a roleplaying game of irregular warfare

CHAD WALKER
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1………………………………………………….pg 3
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
Written and Designed by Chad Walker
Sensitivity Readings by Joey Ayoub and Callum Ross Chapter 3…………………………………………………pg 8

Images on page 8, 10, and 18 by Callum Ross. All other images are either WHY WE HATE YOU
free images from Pexel.com or licensed from Dreamstime.com, and
then given a vaporwave veneer using Photomosh.com.
Chapter 2…………………………………………………pg 13
ID 16989913 © Tudor Antonel Adrian | Dreamstime.com
ID 49250006 © Hrlumanog | Dreamstime.com CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER
ID 34480108 © Richard Harvey | Dreamstime.com
ID 41117230 © Kikujungboy | Dreamstime.com
ID 93218872 © Trentinness | Dreamstime.com Chapter 3…………………………………………………pg 24
ID 49250122 © Hrlumanog | Dreamstime.com
ID 49496796 © Hrlumanog | Dreamstime.com COMBAT
ID 34478350 © Richard Harvey | Dreamstime.com

Chapter 4…………………………………………………pg 30
Inspiration and visual aesthetic drawn from the
Discord community of Jake Hanrahan’s Popular EVASION
Front podcast. Become a Popular Front patron and
support independent conflict journalism. Chapter 5…………………………………………………pg 35

https://www.patreon.com/popularfront
CAVEAT
This game dramatizes the exploits of irregular
militants engaged in armed conflict with
conventional forces and/or other irregular
militants. The protagonists are people taking part
in a dirty, complicated struggle, and might be
fighting on the losing side, the wrong side of
history, or both. It is a niche game designed for a
niche audience that has an informed interest in
this subject matter. Rest assured, we reject and
denounce any militant group that engages in
ethnic cleansing, violence against non-
combatants, cruelty to prisoners, conscription of
child soldiers, war profiteering, or the
establishment of quasi-states that deny people
autonomy, religious freedom, a free press, or
economic opportunity.
INTRIGUE
Chapter 6…………………………………………………pg 40
DYING TO WIN
LOGISTICS
Bombs and Balaclavas is designed for 1 game master and
between 3 and 5 players. It requires pencils, paper, a
printer, tokens (coins work fine), and piles of 6-sided and
10-sided dice if you want to play it analog, but it is
optimized for play using online platforms like Roll20.net.
Play sessions typically last between 2 and 4 hours.
Also, this is a free PDF which you are free to share. Bombs
and Balaclavas will never be sold in digital or physical
form, nor put behind a paywall. It is intended as a work of
art, advocacy, and awareness, not a commercial product.

2
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Bombs and Balaclavas (or B&B
forthwith), a role-playing game about irregular
warfare. In this game, players assume the role of
fighters in a local militia, a separatist movement,
an ethno-nationalist movement, a revolutionary
movement, or a religious extremist movement.
They are engaged in a messy and eternal conflict
against conventional armies and/or other
irregular groups, complicated by ever-shifting
alliances and innumerable political factors, both
local and global. B&B is a gritty game about
conflicts that vacillate between glimmers of hope
and destructive nihilism, and the fighters at the
center of it all. Fighters will either need to
embrace or take over the agenda and tactics of
their group, or be invariably devoured by it.
CONTENT WARNING
The mere existence of this game, let alone its
contents, may be troubling to those who have had
to directly or indirectly endure the realities it
attempts to dramatize. Game sessions will likely
include narratives of graphic violence, intolerable
living conditions, shelled-out cityscapes, religious
and ethnic bigotry, and indiscriminate military
violence against civilian populations. If your
unique experiences make this type of content a
non-starter, there is no need to read further. For
all others, it is still your job to be a good ally. That
means assessing and discussing the subject
matter with other players before inviting them to
play, and re-calibrating on the fly if a session’s
content becomes difficult for anyone at the table.
As always, we defer to John Stavropolous’ X-Card
as a fantastic safety tool for gamers.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SB0jsx34b
WHZWbnNIVVuMjhDkrdFGo1_hSC2BWPlI3A/edit
4
WELCOME TO HELL
B&B is a sandbox and toolkit that can be used to
model irregular conflicts in any time or place, but
it is probably best suited for conflicts that have
occurred and are occurring in the Middle East and
North Africa (MENA). MENA are fraught with
militant movements and irregular conflicts in
response to a nearly infinite number of global,
regional, and local factors.
At the most abstract level, the global level, tyrants
backed by Russia and the West (the Great Powers)
have become veritable engines of extremism. To
secure their power against local, organic, and
democratic forces, these tyrants engage in
unchecked corruption and brutality, ranging from
assassinating journalists, to jailing political
opposition, to using chemical weapons to commit
genocide on the unruliest of underclasses. They
have been so effective at isolating and eradicating
democratic and liberal institutions that the only
remaining paths to resistance (and sometimes
survival) are militant separatism and/or religious
extremism. If you think being a militant in MENA is
dangerous, try being a democratic activist; they
are targeted by both governments and extremists
alike.
The regional situation is as perilous as the global
situation. If the resulting conflicts were as simple
as radicals versus elites, things wouldn’t be so
complicated. However, irregular forces like
militias and terrorist organizations are used as
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
covert chess pieces by the ruling classes and
governments of MENA countries. Neighboring
countries harass each other by training and
financing irregulars to exert their will, punish
their rivals, steal resources, exacerbate ethno-
religious schisms, and augment or counter Great
Power intervention. Virtually every state (and
quasi-state) actor in MENA is engaging in some
type of overt or clandestine imperialism, settling
old scores, continuing old wars, and engaging in
brazen violence, resource grabs, and
psychological operations. Even if you removed the
Great Powers entirely, MENA would remain a
cauldron of conflict and imperialism.
Lastly, we pivot from the global and regional to
realities that militant groups face at the local
level. The viability of a militant group depends on a
steady supply of resources, maintaining the
support of (or the tolerance of) local populations,
and defending these pillars from other militant
groups that wish to use them to support their own
operations. Many inter-militia conflicts are
spurred simply because multiple parties lay claim
to same village, river, or oil field. When they aren’t
feuding over finite resources, local groups get
pulled in various directions by developments in the
global and regional realms. A pan-militia moment,
like the leadership of one movement swearing
allegiance to another, can create intra-militia
schisms where the political directives of a local
movement must be renegotiated on or off the
battlefield. Affiliation with other militant groups
remains a double-edged sword. The local group
can benefit from a militant-network’s expertise,
cash, weaponry, and propaganda, but they also
take on the onus of that network, finding
themselves aggressively targeted by Great Power
drone strikes or rejected by local secular
democratic forces they once allied with.
To summarize, being part of a militant group in
MENA is never as simple as having an AK-47 and a
strong opinion. It is a wickedly complex, eminently
political, extraordinarily dangerous, and ever-
shifting proposition. Which is why we think it’s a
compelling topic to explore from the safety of a
tabletop role-playing game.
5
WHAT FIGHTERS DO
Players of this game assume the role of a fighter,
but what do fighters do? A fighter can count on
doing some or all the following over the course of
a game session or a campaign of concurrent
sessions:
• Engage state and irregular threats in combat.
• Infiltrate or evacuate from dangerous places.
• Participate in complex, high-stakes politics.
• Explore the comradery, rivalry, and
relationships that fighters have with one
another.
• Take territory from or hold it against state
actors or other militant groups.
• Manage the risks and rewards of temporary
alliances with state actors or other militant
groups.
B&B supports all of these situations with simple
mechanics and structured scenes. This is not a
simulationist game where players manage rations,
count their bullets, or make firing calculations
based on range, wind, and cover. B&B is a story
game at its heart, but features tactical and
strategic abstractions that will hopefully appeal
to conflict journalists, academics, specialists, and
subject matter experts.
B&B sessions are prone to featuring disturbing
imagery, extreme violence, cynical politics, and
descents into hopelessness and nihilism. However,
this game was was not designed to be an avenue
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
for power fantasy, celebrating militancy for its
own sake, nor reveling in imaginary violent
sadism. If your gaming group is sliding into
dehumanization and degeneracy, feel empowered
to call it out to reflect on it and course correct,
without judgement.
HOW PLAY WORKS
This section will introduce the core mechanics
that drive play. In B&B, each player takes on the
role of a fighter, but one player is a gamemaster
(GM). Players will create their fighter by filling out
a Fighter Dossier, which is available in the back of
this PDF. We will walk through that process
meticulously in the chapter called “Choose Your
Fighter.” GMs who want to also create and play a
fighter are encouraged to do so, so long as their
fighter takes a back seat to those controlled by
players.
Players roll dice in this game, d10s and d6s. Rolls
are made by players during structured scenes of
combat, evasion, and intrigue, each of which will
be elaborated on extensively later in this PDF.
Each fighter has 12 tactics, all of which are rated
on a scale of 1 through 5. When making a roll, a
player selects an appropriate tactic and rolls a
number of d10s equal to that tactic’s rating, plus
how ever many d6s it takes to have five dice in
their hand (sometimes that is zero). Rolling 3d10?
That means you need to add 2d6 to your hand. Five
dice every time. A result of 6 or more on any die is
a success, while a result of 1 on any die is a botch
(aka a negative success).
Players want successes, and the more the
merrier. Rolling successes has mechanical game
effects we’ll discuss more in later chapters, but it
also allows players to “own” the narrative for a
moment, emphasizing how their fighter succeeded
in their plans. However, if a player rolls zero or
less successes (because of botches), the GM gets
to own the narrative, and reinforce elements of
stress, danger, and/or failure.
6
HOW TO RESOLVE ROLLS
The results of a roll have both narrative and game
mechanical effects. We’ve provided this key as a
guide to determining who at the table gets to
narrate the outcome of a roll, and how:
–2 or fewer successes
The fighter failed dramatically at their
task. The GM narrates the outcome of the
roll and introduces new elements of stress,
tension, or danger to the scene.
–1 success
The fighter clearly failed at their task. The
GM narrates the outcome of the roll.
0 successes
The fighter just barely failed at their task.
The GM narrates the outcome of the roll,
but the player adds some type of silver
lining to that narrative.
1 success
The fighter just barely succeeded at their
task. The player narrates the outcome of
the roll, but the GM adds some type of
complication to that narrative.
2 successes
The fighter clearly succeeded at their task.
The player narrates the outcome of the
roll.
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
3 or more successes
The fighter succeeded dramatically at their
task. The player narrates the outcome of
the roll, emphasizing their fighter's skill,
tenacity, toughness, and/or courage.
DANGER
B&B uses an abstraction called “danger” to stand
in for all things bad. Making a lot of bad rolls in
B&B can result in danger for fighters, though the
severity of that danger and what it looks like in the
story all depends on what’s at stake in the current
scene. During combat scenes, accruing too much
danger means a fighter gets injured or killed.
During evasion scenes, accruing too much danger
means a fighter was detected by sentries or
captured by pursuers. During intrigue scenes,
accruing too much danger means a fighter said or
did something that turned a calm negotiation into
a crisis.
Danger which is rated on a scale of 1 to 10+. During
a structured scene of combat, evasion, or
intrigue, bad things happen if a fighter ends a
round with 10 or more danger. During sessions of
B&B, players manage danger like a resource. They
need to do whatever it takes to make progress
(whether that is neutralizing threats, infiltrating
facilities, or forging alliances), but they need to do
so while keeping their danger (and their
comrades’ danger) below 10.
That’s the big idea. What’s important to consider
here is that the “danger” were talking about here
is not just the peril that fighters might be in.
Players are not simply playing scenes to see if
their fighters survive… they are playing scenes to
see if their entire movement survives. If an
important negotiation is blown, that’s a set-back
for their movement, not just the fighters present
at the meeting. If an ambush against a convoy of
technicals is blown, that likely means death and
defeat for other comrades further down the road.
7
CAMPAIGNS
B&B features a very simple and abstract campaign
management tool, the Front Readout, which is a
worksheet available at the end of this PDF. At its
most basic, it is used to help tell the story of the
fighters’ journey as they take, hold, and lose
territory in their struggle against other
belligerents.
B&B is not designed to tell the story of scrappy
underdogs winning against evil empires. While a
“victory state” is certainly possible in the
campaign framework, that victory will likely
resemble a pyrrhic one, at least in the short term.
“Winning” in B&B is where the players’ militia
assumes temporary military control of an entire
city or region that was once contested. This
outcome is not a promise of autonomy, safety, or
sustainability for the militia or the people it
fought for. What it might be, however, is a short
window for local political forces to address real
social, economic, and public health crises that
have been neglected because of, or exacerbated
by, months or years of sustained armed conflict.
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
This chapter will provide a casual overview of a gassing non-combatants of opposition-controlled
topic of enormous complexity: why militant territories has been given the implicit stamp of
groups exist. Our goal here is to only address the approval by the international community. This
elements that will inform play. It would be craven gamble on temporary regional “stability”
impossible to do this topic justice, or capture will ensure eternally escalating instability.
every nuance and edge case, without writing
something the length of a PhD dissertation. By the Not every group facing an existential crisis has
end of this chapter, GMs and players should have a embraced militancy, and unfortunately, many
basis to imagine what type of militant group the groups that are *not* facing an existential crisis
fighters will be part of, and why those individuals have embraced militancy, particularly those
joined the group. groups driven by apocalyptic zealotry or naked
opportunism.
GREIVANCES AND GOALS
The group that the GM and players decide to model
in their sessions and campaigns will need to
Political blocs and peoples sometimes resort to
establish the group’s grievances and goals.
militancy when they have serious grievances with
a group in power, but there are structural
Grievances are the historic and current human
impediments to pursuing peaceful solutions. For
rights abuses perpetuated against the peoples
example, if a movement that peacefully protests
that the group represents. These items can
the corruption of a regime is murdered in broad
include but are not limited to:
daylight by regime paramilitaries, that movement
has the following options:
• Genocidal violence and deprivation.
• Pervasive corruption.
• Accept the regime’s corruption.
• Brutal repression of critics.
• Continue peaceful protests and be murdered
• Engineered elections.
by regime paramilitaries, hoping that
• Imperialist encroachment.
external parties eventually get involved.
• Escalate to meet the violence.
Goals, then, are the political and structural
realities that need to happen to both prevent
Depending on the political and structural factors
future abuses and account for past abuses. These
at play, the first and second option might not be
items can include but are not limited to:
viable. Accepting a regime’s corruption might be a
slow death sentence anyway. Forced
• The regime must fall.
displacement, putting people in camps, denying
• The occupier must leave.
them economic opportunity, and banning
• State power must be shared.
expressions of ethnicity are acts of genocide. As
• Independence must be recognized.
for hoping that external actors will get involved,
WHY WE HATE YOU

