Aces & Armor Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Number of Players
• Game Preparation
• Game Sequence
• Turn Phase 1: Movement
  • Comments
• Factories
  • Occupying a factory
  • Moving on your occupied factory hex
  • Units inside factories
• Intercepting Units
• Turn Phase 2: Declare Attacks
• Turn Phase 3: Combat
  • 1. Announce the attack.
  • 2. Determine whether the defender can shoot back.
  • 3. Determine number of dice.
  • 4. Bonus dice for supporting units
  • 5. Roll the dice and determine hits
  • 6. Determine damage
  • 7. Add damage markers
  • 8. Add combat experience markers
  • Recommendations to speed up the game
• Turn Phase 4: Money Transactions
  • Collect money
  • Repair damaged units
  • Purchase new units
  • Tips
• Victory
• Miscellaneous
  • Tips
• Optional: Missions
  • V2 Rocket Attack
  • Unpredictable Weather
  • Battle of the Bulge
  • Mountains
• Solo / Cooperative Rules
  • Setup
  • Action priorities (move/attack)
  • Purchase units
  • Examples
• Automa Action Priorities
  • I. Infantry (first Regular Infantry, then Special Infantry)
  • II. Artillery, Aircraft and Tanks (in this order)
  • Movement Priorities
  • Attack Priorities
  • Combat
  • Playing cooperatively
• Quick Reference

Overview

The players of two German factions play together against the players of the United States and Soviet Union. With only 2 players, one player plays one of the two German factions and the other United States or Soviet Union, and you only use half of the game board (either the half of the map showing start numbers 1-6 or the half showing 7-12). Your team wins if 6 out of the 10 Factories are occupied by your team (or 4 out of 5 in two player games).

The Units: Each player starts with 6 different unit types. The factions are asymmetric, so each has different units. When you play for the first time, we recommend you start by putting your miniatures on the Unit Mats to learn which miniature corresponds to which unit box on the mat.

The units are categorized into 4 arms: Infantry, Tank, Artillery and Aircraft.

Number of Players

• 4 players: Each player uses 1 set of their faction's units (6 units per player), or 2 sets for a longer game.
• 3 players: As above, but one player plays two allied factions.
• 2 players competitive: Each player chooses an enemy faction. Use only half of the map (game board): only distribute the start tokens with the numbers 1-6 (or 7-12) and only factories on this side of the game board can be conquered. Each player starts with 1 set of their faction's units (6 units per player), or 2 sets for a longer game.
• 2 players cooperative: The two players choose an allied faction each and start with 1 set each of their faction's units (6 units per player). Pick a random enemy faction for the Automa and have him start with 2 sets of units of this faction. You can use either half of the map as indicated above or the full map.
• Solo (1 player): Choose a faction and start with 1 set of units (or 2 for a longer game). Pick a random enemy faction for the Automa with 1 set of units (or 2 for a longer game). Use only half of the map as indicated above.

Note: If you are an experienced player, try different start setups, e.g., have every player start with 1 full set of units plus 4 units (chosen secretly) from a second set.

There is also a helpful overview of the rules ("Quick Reference") on the back of this rulebook and a "how to play" video on aces-and-armor.com.

Game Preparation

The players should be distributed around the table in such a way that two allied players do not sit next to each other (seating order e.g., Germany faction 1 - United States - Germany faction 2 - Soviet Union). Each player takes their Unit Mat and places it in front of them. Each player places 1 set of their faction's units in front of them (6 units per player) - or 2 sets for a longer game (12 units per player).

Shuffle the 12 gray numbered tokens (6 if you are playing with half of the map only) and distribute them face down to the players (3 per player). Players must not look at their tokens yet. Then each player distributes their units between the 3 face-down tokens. A player may distribute their units as they like, e.g., distribute them evenly or put all units on one token and leave all others empty. The units on each token represent an army.

Now each player rolls one die. The player with the highest number starts placing their units on the map. To do so, they turn over one of their gray tokens and place the units assigned to this token (one army) on the area on the game board that matches the number on the token. To do this, they first place one unit directly on the number on the board and the other units in a circle around it. If any of the hexes around the number are water, they may place units on them, but they do not have to.

