Hold The Horde — Combat And Enemy Roster

This page gives the shared combat-state sheet and a small roster: six ordinary pressure roles, three special roles and two major setpieces, with their placement across the four regions and twelve objectives. Owner decisions are recorded in the Owner Brief.

Classification and origin evidence

An ordinary role is a crowd member: it has one principal warning/action loop that stays readable while dozens of others move around it, and its crowd arrives from a physical source area as Combat Rules describes. A special role changes the local geometry, target visibility or oxygen clock strongly enough to deserve a featured entrance and additional recovery space. “Special” does not mean invulnerable or guaranteed rare; a ridiculous build may erase it before its first action.

Presser, Flanker and Caller deepen the current Combat Rules roles. Bellback, Shutterback and Glass Siphon keep the behavior in Horde Creature Proposals and are classified as the three specials. Boltspitter, Clampcrawler and Veilbearer fill distinct ranged-line, occupied-control and temporary-occlusion gaps. Shutterback differs from Veilbearer: the ordinary Veilbearer creates a short, fixed, two-sided sight break; the special Shutterback is itself visible mobile angled shelter for a group.

Creature origin is left open as a two-occupant experiment. Authors may visibly combine older ceramic lattice, non-human joints and pre-hospital maker marks with later restraint bands, ward paint, surgical fasteners or human service hardware. Those are observable materials and relative layers. “Ancient test organism,” “altered patient,” “hospital machine grown into a body” and “later hybrid” are player or survivor interpretations, never combat facts or settled history. Each role below names an evidence mix so later rooms can support or contradict it.

Shared qualitative combat-state sheet

The nearest-visible rule is the targeting default. Examples on this page may use more than one ordinary output where a rig carries them.

Regular fighting supplies temporary combat growth, with larger transformations at major horde milestones. Combat Rules owns the detailed cadence, offers, milestone conditions and renewed-population proposals; those opportunities renew each expedition while permanent work remains.

Six ordinary pressure roles

1. Presser — the slow majority that fills the lane

Read and origin evidence. A broad chest, dragging close arm and bright contact plates make its reach visible. A shoulder drop and full arm draw are the strike warning. A ward restraint strip over older joint plates could indicate an altered patient, a reused test body or a later hybrid; only the layered materials are fact.

Perception and timing. Presser follows local sight, recent sound or a last-seen point along a reachable route. At close reach it winds up with the shoulder drop, commits one forward strike into the locked contact arc, then plants both feet through recovery before it can wind up again.

Effect and work. A hit is one external attack wave, reduces condition and gives a short shown shove. Damage alone does not stop work; the shove cancels only if it moves the astronaut off the control. Contact with a faced Barrier is an impact at that frame and can feed a Dynamo clamped there once for this wave.

Choice and responses. Back out of reach during wind-up, circle fixed cover, defeat it with ordinary automatic fire or commit to the cutter when isolated. Manual Barrier buys work time; Manual → Nozzle can break the approach. The viable no-unique-part baseline is movement, hard cover and the worn cutter. Packed Pressers make lane space costly, but they share no omniscience. In a crowd they are the dense line an arc or pull build wants, and the wall a cautious player keeps to one side. Under the developed-climax rule, a Presser validly reached by Thunderhead, Foundry Drop or Furnace Burst is defeated. The routes and contact limits in Mechanical Interfaces determine which bodies are reached; the coverage count is not a universal damage value or a survival rule for special creatures.

2. Flanker — the fast pack on the side route

Read and origin evidence. A narrow tilted body, long outside leg and reflective side-facing cheek plates point toward its preferred route. Hospital mobility braces bolted to older asymmetric joints support competing repair/patient/experiment readings without settling one.

Perception and timing. Flanker uses sight or a locally investigated sound. When the direct lane is blocked, it chooses only a currently connected side approach visible from its decision point; it never teleports or knows an unseen route. At side reach its outer leg folds, a floor chevron shows the lunge line, it commits one cross-lane body strike, then skids and visibly regains stance before another action.

Effect and work. The lunge is one external attack wave. It causes condition loss and lateral displacement; only leaving reach or losing the control interrupts work. A Barrier catches it only when actually faced across the lunge. That impact may feed a Dynamo clamped to the Barrier, never a remote clamp.

