Panzer General: Allied Assault
Panzer General: Allied Assault Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1.0 Map
Panzer General Allied Assault is played on a map of the battlefield where the players place and maneuver their forces. To make the map for each game, assemble the map tiles into a grid as indicated by the scenario. Each map tile represents a single terrain type, such as city, woods, beach, etc., and each different terrain type has a unique effect on game play (see 10.0 Map Tiles).
Markers are placed on the map tiles at the start of the game, as indicated by the scenario. U.S. Home Row and German Home Row markers are usually placed on the map tiles closest to the players, and the U.S. Home Base and German Home Base markers are placed on one of these. The scenario may also indicate map tiles where the Bridge or Objective markers are placed. U.S. Control and German Control markers are placed on all home row map tiles, and control markers are placed on the other map tiles as each side's forces maneuver toward each other during play.
A map tile shows: Name of Tile, Map Grid ID, Fire Terrain Bonus, Target Terrain Bonus, Prestige Income.
2.0 Tracker Board and Prestige
The Tracker Board records information during the game. Place the Turn marker on the Turn Track, the U.S./German Target and Fire markers on the Combat Track, and the U.S. Prestige and German Prestige markers on the two Prestige Tracks. Place the Tracker Board to the side between the players during play. Prestige is measured in points which both sides accumulate and spend during play and which also count toward victory. Move each side's prestige markers as points are gained and lost. Place a control marker on the 50+ or 100+ space should a player's prestige total increase above the 50- or 100-point mark.
The Tracker Board contains: Turn Track, Combat Track (with U.S./German Target markers, U.S./German Fire markers, Damage marker, Reward marker), Prestige Tracks, and Morale Loss/Morale Gain boxes.
3.0 Markers
The markers are: Bridge, Dug-in, Objective, Moved, Fired, U.S. Control, U.S. Home Row, U.S. Prestige, U.S. Home Base, German Control, German Home Row, German Prestige, German Home Base, Turn, Damage, Reward, U.S./German Target, U.S./German Fire, and Morale Loss (-1, -2, -3) and Morale Gain (+1, +2, +3) markers.
4.0 Cards
There are two types of cards; Unit Cards and Action Cards. Action Cards are further divided into three types: Operations, Combat, and Surprise. In addition, both sides have one Bluff Card which always remains in their hands.
During play, players draw cards into their hands. There is no limit to the number of cards in a hand. Cards are played out of their hands into play, and most often the player must expend prestige points to do so. Cards also have Deck Designator letters which make it easier to sort out the cards that are used in each scenario.
4.1 Unit Cards
Both sides' Unit Cards depict tank, artillery, and infantry formations. Units are classified into two Target Types; Hard and Soft. Unit Cards are the game's playing pieces and are deployed and moved on the map tiles. See 9.0 Unit Card Glossary for a complete listing.
4.2 Action Cards
Action Cards are played to gain advantages during the game. Operations action cards, denoted by a blue stripe and world symbol are played only in the Operations Phase. Combat action cards with a red stripe and explosion symbol are played only during combat. Surprise action cards with a green stripe and question mark, can be played any time or when instructed on the card.
4.3 Bluff Cards
Bluff Cards are used in one of two instances. First, during combat, when the players must sacrifice a card from their hands, the Bluff Card can be presented instead should the player not wish to sacrifice one of his other cards. Second, use the Bluff Card to cover most of the information on another card in an instance when you want to only reveal that card's prestige value to your opponent.
5.0 Sequence of Play
Panzer General Allied Assault is played in a series of turns where game play is performed in the following order:
5.1 Game Set-Up
Consult 7.0 Scenario Set-Up, select a scenario and choose sides. The scenario description shows how to lay out the map tiles. It also indicates which cards (by numbers or letters) to select to make the U.S. and German Unit and Action decks. Pull out the cards with the numbers and letters located at the bottom of each card that match the decks used by the scenario. Shuffle the decks and lay them face down. A standard two player game will have three decks: the shared Action Deck, the German Unit Deck and the U.S. Unit Deck. Put the Tracker Board and its markers beside the map tiles, and place the remaining markers nearby. Follow the scenario's other instructions such as starting units and map tiles, starting hands, starting prestige points, first/second player determination, and victory conditions.
Before the first game turn begins, both players draw their initial hands of 8 cards from their Unit and Action Card decks, 6 Action Cards and 2 Unit Cards. These, plus their Bluff Card, make a starting hand of 9 cards. A scenario may call for a different number of starting cards.
5.2 Game Turns
Each Game Turn has a First Player Turn followed by a Second Player Turn (in some scenarios the U.S. is the first player, in others the German player is the first player). The player taking his turn is the phasing player. When each player has taken his player turn, the game turn is complete, so advance the Turn marker on the Turn Track.
Perform these Phases in each Player Turn:
- Phase 1: Draw Cards (not in the first Game Turn)
- Phase 2: Operations
- Phase 3: Count Prestige
- Phase 4: Victory Determination
Note that there is no Draw Cards Phase for either player in a scenario's first Game Turn.
Phase 1: Draw Cards
Perform these Steps in each Draw Cards Phase:
- Step 1: Draw 4 free cards from your Unit and/or Action Decks.
- Step 2: Pay 4 Prestige each to draw additional cards up to 10th-card maximum.
In Step 1, the phasing player draws 4 cards into his hand from his Unit and Action Card decks in any combination. These 4 cards have no prestige cost. The player must state in advance how many cards he is taking from each deck before he draws them. There is no limit to the number of cards a player may have in his hand.
In Step 2, the phasing player may purchase additional Unit or Action cards. He pays 4 prestige points for each Unit or Action Card drawn from the deck into his hand. Note, a player can only purchase cards in Step 2 if he has 9 or fewer cards in his hand; he cannot purchase cards if he has 10 or more cards already in his hand, including his Bluff Card.
A player may never simply discard unwanted cards; the only way to get them out of his hand is to play them in some manner. When a deck is exhausted the discards are reshuffled into a new draw deck. Once a player declares he is done with the Draw Cards Phase he may not return to it until his next player turn. Players hold their hands hidden from view and are only obliged to show the number of cards they hold to prove that they have no more than 9 cards when purchasing extra cards.
Phase 2: Operations
During the Operations Phase, the phasing player may perform these actions in any order and may repeat actions in any order:
- Activate Units
- Move and Check for Minefields
- Become Dug-in
- Initiate Combat
- Play Operations Cards
- Place New Units
For instance, a player might activate and move one unit, then activate and initiate combat with another, then place a new unit, then activate and move yet another. Most often, one unit can only be activated to do one action per Operations Phase. New units are brought into play face-down so the enemy does not immediately know what they are; face-down units can be activated and used in the Operations Phase just like face-up units.
Activate Units: Activate units on the map one at a time to Move, Become Dug-in or Initiate Combat; mark the unit with the appropriate marker (Moved, Dug-in, or Fired). Hard Target units may both move and initiate combat in any order as instructed on their card; other units may not move and initiate combat in the same Operations Phase.
Move and Check for Minefields: A unit may move one map tile vertically or horizontally. Only certain units are allowed to move diagonally and others are allowed to move two map tiles (see 9.0 Unit Card Glossary). A unit may not move into a map tile occupied by another unit, but may switch places with an adjacent unit of the same side if both are activated to do so (diagonal switches would require both units to have that ability).
When a unit moves into a map tile that neither side controls yet, he places one of his control markers on it. If the map tile has an enemy control marker, that marker is replaced by the phasing player's control marker, but the unit must check for minefields. Draw a card from the Action Card Deck and if the Tactical Modifier is -1 or -2 the unit card loses one point of Morale, noted by a -1 Morale marker. The control marker remains even if the unit card vacates the map tile. No minefield attacks take place when a unit advances after combat.
Whenever a unit card moves next to face-down enemy unit cards (including at the diagonal) they are revealed and flipped face up, including the moving unit card if it is not already revealed. Also, a face-down unit card that lends support fire to a battle is revealed and flipped face up. Activating a face-down unit card does not automatically reveal it. Once a unit card is flipped face up it never reverts back to face down.
Become Dug-in: Place a Dug-in marker on the unit card. A unit card that becomes Dug-in cannot move or initiate combat in the same Operations Phase.
Being Dug-in gives unit cards a defensive bonus of +2 and also allows target unit cards to fire first in combat. Such defending unit cards that fire first do not lose their Dug-in status. When a Dug-in unit card moves or initiates combat it is no longer Dug-in and the marker is removed. Units with the 'Auto Dug-in' ability automatically become Dug-in at the beginning of each player's turn.
Initiate Combat: A unit card may initiate combat with an enemy unit card that is horizontally or vertically next to it (not diagonally, even if a unit moves diagonally). Even unit cards with a range of 2 or 3 can only initiate combat against adjacent enemy unit cards (though these unit cards can add support against enemy unit cards at that distance, as described in 6.0 Combat). To resolve the combat, go through the Combat Sequence of Play (also in 6.0 Combat). When the combat is completed the phasing player returns to his Operations Phase to activate other unit cards or play cards as he wishes. Place a Fired marker on the unit card that initiated combat. Hard Target unit cards may initiate combat and then move after the combat if they have not already moved before the combat was initiated.
