Field report

What this game is, how it plays, and why games are decided long before the first unit falls.

UNIVERSE / 010

The Task of Mercenaries universe

Year 2026. The country of Vanaria. The political situation is stable and its citizens trust their government blindly, convinced it works for their wellbeing.

The cities are a patchwork of ethnicities and races getting along as best they can: humans, orcs, elves, dwarves, hemates, volvids, goblins. That does not prevent skirmishes. Within every race there are those who want to share the world and its resources in peace, and those who hold their own to be superior, or who simply distrust another over old grudges or very specific incidents.

In this era governments keep no army of their own. Spending on weapons and defence has been redirected to other social priorities, and armed conflict — at home and abroad — is settled with mercenary contracting funds.

Those mercenaries are organised into factions that serve companies and city governments. Sometimes the job is fighting abroad in the country’s name; sometimes it is crowd control, event security or private escort. Work is work.

Year: 2026
Country: Vanaria
Races: Humans · Orcs · Elves · Dwarves · Hemates · Volvids · Goblins
National army: None

PLOT / 012There is more behind all this: the schemes that move Vanaria, and how it all begins.Keep reading

The plot

I
The Bleeding Lily
There is a conspiracy: an alliance between the whisperers’ Conclave and Valerius, leader of the Order. It consists of using the hemates’ genetic code to create a medicine that, combined with certain components from the different races, secretly sterilises the population. Tied to a coming global conflict, that would cleanse society and leave the country free for the elves from beyond the sea to occupy, sharing the New Society with the hemates: one by day, the other by night. A society free of other races, free of conflict and hyper-productive, because it would run twenty-four hours a day. A perfect utopia. The whisperers infiltrate wherever needed; the OWL uses its influence in combat to obtain samples, its laboratories to process them, its pharmaceutical arm to distribute them and, above all, its NGO façade to make sure that revolutionary, free medicine reaches everyone.
II
The Winged Lion’s AI
At the same time, Lion Shield engineers are developing an ultimate AI for war. Partnered with the Air Brigade, they are building an army of ground and air devices controlled by an intelligence they train by spying on the combats and brawls of other factions. It is financed by the Central Government, which funds the entire research programme and orders false missions to provoke conflict between factions so it can study the competition’s units. That way the Government secures a perfect army without ever spending on contracts again: maximum military power at the lowest possible cost.
III
The eye you never escape
The information reaches a legionary, a hunter and a regular through a mysterious notification. It comes from the Black Market Agents: having spotted irregular fluctuations in the Central Government’s accounts and files behind impossible firewalls at Lion Shield, they investigate and uncover part of the schemes. They decide not to act directly and instead send the notification to those three, acquaintances of members of the organisation, which has people of every race. That is where the story begins.

Chapter 1

Operation Porcupine

The Legion receives an offer for its special operations pair: together with one White Lily unit, two whisperer units and one from the Brigade, they are to locate and sabotage a supposed factory of banned weapons of mass destruction in a complex beneath the Arelies desert, in the south-east of the country.

The operation is a fake. Its purpose is to damage relations between the whisperers and legionaries on one side and the regulars on the other. That base does not exist: when they find it, it turns out to be a supply depot — and an important one. Even so, Lion Shield and Brigade units open massive fire on it, wiping the supplies and everyone present off the map, legionaries and whisperers included, while leaving incriminating evidence behind.

At the same time, the Mecha Corta raid several villages in the Kaja mountains to the north, using weapons stolen from the legionaries to convince the hunter tribes that the Legion has decided to attack their supplies because of its own troubles staying afloat. A witch hunt against any orc breaks out.

It is the first major conflict between hunters and legionaries, and between regulars and legionaries. The OWL offers itself as mediator, but seeing that conflict is unavoidable it makes sure to take part selflessly and free of charge for any side that asks, using the situation for its own ends.

FACTIONS / 011

The factions

Eight companies trade on the market. Two more are only rumour.

01The Night WhisperersHemates · Stealth, sabotage and infiltration

The night whisperers — or simply whisperers — are mostly hemates: nocturnal beings, naturally allergic to direct sunlight, which means all their activity in society happens after dark. Slight of build, but with far more developed red fibres, giving them a strength their light frame does not suggest. They are ideal for night raids: extremely stealthy and specialised in sabotage and infiltration. They are led by the Conclave, a circle of undetermined size that negotiates and assesses every mission offered to them.

CommandThe Conclave

02The Boar LegionOrcs · Vanguard and assault

The legionaries are, overwhelmingly, orcs: large, heavy, strong and resilient. A frontline military power, the most sought-after faction and also the most expensive, with a long record of victories in major wars abroad. They are led by General Yos Mill-As, a guerrilla fighter of the 1980 liberation wars that restored the country’s political stability after the neighbouring state’s attempted invasion. Since 2024, high prices and wide competition have cut their contracts, and the General is facing a crisis: the Legion is also the largest unit and therefore the costliest to maintain.

