Red Flag Over Paris Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Components
• Cards
• Pieces
• Game Board
• Presence and Control
• Setup
• Overview
• Sequence of Play
• Initiative Phase
• Playing Strategy Cards
  • Remove
  • Place
  • Use a discarded event
  • Advance Player Momentum
  • Play Final Crisis Card
• Crisis Track & Cube Pools
• Player Momentum Tracks
• Pivotal Space Bonus Actions & Crisis Dimension Scoring
• Objective Card Scoring
• Final Crisis
• Victory
• Solo Opponent Rules
  • Definitions
  • Overview
  • Solo Setup
  • Solo Sequence of Play
  • Placing and Removing Cubes
  • Selecting Spaces
  • Performing Events
  • Solo Pivotal Space Bonus Actions
  • Solo Final Crisis
  • Solo Game End
• Glossary

Introduction

Red Flag Over Paris is a 2-player strategy card-driven game, pitting the French government in Versailles against the Paris Commune in up to three rounds of political and military maneuvering, culminating in a Final Crisis representing the "Bloody Week" in May of 1871.

Versailles ~ This player represents the government in Versailles trying to find a diplomatic end to the 1870 war against Prussia and take back military control of Paris. Versailles is represented by blue components.

Commune ~ This player represents the people of Paris, rising up against the bourgeoisie and the "capitulard" government of Versailles. The Commune is represented by red components.

Players use cards to place cubes representing political influence or military presence on the map in order to take control of map spaces. Political and Military Victory Points (VP) are gained during each round and at the end of the Final Crisis based on control of various map spaces. The player who fulfills their victory conditions wins the game—Versailles attempts to take back control of Paris while the Commune attempts to expand their political influence over France.

The rules in this booklet include all rules needed to play with two players or solitaire. The solitaire rules assume familiarity with the 2-player rules.

Components

• 18 blue Influence cubes
• 2 blue Fortification discs
• 1 blue Prussian Collaboration cylinder
• 18 red Influence cubes
• 2 red Barricade discs
• 1 red Revolutionary Momentum cylinder
• 1 black round marker pawn
• 1 orange Political VP cylinder
• 1 purple Military VP cylinder
• 1 mounted board
• 1 6-sided die
• 1 Rules of Play (this manual)
• 1 Playbook
• 1 deck of 54 cards (39 Strategy, 12 Objective, 2 Final Crisis, 1 Initiative)
• 2 double-sided Player and Solo Opponent Aid Cards

Cards

Each Strategy Card shows its Operations Points and Card # at the top, an image, a title on a colored background, event text, and flavor text.

Strategy Cards ~ A deck of cards, each listing Operations Points, a title with a color background (blue, red, or gray), event text, and flavor text. A Strategy Card can be played for its event, for operations, to use a discarded event, or to advance Player Momentum. A Strategy Card can only be played for its event if the event's colored background matches that player's color (Red: Commune, Blue: Versailles) or is neutral (Gray).

Objective Cards ~ A deck of cards, each listing a specific location on the map and an event. Each card shows its Card #, an image, a title, the objective space, and event text. Objective Cards are revealed at the end of each round for Victory Points and possibly for their event. Each space on the map has an associated Objective Card.

Final Crisis Cards ~ Each player has a Final Crisis Card which is placed face-up in front of them. This card may be played for its Operations Points during a game round or for its event during the Final Crisis.

Initiative Card ~ The current Initiative Player is tracked with the Initiative Card.

Pieces

Influence Cubes ~ Used to indicate Political or Military influence in a space. Most of these cubes begin play on the Crisis Track. Once removed from the Crisis Track, they cycle between map spaces and the player's cube pool. There may never be more than 4 of each player's influence cubes in a space.

Fortification and Barricade Discs ~ Defensive assets in Military spaces, brought into play via events. They contribute to Control of and Presence in a space but not to the influence cube limit. A space can only contain one Fortification or Barricade. If an event allows the player to place a Fortification or Barricade and both are in play, the player may move one that is already on the map.

Game Board

Map Spaces ~ Spaces on the board are grouped by a color/icon combination, labeled with an individual name, and divided into Political and Military spaces. Each space can hold up to 4 of each player's cubes.