• Reparations must be paid.

that ship may have sailed. Bashar al-Assad’s
• Stolen lands must be restored.
“victory” in Syria, uncontested by the
• War criminals must be tried.
international community, paved the way for
• Laws protecting social, economic, religious,
dictators to be as brutal as they want to be in
and bodily autonomy must be observed.
order to achieve their objectives. Bombing and
9
THE GROUND TRUTH and collaborators who would threaten their cause
and safety. They have no territorial aspirations
beyond taking back and defending the places
While grievances and goals determine why
threatened by regime and imperialist violence.
someone fights, the militia they have joined
determines how they fight and who they fight.
The other militia, meanwhile, fights for the
Militias often share the same grievances with
establishment of a global Caliphate. They see the
other militias, only to have their goals be worlds
regime as a puppet-government set up by
apart. Consider two militias that have formed in
crusaders. They enforce an extremely repressive
response to the brutality and corruption of a
social order on the civilians in their territory, and
government. They both want the regime to fall,
violently purge kaffir (e.g. moderates,
they both engage regime forces in battle, and they
ethnic/religious minorities, etc.). Their local
both take and hold territory. That’s where the
efforts are part of a global effort to expand the
similarities end.
Caliphate everywhere, defend it from crusader
aggression, convert all peoples to right ways of
One militia fights for a vision of a free democratic
WHY WE HATE YOU

living, and eradicate those who won’t.

people, free of regime oppression and the
shackles of regional and global imperialism. They
These are polar extremes. The truth of a militia is
focus their insurrectionary violence on military
typically a little messier than this, in part because
targets. They largely leave civilian populations
each one is composed of individuals with their own
alone, making exceptions for regime informants
ideology and motivations.
10
INDIVIDUAL MOTIVATIONS Leftist-Internationalist
You are a militant leftist who has joined
the fight in solidarity with your “third
Militant groups are often composed of people
world” comrades to resist Great Power
from different backgrounds and different parts
imperialism, no matter what nation-state it
of the world who have joined the struggle for
is coming from.
different reasons. Their individual motivations
inform how they interact with other fighters,
Mercenary
militia leadership, military regulars, non-
You are a contractor working for a private
combatants, Great Powers, non-government
military company, or a criminal opportunist
organizations, journalists, or other militant
who sees the regional chaos as a means to
groups.
make a fortune.
Below are just a handful of individual motives that
Reformist
fighters might have in MENA conflicts. Motivations
You were a member of a democratic
have no game-mechanical function and are not
opposition party that was forced to take up
something that players needs to “document” on
arms to defend itself against an
their Fighter Dossier. They are provided as a
authoritarian government that met
short-cut to explain why a fighter has joined a
peaceful protest with military violence.
struggle and how they see the world. If anything,
they can provide fuel for drama and conflict that
Reluctant
occurs between fighters of the same militia.
You joined the struggle because a friend,
family member, or loved one did, and you
Clandestine Asset
came along to support them and/or ensure
You are a spy for a nation-state’s
they weren’t devoured by the conflict.
clandestine service, placed inside of a
Alternatively, you were forcefully
militant group to keep tabs on it or
conscripted into the group.
influence its agenda on your state’s behalf.
Zealot
Defector
You are a religious extremist who believes
You are a revolutionary who left the
in the bigoted, apocalyptic fiction of a
military or bureaucracy of a brutal and
“clash of civilizations,” and sees those who
corrupt government, now fighting to see it
do not subscribe to your interpretation of
toppled and rebuilt to serve the people it
faith as animals and enemies.
has abused for too long.
Campaigns that take place outside of MENA are
Ethno-nationalist
likely to have different or additional individual
You are a member of an ethnic group
WHY WE HATE YOU

motivations, from narcotraficantes to neoncons,

fighting an invader or occupier who is a
and everything in between. Maoists, for example,
direct threat to your people’s autonomy,
somewhat rare in MENA, might be prevalent in
dignity, and long term survival.
struggles taking place in South America or South-
East Asia.

