Use What You’ve Got – Minis, Terrain, and Templates Welcome
There’s no official line of miniatures for RUSS, and that’s not an oversight, it’s a feature. This game was built from the ground up with a core principle in mind: if it fits on the table, it fits in the game.
Have a box of unpainted soldiers from another system? Great. Got LEGO mechs, dollar-store dinosaurs, or action figures you swore were "for the kids"? Even better. RUSS doesn’t care what your minis look like, it cares what they do.
Same goes for terrain. Cardboard ruins, 3D-printed buildings, books stacked to make a parking garage? Go for it. The rules support line-of-sight, cover, elevation, and interior spaces, but they don’t demand fancy scatter terrain or a six-figure Kickstarter spread.
You can even re-use templates from other games. Movement rulers, blast markers, zone control tools. If it’s round and plastic, it’s fair game.
This is a tactical playground. Bring your own toys.
There’s no official line of miniatures for RUSS, and that’s not an oversight, it’s a feature. This game was built from the ground up with a core principle in mind: if it fits on the table, it fits in the game.
Have a box of unpainted soldiers from another system? Great. Got LEGO mechs, dollar-store dinosaurs, or action figures you swore were "for the kids"? Even better. RUSS doesn’t care what your minis look like, it cares what they do.
Same goes for terrain. Cardboard ruins, 3D-printed buildings, books stacked to make a parking garage? Go for it. The rules support line-of-sight, cover, elevation, and interior spaces, but they don’t demand fancy scatter terrain or a six-figure Kickstarter spread.
You can even re-use templates from other games. Movement rulers, blast markers, zone control tools. If it’s round and plastic, it’s fair game.
This is a tactical playground. Bring your own toys.
Mission Structure & Turn Sequence
Every RUSS mission is built like a self-contained story. Whether your squad pulls off a flawless run or limps away in ruins, the mission format keeps things tight, tactical, and narratively driven.
Here’s what each mission is made of:
Mission Briefing
This is your in-world setup. A short narrative explains who you are, what you're doing, and why things are about to go very wrong. Maybe you're raiding a comms outpost, escorting a scientist, or trying to hold out until evac arrives. The briefing sets the tone and usually hints at what tools or traits might help.
Map Conditions & Setup Missions include:
Primary and Secondary Objectives Every mission has a Primary Objective. This is your win condition. It might be disabling a reactor, stealing intel, or surviving a set number of turns.
Secondary Objectives are optional, but they reward smart play. These might offer bonus XP, rare gear, or narrative bonuses in a campaign. You might be asked to stay undetected, secure a bonus item, or complete the mission without losing a squad member. You can ignore these, but they’re often worth the risk.
Mission End Conditions
Missions end in one of three ways:
Every RUSS mission is built like a self-contained story. Whether your squad pulls off a flawless run or limps away in ruins, the mission format keeps things tight, tactical, and narratively driven.
Here’s what each mission is made of:
Mission Briefing
This is your in-world setup. A short narrative explains who you are, what you're doing, and why things are about to go very wrong. Maybe you're raiding a comms outpost, escorting a scientist, or trying to hold out until evac arrives. The briefing sets the tone and usually hints at what tools or traits might help.
Map Conditions & Setup Missions include:
- Deployment zones
- Objective token placement
- Enemy starting locations or spawn rules
- Terrain guidelines or environmental modifiers
Primary and Secondary Objectives Every mission has a Primary Objective. This is your win condition. It might be disabling a reactor, stealing intel, or surviving a set number of turns.
Secondary Objectives are optional, but they reward smart play. These might offer bonus XP, rare gear, or narrative bonuses in a campaign. You might be asked to stay undetected, secure a bonus item, or complete the mission without losing a squad member. You can ignore these, but they’re often worth the risk.
Mission End Conditions
Missions end in one of three ways:
- The Primary Objective is completed
- The squad fails completely (everyone's KO’d or a key event triggers)
- A mission-specific condition causes an early end (like a timer or full map collapse)
Turn Sequence: How the Action Unfolds
Once you're deployed and objectives are placed, the game runs in structured turns. Each turn follows the same rhythm. Every side gets a chance to act, and the world reacts in between.
1. Turn Start Phase - Reset round counters. Clear short-duration effects. Trigger any start-of-round mechanics like timed spawns, alarms, or reinforcements.
2. Determine Activation Order (PvP Only) - If you're playing a head-to-head game, both sides roll to see who activates first this round.
In solo play, skip this. The player phase always goes first.
3. Player Phase - Activate your models one at a time, in any order. Each model gets two actions. These could include movement, attacks, interactions with the map, stealth, using equipment, or preparing reactions like overwatch.
Strategic sequencing matters. Activate the right model first, and you might set up a game-changing combo. Pick wrong, and someone might get eaten.
4. Enemy Phase - Enemies activate based on behavior rules or AI profiles. Some charge, some flank, some patrol objectives or follow noise. Each activates one at a time, usually targeting the nearest threat or priority target.
In solo play, enemy decisions follow simple, logical priorities. No complex flowcharts or unpredictable dice tables—just clean behavior patterns that still create tension.
5. Swarm Melee Combat Phase - Any model in base-to-base contact resolves melee now, even if they didn’t attack during their earlier activation. This creates fast, brutal close combat, and keeps swarming enemies deadly even after their turn has passed.
It also encourages you to break out of combat when you can, or suffer the consequences of staying stuck.
6. Mission Effects Phase - Apply environmental effects, hazards, or mission-specific conditions. This includes ongoing fire, gas clouds, collapsing terrain, AI lockdowns, or sudden reinforcements.
This phase is often where the mission ramps up in difficulty. If things are going too smoothly, this is when they stop.