• Political:
  • Green/Square — Institutional
  • Orange/Triangle — Public Opinion
• Military:
  • Purple/Diamond — Paris
  • Teal/Circle — Forts

Each set of three same-color/icon map spaces is a Crisis Dimension. During scoring at the end of a round and at the conclusion of the Final Crisis, a player gains 1 Political or Military VP for each Crisis Dimension where they control all three spaces.

Adjacent spaces are connected by arrows or double lines; the direction of the arrow indicates adjacency (e.g., National Assembly is adjacent to Royalists but not the other way around). Spaces connected by a double line are adjacent to each other.

Play Note: Pieces cannot be placed into Versailles HQ and Prussian Occupied Territory. These spaces function only as adjacent controlled spaces for the Versailles player.

Pivotal Space ~ The star-shaped space of a Crisis Dimension with a triple border around the space (National Assembly, Press, Butte Montmartre, and Mont-Valérien). Control of a Pivotal Space gives the player a bonus action at the end of each round before determining Control of that Crisis Dimension.

Crisis Track ~ The two tracks at the top of the game map, one for each player. Most influence cubes begin play on the Crisis Track as available or bonus cubes. Each track is composed of four zones (Starting, Escalation, Tension, and Final Crisis). When the first cube is removed from a zone, that zone is breached. When a zone is breached, all bonus cubes from that area are moved to a player's cube pool at the end of that card play or Pivotal Space bonus action.

Victory Point Track ~ VPs are tracked using an orange Political VP marker and a purple Military VP marker. Both factions fight for Political and Military VPs, meaning only one side can have a positive Victory Point value at a time (e.g., 1 Military VP for Versailles is –1 Military VP for the Commune). Each Victory Point type cannot exceed 5 VPs.

Player Momentum Tracks ~ There are two Player Momentum Tracks below the Victory Point track:

• Prussian Collaboration ~ A track showing the level of support Versailles receives from the Prussian invader.
• Revolutionary Momentum ~ A track showing the level of radicalization of the Parisian population.

Cube Pool ~ Influence cubes that are not on the map or Crisis Track are placed in their respective faction's cube pool. Versailles's cube pool is always present and never full, and can be found to the left of the Prussian Collaboration Track. Conversely, the Commune has no cube pool at the start of the game and must advance Revolutionary Momentum in order to access the cube pool spaces found below this track. If a Commune cube cannot be placed in a cube pool space, it is removed from play.

Round Track ~ Track the current game round on this track with the included pawn.

Presence and Control

A player has Presence (or is present) in a space if they have one or more pieces there. Pieces are cubes and Fortification/Barricade discs.

The Commune is always present in Père Lachaise and Social Movements. Versailles is always present in Royalists—even without cubes there.

A player Controls a space if they have more pieces in it than their opponent. Versailles always controls Versailles HQ and controls Prussian Occupied Territory when Prussian Collaboration is at "3."

A player Controls a Crisis Dimension if they control all three of its spaces.

Important! Presence and Control is assessed once before conducting all Remove operations, and once before conducting all Place operations.

Setup

Place the black round marker on the "1" space of the round track. Place both VP cylinders on the "0" space of the Victory Point track. Place the blue and red cylinders on the "0" space of the Player Momentum Track.

Place six blue cubes on the Versailles side of the Crisis Track and nine red cubes on the Commune side, as well as four blue cubes and six red cubes in their respective bonus cube areas above the Crisis Track. Place six blue cubes in their spaces below the Prussian Collaboration track. Finally, place one blue cube in the Royalists space, one blue and one red cube in the Press space, one red cube in the Social Movements space, and one red cube in Père Lachaise. An image of the starting setup for the board can be found on page two of the Playbook.

Set the Fortifications and Barricades off the board near the map. Place both Final Crisis cards face up in front of each player. Shuffle the Strategy and Objective decks separately and place them near the board. Place the Initiative Card above the board with the Commune side face up.

Overview

At the beginning of each round, deal four Strategy Cards and two Objective Cards to each player. Both players secretly choose one of their Objective Cards to keep and remove the other from the game without revealing it. Then conduct the Initiative Phase.

