Components#

Modern CQB works best when the table reads like a real site before a single die is rolled. You are not building an abstract skirmish mat. You are building a place people live in, hide in, profit from, and die in: a canal house, clinic floor, marina office, ritual basement, or penthouse panic suite. The more legible the board is, the faster the game feels and the more the hidden information matters.

Board Language#

At minimum, every site needs rooms, thresholds, and a few lanes worth fearing. Use printed tiles, modular walls, dollhouse-style terrain, or improvised markers if you need to. What matters is that both players can tell, at a glance, where movement is easy, where line of sight opens up, and where a team is likely to get punished for crossing too early.

If the site has multiple floors, make sure each level can be lifted, separated, or read without argument. Modern CQB gets slower fast when players cannot tell what a wall, stair, or doorway actually means.

Figures#

Every figure in the game represents a specific person in a specific bad moment. That applies equally to operators, hostiles, civilians, and high-value suspects. The system works best when figures feel personal rather than disposable.

Use figures or standees for:

• response operators
• hostiles
• civilians
• high-value suspects

Every figure should be able to show, either on a card or with tokens:

• faction
• role
• Wounds remaining
• whether it is Suppressed, Wounded, or Downed
• whether it currently has Overwatch

Hidden Information Tools#

Fog of war is one of the core pleasures of the game, so do not let hidden information collapse into memory work. Use physical markers and keep them consistent.

• Concealment markers stand in for unknown occupants until a room is truly revealed.
• Trap markers represent alarms, blast charges, gas dumps, dead switches, and similar surprises.
• False markers let a hostile player create doubt: empty rooms, decoys, or discarded gear that looks meaningful until it is checked.
• Evidence markers represent the things the raid is really about: drives, ledgers, samples, keys, confession archives, hardcopy files.
• Objective markers cover hostages, live devices, power nodes, extraction points, or mission-specific control points.

These markers are not just bookkeeping. They are what make a closed room feel dangerous before it is opened.

Status Tokens#

The game does not need many tokens, but the ones it uses should be clear and visible. These are the most common:

• Suppressed
• Wounded
• Restrained
• Panicked
• Overwatch
• Smoke
• Jammed
• Bleeding
• Cleared Room
• Unsecured Room

If a marker changes how a figure behaves, keep it on the table where both players can see it without asking.

Room States#

Every room in the site should be treated as being in one of four states. This keeps the board readable and stops players from arguing over whether a space is "basically fine" or still part of the fight.

Unknown#

The room is shut, blocked, or otherwise unread. Hostiles inside remain concealed. A room can be physically present on the table and still be mechanically unknown.

Contacted#

Something meaningful has been revealed inside the room: a hostile, civilian, trap, objective, or active threat. The room is now part of the live tactical picture.

Cleared#

No active threat remains in the room. This does not mean the room is safe in a broader sense. It only means nobody in it is currently contesting the team with force.

Unsecured#

The room has been cleared of immediate violence, but it still contains unfinished business such as evidence, civilians, open routes, or uncontrolled access.

Recommended Figure Profile#

Each roster entry uses a short profile so the game stays readable under pressure:

• Move
• Aim
• Control
• Armor
• Nerve
• Wounds
• one or two doctrine rules
• a starting loadout

That profile is deliberately compact. The interest of the game should come from room geometry, incomplete information, and timing, not from paging through a wall of special rules.

Minimal Starter Set#

For a first mission, you do not need a giant terrain collection. A compact site with a handful of well-marked rooms is enough.

Start with:

• 6 response figures
• 8-12 hostile or concealment markers
• 2 civilians
• 8 door markers
• 6 objective or evidence markers
• 6 Overwatch tokens
• 6 Suppression tokens
• 3 Smoke markers
• 4 Trap markers

That is enough to run a house, clinic suite, or warehouse office while keeping the core experience intact: incomplete information, dangerous thresholds, and the constant question of whether the team knows enough to go through the next door.