D-Day Dice: To Do or Die
D-Day Dice: To Do or Die Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- What's New?
- Overview
- Game Start
- Turn Sequence
- Phase 1: Roll the Dice
- Die Results
- Red, White & Blue (RWB)
- Notes on Dice
- Phase 2: Upkeep
- Awards
- Phase 3: Adjust Unit Markers
- Phase 4: Reinforce Units
- Trading
- Phase 5: Move
- Sectors
- Phase 6: Combat
- End of Game: Victory
- End of Game: Defeat
- Rule Conflicts and Ties
- Trading Dice
- Discarding and Renouncing
- Special Rules
- Optional Rules
- War Stories
- Victory Points (VP)
- Last Man Standing
- Difficulty Level
- Other Optional Rules
What's New?
If you are already familiar with D-Day Dice: 2nd Edition (or 1st Edition), here are the most salient changes you'll find in 3rd Edition:
Items: There is no longer a difference between Regular and Special Items, including multiplayer Items available only in games with 3+ players. All of these are now considered Regular Items.
The pool of Items is created randomly during setup. Ignore the "available Items" section in previous Battle Map descriptions.
Awards: They are now limited in number and randomly selected during setup.
Specialists: There is no longer any difference between Regular and Reserve Specialists. All of these are now considered Regular Specialists and are all available. Old effects that mention Reserve Specialists now affect Regular Specialists.
In the same vein, Ranking and Unique Specialists are all considered Ranking Specialists. Old effects that mention Unique Specialists now affect Ranking Specialists.
Your Unit can never have more than 8 Specialists at the same time.
Specialists can now become "sick".
Trading: Trading between Units is now done on a 2-for-1 ratio, making multiplayer games harder.
Legendary Units, War Stories & Last Man Standing: These are now part of the core game, and are explained in the Optional Rules section. Last Man Standing has become much simpler to play and is compatible with all Legendary Units.
Overview
Players are Allied Soldiers trying to organize units for an attack against a machine-gun-firing bunker. You start the game with a few Soldiers and nothing else. As the game progresses, you will collect resources and advance up the beach, sector by sector, as your unit grows stronger and deadlier. You will succeed… or die trying.
D-Day Dice is a cooperative game where players must help each other against their common enemy. If one of them loses, the game is lost for everyone.
Game Start
- Each player selects a color (green, brown, tan or blue) and takes the matching Specialist deck, Unit Marker, Player Aid and Resource card.
- Choose a Battle Map, then open the Scenario Book to the Battle Map's description. First-time players should start with Battle Map #1.
- Optional and advanced play: If all players agree, they can decide to play with Legendary Units and/or a War Story (see LEGENDARY UNITS, p. 235, and WAR STORIES, p. 236). Other modules (like the ones offered in D-Day Dice: H-Hour) can also be added.
- All Players place their Unit Marker dice on one of the Battle Map's Starting Sectors (look for the Starting Sector icon) with 1 chevron showing on top.
- This icon is printed on cards that are designed exclusively for solitaire games.
- This icon is printed on cards that are designed exclusively for multiplayer games.
- Remove the cards that don't apply to your group and place them back in the box.
- Prepare the common pool: Lay out all the Ranking Specialist cards on the table, face-up, where every player has access to them. Then, each player selects 1 Regular Item to be available for the game. Shuffle the rest of the Regular Items together in a face-down deck. Draw 8 Items plus 2 per player (so 10 for a solitaire game, or 16 in a 4-player game, in addition to the Items chosen before drawing). Lay out all these Regular Items face-up, where players have access to them: they are the available Items for the game.
- Place the rest of the Items (if any) back in the box. These are unavailable.
- Randomly draw 10 Awards plus 2 per player (so 12 in a solitaire game) and shuffle them into a deck. If 2 Awards from different editions of the game share the same name, only 1 can be in your deck. Place the Award deck nearby, face-down (see AWARDS p. 229). Shuffle all your Vehicles together into a face-down deck (see VEHICLES, p. 232).