Starting with the Initiative Player, alternate playing Strategy Cards until both players have played three times. Set aside each player's remaining Strategy Card face down for the Final Crisis.

Perform Pivotal Space bonus actions, followed by Crisis Dimension scoring, both in the order decided by the Initiative Player. Then Objective Cards are revealed simultaneously and scored. Finally, check if the conditions have been met for Final Crisis and, if not, continue with the next round.

Sequence of Play

1. Deal 4 Strategy Cards and 2 Objective Cards to each player.
2. Each player secretly chooses one Objective Card to keep as this round's objective and removes the other from the game, face down.
3. Conduct the Initiative Phase to determine the Initiative Player.
4. Alternate playing Strategy Cards until each player has played three times.
5. Each player sets aside their remaining Strategy Card for use during the Final Crisis.
6. Perform Pivotal Space bonus actions.
7. Score Crisis Dimensions.
8. Reveal and score Objective Cards.
9. Check for Final Crisis or end of third round.

Initiative Phase

Initiative Phase ~ The Initiative Phase occurs just before Strategy Card play in each of the three rounds and Final Crisis. There are two steps during the Initiative Phase:

1. Calculate the initiative level of each player. A player's initiative level is equal to their Political VPs minus their Player Momentum.

   Note: Initiative level can be negative, and often is, because 1 Political VP for one player is –1 Political VP for the other player.

2. Decide Player Order. The player with the higher initiative level (Commune wins ties) decides whether to play first or second in the round. Flip the Initiative Card with the first player's faction face up; that player becomes the Initiative Player.

Initiative Player ~ The player whose faction is face up on the Initiative Card is the Initiative Player. The Initiative Player plays the first Strategy Card each round and will decide the order in which Pivotal Space bonus actions, Crisis Dimension scoring, and Objective Card scoring will be resolved at the end of the round.

Playing Strategy Cards

When played during a normal round, each Strategy Card can be used in one of four different ways: for its event, for operations, to use a discarded event, or to advance Player Momentum. After playing 3 Strategy Cards, set aside the remaining Strategy Card (face down) for use during the Final Crisis. When played during the Final Crisis, a Strategy Card is used only for its event.

Event ~ A player may use an event if the background color of the event matches that player's color (Red: Commune, Blue: Versailles) or is neutral (Gray). If a card is played for its event, implement the event text exactly as written. Some events can only be played if their conditions are satisfied (e.g., "If…" or "must"). If an event grants Operations Points, spend these as described in "Operations" below. After a card is played for its event, place it on top of the discard pile.

Note: Anything that says "up to" a certain number of cubes includes zero cubes.

Operations ~ A player may spend the Operations Points from a card in hand to Remove or Place cubes. After a card is played for operations, place it on top of the discard pile.

• Operations are conducted in spaces where the player is present, or spaces adjacent to spaces the player controls.
• When conducting both operations, always Remove first, then Place.
• On a player's turn, all operations are restricted to either Political or Military spaces (whichever the player chooses).

Important! Determine Control and Presence once before any Remove operations and again before any Place operations (e.g. no "daisy-chaining").

Remove

Attempt to remove opponent's pieces. Fortifications and Barricades may only be removed once there are no opposing cubes remaining in a targeted space.

• Political ~ All attempts succeed. Spend an Operations Point for each cube removed.
• Military ~ Spend 1 Operations Point per attempt (or 2 per attempt if the space has an opponent's Fortification/Barricade).
  • Assess military strength (from 0):
    • +1 per adjacent spaces controlled
    • +1 for Presence in target space
    • +1 for Control of target space
    • +1 (maximum) by spending an extra Operations Point
  • If military strength is 3+, the attempt succeeds.
  • Otherwise, draw a Strategy Card. If military strength ≥ the Operations Points of that card, the attempt succeeds. Remove the drawn card from the game (put it back in the box).
  • Remove a cube upon success.

Design Note: The lack of motivation for Versailles troops and the lack of organization by the Commune meant both factions were ineffective in combat. This is why Military cube removal is not automatic.