11
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
Armed conflict is only one aspect of any
revolutionary or liberation project. Militant
groups are often informally allied with
“moderate” political forces. While the militants
fight, the moderates are enacting economic and
sociopolitical change in the spaces in between. It
is often advantageous for both entities to keep
their cooperation secret and informal, instead of
working directly in concert.
By keeping their distance from militants,
moderates are less likely to be targeted by
security forces, and better able to parlay with
other moderate political forces, like those of
regional or international interests that could be
potential allies or provide weaponry. When
national or international groups bemoan militant
aggression as terrorism, the moderates are able
to refocus the conversation on the political
realities and repression destabilizing the region
and fueling the violence. Unfortunately, there are
many regimes that see no difference between
moderates and militants, so the efficacy of this
separation is diminishing with time. And “stop
arming terrorists” has become a slogan that
actually means “stop arming moderates.”
Either way, political forces change the facts on
the ground. It’s one thing to shatter the military
hold that a regime, occupier, or extremist group
has on a region… it’s another thing entirely to
eradicate the corruption, or fill the void, left by
the previous political program. Without political
transformation in the wake of militia success, the
bribe economy continues, the warlords keep
hoarding food, and ethnic and religious bigotry
continues to manifest in violence. The militia can
provide security for political efforts, but they are
often too busy in martial matters to engage in this
important political work themselves.
12
WHY WE HATE YOU
It’s time to put it all together, and establish the
basic contours of a B&B campaign before players
start creating their fighters. When discussing the
prospect of playing a B&B campaign, the GM and
players should discuss and answer the following
questions:
• When and where will the campaign take place?
• Will the nature and events of the campaign be
historically accurate, historically adjacent, or
entirely fictional?
• Will the campaign scope revolve around
control of a city, a region, or a state?
• What militia or movement are the fighters
part of, and what are the grievances and goals
of this group?
• What does the “moderate” or political face of
the militia look like?
• Who are the other groups that the militia
must contend with in their struggle, and what
are they trying to achieve?
WHAT IF I WANT TO PLAY AS ISIL, OR
BOKO HARAM, OR…?
We cannot control what anyone does with this game, but
WHY WE HATE YOU
if you feel strongly about roleplaying an organization
that commits unspeakable violence and terror against
non-combatants, we encourage you to contact your
local authorities and tell them about your interests.
BEFORE WE BEGIN…
This chapter will discuss how to create a fighter.
This is something that each player can do
independently, but we strongly suggest a “Session
0” for everyone at the table to sync on setting
specifics and discuss their fighters. Taking this
step helps ensure that players aren’t creating
mechanically- and thematically-identical fighters.
Further, there is a step towards the end of fighter
creation that requires each player to reflect on
how their fighter feels about the other fighters in
their cadre. This is best handled by a conversation
between players.
It’s time for each player to grab the Fighter
Dossier sheet at the end of this PDF and start
building their fighter.
14
FIGTHER-BUILDING BY THE NUMBERS
1. Come up with a name and some identifiers (look,
background, interests, preferred pronouns, etc.)
for your fighter and write them down in the space
provided. You can always come back and change
things later (and the same can be said for
everything on the Fighter Dossier).
2. Populate the fighter’s tactics. Of the combat,
evasion, and intrigue categories, select one that is
the fighter’s best and worst category.
2a. For their best category, assign the
values 5/4/ 3/3 to the four tactics below,
any way you want to.
2b. For their worst category, assign
the values 3/3/2/1 to the four tactics
below it, any way you want to.
2c. For the other category, assign the
values 4/3/3/2 to the four tactics below
them, any way you want to.
CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER
You’ll learn what each of these tactics do later,
but for now, just assume they do exactly what they
sound like. Suppress = suppression fire, Gel = blend
in with a crowd, Rush = move very quickly to a
place, etc.
3. Populate the fighter’s Breaks, which are pieces
of equipment that allow them to convert a single
botch into a success whenever they use a specific
tactic. In our example below, we see that Massoud
has a duck call break that helps his Deny tactic.
When he’s trying to pull attention away from his
comrades during an evasion scene, he can use this
duck call to create a convincing distraction. If a
player does use a break to help their roll, they do
need to incorporate it into the fiction somehow
when narrating their outcome. For each tactic
that is supported by either a break, be sure to fill
in the next to the relevant tactic. This is a good
mnemonic device to remember you have a break
available.
Fighters start with 3 Breaks.
15
4. Define a “passage” for the fighter, and list it
under the appropriate category: combat, evasion,
or intrigue. Passage is simply an experience,
vocation, or background that informs how the
fighter sees the world and approaches certain
types of situations.
A passage permits a fighter to
count any 10s they roll as 2
successes, so long as the player
is able to incorporate some
details of that passage in their
narration of a roll’s outcome.
In our example, Massoud has the
passage of “teacher,”
supporting the intrigue
category. This means that
during any scene of intrigue, 10s
count as 2 successes for
Massoud, no matter what tactic
he is using. However, his player
will need to incorporate the
passage to benefit from it. For
example, if Massoud rolls a 10
when using the Confront tactic,
the player might conjure a
flashback to when Massoud
grew angry with a student’s
abusive and neglectful parents.
A fighter begins with only one
passage, so choose wisely.
A fighter’s passage can be anything: terrorist,
lobbyist, journalist, private military contractor,
CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER
cleric, tourist, opium farmer, goat herder, truck
driver, sex worker, computer programmer, civil
engineer, refugee, missionary, etc. Further, it can
be applied to whichever of the categories seems
most appropriate. For tactics supported by a
passage, be sure to fill in the next to the
relevant tactics.
5. Determine the fighter’s talents. Talents are
special gifts, experiences, resources, and unique
approaches to problem solving that a fighter was
born with, worked on developing throughout their
life, or discovered accidentally.
Fighters begin play with 3 talents rated at 3. A
talent permits a fighter to spend 3 fatigue to add 3
successes to any roll, after the roll is made, so
long as the player can incorporate the talent into
their narrative. For example, when Massoud uses
his bullpup AK in combat, he can add 3 successes to
his roll by leveraging the Maintenance talent and
describing how his hours of cleaning the weapon
and adjusting its sights have paid off in the
moment of truth. For another example, Massoud
might leverage the Learned talent to add 3
successes to a roll during an intrigue scene, and
impress (or disturb) a local mullah with his
encyclopedic knowledge of Islamic apocrypha. The
only limit to when and how a talent is used is player
imagination, and the “groan test.” If a fighter’s
use of a talent seems particularly “cheap” or
“immersion-breaking” to multiple players around
16
the table, the GM can ask that player to use a
different talent, or just go without using a talent if
necessary. For example, if a player attempts to
use the “Charming” talent to stop a tank cannon
from striking their position, that probably
wouldn’t pass the “groan test.” Other than this
social control, players are encouraged to be
creative, have fun, and tell awesome stories when
using their talents.
On this page and the next two, we’ve compiled a
list of suggested talents and their effects, but GMs
and players are encouraged to create their own.
Just ensure that they are neither too generic nor
too specific, and they have (potential) applicability
across a broad spectrum of situations.
TALENTS
Athletic
Your physical gifts and conditioning enable
you to pull off impressive maneuvers and
stunts that would be hard for others to
replicate.
Bold
Your courage, recklessness, or addiction to
adrenaline compels you to courses of
action that the opposition would never
expect.
Charming
Your confidence, physical fitness, looks,
attire, or flirtatious nature inspire
romantic or sexual desire in others.
CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER
Deep Pockets
You have access to considerable wealth and
resources that can be used for bribes, hush
money, and quick acquisition of goods.
Heightened Senses
Your razor-sharp senses notice tiny details,
detect subtle movements, and identify
exploitable opportunities in your
environment.
Innocent
Your apparent meekness, naivete,
inexperience, or jovial nature makes you
the last person people suspect of malice.
Intel Consumer
Your consumption and utilization of field
intelligence allows you to exploit
weaknesses in contacts, environments, and
forces.
Jokester
Your sense of humor and cunning in
executing practical jokes tends to keep
spirits high or drive enemies into frenzy.
17
Killer Instincts
Your capacity for violence is strong but
methodical, and executed with ice-cold
professionalism.
Learned
You have an encyclopedic understanding of
niche topics, bodies of academic
knowledge, and complex systems of
interaction.
Maintenance
Your meticulous cleaning, tinkering, and
CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER
tweaking of your weapons and gear
ensures that they almost perform at peek
capacity.
Menacing
Your size, body language, fearsome visage,
or unpredictable nature create fear and
unease in others.
Mouse
You are adept at discovering and navigating
tight spaces, including ventilation shafts,
chimneys, natural caves, vehicle trunks,
dumpsters, etc.
Quick Reflexes
Your physical reaction to openings,
opportunities, or sudden danger is so
fast and methodical, some people suspect
that you can predict the future.
6. Determine the fighter’s training. Unlike talents,
which define and reinforce an individual’s
approach to solving problems and getting by,
training represents highly specialized military and
espionage skills developed as a result of fighting
an irregular war and working cohesively as a unit
over time.

Reputation
You have a reputation (earned or unearned)
that you can lean on to reinforce any
promises or threats you make.

Status
You have status due to your lineage, rank
(military or religious), or your
contributions to a cause,which garners
severe respect in some circles.

Steadfast
Your stamina, high pain tolerance, or sheer
force of will make you appear to be almost
invincible in the face of physical or
emotional duress.
Survivor
Your experiences living in harsh conditions,
whether it’s the wilderness, a warzone, or
extreme poverty, manifests as
resourcefulness and ruggedness.
Technical
Your fluency in technology makes it easy
for you to intuit how to use, repair, or
break things in ways those who engineered
them never anticipated.
In terms of game mechanics, training permits
fighters to “break the rules” during certain
scenes, and when using certain tactics. Most
training dramatically improves how some tactics
work. For example, the “Overwatch” training
permits a fighter to apply their Suppress
successes to 2 comrades instead of 1, effectively
doubling this tactic’s impact.
Fighters begin play with 3 trainings. For each
tactic augmented by training, be sure to fill in the
CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER
next to the relevant tactic.
The following two pages list the trainings available
to fighters.

18
TRAINING
Behavioral Analysis
You understand how to pause and assess
how people’s body language is
communicating their true intent. Gel tactic
restores a number of Fatigue equal to
successes rolled.
Collection
You understand how to harvest evidence
and intelligence from a situation, without
exposing your own intentions. Snoop tactic
also reduces your danger if you score 3+
successes.
Cover Utilization
You instinctually stick to cover, whether or
not you are under direct fire from threats.
Reduce danger by 1 at the beginning of
every round during combat.
19
Deception & Denial
You are versed in using distractions,
feints, and red herrings to draw an
adversary’s attention away from your
comrades. Deny tactic reduces danger of 2
comrades instead of 1.
De-escalation
You understand how to reduce tensions,
make people feel heard, and drive conflicts
towards productive outcomes. Support
CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER
tactic reduces danger of 2 comrades
instead of 1.
Hit & Run
You are adept at harassing and frustrating
larger, slow moving forces with guerilla
tactics. Flank tactic also reduces your
danger if you score 3+ successes.
Impersonation
You are able to decouple your own feelings
and stress from that of the role or identity
you are assuming. Reduce danger by 1 at
the beginning of every round during
intrigue.
Shock & Awe
You know exactly when and where to apply
overwhelming force to destabilize and
demoralize the enemy. Storm tactic
reduces +3 danger penalty by 1/2/3 when
scoring 3/4/5 successes.

Interrogation Silent Movement

You are skilled at getting your mark to
talk without resorting to tactics that make
them resent you or lie to you. Confront
tactic reduces +3 danger penalty by 1/2/3
when scoring 3/4/5 successes.
You are able to mute your footfalls, secure
your equipment, and tumble in a manner
that cannot be heard while moving rapidly.
Sneak tactic also reduces your danger if
you score 3+ successes.

Overwatch Tactical Assessment

You have a keen eye for where to apply You stay cool during a firefight, adjusting
suppressive fire for the best effect. and adapting to a fluid combat situation.
Suppress tactic reduces danger of 2 Regroup tactic restores a number of
comrades instead of 1. Fatigue equal to successes rolled.