CommandGeneral Yos Mill-As

03The Sand RegularsHumans · Desert and extreme heat

Humans exiled to the desert lands of the south-east after the 1980 wars. They were suspected of betraying the government and letting the enemy through, but it could never be proven; even so they willingly withdrew from the crowded cities and settled in the desert, building small communities in caves. They have never lost a battle nor failed an objective when the ground is desert and the heat extreme. They are run by General Silver, once a brother in arms of Mill-As.

CommandGeneral Silver

04Order of the White LilyElves · Medical care, rescue and pharmaceuticals

The Order, or OWL, is a humanitarian community formed by elves rescued in the twenties after a shipwreck off the western coast. They settled alongside the citizens and founded the OWL, specialising in treating the wounded. Their economy grew: today they run laboratories and pharmaceutical companies devoted to improving how they help others. They are hired to recover and treat the wounded in combat, but they also work in community aid. They are responsible for over 50% of the country’s hospitals and run emergency services. They maintain four NGOs for the destitute, people without resources and racial equality. Their representative is Valerius Eternari, a tall elf with fair but tanned skin, blond, his long hair almost always gathered in an immaculate bun.

CommandValerius Eternari

05Lion ShieldDwarves · Engineering and combat vehicles

The Lions are mainly dwarves and the leading producers of mechanical industry: engineering comes naturally to them. Their advances in military technology have made them leaders in the rental and sale of combat vehicles, both to private buyers and to other factions. In fact, no self-respecting faction operates without one or several Lion devices. Over the last ten years they have established themselves as one of the wealthiest on the market: since they do not need contract missions, only to rent and sell units, their growth has been extraordinarily prosperous. The CEO is Elonri Grudgemusk, but decisions are taken in cabinet alongside the directors of Trade and Sales, R&D and Manufacturing.

CommandElonri Grudgemusk, CEO

06Air BrigadeMixed · Air dominance

The largest and most powerful faction in air units: no other has these machines. Its academy is the only one that trains professional pilots able to use aerial vehicles properly and productively. They share a great deal with the Lions, who supply part of their technology to improve the aircraft. At the helm are Vian Díaz on the business side and Juan y Blanco as director of the pilot academy.

CommandVian Díaz, CEO

07Mecha CortaGoblins · Looting and anarchy

The Mecha Corta are, literally, land pirates: anarchist goblins outside the law who prey on small settlements, raiding and looting by and for their own gain. They recognise no law, they are extremely violent, and all they want is to watch the world burn. There is no leader: they operate in convoys, and each convoy has its own.

CommandNo leader — by convoy

08The Mountain HuntersVolvids · Tracking and high mountain

The hunters, or volvids, live in the high mountains, surrounded by snow and wilderness, deeply rooted in their bond with mother earth. They are called hunters for their extraordinary skills in tracking, observation, speed and adaptation. They are often hired for objectives in high mountain terrain, where other factions suffer the extreme cold or struggle with access across ravines. They are divided into tribes, each led by a different chief; contracts and military decisions are taken in assembly.

CommandTribal chiefs in assembly

09GHOSTUnknown · Special operations

A small special operations team about which very little is known: they have been seen only a handful of times. They are said to be the elite of the elite and the very image of the mercenary, because they are given a mission and they complete it. They recognise no race, no ethnicity, no ethics, no morals. It is also said — it is all rumour — that to hire them you have to be desperate, because they are extraordinarily expensive. They have no leader: they are a team, and each of them knows what to do, how to do it and when. When they are hired, a notification arrives with the mission dossier. Nothing more, nothing less.

CommandNo leader — a team

10The Black Market AgentsUnknown · Intelligence and shadows

The Black Market are a legend. Nobody believes they truly exist. They are said to be paid in cybercurrency, to operate in the shadows and to keep subcontractors of their own. But nobody has ever seen them, or knows how they work.

CommandUnknown

MANUAL / 012

How to play

ToM is a Battle Chess style strategy TCG. You step into the shoes of a contractor: you manage your economy to hire units, win battles and take the war.

01Deck building

ToM cards are split into units and supplies, and every one of them has a gold cost. Units are deployed on the battlefield; supplies are played at different moments to decide the outcome of each fight.

A basic deck holds a minimum of 48 cards and belongs to each player: everyone plays with their own.

Ratio by cost

Cost 5: 1 card
Cost 4: 2 cards
Cost 3: 3 cards
Cost 2: 4 cards
Cost 1: 6 cards (minimum)
Total: 16 cards × 3 copies = 48

Every card, unit or supply, is run in three copies. That is where the total comes from: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 6 = 16, and 16 × 3 = 48.

