crew of the yamato

Overview Merg
This booster contains a complete new crew for Core This crew includes a new Trader species and
Space – Weis and the crew of the Yamato! Class – Merg. The Merg in the Yamato crew is
Brutus, and his handler is Ellen. As well as the
The set contains four new Traders. They are rules below, Merg also use a new set of Skills,
balanced against the others and can be fielded as found on the back page of this booklet.
a complete starting crew. Alternatively they can be
individually mixed and matched with the Traders Using Merg in Core Space
across the rest of the range to build your own The Merg are not stable enough to go into battle on
personalised crew. their own – each one must be assigned a ‘handler’
to keep them under control. When a Merg character
Each unused Trader can also be used as a Civilian is hired as part of a crew, one other Trader in the
by using the reverse of their Character Board. crew must be assigned as their handler.

While the handler is alive and within medium range

of the Merg character, the Merg can act normally.

However, if the handler is defeated or moved out of

medium range of the Merg for any reason, the Merg
becomes disconnected. The Merg may also become
disconnected after using some of its Skills.

While disconnected, Merg use the following rules:

Event Cards • Disconnected Merg are always the last Traders

This booster also contains some new Event cards, from their crew to be activated in the Trader phase.
designed to give a helping hand to the crew that • They will take their actions as normal, but the
draws them. As well as a new card, there are also player cannot choose these actions. Instead:
two new Assistance cards. Unlike all other cards, Their first action in each round will be to Move
when these are drawn, do not show the other players. in a direction indicated by the Chance Die
These cards provide a unique advantage and are (even if in contact with an enemy, provoking
kept by the player with the Turn Counter to use later. an attack of opportunity as normal).
If this Move takes them into contact with
These new cards can be shuffled into the Event another character (friend or foe), their second
Deck whenever you want to add an interesting twist and any subsequent actions will be Close
to your games. Assault actions against that character.
If they do not enter contact with another
character, their second action will be to Move
AUTOMATED
DEFENCES FIRE IN THE again, in a random direction as before.
HOLE!
RELAXED
GUARDED
Lockout: You are locked out of all systems.
Overl oad!:
REL AXED PURGE
This will continue until all actions are used up.
Doors remain in their current state, but
be opened or closed, and no online forces
may
systems
not You learned an
, and it’s effect old trick in the MERG • To reconnect with a Merg, the handler must be
discard with
(elevators, buttons, etc) may be Interacted it during any of
ive! Keep this
card and MAST
until the end of the round.
the following: your turns to
benefit from RELAXE ER
WATCH YOUR BACK
Lockdown: Containment systems activate,
• Ammo Gren
COVER ME
Energy Weap
cell to create
ade: Any Trade
on may overlo
Deep Co
r with an to contro
ad its car
nnection
D
l the not : Your crew hav
oriousl
PURG
E within medium range, and spend two actions
a grenade. Remo power d and discar e learne

or two Skill pegs (or any combination of these)

y feral
sealing all doors. All doors are closed and
of their remai ve all benefit fro d it Merg. Ke d
ning m the foll during any of ep
(using an effortl ammo, and Throw it
locked, and elevators and other online systems
• owing: your tur this
may not be used until the end of the round. ess action as norma Tem ns to
statistics of the l). The for porary Hand

during their turn. Once this has been done the

weapon are: feit the ler: An
CHARGE PURGE take a ir entire y Trader
turn in
range.
free tur
n with order to may
Gun Turrets: Defence systems spring to life. Th any instead
S pegs to ey may spend Merg in short
Merg can again act as normal.
Each player may choose one Purge character use
and make a 5 dice attack against it. Merg doe the Merg’s their own Skill
Skills. Th
crew. On s not have to e
ce the turn be par
is over t of their
• If a handler is defeated during a game and is not
reconn
ected to the Me
its orig rg is
inal han
dler.

extracted, the Merg is lost too.

Note that when selecting a crew, Merg characters

can only choose the Merg Class, and non-Merg
characters cannot choose the Merg Class.

