Verdun Rulebook

Icons in the source are rendered as words: the French suit icon (rooster) as "French", the German suit icon (eagle) as "German", the Victory Point icon (star) as "Victory Point", and the skull icon as "skull".

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Contents
  • Mud and Blood module
• Special cards
• Tactical cards
• Setup
  • 2v2
  • 1v1
• Gameplay 2v2
  • Declare Target
  • Playing the Trick
  • Resolving the Trick
  • Casualties
  • Tactical Card Awards
  • Next Trick
  • End of the Round
• Scoring
• Example of Play
• End of Game
• Gameplay 1v1
• Mud and Blood module

Overview

At the beginning of a game of Verdun each team secretly places one of their Assets behind each of their five Fortifications. Each player receives a hand of 12 cards, which they will play in a series of 12 tricks. In each trick, teams try to minimise their own casualties while protecting their assets and fortifications. A team scores for overrunning the opponent's fortifications and capturing the asset behind it and also for protecting their own assets. And each team loses points for their casualties. After the end of the hand, the team with the most points (or whose score is the least negative) wins.

Contents

• 12 square wooden Fortification tokens, 6 for each team. The front side shows the Fortification strength and the other side shows the team symbol. Both teams have an identical set of Fortification tokens (values 0, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7).
• 12 Asset cards, 5 for each team. Both teams have the same set of 5 worth a variable amount of Victory Points. Front side: Freedom and Peace 7 Victory Points, Important Site 5 Victory Points, Prisoner of war 3 Victory Points, Civilian 1 Victory Point, Civilian 1 Victory Point.
• 64 Troop cards. Troop cards come in ranks from 2 to 13 with additional special cards ranked G (General), S (Spy), C2 (Chaplain), and R8 (Reconnaissance). Each Troop card also has a suit: French, German, or Friendly troops in green. The French and German suits each consist of two copies of the 4-13, and the G and S cards, and three copies of 2-3 for a total of 30 cards each. The Friendly suit consists of two copies of each of the C2 and R8 cards, for a total of 4 cards. Each Troop card also has a number of skull icons which is the Victory Point value its team loses if it is lost as a Casualty in battle.
• 16 Tactical cards: 3 each of Decoy, Mustard Gas, Air Strike, Artillery, and 4 of Stratagem.
• 4 Tactical reference cards, 4 Reference cards (both double sided)
• 1 wooden Assault token

Mud and Blood module

(Purchased separately)

• 18 Weather and Event cards: 3 Fog, 2 Clear Skies, 2 Flare at Night, 6 Good Weather, 3 Rain and 2 Sniper.
• 2 Weather Changes Tactical cards.
• 4 Mud and Blood reference cards (double sided).

Special cards

• S: Spy. Copies the value of the previously played card. This is Rank 0 if it is led.
• G: General. Play as Rank 1 or 14.
• C: Chaplain. Always counts as your colour. Rank 2. The Chaplain card is not used in the short game.
• R: Reconnaissance. Always counts as your colour. Rank 8. Prevents opponents from playing Tactical cards for the remainder of the trick. Tactical cards already played are not affected. The Reconnaissance card is not used in the short game.

Tactical cards

• Decoys: Regardless of the outcome, only the lowest card (or tied cards) on your side becomes a Casualty, even if Artillery or Mustard Gas is played.
• Mustard Gas: Each side takes an additional Casualty.
• Artillery: All played cards become Casualties after the battle is resolved.
• Air Strike: Adds 3 to your side's total, regardless of the colour of the card you play.
• Stratagem: Cancel a Tactical Card (even another Stratagem) as it is played. (This is the only special card that is played as a reaction.)

Setup

Each team (or player in 1v1) shuffles their 6 Fortification tiles and removes 1 at random, unseen. The removed tile is set aside face down and will not be used this round.

The team then takes their 5 remaining Fortifications and their 5 Assets and secretly arranges them in 5 pairs face down on the table with 1 Asset behind each Fortification.

A team may look at their tiles at any time.

For the first game: You may wish to randomly determine the Fortification and Asset placement which will make the setup faster. Once you know how the game plays teams should then choose how to combine the Fortification + Assets pairs.

We would also recommend that you use the short game rules for your first game.

Shuffle the Tactical Deck and put it to one side.

