Rules for Playing Star Wars PocketModels as a Minis Game, 3rd

Edition May 16, 2011 Updated by Mike O‟Connell, from the PDF by Mike Fischer, in turn adapted from Ryan Morgan‟s posting on boardgamegeek.com

Goal – Highest score wins. The game ends as soon as any player is eliminated. A player is out when they have no [non-reserve]

units on the board (or) their base has been destroyed. {Alternatively: The winner is the last remaining player}

Scoring: (If playing for “Highest score wins”) Each player scores 1 point for each unit of damage he/she causes; points equal

to a unit‟s stars for destroying that unit; and 5 points for eliminating a player. Players should keep track of their own scores.

Basics – Use a unit card to measure S (short edge) and L (long edge) distances. All arcs are 90°, which you measure with the

corners of the card. All dice are d6‟es. Icons on unit bases modify what those units can do (or what can happen to them). A

reduction on Damage never makes it 0 unless it would have been 0 anyway.

Set-Up – Agree to battle in Space (all Space units) or on the Ground (Ground units, TIE Bombers, Space units with the Transport

icon, and units which can Convert between space and ground). {Note: To fight two battles simultaneously in Space and on the

Ground, see the optional rules}

Each player places a home base (three game cards in a long row) in front of him/herself. The cards do nothing; use any cards you

like. Each base should be at least two feet (0.6 m) and not more than four feet (1.2 m) from any other player's base. Place 20 stars

worth of units with their bases touching your home base, and 10 stars worth of units in reserve (on your base). Units with the Convert

icon use the higher of their two star values for fleet building purposes; units with the Veteran icon use the non-Veteran star value.

Any given player can use three of each unique unit, except for units with a person’s name (including “XX Leader”, such as “Storm

Leader”) – each player can only have one unit in the game per named person. For example, any given player could field one of “Luke

Skywalker’s Snowspeeder” or one of “Luke Skywalker’s X-34 Landspeeder”, but not both.

Game Play (after setup) – Each turn has four phases: 1) Reserves [skip on the 1st turn!]; 2) Movement; 3) Fire/Strike; 4) End of Turn

1) Reserves: One player rolls a die; if 1-4 comes up, each player in the game may bring in units from reserves whose total stars add

up to that die roll or less. If the roll is exactly a 5, each player in the game may bring in a single 5 star unit from reserves (but not a

smaller unit, nor a combination of units whose stars add up to or less than 5). If the roll is a 6, nothing happens.

Units brought in from reserves start with their bases touching your home base.

Icons that are used in the Reserves phase:

2) Movement: Players roll two dice for initiative. The player with the lowest total roll moves all of their 5 star units. Play proceeds

clockwise around the table, with each player moving all of their 5 star units. The last player to move their 5 star units becomes the

first player to move all of their 4 star units (and immediately does so), and so forth. After all 4 star units are moved, players move

all 3 star units; then after all 3 star units have been moved, players move half (rounded down) of their 2 star units; then the rest of

their 2 star units; then half (rounded down) of their 1 star units, then finally the rest of their 1 star units. In each cycle, the last player

to move their units in that cycle also immediately moves all their units in the next cycle. If a player has no units to move in a given

cycle (e.g., they have no 4 star units; or they only have a single 2 star unit, so half-rounded-down is zero), they pass that cycle.

Unit movement is described as one or more segments of S and/or L. Each move segment is first a turn of up to 90° (pivot the unit

around its „center‟) followed by a straight-line movement up to the distance indicated. Space units can move „through‟ (over or

under) other Space units that have more stars than their own. During Ground combat, Space units can also move „through‟ (over)

Ground units. Units can opt to not turn and/or not move in each segment.

Movement – Each unit gets a movement rate that is determined by its type and its stars.

Space units with hexagonal bases are “Starfighters” or “Interceptors” (exceptions noted below); they get S+S+S

o Exception #1: “Starfighter/bombers” – B-Wings and Y-Wings – get L+L

o Exception #2: “Heavy starfighter/bombers” – ARC-170s and TIE Bombers – get S+L

Other Space units get S+S if 1-3 stars, L if 4-5 stars

Ground units which are „speeders‟, „bikes‟ or „gunships‟ get S+L if 1-2 stars, S+S if 3+ stars

Ground units that move on wheels or tracks or hover get S+S if 1-2 stars; L if 3+ stars

Ground units that move on legs get L if 1-2 stars, S if 3+ stars

Icons that are used in the Movement phase:

3) Fire/Strike: Each player fires with every unit capable of hitting an enemy unit; shoot in any order. An intermediate unit

between a firing unit and a potential target blocks line-of-sight unless the intermediate unit has fewer stars than the firing unit. Do

not remove destroyed units until the end of the Fire/Strike phase, after all units have fired (i.e., all fire is simultaneous).