Security Assessment
You understand the value of observing
your environment, timing the movement of
sentries, and waiting for the right
opportunity to strike. Fade tactic restores
a number of Fatigue equal to successes
rolled.

Sentry Removal
You are capable of committing to action
where others would hesitate, striking
with relentless fury. Rush tactic reduces
+3 danger penalty by 1/2/3 when scoring
3/4/5 successes. CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER
Shadow Utilization
You know how color and lighting work on
the eye and plot your course along the path
of least visibility. Reduce danger by 1 at
the beginning of every round during
evasion.

20
7. Determine the fighter’s relationship with the
other fighters.
You don’t fight alongside comrades in a desperate
struggle for months or years without developing
strong feelings for them. However, relationships
are more complicated that just considering a
brother- or sister-in-arms a comrade. Fighters
on the same side can grow to love one another,
resent one another, compete with one another, or
adopt any other feelings that exist outside of a
conflict situation. And relationships can change
with time and circumstances.
In game mechanical terms, a relationship can be
“invoked” to gain an automatic 5 success instead
of making a roll (as if you just rolled a 6 on every
dice). This guarantee of success can dramatically
turn the tide when things look dire. However, a
relationship can only get invoked when it is
“triggered.” For example, if a fighter is your
“ward,” someone you look out for, you can only
invoke that relationship when your ward is at 10+
danger. The sight of your ward being in mortal
danger or about to make a terrible mistake
compels you to take decisive action to save them.
Relationships need to be maintained, even in a
time of conflict. Once a relationship is invoked,
place an X in the box next to it. That relationship
cannot be invoked again until it is “stoked.”
Stoking a relationship is something that happens
during downtime and moments of quiet between
firefights and operations. During these periods, a
fighter can opt to stoke a single relationship by
prompting a scene of conversation, observation,
21
interaction, argument, or hijinks with the fighter
whose relationship they wish to stoke. The actual
contents of that scene are influenced by the type
of relationship. For example, if a fighter
considers another fighter to be their rival, they
may challenge them to some type of contest.
Scenes of stoked relationships are 100%
narrative and serve no game mechanical purpose
beyond erasing the X next to an invoked
relationship. The GM and other players are invited
to partake in the scene if they wish (perhaps to
stoke their own fighters’ relationships).
How are relationships determined? After each
player has finished their fighter, they will
introduce their fighter to the other players,
talking about their experiences, skillset,
personality, and what drew them to the struggle.
The other players will use this opportunity to
consider how their own fighter would feel about
the fighter that was just introduced, and write
down any relationship of their choosing. This
exercise continues until all fighters have been
introduced, and all relationships established.
Keep in mind, relationships need not be
reciprocal. In fact, they are more dramatic when
they are not. Also, relationships can change.
When stoking a relationship, a fighter can opt to
change their relationship with another fighter,
based on decisions they’ve made, positions
they’ve supported, or campaign events.
A word of caution on relationships: this game
mechanic is *not* license to bully, harass, or
CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER
embarrass other players. Ensure that all parties
understand that fighter relationship remain
clearly in the fiction, not in real life.
On the next page, we enumerate and discuss the
different types of relationships, what triggers
them, and how they are stoked.
RELATIONSHIPS Grudge
You have seething contempt for this
fighter, and wouldn’t at all mind if they left
Comrade
the group, voluntarily or otherwise.
You consider this fighter to be your friend,
your battle buddy, your spiritual sibling, or
Triggered: Your danger is triple that of
just a hell of a team player.
your grudge.
Triggered: Your comrade makes a roll and
Stoked: scenes of accusations and
scores 3 or more successes (naturally).
petty arguments.
Stoked: scenes of bonding, sharing, and
Inspiration
reminiscing on past experiences.
You either look up to this fighter and
aspire to be like them, or you see them as
Crush
your muse.
You have romantic and/or sexual desire for
this fighter, which may or may not be a
Triggered: Your inspiration taps one of
passing phase.
their passages.
Triggered: Your crush takes an action that
Stoked: Seeking your inspiration’s council
reduces your danger by 1 or more.
or approval, or mimicking their behaviors.
Stoked: scenes of awkward overtures,
Rival
daydreams, and flirtation.
You feel the need to compete with this
fighter or put them in their place.
Curiosity
You are fascinated by this fighter and want
Triggered: Your rival makes a roll and
to know more about them to figure out
scores 0 or less successes.
what makes them tick.
Stoked: scenes of competition, contest,
Triggered: Your curiosity invokes one of
provocation, or dare.
their own relationships.
Ward
Stoked: scenes of fascinated observation,
You feel compelled to protect this fighter,
note taking, and question asking.
a compulsion fueled by duty, devotion,
CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER
guilt, or pity.

Triggered: Your ward is at 10+ danger.

Stoked: scenes of checking in with your

ward, advising them on risks, and helping
them develop.