If you are playing the short game, remove all 2's, 3's, Chaplains and Reconnaissance from the Troop deck.

If you are playing the standard game use the whole deck.

Shuffle the Troop deck.

Once dealt, all hands are secret, and players may not communicate anything about the contents of their hands during play, even to their partners in 2v2.

Players gain Tactical cards during play which are also kept secret until played.

2v2

Two players are on the French side and two on the German side, forming two teams.

Team members sit diagonally opposite each other, so there is always a player from the other team to each player's left and right.

For the short game deal 12 Troop cards to each player.

For the standard game deal 16 Troop cards to each player.

The player who most recently watched a war film becomes the first Lead player.

1v1

For the short game deal 15 Troop cards to each player.

For the standard game deal 18 Troop cards to each player.

Place the rest of the Troop cards nearby where both players can reach as a shared draw deck. Refer to the 2-player rules at the end of this rulebook for gameplay. This version's setup is the same whether you are playing the short or standard game.

Gameplay 2v2

Declare Target

For each trick, the Lead player and their teammate are the Attackers and the opposing team are the Defenders.

To start each trick, the Lead player places the Assault token on an enemy Fortification/Asset pair of their choice to signify the target of the attack. This can be any of the opposing targets which have not yet been overrun. You may attack the same target you attacked last time.

Playing the Trick

After declaring the target, each player plays a Troop card from their hand face up on the table in turn, beginning with the Lead player and going clockwise around the table.

When playing a Troop card, a player may also play a Tactical card with it if they have one.

Players may play any card they like from their hand; they do not have to follow the Lead Suit.

Resolving the Trick

Once all 4 cards have been played, add up the values of the cards played on each side (as determined by the colour of the cards), irrespective of who played them, and compare the two sums.

If the Defender's total is equal to or higher than the Attacker's, the attack fails. If not, the Fortification is threatened.

If threatened, and the Defender's Fortification tile is still face down, flip it face up, add its value to the Defender's total and recalculate the result.

If the Defender's total now equals or exceeds the Attackers, the Defender wins and the Fortification remains face up, adding to future defence of this Asset.

Otherwise the Fortification is overrun and the Attacker wins. The Attacker then reveals the Asset and moves it to their score pile. The Fortification is discarded into the box.

Casualties

At the end of each trick, regardless of the effect on the chosen target, each team takes Casualties. The winning team loses the lowest rank card on their side, while the losing team loses the highest rank card on their side.

If there is a tie for the lowest or highest rank casualty on a side, all of the tied cards become Casualties.

The General is treated as the value it was played as (1 or 14). The Spy is always treated as a 0, irrespective of the value it was played as.

Each team places their Casualties in their score pile for End of Round scoring.

IMPORTANT: If all 4 cards played are for the same side (all the same colour), there is no battle and so no Casualties (unless Mustard Gas or Artillery were played). Fortifications can still be overrun and Assets seized when no fighting occurs if all the cards were the Attacker's colour.

Tactical Card Awards

The player who played the highest-ranked surviving card (regardless of whose side it was played for), is awarded a Tactical card. In case of a tie, all tied players receive a Tactical card. If there are no surviving Troop cards, no Tactical card is awarded.

A player can hold a maximum of 2 Tactical cards in their hand at any time. If they earn a third they do not draw another.

If the Tactical deck is exhausted, shuffle the discarded Tactical cards to reform the deck.

After any Tactical cards are awarded, all surviving Troop cards are discarded to the common discard pile.

Next Trick

The next trick begins with the player to the Lead player's left becoming the new Lead player.

End of the Round

When all 12 (or 16) tricks have been played, the Round is over and points are scored.

The round also ends after any trick in which one side has had all five Assets seized.

Scoring

Each team scores points as follows:

• The Victory Point value shown on captured Assets in your score pile.
• The Victory Point value shown on your face-down Assets still in play.
• -1 Victory Point for each Skull marker on the casualties in your score pile.

Example of Play

Tony and Ira are the French players against Simon and Isabel as the German players. With 4 tricks left in the round, it is Tony's lead and he selects one of the German targets and plays French 6. Simon plays German 6. Ira plays French 8. It's now Isabel's turn to play, and she has four remaining cards: German General, German 5, French 13, and French Spy.

Let's see what would happen with each of her choices.