7. End Phase - Clear end-of-round conditions. Check if mission objectives have been completed. If not, move to the next turn and do it all over again.
Each turn keeps pressure on both the player and the board state. You’re never just reacting to enemies, you’re racing timers, managing injuries, and watching for the moment the mission slips out of reach.
Once you're deployed and objectives are placed, the game runs in structured turns. Each turn follows the same rhythm. Every side gets a chance to act, and the world reacts in between.
1. Turn Start Phase - Reset round counters. Clear short-duration effects. Trigger any start-of-round mechanics like timed spawns, alarms, or reinforcements.
2. Determine Activation Order (PvP Only) - If you're playing a head-to-head game, both sides roll to see who activates first this round.
In solo play, skip this. The player phase always goes first.
3. Player Phase - Activate your models one at a time, in any order. Each model gets two actions. These could include movement, attacks, interactions with the map, stealth, using equipment, or preparing reactions like overwatch.
Strategic sequencing matters. Activate the right model first, and you might set up a game-changing combo. Pick wrong, and someone might get eaten.
4. Enemy Phase - Enemies activate based on behavior rules or AI profiles. Some charge, some flank, some patrol objectives or follow noise. Each activates one at a time, usually targeting the nearest threat or priority target.
In solo play, enemy decisions follow simple, logical priorities. No complex flowcharts or unpredictable dice tables—just clean behavior patterns that still create tension.
5. Swarm Melee Combat Phase - Any model in base-to-base contact resolves melee now, even if they didn’t attack during their earlier activation. This creates fast, brutal close combat, and keeps swarming enemies deadly even after their turn has passed.
It also encourages you to break out of combat when you can, or suffer the consequences of staying stuck.
6. Mission Effects Phase - Apply environmental effects, hazards, or mission-specific conditions. This includes ongoing fire, gas clouds, collapsing terrain, AI lockdowns, or sudden reinforcements.
This phase is often where the mission ramps up in difficulty. If things are going too smoothly, this is when they stop.
7. End Phase - Clear end-of-round conditions. Check if mission objectives have been completed. If not, move to the next turn and do it all over again.
Each turn keeps pressure on both the player and the board state. You’re never just reacting to enemies, you’re racing timers, managing injuries, and watching for the moment the mission slips out of reach.
Weapons, Armor, and Gear – Your Stats, But Better (or Weirder)
In RUSS, gear isn’t a bloated equipment list, it’s an extension of your stats. Weapons, armor, and tools don’t define what your character can do, they enhance what they already do well (or patch up a weakness).
Weapons mostly modify Melee or Ranged dice by increasing the die type (e.g., d6 to d10), adding bonus dice, or applying special effects like AoE or armor-piercing.
Armor typically boosts Defense, with options for stealth suits, riot gear, or barely-functional scrap plates. No arbitrary “armor ratings” here—just practical, visible modifiers to your rolls.
Equipment is your wildcard. Grappling hooks, medkits, scanners, breaching tools—it’s all situational, but usually ties into RPG stats or mission-specific actions.
Characters don’t carry a dozen items and flip through inventory menus. Instead, each model equips 1 weapon, 1 armor, and 1 gear item, plus an avaialble backpack for spare gear you can switch out - or tote around a required mission Macguffin. That’s it. Clean, fast, and tactical.
Want to shoot fireballs or carry a portable radar dish? There’s room for weird. Just remember: everything in RUSS is grounded in dice and tradeoffs, not gear for gear’s sake.
In RUSS, gear isn’t a bloated equipment list, it’s an extension of your stats. Weapons, armor, and tools don’t define what your character can do, they enhance what they already do well (or patch up a weakness).
Weapons mostly modify Melee or Ranged dice by increasing the die type (e.g., d6 to d10), adding bonus dice, or applying special effects like AoE or armor-piercing.
Armor typically boosts Defense, with options for stealth suits, riot gear, or barely-functional scrap plates. No arbitrary “armor ratings” here—just practical, visible modifiers to your rolls.
Equipment is your wildcard. Grappling hooks, medkits, scanners, breaching tools—it’s all situational, but usually ties into RPG stats or mission-specific actions.
Characters don’t carry a dozen items and flip through inventory menus. Instead, each model equips 1 weapon, 1 armor, and 1 gear item, plus an avaialble backpack for spare gear you can switch out - or tote around a required mission Macguffin. That’s it. Clean, fast, and tactical.
Want to shoot fireballs or carry a portable radar dish? There’s room for weird. Just remember: everything in RUSS is grounded in dice and tradeoffs, not gear for gear’s sake.
Actions and the Action Economy – Because You Can’t Do Everything at Once
Every activation in RUSS is a mini decision crisis. Each model gets 2 actions when it activates. That’s it. Choose wisely.
Here’s what those actions might be:
The Action Economy is what keeps the game snappy and loaded with tension. You can move and shoot. You can hack and hide. You can charge the enemy—or run away. But you can't do everything, and that's the point.
Every activation in RUSS is a mini decision crisis. Each model gets 2 actions when it activates. That’s it. Choose wisely.
Here’s what those actions might be:
- Move: Cover ground, shift position, climb, or reposition behind a barricade.
- Attack: Fire a weapon, throw a grenade, or bash a zombie with a pipe.
- Interact: Open a door, disable a trap, retrieve a data chip. (It’s not always about violence… but it usually is.)
- Stealth: Take deliberate action to stay hidden or go silent.
- Use Equipment: Activate your gear’s special ability. Some are free, most aren’t.
The Action Economy is what keeps the game snappy and loaded with tension. You can move and shoot. You can hack and hide. You can charge the enemy—or run away. But you can't do everything, and that's the point.