Tank Attack! Board Game
Tank Attack! Board Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
TankAttack is for 2 to 4 players. Each player controls an army of 100 EG-Tanks® (referred to as "tanks") and three flags, of which only one is used during the game; the other two are spares. The goal is to eliminate all opponents.
Components
45 die-cut cardboard hexagons (to be manually removed before playing), divided as follows:
- 15 forests
- 20 plains
- 10 mountains
Also included:
- 20 round tokens depicting the same number of cities
- 6 special dice, numbered from 2 to 6, with one face depicting the silhouette of an EG-Tank®
- 4 armies, each composed of 100 EG-Tanks® (from now on simply referred to as "tanks"), and three flags (during the game each player will use only one; the other two are spares)
- A rulebook
Preparing the Battlefield
First, each player rolls a die to determine who will go first in the Battlefield setup phase. Play then continues clockwise. The wagon symbol represents the highest value.
Players shuffle the 45 hexagonal territories with the illustrated side facing down. Then, in turns, they take one, turn it over, and place it on the table. After the first, all other territories must be placed adjacent to at least one of those already placed on the table. These territories form the Battlefield.
Once all the territories have been placed on the table, each player takes turns placing a city token at the point where three hexes meet, as shown in the diagram. This way, each city will be at the center of an area composed of three territories. Players repeat this process until 15 cities have been placed (the additional cities are used for a game variant described below). In extreme cases, rearrange the hexes so that all the cities can be placed.
Starting Placement of the Tank HQ
Once all the territories and cities have been placed, players each roll a die, and the player with the highest score (in case of a tie, roll one or more additional dice) chooses the color of their army and places their HQ (the flag) and six tanks on a territory of their choice. Then, the other players repeat the dice roll to determine who will be the second to place their HQ and six starting tanks. Repeat this process until all players have placed their HQ and six starting tanks. Remember that an HQ cannot be placed adjacent to another.
Determining Turn Order
Once the starting HQs and tanks have been placed, determine who will go first with another roll of the die. The others follow in clockwise order.
How to Play
Two Fundamental Rules
During the game, it is important to respect the following two rules:
- Under no circumstances can you have more than six tanks in a single territory at any one time. This rule must be strictly observed, without exception. If a situation arises where there is no room for a tank (for example, during the reinforcement phase), that tank is lost.
- A player may never voluntarily leave a terrain hex completely undefended.
The Game Turn
The game is played in turns, clockwise. Each player's turn consists of:
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Reinforcements: Reinforcements are obtained based on the number of territories and cities under their control (see the difference between controlling a territory and a city below). The player whose turn it is receives one reinforcement tank for every three territories under their control and can place these reinforcements as desired within their territories (always remembering to strictly respect the maximum limit of six tanks per territory). After placing these reinforcements, the player receives an additional tank for each city under their control, but each of these tanks must be placed within one of the territories adjacent to the city itself (each city generates one reinforcement, and that reinforcement must be placed in an adjacent territory). After placing all the reinforcements, the player moves on to the second phase of their turn, which involves attacks and movement. Note that on the first turn of the game, each player controls only one territory (the one with the HQ), so in the first turn each player will skip the reinforcement phase, moving directly to the next phase.
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Attacks: An attack occurs from a territory controlled by the current player to an adjacent territory controlled by an opponent. Each current player can perform multiple attacks per turn, within the limits set by the combat rules, listed below. An attack can never be made from a territory occupied by a single tank.
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Movements: A tank movement occurs from a single hex to one or more adjacent hexes, provided they are controlled by the same player or are unoccupied. Each player has one movement, which they can perform at any time during their turn, but not before the reinforcement phase. Since there can be a maximum of six tanks on each hex and it is not possible to voluntarily leave a hex unguarded, each movement can involve up to five tanks. Movement can also be used to move your HQ, as explained below.