When a unit is firing, declare which target it is aiming at. Roll two six-sided dice and add them up; this is your base roll. If your

base roll result is a 12, a hit is automatically scored. Otherwise, add your unit‟s Attack value. If the result is equal to or greater

than the Defense value of the target, a hit is scored. When a unit is hit, assign a number of damage counters to it equal to the

Damage value of the unit that hit it. A unit is destroyed if it receives damage equal to its Shields value +1. At the end of the

Fire/Strike phase, all destroyed units are placed in reserve (i.e., on their controllers‟ bases) with damage counters removed.

Space combat special cases: In Space combat, “Starfighter/bombers” (B-Wings and Y-Wings) get +1 to their Attack values;

“Heavy starfighter/bombers” (ARC-170s and TIE Bombers) get +1 to their Shields value. Note that TIE Bombers do not get

this bonus in Ground combat.

Ground combat special cases: Units that move on wheels or tracks or hover and which are not „speeders‟, „bikes‟ or

„gunships‟ get +1 to their Attack values; units that move on legs get +1 to their Shields value.

Strike: If a unit fires on an enemy home base, this is called a strike. Each of the three cards in a base is considered a Ground unit

with 3 stars (for icon-ability purposes only), a Defense of 9, and Shields of 2. An attacker‟s Damage is divided by 2 and rounded

down when striking, never less than 1 even if Damage is normally 0. When a card is destroyed according to the usual firing rules,

remove it permanently from the game. A player whose base is completely destroyed is out of the battle.

Fire Range – Determine a unit's Fire range by its stars:

A 1 star unit may fire at a target up to S away

A 2 star unit may fire L

A 3 star unit may fire S+S

o A 3 star unit without a hexagonal base may instead fire in any direction at a target within S at -1 on Damage

A 4 star unit may fire S+L, and a second time at a different target within S at -1 on Damage

A 5 star unit may fire S+S+S, and a second time at a different target within L at -1 on Damage

All space units of 1-3 stars, and all ground units, have a 90° arc of fire measured from the unit‟s front. Space units of 4-5 stars

can fire in any direction. A 4 star ground unit‟s second shot can be in any direction.

Icons that are used in the Fire/Strike phase:

4) End of Turn – If a player has no active units on the board (i.e., all their units are in reserve), or if their base is destroyed, they

are out of the game. Surviving players can activate End-of-Turn icon abilities such as Droid, Airborne and Veteran.

Icons that are used in the End of Turn phase:

Example movement cycle charts (where “Player A” rolled lowest initiative)

2-player game:

Player A moves… Player B moves…

All 5 star units

All 5 star and all 4 star units

All 4 star and all 3 star

All 3 star and half of 2 star

All 2 star

Rest of 2 star and half 1 star

All 1 star

Rest of 1 star

3-player game:

Player A Player B Player C

All 5s

All 5s

All 5s, all 4s

All 4s

All 4s, all 3s

All 3s

All 3s, ½ of 2s

½ of 2s

All 2s

Rest of 2s

Rest of 2s, ½ of 1s

½ of 1s

All 1s

Rest of 1s

Rest of 1s

Optional Rules

Simultaneous space and ground combat: There are three options for doing Space+Ground combat.

Using a single playing field – Set up mixed forces of Space and Ground units on the same combat field. Space units cannot shoot at

Ground units and vice-versa, except Space units with Transport icons can shoot at (and be shot by) Ground units.

Using two fields with “linked” objectives – Set up two parallel playing fields, one for Space and one for Ground, with the players‟

bases in roughly the same positions on both fields. The base cards for a given player on both fields represent a single base that can

be attacked from either Space or the Ground. That is, when one of a player‟s home base cards is damaged, mark the damage on both

the struck card and the corresponding card on the other field; and when one of a player‟s home base cards is destroyed, remove the

corresponding card from the other field as well.

Place starting Space and Ground units in or touching the appropriate Space or Ground base. Space units that are legal for Ground

combat (TIE Bombers, units with Transport icons, and units which can Convert between Space and Ground) can be started on either

base.

