Skirm is a miniature- and universe-agnostic table top miniatures skirmish wargame. It is intended to be easy to learn and quick to set up and play.

When designing the game, there were a few principles that guided all decisions on play style and core mechanics:

• Must be FUN
• Must be fast to set up and to play
  • Games should not last longer than one hour
  • Each player should only need a handful of miniatures to play (5-10)
• Must be easy for newcomers to learn
  • Simple rules
  • Simple mechanics
• Must not use tokens on the board
  • The last thing you want is a miniature with 6 tokens on it that you have to carry with it when it moves and that would crowd the battle zone
• Must use simple rules and tools
  • No rulers or gauges - Use "Squares" (a simple grid) for measuring distances
  • 6-sided dice for all rolls

Core Mechanics

Dice Rolls

Skirm uses 6-sided dice for all rolls. These will be indicated throughout the rules as D6.
Some rolls will require more than one die. For those, the number of dice to roll will be indicated before D6.
For example, to indicate a roll of 3 dice: 3D6. To indicate a roll of 1 die: 1D6.

Modifying A Die Result

Some rolls will require adding a number to a die's value. For example, to indicate a roll whose result should be increased by 2: 1D6+2. This means roll a die, then add 2 to its value to get the final value.

Successes and Failures

When rolling against a character or weapon stat, a die roll is a success if its value is equal to or lower than that stat.
Irrespective of any modifiers or Stats, a die roll of 6 is always a failure and a die roll of 1 is always a success.

Re-Rolls

Certain rules and events allow you to re-roll a die. In those cases, announce the die to be re-rolled, pick it up, and roll it again. Once a die is re-rolled, its result is final and it cannot be re-rolled again.

Actions

During its activation, a Unit can perform a number of Actions up to its ACT stat (see StatCards).
Each Action costs a number of Action Points or ACT.

Actions with an ACT cost can be performed by spending the Unit's ACT Action Points or the Squad's Tactical Orders, or any combination of the two (for example, if a Unit's skill costs 2 ACT, you can spend 1 ACT + 1 TO to perform that action).
Actions with a TO cost can only be performed by spending the Squad's Tactical Orders.

The first time each Action is performed in a Unit's Activation, it costs its listed ACT. Each time that same action is repeated in the same Activation, it costs one additional ACT.
For example, the first time a Unit performs the Move action in its activation, it costs 1 ACT. If that same Unit wants to perform another Move in this same Activation, the second Move costs 2 ACT.

Battle Map

The Skirm Battle Map is a grid of 1.5 in or 40mm Squares. All movement and distance/range measurements are done by counting Squares. The total size of the Battle Map is typically 12 by 12 Squares.

Squares

All movement and distance measurements in Skirm are measured in Squares. No need for tape measures, gauges, or rulers!
The game designers selected to use a grid for simplicity of movement and measurement and to avoid imprecision in moving miniatures and checking weapon ranges. But if you don't have a gridded play area, you can use a ruler and convert each Square to 1.5 in.

Movement

See Basic Actions and Movement

Adjacent Squares

All 8 Squares surrounding a given Square are considered to be Adjacent to that Square. When selecting a valid target for Melee combat (see Actions), the initiator and its target must be in adjacent Squares. Note that two Squares that have a height difference of more than 1 Square are not considered to be adjacent.
Note that if a wall that is higher than 1 Square is between two Squares, those two Squares are not considered to be Adjacent.

Distances And Range

To measure the distance between two Squares (for example, to check if a target is within the Range of a given Ranged Weapon), only measure on the Horizontal plane; ignore vertical distance.

The target is considered to be in range of that weapon if the distance in Squares is equal to or lower than the weapon's range.