The deck must hold at least 10 units, of which a minimum of 3 at cost 1 and 2 at cost 2. The rest is filled with units or supplies up to the 48.

The deck evolves

R1–2

Rounds 1 and 2

Played with cost 1 and 2 cards only.

R3–4

Rounds 3 and 4

Cost 3 cards are added before round 3 begins.

R5–6

Rounds 5 and 6

Cost 4 cards are added before round 5 begins.

R7+

Round 7 onwards

Cost 5 cards are added and the game finishes with the full deck.

If your opening hand in round 1 is five supplies, you could not deploy a single unit. Only in that case may you reveal the cards, reshuffle and draw five again, repeating until you draw a unit.

02Economy

Hiring units or drawing on supplies takes gold. Each round you receive an amount based on how far the game has progressed.

Gold per round

Round 1: 2 gold
Round 2: 4 gold
Round 3: 5 gold
Round 4: 6 gold
Round 5: 7 gold
Round 6: 8 gold
Round 7 onwards: 8 gold

Round 1 is deliberately tight: with 2 gold there are only two options — a cost 1 unit plus a supply, or a cost 2 unit. From round 2 the rule is 2 + the round number.

Every cloud has a silver lining: losing a battle earns you extra gold, what we call improvement interest.

Improvement interest

1 defeat: +1 gold
2 defeats in a row: +2 gold
3 defeats in a row: +3 gold (maximum)

When you buy a unit or a supply you place it face down in a free slot of your store, with the gold you spent on top of it. That tells your opponent the cost without revealing the card, and prevents mistakes when paying. If you sell it, you get that gold back; if you play or deploy it, you simply remove the coins: gold is spent on acquisition, even if you never use the card.

03The playing field

The playing field is split into two individual boards, one per player. Each board has 6 columns and 4 rows, and its cells are called squares.

Board rows

First row: Vanguard
Second row: Centre line
Third row: Rear
Fourth row: Supply store

Natural movement is from one square to a directly adjacent one, unless the unit has abilities or bonuses that increase it: with movement 2, for instance, it advances two adjacent squares. As a general rule you cannot enter a square already held by another unit, friendly or enemy, except through abilities that allow it: overfly, vehicle, infiltration.

Areas on the right

Elimination area: Units killed in combat wait here until they are placed again. It must be empty before a new combat phase starts.
Contracts area: The space reserved for the deck.
Discard area: Where cards you sell, or do not buy during the shop phase, end up.

Areas on the left

Contractor health: Where damage accumulates. Reach 10 and you lose the game.
Bonuses: The faction bonuses you pick up during the game.
Treasury: The gold you have not spent.

04Phases of a game

A game is divided into rounds, and every round into four phases.

The four phases

Shop phase

You draw five cards from your contracts deck and spend your gold on units or supplies, placing them face down in your supply area. You may sell what you already own and get its cost back. When you are done, the cards left in hand go to the discard pile and it is your opponent’s turn. Face-down cards stop your opponent knowing whether you bought units or supplies: they are only revealed when played, when placed, or when levelling up a unit. If your store is full you cannot buy anything else, even if a card says it is used in this phase.

Placement phase

Whoever shopped first places first. Units go down in alternating turns until you run out of them or hit the round’s cap. If one player runs out before reaching their cap, the other keeps placing up to theirs. When placement ends, a window opens to play repositioning supplies: first one player, then the other.

Deployment micro-phase

Right before combat, the deployment ability triggers on any unit that has it, letting you reposition those units — even onto squares of the enemy board. If both players have deployment units it goes in alternating turns; if only one can, they repeat until finished.

Combat phase

Split into cycles. A cycle runs from the moment every unit is ready to the moment every unit is exhausted. Whoever started the shopping and the placement starts combat too.

Deployment cap per round

Round 1: 1 unit
Round 2: 2 units
Round 3: 3 units
Round 4: 4 units
Round 5: 5 units
Round 6: 6 units
Round 7 onwards: 7 units (maximum)

Unless a supply raises that cap specifically.

What a unit can do on its turn

Move + attack

It moves, then attacks.

Move + ability

It moves, then uses its ability.

Move only

It just repositions.

Attack only

It attacks without moving.

Ability only

It uses its ability without moving.

If a unit wants to move, it must do so before attacking or using its ability. The exception is units with versatility, which interleave actions and movement however it suits them.

After acting, the unit is turned sideways — exhausted — until the end of the cycle, and it is the opponent’s turn. Play alternates until every unit is exhausted. If one player has more units than the other, they take repeated turns until all of theirs are spent: a deliberate reward for the player who deploys more.

Once only one player has units left on the field, the combat phase ends. The player with none takes one point of contractor damage for each surviving enemy unit, and it is they who decide who starts the next shop phase.