If all adjacent hexes around the number are full (or water hexes where you don't want to place a unit), start filling the hexes around them (in a second "circle").

Now it is the next player's turn (clockwise). They also turn over 1 of their 3 tokens and place the units on the board. This proceeds until each player has turned over their 3 tokens and placed their units on the game board. Now the actual game begins.

Game Sequence

The dice are now rolled again to see who goes first. The player with the highest number starts their turn. Each turn is divided into 4 phases. The first player takes their turn with all 4 phases, then the next players take their turns one after the other (clockwise).

Phases of the turn:

1. Move Troops
2. Declare Attacks
3. Combat
4. Money Transactions: collect money, repair units, purchase units

Special feature in the first round:

• 4 players: So that the starting player does not have too great an advantage, they take their first turn with only 1 (freely selectable) of their 3 armies. The second player also takes their first turn with only 1 army, the third player with 2 and the fourth player with all 3 armies. From the second round onwards, each player may use all of their units in each turn. [1 - 1 - 2 - 3]
• 2 players: The first player takes their first turn with only 1 (freely selectable) of their 3 armies, and then the second player takes their first turn with only 2 of their armies. In the second round, the first player takes their turn with the remaining 2 of their armies and then the second player with all 3 of their armies. Starting in the third round, each player may take their turn with all their units. [1 - 2, 2 - 3]

Turn Phase 1: Movement

In the movement phase, the active player can move his units (one after the other). He can decide not to move certain units if he wants.

Each unit type has an individual speed. This is indicated on the Unit Mat. For example, a Mobile Infantry (speed 5) is faster than a regular Infantry (speed 3).

How far a unit can move depends not only on its speed but also on the terrain hex it is moving to. For example, moving to standard terrain consumes 1 movement point, but moving to a road only consumes 0.5 movement points. A Mobile Infantry with speed 5 could move 5 hexes on standard terrain, but 10 hexes on a road. Only the target hex counts, i.e., where you want to go, not where you are standing/where you come from.

• Standard terrain hex (1 movement point): Craters, single trees, stones, houses, trenches, etc. on the map are only for decoration and the terrain still counts as standard terrain.
• Forest hex (1.5 movement points): Only dense coniferous forest counts as forest terrain, not hexes with, e.g., a single decorative tree.
• Road or bridge hex (0.5 movement points): You don't have to follow the course of the road but can also move across a road. As long as a road is shown on the hex you are moving to, it costs only 0.5 points to move onto that hex (no matter where you come from).
• River or lake (Infantry only): Infantry units (Infantry, Mobile Infantry, Mechanized Infantry) can cross rivers and lakes. Moving to a water hex costs a full movement turn, regardless of the speed of the unit. While the unit is on the water, it can neither attack nor defend itself (shoot back).

Examples of movement of an Infantry (movement points: 3) count the consumed movement points for every move: on standard terrain; via road over an allied unit; via road and standard terrain (the unit decides to stop there); over road and forest; into a river.

Comments

• Air units, of course, are unaffected by the terrain as they fly. Each hex costs 1 movement point.
• Each unit must make its move all at once. You may not move another unit in between and then resume your movement.
• Units are not required to exhaust their movement points (i.e., if a unit can move 3 hexes, it may only move 2 hexes if you wish).
• You can move through/over friendly or allied units, but not through/over enemy units or enemy/neutral factories (this also applies to air units).
• Each hex has just one terrain type and that is the most obvious one of the illustration. E.g., if there is a road on a hex, but also a couple of trees, the hex is considered a road and not a forest.

Factories

Factories are important in the game as a victory condition and because they can produce new units and can repair existing ones. At the beginning of the game all factories are neutral. If you have a hard time spotting the factories on the map, put the factory tokens on the game board to highlight them more prominently.

