Attack! Deluxe Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective
• End of the Game
• Game Length
• Game Years
• Turn Structure
  • Performing an Action
  • Spring, Summer and Autumn Actions
  • Winter Actions
  • End of the Year
• Setup
  • Step 1: Build the Battlefield
  • Step 2: Choose Your Government
  • Step 3: Deploy Your Units
  • Step 4: The Rest of the World
  • Step 5: Order
  • Step 6: Attack!
• Components
  • Box Contents
  • Components Required from the Base Game
  • Maps and Terrain
  • Government Placards
  • Government Markers
  • Action Markers
  • Certificates
  • Oil Markers
  • Army Units (Armee)
  • Naval Units (Marine)
  • Dice and Cards
• Actions
  • Move
  • Attack
  • Navigate
  • Transport
  • Negotiate
  • Burn Oil
  • Build
  • Research
• Explanations
  • Sea Zones with an Anchor
  • Sea Zone Notes
  • Canals and Sea Lanes
  • Action Cards
  • Action Card Rules
• Resolving Battles
  • Step 1: Deploy (Round 1)
  • Step 1: Reorganisation (Round 2 onward)
  • Step 2: Fire!
  • Step 3: Hit or Miss
  • Step 4: Destroy
  • Victory or Defeat

Objective

The goal of ATTACK! Deluxe is the conquest of the world. To achieve this, you must lead one of the nations of the world and take territories.

End of the Game

The game ends when one nation conquers the capital of another nation, or at the end of an agreed year. Then count the victory points for your regions, sea zones, capitals, population and technology levels. The player with the most victory points wins.

Game Length

ATTACK! Deluxe is played in years. Each game consists of a set number of years before it ends. A limited war ends after 6 years, a major war after 9 years, and a total war after 12 years. A game can also end earlier, after a player loses their capital.

Game Years

Each year has four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Each player takes one action in Spring, one in Summer, one in Autumn and perhaps (but not necessarily) one in Winter. All players carry out their actions for one season before the next season begins.

Turn Structure

Performing an Action

To perform an action, place the matching action marker on your government placard. If you wish, you may also play an action card that affects the chosen nation. You must choose an action even if you do not want to do anything with it. Units involved in an action may take part in the next action as well.

Spring, Summer and Autumn Actions

Once the starting player has performed their first action, the next player performs their action. When the starting player is up again, the next season begins and the starting player must choose one of the actions on their placard that is not yet covered by a marker. This continues until each player has performed three actions.

Winter Actions

After the three seasons, each player may decide whether to perform the Burn Oil action in Winter. If you do, burn oil as explained under Burn Oil. You may then perform one further action.

End of the Year

After Winter the year ends. Whoever has not yet received income through the Build action now receives income. Players receive 1 Oil Certificate for each oil marker they have on the board, and 1 Production Certificate for each government marker they have (a player receives a government marker when they take control of a new region through Negotiate or Attack).

Then each player takes their action markers back from their government placard. Now the next player in order takes the command die, turns it to the next number and begins the next year.

Setup

Step 1: Build the Battlefield

Maps. With 2–4 players you may use either the Pacific Theater map or the Western Theater map. With 5–6 players, use both maps: the Pacific Theater and the Western Theater.

Government placards. With 2–4 players, lay out one government placard of each type. With 5–6 players, lay out two government placards of each type.

Cards. Shuffle the action deck and place it face down on the game board. Separate the economy deck into five stacks by type (Factories, Minerals, Oil, Rail Transport and Population). Sort the cards in each stack in numerical order, with the lowest card on top.

Step 2: Choose Your Government

Order of choice. Each player rolls two command dice. The player with the highest roll chooses their government materials first, then the player with the next highest roll, and so on. (In case of a tie, the tied players roll off with a dice duel.)

Government materials. Each government consists of:

• 1 government placard
• 1 economy card
• 3 government markers
• 4 action markers
• 1 oil marker
• 1 oil certificate
• 3 production certificates
• 1 action card
• 1 capital
• 12 infantry
• 4 artillery
• 1 tank
• 1 aircraft
• 1 submarine
• 3 destroyers

Starting economy card. Each government begins with the following economy card:

• Fascism: Start with Minerals 1 or Transport 1.
• Communism: Start with Factories 1 or Transport 1.
• Monarchy: Start with Minerals 1 or Transport 1.
• Democracy: Start with Minerals 1 or Transport 1.

