The Command Board
Every faction has a Command Board: 1 Faction Ability, CP generation, and 6 Command Abilities.
The Rule
Every faction possesses a Command Board representing its battlefield doctrine and leadership structure. A Command Board consists of 1 Faction Ability, its CP Generation value, and 6 Command Abilities. Orders are not part of the Command Board — Orders are issued by individual ships during their activation. The Command Board represents the combined command capability of the entire fleet, not a specific commander, flagship, captain, or first officer.
Explanation
The Faction Ability is always active unless stated otherwise, costs no CP, and affects every unit in the faction. Command Points are generated at the start of each round, may be spent on Command Abilities, and are lost at the end of the round — CP may never be saved between rounds unless a rule states otherwise. Command Abilities are purchased with CP, may be used at the timing specified by their rules, and may only be used once per round unless stated otherwise. They never require Leadership tests. CP generation follows the faction's Command Doctrine: Light 2 CP, Standard 3 CP, Elite 4 CP per round; no faction may generate more than 4 CP per round unless a special rule states otherwise. Command Abilities are written as: Ability Name, CP Cost, Timing, Effect.
Example
MYR-VALARI COMMAND BOARD — Faction Ability: Veilstride Grace (reroll one failed Dodge roll per turn). CP Generation: 3 CP per round. Command Abilities: Ghost Signal (1 CP, before a friendly unit moves, +3" Movement for that Move); Veil Lure (1 CP, target friendly unit suffers -1 BS from enemy attacks until end of round); Starlit Feint (1 CP, target friendly unit rerolls one failed Dodge roll); Whisper Step (2 CP, target unit with T 5 or less immediately moves 3"); Luminous Rhythm (2 CP, target unit's Dodge becomes 8+ until end of round); Unseen Cascade (3 CP, after a friendly unit finishes activating, immediately activate another friendly unit). ||| CONSUMED COMMAND BOARD — The Hunger Within. Commander Burst 2 CP · First Officer Burst 1 CP · Total command capacity 3 CP per round. Faction Ability: The Hunger Reaches (always active, 0 CP) — Consumed units may Board enemy units within 6" instead of 3"; when a Consumed unit makes a CR roll during a Boarding action, Critical Hits are scored on 9+ and each counts as 2 successes; all other Boarding requirements, including SH 0, still apply, and a unit may only perform one Board action per activation. Command Abilities: Predatory Surge (1 CP, before Move, +3" to that Move — if it ends within 6" of an enemy with CR, gain +1 CR die until end of activation); Close the Distance (1 CP, before Fire, weapon systems with a maximum range of 9" or less reroll one failed attack roll); Blood Scent (1 CP, after Fire, gain +1 CR die against an enemy that suffered HP damage, applying only to a Boarding CR roll); Tendrils of the Hunger (2 CP, before Board, that unit's Boarding range becomes 9" — SH 0 still required unless overridden, and no additional Board action is granted); Feasting Frenzy (2 CP, start of friendly activation, that unit's single Board action costs 0 AP); Through the Veil (3 CP, before Board, ignore the requirement that the target's Shields be reduced to 0 — remaining Shields neither prevent Boarding nor absorb the resulting damage; requires the 2 CP Commander Burst and 1 CP First Officer Burst spent together). Consumed doctrine: CLOSE · BREACH · BOARD · CONSUME.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Orders come from the Command Board?
No. Orders are ship-level and require Leadership tests; the Command Board is the fleet-wide strategic layer.
Can I bank unspent CP?
No — unused CP are lost at the end of the round unless a rule specifically says otherwise.
Do Command Abilities need a Leadership test?
Never. Only Orders require LD rolls.
Designer Commentary
The Command Board cleanly separates faction identity (Faction Ability), strategic resources (CP and Command Abilities), and ship command capability (Orders and LD). Status: locked in canon.