One Hour World War II
One Hour World War II Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
This is a quick-playing strategic level game covering World War Two from 1940 to 1945 for 2-5 players. Players command Nations, divided into Allied and Axis sides. Each turn represents a year, during which every Nation will conduct Actions and Responses based on the options on the various Nation Sheets - including those of the enemy. At the end of each turn, either side may lose Political Will (PW) based on the difference in controlled Victory Spaces between the two sides. Either side may win by forcing the enemy to reach 0 PW, or by having the highest PW total at the end of the game. Alternatively, either side may win by taking two enemy Capitals.
2. What's in the Box
2.1 The Map
The map consists of spaces, divided into land and sea spaces. Land spaces are either neutral (white) or have a color matching one of the 5 Nations - these colors show the Nation's Home Territory. Sea spaces have a light blue color and are treated like neutral spaces for scoring purposes. Spaces connected by lines are deemed adjacent. There are 3 types of lines:
- Brown lines show land connections. Only Armies move across these.
- Light blue lines show water connections. Generally, only Fleets use these.
- Restricted lines have colors matching a specific Nation. These are land connections, but only the listed Nation treats the spaces as adjacent. For example, only Soviet Armies may move from Moscow to Siberia.
The map "wraps around" such that the East Pacific space is adjacent to the USA, connected by a blue line.
Each Nation has a Capital space - denoted by their flag (e.g. Moscow is the Capital space for the Soviet Union). These are important for supply, and losing control of your Nation's Capital restricts your available Actions.
A Victory Space is a space with a flag or a star. These spaces are relevant for scoring. Note that Minor Nations have spaces with their flag - but these are not to be treated as Capitals for the purposes of the rules. They are Victory Spaces but do not provide any of the other bonuses of Capitals.
Some land spaces have the anchor symbol. These spaces are called Straits and Fleets are allowed to move through them during Offensives or Strategic Movement if they are controlled by friendly forces.
The map also includes tracks for PW, turn order and the current turn.
2.2 Components
The Allied and Axis PW (Political Will) markers record each side's score on the score track, numbered 1-12. The Turn marker records which turn (year) it is, starting in 1940 and ending in 1945.
There are two types of units in the game - Armies and Fleets. Armies operate mainly on land spaces, Fleets only on sea spaces. These units also come in either Level 1 or Level 2 versions - the number in the corner indicates the Level. Level is relevant to build cost and strength in battle. The colors identify which Nation each unit belongs to - gray for Germany, orange for Japan, tan for UK, red for Soviets and green for USA. Flags also denote ownership by certain Nations, including Minor Nations like China.
Each Nation has 3 small wooden cubes to show Upgrades on their Nation Sheets.
The Turn Order markers with each Nation's flag show the current turn order, using the boxes marked 1st through 5th on the map. Turn order can change throughout the game.
2.3 Nation Sheets
There are 5 Nation Sheets, one for each Nation. They show the available Actions, Responses and Upgrade tracks for each Nation and they have slots for placing units that are in "Reserve" and "Spent". The Responses on each Nation Sheet have a flag showing which Nation can choose them.
Action markers belong to each Nation. They are placed on the Nation Sheets to show the various Actions and Responses chosen by the players. Some only become available on a certain turn, e.g. the USA gains new Action markers in the years 1941-1944.
3. Game Set Up
3.1 Nations and Player Count
There are two sides, each consisting of a number of Nations. The Axis side includes Germany and Japan, while the Allied side includes the UK, USA and Soviet Union. Each player will control 1 or more Nations.
- 2 player game: 1 player is the two Axis Nations, the other player is the three Allied Nations.
- 3 player game: 1 player is the two Axis Nations, 1 is the Soviet Union and 1 is the USA and UK.
- 4 player game: 1 player is Germany, 1 is Japan, 1 is the Soviet Union and 1 is the USA and UK.
- 5 player game: Each player has 1 Nation.
3.2 Minor Nations
In addition to the 5 playable Nations, there are also Minor Nations attached to some of them:
- France: There is a single French Army piece that begins the game in the France space and is under the control of the UK player. The French Army operates as a UK Army for all purposes, except that it does not benefit from the UK Air Force bonus.
- China: There are two Chinese Armies, under the control of the USA player. One of them begins in the China space, the other in the USA Reserve. Chinese Armies can only ever be placed in China and cannot move to any other spaces. They are always considered in supply. Chinese Armies are only placed by the USA Response "Chinese Nationalists" which is on the Japanese Nation Sheet. This allows placement of 1 Chinese Army from the USA Reserve or Spent boxes, regardless of which side controls China (Note that the China space is Japanese Home Territory). Normal USA Build Actions may never place Chinese Armies on the map or shift them from Spent to Reserve. Chinese Armies also never benefit from USA upgrades or USA Armies in the USA Reserve, only Chinese Armies in the USA Reserve.
- Italy: There is one Italian Army and one Italian Fleet, under the control of the German player. These are treated as German units for all purposes, except that they do not benefit from German Air Force or Naval Aviation bonuses. As soon as the Italy space comes under Allied control for the first time, both Italian units are permanently destroyed.