Occupying a factory

Only Infantry (Infantry, Mobile Infantry, Mech. Infantry) can move on a neutral or enemy factory hex. They can do so even if there is an enemy unit on the factory hex. If an Infantry unit moves on a neutral or enemy factory, they occupy the factory (and will set up production facilities). Moving on a neutral/enemy factory to occupy it, will take the Infantry's full movement turn. That means, the Infantry needs to start their movement turn already on a hex adjacent to the factory to be able to occupy it. When an Infantry occupies a factory, it cannot attack this turn.

When you occupy a factory, if there is an enemy unit in the factory, remove it from the game. If there is an enemy flag token on the factory, then remove it. Place your own flag token on the factory. The factory remains yours until an enemy Infantry unit occupies it and hence replaces your flag token with theirs.

Summary:

• Infantry only
• Full movement turn
• Put your flag token on factory
• Remove enemy unit from the factory

Moving on your occupied factory hex

Once you have occupied a factory, all your unit types can move into the factory (not only Infantry), e.g., to be repaired. Moving into one of your occupied factories costs 1 movement point, just like standard terrain.

Units inside factories

Units in a factory are treated like units on any other hex. They can attack, support an attack and be attacked. There can only be 1 unit in a factory at any given time.

Be aware: Factories cannot be defended from enemy Infantry from inside the factory. An enemy infantry can move onto the factory hex to occupy the factory, even if there is one of your units in the factory. Your unit would be immediately destroyed. To defend a factory, you must stop enemy Infantry from reaching the factory.

Intercepting Units

When a unit moves to a free hex adjacent to an enemy unit that can legally attack it, the controlling player of that enemy unit can choose to intercept the moving unit. The intercepting player puts the arrow marker between the units and the intercepted unit must stop moving. In the next turn of the intercepting player, his unit cannot move and must attack the intercepted unit. Then remove the marker.

Each unit can only intercept one enemy unit per round. To intercept a unit, the intercepting unit must be able to attack the unit on range 1. To intercept an aircraft, the intercepting unit must be able to attack aircraft, as indicated with the cloud symbol on the unit chart.

When a unit moves over an allied unit, it cannot be intercepted on the hex where there is already a unit. It can only be intercepted on a free hex where it can stop.

Examples: The aircraft intercepts the infantry right away. None of the units can intercept the aircraft. The Infantry intercepts the aircraft (it could have chosen to intercept it one hex earlier). The German tank chose not to intercept the US infantry, but the other German player chose to intercept it with the artillery.

Turn Phase 2: Declare Attacks

After the movements are completed (occupying factories also counts into the movement phase), all attacks are declared. All units that want to attack are named in the order of the attacks and declared which enemy unit they should attack. In the next phase ("Combat"), all named units must attack the specified targets in exactly this order. (Don't worry too much about this. Usually, the order is only relevant if several units attack the same enemy unit. It's just about not being able to change your mind spontaneously if the fight turns out differently than expected.)

Example: If an attacking unit has already been destroyed, the next attack will come to nothing. The target may not be changed.

Only units with the cloud symbol on the range may attack air units (or shoot back against them in close combat), e.g., 8.8 Flak units, Infantry and other air units.

Who can attack who is determined by the range. A range of 1 means the unit can only attack enemies in an adjacent hex (close combat). A Howitzer unit, for example, has range 2-5. This means it can attack enemy units that are between 2 and 5 hexes away. It cannot attack in close combat, since it cannot attack on range 1.

Example: First, the German tank attacks the US Infantry, then secondly the German aircraft attacks the US Infantry and thirdly the German artillery attacks the US artillery.

Note that the miniatures have two transparent sticks attached to track damage (gray markers) and combat experience (white, yellow and red markers). We will need those in the next phase ("Combat"). All units start the game without any markers.

Turn Phase 3: Combat

After all attacks are declared, the combat can begin. The combat always takes place as a 1 on 1 fight in the announced order. If several of your units attack an enemy unit, they do so one after the other, not simultaneously.

1. Announce the attack.

Start in the order of attacks declared in the previous phase. In the example on the previous page, the first battle would be: "This German Tank is attacking this US Infantry".

