La Garde recule!
La Garde recule! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Set-Up
9 Allied units (6 red British and 3 green Dutch) set up on any of red-diamond Entry hexes, one unit to a hex (the 3 Allied units marked "R" must use one of the 5 designated hexes in the rear). The 2 French 1st Wave units set up one to a hex, on any of the blue Entry hexes. Units may never stack (except Lord Wellington (LW), who enters as a reinforcement below).
Play
Shuffle a standard deck of cards (include 1 joker card). A turn begins: Either player makes a card draw (CD). If an even-numbered black suit card, the French player may activate up to 2 units - or up to 3 if card is odd. A black face card allows activating any 1 French unit OR flipping 1 reduced French unit back to full strength. Eliminated units cannot return to play. The Allied player may activate his units the same way if a red suit card is drawn. Activated units may either move 1 hex, or fire.
There are no Zones of Control and combat is voluntary. A turn ends when all cards have been drawn, or immediately any time whatsoever the joker card is drawn (though ignore the Joker if drawn before both players can activate at least once).
Combat
All units may Fire up to 2 hexes. Infantry units have a -2 CD modifier if firing at a non-adjacent target. The Allied artillery unit has a +1 CD modifier if firing on a French unit in an adjacent hex. Units may fire into but not through Hill and Wooded hexes. Units may not fire through another unit (friendly or enemy).
Firing player makes a CD (any suit/color is used by both players to resolve combat) and adds the Firing unit's Attack Factor (AF). Subtract the target unit's Defense Factor (DF), and hex terrain / range CD modifiers. If [modified CD value] > [target unit's DF], the target is flipped to its reduced side (already reduced units are eliminated). Aces equal 1 [glyph marginal in photo] and face cards are considered a miss.
Reinforcements
French 2nd Wave units may enter play on Turn 2 or later (and 3rd wave Turn 3 or later) at any blue Entry hex.
Allied player may place the LW counter on any Allied unit after Turn 1 by spending any red CD. Once in play, LW cannot exit the game. LW moves for free with the unit he is stacked with and may not move by himself. He confers a +1 CD when stacked with a Firing unit, or +1 DF for any unit he is stacked with that is Fired upon.
If the hex LW occupies is Fired upon he is eliminated if a black Ace or King is drawn - otherwise LW may be instantly relocated to another Allied unit if the one he is stacked with is eliminated. If there are no other Allied units in play, the Allied player has lost (LW is captured).
Victory
Game lasts up to 5 turns (shuffles). The French player wins if a) 3 (4 if any are reduced) units exit the map along the North map edge or, b) there are no Allied units left on the map. The Allied player wins the game if the French player fails to achieve victory by the end of turn 5.
Map and Counter Key
This section is the key printed as a diagram on the postcard; it has no printed heading.
Terrain hexes
- Road (no effect)
- Wooded (+1 CD)
- Hill (+1 CD against clear)
- Clear (no effect)
- British entry hex (red-diamond Entry hex, used by the Allied player)
- French entry hex (blue Entry hex)
Counters
- Infantry (sample French counter): unit historical ID "1/4 Gren.", attack and defense 4·3. The small figure beside the factors is the arrival turn/wave number [marginal in photo].
- Infantry (sample British counter): unit historical ID "2/1 Gds", attack and defense 4·3. The "R" beside the factors marks a rear-line unit.
- Dutch artillery: unit label "[...] Smissen" (the unit number is not legible in the photo), attack and defense 3·2.
- Attack and defense factors: AF is the left figure, DF the right figure. White factors are guards, no game effect.