Place New Units: The phasing player may place a unit card from his hand onto a map tile that is vacant. Under no circumstances will there be two units on the same map tile. He must pay the unit card's prestige cost to do so.
The unit card can only be placed on a map tile the player controls that is connected vertically or horizontally through a chain of map tiles he controls back to his Home Row. The unit card is placed face down, so the enemy does not know what it is. Show the other player the new unit card's prestige cost, blocking the other information with your Bluff card (players may skip this and use the honor system, of course).
Placing a unit card next to an enemy unit card immediately reveals both unit cards. A newly placed unit card cannot be activated; place a Moved and Fired marker on it as a reminder that it cannot do those things or become Dug-in in this Operations Phase, unless they have the 'Auto Dug-in' ability.
A unit card may be placed on its Home Base map tile with a discount of 8 from its prestige cost, so long as that space is vacant and controlled by that player.
Play Operations Cards: The phasing player chooses an Operations Action Card to play from his hand, pays its prestige cost, and executes the instructions on the card. Please note that Action Card play usually breaks the rules. Action cards may allow unit cards to move and fire twice or do other operations not normally allowed. The actions allowed by cards are ALWAYS over and above actions allowed in the rules and NOT instead of them.
Cards may be played that increase a unit card's Morale. Morale gained/lost from the unit card's starting Morale increases/decreases its combat values on a one for one basis. A unit card may never have its Morale increased to a value greater than 9.
When the phasing player finishes with his Operations Phase proceed to the Count Prestige Phase.
Phase 3: Count Prestige
The phasing player receives prestige for each map tile that he controls according to the value printed on the map tile. At this time the player removes all Moved and Fired markers on the map. Also, any unit cards with the 'Auto Dug-in' ability get a Dug-in marker.
Phase 4: Victory
The phasing player checks to see if he has won the game according to the scenario description. If he meets the criteria he instantly wins. The scenario may end after a set number of turns, awarding victory to one side or the other.
If the phasing player is the second player, the Game Turn marker is advanced one space on the Tracker Board. Play proceeds to the other player who starts a new player turn with the Draw Cards Phase.
6.0 Combat
The phasing player initiates combat between one of his unit cards and one of his opponent's unit cards. Both cards get a chance to fire at each other using the Firing Sequence below, and when both have fired and damage has been assessed, that combat is over. The phasing player's unit card is the attacker and his opponent's unit card is the defender.
- Attacker: The unit card that has initiated the combat.
- Defender: The unit card receiving the attack, subject to possible retreat.
- Firing Unit: The unit card using its combat and support values to inflict damage.
- Target Unit: The unit card using defense value and target terrain bonus to avoid damage.
Firing Sequence
- Step 1: Determine Who Fires First
- Step 2: Mark Firing Unit Card's Combat Value on Combat Track
- Step 3: Add or subtract Morale Markers on Firing Unit Card
- Step 4: Add Attacker's Support Fire
- Step 5: Add or subtract Fire Terrain Bonus
- Step 6: Mark Target Unit Card's Defense Value on Combat Track
- Step 7: Add or subtract Target Terrain Bonus (only if Soft Target)
- Step 8: Add 2 if the Target Unit Card is Dug-in
- Step 9: Play Combat Cards (Firing player first)
- Step 10: Sacrifice a card for its Battle Value
- Step 11: Draw Tactical Modifier
- Step 12: Determine Combat Differential and Battle Losses
- Step 13: Determine Unit Card Elimination
- Step 14: Repeat Steps 2-14 for Return Fire
- Step 15: Execute Retreat
- Step 16: Execute Advance
First one player then the other player alternates being the "firing" and then the "target" unit, following the procedure below. Move the U.S. and German Fire and Target markers on the Combat Track as you follow the sequence below; neither marker can go lower than 1.
Step 1: Determine Who Fires First: The attacking unit card fires first, unless the defending unit card has a Dug-in marker, in which case the defending unit card fires first. If the attacking unit card has a Dug-in marker it is removed.
Step 2: Mark Firing Unit Card's Combat Value on Combat Track: Determine if the target unit card is a hard or soft target, then mark the firing unit card's corresponding Combat Value with the Fire marker on the Combat Track.
Step 3: Add or subtract Morale Markers on Firing Unit Card: If the firing unit card has positive or negative morale markers, adjust the Fire marker on the Combat Track accordingly.
Step 4: Add Attacker's Support Fire: Add the support values of all friendly unit cards that are within range of the target unit card (whether or not they already have been activated this round). All unit cards have a range of 1 map tile unless noted otherwise on the card. Count the range from the supporting unit card to the target unit card by tracing the path horizontally, vertically, or diagonally map tile by map tile. A unit with a range of three may only trace through two diagonal connections. A face down unit that adds support is immediately flipped face up. Adjust the Combat Track accordingly.
(Diagram: Firing Unit and Target Unit with two supporting units each contributing Support Fire of 2; Range = 2.)
Step 5: Add or subtract Fire Terrain Bonus: Adjust the Combat Track according to the Fire Terrain Bonus of the firing unit card's map tile.
Step 6: Mark Target Unit Card's Defense Value on Combat Track: Mark the target unit card's Defense Value (in the blue shield) with the Target marker on the Combat Track.
Step 7: Add or subtract Target Terrain Bonus (only if Soft Target): Adjust the Combat Track according to the Target Terrain Bonus of the target unit card's map tile. Hard target units do not receive this bonus.
Step 8: Add 2 if the Target Unit Card is Dug-in: Adjust the Target marker by +2 if the target unit is dug in.
Step 9: Play Combat Cards (Firing player first): The players alternate playing Combat Action Cards, starting with the firing player. Cards are played from the hand, and the prestige cost must be paid. Apply the card's effects immediately, adjusting the Combat Track if necessary. This step is completed when both players elect to pass and play no more cards for this combat. A player may pass and then later play a card. It takes two passes in a row to end this step.
Step 10: Sacrifice a card for its Battle Value: Each player secretly chooses a Unit or Action Card from his hand. Reveal the cards simultaneously and add the Battle Value number (in the red circle) on each player's card to his total on the Combat Track. Discard the cards. Sacrificed cards cost no prestige. A player who does not wish to sacrifice another card presents his Bluff Card instead, adding nothing to the combat.
Step 11: Draw Tactical Modifier: The firing player draws a card from the Action Card Deck and then adds or subtracts the Tactical Modifier to his running total on the Combat Track. Discard the card.
Step 12: Determine Combat Differential and Battle Losses: Subtract the final Target value from the Firing value. If this number is zero or less then the target unit card takes no damage. If it is positive place the Damage marker on the Combat Track on that number; the small number in red in that box indicates the reduction in Morale suffered by the target unit card.
Place the appropriate Morale marker on the target unit card, but keep them separate from other Morale markers already there (place those just suffered directly on the picture, and keep any older Morale markers on the unit card's text box) until retreat has been determined (see Step 15, below).
Step 13: Determine Unit Card Elimination: If the target unit card's Morale is reduced to zero or less then it is removed from its map tile and placed in the owner's unit discard pile.
The firing player receives half of the eliminated unit's prestige cost (rounded up) and either adds it to his total or subtracts it from his opponent's total on the Prestige Track, as he chooses. Another way to determine this is to place the Reward marker on that Combat Track at the eliminated unit card's prestige value; smaller red number in that space is the prestige gained (for example if the prestige cost were 5 then the red number under the 5 on the Combat Track is 3).
Further, the firing unit card gains a +1 Morale marker, combining it with any Morale markers already there. A unit's morale may never be raised to a value greater then 9.
Step 14: Repeat Steps 2-14 for Return Fire: If the target unit card is not eliminated then repeat steps 2-14 to that unit card's return fire. When both units have fired once go to Step 15.
Step 15: Execute Retreat: Examine the amount of net negative Morale inflicted on each unit card during this combat. The defending unit card retreats if it has suffered more negative Morale than the attacking unit card. But, the defending unit card will not retreat if the attacking unit card is destroyed.
A retreating unit card must move to the map tile opposite the attack, never diagonally. A unit card may not retreat onto another unit or off the board edge; if unable to retreat for these reasons the retreating unit card suffers -1 Morale and remains in place, unless that eliminated it, in which case the attacker gains the prestige and morale bonus as if it were eliminated in combat. A unit forced to retreat into a vacant enemy-controlled map tile must check for minefields (see 5.2 under Move and Check for Minefields). Retreating into a vacant, uncontrolled map tile allows that player to take control of it. A unit card on its own Home Base never retreats.
Players should now consolidate the positive and negative Morale markers on both unit cards involved in the combat.