- Players add the resources printed on their starting position on the Map to their own Resource Card and place their Regular Specialists in their own player pool, next to them. Only they will have access to this pool. Specialists with a red border around their symbol (called Penalty Specialists) do not go in the pool, as they only enter play through specific game effects. Leave them in the box.
Turn Sequence
Gameplay is simultaneous. All players go through the turn sequence together. A turn is 6 phases. All players complete each phase before starting the next.
- PHASE 1: Roll Red, White and Blue Dice until you have your Final Tally.
- PHASE 2: Upkeep. Count RWB bonuses, earn Awards, adjust Resource Cards.
- PHASE 3: Adjust Unit Markers.
- PHASE 4: Reinforce Units by rallying Specialists, finding Items and drawing Awards.
- PHASE 5: Move. Fulfill new Sector requirements, if applicable.
- PHASE 6: Combat. Lose Soldiers from your Unit according to your Sector.
Phase 1: Roll the Dice
Every turn, roll your 6 Red, White and Blue dice. After the first roll (and only then), choose 2 dice to be locked – these dice cannot be re-rolled. After the second roll, you can keep or re-roll any or all of the remaining dice. After the third and final roll, the dice on the table are your Final Tally.
Tips: After any roll, if you like what you have, you may stop and consider this your Final Tally. You may also consult other players while rolling your dice.
A Sample Roll
This example roll will offer insight into your options when rolling.
The First Roll yields 2 Soldiers, 1 Tool, 1 Skull, 1 Courage, 1 Star.
We must lock 2 dice. Let's choose the two single Soldiers (red glow) and put them aside.
We can choose 0 to 4 dice to re-roll. Let's select these 3 (green glow).
Second Roll: Overall, this isn't what we hoped for. We got a blue Skull!
We can choose 0 to 4 dice to re-roll. We'll choose the 2 blue dice (green glow) to maximize our chances of obtaining an RWB.
The Third Roll: For our Final Tally, we got lucky: 7 Soldiers, 1 Tool, and an RWB bonus of single Soldiers (yellow glow)!
Die Results
- Skull (cancels another die, but not another Skull): For every Skull in your Final Tally, 1 other die is cancelled: choose the die to be affected and dismiss its result from your Final Tally. A Skull cannot cancel another Skull. Some cards and game effects allow you to ignore Skulls. An ignored Skull is still part of your Final Tally but does not cancel another die. A Skull that is not ignored is called an active Skull.
- Stars (to rally Specialists): Every Specialist has a specific cost in Stars. When you have enough Stars, you have the option to rally 1 Specialist who then joins your Unit. You may not rally more than 1 Specialist per turn. See SPECIALISTS, p. 230.
- Soldiers (more Soldiers strengthen your Unit): Add 1 Soldier or 2 Soldiers to your Unit, depending on the die result.
- Courage (to Advance or to draw Awards): It takes Courage to move toward the Bunker under enemy fire.
- Tool (gain Item Points): These represent objects collected from fallen comrades such as half-buried supply bags, weapons, and other items. The number of Tools in your Final Tally determines how many Item Points you gain:
- 1 Tool = 1 Item Point
- 2 Tools = 3 Item Points
- 3 Tools = 6 Item Points
- 4 Tools = 12 Item Points
- 5 Tools = 24 Item Points
- 6 Tools = 48 Item Points
- + 24 Item Points for every Tool after that
RWB Die Results (Dice Symbols)
The following are the RWB results, shown as a red, white and blue die of the same symbol:
- Dead Man's Gift (three Skulls): You stumble upon a fallen Soldier's gear bag. These Skulls are ignored.
- Leadership (three Stars): Your charisma and tactical knowledge make a difference.
- Reinforcements (three single Soldiers): A small group of Soldiers chooses to join you.
- Fresh Troops (three double Soldiers): Newly-landed Soldiers join your Unit.
- Battle Cry (three Courage): Inspired by your guidance, your comrades go above and beyond the call of duty.
- Special Find (three Tools): In the rubble, you find something useful. You have until the end of the Phase to decide if you want to take advantage of this bonus.
