A Fast and Silly Tabletop game of Mobile Suit Battles
By Sean Patten

OVERVIEW
SD ERA is a tabletop game that puts those cute SD Gundam figures to good use.  A complete Mobile Suit battle can be played out while you are waiting for your food at a restaurant!

COMPONENTS
To play SD ERA, you will need:

• SD Figures.   For tabletop games, smaller FIGURES are ideal.  Consult the UNIT CHARTS for recommended stats for units.  Stats are easy- just a number and a letter- so you can just write them on the bottom of your figures!
  
• 6-sided dice.  It's handy to have at least five per player.
• Tokens.  Anything will work for tokens, as long as you have a lot of them.  Jellybeans, pebbles, coins- whatever you like!  Make sure you have at least 3 per player.
  
• Sticks.  Each player will need a MEASURING STICK.    They are used for measuring movement and attack ranges.  Make sure they are all the same size- about 6 inches (15 cm) is good.
  
• A table.  You'll need a table to play on.  A play area of about 3  feet square is good.  You can use anything you like for Scenery- cups, boxes, napkin holders- or have no scenery at all if you prefer!
• Zone Cards.  For friendly Battle Zone games, print out a set of these CARDS AND BLIPS.
  

ON YOUR TURN
When it's your turn, you may do TWO things with each of your Units.  These things are called ACTIONS.   Continue until ALL of your Units have done two actions (or chosen to do nothing).  Then it's the next player's turn!  Continue around the board until the mission has ended (see MISSIONS below for how to end a mission).

VALUE.  All units have a VALUE, typically between 1 and 5.  This is the base number of DICE the unit rolls when shooting, meleeing, or defending.  This is also the COST of the unit!

VALUE	EXAMPLES
1	Ball, Magella Attack
2	Zaku, GM, Gaza C
3	Dom, Guncannon, Rick Dias
4	Gelgoog, Gundam, Qubeley
5	Ziong, ZZ, Alpha Azieru

Letter	SPECIAL	EXAMPLES	ABILITY
A	ARTILLERY	Guntank,FAZZ	May ignore range penalties.
B	BITS	Qubeley,Sazabi	May shoot in any direction from any position within 1 stick of your unit.
C	CHEAP	Zaku, GM	-1 die when defending.  Cost -1 point.    (Value 2 or 3 units only).
F	FAST	Zeta, Gabthley	May make an additional free move at the END of your turn.
H	HIDE	Zgok, Aggai	May hide at the start of the game, or as an action.  Anyone may attack a hidden unit, but if they win the attack, the unit just becomes unhidden instead of taking knockback, stun, or damage.  The only exception is if another hidden unit attacks a hidden unit- then the hidden defender will take damage as normal.  Hidden units get +1 die when attacking, but become unhidden.
M	MELEE	Gouf, Dreissen	+1 die when attacking or defending in melee.  If you lose when attacking in melee, treat as a tie instead.
S	SPRAY	Bigzam	When shooting, you may split your attack dice up across multiple targets.
T	TRANSPORT	Musai, Megarider	May pick up, carry, or drop off friendly units as part of your move.  Your value is the number of units you may transport at a time.  May not attack in melee.
V	VETERAN	Gundam, Char	You may reroll one of your own dice when attacking or defending.

• MOVE. Move 1 STICK in any direction.  May not move through terrain, but mobile suits may jump over terrain, and may land on top of terrain.
CHARGING:  If a unit ends its move next to an enemy unit, it may make a free melee attack at the end of its move!

• ATTACK.  A Unit can perform a shooting attack or a melee attack (see combat below).
• RECOVER.  A Unit that has been STUNNED must spend an action recovering from stun before it can do anything else.

• SHOOTING: To shoot, a Unit must spend an action,  usually within 1 STICK's distance of the target, in which case the Unit rolls its value in dice and the defender rolls their value in dice (remember that Artillery gives you +1 die in either situation). If the attacker wins, they will do 1 stick of KNOCKBACK, and if they won with OVERKILL, they will do one stick of KNOCKBACK for every point of overkill.  If the defender ties or wins, nothing happens.  LONG RANGE: Units with more than one attack die may shoot at distances greater than 1 stick.  For each additional STICK of range beyond the first, deduct one die from the attacker's roll.   Note that if you can't see the target because of cover in the way, you can't attack them!
  

