Breaking Away
Breaking Away Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Summary
Breaking Away is a racing game for 3 to 6 players. Each turn the players must decide which movement factor to use for each of their cyclists.
Once each cyclist has been moved, starting with the race leader and finishing with the last-placed rider, replacement movement factors are calculated according to each cyclist's position in the race. Points are awarded to the first 8 riders to cross the sprint lines or the finish line, and the team with the most points wins.
Components
- 1 Board
- 24 Cyclists
- 48 Coloured adhesive labels
- 1 Pad of Movement Log Sheets
- 24 Sprint point tiles
The Circuit
The circuit of the track is made up of 40 squares, numbered 0 to 39. The START LINE is at square 0, the SPRINT LINE at square 33, and the FINISH LINE at square 20.
There are no "lanes" on the circuit, although a dashed dividing line has been drawn down the middle of the circuit for the case where a cyclist is lapped; lapped cyclists should be placed on one side of the centre line, and the cyclists who have lapped them should be placed on the other side.
It is very rare for a cyclist to be lapped. Players usually retire those cyclists who have no chance of latching back on to the pack and are therefore out of the race.
The race is run over 100 squares, which is two and a half laps of the circuit, and is made up of three stages: the first stage "First Sprint", the second stage "Second Sprint", and the third stage "Final Finish".
- The first stage, for the first Sprint, starts from the start line (square 0) and ends at the Sprint Line (square 33).
- The second stage, for the second Sprint, consists of one complete lap of the circuit, arriving again at the Sprint Line.
- The third stage runs from the Sprint Line (square 33) to the finish line (square 20).
Note that to complete a stage the cyclists must cross the relevant line. A cyclist who stops on a finishing line has not completed that sprint stage until he crosses it.
Setup
Each player chooses a colour and takes 4 cyclists of that colour. The cyclists must have adhesive labels (numbered 1, 2, 3 or 4) on their rear wheels to identify them. If you have not already numbered them and applied the labels, do so now, remembering that the labels of the same colour must all have the same number band (e.g. all the yellows are numbered in the 10s — 11, 12, 13, 14 — all the light blues are numbered in the 20s, and so on) (this depends on the stickers supplied by the manufacturer).
Place the board in the middle of the table and put the number one cyclist of each team on the start line. Give each player a Movement Log Sheet. The players should now assign the starting movement factors to their 4 cyclists, subject to the following limits:
| Cyclist | Points to distribute | Number of values |
|---|---|---|
| Cyclist 1 | 30 points | spread over 3 or 4 values |
| Cyclist 2 | 25 points | spread over 3 values |
| Cyclist 3 | 20 points | spread over 3 values |
| Cyclist 4 | 16 points | spread over 3 values |
Note: at set-up, no cyclist may have a Movement Factor of more than 15. On a later turn it is legal for a cyclist to receive a replacement movement factor higher than 15.
Each player should note the colour of his team on his Movement Log Sheet. Two or more players may not control the same team.
Put the Sprint Point tokens to one side for the moment.
You are now ready to start the first turn of Breaking Away.
Order of Play
- Movement of the cyclists
- Any points scored at the sprints are recorded
- The replacement Movement Factors are calculated
Movement of the Cyclists
With the exception of the first turn (see below), movement always starts from the front of the pack and works back to the rear. If two or more cyclists occupy the same square, the cyclist nearest the inside of the track moves first.
Movement starts with the race leader. The player controlling the leader looks at the movement factors available to that cyclist, chooses one, and announces the choice. The player then moves the cyclist the announced number of squares.
This process is then repeated for the second-placed rider and so on down to the last rider.
The movement factors chosen by each player are marked on the Movement Log Sheet by "crossing off" the appropriate box, or by a similar method. The unused Movement Factors are copied down into the row of boxes below. At this point each cyclist must have one empty movement factor box at this stage.
It is important that cyclists who have just arrived on a square are placed on the outside of the cyclists already occupying that square.
Movement on the first turn
On the first turn only, decide by a random method who will be the first player. Play then proceeds clockwise, moving all the number one cyclists first, then all the number 2 cyclists, and so on.