Place

Using the remaining Operations Points, spend 1 Operations Point (or 2 if the space has an opponent's Fortification/Barricade) per cube placed. One may never place the opponent's cubes.

Use a discarded event

A player may use the event on top of the discard pile previously played this round by their opponent (if it is of the acting player's faction) by discarding a card with equal or more Operations Points. The event occurs immediately, and then the discarded card is placed on top of the discard pile.

Advance Player Momentum

A player may play a card to advance their Player Momentum. The played card is removed from the game.

Play Final Crisis Card

During normal rounds, a player may discard a card to use their Final Crisis Card for operations. The Final Crisis Card is then removed from the game. Otherwise, the Final Crisis Card's event is available for use during the Final Crisis.

Crisis Track & Cube Pools

When adding cubes to the map, a player must first use any cubes in their cube pool. If their cube pool is empty, the player may use cubes from their Crisis Track, removing cubes one at a time from the middle of the board outward.

Note: If no cubes are available, the player may not relocate cubes on the map.

As cubes are removed from the Crisis Track, zones (Starting, Escalation, Tension, and Final Crisis) will become breached when a cube is first removed from them. At the end of a card play or Pivotal Space bonus action (including Objective Cards) during which a zone is breached, the owning player must take the bonus cubes from that zone and place them in their cube pool (or remove them from play if there is no room in the Commune pool). The player who first breaches their Final Crisis zone loses 1 Political VP and places the two bonus cubes in their pool. The second player to breach their Final Crisis zone has no penalty but gains no bonus cubes (remove these bonus cubes from play).

Note: The effects of breaching the Final Crisis zone still apply if breached during Final Crisis.

Cubes are also placed in their respective cube pools when they are removed from map spaces by either player. Versailles' cube pool is always present and never full. Conversely, the Commune has no cube pool at the start of the game and must advance Revolutionary Momentum in order to earn cube pool spaces (two below the "1" space of the track, and one each below the "2" and "3" spaces). If a Commune cube cannot be placed in a cube pool space, it is removed from play.

Player Momentum Tracks

Player Momentum can be advanced either by removing a Strategy Card from the game (put it back in the box) on a player's turn or through events. The two Player Momentum Tracks provide different benefits to each player:

• Prussian Collaboration ~ Advancing on this track permanently gives the Versailles player the bonus cubes below, which are immediately placed into the Versailles cube pool. When Prussian Collaboration is at "3," Versailles controls Prussian Occupied Territory.
• Revolutionary Momentum ~ Advancing on this track temporarily gives the Commune player the cube pool spaces below. If Revolutionary Momentum is decreased, any cube pool spaces below the previous spot are no longer available, and any cubes in those spaces are removed from play.

Each time a player advances their Player Momentum to the "2" and "3" spots on the track, the opponent is immediately given the opportunity to place one cube in any space in either the Public Opinion or Institutional Crisis Dimensions (as directed by the track).

Design Note: This is to show the opposition of the French population to collaboration with the invader and how the political institution (more conservative) was increasingly worried by the Commune's radicalization.

If a player's Momentum is on the "3" spot on the track at the end of the game, they will receive an extra Political VP or Military VP (as directed by the track).

Important! Strategy Cards and Objectives Cards are sometimes removed from the game instead of being discarded. When instructed to remove a card from the game, place it back into the game box. Commune cubes may instead be removed from play if the Commune cube pool is full. Place these cubes to one side, as they may be returned to play by a future event.

Pivotal Space Bonus Actions & Crisis Dimension Scoring

After each player has played three Strategy Cards for the round and placed their remaining card aside for the Final Crisis round, check for Control of each Pivotal Space. The Initiative Player decides in which order Pivotal Space bonus actions will be performed for each controlled Pivotal Space. Within spaces of that Crisis Dimension, the controlling player may do one of the following:

• De-escalate ~ Remove up to 2 of their cubes or remove 1 of their cubes and 1 opponent's cube.
• Spread Influence ~ Move up to 2 of their cubes between any of the spaces in that Crisis Dimension.
• Turncoat ~ Remove an opponent's cube from a space and place one of theirs in the same space.