Equipment Merg are always considered to be within range of

This expansion includes a selection of new their handler when used as Civilians unless stated
equipment tokens. These should all be shuffled in otherwise in the mission briefing.
with the others of their type, separating out the large
and/or rare tokens as normal.

Note that the tokens with ‘MERG’

shown on the front can only be used by
Merg characters.
2
New Mission Of course, you may want to use this mission to
Want to know a little more about the crew of the represent a part of your own narrative, in which
Yamato? On the next page you will find a mission case you can use any crews that you like.
briefing recreating one of the daring adventures
The mission can be played as a standalone
from Weis’ past.
game or can be dropped straight into an existing
This is a narrative mission for 2-4 players. It is campaign. It can be played with rookie or
recommended that one player takes the crew of the experienced crews.
Yamato, to see if they can rewrite history. Any other
crews taking part represent rival Traders fighting
over the same prize.

Weis didn’t like this. In many ways the buying and selling of intelligent creatures reminded him
of slavery. It could be said that the Merg weren’t intelligent and the evidence was damning. The
Merg’s own violent nature had been their undoing and they had been hunted to near extinction by
other species who felt threatened. However, he knew Merg could talk, in a fashion, and that they had a
rudimentary culture.

Weis had been contacted by a rare animal dealer who said he could give him a good deal. Weis didn’t
trust the man but recently the Yamato had severely lacked crew, muscle in particular. He had been
relying on mercenaries, who were both expensive and ethically dubious in his mind. The girl, Alecia,
had turned out to be a sound investment, but one semi-wild ex-ganger didn’t make a crew.

After considering the deal Weis had stopped at a Hive station to pick up a handler, a person
experienced in controlling wild beasts. Ellen was a hardened veteran with many years’ experience and
had in her possession empathic bracelets that she assured Weis would be enough to control the Merg.
He looked at the slip of a girl but kept his doubts to himself; he was relatively new to Trader life and
knew that looks could be deceiving. If the woman knew her business who was he to doubt her?

As they approached his old home system he felt an uneasiness, partly to do with this Merg business
but also the bitterness of his forced retirement. He never liked going home.