Game Cycle

A game of Skirm is played in the following order:

1. Mission Start
   1. Select Mission
      Select a Mission to play. All players must reach consensus on the Mission to play.
   2. Select Squad
      Select one of your Squads to take on the Mission
   3. Prepare Battle Map
      Set up your Battlemap according to the Mission's briefing. This includes placing buildings and other terrain features, placing objectives, and any other actions defined by the selected Mission.
2. Turns
   1. Turn 1
   2. Turn 2
   3. Turn 3
   4. Turn 4
3. Mission End
   At the end of Turn 4, tally the total Mission Points for each Squad. The Squad with the highest number of Mission Points is declared the winner of the battle.

Turns

During each Turn:

1. Reset Tactical Orders to zero for both Squads (Tactical Orders do not carry over from Turn to Turn).
2. Each Squad draws a Secondary Objective for the Turn.
3. Start of Turn
   1. Mark all Units as Ready (not Activated)
   2. Resolve all "Start of Turn" actions or events
   3. Rol-off for Initiative:
      Lowest score wins Initiative; both sides re-roll any ties until a winner is determined
   4. Roll for Tactical Orders for the Turn
   5. The Squad with the Initiative rolls for the Mission's Events (if any) for this Turn
4. Unit activations
   1. The Squad with the Initiative activates their first Unit, then Squads alternate activating their Units until all Units have been activated.
      See also Alternate Activations.
5. End Of Turn
   1. Resolve all "End of Turn" actions or events
   2. Reveal and score Secondary Objective:
      If either Squad scored at least one MP from one of their Seconrary Objectives, reveal that Secondary Objective and score Mission Points. Once a Secondary Objective has been scored, it cannot be scored again.
   3. Score Mission Points according to the selected Mission

Alternate Activations

Skirm uses Alternate Activations:
During each turn, players take alternating turns to Activate their Squad's Units. So player 1 activates their first Unit, then player 2 activates their first Unit, followed by player 1 activating their second Unit etc. This ensures dynamic play and avoids having to wait long periods of time before you can actually do something with your Squad.

Each player takes alternating turns activating the Units in their Squad. For example, in order:

1. Player 1 activates their first Unit
2. Player 2 activates their first Unit
3. Player 1 activates their second Unit
4. Player 2 activates their second Unit
5. Player 1 activates their third Unit
6. Player 2 activates their third Unit
7. (etc)

At the start of each Turn, all Units are marked as "Ready". As each Unit completes their Activation, they are marked as "Activated".

In cases where one Squad has at least 2 more Units than the other, the Squad with fewer Units may choose to delay one activation once per Turn. In that case, the Squad with more Units activates two of its Units in a row.

Scoring Mission Points And Controlling Objectives

Mission Points determine the winner of the battle. Each Mission will define conditions under which a Squad can score Mission Points.
Each Battle Map will have Objectives placed on it. Depending on the mission, these Objectives may need to be controlled to score Mission Points.
A Unit that occupies the same Square as an Objective is said to control that Objective if there are no enemy Units in Adjacent Squares.
At the end of each Turn, your Squad scores one Mission Point for each Objective that one of your Units controls.

Stat Cards

StatCards describe your Units and their Weapons with numerical values, and any special Skills they may have. In general, the higher the stat number, the better the Unit or Weapon. Note that in the app and on the website, you can click or tap Special Rules to view what they mean, and Skills or Equipment to get their full description.

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Unit Stats

Stat	Title	Description
ACT	Action Points	The maximum number of Action Points this Unit can spend on Actions during its activation.
MSK	Melee Skill	The Unit's skill in Melee Combat. In general, Melee Attack rolls equal to or lower than this stat are successes.
RSK	Ranged Skill	The Unit's skill in Ranged Combat. In general, Ranged Attack rolls equal to or lower than this stat are successes.
ARM	Armor	Indicates how well this Unit resists damage during combat (see Combat)
HIT	Hit Points	The Unit's number of Hit Points. When a Unit reaches zero HIT, it is Taken Out and removed from the battlezone (see Combat).
Special	Special	Special rules for this Unit (see Unit Specials) are lsited in the card footer, next to its unit type ("Strike Trooper").
EP	Equipment Points	The cost in Equipment Points (EP) for this Unit. This is split into two numbers: The first number represent the EP cost of the Unit itself, the second number is the total EP cost of added equipment, weapons, and skills.

