THRACKThe full
Thrackdown
No training wheels. 200 Thracks, every rule in the book, gear and upgrades, weapon proficiencies, and if you fancy it, a Juggernaut. The mission is Reactor Meltdown, because your graduation ceremony deserves a countdown.
TONIGHT: Quick Start Rules · Faction Rules · Starter Armoury · Warband Builder
200 Thracks, zero restrictions
The usual warband rules apply (a Leader, Core before Specialists) but everything else is now on the table. Spend your Thracks on whatever you like: more bodies, better guns, stranger tools. To keep the night moving, buy from the Starter Armoury: a curated list with more than enough teeth for tonight. The full catalogue is always there in the Warband Builder if you would rather go deep, but most warbands save that dive for later.
Equipment slots unlock. Medkits, tools, chems, armour, grenades. Every slot you fill is a choice about how that fighter survives.
Weapon upgrades unlock. Finally, a way out from under the Crude trait. Swap the pipe with dreams for something that dreams bigger.
Juggernauts allowed. One hulking monster, machine, or champion. Expensive, terrifying, worth it.
Every weapon trait applies. The good, the bad, and the ones that explode. Speaking of which…
The Pocket Rocket
"A one-shot pocket launcher that'll turn a room into a crater, if it doesn't take your hand off first."
The perfect introduction to shopping in Nova Eden. One shot. Big blast. And the Catastrophic trait, which means that on a roll of a 1, the bang happens anyway, centred on you, and everyone nearby gets a share. Hit or misfire, something is exploding today.
Every fighter lists the weapon types they actually know how to use. Anyone can pick up anything, the wasteland doesn't check certificates, but a weapon outside their proficiencies is unfamiliar kit: they suffer a -1 to hit with it.
Yes, your Prophet can carry the rocket launcher. He'll just fire it like a man holding a rocket launcher for the first time, because he is. Arm fighters with what they know, or accept the comedy.
Reactor Meltdown
A derelict energy station's reactor is about to blow… but there's salvage to be had before it does. Both warbands rush in to grab what they can, even as the whole place starts coming apart.
Setup: a 30" x 24" battlefield with a dense industrial layout, pipes, catwalks if you have them, and a large Reactor centrepiece dead centre. Before anyone picks a side, players alternate placing the 4 Loot Crates, two each (roll off or just agree who starts): each must be more than 5" from every other crate, every table edge, and the Reactor. Then roll off for table edges: the winner picks an edge and their opponent takes the one directly across. Players then alternate deploying fighters within 3" of their own edge, starting with the winner of the roll off. Bring the whole warband; everyone gets to regret this together.
The game lasts 8 rounds, or until the Reactor blows. Unlike the last two missions, the battlefield itself is now a combatant, and it does not roll Nerve Tests.
Suggested table setup with example crate placement. Pipes, gantries, and catwalks welcome; the more industrial clutter, the better it feels when it starts venting.
Unbolt the Core
The Reactor Core takes two successful Interact actions to free. Your first multi-step objective: someone has to stand at ground zero and work a wrench while the world shoots at them.
Carry the Core
Once freed, the Core is heavy: the carrier moves only 3" per Move action. Plan a relay, an escort, or a very stubborn Juggernaut.
Grit and Reward
Holding the Core at the start of a round grants +1 Momentum, and you may spend 1 Momentum to let a single model ignore one hazard effect. Bravery, subsidised.
| 1–2 | Steam Vent. The player with the most Momentum chooses a terrain piece: every model within 2" gains a Nerve Token. Yes, choosing the piece your opponent is hiding behind is legal. Encouraged, even. |
| 3–4 | Toxic Leak. A 3" template scatters 2D6 from the reactor. Models entering it take 1 Damage. The floor is now, quite literally, lava-adjacent. |
| 5–6 | Reactor Flare. Every model within 6" of the Reactor rolls a D6. On a 1 to 3 they take 1 Damage and a Nerve Token. Standing at ground zero has a price. |
The third time Reactor Flare triggers, the reactor doesn't flare. It detonates: 3 Damage to every model within 6+D6", and the game ends in the most memorable way possible. You have been warned. Twice, technically.
Controlled by your warband at the end of the battle.
Grab and hold. Watch for Boom Traps on a natural 1.
Or fewer, if the reactor has other plans.
The post-battle sequence
Here's the part that turns three games into a campaign: log the battle in the Warband Builder and walk through the post-battle sequence together. Win or lose, your warband comes home changed.
Earn your stripes
Fighters gain 1 XP each for taking part, downing an enemy, taking one Out Cold, and completing the mission task. The fifth is the best rule at the table: your opponent picks your Standout Fighter, the one who did something worth remembering.
Spend it well
Every 5 XP buys a permanent upgrade: +1 to a stat, or a new weapon proficiency so that rocket launcher finally stops being a mystery. Slowly, your rookies become the veterans other warbands tell stories about.
Count the cost, get paid
Anyone taken Out Cold rolls for recovery. Some walk it off; some carry a scar into every game from now on, unless a dodgy Back Alley Doctor intervenes, for a price. Then collect your pay: 10 Thracks, plus D6 per Loot Crate held.
Spend it badly
Visit a Neutral Bazaar, flag down a Scavver Caravan, or call in a Faction Contact. Restock, upgrade, or sell the junk you dragged home. Speaking of which…
Someone always brings something home
At the end of the post-battle sequence, one of your fighters turns out their pockets: they've scavenged a random item of junk they found on the battlefield and genuinely believed was useful. Roll on the Junk table in the Builder. It might change your next game. It might just be a bag of buttons. Either way, it's canon now. A few of the treasures waiting out there:
You've played full Thrackdown
Nothing held back, nothing left to unlock. Where you take it next is up to you; a few well-trodden roads out of the reactor district:
Back to the early missions
Loot and Scoot and Hostage Grab play very differently with full rules, full warbands, and the leash off. Go back and see what your first games were hiding.
Write the next scenario
Steal the structure: an objective, a twist, and a reason to leave cover. If in doubt, put something on fire and a countdown on it.
Run the campaign
Keep logging battles in the Warband Builder: XP, scars, junk, and grudges. Your warband is already mid-story; it would be rude to stop now.
Muster a second warband
Nothing teaches the game faster than fighting as the faction that beat you. Pick a new banner and learn what the other side of the table knows.
Welcome to Nova Eden
That's it. You know the rules, you've met your faction, you've watched a reactor try to kill everyone, and somewhere in your stash there's a shoelace your warband would die for.
From here, the game belongs to you: run a campaign, chase the loot, nurse the grudges, and tell the story only your warband can tell.
The ruins are yours now. Try to look like you belong.