Step 16: Execute Advance: If the defending unit card is eliminated or retreats the attacking unit card may move his unit onto the vacated map tile. He places his control marker on it. No minefield attacks take place when a unit advances after combat.
7.0 Scenario Set-Up
Players may choose from a selection of solo or two-player scenarios. They may also decide to make their own scenario. All scenarios are detailed in the section below.
7.1 Solo Scenarios
The solo scenarios simulate normal game play with special events and special movement for the Non-Player side. The instructions for these scenarios are found at the end of this section.
Choose a Scenario: Pages 11-13 show all the solo scenarios. Construct the map using the tiles that are labeled according to the chart given in the scenario.
Organize Decks for Both Sides: Create and shuffle these decks for the Non-Player side and the Player side per the scenario instructions:
- Non-Player: Unit Card Deck; Action Card Deck; "Firer" Combat Deck; "Target" Combat Deck
- Player: Unit Card Deck; Action Card Deck
Starting Unit Cards and Markers: Place the Non-Player starting unit cards on their indicated map tiles. Choose the player's starting units from the Unit Deck, spending the initial prestige as indicated in the unit deck box in the scenario instructions. Place those units anywhere on the player's home row. You are limited in the number of units selected by the available home row spaces. Set the prestige marker for the Player side as per scenario instructions. Place the Game Turn marker on the "1" space.
Sequence of Play for Solo Games:
- First Player: Determine the first player, according to the scenario instructions.
- Game turns: The solo player executes Game Turns for both the Non-Player and Player sides starting with the first player. The Player side's turn is executed normally according to the rules for a regular game.
The Non-Player side's turn is executed differently. The scenario instructions stipulate which Non-Player units attack or move in their turn. Non-Player turns consist of the following phases.
- Check for special events: As found in the Special Rules section in the scenario instructions.
- Draw and play action card: Draw one card from the Non-Player Action Card Deck and play it according to the Solo Play Special Rules, Action Deck below.
- Move Unit Cards and Initiate Combat: One at a time from right to left, furthest row from the player to nearest row to the player, move and initiate combat with each Non-Player unit card according to the scenario instructions.
- End turn: Adjust the Turn Track.
Solo Play Special Rules:
Prestige: The Non-Player never gains or loses prestige.
Non-Player Decks: The four separate decks are organized according to the scenario instructions. When these decks are exhausted the discards are reshuffled and used again.
Playing Combat Cards: When a Non-Player unit card is involved in combat, the solo player draws a card from either the Firer Combat Deck or the Target Combat Deck, as appropriate. The solo player also draws a card from the Non-Player's Action Card Deck to get its sacrificed Battle Value per the normal rules. The Tactical Modifier is determined by turning over the top card from the Player's Action Card Deck.
Note: The Player may play Surprise Action Cards at any time during the Non-Player turns.
Non-Player Unit Card Deck: This deck generates reinforcements of Non-Player units. Place a Non-Player reinforcing unit from its Unit Deck whenever a Player-side unit card moves next to a Fort, City, Town, Village, or a Non-Player's Home Row map tile that is vacant and NOT already controlled by the Player side. These units are placed with a Dug-in marker. When these units lose their Dug-in status they will not become Dug-in again. This includes units with the 'Auto Dug-in' ability. The Non-Player side gets additional reinforcements according to the scenario instructions.
Non-Player Combats: To determine if a unit engages in combat refer to the scenario instructions. Such combats follow normal rules.
Non-Player Movement: To determine if a unit moves refer to the scenario instructions. Such movement will follow normal rules.
Non-Player Victory Conditions: These are found in the scenario instructions.
Non-Player Action Card Deck (Operations Cards): Cards in this deck are played at the beginning of the Non-Player's turn before any unit card activation. Note these special cases:
- Air Strike, Bombardment, Bomber Run, Prep Fire (Operations Cards): Target the enemy unit card with the highest morale and defense value total; if there are multiple unit cards on the board with the same total then unit cards are targeted from right to left, furthest row to nearest row on the map from the Player's perspective.
- Improved Defenses, Replacements (Operations Cards): Friendly unit cards with the lowest morale and defense value total are targeted from right to left, furthest row to nearest row from the players Home Row.
Scenario Map Key
Each map square shows a Tile Number (a number plus side letter A or B of the double-sided map tile) and, where applicable, an Ownership Marker. The Starting Prestige for each side is shown in a diamond (German on the German flag, U.S. on the U.S. flag). On two-player scenarios, the German Unit Deck Designator, Action Deck Designator and U.S. Unit Deck Designator are also shown; "N" in a starting prestige diamond means Normal Set-up.
Symbol Legend:
- German Home Base (white cross); German Home Row (black cross on a tile); German Control (small black cross)
- U.S. Home Base (white star); U.S. Home Row (black star in circle); U.S. Control (small star)
- Side 'A' Home Base / Home Row / Control and Side 'B' Home Base / Home Row / Control (two-player scenarios, same symbols in letter form)
- River Map Tile with Bridge Marker
- Objective Marker
See section 10.0 Map Tiles (page 23) for the Terrain Key.
Scenario map transcriptions below list the map tile numbers row by row, from the German side (top) to the U.S. side (bottom), left to right, with each tile's marker in brackets. GHB = German Home Base, GHR = German Home Row, GC = German Control, UHB = U.S. Home Base, UHR = U.S. Home Row, OBJ = Objective marker.
Solo Scenario: Metz
Map (5 tiles wide, 7 rows):
- Row 1: 20A [GHR], 26B [GHR], 2B [GHB], 29B [GHR], 15A [GHR]
- Row 2: 31A, 18A, 25B, 19A, 33A
- Row 3: 23B, 27A, 16A, 35A, 24B
- Row 4: 21B [GC], 22A, 17A [GC], 5B, 4B [GC]
- Row 5: 3A, 9A, 6A, 7A, 8A
- Row 6: 34A, 13A, 11A, 12A, 30A
- Row 7: 1A [UHR], 36A [UHR], 32A [UHB], 28A [UHR], 10A [UHR]
German Starting Prestige: 0. U.S. Starting Prestige: 75.
German Starting Units (unit: tiles): PZ VI King Tiger: 17A; Waffen SS: 21B, 4B; 10.5 Howitzer: 20A, 15A; Pak 38 Towed Gun: 2B; Flak 88: 16A.
German Units in Deck: 4 Grenadier; 3 Strosstruppen; 3 Volkssturm; 3 Fallschirmjaeger.
U.S. Units in Deck: 3 Paratroopers; 2 Veterans; 1 Commander; 3 M26 Pershing; 2 75 mm Howitzer; 1 4.2 cm Mortar; 2 Army Rangers; 2 Engineers; 2 Mechanized; 3 M4A3 Sherman 76; 1 105 mm Howitzer; 2 M7 Priest. 40 initial prestige to spend on units.
U.S. Action Deck: 2 Prep Fire; 2 Replacements; 2 Air Strike; 2 Counter Offensive; 2 Opportunity Fire; 2 Ranged Bombardment; 2 Bomber Run; 2 National Advantage; 2 Commander Initiative; 2 Well Supplied; 2 Accuracy; 2 Surprise Attack; 2 Deadly Fire; 2 Morale Boost; 2 Off Target; 2 Tank Obstacles; 2 Take Cover!; 2 Snap Shot; 2 Exposed!; 2 Poor Aim; 2 Smoke Screen; 2 SNAFU.
German Action Deck: 2 Prep Fire; 2 Replacements; 2 Ranged Bombardment; 2 Bomber Run; 2 Air Strike.
German "Firer" Combat Deck: 2 Accuracy; 1 Surprise Attack; 2 Exposed!; 1 Morale Boost; 1 Snap Shot.
German "Target" Combat Deck: 2 Take Cover!; 1 Snap Shot; 2 Poor Aim; 1 Off Target; 1 Smoke Screen.
Victory Conditions: Capture enemy's city by turn 8.
Lose Conditions: 8 turns until failure. Enemy unit moves into a friendly Home Row Tile.
Special Rules: The solo player takes the U.S. side and goes first. The solo player draws 10 cards for his starting hand instead of the standard 8 (6 Action Cards, 2 Unit Cards, and 2 of his choosing). In non-player turns, Waffen SS and PZ VI King Tiger unit cards advance toward the U.S. Home Row and initiate combat against any U.S. unit cards in front of them, ignoring U.S. unit cards behind and to the side. The other non-player German unit cards do not move or initiate combat. At the beginning of U.S. Player Turns 3 and 4 all U.S. unit cards suffer a -1 Morale loss and any unit cards reduced to 0 are eliminated; assess the loss at the beginning of the Operations Phase, before activating any unit cards for the turn. Non-player units will always advance after combat if allowed.