Crew of the Yamato

3
 Mission Briefing - Crossfire at Callisto
The crew of the Yamato are in a small mining town on a pick-up. The town is in the same system as Weis’
homeworld of Callisto – he is familiar with the area and the type of people they will be dealing with. The crew
are here to buy a Merg, an extremely violent life-form close to extinction. The Yamato crew aren’t interested in
the Merg as a zoological specimen – they believe he could be an invaluable member of the crew!
However, the dealer invited more than one Trader crew to the meet, hoping to drive the price up, which
resulted in a fight breaking out. The debacle has attracted the attention of the Purge - between them and an
enraged beast the Traders have plenty to deal with!
Primary Objective
Reward: Brutus
The crews have been attracted to the area by a rare
animal dealer selling a Merg specimen – Brutus.
The winning crew will be the one that can obtain
Brutus and get him back to their ship.
Secondary Objective
Reward: Variable
The Yamato crew know this area and want to protect
its people. They get +1 to Persuade rolls in this
game. For each Civilian they get back to their ship,
they can take a free random crate from the Town
Stores, if any remain on the board at the end of the
game (see Special Instructions). These Civilians
cannot be hired.
The other crews are here for salvage. They must try
to purchase or steal the crates instead.
Special Instructions
SET UP
It is recommended that one player in this mission
should select the Yamato crew consisting of
Weis, Alecia and Ellen. They always deploy their
ship in the position marked X as they know the
area and can start closer to the meetup point. If
they are not being used, one other crew must be
chosen to use the rules and objectives used for
the Yamato crew in this mission.
Note that no crew can take Brutus in this mission
as he is the objective.
Brutus
Brutus has been held captive under poor conditions
and does not have a handler in this mission. At the
start of the game he is being held by the dealer, Kaori,
and neither of them will activate.
As soon as a Trader or Purge character enters the room
marked in red, Brutus will sense danger and become
enraged, breaking free of his restraints. Kaori will then
abandon the deal. From this round onwards, Kaori and
Brutus will activate as normal; Kaori as a Civilian and
Brutus following the rules for disconnected Merg. Unless
he has been connected (see below) his actions are
rolled for by the player with the Turn Counter.
Without a handler, in the Assessment Phase of each
4 round Brutus automatically becomes disconnected.
To connect with Brutus, a Trader must move into
contact with him and use an action to roll a combat
die. On a hit, they temporarily connect with him and
can control him for that round only. Brutus can only
connect to one Trader in each round.
• Traders who had connected with Brutus in the
previous round can add one die to their roll.
• Ellen from the Yamato crew has a natural affinity
with the Merg and adds one die to her roll
(cumulative with the above).
Town Stores
The four crates in the room marked in red represent the
Town Stores. These crates are locked and cannot be
Searched. They are still allocated tokens as normal.
The Yamato crew have no interest in these and can
ignore them, but may be given them as a reward for
evacuating Civilians.
The other crews can either Persuade a Civilian to
sell them the contents, or they can steal the crates.
If they successfully Persuade a Civilian, they can
choose one crate. They can then Search that crate
and take any of the items within by paying their sell
price from their crew’s assets. Each crate requires a
separate Persuade roll.
To steal a crate, Traders can take them back to their
ship and access the contents after the mission.
However, once a crew has started to move crates,
the Civilians will become hostile. If the Civilians
have a Trader from that crew in LoS when they
activate, they will automatically follow the rules for
an Attack result against that Trader.
A Trader in contact with a crate can use an action to
Move up to 2 inches, moving the crate with them.
If another Trader from your crew is in contact with the
crate, you may Move both characters and the crate
up to 4 inches instead as a single action. Both are still
bound by the 11 inch maximum. Place a Reminder
Counter next to the other character that moved – they
will take one fewer action in their next turn.
If an enemy is also in contact with the crate, it may
not be moved without their permission (note that
NPCs will never give permission).
 Set Up

5
Crew of the Yamato
 Crew of the Yamato
Weis
Name: Johann Weis; Species: Human; Age: 50.

Captain Weis served the military of his

homeworld faithfully for thirty years but was
retired against his will due to cutbacks.
Knowing only how to be a soldier he struggled
to adapt to civilian life. Feeling both betrayed
and lost he drifted on the fringes, moving
from system to system attempting to find a
commission as a soldier in a different military.
The Galactic Corps beckoned but he’d never
liked the look of it.

Weiss found work amongst the Traders,

mostly as a pilot, and eventually took the
command of the Yamato where he has made
a new life for himself. He still has a stiff
military bearing but has learned that his crew
aren’t soldiers and that sometimes a soft
approach works better than barking orders.
He is in general an avuncular man but with
tendencies to brood.

Alecia
Name: Alecia Tünde; Species: Human; Age: 22.

Alecia was fast heading for trouble. Loud

mouthed and scornful of authority as a child she
passed from one institution to another before
being dumped out in the cold on her sixteenth
birthday. She moved from one gang to another
trying to find a family but soon realised that she
wasn’t cold or hard enough for that life. Brutality
was common and criminality expected; but by
then she had nowhere else to go.

Eventually Weis caught her in a botched attempt

to steal cargo from the Yamato. Weis didn’t
see a hardened criminal, just a scared child, so
instead of handing her over to the local security
he offered her a job. Leaving the gang was no
hardship and she settled in quickly and found
she had a talent for engineering. Although she would
never admit it openly, she sees Weis as the father
she never had.

6
Brutus
Name: Brutus; Species: Merg; Age: Unknown.

Brutus is a large and powerful being from a species known

as the Merg. He has an intelligence on par with a higher
primate and is able to articulate his thoughts and feelings
in a fashion, but on the whole keeps his own counsel.
Mentally he is like a child who needs comfort and security,
but will fly into a destructive rage if handled poorly.