Remember to place newly arrived cyclists on the outside of those cyclists already present on a square.
Scoring Points
The first eight cyclists who move past a finishing line score points, as shown in the table below. Note: the Sprint point tiles also carry this information.
Points are awarded to the first rider to cross the line, not to the one who goes furthest. Therefore the first cyclist to cross a sprint finishing line is awarded 10 points even if he ends his turn only 1 square past the line, and even if another cyclist in the same turn crosses it by 23 squares.
Points are awarded during the race as the first 8 cyclists cross each line. The points are distributed as follows:
Sprint lines (stages one and two)
| Place | Points | Place | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 10 points | 5th | 4 points |
| 2nd | 8 points | 6th | 3 points |
| 3rd | 6 points | 7th | 2 points |
| 4th | 5 points | 8th | 1 point |
Finish line (stage three)
| Place | Points | Place | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 20 points | 5th | 8 points |
| 2nd | 16 points | 6th | 6 points |
| 3rd | 12 points | 7th | 4 points |
| 4th | 10 points | 8th | 2 points |
There are effectively three sprint stages, with the variation that the third stage scores double.
Replacement Movement Factors
The Replacement Movement Factors are calculated as follows:
Count the number of cyclists on the squares in front of the cyclist in question, stopping the count when an empty square is reached. Add 3 (squares) to the number obtained.
To keep track of the points obtained at the sprints, write the details on a piece of paper or hand out the relevant tokens for the points earned at the sprints. A player must reveal, if asked, how many sprint points his team has.
One player should be appointed as Race Director. The others should keep quiet for the few moments in which the Race Director declares the replacement movement factors for each cyclist. Anyone found guilty by the Race Director of not following the rules must retire from the game.
Tip: the team number of each cyclist is identified by the colour and by the sticker placed on the rear wheel. To help identification, make a note on your own movement log sheet of the team colour and of the sticker assigned to each cyclist (a scheme which should be the same for all teams).
Example
| Square | Cyclists |
|---|---|
| Square 17 | A, B |
| Square 16 | C |
| Square 15 | D |
| Square 14 | (empty) |
| Square 13 | E |
"A" and "B" receive replacement movement factors of 3, since they have no cyclists in front of them.
"C" receives a 5: the base 3 plus a "slipstream" bonus of 2 for the two cyclists in front of him.
"D" receives a 6: the base 3 plus a "slipstream" bonus of 3 for the cyclists "A", "B" and "C".
"E" receives only a movement factor of 3, because there are no cyclists on the square in front of him, and so he receives no bonus.
At this point the replacement movement factors must be entered on the Movement Log Sheet, in the box that was left empty after the movement.
The Breaking Away Rule
There is a special rule which changes the replacement movement factor of a cyclist who has gone clear on his own in a breakaway.
On the turn in which he breaks away from the pack, the leading cyclist receives a replacement movement factor equal to his lead over the second-placed cyclist. This is called "The Breaking Away Bonus". If the leader stays in front on subsequent turns he receives a "3" as normal. However, if he loses first place and then regains it, he receives "The Breaking Away Bonus" on the turn in which he returns to the lead.
Example
- On turn 4, cyclist Red 2 pulls out a lead of 6 squares over the second-placed cyclist, "White 1". Because his lead is 6 squares, "Red 2" receives a replacement movement factor of 6.
- On the following turn (turn 5 in the example), "Red 2" stays in front and so receives the normal replacement value of 3.
- On turn 6, "Red 2" and "White 1" both share the lead. Neither of them has gone clear, so both receive a normal replacement movement factor of 3.
- On turn 7, "Red 2" retakes the lead on his own, with a lead over the former co-leader "White 1" of a single square. His replacement movement factor is therefore 1.
Winning the Game
When 8 cyclists have crossed the finish line, the race is over.
The team with the most sprint points wins. In the event of a tie, among the tied teams the one that had the best-placed rider wins.
Stop! You now know enough to play BREAKING AWAY. We hope you enjoy it!
