I had a couple of questions about the rules.

1. Do UFOs over continents clear from the board after they increase the threat level of the continent they're covering? (Presuming they haven't been killed by interceptors)

2. Do aliens clear from the base after they've dealt their damage? (Presuming they weren't killed by squaddies)

3. Do squaddies who stay on a mission if it has not been completed still cost money on subsequent turns?

I had a couple of questions about the rules.

I am thinking

1. Do UFOs over continents clear from the board after they increase the threat level of the continent they're covering? (Presuming they haven't been killed by interceptors)

No,ufos remain on the board and can be joined by ufos in orbit next round ( not clearly listed in the rules}

2. Do aliens clear from the base after they've dealt their damage? (Presuming they weren't killed by squaddies)

Yes its the last step in base defence, after applying damage the squad leader removes all alien cards from the base (listed clearly in the rules}

3. Do squaddies who stay on a mission if it has not been completed still cost money on subsequent turns?

Yes since the soldiers remain on task they have to be paid for again. (not clearly listed in the rules but mentioned in play through)

So if you pull squaddies off a mission and send a new group in later do you start from square one? Are there certain rounds in which there is no deploy to missions phase? What's the benefit of leaving squaddies on a mission?

So if you pull squaddies off a mission and send a new group in later do you start from square one? Are there certain rounds in which there is no deploy to missions phase? What's the benefit of leaving squaddies on a mission?

I'm pretty sure Longhornn's mistaken. Squaddies left on a mission do not need to be paid for again.

Rules state "Each unit (Interceptor, satellite, scientist, and soldier) costs one credit from the XCOM budget when it is assigned to the board. The credits to pay for these costs are not spent until the resolution phase."

That being said, I don't think you can pull squaddies off a mission even if you want to. Rules state "If the mission is not completed, keep any success tokens and soldiers on it for the next round."

I think the only way to make soldiers pull out is to scrub the whole mission and replace it with one of your new draws. (Sending them to your reserve.)

I think the real key to victory in this game for Squad Leaders is limiting how many resources you throw at missions. Like it would be better to take two rounds to complete a mission with 2 squad members, then it would be to pay for four squad members to complete it in one.

Are there certain rounds in which there is no deploy to missions phase?

It's possible, I think the timed phased can exclude actions if you're doing poorly, I believe. But, even if didn't have the assigned mission section of the Timed Phase, you'd still roll dice in the Resolution phase for what is on the board I believe.

You know, after running the app through a few rounds, I'm not as sure about not paying for soldiers again.

The app states "Count the number of satellites, soldiers, scientists, and Interceptors that are assigned to the board."

It's pretty ambiguous, and I wish that they had used something other than "assign" all the time. I mean, the only soldiers on the board are those assigned (last round or this round). But the other assets get pulled and re-assigned each round.

I really wish this was in the FAQ and I will probably follow up with FF Games for clarification.

Edit: FFG responded to my Support Ticket. So in case anyone is curious soldiers who are assigned to a mission must be paid for each round they are on the board.

There is a rule that states mission progress carries over from round to round. So, even if the squad assigned is killed or somehow moved off the mission card, the progress will remain. That's how I'm interpretting it anyway.

One thing I did note that I hadn't realized before, is that you don't have to keep rolling the next task. This can help with mitigating the threat counter and should help the survivability of your soldiers.

I had those same questions when I played through the other night.

My additional questions:

do scientist and satellites get pulled every round as well?

and if they are exhausted , do they refresh in the reserve pool or stay on task...

I had those same questions when I played through the other night.

My additional questions:

do scientist and satellites get pulled every round as well?

and if they are exhausted , do they refresh in the reserve pool or stay on task...

With the exception of Soldiers on the mission, all units (except UFOs) are cleared off the board and placed in their respective reserve area in the state they are currently in.

Satellites and scientists do not refresh at this point. This is the 'penalty' for 'losing' the science or orbit defence rolls.

The way the timing goes (skipping to the relevant section):

1: Refresh units and cards

This is the assests and tech cards for each role as well as Satellits and Scientist currently placed in their reserve.

2:Return units to their reserve

Interceptors, satellites, scientists, and soldiers defending the base return to their respective reserves, in the state they are in. (Destroyed interceptors and killed soldiers should have been placed in the recruiment area and are not part of this step).

Basically, exhausted satellites and scientists 'lose a turn'.

I will just start by saying I really like this game so far, have played a couple games so far with a friend, and also one on my lonesome. Pretty happy so far, and very much excited to play tonight with a group of four people, as the timing is almost impossible to keep up on with only one person. Any who...

