Clash of the Ardennes Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Prepare yourself!
• Objective
• Setup Example
• Close combat
• Attacking
• The same units in line
• Equal opponents
• Blocking
• Conquering a road
• Units
  • Anti-tank mine
  • Tank
  • Infantry
• Special units
  • Infantry - General
  • Spy
  • Command tank
  • Infantry - Mortar
• Game examples and tactics
  • Example: start of a new game
  • Example: using the command tank
  • Example: using the mortar
  • Example: the same units

Prepare yourself!

To start a new game, unfold the battlefield board and place it in the center of the play area (see page 13). Players choose which side of the battle they will play: the Allies (green, star) or the Germans (red, cross).

Each player should then take their matching units from the box (25 per player) and place them next to the battlefield. It is recommended to sort them by unit type to make them easily accessible during play.

Shuffle the "Victory" and "Objective" cards separately and place them face down on the designated spots on the battlefield.

Objective

Choose a starting player or flip a coin. The starting player draws one Objective card from the top of the Objective deck. Then, the second player does the same. Objective cards are kept hidden from the other player.

Each drawn Objective card contains that player's unique win conditions. After viewing their win condition, each player places their Objective card facedown next to their units in the play area. Each player may view their own Objective card at any time during the course of play.

To win the game, a player will need to conquer the roads described on their objective card. Players conquer roads by placing units, starting from their own side and reaching to the other players' side. If, at any point, a player forms an uninterrupted line in this way, they conquer that road.

As an alternative objective, players may also win the game by being the first to conquer any 3 roads.

Setup Example

Board labels (page 13): "Allied side" and "German side" mark the two starting edges of the battlefield. "This is 1 of the 7 starting blocks of the Allied side." "1 of the 7 roads."

EXAMPLE: start of a new game

Here you can see that the Germans placed 4 units (1 infantry private, 2 tanks and 1 anti-tank mine) on roads 3, 4 and 5. This means 4 action points in total have been used, so now the Allies can start their round.

Close combat

The game is played in rounds, with each player getting 1 turn per round. Each player starts their turn with 4 action points. Players may choose to spend all their action points to perform actions or may choose to spend only a portion. Actions may be performed in any order so long as the actions used do not exceed the player's 4 point limit. Actions that may be performed are listed below, together with their cost.

Action	Cost
Place any unit in any road	1 action point
Take any rearmost unit on any road and place it to the front of the line on the same road	2 action points
Retreat a leading unit and place it back in stock	2 action points
Retreat a leading blocked unit and place it back in stock	3 action points

Important rules to remember:

1. Units always start moving/advancing from a player's side, starting from their OWN starting blocks.
2. The units must always be in contact with each other and must form an uninterrupted line.
3. Players can't have a gap between their own units (see point 2). it needs to be an uninterrupted line.
4. Once a player has finished their actions, it's their opponent's turn. Unused action points are lost and are not carried over between rounds.
5. Units can never overlap.

Attacking

It is unavoidable that units will eventually clash, because an opponent will try to prevent a player from reaching their side.

When 2 units clash (the front units touch each other and the active player attacks*), the strongest unit always wins.

When a player with a stronger unit attacks their opponent, the opponent must withdraw the weaker unit from the battlefield and return it in their stock. This unit is available to use again by the opponent on their own turns. A gap appears and the player may now fill this gap with a unit or units from their own stock, if they have action points left.

The detail of who defeats who is further explained in the "unit section". For now, it is enough to understand that a tank defeats infantry, infantry defeats an anti-tank mine and an anti-tank mine defeats a tank, see below.

Important rules to remember:

• Attacking is always optional, costs no action points at all and can be executed any time during a turn.
• Players can't attack a stronger unit.

* special rules apply for the mortar and commander tank, see the special unit section.

The same units in line

When a player attacks (for example, infantry attacks an anti-tank mine), all the same units (in this case all the anti-tank mines) that are in line must be removed together with all units that are weaker than the attacking unit. This means: don't place too many of the same units in line. Better alternate them with other units.

Important rule to remember:

• An attack ALWAYS stops at the point where a unit meets a stronger unit, a unit that is the same or a unit that has the same rank.

