GHQ Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Taking a Turn
  • A. Moving Pieces
  • B. Adding Pieces From Your Reserve
  • C. Rotate an Artillery Piece
• Capturing
  • Infantry Capturing Infantry
  • Infantry Capturing Artillery
  • Capturing With Artillery
  • Capturing Headquarters
• Winning
• Examples
  • Infantry vs Infantry Examples
  • Infantry vs Artillery Examples
  • General Examples
  • Artillery Examples
  • HQ Example

Components

• One board with 64 squares
• 36 playing pieces (18 per player, broken down below). In the rules, "infantry" means any of the three types of infantry unit, and "artillery" means any of the three types of artillery unit.
  • HQ (1) – Must be captured to win the game. Moves one square
  • Regular Infantry (8) – Moves one square
  • Armored Infantry (3) – Moves one or two squares
  • Airborne Infantry (1) – Moves one square or paradrops
  • Regular Artillery (3) – Moves one square and bombards two squares
  • Armored Artillery (1) – Moves one or two squares and bombards two squares
  • Heavy Artillery (1) – Moves one square and bombards three squares

Setup

Each player sets up five of their pieces as shown on the setup diagram. All other pieces start off the board in Reserve, and may enter the game on future turns.

Taking a Turn

The blue player takes the first turn. On your turn you perform two steps:

• Captures: If the other player moved pieces where they could be captured, or left them where they were being attacked, remove them now (see Capturing).
• Take three Actions: Captures may also occur during these Actions.

There are three possible actions:

• A. Move a piece on the board
• B. Place a piece from your Reserve onto any empty square on your back row
• C. Rotate an artillery to face a new direction

IMPORTANT: The same piece may not be used in more than one Action, but the same action can be taken multiple times with different pieces. Example: For your first action you place a Regular Infantry from your Reserve into the back row. That same infantry cannot be moved during the second or third action. You can, however, place another piece from your Reserve into play with your second and even third actions.

A. Moving Pieces

Only one piece may occupy a square at the same time. You may not move a piece onto or through a square that contains another friendly or enemy piece. Most pieces may move one square to an adjacent square.

Armored Infantry and Armored Artillery can move one or two squares in any of the eight directions, as shown in the movement diagram. Note that if moving two squares the piece may not change direction in the middle of the move, so it can only end on one of the squares shown. Also, a piece that moves two squares may not jump over an adjacent piece. As a reminder, pieces that can move two spaces have two black circles on them. The multiple movements for these pieces are indicated by these two circles.

The Airborne Infantry moves in a special way. There are two types of moves the Airborne Infantry may make. First, it may always move as a normal infantry, one square in any direction. Or, if it is currently located on its own back row, it may paradrop onto any empty square on the board. It may capture when it drops. If the Airborne Infantry returns to the back row it may paradrop again on subsequent turns.

Note: Turning infantry units to help clarify engagements and captures is always free, does not cost an action, and may be done at any time. (See Capturing for details.)

Note: No piece may move into or through a space under bombardment by an enemy artillery unit.

B. Adding Pieces From Your Reserve

On your turn you may add any one piece from your Reserve to any empty space in your back row using an action.

C. Rotate an Artillery Piece

Artillery always have a specific facing. Using an action, the artillery can be turned to face in any of eight directions while remaining in the same square.

Important: When an artillery piece makes a move action, it can be turned to face any direction for free after moving. The rotate action is used when that artillery piece is staying in place during your turn.

Capturing

Captured pieces are permanently removed from the game and cannot re-enter. They do not go into Reserve.

Important: Infantry, Armored Infantry, and Airborne Infantry all capture and are captured the same way.

Important: Artillery, Armored Artillery, and Heavy Artillery all capture and are captured in the same way, except that Heavy Artillery shoots three spaces instead of two.

Infantry Capturing Infantry

If there is just one friendly and one enemy infantry adjacent to each other, they are engaged and do not capture each other. It is considered a standoff. The players may rotate the infantry to face each other to make it simpler to track which pieces are engaged.