After performing all Pivotal Space bonus actions, players gain 1 Political VP for controlling a Political Crisis Dimension and 1 Military VP for controlling a Military Crisis Dimension—in the order decided by the Initiative Player.

Objective Card Scoring

After scoring Crisis Dimensions, both players reveal their Objective Cards. The player controlling the space on either Objective Card gains a VP (Political VP for a Political space or Military VP for a Military space)—in the order decided by the Initiative Player.

Then—in the order decided by the Initiative Player—players who controlled their own objective may first perform the event on their Objective Card and then set it aside in their fulfilled Objective Cards pile (each player maintains their own fulfilled Objective Cards pile). If a player did not control their own objective, that Objective Card is now removed from the game (even if the other player did control it and scored a VP).

Final Crisis

At the end of any round where both Final Crisis zones are breached, or after completing three rounds, players immediately proceed to the Final Crisis round.

First, players gather the cards they set aside for Final Crisis and their Final Crisis Card (if it is still in play), and discard to a hand size equal to the number of rounds they played so far (e.g., 3 rounds = 3 cards).

Conduct the Initiative Phase as usual, and then alternate playing Strategy Cards only for their events until all cards are played. If a player plays an opponent's event during Final Crisis, the opponent decides if and how the event is applied.

Finally, both players perform Pivotal Space bonus actions and Crisis Dimension scoring in the order decided by the Initiative Player. Any player whose Player Momentum is at "3" now gains an extra VP of the type indicated on their Player Momentum track (Military for Versailles, Political for Commune).

Victory

To win at the end of the Final Crisis:

• The Versailles player needs more Military VPs (0 or more) than the Commune player has Political VPs.
• The Commune player needs more Political VPs (0 or more) than the Versailles player has Military VPs.

If neither of the previous conditions have been fulfilled, the game is a tie. Proceed to the Tiebreaker.

Tiebreaker: If no player fulfills their victory condition, the player who fulfills the most of the following wins the game:

• Most combined Victory Points
• Most objectives fulfilled
• Most Pivotal Spaces controlled at the end of the game
• Final Initiative Player

If no player fulfills more conditions than their opponent, the Commune player wins.

Solo Opponent Rules

Red Flag Over Paris can be played by a single Player with the game controlling the faction not controlled by the Player. This Solo Opponent is governed by the Solo Sequence of Play and the included Solo Opponent Aid. Unless specifically noted in this section, the Solo Opponent follows all the rules of the 2-player game. It is recommended that you become familiar with the 2-player game before playing with these rules.

Definitions

Available cubes — A cube is Available if it is in the Solo Opponent's cube pool or on the Crisis Track but not in the Final Crisis zone or bonus cube spaces. In round 3 or the Final Crisis, once either the Player or Solo Opponent breaches the Final Crisis zone, treat cubes in the Solo Opponent's Final Crisis zone as Available.

Friendly — A Strategy Card belonging to that faction only (does not include Neutral Cards).

Isolated cubes — A cube is Isolated if it is not adjacent to any spaces controlled by that faction. Versailles cubes in the Royalists, Mont-Valérien, and Fort d'Issy spaces, and Commune cubes in the Social Movements and Père Lachaise spaces can never be Isolated.

Spaces with Room — A space has room for the Solo Opponent's cubes until it has one more of the Solo Opponent's cubes than the Player's cubes, or two more in a Pivotal Space. A space with 4 Solo Opponent cubes never has Room.

Overview

The Solo Opponent never holds a hand of cards or keeps cards for the Final Crisis. Instead, the Solo Opponent makes all decisions according to the Solo Sequence of Play and Solo Opponent Aid. During the Solo Opponent's turn, reveal an event card and follow the instructions in the Solo Sequence of Play to determine whether the Solo Opponent uses the revealed event, the event on the top card of the Discard Pile, or performs operations. The Solo Opponent uses tables printed on the Solo Opponent Aid to decide which operation to perform and where to resolve events and operations. Some steps of the Solo Sequence of Play break the 2-player rules and should be followed literally. Player turns follow the regular sequence of play, as in a 2-player game.

Solo Setup

Setup is the same as that for the 2-player game, but remove the cards with the following numbers from play: 1, 12, 13, 22, 29, 30 - they are not used in the Solo game. Find the Solo Opponent Aid for the faction controlled by the Solo Opponent and place it beside the board for easy reference.