Optional Rules
Breaking away from the pack
The rules of Breaking Away can be changed so that the race leader receives a replacement movement factor equal to the value of his lead over the best-placed cyclist of a rival team. This encourages breakaways from the pack.
Overcrowding on the first turn
On the first turn only, any square containing 5 or more cyclists is considered to be an overcrowded square. Any cyclist in an overcrowded square automatically receives a replacement movement factor of 3. Furthermore, when calculating the replacement movement factor of the other cyclists, overcrowded squares are treated as if they were empty squares.
Staggered start
Instead of starting all the cyclists from the START LINE, start only the number 1 cyclists from the START LINE (square 0); the number 2 cyclists start from square 39, those numbered 3 start on square 38, and the number 4 cyclists start from square 37.
Frequently Asked Questions
The following answers are the designer's own rulings, reproduced from the official Breaking Away FAQ page at fbgames.co.uk.
Are a team's movement values open or secret?
This is a tough question to answer as it depends on the playing style of the group you play with — some people might prefer a (much) longer game in which the aim is to work out the optimum move for each cyclist each turn.
However, the game was designed to be a fast moving race in which many of the decisions are made "by the seat of your pants". On most turns there is a choice to be made between "taking what's on offer" (i.e. slotting in behind another cyclist) or taking a gamble on making something better happen (e.g. a breakaway attempt, or hanging back off the pack in the hope the gaps will be filled). My own view is that to allow players to halt the game whilst they mathematically work out all the permutations would be detrimental to the game. My ruling therefore is:
All movement values for cyclists remain secret, but a player may choose to reveal them if he wishes.
The exception to the above would be when one player suspects another has made an error, such as using cyclist number 2's movement value for cyclist number 3. In such cases I think it is reasonable for a "time out" to be called to sort out any possible errors. Of course, it is possible for some players to abuse the time out option, but they are the sort of people who pretty soon can't find anybody else to play with.
On set-up, can a player put a movement factor of 0 as one of the three values?
No, a cyclist may not start with a movement factor of 0. The rules should say that all starting movement values for each cyclist must be in the range of 1 to 15 inclusive.
On set-up, can a player put in a value over 15 as long as they do not use that particular value on the first move off of the start line? Or is the rule that you cannot put a value over 15 on the sheet?
You cannot choose a starting movement value higher than 15 even if you don't intend to use it on the first turn. The only way you can get a movement value higher than 15 is by receiving it as a replacement value.
For assigning the values for cyclist number 1, the rule says either three or four values. Is it up to players, or should we discuss before the game? Also I assume that once we started with three, there is no way to get four values later in the game, as we use one and get one replacement value — correct?
Choosing three or four values is personal preference for each player, so some players may play with four values (greater choice of tactical options) or three values (higher starting cards). The starting values allocation is done simultaneously and secretly.
On the Breaking Away rule, one player insisted that the "breaking away bonus" meant that the player gets the lead value (six for Red 2 in the first example in the rules) plus 3. In other words, he said the example was wrong, because a lead of one would only get a new leader a replacement movement factor of one, and that is not a bonus — that's a penalty.
The example in the rules is correct — that is to say, when breaking away it is possible to get a replacement value of less than 3. I agree that the term "bonus" implies that the replacement value should be higher than if you had not broken away, but in a game where it is good to be able to go slower than other cyclists (because you can then slipstream them) one could still argue that a replacement value of less than "3" is a bonus. (OK, it was sloppy terminology, but the ruling still stands; the rationalisation is that a cyclist who has attempted to break away but has not managed to do so by more than 2 squares is worse off than had he remained back with the pack.)
If a cyclist starts to lap the field, can that cyclist "draft" (slipstream) off the lapped riders to get a bigger replacement movement factor? Example — a rider in third place is directly behind the second placed rider. On the same square as the second placed rider are three riders in the rear of the race. Does the 3rd place rider replace with 4 or 7?
This is covered in the rules in the section about the race track. The reason there is a thin line on the circuit dividing it up into 2 lanes is to enable lapped cyclists to be put on the opposite side of the central line to the cyclists who have lapped them, thereby indicating that the two groups are on completely different parts of the track.
