Czas Honoru: Operacja Most III Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Components
  • Card description
  • Zones
  • Rocket card
  • Fragments
• Preparing to Play
• Card Types
• Game Sequence
  • 1. Draw 5 cards
  • 2. V-2 fired! Place fragments
  • 3. Player actions
    • Actions
  • 4. End of turn
• Immediate Cards and Immediate Abilities
• Card Abilities
  • Action abilities
  • Immediate abilities (cards on the table)
  • Immediate Cards
  • Event Cards
• Victory!
• Player Aid Cards
  • German player aid
  • Polish player aid
• Historical Notes
  • V-2 Rocket (information from the box)
  • The V-2 in Poland
  • Outcome
  • Technical and tactical data
  • Operation Wildhorn III

Introduction

Days of HONOR: Operation Wildhorn III is a fast paced tactical card wargame for 2 players.

The first player takes the role of the Polish commander. His goal is to collect fragments from rockets test-fired from the German missile base. The second player takes the role of the German commander, and is trying to protect the secrets of the rocket testing area.

The game lasts four turns. Each turn begins with a missile test, which scatters new fragments of the rocket in the peripheral area surrounding the testing ground. Players alternately take player turns, during which they place their units on the table and perform actions. Players use scouts to collect missile fragments, but they need to be protected by soldiers and partisans, because enemy contact can lead to combat. These actions are supported by elite units: Polish commandos and German SS Stormtroopers - able to penetrate enemy lines. In addition, players build a network of command and support units, which allows them to effectively carry out their actions.

Players also affect the course of the game during their opponent's moves, playing cards for immediate effects. And each side has a set of unique events (e.g., Germans can use their logistical advantages, while Poles can hide, and even evacuate rocket fragments to England!)

To determine combat and exploration results, players each use a 6-sided die, but they have many opportunities to modify the results, so a good plan should work even with bad luck. At the end of the game, the player with more rocket parts wins. This means the player successfully stole (Polish) or concealed (German) the secrets of the V-2 weapon.

Components

• Rulebook
• 15 black cubes (fragments)
• 55 cards: 5 Rocket cards, 3 Zone cards, 23 Polish cards, 23 German cards, 1 Player Aid
• 2 dice: 1 black (German) and 1 red (Polish)

NOTE! Should any of these components be missing, please contact your Retailer.

NOTE! Before further reading please watch a short video tutorial, which you can find on the publisher's channel: www.youtube.com/user/PhalanxPolska

Card description

• Card numbers and starting cards: card number / number of cards in the deck; players' starting cards are marked START.
• Card nationality: upper right corner (Germans or Poles).
• Card type: upper left corner (Unit, Support, Action card, Immediate card).
• Card abilities: bottom of card.

Zones

• Rocket base
• Periphery
• Forest

Rocket card

The front shows the number of fragments.

Fragments

Parts of crashed V-2 rockets.

Preparing to Play

Players choose their sides. The Polish player takes the Polish deck, and the German player takes the German deck.

The 3 Zone cards are placed (vertically oriented) in the middle of the table - they will mark the 3 Zones of play:

• The Forest card (Polish Home Zone) is closer to the Polish player.
• The Periphery card (Neutral Zone) is between the Home Zones.
• The Rocket Base card (German Home Zone) is closer to the German Player.

Each Home Zone is adjacent to the Periphery, but not to the enemy Home Zone. The Rocket card deck is shuffled and placed face down beside the terrain cards. All 15 fragment markers are placed nearby.

Each player takes the 3 cards marked START from their cards, then shuffles their remaining cards and places them face down to form their respective German and Polish decks.

Layout: German player, German die and deck; Rocket base (German Home Zone); Periphery (Neutral Zone); Forest (Polish Home Zone); Polish player, Polish die and deck; deck of rocket cards and pool of fragment markers.

Card Types

Units (but not Support) are able to move to other zones: the Periphery and the enemy Home Zone.

