Official FAQ - Robotech RPG Tactics

[Phaze]

After conversations with Palladium, I have been given the green light to offer these answers to questions.

This is a living FAQ and more questions will be added (or clarified) as they are verified by Palladium.

PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS POST. Feel free to start a new thread with any questions regarding this information.


1. Are Special Characters unique and limited to one of each allowed per force?
Special Characters are limited to one of each character per Force (Army).

2. If a Special Character is added to a figure with the Life is Cheap special ability does it lose that special ability?
No. Any character added to Mecha with ‘Life is Cheap’ does not remove ‘Life is Cheap’ from the mecha.

3. Can Breetai’s High Lord ability be used to redirect damage taken from a hand to hand attack to a mecha that is not involved in the melee?
The damage can only be passed on to Mecha currently involved in the hand to hand battle with the Mecha from which Breetai is receiving the damage.

4. Ben Dixon
• Can his Selfless ability be used to redirect damage taken from a hand to hand attack when he is not involved in the melee? Ben Dixon can only take damage from other Mecha currently involved in a hand to hand melee if he is also engaged in that Melee.
• Can he still Dodge, Parry, shoot down missiles and/or Roll with Impact any damage taken from the Selfless ability? The order of this would be just like the Close Formation Rule. The Target gets to attempt to shoot down missiles or Dodge. Then Ben Dixon can step in and take the damage. He cannot attempt to Dodge or Shoot the missiles down. He can at that time split the damage as per the Close formation Rule with anyone other than the Mecha he just saved from damage. Then Ben Dixon, and/or the Mecha which he shared damage, can Roll with Impact.
• Can damage from the Selfless ability be split as per the Close Formation rule? Yes, as stated above.

5. Can the Pirion-Galar Special Character or any character in a Battlepod be returned to play with the Zentraedi reinforcements rule?
No. Once the Character is destroyed, only a standard battlepod (without the character) can come back as reinforcements.

6. If a Valkyrie 1J is upgraded to a 1R does it lose its Leadership special ability?
No. It retains its leadership ability and its improved piloting and gunnery.

7. How exactly are Victory Points computed for destroying or reducing to half strength a Regult unit (having Life is Cheap) with a Glaug included?
Victory points are calculated by the number of Mecha in a squad that DO NOT have the ‘Life is Cheap’ rule if the squad of Mecha with ‘Life is Cheap’ started the battle with a Glaug attached. If the only Mecha in the squad that does not have ‘Life is Cheap’ is the Glaug then all Victory points for the squad are awarded when the Glaug is destroyed. If the squad has more than one Mecha without ‘Life is Cheap’, then Victory Points are awarded based on the number of Mecha in the squad without ‘Life is Cheap’.
For Example: You have an Attack squad and two option cards...a scout and light artillery. Total (80+15+25) = 120 points or 12 VPs. So you have 9 Battlepods (Life is Cheap), 1 Glaug, 1 Scout, and 2 light artillery pods (the last four do not have Life is Cheap). 6 VPs would be awarded if any two of the Mecha without Life is Cheap are destroyed, and all 12 VPs if all four of the Mecha without Life is Cheap are destroyed -- Regardless of how many standard Battlepods remain.

8. According to page 83 under Victory Points it states that "If half or more of the mecha in the squadron have been destroyed, the player who caused the squadron to drop below half strength scores a number of Victory Points equal to half of the total VP that the squadron is worth". Is this correct since it would imply that by jumping off a cliff, moving off the table, etc. it would be possible to score Victory Points on your own units? No. You cannot score Victory Points on your own Mecha. Any accidental destruction of Mecha such as from falling or moving off of the edge of the board is still considered Mecha destruction and the Victory Points are awarded to the opposing player.

9. Can a squadron benefit from multiple close formations or just the largest group of Mecha in the squadron get the benefit?
Close formation can be achieved by any Mecha that fit the criteria, even if multiple groups can be made by the same squadron. In example, four groups of three Regult Battlepods from an Attrition squad can form four individual close formations and gain the bonus as per the Close Formation rule.

