Railroad: How to Start

Calling themselves the Synths' only friends, the Railroad are a network of underground cells dedicated to freeing captive Synths from the clutches of the Institute. These groups are scattered by design, for the odds in terms of resources and manpower are vastly stacked against them. Subterfuge, spycraft, and well-timed ambushes are the weapons of these fighters. Although an active headquarters can be found at the end of the Freedom Trail in Boston, smaller groups can be found all across the Commonwealth and beyond — provided, of course, that you know what clues to look for. ^{[Battle for Boston pg. 76]}

All models in a Railroad crew must be chosen from the Railroad Crew List. ^{[Battle for Boston pg. 76]}

Crew Limits

The crew's Tier imposes a number of limits on it, as explained in the rules for creating a custom crew. ^{[Battle for Boston pg. 76]}

	Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3
Upgrade Limit per Model	4	6	8
Champion Limit	3	4	5
Total Control Limit	5	10	15
Facility Limit	2	4	6
Starting Ploy Tokens	0	1	2

^{[Battle for Boston pg. 76]}

Playstyle

The Railroad is a fragile, activation-heavy ambush faction that trades staying power for numbers and board control. Its models are cheap — Tourists start at just 11–14 points and Runners at 14–16 — letting you flood the table with bodies, but almost everything in the crew has a single point of Health, so it wins by never fighting fair. The faction's engine is its unique Ploy economy: instead of a fixed pool, a Railroad crew starts with 0–2 Ploy Tokens and earns another every time one of its models Incapacitates an Enemy, and Railroad Ploys can be used any number of times (once per Round each). ^{[Battle for Boston pg. 78]} That reward loop pushes you to trade aggressively and keep the kills coming.

Everything keys off the Insurgency Token placed after deployment. Concealed Snipers lets an Aim weapon draw Line of Sight from the token instead of the firing model, Infiltration teleports an activating model between tokens, and Tripwire punishes any Enemy crossing the line drawn between two tokens. Because Runners carry the Scout Innate Perk — letting them act as additional Insurgency Tokens — they double as a mobile ambush network. Round out the crew with a Heavy or Lead Field Agent carrying a Gauss Rifle or Railway Rifle to convert those ambush positions into Incapacitations, feeding the Ploy Token economy all over again.

Starter List

A suggested starting crew from the source book (Total Rating / Reputation: 247). ^{[Battle for Boston pg. 81]}

Unit	Weapons	Rating
Lead Field Agent ★	Deliverer & Hand Weapon	50
Heavy ★	Gauss Rifle	43
Heavy ★	Railway Rifle	32
Runner	Hand Weapon & 10mm Pistol	16
Runner	Hand Weapon & 10mm Pistol	16
Field Agent	Railway Rifle	25
Field Agent	Railway Rifle	25
Tourist	Pipe Rifle	14
Tourist	Pipe Rifle	14
Tourist	10mm Pistol & Hand Weapon	12
Total		247

Load Starter Roster

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The Insurgency Token

After both crews have Deployed, but before the first Round begins, place an Insurgency Token (a 30mm Base marked appropriately) anywhere on the Battlefield outside of an Enemy model's Control Area. Insurgency Tokens are used in Railroad Ploys, and the placement of this token can greatly impact the effectiveness of those Ploys. ^{[Battle for Boston pg. 78]}

Runners have the Scout Innate Perk, which allows them to act as more Insurgency Tokens. ^{[Battle for Boston pg. 78]}