Recommended Game Setup

1) Battle Type - Decide where the battle is being fought (e.g., if either side is on home territory, etc.) and what type of battle will be fought: Local Attack, Major Offensive, Stalemated Front or Meeting Engagement. For local attack or major offensive, choose which side is the attacker and which is defender. In case of debate about this, each side roll a die with the high roller deciding who is attacker. The type of battle will help to decide what other resources are available to the respective sides. Or, players just slap some armor on the table and start shooting!.

2) Tech Levels - Establish the Tech Level of A, B, C or D for each major combatant (usually each side) and make note of it. As a guide, here are some examples of major countries with active militaries, with A being best/highest and D being lowest level. Record the force's Tech Level on the Combat Roster.

• A = USA, Germany, Japan, Sweden, UK, France, Finland, Canada, Israel.
• B = China, Russia, Italy, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Vietnam, Indonesia.
• C = Egypt, Thailand, Iraq, Mexico, Philippines, South Africa.
• D = Cambodia, Jordan, Cuba, Venezuela.

3) Command & Discovery - Before gameplay, each side uses the table below to set their Command and Discovery test levels. Cross-index the tech level of the player in question against the tech level of the opposing player. The result is a two-number set; the first number is the HQ Move die roll, the second number is the CAL (Command & Air Littoral) Discovery number.

Note that combat base and formation movement is "free," formations are not required to roll-to-move. However headquarters (HQ) bases are required to roll to move, which is the purpose of the HQ Move die roll number. Note that this is less an indication of whether the HQ base is able to move, but rather an indication of whether they dare to move lest they be discovered and destroyed. The lower the odds of being able to move, this will mean the less secure the HQ feels leaving their current location and moving around on the (potentially open) battlefield.

The Discovery number reflects the odds of a player's HQ base being discovered by the opposing side if any formations under its command moved last turn. Record the Command and Discovery values on the Combat Roster.
Example: If a "C Tech" player must check for HQ discovery and the enemy is "A Tech," then the die roll for its HQ base for that chain of command to become visible (i.e., "discovered") is four or greater, so very high odds.

4) Local Airspace Control - Each side total their applicable Air Superiority points, Air Defense points and Force Projection costs (troops fighting in home country do not use the Force Projection minus). Modify the total with the Point Total Modifiers and roll a 1D20 die to randomize; divide the die roll by two, using standard rounding for the final value. Even halved numbers are plus modifiers, odd halved numbers are minus modifiers. Example: Player rolls a 5 which halves to 2.5 and rounds to 3, which applies as a -3 to the rolling player's current point total. The final number is that player's Airspace Control Rating. Record the Airspace Control Rating on the Combat Roster.

Air Superiority Points
• +15 = US Air Force
• +8 = US Naval aviation
• +7 = Russian Air Force, US Army aviation
• +5 = US Marine Corps aviation
• +4 = Indian Air Force
• +3 = China, Japan, Israel France, UK, South Korea, Italy, Australia.
• +2 = Saudi Arabia, Germany, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Indonesia, Sweden, Ukraine.
• +1 = South Africa, Iran, North Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Venezuela, Philippines, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Kuwait.
• 0 = Cambodia, Myanmar, Sudan, Niger, Libya, Yemen, Cuba, Afghanistan.

Air-Defense Points
• +15 = Russia
• +14 = USA
• +13 = China
• +12 = Israel
• +11 = India
• +10 = Iran.
• +9 = Saudi Arabia.
• +8 = Ukraine, Turkey.
• +7 = Egypt, South Korea
• +6 = Germany, France, Italy
• +5 = Uk, Japan, Poland
• +4 = Sweden, Greece, Taiwan
• +3 = Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia
• +2 = Pakistan, Algeria, Morocco
• +1 = Venezuela, Philippines, Mexico, Denmark, Malaysia, Kuwait.
• 0 = Jordan, Cambodia, Libya, Cuba, Sudan, Myanmar, Afghanistan.

Force Projection Costs
• -8 = USA
• -10 = UK, France
• -12 = China, Russia
• -14 = Australia, India, Italy, Japan, Turkey
• -16 = Canada, Germany, South Korea
• -18 = Egypt, Saudi Arabia
• -20 = Iran, Mexico, Indonesia, Thailand
• -22 = Greece, Israel, Chile, Malaysia, Philippines, Ukraine, Morocco, Venezuela
• -26 = Denmark, Iraq, Kuwait, South Africa, Sweden
• -28 = Jordan, Cambodia, Cuba

Point Total Modifiers
• +4 = Fighting in home country
• +2 = Friendly country bases available (for projecting force)
• -2 = Fighting in neighboring country
• -8 = Aviation assets tied-up elsewhere.