3.3 Overall Set Up
Place the turn marker on 1940. Place the 5 Turn Order markers (flags) in the following order on the boxes marked 1st through 5th - Germany, UK, Japan, Soviet Union, USA. Place the Allied and Axis PW markers on space 10 of the score track.
3.4 Nation Set Up
Place the 5 Nation Sheets in front of players, but so that everyone can easily see all of them - players will be frequently placing their own Action markers on other player's Nation Sheets.
Then, place the pieces for each Nation as follows. Reserves and Spent refers to the slots on the corresponding Nation Sheet, not the map itself.
Germany
| Location | Units |
|---|---|
| Germany | One Level 2 Army, two Level 1 Armies |
| Poland | One Level 2 Army |
| Italy | One Level 1 Italian Army |
| Mediterranean | One Level 1 Italian Fleet |
| Reserves | Four Level 1 Armies, two Level 1 Fleets |
| Spent | One Level 1 Army |
Other Markers (Germany): Place all three German Action markers near the German Nation Sheet, ready to be used. Place cubes on the three upgrade tracks on the German Nation Sheet - space 2 on the Build track, 1 on the Air Force track and 0 on the Naval Aviation track.
Japan
| Location | Units |
|---|---|
| Japan | One Level 1 Army |
| China | One Level 1 Army |
| North Pacific | One Level 2 Fleet, one Level 1 Fleet |
| Reserves | Three Level 1 Armies, three Level 1 Fleets |
| Spent | - |
Other Markers (Japan): Place the two Japanese Action markers near the Japanese Nation Sheet, ready to be used. Place cubes on the three upgrade tracks on the Japanese Nation Sheet - space 2 on the Build track, 0 on the Air Force track and 1 on the Naval Aviation track.
United Kingdom (UK)
| Location | Units |
|---|---|
| UK | One Level 1 Army |
| France | One Level 1 French Army |
| North Sea | One Level 1 Fleet |
| Atlantic | One Level 1 Fleet |
| Reserves | One Level 1 Army, one Level 2 Fleet, one Level 1 Fleet |
| Spent | One Level 2 Army, two Level 1 Armies |
Other Markers (UK): Place the two normal UK Action markers near the UK Nation Sheet, ready to be used. Place the UK Action marker labeled "1942" on the 1942 space on the turn track - the UK will receive this new Action marker at the start of the 1942 turn. Place cubes on the three upgrade tracks on the UK Nation Sheet - space 2 on the Build track, 0 on the Air Force track and 0 on the Naval Aviation track.
Soviet Union
| Location | Units |
|---|---|
| Moscow | One Level 2 Army |
| Leningrad | One Level 1 Army |
| Ukraine | One Level 1 Army |
| Siberia | One Level 1 Army |
| Reserves | - |
| Spent | One Level 2 Army, five Level 1 Armies, one Level 1 Fleet |
Other Markers (Soviet Union): Place the one normal Soviet Action marker near the Soviet Nation Sheet, ready to be used. Place the Soviet Action markers labeled "1941" and "1942" on the 1941 and 1942 spaces on the turn track respectively - the Soviet Union will receive these new Action markers at the start of these turns. Finally, place cubes on the three upgrade tracks on the Soviet Nation Sheet - space 2 on the Build track, 0 on the Air Force track and 0 on the Naval Aviation track.
USA
| Location | Units |
|---|---|
| USA | One Level 1 Army |
| China | One Level 1 Chinese Army |
| East Pacific | One Level 1 Fleet |
| Reserves | Two Level 1 Armies, two Level 1 Fleets, one Level 1 Chinese Army |
| Spent | One Level 2 Army, two Level 1 Armies, two Level 2 Fleets, one Level 1 Fleet |
Other Markers (USA): Place the one normal USA Action marker near the USA Nation Sheet, ready to be used. Place the USA Action markers labeled "1941" through to "1944" on the corresponding spaces on the turn track - the USA will receive these new Action markers at the start of each turn, from 1941 to 1944. Place the USA Action marker labeled "Axis attack" off to the side of the map - it will be gained by the USA player under certain conditions (see below). Finally, place cubes on the three upgrade tracks on the USA Nation Sheet - space 2 on the Build track, 0 on the Air Force track and 0 on the Naval Aviation track.
3.5 Axis Attack Action Marker
The USA has an Action marker labeled "Axis attack". This special action marker is given to the USA player immediately after an Axis Offensive that involves USA units or Home Territory, e.g. a Japanese Offensive into the East Pacific against USA Fleets, or a Japanese Offensive into the Philippines. However, if the USA conducts an Offensive Action, a Strategic Bombing Response or a Submarine Warfare Response before an Axis Offensive against the USA, this Action marker is permanently removed from the game. Note that German Submarine Warfare against USA pieces does not count as an Axis Offensive for these purposes.
