MERCS Recon Gameplay

MERCS: Recon is a co-operative board game set in the MERCS universe. Produced as a Kickstarter in 2014-15 from Megacon Games, the game was meant to reboot their MERCS tabletop game and add minis and factions, as well as update existing minis from metal to plastic. The Kickstarter was well-funded, but unfavourably received when delays, production issues, and poor communications spiraled into a mess. Ultimately the game was mostly delivered and quality issues and replacements were addressed to a degree, but the general feeling of ill-will about the game and the company itself persisted. Parallel problems with Myth and its expansions ultimately led to a rapid downsizing of the company and the eventual purchase of the Myth line by Ulisses North America. MERCS and other IPs of Megacon appear to be on long-term hold, if not dead.

Yet 2-3 years on, I still pull out my MERCS: Recon games at least once a month. I didn’t go all-in, but got the two base games – Assassination Protocol and Counter Threat – as well as a couple of expansions and the MERCS tabletop rules. The two base games are different versions of the same game that differ in the two included factions, and the tile art and a few of the mission cards and such, specific to factions. In all I have a good range of models from most factions, which gives plenty of options to keep the game fresh.

The MERCS world is a near-future Earth where governments have mostly collapsed to be replaced by corporations with special focuses and geographic areas of influence. Players play as the elite security forces of these corporations with access to the best in equipment and training as part of a 5 man team (with 1-5 players controlling them). The Recon board games focus on an infiltration mission into an enemy complex to complete a goal, be it sabotage, theft of corporate secrets, hostage rescue or abduction. The game board is a square grid of tiles that represent the hallways and rooms the player must negotiate and search to achieve their objective. A frame with information tracks surrounds the play area.

The maps are built from the tiles in a fairly freeform fashion with a few rules.
– 4 corner tiles must be in the corners
– there must be an elevator or lobby access point as well as two stairwells
– all rooms must have a connection to a hallway
– any mission specific named rooms must be included.

Mission cards can be chosen or drawn randomly. Mission goal objects (data server, safe, etc.) or employees (administrator, technician) are typically deployed randomly and hidden in named locations. The first step of a mission is usually to interact with one of these objects to reveal the location or conditions of the second goal. Once the second goal is completed, it typically gives an extraction location for the win condition. Each base game and expansion pack also has a set of three linked missions.

As games progress, players are opposed by the AI in the form of OpFor, be it lowly employees, regular security guards or highly trained operatives. OpFor generally start as Agents – coloured disks that are placed at the start of the game dependent on icons on the individual tiles. The disks represent an unknown target – a heat signature, the sound of footsteps. At the start of each turn, an agent movement card will be flipped to describe how these disks will move. It can be descriptive – ‘so many spaces towards the Mercs’ or randomly based on information on each tile. If a disks enters line of sight with a MERC, it immediately stops. Once all agents have moved, if 1 or more are in line of sight, an event card is flipped and the disk replaced with an OpFor based on the disk’s colour and the current Security Level.

Security Level is a game track the MERCs need to manage as increased security brings heavily armed reinforcements instead of lowly employees chatting in the hall. The MERCs actions can increase security level at the end of each turn or automatically by certain events – placing collateral damage disks, completing an objective. Security level 1 will typically have you encounter office staff and specialists, Security level 2 will bring guards with pistols or a dreaded shotgun (dreaded because it almost always causes collateral damage, further ramping up the security level). Security level 3 will bring well-armed and armoured soldiers. Security level 4 will bring operatives equal in ability to the MERCS themselves. Early game is spent trying to manage security impacts until the mission goals are located.

On the MERC’s turn, player order is determined by Priority. Each MERC has a starting priority, but it increases or decreases each turn depending on how active they were. Priority is a dual function stat in that it also determines who the OpFor will target with actions if there is a choice. A high priority means you are hustling and stuck into the action, but also perceived as the biggest threat. Player’s also have Command Points that manage their actions and Blood (Health) that affects their Command Point refresh as they take damage, as well as determining when they are knocked out.

Success in actions is determined with a pool of 8-sided dice. Yellow and red dice have blanks and success bursts, with red dice having a double burst on two faces. Black dice are defence dice (shields, blanks, and bursts) for soaking damage if the mini or the tile has an armour value. Black dice are also collateral damage dice used by some of the more indiscriminate weapons that affect an entire area and everyone in it.