2. Determine whether the defender can shoot back.

Shooting back is only possible in close combat (i.e., at range 1) and only if the defending unit can fight the attacking unit in close combat. E.g., a Tank cannot shoot back against an Aircraft, because it cannot attack air units. A Howitzer cannot shoot back, since it has range 2-5 and hence cannot attack on range 1.

Note: If attacked by multiple units, the defender will shoot back against every single unit (it can legally attack).

In the example: In the first battle the US Infantry will shoot back against the German Tank. In the second battle, the US Infantry will shoot back against the German fighter aircraft. In the third battle, the US Howitzer cannot fire back against the German 8.8 Flak, because firing back is only possible in close combat (range 1) and the 8.8 Flak attacks over a wider range.

3. Determine number of dice.

The attacker and defender (if they can shoot back) determine the number of combat dice. The number of dice depends on the fighting units' current damage (the Unit Mat lists the number of dice for each damage marker count; e.g., 12, 11, 10, 8, 7, 5).

4. Bonus dice for supporting units

If you attack a unit in an adjacent hex, you get the following bonus dice additionally:

Attacking a ground unit: You get 2 red dice if 2 of your unit arms (Infantry, Tank, Artillery, Aircraft) have the attacked unit within their attack range. You get 3 red dice if 3 of your unit arms have the attacked unit within their attack range.

Note: Since Infantry, Tanks and Aircraft only have attack range of 1, that means these units need to be adjacent to the attacked unit to count for the bonus. For artillery, it is sufficient to have the target in the artillery range.

Examples: The Tank gets support from Infantry and Artillery, so +3 red dice. The artillery (8.8 Flak) has range 2-3, so the US Infantry is in its range. The Aircraft attacks a ground unit. It gets support from Tank arms, so +2 red dice. It does not matter how many Tanks provide support. Only your own units count, so the Artillery (Pak 40) from the allied German player cannot provide support.

Attacking an aircraft: If your aircraft attacks an enemy aircraft, you get 2 extra red dice if there is another of your aircraft adjacent to the attacked target. If two or more of your aircraft are adjacent, you get 3 red dice.

Examples: The German aircraft attacks the US aircraft: +3 red dice due to the 2 supporting Aircraft. No red dice: the allied Aircraft does not count.

Note: The supporting units for ground and aircraft attacks do not need to actually attack the enemy unit. They just need to be there to threaten them. They can choose not to attack or attack another unit.

Historical Background: "Combined arms" is an approach to warfare that seeks to integrate different combat arms of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects. E.g., tanks can only unfold their full potential, when supported by infantry, artillery and aircraft.

5. Roll the dice and determine hits

Now the attacker and the defender (if they can shoot back) roll the determined number of dice at the same time.

The number of hits the units land is then determined based on the Unit Mat. The hits will depend on the combat experience the unit has. At the beginning of the game all units start without any experience. During the game, they can earn combat experience points. At 0, 1 or 2 experience points, the unit is a "Rookie" (white), at 3 or 4 experience points, a "Veteran" (yellow), and from 5 experience points on, a "War Hero" (red). Based on the combat experience, the Unit Mat shows which die has landed a hit.

In our example the Tank is a veteran (yellow marker) and attacks the rookie Infantry (white marker). The German Tank (veteran) hits with every die showing 8 or less (<= 8) - 5 hits. The US Infantry (Rookie) hits with every die showing 2 or less (<= 2) - 2 hits.

Note that in our example the German tank got 3 extra red dice due to the support from the Artillery and Aircraft.

6. Determine damage

Now determine how many damage points the other unit suffers from the landed hits. Since the different units have different levels of armor, they require more or less hits to receive damage. Read from the table on the unit chart how many hits it takes to cause a certain amount of damage.

Since the defender can use the terrain to entrench himself if he is attacked, the defender receives a terrain bonus when standing in the forest. In this case, read from the green line in the table. This bonus does not apply to the attacker, regardless of the terrain they are standing on.

The Tank receives 2 hits from the Infantry. It suffers 1 damage as a result (2 damage would have required 4 hits).

