Get to da Checkpoint
Get to da Checkpoint Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
About the Game
Get to da Choppa! is a solo dice game that's free to print and play.
Your goal is to get your Squad through several areas of the wild jungles of South America. However, this area of the jungle has fallen victim to a number of hostile forces. Drug Lords, UFOs, invisible alien hunters, Nazis, zombies, headhunters, dinosaurs; any jungle action movie trope you can think of you'll have to face and try to survive. You will need to balance moving, stealth, foraging for supplies and combat to survive. The only way to win is to Get to da Choppa before your squad is wiped out.
Game Components
Print out the Squad sheet and the eight Zone cards from the game files. You will also need nine six-sided dice, and maybe 4-5 extra for other events in the game, a pawn to show your location, and cubes, meeples, or some other markers. Have at least 12-15 cubes for your Squad members, and 1 or 2 cubes for each of the Supplies and Ammo tracks and a cube or meeple for your location on the map Zones. Alternatively, you can laminate the Squad sheet or use a plastic page protector so you can write on it with grease pencils or wet erase markers or use your markers to track your stats.
The Squad Sheet
There's a lot of stuff happening on the Squad sheet. Here's a breakdown of what each section does:
- Squad Status: You will place your meeples or cubes on the Active or Wounded box to show how many of each type you have. To the left is the Turn Sequence, and below the boxes is the Enemy Firepower track.
- Supplies and Ammo tracks. On each of these tracks, you record your available Supplies and Ammo. You only need one marker for each. If you get more than 9 of either, place an additional marker on it, one on 0 for ten, and the additional on the amount over ten. e.g. 13 would have a marker on 0 and 3.
- These six boxes are where you place your available dice for the turn after you have rolled them for the third or last time. Each box has a short reminder of what each die does during your turn.
- Game tables. You will use these Combat, Injury, Recovery, and Supply Shortage charts during your turn. There are combat modifiers at the top, and explanations of the order injuries at the bottom.
The Zone Cards
There are eight different zone cards, and you only use four of them in a given game, so each time you play will be different. Each zone has the name and some flavor text in the upper left, which will also contain any special rules for that zone. The Salvage table is on the lower left. A summary of the Checkpoint rules is at the upper right of the card for when you reach there, and an Enemy Contact table on the right side. Each zone will have its own unique feel and atmosphere, and the Salvage and Enemy tables are different for each Zone.
Setup
Shuffle the eight Zone cards face down and deal out four of them in a pile, placing the last one face up on the top. Place the Squad sheet and your Zone pile within easy reach. Place the remaining four Zone cards out of reach, unseen, as they will not be used for this game.
Place the Squad pawn on the green star Start space at the bottom of the current Zone. Place 12 cubes into the Active squad members box on your Squad sheet, and a marker on the '6' space on both the Supplies and Ammo tracks.
Roll three dice and consult the Injury table on the Squad sheet to see if any of your squad was wounded or killed in the crash. Start with the highest roll and work backwards toward the lowest roll to determine the order of injuries.
Turn Sequence
Each turn consists of the following phases, which must be followed in this order, with detailed explanations of each below.
- Roll Nine dice
- Salvage
- March
- Enemy Contact
- Stealth
- Combat
- Checkpoint (only if you ended your movement on a check point this turn)
- a. Collect Supplies and Ammo
- b. Recovery Rolls
- c. Spend Supplies
- d. Any Special Events
Roll Nine Dice
At the start of each turn you roll nine dice to determine your options for the turn. You may then reroll any and all dice up to two times, retaining any dice you wish to keep by placing them in their corresponding boxes. Any dice placed in a box can also be rerolled later, just not 1s. Any 1s rolled must be placed in the Enemy Contact box immediately and cannot be rerolled on any subsequent rolls. After your third roll, place all dice in their associated boxes on the Squad Sheet. Here's a breakdown of where all the dice go, and what they mean.
- Enemy Contact - Your Squad encounters an obstacle or enemy that needs to be dealt with.
- Salvage - Some of your Squad forages for supplies and ammo.
- March - Your Squad moves along your path towards the next Check Point.
- Stealth - Your Squad attempts to move slowly and avoid detection from an Enemy Contact.
