MECHANIZED CAVALRY CLASH IN THE WORLDS OF TOMORROW

A Miniatures Skirmish game by Corey Sullivan

PLAYTEST RULES

VERSION 0.0.6B
Building a Frame..........................................................................................................................3
BLUEPRINTS................................................................................................................................................ 4
MODULES.....................................................................................................................................................6
Actions...........................................................................................................................................................7
Dice.................................................................................................................................................................8
Attacks and Damage..................................................................................................................................9
Line of Sight................................................................................................................................................. 9
Cover............................................................................................................................................................10
Low Visibility..............................................................................................................................10
Additional Terms........................................................................................................................10
Setup........................................................................................................................................................... 11
Deployment............................................................................................................................................... 11
Flow of Play...............................................................................................................................................12
Activation................................................................................................................................... 12
Reaction......................................................................................................................................13
Contracts.................................................................................................................................................... 14
Contract Terms..........................................................................................................................................14

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> Initializing_
>
> power[56%]
> mobsys_init[100%]
> opsys_init[100%]
> armsys_init[100%]
>
> user:**************
> pass:**************
> welcome[NEWBLOOD]
> cmd run startup_
> systems[GREEN]
> cmd run playtest_intro
> loading playtest_intro[100%]
> Mobile Arms is a 28mm miniatures skirmish game for 2+ players that pits squads of
piloted mechs against one another to secure lucrative contracts in a hostile zone of
operations. Players will combine blueprint cards (representing their mech miniatures)
with module cards (representing unique weapons, abilities, and upgrades) to bring their
customized machines of battle to bear against their foes.
> Inside this playtest document, you will find the basics of play as well as enough
components to get your first game up and running. Feel free to ask any questions you
may have in the BSS Playtesting Discord channel >HERE< if you are encountering
issues or there are missing concepts that should be elaborated upon.
> ERROR[scenarios][UNDEFINED]
> ERROR[lore][UNDEFINED]

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Building a Frame
When putting together a force, a player is tasked with bringing 10 tons worth of frames to the
table. A single frame consists of three main card types:
● 1x Blueprint. A blueprint dictates your frame’s Structure, Defense Arcs, Hardpoints,
Tonnage, and Charge. These are essentially your frame’s core structural attributes.
● 1x Mobility. Your frame’s Mobility card dictates how quickly it maneuvers across the
battlefield. It grants your frame its primary method of locomotion and grants it access to
Core Mobility Actions.
● 1+ Module. Modules are the heart of customization in Mobile Arms, and grant your
frame access to Weapons, equipment, and other upgrades. Modules allow a frame to
perform Attack actions and other special actions, as well as conferring passive bonuses.
To build a frame, pair a Blueprint card with a Mobility card, then attach any number of
Modules to that frame. The total amount of Hardpoints and Power Consumption used by
those Modules cannot exceed the Hardpoint and Power Capacity values dictated by the
frame’s Blueprint.

Regardless of frame tonnage, all frames should be mounted to a 60mm base with four
90-degree arcs delineated on them to clearly mark the frame’s front, side, and rear arcs. An
average Mobile Arms frame is about 70mm tall, but if players opt to use miniatures from their
collection they may use the highest point of the miniature as a frame of reference.

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 BLUEPRINTS

1. The frame’s Designation. This is decided by the player, giving the frame some characterful flair
and allowing a player to differentiate it from the other frames in their force.
2. The frame’s Size designation.
3. The frame’s defense arcs.
○ In this example, the frame has 3 shields in its front arc, 2 in its left and right, and 1 in the
rear. This makes it particularly resilient against frontal assault while leaving it susceptible
to flanking.
4. The frame’s Structure.
○ In this example, the frame has 7 Structure. If it takes 7 or more damage over the course
of play, it is disabled.
5. The frame’s Heat Slots.
○ These heat slots determine how many actions a frame may perform when it activates.
This frame has three empty heat slots, meaning that the frame can perform up to three
actions by having heat tokens placed into those heat slots when activated. See
Activation (pg##) for details.
6. The frame’s Hardpoints.
○ These are physical slots that allow a frame to carry modules. Each module card will
occupy a certain amount of hardpoints when constructing your frame.