The Infantry receives 5 hits from the Tank. Since it is standing as a defender in the forest, it suffers 2 damage (on other terrain it would have taken 3 damage). It would have taken at least 6 hits to cause 3 damage to the defending Infantry in the forest.

7. Add damage markers

Now the damage points are distributed. For each damage point suffered, the affected unit gets a gray marker. A unit is destroyed as soon as it has 6 damage.

8. Add combat experience markers

Then the experience points are awarded. If a unit has damaged an enemy unit in this fight, it receives 1 experience point. If a unit has destroyed an enemy unit, it receives 2 experience points (in total).

• Enemy unit damaged: +1 Experience
• Enemy unit destroyed: +2 Experience

The Tank has taken damage and gets 1 additional gray damage marker. It has damaged an enemy unit in this fight and therefore gains 1 further combat experience (another yellow marker; the fifth marker would then be red).

This fight is now over, and the next fight is on the line.

In our example, as the next fight the German Aircraft would attack the US Infantry. The Infantry now has already 3 damage markers. The Fighter Aircraft would attack with support from Tank and Artillery arms (+3 red dice). The Infantry would have better armor for defense because it is in the forest, just like in the last fight.

The Infantry receives 2 gray damage markers and 1 combat experience. After the two white markers it is the first yellow marker for the Infantry.

Note that attacking and shooting back happens simultaneously, so both units receive their markers at the same time.

Recommendations to speed up the game

• Attacker and defender should always roll the dice at the same time, not one after the other.
• The respective allied player should take care of determining the damage/experience points and put them on the partner player's unit. This way, the partner player can move on to the next battle right away. For this purpose, the fighting player should just tell the partner of his opponent how many hit points he landed, e.g. "The Tank has landed 5 hits". The partner can then take care of reading the table to determine the damage and assign damage and experience markers.

Turn Phase 4: Money Transactions

Collect money

At the end of their turn, the active player gets 1 coin for each of their occupied factories. A player can transfer all or some of their money to their ally at any time, but for each transaction, 1 coin goes to the bank. For example, if you want to give your allied player 4 coins, he would receive 3 coins and 1 coin would go to the bank (i.e., 1 coin is removed from the game).

Example: The US player has 2 occupied factories and hence receives 2 coins at the end of their turn.

Repair damaged units

You can repair damaged units if they are in one of your occupied factories. To initiate the repair, pay the flat-rate 2 coins repair costs and put the according coins under the unit on the factory hex. At the beginning of your next turn, remove the 2 coins (they go to the bank) and remove up to 3 damage markers from the unit.

Purchase new units

Finally, new units can be purchased for the costs indicated on the Unit Mat.

After purchase place each produced unit on one of your empty occupied factories.

Note: There can only be 1 unit on each factory hex at any given time. So, to produce a unit you need an occupied factory with no unit on the factory hex, so you can place your produced unit there.

We recommend to allow no more than 4 units of the same unit type (e.g., Tiger tank) per player. If you do not have enough miniatures, use a cardboard token as proxy until a miniature of that unit type becomes available (because it gets destroyed).

Tips

• When planning your turns, make sure not only to have enough money, but also to have enough empty factories to place your units.
• Do not place newly produced units in a factory where an enemy infantry is on a hex adjacent to the factory. The enemy infantry might occupy your factory and thereby destroy your unit in the factory.

End of the turn: Now the turn is over, and it is the next player's turn.

Victory

A team wins once it has occupied 6 factories (4 if playing with half the map only) or when the enemies have no more units.

To shorten the playing time, you can also set the victory condition to 5 occupied factories (3 if playing with half the map only).

Miscellaneous

Stopwatch: We recommend to use the hourglass to limit the turns to 5 minutes to complete "Phase 1 - Move" and "Phase 2 - Name Attacks". This makes the game faster and more exciting.

Dice-less play: If you prefer playing without dice, you can use the Automa-system to have units deal a fixed amount of hits also for human players (see solo rules).

