Taĉmento Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Taĉmento Quartermaster's Office
  • Troop cards
  • Objective cards
  • Battle cards
• Maneuver Mode
  • Maneuver Grounds set up
  • Maneuver Phase
  • 1st Round
    • Squadron maneuver
    • Flanking maneuver
  • End of the Round
  • 1st Round Scoring
    • 1st Round Scoring Example
  • 2nd Round
    • 2nd Round Scoring Example
  • 2nd Round and Final scoring
    • Final Scoring Example
• Instruction Mode (Solo mode)
  • Instruction Objective
  • Setting up the Tercio
  • Instruction Mode Round
  • Special abilities
    • Command (Captain)
    • Motivate (Drummers and Fifers)
• Advanced difficulty Levels for Instruction (Instruction Mode only)
  • Level I
  • Level II
  • Level III
  • Level Summary
  • Completing an Instruction pattern
  • Alternative scoring in Instruction Mode
• Campaign Mode (Solo mode)
  • Campaign Resolution
  • Scoring
  • Final scoring

Taĉmento Quartermaster's Office

What's in the box?

• 18 troop cards:
  • 5 Pikemen
  • 5 Arquebusiers
  • 3 Cavalries
  • 1 Captain
  • 3 Artilleries
  • 1 Drummers and Fifers
• 18 objective cards: In Spanish on the front side and in English on the back side.
• 2 scorecards in Spanish and English (Maneuver and Training modes).
• 2 Maestre de Campo cards (Maneuver mode).
• 7 Battle cards in Spanish (Campaign mode).
• 7 Battle cards in English (Campaign mode).
• 1 campaign scorecard in Spanish and English (Campaign mode).

Troop cards

Pikemen (green), Arquebusiers (red), Cavalries (blue), Captain (blue), Artilleries (yellow/gold), Drummers and Fifers (yellow/gold).

• Card number
• Troop type (shown by illustration and card color)
• Pushing arrows (there are cards with 1, 2 or 4 arrows)

In both special cards (the Captain and the Drummers and Fifers) you will find an icon representing their respective unique ability.

Objective cards

The objective cards come in two colors (green/red and blue). Also included: Battle cards, scorecards and the Maestre de Campo cards.

• Banners for advanced difficulty levels
• Brief historical data of interest
• Objective description
• Graphic explanation of the pattern to be made
• Card number

Battle cards

• Battle number and name
• Brief historical introduction to the Battle
• Battle Setup (front: Reserve and Setup)
• Description of battle's objective, special rules and scoring (back)

Maneuver Mode

Welcome to Naples, your training grounds. You are a Contender aspiring for Maestre de Campo and your simple life is far behind. You and another Contender will prove yourselves against each other at the training grounds, to gain your Sergeant Major's favour, who will decide who shall ascend to the next rank within the Tercio and who shall beg for coins on his ass.

Achieve more Combat Value than your rival to ascend to the next rank.

Maneuver Grounds set up

Sit across the table from your rival Contender. Then, follow the steps below:

1. Each Contender should take a Maestre de Campo card and put it aside (you will register your Combat Value points here).
2. Shuffle the 18 troop cards and make two different decks of 9 cards each.
3. Each Contender should take one of the decks and, at the same time, choose one of 9 cards (they can peek at them). Put this card face down in any of the 6 starting Squadron positions (right-side-up), and give the rest of the cards to the other Contender. Repeat this action until you have placed 6 cards in your squadron and have 3 cards in your hand.

Keep the last 3 chosen cards in your hands (your Reserve) hidden during the ensuing Maneuver.

Once you are done, both Contenders flip their cards, showing their troop side.

RIGHT-SIDE-UP / UPSIDE-DOWN

From your Maneuver Grounds point of view:

• The right-side-up cards are your troops
• The Upside-down cards are your enemy troops

The initial Squadron of each Contender forms a matrix of 2 rows and 3 columns.

The Maneuver Grounds should look like this: (diagram: each Contender's 2x3 Squadron, with the opponent's Squadron upside-down opposite, a Reserve of 3 cards beside each, and a Maestre de Campo card at each corner)

Maneuver Phase

There are 2 rounds in the Maneuver Phase. During each round, the Contenders alternatively play cards to capture Prisoners.

When any Contender manages to get 3 Prisoners, his rival has a chance to get his own 3 in no more than 2 extra moves.

At the end of each round, calculate each Contender's Combat Value.

Once both rounds are over, it's time to check the final scoring to see if you deserve to become a Maestre de Campo or else, the usual salary of 3 maravedíes and a kick in your noble rear to send you back to your homeland.

The most veteran of the Contenders will be the first Player during the first round. The rival will be first Player during the second round.

