The AT-43 Activation Order
At-43 plays very differently than other table top games currently on the market. The turn is dictated by what is called the activation order. Each unit gets a card and each player places the cards face down infront of them. Each player takes turns revealing the next card in the order and then moving shooting and resolving close combat with that unit.
This opens up a large amount of strategy since the order units activate becomes important. If a unit is destroyed before it gets to activate the player must still reveal that card. There are ways a player can manipulate their activation order by spending Leadership Points (LP). Leadership points are spent activating units without an officer, manipulating the activation order, assigning combat drills and using special abilities.
A player can manipulate their own activation order in the following ways.
- For 2 LP they may delay their activation essentially passing on their next activation, you may not delay twice in a row.
- For 2 LP on the activation following a delay the player may choose to activate the next 2 cards in their activation order.
- For 1 LP the player may move the card they are about to activate anywhere in the existing order and then reveal the following card.
These open up a lot of strategy with respect to the order of units. Double activation allows 2 units to act before the opponent gets the chance to move, repair, or activate abilities. It costs a fair number of LP to do this but it can be very powerful when executed correctly. Being able to move the upcoming card in your activation is also helpful. For instance if you realize you made a mistake in your activation order, or the unit that is coming up was destroyed and you dont want your opponent to act twice in a row and potentially inflict even more damage unanswered.
The strategic options in at-43 are great and this is what makes it such a fun game to play. Other table top games play like checkers, at-43 is more like chess.
For more details on the rules of At-43 you can download them at the at-43 website.
UPDATE: With the release of Operation frostbite, if you have two units that use the same card you may choose which one to activate when the card comes up. The units must have the same special weapons and officer rank for this rule to apply.
