Block Mania Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective
• Setup
• Descriptions
  • Locations
  • Windows
  • Edge of the Board
• Blockers
• Equipment
• Play
• Defeat Points
• Phase Detail
  • 1a. Play a Justice Card
  • 1b. Roll Command Points
  • 1ci. Deploy Blockers
  • 1cii. Activate Blockers
  • 1d. Lose Command Points
  • 2. Defensive Fire Phase
  • 3. Combat Phase
  • 4. End Phase
• Combat Procedures
  • Shooting Blockers
  • Throwing Fire Bombs
  • Close Assault
• Update Procedures
  • Fire
  • Structural Damage
  • Collapse
• Alternative Rules
  • Open Living Spaces
  • Life in the Cubes, Creep
  • Mine Bluffing
  • Hotter than the Sun
• Component Reference
  • Mania Deck

Objective

The Block Mania virus has been released in Mega-City One and filled the citizens with rage that they take out on their neighbours. Destroy or ruin your opponents' blocks to inflict Defeat Points on them before the Judges arrive to shut the war down.

Setup

• Decide which, if any, expansion content you want to use.
• If you want to use Jaeger Squads, remove one Citi-Def from each player.
• If you want to use Robodogs and Sucker Guns, remove 4 Spray Paint, 1 Buzzsaw, 1 Vibro Drill and 2 Fire Arms from the hardware deck.
• If you want to use Trip Mines and Spit Cannons, remove 5 Spitguns, 2 Demo Charges, 2 Flamers, 2 Missile Defense Lazers and 1 Missile Launcher from the armory deck.
• If you want to use Thermo Bombs, Plascrete Virus or Nerve Gas, just add them to the deck. Things will not be pleasant.
• Choose a turn order randomly. It will remain the same for the whole game.
• In turn order, each player should choose a block and place it on the table. Players other than the first must place their block adjacent to a block already on the table, on either side.
• In turn order, each player draws four blockers from their Blocker Pool, equips them as appropriate (see Deploying) and places them anywhere they choose in their block (they do not need to roll randomly as they normally would when deploying blockers).
• Shuffle the cards and place them in a deck Justice side up. Discard a number of cards from the deck equal to 6 plus 6 more for every player less than four (eg, for three players discard 12, for two players discard 18). Note: the number of cards discarded here determines how quickly the Judges will arrive, which will quickly end the game. You can discard less or more for a shorter or longer game. The number of cards left in the deck should be a multiple of the number of players, or some players will get more turns than others. Note: each printed card represents two different cards based on its two sides. Cards drawn Justice side up are held in the hand with the Mania side visible and considered Mania Cards. Cards drawn Mania side up, which happens only in the endgame, are held in the hand with the Justice side up and considered Justice cards.
• At the start of the game, the power is on in all blocks. This may change over time.
• The game begins with the first player as the Phasing Player.

Descriptions

This section describes each of the types of square, blocker and equipment in the game.

Locations

An Open Air square is any square outside a block. Sky-Rail, Pedway, Mega-Way and Tween Block Plaza squares are all Open Air squares.

An Interior square is any square inside a block. Blue coloured interior squares are Apartments. Green coloured interior squares are Civic. Yellow coloured interior squares are Special squares. Note: The status of a square is determined by the colour of its background, not by what is written on it. In particular, a Civic square is any square with a green background, whether or not it is also marked with the word "Civic".

Windows

Window and Balcony squares are divided in half. They are considered to contain two areas: "outside" and "inside". A blocker that reaches the window from inside the block is "inside" the window; a blocker that reaches it by flying or other movement from outside the block is "outside". Blockers inside a window do not interact with blockers outside it or vice versa.

Blockers cannot move from inside a window to outside it or vice versa, and blockers inside a window cannot engage in Close Combat with those outside or vice versa. Blockers can shoot from outside a window to inside (or vice versa) as if the squares were at range 1. This range measurement is a special case; a blocker wishing to fire through a window at a distant target does not need to count the "outside the window" space as a square of range. Blockers inside and outside a window do not pin each other.

If any other unit shoots at a window square which has blockers both inside and outside the window, they choose which one to target.

Tokens placed in Window squares, such as Scrawls and Fire, are placed in the square as a whole and affect both sides. A Window collapsing does not change any of the rules above; blockers still cannot move in or out via the window.

A window is considered a special type of square, a Window square, not an Open Air square nor an Interior square.

Balcony squares are treated as Window squares except that flying blockers are able to land on them.

Edge of the Board

In a 2 player game, the adjacent edges of the two boards show a half-square each, meaning that the join is considered a single square for movement and shooting purposes. The edges of the map are considered impassible.

In a game with more than 2 players, this also applies, but in addition the left edge and right edge of the map are considered adjacent; ie, the board wraps around. The half-squares at the edges of the map are treated in the same way as the half-squares at the edges of the joining boards; they combine to represent a single square.

