Official FAQ - Robotech RPG Tactics
Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 11:10 am
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.
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.