How to play MERCS 2.5: a new player's guide

What MERCS 2.5 is

MERCS was created by Brian Shotton, Keith Lowe and Tom Mason, the founders of MegaCon Games, and it is now published by Fifth Angel Studios. Version 2.5 is an update to the rules, not a restart:

The 2.5 update speeds up play and moves the game to a mission-driven system with more than one way to win. The rulebook is clear about the feel it wants: this is not a game where two sides stand still and trade shots.

What you need to play

• MERCS miniatures for your Strike Team, plus an opponent with theirs.
• Reference Cards for every model you field. They hold each model's stats, weapons and abilities. The rulebook says the cards are updated regularly, are free to download, and that a card's rules win over the book.
• A Contingency Deck for your MegaCon (more on this below).
• Ten-sided dice (d10s), one per MERCS. On official MERCS dice the 10 is the helmet icon; on ordinary d10s it is usually the 0.
• A measuring device and the rules.
• A small table with lots of terrain. Use about 2 by 2 feet for 3-model teams and 3 by 3 feet for 5-model teams. Buildings, bunkers, hills and walls matter: weapons can fire the length of the table, so terrain is what makes tactics possible.

Build your Strike Team

A MERCS Strike Team is five members from a single faction (a MegaCon). Each faction has a set of Archetypes to pick from, such as a Leader, a Medic or a Sniper. There is exactly one restriction:

There are no other team requirements. You can even play without a Leader. During the Recruitment Phase, players pick their models one at a time, alternating, so you can react to what your opponent takes. The player who did not choose the Mission recruits first.

How to read a Reference Card

Every model's card has a Reference Column of eight stats down the front, listed in the order you use them during a round. Here is what each one means:

Why are some stats better when lower? Because every check succeeds on a roll equal to or higher than the stat. A low Courage, Interact or Armor Failure number simply gives you more ways to succeed.

Below the Reference Column is the Kit Area: each weapon's Stat Bar shows its range, number of attacks, firing number, Weapon Strength and Keywords. The back of the card explains the model's Personal Abilities and its Keywords, which apply only when the model uses the gear they are attached to.

The 12 MegaCons

In MERCS, the factions are rival megacorporations, the MegaCons. The rulebook says each one “plays extremely different,” with its own strengths and weaknesses, and every MegaCon has two Corporate Traits: faction-wide rules that apply to every member of its Strike Team.

Trait names are as printed on the Corporate Trait cards, and unit counts are the 123 units in the MERCS 2.5 card set, both as carried in MERCS Companion. Pick a MegaCon whose traits match how you like to play, then learn its strengths.

How an Operation plays

A game of MERCS is called an Operation. Each one follows a Mission with its own briefing, objectives, high value targets and Operation Points (OP) for every objective you secure. Setup runs like this:

1. Pick the Mission. Agree on one, roll off with a d10 (high roll chooses), or roll on the Mission chart.
2. Set up terrain, following the Mission's layout if it has one.
3. Draw Contingency cards. Shuffle your deck and set the top card aside face down, unseen. That is your Live Contingency Card; it stays hidden until the round the Mission names. Then draw 6 and discard down to the Mission's number (the Live card counts toward it and cannot be discarded).
4. Recruit your Strike Teams, alternating one model at a time.

Contingency cards add extra objectives and twists. Every MegaCon's deck is the 19 shared cards plus that faction's own unique card. If a Live Contingency Card can't be completed, it counts as “Bad Intel” and has no effect.

The goal is to achieve your mission parameters before your opponent achieves theirs. MERCS Companion briefs all ten Operations in full, from Operation Shadow Dragon to Operation Jesse James.

Your first game

The rulebook's own advice for learning is the best place to start:

In a brawl, you win by eliminating the other Strike Team. Once the movement, shooting and armor checks feel natural, move on to your first true Operation and let the Mission decide what winning means.