Equal opponents

When equal units clash (exactly the same units or the same rank), ONLY these 2 units must be removed. So, for example, if two anti-tank mines clash, ONLY both anti-tank mines are taken back from the battlefield.

Example: In this case the Allies placed 1 tank, an anti-tank mine, an infantry private and another anti-tank mine on road 5. The Germans reacted and placed a tank, an infantry private and an infantry sergeant on the same road. If the Germans decide to attack (clash), the infantry sergeant will destroy the Allied anti-tank mine, the infantry soldier and the other anti-tank mine. The attack stops at the tank, because the sergeant doesn't outrank the tank. The Germans still have 1 action point left.

Blocking

On a player's turn, they may want to "block" their opponents with a stronger unit. Instead of attacking, the player leaves their stronger unit touching the weaker unit. When it is their opponents' turn, there is no room for them to place a stronger opposing unit on that road, and therefore removing their front unit is the only option. This costs them 3 valuable action points...

Tip: A player doesn't have to attack an enemy unit: blocking is a smart way to hold the road in their advantage. Use it often.

Example: In this case, the Germans placed an anti-tank mine in front of an enemy tank. The Germans have no more action points left, so they decide not to attack, but block the enemy tank.

Conquering a road

When a player reached the end of the road with any unit, they have conquered this road. The player may now draw 1 "Victory card" and place a "road-marker" on this road. Read the Victory card and use it as described on the card.

Board note (page 17): "This road is conquered by the Axis. A road-marker is placed."

Important rules to remember:

• A player can't retreat a leading unit on a conquered road.
• You can never overlap a road.
• You can only use a Victory card during your own rounds.

Units

The following pages contain the descriptions of all basic and special units that are used during the game. If you're new to Clash of the Ardennes, then consider playing a few games without the special units and Victory cards.

Anti-tank mine

The anti-tank mine occupies 1 tile and is widely used to fill in small gaps. The anti-tank mine defeats all tanks, but can be disarmed by all infantry and the spy.

Components: 5x Allied anti-tank mines, 5x German anti-tank mines.

Tank

The tank occupies 3 tiles and can therefore advance very quickly. The tank defeats all infantry, but is defeated by the anti-tank mine and the spy.

Components: 7x Allied tanks, 7x German tanks.

Infantry

Infantry occupies 2 tiles (except the general, which occupies 5 tiles) and is the most common piece in the game. Each infantry unit has a rank. If 2 infantry units clash, the highest-ranking infantry unit wins. There are 5 playable infantry ranks (2 of them are 'special units', which are described on page 20 and page 21).

The Allied and German privates are the lowest in ranking, followed by the Allied and German corporals. The Allied and German sergeants are next in ranking.

If a higher-ranking Infantry unit clashes with SEVERAL lower-ranking infantry units in a line, ALL lower-ranking infantry units are removed from the battlefield together with weaker units (in this case anti-tank mines), up to the point when they meet another unit, which is a higher-ranking infantry unit, an infantry unit with the same rank or a stronger unit.

If two infantry units clash and they have the same rank, the same rule applies as a clash with other equal units. BOTH units are removed from the battlefield.

Components: 6x German infantry privates, 2x German infantry corporals, 1x German infantry sergeant; 6x Allied infantry privates, 2x Allied infantry corporals, 1x Allied infantry sergeant.

Special units

The following pages contain the descriptions of all special units that can be used during the game. Special units are limited in number (1 per type) and have special abilities that can affect the battlefield.

During a game, each player can only have 1 special unit on the battlefield. If a player wants to use any other special unit, they first have to retreat a leading special unit previously placed in a road (2 action points) or wait for it to be defeated by the opposing player.

Important to remember:

• When a player has conquered a road and a special unit is wedged in this road, they have reached their special unit limit (1) and cannot use another during the course of the game.

Infantry - General

The general behaves the same as all infantry units. Because the general is the highest in command, he defeats all infantry units, as well as the anti-tank mine. This special unit has the ability to make a huge step, because of the length of the unit (5 tiles). The general is defeated by all tanks and the spy.

Components: 1x Special unit Infantry - German General; 1x Special unit Infantry - Allied General.

Spy

The spy is the most cunning unit in the game. The spy occupies 1 tile only and therefore can always be placed. The spy defeats every other unit. Only an enemy spy can stop the other spy. Both spies are then removed from the battlefield.