Step 3: Deploy Your Units

Placing your capital. Place your capitals in turn order. Your capital is a fixed location where you build your units. It cannot be moved or destroyed, but it can be captured.

The starting player chooses any region for their capital that borders at least one sea zone that is not part of the Arctic. Place your capital and one oil marker in the chosen region. The next player must choose a different continent. This continues until every player has a capital.

Army units. In the same order, each player places any number of their starting units in their capital and two regions adjacent to the capital. An adjacent region must be connected to the capital by a land border, a sea zone with an anchor or a sea lane, and must be on the same continent as the capital.

Naval units. Each player places their ships as a group on the coastline by their capital. The ships are not yet in any sea area and cannot move to another region. Each player who has Oil 1 places an oil marker in one of these regions.

Translator's note: the source sentence reads "Jeder Spieler, der Öl 1 besitzt, legt einen Ölmarker in eine dieser Regionen" ("Each player who has Oil 1 places an oil marker in one of these regions"). It is reproduced as printed.

Step 4: The Rest of the World

Once this setup is complete, all unoccupied regions count as neutral regions. Place all remaining government markers face down, shuffle them, and place one face down on each neutral region. Do not turn them over.

Step 5: Order

Once setup is complete, every player rolls a command die. Whoever has the highest number takes the command die and turns it to the number of the year. In Year One the 1 on the die must face up. Set the second die aside until you need it in Year Seven.

The starting player of the year then decides the order and the direction (clockwise or counterclockwise) in which the command is carried out, starting from the starting player. This decision is made before any actions are performed and stays the same for all actions of the year.

Step 6: Attack!

You are now ready for world conquest. Go out there and ATTACK! ATTACK! ATTACK!

Components

Box Contents

• 1 game board: Pacific Theater map
• 5 green naval dice
• 36 action cards
• 6 sets of figures: Destroyers, Battleships, Submarines, Carriers
• 120 economy cards
• Production and oil certificates
• 8 government placards
• 90 government markers
• 32 action markers
• 40 oil markers

Components Required from the Base Game

In addition, you need the following components from the ATTACK! base game:

• 1 Western Theater map
• 8 red army dice
• 2 blue command dice
• 6 sets of figures: Tanks, Artillery, Aircraft, Infantry, Capitals

Maps and Terrain

The world consists of two maps: the Western Theater and the Pacific Theater. The land is divided into regions and the oceans into sea zones. The maps are connected, so any adjacent region, sea zone or sea lane can be entered from the other map. Areas with the same name are the same area. Areas without a name cannot be entered. It is not possible to pass over the polar region at the north or south of the board and come out at the other end of the map.

Translator's note: this sentence is cut off in the source at this point ("...am anderen Ende der Karte auf", "...and at the other end of the map on"). It is reproduced as printed.

• Pacific Theater: The map shows Asia, Australia and Oceania.
• Western Theater: The map shows the Americas, Africa and Europe.
• Sea zones: The sea is divided into sea zones, marked by red lines.
• Sea lanes: Sea zones have sea lanes (grey lines). If you control all sea zones that a sea lane passes through, you may transport along that lane.
• Coastlines: Ships built are first placed on coastlines. Units on coastlines do not exert control over neighbouring sea zones.
• Sea zones with an anchor: If there is an anchor in a sea zone, all adjacent zones are connected to each other, as if they had a sea lane.
• Canals: Canals are controlled by the regions they pass through. If the region is neutral, the canal is open. The Suez Canal is controlled by Egypt-Sudan; the Panama Canal is controlled by Panama.

Government Placards

Government placards show a player's form of government. All governments can perform the same actions, but they begin with different technologies and gain different advantages from action cards. Each government is allied with two forms of government, and

Translator's note: this sentence is cut off in the source ("Jede Regierung ist mit zwei Regierungsformen verbündet und"). It is reproduced as printed.