Solo Scenario: Bulge
Map (7 tiles wide, 5 rows):
- Row 1: 36A [UHR], 27A [UHR], 2A [UHR], 11A [UHR], 13A [UHR], 14A [UHR], 22A [UHR]
- Row 2: 35A, 1A, 7A, 16A [U control], 10A, 9A, 12A
- Row 3: 29A, 5A, 15A, 4A, 19A, 8A, 28A
- Row 4: 34A, 18A, 6A, 17A, 3A, 20A, 30A
- Row 5: 23A [GHR], 24A [GHR], 25A [GHR], 33A [GHB], 26A [GHR], 31A [GHR], 32A [GHR]
(The U.S. side is at the top of this map and the German side at the bottom.) German Starting Prestige: 100. U.S. Starting Prestige: 0.
U.S. Starting Units (unit: tiles): M26 Pershing: 36A, 22A; 105 mm Howitzer: 14A, 27A; Commander: 11A; M4A3 Sherman 76: 13A, 2A; M12 Howitzer: 16A.
German Units in Deck: 2 Sd Kfz 124 Wespe; 3 PZ VI Tiger I; 3 PZ V Panther; 3 Stug III Ausf G; 1 Pz VI King Tiger; 3 Pak 38 Towed Gun; 2 Hertzer; 2 Pioneers. 65 initial prestige to spend on units.
U.S. Units in Deck: 2 M7 Priest; 2 Engineers; 1 M26 Pershing; 1 M4A3 Sherman 76; 3 M4A1 Sherman; 2 M36 Jackson.
German Action Deck: 1 Improved Defenses; 4 Replacements; 2 Tank Obstacles; 2 Counter Offensive; 2 Opportunity Fire; 2 Commander Initiative; 2 Ranged Bombardment; 2 Reserves; 2 SNAFU; 2 Well Supplied; 2 Accuracy; 2 Surprise Attack; 2 Deadly Fire; 2 Morale Boost; 3 Smoke Screen; 2 Strafing Run; 3 Increased Support; 2 Take Cover!; 2 Snap Shot; 4 Exposed!; 4 Poor Aim; 3 Off Target; 3 Forced Retreat.
U.S. Action Deck: 2 Improved Defenses; 2 Ranged Bombardment.
U.S. "Firer" Combat Deck: 2 Accuracy; 1 Surprise Attack; 1 Increased Support; 1 Morale Boost; 1 Snap Shot; 1 Deadly Fire.
U.S. "Target" Combat Deck: 2 Take Cover!; 1 Snap Shot; 1 Deadly Fire; 1 Morale Boost; 1 Off Target; 1 Smoke Screen.
Victory Conditions: Destroy U.S. Commander by turn 6.
Lose Conditions: 6 turns until failure. Enemy unit moves into a friendly Home Row Tile.
Special Rules: The solo player takes the German side and goes first. The solo player draws 15 cards for his starting hand instead of the standard 8 (6 Action Cards, 2 Unit Cards, and 7 of his choosing), and during the game he may purchase additional cards up to a 15th card in his hand instead of the standard 10th-card limit. The non-player U.S. Howitzers and Commander unit cards begin the game Dug-In. All other non-player U.S. unit cards advance toward the German Home Row and initiate combat against German unit cards, prioritizing to the front, right, then left, in that order. There may be U.S. reinforcements at map tiles 36A, 2A, 13A, and 22A. At the beginning of U.S. Player Turn 2 and every turn thereafter, draw an Action Card for each of these map tiles, and if that card has a Tactical Modifier value of 1, 2 or 3 draw a U.S. unit card and place it on that map tile. Also, if any U.S. Howitzer unit cards are still in play at the beginning of the U.S. Player Turns 3 and 5, all German unit cards are bombarded and lose 2 Morale. Further, whenever the U.S. Commander unit card initiates combat or is attacked, the U.S. player draws 2 Combat Cards from the Action Deck into his hand. The Non-Player draws and plays two cards (not one) from the German Action Deck in its turn. Non-player units will always advance after combat if allowed.
Solo Scenario: Herrken Forest
Map (6 tiles wide, 5 rows):
- Row 1: 14B [GHR], 13B [GHR], 11B [GHR], 28A [GHR], 15A [GHR], 16A [GHR]
- Row 2: 6A, 27A [OBJ, GC], 30A, 29A, 18B [OBJ, GC], 19A
- Row 3: 34A, 12A, 8A, 9B, 36A, 35A
- Row 4: 25A, 23A, 17A, 24A, 31A, 21A
- Row 5: 7B [UHR], 5B [UHB], 33A [UHR], 10A [UHR], 32A [UHR], 26A [UHR]
German Starting Prestige: 0. U.S. Starting Prestige: 100.
German Starting Units (unit: tiles): Strosstruppen: 27A, 18B; Towed Gun: 8A, 19A; Volkstrum: 6A, 35A; Waffen SS: 17A.
German Units in Deck: 4 Grenadier; 1 Strosstruppen; 3 Fallschirmjaeger.
U.S. Units in Deck: 3 Paratroopers; 3 Veterans; 1 Commander; 1 4.2 cm Mortar; 2 Army Rangers; 3 Recruits; 2 Mechanized; 2 Regulars. 40 initial prestige to spend on units.
U.S. Action Deck: 2 Prep Fire; 2 Replacements; 2 Counter Offensive; 2 Opportunity Fire; 2 Commander Initiative; 2 Ranged Bombardment; 2 National Advantage; 2 Well Supplied; 2 Accuracy; 2 Surprise Attack; 2 Deadly Fire; 2 Morale Boost; 2 Off Target; 2 SNAFU; 2 Take Cover!; 2 Snap Shot; 2 Exposed!; 2 Poor Aim; 2 Smoke Screen.
German Action Deck: 2 Replacements; 2 Ranged Bombardment.
German "Firer" Combat Deck: 2 Accuracy; 1 Surprise Attack; 2 Exposed!; 1 Morale Boost; 1 Snap Shot.
German "Target" Combat Deck: 2 Take Cover!; 1 Snap Shot; 2 Poor Aim; 1 Off Target; 1 Smoke Screen.
Victory Conditions: Capture the 2 Objective Tiles by turn 5.
Lose Conditions: Lose on turn 5.
Special Rules: The solo player takes the U.S. side and goes first. The solo player draws 15 cards for his starting hand instead of the standard 8 (6 Action Cards, 2 Unit Cards, and 7 of his choosing), and during the game he may purchase additional cards up to a 15th card in his hand instead of the standard 10th-card limit. Whenever a U.S. unit card moves adjacent to a Light Woods or Bocage map tile, draw an Action Card and if that card has a Tactical Modifier value of 1, 2 or 3 draw a German unit card and place it on that map tile. Non-player German unit cards do not move in this scenario, but they initiate combat against U.S. unit cards, prioritizing adjacent U.S. occupied Objective map tiles, otherwise to the front, right, then left, in that order. If possible, non-player German unit cards will advance after combat into Objective map tiles, but not in any other instance.
7.2 Two-Player Scenarios
Players may choose from a list of eleven scenarios to play. The maps and special instructions for each scenario are listed at the end of this section. Each scenario follows the general rules below for set-up, unless indicated differently in the scenario instructions.
Home Row and Home Base Placement: Each side's Home Row usually consists of the six map tiles nearest him on the board. The Home Base must be one of the six Home Row map tiles as shown in the scenario. Place the Home Row and Home Base markers on those map tiles for both sides.
Scenario Map: Players build the map according to the section below corresponding to their chosen scenario. Each map tile is double sided and labeled as side A or B. The scenario indicates where map tiles are to be placed, usually in a 6 by 5 rectangle.
Card Decks: Adjacent to each scenario's map are the Deck Designators for each player's Unit Card Deck and the shared Action Card Deck (see the Scenario Map Key on page 10). Pull out the cards with the numbers and letters located at the bottom of each card that match the decks used by the scenario.
Starting Hand: Each player draws 6 Action Cards and 2 Unit Cards for their starting hand. These plus each side's Bluff Card makes a total of 9 cards in their starting hands.
Starting Player and Starting Prestige: The starting prestige numbers for each side are presented within the diamond symbols for some scenarios. Such scenarios indicate which player goes first. If the scenario has the letter "N" within the starting prestige diamond then each player draws a card from the top of the shared Action Deck, and the person with the highest Tactical Modifier chooses who goes first (discard the cards drawn). The side going first receives no starting prestige; the side going second receives 10 starting prestige.
Starting Units: Unless already indicated by the scenario, each player looks through his Unit Deck and selects 30 prestige worth of starting unit cards. He may select no more than 6 unit cards.
Placing Starting Unit Cards: The first player places his starting unit cards face down on his Home Row map tiles, no more than one unit card per map tile. Then the second player does the same on his Home Row.
Victory Conditions: The following Victory Conditions are standard.
a) Control Enemy Home Base b) Control 3 Adjacent Enemy Home Row spaces c) Destroy all enemy units on the board d) If neither player achieves the conditions above by the end of Turn 6 then the player with the most prestige wins. Ties are broken by controlling the most map tiles.
