12Preparing for battle

Everything before the first die: building the army with Minerals and Vespene Gas, the Mission and Deployment draft, and how the table is set up.

Engagement Scale§9.1.1

Before building armies, players agree on the scale:

Race and Faction Card§9.1.2

Pick a race (Terran, Zerg or Protoss) and a single Faction Card. That card gives your starting slots (e.g. Kerrigan’s Swarm: 3× Core, 1× Hero, 2× Support) and decides which Units and Tactical Cards you may bring.

The tag rule

Every Faction Tag on a Unit or Tactical Card must appear on your Faction Card. If even one is missing, that card is out, no matter how many others match. Having fewer tags than the Faction Card is fine.

Minerals and Vespene Gas§9.1.3 · 9.1.4

• Minerals: pay for Units and upgrades. You cannot exceed the scale limit. Unspent Minerals are lost.
• Vespene Gas: only buys Tactical Cards, cannot be turned into Minerals and any leftover is lost. At Standard (2,000) you get 200.

Tactical Cards and Army Slots§9.1.5

• Tactical Cards unlock extra Army Slots (Core, Elite, Support, Air, Hero) on top of the Faction Card’s.
• If a card is Unique, you may only take one copy.
• All your Tactical Cards and your Faction Card go face up on the table before the game.
• Example: Barracks opens more Core slots for Marines; Academy opens Support slots for Medics.

Mustering Units§9.1.6

• Each Unit has Composition Options (model count → Mineral cost). Pick one; no other count is allowed. That choice sets its starting Supply.
• Each Unit fills as many slots of its type as its starting Supply. Unused slots are lost.

Purchasing upgrades§9.1.7

• You may buy any number of the upgrades on the card’s back, each a different entry, paying its cost.
• An upgrade applies to every model in the Unit, unless it is SPECIALIST.
• If it says “FOR [weapon]”, it is a replacement: every model with that weapon loses it and gets the new one.
• SPECIALIST: only one model carries it (chosen when building). You cannot buy the same SPECIALIST twice, but you may buy different ones, each on a different model. That model fires in its own Batch.

Official army example (Standard)§9.1

Raynor’s Raiders with Barracks, Barracks (Proxy), Factory, Orbital Command, Academy and Engineering Bay: 185 of 200 gas (15 lost). Slots used: Core 8/8, Hero 1/1, Support 2/3, Elite 2/2, Air 0/1. Units: 1,670 Minerals; 330 left for upgrades or more Units.

Team games, summons and lists§9.1.8–9.1.11

• Team games (2v2, 3v3, free-for-all): agree on a Mineral total per team and split it as you like. Each player builds their own army with their own Faction and Tactical Cards; races may repeat or not.
• Summoned Units (Roachling, Point Defense Drone, Pylon): no cost, not on the list, no slots, not in Reserves, and they only enter through an ability such as SUMMON. On the table they are normal Friendly Units and their Supply counts, but they are not used for the Final Score.
• Open Lists (default): both share their whole roster (Units, upgrades and weapon swaps) before playing. This is recommended.
• Closed Lists (optional): only if both agree. Units are revealed as they deploy; Faction and Tactical Cards stay face up and can always be inspected. When a Unit hits the table you must immediately declare its upgrades and swaps.
• Tournaments may use their own visibility rules; check the organiser’s rules pack.
• Representation: models should show their actual equipment. If not, you must declare it when deploying and remind your opponent before any action where it matters (charges, shooting…). Failing to do so is unsportsmanlike.

Mission and Deployment draft§9.2

1. 1
   What to bring

   Each player brings 2 Mission Cards and 2 Deployment Cards, no duplicates within their own set (both players may bring the same ones). Lay them face up: one row of missions, one of deployments.
2. 2
   Roll-Off

   The winner chooses, in order: 1) their colour (Red or Blue), which sets their Entry Edge, Zone of Influence and marker affinity; 2) whether they control the Mission Draft or the Deployment Draft. The opponent controls the other.
3. 3
   Mission Draft

   The player WITHOUT Mission control removes 2 Mission Cards. The controller picks 1 of the 2 left; the other is discarded.
4. 4
   Deployment Draft

   The same with the Deployment Cards.
5. 5
   Marker affinity

   Markers 1 and 3 = Red player; 2 and 4 = Blue player; 5 = neutral. It only shows the printed colour; it grants no starting control.

▶ SimulatorMission & Deployment draft

Each player brings 2 Mission Cards and 2 Deployment Cards (dealt at random from the official ones here). Click the cards to play the whole draft.

Scale

SkirmishStandard

↻ Deal again

Step 1: Roll-Off. Each player rolls 2D6; re-roll ties.

Roll-Off (2D6)

Battlefield set-up§9.3

1. 1
   Confirm the table size on the Deployment Card.
2. 2
   Assign Entry Edges as the card shows.
3. 3
   Place Zone of Influence Markers at the corners of each Entry Edge that does not run the full length of the table side.
4. 4
   Place terrain: pick or roll one of the rulebook’s pre-made maps (D6 for Standard, D3 for Skirmish; see Battlefield maps), or alternate placing one piece at a time starting with the Red player, following the density guide.
5. 5
   Finally, place the Mission Markers at their coordinates. They may sit on MID or HIGH GROUND, but never on impassable terrain: if they overlap, move the terrain the minimum needed.

Terrain density guide (Standard 36×54 table)

• Each table quarter: at least 2 significant pieces (Size 2+), none empty and none impassable.
• Within 6" of the centre there should be at least one significant piece.
• Leave at least 2 fire lanes 6" or wider running from one Entry Edge towards the other.
• Every Size 3+ piece models can stand on should have an ACCESS POINT reachable from ground level.
• Scale it proportionally for other table sizes.

In plain wordsPick a side, spend minerals on troops and gas on cards, draft the mission and map, lay out terrain and markers, and play.