Government Markers

Government markers represent local governments. When you conquer a region, take the marker from the board or from another player.

Action Markers

Action markers are placed on government placards to show which action is performed. A player has 1 marker per season.

Certificates

With oil and production certificates you buy units. Only oil can be burned to gain extra actions in Winter.

Oil Markers

Oil markers represent oil deposits. Use them to place oil in regions you control. Oil markers do not require a particular form of government.

Army Units (Armee)

Each army unit comes in two sizes: Small (represents one unit) and Large (represents five units). At any time you may exchange one large figure for five small ones, or the reverse.

• Infantry (Army): Basic units that move into enemy territory to fight.
• Artillery (Army): Artillery units can fire an opening salvo at the start of a battle.
• Tank (Army): Tank units can move 3 regions in the Attack action.
• Aircraft (Army): Aircraft units can hit twice as often and can fly over regions in the Attack action.

Naval Units (Marine)

• Destroyer (Marine): Destroyer units can transport one Artillery or one Infantry unit.
• Carrier (Marine): Carrier units can transport one Aircraft unit and receive air support in battle.
• Battleship (Marine): Battleship units have a higher chance of hitting. They can transport one Infantry, Artillery or Tank unit.
• Submarine (Marine): Submarine units can fire an opening salvo at the start of a battle and carry out coastal attacks.

Dice and Cards

• Command dice: Command dice show the year and decide setup and turn order.
• Army dice: Used when attacking with army units. Each die shows a tank, an infantry, an artillery, two aircraft and one blank side.
• Naval dice: Used when attacking with naval units. Each die shows a submarine, two battleships, a destroyer, a carrier and one blank side.
• Capital: If your capital falls, you are out of the game and the war is over.
• Action cards: Each card changes a particular action type and can be played when the corresponding action is performed. Each card also names a particular form of government, which gains a better effect (the original effect is replaced). Each time you receive a population card or successfully negotiate, you draw a new action card.
• Economy cards: Economy cards represent progress in technology. If you invest in research, your abilities improve, so you can build more, transport further and more! (See the action "Research".)

Actions

Each year consists of four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. In each year, players perform one action in Spring, one in Summer and one in Autumn, and perhaps (but not necessarily) one in Winter.

Players may choose one of the following eight actions. These actions are also printed on the players' government placards.

• Move: Move your army units and resolve the battles that result.
• Attack: Move into an enemy region and fight a battle!
• Navigate: Move naval units, embark army units, and resolve the battles that result!
• Transport: Move your army units between your own regions and across sea lanes.
• Negotiate: Influence an adjacent neutral region and receive an action card.
• Build: Receive income and add new units to your forces.
• Research: Add new technologies to your arsenal or upgrade old ones.
• Burn Oil: Burn oil to perform a special action in Winter.

Move

Action: Move your army units and carry out the battles that follow.

Land movement. The Move action allows you to move each of your army units one region, into any adjacent region connected by a land border, a coastline, or a sea zone with an anchor. You must have at least one army unit in every region you control. You may not leave a region unoccupied. When all moves have been made, resolve every battle that arises when your units end their movement in a neutral or enemy region (see Resolving Battles).

Note that with the Move action you cannot cross sea zones, except controlled or neutral sea zones with an anchor. If a sea zone is controlled by another player, you need that player's permission to cross it.

Disembarking. At any time, an army unit may disembark from its transport unit and move into a region adjacent to the sea zone where the transport is.

Attack

Action: Move into an enemy territory and fight a battle.

Attack. With the Attack action you may move each aircraft and tank unit (up to 3 regions) and each infantry and artillery unit (up to 1 region) to attack a single enemy or neutral region. Each region passed through must be connected by a land border or a sea zone with an anchor, but sea zones with an anchor do not count toward movement range. You cannot disembark during an attack. When the attack is over, you must have at least one army unit in every region you control.

Tank attack. Tank units must have an unbroken line of friendly regions or anchored sea zones in order to join an attack. Tank units cannot move through enemy regions, neutral regions, or anchored sea zones unless:

1. your own (or no) units control the regions or anchored sea zones through which you attack, or
2. the player who controls the region or anchored sea zone through which you attack has given you permission.