Tips

The different factions are asymmetric. Here is an overview of their particular strengths:

• United States: The B-17 bomber is particularly strong against ground units and the Howitzer combines a wide range with strong firepower.
• Soviet Union: The Katyusha is fast and can hit multiple units at once. Especially in the very first turn it might be able to damage an entire enemy army at once. The Soviets excel in the late game due to their lower unit costs for tanks.
• Germany 1: The Tiger is a superior tank but costly to replace. The Me 262, the first operational jet fighter, is dominant in air combat.
• Germany 2: The 8.8 Flak is versatile with both long-range ground and air attack capabilities. The Mechanized Infantry combines the armor of a tank with the infantry's ability to capture factories - but it has no air defense.

Katyusha can attack any hex (also an empty one) in 2-4 hexes range and will hit this target hex and the 6 adjacent hexes around it. Roll the attack dice only once and apply the hits to all ground units (not aircraft) on these 7 hexes. Note that this would also hit your own units and your team partner's units on these hexes. If Katyusha has destroyed one or more units, it gets 2 combat experience. Otherwise, if it has damaged one or more units, it will get only 1 combat experience instead.

Solo play: Katyusha will hit its highest attack priority. While doing so, it will aim at a hex where it can additionally damage the most enemy units.

B-17 Flying Fortress cannot attack aircraft, but can shoot back when attacked by aircraft. Since it cannot attack air units, it will also not provide combat support for air attacks (but it can provide combat support for attacks on ground units).

Optional: Missions

Instead of playing a skirmish game you can play one of the below missions that propose different challenges.

V2 Rocket Attack

The Germans have developed a secret weapon! They are terrorizing our cities with long-range rockets. You must find the launcher and destroy it before it wipes out our factories. You have our entire air force at your command.

Play with 2 sets of units per player, but the German players start without Bomber aircraft (no Ju 87 or Ju 88), the Allied players only with 1 Tank and 1 Artillery per player. Choose one German player who controls the V2 rocket launcher.

During setup, after all players have placed their units, the German player controlling the V2 rocket launcher fills all empty hexes where he could legally place further units with the 12 gray start tokens and the 1 gray V2 token (face down), i.e., complete the "circles" with the start tokens. The token with the V2 is the secret position of the V2 rocket launcher that only the German players know. Until the V2 rocket launcher is discovered, units cannot end their turn on a hex with a gray token (but the German units can move across those hexes). If an Allies (US/Soviet) unit moves to a hex adjacent to a gray token, turn the marker around. If it shows the V2 rocket launcher remove all other gray tokens.

The V2 rocket launcher (whether discovered or still hidden) can attack one factory once per round in its turn. Roll 1 die for the attack. The factory is destroyed if the die shows a number greater than 3. Units inside the factory are destroyed. Mark destroyed factories with red beads. The V2 cannot move. Once discovered, it can take damage according to the below table. Track damage by putting damage markers on the V2 token.

German Mission: Destroy 5 factories with V2 rockets before the launcher is found and destroyed or occupy 5 factories.

Allies Mission: Find and destroy the V2 launcher before it can destroy 5 factories or occupy 5 factories.

Unpredictable Weather

A good general can fight in any weather. Use the unpredictability to your advantage.

The weather will change every 3 turns (not rounds!). Roll a die and set the weather as per list below. Put a start marker on this sheet to remember the die roll. Put damage markers on this sheet to count the turns.

• 1-2: Normal weather
• 3-4: Frost: Water hexes count as standard terrain
• 5-6: Mud: Slower movement (road: 1; standard: 1.5; forest: 2)
• 7-8: Dryness: Faster movement on standard terrain (0.5)
• 9-10: Storm: Artillery ranges are reduced by 1
• 11-12: Fog: Units cannot be intercepted

Battle of the Bulge

The Battle of the Bulge was a bold German attack towards the coastline, aimed at cutting off the Allies from using the Belgian Port of Antwerp and splitting the Allied lines. This move had the potential to encircle and wipe out major Allied forces.

Use the winter map for this mission. The German players start with the 3 factories at the bottom of the map, divided between the two German players as they choose. The Allied players start with the 4 factories at the top of the map in the snowy land around the coastline (not the one on the island at the top). The Allies receive the start tokens from the top half of the map (tokens 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9) and the Germans the ones from the bottom half (tokens 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12). The tokens are handed out face down as usual.