Choice and responses. Keep the side route in view, move so it lengthens, use fixed cover to force another approach, or defeat the Flanker. A manual Barrier can guard the chosen side; a faced Nozzle can turn its committed lane into a miss. Baseline movement and doorway geometry remain sufficient. Flankers usually arrive as a pack while the slow mass holds the main lane, so where the astronaut stands decides which reaches them first.

3. Caller — wake the next source area

Read and origin evidence. A tall resonant cavity, visible throat shutters and a lamp matching one local alarm source identify it. Later hospital speaker wire laced through older chamber ribs supports several origins; the matching signal path is the observed fact.

Perception and timing. Caller reacts to local sight, recent noisy work or a stated mechanism alarm. It braces beside its shown source, throat shutters brighten through the wind-up, then one completed call commits to the already cued entrance. It vents with head lowered during recovery and cannot begin another brace until that finishes.

Effect and work. The completed call is one external event/wave for ancestry, but carries no damaging packet or impact and has no receiver in the current catalogue. It wakes one adjacent source area whose route was shown before the brace; that crowd then arrives physically, and each later attack is its own wave. The call itself neither cancels a stage nor creates enemies from nothing, and a source area already sealed or exhausted cannot answer.

Choice and responses. Rush or automatically focus the visible Caller, obstruct or displace it during the brace, cut the named alarm lead, seal the answering route, or withdraw before its crowd arrives. Letting it call is also a choice: a strong build may want the second surge. Manual Nozzle is a strong brace interrupt; Barrier can buy time but does not silence it. Baseline cutter, ordinary fire, hard cover and the physical alarm-lead checkpoint prevent a required part gate.

4. Boltspitter — demand a readable ranged line

Read and origin evidence. A narrow tripod torso carries a translucent pressure sac and one straight launch rail. The sac fills, an aim line brightens and the rail clicks before release. A human injector rail on a ceramic pressure organ is visible; weapon, treatment tool and older test apparatus remain competing interpretations.

Perception and timing. Boltspitter needs current sight and will not fire through its own known occluder. During wind-up the aim line follows, then locks at the final rail click. It launches one bolt along that line and must empty/refill the sac through recovery before winding up again.

Effect and work. Launch is one external attack wave; bolt flight, cover contact and fragments from that bolt are descendants of it. A body hit reduces condition and can knock the astronaut off a control. A hard-cover hit stops it. A faced Barrier hit is a qualifying impact only for a Dynamo locally clamped to that Barrier.

Choice and responses. Step out after line lock, cross behind hard cover, break sight during wind-up, displace the rail or defeat it. Barrier manually catches a shot; Nozzle can spoil its locked facing where geometry allows. The baseline is the telegraphed line plus cover, not a specific part.

5. Clampcrawler — occupy the work, not the inventory

Read and origin evidence. A small six-limbed body with bright clamp jaws and an arched leap posture reads differently from dropped loot. Crash-cart clamps attached to older adhesion pads could indicate a maintenance organism or changed hospital tool; it never steals an item.

Perception and timing. It follows local sight/sound. If a visible control becomes active within its room, it faces the astronaut operating it. During the crouch, the landing arc follows the operator until the clamp jaws flash; that flash locks the arc to the astronaut's current position. Cancelling before lock makes the inactive control ineligible, so the Crawler drops the crouch and resumes pursuit without leaping. After lock, cancelling does not stop the committed leap: moving outside the fixed arc makes it miss and skid through recovery, while remaining at the control lets the body strike and jaws catch the panel. A latched Crawler occupies the control until displaced or defeated; after removal it rights itself before acting again.

Effect and work. The leap is one external attack wave. Body contact causes modest condition loss and displacement; a panel landing causes no invisible damage but explicitly interrupts the current unfinished stage by occupying the control. Remaining latched is state, not a stream of new attacks. It cannot erase a completed checkpoint or consume material.

Choice and responses. Begin work to draw the crouch, wait for the visible jaw-flash lock, then cancel and leave the fixed landing arc so it skids; alternatively interrupt/defeat it before commitment or clear it before working. Manual Barrier can intercept the committed body and Manual → Nozzle can displace it. The baseline lock-read, movement and cutter path uses no unique equipment.