NOTE! Unit & Support cards can be "fresh" (oriented vertically) or "exhausted" (oriented horizontally). Typically a card must be fresh to use it, and using a card exhausts the card.

There are two major card types in Days of Honor:

1. Unit cards - (Soldiers/Partisans - green; Recon - yellow; Unseen and Silent/SS - red) Support cards - these represent various supplies and command support.

   Unit cards and Support cards are brought into play by being placed onto the table. The Rocket Base is the Home Zone of the German player, whose cards in play all start in this zone. Similarly, the Forest is the Home Zone of the Polish player, whose cards in play all start in this zone.

2. Action cards - cards with special and unique abilities, played as an action. Immediate cards - cards played for an immediate effect (not played as an action).

   Immediate cards are played directly from one's hand (no need to place them on the table first) and are removed from play immediately after use. Action cards are used similarly to Immediate cards, but they are played as an action, and sometimes aren't immediately removed from play, staying in play permanently (Operation Wildhorn III) or until the turn end (Hidden Fragments).

Game Sequence

The game lasts 4 turns. Each turn has the following 4 steps:

1. Draw 5 cards.
2. V-2 fired! Place fragments.
3. Player actions.
4. End of turn.

1. Draw 5 cards

Both players draw 5 cards from their decks (regardless of how many cards they currently hold).

Example: In the first turn, after drawing cards, each player will have 8 cards - their 3 starting cards plus 5 more randomly drawn cards.

Once per game, each player may discard these 5 drawn cards back to their deck, reshuffle the deck, and draw 5 cards again.

2. V-2 fired! Place fragments

Reveal the top card of the Rocket deck. Place as many fragments as shown on the drawn card onto the Periphery card. Place the face up Rocket card nearby, to keep track of the number of turns already played. Any fragments not collected by players during a turn will remain on the Periphery card and may be searched for in later turns.

IMPORTANT: There are 5 Rocket cards in the deck and the game lasts only 4 turns. Therefore 1 card will not be revealed during the game. This intentionally creates some uncertainty about the total number of fragments available in a game.

Example: The first revealed Rocket card has a value of 2. So 2 fragments are placed onto the Periphery card.

3. Player actions

Players alternate taking actions, starting with the Polish player, until both of them pass in a row.

Actions

The active player performs one of the following actions or else passes:

a) Place a card into their Home Zone. The player plays one fresh (vertically oriented) Unit or Support card into their Home Zone. During a later action it may be activated.

or

b) Activate one of their cards on the table. The player selects one of their Unit or Support cards to perform its ability marked with a triangle symbol. The card becomes exhausted (turned horizontal). Exhausted cards cannot be activated again until they are refreshed (e.g., by using a Command action or at the end of the turn).

or

c) Play an Action card. The player plays an Action card to perform the card's indicated action. Players may support their actions by playing Immediate cards and Immediate abilities (see below).

Example: After revealing the Rocket card and placing new fragments in the Periphery, Gregory and Peter perform their actions. Peter (the Polish player) places the Recon Unit into the Forest (his Home Zone). Then, as the first German action, Gregory plays a Support card into the Rocket Base (his Home Zone). For his next Polish action, Peter activates the Recon Unit and moves it into the Periphery, exhausting it. Etc.

Pass. Instead of performing an action, a player can pass. If the opponent did not just pass, then it is again the opponent's turn to act. A player who passed may still play Immediate cards and use Immediate abilities of their cards on the table.

IMPORTANT: If a player passes and the opponent performs an action, then the player who passed again has the option to perform an action or pass.

Only after both players passed in a row, one immediately after the other, does Step 3 (Player actions) end, and players move on to Step 4 (End of turn).

4. End of turn

Players refresh all exhausted Unit and Support cards by turning them vertically. If fewer than 4 Rocket cards are face up, then players start another turn. After the 4th turn, the game ends and the winner is determined.