Controlling Territories and Cities
Territories are considered controlled by the player whose tanks are within them, while cities are considered controlled by the player who controls the greatest number of territories adjacent to the city. Therefore, a city can be controlled by controlling just one of the territories adjacent to it, as long as the other two are not controlled by anyone else. Obviously, if a player controls two territories adjacent to a city, he automatically controls that city as well. A single territory adjacent to multiple cities can contribute to the control of all adjacent cities.
Combat Rules
The player whose turn it is, after declaring where they intend to attack, rolls a number of dice equal to the number of tanks in their territory. The scores obtained with the dice may be modified based on the type of terrain on which the combat takes place (see below). This does not apply to the tank symbol, which has a special value and is never modified.
Any score HIGHER than the total number of opposing tanks results in the immediate elimination of one of them. Eliminated tanks return to their owner's possession and may re-enter the game later as reinforcements.
Example: a player attacks an adjacent territory defended by three tanks from a territory containing four tanks. The attacker rolls four dice (one for each of his tanks) and gets the following result: 2-3-4-5. Having rolled two scores higher than the number of defending tanks, the defender suffers the immediate loss of two tanks, which they remove from the attacked territory and places in their supply.
The tank symbol is unchangeable and always a winning symbol, regardless of the number of tanks defending the territory or the type of terrain (this allows, for example, even territories defended by six tanks). Each tank symbol rolled therefore always eliminates an opposing piece, regardless of the total number of tanks present or the type of territory they are in (see below).
The defender, if he still has tanks after being attacked, may respond using the same rules. Any tanks lost by the attacking player must immediately be removed from the territory from which the attack was launched.
After the defender's dice roll, the attacker is free to repeat the same attack or decide to attack from another territory. Once a player decides to change the attacking territory, he cannot change his decision for the duration of his turn.
After the defender's dice roll, it is possible for the attacking territory to be completely undefended (i.e., devoid of tanks). In this case, the defender has the right to occupy it with an additional tank from their own supply. If the defender has already reached the maximum tank limit (see below), then the territory would simply remain undefended.
If the attacker manages to eliminate all of the defender's pieces, he has the right to invade the conquered territory by moving one or more tanks from those remaining in the territory from which he launched the last attack. Tanks that invade the newly conquered hex can subsequently be used to launch another attack. It is therefore possible to perform "breakthrough" maneuvers, conquering multiple hexes in sequence, always using the same tanks.
Terrain Types
The hexes that make up the territories into which the battlefield is divided represent three different terrain types: plains, hills, and forests. Plains hexes have no special features, while hills and forests provide various advantages, listed below.
- Mountains (hills): Tanks on Mountains add one point to all dice rolls under 6, whether attacking or defending.
- Forests: Tanks in forests, when attacked, reduce the attackers' score by one point. (If a player were to attack a forest from a mountain, the score would remain unchanged for all scores below 6, while a 6 would be reduced to 5.)
- Surprise (plains): Attacking a plains hex from a forest hex grants the advantage of "surprise," meaning the immediate elimination of an opposing piece before rolling the dice. This advantage is only gained on the first attack and only if the attacked territory is plains. Tanks inside a plains hex, once attacked, cannot be "surprised" again for the duration of the current turn.
NOTE: The tank symbol does not represent a number, so it is never changed and always results, without exception, in the elimination of an opposing wagon, regardless of the hex it is located on.
Cities
Cities, represented in the game by round tokens, are an important strategic element and are placed on the battlefield at the point of contact between three hexes (therefore, a city cannot be placed in perimeter zones of the battlefield, because each city must be in direct contact with three hexes). In practice, the city is located within an area composed of three adjacent territories, but it does not constitute a separate territory; in fact, no tank can be placed on the token representing the city.
If a player controls the majority of the territories bordering a city, they gain an immediate advantage, because on their turn, they can add a reinforcement tank, which, however, must be placed on one of the territories under their control bordering the city. The particular layout of cities means that the same hex can be adjacent to more than one city.
An extreme case could be the example shown in the image, which shows a hexagon from which you can, theoretically, control six cities at the same time.
Cities are essential to the game strategy because they can become the main source of reinforcements. Controlling the three hexes surrounding a city guarantees two reinforcement tanks per turn, the equivalent of six territories not adjacent to any city.