If a second infantry is moved adjacent to an enemy that is already in a standoff, the enemy will be captured. HOWEVER, if the moving piece is adjacent to more than one enemy piece, at least one of which is not engaged, the moving piece must engage that enemy and cannot capture (see the example under Infantry vs Infantry Examples).

An infantry can only capture one piece when it moves. If it moves into a position where it can capture more than one piece, the moving player chooses which piece to capture.

In the accompanying examples, the blue infantry unit is captured.

Important: Infantry may cause captures when they are adjacent to enemy units, but NOT diagonally. (Note that infantry can move diagonally, but not capture diagonally.) Infantry capture artillery differently. (See Infantry Capturing Artillery.)

An infantry that is engaged with an enemy may still move, but the square it moves to (first square for Armored Infantry) must not be a square where it would also engage an infantry, even if that would cause a capture.

Infantry Capturing Artillery

Unlike when capturing infantry, a single infantry is enough to capture an artillery unit. It simply needs to be adjacent to the artillery, and it is captured. There are two exceptions to this:

• An artillery may not be captured by an infantry that is directly facing the front of the artillery.
• An infantry may not capture an artillery if there is another unengaged infantry it can engage instead.

Since infantry cannot attack diagonally, if an artillery is facing the side of a square it can be captured from three different directions. But if it is facing a diagonal it can be captured from all four directions.

Capturing With Artillery

Unlike infantry, artillery do not capture when they move. They capture at the start of their turn if any enemy units remain in squares that they are attacking. So enemy units have a chance to move away before being captured, or the artillery can be captured.

Artillery always have a specific facing, which can include diagonally. After moving, the artillery can be turned to face in any direction. Artillery can also rotate in place using an action (see Actions).

Artillery bombard either two or three squares in the direction they are facing. Any enemy units that are in any of those squares at the start of the artillery unit's next turn are captured.

• Friendly units in bombarded squares are not affected.
• Pieces in the way do not block squares from being attacked by an artillery unit.

The attack range for these pieces is indicated by two or three stars. ALL enemy units in those ranges are captured. Friendly units are unaffected.

Note on Capturing: Remember that moving an infantry piece can only cause one capture. However if a capture situation still remains in place at the start of that player's next turn, the capture will take place if the enemy has not moved out of the way or engaged the infantry. This is a "free" capture and happens at the start of the turn before any actions take place, at the same time as artillery captures.

Capturing Headquarters

HQs may not capture enemy units. They are captured in the same manner as infantry, when engaged by two infantry or under an artillery bombardment they cannot escape from.

Winning

If you capture the enemy's HQ you win the game!

Examples

Infantry vs Infantry Examples

• None of these infantry can capture each other.
• If this infantry moves forward, it must turn to face the red infantry and does not capture it.
• In these examples, the blue infantry unit is captured.

Infantry vs Artillery Examples

• If the red infantry moves down, it can capture the blue artillery. It cannot move right as that space is under enemy bombardment from the artillery.
• Because the blue artillery is facing diagonally, the red infantry can move to either space to capture it.
• If the red infantry moves down, it must engage the blue infantry piece.
• If the red infantry moves down, it can capture either the blue infantry or artillery.

General Examples

• If the red infantry moves down, it may capture either blue piece.
• Red moves the center infantry down. It may capture either the blue infantry or airborne. Red decides to capture the infantry. If the blue Airborne is not moved before red's next turn, or the red infantry is not engaged by a blue infantry, the Airborne will be captured at the start of red's next turn.

Artillery Examples

• The blue artillery moved right last turn and faced up, threatening the red infantry. On their turn red decides to do other actions and does not move the red infantry. At the start of blue's next turn the red infantry is captured. The blue infantry is not affected by the artillery.
• Tip: Keep infantry near your artillery to help protect them. If the Airborne drops next to either of these artillery it will have to engage the nearby infantry. Infantry and artillery working together is very important in GHQ!

HQ Example

The red HQ is unable to move out of the artillery bombardment. If red cannot capture one of the three artillery pieces, the game is lost.