Mission: Germany wins if they achieve to reach the seashore with one of their tanks. Otherwise, the Allies win.

Mountains

Use mountains as additional terrain type. Mountain hexes cost 1.5 movement points and cannot be entered by Tanks. Artillery on mountains add +2 to their attack range.

Solo / Cooperative Rules

Setup

The solo game is setup like a 2-player game. Choose which faction you'll be controlling, and which faction will be controlled by the Automa. Add Automa troops depending on your chosen difficulty level:

• Easy: no additions.
• Standard: 1 extra Artillery
• Hard: 1 extra Artillery + 1 extra Regular Infantry
• Overkill: 1 extra Tank + 1 extra Special Infantry (Mobile/Mech. Infantry)

Distribute the 6 start location tokens as in the standard 2-player game, and alternate unit placement between you and the Automa. To determine how many and what type of units to distribute to each of the Automa's 3 face-down location tokens, first put all that faction's military unit tokens into an opaque cup or bag. When you turn around the Automa's first start location token, pull 2 (or 4 if you are playing with two sets of miniatures) tokens from the cup. Put the corresponding miniature for the first token on the start number and the next ones clockwise around, starting from the top. Proceed the same way for the second starting location token. For the third start location token, pull all remaining military unit tokens from the cup. Start the game following the [1 - 2, 2 - 3] rule, as described on page 1.

Action priorities (move/attack)

Each of the Automa's units moves/attacks. Start with Infantry, then Artillery, then Aircraft and finally Tanks. Follow the "Action Priority" chart. Try to action according to the highest priority order: Try to do priority "1" first. If this is not possible, move on to "2", then "3", etc. until you can meet the order.

Usually there are multiple options to fulfill this order. Choose the hex to move to based on the movement priorities and the unit to attack based on the attack priorities. Again, try to fulfill the highest priority (a). If this is not possible, add or move on to (b), (c), etc. until you can meet the priority. If an order is still ambiguous or not clear, make a random choice.

Purchase units

At the end of the turn, the Automa will receive coins from their factories and spend them for new units. If the Automa has less than 2 Infantry, it will purchase Special Infantry. Otherwise, it will purchase a Tank (if it already has 4 and you chose to restrict units to 4 of each type, then it will purchase Artillery, then a random unit).

When placing the purchased unit, choose (a) a factory that an enemy Infantry can reach on their next turn or (b) the factory that has the closest enemy unit to it. If multiple factories have the same closest distance to an enemy unit, then pick the one with the most equally close units, then the one with the closest second, third, etc. enemy unit.

Examples

Action priority for German tank

• Priority 1 can be met. There are enough enemies the tank can reach.
• Attack priority a cannot be met: Unit A cannot be reached. Unit B cannot be destroyed, since this would require 7 hits and the tank will only land 6 hits.
• Attack priority b cannot be met. There is no factory with an infantry adjacent within the tank's range.
• Attack priority c can be met. Both C and D cannot shoot back (since Howitzers cannot fight on range 1).
• Between these two options, choose D as the target (per h), because this Howitzer has more experience.
• Movement: The tank could attack this target from the hexes E and F. None of these is a forest (per movement priority c), but E is closest to your next unit G (per f) so the tank moves there.

Action priority for German Artillery (8.8 Flak)

• Priority 1 can be met. There are enough enemies the Artillery can reach.
• Attack priority a can be met. The Artillery will land 4 hits, which is enough to destroy units A or B. To select between A or B we check h and select A as the target, because it has more experience.
• Movement: This target can be reached from hexes D and E. The Artillery will move to hex D per movement priority d since this hex is furthest away from the next enemy unit.

Automa Action Priorities

Note: In the below actions, "you" refers to the Automa, "enemy" to the human player. Unless stated otherwise, distances "closest"/"furthest" are measured in movement points consumed, not in hexes (e.g., forest counts as 1.5). If you have multiple units of the same type (e.g., 2 Howitzers) move the one first, that can fulfill a higher priority action.