Solo Sequence of Play

Follow the Solo Sequence of Play literally. Several steps are modified from the 2-player Sequence of Play.

1. Draw 4 Strategy Cards. Do not deal any cards to the Solo Opponent.

2. Draw 2 Objective Cards. If both Objective Cards are in the same Crisis Dimension, return them to the Objective deck, shuffle, and repeat. Select one to use as your Objective Card and the other to use as the Solo Opponent's Objective Card.

3. Conduct the Initiative Phase. If the Solo Opponent has the higher initiative level, it will choose to play second.

4. Alternate playing Strategy Cards until each faction has played three times. On the Solo Opponent's turn carry out a, b, and c:

   1. Momentum Increase Check:
      1. If the Solo Opponent is Versailles, and fewer than 3 cubes are Available, increase Prussian Collaboration.
      2. If the Solo Opponent is Commune and fewer than 2 empty spaces are in its cube pool, increase Revolutionary Momentum.
   2. Reveal the top card of the Strategy Deck: If it is a Friendly card, use the event if it would have an effect. Otherwise, use the previously discarded event if it is Friendly and has equal or fewer Operations Points than the revealed card. If any zone was breached, move the bonus cubes to the Solo Opponent's cube pool before continuing.
   3. Perform operations:
      1. If any event was used, perform 1 additional Operations Point, independent of any operations from the used event.
      2. Otherwise perform operations using Operations Points value on the revealed card.

   Then, discard the revealed Strategy Card.

5. Set aside your remaining Strategy Card for the Final Crisis. The Solo Opponent does not set aside a Strategy Card for the Final Crisis.

6. Perform Pivotal Space bonus actions (see "Pivotal Space Bonus Actions" below).

7. Score VP for Crisis Dimensions. If the Solo Opponent has Initiative, score Player VP first.

8. Score Objective Cards. The Solo Opponent scores VP for controlling the space on either Objective Card, but the Player may only score a VP for their card, never the Solo Opponent's card. If the Solo Opponent is the Initiative Player, it will resolve the effect of its Objective Card, if it was scored, after the Player's Objective Card.

9. Check for Final Crisis.

Placing and Removing Cubes

When using Operations Points, the Solo Opponent must determine if it will remove any Player cubes. The Solo Opponent will only remove cubes if there are cubes it can legally remove, and if instructed to do so by the Select where to place or remove table on the Solo Player Aid.

Starting at the top of the table, check each condition; if the condition is met, follow the instruction for that condition. If the condition is not met, continue to the next condition. If instructed to Remove, the Solo Opponent will remove (or attempt to remove, if in a Military space) a single Player cube, then consult the Select where to place or remove table again.

Once instructed to Place, or once there are no more Player cubes that the Solo Opponent can legally remove, the Solo Opponent will spend all remaining Operations Points on influence placement. The Solo Opponent attempts Military removal normally, adding an additional Operations Point when its Military Value is 1.

Selecting Spaces

Note: Space selection is covered in detail in the Solo Example of Play found in the Playbook.

Whenever placing, replacing, or removing cubes (whether by Operation, Pivotal Space bonus actions, event, or Player Momentum increase), the Solo Opponent selects spaces in which to act one at a time using the corresponding Space Selection table on the Solo Opponent Aid. Once a space is selected, the Solo Opponent will place or remove a single cube from that space.

To select a space, determine all legal spaces for the action. Starting at the top of the corresponding Space Selection table, eliminate all spaces that do not meet the condition in each row, in order, until only one space remains. If applying a condition would eliminate all spaces, skip that condition. If multiple spaces remain after applying all rows in the table, roll a die to select from the remaining spaces. If the action is not complete, select another space by determining a new set of legal spaces and starting again at the top of the Space Selection table.

Important! The Space Selection table cannot tell you which spaces are legal choices for the Operation or event being performed. For example, you must still limit the Solo Opponent to operations only in Military or Political spaces.