He was a broken wreck after several years of abuse before

Ellen found him. He accepts Ellen’s control and without
her guidance would succumb to the destructive nature that
caused his species to be hunted to near extinction.

Brutus is near uncontrollable when riled and the

empathic link is broken. He may take a new link from
someone other than Ellen, but this is highly unlikely.
The rest of the crew keep their distance from him,
regarding him as a trained attack dog that could
turn savage at any moment.

Ellen
Name: Ellen Koharu; Species: Human; Age: 36.

Although looking little more than a child Ellen has

had a long and hard life as a mercenary. She ran
guns through the most dangerous sectors of the
galaxy and considers the borders of Purge space to
be just another job. She struck on the idea of selling
her skills as ‘Beast and Master’ when she found the
broken wreck of a Merg living in a freak show.

Ellen learned to control the ‘beast’ via a neural

network patched directly to her bracelets. In reality the
relationship is far more symbiotic and over the years
the beast, a Merg called Brutus, has become, in many
ways, an extension of herself. The responsibility of this
relationship has softened her slightly, but you wouldn’t
know it if you met her in a fire fight.

The Yamato
The Yamato is a decommissioned scouter owned by a
Crew of the Yamato

small trading conglomerate. Although an AVTOL

it was never designed for Core Space travel
and the captain must keep a wary eye
on it. The universal locks are also
arranged in such a way that an
inexperienced pilot could
tear the ship apart
with inertia.

7
 Extremely large and powerful, the Merg are an endangered species, ruthlessly hunted to near
extinction for sport. They are extremely volatile and outside of their habitat are a danger to anyone or
anything in the vicinity.

The feral Merg can be tamed, but it is a long, slow process before they can be fully controlled. These ‘handlers’
become empathically bonded with their Merg, strengthening the bond via psychically charged bracelets.

When fully connected the handler is able to guide the Merg, utilising its strength and fearsome nature to
their advantage, while keeping it calm in the terrifying human world of weapons and technology. Of course,
the empathic connection is a two-way street, and no-one enters a career of Merg-handling lightly.

Merg Skills
skill level action
Charge 1 Make a Move action that ends in base contact with an enemy, and
then make a Knock Back action. Any hits on the Knock Back action
are applied as damage to the enemy in addition to the normal effects.
Armour applies as normal.
2 While making Move actions this round you can make a free close
assault attack on up to 3 characters that you enter contact with during
your Move, ignoring attacks of opportunity from these characters.
Disconnect 1 You allow your natural rage to flood your body. For this turn you
can Move an additional 2 inches and roll 2 extra combat dice in
Close Assault. At the end of the turn, you become disconnected
from your handler.
2 You fill your body with unbridled rage. For this turn you gain an extra
action. You can also Move an additional 2 inches and roll 2 extra
combat dice in Close Assault. Any enemies that you enter contact with
during your Moves this turn are knocked prone. At the end of the turn,
you become disconnected from your handler.
Heel 1 Make a Move action towards your handler via the shortest possible
route. If you enter base contact with your handler, any hits that your
handler suffers from attacks this round are taken on you instead
(armour applies as normal).
2 Make up to two Move actions towards your handler via the shortest
possible route. If you enter base contact with your handler, any hits that
your handler suffers from attacks this round are taken on you instead
(armour applies as normal). Your handler also restores 1 Health.
3 Make up to three Move actions (up to the normal 11 inch limit)
towards your handler via the shortest possible route. You may
move through other characters, making a free Knock Back
action on each one you pass through. If you enter base contact
with your handler, any hits that your handler suffers from attacks
this round are taken on you instead (armour applies as normal).
Your handler also restores 1 Health.
Sonic Roar 1 You use your modulated vocal chords to unleash a powerful blast.
All characters within short range suffer an attack with 1 combat die
that ignores armour. Augmented, Machine and Purge characters
are not affected.
2 You use your modulated vocal chords to unleash a powerful blast
that affects all matter. A single character (of any type except Purge
rank 4 and above) within medium range and LoS suffers an attack
with 2 combat dice that ignores armour. If the target survives they are
knocked prone.