Update from HIGHCOM, sir. Situation's critical planetside. They need reinforcements.

Playtest packet 02 is available. I ran a test game today and am happy with the fundamental principles, although I've made tweaks in a number of areas and several mechanics are still under review. 

Two major changes to highlight:

• Significant changes to playbooks and core moves. Tightening up a few places where some moves overshadowed others, injecting more flavour and identity into the classes, reworking/revisiting a few moves that were a bit lazy or placeholder in their design.
  • Grenades are in! Props to a certain playtester who oh-so-casually reminded me that I completely forgotten about them.
• Ammo track rebalance. Ammo usage in general was less than I anticipated, and I want to ratchet up the tension of ammo on players.

A full changelog is below; not listed are a wealth of typo, layout and miscellaneous changes. Suggestions and comments welcome.

Note: I have restored PDF bookmarks for usability. Yay!

Changes:

• Added a new adventure, Operation DAWNDARK and grouped both adventures under "Immediate Deployment".
  
• Removed the strategic move "Engage the Enemy" and replaced it with "Enter the Combat Zone".
  • Designer's note: During playtest I never once thought to call for a roll during "engage the enemy", and the players (rightly) focused on their tactical moves. I have replaced it with "Enter the Combat Zone", which covers crash-landing, vehicle ambushes and other sudden entries. Further tweaks may still be made.
• Changed the tactical move "Keep it Together". Now, on a 9- when you "deal damage in return", it costs 1 harm or stress; on a 10+ it costs nothing.
  • Designer's note: Previously, the option to immediately return fire made "Keep it Together" strictly superior to "Hit the Deck". This change is intended so that players that "Hit the Deck" and take +forward into "Take the Fight to the Enemy" or "Keep it Together" have better odds, which feels better.
• Changed the tactical move "Move through the Combat Zone". Now, when you "fire on the move", "deal 1 harm" (was: "deal harm").
  • Designer's note: As with "Keep it Together", this was a route to dealing harm that didn't feel right. The new text fits the fiction of skirmishing and light damage more. Observant players will note that if you are using a Magnum, there is no effective change - this is by design.
• Added a new core move "Frag Grenade" to the Sergeant, Trooper, Specialist and Scout.
  • Designer's note: On a personal note, I find grenades a relatively niche weapon in Halo and milsim and completely forgot to include them. 
  • Designer's note: The Officer's playbook is already fairly full and their Brute score is quite poor. It's probably for the best that they don't get a move for the use of grenades (they are carrying them in fiction).
  • Designer's note: I'm not very happy with the wording and implementation of "Frag Grenade" and would like to change it; this is placeholder text for now. Suggestions welcome.
• Changed the Sergeant's core moves. Removed "Pain is Weakness" and made it an option. They now "choose 2 more" (was 1).
  • Designer's note: After adding "Frag Grenade", four core moves was too much. Choosing two allows a little more customisation from the player and they can still pick "Pain is Weakness" if they want.
• Added a new optional move "Grenade Pouch" to the Trooper.
  • Designer's note: I had originally intended to offer some manner of grenade launcher type upgrade to the Trooper but I could not figure out how to word it well, and this move is much more succinct and elegant.
• Removed the Scout's "Spotting Scope" move.
  • Designer's note: "Spotting Scope" is not a good move - it lacks flavour, applicability and power. It may as well not be there.
• Changed the Scout's core moves. Removed "Spotting Scope" and added "Subsonic Ammo". They now "choose 1 more" (was 2).
  • Designer's note: "Subsonic Ammo", despite its "ignore X on 6-" nature, plays much more into the Scout's unseen aspect and is a better fit for a core move.
  • Designer's note: With useful and reasonably powerful core moves in their pocket and now only 4 optional moves to choose from, I feel the Scout no longer needs to have 2 optional picks. Further tweaks may still be made.
• Changed the Trooper's core moves. Removed "Short Controlled Bursts" and added "Combat Knife". 
  • Designer's note: I think "Combat Knife" is really the core move of the close-combat oriented Trooper. 
• Changed the Trooper's core moves. They now "choose 2 more" (was 1).
  • Designer's note: While "Combat Knife" is full of flavour, it is a little niche. Adding the ability to pick 1 more softens the blow of removing "Short Controlled Bursts" and seems reasonable given that the Trooper now has 6 optional moves.
• Changed the Trooper's "Combat Knife" move to remove "mark XP".
  • Designer's note: The intended use of Combat Knife is to do 1 or 2 harm to finish off an encounter. As written it could, however, be abused to gain XP much more frequently than intended if a player were to leap in and use it multiple times in one go. The XP trigger "when you are the tip of the spear" remains and should definitely be used by the GM whenever it comes up in play, but this change should mean less potential for abuse.
• Changed the Specialist core move "Range Advantage" to "you may mark stress instead of ammo" (was "do not mark ammo") and renamed it to "Close Precision".
  • Designer's note: "Range Advantage" is just a little too broad in its application. This does put the Specialist's core move set slightly in doubt, so further tweaks may still be made here. The name change reflects the slightly altered nature of the move.
• Changed the Trooper's move "ODST/UA PPE" to "the first time after you take the fight to the enemy and use your combat knife, do not take harm" (was "when you roll 6- to take the fight to the enemy, do not take harm").
  • Designer's note: I want to highlight Combat Knife as the new core move and move away from the "ignore X on 6-" design space.
    
• Changed the Scout's move "Ghost" to "When you lead the way and plunge into danger, you may let them pass. Mark stress and narrate how you remain unseen while a major complication develops right in front of you." (was "when you roll a 6- to move through the combat zone, do not take harm") and renamed it to "Let Them Pass".
  • Designer's note: As above, I want to move away from the "ignore X on 6-" type moves.
• Changed ammo track sizes for all weapons except the Rocket Launcher, reducing approximately 20% across the board.
  • Assault Rifle is now Ammo 8 (was 10)
  • Magnum is now Ammo 9 (was 10)
  • Battle Rifle is now Ammo 5 (was 7)
  • Silenced Magnum is now Ammo 6 (was 7)
  • Silenced SMG is now Ammo 5 (was 6)
  • Shotgun is now Ammo 4 (was 5)
  • DMR is now Ammo 3 (was 4)
  • Sniper Rifle is now Ammo 2 (was 3)
  • Designer's note: Use of ammo has been lower than I had expected, both due to good use of moves and a lack of assisting via covering fire (which costs ammo). This is completely acceptable and tuning ammo tracks down accordingly is intended to reduce player's mental load. Magnums have lost less ammo to reflect their Harm 1 status and to encourage their continued use. Further tweaks may still be made.
• Changed harm rating for the Rocket Launcher. It is now Harm 8 (was Harm 6).
• Added a new page for player use that lists loadout options that are not otherwise listed, such as mission equipment and Covenant weapons.
• Added a new scar suggestion: "Haunted"
  • Designer's note: I'm still evaluating whether to keep the scar mechanic.
• Added clarity to "target a weak spot" that it is "at any range".
• Added a suggestion for players, in the absence of the Sergeant and Officer playbooks, to nominate a Lance Corporal at the start.
• Removed the defunct "Drone Specialist" move from the Scout, as it had no text. It may return at a later time.
• Changed the name of the Scout core move "Lay in Wait" (was "Ambush Predator").
  • Designer's note: Change for consistency - where moves introduce specific trigger phrases, they should be named after that phrase.