Short Rules
Each side gets 3 actions per turn. Most units can act once. You may move, attack, pass, or use one command order
during your turn. After action 3, turn passes automatically.
Dice are d6: 6 = hit + retreat + disarray, 5 = hit, 4 = retreat, 3 = disarray, 1-2 = miss.
Blocked retreat converts to damage.
Command is local. Generals project command (Green 3, Regular 4, Veteran 5). Runners relay command at radius 1.
Cavalry and veterans are less restricted by command breaks.
Terrain matters: clear is easiest, woods/hills/rough add friction, water and mountains are impassable.
Woods also reduce incoming attack dice.
Victory Modes
- Clear Victory: capture at least half of the enemy's starting UP.
- Annihilation: destroy all enemy units.
- Decapitation: destroy all enemy generals.
Controls
- P to pass with selected unit.
- L for Line Advance with infantry selection.
- C to toggle command overlay.
- In Edit mode, click to place units or paint terrain.
- In Play mode, click a friendly unit to view legal move/attack options.
Ad Arma Full Reference
Ad Arma is a hex-based tactics game about coordination, pressure, and collapse. Each piece is a formation,
not a single person. Infantry holds lines, cavalry changes battle geometry, skirmishers screen and disrupt, and
archers create ranged pressure. Generals are command anchors. Runners and medics are support units with no
frontline attack role. The core design idea is simple: armies win when they keep cohesion and break the enemy's.
A normal turn gives each side three actions. Most units can be activated once in that turn. Because actions are
limited, good play is about choosing where to spend attention instead of trying to move everything at once. If a
player uses fewer than three actions, the turn can still be ended manually, but after the third action it should
advance automatically. This keeps momentum and prevents unnecessary clicks.
Unit quality affects staying power and strategic value. In Ad Arma, quality changes HP and UP, and in some
cases command dependence and mobility. It does not exist just for flavor. Green formations are cheaper and more
brittle. Regular formations are dependable. Veteran formations are harder to break and can operate more
independently. This is one of the main balancing levers for scenario design and army drafting.
- INF HP: 3 / 4 / 5 (Green / Regular / Veteran)
- CAV HP: 2 / 3 / 4
- SKR HP: 1 / 2 / 3
- ARC HP: 1 / 2 / 3
- GEN HP: 2 / 3 / 4
- RUN HP: 2 / 2 / 2
- Medic HP: 1 / 1 / 1
- INF UP: 3 / 5 / 7
- CAV UP: 6 / 8 / 10
- SKR UP: 2 / 3 / 4
- ARC UP: 2 / 4 / 6
- GEN UP: 8 / 10 / 12
- RUN UP: 1 / 2 / 3
- Medic UP: 4 / 4 / 4
Movement is constrained by both terrain and engagement. Clear terrain costs 1 movement point. Hills, woods, and
rough generally cost 2, except cavalry usually pays 3 there. Water is impassable. Engaged units usually cannot
move freely, which creates sticky fronts and makes line shape matter. Skirmishers, runners, and veterans can
disengage by one safe hex under the current rules. This means elite or specialized formations can recover from
contact better than standard troops.
Combat is resolved with d6 dice. A 6 is hit + retreat + disarray, 5 is hit, 4 is retreat, 3 is disarray, and
1-2 is miss. Melee and ranged profiles determine how many dice are rolled before modifiers. Standard melee dice are:
infantry 2, cavalry 3, skirmishers 2, archers 1, general 1, runner 0, medic 0. Ranged attacks are primarily for
archers and skirmishers: archers roll 2 dice at range 2 and 1 die at range 3; skirmishers roll 1 die at range 2.
Engaged units cannot perform ranged attacks.
Terrain and formation modifiers then adjust those base dice. Defender in woods reduces attacker dice by 1, with a
minimum of one die so combat always has some chance to resolve. Retreat results are positional pressure, not just
flavor text. If a unit cannot retreat because the target hex is blocked or invalid, that retreat converts into a
hit. This is why pinning and encirclement pressure are so dangerous.
Command and control are central to Ad Arma. Units are "in command" when they are in range of a friendly
general or a runner relay. General command range scales by quality: green 3, regular 4, veteran 5. Runner relay
range is 1. Cavalry and veterans are more independent, while lower-quality formations suffer stronger
out-of-command limits. This encourages players to protect generals, keep command chains coherent, and use runners
to stabilize distant sectors.
Special units provide tactical utility. The runner has no attack and exists to move orders forward. The medic also
has no attack; instead, the medic can spend its action to heal one adjacent friendly unit for +1 HP. The medic is
fragile, so placement and timing matter. Using support units well can preserve your line through key turns.
Runner and medic details are fixed and important for balance. Runner HP is 2 at all quality levels, with movement
3/4/5 (green/regular/veteran) and UP 1/2/3. Medic is always regular quality in practice, has 1 HP, no attack, and
costs 4 UP. Medic action is a single adjacent heal of +1 HP.
Line Advance is a formation action for infantry. It lets a connected infantry line push forward together for one
action, without attacking as part of that same action. It is designed to model coordinated pressure and controlled
front movement. Because board direction and connectivity matter on hexes, previewing line members and direction is
important for readability.
Two additional tactical behaviors are active in this ruleset: infantry that are in command (or are veteran) can
auto-pivot against flank or rear melee before impact, and veteran cavalry can disengage after melee when movement
remains and the withdrawal hex is safe. Blocked retreats always convert into hits.
Victory conditions are scenario-dependent. In Clear Victory, players race to capture enough enemy UP. In
Decapitation, general survival becomes the central objective. In Annihilation, every remaining unit matters.
The best way to learn these systems is to watch the combat breakdown, dice outcomes, and modifier text while you
play. Ad Arma is intended to make cause-and-effect visible, not hidden.
The Three Elements
Ad Arma combines three forces: strategy, chance, and command doctrine. Strategy is your positioning and timing;
chance comes from the dice; command doctrine is the bluff-and-read layer created by hidden orders.
That doctrine layer plays like a poker mind game: you infer the opponent's plan as orders are revealed.