01Core concepts

The vocabulary the whole rulebook relies on: models, Units, bases, tags, who is who at the table and how rules are ranked when they clash.

Models§2.1

Every miniature in your army is a model: a single soldier, creature or vehicle on its own base. All rules apply through the base; the sculpt on top is purely decorative.

Units§2.2

A Unit is one or more models acting together. They activate together, move together and must stay grouped (Coherency, chapter 03).

Composition: the Unit Card states how many models it has. When recruiting you pick one of the allowed Composition Options (for example 6 or 9 Marines); no other number is legal.
Friendly and Enemy: your Units are Friendly; your opponent's are Enemy. In team games, everything belonging to your teammates is Friendly too.

Bases§2.3

The base is the most important physical object in the game. Every measurement, every Line of Sight check and every question about whether two models touch is answered by looking at the bases only, never at the pose.

Correct base: use the diameter printed on the Unit Card. A different base changes the model's footprint and affects play.
No overlap: bases can never overlap. If a model cannot be placed without overlapping another base or impassable terrain, it cannot go there.
Scenic freedom: decorate bases and use dramatic poses freely. For the rules only the base and the card's Size count: a Marine on a rubble pile is no taller than one on a bare base.
Flight stands: if a model uses a flight stand, the bottom of the stand is its base for measuring and positioning.
Wobbly Model Syndrome: if a model cannot stand flat, both players agree where it would be, set it as close as possible or use a marker. It counts as being at the agreed spot.

Official FAQ v1.1What if the base does not fit on top of HIGH GROUND? Use Wobbly Model Syndrome: the centre of the base must stay on the elevated terrain and it may overhang the edge by the minimum needed.

Tags§2.4

Tags are words printed at the bottom of every Unit Card. They let rules say “this affects X Units” without redefining X every time. There are two families:

Type	Examples	What they do
Faction Tags (race)	Terran · Zerg · Protoss	Allegiance. When building you may only include cards whose tags all appear on your Faction Card.
Faction Tags (sub-faction)	Kerrigan's Swarm · Raynor's Raiders	Same as race, for specific broods or organisations.
Combat Tags	Armoured · Biological · Light · Mechanical · Psionic · Flying · Ground	What kind of target the Unit is: they limit what a weapon can shoot (Target), trigger Surge and bonuses such as PIERCE or ANTI-EVADE.

Common mistakeGround (the Combat Tag) and GROUND LEVEL (the elevation) are different things. A Flying Unit standing on the mat is at GROUND LEVEL but does not have the Ground tag. When a rule says Ground in bold, it means the tag.

Player roles§2.5

Active Player: the player whose turn it is. It matters mostly to decide who resolves first when both want to react to the same event.
Controlling Player: whoever commands a Unit, model or token. They make every decision and roll every die for it. Some abilities (such as Neural Parasite) transfer control: the new controller uses it exactly as if it were their own.
Friendly / Enemy: everything of yours and your teammates is Friendly; everything of the opponent is Enemy. A Unit may never attack a Friendly Unit unless a rule says so.

Keywords and rule priority§2.6

Keywords are written in BOLD CAPS (e.g. SIDEARM, PIERCE, HIDDEN) and always mean the same thing whatever card they appear on. They are all in the wiki.

They do not stack: having the same keyword twice gives nothing extra. If it has a number, use only the highest: with PRECISION (1) and PRECISION (2) you have PRECISION (2).
Specific beats general: if a card, mission or ability contradicts the core rules, the card wins.

Official FAQ v1.1Numeric modifiers from differently named sources do stack (e.g. three different IMPACT bonuses can add up to +3). What does not stack is the same keyword: two effects that grant BUFF Speed do not stack with each other, but a flat bonus with no keyword does stack with them.

The three ability types§2.7

	Active	Passive	Reaction
When?	Right before declaring an action or right after it fully resolves, never mid-action.	Always on.	At the exact moment of its trigger; miss it and it is gone.
Needs the Unit activated?	Yes	No	No
Limit	Once per Round per Unit per name (unless REPEATABLE).	None.	Once per Round per Unit per name, and each player only one Reaction per Activation.
In Reserves	Do not work (unless stated).	Do not work (unless stated).	Do not work (unless stated).