Straight
If you roll 1 of each symbol (regardless of color), you have rolled a Straight and you earn an Award of your choice in addition to the Resource values shown on the dice. See AWARDS, on the following page.
Only dice, and results that have a color, count when determining if you have a Straight in your Final Tally.
Note: When obtained as part of a Straight, the single Skull is considered ignored.
Red, White & Blue (RWB)
When you roll 3 identical results on 3 dice of different colors, you score a Red, White & Blue "RWB" bonus. These bonuses are in addition to the face values on the dice, with the exception of Skulls, which become ignored.
The player aids contain unique RWB tables for each color. Many RWB bonuses offer 2 different possibilities (as written, these are separated by the word "OR") giving you a choice depending on your needs. Some RWB bonuses give resources to other Units in addition to yours. These Units can be anywhere on the Battle Map; they do not need to be in the same Sector with your Unit. Also, some game effects give you colored results to add to your Final Tally: these can also help you gain an RWB bonus.
Important notes: Consult the player aid for your color to see what each RWB bonus gives you, as each color is slightly different.
If an Item or a game effect gives you a specific RWB bonus, you only gain the bonus itself as written on your RWB table, not the results of the corresponding dice.
Gaining an RWB bonus from your Final Tally is not optional. If you have the dice results for it, the bonus is automatically gained. The same goes for a Straight.
Notes on Dice
- A die can only be part of one RWB bonus or Straight.
- The Red, White and Blue dice are usually referred to simply as "dice". If the game calls for a "d6", it means a regular six-sided die, numbered from 1 to 6. The phrase "2d6+3" (or "3+2d6") means "roll two d6, add their results together and add another 3 to that total".
- If you have to roll "1d3", or if you need to randomly select between three options, roll a d6: if you obtain 1 or 2, the result is 1; 3 or 4, the result is 2; 5 or 6, the result is 3.
- When instructed to "flip" a die, turn it on its opposing side. On a d6, this will transform a 1 into a 6, a 2 into a 5, a 3 into a 4, and vice-versa. On an RWB die, it will transform a Skull into a Tool, a Star into Courage, a 1-Soldier into a 2-Soldiers, and vice-versa. All dice types can be flipped.
Phase 2: Upkeep
After looking at your Final Tally, do the following in order:
- a. If you have any active Skulls, apply their effects.
- b. If you rolled any RWBs, collect the bonuses now. Some bonuses add results to your Final Tally. These can generate more RWBs or even create a Straight. If you rolled a Straight, collect your Award. See AWARDS, below.
- c. Add the resources gained from your dice and all others gained from these steps and record them on your Resource Card.
Important note about resources: There is no limit to the amount you can have. If you reach the limit of what your Resource Card's dials can show, use a second card or other means to note your new total.
Notes about Skulls: Skull effects are resolved before all other die results.
In the rare case where a player has a Straight + 1 Skull in their Final Tally, the active Skull would cancel a die in the Straight and thus negate it, rendering the other Skull active.
The status of Skulls changes from active to ignored when they become part of an RWB or Straight. If you have 2 active Skulls in your Final Tally but manage to gain a third one through a Leadership RWB or other game effect, these 2 Skulls can become part of a Dead Man's Gift RWB and thus become ignored. Any die results that had been cancelled by these Skulls would become active again.
Awards
Awards can be earned in different ways and in different phases:
- Phase 2: When you have a Straight in your Final Tally, you may look through the Award deck and choose any 1 card from it.
- Phase 4: Spend 6 Courage to draw any 1 card at random from the Award deck. No peeking!
- Special: Certain Battle Map Sectors, Items, and game effects can give Awards to Units.
As an optional rule to speed up the game and avoid analysis paralysis, instead of choosing from the entire Award deck when earning an Award of your choice, randomly draw 5 Awards and choose 1 of them (reshuffle the others into the deck).
Awards are played like Regular Items (see ITEMS, p. 231) in any phase except in PHASE 6: COMBAT. They can be played immediately when drawn or kept for a later turn. When kept, they are considered part of your Unit's inventory (see INVENTORY, p. 231). You can only obtain 1 Award per turn, but there is no limit to the number you can use per turn. Always reshuffle the deck after choosing your Award.