At the start of a new round, units in the elimination area count as deployed on the field: they can be placed, sold or moved to the supply store.

05Units

Units level up, which improves their stats and in some cases unlocks new abilities. To do it you need three units of the same name, and all three must fit either on the field or in the store. If you have no room, you will have to sell a unit or supply to make space for the new one.

Level — line colour

Silver line: Level 1
Gold line: Level 2

Tier — line colour

Tier 1 · Common · cost 1: Grey lines
Tier 2 · Uncommon · cost 2: Green lines
Tier 3 · Superior · cost 3: Blue lines
Tier 4 · Epic · cost 4: Purple lines
Tier 5 · Legendary · cost 5: Gold lines

Card counters

Cost — yellow: Gold to pay to make use of the unit or supply.
Health — green: Total life, that is, the damage it can take.
Damage — red: Damage it deals when it attacks.
Range — orange: Distance in squares at which it can target. Range 1 is the adjacent square; with a gap in between you need range 2 or more. Range 0 means it must occupy the target’s square.
Description: Where the abilities are spelled out.

06Supplies

Supplies are played in different phases of the game. Every card states when it can be used. There are three types.

Types of supply

Provisions

Always used before combat, during the shop or placement phases.

Circumstance

Used during the combat phase, always on the player’s turn.

Equipment

Played during the placement phase and attached to a unit, friendly or enemy. Equipping does not consume your placement turn. If you sell an equipped unit, the equipment is discarded and you get no gold for it: what you sold was the unit.

07Faction bonuses

Sooner or later you will have several units of the same faction in play, which wakes that faction’s bonuses. There are up to ten different types, each with two levels of increase. How many units it takes to trigger them depends on the faction or factions you are playing.

08Towards victory

To win you must deal 10 points of damage to the enemy contractor. Each round, once a winner is declared, the defeated contractor takes as much damage as the winner has surviving units.

Whoever loses the combat phase decides who starts the turns of the following round. In round 1, with no combat before it, a coin or a die settles it: whoever wins the toss chooses who begins.

When a contractor accumulates 10 or more points of damage they are officially defeated, and their opponent is the winner.

09Special rules

Line vanguard

The first rule of combat

If you can damage a line vanguard unit, you must.

Whenever damage can be dealt to a line vanguard unit standing in any of the vanguard rows of the battlefield, it must be targeted, as long as it is within range. If your unit does not have an enemy line vanguard in range but does have another enemy unit, it may target that one.

Two units, friendly or enemy, may end up sharing a square through abilities that allow it. Never more than two. That creates a dilemma when attacking, because at such close quarters there is a chance of friendly fire.

Call heads or tails and flip a coin. Call it right and the damage lands on the intended target; call it wrong and the damage lands on the other unit sharing the square, friendly or enemy.

It can also happen that the only units left on the field deal 0 damage, one per side, which would deadlock the combat cycle. That is what the impossibility of combat rule is for.

When the only units left on the field deal 0 damage, and therefore no enemy unit can be eliminated to win the combat phase, the phase is won by the last player who had a unit with damage on the field. The damage to the rival contractor is always 1.

10Frequently asked questions

What happens to the units left on the field?

After the battle they all end up in the elimination area, ready to be placed again. During the shop phase you can sell any of them or swap them for units in your supply store.

Are the six store slots a hard inventory limit?

Yes, that is the limit. It turns the space between units kept for levelling up and supplies kept for combat into a scarce resource: with no room, you are forced to choose a path — commit to the supply, or to improving the unit.

Units on the field after combat: do they survive or are they cleared?

The eliminated ones go to the elimination area and can be deployed again the following round.

Can combat end in a draw?

In theory, no. Kills caused by kamikaze abilities or mines hand victory to their owner: if your kamikaze unit takes out the opponent’s last unit, the win is yours and you deal 1 contractor damage even with nothing left on the field.

Can mines cause a draw?

They should not. If the mine’s owner has no units on the field, the mine is simply removed. If an enemy steps onto a mine to attack one of the owner’s units, the mine triggers and eliminates the attacker, handing victory to the mine’s owner, who still has a surviving unit.

CARD / 012

Anatomy of a card

Everything you need to know about a unit fits in its four corners.

Level: From 1 to 3. Raised by merging three identical copies.
Cost: Supplies consumed on deployment.
Health: Damage it takes before leaving the board.
Attack: Damage dealt per combat action.
Defence: Subtracted from incoming attack. Never drops below zero.
Movement: Squares per turn. Modified by terrain.
Ability: The unit's own rule. It's what makes it yours.

BOARD / 013

The tactical board

A grid with opposing entry zones, mixed terrain and control points laid out deliberately asymmetrically. There is no fair starting position: there's a starting position you have to read before you deploy.

Final measurements pending the first print run.