In plain wordsActive = an order you give while the Unit is activated. Passive = a trait that is always there. Reaction = a reflex you fire at the right moment, and you only get one per activation.

If both players want to react to the same trigger, the Active Player resolves first. All the details (costs, duration, priority) are in Advanced rules §10.

Rulebook exampleIf a Zealot Unit is attacked, it may use Zealous Round OR Ground Armour, not both in the same Enemy Activation. If a Marine Unit uses Infantry Armor for its Armour Roll, the Medics behind cannot use Life Support in that same Enemy Activation: your one Reaction for that activation is spent.

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Fundamentals · Rulebook Part 2

01Core concepts

The vocabulary the whole rulebook relies on: models, Units, bases, tags, who is who at the table and how rules are ranked when they clash.

Models§2.1

Every miniature in your army is a model: a single soldier, creature or vehicle on its own base. All rules apply through the base; the sculpt on top is purely decorative.

Units§2.2

A Unit is one or more models acting together. They activate together, move together and must stay grouped (Coherency, chapter 03).

Composition: the Unit Card states how many models it has. When recruiting you pick one of the allowed Composition Options (for example 6 or 9 Marines); no other number is legal.
Friendly and Enemy: your Units are Friendly; your opponent's are Enemy. In team games, everything belonging to your teammates is Friendly too.

Bases§2.3

Correct base: use the diameter printed on the Unit Card. A different base changes the model's footprint and affects play.
No overlap: bases can never overlap. If a model cannot be placed without overlapping another base or impassable terrain, it cannot go there.
Scenic freedom: decorate bases and use dramatic poses freely. For the rules only the base and the card's Size count: a Marine on a rubble pile is no taller than one on a bare base.
Flight stands: if a model uses a flight stand, the bottom of the stand is its base for measuring and positioning.
Wobbly Model Syndrome: if a model cannot stand flat, both players agree where it would be, set it as close as possible or use a marker. It counts as being at the agreed spot.

Tags§2.4

Tags are words printed at the bottom of every Unit Card. They let rules say “this affects X Units” without redefining X every time. There are two families:

Type	Examples	What they do
Faction Tags (race)	Terran · Zerg · Protoss	Allegiance. When building you may only include cards whose tags all appear on your Faction Card.
Faction Tags (sub-faction)	Kerrigan's Swarm · Raynor's Raiders	Same as race, for specific broods or organisations.
Combat Tags	Armoured · Biological · Light · Mechanical · Psionic · Flying · Ground	What kind of target the Unit is: they limit what a weapon can shoot (Target), trigger Surge and bonuses such as PIERCE or ANTI-EVADE.

Player roles§2.5

Active Player: the player whose turn it is. It matters mostly to decide who resolves first when both want to react to the same event.
Controlling Player: whoever commands a Unit, model or token. They make every decision and roll every die for it. Some abilities (such as Neural Parasite) transfer control: the new controller uses it exactly as if it were their own.
Friendly / Enemy: everything of yours and your teammates is Friendly; everything of the opponent is Enemy. A Unit may never attack a Friendly Unit unless a rule says so.

Keywords and rule priority§2.6

Keywords are written in BOLD CAPS (e.g. SIDEARM, PIERCE, HIDDEN) and always mean the same thing whatever card they appear on. They are all in the wiki.

They do not stack: having the same keyword twice gives nothing extra. If it has a number, use only the highest: with PRECISION (1) and PRECISION (2) you have PRECISION (2).
Specific beats general: if a card, mission or ability contradicts the core rules, the card wins.

The three ability types§2.7

	Active	Passive	Reaction
When?	Right before declaring an action or right after it fully resolves, never mid-action.	Always on.	At the exact moment of its trigger; miss it and it is gone.
Needs the Unit activated?	Yes	No	No
Limit	Once per Round per Unit per name (unless REPEATABLE).	None.	Once per Round per Unit per name, and each player only one Reaction per Activation.
In Reserves	Do not work (unless stated).	Do not work (unless stated).	Do not work (unless stated).

If both players want to react to the same trigger, the Active Player resolves first. All the details (costs, duration, priority) are in Advanced rules §10.