4. How to Play
4.1 Turn Sequence
A turn represents a full year of World War Two, during which all Nations will spend their Action markers doing Actions (from their own Nation Sheet) or Responses (from their own or other player's Nation Sheets). Each turn, Actions and Responses are played until all five Nations have passed in a row.
Turn order is indicated by the flag markers, on the 1st through 5th boxes on the map. Following this order, each Nation selects one Action from their own Nation Sheet by placing one of their available Action markers on it and carrying out the chosen Action.
Following each Action, any Nations may select a Response showing their flag from the same row on the Nation Sheet, by placing one of their available Action markers on it and carrying out the listed Response. Note that a Nation may play a Response following its own Action. Responses from any Nations must be chosen in the order listed, top to bottom. If a Nation declines to choose a particular Response, it cannot go back and choose it after seeing which Responses other Nations choose. Each Response may only be chosen once following a single Action - a Nation may not perform multiple Responses of the same type in a row. For example, the USA could not perform two or more Strategic Bombing Responses following a single German Build Action.
Once all Responses have been resolved, the next Nation listed in the turn order may choose one Action, and other Nations may choose Responses. This will continue in turn order, going back to the first Nation when every other Nation has chosen their Action. A Nation does not need to choose an Action when it is their time to do so, they may simply pass - doing nothing. This could be because they are out of Action markers or because they wish to save them.
Example: The turn is 1940. Following turn order, Germany chooses an Action first (no Nations choose a Response). Then the UK chooses an Action (Germany chooses a Response), then Japan chooses an Action (no Nations Respond), then the Soviet Union chooses an Action (Germany chooses a Response) and finally the USA passes, choosing to hold onto its Action marker and see how things play out. Every Nation has had a chance to choose an Action, so we go back to the start of the turn order. Germany has spent all of its Action markers on one Action and two Responses, so it passes. Then the UK chooses an Action, then Japan, and so on. This cycle of Nations choosing one Action at a time in turn order will continue until all Nations have passed.
4.2 Scoring
When all 5 Nations have passed in succession, there will be no more Actions and Responses this turn (even if some Nations still have available Action markers) as it is time for scoring. Add up the total number of enemy or neutral Victory Spaces controlled by each side. The side with fewer controlled enemy or neutral Victory Spaces loses Political Will (PW) equal to the difference.
Nations do not score based on control of Victory Spaces that were already their own Home Territory - they must control spaces that were originally neutral or enemy Home Territory to count for scoring. Note that scoring occurs every turn, so it is possible for a single Victory Space to count for scoring 6 times over the course of a game if one side manages to take and keep control of it for multiple turns. After scoring, if one side has 0 PW and the other side still has all of their Capital spaces, the side with 0 PW loses the game and the other side wins.
Note that some sea spaces have stars and are therefore neutral Victory Spaces. Remember that control of sea spaces is different from land spaces and requires exclusive occupation by your own side's Fleets.
Example: It is the end of the first turn - 1940. Germany controls all of its Home Territory, plus France. Japan controls all of its Home Territory, North Pacific and India. The Allies have East Pacific, but no other neutral or Axis Victory Spaces. Because the Axis have taken 3 Victory Spaces and the Allies have 1, the Allied PW marker drops by 2.
4.3 End of Turn
Once scoring is done, the turn marker is shifted to the right, onto the next turn (year). All Nations get their Action markers back from any Nation Sheets they were placed on, plus any new Action markers as indicated on the turn track.
4.4 Turn Sequence Example
The current turn order is as shown on the map - Germany, UK, Japan, Soviet Union, USA.
Germany is listed first, so the German player may choose one Action from their Nation Sheet. They choose "Offensive" and place a German Action marker on this slot on their Nation Sheet. The German player carries out an Offensive, in which a German Army moves from Poland into Ukraine. This results in a battle, which is fully resolved before any Responses. Looking to the right of the Offensive slot on the German Nation Sheet, we see three possible Responses.
The first two are Soviet Responses and the Soviet player decides to use both of them. First, they place an Action marker on the "Counter-Offensive" Response. This lets them carry out an Offensive, exactly like the Germans just did, and in the same space. The Soviets have an Army in Moscow, which they use to launch their Counter-Offensive into Ukraine. Then, the Soviets place another Action marker on the German Nation Sheet to indicate they are choosing the "Not One Step Back" Response. This lets them place an Army from their own "Spent" box onto the map, in the battle space - in this case, Ukraine.
Finally, the Germans choose the final Response listed - Blitz. They place an Action marker in the Response column. Blitz allows an Offensive into any space, but the Germans decide to use it in Ukraine, to counter all the Soviet Responses that were just used to regain the space.
Now that all Responses have been chosen, play moves on to the next Nation listed in the turn order - the UK. The UK could choose an Action in the same way as Germany just did, and other Nations could choose Responses as well. This would continue through the turn order and eventually go back to Germany.
4.5 Actions
Every Nation chooses from the same 4 Actions: Build, Offensive, Strategic Move and Upgrade.