22
8. Congratulations! You and your fellow players
have just created a cadre of radicals, patriots,
insurgents, terrorists, separatists, guerillas,
religious extremists, or freedom fighters,
depending on who’s asking. It’s time to wrap
things up with a couple of house keeping items.
FATIGUE
Fatigue is the resource that fighters spend to
activate talents. All fighters have a maximum
fatigue of 10, and begin play with 0 fatigue. When
a fighter uses fatigue, they put an X in a number
of boxes equal to the fatigue they have used.
There are only 3 ways to reduce fatigue.
• All fighters remove 5 fatigue after they have
successfully accomplished a scene of
combat, evasion, or intrigue.
• A fighter that scores 3 or more success on a
roll naturally (that is, without adding a
talent) instantly removes 1 fatigue for
themselves or for a fighter of their choice.
• All fighters remove all fatigue when they have
downtime between operations.
23
LOADOUT
We use the word “loadout” to
describe the small arms and
special weapons that a fighter
has easy access to. By small
arms, we’re referring to
handguns, shotguns,
submachine guns (SMG), sniper
rifles, assault rifles (AR), and
hand to hand weapons. By
special weapons, we ‘re
referring to light machine
guns (LMG), hand grenades,
anti-material rifles (AMR), and
other heavy weapons.
In this game, there is no game mechanical
difference between any small arm. A fighter’s
choice of small arm should be seen as a “cosmetic”
and narrative choice (a fighter’s loadout will enter
a session’s narrative frequently, particularly
during combat scenes). Small arms can, however,
benefit from breaks. For example, a fighter can add
a suppressor to their handgun to make it a Sneak
break (in case they need to neutralize a sentry). A
small arm can have any number of breaks (for
those excited about small arms customization), but
remember, only 1 break can ever be used during a
single roll.
Special weapons will be covered extensively in the
next chapter. For now, just understand that they
are a rare commodity, and a fighter’s access to
them depends on external factors.
CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER
Fighters should start with whatever small arms
they wish, so long as they are appropriate to their
struggle’s timeline and location.
~~~ At last, we finally had to face the enemy of our
enemy. The jihadis halted the regime’s advance
with a small fleet of Toyotas converted into
SVBIEDs, but now they had their sights on the
village we held. They had come to replace the yoke
the regime put upon us with another yoke. They
had come to purge this place of kaffir. They had
come to replace our flag of a free democratic
people with a flag of the Caliphate. We would not
abandon our brothers of other faiths, nor could
we convince our sisters to lay down their arms
even if we wanted to. A dust storm was coming,
kicked up by a caravan of white pick-up trucks
with black flags. We observed our prayers,
counted our magazines, and put the enemy in our
iron sights. ~~~
Scenes of combat are managed with the Combat
Readout, found in the back of this PDF. The Combat
Readout displays the current danger of all the
scene’s participants, including the fighters and
25
any threats they face. The Combat Readout also
provides some details on who the threats are, the
weaponry the threats use, the danger those
weapons represent, and whether or not the threat
is benefitting from a vehicle or strongpoint’s
heavy armor (denoted HVY on the sheet).
TURNS & TACTICS
Combat is organized in rounds where everyone
takes a turn, with the GM always taking their turn
first. The GM takes the danger added by a single
threat’s loadout and applies it to any fighter they
wish. They do the same with the rest of the scene’s
threats. They might distribute their attacks
evenly, or focus on one fighter, or do something
else. The GM then narrates what the threats are
doing that is resulting in this added danger: firing
on them, flanking them, shelling their position,
rushing towards them, etc.
After that occurs, it is the fighter’s turn. Each
fighter has four combat tactics available to them.
Storm – execute a reckless attack, charging and
overwhelming the enemy. Add 3 danger to a threat
plus 1 danger per success rolled, but also add 3
danger to yourself.
Flank – execute a cautious attack, surprising and
outmaneuvering the enemy. Add 1 danger to a
threat per success rolled.
Regroup – protect yourself by hitting the deck and
staying out of harm’s way. Remove 1 danger from
yourself per success rolled.
Suppress - protect an ally by pulling them to
safety or providing cover fire for them. Remove 1
danger from a comrade per success rolled.
COMBAT
Each fighter selects one tactic and makes a roll, in
any order the players wish. A threat that
accumulates 10 or more danger is neutralized and
removed from the scene immediately. A fighter
that ends a turn with 10 or more danger is
neutralized and removed from the scene
immediately. Neutralization of a threat is
determined and described by players (e.g. injury,
death, surrender, flight, etc.), whereas
neutralization of a fighter is determined and
described by the GM. Generally speaking, a
neutralized fighter has sustained a severe injury
and will die without medical attention.
A neutralized fighter can choose to rally,
returning to the scene with 0 danger at the
beginning of the next turn. However, rallying
makes a fighter extremely vulnerable for the
remainder of the scene, as well as the entirety of
the next scene. A fighter who has rallied this scene
or last scene who ends their turn with 10 or more
danger is removed from the campaign. They are
dead, dying, or captured, with no hope of
recovery. Time to create a new fighter.
Combat ends when either all threats have been
neutralized, all fighters have been neutralized, or
either side chooses to disengage or surrender. If
the fighter’s choose to disengage or surrender,
any fighter that has rallied this scene rolls a d10. If
the result is equal to or less than their current
danger, they are dead, dying, or captured, with no
hope of recovery.
THREAT LOADOUTS AND ARMOR
Each threat has an individual danger tracker and
one or two loadouts (i.e. weapon systems or
attacks). Each loadout adds danger to a fighter,
and some loadouts add this danger to more than
one fighter. For example, a threat with an AR can
add 3 danger to 1 fighter per turn, while a threat
26
with an LMG can add 3 danger to 2 fighters per
turn. A threat can use one loadout per turn, not
both. There are some loadouts that can only be
used once (e.g. frag grenade, RPG, etc.) and/or
have other special properties. Below are some
example loadouts a GM might want threats to use:
AR/Sniper Rifle – 3 danger to 1 fighter.
Pistol/SMG/Shotgun – 2 danger to 1 fighter.
LMG – 3 danger to 2 fighters.
Grenade/RPG – 3 danger to 2 fighters.
Suicide Vest – 4 danger to 2 fighters, but can only
be triggered by a threat that is at 8+ danger.
Let’s take a look at an example threat:
This threat is a jihadi who is standing in the cargo
bed of a “technical” (i.e. a modified pickup truck
with a light machine gun mounted to a standing
tripod ). The LMG he is firing adds 3 danger to 2
fighters per turn, making him a very dangerous
threat. To make matters worse, the circled “HVY”
denotes he has heavy armor, likely provided by a
scrap metal gun-shield fixed to the LMG.
A threat with “HVY” circled can only have its
danger increased by a fighter who is using special
weapons (e.g. AMR, frag grenade, HMG, RPG, etc.).
SPECIAL WEAPONS
Scenes of combat assume that all fighters have
small arms proportional to the threat (e.g. ARs,
SMGs, shotguns, sniper rifles, etc.). While these
weapons are lethal, they are ineffective against
threats protected by the armor of a fortified
strongpoint (e.g. concrete pill box) or the plating
of a militarized vehicle (e.g. SBVIED, gunship, etc.).
Enter: special weapons.
COMBAT
All special weapons (with the exception of LMG)
permit fighters to add danger to threats with the
“HVY” tag, but also have other properties that are
advantages and/or disadvantages. Below are some
examples of special weapons:
Anti-material Rifle
When used on a threat without the HVY tag,
that threat is neutralized if at least 1
danger is added to it. Ammunition is rare.
After each use, roll a d6. On a 1, you just
fired your last shot.
Hand Grenade
Applies “overflow” danger (anything over
10) from a neutralized threat to another
threat. Can only be used in conjunction with
the Storm tactic. Cannot be used against
aerial threats (e.g. gunships). Single use.
27
Heavy Machine Gun (HMG)
Applies “overflow” danger (anything over
10) from a neutralized threat to another
threat, or apply Suppress successes to an
additional comrade. Too large for an
individual to carry. Ammunition is rare.
After each use, roll a d6. On a 1, you just
fired your last burst.
Light Machine Gun (LMG)
Identical to HMG, except it is small enough
to be carried by an individual, but it cannot
add danger to threats with the HVY tag. It’s
primary function is fire support for a
squad, not taking on armor.
Man-Portable Air-Defense System (MANPAD)
Neutralizes an aerial threat if at least 2
danger is added to it. Single use.
COMBAT
Rocket-propelled Grenade (RPG)
Identical to Grenade, except it can also be
used against aerial threats.
Suicide Vest
Triples successes rolled on a Storm Op
and applies “overflow” danger (anything
over 10) from a neutralized threat to
another threat, but denotation obliterates
its wearer.
Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided
System (TOW)
Neutralizes a land vehicle if at least 2
danger is added to it. Single use.
Under-barrel Grenade launcher
Same as grenade, except it is not bound to
the Storm tactic. Single use.
VEHICLES AND STRONGPOINTS
While fighters will spend the majority of their time
on foot, hiking through mountains, slogging
through deserts, or creeping around the rubble of
urban ruins, they will sometimes need to contend
with militarized vehicles.
Gunship
Death from above, firing both an HMG (4 vs
2) and a hellfire rocket (6 vs 1 or 3 vs 2)
every turn. Extremely rare in the hands of
irregulars or third world armies; almost
always a sign of intervention on behalf of a
Great Power.
Modified Civilian Vehicle (“Technical”)
Technicals aren’t usually HVY threats, so
much as fast transportation for
combatants and special weapons (e.g. HMG
for anti-air support). They sometimes
feature bullet-proof shielding.
28
Strongpoint
A heavily-fortified defensive position, such
as a sandbagged enclave, a concrete
pillbox, or a guard tower. It’s primary value
is applying the “HVY” tag to a sniper or an
LMG gunner.
Suicide Vehicle-Borne Improved Explosive Device
(SVBIED)
A civilian vehicle covered in steel plating
and loaded with explosives, designed for
one thing: ramming into buildings or armor
and exploding. Detonates and destroys a
land vehicle or structure (and everyone
inside of it) if not neutralized in the first
turn.
Tank
In addition to an LMG fired from a gunner in
the top hatch, the tank unleashes its
cannon every other turn, either destroying
a single ground vehicle or strongpoint
outright, or destroying a fighter who used
the Regroup tactic last turn.
DETERMINING DANGER
A “balanced” scene of combat throws
approximately 3-4 danger at each fighter every
turn. Talents and special weapons generally stack
the deck for the players, but those are also finite
resources. Players will have to be careful to not
exhaust these resources if they know that an
operation may require additional scenes.
For the sake of fairness, a combat scene should
not feature a threat with the “HVY” tag unless the
fighters have access to support weapons, or they
can capture support weapons from threats they
defeat during the same scene.
COMBAT
COMBAT SCENE PROMPTS
A local warlord and his mercenaries have captured
three trucks of food and medicine from an NGO
delivering aid to a refugee camp. The caravan is
flanked on either side by a technical.
A militia is launching a raid on one of your
positions, bringing to bear an LMG and a handful of
RPGs, and grenades if the engagement becomes a
short ranged one.
You are launching a raid on an opposing faction’s
position, which is defended by sandbags and
natural cover, and is only approachable via a long,
empty, and cover-sparse stretch of desert.
A secret opposition cell in one of your territories
has activated and is attacking the facilities and
functionaries that perform civil services for the
area.
A militia is assaulting a village with the intent on
punishing and eradicating an ethnic minority,
killing all of the men, and selling any survivors off
to slavery.
You are raiding an armory or a weapons convoy to
acquire the support weapons needed to repel a
coming conventional assault by either the national
military or a Great Power military.
You are caught in the chaos of a major
engagement between two opposing factions and
are being attacked by combatants who suspect
you of fighting for the other side.
The militants you have surrounded refuse to
negotiate and insist on fighting to the death,
leveraging grenades and suicide vests to inflict
maximum destruction during their last stand.
29
A raid against your position is spearheaded by an
SVBIED that is careening towards an important
structure, a valuable military asset, or a cluster of
civilians.
Your cadre is being stalked and attacked by a pair
of gunships fielded by an adversarial Great Power
or a national military, and you’re running out of
places to hide.
A special operations task force or PMC group hired
by a Great Power or national government has
panicked or gone rogue, and are now opening fire
on witnesses, including non-combatants.
A heated political negotiation, an contested public
demonstration, or an argument with a local
authority escalates into a brutal, close quarters
brawl that the cadre cannot ignore.
An arranged meeting with a militia leader,
clandestine asset, journalist, or weapons dealer
turns out to be an ambush, and its clear your
sweating contact is wearing an explosive vest.
A lone tank, supported by a small fire team, is
shelling your comrade’s position with impunity,
and will continue to do so unless your cadre
storms and destroys it.
Before a temporary ally is willing to offer their
promised air support, your cadre must attack and
neutralize enemy units sitting on a stockpile of
MANPADS, RPGs, and an anti-aircraft HMG.
COMBAT
~~~The sniper held the street for three days and
took as many of our brothers. We chose to cede
this space to her, waiting for her supplies to run
out. However, we were sustaining heavy losses in a
conflict across town, and the fastest way to
reinforce the position was to go through her
forsaken street. We moved methodically as a unit,
hugging the ruins of storefronts, and dashing
madly between burnt-out vehicles while providing
overwatch for one another. We had made it so far
through the street that we thought we may have
been hiding from a ghost, until that moment the
sky cracked with the sound of a scoped SKS
striking its target true.~~~
Scenes of evasion are managed with the Evasion
Readout, found in the back of this PDF. The Evasion
Readout displays the current danger of all
fighters in the scene, which represents the
likelihood that they will be detected or captured.
At the top of the Evasion Readout is a conceptual
31
map of the environs the fighters will need to
navigate through to arrive safely to their
destination. We see that this scene begins with all
fighters in the “tenement ruin.” When they have
progressed further, accumulating between 6 and
10 success, they will be near the “burnt-out cars.”
An “X” on each tracker marks where fighters need
to get to in order to reach safety. Lastly, the top
right corner shows the scene’s overall danger,
applied to every fighter each turn.
TURNS & TACTICS
Evasion is organized in rounds where everyone
takes a turn, with the GM always taking their turn
first. The GM simply applies the scene’s danger
(representative of the available cover, darkness,
security measures, sentries, etc.) equally to each
fighter. The GM then narrates what is happening
that is increasing the fighter’s chances of getting
caught: the sentries are patrolling closer, the
spotlights are shining their way, the dogs have a
scent, etc.
After that occurs, it is the fighter’s turn. Each
fighter has four evasion tactics available to them.
Rush – make reckless progress, dashing towards a
position. Gain 3 progress plus 1 progress per
success rolled, but also add 3 danger to yourself.
Sneak – make cautious progress, slowly crawling
or tiptoeing towards a position. Gain 1 progress
per success rolled.
Fade – reduce your own danger by staying still and
staying out of sight. Remove 1 danger from
yourself per success rolled.
Deny - reduce a comrade’s danger by alerting
them or pulling attention away from them. Remove
EVASION
1 danger from a comrade per success rolled.
Each fighter selects one tactic and makes a roll, in
any order the players wish. They are all trying to
make enough progress to make it to safety, while
ensuring that none of them end their turn with 10
or more danger, which ends the scene for
everyone. After all, if one fighter gets caught, the
opposition will be on high alert.
captured. If the fighters get detected or captured,
or choose to disengage, any fighter that has
rallied this scene rolls a d10. If the result is equal
to or less than their current danger, they are
dead, dying, or captured, with no hope of
recovery.