Note: Each Contender can only maneuver with his own troops (right-side-up) and his Reserve. You can never maneuver with an enemy troop (upside-down).

Now you are going to practice these maneuvers, Contender. Success in battle and the lives of your squadron members rest in your hands.

1st Round

Contenders play turns alternatively.

During your turn you can do the following maneuvers:

Squadron maneuver

Choose and take one troop in your squadron and push in the direction of any of its arrows, from outside the Maneuver Grounds matrix. All troops from that row or column will be pushed in the same direction.

At the end of this maneuver, there can be no empty space in the Maneuver Grounds.

(Diagrams 1 and 2: a troop taken from the squadron is pushed in from outside the matrix in the direction of one of its arrows, pushing the whole row or column.)

Flanking maneuver

Choose and take one troop from your hidden Reserve (your hand) and put it in any exterior point of any Squadron. The pushing works just the same, but in this case, one troop will be expelled from the Maneuver Grounds.

If the troop is an enemy (upside-down), it becomes a Prisoner. If it is a friendly unit (right-side-up), it will return to your hidden Reserve.

End of the Round

If any Contender captured 3 Prisoners but the other did not:

• The Contender that does not yet have 3 Prisoners has a maximum of 2 turns to capture three Prisoners or will automatically lose the Maneuver and his rival shall be proclaimed Maestre de Campo.
• The Contender that already captured 3 Prisoners can skip his turn or use a Squadron maneuver, but not a Flanking maneuver.

1st Round Scoring

Once the Round is over, each Contender will tally their points for captured Prisoners. The table for scoring each Prisoner is shown below.

Prisoner	Points
Pikemen (green)	1 point
Arquebusiers (red)	1 point
Cavalries (blue)	2 points
Artilleries (yellow)	2 points
Captain (blue)	3 points
Drummers and Fifers (yellow)	3 points

1st Round Scoring Example

Prisoners of one Contender: Arquebusier 1, Pikeman 1, Cavalry 2; TOTAL 4. Prisoners of the other Contender: Captain 3, Artillery 2, Pikeman 1; TOTAL 6.

2nd Round

At the beginning of the 2nd Round, your Prisoners are added to your Reserve for this Round.

The 2nd Round works exactly the same as the 1st. Once the Round is over, advance to Final Scoring.

2nd Round Scoring Example

Prisoners of one Contender: Captain 3, Drummers 3, Arquebusier 1; TOTAL 7. Prisoners of the other Contender: Cavalry 2, Cavalry 2, Artillery 2; TOTAL 6.

Troops in the enemy Squadron area: the first Contender has 2x Arquebusier = 2 and 1x Pikeman = 1 (TOTAL = 3); the other has 2x Arquebusier = 2 and 1x Artillery = 2 (TOTAL = 4).

TOTAL SECOND ROUND SCORING: 7 + 3 = 10 and 6 + 4 = 10.

2nd Round and Final scoring

At the end of the 2nd Round, the scoring works the same as in the 1st Round.

Also, score the troops that you managed to infiltrate in the enemy Squadron area.

Sum up the scores of both Rounds and, the Contender with a higher score, or Combat Value, wil be the winner. In the event of a tie, repeat the Maneuver from the very beginning.

Final Scoring Example

	1st Round	2nd Round	TOTAL
Contender 1	4	10 (7 + 3)	14
Contender 2	6	10 (6 + 4)	16

Note: During the first Round scoring, you can use the back side of the Field Marshal card to register the winning Contender score. Flip the losing Contender card. Use the arrows from that card to mark the score difference on the winning Contender card. This will serve as a reminder.

Congratulations Contender!

You have managed to complete the training with ease. There will be songs sung in your honor... but this has only just begun. Don't think it's all done. You have been promoted to acting Maestre de Campo. The Tercio must move to the combat zone, but not before preparing and training your troops in the art of movement. Adjust your breeches, sharpen your vizcaína sword and save the noise for Flanders. Now you are on your own. Learn to command your Tercio or you will "bite the dust".

Instruction Mode (Solo mode)

Instruction Objective

You have to learn how to handle the Tercio on your own with no help. Your future in Flanders will depend on it.

To succeed you must meet the troop status requirements of the active Objective in 12 turns or less.

The Instruction ends at the moment the Objective is fulfilled. It is not necessary to complete all 12 turns of play. If after 12 turns, the Objective is not fulfilled, the Instruction is forfeited.

For Objective purposes, the captain belongs to the cavalry (blue) and the Drummers and Fifers to the artillery (yellow).