Immediate Cards and Immediate Abilities

In addition to doing actions, players may play Immediate cards directly from their hands and may use the Immediate abilities of their cards on the table. Immediate cards/abilities are marked with a triangle and a dash symbol.

Immediate Cards: Playing an Immediate card directly from one's hand is not an action and may be done at any time indicated by the specific card's description. After being played, the Immediate card is permanently removed from play.

Immediate Abilities: Players may use Immediate abilities of any of their fresh cards on the table at any time indicated by the card's description. Using a card's Immediate ability exhausts the card, so the card is turned horizontally. An exhausted card's Immediate ability cannot be used. E.g., exhausted Soldiers cannot Escort.

Example: Peter has searched with his Recon Unit and rolled 2 on his die, too low to succeed. So he plays the Immediate card "Good Luck" from his hand in order to add 2 to his roll. Now the modified result of 4 is high enough to succeed. But Gregory does not want Peter to succeed so easily and decides to play the "Bad Luck" card from his hand, which decreases Peter's die roll by 2, back to the original 2. Peter is determined to get the fragment at any cost, so he decides to use the Immediate abilities of his two Support cards, each giving him a +1 bonus to the die roll. Now the search roll is 4 again, which is successful.

IMPORTANT: Players may and should use Immediate cards as well as Immediate abilities of their cards at any convenient moment - until the effect of the action being currently performed is finally executed. This is normally done when a player can change the action's result to be more favorable for that player. Peter's roll of 2 was unsuccessful, so Gregory had no reason to react. However, after Peter increased his roll to 4, turning defeat into success, Gregory decided to counter it with his "Bad Luck" card. Peter was so determined that he used 2 more cards. At that point, Gregory decided not to react again because he felt that Peter had already paid a sufficiently high price to collect the fragment.

Card Abilities

Action abilities

The following abilities may be performed only by a player's cards on the table. Note that using an Action ability is an action, and it exhausts the card (turning it horizontal).

ATTACK The player chooses one of their Units with an attack ability to attack an enemy Unit or Support card in the same zone. The attacker rolls a die and adds the number of bullets printed on their attacking card. The defender also rolls a die and adds the number of bullets printed on their defending card. Support cards do not have the ability to attack. They defend themselves if attacked with zero bullets. If the attacker's total is higher than the defender's total, then the attacked card is destroyed and permanently removed from play. If the attacker's total is less than or equal to the defender's total, then nothing happens.

Example: There are 3 cards in the Periphery: Polish Scouts and Partisans and German Soldiers. The German player declares that his action will be the Soldiers attacking the Scouts. The German player turns the Soldiers horizontal, to show that the card is exhausted. Then he rolls his die, scoring 3, and adds 2, for the 2 bullets printed on the Soldiers. The Polish player rolls his die, scoring 4, and adds 1, for the 1 bullet printed on the Scouts. Thus both totals are 5: the result is a tie, so the Scouts survived the attack and nothing more happens.

SEARCH This ability may be used in the Periphery only. It allows a player's Unit to search for fragments. The player rolls a die. If the result is equal to or higher than the number printed on the card, then the player may take 1 fragment from the Periphery card and place it on his Home Zone card. This ability cannot be used if there are no fragments on the Periphery card.

Example: Continuation of the previous example. The Polish player declares that his action will be activating his Scouts to search. He turns the Scouts horizontal to show they're exhausted. Then he throws the die and scores 6. Success! He moves one fragment from the Periphery card to the Forest card.

STURMWIND / SPY This ability lets a player try to steal 1 fragment from the enemy's Home Zone card and place it on their own Home Zone card. Only Units in the enemy Home Zone may use this ability. The player rolls a die. If the result is greater than or equal to the number printed on the card, the player may move 1 fragment from the enemy's Home Zone to their own Home Zone card. This ability cannot be used if there are no fragments on the enemy Home Zone card.

