Sight, Cover & Fog
Modern CQB lives or dies on what can be seen, what cannot, and what only looks safe for half a second. A room with no information is dangerous. A room with partial information is often worse, because it invites commitment before the team actually owns the angle.
True Line of Sight
Use literal line of sight from the figure's position. If a model can physically trace a visible lane to an exposed part of the target through a doorway, corridor, broken wall, or open window, the target can be engaged.
As a baseline:
- walls block all sight
- closed doors block all sight
- open doors create a narrow lane through the frame
- windows only grant sight if the mission says they are transparent, open, or broken
- friendly figures do not block sight by default, though tight lanes may count as soft interference if both players agree before the mission
When in doubt, favor the cleanest physical reading of the table rather than arguing over millimeters. The game should feel tense, not lawyered.
Room Reveal Rules
Fog of war in Modern CQB is room-based. A closed room can exist on the table without the response side knowing who or what is inside it. Keep the room concealed with a lid, screen, or concealed markers until something actually reveals it.
A room is revealed when any of the following happens:
- the door opens and line of sight enters the room
- a wall or window is breached
- a drone or sensor reveals the room
- a door mirror reveals the room
- a hostile fires out of the room
When a room is revealed:
- replace concealment markers with the real figures, civilians, or decoys
- immediately resolve any trap that should trigger on reveal or entry
- update the room state to Contacted
- allow any ready defender in the room to claim or lose Overwatch if the mission says it begins that way
This reveal step is one of the most important beats in the game. Do not rush it. The first clear look into a room should change how both players think about the whole site.
Cover Levels
Cover is intentionally simple. It exists to answer a practical question: how hard is this figure to hurt from this angle, right now?
Half Cover
Half cover represents things you can shoot over, around, or through with enough exposure.
Common examples:
- couches
- counters
- desk corners
- low concrete dividers
- the edge of a doorframe during a cautious lean
Effect: the target gains +1 Guard die, but can still be engaged normally.
Full Cover
Full cover represents objects or positions that fully break the firing angle.
Common examples:
- solid walls
- heavy pillars
- deep doorframe positions with no exposure
- large machinery blocks
- panic-room architecture with no clean lane
Effect: the target cannot be engaged unless it peeks, moves, becomes exposed by angle, or is hit by a rule that ignores full cover. If a breach opens a new angle on the target, full cover is reduced to half cover for the first attack through that new opening.
Smoke
Smoke does not make a room safe. It makes the room uncertain, slower, and easier to misread.
- A smoke marker fills one room segment, doorway, or corridor slice.
- Attacks through smoke lose 2 Attack dice.
- Overwatch cannot be declared through smoke unless the target is already Spotted.
- Smoke lasts until the end of the second End Phase after placement.
Use smoke to break a lane, cover an extraction, or force the other side to move. Do not expect it to win the room by itself.
Peeking and Leaning
An operator can spend 1 movement to peek around a corner or through a doorframe. This is one of the core ways the game models cautious entry without adding a separate sub-system for every inch of movement.
While peeking:
- the figure gains line of sight through that lane
- the figure counts as being in half cover
- if the figure fires while peeking, it remains exposed until the next End Phase unless a rule says otherwise
Peeking is often the difference between a careful room clear and a blind threshold death.
Reveal Tools
Modern teams do not have to walk into every unknown space blind. Their tools are limited, but they matter.
Door Mirror
- reveals one adjacent closed room
- does not open the door
- does not create Noise
Micro Drone
- reveals any room within signal path
- marks the room as Spotted, even if figures inside remain behind full cover
- may be countered by jammers, hardened sites, or private security doctrine
Sensor Jammer
- does not reveal rooms directly
- suppresses cameras, remote traps, and some automated defenses while active
These tools are valuable because they let the team spend information instead of blood.
Target States
Use the following four states to track how well a figure is understood:
- Unknown: the target has not been seen or confirmed
- Spotted: the target is known to be present in a room or lane
- Confirmed: the target's exact figure and position are known
- Lost: the target was previously seen, then broke contact into smoke, darkness, or another room
Most direct attacks require a Confirmed target. Blind fire should only happen when a mission, weapon trait, or special rule explicitly allows it.