If your attack uses any collateral damage dice that score a hit, the area receives a collateral damage disk overlay. This usually lowers the capacity (3 down to 2 for the first level of damage), may add an armour point for those in it, and shows the amount of damage required to take it to the next level. Heavy use of non-precision weapons – HMGs, flamethrowers, shotguns – can damage an area to the point where there is a hole in the floor, possibly cutting you off from your objective or extraction and ending the game. The placing of collateral damage disks also triggers an automatic security level jump at the end of the round on the first disk placed, then the third, then the ninth. SecFor II’s have a shotgun (4 black dice), so you definitely want to be dropping them from range before they can close.

On the MERC’s turn, players act in priority order and spend their Command Points to complete Actions. Movement is 1 CP per area, with a run action that is more cost effective, but can’t be combined with other actions. Each player board shows the available attacks for each weapon – generally 1 CP for a sweeping attack, 2 CP for a focused attack (less collateral damage).

Players can capture employees to keep them from escaping (and off the casualty track), or can interrogate high-value employees to reveal information. Some MERCs have scanners or devices that can listen into objective rooms to find out what is inside instead of blindly kicking in the door. Other options let you reload, improve your CP refresh, or enable a reserve action that will let you attack if OpFor come into LOS.

Some combined actions are available that can see 2 (or more) MERCs contribute CP for a special action. Attack & Move lets a lower priority MERC move while the acting MERC does a sweeping attack. Duck & Cover manipulates Priority which may help a wounded MERC or to perform actions in a preferred order. Finally, Breach & Clear is the action required to enter a room with OpFor or to complete an objective. A minimum of 3 MERCS must spend a combined 7 CP to initiate the action. Adjacent MERCS and OpFor are drawn into the B&C and it is played out on a separate tile with conditions specified on the Mission Objective card (or in the rulebook if it is a non-objective Breach).

The Breach & Clear becomes a bit of a dice race to see if the MERCs complete their objective. A tile can be selected or chosen randomly that shows the OpFor positions and any special rules. The MERCS occupy spaces M1-M5 based on their priority. M1 to M3 filled by the MERCS paying for the Breach action, M4, M5 are the optional spaces if MERCs were adjacent. Some care can be taken to get the right MERCs in place and with the right priority order to maximize effectiveness and minimize damage.  The objective will indicate which OpFor positions must be filled (each has an increasing number). Any mini can be used for this, it is not reflective of what was on the board. Though if there were OpFor adjacent to the area the breach happened from, they are pulled into the B&C and fill unused spaces, or cause extra damage to the MERCS if all spaces are filled.

Alternating turns progress with the MERC in the M1 position going first, using their cheapest attack or a special B&C ability on their player board. The number of successes is marked off on the track and if it equals or exceeds a position number of the OpFor, those models are removed. The OpFor get to attack back, rolling dice matching the filled positions on the tile. Their successes are counted on the score track.

The M2 position continues, followed by an OpFor attack, and so forth. MERC collateral damage success (black dice) are also recorded on the separate track. Too much collateral damage and the objective could be destroyed (though that is sometimes the mission). The more successful the MERCS are, the less dice the OpFor roll with each attack. After the last MERC and OpFor turn, the side that has the highest total on the score track wins. A MERC failure usually ends the mission.

Assuming they won, the MERCs that initiated the breach are placed back in the room with any additional MERCS placed in an adjacent area. All OpFor are removed from the board. The final position of the OpFor score marker will determine how much Blood (damage) the MERCs will take. Their armour can soak some damage, but B&C’s are generally painful. The mission card will give another directive or will indicate where the extraction point is placed, for the MERCs to win. As long as one MERC makes it back to the EP (get to the choppa!), the mission is typically a success

MERCS Recon has its flaws, but is generally an enjoyable game. Some of the randomness can punish the players early, making missions near impossible to complete, but there is fun in trying to salvage a tough situation. Experience can help mitigate most issues and soon players are using their character’s abilities to effectively clear hallways and managing Priority to get the right person acting at the right time. It fits well with the themes of the tabletop game and is a recognizable extension of those rules.