Alternate full turns between Space and Ground fields. During the Movement phase for a given field, Space units on that field can

transition to the other field so long as two conditions are met: (a) the unit is legal for Ground combat, and (b) the unit‟s base is

touching that player‟s home base. That unit will appear on the other field during the End of Turn phase of the next turn; place it so

that its base touches that player‟s home base.

Using two fields with distinct objectives – TODO

Using Combat and Objective cards: TODO

More balanced sides: Rare units are on average more powerful than Uncommon units with the same number of stars, which in turn

are on average more powerful than Common units. One option is to limit how many stars of Rare and Uncommon units each player

can use. For example, declare that each player can use no more than 5 stars of Rare units and no more than 10 stars of Uncommon

units.

Unit Icons and Abilities

Icon Name Phase Ability

Droid E

This unit may remove one damage marker during the End of Turn phase if a die roll comes up 4-6.

Note that if the unit was destroyed during Fire/Strike, it can‟t use this ability.

Laser F

This unit may add +S to its attack range for one attack per turn. When the added range is used, the

unit‟s Attack value gets -1.

Leader * Once per turn, one friendly unit within S of this unit (but not this unit) may reroll one die/dice roll.

Torpedo F This unit inflicts +1 Damage against units with more stars than itself.

Trooper R,M

When bringing in reserves (including via Transport and Carrier icons), you may exceed the number of

allowed stars by 1 if at least one of the units brought in has a Trooper icon.

Carrier M

You may give up this unit's move to try to bring Space units from reserves into the battle, touching

this unit. Roll a die; on 1-2, bring in 1 star‟s worth of units; on 3-4, 2 stars‟ worth (1 if the Carrier has 1-

2 stars); 5-6, bring in nothing (not even units with Trooper icons).

Turbolaser F

This unit inflicts +1 Damage against units with 4-5 stars. Ground units with this icon also get +1

Damage against 3-star ground units.

Battledroid M

A player using units with this icon may “pass” on the move of some or all of them, and then move all of

the “passed” units at once at any time in the Movement phase when he/she can move another

Battledroid unit.

Blaster F Add +1 to this unit's Damage if the attack range was within S.

Transport M

You may give up this unit's move to try to bring Ground units from reserves into the battle, touching

this unit. Roll a die; on 1-2, bring in 1 star‟s worth of units; on 3-4, 2 stars‟ worth (1 if the Transport has

1-2 stars); 5-6, bring in nothing (not even units with Trooper icons).

Armor F This unit subtracts 1 damage from each hit received.

Airborne E

If this unit is in reserve, then during the End of Turn phase, roll a die; on a 5-6, this unit may be placed

within L of any friendly unit of the same type (Space or Ground).

Elite F Once per turn, this unit may reroll a missed attack roll if either die came up 1.

Ruthless F

This unit does not have to declare its targets in advance. Roll attack dice first, then declare which

target is being shot at. Target must still be a legal target (i.e., within firing arc and within range).

Veteran E

This unit starts in non-Veteran state. If this unit destroys a unit that has the same or more build

stars, upgrade it to Veteran state (flip its base and use the values printed there). It reverts to non-

Veteran state in reserves if destroyed.

Command M

Once per turn, for the purposes of when to declare movement, one friendly unit within L (but not this

unit) can declare movement in a Movement cycle as if it had one fewer stars than it actually has. The

number of segments and the length of the segments it can move do not change.

Dogfight M This unit can turn more than 90°, and gets a free turn at the end of the Movement phase.

Convert M

Once per turn, this unit can change from a Space unit to a Ground unit, or vice-versa. It cannot move

or attack on the turn it converts. It can enter the battle in either state.

Recon F This unit gets +1 to its Defense against units with 3-5 stars.

Artillery M+F

This unit has an attack range of L+L+L and damage of (Artillery icons x2) if it does not move in this

turn. Artillery units cannot target Space units.

Cloak M

This unit must enter the battle Uncloaked. Once per turn, it can give up its move to change from

Cloaked to Uncloaked, or vice-versa. It cannot attack or use any other icon abilities while Cloaked.

-

Named

unit F

Once per turn, if a unit with a person's name (including “XX Leader”, e.g. „Storm Leader‟) destroys

something, that named unit may make a second attack against another target, which you do not have

to declare in advance.