Blockers

• Citi-Def (Command 1, Strength 1, Move 6). Citizens supposed to defend the block. Often don't. No special rules.
• Crocks (Command 2, Strength 2, Move 4). Cranky old dudes. No special rules.
• Fatties (Command 2, Strength 4, Move 4). Professional eaters.
  • Charge attacks made by Fatties receive a bonus because of their sheer charging bulk.
  • Cannot fit into the Sky-Rail - or into regular cars, so they can't use the Mega-Way either.
  • Bat-suits and Hover Boards can't even begin to lift them off the ground. Fatties can't carry these items and if they draw one, they are allowed to discard and draw again.
  • Can't fight fires. They can scarcely carry the fire extinguishers.
• Futsy (Command 3, Strength 1, Move 6). The Block Mania virus drives everyone mad, but these guys were already there.
  • Once deployed, a Futsy can be activated by any player.
  • No blocker considers a Futsy friendly. They're far too dangerous for anyone to want to be around.
  • Futsies attack only if they are activated; they can't attack "on their controlling player's turn" since they have no controlling player. (They can still defend themselves in close assault every turn.)
  • When a Futsy dies, the Defeat Point goes to the player who deployed the Futsy.
• Jaeger Squad (Command 0, Strength 2, Move 7). Elite city-def forces who are a bit too keen.
  • Because they have command 0, they can be activated for free every turn.
  • They can use Sucker Gun Movement without any extra equipment.
• Juves (Command 3, Strength 2, Move 5). Angsty teens.
• Kleggs (Command 2, Strength 3, Move 6). Alien mercenaries who are always up for a ruck.
  • Kleggs are only interested in battle. They cannot attack by any means other than shooting or combat (no arson, scrawling, etc.)
• Mob (Command 4, Strength 4, Move 4). Large groups of citizens.
  • The entire mob can't fit together into the Sky-Rail or into a car to use the Mega-Way.
  • Bat-suits and Hover Boards can't enable the entire mob to fly in formation. Mobs can't carry these items, and if they draw one, they are allowed to discard and draw again.
• Spugs (Command 3, Strength 3, Move 5). Violent punks.
• Superheroes (Command 2, Strength 2, Move 6). Random dudes and dudettes who have bought bat-suit capes and taken a bunch of steroids in an attempt to be, well, superheroes.
  • Superheroes have their own capes and equipment. They can fly by default, but cannot use any equipment tokens.

A friendly blocker is a blocker you control, other than a Futsy. This will normally be one you put into play, but control of Kleggs can change over the course of the game.

An enemy blocker is any blocker that is not friendly. Futsies are always enemy blockers, even to the player who placed them.

Equipment

Note: equipment items marked with a * are "secret weapons" and can significantly unbalance the game if used.

• Bat Suit. Allows flying – provided you're not as big as a Fatty or a numerous as a Mob.
• Buzz Saw (DV +3). No special rules.
• Demo Charge (DV +4). A basic bomb. You put it down and it blows things the heck up; possibly including you.
• Fire Bombs (Range 1, DV +2). Simple effective thrown weapon.
  • Can set fire to the square it hits.
  • Can be thrown as a grenade from the balcony of a block.
• Flamer (Range 1, DV +3). Flamethrower.
  • Can set fire to the square it hits.
• Missile Defense Lazer (Range 20, DV +6, Heavy).
  • The only weapon that can destroy the sky-rail.
  • Can prevent missiles being fired at the block.
• Missile Launcher (Range 10, Heavy).
  • Can fire a variety of types of ammo – see the shooting section.
• Nerve Gas* is nerve gas. Dumping it into a block's ventilation system is exactly as brutal and horrific as it sounds.
• The Plascrete Virus* is a virus which eats the building material that blocks are made of. Releasing it in a block will cause huge damage to that block's infrastructure.
• Power Board. Allows flying – provided you're not as big as a Fatty or as numerous as a Mob.
• Robodogs (DV +2). Robot dogs that can be sicced on attacking enemies during Defensive Fire.
• Spray Paint. Doesn't work as a weapon, but can be used to create scrawls.
• Spit Cannon (Range 20, +6 DV, Heavy). A heavy version of the spitgun.
  • Can fire incendiary rounds on any shot instead of standard antipersonnel rounds. This reduces the bonus to +5 DV, but places a fire marker in the target square.
• Spitgun (Range 6, +3 DV). Your basic assault rifle.
• Stump Gun (Range 1, +4 DV). Your basic shotgun.
• Sucker Gun. Not useful as a weapon, but allows the use of Sucker Gun Movement (see below).
• Thermo Bombs* are extremely powerful incendiaries which can melt and evaporate the structure of a block.
• Trip Mines can be dropped as traps to cause enemy blockers to take damage when stepping on them. See the Use Equipment section.
• Vibro Drill (Heavy). Doesn't work as a weapon, but can deal damage to the block.

Play

Players play in turns. Each player completes all phases of their turn before the next player takes their turn. The player whose turn it is referred to as the phasing player.

The structure of each turn is as follows, with actions taken in the order listed. More detail on each phase is given in the sections below.

• Command Phase:
  • If the endgame has started, play a Justice card.
  • Roll 2d6 to establish the number of command points for this turn.
  • Spend command points to:
    • Deploy blockers;
    • Activate blockers.
  • These may be done multiple times in the turn in any order and combination.
  • Lose all remaining command points.
• Defensive Fire Phase: non-phasing players blockers can make Shooting attacks.
• Combat Phase:
  • Demolition charges, Thermo Bombs, and Nerve Gas attacks resolve.
  • Justice units attack.
  • The phasing player declares all attacks made by their blockers, in the following order, completing all attacks of one type before moving on to the next:
    • Shooting and attacks against the block;
    • Close Combat;
    • Looting;
    • Scrawling;
    • Arson;
    • Fire Fighting.
• End Phase:
  • Check the Plascrete Virus.
  • Check fires.
  • Check Catastrophic Damage.
  • Draw a Mania card, and discard down to 3.
  • Flip all your Blockers face-up.

Play continues until all blockers on the board have been eliminated or all blocks have collapsed. (After a certain number of turns, the Judges will arrive and quickly eliminate all blockers on the board.) Then the player with the lowest number of Defeat Points wins.

