Actions come in three types: **Universal:** Reposition, Dash, Fall Back, Charge, Shoot, Fight, Pick Up Marker and Place Marker. Every operative can perform these unless some rule says otherwise. **Unique:** from a kill team's rules: an operative datacard, equipment, or ploy (e.g. Stun Grenade, Smoke Grenade, Optics, Guerrilla Warfare). Only the specified operatives can perform them. **Mission:** from the mission pack, killzone, or selected equipment (e.g. Operate Hatch in Gallowdark, or Loot/Secure in Approved Ops). All actions have AP cost. Usually 1, but can also be 0, 2, or more. Some rules tell you to perform a **Free action**. It simply means this action costs no AP.
The Fight action has no order requirement. Conceal Order prevents performing Shoot and Charge actions (and counteracting), but does not restrict Fight. If you activate an operative and it's already in Control Range of an enemy operative, you can give it the conceal order and fight. But remember, you can't switch to engage after the action!
Each action can only be performed once per activation, but this resets afterwards. Counteract, ploys, and other abilities that let you perform actions outside your activation can use actions you already performed that activation.
When an operative performs a free action, it still counts as performing that action for all rules purposes. If you already performed the action during your activation or counteraction, a free version of it won't let you do it again. For example, if a rule grants a free Dash action during your activation, you can't perform two dashes, you simply perform one Dash for no AP cost. Some abilities explicitly override this, such as Frightening Onslaught, which lets the operative perform a free Fight action even if it already fought.
You pick Engage Order|Engage or Conceal Order|Conceal **at the start of the activation**, and it stays until the operative is next activated. For example, you choose to activate in conceal, Fight, incapacitate the enemy, and want to Shoot as the second action. You can't do it. Fight works in conceal, but you can't switch to engage after an action. Specifically, you also keep the same order when counteracting. Even if a rule let's you counteract in conceal, like Astartes, you still can't shoot unless the operative has the engage order (or has a Silent weapon). Some special rules allow you to change the order in other ways, for example Guerrilla Warfare, Cover Retreat.
Conceal Order explicitly prevents counteracting. Some teams override this, like Astartes and Predatory Instincts which let their operatives counteract regardless of order.
**STRATEGIC GAMBIT** is a label for a rule that can be used during the Gambit step of the Strategy phase. Only strategy ploys on dedicated cards cost CP (1CP each). **STRATEGIC GAMBITS** that come from faction rules, operative datacards, or equipment cost no CP at all. For example, Drop Insertion and Mutation are **STRATEGIC GAMBITS** you use without paying CP. You still alternate using one **STRATEGIC GAMBIT** (or passing) with your opponent during the Gambit step, and you can't use each more than once per turning point.
Guard is treated as a Shoot action, and Conceal Order prevents performing Shoot actions. The Silent weapon rule specifically allows performing the Shoot action with that weapon — it doesn't override the Guard restriction. Only operatives whose datacards explicitly allow it can Guard while concealed (e.g., Deathmark, Incursor Marksman).
When counteracting, you can perform a 1AP action for free, but Guard is explicitly not allowed.
After a friendly operative on guard interrupts an enemy activation, that operative cannot counteract for the rest of the turning point.
You cannot select an enemy operative as a shooting target if a friendly operative is within that enemy's Control Range. This is the "shooting into melee" restriction, and not part of "choosing a valid target". There are some rules that override this, like Ruthless Efficiency or Stalwart Defence.
Even if terrain is Intervening and within 1" of you, you cannot benefit from Cover if you are within 2" of the attacker.
The Heavy weapon rule prevents shooting if the operative has moved during the activation. However, Guard and Counteracting reactions happen outside the activation, so the Heavy restriction does not apply. You can move during your activation and still shoot with a Heavy weapon when interrupting the guard.
In a Shoot action, the attacker rolls all their attack dice first and resolves things rules like rerolls, Piercing Crits, changing the defender's cover save, etc. Once the attack dice are retained, the defender rolls defence dice. This is different from Fight, where both players roll at the same time.
In shooting, all successful unblocked attack dice automatically inflict damage. Unlike in a Fight, where you can choose to block instead of striking, you have no option to hold back. Some team rules override this, like Prey which lets you discard your unblocked attack dice.
The operative performing the Fight action is "fighting". The enemy operative is "retaliating". If a rule says "when fighting", it only applies when your operative performs the Fight action, not when the enemy does. Compare Vicious Venom, which triggers only when a Vespid Stingwing is "fighting" (your operative must be the one performing Fight), with Purity Seals, which explicitly says "fighting or retaliating" and works in both cases.
In a Fight action, both players roll their attack dice simultaneously, then take turns rerolling one die at a time, starting with the player who has initiative.
When resolving Fight dice, you can choose to block instead of striking even if your opponent has no unresolved successes remaining. You might want to do this if you don't want to incapacitate the enemy operative (e.g. to keep it tied up in combat).
Dash allows horizontal movement and dropping down.
When you climb while moving, it always costs at least 2" of vertical movement, even if the actual vertical distance is shorter. This is the cost per action, not per terrain you climb.