When an Award allows you to rally a Specialist or find an Item, these never count toward the 1-per-turn limit. Once an Award is used, place it face-up beside the Award deck, in a discard pile. When there are no cards left in the Award deck, no more can be earned.
Phase 3: Adjust Unit Markers
Unit Markers track 2 important states: your position on the Battle Map, and your turn progress in the current Sector. In PHASE 3, change its face to add 1 chevron. If your Unit Marker currently indicates the optional Battle Cry double chevron or the "Can't stay here" shield, you must turn it to the red up-arrow symbol, meaning you must move to a new Sector in the next PHASE 5. See PHASE 5: MOVE for Battle Map movement.
Note: Since you place your Unit Marker on a chevron at the start of the game, you will stay 1 less turn in your Starting Sector than you would normally.
Unit Marker Die Faces
- Chevrons (1, 2, 3): Tracks how many turns you have spent in a Sector. Always start at 1 chevron when you enter a new Sector.
- Red up-arrow: Your Unit must move this turn.
- Green double chevron (Optional): Use to indicate you will move using a Battle Cry RWB.
- Shield ("Can't stay here"): You are in a "Can't stay here" Sector and must move to a new Sector in the next PHASE 5.
Note: Since the green double-chevron face only serves as a reminder, do not use it when a game effect requires you to look at your Unit Marker to determine the status of your Unit.
Phase 4: Reinforce Units
Add cards to your Unit, like Specialists, Items, Awards and more.
Specialists
Specially trained soldiers are essential for the survival of a Unit. If you have the Stars necessary to rally a Specialist, you may subtract its cost from your Resource Card, take the Specialist card of your choice from the common pool (Ranking Specialists) or your player pool (Regular Specialists) and place it in front of you. The Specialist is now part of your Unit and its ability is immediately available. Each player can rally 1 Specialist per turn. A Unit can have a maximum of 8 Specialists at the same time.
Rally example: The cost for the Sharpshooter is 2 Stars. When you have enough Stars on your Resource card you can spend 2 to rally this Specialist during PHASE 4.
Ability example: The Sharpshooter shown above lets you ignore a Skull in your Final Tally, but there may be a situation where you'd want to keep that Skull active. Having a Specialist in your Unit lets you choose your best option.
Specialists offer a permanent ability to the Unit they join. Use of this ability is optional, you can take advantage of it or not, as you see fit. The exception to this is Penalty Specialists (see below).
Some Specialists must be sacrificed to activate their special ability. This single-use ability occurs immediately, once you decide to sacrifice the Specialist. After the ability is resolved the Specialist is considered lost. When a Specialist is lost through combat or by sacrifice, its ability is lost as well. Turn its card face-down and place it back in the pool it came from: it cannot be rallied again this game, unless permitted by certain game effects.
Specialists count as Soldiers, so you can choose to lose them during combat (see PHASE 6: COMBAT, p. 233) if needed. The abilities of Specialists are cumulative. The more you have, the more powerful your Unit becomes.
At any given moment, a Specialist is in 1 of these 4 states:
- Available – The card is face-up in a pool you have access to (the common pool or your player pool).
- Rallied – The card is face-up in front of a player as part of their Unit.
- Lost – The card is face-down in its pool.
- Unavailable – The card is in the box. It is not part of any current player's color or Legendary Unit.
If you are given the option to rally a lost Specialist, that Specialist needs to be in a pool you have access to.
If your Unit is already at maximum capacity (8 Specialists), you can abandon a Specialist during PHASE 4 to make room for a new one. Abandoned Specialists are considered lost.
Penalty Specialists
Penalty Specialists have red Stars and a red border around their symbol to make them stand out. They differ from other Specialists in many ways:
- In a normal game, they are not placed in the pool at the start of the game and are considered unavailable. They only enter play when called on by specific effects like War Stories, Campaigns or scenarios.