Example: The SS card is in the Forest. The German player activates it, declares the Sturmwind action, and exhausts the card. Then he throws a 5 on the die, a success! He moves 1 fragment from the Forest card to the Rocket Base card.

COMMAND By using this ability, players may refresh one of their exhausted Unit cards. (Command cannot be used on Support cards.)

Example: Continuation of the previous example. The German player has a Support card in the Rocket Base. He activates this card, exhausting it, as a Command action to refresh his exhausted Soldiers card in the Periphery, turning the Soldiers vertically again.

MOVEMENT This ability lets a player move one of his Units to an adjacent zone.

Example: The Polish player has a Partisans card in his Home Zone. Using the movement action, he moves this card into the Periphery, and exhausts the activated card.

VOLUNTEERS This ability lets a player perform 2 actions in a row. No enemy action occurs between the first and the second action, but both players may play Immediate cards and use Immediate abilities as usual.

IMPORTANT: A player may do more than 2 actions in a row, by using this ability more than once (e.g., by activating 2 or more Support cards which have this ability).

Example: Continuation of the previous example. The Polish player has 2 fresh Support cards in his Home Zone. He activates the first one for Volunteers (and exhausts it). Now he can do 2 actions in a row. For the first action, he activates (and exhausts) the second Support card for a Command action, to refresh his exhausted Scouts in the Periphery. For the second action, he activates (and exhausts) the Scouts, using them to perform a Search action. He rolls 4 on the die, a success! So he moves a fragment from the Periphery card to the Forest card. Using 2 actions in a row this way let the Polish player get the initiative against the Germans before they could attack.

Immediate abilities (cards on the table)

Some cards may be used for their Immediate abilities. This does not constitute an action, but it exhausts the card (turning it horizontal).

ASSISTANCE This Immediate ability lets a player add +1 to one of their die rolls.

Example: Continuation of the attack example from the previous page. The German Soldiers' Attack on the Polish Scouts ended in a tie, 5 to 5. The German player uses his Support card's immediate ability of Assistance, adding +1 to his die result. The final outcome of the attack is now 6 to 5, a successful attack for the German player, so the Polish Scouts card is removed from the game.

ESCORT This ability lets the selected card take the place in combat of the card declared as an attack target. Both cards must be in the same zone. The Escort must be declared before any die rolls, just after the attacker's target declaration.

Example: Alternate play of the attack example from the previous page. The German player declares his attack, with the Polish Scouts as the target, and the Polish player immediately uses his Partisans card in the same zone as an escort, redirecting the German attack onto the Partisans. The German Soldiers remain the attacker, but now the Polish Partisans are the defender. The Polish Partisans instead of the Scouts will suffer the possible consequence of the attack. The German player rolls 4, and the Polish player rolls 3, and they each add 2 for the 2 bullets printed on each of the Soldiers and Partisans cards. So the result is 6 to 5, a successful attack for the German player. The Polish Partisans are removed from the game, but the Polish player saved his valuable Scouts from the German attack.

Immediate Cards

Played directly from hand, permanently discarded after use. Note that using an Immediate card does not constitute an action.

GOOD LUCK Play to add 2 to your die roll.

BAD LUCK Play to reduce your enemy's die roll by 2.

AMBUSH! Play during your attack, after the enemy has declared Escort or decided not to, but before any die rolls. Your attack automatically succeeds.

WITNESSES Play when performing a search action, but before your die roll. Your search is automatically successful and you gain 1 fragment.

NURSES Play this card after an enemy attack if your Unit card is eliminated. Instead of removing your Unit card from play, place it in your Home Zone, exhausted.

MOTORCYCLE Play this card while doing a move action with one of your Units. The Unit is not exhausted by the movement.

Event Cards

Played as actions directly from your hand, permanently discarded after use.