Defeat Points

Rather than scoring Victory Points, in Block Mania the objective is to avoid scoring Defeat Points, and to inflict them on the other players. Defeat Point scores are applied based on markers on your block and blockers killed, as follows:

• 1 for each dead blocker. Blockers eliminated by Justice Cards do not count. Futsies deployed by you do count.
• +200 if your block collapsed due to catastrophic damage. It's hard to win a block war if you no longer have a block.
• +6 for each Collapse marker.
• +1 for each Structural Damage.
• +1 for each square containing Fire markers (no matter how many Fire markers it contains).
• +4 for each Looted token in a Bank or Armoury.
• +2 for each Looted token in a Shopping Mall.
• +4 for each Scrawl token on a Window.
• +2 for each Scrawl token on a Civic Square.

Phase Detail

In this section, "you" refers to the phasing player.

1a. Play a Justice Card

If Justice cards are in play, you must play a justice card, even if you would rather not, and even if you are required to choose your own block or blockers as the targets.

You do not have to target your own block or blockers if there are alternatives. You do not have to play whichever Justice card is "worst", nor do you have to play it in the most effective possible way.

Blockers eliminated by Justice cards do not count as dead blockers for defeat points.

The effect of Justice cards is:

• Riot Foam: choose any Blocker in play. Remove it from play on d6<=4.
• Stumm Gas: choose any Blocker in an Interior square. Remove it from play on d6<=4. Then do the same for all Blockers in Interior non-Window squares that are cardinally or diagonally adjacent, rolling a new d6 for each one.
• Judges: remove any Blocker from play.
• Judge Dredd: remove any Blocker and all blockers adjacent to them cardinally or diagonally from play.
• Fire Department: choose a Block. Remove all Fire from it. You may choose a block with no Fire on it, in which case this card has no effect.
• Electro-Cordon: choose a blocker in a Civic or Tween Block Plaza square and remove it from play.
• Kleggs Go Home: remove all Kleggs from play.
• H-Wagon: if an H-Wagon token is available, place it on any open air square. See section 3b for how H-Wagons fight as Justice units.
• Pat Wagon: if a Pat Wagon token is available, place it on any Tween Block Plaza. See section 3b for how Pat Wagons fight as Justice units.
• Sonic Cannon: if a Sonic Cannon token is available, place it on any Open Air square next to a block which does not already have a Sonic Cannon on the board.

1b. Roll Command Points

Roll 2d6 for the number of command points you have this turn. This can be tracked using the marker and track on the bottom of the block board.

1ci. Deploy Blockers

It costs 4 command points to deploy a new blocker. You can deploy as many as you want and can afford.

You can't deploy blockers if the endgame has started (ie, Justice cards are in play), or your block has collapsed due to catastrophic damage.

Draw a random Blocker from your Blocker pool and roll d66. Place the blocker on the appropriately numbered square on your block.

If there is already another blocker (friend or foe) on the square, read the dice in the opposite order (eg, read 36 as 63) and place the blocker there instead. If there is a blocker on that square too, reroll.

If the Blocker has an A marker on their token, equip them with a random token from the Armory pool. If the Blocker has an H marker on their token, equip them with a random token from the Hardware pool. If a Fatty or a Mob would be equipped with a Bat Suit or Hover Board, return the equipment token to the pool and draw another one.

1cii. Activate Blockers

You can activate any blocker you own by paying its Command cost, which is the leftmost number on its chit. You can also activate any Futsy on the board, even those you do not own.

Activating a blocker allows it to move and to take the actions below this turn. Note: It is not normally necessary to activate a blocker to have it attack.

The blocker receives movement points equal to the rightmost number on the chit. You can also spend additional Command points to give the blocker extra movement points at the rate of 1 Command point for 1 extra movement point.

A blocker that is pinned (in the same square as an enemy blocker) cannot move, but can be activated to take other actions. Futsies are always considered enemies to all other blockers; even if you have activated the Futsy this turn, your other blockers still consider them an enemy and will pin them and be pinned by them.

A blocker may never move to a square where two other blockers are pinned. The only circumstance in which there may be three blockers on a square is if a blocker moves into a square occupied by an enemy blocker and an enemy Superhero.

A blocker other than a Superhero may never move to a square occupied by a friendly blocker. Superheroes may move to squares occupied by a single other friendly blocker (possibly another Superhero), provided that blocker is not pinned.

You must finish all actions with a blocker before activating another blocker. Once a blocker has been activated, it cannot be activated again in the same turn.

The actions available are as follows:

Walk. Any unit can walk. Walking one square left or right normally costs 1 movement point per square. Units can also walk up or down inside a block for 1 movement point per square down, and 2 movement points per square up. Blockers cannot move diagonally. Units do not have to use elevators, etc, to move between floors of a block; it is assumed that staircases are available everywhere in a block. Even squares with elevators and grav chutes are assumed to have staircases available as well, so blockers can choose to move up and down without using them.

Moving into a Civic square, in any direction (including up or down), is free provided the block's power is on. This applies from any other type of square, including another Civic square. (Remember that a Civic square is defined by having a green background, not by containing the word "Civic".)

Blockers cannot normally walk into Open Air squares other than Tween Block Plazas, or to the outside of windows. They cannot walk along the Skyrail or Mega-Way.

Blockers can walk along a Pedway only if it is out of order due to structural damage, collapse, or the power being off; but not to a severed Pedway square, and not if the Pedway is working (they must use Transit movement, below, to cross the Pedway in that case).

Entering or leaving a collapsed square via walking costs +1 extra movement point. Blockers can move through squares that are on fire or structurally damaged at no extra cost or damage.

If a blocker enters a square with a trip mine, they suffer a +4 DV Shooting attack and then apply structural damage to the square (see Combat Procedures: Shooting and Update Procedures: applying Structural Damage).

A blocker cannot walk into or pass by a square with another blocker, friend or foe. If you want your blocker to attack another blocker in melee, you must end their activation one square away from the enemy, and can then Charge to attack them in the Close Assault phase. A Superhero can move into a square with a friendly blocker (as usual, Futsies are never considered friendly); and the special rules about the inside and outside of windows (above) apply to all blockers.