Weapon Stats

Stat	Title	Description
/	Weapon Type	indicates a Ranged weapon, indicates a Melee weapon.
ROA	Rate Of Attack	Indicates the number of Attack dice to roll when using this weapon.
DAM	Damage	Indicates how much Damage each successful strike with this weapons inflicts on a Target.
Special	Special	Special rules for this weapon (see Weapon Specials) are lsited next to its name.

Actions

During its activation, a Unit can perform a number of Actions up to its ACT stat (see StatCards).
Each Action costs a number of Action Points or ACT.

Actions with an ACT cost can be performed by spending the Unit's ACT Action Points or the Squad's Tactical Orders, or any combination of the two (for example, if a Unit's skill costs 2 ACT, you can spend 1 ACT + 1 TO to perform that action).
Actions with a TO cost can only be performed by spending the Squad's Tactical Orders.

Each action costs its listed number of ACT the first time it is performed in a Unit's Activation. Each time that same action is repeated in the same Activation, it costs one additional ACT.
For example, a Unit with 3 ACT may perform 2 Moves in its Activation. The first Move costs 1 ACT, and the second one costs 2 ACT.

Basic Actions

All Units can perform the following Actions during their Activation:

Movement

Movement in Skirm is measured in Squares. Each Square on the battle map is 40mm (or 1.5"). A Battlemap is typically 15 x 15 Squares (or 60x60 cm / 24x24 in).

Units cannot traverse walls; they must move around or climb over them.
If a Unit wants to move vertically (up or down), it must do so against a wall that is marked as Climbable, or whose height is 1 Square tall. Note that this does not apply to slopes or stairs. Stairs and slopes can be treated as horizontal movement and vertical movement is free.

When a Unit moves on the Battle Map, the maximum distance it can travel is 3 Squares. Movement can be done along any cardinal direction (North, South, East, West) or in diagonal (North-East, North-West, South-East, South-West).

Diagonal Movement

Note that diagonal movement can only happen if the Squares perpendicular to the diagonal direction are not occupied or blocked.
For example, for a Unit to move North-West, both Squares at its North and West must be unoccupied and traversable.

Occupied Squares

Two Units cannot share the same Square; each Square can only be occupied by a maximum of 1 Unit.
Note that a Unit cannot pass through a Square that is occupied by or adjacent to an enemy Unit, unless another SquadMate is adjacent to that enemy Unit. A Unit may end their movement in a Square that is Adjacent to an enemy Unit (to prepare for Melee Combat).

Difficult Terrain

Some Squares will be marked as "Difficult", indicating that they take more effort to traverse. Entering a Difficult Square only costs 1 Square (as normal), but leaving that Square to another Square costs 2 Squares.
If a Unit moves from one Difficult Square to another Difficult Square, cost remains 2 Squares.

Vertical Movement

If there is a wall 1 Square high between two Squares (and they are on the same level), moving across that wall costs 2 Squares.
Climbing up vertical terrain costs 1 Square per vertical Square, plus 1 Square for the horizontal direction desired.
Note that for a Unit to climb a wall, that wall must be mutually agreed by all players to be Climbable at the start of the battle. Generally these walls will be easily identifiable with a ladder or other visual marker indicating it is climbable.
Climbing down a wall follows the same rules as climbing up, but vertical movement costs 1 less Square.

Mission Actions

Certain Missions will define special Actions that can be performed by Units. Read the Mission Briefing to determine if the Mission defines any such Actions.