OPERATION WILDHORN III Place this card near the Forest and move all fragments from the Forest onto this card. The fragments on this card are safely protected from the German Sturmwind action. The fragments count for victory points as usual. This card may be played only if there are no German Units in the Forest. After playing this card, all fragments taken later by the Polish player go onto the Forest card as usual (not onto this card). This card can be played only once during the game, but remains on the table until the end of the game.

HIGH MORALE Play to refresh one of your Units.

MOTORIZED COLUMN Play this card to perform 3 actions in a row and then refresh one of your Units.

HIDDEN FRAGMENTS Place this card near the Periphery and move 1 or 2 fragments from the Periphery onto this card. These hidden fragments cannot be searched for. After this turn ends, this card is permanently removed from play and the fragments on it are moved back onto the Periphery.

Victory!

The victor is the player with the most fragments on his Home Zone after finishing all 4 turns. If both players have the same number of fragments, then the German player wins.

EXCEPTION: If one player's Home Zone has no friendly cards and at least one enemy Unit, that player automatically loses the game, regardless of the numbers of fragments. If both players have this situation, they compare fragments collected to determine the winner.

Player Aid Cards

German player aid

• ATTACK: Choose one of your Units to attack an enemy Unit or Support card in the same zone. Roll a die and add the number of bullets printed on your attacking card. The defender rolls a die and adds the number of bullets printed on the defending card. If your total is higher than the defender's total, the attacked card is destroyed. Otherwise nothing happens.
• VOLUNTEERS: Do two actions in a row.
• ASSISTANCE: Add 1 to your die roll.
• GOOD LUCK: Add 2 to your die roll.
• BAD LUCK: Reduce your enemy's die roll by 2.
• SEARCH: Periphery only. Choose one of your Units to search for fragments. Roll a die. If the result is greater than or equal to the number printed on the card, move 1 fragment from the Periphery to your Home Zone.
• STURMWIND: Steal a fragment from the enemy's Home Zone. The stealing Unit must be inside the enemy Home Zone. Roll a die. If the result is greater than or equal to the number printed on the card, move 1 fragment from the enemy's Home Zone to your own Home Zone.
• ESCORT: Make this card take the place of your card being attacked by the enemy. Both of your cards must be in the same zone.
• AMBUSH!: Play during your attack, after the enemy has declared Escort or decided not to, but before any die rolls. Your attack automatically succeeds.
• NURSES: Play this card after a successful enemy attack against one of your Units. Instead of removing your Unit card from play, place it in your Home Zone, exhausted.
• COMMAND: Refresh one of your exhausted Unit cards.
• MOVEMENT: Move one of your Units into an adjacent zone.
• MOTORIZED COLUMN: Play this card to perform 3 actions in a row and then refresh one of your Units.
• MOTORCYCLE: Play this card while doing a move action with one of your Units. The Unit is not exhausted by the movement.
• HIGH MORALE: Play to refresh one of your Units.

Polish player aid

• COMMAND: Refresh one of your exhausted Unit cards.
• MOVEMENT: Move one of your Units into an adjacent zone.
• OPERATION WILDHORN III: Move all fragments from the Forest onto this card. These fragments are protected against Sturmwind. This card may be played only if there are no German Units in the Forest.
• HIDDEN FRAGMENTS: Move 1 or 2 fragments from the Periphery onto this card. These hidden fragments cannot be searched for before the turn ends. Then discard the card and move the hidden fragments back to the Periphery.
• HIGH MORALE: Play to refresh one of your Units.
• ATTACK, VOLUNTEERS, SEARCH, ASSISTANCE, GOOD LUCK, BAD LUCK, ESCORT, AMBUSH!, NURSES: as on the German aid.
• SPY: Steal a fragment from the enemy's Home Zone. The stealing Unit must be inside the enemy Home Zone. Roll a die. If the result is greater than or equal to the number printed on the card, move 1 fragment from the enemy's Home Zone to your own Home Zone.
• WITNESSES: Play when performing a search action, but before your die roll. Your search is automatically successful and you gain 1 fragment.