Blockers cannot walk onto any square on the board of a block that has collapsed due to catastrophic damage.

Transit. There are multiple forms of transit available to blockers in Mega City One which can be used to move, provided they are working. Generally, transit will allow you to move quickly between spaces of a given type, and will also allow you to move through squares occupied by other blockers.

Unlike walking, it is legal to use transit to move to a square with a single enemy blocker. If you do, your blocker and the other blocker immediately become pinned and your blocker's activation ends. It is not legal for any blocker other than a Superhero to use transit to move to a square with a single friendly blocker. It is never legal for any blocker to use transit (or any other method) to move to a square with more than one other blocker, friend or foe.

• Elevator: Provided the power is on in the block and no part of the elevator shaft has collapsed, you can move from any square in the elevator shaft to any other for 1 movement point. You can freely pass by friendly blockers, but if you pass by an enemy blocker, you must ask the owning player if they will allow you to pass; if they don't, your blocker is pinned on that square.
• Grav Chute: Provided no part of the Grav Chute has collapsed, you may move from any square in the Grav Chute to the bottom for 1 movement point. You may freely pass by any other blockers on the way. If a blocker attempts to move using a Grav Chute with a collapsed square in it, the blocker dies.
• Sky-Rail: If a Sky-Rail station contains a Sky-Rail car, any blocker other than a Fatty (who won't fit!) may move from it to any other Sky-Rail station for 1 movement point, provided no visible part of the Sky-Rail on the way has collapsed (Sky-Rails, Stations, and Tubeways). The Sky-Rail is considered to run behind other Block squares, so they do not obstruct sky-rail movement, not even if they are collapsed. In a 3-4 player game, it is legal to take a longer Sky-Rail route that wraps around the board if a shorter route has collapsed.
• Mega-Way: from a Vehicle Park, any blocker other than a Fatty or Mob may move from it to any other Vehicle Park for 1 movement point, provided no visible part of the Mega-Way on the way has collapsed (Mega-Way, Vehicle Park, or Tunnel). As with the Sky-Rail, the Mega-Way is considered to run behind other Block squares, so they do not obstruct mega-way movement, not even if they are collapsed. Likewise, in a 3 or 4 player game, it is legal to take a longer Mega-Way route that wraps around the board if a shorter route has collapsed.
• Pedway: From a Pedway terminus, provided the Pedway is working (no part has structural damage, and the block power is on both blocks) a blocker can move to a connected Pedway terminus for 1 movement point. (Pedways do not run behind blocks.)

Fly. Any blocker that can fly (Super Heroes and any blocker with a Bat Suit or Power Board) may spend all their remaining movement points (of which there must be at least one) to move from a Balcony or Entrance Plaza to any Open Air square, Balcony, Tween Block Plaza, or Window or their block board or an adjacent block board. A blocker that moves to a Window in this way is "outside" the Window. You can also fly into a Sky-Rail Station or Vehicle Park provided the connecting Tunnel or Tubeway is not collapsed. Blockers cannot fly if they are carrying a Heavy Weapon. Flying blockers may move to squares on a working Pedway, or to severed Pedway squares.

Sucker Gun Move. A Jaeger or any blocker armed with a Sucker Gun can use it to swing between blocks. To do this, they must be inside the Window of a block, and can move to the inside of a window on the opposite block's wall and 3 levels down for 1 movement point. The rules for transit movement apply to sucker gun moving to a square occupied by another blocker.

Roll a d6; on a 1, they bounce off the wall and suffer a +2 DV attack. Regardless of the roll, they then complete the movement. As with transit movement, the blocker may move to a square with an enemy blocker without suffering defensive fire, but are pinned there if they do. If they then Close Assault the enemy blocker in the same round, they gain a +1 bonus to the roll.

If a blocker attempts to use sucker gun movement from a window that is strictly less than 3 levels up from the ground, they die in a messy splat on the Tween Block Plaza.

NB: This is the only way that blockers can move "through" windows. Blockers moving using sucker guns are not obstructed by blockers outside the window. Using sucker gun movement does not "break" the window or change anything about how it can be moved through in the future. There is no clear in-character reason for this exception, but that's how White Dwarf wrote the rules.

Draw Equipment. A blocker other than a Superhero who ends their movement on an Armory or Hardware Store square that has not been looted, and with no other blocker, may draw an Armory or Hardware token respectively. A blocker can carry 1 item for each point of Strength they have (the middle value on the chit). If a blocker can't carry a drawn item, you must choose an item for them to discard back to the Armory or Hardware pool. You may discard the item just drawn. If a Fatty or Mob draws a Bat Suit or a Hover Board, they must discard it and draw again. Items discarded are always returned to the Armory or Hardware pool; items cannot be dropped on the floor.

Give Equipment. A blocker may give equipment to a cardinally adjacent blocker. This costs 1 movement point from the other blocker, which means they must also have been activated this turn and ended their activation with movement points left over. A blocker cannot "take" equipment from another blocker, nor can equipment be left on the floor for other blockers to pick up.

Use Equipment. Blockers with appropriate equipment can use it by spending movement points as follows.

• A heavy weapon (any weapon with a HW symbol) can be deployed for 2 movement points. It must be deployed in order to fire. If the blocker moves away, the equipment stops being deployed and moves with them. The blocker must take the heavy weapon with them when they move. A deployed heavy weapon cannot be left for other blockers to use.
• A demo charge, trip mine, or thermo bomb can be dropped in the active square for 1 movement point. In the case of trip mines and thermo bombs, the blocker dropping the item must immediately move away, and must have the necessary movement points to do so (by spending Command points if necessary); if the blocker cannot move away, they may not place the item. Blockers do not technically have to move away from a dropped demo charge, but staying in the square with one is exactly as stupid an idea as it sounds.
• A blocker with the plascrete virus may release the plascrete virus for 1 movement point in any square.
• A blocker with nerve gas may release nerve gas for 1 movement point in the Power House (see phase 3a, below, for what this does).

