The BLKOUT community development team and playtesting groups are excited to announce the newest BLKOUT Supplemental! You can find it as part of the BLKOUT Rulebook download.
The Supplemental is a collection of essential information that players should have on hand for matched or organized gameplay. Think of it as your tournament handbook, with all the most up-to-date information. It includes:
- All universal special rules with updated wording and examples. These are the same rules as your force cards but with some revised wording for clarity.
- A quick reference sheet.
- Frequently asked questions.
- Some rules from expansions that the playtesting community believes should be standard.
- Matched play rules for building your groups and the rules to use.
- Matched play scenarios.
The biggest focus of the Supplemental is the matched play section, designed for players who want to compete in a more competitive environment. This Supplemental is the most significant addition yet to the matched play aspect of BLKOUT.
This update introduces new group-building rules for using the new BLKLIST models—available here.
A MATCHED PLAY GROUP WILL CONSIST OF:
- 1x Handler Unit: Assault Handler, Covert Handler, Data Handler, Siege Handler.
- 1x Force Card.
- 3x Different Units from the chosen Force: These 3 Units are the only Units that may benefit from Battle Drills, Armory Items, and Force Special Rules.
- 1x Unit may be replaced with a BLKLIST Unit: Banak Dust Element, Szabla Element (These Units cannot use Battle Drills, Armory Items, or Force Special Rules).
Example Group:
- HANDLER: 1x Siege Handler Unit.
-
MANTICOR BORZ GROUP:
- 1x Manticor Borz Group Bratva Unit Card.
- 1x Manticor Borz Group CYKA Unit Alpha Card.
- 1x Manticor Borz Group Insertion Team Unit Card.
Players may exchange all of their Control Points to replace a Unit in their group with a Duster.
This is HUGE! Players can now reliably bring Dusters to the battle at a large cost. It represents a tactical choice to bring such a powerful but potentially vulnerable unit. With the vehicle rules, Dusters have a hard time dealing with multiple infantry models.
In addition to these group rules, the Supplemental includes several game rule expansions. These additions are designed to ensure players experience the most tactical choices possible, based on feedback from extensive community playtesting.
The added rules include alternate cover rules, an excellent addition that makes it easier to gauge which models have cover while helping players who may not have much terrain to make better tactical decisions on placement.
Full Cover: Shooting at a Model in Cover will only subtract a D10 from the Shooting Action if the target is in Cover and in Base-to-Base with the terrain providing Cover.
Partial Cover: Models in Cover but not touching the terrain providing them Cover are in Partial Cover. Shooting Actions targeting them will neither add nor subtract a D10.
Another great tweak is how control points are spent. We’ve noticed that Handlers making multiple actions led to some unfun interactions where a Handler could repeatedly shoot, especially against a model in cover. The new control point change forces the Handler to have two activations rather than multiple single actions.
CONTROL POINTS: Players will begin each game with 3 Control Points. They may never regain these Control Points. Players may spend a Control Point to:
- Battle Drills: Spend a Control Point before Activating a Force Unit to allow it to benefit from a Battle Drill during its Activation.
- Handler Activation: Once per Round, spend a Control Point to remove an Activation Marker and any Ready or Engaged Tokens from a Handler after it has finished its Activation.
- Chained Activation: Spend a Control Point to Activate a Unit after finishing an Activation with a different Unit.
Finally, we have our suggested matched play scenario! The scenario is the same across the board, allowing event organizers to customize or add new scenarios to it. The core scenario is scored based on enemy units destroyed and controlling quadrants, giving players the strategic decision of choosing smaller but more powerful units to destroy enemy forces, or larger ones to control quadrants.
To mix things up, players will randomly roll for hardpoint special effects, including dome shields, drone swarms, or jammers. These effects can change model positioning and even deployment edges!
These updates fine-tune matched play even further, creating tons of interesting tactical decisions! Be sure to join the DISCORD and download the latest Supplemental!