Overflight. Aircraft may fly over enemy or neutral regions and anchored sea zones without restriction.

Number of regions. During an attack you may attack only a single region.

Navigate

Action: Move naval units, embark army units, and carry out the battles that follow.

Sea movement. When you take the Navigate action, you may move all of your naval units. Each unit may move from one sea zone into an adjacent sea zone, or from a coastline into an adjacent sea zone; for this action, this counts as the unit's movement. You may leave a sea zone, but it does not remain under your control afterwards.

Embarking. At any time during your Navigate action, your army units may embark onto naval units in adjacent coastlines or sea zones, either before or after those naval units move. Each naval unit (except submarines) may carry one unit of a particular type. Once an army unit has embarked, it stays on its naval unit until it disembarks in a Move action. If the naval unit is destroyed, the army unit is destroyed with it.

Once built, a ship cannot return to a coastline. Submarines can, however, return to a coastline in order to carry out a coastal attack.

Transport capacity:

• Submarine: Cannot transport any unit.
• Destroyer: Can transport one infantry or one artillery unit.
• Battleship: Can transport one infantry, one artillery or one tank unit.
• Carrier: Can transport one aircraft unit.

Transport

Action: Move your army units between your own regions and across sea lanes.

Land transport. When you choose the Transport option, you may load units to move them from one region you control to another region you control. Your units may not enter neutral or enemy regions, so no battle takes place, and they must end in a region under your control. Researching rail transport lets you travel longer distances, but you can never transport through neutral land regions.

Sea lanes. The Transport action does not apply to naval units, and sea zones do not count as regions. You may use the sea lanes in a sea zone only if:

1. your naval units control the sea zone,
2. no naval units control the sea zone, or
3. you have the permission of the player who controls the sea zone.

A unit cannot pass through more than one sea zone. For example, you may transport units from New England to Panama through the sea zones North Atlantic and Caribbean Sea, but you cannot transport from Burma-Malay to Japan through the sea zones Northwest Pacific, Southwest Pacific and Coral Sea.

Translator's note: the source spells this sea zone "Carribean Sea" here and "CARIBBEAN" elsewhere; it is rendered "Caribbean Sea" throughout.

Anchored sea zones. Regions in sea zones with an anchor are necessarily connected by a network of sea lanes. From a region adjacent to an anchored sea zone, you may transport to any other region on the same anchored sea zone. For example, with the Transport action you can move units from Old South to Mexico through the Caribbean Sea.

Negotiate

Action: Influence an adjacent neutral region or receive an action card.

Diplomatic channels. When you take the Negotiate action, you may try to turn a neutral region to your side. You may negotiate with only one region per year. The neutral region must be either:

1. adjacent to a region you currently control, or
2. connected to a region you control through a sea zone or sea lane, where that sea zone must be neutral, controlled by your naval units, or occupied by another player who has given you permission to negotiate.

Influencing a region. To influence a neutral region, secretly look at the region's marker. If it matches your form of government, you may influence the region for free. If it is allied with your government, influencing costs 4 production points. If it is hostile to your government, influencing costs 8 production points.

If you decide to influence the region, reveal its marker, add the marker to your supply of markers, and place one infantry from your supply in the region for free. Then draw an action card. Action cards drawn during a Negotiate action cannot be played during that action, and you may hold at most 5 action cards at once.

If you do not influence the region (because you do not want to, or cannot pay), return the marker face down to its former position. This ends the Negotiate action.

Burn Oil

Action: Burn oil to receive an action in the Winter season.

Burning oil. After the Autumn actions are complete, each player has the option to perform an expensive Winter action. Burning oil is the only way to perform an action in Winter. To perform the Burn Oil action, you must discard 5 oil certificates (not production certificates) and remove one oil marker from a region you control. Place your Winter marker on the Burn Oil space of your government placard. Then choose one further action. You may not choose an action you have already performed this year.

Once every player has had the opportunity to burn oil, the year ends.

A burned oil deposit is permanent, and no more oil can be gained from it. However, if you reach the next level of the Oil technology, you may again place a marker in the region where the burned marker was.