1. Build: When this Action is chosen, the player may shift a number of units on their Nation Sheet from Spent to Reserve, and/or from Reserve to any space on the map that is within supply. Armies must be placed in land or sea spaces that are controlled by that Nation's side as well as in supply for that Nation, or in the Nation's Capital. Fleets may only be placed in sea spaces that are in supply and do not contain enemy Fleets, or in sea spaces adjacent to the Nation's Capital (even if they contain enemy Fleets). All spaces selected for placing units must be controlled/in supply at the start of the Action. Nations whose Capital is uncontrolled or controlled by the enemy may still Build, but may only place Armies in their Capital and may not place Fleets.
The number of units shifted from Spent to Reserve or from Reserve to the map depends on the position of the cube on the upgrade track on the Build Action slot. For all Nations, this cube starts in the position of 2, but it can be shifted up by Upgrade Actions and down by Strategic Bombing Responses. A Build Action may allow any combination of units to go from Spent to Reserve or from Reserve to the map, including the same unit shifting twice (Spent to Reserve, then Reserve to the map). Note that Level 2 units count as 2 units each for the purposes of Building. You also cannot "half" Build a Level 2 unit. This means shifting a Level 2 unit from Spent to Reserve, or from Reserve to the map, requires a Build track of at least 2.
Example: The Japanese player is doing a Build Action and their Build track is on 2. Their first Build is to shift the Level 1 Army from Spent over to Reserve on their Nation Sheet. Their second Build is to place the Level 1 Fleet from Reserve onto the map. The Japanese player cannot place the Fleet in the Indian Ocean, as it is not in supply - the Allies control China which blocks any potential supply line from Japan to the Indian Ocean. They decide to place the Fleet in the South Pacific, which is in supply due to the presence of the Japanese Fleet in the North Pacific. On a subsequent Build Action, they could place an Army into South-east Asia, as it is controlled (Home Territory) and in supply via the Fleets.
2. Offensive: An Offensive means moving units into an enemy or neutral space and then fighting a battle if there are enemy units there. To carry out an Offensive, units must be in supply at the beginning and the end of it. So, a unit may not move itself out of supply while carrying out the Offensive. Units in spaces not controlled by their side may not leave that space during an Offensive. There are 4 types of Offensives:
- Simple Offensive: This means moving any or all units from one space into a single adjacent space.
- Offensive in Place: This means no movement, just fighting a battle in a single space where you and the enemy both have units.
- Amphibious Assault: This is an Offensive with Armies but involves crossing a single intervening sea space instead of moving into an adjacent space. The single intervening sea space must be controlled by friendly units and occupied by at least one Fleet belonging to the Nation launching the Offensive. A single enemy Fleet in a sea space prevents an Amphibious Assault through that space. For example, the UK could launch an Amphibious Assault from Scandinavia into Germany, provided that the Baltic sea space contains at least 1 UK Fleet and no Axis Fleets.
- Offensive through Strait: This involves Fleets from a sea space moving through a single intervening land space with a Strait (anchor symbol). The Strait space must be controlled by the same side as the Fleet. For example, a UK Fleet in the Atlantic could do an Offensive into the Mediterranean if the Allies control North Africa.
Once movement is complete for the Offensive, a battle is resolved. This happens before any Responses are selected.
Note that a Nation whose Capital is uncontrolled or controlled by the enemy may only do an Offensive in Place in their own Capital, not in any other spaces.
NB: When conducting an Amphibious Assault type of Offensive, Armies may only move through 1 intervening sea space. This means an Army in the USA could not move directly to France in an Offensive even if the Atlantic and the North Sea were controlled by the Allies and contained USA Fleets. Remember that Armies may be placed in or move into sea spaces as long as the sea space is controlled by their side and contains at least 1 of that Nation's Fleets. This allows, for example, the USA to place Armies in the East Pacific space and then use them to invade Japan, provided that USA Fleets control both East Pacific and North Pacific.
3. Strategic Move: This Action allows the player to move any or all of their units that are currently in supply. This includes units in spaces which are not controlled by their side. Fleets doing Strategic Movement may only move through sea spaces and friendly-controlled Strait spaces which are in supply for their Nation. Armies may only move through spaces which are friendly-controlled and in supply for their Nation. In both cases, units may move any distance as long as they follow these conditions. Units doing Strategic Movement may also be moved back into Reserves on their own Nation Sheet. In a Strategic Move, each unit must be moved one at a time, which may change the supply situation for subsequent units.
Note that Nations whose Capital is uncontrolled or controlled by the enemy may not do Strategic Movement at all.
Example: The USA player is doing a Strategic Move. They have two Level 1 Fleets in East Pacific and a Level 1 Army in the USA space. All these units can participate in the Strategic Move as they are all in supply. First, one Fleet is moved to the Atlantic, which is in supply as it is adjacent to the USA Capital. This opens up a supply line to the UK and to the Mediterranean (North Africa is UK-controlled and can be used as part of a land and sea supply line). The USA player then moves the other Fleet to the Mediterranean, and the Army from the USA to the UK.