A detected or captured fighter can choose to rally,

STICK TOGETHER
returning to the scene with 0 danger at the
While it may be tempting for fighters who are
beginning of next turn. However, rallying makes a
skilled at evasion to blaze through to the finish line
fighter extremely vulnerable for the remainder of
as fast as they can, this is not wise. A fighter that
the scene, as well as the entirety of the next
has proceeded to the where the “X” is on their
scene. A fighter who has rallied this scene or last
tracker no longer participates in the scene. This
scene who ends their turn with 10 or more danger
means they must wait and hope that the rest of the
is removed from the campaign. They are dead,
fighters make it to safety. Therefor, it is better
dying, or captured, with no hope of recovery. Time
for fighters to stay relatively in sync, only
to create a new fighter.
punching through to their destination when they
know that all their comrades will make it there
EVASION

Evasion ends when either all fighters have made it

safely.
to safety, or a single fighter has been detected or
32
DETERMINING DANGER scenes do contain elements of violence (e.g.
providing suppression fire to slow down
pursuers), they don’t necessarily have to turn into
The danger of an evasion scene is generally
bloodbaths, nor structured scenes of combat.
between 2 and 4, determined by the GM. This value
After all, the fighters are likely evacuating
is dependent on how difficult it is for the fighters
because violent conflict is either doomed to fail or
to make progress. For example, infiltrating the
would undermine the mission.
back offices of a mosque at midnight might be
relatively easy, with 2 danger. Infiltrating a
military base, meanwhile, with fences, concertina FAILED SCENES CREATE NEW SCENES
wire, spotlights, sniper towers, machine gun
nests, guard dogs, and land mines would be This is true for both combat and intrigue scenes as
extremely challenging, with 4 danger. well, but failed evasion scenes can either cause an
operation to fail outright, or kick off a new scene
INFILTRATION VS EVACUATION where the fighters must deal with the
consequences of being detected or captured. For
example, if the fighters are detected during an
An evasion scene is generally of two different
infiltration of an enemy base, perhaps it is now
flavors: infiltration or evacuation.
time for either a difficult firefight (i.e. combat
scene), or negotiate their surrender (i.e. intrigue
In the case of infiltration, the fighters are trying
scene). As another example, if the fighters decide
to get into a fortified location (or an advantageous
to disengage during a firefight because they are
position to launch an ambush) without being
overwhelmed, the GM may kick off an evasion
detected. In the narrative, this may involve
scene (of the evacuation type) where the fighters
avoiding detection at all costs, or it may involve
are on the run.
them violently dismantling sentries, dragging
bodies to the bushes, and so forth. Whichever
flavor seems more appropriate to the scene
should be embraced by players and GMs alike.
Obviously, a trail of bodies or disappeared sentries
can have serious ramifications on a mission’s
outcome, so players should be very conscientious
of when to engage in this type of threat
neutralization.

In the case of evacuation, the fighters have

already been “detected,” and are trying to flee
from danger, getting to an evacuation point where
a vehicle is running, or where they can blend in and
disappear into the civilian population. These
scenes work more like “chase scenes,” where the
fighters are fleeing dogged pursuers or trying to
EVASION

stay out of gunship’s or sniper’s sights. If these

33
EVASION SCENE PROMPTS In the midst of a major clash, your cadre must get
to an evacuation point or a position to turn the
tide of battle, without getting drawn into a full-on
A lone technical with an HMG that was separated
firefight and missing your window.
from its caravan presents a tantalizing prize, so
long as it can be approached in a way that doesn’t
Captured and jailed by local authorities or
cause its owners to open fire or scuttle it.
extremists, it is time to execute your prison break
before the command comes down to have you
Before you can even begin your raid on the enemy
beheaded or hanged for your crimes.
stronghold, you must sneak your way close to it, or
else the cadre will be methodically picked off the
You need to attend an important meeting to
opposition’s snipers.
acquire intelligence on someone or influence
them, but there is no way you’ll be able to just walk
You are crossing a heavily-militarized border to
right in, so you seek another way in.
meet an important contact, and must avoid the
patrols, concertina wire, and spotlights the
You’re being chased out of the village by furious
neighboring government has set up.
people wielding knives, sticks, and stones, and you
need to keep moving or else you’ll get torn apart
Your cadre is fleeing the swiveling spotlights of
by the mob or forced to escalate dramatically.
gunships ominously circling overland, knowing full
well that the wrong move could result in a target
Your cadre has been tasked with capturing a
lock and an incoming Hellfire missile.
target that is extremely difficult to reach and
never leaves the safety of their bunker, villa, or
You must traverse a eerily silent shelled-out city
mosque, which is in a demilitarized zone.
block that has become a lethal sniper’s alley,
sticking close to cover and out of the crosshairs of
Your heavily-armed and masked cadre must
a marksman that can probably smell you coming.
maneuver through a relatively populated area
without being noticed so the locals won’t alert
You are masquerading as a civilian deep in enemy
your targets and flee.
territory, but your cover is blown or diminishing,
and you have precious few minutes to get to a
The warlord who forced your surrender gives your
safehouse before the authorities catch you.
cadre 30 seconds to run before ordering his
mercenaries to shoot you, cackling wildly as you
A militia has taken hostages and will begin
dash away and dive for cover.
executing one every hour unless their demands
are met, unless your cadre can quietly infiltrate
With an enemy caravan rapidly approaching, the
and set up an orchestrated neutralization.
cadre has only a few moments to get into the
positions to established a killzone, but must do so
Knowing you cannot contend with them when they
without being seen by the would-be victims.
become airborne, your cadre is sneaking inside an
airbase to sabotage a pair of grounded gunships
that have been terrorizing your comrades.
EVASION