Build

Action: Receive income and supply your army with new units.

Build. When you choose the Build action, add up the production points from the markers obtained from the regions you control, and take that many production points. You may spend these production points on units, or save them for future Build actions. Population also brings additional regions into play for building.

Oil. When you choose the Build action, you also receive oil certificates if you have oil markers in regions you control. You receive one oil certificate for each oil marker you control, regardless of who built it. Oil certificates can be freely exchanged for production points in the Build action, and they can be burned in the Burn Oil action. The Oil technology allows you to place additional oil markers.

Unit costs. Each unit has a cost in production points, which must be spent to produce it, as shown in the build table. If you do not have enough to build a unit, you cannot build it. Units are built after production points and oil certificates have been taken in the Build action. All army units built must immediately be placed in the region containing your capital, and all naval units must be placed on the coastline of the region containing your capital.

Build table. You may build as many basic units (infantry, artillery and destroyers) as you can afford. However, in each Build action you may build at most one advanced army unit and one advanced naval unit. You may build more advanced units if you have researched the Minerals technology. Your Minerals technology level tells you how many advanced units you may build in a Build action.

Units and costs:

• Infantry [Cost 1] (basic): Infantry units are basic units that move into enemy territory to fight.
• Artillery [Cost 2] (basic): Artillery units can fire an opening salvo at the start of a battle.
• Tank [Cost 2] (advanced): As printed in the build table: Destroyer units can transport one artillery or one infantry unit.
• Aircraft [Cost 3] (advanced): As printed: Plane Units are more likely to hit and can fly over a maximum of 3 regions during a Blitz Action.
• Destroyer [Cost 2] (basic): Destroyer units can transport one artillery or one infantry unit.
• Submarine [Cost 3] (advanced): As printed: Submarine Units may fire an Opening Salvo at the start of battle and perform Coastal Attacks.
• Battleship [Cost 3] (advanced): Battleship units have a higher chance of hitting. They can transport one infantry, one artillery or one tank unit.
• Carrier [Cost 4] (advanced): Carrier units can transport one aircraft unit and receive air support in battle.

Translator's note: the Tank and Aircraft entries in the build table, and the Submarine entry, are printed in the source as shown above. The Tank entry carries the Destroyer's transport text, and the Aircraft and Submarine entries are printed in English and in a different style from the rest of the German text. They are reproduced as printed. The Tank's own description in the Components section reads: "Tank units can move 3 regions in the Attack action," and the Aircraft's reads: "Aircraft units can hit twice as often and can fly over regions in the Attack action."

Research

Action: Add new technologies to your arsenal, or upgrade old ones.

Research. When you choose the Research action, you may take one or more technology types from the economy deck. Technologies have levels 1 to 4 (Population always has level 1). When you take a technology, you must take the lowest level you do not yet have in that type, and you may add only one technology level of each type per Research action. If you have no Factories, you must take Factories 1. If you have Factories 1, you must take Factories 2, and so on.

Retooling. Then you must retool units according to the technology. The lower left corner of the card shows your retooling options: the number of specific units that must be removed from the board. Rail Transport 1, for example, requires that you remove 3 infantry or 1 artillery from a region or sea zone. If you cannot pay, you cannot take the technology.

Upgrading. If you want to upgrade a technology to the next level, take the card of that technology with the next level and retool one row of units. You may have only one card per level in each technology. The exception is Population, of which you may have any number.

Oil Tech:

• Level 0: Each year, receive 1 oil certificate for each oil marker you control.
• Level 1: When you research this technology, place an oil marker.
• Level 2: When you research this technology, place an oil marker.
• Level 3: When you research this technology, place an oil marker.
• Level 4: When you research this technology, place an oil marker.

Rail Transport:

• Level 0: You can transport army units up to 1 region.
• Level 1: Each unit can transport 1 additional region.
• Level 2: All units can transport 2 additional regions.
• Level 3: All units can transport 3 additional regions.
• Level 4: All units can transport any number of regions.