4. Upgrade: This Action lets the player shift one cube one space to the right on any of the three Upgrade tracks on their Nation Sheet - Build, Air Force or Naval Aviation. Note that Nations whose Capital is uncontrolled or controlled by the enemy may not Upgrade.
4.6 Responses
There are a wide variety of Responses that Nations can choose from, denoted by their flag. The combined USA/UK flag symbol means that either or both of these Nations may choose the listed Response. Like Actions, they are selected by placing an Action marker on them and carrying out the instructions. Note that you cannot choose a Response to a Response, even if the first Response allows an Action like Offensive.
All Responses in the game are explained in further detail here:
- Strategic Bombing: This involves shifting a number of units, chosen by the player doing the Response, from Reserve to Spent on another Nation's sheet. Note that Level 2 units count as 2 units for these purposes, so a Strategic Bombing Response that shifts 2 units could shift either two Level 1 units or a single Level 2 unit. Sometimes it will also result in a downgrade of that Nation's Build track - this means shifting the cube on the Build track one space to the left, though it can never go below 1. Some Strategic Bombing Responses have requirements - for example, the USA needs a Fleet in the North Pacific to do Strategic Bombing against Japan.
- Submarine Warfare: This is similar to Strategic Bombing and always has a requirement. Germany must have a Fleet (which cannot be the Italian Fleet) on the map to carry out Submarine Warfare against the USA and UK, while the USA must have a Fleet in the South Pacific to carry it out against Japan. German Submarine Warfare shifts a total of 2 USA and/or UK units to Spent, or shifts a Level 1 Allied Fleet from the Atlantic or North Sea to Spent. These units are chosen by the German player. USA Submarine Warfare shifts a Level 1 Japanese Fleet from the map to Spent or 2 Japanese units from Reserve to Spent - in both cases these units are chosen by the USA player. In all cases, a Level 2 unit counts as 2 units for these purposes, just as with Strategic Bombing.
- Carrier Strike: This is simply an Offensive in any sea space using Fleets (not Armies), with a +1 bonus to the attacker's initial strength. The USA must use this against Japanese Fleets only. Because this is a Response and not a normal Offensive Action, no Responses may be chosen following it.
- Counter-Offensive: This is an Offensive, which must be carried out in the same space selected for the preceding Offensive Action. The Soviets can only carry out a Counter-Offensive if the preceding battle involved Soviet units or was on Soviet Home Territory. If such an Offensive is not possible, this Response may not be chosen. Because this is a Response and not a normal Offensive Action, no Responses may be chosen following it.
- Not One Step Back: This allows the Soviets to place a single Level 1 Army from their Spent box directly in the space where the preceding battle was fought, as long as the space was Soviet Home Territory. This does not require a supply line or control of the space.
5. Battles
Battles result from Offensive Actions or related Responses like Counter-Offensive, Carrier Strike and Blitz. In all cases, they are resolved in the same way. The Nation carrying out the Offensive is the attacker, the other side is the defender. The space where the battle is taking place is called the battle space.
- Move in units: Depending on the type of Offensive, units may have been moved into the battle space. This happens before any of the following calculations.
- Attacker initial strength: Add up the total strength of all units on the attacker's side which are in the battle space - this includes units which have just moved in and units which were already there. If the battle space is a sea space, only Fleets are counted. If it is a land space, only Armies are counted. Level 1 units provide a strength of 1, Level 2 units have a strength of 2. Then, add any bonuses from upgrades. The Air Force bonus only applies to battles in land spaces and only applies once, regardless of the number of Armies. Likewise, the Naval Aviation bonus only applies to battles in sea spaces. If the battle is the result of a Carrier Strike, the attacker adds 1 to their initial strength as well. If there are units from multiple Nations in the space, every Nation adds its own bonuses. This total number is the attacker's initial strength.
- Defender initial strength: The defender then does exactly the same as the attacker and adds up the total strength of units they have in the space and any Air Force or Naval Aviation bonuses. The total number is the defender's initial strength. If the battle space is France and the Axis is defending against an Allied Offensive launched through the North Sea, the Axis defender adds +2 to their initial strength. This reflects the "Atlantic Wall", the defenses built by the Germans along the French coast. This bonus applies even if there are already Allied units in France.
- Tactics Roll: First the attacker and then the defender roll a single die. On a result of 4 or 5 they add 1 to their initial strength, on a 6 they add 2 to their initial strength. A result of 1-3 has no effect.
- Attacker Reserves: The attacker may now commit any number of units from their Reserve to boost their score. Only Armies may be committed in a land battle, only Fleets may be committed in a sea battle. Units committed in this way are shifted from the Reserve box to the Spent box on their Nation Sheet. Each Level 1 unit committed raises the strength of the attacker by 1, while each Level 2 unit committed raises the strength of the attacker by 2. A Nation may only commit Reserves if the battle space is in supply for that Nation.
