Counterattack

Lore & Background

In the pilot debriefs that circulate between squadrons, Counterattack is described less as a weapon and more as a reflex. The mechs on the Breach line are not autonomous; their pilots feel every lunge of a Stinger or the heavy foreleg of a Scorpion pressed against the hull. Counterattack is the mech's built-in answer to that pressure—a hydraulic counter-strike that fires the instant the enemy's attack animation locks in. There is no time to call for orders. The pilot simply holds position, and the machine does the rest.

Squad commanders have noted that the ability changes how pilots think about the 4×4 field. Instead of treating every adjacent enemy as an immediate threat to be cleared in your own action phase, a mech with Counterattack can simply *stand there*, daring the creature to commit. The Breach's tight grid means there is rarely a safe retreat; you are either in range or you are off the edge. Counterattack turns that binary into a third option: stay, and let the enemy pay for the approach.

Over the course of a campaign, pilots develop a superstition around the ability. Some swear that a well-timed Counterattack against a Scorpion feels like the mech is *grinning*—a mechanical snarl that no schematic ever accounts for. Others keep quiet about it. The Breach does not reward sentiment, but it does reward the pilot who trusts the machine to answer when the claw comes in.

In Their Own Story

The grid was wet with acid residue from the last wave, and the Breach pulsed a slow, arterial red in the north corner. Kael kept the Scimitar one tile south of it, engine idling, and watched the Stinger circle. It had done this before—three turns of slow, deliberate orbiting, antennae twitching, building the momentum for a lunge. Kael did not move. Did not dash. Just held the tile and let the Stinger think it had the angle.

The Stinger struck. Kael felt the impact ripple through the haptic feed, a sharp jolt in the shoulders. And then the Scimitar's counter-strike fired: a short, brutal arc of the blade that caught the Stinger mid-recoil, splitting its thorax. The creature shuddered, dropped a point of HP, and skittered back. Kael exhaled. One tile. One turn. The Stinger had spent its whole action to buy a wound it could not close.

The Breach pulsed again. Two more shapes were forming in the red light. Kael shifted the Scimitar one tile east, putting the void on the Stinger's retreat path, and waited for the next lunge. The machine would answer. It always did.

Reader's Guide

Counterattack is a passive, reactive ability: it does not consume your action phase and does not require you to select a target. When an enemy within adjacent range (1 tile, orthogonally or diagonally depending on the enemy's attack profile) commits its attack against your mech, the Counterattack resolves automatically in the same beat, dealing damage back to that enemy. You do not choose to trigger it; you simply need to be on the tile when the enemy swings.

Because the grid is only 4×4, positioning is everything. The key tactical loop is *baiting*: place your Counterattack mech on a tile where the enemy has no safe alternative but to attack you, then let the retaliation chip it down. A Stinger that lunges at you and takes Counterattack damage has spent its entire turn for a net loss. Stack this over two or three turns and the Stinger is gone without you ever moving.

Synergy with a second mech is where Counterattack shines. Pair it with a Dash-capable Scimitar: the Scimitar pushes an enemy into the Counterattack mech's tile, the enemy is forced to attack, and the retaliation fires. Alternatively, use a Juggernaut's Shield to absorb a hit that would otherwise kill your Counterattack mech, keeping it alive to punish the next wave. The 4×4 board means there is no room to hide; Counterattack turns your defensive anchor into a damage sink.

Watch the Breach tile. Enemies spawning adjacent to your Counterattack mech will often be forced to attack immediately, giving you a free retaliation on turn one. Position your mech so the Breach is *behind* you, not in front, and you convert every spawn into a chip-damage opportunity.

Did You Know?

• Counterattack resolves in the same beat as the enemy's attack, meaning the enemy does not get to reposition or gain a buff before taking the retaliatory damage.
• Because the grid is only 4×4, a well-placed Counterattack mech can effectively 'wall' the Breach, forcing every spawning enemy to spend its first action attacking instead of repositioning.
• Counterattack does not push the enemy off the grid; it deals damage in place. Pairing it with a pushing ability on your second mech is the standard combo for edge-killing.
• The ability is passive and automatic—pilots do not spend a turn or an action to trigger it, which means it stacks with whatever else your mech does on its own turn.