Tactical Unconventional Deployment
For purposes of these rules, tactical unconventional deployment covers all the means by which to enter units into the Planetstorm Battlefield aside from initial setup.
Most of the races have some means to do this, though often certain methods might be moderately or severely restricted based on the scenario being played.
Capsule troopers a.k.a Jump troops a.k.a. Paratroops:
UNE, Infranites, Fantasians
Restriction: The force employing this method must have aerospace viability for the scenario.
At the beginning of the game, all troops for insertion are set aside and designated. At the beginning of the second or any subsequent turn, before initiative is determined, the jump troops can begin their descent. They are moved to the drop pool, another designated off-table spot. During the following turn they are considered enroute and will arrive on the table at the beginning of the following turn. Troops located in the drop-pool cannot be taken out of the drop pool, except by their actual landing on the table top.
Arrival: Choose the landing spot for the troops. Then roll scatter dice for each troop:2D6 and determine direction. As each is placed, ground units may take covering shots. Consider all shots against deploying Cap troopers with a +2 modifier penalty. For each subsequent trooper placement, add 1 to the scatter result. No more than 1 trooper can land on the same spot.
Landing: Each landed trooper is considered fired, and facing away from the originally chosen landing spot. On the turn following landing, they may begin normal initiative determination.
Dropship:
UNE, Infranites, Fantasians, Machines, Black Empire.
A dropship is any sort of aircraft or transorbital that can carry soldiers into battle.
Restriction: The race employing this method of insertion must have aerospace superiority (if transorbital). At the beginning of the game, all troops for insertion are set aside into groups containable within the dropship type called chalks. At the beginning of any turn, (including the first), before initiative is rolled, the player may designate one or more chalks to be enroute.
Arrival:
On the subsequent round, the Dropship 'Shadow counter' appears on the edge of the table at the player's choice, and is included in initiative. It moves using vehicle rules, and a number is placed with the Shadow indicating its height in inches above the table.
While the shadow is present, it can fire using any available weapons as normal, and can be fired upon. When measuring ranges, consider the dropship at its listed height above the tabletop directly over the shadow counter.
Landing: When the height indicator is 0, the drop ship has landed, and troops may disembark. The troops are considered to have run off the dropship(covering -2), but move only their walking distance.
The dropship may take off on its next turn, now independent of the landed troops.
If the dropship leaves the edge of the table, it can fly back to pick up another chalk. This will take 2 turns, before the player can announce that the new chalk is enroute.
An available, and empty dropship can also pick up troops from the battlefield. It must be announced on the way 1 turn prior if it is off the table. Once landed, troops must move to the landed shadow counter. Once all are aboard it can take off using its next action.
Armored Personnel Carrier (APC):
UNE, Fantasians, Machines,
An APC is a ground vehicle that can carry soldiers into battle.
Restriction: At the beginning of the game, all troops for insertion are set aside into groups containable within the APC type called lifts. At the beginning of any turn, including the first, before initiative is rolled, the player may designate one or more lifts to be enroute.
Arrival:
On the subsequent round, the APC representation appears on the friendly edge of the table, and is included in initiative. It moves using vehicle rules.
Landing: The APC can dismount troops after any movement phase. The troops are considered to have run off the APC, but move only their walking distance.
The APC may begin driving on its next turn, now independent of the dismounted troops.
If the APC leaves the edge of the table, consider it removed from the scenario.
Teleportation:
This is the means by which an orbiting space ship can send dematerialized soldiers to a planet surface as a beam of energy, and re-materialize them there.
Black Empire
Restriction:
The Black Empire must have aerospace viability. At the beginning of the game, set aside all troops to be teleported, in small groups. At the beginning of any turn, including the first, a group may be beamed to any location on the table top.
Arrival:
If a ground unit has direct LOS to the intended location, the troops arrive exactly on target. All arriving troops in the group must be within 4 inches of the selected spot. If there is no LOS to the spot, the spot will deviate 3D6 inches.
Landing:
The troops materialize facing any desired direction.
Once materialized, it can take a few moments to shake disorientation. The troops are each considered Stunned as per EMP effect. Each round rolling to reduce to a Daze which will subsequently go away. Note that this is not actually an EMP effect, and thus it does not make the unit more susceptible to an actual EMP attack.
Elevator:
The machines have a subterranean base, and reinforcements may arrive via elevator from below.
Machine
Restriction: The Machine player must designate the elevator shaft and its capacity. All reinforcement troops are kept off table.
Arrival: The machine player selects the reinforcements to arrive, and announces the arrival before initiative on the first or subsequent turn. The units appear on the elevator pad immediately, and roll initiative for that round..
Landing: Units that arrive on the pad are considered covering -1 until their action.
Stealth:
The use of clandestine measures to traverse a battlefield. This considers that said units are separate from the main force, and are already deployed, but in hiding. Such units are severely restricted in their movement, as represented by the deviation required when they reveal.
UNE, Infranite, Fantasian, Machine.
Restriciton:
The stealth units must be placed aside at the beginning of the game.
Arrival: On the first or any subsequent turn, in which one of his units has initiative, the player announces that the stealth unit is prepared to act. He selects the spot that he'd like the unit to be, but then must deviate this position by 3D6-3 inches. (This takes into account how painfully slow the stealth unit must move to avoid detection, and as a result is not always where he'd like to be.)
The unit cannot be placed within 5 inches of any figure.
Landing: The unit is facing any desired direction after determination of final placement. This unit gets an immediate complete action (move/attack). After which the unit is subject to normal initiative. If he is in the firing arc of any figure with a covering action, that figure may fire first with a penalty of 1 to hit.