Toggle Power. A blocker in the Power House may turn the block's power on or off for 1 Movement point. The block's power being off affects the availability of some forms of Transit movement (see above) and applies penalties to Shooting within the block, due to the lights going out.

1d. Lose Command Points

Any Command Points left over are lost.

2. Defensive Fire Phase

In the Defensive Fire Phase, blockers owned by non-phasing players get a chance to shoot at the phasing player's blockers before they attack.

Defensive Fire can be performed by any non-phasing player's blocker provided they are exactly one square away from an activated blocker (Important: the target blocker must have been activated this turn – not just any blocker owned by the phasing player) and are armed with a weapon with Range at least 1. If the weapon is a Heavy Weapon, it must be deployed. In most cases, the blockers must be cardinally adjacent, but in Open Air and Window spaces they may be diagonally adjacent.

The blocker makes a Shooting attack (see Combat Procedures: Shooting) against the activated blocker.

Any blocker that makes Defensive Fire must be flipped upside down. This will mean that they are not available for combat or activation in their owner's next turn.

A blocker with a Robodog can send it to attack the incoming enemy, provided the enemy is not flying. The robodog performs Defensive Fire with +3 Strength, and is then discarded.

Weapons that have special effects when Shooting attacks are made with them usually still have those effects if used for Defensive Fire; it is noted in the Shooting section if they don't.

Note: A blocker can't make Defensive Fire attacks against blockers in their square. A blocker who has used transit or another non-standard form of movement to move to an enemy blocker's square directly is not subject to defensive fire from that blocker. If another blocker is adjacent to the attacked blocker, they may attempt Defensive Fire, but as described in Combat Procedures, they must make Shooting attacks against both blockers in the square; in their rush to defend their buddy, they may shoot them by mistake!

3. Combat Phase

3a. Deployed weapons resolve. Demo charges activated in the current turn, explode. All blockers in the square with them suffer a shooting attack with +4 DV (see Combat Procedures: Shooting). Then, roll a d6, divide the result by 2, and apply that much damage to the square (see Update Procedures: Applying Structural Damage).

Thermo Bombs activated in the current turn explode and immediately collapse the square they are on. After dealing with the collapse (see Update Procedures: Collapse), choose a square above and place a fire there.

If Nerve Gas was released in the current turn, roll a d6 for every blocker in the block where it was released (it does not matter who owns the blocker; yes, this includes the blocker who released the gas). If the roll is 6, the blocker dies; if the roll is 5, the blocker dies if they are not in a Window square.

3b. Justice units fire. All H-Wagons and Pat Wagons activate in every player's combat phase. A priority list is given for each of these units. If any blocker in the first priority category is available, they will fire at them. If there is more than one, resolve the tie by the second category, and so on. If no blocker in the first priority category is available, they will fire at once from the second priority category, and so on.

H-Wagons fire a Cyclops Laser as a +6 DV Shooting attack with unlimited range (but still subject to Line of Fire restrictions). Priority list: Blockers with deployed heavy weapons; blockers that fired weapons this turn; blockers carrying weapons; the closest blocker. Blockers killed by H-Wagons should be discarded; they do not count for Defeat Points.

Pat Wagons fire nonlethal foam grenades. Roll a d6, and the blocker is eliminated on a result of 4 or less. Priority list: the closest blocker; the highest Strength blocker; a Mob. Blockers incapacitated by Pat Wagons should be discarded; they do not count for Defeat Points.

3ci. Shooting and attacking the block. Any unflipped blocker armed with a ranged weapon can make a Shooting attack against another blocker in range. They do not need to be activated. See "Combat Procedures: Shooting" for how this is resolved. After the attack, flip the blocker.

Blockers can also launch shooting attacks against the infrastructure of the block itself. These are considered Shooting attacks and can be made interchangeably with shooting at other blockers. These attacks are as follows:

• If a weapon (such as a missile launcher) deals additional damage to the block when fired at a blocker, it may be fired at an empty square purely to cause the damage to the block. In this case, no roll is needed. Simply apply the damage to the block in the target square, then flip the blocker.
• A vibro drill, once deployed, can be used to inflict a point of structural damage to the square the blocker is in. This requires no roll but is still considered a Shooting attack; flip the blocker after doing so. Yes, this may cause the square to collapse on the attacking blocker and kill them. Nobody said this was a sensible idea.
• A missile defence laser can be used to slice the Sky-Rail connection to a block. Make a Shooting attack against a Sky-Rail square; the Sky-Rail is considered to be Strength 4. If the attack is successful, place a Collapse token in the square.
• Any other weapon can be used to attack the block. In this case, choose a square to attack and make a Shooting attack in the normal way. Attacking the block in a square in this way does not attack any blockers in the square. The square is considered to have Strength 6, or Strength 8 if it is an Armory; this means that only the most powerful weapons have a chance of damaging the block. If the Shooting attack is a success, apply structural damage to the targeted square.

NB: Remember to follow the steps in "Update Procedure: Apply Structural Damage" whenever structural damage is inflicted on the block.

3cii. Close Assault. During this phase, all blockers owned by the phasing player that are pinned (in the same square as an enemy blocker) fight, even if they are flipped.

In addition, any unflipped blocker can choose to charge into a cardinally adjacent square to attack. This would typically be done after facing defensive fire from a blocker you wanted to attack in melee. The one square movement is treated as walking, but does not need to be paid for in movement points. A blocker cannot charge if they start in the same square as an enemy.