NB: Minor Nations never benefit from Air Force or Naval Aviation bonuses when fighting alone. For example, an Italian Army fighting a battle would not gain the German Air Force bonus, unless a German Army was also in the battle space. The same applies for French and Chinese units.
Example: It is 1944 and the Soviets are launching an Offensive into Poland from Ukraine. They move two Level 1 Armies in Ukraine into Poland, which is occupied by one Level 1 German Army. On previous turns, the Soviets have used the Upgrade Action to boost their Air Force up to 2. So, the Soviet initial strength is 4:2 for the Armies in the battle space plus the Air Force bonus of 2. The Germans have not improved their Air Force, but start the game with an Air Force bonus of 1. They have one Level 1 Army in the battle space, which makes an initial strength of 2.
Next, both sides roll a die for their Tactics Roll. The Soviets roll a 4 - giving them a +1 bonus to their initial strength and raising it to 5. The Germans roll a 2 and get no bonus. Then, the Soviets also decide to commit Reserves. They shift one Level 1 Army from Reserve to Spent, boosting their strength from 5 to 6. The Germans decline to commit Reserves, having none left on their Nation Sheet. The Soviets have thus won the battle with a strength of 6 to 2. Because this is a 3:1 ratio, the single German Army is permanently removed from the game, instead of being sent to Spent. The Soviets now control Poland.
6. Stacking, Control and Supply
6.1 Army and Fleet Stacking
There is a stacking limit of 3. A maximum of 3 Armies per Nation can be in each land space. A maximum of 3 Fleets PLUS 3 Armies per Nation can be in each sea space. If at any time these limits are exceeded, excess units chosen by the owning player are moved to the Spent box on their own Nation Sheet. Army units may be placed in or move into sea spaces as long as the sea space contains a Fleet belonging to their Nation. If there are no Fleets belonging to a Nation in a sea space, any Armies belonging to that Nation in the sea space immediately go to the Spent box on their Nation Sheet. This could happen because the Fleets in the sea space are removed by an enemy Action/Response or because they moved away.
6.2 Control
Control of spaces is a very important concept in the rules and is relevant for supply, movement and victory. Some key terms to understand are the following:
- If you are playing as the Axis, your side means Germany (including Italy) and Japan.
- If you are playing as the Allies your side means the UK (including France), USA (including China) and Soviet Union.
- Friendly means belonging to your own Nation or another Nation on your side. Enemy means belonging to any Nations on the opposing side. When the rules say your Nation, this means your specific Nation, not your entire side. Home Territory means land spaces in your Nation's color. Neutral land spaces have no color.
- To control a land space, it must be either friendly Home Territory or contain more friendly Armies than enemy Armies. This could be:
- Friendly Home Territory containing no Armies, or only friendly Armies.
- Your own Home Territory, or Home Territory of another Nation on your side, containing more friendly Armies than enemy Armies.
- An enemy or neutral space containing only friendly Armies.
- An enemy or neutral space containing more friendly Armies than enemy Armies.
Example: If a space has one German Army, one USA Army and one UK Army it would count as being controlled by the Allies (two Allied Armies and only one Axis Army). If one of the USA Armies moved out of the space, it would no longer be controlled by the Allies. Note that unit Level is irrelevant here - a Level 2 Army is the same as a Level 1 Army for the purposes of control.
To control a sea space, it must contain only Fleets from one side. A single Fleet from the opposing side blocks control of a sea space. For example, if the UK has two Fleets in the Mediterranean but there is a single Italian Fleet in the Mediterranean, neither side controls that sea space.
If a space is not controlled by either side, it is uncontrolled. This includes:
- Neutral land spaces containing no Armies.
- Land spaces containing an equal number of Armies from both sides.
- Sea spaces containing no Fleets.
- Sea spaces containing Fleets from both sides.
Uncontrolled spaces cannot form part of a supply line and do not count for either side during scoring.
6.3 Supply Lines
Nations require supply lines to perform any Actions in spaces around the map and to commit Reserves in battle. A supply line is a line of any number of connected and controlled spaces leading from a Nation's Capital to other spaces. Nations trace their own supply lines from their own Capitals.
There are 3 ways to trace a supply line:
- Land only: This means tracing a line of connected and friendly controlled land spaces back to the Capital. The land spaces used in such a supply line could belong to another Nation on the same side.
- Sea only: This means tracing a line of connected sea spaces which are controlled by your side and include at least one of your Nation's Fleets. Remember that to control a sea space there must be no enemy Fleets in it.
- Land and Sea: This is a combination of the above two. A land and sea supply line consists of a line of connected land spaces controlled by your side along with sea spaces controlled by your side and occupied by Fleets belonging to your Nation.
A space is "in supply" for a particular Nation if that Nation can trace a supply line from its Capital to the space. The space itself might be controlled by the enemy, but as long as it is adjacent to a series of controlled, connected spaces leading back to the Capital following the above rules, it is in supply.