The only question I have come across so far that I haven't found an answer for (for all I know it might be listed somewhere in the app rules, but I can't find it), is what happens when you exceed the 4 XCOM die count? We had an instance where our Heavy was attacking under specialized circumstances, had a Tech card boosting him +1, and the Support attacking was an Elite, so the die total rolled would would have been 5. Obviously we only have 4 dice, and am curious as to whether that is the cap for rolls, or whether we should have 2 separate rolls when the XCOM dice needed exceeds 4.

My guess would be yes, but I want to know what you guys think.

EDIT: As in 2 separate rolls, I mean of the XCOM die only, and only one roll of the alien die per instance. So if I needed 5, roll 4 XCOM die and 1 alien die, then an additional 1 XCOM die, then tally the results.

I don't recall seeing a cap.

I would play it the way you describe in your edit. Roll all the dice, and then roll however many xcom dice you need to beyond four and tally the results.

If you wanted, you could just throw in extra dice and declare 1s and 2s successes or something, but that might get confusing after a while. If you have arkham specific dice (the ones with special printing on 5s and 6s) you could add those in since successes would be easy to see. I would not be surprised if FFG sold an xcom dice set in the future though.

Thanks sir, I appreciate the hasty response. I think this is the way we will rule it when we play tonight. This game seems hard so far, not in it's execution, as the rules seem fairly straightforward, but in it's difficulty, so we need every advantage we can get. Only made it into about round 5 or 6 so far, and man does it throw a lot of complications you're way in a hurry. Very fun game.

@ZekeH30: If you have access to the app, check the rules, under the section "Component Limitations."

*EDIT*: Sorry, meant "Tasks/Rolling dice." Strangely, "component limitations" doesn't mention it.

You know, after running the app through a few rounds, I'm not as sure about not paying for soldiers again.

The app states "Count the number of satellites, soldiers, scientists, and Interceptors that are assigned to the board."

It's pretty ambiguous, and I wish that they had used something other than "assign" all the time. I mean, the only soldiers on the board are those assigned (last round or this round). But the other assets get pulled and re-assigned each round.

I really wish this was in the FAQ and I will probably follow up with FF Games for clarification.

@ZekeH30: If you have access to the app, check the rules, under the section "Component Limitations."

*EDIT*: Sorry, meant "Tasks/Rolling dice." Strangely, "component limitations" doesn't mention it.

Unfortunately, I don't have access to it till later on tonight. Is there any way you can paraphrase what it mentions?

It basically says you are not limited to the number of dice in the box. If you manage to have a situation where you are rolling 10 dice per task check, you keep rolling until you've rolled the equivalent of 10 dice (rolling the threat die only once, still).

So the you suggested in your post is the correct way of playing.

Considering there are already conceivable situations where you would be rolling up to 6-8 dice (some enemies can have 3 soldiers assigned to them, and if they happen to be elite, that's 6 dice there, plus tech adding in dice and other bonuses....), I'm sure FFG will be happy to supply use with an 'xcom dice set'.

You guys are right, I found it now that I am back home. Thanks for the help, I'll be sure to come back here if I find anything else, you are all very helpful. Happy hunting.

Ok, the crisis card "Discard all salvage." was drawn and added to the crisis pool. During the resolution phase (specifically, the Resolve Crisis phase), can a Chief Scientist preemptively use the salvage to activate Laboratory for future research tasks before they are all discarded, or can Laboratory only be used once the task has begun. Laboratory reads:

Tech - Chief Scientist

RESOLUTION PHASE

Discard 1 salvage >

Add 1 XCOM die to each roll

during a research task. Limit

once per task.

Our situation was that our Chief Scientist had 6 salvage stocked, and was going to salvage 3 to add 1 die to each of the 3 tasks during the Crisis phase before the Salvage were all discarded. We played that he couldn't, but I could see both arguments for either ruling.

Good question, ZekeH30.

Resolution Phase states "Assets with the <2 box symbol> can be used at any time during the resolution phase."

And Assets rules text states "Assets with the <2 box symbol> can be use ant time during the resolution phase UNTIL cards are refreshed."

So I certainly think you can activate assets whenever you wish in the phase, but I don't think you could use it on Laboratory because you're not at the research portion of the resoluation phase yet.

If you're not allowed to use resolution techs or assets outside of your own phases, then cards like UFO Flight would bring me to more questions. UFO Flight reads:

Tech - Commander

RESOLUTION PHASE

Place 1 (Intercepter) here> Move

any soldiers on a mission

to their reserve instead of

killing those soldiers.