- Their abilities can never be ignored.
- They can never be let go or lost as a result of combat.
- They can never be sick (see below).
Sick Specialists
Some game effects cause Specialists in your Unit to become sick. When this happens, place a red token on it as a reminder. A sick Specialist cannot use its ability until it is "cured" but it still counts as a Soldier in your Unit. To cure a sick Specialist, you must either pay its cost in Stars minus 1 during PHASE 4 (counts as rallying a Specialist) or use a game effect that cures. This will remove the token.
If a game effect causes a Specialist from a pool to get sick, the rules are the same. A sick Specialist can still be rallied but will not be able to use its ability until properly cured. It can be cured while still in the pool.
A card that cures Specialists can affect them both in a Unit or in a pool.
If a sick Specialist becomes sick again, it is lost.
A sick Specialist keeps its name and symbol(s). It can still be sacrificed to fulfill Sector requirements and will prevent you from rallying other Specialists with the same symbol (see SPECIALIST NAMES AND SYMBOLS, below).
Specialist Names and Symbols
Each Regular and Ranking Specialist has a Specialist symbol printed on its card, sometimes more than 1. Some Legendary Specialists also have them. The border of the symbol is metal gray for Regular Specialists, gold for Ranking and red for Penalty Specialists, but the color of the border is only cosmetic: it is the symbol inside that counts. You can never have 2 Specialists that share the same symbol in your Unit.
The same rule applies to names. You can never have 2 Specialists that share the exact same name in your Unit. Partial names are allowed as long as they don't share symbols. For example, your Unit could have both an Engineer (from D-Day Dice: 2nd Edition) and an Assault Engineer (from D-Day Dice: Legends).
Requirements and game effects can sometimes target specific symbols or names. Any Specialist card bearing the required symbol or name will be affected. For example, if an Award targets all "Volunteer" Specialists, any Specialist with "Volunteer" as part of their name will be affected.
Items
Tool results in your Final Tally generate Item Points that you can spend to look for – and find – an Item. Players can find only 1 Item per turn, although there are no limits to how many Items a player can use in a turn. Items may be used at any time except during Combat, unless noted.
The Item's cost is always indicated on the top right of the card.
To find an Item, subtract its cost from your Item Point total on your Resource Card, take the Item card from its pool, and place it face-up in front of you. The Item is now part of your inventory. It may be used the instant it is found.
Items that affect the DEF value or Machine Gun Fire of Sectors (see PHASE 6: COMBAT, p. 233) affect all Units in the Sector until the end of the turn, unless otherwise noted.
At any given moment, an Item is in 1 of these 4 states:
- Available – The card is face-up in a pool you have access to (the common pool or your own player pool).
- Found – The card is face-up in front of a player as part of their Unit's inventory.
- Used – The card is face-down in its pool.
- Unavailable – The card is in the box.
If you are given the option to find a used Item, that Item needs to be in a pool you have access to.
There can never be 2 Items with the same exact name in a pool or a Unit. Partial names are allowed. For example, your Unit can have the Grenade and the Smoke Grenade in its inventory.
If a game effect calls for a "Scope" Item, for example, any Item with "Scope" in their name or as part of their name can qualify, like "Rifle Scope" or "Telescope".
Permanent Items
Some Items are "permanent". This is always noted at the start of their text. When used, a Permanent Item stays with your Unit instead of being discarded. Place it alongside your rallied Specialists. Its effect stays with you exactly like a Specialist's. As long as it remains in your Unit, it is still considered "found" (but is no longer part of your inventory).
If forced to discard an Item by a Sector requirement or a game effect, you always have the option to discard a Permanent Item from your Unit. You will then cease to benefit from it. You can also voluntarily abandon (discard) a Permanent Item at any time. In all cases, a discarded Permanent Item becomes "used" (placed face-down in its pool).
Inventory
All unplayed cards collected by your Unit like Items, Awards, and other card types, are considered to be part of your inventory. Cards in your inventory also count as being in your Unit for game effects that affect your Unit. Rallied Specialists, Vehicles and used Permanent Items are already in play, so they are not part of your inventory.