General of German. She would play the General with a value of 14, giving the Germans the higher total (French 6 + 8 vs. German 6 + 14). The Defenders win without needing to reveal their Fortification. The lowest card from the winner (the Germans) and the highest from the losers (the French) are Casualties. So French 8 is put in their score pile and the German 6 is put in their score pile. The highest surviving card is the 14, played by Isabel, so she is awarded a Tactical card and the survivors are discarded.

5 of German. Germans lose (French 6 + 8 vs. German 6 + 5), so they must reveal the Fortification. They reveal a 2, giving them a total of 13 to the French 14, so it is not enough. The Germans reveal the asset behind the fortification, and the French team places both of those tiles in their score pile. For Casualties, the victorious French lose their lowest card, a 6, and the defeated Germans lose their highest card, which is also a 6. The highest surviving card is the 8, played by Ira, so Ira is awarded a Tactical card and the survivors are discarded.

13 of French. Germans lose with a single 6 against the French 6+8+13. They must reveal their Fortification, a 2, which isn't enough to change the outcome. So in addition to the Fortification, the French team also scores the Asset behind it by adding the tokens to their score pile. As the loser, the Germans suffer a casualty of their highest card. In this case, that's their only card: the 6. The French players are the winners, so they lose the lowest card on their side: also a 6. With the casualties and the tokens sent to the appropriate score piles, we now look for the highest valued survivor. That's the 13 played by Isabel, so she is awarded a Tactical card and the survivors are discarded.

S of French. The Spy copies the numeric value of the last played card. So, it has the value of 8. Thus the Germans lose with a total of 6 for the Germans against 6+8+8 for the French players. They must reveal their Fortification, a 2, which isn't enough to change the outcome (6+2=8). So in addition to the Fortification, the French team also scores the Asset behind it by adding the tokens to their score pile. As the loser, the Germans suffer a casualty of their highest card. In this case, that's their only card: the 6. The French players are the winners, so they lose the lowest card on their side: the S, since its base value is 0. With the casualties and the tokens sent to the appropriate score piles, we now look for the highest valued survivor: That's the 8 played by Ira, who is awarded a Tactical card and the survivors are discarded.

End of Game

The game typically ends after one round, but you may decide to play more. Perhaps up to three.

The team with the most total points (or least negative score) wins.

A three round game is reminiscent of Verdun's long, arduous and costly battle time and the repetitive nature of trench warfare.

For most occasions calling the game after one round is recommended. You can always play again.

Gameplay 1v1

The 1v1 (2-player game) plays in the same way as the 2v2 game, with the difference that you play a second card from your own hand as your teammate's card.

Example

Player 1 plays French 12, Player 2 plays German 6

Player 1 plays German 2, Player 2 plays German 3

4 cards have still been played so the trick is resolved as for the standard 2v2 game.

Once the trick has been fully resolved each player draws 1 card from the communal Troop deck.

The draw deck will eventually run out. When this happens you do not create a new draw deck but continue to play with the cards you have. This slowly reduces the players' hands, making decisions harder.

The game ends when the last card has been played and the battle is resolved.

Mud and Blood module

This is an additional module which can be purchased separately.

The Mud and Blood module adds 18 cards to the game, operating as a separate weather/event deck. These cards describe the conditions of the attack and give some restrictions and bonuses as well as some flavour.

Mud and Blood does not change any of the normal game rules in any way and may be included, or not, as you choose.

It also adds a new Tactical card "Weather Changes" should only be included if you are playing with the Mud and Blood module.

The number in parenthesis is the amount of copies in the deck.

To use the Mud and Blood module simply turn over a card from the Mud and Blood deck at the start of every trick and apply the modifiers to that trick.

• Fog (3): Both the winning and losing nations lose their highest troop card. (As opposed to the winner losing their smallest troop card).
• Clear Skies (2): Air Strike gives +5 instead of the usual +3.
• Flare at Night (2): A night attack kills all troop cards below Rank 5, before the battle is resolved.
• Good weather (6): No changes.
• Rain (3): All cards above Rank 9 act as if they are Rank 9.
• Sniper (2): The highest Rank troop card dies before the battle is resolved.
• Weather Changes (2): This Tactical card cancels the effect of any of the above Mud and Blood weather or event cards, including the Sniper.