Setting up the Tercio

Follow the steps below:

1. Shuffle all the Objective cards and place 1 on the right side.
2. Take all the Troop cards and remove the card with a matching number on the active Objective card.
3. Shuffle the remaining troop cards and generate the Tercio by placing them in a face-up matrix of 4 rows and 3 columns (total of 12 troops right side up).
4. Take 3 troop cards and lay them on the side. These are your Reserve. The rest of the cards will not be used in this Instruction.

(Diagram: the Tercio 4x3 matrix, the Reserve of 3 cards on its left, the Objective card on its right; "Troop card number 1 is removed from the game" for the example Objective.)

If, after performing the setup, the Objective is completed, keep the Objective and reshuffle your Tercio and Reserve troop cards for a new setup.

Instruction Mode Round

The Instruction consists of 2 rounds of 6 turns each.

To keep track of the number of turns you can use the Maestre de Campo card. On its back you have the numbers from 1 to 12 with which you can indicate the current turn.

The Instruction Mode uses the same movement system as the Maneuver Mode, with some variations:

• All troops are on your side so you may take any card from the Tercio.
• In the case of a flanking maneuver, the troop expelled from the formation is returned to the reserve.
• You cannot take cards from the Reserve 2 turns in a row. You can spend the turn to retake a card from the Reserve.
• You can use the special abilities of certain cards (only in this mode).

Special abilities

Special abilities are extra actions that you can perform at the end of a turn.

There are 2 types of special abilities: Command and Motivate.

Command (Captain)

Each time you move the Captain (either by choosing him or moving him with another troop), you can exchange the troop above (north of the Captain) for the troop below (south of the Captain), or the troop to the left (west of the Captain) for the troop to the right (east of the Captain). This ability can only be used once per round.

Example of the Command ability in play (4-step diagram).

Motivate (Drummers and Fifers)

Each time you move the Drummers and Fifers (either by choosing them or moving them with another troop), you can make an extra move in the same direction of movement that just occurred. The troop expelled from the formation is placed in the empty slot. This ability can only be used once per round.

Example of the Motivate ability in play (2-step diagram).

In any case, use only one of the 2 special abilities per Round.

Note that the Captain or Drummers and Fifers players must be in the Tercio (not in the Reserve) to be able to use their abilities.

After using a special ability flip over one of the cards in your Reserve to serve as a reminder that you have already used a special ability during this Round.

After finishing the 1st round you can flip that card to its initial position. You can use the flipped card in flanking maneuvers, just flip another one as a reminder that you have already used a special ability.

Repeat the process in the 2nd Round if necessary.

One moment... did you just say that the Instruction was easy? You have guts, Maestre! No more talk. Ready for a bigger challenge? If you manage to complete all these levels of difficulty, your name will be the talk of the town in the capital of the kingdom.

Advanced difficulty Levels for Instruction (Instruction Mode only)

Level I

Set up the game in the same way as described in Setting up the Tercio, but take 2 Objective cards instead of 1.

• Shuffle the Objective cards and place 2 in the Objective Zone.
• Remove from the game the troops whose numbers match the numbers on the Objective cards.
• Place the remaining troops in the Tercio and the Reserve in the usual manner.
• If, after performing the setup, at least one Objective is completed, keep the Objectives and reshuffle your Tercio and Reserve troop cards for a new setup.
• Complete the two Objectives simultaneously in as few turns as possible. You only have 12 turns to achieve it.

Did you succeed? Excellent. Your name is already being considered for the next Campaign. You only have one last trial left...

Level II

Set up the game in the same way as described in Setting up the Tercio, but take 3 Objective cards instead of 1.

• Shuffle the Objective cards and place 3 in the Objective Zone.
• Remove from the game the troops whose numbers match the numbers on the Objective cards.
• Place the remaining troops in the Tercio and the Reserve in the usual manner (See Preparation of the Tercio).
• If, after performing the setup, at least one Objective is completed, keep the Objectives and reshuffle your Tercio and Reserve troop cards for a new setup.
• Complete the three Objectives simultaneously in as few turns as possible. You only have 12 turns to achieve it.

By Jove! You are now a full fledged Maestre de Campo. You are on your way to Flanders to face the Flemish rebels. You have an additional level to polish your commanding skills. Let's go for it!

Level III

On all Objective cards you can see some colored banners numbered from 1 to 12 (each banner represents a turn).

The colors signify the following restrictions for that particular turn:

• White: No restrictions.
• Green: You cannot choose green troop cards this turn.
• Red: You cannot choose red troop cards this turn.
• Blue: You cannot choose blue troop cards this turn.
• Yellow: You cannot choose yellow troop cards this turn.
• Gray: You cannot use special abilities for the rest of the round.

Level Summary

If you prefer, you can use this table to modify the difficulty level in Instruction Mode:

• Easy: Do not use banner restrictions.
• Normal: Use banner restrictions from the 1st Objective card.
• Difficult: Use banner restrictions from the 1st and 2nd Objective card.
• Extreme: Use banner restrictions from the 3 Objective cards.