Performing Events

The Solo Opponent will always perform a used event as completely as possible, within the following guidelines:

• Use the "Select where to Place or Replace cubes" table for events that place or replace cubes and the "Select where to Remove cubes" table for events that remove cubes.
• Events that would have no effect are not used. If an event that raises the player's Player Momentum has no other effect, it is not used.
• Never place cubes in a space without Room. Barricades/Fortifications may be placed in spaces without Room.
• Never place cubes that are not Available.
• If multiple exclusive options are on a card, perform the first option that would have an effect, within these guidelines.

Solo Pivotal Space Bonus Actions

If the Solo Opponent is the Initiative Player it will choose to conduct its bonus actions after the Player does. The Player determines all other ordering. The Solo Opponent conducts one bonus action in each eligible Crisis Dimension. Perform the first action in this list which applies:

1. Spread (using Place Table) to add Solo Opponent Control to 2 spaces without removing Solo Opponent Control of any space.
2. Turncoat (using Replace Table) to add Solo Opponent Control in 1 space if the Solo Opponent has any Available cubes.
3. Spread (using Place Table) to add Solo Opponent Control in 1 space without removing Solo Opponent Control.
4. De-escalate:
   1. Remove 1 Solo Opponent cube from a space with 2 more Solo Opponent cubes than Player cubes (3 more if Pivotal Space). Break ties by rolling a die.
   2. Then, if a Solo Opponent cube was removed in the previous step, remove a Player cube to add Solo Opponent Control of a space using the Remove Table. If not possible, remove a Player cube from a space with 1 more Player cube than Solo Opponent cube, or from the space with the least Player cubes. If no eligible Player cube, skip this removal.
5. Turncoat (using Replace Table) to remove Player Control if any Available cubes.
6. Do nothing.

Solo Final Crisis

Resolve the Final Crisis normally, but when the Solo Opponent would play a card, reveal cards from the Strategy Card deck until a Solo Opponent's card is revealed. Use that event. If the event would have no effect, or would only increase the player's Player Momentum, discard it and continue drawing. In the rare case that the Strategy Deck is exhausted, shuffle all the discarded and removed Strategy Cards together to form a new draw pile and continue drawing. The Solo Opponent does not conduct a bonus Operations Point after resolving events during the Final Crisis.

For the Solo Opponent's last Final Crisis card play, it will use its Final Crisis card. Then, if acting second, the Player may play their last card. Perform final Pivotal Space bonus actions and Crisis Dimension scoring, including scoring for Player Momentum, per the Sequence of Play.

Solo Game End

Determine victory as in the 2-player game, but the Solo Opponent always wins if the game would go to the tiebreaker.

Glossary

Adjacent ~ A space connected to another space by an arrow or double lines is considered adjacent. The direction of the arrow indicates adjacency (e.g., National Assembly is adjacent to Royalists but not the other way around).

Breach ~ When the first influence cube in a Crisis Track zone is removed. When a zone is breached, all bonus cubes from that area are moved to a player's cube pool at the end of that card play.

Commune ~ This player represents the people of Paris, rising up against the bourgeoisie and the "capitulard" government of Versailles. The Commune is represented by red components.

Control ~ Control is assessed once before conducting all Remove operations and once before conducting all Place operations.

• Space ~ A player controls a space if they have more pieces (cubes, Fortifications/Barricades) in it than their opponent.
• Crisis Dimension ~ A player controls a Crisis Dimension if they control all three of its spaces.

Note: Versailles HQ is always controlled by Versailles, and Prussian Occupied Territory is controlled by Versailles when Prussian Collaboration is at "3."

Crisis Dimension ~ A set of three same-color/icon map spaces. During scoring at the end of a round and at the conclusion of the Final Crisis, a player gains 1 Political or Military VP for each Crisis Dimension where they control all three spaces.

Crisis Track ~ Two tracks at the top of the game map, one for each player. Most influence cubes begin play on the Crisis Track as available or bonus cubes. Each track is composed of four zones (Starting, Escalation, Tension, and Final Crisis).

Cube Pool ~ Cubes that are not on the map or Crisis Track are placed in their respective faction's cube pool. Versailles's cube pool is always present and never full. Conversely, the Commune has no cube pool at the start of the game and must advance Revolutionary Momentum in order to earn cube pool spaces. If a Commune cube cannot be placed in a cube pool space, it is removed from play.

