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The Mechanics of REDLINE: Battle of Neom

The supercity of Neom stands in flames thanks to its invasion by General Koskof and the Crimson Pact of Mars! Caught unprepared, the forces of the United Nations of Earth rush all available efreets into the city in a desperate fight to reclaim every lost district before it falls.

On the streets of Neom, intense urban combat threatens to destroy careless pilots so take care to find cover in the rubble of the city if you wish to survive. But in the end, ultimate victory will depend on the commanders best able to use the unique abilities of their efreet squad to their fullest potential.

CASUALTY

For the people of the Crimson Pact of Mars, living with sacrifice is just a part of daily life. The harsh environment of Mars which they call home requires it. But sacrifice also comes on the battlefield, especially during their attack on Neom, where casualties are expected to be high.

Sacrifice has always been a small theme of the CPM faction that goes all the way back to the REDLINE: Core Set and cards like blaze of glory. We have always wanted to expand more on that theme and it so happens that the story we developed for Neom made the casualty mechanic a strong fit as the invasion of Neom is masterminded by CPM General Dimitry Koskof, an absolutely ruthless madman who cares little about how many eggs he need break to cook his omelets.

Whenever a card with the casualty mechanic is destroyed and goes into the scrapyard from play, it triggers an extra bonus for the player. Just like in the case of the experimental XPC-100 Plasma Cannon above. Though this weapon is extremely powerful, CPM engineers may not have worked out all the kinks in the design quite yet, so players should be mindful when using it, as the destruction of the weapon could cause some catastrophic effects for anybody close by. Friends and foes.

SPOTTER

When we began developing Battle of Neom, we really wanted to create a unique combat mechanic for the UNE as their previous ones, precision and intel, had only marginal impact once the guided missiles started to fly.

The spotter ability ties into their faction attributes of accuracy and precision, but requires careful timing to know when to call in the extra firepower it provides.

During combat, an efreet with the spotter ability may expend itself to replace its attack in the current combat round with another in its squad. In addition, by doing so the new efreet making the attack gains a small accuracy bonus of +1 from the spotter to help make sure the shot lands on target.

Though it requires a teammate to work, the ability is a powerful one when used at the right time and gives crafty UNE players a lot of situational options during engagements. For example, a speedy but weak efreet could give a spot at the beginning of combat for a harder hitting, but slower squamate, effectively letting it cut in line, to get off a quick shot and set the tone of the battle going forward. Or, if you have an accurate sniper on your team and really need to make sure the next attack hits, you can spot for your sharpshooter and take out dangerous targets before they can do damage.

In addition, there may be some cards that give players extra bonuses when spotting, such as the new Praetorian heavy efreet which can help UNE commanders dig through their arsenal to set up the next attack.

SCORCHED EARTH

As the Battle of Neom unfolds, the city will begin to take collateral damage as a result of the fighting. If areas of Neom take too much, the city itself will crumble into rubble, an urban wasteland with little strategic value.

With a new set and a new setting focused on urban combat, we really wanted to add mechanics to Neom that added to the feeling of danger and loss that comes from such fighting. Sadly history is full of urban areas where once proud cities are left in ruins once hostilities end, and for Battle of Neom to work, it too had to risk the same fate.

Luckily, as REDLINE is a card game designed from the start to have players engage over a battlefield made of mission cards, we knew we had an opportunity to incorporate aspects of urban warfare into our newest expansion. Games of REDLINE are not fought over imaginary “red zones” or faceless battlefields, but actual locations. Territory to take and hold and now with Battle of Neom, can degrade over time. All thanks to our first ever mission card mechanic.

All the mission cards in Battle of Neom come with the new scorched earth mechanic. Cards with scorched earth are now valid targets during play and can take direct damage from abilities and cards like detonation. In addition, during engagements that take pace at missions with scorched earth, all missed attacks during combat add a damage counter to the mission. Once a mission takes damage equal to its capture cost, the mission flips and becomes rubble, losing all abilities and has a permanent capture cost of 5.

Damage to missions with scorched earth is permanent and cannot be repaired. Missions with scorched earth cannot be targeted by capture damage as they do not reside on a players baseline and once a mission flips into rubble it loses all damage counters and can no longer take more. Rubble does not generate recon as it is destroyed territory of little strategic value anymore.

With scorched earth, Neom itself changes and evolves during play. Depending on how a player’s game turns out, Neom could come out relatively unscathed. Or, long drawn out battles could leave it a smoldering wreck.

Which just happens to be the contingency plan for General Koskof’s invasion of Neom.

ENTRENCHMENT COUNTERS

As the city of Neom takes damage and begins to fall into rubble, numerous hiding spots and opportunities for cover will present themselves to efreet pilots who can use the urban terrain to their advantage.

One of the more limiting aspects of creating a wargame in a sci-fi setting is the inability to “heal” units like giant mechanical efreets in active combat. And this is not NASCAR or Formula One racing where you can pit your efreet to fill up the gas tank and change out the tires.

Because of this restriction, typically in combat once a player’s efreets do take damage, players had to choose to either keep them fighting and risk destruction or retreat battered units and schedule an appointment at the repair hangar for the next turn. Healing damage during a fight would be a useful third option but something you could not do. Until now.

Enter Battle of Neom and the introduction of entrenchment counters.

Just as with scorched earth, we really wanted to find a mechanic that would add to the urban warfare themes of the set. We knew the city of Neom was going to take a lot of damage as structures crumble and fall to the ground. Entrenchment counters represent the piles of rubble that comes with such wasteful fighting, but allows players to now hide efreets behind them to give some temporary protection in a firefight.

There are many ways to add entrenchment counters to a unit in Battle of Neom, but they all work the same. Every entrenchment counter on an efreet will absorb 1 point of damage and protect it from taking critical hits. Cards with entrenchment counters on them are considered to be in an entrenched status and some will even have special abilities when in that state However, taking cover is temporary and so all entrenchment counters are removed from play at the end of every turn. And if an efreet somehow takes lethal damage while entrenchment counters are on it, it will still be destroyed.

While both the UNE and CPM can take advantage of entrenchment counters, many of the neutral efreets that players can use in any deck in Battle of Neom excel when given extra protection. Like the nimble Bush Rat above.

Entrenchment counters are extremely useful in a pitched firefight and being able to duck your efreets behind cover and stay engaged will change the outcome of many battles. Sadly, the Battle of Neom will not suffer for lack of rubble to hide behind.

Fight To Save Neom

Once a proud and beautiful city, Neom has found itself the latest flashpoint of the Solar War between the CPM and UNE. In REDLINE: Battle of Neom, its up to the player to take command of their forces as they lead their efreets into combat to retake the city.

Or raze it to the ground.

The fate of Neom and its survival is in your hands.