6. Veilbearer — create a temporary sight problem

Read and origin evidence. A hunched carrier has a folded translucent membrane and two bright floor anchors. It opens both arms and projects the exact sheet edge before release. Hospital isolation film grown over older frame limbs supports shield, quarantine and experiment interpretations.

Perception and timing. With sight of the astronaut and at least one visible allied creature behind the previewed sheet, it winds up by extending the two anchors, commits one fixed veil between them, then remains unable to cast while the veil's shown edge decays. Collapse is followed by a brief refold recovery. Losing the eligible ally, losing sight, displacement or defeat before commitment aborts the cast; moving the bearer afterwards does not drag the anchored sheet.

Effect and work. Veil release starts one external wave but has no impact, damage, oxygen effect or compatible current rig packet. The sheet temporarily blocks required sight for both sides. It makes sheltered hostiles invalid automatic targets; it neither damages nor cancels work while the game runs. The persistent sheet state emits no further waves.

Choice and responses. Reposition around its edge, wait for decay, interrupt the wind-up, or defeat the exposed bearer before release. A manual Nozzle can displace the bearer during wind-up; Barrier can hold Pressers while the player flanks but does not erase the veil. Baseline walking and fixed cover remain viable. Unlike Shutterback, this sheet is stationary, short-lived and does not turn with a protected group.

Three special roles

7. Bellback — redirect a force wave

Read, evidence and targeting. A low four-limbed body, hollow bell chest, dragging arms, rising moan, dust draw and a bright, limited forward cone. Older compression plates under a hospital harness are visible; ascension apparatus and compression-treatment patient remain competing interpretations. After held local sight, Bellback faces the last seen point; it does not track through an unseen route.

Wind-up, action and recovery. At the start of the visible plant/dust-draw warning, Bellback faces the last-seen point and the cone direction locks. The bright ripple fills within that already fixed cone. Completing the brace releases one pressure wave through it, then the chest collapses and it must unplant/refill before another brace. Leaving the cone or reaching hard cover avoids the release without cancelling it; displacing or defeating Bellback during brace interrupts it.

Effect and response. The release is one external attack wave. The pressure, shoved bodies and their resulting collisions are descendants of that wave. It damages condition and displaces the astronaut, loose objects and unbraced creatures until solid structure stops them; work stops only if displacement loses the control. Manual Nozzle can break the brace and Barrier can face the impact. Temporary Inward Draft is also a Nozzle displacement: an accepted pull with clear line moves Bellback at most two metres, uses one body slot and interrupts an unfinished brace. Cover blocks that pull; a wave already released remains committed. A Dynamo feeds only when clamped to the struck Barrier or an explicitly named fixture surface, not from remote body collisions. Baseline pillar cover, walking out of the locked cone or concentrated cutter/ordinary fire remains viable.

8. Shutterback — turn cover into a moving angle

Read, evidence and targeting. A tall carrier, folded plate fan, heel-clamp click and floor shadow preview. A hospital radiation fan on non-human load joints is observable; mobile treatment barrier and older experiment screen remain competing interpretations. It needs local sight and visible allies behind its shelter angle.

Wind-up, action and recovery. Heel clamps set and the preview shadow fixes the initial angle; the fan then opens. While open, Shutterback stays visible and slowly turns within its shown limit, sheltering bodies behind it. Breaking clamps, sufficient damage or defeat collapses the fan; after collapse it must fold and regain stance before another opening.

Effect and response. Fan opening starts one external wave but carries no impact, payload or compatible current rig packet. Plates block sight and ordinary projectiles through their angle; sheltered hostiles are invalid automatic targets. Already launched projectiles are stopped only if they physically meet the plates. Manual Nozzle can rotate/break the clamps, flanking exposes the crowd, and Projector impacts on the fan can feed only a Dynamo clamped to that Projector output. Baseline use of the longer visible angle, hard cover and sustained ordinary fire against the exposed Shutterback remains valid. Arc has no permission to ignore the screen.

