Lightning: D-Day
Lightning: D-Day Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setting up the Game
- Give one player the deck of Allied cards; the other player the deck of German cards.
- Both players remove their Country Cards and Force Cards from their decks.
- Layout the five Beach Cards, as indicated on the Tabletop layout.
- Each player separates his Force Cards into five piles based on the beach which each one is assigned. The beach to which each force is assigned is listed on every Force Card. Each of those piles is then shuffled, and placed face-down (inactive) near its assigned beach. (See the Tabletop Layout on reverse of the sheet.)
- Place the five Turn Cards in a pile next to the Beach Cards with the Turn #1 Card on the top, face up.
- Both players draw five cards from their own deck.
- The German player goes first each turn and the Allied player goes second.
Victory
Victory is based on the number of beaches controlled by the Allied player at the end of five turns (each turn represents roughly an hour). The Allied player controls a beach if there are no German Force Cards present at the end of the fifth turn. Allied player controls a beach if there are active German force cards on the beach. Also, if the German player does not have a force card on a beach, that beach is counted for Allied victory. (Text as printed on the sheet.)
| Allied Controlled Beaches | D-Day Outcome |
|---|---|
| 5 | Decisive Allied Victory |
| 4 | Allied Victory (Historical) |
| 3 | Indecisive Outcome |
| 2 | Marginal German Victory |
| 1 | Solid German Victory |
| 0 | Decisive German Victory |
Types of Cards
There are three types of cards in the game: Country Cards, Force Cards, and Action Cards.
- Country Cards provide player information, such as the sequence of play each turn.
- Force Cards represent the actual troops involved in the fighting.
- Action Cards: Players use Action Cards to influence the battles for the beaches. All Action Cards can be played whenever the player desires. Some Action Cards have text stating when the card can be played.
Player Turn
- Players always conduct actions one beach at a time in the order of the beaches in front of them from their left to their right.
- The German player resolves all of his beach actions, and then the Allied player resolves all of his beach actions.
- The acting player can perform one action at each beach (some cards may allow additional actions on each beach). A player may only play one card at a time to preserve game events timing.
- Activate: Turn the top Force Card face-up assigned to that beach. That force is now activated. If you activate a card that allows a free action, you get to carry out that action on the current turn and only once a turn. Or...
- Attack: Select one activated Force Card at the beach to attack. Each 'force' can only attack once per turn. Airborne cards allow 2 attacks, just not with the same Force Card.
- Once both players have completed all of their actions, each may decide to discard none, some, or all the cards remaining in his own hand.
- Both players then draw cards as specified on that turn's Turn Card.
- Turn over the Turn Card for the next turn.
Note: On turn 1 the German player may activate a card on Utah or Gold allowing a 'no cost' attack eliminating the top inactive Allied Force Card.
How to Attack
- The attacking player states which of his active Force Cards will attack, and which active enemy Force Card will be attacked.
- A. If there are no active enemy Force Cards at that beach, the attacker automatically discards the top inactive enemy Force Card from that beach's pile.
- B. If there are no active or inactive enemy Force Cards at that beach, the attacker automatically discards an active or inactive enemy Force Card from an adjacent beach. Attacker gets to choose the card.
- The attack succeeds if the attack value is greater than the defense value (defenders win ties). If the attack is successful, the defending card is discarded and removed from the game. If the attack fails, neither card is affected.
- A player may only play Action Cards for a beach that has at least one active Force Card assigned to it.
- Many Action Cards have a number inside a large circle. That number is the combat value and can be used for either attack or defense. Some cards also have a bonus specified for when they are played to attack or defend.
Notes
- Allied player can drop the 82nd and 101st Airborne on the same beach to get 2 extra actions.
- A Chaos card can cancel a Chaos card.
- Rollover attacks only affect adjacent beaches.
- Reinforcement cards are played as actions, so you must have an active Force Card in play to use them.
- Mounting Casualties 'discard' cost to gain +2 may come from ANY inactive Force Card from ANY beach.
- If you cannot pay a penalty to gain a bonus listed on a card, you can still play/use the card but no bonus.
- Action Cards only apply once and are discarded; cards that are cancelled are also discarded.
- If a player runs out of cards, then reshuffle your deck.
- Allied Stragglers: Played during your turn on whichever beach you are on, then it is treated as a Force Card.
Example
The Allied player is resolving Omaha Beach. On a previous turn he activated the 29th Inf. On this turn he uses his Omaha Beach action to activate a force and turns over the 1st Inf. The 1st Inf. has a special ability. It can attack without spending an action; so he declares its attack against the active German force at Omaha, the 352nd Inf (with +2 Attack). The 1st has a combat value of '2', the 352nd has a combat value of 1, plus 2 when attacking. An attack of 2 vs. a defense of 1 will discard the 352nd; so the German player plays a Training Card to gain +1 to save his force. The Allied player then plays Assault! to gain +3 Attack. The German plays Bunkers, which is worth 2, plus 2 more because the battle is on Omaha Beach, to again save his force. The American plays Covering Fire to add 2 more to the attack. The German player does not play a card. The total for the 1st Inf attack is 7; the defense total is 6; so the attack is successful and the 352nd is discarded.
The Allied player then plays the 101st Airborne card on Omaha. This gives him one extra action at that beach until the end of the game. He uses his extra action this turn to declare an attack by the 29th Inf. There are no active German forces on Omaha; so the top inactive German Force Card at Omaha is discarded.
The Allied player then continues his turn by resolving Utah Beach.
Optional Rule
When attacking units on adjacent beaches, allow the adjacent beach to "defend", but with a -3 modifier. You still have the feel of defenders being "flanked", but not just defeated without a fight.