34
INTRIGUE
~~~The enemy’s surprise raid was repelled, but we
lost many fighters. It seemed there was an
informant in our midst, and all suspected the
comrade who’s son was captured and being held by
the regime. To allay the growing mob, the
commander ordered an immediate tribunal to
determine the man’s fate. He asked two of us to
prosecute the man, and two of us to represent him
in good faith. Before the tribunal began, the
commander pulled us aside and said to us “We
need to find this man either innocent or guilty, and
stand by this verdict, and we need to do it soon.
Otherwise, the mob will mete out their own
justice, which will shatter our fighters’ morale
and tarnish our legitimacy in the eyes of those who
would trust us to lead.~~~
Scenes of intrigue are managed with the Intrigue
Readout, found in the back of this PDF. The Intrigue
Readout displays the current danger of all
fighters in the scene, which represents the
36
likelihood that one of them will do something that
triggers an emergency, such as negotiations
between militias escalating to bloodshed, or
hostages getting executed instead of released.
The Intrigue Readout has one or more “agendas,”
which are sociopolitical outcomes the fighters are
trying to achieve, each of them marked with an
“X” to denote how much progress needs to be
made to see those agendas through. There may be
multiple agendas, and they may be conflicting (a “
race” between mutually-exclusive choices), or
sequential (you need to gain an audience with the
cleric before you can even convince him to
denounce a troublesome militia). Lastly, the top
right corner shows the scene’s overall danger,
applied to every fighter each turn.
TURNS & TACTICS
Intrigue is organized in rounds where everyone
takes a turn, with the GM always taking their turn
first. The GM simply applies the scene’s danger
(representative of the level of tension, contempt,
or imminent violence permeating the scene, etc.)
equally to each fighter. The GM then narrates what
is happening that is increasing the fighter’s
chances of triggering an emergency: people are
screaming, guns are raised at one another, the
jihadis suspect the fighters are actually CIA
operatives, etc.
After that occurs, it is the fighters’ turn. Each
fighter has four intrigue tactics available to them.
Confront – forcefully advance an agenda, even
though it may put people on edge. Advance an
agenda by 3 plus 1 per success rolled, but also add
3 danger to yourself.
Snoop – cleverly and patiently advance an agenda.
INTRIGUE
Advance an agenda by 1 per success rolled.
Gel – reduce your own danger by playing it cool, DETERMINING DANGER
being inconspicuous, and doing what everyone else
is doing. Remove 1 danger from yourself per The danger of an intrigue scene is generally
success rolled. between 2 and 4, determined by the GM. This value
is dependent on how difficult it is for the fighters
Support - reduce a comrade’s danger by having to fulfill their agendas before something bad
their back, deescalating tensions, or creating a happens. For example, convincing a local militia to
distraction. Remove 1 danger from a comrade per let you pass through a checkpoint to go join the
success rolled. fight against infidels or Iranian militias might be
relatively easy, with 2 danger. Convincing the
Each fighter selects one tactic and makes a roll, in jihadi to not behead the journalist, after the West
any order the players wish. They are all trying to responded to his demands with drone strikes
advance agendas, while ensuring that none of against his brothers, would be extremely
them end their turn with 10 or more danger, which challenging, with 4 danger.
ends the scene for everyone. In high-stakes social
situations, the difference between civility and
emergency can be a poor choice of phrase or a AGENDAS
sudden movement mistaken for a drawn weapon.
Most scenes have two or more agendas. These
agendas might be complimentary, competing, or
A fighter that triggers an emergency can choose
sequential.
to rally, returning to the scene with 0 danger at
the beginning of next turn. However, rallying
Complimentary agendas can be pursued at the
makes a fighter extremely vulnerable for the
same time, and are outcomes the fighters need to
remainder of the scene, as well as the entirety of
see through for the scene to be a success.
the next scene. A fighter who has rallied this scene
Example: in the village, the fighters are trying to
or last scene who ends their turn with 10 or more
learn the location of local militia base as well as
danger is removed from the campaign. They are
convince the locals to fight that militia next time
dead, dying, or captured, with no hope of
they show up.
recovery. Time to create a new fighter.
Competing agendas are in opposition to one
Intrigue ends when the fighters have fulfilled the
another, and whichever one is fulfilled first
agendas they want, or when one of them triggers
cancels out the other. Example: at the meeting of
an emergency. If an emergency happens, any
militia leaders, the fighters can forge an alliance
fighter that has rallied this scene rolls a d10. If the
with one militia but not the other. Which should
result is equal to or less than their current
they choose? The fighters might not agree on this.
danger, they are dead, dying, or captured, with no
hope of recovery. Perhaps negotiations broke
Sequential agendas are where one agenda must be
down because that fighter was shot in the head by
fulfilled before any progress can be made on the
the warlord he insulted. The ubiquity of firearms
next. Example: you need to convince the jihadis
present during an irregular conflict makes this
that you are not kaffir before they will bring you
type of scenario more plausible than it sounds.
INTRIGUE

to their leader, whom you must then convince to

withdraw from a village.
37
RUNNING INTRIGUE SCENES
Intrigue scenes contain a lot of dialogue that the
players and GM should roleplay out. The best
approach is for a player and GM to sync on the
outcome of a roll, and then roleplay towards that
outcome together. For example, if a fighter is very
successful on a Confront roll, that fighter’s player
should tell the GM how they want that to be
mediated in the fiction (e.g. “I want him to be
visibly moved by what I just told him, and begin to
come around”). The player and the GM should then
quickly roleplay that moment, driving towards the
agreed upon outcome.
It’s possible to “lose” an intrigue scene, but still
achieve positive objectives. For example, consider
an intrigue scene where rival militants are holed
up in a government building and have taken
hostages. The primary agenda is to convince them
to surrender, but a complimentary agenda is to
38
convince them to at least release the women and
children they’ve taken hostage. In fact, this is a
useful GM technique; adding low-value agendas
(e.g. 5 or 10 progress required) that aren’t exactly
“successful mission parameters,” but do give an
opportunity for fighters to pursue just and/or
compassionate courses of action. The tension,
then, comes from either completing a mission
with ruthless efficiency, or taking “detours” to
maintain a semblance of humanity in situations
where it doesn’t seem possible at first glance.
There is no game-mechanical “humanity” score in
B&B. But these types of scenes and decisions make
for effective explorations on what type of fighters
the players are playing. In the messiest of
struggles against an opposition capable of
virtually any transgression, who would you be?
INTRIGUE
INTRIGUE SCENE PROMPTS A group of farmers and goat-herders in the region
could provide fantastic intelligence for your
militia, but they are very weary of supporting any
You must broker a temporary cease-fire between
militant group, particular one that might lose.
two sparring militias, so they can assist in
repelling a coming attack mounted by a Great
You have every intention of returning the
Power or a national military.
captured soldier to his people safely, but there’s
no harm in negotiating a trade of resources or a
You’re trying to convince the hostage-takers to
prisoner release in exchange.
release women and children, and submit to
capture instead of committing murder and then
A captured lieutenant needs to be interrogated for
dying ingloriously.
intelligence, but his information cannot be trusted
or acted upon unless it is given willingly and
You need to convince the military commanders of a
without undue duress.
Great Power or national military to stay in the
region long enough to facilitate the evacuation of
A problematic militia leader could be replaced
a marginalized group targeted by extremists.
(relatively) bloodlessly and overnight, if his
lieutenants could be convinced that his leadership
A war-weary mullah needs to reconcile political
is no longer in their interests.
and doctrinal differences with your militia before
he is willing to advise local political leaders to
A local bureaucrat important to the cause
support your efforts.
continues to grift the people as much or moreso
than their predecessor did, and is souring the
You stumble upon what is about to be a public
public perception of the militia’s political wing.
execution of kaffir by extremists, and with
weapons raised, you hope to resolve the situation
A regime commander’s strategic posture or public
without creating an equally public bloodbath.
statements hints that he might be considering
defection, but he has to be contacted and assessed
One of the militia’s cadres has sworn allegiance to
first.
a different faction, and you’ve been tasked with
making them reconsider their position before
An errant cadre in your militia has engaged in
things get extremely complicated.
abuse and banditry at the locals’ expense, and now
the people are talking about wanting the regime
The cadre is being (violently) interrogated by their
back in charge because at least there was order.
captors, and need to collectively withhold a
critical piece of intelligence long enough for it to
Villagers must be convinced to either pack up and
no longer be actionable.
leave in a hurry or steel themselves for battle,
because a caravan of jihadis on technicals are
The cadre’s only chance of passing through the
headed toward their village.
boarder is to stick to their aliases and alibis,
convincing the authorities that they are most
INTRIGUE

definitely not the militants they seek.

39
This chapter discusses how B&B gamifies the
grand strategy of a militant group fighting to take
and hold territory in a complex conflict fraught
with many actors. To manage and simplify this
complexity, the GM, with help from players, will fill
out the Front Readout, which is found in the back
of this PDF.
The Front Readout is a very simple abstraction
that glosses over a nearly infinite amount of
strategic factors. However, it is fast story engine
that effectively generates conflict and drama for
the GM and players, significantly reducing the
amount of preparation that a GM needs to do in
order to run a session.
An upfront investment of research, planning, and
a little bit of geography will be required to fill the
Front Readout in a way that makes sense.
41
THE BIG IDEA
The Front Readout features a diamond shaped grid
that represents cities, districts, villages, or
strategically valuable locations in a local or
regional conflict. In each corner of the grid is a
placeholder for a local or regional faction that the
fighters will need to contend with. The fighters
will be literally “connecting the dots” as they
move from location to location, taking over
locations through direct conflict, negotiation, or
strategic maneuvering. When they connect 4
locations to make a diamond, this diamond
becomes a “controlled territory,” which
significantly boosts the fighters’ power. Once the
fighters are sufficiently powerful, they can
engage in decisive battles to soundly defeat one of
the factions and push them out of the conflict
altogether. However, with every move the fighters
make on the map, they will stir a hornets nest.
They will face a confrontations and have to resolve
them or have one of their controlled territories
contested or taken away by an opposing faction.
Whether the fighters are moving to a location, or
dealing with factional fallout, the Front Readout
churns out story prompts for B&B sessions.
There’s no need to plan a grand campaign full of
surprises, intrigue, and final confrontations. It’s
all mostly built-in.
The remainder of this chapter will cover how to
create and manage the Front Readout. It will also
cover fighter progression, as individual fighter
growth is dependent on progress made on the
Front Readout.
But first, we need to talk about those other
DYING TO WIN
factions…
FACTIONS primarily through weapon sales, military
trainers and advisors, and air support
(which no irregular group can contend with
The GM will be populating the Front Readout with 4
for long). They often get involved only
factions; militant organizations that the fighters
because their geopolitical rivals have
will be fighting against, both on and off the
gotten involved.
battlefield. We’ve provided a handful of faction
types typical to MENA struggles.
Extremists
Extremism is a symptom of oppressive
National Government
regimes, and extremist groups are often as
The national government is the
bad or worse than the regimes that gave
“legitimate” ruling party of the country
rise to them. While many espouse a global
where the irregular conflict takes place, at
religious program and pursue an
least as far as many national and
apocalyptic agenda, the majority of them
international political bodies are
remain pawns of national, regional, and
concerned. The national government is
global interests, creating useful chaos
likely under duress, controlled by a
that drains the coffers of geopolitical
tyrannical regime, and bolstered by a Great
rivals and/or “justifies” brutal and
Power. The national government uses its
indiscriminate counter-insurgency tactics
security apparatus to crush opposition
used against civilian populations.
voices and its conventional military power
to destroy insurgent holdouts.
Opportunists
War is a racket, and the chaos of conflict
Regional Imperialists
creates a lot of opportunity for grifters
Troubled nations have neighbors, and those
with guns, be they local warlords creating
neighbors rarely waste an opportunity to
and profiting off of food shortages, or
either exploit the chaos next door, or
private military contractors defending the
ensure that it doesn’t spill over into their
business interests and investments of the
own territory. Regional imperialists either
wealthy.
prop up the national government, or prop
up its opposition, often by secret means,
Rival Militias
like financing their own irregular groups
Militias need not be ideological enemies to
operating in the conflict. They also use
come into conflict with one another. A
conventional militaries to defend (or
finite supply of arms, territory, food, and
attempt to extend) their national borders.
third party support sometimes puts them
at each others’ throats. This tension is
Global Imperialists
exacerbated by the constant shifting of
The Great Powers (USA and Russia), and to a
alliances in the irregular militia space. An
lesser degree, countries like the UK,
ally today might be an enemy tomorrow