9. Glass Siphon — make remaining time local and visible

Read, evidence and targeting. A narrow tripod, translucent bladder, hose arm, empty-bladder flash, audible/visual wind-up, tether line and radius. A crash-cart hose on an older breath-transfer bladder is visible; resuscitation device, alien respiration test and hybrid remain interpretations. It requires local sight and unobstructed line within its shown radius.

Wind-up, action and recovery. It braces and tracks during the warning; the launch line locks at the bladder flash, then one hose strike commits. A miss retracts fully before another brace. A hit attaches the tether until the astronaut leaves radius, breaks line with hard cover, displaces or defeats Siphon; after break it retracts through visible recovery.

Effect and response. Hose launch is one external attack wave. A Barrier interception is a physical impact that can feed a Dynamo clamped to that Barrier. An attached tether adds visible continuous suit drain but no further waves, damage ticks, canister deletion or offscreen effect. Manual Barrier/Nozzle can stop the launch or break its geometry. Baseline pillar bait, leaving the radius, line breaking and ordinary/cutter defeat remain viable; work may continue while tethered at the openly higher oxygen cost.

Four-region and twelve-objective pressure allocation

This allocation creates ten encounter placements inside existing objective instances 1–9 and 11. Objectives 10 and 12 add none: 10's readiness report is ship-side, while 12 must reuse the actual populations of the eventual connected rooms until its joining mechanism is selected. The two major setpieces below are placements 8 and 10 in this same list, not two additional rooms. Every placement except objective 3's deliberately quiet first latch lesson is a crowd encounter: the roles below are the recognisable members and teaching cues inside crowds fed by source areas, and Encounter And Mechanism Placement Inventory owns each placement's source areas, crowd scale and any host rework.

This roster allocates ten placements within the thirteen-major-mechanism SMALL first pass: two Triage Relays (objectives 1/3), two Carousels (2/5), two Breath Banks (6/8), one Phase-Balance chamber (8), two Resuscitation Grids (7/9), and the pressure-receiver iris/two-clamp assembly (11). These are P01–P10 in Encounter And Mechanism Placement Inventory; P11 clinical profile comparator, P12 Synchronization converter/roster and P13 core isolation are assigned there. Objective 4's quarantine Arc source and objective 5's Lens exchanger are equipment fixtures, not mechanism slots.

The most important exploration combinations are placement 6, where a crowd and Siphon pressure compete with a durable cap stage, and placement 8, where Bellback and a large crowd interact with visible mechanism force while the player chooses a persistent cap/pin. Placement 9 similarly makes occlusion, and the choice to allow or stop a second surge, matter to record/pull work rather than only kill speed.

Two-order cue check. Build-and-ship-first sees Boltspitter at 2 before 5/7, Flanker at 4 before 6 and Bellback at 8 before 11. Language-and-network-first instead gets the always-present separated Boltspitter and eligible Veilbearer cue bays at 5 before their pair at 7, and the Flanker-only long-approach segment at 6 before its valve mixture; 2 and 4 later reinforce those cues. These are spatial staging obligations inside placements 5 and 6, not learned-state gates or new prerequisites. The main Receiver Vault uses Siphon/Shutterback, whose separate placements 6/9 precede 11 in both orders; the cheaper Bellback substitution supplies its own threshold rehearsal below rather than assuming objective 8 was visited.

Two major setpieces

Setpiece A — Balance Gallery Hold (objective 8)

One existing-room layout obligation. The objective 8 room must contain a threshold with full view of Bellback's cone, one fixed structural rib, the Phase-Balance neutral line, one Breath Bank draw lane, one cap control on the protected side and a maintenance stirrup that prevents tilt displacement only while occupied. The broad gallery also needs two visible feeding mouths from adjacent source volumes, each with a sealable shutter and kept separate from the gallery's walking passages, and floor space for a crowd on the 80–150 scale. That is added layout work inside this existing room. No success-triggered population appears.

Visible phases and objective. Phase 1: reach the neutral line while Bellback and the Bank advertise different force directions and the first bodies gather. Phase 2: the stage pours from both mouths while Bellback braces; hold, seal a mouth early, or overpower it. Phase 3: in the break, one cap hand-cycle, or the rib's two cutter releases and its pin as separate checkpoints, then optional removal of the Nozzle/exchanger rewards under their own lifecycle. The objective is persistent cap/pin progress and discovery, not mandatory extermination.

