Cover and Flanking
Cover keeps you safe until someone walks around it.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- Design focus
- Spatial · Planning · Risk
No.027XCOM 201The core loop
Action → feedback → next choice- 01Check where cover faces
- 02Move to a flanking angle
- 03Gain an accuracy bonus
- 04Guard against counter-flanks
↻Feedback changes the situation — the next round starts from there.
Walk through one round
A simplified design example. Situations and numbers illustrate the mechanic, not exact rules from a reference game.
- T1
Turn 1 · The situation
An enemy sits in full cover: 35% to hit from the front, 80% from an open flank across exposed ground.
- T2
Turn 2 · The player chooses
One soldier suppresses while another sprints to the flank.
- T3
Turn 3 · The feedback
The flank shot crits and kills, but the runner is now exposed to a second enemy.
- T4
Turn 4 · The next decision
Next turn the player must retreat or gamble that the other enemy misses.
How it plays
Cover only protects from certain directions, with half and full cover reducing hit chance by different amounts. An attacker at an uncovered angle ignores that protection and often gains crit chance. Movement paths, sightlines and remaining actions decide whether a flank is possible this turn.
What the player weighs
- Expose yourself to flank vs. stay covered with low odds
- Concentrate on one target vs. spread out against encirclement
02Start small
Scope is an editorial estimate for the minimum prototype, not the reference game or a production schedule.
03One mechanic, different implementations
XCOM 2
Half and full cover are shown with shield icons; attacking from a side the cover doesn't protect strips it and raises crit chance.
Gears Tactics
Also cover-centric but gridless with flexible action points; flanking into executions grants squad-wide bonus actions, encouraging aggressive pushes.
The difference worth noticing
XCOM 2 treats flanking as a careful chess move; Gears Tactics uses it to kick off aggressive chains.
Case notes are Yoroll editorial summaries; rules may change between versions.
04What could you combine?
Let players snap together cover modules before a fight; each blocks one direction, and enemies pick flank routes based on your build.
Prototype this combo in Yoroll→Follow the next idea
Blow Up the Cover
If the enemy is well hidden, blow up the wall; the battlefield keeps changing.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- 01Find the cover they rely on
- 02Destroy it with explosives
- 03Enemy is exposed
- 04Follow up the attack
Shove, Pull, Knock Back
Push enemies off ledges or into fire; position itself becomes the weapon.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- 01Find hazardous terrain
- 02Plan the push direction
- 03Shove or pull
- 04Hazard does the work
Area Attacks Hit Everyone
A fireball doesn't care whose side you're on, so clear your allies first.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- 01Find a cluster
- 02Check ally positions
- 03Adjust position or angle
- 04Cast and live with it