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7. The frame’s Mobility Slot.
○ When building a frame, you must select a Mobility card to attach to your frame that will
allow it to move. Some options will have different traversal distances for different core
actions as listed on the card,and may consume part of your frame’s overall power
capacity.
8. The frame’s Tonnage.
○ This determines how many frames you may field in a force. A standard force size is 10
Tons.
9. The frame’s Power Capacity.
○ module consumes a set amount of power from your frame. When attaching a module to
your frame, your total power consumption among its modules cannot exceed the frame’s
Power Capacity.
10. This is the Mobility Type of the paired Mobility Card of your frame..
11. The Mobility Card’s Power Consumption.
12. The Mobility Card’s built-in Ability.
○ This ability behaves exactly like the example provided for the blueprint’s built-in Ability
(#5)
13. The number of Surge results required on a roll to trigger this ability.
14. The Templates this frame may use for its listed Core Actions.
○ Instead of a template, Rotate lists a maximum amount of degrees the frame can rotate in
a single action.

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 MODULES

1. The module’s name and type.

2. The module’s Heat Threshold.
○ If a number of results are rolled
while performing this module’s
peripheral action are equal to or
greater than this module’s heat
threshold, this module is flipped to its
overheated side.
3. The amount of Hard Points this module
occupies.
○ In this example, the Autorifle occupies
two of five hardpoints.
4. The module may have a Peripheral Action
listed on it.
○ Each attack action on a module is
considered unique when taking action
limitations into account (see activation
on pg.##)
5. The number of dice rolled when resolving the
Peripheral Action.
○ In this example, performing the
Autorifle’s Ranged Attack peripheral
action will result in a roll of 4 dice.
6. If the peripheral action is an attack, the Power
value determines how much damage will be
dealt to the target. See: Attacks and Damage
(pg.##)
7. Like Frame Blueprints, a module may have an
Ability printed on it. That ability may be
passive, requiring no activation or trigger
conditions to function and applying a constant
effect
8. This may also be a Surge ability, requiring a
number of surge results rolled in order to
trigger.
9. In order to trigger a surge ability, a certain
number of surge results must be rolled.
You may only trigger one surge ability per roll.
10. The module’s Power Consumption.
○ Each module consumes an amount of
your frame’s Power Capacity. Your
power consumption cannot exceed
your frame’s power capacity.

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Actions
Actions are the method with which your frames maneuver the battlefield, engage in combat, and
fulfill objectives.
There are two categories of actions that a frame may perform:
● Core Actions can be performed by any frame regardless of tonnage or module. They
consist of:
○ Move. Your frame will have a movement amount listed on their blueprint that can
be traversed by performing this action. To perform a move, place the listed
distance (or shorter) movement widget anywhere with its center line completely
within the front 90-degree arc of your frame, then place the frame on the other
end of the movement widget with the widget’s center line contacting the frame’s
back arc.
■ The listed distances are L, M, and S. You may always opt to use a
smaller widget than what is listed in order to get finer control of
movement, but placement must be end-to-end. If placement cannot be
completed in this way, then the move fails and the action is terminated.
○ Strafe. Your frame may perform a move using the S distance, beginning with
either its left or right arc and ending with the opposite arc.
○ Backpedal. Your frame may perform a move using the S distance, beginning
with its back arc and ending with its front arc.
○ Rotate. You may turn the active frame up to the value of degrees listed on your
frame’s blueprint, without traversing any distance.
○ Interact. If a Contract allows for you to interact with a Point of Interest or Zone of
Operations, you may perform this action to fulfill its requirements.
○ Lock. If an enemy frame is in this frame’s Line of Sight and Front arc, you may
roll four dice against the enemy frame’s Target arc as if it was an attack. If a
number of Strikes are rolled equal to or greater than the number of shields in the
enemy frame’s Target arc, give that enemy frame one Locked status token.
■ The enemy frame gains the benefits of Cover while targeted by a Lock
action
■ Heat symbols are ignored when performing a roll for a Lock action.
■ If a frame with a Locked token activates while outside Line of Sight of all
enemy frames, it may remove all of its Locked tokens.
● Peripheral Actions Unlike core actions, peripheral actions are granted by the module
attached to a frame. A module’s Peripheral action may only be performed once per
activation, unless otherwise stated. Some peripheral actions include:
○ Attack. You may have your frame perform an attack action (pg.##) listed on a
module card on that frame.
○ Another unique action listed on an attached to the active frame.