Overpowering clean win. A developed crowd build — for example an arc chain that feeds on density, with a stored manual release — turns the crest into the payoff: the crowd collapses in the neutral lane, Bellback is caught exposed after its brace, and the gallery goes quiet before the next mechanism cycle. How many ordinary outputs the rig carries and how its links change belong to Build Rules. No elite, immunity or reduced reward appears.

Ordinary low-power path. With the opening rig — or only movement, cutter and hard cover — the player seals one feeding mouth early, waits behind the fixed rib, leaves Bellback's locked cone, crosses on the Bank's opposite quiet beat and uses the stirrup for one hand-cycle. Closing one cap persists and removes that side's later draw; the player may withdraw and return. Barrier can catch physical debris but does not stop oxygen drain or solve timing.

Failure and return. Displacement loses only the current unfinished cycle. Withdrawal preserves completed cap/pin work. On death the room's stable mechanisms and installed/dropped objects keep their owning state. Each new expedition renews combat through viable sources after either living return or revival, preserving completed work; no failed attempt creates a punitive wave during the ongoing expedition.

Setpiece B — Receiver Vault (objective 11)

One existing-room layout obligation. The objective 11 instance must give a threshold view of the central pressure iris/gauge, Shutterback's initial shelter angle, Siphon's tether radius, one Caller and the source volumes it can wake. Two fixed pillars break the hose line. The long approach hall carries the main crowd on the 80–150 scale from visible feeding mouths, each sealable; that crowd space is added layout work in the existing approach. Two side alcoves contain the mechanical equalisation clamps, each reachable without crossing behind the closed iris; one alcove offers a longer flank around the fan. The retreat boundary is visible. This adds no mechanism beyond the iris/two-clamp assembly owned by objective 11.

Visible phases and objective. Phase 1: cross the approach hall as its stage wakes and choose the exposed direct selector lane, the longer fan flank or the first clamp alcove. Phase 2: let the Caller release the second stage or stop it, and resolve or evade the two special pressures inside the surge. Phase 3: in the break, fill/equalise the receiver through the correct selector or complete both clamp checkpoints, then hand-cycle the iris. Each completed clamp and the opened iris persist. The reward is the passage/evidence cell; no ending truth or rescue is attached.

Overpowering clean win. A developed build can take the crest head-on: automatic fire strips the exposed Shutterback, the fan collapses, and a stored manual release clears the packed hall and the Siphon behind it. A player who wants the spectacle may deliberately let the Caller release the second stage and resolve both together. How many ordinary outputs the rig carries and how its links change belong to Build Rules. A legal build wins with no reactive counter-spawn or invulnerability.

Ordinary low-power path. Seal the nearest feeding mouth, bait Siphon's announced hose into a pillar, cross during full retraction, use the longer alcove outside Shutterback's shelter, and cut the Caller's exposed alarm lead. Complete one clamp and withdraw. On a later reachable visit, repeat for the second clamp and hand-cycle after the gauge equalises. Opening-rig Barrier may catch one hose/strike, but fixed cover, movement and cutter are sufficient; no unique part, language conclusion or survivor is required.

Failure and return. An occupied control or displacement loses only its current unfinished stage. A cut alarm lead, sealed mouth and completed clamp remain. Death does not reveal the vault's new route. Survivor rules and the short-crossing limit apply as elsewhere; this is never an escort or mandatory ending gate.

Representative revisit — the sampling loop after storage is understood

On the first objective 6 visit, the four-space Sensor/Projector plus Manual/Barrier rig can barely hold the long hall's crowd, so the player seals one ward door early, baits the newly seen Glass Siphon hose into a pillar and works the Flanker pack along the wall. They close one Breath Bank cap, free and carry the installed Dynamo, and leave the regulator core because carrying capacity or oxygen margin is exhausted. The cap and removed-Dynamo state persist; the current route is recorded, not promised.

After objective 9 exposes a Capacitor and objective 2's coupler permits the 6 A configuration, the player returns if the sampling loop is actually reachable. They can take the 6 C/6 A Counterwall: Manual → Barrier, Dynamo locally clamped to that frame → Capacitor, then built-in manual release → Arc. Siphon hose and Presser/Flanker strikes caught on the faced Barrier are separate external waves, each able to add one local contribution; at a visible Arc target the player manually clears the packed lane. That turns the dense crowd from a reason to leave into fuel for a protected valve window. With one 2 C canister, only 2 C remain for the regulator core and none for other loot.