• MELEE: If a unit ends its move next to an enemy unit, it may make 1 melee attack for free at the end of its move!  If the unit does not move, it must spend an action to melee an adjacent target.   The attacking and defending units roll their value in dice.    If the defender wins with OVERKILL,  they will do one stick of KNOCKBACK maximum.  If the units tie, or the defender wins with no overkill, nothing happens.  

• DOING KNOCKBACK: If the attacker WINS, they will do at least one stick of KNOCKBACK to the defending unit.  If the attacker earned any OVERKILL, they will  do one stick of KNOCKBACK per point of overkill.  Ranged attacks do knockback in the direction of the attack.  Melee attacks may do knockback in whatever direction the winner chooses!
• KNOCKBACK INTO TERRAIN OR BOARD EDGE: If a unit collides with terrain or reaches a board edge while taking knockback, the unit will stop moving, but will become STUNNED.  Place the unit on its back.    UNITS THAT ARE STUNNED CANNOT BE ATTACKED!  The stunned unit cannot do anything until it gets up by spending an action.
• KNOCKBACK INTO ANOTHER UNIT: If a unit collides with another unit while taking knockback, the moving unit will stop moving, but will become STUNNED.  Place the unit on its back.   The hit unit must defend itself as if from a 2 die ranged attack.

	KING OF THE HILL
SET UP	Place a hill or other terrain in the middle of the board, that can only hold one unit on top.  Players start on any board edge.
SPECIAL	Only one unit can occupy the top of the hill at a time.   Units on the hill cannot be Hidden.  Units can be knocked off the hill by any attack that does knockback.  If you knock a unit off with melee, you may take their place on the hill.  A unit on the hill may spend 1 action to collect a token.  Each player may earn a maximum of one token per turn.
WINNING	The winner is the first player to collect three tokens!

	SOCCER
SET UP	Place a ball in the center of the board.  For 3 or more players, place two balls!  Players start on any board edge.  Place a goal in the center of each player's start point, 1 stick wide.
SPECIAL	The soccer ball can be moved with knockback just like a unit, and defends itself with 2 dice. If knocked into TERRAIN or a board edge, it will bounce off of anything it hits, moving 1 stick away at the angle of reflection. BALL HITS UNIT:  The ball melees the unit, rolling the # of dice of the attack that sent it that way.  If the ball wins, the unit is stunned and the ball finishes its move!  If the defending unit wins with overkill, they may knock the ball as melee. Any other result and the ball will stop. BALL HITS BALL: The first ball stops, and the second ball moves directly away from the first, moving 1 stick. UNIT HITS BALL: The unit is stunned.  Roll 2 dice against the ball (which defends with 2 dice). A player earns 1 token each time they shoot or melee the soccer ball into any opponent's goal.  After a ball makes it into a goal, immediately place it back at the center of the table and continue playing as normal.
WINNING	The winner is the first player to score three goals!

	KICK-BOMB
SET UP	This is a good mission for smaller boards, between 4-6 sticks long per side.  Place a bomb in the center of the board.  For 3 or more players, place two bombs! Players start on any board edge.  Players start with 3 tokens each.
SPECIAL	The BOMB can be moved just like the soccer ball in the soccer scenario above. At the end of each players' turn, roll to see if the bomb(s) explode (start with the bomb that has the most dice).  Bombs start with one "explode" die.  Roll the explode die or dice-   If NO 6 is rolled, ADD another explode die to the bomb (keep the dice with the bomb).  If a  6 is rolled, the bomb EXPLODES! ( Reset the bomb in the board center with 1 die.)   All units within 1 stick of an exploding bomb will be hit!  Hit units become stunned if they weren't already.  For EACH unit of yours that is hit by the bomb, lose 1 token.  You may continue to play even if you have no tokens.
WINNING	The last player to have any tokens wins!