10. Do Mecha provide cover to other Mecha? If so, what type (hard or soft), and do they need to be from a different squadron or can they be from the same squadron?
The spirit of the rule is that any Mecha other than the attackers own squad (as they can coordinate) can provide cover and possibly block Line of Sight (LoS). If the Target is only partially covered (as per the Cover rule) Mecha provide Hard Cover. If the Target is obscured (as per the Cover Rule), LoS is blocked and no direct fire can be made. Missiles can still target Mecha that are blocked by LoS as per their special rule.

11. Do Veritechs in Battloid mode gain 2x Rapid Fire (so 3 shots total), in addition to the extended range of the gunpod?
In Battloid you can fire up to twice more for 1 command point each shot. In Guardian Mode, you can only fire once more for 1 Command Point. In Fighter you can't fire additional Rapid Fire shots limiting the GU-11 (or any weapon system) to the first free shot.


12. While Grell has a distinct advantage while under the Zent flag, under the Malcontent Flag, he has no reinforcements to pull from...no endless clones. For the Zent player his 5pts could be well worth it, but for the Malcontents, he is useless even though he was not put on the list of characters unavailable to the Malcontents. Correct?
While Grell can still be purchased for the Malcontent Army, at the current time he has no benefit to that Force. He does not give the ‘Reinforcement’ ability to the Malcontents.

13. Do all Mecha under the template of a blast weapon get attacked, even though they could be at different elevations, sometimes extreme, due to terrain? If so, what are the upper and lower limits of the blast?
Yes, all Mecha covered under the template get an attack on them without regard to the height.

[NMI]

Please note that the answers to these FAQs have been provided by those behind the creation of the rules/game, various play testers as well as Palladium Books Staff [including Jeff Burke].

The above questions were pulled from topics here on the forums, and various other online sources. FAQ posts will continue to follow a "theme" of sorts going forward.

Please direct any questions regarding these FAQ's to a new topic.

Thank You!

Note: All Forums of the Megaverse rules apply to questions being asked.

[Phaze]

14. Errata. Valkyrie Long Range Missiles Built in Upgrade.
Valkyrie Long Range Missiles Built in Upgrade has been changed to a cost of 15 points and Ammo 6 for the core Valkyrie Squadron. The cost of the Upgrade to the Valkyrie Squad Support Option is 8 pts and Ammo 6. The cost of the Upgrade to the VS-1S Special Option is 4 pts and Ammo 6.

15. How does the missiles with the blast trait determine the attack roll? Does it roll once for all missiles to attack, or roll once for each missile?
For missile volleys with the blast trait, the attacker can decide if he would like to target all missiles on the same mecha or point of impact or he can choose to target individual points for each missile.

Option 1: the attacker can pick a target of the attack and launch all or some of the missiles at a single target. The group of missiles rolls 1 Dice to hit. If it hits, the damage is all of the missiles in the group MD damage combined. If it misses, it scatters as per the rules, but the scatter damage is only one missile MD damage.

Option 2: the attacker can pick multiple targets, one for each missile (this includes multiple spots on the ground). Roll for EACH missile. Misses scatter as normal and deal damage as normal.

Attempts at shooting the missiles down are for EACH Attack Dice. If the missiles are grouped under one attack, then every mecha under the template gets a shot at the incoming missiles, any success shoots down all of the missiles in that group. If the attacks are separated yet overlap, the mecha under the templates gets a free shot at EACH attack, treating them separately. A success eliminates only that missile or group.

Likewise, attempts to ‘Dodge’ and ‘Roll with Impact’ are handled per attack DICE, not individual missiles. So, if the attacked launches 4 missiles at three targets (1 group of 2 missiles, 2 individual missiles), he would roll 3 dice to attack. Each attack dice would be treated separately with regard to ‘Dodge’ and ‘Roll with Impact’.

[Phaze]

16. Do Spartan Scorpio Missile Upgrade have a Volley ability? It doesn't appear on the card.
The Scorpio Missile Upgrade Does not have the Volley ability. You can fire one missile per turn for one ammo.

17. Can any Mecha in a close formation be used to shield (take half damage) from a target, even if it is more than 2" away?
Only Mecha within two inches of the target may be used to split the damage in a close formation. It wasn't explicitly stated, only calling out the 'Close Formation' restriction. Other mecha that is in the close formation that happened to be further away than 2 inches cannot be used.