Fortifications and Barricades ~ Pieces, deployed by events, that serve as defensive assets in Military spaces. They contribute to Control of and Presence in a space but not to the influence cube limit. A space can only contain one Fortification or one Barricade. If an event allows the player to place a Fortification or Barricade and both of their Fortifications or Barricades are in play, the player may move one that is already on the map.

Influence Cubes ~ Colored wooden pieces used to indicate Political or Military influence in a space. Most of these cubes begin play on the Crisis Track. Once removed from the Crisis Track, they cycle between map spaces and the player's cube pool. There may never be more than 4 of each player's influence cubes in a space.

Initiative Phase ~ The Initiative Phase occurs just before Strategy Card play in each of the three rounds and Final Crisis. There are two steps during the Initiative Phase:

1. Calculate the initiative level of each player. A player's initiative level is equal to their Political VPs minus their Player Momentum. Note: Initiative level can be negative, and often is, because 1 Political VP for one player is –1 Political VP for the other player.
2. Decide Player Order. The player with the higher initiative level (Commune wins ties) decides whether to play first or second in the round. Flip the Initiative Card with the first player's faction face up; that player becomes the Initiative Player.

Initiative Player ~ The player whose faction is face up on the Initiative Card is the Initiative Player. The Initiative Player plays the first Strategy Card each round and will decide the order in which Pivotal Space bonus actions, Crisis Dimension scoring, and Objective Card scoring will be resolved at the end of the round.

Map Spaces ~ Spaces on the board are coded by a color/icon combination, labeled with an individual name, and divided into Political and Military spaces. Each space can hold up to 4 of each player's cubes.

• Political:
  • Green/Square — Institutional
  • Orange/Triangle — Public Opinion
• Military:
  • Purple/Diamond — Paris
  • Teal/Circle — Forts

Note: No pieces can be placed in the Versailles HQ and Prussian Occupied Territory spaces. These spaces function only as adjacent controlled spaces for the Versailles player.

Objective Cards ~ A deck of cards, each listing a specific location on the map and an event. Objective Cards are revealed at the end of each round for Victory Points and, under certain conditions, for their event. Each space on the map has an associated Objective Card.

Operations Points ~ The number at the top-left of each Strategy Card which is used to conduct operations. Operations Points are also referenced when playing the card to use a discarded event.

Pivotal Space ~ The star-shaped space of a Crisis Dimension with a triple border around the space (National Assembly, Press, Butte Montmartre, and Mont-Valérien). Control of a Pivotal Space gives the player a bonus action at the end of each round before determining Control of that Crisis Dimension.

Player Momentum ~ A term used to represent the growing strength of each faction. There are two Player Momentum tracks below the Victory Point track:

• Prussian Collaboration ~ A track showing the level of support Versailles receives from the Prussian invader.
• Revolutionary Momentum ~ A track showing the level of radicalization of the Parisian population.

Presence ~ A player has Presence (or is present) in a space if they have one or more pieces (cubes, Fortifications/Barricades) there. Presence is assessed once before conducting all Remove operations and again before conducting all Place operations.

Note: The Commune is always present in Père Lachaise and Social Movements, and Versailles is always present in Royalists—even without cubes there.

Strategy Cards ~ A deck of cards, each listing Operations Points, a title with a color background (blue, red, or gray), event text, and flavor text. A Strategy Card can be played for its event, for operations, to use a discarded event, or to advance Player Momentum. A Strategy Card can only be played for its event if the event's colored background matches that player's color (Red: Commune, Blue: Versailles) or is neutral (Gray).

Versailles ~ This player represents the French government in Versailles trying to find a diplomatic end to the 1870 war and take back military control of Paris. Versailles is represented by blue components.

Victory Point (VP) Track ~ VPs are scored using an orange Political VP marker and a purple Military VP marker. Both factions fight for Political and Military VPs, meaning only one side can have a positive Victory Point total at a time (e.g., 1 Military VP for Versailles is –1 Military VP for the Commune). Each Victory Point type cannot exceed 5 VPs.