Two-Player Scenarios
Maps are listed row by row from the German side (top row) to the U.S. side (bottom row), left to right, using the abbreviations given above (plus: USHB/USHR = U.S. Home Base/Row; OBJ = Objective marker; BR = Bridge marker). Each scenario's diamond shows the German deck designator, the shared Action Deck designator and the U.S. deck designator, with starting prestige (N = Normal Set-up).
Training Grounds (German Unit Deck C, starting prestige 10; Action Deck 7; U.S. Unit Deck C, starting prestige 10)
- Row 1: 15A [GHR], 19B [GHB], 28A [GHR], 29A [GHR], 23A [GHR], 25A [GHR]
- Row 2: 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 30A, 26A
- Row 3: 16A, 5A, 21A, 22A, 6A, 17A
- Row 4: 31A, 34A, 7A, 8A, 9A, 10A
- Row 5: 32A [UHR], 33A [UHR], 35A [UHR], 36A [UHR], 20B [UHB], 18A [UHR]
German Starting Units: PZ IV; 10.5 cm Howitzer; Grenadier; Volkssturm. U.S. Starting Units: M4A1 Sherman; 105 mm Howitzer; Regulars; Recruits.
Special Rules: Choose starting player randomly as you wish. The other player receives 10 additional starting prestige points.
St. Marie-Du-Mont (German Unit Deck A, N; Action Deck 1; U.S. Unit Deck C, N)
- Row 1: 23A [OBJ, GHR], 6B [GHB], 7B [GHR], 27A [GHR], 28A [GHR], 24A [GHR]
- Row 2: 1A, 8B, 9B, 21A [OBJ], 11A, 29A
- Row 3: 12A, 2A, 13A, 30A, 14A, 22A [OBJ]
- Row 4: 19A, 18B [OBJ], 34A, 25A, 3A, 4A
- Row 5: 5A [UHR], 26A [UHR], 35A [UHR], 10B [UHR], 15B [BR, UHB], 16B [UHR]
German Starting Units: PZ IV; Volkssturm; Flak 88; Marder III. U.S. Starting Units: M4A1 Sherman; Recruits; 75 mm Howitzer; Regulars.
German Special Rules: May remove 1 enemy Dug-In marker every even Turn. Wherever the German places the Flak 88, it remains STATIC on that tile.
U.S. Special Rules: May remove 1 enemy Dug-In marker every even Turn.
Special Scenario Victory Conditions: Control 4 of 5 Objective Tiles by Turn 8. Game ends immediately upon capturing the fourth Objective Tile.
Carentan (German Unit Deck E, N; Action Deck 3; U.S. Unit Deck E, N)
- Row 1: 10B [GHR], 5B [GHR], 18B [GHB], 6A [GHR], 25A [GHR], 7A [GHR]
- Row 2: 26A, 3B, 1B, 2A, 27A, 28A
- Row 3: 4B, 17A, 21B, 22B, 8A, 29A
- Row 4: 23B, 24B, 12B, 13B, 14B [BR], 15B
- Row 5: 30A [UHR], 19B [UHR], 20B [UHB], 34A [UHR], 11B [BR, UHR], 16B [UHR]
German and U.S. Special Rules: To activate a unit card on a Swamp map tile the owning player must first draw an Action Card and if that card has a Tactical Modifier value of -2, -1, or 0 the unit cannot be activated that turn. Also, unit cards on Swamp map tiles cannot benefit from Opportunity Fire, Commander Initiative, Double Time, or Re-Deploy Action Cards. New unit cards cannot be placed on Swamp map tiles, nor can unit cards use the Re-Deploy action card onto a Swamp map tile.
Special Scenario Victory Conditions: Take 3 Adjacent Home Row Tiles by Turn 5. Have 150 Prestige and Control 20 tiles.
Metz (two-player; German Unit Deck H, N; Action Deck 1; U.S. Unit Deck H, N)
- Row 1: 11A [GHR], 21A [GHB], 1A [GHR], 12A [GHR], 23A [GHR], 24A [GHR]
- Row 2: 26B, 15A, 2A, 27B, 19B, 28A
- Row 3: 34A, 16A, 3A, 4A, 5A, 25A
- Row 4: 31A, 17A, 6A, 7A, 8A, 35A
- Row 5: 36A, 18A, 29B, 9A, 20B, 30B
- Row 6: 32A [UHR], 33A [UHR], 13A [UHR], 10A [UHR], 22A [UHB], 14A [UHR]
Special Scenario Victory Conditions: Destroy all enemy units, OR control all 4 Fortification map tiles, OR control 4 adjacent Home Row map tiles for an instant victory. If there is no winner by end of Turn 6 the player with the most Fortifications and Home Row map tiles wins. If tied use the normal tie breaking rules.
Special Rules: The player going second starts with 10 Prestige AND draws 4 Action cards.
Hill 2018 (German Unit Deck D, N; Action Deck 3; U.S. Unit Deck D, N)
- Row 1: 18B [GHB], 23A [GHR], 24A, 25A, 28A
- Row 2: 11A [GHR], 1A, 2A, 3A, 12A
- Row 3: 4A, 5A, 15A, 6A, 7A
- Row 4: 13A, 8A, 9A, 10A, 14A [UHR]
- Row 5: 27A, 26A, 31A, 32A [UHR], 19B [UHB]
German Starting Units: Spend 20 Prestige for starting units. U.S. Starting Units: Spend 20 Prestige for starting units.
German Special Rules: King Tiger can only be used as a Battle Card. U.S. Special Rules: M12 Artillery can only be used as a Battle Card.
Special Scenario Victory Conditions: Have a unit card occupy the Hill map tile for 6 consecutive turns. If neither player has done so by Turn 12, the winner is whoever is currently on the Hill map tile, or the next player to move a unit card onto it.
Bastogne (German Unit Deck F, starting prestige 0; Action Deck 2; U.S. Unit Deck B, starting prestige 120)
On this map the large star-in-circle markers (1B, 18B, 19B, 2B) are the U.S. Home Row; small star markers are U.S. Control; crosses are German Home Row (21A white cross is the German Home Base).
- Row 1: 21A [GHB], 23A [GHR], 24A [GHR], 25A [GHR], 26A [GHR], 31A [GHR]
- Row 2: 27A [GHR], 11A, 28A, 29A, 12A [U control], 32A [GHR]
- Row 3: 34A [GHR], 3A [U control], 1B [USHR], 18B [USHR], 30A [U control], 33A [GHR]
- Row 4: 35A [GHR], 36A [U control], 19B [USHR], 2B [USHR], 4A [U control], 15A [GHR]
- Row 5: 16A [GHR], 13A [U control], 5A [U control], 6A [U control], 14A, 7A [GHR]
- Row 6: 17A [GHR], 20A [GHR], 8A [U control], 9A [U control], 10A [GHR], 22A [GHR]
German Starting Units: Spend up to 80 Prestige for starting units. U.S. Starting Units: Spend up to 45 Prestige for starting units.
German Starting Action Cards: Germany draws 10 Cards.
U.S. Starting Action Cards: 1 Last Stand; 2 Morale Boost; 2 Off Target; 1 Poor Aim; 2 Prepared Positions; 1 Replacements; 1 Smoke Screen; 1 SNAFU; 1 Tank Obstacles.
Special Scenario Victory Conditions: Germany must destroy all U.S. units before Turn 7.
Special Rules: The U.S. player sets up his units first. The German goes first. Neither side gains prestige income at the end of each turn. Neither side can bring new unit cards into the game after starting unit placement. All U.S. units begin Dug-In. The U.S. cannot use the Supply Column Action Card except as a sacrifice card during combat. U.S. unit cards can opt not to retreat and suffer the -1 Morale consequence instead, though they cannot ignore the Forced Retreat Action Card.
Omaha (German Unit Deck A, starting prestige 20; Action Deck 4; U.S. Unit Deck F, starting prestige 50)
The map is irregular: rows 1-5 are five tiles wide; rows 6-8 consist only of the three right-hand tiles (under columns 3-5).
- Row 1: 23A, 28A, 29A [GHR], 19B [OBJ, GHR], 21B
- Row 2: 24A, 22B, 11A [GHR], 1A, 12A [GHR]
- Row 3: 20B [GHB], 30A, 13A, 2A, 3A
- Row 4: 15A, 34A [GHR], 35A, 25B [GHR], 4A
- Row 5: 16A, 17A [GHR], 26B [GHR], 5A, 27B [GHR]
- Row 6 (columns 3-5): 6A, 18A, 7A
- Row 7 (columns 3-5): 8A, 9A, 10A
- Row 8 (columns 3-5): 31B [UHR], 32B [UHR], 33B [UHR]
German Starting Units (unit: tile): Flak 88 (STATIC): 34A; 7.5 cm Howitzer: 29A; Pak 38 Towed Gun: 12A; Grenadier: 25B; Volksturm: 26B; Volksturm: 27B; Marder III: 17A; Grenadier: 19B.