To resolve the attack, see the rules for Close Assault in the Combat Procedures section.

If the phasing player's blocker survived and isn't flipped, it becomes flipped.

3ciii. Looting. Any unflipped blocker other than a Superhero or Klegg which is in the Hardware Store, Armory, or Bank may attempt to loot it. (Looting is hardly a heroic thing to do, and Kleggs only want to fight.) Flip the blocker. Roll d6+Strength, subtracting 1 if the block is subject to a Sonic Cannon. If the result is 6 or higher, mark the square as looted. If a Hardware Store or Armory is looted, immediately draw 3 tokens from it following the usual rules for Drawing Equipment above. Looting a Bank does not give any tokens, but is worth more Defeat points.

3civ. Arson. Any unflipped blocker other than a Superhero or Klegg may attempt to commit arson in any square. They do not need any equipment to do this. Flip the blocker. Roll d6+Strength, subtracting 1 if the block is subject to a Sonic Cannon. If the result is 6 or higher, place a Fire in the current square, following the standard rules for placing fire (from Update Procedures).

Note: Fire damage and fire spreading is checked at the end of the round, but only for the phasing player's block. Assuming that you are not setting fire to your own block, this means that fires set by Arson will not spread or harm your blocker until the player owning the block takes their turn.

3cv. Scrawling. Any unflipped blocker equipped with a splay can, other than a Klegg, may scrawl (vandalize) a square. This does not require a roll. Flip the blocker and place a Scrawl marker in their square if there isn't already one there. Scrawls are worth defeat points only if in Civic squares or Windows. Other squares may be Scrawled in but are not worth defeat points. Scrawls cannot be removed during the game (unless the square they are in collapses), and Spray Cans do not run out of paint.

3cvi. Firefighting. Any unflipped blocker other than Fatties and Kleggs in a square with an "FC" symbol may attack a cardinally or diagonally adjacent fire. (Kleggs only want to fight, and Fatties can't lift the fire extinguishers.) This attacks all fire tokens in a single square. Flip the blocker and roll a firefighting attack against each Fire token in the target square. The attack roll is d6+Strength, subtracting 1 if the block is subject to a Sonic Cannon. If the result is 6 or higher, remove the Fire token from the target square.

4. End Phase

4a. Check Plascrete Virus. If the Plascrete virus is on the board, the player who owns the block in which it is rolls a d6. On a 4+, the virus collapses the square it is on (see Update Procedures: Collapse) and then moves. To move the virus roll 2d6 and refer to the table in the Happy Hour rules. If both dice roll 3-4, or the virus would move into Open Air, roll again. The virus can move into collapsed squares, but cannot move into Open Air, Sky-Rail, Pedway, or Mega-Way.

4b. Check Fires. Follow the steps in "Update Procedures: Check Fires" for all fires in your own block.

4c. Check Catastrophic Damage. If any Window or Internal square of your block collapsed this turn, and there are a total of at least 6 Collapse tokens in your block, roll 5d6. If the result is less than the number of Collapse tokens, your block collapses. Mark the block as collapsed and remove all counters and markers in the block; blockers removed are considered to be dead.

4d. Draw Mania Card. Draw a Mania Card, or a Justice Card if the endgame has begun.

If you have more than 3 cards in your hand after drawing, discard until you have 3.

If you need to draw a Mania card and there are none available, the endgame begins. Turn all cards in all players' hands face-down to become Justice cards, shuffle the Mania discard pile face-down, and draw a Justice card from it.

4e. Reset Blockers. Unflip all blockers you own. Blockers owned by non-phasing players that flipped due to Defensive Fire are not unflipped.

Combat Procedures

Shooting Blockers

To make a shooting attack, the firer must have a ranged weapon (with range at least 1); if the weapon is a heavy weapon it must be deployed (see Use Equipment); the firer must not be pinned; and the target must be in range and firer must have line of fire to the target.

Count range square by square, with the first square being the first square away from the firer (not the square the firer is on). Range can be counted diagonally across Open Air squares, but not other types of square. If your blocker is inside a window firing at a target outside the same window, the range is considered to be 1.

Line of fire can be traced into or through Open Air squares, and into but not through Window or Interior squares. Important: This means that a weapon fired inside a block can never be fired at a range of more than 1, because a greater range would require tracing line of fire through an Interior square.

If a block has collapsed due to catastrophic damage, all squares on its board are considered Open Air.

If you are firing a Missile Launcher: choose to fire an Explosive or Incendiary missile, and choose to make it Homing or not. If you choose to fire a homing missile, it can be fired at any Open Air or Window square on the board, regardless of Line of Fire. An explosive missile has +3 DV normally or +2 DV if homing. An incendiary missile has +1 DV normally or +0 DV if homing.

A Missile Launcher cannot be fired against any block which has a Missile Defence Lazer deployed in the Window.

The roll for a shooting attack is:

• D6;
• Plus the damage value of the weapon being used (if the firer has multiple ranged weapons, they must choose one to use);
• +1 if the target is in an Open Air or Civic square (remember that certain named squares are still Open Air squares, and Civic squares are determined by having a green background, not by any feature that appears or does not appear in them);
• -1 if the target is in an Interior square and the power is off in the block;
• -1 if the block is affected by a Sonic Cannon;
• Minus the strength of the target Blocker (the middle number).

The target Blocker dies on a roll of 6 or more.

If a Shooting attack is made on a square where two or more blockers are pinned, or where a Super Hero is accompanying a blocker, make a separate roll against each blocker. You must roll attacks against all blockers on the square, including friendlies, even if you would rather not. Exception: if the square is a Window, choose to attack all blockers on the outside or inside of the window.