Supply Line Example 1: In this example, India is in supply for the UK. It can trace a continuous line of controlled spaces back to the UK Capital space. The only sea space in the supply line - the Atlantic - is occupied by a UK Fleet. Note that if the Atlantic was occupied by a USA Fleet instead of a UK Fleet, this would not be a valid supply line for the UK. In contrast to India, the Italy space is not in supply for the UK. Despite there being a UK Fleet in the Mediterranean, the single Axis Fleet in the Mediterranean blocks control there, thus blocking supply. This means the UK could not do an Offensive into Italy, nor could it Build or Strategically Move into Italy.
Supply Line Example 2: In this example, the German Army in Moscow is NOT in supply, as Ukraine is Soviet Home Territory and not currently controlled by the Axis. This German Army in Moscow cannot perform Actions and cannot benefit from German Reserves. If the Germans were to move the Army from Poland into Ukraine using an Offensive Action, thus taking control, it would open a supply line to Moscow.
6.4 Occupied Capitals
If a Nation's Capital space is currently controlled by the enemy or uncontrolled, it is under severe restrictions. It may not perform any Responses, and the only Actions it may choose are Build and Offensive. When Building, it may shift units from Spent to Reserve but may only place Armies in its own Capital if placing them on the map. It cannot place Fleets. When doing Offensives, it may only do an Offensive in Place in the Capital space itself. A Nation with its Capital controlled by the enemy or uncontrolled also counts as being out of supply in all spaces except the Capital itself. As soon as control of the Capital space is regained, the Nation reverts back to normal rules.
7. Victory
If either side controls two enemy Capitals at the same time, they immediately win. If one side has 0 PW after scoring, the other immediately wins if they still control all of their Capital spaces. If neither of these conditions occur, the game ends at the end of the 6th turn - 1945 - and the side with the highest PW wins. If there is a tie in PW scores, the Axis win.
8. Optional Rules
Players may choose to add any or all of these optional rules to change the game, as long as all players agree.
8.1 Dice-Free Battles
To reduce the effects of luck, players may use this rule. Ignore the Tactics Roll step when resolving battles, so no dice are used. All other battle rules still apply.
8.2 Higher PW
For players who find their games ending too quickly due to PW of either side dropping to 0, they may choose to begin the game with both sides at 12 PW. Note that this will benefit the Allies, who are much stronger in the late game.
8.3 Variable Set Up
Instead of the historical set up provided in the rules, players may choose to do a variable set up. This allows a much wider variety of strategies to be tried.
If doing a variable set up, follow this procedure:
- The units for Italy, China and France are placed as per the normal set up.
- Set all cubes to the leftmost position on all Upgrade tracks on all Nation Sheets - Build 1, Air Force 0 and Naval Aviation 0.
- In turn order (Germany, UK, Japan, Soviet Union, USA), Nations may choose their starting positions in this way:
- Germany: Germany gets six Army points to place in any one of their Home Territory spaces and/or Reserves (no more than four Army points in any one space). All other units go in Reserve. Germany also gets two Upgrade points to spend on any of their Upgrade tracks.
- UK: The UK gets two Army points to place in any of their Home Territory spaces and/or Reserves. All remaining Armies go into Spent. The UK gets two Fleet points to place in the North Sea, Atlantic, Indian Ocean and/or Reserves. All remaining Fleets go into Reserves. The UK also gets one Upgrade point to spend on any of their Upgrade tracks.
- Japan: Japan gets three Army points to place in any of their Home Territory spaces and/or Reserves. All remaining Armies go into Reserve. Japan gets three Fleet points to place in the North and/or South Pacific, with any remaining Fleets going into Reserves. Japan also gets two Upgrade points to spend on any of their Upgrade tracks.
- Soviet Union: The Soviet Union gets five Army points to place in any of their Home Territory spaces, with a maximum of three Army points per space. All remaining units go into Spent. The Soviet Union also gets one Upgrade point to spend on any of their Upgrade tracks.
- USA: The USA gets three Army points to place in any of their Home Territory spaces and/or Reserves. All remaining Armies go into Spent. The USA gets three Fleet points to place in the East Pacific, Atlantic and/or Reserves. All remaining Fleets go into Spent. The USA also gets one Upgrade point to spend on any of their Upgrade tracks.
The stacking limit of 3 units per Nation still applies during set up. These rules use the terms "Army points" and "Fleet points". A Level 1 Army/Fleet counts as 1 Army/Fleet point, and a Level 2 Army/Fleet counts as 2 Army/Fleet points. For example, Germany gets 6 Army points in this set up - this could be six Level 1 Armies, two Level 2 Armies and two Level 1 Armies, or one Level 2 Army and four Level 1 Armies. These rules also refer to "Upgrade points" - each Upgrade point spent allows a Nation to shift a cube to the right on one of the three Upgrade tracks. A Nation could spend multiple Upgrade points on a single track.
8.4 Special Actions and Responses
The game includes 18 double-sided Special Action/Response markers - 5 for Germany, 4 for Japan and 3 for each Allied Nation. If using this optional rule, players may choose to let Nations have a certain amount of these markers each:
- Low: Allied Nations have 1 each chosen randomly, Germany has 2 chosen randomly, Japan has 1 chosen randomly.