DYING TO WIN

France, and China, are always jockeying for

because they swore allegiance to a group
advantage in a great game of geopolitical
that declared you kaffir and sentenced you
advantage. They support either the
to death.
national government or the opposition,
42

BUILDING A FRONT
The first order of business is building a front by
populating all the necessary items on the Front
Readout.
In this example, we see that the conflict takes
place near the Syria/Turkey border. We have
populated all the locations in the grid with a
conceptual geography of Idlib and the surrounding
areas. We have put a “2” in locations of particular
strategic importance in this conflict. GMs can do
the same for locations they deem important in the
front they are building.
We have also populated the four faction triangles
in each corner (note: placement does not have to
align with actual geography, so don’t worry about
what faction goes where). In our example, we’ve
included the following 4 factions:
Nureddine al-Zinki – A confederation of rebel
militias backed by neighboring Turkey.
Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – A Salafi jihadist
group that is an offshoot of al-Qaeda.
43
Assad Regime – Assad’s Syrian government,
bolstered by Russian air forces.
YPG – Kurdish “People’s Protection Units” once
supported by and soon to be abandoned by the US.
Once that is done, it’s time to populate the Player
Faction in the box below, which also features the
player faction’s Current Power (which starts at
0), and a key that contains information pertinent
to the progress of the campaign, which we’ll cover
more in this chapter.
That’s it! You’ve created a front. Now let’s talk
about how it all works during play.
PLAYER DRIVEN STRATEGY
When a campaign begins, the player faction
controls a single location on the Front Readout, so
long as it is not a strategically important location
with a value assigned to it.
From that position, they can move to any location
that is immediately to the northeast, northwest,
southeast, or southwest.
DYING TO WIN
Moving to a new location triggers a game session
to take control of that location. Generally
speaking, a session should contain approximately
two structured scenes of any type (e.g. combat,
evasion, or intrigue), and should be balanced
towards fighter success. If the fighters move to a
strategic location, it should probably require 3 or
more structured scenes of escalating difficulty.
In our example, the fighters of the Popular Front
of the Levant have moved from the Northern
Outskirts into North Idlib, a bold move. Players can
expect brutal scenes of urban combat, but if they
can take this position, they’ll be able to pivot to
other strategic locations, or even attempt to take
over or liberate all of Idlib.
However, no strategic move happens in a vacuum.
Let’s take a look at what else happens on the Front
Tracker when this happens.
44
We see that the player faction’s Current Power
has just increased to 2. However, we also see that
by moving southeast, the Popular Front of the
Levant has agitated the Assad Regime somehow.
We place an X or a checkmark in one of the arrows
in that faction’s corner. In fact, we do this every
time the player faction moves on the map,
depending on which direction they go. A single
check has no consequences, but two checks is a
big deal: you have triggered a Faction Event and
will have to deal with the consequences. We’ll talk
about Faction Events shortly, but for now, let’s
finish the discussion on navigating the conflict.
In our example, the player faction has made 4
moves, securing two strategic locations and
creating a diamond shape… their first controlled
DYING TO WIN
territory! Controlled territories are worth 5
points, as denoted in the key that’s on the Front
Readout. Their next move will be dicey…
Since the most productive move at this point is to
go northeast (instead of retracing their steps), it
looks like the Popular Front of the Levant has
triggered their first Faction Event with HTS.
FACTION EVENTS
Faction Events are dramatic confrontations,
where the fate of a territory (chosen by the GM) is
at stake. While the fighters were securing a
foothold in the northwest of Idlib, HTS was
preparing a massive invasion of their territory. A
fleet of Toyota “technicals” brimming with armed
jihadis are on their way to the Front’s one and only
controlled territory.
Faction Events should be the fighter’s most
harrowing conflicts. They can range anywhere
from an invasion of irregular fighters, the
awakening of a “sleeper cell” inside of a local
stronghold, or the tanks and gunships of a
conventional military rolling in to assume control.
Like other types of conflicts, they can dealt with
by whatever methods the GM and players deem
appropriate, from pitched battle to expertly
executed subterfuge.
45
By the time a Faction Event is over, one of the
following things have happened, depending on the
fighter’s performance.
If the fighters handily “won” all or most scenes
that composed the Faction Event, the enemy
faction has been repelled, and normal play
resumes.
If the fighters “lost” all or most scenes, the
territory has become contested. If the territory
was already contested, the GM chooses a single
location that composes the territory and removes
all lines connecting to it, resulting in a devastating
setback that may bleed over into other
territories!
After a Faction Event, erase all check marks in
each of the Faction corners.
A territory that was lost entirely must be won
back the same way it was originally established. A
territory that is contested can only be taken back
with a Decisive Battle against the faction that took
it.
DECISIVE BATTLES
When the player faction is powerful enough, it can
initiate a Decisive Battle… a conflict as dramatic
as a Faction Event, but where the player faction is
on the offensive. If the player faction wins this
battle even partially, they have dealt a devastating
blow to their enemies, expelling that targeted
faction from the Front entirely. That faction may
still have irregulars, agents, saboteurs, and a
political presence in the game’s narrative, but
they no longer factor into the Front Readout. That
DYING TO WIN
also means their corner no triggers Faction
Events, and all territories that faction contested
are restored to controlled territories.
On the topic of Decisive Battles, the larger
campaign is “won” once the player faction has
won a decisive battle against all four factions.
The player faction cannot mount a Deceive Battle
until it is powerful enough. It must have 10 or more
power to take on its first rival. The resulting
power vacuum is filled by the remaining factions,
making it progressively harder to launch a
Decisive Battle with each victory.
FASTER CAMPAIGNS
For a faster campaign, the GM and players should
just skip the narrative and structured scenes of
any Front Readout move that isn’t 1) capturing a
strategically valuable location, 2) dealing with a
Faction Event, or 3) executing a Decisive Battle.
DOWNTIME
Once a move on the Front Readout is resolved
through structured scenes and results in either
victory or defeat, the players are permitted to
work through a scene of downtime, where their
fighters can take turns each stoking a single
relationship, as described in the “Choose Your
Fighter” chapter.
Downtime is a great opportunity for fighters to
reflect on their previous mission, the upcoming
mission, the course of the campaign, the enemy
factions, the horrors of war, or virtually any other
shared experience or observation that comes to
mind.
46
POWER EQUALS SPECIAL WEAPONS
The amount of power the player faction has is also
a direct measure of the amount of special
weapons it can requisition to its fighters. The
fighters can always field special weapons that
they “buy” with power. This pool is shared, and it
“resets” between Front Readout moves. What this
means is that all fighters “lose” whatever special
weapons they are holding on to (or used up), but
they get to “buy” them again before the next
mission starts.
5 – AMR (limited to 1 per cadre)
1 - Hand Grenade
8 - HMG on Technical (limited to 1 per cadre)
4 – LMG (limited to 1 per cadre)
5 - MANPAD
3 - RPG
3 - Suicide Vest
5 - TOW
2 - Under-barrel Grenade
UPGRADE POINTS
Fighters acquire 1 upgrade point (UPS) for every
structured scene they play. UPS are spent to
upgrade a fighter’s abilities.
3 - Increase a tactic by 1
6 - New training
4 - New talent, or increase talent rating by 1*
3 - New Break
DYING TO WIN
6 - New Passage
*Upgraded talents still only cost 3 Fatigue to use.
FIGHTER DOSSIER
NAME IDENTIFIERS

CADRE
FIGHTER is my RELATIONSHIP

FIGHTER is my RELATIONSHIP

FIGHTER is my RELATIONSHIP

FIGHTER is my RELATIONSHIP

KEY COMBAT EVASION INTRIGUE SPECIALTIES

RECKLESS
PROGRESS STORM RUSH CONFRONT TRAINING
+ 1 progress per
success + 3, but +3
danger to self.

CAUTIOUS
PROGRESS FLANK SNEAK SNOOP
+ 1 progress per
success.

PROTECT
YOURSLF REGROUP FADE GEL
- 1 danger to self
per success.

PROTECT
SUPPRESS DENY COMPENSATE
SUPPORT
AN ALLY

- 1 danger to an
ally per success.

LOADOUT BREAKS BREAKS BREAKS TALENT TALENTS RATING

UPS PASSAGE PASSAGE PASSAGE

TOTAL REMAINING
1 2 3
RATING
4 CORE 5
FATIGUE
6 7 8 9 10

BOMBS & BALACLAVAS

COMBAT
FIGHTER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

FIGHTER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

FIGHTER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

FIGHTER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

FIGHTER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

THREATS
THREAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 HVY
LOADOUT LOADOUT
DANGER VS DANGER VS

THREAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 HVY
LOADOUT LOADOUT
DANGER VS DANGER VS

THREAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 HVY
LOADOUT LOADOUT
DANGER VS DANGER VS

THREAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 HVY
LOADOUT LOADOUT
DANGER VS DANGER VS

THREAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 HVY

LOADOUT LOADOUT
DANGER VS DANGER VS

THREAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 HVY
LOADOUT LOADOUT
DANGER VS DANGER VS

BOMBS & BALACLAVAS

EVASION DANGER
POSITION POSITION
NAVPOINTS
POSITION POSITION
15

FIGHTER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

PROGRESS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

FIGHTER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

PROGRESS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

FIGHTER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

PROGRESS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

FIGHTER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

PROGRESS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

FIGHTER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

PROGRESS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

BOMBS & BALACLAVAS

INTRIGUE DANGER
FIGHTER
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

FIGHTER
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

FIGHTER
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

FIGHTER
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

FIGHTER
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

AGENDAS
AGENDA
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

AGENDA
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

AGENDA
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

AGENDA
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

AGENDA
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

BOMBS & BALACLAVAS

FRONT:

PLAYER FACTION:
CURRENT Controlled Contested Strategic
Territories Territories X Holds
POWER 5 POINTS 2 POINTS X POINTS

DECISIVE 1st Faction 2nd Faction 3rd Faction 4th Faction

BATTLE 10 POINTS 20 POINTS 30 POINTS 40 POINTS

BOMBS & BALACLAVAS

OUTRO
I always seek expert voices to check or validate my
assumptions, and on this project, I was fortunate
to have the help of two sensitivity readers. Callum
is a Leftist foreign fighter from Scotland who
snuck into Syria to fight alongside the YPG against
ISIS. Joey is a Lebanese internationalist and
activist with former journalistic ties to
organizations that many countries consider
terrorist organizations, and who has been
involved in helping Syrian citizen-journalists write
their own stories. Their intimate ties and
experiences with the fighters and struggles this
game seeks to dramatize were invaluable in
ensuring that the voices of those at the center of
these conflicts were reflected in this work.
When it comes to irregular conflicts, the default
dialogue that Westerners often fall into, as
outside observers far removed from the facts on
the ground, is exhausting to listen to. While
neocons clamor for Western military intervention
and regime change, insisting “this time is
different,” tankies see a CIA-sponsored coup
under every stone (when they aren’t apologizing
for Russian imperialism in Syria, Ukraine, Georgia,
etc.). Both of these groups identify anyone with a
cautious or ambivalent take on international
politics as stanning for the other side.
Considerably worse, however, is that these tired
Cold War takes drown out the voices of, and erase
the agency of, the people at the center of these
struggles. They reduce real humans, in real
struggles, to pawns and proxies.
Every DC think tank intern and campus Leftist
insists that they know what’s best for [insert
people in conflict]. This “caretaker” mentality is
inherently racist. It is conceptual imperialism and
a continuation of the colonial project. As far as I
am concerned, they can all go to hell.
52
This game’s focus on the belligerents in irregular
conflicts does its own form of reduction. MENA are
represented as little more than a hellscape strewn
with shell casings. But the game does ask a
Western audience to, for a moment, walk in the
shoes of someone involved in a struggle where
absolutely none of the conventional Western
political takes make any goddamn sense.
The regime is killing your people. Extremists are
killing your people. Neighboring countries are
sending in militias to exploit or exacerbate the
conflict. The only outside help you can get has a
steep price attached, and is given by those who
care little for the autonomy, dignity, and safety
that you fight for. In fact, they might pull their
support if your vision doesn’t align with theirs, or
if they just get bored (like they did with the very
regime you now fight, which they propped up). But
what choice do you have? Afterall, “solidarity”
never stopped a regime bomb from landing on a
hospital. But surface-to-air missiles have.
Neither this game, nor any game I work on, asks
that we embrace a moral relativism because
things are “complex.” In fact, I see my work as
doubling down on a moral certainty that puts the
autonomy, dignity, and safety of human beings
above all else. Threats to these inalienable human
rights are manifesting everywhere, from every
camp, and they need to be fought politically,
economically, mimetically, and if necessary,
kinetically. The idea of asking a people to continue
enduring humiliation, oppression, starvation, and
genocide so we can be “correct” in our
international politics is grotesque, but many of us
in the West do it every day without even thinking
about it.
-Chad Walker, February 2019