	RING BATTLE
SET UP	Set up a ring in the middle of the table, with about a 3 stick radius.  Units may start anywhere in the ring, or outside the ring near the player's table edge.  Take turns placing units in the same order as the turn order, then start.  NOTE that units may not HIDE during a ring battle- treat them as veterans instead.
SPECIAL	Units inside the ring may attack any non-stunned unit inside or outside the ring.   When a unit is knocked out of the ring, place them just outside the ring in front of the player who owns the unit. Units outside the ring may perform any of these actions on their turn: 1.  CHEER- place one "cheer" die next to any unit in the ring.  That unit may add cheer dice to any die roll any time they wish!  Remove cheer dice after they have been used. 2.  ATTACK other units outside the ring with ranged or melee attacks. 3.  MOVE around the outside of the ring in either direction.  May move past enemy units.  May melee at the end of a move. 4.  BREAK IN- Roll dice as if making a ranged attack.  If all the dice roll the same number, you have broken into the ring!  Place your unit just inside the ring- you are now another contestant! Any time a unit outside the ring loses a combat, they are automatically stunned, and the attacker earns 1 CHEER.
WINNING	The last player to have a unit or units in the ring is the winner!

	EGG HUNT
SET UP	Get 6 plastic eggs together per player.  Randomly put the following into eggs:  One egg per player with a cheap unit from that player's army.  One egg with a bomb per player.  One egg with candy inside.  Three eggs with two credits each inside.   Then add one more egg with a 4 point BOSS unit inside that will attack everybody!  Then randomly place the eggs evenly around the board, and some scenery the eggs can be knocked into.   Players start on any board edge.
SPECIAL	Eggs defend with one die, and can take knockback just like a unit.  Instead of taking a STUN, an egg will BREAK OPEN, revealing whatever is inside!   Any unit may pick up a credit by spending an action adjacent to it.  Candy can be eaten by the player that broke the egg, but has no other value.    UNITS in an egg may make one immediate free attack with +1 die, then join the army they belong to on their next turn.  BOMBS immediately roll two dice and explode on a 6, stunning anyone within 1 stick.  Add another die and check at the start of each player's turn until it explodes!  Any eggs caught in the blast will be blown open.  The BOSS unit will ambush anyone nearby.  Whoever stuns the boss unit will earn +3 credits- remove the boss from play.
WINNING	The game ends when all the eggs have been opened, all the tokens have been collected, and the boss has been defeated.  The player with the most tokens wins (remember, defeating the boss is worth 3 credits).

	SHOOTING GALLERY
SET UP	Each player must buy a MINIMUM of 3 units, no maximum!  Set up a small table, about 2 feet square, with terrain spread evenly.  Players start on any board edge.
SPECIAL	Earn 1 token each time you STUN any enemy unit.  Remember knockback into terrain, another unit, or the board edge will cause a STUN.
WINNING	The first player to earn five tokens wins!

	SAFARI
SET UP	You'll need some plastic toy animals or dinosaurs for this scenario, about four per player.  Assign a value to each animal, from one to four points.  This is how many dice they roll.  Place the animals evenly around the board, at least 2 sticks from any board edge.
SPECIAL	To capture an animal, it must first be stunned.  Instead of taking knockback, any successful attack on an animal will stun them.  Then you must spend an action to pick it up (transports merely have to move past it).  You must then carry the stunned animal to any board edge to capture it.  Carrying it takes no actions, but if you take any knockback while carrying, you will drop the animal!  Animals that win with overkill while defending in melee will do knockback directly away from them. After the last player's turn, the animals get their own turn.  First, any animal that is stunned may roll their dice to try to recover from being stunned.  If they roll a 6, they are no longer stunned.  Carried units that recover from stun are no longer carried! Next, for each animal that is within 1 stick of any player unit (except hidden units), roll the animal's dice.  If they roll a 6, they will charge the nearest unit, attacking in melee with +1 die!  If they win, they will do knockback in the direction of their move.  If they don't charge, they will move 1 stick directly away from the nearest unit instead.
WINNING	Game ends when all the animals have been captured.  The player with the most points of animals wins!