Completing an Instruction pattern

Completing an objective requires the achievement of a specific placement of certain Troop cards in the formation in a maximum of 12 turns.

In some of these cases it will be necessary to form a pattern, either horizontally or vertically, within the formation. Keep in mind that you have all 4 rows and 3 columns to achieve this.

(Example objective card: "Complete this pattern. You can move and/or rotate it along the Tercio. For A, you can choose only one color among the two indicated." shown with three example Tercios and the matching placements checked.)

Alternative scoring in Instruction Mode

A victory is required to score.

Note which turn you have finished the Instruction and apply the advanced difficulty level bonus (Level III) if applicable, according to the Score Summary chart.

Instruction Mode Score Summary

Turn	Points
1-2-3	10
4	9
5	8
6	7
7	6
8	5
9	4
10	3
11	2
12	1

Advanced difficulty level (Level III):

Level	Bonus
Easy	+0 Points
Normal	+1 Points
Hard	+2 Points
Extreme	+3 Points

Scoring	Level of victory
1	Crude	Keep training. Try an easier level
2-3	Mediocre	Barely enough is not good enough. Keep trying
4-5	Decorous	You seem to be quite good at this
6-7	Skilled	You were born for the art of squadroning.
+8	Glorious	Was it luck or expertise? Try increasing the difficulty

I vow to God that you are already an experienced Maestre de Campo. You have the necessary grit to lead the most competent army in the world, and the honor to continue widening Castilla. It is time to fight for real. You are in command of the Gran Capitán, who requires your expertise to lead one of his Tercios. Will you be able to clear the field of enemies and send those infidels back to the hell they came from?"

Campaign Mode (Solo mode)

There is only one way to become a legend in the Tercios and have one of them named after you: successfully complete the 7 Battles of this campaign.

Campaign Resolution

1. Take the card of the first Battle of the Campaign (the Battle of Ceriñola 1503). On the card you can find a brief historical description, the battle set up, the Objective explanation as well as the rules and scoring, if applicable.
2. Prepare the troops as outlined in the Campaign card.
3. Play the Battle using the Instruction Mode rules (with any modifications shown on the Campaign card).

Scoring

On the Campaign Scorecard you can track the points obtained in each battle, according to the scoring for each Campaign card.

Campaign scorecard: attempts columns (1st try, 2nd try, 3rd try); attempts modifiers; battle number (#01 to #07); slot to record the score obtained; use of wildcards penalty (-7, -5); TOTAL row. With the total points check the final score on the back side.

• For each Battle you can make a maximum of 3 attempts. If in any Battle you exhaust those 3 attempts without winning, you will have to start the Campaign again from the beginning.
• Wildcards: You can use them to restart the failed Battle instead of starting from the beginning. You have a total of 2 Wildcards. The use of the first one subtracts -5 points at the end of the Campaign. The use of the second one subtracts -7 points. In case you have to use both, you get a penalty of -12 points at the end of the Campaign.
• Defeat in Battle: In case of defeat, mark the corresponding attempt slot with an X and try again.
• Victory in Battle: Record the score obtained considering the following modifiers:

Attempt	Modifier
1st attempt	+1 point
2nd attempt	+0 points
3rd attempt	- 1 point

• If, after one attempt, you think you can do better, and you still have attempts available, cross out the previous score with an X and try your luck again. You will have to keep the new score, even if it is lower.

Note: In Battles 1, 3 and 7 use the Instruction Mode Scorecard. In these cases, only Table 1 is considered. Table 2 is not considered.

• The use of special abilities has no score penalty in the Campaign Mode and they also have no limit of use. You can use the special skills as many times as you want.
• If the text of a Battle card contradicts the rules, heed the card and omit the affected rule.

Final scoring

1. Once the Campaign is completed, add up all the points per column, recording the total at the bottom of each column.
2. Add penalties if you have used any Wildcards.
3. Check the final score on the back of the scorecard and see if your name will go down in history.

Campaign Mode Final Score

Rank	Points
Maestre de Campo Legendario / Legendary Maestre de Campo	+30 Points
Maestre de Campo Honorable / Honorable Maestre de Campo	26-30 Points
Maestre de Campo / Maestre de Campo	20-25 Points
Sargento Mayor Respetable / Respectable Sargeant Mayor	14-19 Points
Sargento Mayor Mediocre / Mediocre Sargeant Mayor	8-13 Points

You may photocopy this card for your personal use to record your campaigns. You can also download it at www.nacwargames.com.

"Spain my nature, Italy my fortune, Flanders my grave."