Core Rules Guide: Timeline and Combat

Your first game of Gundam Assemble can feel like a duel fought on three clocks at once: the 20-round match, each unit’s place on the Timeline, and the Tactics card in your hand. The Gundam Assemble core rules are built to keep those clocks moving, and once you understand how they connect, every activation becomes a real decision instead of a guess. This guide breaks the Gundam Assemble core rules into the parts you actually use at the table—setup, Timeline management, movement, attacks, and deck building—so you can plan a turn before your opponent does.

How the Core Rules Shape a 20-Round Match

Most games use a simple frame: two phases, 10 rounds per phase, and a winner decided by victory points. Scenarios can change the details, so read the scenario card before you place a single unit. The Gundam Assemble core rules give you a consistent engine, but the scenario tells you which goals matter and when they score.

Victory points come from several places: defeating enemy units at their printed VP value, defeating enemy Garrisons for 2 VP, rescuing allied Garrisons for 2 VP, and scoring objectives or scenario goals at phase end. A weak unit that gives up few points can still be a useful screen, while an expensive unit hands your opponent a large swing when it falls. Build your plan around the score, not just the damage chart.

Three habits prevent early losses:

• Check the scenario’s scoring timing. Some goals score only in a specific phase, while others score at the end of each phase.
• Track both players’ likely VP swing. A kill worth 3 VP may be less valuable than denying an objective that scores twice.
• Leave room for a late activation. The last player to act wins ties, so tempo can matter as much as raw strength.

Setup, Deployment, and the Timeline Track

Setup follows a fixed order. Place the board, add scenario components such as Bases, Carriers, Garrisons, Upgrades, Energy, objectives, and terrain, then put the Timeline track nearby. Each player reveals their squad, places unit cards, and places each Timeline token at its unit’s starting Timeline value. Shuffle your nine Tactics cards and draw three. The player with the lowest starting Timeline value acts first; ties are broken with an attack die roll.

Units do not start on the board. The first time you activate a unit, deploy it from your Base or Carrier. A Base deployment places the unit on the Base hex; a Carrier deployment places it adjacent to the Carrier’s middle hex. Deployed units cannot end their activation on a Base and must move at least one hex before ending that activation. This small rule catches new players who try to deploy and sit still.

The Timeline is the heart of the Gundam Assemble core rules. When you declare an action with a Timeline cost, pay that cost immediately by moving the unit’s token forward before resolving the action. If the token passes space 10, wrap it back to space 1 and keep counting. From round 8, a 4 TL action lands on round 2, which means that unit waits until the next phase. A unit that spends more than 10 TL in a single activation advances into the next phase entirely.

When several of your units share a Timeline space, stack their tokens in the order you want them to activate. If both players have units on the same space, alternate activations, with the player who acted most recently going last. Deploying early and often is good, but paying too much Timeline for low-value attacks can leave a unit idle while the objective slips away.

Activation: What You Can Do Each Round

Every activation must include one Primary Action. Around that required action, you can also Advance, use Command abilities, and play a Tactics card. The four Primary Actions are Attack, Dash, Energize, and Rescue. Some abilities grant additional actions, which is how a unit can attack twice or move after striking.

• Advance: Move up to 3 hexes. You may stop early, but you cannot end on the hex where you started.
• Attack: Choose a weapon and target, pay the weapon’s TL cost, and resolve the attack.
• Dash: Spend 2 TL to move up to 2 hexes.
• Energize: Spend 2 TL to place 1 Energy on the unit card.
• Rescue: Spend 2 TL while adjacent to an allied Garrison to remove it and gain 2 VP.
• Command abilities: Each can be used once per activation.
• Tactics cards: Play up to one per activation, following its type and timing.

Movement has a few hard limits. Only one unit can occupy a hex. You can pass through allied units but not enemy units, and you cannot end movement on another unit or structure. Moving to higher elevation costs extra movement for each level gained. Water and debris fields impose a -1 hex penalty on movement, while being Engaged imposes another -1 hex penalty and forces your attack to include at least one Engaged enemy. Jumping from elevated terrain lets a unit cross gaps and pass over lower enemies as part of its move.

A practical example: a unit on height two wants to reach a contested objective three hexes away. If the route drops to ground level, the move is cheap. If it climbs another level, the extra cost can strand the unit one hex short. Count elevation before you count distance.

Movement, Line of Sight, and Combat Math

Combat is a sequence, not a single dice toss. Follow the order carefully, because responses and critical effects happen at specific moments.

Line of Sight uses an imaginary center-to-center line. A line is blocked by terrain higher than both units, by enemy units at the same elevation as both units, and by enemy structures at that same elevation. When units are at different elevations, the higher ground changes what counts as blocking. Area-of-effect attacks ignore units and Garrisons when checking Line of Sight, but every target still needs to be in range and in Line of Sight unless the weapon says otherwise.

Accuracy modifiers change the die value, but they do not turn a 1 into a hit or a lower roll into a critical. Each hit deals 1 damage, Shields prevent damage after other reduction effects, and critical hit effects still apply even if Shields stop all damage. A unit is defeated when its hit points reach zero. The opponent gains its VP value, the unit returns to Reserve, its Timeline token moves forward two spaces as a repair penalty, and its hit points and status effects reset. Energy and Upgrades stay on the card, so a redeployed unit can come back with its improvements intact.

Tactics, Upgrades, and Squad Building

Your squad size is set by the scenario, with most scenarios asking for three or five units. You cannot include two copies of the same unit card number unless that unit is Mass Produced. If you do run multiple Mass Produced copies, make each miniature and Timeline token clearly distinguishable.

Tactics cards come in Attack, Command, and Response types, and some carry a Timeline cost. Play at most one per activation, and respect the timing window. A Response card can interrupt an attack at the stated step, while a Command card usually supports the unit you are activating.

Upgrades are picked up only when a unit ends movement on their hex. Shield Upgrades prevent 1 damage each and then flip face down until that unit’s next activation. Speed Upgrades add 1 hex to each Advance. Strength Upgrades add 1 attack die per token. Because these bonuses stay through defeat, a unit that grabs a Strength Upgrade early can remain a threat after redeployment.

Objectives reward board position. A unit contests an objective by ending its activation on or adjacent to it. If your side has more units contesting than your opponent, you capture a neutral objective or neutralize an enemy-controlled one. Control persists after you leave, so a fast unit can flip a point and move on. The Gundam Assemble core rules reward players who pair that pressure with a realistic Timeline plan.

FAQ

How long does a standard game last? Most scenarios run two phases of 10 rounds each, for 20 rounds total. The player with the most victory points at the end wins, and the last player to act wins a tie.

What happens when a unit is defeated? The opposing player scores the unit’s VP value. The unit returns to Reserve, its Timeline token moves forward two spaces, and its hit points and status effects reset. Energy and Upgrades remain, and the unit redeploys on its next activation.

Do I have to take a Primary Action every activation? Yes. Each activation requires one Primary Action—Attack, Dash, Energize, or Rescue—though abilities can grant additional actions. You can also Advance, use Command abilities, and play one Tactics card around it.

What is the biggest Gundam Assemble core rules mistake? Treating the Timeline as an afterthought. The Gundam Assemble core rules make time a resource: paying 4 TL for a low-impact attack can keep a unit out of the next scoring window, while a cheaper action keeps pressure on the objective.