5) Airstrike Availability - This establishes whether either side has available airstrike assets working in the vicinity of the battle, at least close enough to possibly be contacted via command or forward air controller (scenario dependent, no controller figures are required on-board). The titled columns in the Airspace Presence table correspond to the Airspace Control State (see above). Hence, the greater air superiority victory will result in greater air presence and prospective airstrike availability. The number field under the Airspace Control State titles show the buy points for acquring Airstrikes. Each side rolls 1D20 and divides that number by the buy point value to find the number of available airstrike assets. Note that the resulting air assets are a one-time use for game play. Once an airstrike has been used, it cannot return again during the course of the current game. Example: A player with Airspace Parity and High Priority air cover has a purchase value of 6. If they roll a 15, they have enough points to "buy" two airstrikes available for game use.

Also note that this means even the player who only slightly lost the air superiority roll or tied, can also roll for an air presence. If airstrikes from both sides are somehow present during the same turn, they will ignore each other and in any case they were not likely sharing the identical airspace at the same time. Even a few minutes time separation is a lot with aircraft.

As noted above, use the Air Cover Priority (ACP) level to help decide the intensity of the aviation presence that players want as part of their scenario. The ACP level is normally decided by the scenario designers (the players), but if nobody wants to decide and roll the dice instead, consult the optional ACP Die Roll column (left side of table) which randomly sets the ACP level according to a 1D20 die roll. The second table below helps to outline the logic of each case and how it might apply to a game. The two sides of a battle can have different air cover priorities and in fact, it would be more common for them to be very different. Players should unanimously agree on whether to ACP roll once for both sides, or separately for each side.

6) Airstrike Assets - Once players have their airstrike points, they must decide which ones are used as Precision strikes and which ones will be for Area Strikes. Each has its own useful aspects; a precision strike allows a player to hit any one base and destroy it. An area strike allows the player to attack all bases within an area using the Direct Heavy Fire table. Selection of these types is limited by the tech level of the nation owning the strikes. The table below shows how many of each airstrike type (if any) the player may buy with their points. In all cases, one airstrike asset point buys one airstrike. Asset buy points may not be saved for later in the game or traded for anything else, they must be used now to line-up all available airstrike assets for the coming game.

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7) Air Littoral Assets - Now that airstrike assets are queued-up, it is time to find out how each side is set for Air Littoral assets; Aggressive drone teams who can back-up your ground forces. Infantry based FPV drones and longer ranged loitering munitions like Switchblades and Lancets are covered elsewhere in the rules. The number field shows the quantity of drone teams per 50 bases present on that side.
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Die Roll Modifiers
• +2 = Side has airspace supremacy.
• +1 = Side has airspace superiority.
• -1 = Side experiencing airspace inferiority.
• -2 = Side suffering airspace suppression.

8) Situational Awareness - Use the table below to set each side's situational awareness base rate (SABR) which is used to control the quantity of situational awareness dice available to that side each turn. Record the SA base rate on the Combat Roster sheet.
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13) Troop Reaction - Aside from national tech levels and grades of troops in particular formations, the combination of command doctrine, military culture and training has a great effect on unit behavior. The table below outlines how these values combine to create Troop Reaction Profiles. Troop reaction affects whether and how units operate together (or not) and how they are able to coordinate their fire. Unlike other game factors that affect entire armies, the Reaction Profile manifests as an adjunct to Troop Grade as modified by force command doctrine. The latter may be different even within national armed forces, for example the US Marine Corps will likely have a different command doctrine (system) than the US Army, etc.

14) Defensive Works - If both sides agree, each side rolls for each category once per 100 total bases present for both sides. For Troop Reaction type, use the largest contingent present for that side.

15) Mine Density - Optional but recommended: Each side rolls once on this table per 100 total bases present for both sides. Cross-index Troop Reaction with the Die Roll Result to get the Mine Density Rating for that side. Each turn that enemy combat bases move while within 6" of the enemy front line or beyond rolls a die, and on a number equal to or greater than the rating shown, the base in question has entered a minefield and instantly rolls once more on the Direct Heavy Fire table without modifiers for effects (or roll both dice at the same time, minefield "hit" as black die and Heavy Fire hit as white die).