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Dice
The main dice used in Mobile Arms are special d6 with unique faces. These faces contain a
combination of:

● Strike symbols. When a frame is performing an action and would need to roll dice,
each of these symbols counts towards the success of that action.

● Surge symbols. Various module cards attached to a frame will have abilities that
require a certain amount of surges to trigger. If you roll dice during a Peripheral Action
and would have enough surges to trigger an ability on a module, you may do so as part
of the resolution of that roll.
○ You may only resolve one surge ability per roll, even if you would have
enough surges to trigger multiple abilities on that frame.

● Heat symbols. If you roll dice during a module’s peripheral action and roll an
amount of Heat symbols greater than the module’s heat threshold, the module is
immediately flipped to its overheated side (pg.##).
○ Frames can also accrue heat tokens by activating. These tokens each contribute
one Heat symbol to that frame’s rolls until its heat is vented during your force’s
Vent Cycle (pg.##).
○ Venting also flips the frame’s overheated modules back over to their cool sides.
These dice will have two symbols on some faces. Both symbols are counted as part of the roll.

Roll Resolution: When rolling dice for a Peripheral Action, resolve Surge abilities first, followed
by Strikes and finally Heat.

If you are using normal d6 while playtesting, here is a handy conversion chart:

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Attacks and Damage
When an active frame performs an attack action listed on a weapon module, its controller
selects an enemy frame as its target then rolls an amount of dice listed in the attack action.
● Melee attacks require your active model to be engaged with your target and require line
of sight (pg.##) from your active frame’s front arc to the target.
○ A model is engaged if it is within less than S distance from an enemy frame.
● Ranged attacks require line of sight (pg.##) from your active frame’s front arc to the
target. The active frame cannot be engaged with any enemy frame in order to perform a
ranged attack, and cannot select an engaged enemy frame as its target.
○ If the target has a Locked status token, add to the roll. Additionally, Locked
frames do not benefit from Cover.
○ A Locked token is removed alongside the frame’s heat during a Vent Cycle (see
activation pg.##).
After rolling your dice and resolving any surge abilities, determine which defense arc your attack
will hit, referred to as the target arc. Whichever defense arc contains the most of the
attacking frame’s base takes priority in the event of a dispute. Each arc has a set amount
of shields, called a Shield Value, and the attacker gains 1 success for every set of strikes
rolled equal to the Shield Value of the target arc. The target then takes an amount of damage
equal to the POW of the ranged attack for each success the attacking frame gained. For
example:
● Your frame attacks an enemy frame using their autogun, which rolls 5 dice and has a
POW of 1. If you target a frame’s back defense arc that has 1 shield, the frame would
suffer 1 damage for every strike rolled against it in a damage roll. But if you targeted its
front arc with 3 shields, it would only take 1 damage for every three strikes produced by
the damage roll.
If a frame has taken damage equal to or greater than its structure, it is disabled. It still
remains on the table and obstructs movement and line of sight, but cannot be activated and
does not secure points of interest.