Although the spy can attack any other unit and always wins, they can't wipe out a whole road. The downside of the spy is that (s)he can only attack the first 2 units that are in line. In the accidental case that the second unit is the enemy spy, the enemy spy will stand its ground and remain on the board.

Components: 1x Special unit German spy; 1x Special unit Allied spy.

Command tank

The command tank behaves the same as a normal tank, but has the extra special ability to flank on both roads, left and right, next to the road you placed it on. A player must place this special unit with the arrow pointing towards weaker units. If one of the arrows contacts with a part of any infantry unit, this infantry unit must be removed from the game board together with all other units in front of it (even if it contains stronger units like anti-tank mines or the spy). This is a powerful special unit, because it can clear up to 3 roads at once.

Important rules to remember:

• You can't flank the opponents tanks or command tank. You can only flank infantry units.
• The player who attacks, always decides which unit they attack and which unit not.

Note: in the "Game examples and tactics" section, the command tank is described in more detail.

Components: 1x Special unit German command tank; 1x Special unit Allied command tank.

Infantry - Mortar

The mortar (infantry unit) has the special ability to attack from a distance. When deployed, a player can only attack the lowest ranking infantry unit (private) who is exactly 2 roads away from the mortar and in line with the arrow of the mortar (left side ONLY). This infantry unit must be removed from the game board together with all other units in front of it (even if it contains stronger units like tanks, higher ranking infantry or the spy).

When in direct contact (clash), the mortar only wins against the anti-tank mine, but loses against all other infantry units, tanks and the spy.

Note: the Mortar may shoot over a captured road. In the "Game examples and tactics" section, the mortar is described in more detail.

Components: 1x Special unit Infantry - German mortar; 1x Special unit Infantry - Allied mortar.

Game examples and tactics

Example: start of a new game

1. The Allies started this game and placed 2 tanks and 2 infantry units on 2 different roads.
2. The Germans reacted and placed 2 Infantry units and an anti-tank mine on one road and a tank on the other road.
3. The Allies placed a tank and an infantry unit. After this, the Allies took the last unit and brought it to the front (1 + 1 + 2 = 4 action points in total).
4. The Germans placed a tank, 2 infantry units and a tank.
5. The Allies reacted and placed a tank, 2 infantry units and an anti-tank mine in front of the enemy tank, therefore, blocking the German tank.
6. The Germans decide not to retreat their blocked tank, but placed an infantry unit, an anti-tank mine, a tank and another infantry unit on road 6.

Example: using the command tank

In this example, the command tank is described. It is a highly dangerous special unit, which can clear up to 3 roads at once as long as one of the three arrows displayed on the command tank unit, points towards infantry (it doesn't matter which part of the tile of the infantry unit).

Let's assume this is in the middle of a game. The Germans have already conquered road 7 (1) and gained a Victory card (6).

The Germans placed their command tank (2) with their last action point. They decide to attack the left road, because the left arrow is pointing towards an infantry unit. This Infantry unit must be removed from the battlefield together with ALL units in front of this unit (3), no matter which unit. The German command tank can't attack the right road, because the arrow of the command tank is not in line with an infantry unit (4). The Germans can now choose between blocking the front 2 infantry units or attack (5). If they attack, both infantry units must be removed, but then the Allies will possibly place stronger units on this road during their round. Blocking is preferable.

Note: the command tank can't attack any units in a conquered road.

Example: using the mortar

The mortar is described in this example. A handy unit, which can clear up 1 road at once, as long as the arrow of the mortar points towards (left side only) the lowest ranking infantry unit, the private (it doesn't matter which part of the tile) and is 2 roads away. Let's assume this is in the middle of a game. The Allies placed a mortar (1) and attack 2 roads ahead. This means the infantry unit (private) together with ALL units which are in front of this unit must be removed (2).

Note: a player can't attack any units in a conquered road, but they can shoot over a conquered road.

Example: the same units

The Allies placed an infantry private in front of an enemy infantry private (3). When the Allies decide to attack, both units are removed from the battlefield. The Allies also placed an infantry corporal in front of a German infantry private (4). The corporal is higher in ranking, so when the Allies decide to attack, the private and the anti-tank mine are removed from the battlefield.