Beta v.60 Update & Change Notes

As we near the end of the beta-testing phase of the Breachstorm rules our focus has moved from tweaking balance to improving the player experience by reducing some of the unnecessary complexity, which has informed most of the changes in this update. The hope is that this update will be one of the last before a full-release.

As always, the latest version of these rules is available now on breachstorm.com/rules!

Core Rules

Added Introduction and Play Overview sections.

This section provides a basic description of Breachstorm's play to give brand new players a framework for how the rules operate, however it doesn't represent rules in itself.

Clarified that if an Asset point were to be gained from multiple objectives as a result of a single event (such as a unit being destroyed), only one Asset point is gained.

This change is simply to resolve the rare situations in which a player could gain several Asset points from a single unit being destroyed in range of both player's scenario elements.

Added support for Terrain States.

This change is necessary for the new objectives listed below to work properly.

The Suppression attack modifier no longer blocks the use of Dodge in response.

While the flavor of pinning agile opponents down with a fusillade of suppressing fire was fun, this rule proved to be confusing for new players.

Marker and Concussion tokens changed from adding an additional die to the Result Pool to simply adding a +2 bonus to the Result Pool total.

Some players gave us feedback that the wording for rules that added set dice to the result pool was confusing and difficult to grok, so they've been simplified to be a flat bonus. On the table these rules will still play the same however.

Objectives

Escort

Asset Points now gained by the Defender only, and the range of asset point gaining extended to within 6" of the VIP rather than 3".

One of the biggest benefits of the Escort objective are the powerful Tactical Assets the defender gains access to, however we found that gaining asset points was difficult in most game states. Hopefully this change will make the objective a more attractive option for a larger variety of teams.

New Objectives

New objectives added; Scorched Earth and Recon Sweep.

Unlike the existing objectives in the deck, you'll notice that these two don't put additional scenario elements in the combat zone. Instead, these objectives transform the terrain templates on the board into scenario elements that must be scored and force players to interact with the terrain in new and interesting ways.

Scorched Earth is a Defense objective that tasks your team with destroying the obstructions on the table by planting and detonating explosives. This objective is unique in that it slightly alters the rules for placing terrain templates, forcing all obstructions to be placed in the center of the table. This has the benefit of messing with the terrain setup that the attacker might be aiming for. Scorched Earth benefits aggressive play by the defending team and rewards it the powerful Satchel Charge tactical asset and the ability to deal incidental damage to the opposing team by luring them towards primed explosives!

Recon Sweet is an Attack objective that dispatches your team to explore the combat zone, searching for vital material or carefully surveying the area. This objective puts some control in the hands of the defending player, who chooses terrain templates that the attacker must sweep in order to score. This objective rewards a mobile team that is able to cover distance by spreading out its objectives, making them difficult to contest for a static team. The powerful Mobility tactical asset supports an aggressive playstyle by providing the entire team with an additional burst of speed, while Sensor Sweep is another tool for a more range-focused team to clear their objectives at distance before moving in for the kill.

Upgrades

Oath of Serenity

A unit may now only be assigned one Fury token each round as a result of Oath of Serenity.

In an attempt to streamline the Fury mechanic, all methods of Fury token generation are being limited to one-per-round. Not only will this standardize the mechanic across the board, but hopefully also encourage teams to include a diversity of Fury-generating abilities.

Homeworld Confederacy

M-TAC Support Gunner

Targets of Defensive Fire attacks may not use the Dodge defense.

One of the synergies between the Suppression attack modifier blocking the use of dodge and the Support Gunner's Defensive Fire was that it allowed the gunner to stop targets from gaining free movement from its Defensive Fire attacks. With Suppression changed to no longer block Dodge, Defensive Fire now does that innately and allows the gunner to use their more lethal ammunition types on Defensive Fire attacks against dodgey enemies.

TITAN Battlesuit

Deploy Stabilizers changed to add a flat +2 bonus to the total of the Result Pool rather than a set die.

Zhren'thrar Prides

Pride Packleader/Pride Packwarrior

A unit may now only be assigned one Fury token as a result of For Honor each round.

Pride Firstclaw

A unit may now only be assigned one Fury token as a result of Battlecry each round.

Khariphesh Dreamspeaker

A unit may now only be targeted by Enrage once each round.