Note on land regions: Researching rail transport increases the distance units can be transported across land regions. For example, at Level 0 you can transport from New England to Midwest; at Level 1 from New England to the Great Plains; at Level 2 from New England to the Western US, and so on.

Note on sea zones: Rail transport does not increase the number of sea zones you can transport across. For example, if you transport from New England to Panama through the North Atlantic and Caribbean Sea sea zones, you cannot continue from Panama to Hawaii in the same round. With Research Level 1, however, you can transport from New England to Panama and continue with Colombia in the same action.

Minerals:

• Level 0: Per Build action, build 2 advanced units [1 army + 1 naval].
• Level 1: Per Build action, build 4 advanced units [2 army + 2 naval].
• Level 2: Per Build action, build 6 advanced units [3 army + 3 naval].
• Level 3: Per Build action, build 6 advanced units [4 army + 4 naval].
• Level 4: Per Build action, build any number of advanced units.

Factories:

• Level 0: You can only build in your capital.
• Level 1: You can build one region away from your capital.
• Level 2: You can build two regions away from your capital.
• Level 3: You can build three regions away from your capital.
• Level 4: You can build four regions away from your capital.

Population: For building and for winning the game, treat each population card as a region. When you research population, also draw an action card (it cannot be used in this Research action).

Explanations

Sea Zones with an Anchor

You may Move, Attack, Transport, Negotiate and Build across a sea zone with an anchor when:

1. your naval units control the sea zone,
2. no naval units control the sea zone, or
3. you have the permission of the player who controls it.

Sea Zone Notes

The Red Sea: The Red Sea is separated from the Indian Ocean, which is not a sea zone with an anchor. If you wanted to attack Somaliland from Saudi Arabia, you would embark units in Saudi Arabia (Navigate) and disembark them in Somaliland (Move).

Caribbean sea zone: The Old South, The Great Plains, Mexico, Panama, Colombia and Amazonia.

North Sea: Norway-Sweden, Finland, Karelia, Poland, Germany, France and Great Britain.

Mediterranean: Algeria, Libya, Egypt-Sudan, Syria-Iraq, Turkey, Caucasus, Ukraine, France, the Balkans, Italy and Spain (including the Black Sea).

Coral Sea: French Indochina, Burma-Malay, Western Australia, Northern Australia, Queensland and the Dutch East Indies.

Sea of Japan: Japan, Koryak, Yakut, Vladivostok and Manchuko-Korea border the Sea of Japan.

Canals and Sea Lanes

Panama Canal: The sea lanes in the Panama Canal do not run continuously through (you must stop in Panama). You cannot transport from New England to Western US over the sea lane.

Suez Canal: You may travel back and forth between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal.

Action Cards

Each action card names the action it changes, and a form of government for which it has a better effect (the better effect replaces the original effect).

Bombing Run [Bombenangriff] (Attack) Text: Carry out an attack on a second region. This card makes the Attack action more like Move, and allows you to conduct several simultaneous attacks, with different units taking part in the attacks.

Secret Treaty [Geheimvertrag] (Negotiate) Text: Draw 2 action cards and discard 1. Instead of drawing only 1 action card, draw 2 and discard 1. If you are communist, draw 2 cards and keep both. If the negotiation fails, draw none.

Code Breaking [Code knacken] (Research) Text: Buy up to 2 technology levels of one type directly. (Democrats: likewise for 2 technologies.) You can use this card to research two population cards and then draw two action cards. Democrats must, however, choose two different technologies (they cannot research 4 population cards).

Shock Troops [Sturmtruppen] (Move) Text: Roll in the first battle round with all dice of your units (including reserve units). After the first round, normal battle rules apply, and reserve units do not use any battle dice.

Annexation [Annektierung] (Research) Text: Research two population cards. You may draw a new action card for each population card researched.

Armor Raid [Panzerangriff] (Attack) Text: Fascists re-roll all dice and use the result twice in this attack. Fascist governments may roll all dice twice in an attack. (You do not need to remember the result of your first roll in order to roll again.)

Action Card Rules

Using action cards. Action cards can only be played when the action named on the card is performed, and they cannot be used during another player's turn.