	CONVOY (Friendly Mission)
SET UP	In this game, all the players work together to protect a ship, so they can't attack each other, but they can compete for points.    All the players should pick four points of units from the same side (or sides that can be allies).   Then gather up a pool of "enemy" units (anything but transports) and keep them handy.  You'll need a large toy ship for the players to protect- place it at one end of the board, pointing toward the other board end.  Finally, place about 10 rocks spread evenly all around the board to represent asteroids.  At the start of the game, the enemies go first...
SPECIAL	ENEMY TURN:  Move the ship one stick forward.  Then, each player draw one random enemy unit and place it behind the nearest unoccupied asteroid.  Then, starting with the enemy unit closest to the ship, each enemy unit moves and shoots their target.  If moving towards a player unit will bring them closer to the ship, they will target the unit.  Otherwise, they will target the ship.   When attacking, special enemy types use different tactics, as follows:  A= Always target the ship, and only move enough to get a clear shot.   F= After attacking, try to move out of range or view of player units.  H= as normal, but they get +1 die on their first turn's attack.  M= If the target is within 2 sticks, move and melee instead- can't be damaged by the ship when attacking in melee.  V= as normal, but don't forget that reroll! THE SHIP: If the ship is attacked, it defends itself with 4 dice.  If the ship is DAMAGED, it won't take knockback- instead,  players must roll one die for each enemy unit they have captured (see below).  Whoever has the highest roll must GIVE UP one of their captured units, returning it to the pool of available enemy units!  If the players with the highest rolls TIE, than no one has to give up a unit. PLAYER TURN: After the enemy units have attacked, the players should roll off to see who goes first- roll dice for your most powerful unit.  Players complete their turns in turn order from highest roll to lowest.  To CAPTURE an enemy unit, players must stun them by knocking them into an asteroid, the board edge, another unit, or the ship itself (treat as a 1 die attack against the ship).  AND SO ON: After the players take their turns, run another ENEMY turn as above- the ship moves 1 stick forward again, but from now on, each player may decide whether to draw and place none, one, or two random enemy units.   After the enemy turn is another player turn, and so on, until the game ends (see below).
WINNING	The game ends if the ship makes it off the far end of the board, or if the pool of enemy units runs out.  Whichever player has the most points of captured enemy units is the winner!

	BATTLE ZONES (Friendly Mission)
SET UP	You will need a set of Zone Cards and Blips- print these onto card stock, cut them out, and shuffle them face down.  Divide the board into zones (4 is usually good), as wide as the table and about 12 inches long. (you can have more or less if you like).  Use string to form lines between each zone.  Then place two Blips per player in each zone, face down, spread evenly throughout the zone.  Players can then choose units- 6 points is good, and a maximum of 3 units per player.  Everyone starts at one end of the board, at the edge of the first zone.
SPECIAL	REVEALING BLIPS:  Unless otherwise noted by the Zone Rules, rules for blips are described below. To reveal a blip, you must touch it as part of your move.  This ends your move, and the blip might ambush, but you may still make a free melee attack at the end of the move that revealed the blip.  Blips are as follows: AMBUSH 2.  Place a 2C enemy unit there- it immediately ambushes, making a free shooting attack on the revealing unit.  If it wins, knockback is in the direction of the starting edge of the board.  Any attack that knocks the 2C unit into terrain or out of the Zone defeats it- remove the unit, and whomever defeats it earns the blip. AMBUSH 3.  Place a 3 point enemy unit there of any type.  It ambushes and can be defeated in the same way as the 2 blip above.  Whomever defeats it earns the blip. TARGET.  This static target defends with 3 dice.  Whomever destroys it earns the blip. BOMB.  When revealed, roll 1 die: on a 6, the bomb blows up, stunning the revealing unit!  The bomb may be knocked back just like a unit, and defends with 2 dice.  If a bomb is knocked into another unit, it immediately blows up, taking out the enemy unit or stunning the friendly one.  If the bomb takes out an enemy unit, give the bomb blip to the last player to touch the bomb.  If a bomb hits another bomb or any scenery, it just stops moving.  ENEMY TURN: After the last player's turn is the ENEMY TURN.  Roll 1 die for any BOMBS on the board at the start of the enemy turn.  On a 6, they explode, doing a stun to any units, friendly or enemy, within 1 stick.  Next, any revealed ENEMY UNITS  will move in front of the closest player unit, and attack it (usually by shooting).  Any knockback from enemy attacks will push the player unit back towards the start.   After the enemy turn is complete, it is the first player's turn again. ZONE SPECIAL RULES:  When first entering a zone, draw a ZONE CARD and play it face up.  It will have additional rules or exceptions to the blip rules above.  The zone rules apply to everything in that zone.  NO ONE MAY LEAVE a zone until it has been "cleared".  The requirements for CLEARING A ZONE are defeating all enemies and targets, unless otherwise noted on the Zone Card.  Once cleared, units may move into the next zone- draw a new Zone Card for the new zone and proceed as instructed.   You may linger behind in cleared out zones, but you might miss out on the action!
WINNING	The game ends when the last zone has been cleared.  The player who earned the most blips wins!