U.S. Starting Units: 3 Randomly drawn units.
German Special Rules: German unit cards may not move onto these map tiles: 5A, 6A, 7A, 8A, 9A, 10A, and 18A. The German cannot use the Bombing Run, Strafing Run, Air Strike or Counter Offensive Action Cards except as sacrifice cards during combat.
U.S. Special Rules: The U.S. goes first. If the German side controls any of the Fortification map tiles at the beginning of any U.S. Player Turn, each U.S. unit card suffers an immediate -1 Morale loss. During his Operations Phase, the U.S. can place one unit card on map tiles 31B, 32B or 33B at no cost in prestige.
Special Scenario Victory Conditions: U.S. must have a unit on the German Objective Tile at or before German Turn 8.
Utah (German Unit Deck A, starting prestige 10; Action Deck 4; U.S. Unit Deck E, starting prestige 10)
- Row 1: 15A [GHR], 11A [GHB], 27A [GHR], 23A [GHR], 24A [GHR], 12A [GHR]
- Row 2: 1A, 2A, 16A, 18B, 28A, 17A
- Row 3: 21A, 3A, 29A, 30A, 4A, 22A
- Row 4: 5A, 6A, 7A, 8A, 9A, 10A
- Row 5: 31B [USHR], 32B [USHR], 33B [USHR], 34B [USHB], 35B [USHR], 36B [USHR]
German Starting Units: The German player receives 35 prestige points to spend on starting unit cards. He must purchase and place 6 starting unit cards on his Home Row map tiles.
U.S. Starting Units (unit: tile): M4A1 Sherman: 31B; White Scout Car: 32B; 75 mm Howitzer: 33B; Recruits: 34B; Paratroopers: 35B; M3 Grant-Lee: 36B.
German Special Rules: German can bombard a revealed target, reducing its morale by 3 during his Operations Phase at no cost. Unit may not be eliminated by this action. German can't use Air Action Cards (see section 9.0) except as a sacrifice in combat.
U.S. Special Rules: U.S. goes first. U.S. can inflict 1 airstrike damage on odd turns and 3 damage on even turns to a revealed target at no cost. Such units may not be eliminated. However, this damage can be negated by German AA (see section 9.0). U.S. unit cards cannot become Dug-In, though unit cards with the Auto Dug-In ability still can.
Lumberjack (German Unit Deck D, N; Action Deck 3; U.S. Unit Deck D, N)
Tiles are marked with the letter A or B showing which side's territory they start in (B = the top, German-side half; A = the bottom, U.S.-side half).
- Row 1: 27A [B], 29A [B], 28A [B], 5B [B], 2A [B], 23A [B]
- Row 2: 30A, 6B, 21A [B], 1B, 3A, 4A
- Row 3: 12B, 13B [bridge], 14B, 15B [bridge], 16B, 17B (the river row)
- Row 4: 35A, 18B, 22A [A], 19B, 7A, 8A
- Row 5: 25A [A], 34A [A], 36A [A], 20B [A], 9A [A], 24A [A]
Special Scenario Victory Conditions: Take your opponent's Home Base by Turn 8. If neither player wins by Turn 8, the Player who controls the most tiles on the opposing Player's side of the river wins. If neither Player controls more tiles, the game is a tie.
German and U.S. Special Rules: Randomly determine which edge of the board is each side's Home Row. Starting with Turn 3, each side can drop its Paratrooper or Fallschirmjaeger unit cards on any unoccupied map tile except the opponent's Home Row. The drop occurs during the Operations Phase and the unit card can be immediately activated. The River is impassable, so unit cards other than Engineers and Pioneers may only cross at the bridges.
Ardennes (German Unit Deck F, starting prestige 0; Action Deck 2; U.S. Unit Deck A, starting prestige 20)
- Row 1: 15A [GHR], 1A [GHB], 2A [GHR], 3A [GHR], 4A, 5A
- Row 2: 6A [GHR], 27A, 28A, 29A, 16A, 24A
- Row 3: 25A [GHR], 7A, 23A [U control], 17A [U control], 18A [U control], 31A [U control]
- Row 4: 32A, 34A, 30A [U control], 26A [U control], 35A [U control], 10A [U control]
- Row 5: 8A, 9A, 33A [USHR], 36A [USHR], 19B [USHB], 21A [USHR]
German Starting Units (unit: tile): Pioneers: 1A; Puma: 25A; PZ V Panther: 2A; Wespe: 15A; Stug III: 3A; Panzergrenadiers: 6A.
U.S. Starting Units (unit: tile): M10 Wolverine: 18A; 57mm Towed Gun: 33A; 75mm Howitzer: 36A; Regulars: 23A.
German Special Rules: German may not use Air Action Cards (see 9.0) except as sacrifices in combat. German draws one extra Unit Card into his hand per turn.
U.S. Special Rules: U.S. may not use Air Action Cards (see 9.0) except as sacrifices in combat.
Special Scenario Victory Conditions: The German goes first. Germans must destroy all U.S. units by Turn 5.
Bulge (two-player; German Unit Deck G, N; Action Deck 4; U.S. Unit Deck G, N)
Tiles are marked A or B showing which side's territory they start in (A = top five-wide half, B = bottom).
- Row 1: 28A [A], 29A [A], 30A [A], 21A [A], 19B [A]
- Row 2: 26A [A], 31A [A], 11A [A], 1A [A], 2A [A]
- Row 3: 25B, 12A, 15A, 3A, 4A
- Row 4: 16A, 23B, 5A, 24B, 6A
- Row 5: 27B, 13A, 17A, 7A, 8A
- Row 6: 32A [B], 33A [B], 14A [B], 9A [B], 10A [B]
- Row 7: 34A [B], 35A [B], 36A [B], 22A [B], 20B [B]
German and U.S. Starting Unit: Each Player selects 80 Prestige points worth of units to start scenario.
Special Scenario Victory Conditions: Destroy all your opponents's units by Turn 8. Failing that the player who has destroyed the greatest amount of units in prestige wins the game. If tied then the winner goes to the one who killed the greatest number of units. If still tied then follow normal tie breaker rules.
German and U.S. Special Rules: Randomly determine which edge of the board is each side's Home Row. Both sides cannot use the Air Strike, Bomber Run, Strafing Run, Supply Column, National Advantage, or Well Supplied Action Cards, nor any Anti-Air unit cards except as sacrifice cards during combat. All Battle Value numbers are doubled in combat. Starting unit cards can be placed on any friendly controlled map tile. Unit cards cannot become Dug-In except as affected by Action Cards, though unit cards with the Auto Dig-In ability do so normally. Unit Card decks that become exhausted are not replaced by reshuffling the discards. Prestige gained for controlled map tiles is doubled.
7.3 Design Your Own Scenarios
Players may create their own scenarios. They can follow these suggestions or derive decks and maps according to their own criteria. Players should follow the same basic set-up and scenario rules in section 7.2 to create balanced games. Players may wish to construct their own decks and may use cards and map tiles from several sets of the game. It is recommended that no more than four versions of the same card be in any one deck.
Map Selection: Select one of the following maps: Training Grounds, Marie-du-Mont, Bulge, Lumberjack, Metz, or Hill 2018. You may use other maps from the two-player scenario list, but take care to balance the maps in regards to prestige and geographical advantage.
Action Deck Selection: Choose one of the following Action Decks that best fits the game scenario you wish to play. Pull out all the cards with the corresponding Deck Designator to make that deck.
| Action Deck Designator | Deck Type |
|---|---|
| 1 | Combat |
| 2 | Defensive |
| 3 | Mixed |
| 4 | Offensive |
Unit Deck Selection: Choose one of the following Unit Decks that best fits your game preference. Pull out all the cards with the corresponding Deck Designators to make that deck.
| U.S. Unit Deck Designator | Deck Type |
|---|---|
| A | Light Defensive |
| B | Heavy Defensive |
| C | Light Mixed |
| D | Heavy Mixed |
| E | Light Offensive |
| F | Heavy Offensive |
| G | Armor |
| H | Infantry |
| German Unit Deck Designator | Deck Type |
|---|---|
| a | Light Defensive |
| b | Heavy Defensive |
| c | Light Mixed |
| d | Heavy Mixed |
| e | Light Offensive |
| f | Heavy Offensive |
| g | Armor |
| h | Infantry |
8.0 Sample Game
This sample game begins in the middle of Turn 1 with the German Operations Phase. He has just initiated a combat.
Step 1: Determine who fires first. The PZ VI Tiger 1 unit card fires first, since the German initiated combat with that card and the defending unit is not Dug-in.
Step 2: Mark Firing Unit Card's Combat Value on Combat Track. Its combat value is 7 versus soft targets as shown on the card. Place the German Fire marker on 7 on the Combat Track.