Although there are no regulatory restrictions, we recommend avoiding placing cities too close to each other when placing them. In theory, there could be up to six cities adjacent to the same territory, and by controlling that single territory, you could control all six cities, creating a decidedly unbalancing, yet potentially very interesting, effect on the entire game. As mentioned, the ideal number of cities is approximately one-third of the territories making up the Battlefield, but the box includes 20 tokens for experimenting with different game situations.
Although the attacker has the advantage of rolling the dice first, thus significantly weakening his opponent's defenses, be very careful about attacking when outnumbered, as it's possible the defender could still eliminate all your tanks. In this case, in addition to losing your territory, you would also gain an additional tank.
HQ
Each player's Headquarters must be vigorously defended. If captured by an opponent, that player is eliminated. In a 3- or 4-player game, the tanks of an eliminated player remain on the field as neutral troops, defending the territories they occupy. The dice for neutral troops are rolled by the eliminated player. Neutral troops obviously cannot conquer any territories.
During the game, it is possible to change the position of the flag representing the HQ. However, moving the HQ is done differently than moving tanks. The HQ can be moved an indefinite number of hexes, as long as they are all connected. This allows you to escape an enemy attack and quickly move your HQ to a better-protected area on the battlefield. At the same time, it is important to try to interrupt these connecting chains of opponents, precisely to be able to launch an attack on the HQ more effectively. Moving the HQ happens in place of the normal movement of tanks.
Units defending the HQ, in addition to enjoying any benefits deriving from the terrain type where the HQ is located, also have an additional advantage. The player defending their HQ can decide to reroll the dice once if they are unhappy with the result just obtained. If the player decides to exercise this option, they must reroll all the dice and accept the outcome of this action in any case. The second roll then becomes the final one. This rule applies every time a player rolls dice in defense of their HQ.
Tank Limit
There are 100 tanks of each color in the game, and this is a limit that cannot be exceeded. Any reinforcements that exceed this limit will be lost.
Winner
The last player standing wins.
Tips, Strategy Advice, and Optional Rules
The number 1 isn't on the dice, so a territory defended by a single tank is automatically conquered, unless it's a forest hex (see the description of terrain effects).
Before starting the game, you can jointly decide to limit the size of the battlefield by reducing the number of territories. To maintain balance, the number of city tokens should always be equal to about a third of the total territories.
TankAttack is best played in pairs. In this case, sit so that your teammate is in front of you. In pairs, the goal is to eliminate both opponents' HQs.
Since losing your HQ also means elimination from the game, it's a good idea to place it in a particularly secluded and well-defended position at the start of the game, ideally near a city. This way, you can leverage your positional advantage to always have a reinforcement tank (thanks to the city).
Since your HQ can be moved, always try to keep an escape route open in case a player manages to approach your HQ threateningly. Remember that, no matter how many territories you control, losing your HQ means elimination from the game. Conversely, try to cut off your opponent's escape routes to put pressure on their HQ.
Tournament Rules
After determining the Battlefield, play a number of games equal to the number of players, making sure to change the order of play each game so that all players have the opportunity to go first at least once.
At the end of each game, assign each player a score determined as follows:
- 1st place = 1 point plus 1 point for each player finishing behind.
- 2nd place = 1 point for each player finishing behind.
- 3rd place = 1 point for each player finishing behind.
Add one point to these points for each HQ eliminated (when a player eliminates an opponent, they must remember to keep the opponent's flag for the final score).
Example of a game played by 4 players:
The winner personally eliminated all the others, so they will get 1 + 3 (the players behind them) + 3 (the flags captured) = 7 points.
The second-place finisher gets 2 points (for the players behind them), the third-place finisher gets one point, and the fourth-place finisher gets none.
If, however, the winner eliminated only one opponent and the second-place finisher eliminated two, the final score would be:
- 1st = 5 points
- 2nd = 4 points
- 3rd = 1 point
- 4th = 0 points
Record the points obtained in each match and at the end declare the player with the highest overall score the winner.