The same equipment budget offers a lateral choice: the 6 C/6 A Salvage Breacher uses Manual → Cycler → Projector, a Dynamo clamp on Projector's physical-output feed and Capacitor storage. It can buy a faster opening without waiting for enemy strikes, but the chosen material also occupies carrying space until consumed and permanently loses return value. The player must inspect Projector target/readiness before pressing; receivers still check independently, and a Cycler spend is not refunded after a downstream refusal. Consuming the material may free the capacity needed for the regulator, but that is an explicit cost.

Either build may complete the remaining hand-cycle and pick up the regulator. A living return brings the carried manifest home and preserves completed seals and work. The next expedition renews combat and growth through viable sources; the hall's earned quiet belongs to the current expedition. Death after the pickup commits returns every still-carried part, canister and regulator once and leaves consumed Cycler material spent and completed cap/work intact. Death before pickup does not collect it. The journal freezes the warning and lets the player compare records; changing links there follows Build Rules, while tether breaks, attacks, caps and pickups still need running time.

Coverage rationale and cheaper alternative

The six ordinary roles cover direct lane, side angle, waking the next source, ranged line, occupied control and temporary sight. The three specials escalate body displacement, mobile occlusion and local oxygen drain. Each pressure changes movement or a decision made while the game runs; none exists only as a health shape, steals property, demands one part or targets the player's successful build. Veilbearer earns its apparent overlap by teaching a limited stationary occlusion before Shutterback's mobile group shelter; if that distinction is not readable, the ordinary role should be cut rather than multiplied.

Genuinely cheaper alternative: 6 ordinary / 2 special / 1 setpiece. Retain all six ordinary roles plus Bellback and Glass Siphon. Omit Shutterback from the SMALL roster while keeping its source proposal for later consideration; Veilbearer carries the simpler sight-pressure function. Convert Balance Gallery from a major setpiece to an ordinary Bellback/mechanism placement, and retain Receiver Vault as the only setpiece using Bellback/Siphon rather than a fan. Its threshold must stage Bellback alone across one fixed pillar for a full warning-start lock, release and recovery before the Siphon line can overlap; both creatures are visibly present and no spawn is triggered. This self-contained rehearsal means the cheaper vault does not depend on objective 8, but it consumes part of the layout saving. The alternative still removes one special adaptation and one bespoke staged layout, at the cost of less dynamic angular cover, spectacle and escalation.

The setpieces reuse objective 8's Phase/Breath work and objective 11's pressure iris; their host geometry and the thirteen-major-mechanism allocation are supplied by Station Room And Module Inventory and Encounter And Mechanism Placement Inventory.

Open questions

• Target priority, manual overrides and accessibility assistance (interface decisions).
• Limits on multiple ordinary outputs, owned by Build Rules.
• Exact warning and recovery timings, and exact tuning.
• Damage, health, displacement, crowd scale and on-screen effect density.
• Line, cover and camera rules.
• Barrier eligibility.
• Siphon drain presentation.
• The Veil/Shutter visibility distinction.
• Origin evidence and cast interpretations.
• Surviving-enemy holds on local withdrawal within an ongoing expedition, and fresh-population placement around permanent work on the next expedition; Combat Rules owns the detailed renewal and growth proposals.
• Exact room geometry and shift-valid access.
• Exhaustive mechanism-instance geometry, population, cue, state and staging variants; full setpiece layout variants; role-specific presentation equivalents; combined encounter/mechanism cases.
• Performance and effect density.
• Acquisition and capacity values.
• Objective 12's joining mechanism and connection rule are not yet selected.
• The final game band is unselected; TARGET/STRETCH roles and variants are unestimated.
• Whether the full roster or the cheaper 6 ordinary / 2 special / 1 setpiece alternative is used.
• Whether a developed build actually suffices at the setpieces is a later balance question.
• These rules are untested; names, origins, frequencies, population sizes, timings, damage, health and placements are proposals.