Step 3: Add or subtract Firing Unit Card's Morale Modifier. The PZ VI Tiger 1 has 2 Morale tokens on it, which increase its combat value by 2. Adjust the German Fire marker to 9 on the Combat Track.
Step 4: Add Attacker's Support Fire. There are 2 other German units adjacent to the target unit who can lend support fire: +2 support from the Field Marshal; +3 support from the Stosstruppen. In addition, there is an artillery unit not adjacent to but within range of the enemy target: +3 support from the Howitzer. That is 8 total points of support fire; the German Fire marker is adjusted to 17 on the Combat Track.
Step 5: Add or subtract Fire Terrain Bonus. The PZ VI Tiger 1 is on a Hills map tile, which has a Fire Bonus of +2; the German Fire marker is adjusted to 19 on the Combat Track.
Step 6: Mark Target Unit Card's Defense Value on Combat Track. The Veterans are the target unit card, and their defense value is 8; the U.S. Target marker is placed on 8 on the Combat Track.
Step 7: Add or subtract Target Terrain Bonus (only if Soft Target). The Veterans unit card is a soft target, so it receives the map tile's target terrain bonus, which for Bocage is 5; the U.S. Target marker is adjusted to 13 on the Combat Track.
Step 8: Add 2 if the Target Unit Card is Dug-in. The unit is not Dug-in. If it was, it would get a defensive bonus of 2 and an opportunity to fire before the attacker and not lose its Dug-in status.
Step 9: Play Combat Cards (Firing player first). The firing player has the first opportunity to play a Combat Action Card from his hand. He plays Accuracy, pays the 2 prestige points necessary for that card, allowing him to 'add 3 to Combat Value of firing unit;' the German Fire marker is adjusted to 22 on the Combat Track.
The target player may now play a Combat Action Card from his hand in response. He plays Sabotage (which is a Surprise card, so can be played at any time), pays the 4 prestige points, allowing him to 'draw 2 cards from the Action Card deck' and 'Opponent loses 2 random cards,' which is done immediately.
The firing player can now play another Combat Action card. The German player selects Morale Boost, pays the 5 prestige points, so his 'unit gains 2 morale boosts;' a +2 Morale marker is placed on the PZ VI Tiger 1 and the German Fire marker is adjusted to 24 on the Combat Track.
The U.S. player chooses not to play a second card and passes. The German player could now play a third card, but he also passes. Since both players have passed, this step is concluded.
Step 10: Sacrifice a card for its Battle Value. The German player looks through his hand and determines he should use his bluff card and not waste any of his other good cards. He holds out his bluff card. The U.S. player decides to sacrifice a Recruits unit card, which has a battle value of 7. He holds that card out, and both are revealed simultaneously. The U.S. sacrifice gives him 7 points, and the German's bluff card gives him 0. The U.S. Target marker is adjusted to 20 on the Combat Track.
Step 11: Draw Tactical Modifier. The German player flips over the top card of the Action Card deck to reveal a -2 Tactical Modifier; the German Fire marker is adjusted to 22 on the Combat Track.
Step 12: Determine Combat Differential and Battle Losses. Subtract the Target's combat total of 20 from the Firer's combat total of 22 to get a difference of 2. He looks at the 2 space on the Combat Track and notes that the red number in the bottom right corner is 1. The target unit card, the Veteran, suffers 1 Morale damage, so a -1 Morale marker is placed on it.
Step 13: Determine Unit Card Elimination. The Veteran unit card has suffered a total of -3 Morale, which does not take it down to 0 from its starting Unit Morale of 6, so it is not eliminated.
Step 14: Repeat Steps 2-14 for Return Fire. The U.S. player can return fire with his Veteran unit card. He goes to the top of the firing sequence page and follows all of those steps again. The Veteran's combat value against the hard target PZ VI Tiger 1 is a 7. Its -3 Morale drops the Combat Track to 4. Support fire from the 4.2 CM Mortar unit card is +3 and from the 105 MM Howitzer is another +3, moving the combat track up to 10. The Bocage lends no fire terrain bonus.
The target PZ VI Tiger 1's defense value is 10. It is a hard target so does not receive a target terrain bonus, and it is not Dug-in.
NOTE: Both players can calculate their totals and adjust the Combat Track simultaneously.
The U.S. player plays Deadly Fire, pays 5 prestige points, and 'inflicts 2 damage to enemy;' a -2 Morale is put on the target unit card, which does not affect its defensive total.
The German player plays Off Target, pays 5 prestige points, and 'cancels all enemy support.' However, the U.S. player plays Snafu, pays 7 prestige points, and cancels the effect of the Off Target card. Both players then pass.
The German sacrifices a PAK 38 card with a battle value of 7 and the American chooses to sacrifice nothing, showing his bluff card instead. The tactical modifier drawn is a 0. The totals are 10 against 17, with a difference of -7, so the PZ VI Tiger 1 takes no damage.
Step 15: Execute Retreat. Because the German unit card was the attacking unit card, it doesn't retreat even though it took the most damage in the combat.
Step 16: Execute Advance. The attacking unit card does not advance because the target unit card still occupies the map tile.
The German player is still in his Operations Phase. He decides to end his turn and count prestige income for every map tile he controls and changes the total on the Tracker Board. The German's turn is over, so the U.S. player begins his player turn in the next turn.
Turn 2
The U.S. player draws 4 cards from his Action Deck and/or his Unit Deck, giving him a hand of 5 total cards, including his Bluff Card. He elects to buy 5 more cards and so subtracts 20 total prestige points from the Tracker Board.
Operations Phase: The American elects to activate and move the M4A3 Sherman 76 forward 1 tile. The German player plays Tank Obstacles (a Surprise card which can be played at any time), pays 5 prestige points, to 'immediately cancel the move or advance of an enemy hard target unit.'
So, the U.S. player decides he will initiate combat with his M4A3 against an adjacent unit. But first, he plays the Ranged Bombardment Operations Card, pays 7 prestige points, which says: "Draw an action card for tactical modifier. Inflict 3 damage + tactical modifier to a revealed enemy target. Cannot reduce Health to 0." The drawn action card's tactical modifier is 3, so the targeted unit suffers -6 Morale (though it cannot be reduced to 0).
9.0 Unit Card Glossary
Air Action Cards: Those Action Cards that involve an air strike of some sort on enemy units: Bomber Run, Air Strike, and Strafing Run.
Anti-Air Unit Class: These units provide protection from air action cards targeted one or two map tiles from the Anti-Air unit card. Any player trying to target a unit card that is under such protection has a 50% chance that the card will fail (i.e. shot down). Draw an action card to resolve the anti-air fire; a Tactical Modifier of 1, 2, or 3 means the air action card failed.
Overlapping ranges by multiple Anti-Air unit cards do not cause multiple attempts. There is only one attempt per air strike per target by anti-air unit cards regardless of the number involved. The anti-air fire is automatic (does not require an action to be expended) and reveals face down Anti-Air unit cards when fired. The air action cards affected by this are: Bomber Run; Air Strike; Strafing Run (execute per target artillery unit within range of anti-air).
Anti Tank Unit Class: These unit cards are especially effective against hard targets.
Armor Unit Class: These unit cards are hard targets and have the ability to Move and Fire OR Fire and Move. They may not move into swamps, unless stated on the card. They may move and initiate combat, or vice versa, in a single Operations Phase. They do not benefit from the defense terrain value of a map tile unless stated on their cards.
Artillery Unit Class: These unit cards have support fire range greater than 1 map tile. However, they may only initiate combat against adjacent targets.
Auto Dug-in: These unit cards regain Dug-in status (if they have lost it for any reason) at the beginning of each player turn without expending an action.
Battle Value: A card's battle value is the white number in a red circle. This value is used when players sacrifice a card during combat.
Cancels Target Terrain: Unit cards attacked by a unit so noted do not receive a target terrain bonus.
Defense Value: A unit card's defense value is the white number in a blue shield. This number is not modified by Morale.
Infantry Unit Class: These unit cards benefit from the target terrain bonus on their map tiles unless stated otherwise on the card. They may move into swamps. They can initiate combat or move in an Operations Phase, but not both.
Ignores Mines: These units automatically pass minefield checks.
Hard Target Class: These unit cards do not benefit from the target terrain bonus on their map tiles unless stated otherwise on the card.
Soft Target Class: These unit cards benefit from the Target Terrain Bonus of their map tiles unless stated otherwise on the unit card.
May Enter Swamps: These unit cards may enter swamp map tiles even though other similar units cannot.
May Move Diagonally: These units may move diagonally, as well as vertically and horizontally. They may not, however, attack diagonally. They can only swap diagonally with units that have this same ability and still have an action to spend.
Mobile Artillery Unit Class: These artillery units may both move and initiate combat or vice versa in a single Operations Phase.