Receiving action cards. Each time you successfully negotiate or receive population, you draw an action card.

Action card limit. You cannot hold more than 5 action cards. If you want to draw one more, discard one first.

Resolving Battles

After you move units with a Move, Attack or Navigate action, a battle may arise. Battles arise when your units end their movement in a neutral or enemy region or sea zone. You may resolve these battles in any order.

In an army battle you may use only army units; in a naval battle you may use only naval units.

Step 1: Deploy (Round 1)

Building the front. When a battle begins, each player selects four units to build the front, starting with the defender. The remaining units form the reserve and can be used later in the battle as reinforcements. If a player has fewer than four units, all of those units are deployed.

Opening salvo. If the attacker in a naval battle has a submarine, or the attacker in an army battle has artillery, that player becomes the active player. In the first battle round, however, they may fire only with the deployed artillery or submarines. The defender does not receive this advantage.

Battle in an unoccupied land region. If you end a Move or Attack action in a neutral land region, you must fight the region's military. Choose a fellow player to represent the neutral region. The neutral region rolls one army die per year to determine its units. Each die rolled represents one unit in the region's army; blank sides mean no unit. For example, in Year Four the player representing the neutral region rolls four army dice. The result is two aircraft, one tank and one blank side. The neutral region therefore has an army consisting of two aircraft and one tank.

If all of the neutral region's units are destroyed (or the neutral player rolls only blank sides), you gain control of the region. If the neutral region destroys all of your units, you do not gain control of it, and it remains neutral and unoccupied. Whether you win or lose, the neutral region's units are removed from the game at the end of the battle.

Step 1: Reorganisation (Round 2 onward)

Reinforcing the front. After each battle round, the new active player must reinforce the front. Whenever a player deploys again, the maximum number of units on the front increases by one for both players. Attacker and defender begin with four units; then the attacker deploys five units (the maximum), then the defender five, then the attacker six, then the defender six, and so on.

If you can, you must close gaps in the front. Your front must have as many units as you can make available, up to the maximum. Units deployed on the front cannot leave the battle until they are destroyed or the battle ends.

Step 2: Fire!

The active player rolls one battle die (an army die for an army unit, or a naval die for a naval unit) for each of their units on the front, but not for reserve units.

Air support. Each carrier also provides air support. Its owner rolls one additional army die, in addition to its naval die.

Step 3: Hit or Miss

For each die showing a unit type matching one of the active player's units, the active player scores a hit. Each unit can be matched by only one die. In a naval battle, a carrier with an aircraft showing on its army die can score one hit with it, and may score a further hit on its naval die.

For example: if the active player has one tank and three infantry units on the front, and rolls two infantry on four dice, they score two hits. But if they roll two tanks, they score only one hit (for the one tank).

Step 4: Destroy

For each hit scored, the active player destroys one enemy unit. Enemy units are destroyed in the order given below. When the active player has finished destroying (or not destroying) units, the other player becomes the active player and must reinforce their front. This cycle continues until only one player has units in the region or sea zone. You cannot retreat from a battle!

Destruction order for army units:

• Infantry: Infantry units are removed first.
• Artillery: If there are no infantry units left, artillery units are removed next.
• Tank: If there are no artillery units left, tank units are removed.
• Aircraft: If no tank units are left, aircraft are removed.

Destruction order for naval units:

• Destroyer: Destroyers are removed first.
• Submarine: If there are no destroyers left, submarine units are removed.
• Carrier: If there are no submarine units left, carrier units are removed.
• Battleship: If there are no carrier units left, battleships are removed.

Transports destroyed. When a naval unit is destroyed, all army units it is transporting are also destroyed. (A player may choose to destroy another unit of the same type before losing the transport.)

Units on the coastline. When a region is conquered, naval units on the coastline of that region are destroyed.

Destroyed carriers and air support. When a carrier is destroyed, its associated army die is no longer used.

Victory or Defeat

After an army battle, the winner controls the region or sea zone. Take the region's marker if the region was neutral. If the attacker wins, they take one government marker (of one kind) from the defender. If the region contains a capital or an oil marker, the winner takes control of it. If a player loses their capital, the game ends.