Historical Notes

V-2 Rocket (information from the box)

V-2 (Vergeltungswaffe-2 - retaliatory weapon 2) was the first successful ballistic missile powered by rocket engine. It was designed and built during World War II by a team of German engineers, under the direction of Wernher von Braun. In 1943 Germans started the mass production of these rockets in the Peenemünde research center. Until 1943 Allies had no idea how deadly the German V-2 rocket project could be. They were warned by the Home Army - the Polish underground army and resistance movement - which opposed Germans in occupied Poland. The value and location of the Peenemünde research center was discovered by Polish intelligence and transferred to the Allies. Subsequently, Peenemünde was bombed by the RAF in August 1943. The facilities were destroyed and the Germans had to find a new location for their V-2 testing ground.

The V-2 in Poland

After the Peenemünde test center was bombed in 1943, work on improving V-2 weapons was moved out of the reach of Allied bombers. The Germans decided to move them into occupied Poland - to the Blizna artillery training ground (Blizna Artilleriezielfeld). Germans built the new testing ground with slave labor, using thousands of prisoners from the SS labor camp located near Pustków (SS Truppenübungsplatz Heidelager). The Polish Home Army quickly located the new testing ground. In 1944, Home Army soldiers managed to collect many pieces of V-2 rockets. On May 20th, 1944, a Home Army unit managed to capture a nearly undamaged V-2 rocket and hide it before the Germans arrived. The rocket was dismantled and its parts were examined by Polish scientists in secret Home Army laboratories. After capturing the most important part of the rocket, Poles decided to send the parts and the results of their research to the Western Allies, to allow them to develop effective methods of dealing with this threat.

Outcome

During 1944, the Germans used the V-2 rockets to bomb London, Antwerp and Brussels. 5500 rockets were fired, of which about 70% hit their targets. London itself was struck by V-2 missiles 2894 times, which caused significant damage and 2757 fatalities. Without the dedication of the Polish intelligence and Home Army soldiers, the losses would have been much higher.

Technical and tactical data

• length: 14 m
• weight of the rocket ready for launch: 13000 kg
• warhead weight: 975 kg
• fuel weight: 8700 kg
• maximum speed: 5500 km/h
• maximum range: 380 km

Scheme of the structure (see illustration): 1. Warhead 2. Automatic gyro control 3. Guidebeam and radio command receivers 4. Alcohol-water mixture 5. Rocket body 6. Liquid oxygen 7. Hydrogen peroxide tank 8. Compressed nitrogen pressurizing bottles 9. Hydrogen peroxide reaction chamber 10. Propellant turbopump 11. Oxygen/alcohol burner caps 12. Thrust frame 13. Rocket combustion chamber (outer skin) 14. Wing 15. Alcohol inlets 16. Jet vane 17. Air vane

Operation Wildhorn III

Captured parts of the V-2 rockets were carried out of Poland to England (via Italy, already liberated) in the operation code-named "Wildhorn III" by the British and "Most III" (Bridge III) in Polish. This was done by a Douglas C-47 Skytrain aircraft, which took off from Brindisi and landed in occupied Poland. The operation took place on the night of July 26th, 1944. The landing and takeoff were dramatic, as the area around the airstrip was heavily patrolled by the Germans. But the operation was successful, thanks to the excellent work of the Polish intelligence and partisans and the Allied airmen.

Thanks to Operation Wildhorn III, the Allies learned about the construction and outstanding performance of the V-2 rockets. With this better knowledge of the threat, the Allies gave up attempts to intercept V-2s in flight, and focused on finding and destroying launch pads, which ultimately proved to be the most effective strategy to combat this weapon.

The first combat launch of a V-2 rocket took place on September 7th, 1944, more than 40 days after the V-2 secrets fell into the Allies' hands.