- Engage - Your Squad readies for combat! Lock and Load!
- Command - Can be used as an additional die during each of the Salvage, March, Stealth and Combat phases. They can also be used to re-roll any single die on the Salvage, Combat, Injury, Recovery or Supply Shortage tables.
As you complete each Phase, remove the dice from that phase's box to free them up for combat, and keep track of what Phases you have completed for the turn.
Salvage
Each die in the Salvage box is rerolled and the results indexed on the current Zone's Salvage table. Each Zone will have different results and dangers associated with looking for salvage, located in the lower left side of the Zone card.
March
Each die in the March box moves you one space closer to the next Checkpoint. Some Zones will have different paths you can take.
Once you decide upon which path to take, you must follow it all the way to the Checkpoint. No turning back now!
If you reach a Checkpoint during your turn, you must stop at the Checkpoint; extra March dice can be placed in either the Stealth or Engage boxes in this instance.
Optional Supply usage: Any time during the March phase, you may spend any number of Supplies to convert a Wounded Squad member back to Active Status on a 1 to 1 basis. This tactic should be used sparingly with a larger squad, as you will use a large quantity of Supplies at the Checkpoints.
Enemy Contact
Take the first die in the Enemy Contact Box and roll on the Zone's Enemy Contact table to see what the enemy is. You can place the die on the black box labelled "Die Roll" under the chart as a reminder of what the Enemy is. Each additional die in the Box adds one to the Contact's Firepower or FP for short. After figuring out the Enemy's FP and placing a counter on the track, simply remove the dice from the Enemy Contact box. Then, you can determine if you wish to avoid the contact altogether using Stealth or just fight directly.
Stealth
By travelling slowly and stealthily, you can often avoid direct combat altogether. After you determine an Enemy Contact, you may avoid that contact by spending as many dice as are indicated by that contact's Alertness number, modified by the space type, see Combat Modifiers below. If you do not have enough Stealth dice in the box to equal the enemy's Alertness, you cannot avoid them, and must Engage in combat. Since you are expecting combat, if you do not avoid it, any dice in the Stealth box can be moved to the Engage box.
If you avoid a Contact using Stealth, you must move back one space on the Zone card. You can only move back as far as the Start space. Also, you cannot avoid from the Start space; you must fight. If you end your movement on a Checkpoint, you do not need to move back for avoiding by Stealth; there's lots of places to hide there.
Combat
Each enemy you encounter will have a Firepower (FP) listed. This is the amount of hits that you must inflict on that enemy to defeat it. Place a counter on the Enemy Firepower track on the Squad sheet equal to their FP. Roll all of the dice in the Engage box and consult each result on the Combat table for the total number of hits. Subtract the hits from the Firepower track. If you eliminate all of the Enemy's FP, you suffer no loses, and the enemy is defeated. If the Enemy has any FP left, roll a number of dice equal to the remaining Firepower left versus the Injury Table.
Ammo Special Rule: You can add any number of Ammo dice to any combat, but you must declare how many dice of ammo that you will spend before rolling any of the dice to determine your total number of hits. Command dice can be added after the total number of hits has been determined for the combat, to take care of that last 1 or 2 FP that's still threatening you.
Regardless of your number of loses, the enemy is defeated and does not fight another round, unless, they are specifically listed as a Boss. A Boss will continue to fight with its remaining FP for a second round of combat. You may only use Ammo for the second round of combat, none of the Engage Dice or Ammo from the previous round are used again. Command dice can also be used for a second round of combat, with or without Ammo being spent. Roll for Injuries as per a normal combat for the second round, but Boss enemies are considered defeated only if they are reduced to 0 FP. If they have any FP remaining after the second round of Injury rolls, they slink off into the jungle to fight again another day.
Combat Modifiers
If you happen to be in a square Orange "Open" space when you are choosing Stealth, your Squad is out in the open and has no place to hide, nor does your enemy. All Combat and Injury Rolls, and Alertness are +1 on their respective charts. If you are in a Hexagonal Purple "Dense" space when combat ensues, there are many obstacles and places to provide cover for both parties. All Combat and Injury Rolls, and Alertness are -1 on their respective charts.
