and join F to G. S/H/F are enterable all-direction test cover positions, not obstacles. Print single-sided at100%/Actual size; do not fit. Check100mm ruler on counter sheet. Existing soldier/equipment PDFs still use current kit0.2 rules. You supply D6 (including a distinct colour for luck rolls), pencil, scissors and optional card backing. This supplement changes no game rules. ======================================================================== LASER SQUAD PRINTABLE CARD PROOF 0.1 Uses text kit0.2 rules. Two PDFs: 3 landscape A4 sheets (five 130x190mm soldier cards plus reference); 2 portrait A4 sheets (eighteen 63x88mm equipment/reference cards). Print single-sided at Actual size /100%; do not Fit. Cut on outer card borders. No duplex alignment or backs needed. Use pencil or small tokens on HP, XP and AP fields; sleeve or laminate for reuse. Armour values are equipment, not natural armour; do not subtract twice. Soldier front summaries use the companion reference and current full text kit for complete timings. Includes two pistols, shotgun, MG, sniper, five knives, three Ceraweave, Combat Plate, Exo-Plate, two medkits and Blind Luck reference. Existing game art reused; no new generations. Prototype balance and physical print not validated.