The way we were playing this card last night, was that if our Squad Leader rolled a loss, we would assign an Interceptor to the Tech, and then extract the soldiers from harms way to be placed back in the reserves, all reactionary to the loss. Now, if we are not allowed Tech's and Assists outside of our own controlled phases, then this card would have to be played much differently. Now if you did have to play it preemptively to the Squad Leader's phase, then would you just return soldiers to the reserve if they were about to die for the entirety of the Against the Mission rolls, and for each soldier if they were all attacking seperately? Does one interceptor cover all of that action if preemptive?

Another one that is less confusing, but also will change our game played is the Satellite Uplink Asset. I was using it to give the chief scientist Alien die re rolls. Am I not allowed to do that?

It would really get muddy also, if you look at the Workshop Asset card in this light, in that most tech cards you would be able to use as an instant would be illegal to play because it would be within the Chief Scientist's phase. I believe in the FAQ on the app, this is mentioned a little bit, but only to the effect that both timed and resolution techs can can be played during the resolution phase using the Workshop card.

I feel like if you can't play ALL resolution cards during any phase of the resolution, that the game gets so much more unclear and a little bit broken.

One thing I did note though, is that the tutorial states that once the timed phase has concluded, that the board is populated with tasks. To me, that sounds like all tasks on the board at that point can targeted, even if they still have to be resolved in a direct order.

An example of this would be if, as the Commander, I would be able to use Firestorm the moment that the resolution phase begins.

Tech - Commander

RESOLUTION PHASE

Exhaust this >

Destroy 1 UFO in a

continent that has at least

1 (Interceptor) assigned to it.

I feel like this is the right way to rule it, and if that's the case, then I think Laboratory should also be able to be used to target future research tasks if the "Discard all salvage" Crisis is about to take effect.

Let me try to clarify what I was saying:

" So I certainly think you can activate assets whenever you wish in the phase, but I don't think you could use it on Laboratory because you're not at the research portion of the resoluation phase yet."

The examples you give actually support what I'm saying.

The interceptor card lets the commander stop a soldier from dying. But why is the soldier dying? Because we're at the Mission section of the resolution stage, and bad rolls happened. The commander can activate it an anytime, but the card needs a valid target (A dying soldier.) He certainly couldn't activate it until then, right?

Similarly, the Firestorm card always has a valid target the entire resolution phase. (A UFO with an Interceptor.) So we both agree, this could be used at any time.

But the Laboratory needs a valid target as well: a research roll taking place.

Either way, this another one of those things that should be reviewed by FF, and probably added to the FAQ.

I actually have a question regarding one of the cards discussed in this thread.

Tech - Commander

RESOLUTION PHASE

Place 1 (Intercepter) here> Move

any soldiers on a mission

to their reserve instead of

killing those soldiers.

Do you have to use a new ship every time this card is used, or is it one ship per Resolution phase and infinite withdrawals of soldiers for that turn from the mission?

I read it as 'one intercepter per "Loss"'. Meaning, if you are working on a mission on the first task, and you suffer a loss, normally, all soldiers assigned to that task would be killed. Instead, you can place an intercepter here and they are only returned to their reserve.

If you move on to the next task and suffer another "Loss", you would place another intercepter here to save those soldiers.

And so on.

I believe this ability only works for the mission and final mission, not defending the base.

I could see how it's one intercepter and your covered for all mission tasks, so long as you spend that one intercepter at the beginning of the resolution phase (before any mission tasks have been attempted), but I believe there is no limit as to when you can use a resolution phase ability.

One interceptor per withdrawal makes more sense, balance wise, otherwise the ability is really good. One might make a thematic argument that the interceptor has been set aside as a troop evacuation vehicle for the round though, meaning only one would be used.

I think using one interceptor per withdrawal is the way we'll play it.

But the Laboratory needs a valid target as well: a research roll taking place.

The target would not be the roll taking place though, the target would be the task itself, as only one salvage is needed to cover the initial roll against the task, and each additional push that takes place thereafter. If the roll was the target, then you would think that the card would say something more along the lines of "Limit once per roll", as opposed to "Limit once per task."

The Research Tasks should be handled and thought of the same way that the Global Defense Tasks are, in that as soon as the resolution phase is active, they are very much a target. They have Scientists assigned to them the same way that Interceptors are assigned to continents, the only difference being that the enemy the scientists are fighting are the tech card, instead of UFO's.

They are both good, valid viewpoints as far as I'm concerned, and can see both being viable resolutions to the way the game can be played until FFG can maybe clear some of this up for the player base.

Do they ever visit this forums, or do you have to e-mail them directly to get rulings on subjects like this?

I am sure someone at ffg looks at the website to see how people are responding to their products, but will they act on anything? I don know. There is a faq for other coop games, so I am sure this will get one too (aside from the one included with the app?