In addition, shooting attacks made with certain weapons have special effects:

• Flamer or Fire Bombs: place 0-3 Fire markers (your choice) in the targeted square. If you choose to place 3, return the Flamer or Fire Bombs to the appropriate pool. This can be done during Defensive Fire only if you are using Fire Bombs.
• Missile Launcher: if you fired explosive ammo that was not homing, roll a d6 and divide in half rounding down, and add that many structural damage tokens to the target square; if it was homing, place one structural damage. If you fired incendiary ammo that was not homing, place 2 Fire markers in the target square; if it was homing, place 1.

Finally, if the blocker shot at is carrying a demo charge, roll an extra d6 (even if they did not die). On a d6, the demo charge immediately explodes as in 3a.

Throwing Fire Bombs

Fire Bombs can be thrown as grenades. If thrown from a Window square on level 3 or higher, they may be thrown to any Tween Block Plaza square visible from the window, or the Entrance Plaza of the opposing block. Treat this as making a Shooting attack with the fire bombs, ignoring their printed range.

Close Assault

When Close Assault is initiated, both participating blockers roll. If there is a Superhero stacked with either blocker, the other blocker makes the Close Assault roll and the Superhero helps them, contributing to the roll as below.

• D6;
• Plus the strength of the blocker;
• Plus the strength of any allied Superhero stacked with the blocker;
• Plus the sum of all damage bonuses for non-heavy weapons the blocker is carrying and able to use (even ranged weapons);
• +1 if the blocker entered the square using sucker gun movement this round;
• +2 if the blocker is a Fatty and initiated the close combat with a charge;
• -1 if the block is affected by a sonic cannon.

Whichever blocker rolls the least dies. If the roll is a tie, the blockers remain pinned into the next round. If the losing blocker was assisted by a Superhero, the enemy is now pinned by the Superhero alone.

If either blocker is using a flamer or fire bombs, they may choose to place 0-3 Fire tokens in the square. If they choose to place 3, discard the weapon afterwards. Yes, they may burn themselves to death as a result.

If you are trying to launch a Close Assault against multiple blockers and neither is a Superhero, then someone's screwed up and forgotten that you can never move into a square with multiple blockers.

Update Procedures

Fire

Adding Fire. If Fire is added to an Armory or Vehicle Park square, it may cause an explosion. On d6>=5, all blockers in the Armory or Vehicle Park and adjacent squares are attacked with a Shooting attack with a +3 damage value, and then the Armory or Vehicle park collapses (see Update Procedures: Collapse, below).

Whenever a fire marker is added to a square, if there are already 3 fire markers in that square, the fire instead spreads. Roll 2d6 and the fire spreads in the direction indicated on page 15 of the original rulebook; place the extra fire marker on the adjacent square in that direction.

If the fire would spread to an Open Air square, or a collapsed square, it does not spread (remember that Mega-Ways, Pedways, etc are Open Air squares). Do not roll again.

If the fire would spread to a square which already has 3 fire markers, it does not spread at all. It does not spread again from the second square. Do not roll again.

Checking Fire. At the end of every round, you must check fire in your block.

Note 1: Fire is checked at the end of every round. This is different from Structural Damage which is only checked when it is placed.

Note 2: At the end of your round, you check fire only in your own block, regardless of who started the fire. This means that fires started deliberately by you will usually not be checked at the end of your round.

• Add an additional Fire marker to every square in your block that contains any number of Fire markers. During this step, if a square contains 4 fire markers, do not spread the fire. That will be dealt with all at once next step.
• Now, spread the fire from all squares that contain 4 fire markers in the way that you normally would (in "Adding Fire" above), removing the 4th fire marker in the process (either using it to represent the new fire, or just discarding it if the fire did not spread).
• For each square that contains any number of Fire markers, roll a d6. If the result is 1 or 2 and the block's water tank has not collapsed and has no structural damage, remove a Fire marker from the square. Otherwise, add the number of fire markers in the square to the result. If the result is 7 or higher, add a Structural Damage marker to the square, following the normal rules for doing so.
• For each blocker that is in a square in your block with any number of Fire markers, roll a d6 and add the number of fire markers in the square. If the result is 7 or higher, the blocker dies. (Fire does not care who owns the blocker.)

Structural Damage

Placing Structural Damage. When a Structural Damage token is placed on any square other than a Pedway or Mega-Way, roll a d6 and add the number of Structural Damage previously present on the square (ie, not counting the one being placed). On a 6 or more, the square collapses.

If Structural Damage is placed on a Pedway or Mega-Way, simply place the Structural Damage token without rolling. If there is already a Structural Damage token on the square, the square immediately collapses without a roll.

A collapsed Pedway square can be attacked again; if an additional Structural Damage is dealt to a collapsed Pedway, any blockers in the square die, and mark the Pedway as Severed.

If structural damage is dealt to an Armory, it may explode. On d6>=5, all blockers in the Armory and adjacent squares are attacked with a Shooting attack with a +3 damage value, and then the Armory collapses (see below).

If structural damage is dealt to a Water Tank for the first time, remove all fires in the 3 squares directly below the Water Tank. This will also cause the sprinklers in the block to stop working; the effect of this is described in the Checking Fire section above.

If multiple Structural Damage tokens are due to be placed, add them one at a time and roll after adding each one.

Unlike Fire, Structural Damage is not checked every round, and does not get worse unless more damage is inflicted. However, also unlike Fire, Structural Damage can not be removed during the game.

Collapse

When a square collapses, remove all tokens from the square and place a Collapse marker in it. Blockers removed in this way should be counted as dead for the purpose of defeat points.