I know the circuit on the board looks like a velodrome, or perhaps a road race on the London Orbital Motorway (the M25), but this was done purely for space considerations — ideally the track would be a single lane straight track about 10 feet long!
When can cyclists be retired off the track? This could be important due to a rider breaking a link of connected rider squares.
A cyclist may only be retired from the pack with the agreement of all the other players.
How much are the extra cyclists to add a 7th, 8th or 9th player — what are the colours?
You can order one or more extra teams of 4 cyclists from the online shop. We have in stock the following colours: black, white, blue, red, green, yellow, purple, orange, pink, brown, gold and silver. When ordering the extra cyclists, specify which colours you need. Please note that the brown and gold cyclists are quite similar in a gloomy light.
When you use a movement factor, does it become zero until the replacement factor is worked out — i.e. is it used up?
Yes, it is used up. Cross it out when you use it and copy the unused ones down to the next row.
Variant: Madison
This Breaking Away variant was designed by Ton Segers and is published on the official Breaking Away resources page at fbgames.co.uk. It is not part of the standard rules.
In a Madison, teams consisting of 2 cyclists have to ride (in alternate turns) a certain distance (100 laps or an hour), gaining points (5-3-2-1) every 5 laps. The final sprint doubles these points (10-6-4-2). The winner is the team that has covered the most distance. In case of a tie, the team with the most points is victorious.
Ton has devised the following rules to allow you to use your Breaking Away set to stage Madisons.
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Teams of 2 instead of 4 take part in the race. (You can paint the riders in different colours, perhaps putting stripes on their shirts but leaving the bases and bikes the same colour so you can still use the teams for the original Breaking Away game — or you can buy extra sets of cyclists.)
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Every player gets 2 cyclists and determines whether the two will be rated a Cyclist 1, 2, 3 or 4. So there will be good teams (cyclist 1 and 2) and there can be bad teams (cyclist 3 and 4), but in real life this is common. Of course players can handle more than one team by playing series, semi-finals and so on.
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Between 9 and 14 teams should take part in a Madison; twelve is most common.
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Set up: every player chooses one of the riders of each team and lines him up at line (space) 0. The other team member (who we will call the "relief cyclist") is placed on any given space along the rightmost border of the track, i.e. near the number of the space; these riders are resting and waiting for their turn to take over. All "relief cyclists" must be on individual spaces; in other words, you can only have one relief cyclist per space.
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The race: the starting procedure, movement and the calculation of the replacement factors are not changed from the standard version of Breaking Away.
Variant: after all the standard procedures have been gone through (e.g. replacement movement factors have been calculated), certain cyclists may opt to let their partner take over in the race; in game terms that means that the cyclist who was on the race track is moved off the board adjacent to the space he was on, to be replaced by his partner. This change-over can only be effected if the retiring cyclist is occupying the space nearest the outside; so if three cyclists occupy the same space, the one nearest the inside and the one in the middle cannot change with their partner. Note, also, that the change-over cannot take place if a relief cyclist occupies the same space as the retiring cyclist. So if, for example, Orange cyclist B is resting on square 12 and Red cyclist A lands on square 12, he cannot be replaced by Red cyclist B. This rule makes it harder for replacements to take place.
Cyclists are obliged to change partners at least once a lap. If a cyclist is prevented from doing so by blocking tactics (or incompetent play!) he must change with his partner at the earliest opportunity — i.e. if he is able to land on a space which is not blocked by a relief rider, he must do so.
Tactics: players have to consider exactly when to change partners just before a sprint, because a tired man cannot "change" partners when he is "tucked in". Opponents can hinder favourite teams just before sprinting in this way.
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Scoring points: because of the decreased number of (active) racing cyclists, the point system will be as usual in the Madison, i.e. 5-3-2-1 and a final sprint of 10-6-4-2. The races are run over 4 laps, and there is only one scoring stage for each lap, triggered by cyclists crossing the Start line. In other words, ignore the Sprint lines and Finish lines on the Breaking Away board.