Object of the game:
To control the most supply centres at the end of the session or to be the first to control 18 supply centres (whichever comes first).
Sequence of play:
1. Diplomacy period – usually 15mins. (during player writing order here)
2. Writing & submission of orders.
3. Simultaneous movement of units as per orders.
- a. Resolution of conflicts
- b. Retreats.
4. Adjustments of forces during fall turns.
Diplomacy:
Open negotiations and military planning (joint or otherwise). During diplomacy periods a player may say or do anything they wish. They may keep the content of their conversations secret or otherwise. They may try to overhear the discussions of others. Public announcements may be made. Documents may be written. The rules do not bind a player to anything they may say or do, deciding who to trust as situations arise is part of the game.
Writing of orders:
To avoid confusion the following format is considered the most legible template for writing orders: 1. Movement orders: [unit] [present location] to [space intended to be occupied] e.g: army Berlin to Prussia 2. Hold orders: [unit] holds [present location] e.g: fleet stands English Channel 3. Support orders: [unit] [present location] supports [unit] [present location] to [intended move] e.g: army Berlin supports army Silesia to Prussia 4. Convoy orders: [unit] [present location] convoys [unit] [present location] to [intended move] e.g: fleet English Channel convoys army London to Belgium
Movement orders:
Only one unit may occupy one province or body of water at a time. Each turn a player may move some, none or all of their units. A unit may only move to an adjacent space (empty or otherwise). Army units may not move to a body of water (unless convoyed over it by a naval unit present). Naval units may only be moved to a land province if: a. It is adjacent to a body of water the naval unit presently occupies. b. It is a costal province.
Hold orders:
The unit stays in the space it presently occupies. A unit ordered to hold may receive support from other units as per the support order.
Support orders:
A unit may give up its move in order to support another unit trying to enter or hold a space. This space must be one to which the supporting unit could technically move to that turn.
Convoy orders:
A fleet occupying a body of water may convoy an army unit provided:
- a. The army unit occupies a coastal province adjacent to the body of water occupied by the fleet.
- b. The destination space of the army unit is a coastal province adjacent to a body of water occupied
by the fleet. An army unit may be convoyed across several spaces by fleets each occupying adjacent bodies of water.
Conflicts:
If two or more units are ordered to the same space, neither may move to that space (or any other space not specified in orders). If a unit is ordered to hold or is prevented from moving as per the above, and other unit(s) are ordered to its present space, those units may not move either. If more than two units are each ordered to the space the other occupies, then neither may move. These situations are called Stand-offs.
Effects of support:
A unit moves to the new space with the strength of itself and all its’ valid supporting pieces, unless the movement of that piece is opposed by a unit equally well or better supported, then that piece may move to its’ ordered space. A unit which otherwise would have remained in the space attacked by a unit better supported is therefore dislodged and must retreat or disband. A unit belonging to a player cannot dislodge any other owned by themselves. While a player may not dislodge their own units, they can stand themselves off by ordering two equally well supported attacks on the same vacant space, however, if one of the attacks has more support than the other then that move will succeed.
Cutting Support:
A unit receiving support looses the same if the supporting unit is itself the victim of an attack from any space other than the one it is giving support to.
Retreats:
A unit can only retreat in the following circumstances; 1. It moves to a space to which it could ordinarily move if unopposed by other units and is presently unoccupied. 2. A unit may not move to a space left vacant by a stand off. 3. A unit may not move to a space its attacker came from. 4. If no space is available for a retreat then the unit must be disbanded and removed from the board. Retreats may not be supported or convoyed.
Adjustments:
A player may gain pieces at the end of every fall move as follows:
1. A player may gain a unit for each new supply centre they occupies at the end of every fall move. (Note: this means that any units occupying supply centres during Spring turns are not eligible for the above).
2. If a player occupies more supply centres than they have units on the board, then their forces may be built up to equal that of their supply centres owned.
3. If a player has more units on the board than supply centres they occupy and owns then their forces are reduced to equal that of supply centres currently owned and/or occupied.
4. Any home supply centres (or centres anywhere on the board not presently occupied by them), that are now occupied by enemy units deplete the home players’ forces by one unit per home supply centre occupied.
5. Players eligible for gaining new units must place them on their own home supply centres and must specify whether they are to be army or fleet units. (the latter are only available at home coastal supply centres).