If you enter an enemy's Control Range during a Charge, you can't move outside of it. In other words, you can't pass "through" an enemy unless another friendly operative is within their control range. You can, however, move "around" the enemy you charged, as long as you keep within its control range.
Dash can't be performed in the same activation as Charge, and Charge can't be performed in the same activation as Dash (or Reposition or Fall Back). In other words, when you Charge during an activation, you normally can't move before or after in any way (unless some rules specifically lets you.)
When a rule refers to an operative's Wounds stat, it always means the starting Wounds value printed on its datacard, not the number of wounds it currently has left after taking damage. For example, Chain Snare or Crush refer to the Wound stat, and the Dominate tac op grants 2 tokens if the incapacitated operative has a Wounds stat of 12 or more. When a rule means the current value, it says "remaining wounds" instead. For example, Dimensional Banishment incapacitates the target if a 2D6 roll beats its "remaining wounds".
APL stands for Action Point Limit. When a rule references an operative's APL, it means the stat on the datacard (which can be modified by things like Stun or +1 APL buffs). It's not the number of action points the operative has left to spend. If an operative with 2 APL has already spent 1AP on an action, its APL is still 2.
Regardless of how many APL stat changes an operative is affected by, the total can never be more than +1 or -1 from its normal APL. The individual buffs and debuffs are still cumulative: they're added together first, and the result is then capped. For example, a -2 and a +3 combine to +1, which is within the limit.
Just like APL, Move stat changes are cumulative, but an operative's Move stat can never be changed to less than 4". No matter how many penalties apply, it won't drop below 4".
A 10-wound operative at 5 wounds is not injured yet. At 4, it is.
You can never re-roll a dice roll more than once, no matter how many rules would let you. Once a dice has been re-rolled, it can't be re-rolled again. You also can't choose the original result, even if the new one is worse.
Rules like Ceaseless and Relentless let you re-roll multiple attack dice, but you don't have to re-roll all of them. You re-roll one at a time and can see each result before deciding whether to re-roll the next.
The Command Re-roll firefight ploy (1CP) lets you re-roll your attack or defence dice. You can't use it to reroll other dice, like rolling for initiative or D6/D3 rolls from abilities and weapon rules.
Severe changes one of your normal successes to a critical success, but the rule explicitly says Punishing and Rending don't take effect from it. Devastating and Piercing Crits do. Stun also works because it just checks "if you retain any critical successes" and isn't excluded.
If a weapon ends up with the same weapon rule twice (e.g. from its profile and a ploy), you don't get double the effect. The one exception is Accurate: if a weapon has more than one instance of Accurate, you can treat it as one instance of Accurate 2 instead (but not higher).
Balanced lets you reroll one attack die, and Ceaseless lets you reroll any attack dice of one result. Since they're different weapon rules, you can use both in the same sequence. Just remember: you still can't reroll the same die twice, no matter how many rules would let you.
Control Range requires both being within 1" and being Visible. A wall between two operatives prevents them from being in the Control Range.
To control a marker it needs to be within the operative's Control Range, meaning you also need visibility. Note: On Volkus, you ignore the door and stronghold terrain lower than 2" for purposes of visibility in control range. (i.e., you can control a marker through a door or low wall if it's within 1").
The Pick Up Marker action can only be performed on markers that a rule specifically says it can (e.g., a mission pack or tac op). Not all markers on the killzone can be picked up. If nothing says you can pick it up, you can't.
The Place Marker action can't be performed in the same activation in which the operative performed the Pick Up Marker action (unless incapacitated). So you can't grab a marker, move, and immediately drop it somewhere else in one activation.
If an operative carrying a marker is incapacitated, it must perform the Place Marker action for 0AP before being removed from the killzone. The player controlling that operative chooses where to place it (within Control Range). This takes precedence over all rules that prevent it from doing so.
Carrying a marker means automatically contesting and controlling it. You don't check Control Range or visibility. If you're carrying it, you control it.
While an operative is carrying a marker, it contests and controls that marker, and is the only operative that can. No other operative (friendly or enemy) can contest or control a carried marker.
There is no rule preventing markers from overlapping. A marker can be placed in the same location as another marker, as long as it meets its own placement requirements.
**Tokens** track temporary rules effects (e.g., a tac op condition). They are not dropped when an operative is incapacitated and cannot be picked up with the Pick Up Marker action. In contrast, **markers** can be contested, controlled, carried, and placed.
Even though they're presented on the same card, the Heavy Barricade and Light Barricades are two separate equipment choices. The 2 Light Barricades together count as one choice, and the Heavy Barricade is another. If you take both, that's two of your four equipment slots used.
When comparing Kill Grades, the player with the higher Kill Grade receives +1 bonus VP to their Kill Op score. If both players have the same Kill Grade, neither player receives this bonus.
Each op category has its own VP cap of 6 VP: Kill Op, Crit Op, and Tac Op. Primary Op is capped at 3 VP, making 21 the maximum total points you can earn in a game.