Line of Sight
Some actions will require visibility to a target, whether it be an enemy frame, allied frame,
or a Point of Interest. To determine Line of Sight of a frame, draw a line from the center of
that frame’s base through that frame’s front arc to the target. If that line intersects with any
point of the target’s base but not all (whether it be due to frame positioning or intervening
terrain) the frame is considered to have Partial Line of Sight to the target. If that line
intersects the entire base of the target and does not cross over the boundary of the frame’s
front arc, the frame is deemed to have Full Line of Sight to the target.

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Cover
When a frame becomes the target of a Ranged Attack, it may gain cover from its
surroundings, which grants +1 shield to its defensive arc when targeted by ranged attacks. If
a piece of terrain or another frame less than S away from the defending frame would
partially block an attacking frame’s Line of Sight check, the defending frame is considered to
have cover.

Low Visibility
Some scenarios and upgrades will place 60mm Low Visibility markers on the table. This token
is treated as a cover-providing piece of terrain. It does not obstruct line of sight checks however
and can be moved through at no penalty. A Low Visibility marker placed by a player during an
Activation Cycle (see activation pg.##) is removed during that player’s next Vent Cycle.

Additional Terms
● Measurement: When asked to measure, players will use movement templates to
measure a distance in a similar fashion to performing a move action. In some cases,
players will be asked to measure multiple distances. These will be chained together
with a “+” (L+L, for example) and will be measured the same way as one performs
multiple move actions, using the 60mm visibility token as the focal point between
templates.
● Roll-off: Some instances will call for a roll-off to settle tie-breaks. To conduct a
roll-off, each player rolls 3 dice. The winner of the roll-off is the player who rolls the
most strikes (if strikes are tied, use surges as a tie-breaker, followed by heat)
● Status Tokens: Some actions will impose special conditions upon frames. These
conditions are tracked by placing a token to represent it next to the affected frame.
These conditions last until that frame’s Activation Cycle ends, during which the token
representing the condition is removed from the affected frame.

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Setup
To set up a game of Mobile arms, players will need:
● A number of Frames whose tonnage equals the agreed-upon game size, each mounted
on a 60mm base that has been marked into four 90-degree arcs: a Front, Back, Left, and
Right arc.
○ An average game is 10 tons. One should expect to field 2-5 Frames in that game
size. A group of frames is called a force.
● A set of Distance templates in Small (S) Medium (M) and Long (L) lengths.
● A 60mm Zone of Operations token (split into four arcs, like the bases Frames are
mounted on)
● A 60mm Visibility token used for chained measurements(split into four arcs, like the
bases Frames are mounted on)
● Four 60mm Point-of-Interest tokens.
● Six Mobile Arms dice (shared between players)
● Terrain to create Line-of-Sight and mobility blockage as well as visual interest
○ Large, chunky items are perfect. Upturned cups, tupperware, and other items
are perfect for this task. Or go wild! Keep in mind that since Line of Sight is
super important and range is unlimited, players should work together to set up a
table that has interesting avenues of play and several solid breaks in Line of
Sight.

Deployment
After terrain has been set up, players conduct a roll-off to determine who is the attacker and
who is the defender. The defender places the Zone of Operations token roughly in the
center of the table, then deploys their force.
● To deploy a force, measure L+L from an arc of your choice on the Zone of Operations
token and place one of your frames at the end of the measurement. After having done
so, place your remaining frames S away from that first frame’s side arcs and/or back arc.
After the defender finishes deploying their force, the attacker deploys their force in the Zone of
Operations arc opposite the defender.
Once both forces are deployed, the Defender and the Attacker alternate placing one Point of
Interest token L away from each arc of the Zone of Operations token until there are four Points
of Interest (each player should have placed two Points of Interest). A Point of Interest may not
be placed within L of another Point of Interest.

With forces deployed and Points of Interest identified, the game can begin!

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Flow of Play
A match of Mobile Arms simulates a clash between two mechanized mercenary companies
clashing on a frontier world, each vying for dominance over a Zone of Operations and
rushing to fulfill Contracts they field for a maximum payday. The game is played
continuously between the forces of two or more players, with each player alternating
activations of their frames to advance their goals and engage the enemy.