Tactical Orders

At the start of each turn, each player rolls 3D6 and adds 1 die for each of the Squad's Units' LDx Special Rule. For example, if your Leader is still in play and has the LD2 Special Rule, you would roll 5D6 for Tactical Orders (3 base dice for Tactical Orders plus 2 dice provided by your Leader).
If you do not have a Unit with the LDx Special Rule on the Battlemap, you do not get their Tactical Order bonus and just roll 3D6.

For each die result of 1-3, you will have one Tactical Order. Tactical Orders allow Units to perform more Actions than their ACT Action limit.

At the end of each Turn, any unused Tactical Orders are lost; they do not carry over to the following Turn.

Note that rolling for Tactical Orders cannot be modified by using Tactical Orders.

Combat

Ranged and Melee combat uses the same general process for determining strikes and damage. The main difference is in target selection.

1. Select Target
   1. The Attacker selects one of its weapons of the appropriate type to use in this combat
   2. The Attacker selects a valid target
      1. Ranged Combat: Target must be:
         • At least 2 Squares away from the Attacker (i.e not Adjacent)
         • Within the Weapon's range (RGx)
         • In the Attacker's Line Of Sight
         • The Attacker does not have any SquadMates adjacent to the Target
         Note that a Unit may not perform this action if there is an enemy Unit in an adjacent Square.
      2. Melee Combat: Target must be in an Adjacent Square to the Attacker.
2. Roll Attacks - Determine if the Attacker's weapon reached the Target
   1. Attacker rolls one Attack die for each of the selected weapon's ROA (Rate of Attack) + applicable Modifiers.
   2. Each Attack die result that is equal to or lower than the Unit's matching Skill (MSK for Melee, RSK for Ranged) is a successful strike. Note that die results of 1 are always successes, and die results of 6 are always failures.
   3. Each successful strike inflicts the weapon's DAM value of Damage to the Target (so two successful strikes with DAM 2 means 4 total Damage)
   4. Each Attack roll of 1 inflicts the weapon's DAM value +1 of Damage to the Target (so each roll of 1 with DAM 2 inflicts 3 Damage)
3. Roll Saves - Determine how much Damage the Attacker inflicted on the Target
   1. The Target rolls one Save die for each point of Damage inflicted by the Attacker's weapon.
   2. If a Save die result is equal to or lower than the Target's ARM, then the Target's Armor absorbed the damage from this strike (successful Save).
   3. For each failed Save, the target loses 1 HIT.
   4. If a Unit reaches zero HIT, it is Taken Out and removed from the battlezone.

Modifiers

Note that after all Modifiers have been applied, a die roll of 6 is always a failure, and a die roll of 1 is always a success.
In addition to these standard modifiers, some Units' Special Actions, Special Rules, or Skills may apply additional modifiers to the Attack or Save rolls.

Ranged Combat Modifiers

Melee Combat Modifiers

Line Of Sight

A Target is said to be in an Attacker's Line of Sight if two uninterrupted lines can be drawn from one of the corners of the Square occupied by the Attacker to the two closest corners of the Square occupied by the Target.
Note that a Unit cannot target an enemy Unit for Ranged Combat if there are other Units on that Line of Sight (i.e. a Unit cannot shot "through" other Units).

Cover

If a Target is only partially visible to the Attacker (for example, there is a short wall between the two Units), that Target is said to be in cover. Note that Cover only applies to Ranged attacks; there is no Cover benefit for Melee attacks.
To determine whether a Target is in Cover, the following conditions must be met:

• The piece of terrain blocking the Attacker's full view of the Target occupies at least one side of the Target's current Square.
• The Attacker can "see" no more than 2 of the following: The Target's legs, the Target's torso, the Target's head.
  If the Attacker can see none of these in full, the Attacker cannot fire its weapon at the Target.
  If the Attacker can see all three of these in full, the Target does not get the benefit of cover.

Your Squad

Items

You may choose to add items to the battlemap that have special purposes and behaviors, and some missions may require the placement of items.