Morale: A unit card's morale is the number on the green cross. It represents the unit card's ability to stay on the battlefield. When reduced to zero by negative Morale markers it is removed from play. A unit card may never have more positive Morale markers on it than would increase the Morale to more than 9. Each Morale point over the starting (printed) value raises an attacking unit card's combat value by one. Each point lower decreases the combat value by 1.
Motorized Infantry Unit Class: These unit cards are allowed to both move and initiate combat in a single Operations Phase.
Moves AND Fires: These unit cards may both move and initiate combat OR initiate combat and move in a single Operations Phase.
Moves Twice: These unit cards may execute two consecutive move actions in the same Operations Phase.
Prestige Cost: A card's prestige cost is the number in the diamond symbol. This price must usually be paid to place a new unit card or to play an action card.
Ranged Support: These artillery unit cards have a range greater than 1 map tile. However, they may only initiate combat against adjacent targets.
Receives Defense Terrain Bonus: These unit cards receive the Target Terrain Bonus on their map tile even though other units of their class do not.
Scout Car Unit Class: These unit cards immediately reveal enemy face down unit cards at a range of 2 map tiles from the scout's position as it moves or advances.
Support Cannot be Cancelled: Action Cards that normally cancel support may not affect this unit card.
Support Range: The unit can lend its support against a target unit that is up to this many map tiles distant.
Support Value: A unit card's support value is the number by the radio symbol. This is how many points this unit card adds to combat against an enemy unit. Most units have a support range of one.
Tactical Modifier: An Action Card's tactical modifier is the number in the lower left corner, ranging from -2 to +3.
Target Class: A unit card's target class is either hard or soft, used to determine various aspects of combat resolution.
Transfer Activation: These unit cards give an extra activation to an adjacent friendly unit card, so it can move, initiate combat, or become Dug-in. The adjacent unit card may move or initiate combat even if it has already done so in this Operations Phase. Using the Transfer Action ability cancels the 'Transfer Activation' unit's ability to initiate combat, though it may still move or become Dug-in.
Unit Class: Classification of the unit card in terms of function: Armor, Artillery, Mobile Artillery, Motorized Infantry, Infantry, Scout Car, Anti-Air, or Anti-Tank.
Unit Number: The card's identification number, out of the set of 240 in the game.
Unit Name: Historical name of the unit card.
10.0 Map Tiles
Below are listed each of the map tiles available to players to build the battle maps (Terrain Key).
- Clear: Target Terrain Bonus = 0. Prestige Award = 1.
- Beach: Target Terrain Bonus = 0. Prestige Award = 1. Units firing from a beach receive a -3 firing terrain penalty.
- Bridge: Target Terrain Bonus = +2. Prestige Award = 2. Bridges on river spaces negate the river for all purposes and superimpose the defense and prestige values above.
- Bocage: Target Terrain Bonus = +5. Prestige Award = 1. Units in bocage may not add support against targets next to them.
- City: Target Terrain Bonus = +5. Prestige Award = 6.
- Fortification: Target Terrain Bonus = +6. Prestige Award = 2. Units on fortifications are considered always Dug-in except when the "Prep Fire" action card is used against them.
- Heavy Woods: Target Terrain Bonus = +4. Prestige Award = 1.
- Impassable River: No units may enter.
- Passable River: Target Terrain Bonus = 0. Prestige Award = 1. Units firing from a passable river receive a -3 firing terrain penalty.
- Swamp: Target Terrain Bonus = +2. Prestige Award = 1. Units classified as hard targets may not enter unless indicated on their unit card.
- Hills: Target Terrain Bonus = +3. Prestige Award = 1. Firing units from a hill receive a +2 firing terrain bonus.
11.0 Unit Card Chart
| Nation | Type | Unit Name | Battle Value | Hard Attack | Soft Attack | Support | Defense | Target Type | Morale | Cost | Special Abilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| German | Armor | PZ VI King Tiger | 7 | 14 | 10 | 3 | 14 | Hard | 7 | 15 | Moves OR Fires. |
| German | Armor | PZ V Panther | 3 | 12 | 8 | 1 |
12.0 Game Parts
- 1 Game Manual
- 36 Double-sided Map Tiles
- 240 Cards
- 1 Reference Card
- 3 Marker sheets
- 1 Tracker Board
13.0 Designer Notes
I was with SSI (Strategic Simulation Inc.) back in the early nineties when we decided to develop Panzer General on the PC. It was a new kind of wargame for us. We had been playing a WWII turn based, hex game on the Sega Genesis from System Soft, a publisher in Japan. That game inspired us to think "outside of the box" regarding how a wargame could be presented in a different way. The notion was to dispense with true scale and an accurate simulation in favor of providing an engaging "fun first" experience that served up the essence of the tactics and strategies of WWII combat. Panzer General was born of the idea to mix tactical, operational and strategic scales. In this way you could have the enjoyment of conquering the whole of France or Belgium with the fun of smaller scale tactics that involved the combined arms of tanks, infantry, artillery, and air strikes. As part of this shifting paradigm of scale, we dispensed with the stacking of ground units and the notion that each unit had to represent a level of military organization such as a regiment, brigade, or division. We treated each unit as a type of weapon such as Panzer IIIs or Tiger Tanks or Flak 88 guns. This allowed us to focus in on the tactics and strategy within the game play.
At the time SSI was publishing Role Play Games (RPG). In fact we had published a whole series of games based on TSR's Dungeon and Dragons. With RPG on our minds we introduced into Panzer General the notion of units that progressed and improved from battle to battle. We allowed players to take their units from scenario to scenario, gaining experience and having the ability to upgrade units to improved weapon types. Hence was born the notion of Prestige, which players spent on their units to regain health in battle or upgrade them between scenarios.
Based on these notions a whole series was born. SSI published over the course of time titles such as Allied General, Pacific General, Fantasy General, Star General, Panzer General II, and People's General. Another level of evolution occurred introducing 3D graphics and more role playing elements that gave birth to a second wave of "General" games such as Panzer General III Assault and Scorched Earth. At that point the series ended in 2000 mostly due to a string of company buy-outs and a change of focus from wargames.
In 2008 I was working for Petroglyph, a video game development studio in Las Vegas. We had developed such RTS (Real-time Strategy) titles as "Star Wars: Empire at War" for Lucasarts Entertainment and "Universe at War" for SEGA. In the spring of that year we started having discussions with Ubisoft about doing Panzer General for the Xbox Live Arcade. We began development in the fall of 2008 with a release schedule for the fall of 2009.
For this new Panzer General we decided to take a new approach to once again evolve the notion of "fun first" in a wargame. We hit upon the idea of combining card play mechanics with board game mechanics. We evolved a game play where combat in the game becomes a series of duels between units, powered and enhanced by action cards that are played one after another in an alternating sequence from the players' hands. The card play mechanics added a sense of action and variability that worked well with the board game mechanics of moving units around a map capturing objectives and using combined arms to crush your opponent's forces. Taking unit cards from your hand and placing them on the map, we found to be a good way to tie the board game aspects of the game to the card game element. We also designed a card management system to the game that allowed the players to make decks of cards with new cards gained as rewards from the scenarios. The tuning of decks is an important part of game play online versus other players.
Our first milestone to Ubisoft was to prove out the design and game play of Panzer General on the Xbox 360 with a physical board game prototype. We decided that since this approach was very oriented to the board game and card game industry we would also develop and publish a physical board game version of the video game implementation. We discovered that the video game converted quite well with a few changes to enhance the face to face game play. You have the results of that effort in your hands now.
Here are some hints and strategies that we found useful in the game:
- Be sure to move up all your units to provide support before you launch your attacks.
- Move any unit you may have in your Home Base to make way for a reduced cost reinforcement you place from your hand.
- Look at your cards carefully before you plan your strategies. The key in this game is to use your cards to their fullest.
- Buy extra cards whenever you can, but still leave at least 10-15 prestige available.
- Read carefully the ability of the Units on their cards. Read the Unit Card Glossary as well. How you use these unit abilities will make or break your strategies.
- Take advantage of units with high support, especially those with a range greater than one. Units may provide support to multiple battles in the same turn.
- Be aware how quickly you use your cards. A player with no cards left is at the mercy of his opponent.
- Be aware that you may place reinforcing units on any space with your control marker. This can be very handy to add in extra support on the front lines.
- The ranged artillery units are critical to have in place to support your attacks.
- Keep in mind that Action Cards can give your units extra attacks and moves.
- Beware of units that have dug in. They will fire first.
- When you attack and fire first do all you can to eliminate that unit so you avoid its return fire.
- Pay attention to your Prestige level during your opponent's turn to have enough for your turn. Keep in mind you receive more prestige at the end of your turn.
- The fact that Action Cards can give you extra moves and attacks can be critical. Keep in mind that you can take these extra actions and then execute your normal actions.
- Read the Terrain Key in section 10. Some terrain grants you fire bonuses such as hills. Consequently, some terrain such as rivers and beaches give negative bonuses to your fire. Fortresses are very effective in their values and their ability to always be dug in (you fire first on a fortification).