I. Infantry (first Regular Infantry, then Special Infantry)

1. Conquer Factory (if no enemy Infantry is adjacent to the Factory).
2. Move to a hex adjacent to a neutral/enemy Factory (if there is no other of your Infantry adjacent to this Factory already, unless there is also an enemy Infantry adjacent to this Factory)
3. Move towards a neutral/enemy Factory so you can reach a hex adjacent to the factory in your next movement turn.
4. Move towards and attack enemy per attack priority a, then b.
5. Move towards closest neutral/enemy Factory. If possible, choose a hex and attack per attack priority a, then b. Do not attack otherwise.
6. Follow the Tank action priorities.

II. Artillery, Aircraft and Tanks (in this order)

1. Move within range and attack enemy (select enemy per attack priorities).
2. Move as close as possible towards the highest priority target.

Movement Priorities

If there are multiple hexes from where you can equally fulfill the order priority, move to the hex...

a. [Infantry only] furthest from the next enemy unit b. [Artillery only] on or next to a road c. [Infantry and Tank only] on a forest d. [Artillery only] furthest (number of hexes) from next enemy e. [Artillery only] closest (number of hexes) to your next unit f. closest (in movement points) to your next unit g. closest to your original position (i.e., where the unit came from) in movement points, then in hexes

Attack Priorities

Select target that you can damage as follows:

a. Enemy unit you can destroy with this attack b. Enemy Infantry adjacent to a neutral/your factory c. Enemy unit that cannot shoot back d. [Fighter Aircraft only] Enemy bomber e. Enemy Infantry that can reach a neutral/your Factory in their next turn f. Enemy Infantry on an enemy Factory that your Infantry can reach next turn g. Unit that has been attacked by another unit this turn already (fire support) h. [If enemy cannot shoot back] most experienced enemy unit i. Enemy unit with the lowest attack value j. Most expensive enemy unit k. Least experienced enemy unit

Combat

Unlike the human player, the Automa has no "Declare Attacks" phase. Each unit attacks right after moving. The Automa units never get red bonus dice. Instead of rolling dice, Automa units deal a fixed amount of hits, depending on their damage and experience:

• 0-2 damage: Hits according to the unit's attack value (e.g., 2 for a Regular Infantry); +2 hits for each experience level (veteran/yellow and war hero/red)
• 3-5 damage: Hits according to half (rounded up) the unit's attack value (e.g., 3 for a Howitzer); +1 hit for each experience level

Playing cooperatively

Coop works the same way as solo. Divide your units between the two human players. Use the miniatures from the allied nation for one player (e.g., one player US, the other Soviets) so you can tell them apart. During setup, each player gets 1 face down start token only for their units. The third face down start token can be shared and both players can place units there. Factories and coins are shared.

Quick Reference

Turn: Move Units, Declare attacks, Combat, Money Transactions.

Move Units

• Finish repair: If there are coins under a unit, remove them and up to 3 damage markers from the unit.
• Move your units (note that enemy can intercept).
• Only the target hex counts: standard terrain 1; road 0.5; forest 1.5; river (Infantry only) full turn; your factory 1.
• Occupy Factory: Infantry only; full movement turn; put your flag token on the factory; remove enemy unit from the factory.
• Intercept Unit: enemy unit can intercept adjacent unit it can legally attack during its movement; unit must stop; intercepting enemy unit cannot move next turn and must attack intercepted unit.

Combat (attacker and defender roll the dice simultaneously)

1. Damage -> number of dice
2. Bonus dice? (attacker only)
3. Experience -> hit probability (War hero, Veteran, Rookie)
4. Roll dice -> number of hits
5. Hits -> damage (terrain bonus only for defender)
6. Add markers. Combat experience: enemy unit damaged +1; enemy unit destroyed +2.

Money Transactions

• Collect 1 coin per occupied factory.
• Purchase units and put them on one of your empty factories.
• Start repair: put 2 coins under a unit in your factory to initiate repair.