Crates

A Crate contains one of 4 options, determined when it is opened. Units may move through or into Squares that contain a Crate. To open a crate, a Unit must occupy the same Square where it is located and spend 1 ACT to open it. When opened, the Unit selects one of the remaining options and that crate is removed from the battlemap. Each crate content option can only be selected once per battle.
Crate contents:

• MP: The Unit's Squad immediately gains 1 MP.
• MedPack: The Unit immediately regain 1D3 HIT.
• Ammo Refill: The Unit selects one of its LIM weapons that it has already used. That weapon can now be used one more time in the battle. If the Unit has not used its LIM weapon, it cannot select this option (you cannot refill an unused LIM weapon).
• TO: The Unit's Squad immediately gains 1 TO.

Barrels

Barrels are explosive containers that can be attacked, causing an explosion. Units may move through or into Squares that contain a Crate.
Barrels may be attacked in Ranged or Melee combat. The Barrel is a Unit that cannot save; if it is attacked in combat and at least one strike is successful, it explodes. When a Barrel explodes, it is immediately destroyed and removed from the battlemap, and then causes an explosion dealing 2 Damage to its current Square and all Adjacent Squares.

Turrets

Turrets may be placed on the battlemap and used by Units instead of their equipped Weapons. Units may move through or into Squares that contain a Turret.
Turrets may be attacked in Ranged or Melee combat. Turrets have 2 HIT and take Damage like any other Unit. When rolling saves, treat the Turret as having 2 ARM.
When a Turret loses all its HIT, it is removed from the battlemap and deals 3 Damage to any Unit that occupies the same Square.
To use a Turret, a Unit must occupy the same Square where it is located and spend 1 ACT to use it. Note that a Turret may be used by the same Unit multiple times in its Activation, costing 1 ACT for each use.
Turret Types:

Glossary

• Activation (See Game Cycle and Actions)
  • An Activation is the full set of Actions performed by a Unit when they are activated. During each turn, all Units for all players have exactly one Activation.
• Unit (See Stat Cards)
  • A Unit is a member of your Squad. Each Unit is represented by a model on the Battle Map and has a matching Stat Card.
• Die/Dice (See Dice Rolls)
  • A Die (plural Dice) is a 6-sided die used to determine success or failure of certain actions.
• Event (See Game Cycle)
  • Each Mission is in a given Environment, and each Environment has random Events that occur in each Turn.
• Line Of Sight (See Line Of Sight)
  • Line Of Sight determines which Units can be targeted by another Unit for Ranged combat (and some special Actions).
• Roll-Off
  • A Roll-Off is a special Dice Roll in which each player rolls 1D6 and compares the result. The lowest number is determined to be the winner of the Roll-Off. If all players roll the same value, all players re-roll until a winner is determined.
• Stat (See StatCards and Dice Rolls)
  • A Stat is a number that measures a Unit or Weapon's quality. Note that in all cases, higher stats are better.
• Squad
  • Your Squad is your team of Units that you send into battle.
• Squadmate
  • Two Units are said to be Squadmates if they are in the same Squad. Note that a Unit is not considered to be its own Squadmate.
• Square (See BattleMap)
  • A Square is a single Square on your Battle Map. Squares are used for all Movement and Distance measurements .
• Tactical Order (See Tactical Orders)
  • A Tactical Order is a "Free" action that can be taken by one of your Units, or a special modifier you can apply to a roll. At the start of each Turn, you will generate a number of Tactical Orders that can be spent on additional Actions by your Units, or free die re-rolls.
• Turn (See Game Cycle)
  • A Turn is a full Turn in the game cycle.
• Weapon (See Stat Cards)
  • A Weapon is a piece of wargear that a Unit is carrying. Weapons can be Melee weapons or Ranged weapons.

Special Rules

These standard Special Rules can be found on various Units and their Weapons. These charts indicate each Special Rule's meaning and interpretation in gameplay.