- Medium: Allied Nations have 2 each chosen randomly, Axis Nations have 3 each chosen randomly.
- High: Allied Nations have 3 each chosen randomly, Germany has 5 chosen randomly, Japan has 4 chosen randomly.
The markers have a name on one side and specify an Action or a Response on the other. The side with the name might also have a year, showing when in the game the marker may be played. For example, the German "V2 Rocket" marker has "1944+" - this means it can only be played during the 1944 or 1945 turns of the game.
Special Actions work just like normal Actions and are played in accordance with the usual turn sequence. If a Special Action allows the conducting of a standard Action like an Offensive, it is carried out as normal and the usual Responses may be chosen following it. For example, the "Zhukov" marker allows the Soviets to conduct an Offensive, with a bonus to their initial strength in the resulting battle. After this Offensive is resolved, the Responses following a Soviet Offensive could still be chosen, such as a German Counter-Offensive.
Special Responses may be played following any Action from their own Nation and count as being listed first in the order of Responses. For example, if the USA carried out a standard Offensive Action, they could then play the "Patton" Special Response and resolve it before any other Responses like the German Kampfgruppe. There are two exceptions to this - Manstein and Kamikaze (see below for specifics).
Playing a Special Action or Special Response still requires using an Action marker to play it - place the Action marker on top of the Special Action/Response marker to show that it has been used.
Each Special Action/Response can only be used once. At the end of each turn, all Special Action/Response markers that have been used are removed from the game as a reminder. The Action markers spent to play them are not removed from the game and are returned to the players. Special Actions/Responses may only be played by a Nation which still controls their own Capital.
The specific rules for each Special Action and Response are shown below:
Germany
- V2 Rockets: This Action lowers Allied Political Will by 1 and can only be played in 1944 or 1945.
- SS Panzer Korps: This Action allows Germany to place a Level 2 Army from Spent in any land space on the map that is controlled and in supply (just like during a Build Action).
- Manstein: This Response allows Germany to conduct a Blitz following its own Offensive OR to conduct a Counter-Offensive in a space where a Soviet Offensive has just taken place. In either case, Germany will get a +3 bonus to initial strength in the resulting battle. This Response takes place before any other Responses, including enemy Special Responses.
- Jets: This Action upgrades German Air Force track by 1 and downgrades the UK and USA Air Force tracks by 1. It can only be played in 1943 onwards.
- Hungary: This Action allows Germany to place a Level 1 Army from Spent or Reserve directly into the Balkans, regardless of control or supply.
Japan
- Yamamoto: This Action is a Japanese Offensive using only Fleets. In the resulting battle, the Japanese get +3 to their initial strength.
- Indian Uprising: This Action allows Japan to place a Japanese Army from Reserves or Spent directly in India, regardless of control or supply.
- Kamikaze: This Response may only be chosen following a USA Offensive in the North Pacific, South Pacific or East Pacific in 1944 or 1945. It downgrades Japanese and USA Naval Aviation by 1, and permanently removes 1 USA Fleet (Level 1 or Level 2) from the space, chosen by the Japanese player. This Response takes place before any other Responses, including enemy Special Responses.
- Co-Prosperity Sphere: This Action increases Axis P.W. by 1 but can only be played if there are no Allied Fleets in the East Pacific, North Pacific, South Pacific or Indian Ocean.
UK
- French Resistance: This Action allows the UK to place the French Army unit in France, whether it was in Reserve, Spent or somewhere else on the map. It can be placed regardless of supply or control.
- Monty: This Action allows the UK to conduct an Offensive in France or North Africa. The UK will get a +2 bonus to their initial strength in the resulting battle. Aside from the bonus strength this is treated as a normal UK Offensive, so the USA could conduct a Joint Offensive Response along with it, and Germany can use the Kampfgruppe Response.
- Radar: This Action downgrades the German Air Force track by 1 and increases the UK Air Force track by 1.
Soviet Union
- Russian Winter: This Action allows the Soviets to permanently destroy a single Level 1 German or Japanese Army in a Soviet Home Territory space.
- Zhukov: This Action is simply a Soviet Offensive on land, with the Soviets gaining a +2 bonus to their strength in the resulting battle.
- People's Republics: This Action lets the Soviet player place a Level 1 Army from Reserves or Spent directly into Poland, Balkans or China on the map. This does not require control or a supply line to the space.
USA
- Manhattan Project: This Action can only be played in 1945. It requires the USA to spend an additional two Actions - meaning that a total of three USA Action markers need to be placed on the Manhattan Project marker to play it. It immediately reduces Axis P.W. by 2.
- Patton: This Response allows the USA to carry out an Offensive in France or Germany. This still counts as a Response (the sentence ends here in the source)
- War Bonds: This Response allows the USA to shift a total of four units from Spent to Reserve. Level 2 units count as two units each for this purpose.