If an Armory square collapses, it may explode. Check for this in the same way you would if structural damage was dealt to the Armory. If an Armory collapsed as the result of an explosion, it does not explode again due to the collapse.

Then, place a Structural Damage token in each of the three squares cardinally or diagonally above that has not already collapsed. Follow the prior rules for placing structural damage, with the exception that Structural Damage dealt to an Armory in this case cannot cause it to explode.

When a square Collapses, it may be a good idea to place a Collapse token on the block's Command Point Track to remind you to check for Catastrophic Damage against the block at the end of the turn.

Alternative Rules

These are rules that are not in the official rulebook and that are not obviously needed as corrections to the book, but that regardless people have played with.

Open Living Spaces

By the rules in the book, you cannot trace line of fire through an Interior square, which means that weapons fired inside a block can never be fired at a target more than 1 square away (because that square would be an Interior square which cannot be traced through). However, it seems that many players ignored this or believed it to not be intended.

If playing with this variant, a blocker inside a block may trace lines of fire left and right through Interior squares in the same block to use their ranged weapons at up to their maximum range. They may still only fire at cardinally adjacent squares, and only at a range of 1 square up or down.

Weapons fired into blocks through windows still cannot trace line of fire through more than one Interior square.

Life in the Cubes, Creep

The rules in the book are silent on attacking Justice units. Although most attack rules specify that "any blocker" may be attacked, the Shooting rules state "any target", which could potentially allow Justice units to be shot down – although it would be equally appropriate in-character for Justice units to be impervious to anything a blocker can manage.

Under this variant, blockers may make Shooting attacks against Justice units (H-Wagons, Pat Wagons and Sonic Cannons). They are destroyed in the normal way on a result of 6 or higher. Destroyed Justice units are returned to the pool and can be replaced by the play of later Justice cards.

Mine Bluffing

Some text in the Happy Hour expansion implies this rule, although it is not clearly stated. This is an attempt to clarify it.

Under this variant, the Drop a Trip Mine action can be taken with any piece of equipment. The equipment should be placed face down in the square. When a blocker moves into the square, they look at the equipment token; if it is a Trip Mine, it explodes as usual. If it is not a Trip Mine, the blocker may take the equipment as if they had just drawn it from an Armory or Hardware Store.

Hotter than the Sun

The rulebook uses ambiguous phrasing to describe the effect of adding an extra fire token to a square which has 3. This is the other interpretation.

Under this variant, fire spreading only occurs during the End phase. A blocker who commits arson or makes an attack on a square with 3 fire tokens does not cause the fire to spread; they simply place extra fire tokens into the space. This makes it harder to fight the fire and increases the chance of the fire damaging the square. When fire spreading does occur during the end phase, only the one fire token added in the end phase is spread; any remaining tokens above 3 remain on the square.

Component Reference

Armory: 16x Spit Gun, 8x Stump Gun, 8x Missile Defense Laser, 8x Flamer, 8x Demo Charges, 4x Missile Launcher

Hardware: 16x Spray Paint, 8x Buzz Saw, 8x Vibro Drill, 8x Fire Bombs, 4x Bat Suit, 4x Power Board

Mania Deck

Count	Justice Side	Mania Side
6	Riot Foam	Reinforcements (deploy 2 blockers free)
6	Riot Foam	Kleggs (deploy a klegg and gain control of kleggs)
1	Riot Foam	Sky-Rail (place marker in station)
1	Riot Foam	Ra Ra Ra (2 extra command dice)
2	Judges	Smoke Bombs (-2 attack roll)
2	Judges	Wreckers (Vehicle Movement – wreckers attack at +4)
1	Judges	Kaboom – Thermo Bomb (3 fire in any window/interior)
2	Judges	Kaboom – Mega-Way (Collapse any Mega-Way)
1	Sonic Cannon	Stuck (Elevator – can't leave but can't be attacked)
3	Sonic Cannon	Ra Ra Ra (2 extra command dice)
1	Kleggs Go Home	Gestapo Bob Harris (+2 attack roll)
1	Kleggs Go Home	Spider Schultz (+1 attack roll)
2	Kleggs Go Home	Judges! (Any – arrest blocker)
1	Stumm Gas	The Ape Gang (+3 attack roll)
2	Stumm Gas	Synthi Burger Bar (Any – can't activate fatties)
3	Stumm Gas	Tap Gang (Civic – gang attack at +3)
1	Stumm Gas	Geek Gordon (+2 attack roll)
2	Stumm Gas	Armed Robbers (Bank/Mall – robbers attack at +4)
1	Stumm Gas	Stuck (Elevator – can't leave but can't be attacked)
2	Pat Wagon	Trundle Trundle (Fatties +2 movement for turn)
2	Pat Wagon	Sky-Rail (place car)
2	Electro-Cordon	Mob Frenzy (Mob command cost is 2)
2	Fire Department	Kneepad Stall (Any – Juve/Spug can't move on)
2	Fire Department	Radio Jammer (-6 command points)

Totals:

• Justice: Riot Foam 14, Stumm Gas 9, Judges 7, Kleggs Go Home 4, Sonic Cannon 4, H-Wagon 4, Fire Department 4, Pat Wagon 4, Electro-Cordon 2, Judge Dredd 1.
• Mania: Kleggs 6, Reinforcements 6, Ra Ra Ra 4, Sky-Rail 3, Tap Gang 3, Synthi Burger 2, Kaboom Pedway 2, Kaboom Skyrail 2, Kaboom Thermobomb 2, Kaboom Megaway 2, Radio Jammer 2, Kneepad Stall 2, Mob Frenzy 2, Trundle Trundle 2, Armed Robbers 2, Judges 2, Stuck 2, Wreckers 2, Smoke Bombs 2, +2 attack 2, +3 attack 1, +1 attack 1.