Injury Rolls
Roll all Injury dice at the same time. Effects start from the highest die roll to the lowest. e.g. Your Squad has 8 Active and 3 Wounded. You take 5 injuries from the most recent Combat, (yikes!). You roll 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. The 6 comes first, so an Active is eliminated. The 5 and 4 eliminate 2 of the 3 Wounded. The final 2 roll Wounds an Active. At the end of the battle, you now have 6 Active and 2 Wounded.
There are also two main rules for Injuries: If a table calls for an Active member to become Wounded and there are no Active members, a Wounded member is killed. Secondly, if the roll calls for a Wounded member to be killed and there are no Wounded, an Active member becomes Wounded.
The highest die roll to the lowest rule and the other Active and Wounded rules also applies to Setup and Supply Shortage rolls.
Command
Command dice are flexible and allow you to make up for shortcomings during your turn. Each die can be used in one of two ways.
Firstly, they can be used as an additional die during each of the Salvage, March, Stealth and Combat phases. You do not need to make any determination on what phase you will use them in until the appropriate phase. If used during the Salvage or Combat phases, you may make the determination whether or not to use any Command dice before or after you make your initial roll.
Secondly, Command dice can also be used to re-roll any single die on the Salvage, Combat, Injury, Recovery or Supply Shortage tables. Each Command die allows for one reroll of a die, but each die can only be rerolled once; the second result must be taken. Any Command dice left after your turn is done cannot be kept for next turn; they must be rerolled with all the other dice.
Checkpoint
If you have not yet reached the Checkpoint for the zone, simply gather up all nine dice, and begin a new turn until you do.
Once you have reached the Zone's Checkpoint during movement, you stop there and any extra March dice can be placed in either the Stealth or Engage boxes, as described above. Complete any Combat as usual, then consult the Checkpoint chart for your current Zone.
Gain any Supplies and/or Ammo as listed for the Checkpoint.
Roll a die for each Injured Squad member on the Recovery table to see if they recover, remain injured, or die.
Now Spend Supply points equal to half your total Squad members rounded up, both Active and Injured. If you are short of supplies, roll one die on the Supply Shortages table on the Squad Sheet for each point of supplies you are short and adjust the Squad accordingly.
Some Zones may have extra events after you have completed the Zone, which would be handled now. (Currently the only event of this kind is the Zombie Zone, future expansions may have other events!)
After resolving all of the Checkpoint activities, remove the current zone card from the stack and reveal the next zone. Place your Squad counter on the Start space and keep marching!
The game ends when you have reached the fourth Zone's Checkpoint. You must complete any Combat and Recovery rolls, but do not need to worry about supplies for your Squad. You Got to da Choppa!
Victory Levels
If you fail to Get to da Choppa with at least one Squad member, Active or Injured, then the mission was a total failure. If you do get to da choppa, with one or more total Squad members, you can assess how well the mission went. Mission success is based on the total number of survivors as shown below:
| Survivors | Result |
|---|---|
| 1-3 Survivors | Pyrrhic Victory |
| 4-6 Survivors | Marginal Victory |
| 7-9 Survivors | Tactical Victory |
| 10-12 Survivors | Major Victory |
| 13+ Survivors | Outstanding Victory |
Difficulty Levels (optional)
Different Difficulty levels allow for new and exciting ways to play the game. The difficulty does not affect the basic rules at all, except for the Setup.
| Difficulty Level | # of Injury Dice in Crash | # of Zones to Survive |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | 2 | 3 |
| Normal | 3 | 4 |
| Hard | 4 | 5 |
| FUBAR | 5 | 6 |
Advanced Scoring (optional)
The basic victory levels are fine for just a quick idea of how well you did. However, if you'd like a little better of an idea on how you did overall during your mission, you can use the Advanced Scoring. Print out the Advanced Score Sheets and write on them how you see fit. You know laminate them, write on them, page protector and wet erase markers, whatever.
Some of the points you get at the end of the mission, and others, like kills, you should record during the mission as they come up. For scoring purposes, an enemy, whether normal or a Boss, is only considered Killed only if you reduce them to 0 FP.
Finishing with the most Squad members that you can is still the main goal, but even if you all get wiped out, you can get some kind of a score for playing. You can even keep them as a record, to see if you can beat an old high score of yours or a friend.