Activation

Activation Cycle
● Activation alternates in turns. During their turn, the active player must activate a frame
they own, first making a free Core Mobility Action with them (move, strafe, backpedal,
rotate)
● After their free action, they may then place a heat token in an empty heat slot on that
frame’s blueprint to perform any action, whether it be a Core Action or a Peripheral
Action listed on any upgrades attached to the frame.
○ A Module’s Peripheral Action may only be performed once per activation.
○ For example, if a frame has an Autorifle Module and Howitzer Module equipped,
they may make a ranged attack action using the Autorifle and a ranged attack
using the Howitzer during their activation, but not two Autorifle or two Howitzer
Ranged Attack Actions.
● That player may continue to place heat and perform actions until that frame’s heat slots
have been filled, or may opt to end that frame’s activation at any time after the frame has
made its free Core Mobility Action.
● While each player is activating their frames, they are considered to be in an ongoing
Activation Cycle. If the turn passes to a player and they cannot activate their frames
for any reason, they end their Activation Cycle and enter a Vent Cycle.

Vent Cycle
● During an active player’s Vent Cycle, they first remove all heat tokens from all frames
they own that are still operational. They then get to flip the overheated upgrades on
each frame they own to their cool sides.
● The active player then checks to see if they fulfilled the acquisition requirements of
any contracts. If so, that player earns a number of credits listed by those contracts.
● Then, check to see if any endgame condition has been met. If so, the game
immediately concludes with the player who earned the most credits or having
fulfilled the Mission Objective being determined the victor.
● If no Endgame Condition has been met, play then passes to the next player without
initiative, repeating the Activation process.
● The active player then passes the turn to their opponent(s), ending their Vent Cycle and
beginning a new Activation Cycle.

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Reaction
● After the active player resolves one of their frames’ Core or Peripheral actions, if the
active player placed heat on the frame’s blueprint to perform that action and the frame
resolved the action within line of sight of an enemy frame, the enemy frame may perform
a reaction.
● To perform a reaction, the enemy frame’s owner (referred to as the Reactive Player) may
place a heat token on an empty heat slot on the enemy frame’s blueprint.
● If they do so, the enemy frame immediately performs one Core Action of their choice, or
one Peripheral action listed on the enemy frame’s modules with the snap-fire trait.
● Only one frame per reactive player may perform a reaction, even if the action that
triggered the reaction is resolved within line of sight of multiple frames owned by the
same reactive player.

Endgame
A match reaches an endgame condition if:
1. A player has acquired 10 credits.
2. The scenario’s unique endgame condition has been met.
3. Every frame belonging to a single player has been disabled.

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Contracts
This is a placeholder section for public contracts, which operate as objectives and opportunities
for players to earn points over the course of a game. In your playtesting games, these contracts
are not discarded upon completion.

Contract Terms
● Secured: Your force has the most active frames less than S away from an objective,
like the Zone of Operations token or a Point of Interest token.
● Acquisition Requirements: The specific requirements an activating frame must
fulfill to successfully gain credits from an Acquisition Check.
● Max Scores Per Player: The number of times a single player may .

MAX SCORES
ACQUISITION REQUIREMENTS VALUE
PER PLAYER

In your preceding Activation Cycle, have a friendly frame

perform the Interact action while standing within S of a
Point of Interest that your force currently Secures and
4 1CR
hasn’t performed a prior Interact action with this game.

Secure the Zone of Operations during your Vent Cycle. 2 1CR

Your force currently Secures a Point of Interest or the
Zone of Operations, and they were previously Secured 4 1CR
by an enemy force in your preceding Activation Cycle.

Your force disabled an enemy Frame in the preceding

Activation Cycle.
Worth +1CR if this is fulfilled and the disabled enemy 4 1CR
Frame was at full structure in the previous Activation
Cycle.

Your force has Secured two different Points of Interest that

were previously unsecured by your force at the beginning 2 2CR
of your Activation Cycle.

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