Buying Awards
During PHASE 4, you may spend 6 Courage to draw 1 Award at random. Remember that players may not obtain more than 1 Award each per turn. See AWARDS, p. 229.
Vehicles
These can be obtained via Awards, game effects or in specific Sectors of some Battle Maps. A Vehicle is obtained the same way an Item is found, by spending Item Points to find it, but in action it works more like a Specialist.
- Its effect is permanent and affects all Units present in its Sector.
- Unlike a Specialist, a Vehicle does not count as a Soldier in your Unit.
- Vehicles cannot traverse Land Mines (even if your Unit can ignore them).
- Vehicles cannot enter a Bunker.
- A Unit may have only 1 Vehicle at a time.
- Finding a Vehicle counts toward your 1-per-turn limit for finding Items.
- Vehicles can be traded or they can be abandoned; once abandoned, however, a Vehicle cannot be found again. Place it in the discard pile beside the Vehicle deck.
Once the Vehicle deck is empty, no more can be found.
Note: Vehicles are plainly visible on the battlefield so they are not "found" in the strictest sense. The Item Points you spend are for the various parts necessary to return them to a functioning state.
Explosives
Some cards have explosive icons at the bottom. They are volatile, or contain explosives. If a Battle Map Sector says "Discard explosive icons to open the doors to the Bunker", the Unit must discard either 2 cards with 1 explosive icon or 1 card with 2 or more explosive icons. These can be discarded from the inventory or the Unit itself. Discarded Specialists are lost, discarded Items are treated as used.
Only explosive icons printed on the bottom of the cards count when determining how many explosive icons a card contains. Icons printed as part of its text do not.
Trading
This is a cooperative game. The loss of 1 player means defeat for all. Units must help each other whenever possible. The survival of the operation depends on it!
In any phase except in PHASE 6: COMBAT, when 2 or more Units are in the same Sector those Units may trade resources, including Soldiers, Courage, Stars, and Item Points. Trading occurs at a 2-for-1 ratio, rounded down. In order to give 2 Courage to another Unit, you will have to spend 4. If you give 7 Soldiers to another Unit, it will only receive 3.
Units may freely give Items or Vehicles to one another, but Awards and Specialists may never be traded. A Unit can trade resources for nothing in return. A Unit cannot trade with a Unit in a different Sector. There is no limit to the amount that can be traded.
Reminder: When an RWB bonus gives resources to "other Units", those Units can be anywhere on the map. This is not considered trading.
Phase 5: Move
Units move through Battle Maps from Sector to Sector. Units may stay in any Sector for a maximum of 3 turns, unless specified otherwise, then they must move. If a Unit must move but cannot, for any reason, it is wiped out and all players lose. To move, relocate your Unit to an adjacent Sector. Place the Unit Marker in the new Sector and set it to its chevron face. Movement is summarized below.
| A Unit can... | A Unit cannot... |
|---|---|
| Move once per turn | Visit the same Sector twice |
| Move left or right (laterally) | Move diagonally |
| Move forward (i.e., Advance) | Move backward |
Forward movement, including into the Bunker, is a special move action considered an Advance (see ADVANCING, below).
Advancing
A Unit must spend Courage every time it Advances. The amount of Courage necessary is shown on the Battle Map, on the dividing line between each row, like so: (Courage icon with the cost). Entering the Bunker is also considered an Advance. It takes guts to go in there!
If a Bunker is on the line between two rows, you only pay the Courage cost to Advance into the Bunker; you do not add the two costs together.
Sectors
Each Sector on a Battle Map has specific attributes – this includes the Bunker, which is also a Sector. The icons for Sectors are described in detail below in COMBAT, and in the Battle Map description found in the Scenario Books.
At the bottom of every Battle Map, the Starting Sectors can be identified by this symbol (Starting Sector icon), which also indicates the Battle Map's starting resources.
Sector instructions take precedence over general rules of the game. Those printed in green are beneficial to the players; those in red are not. (Color-blind players: this information is also found in the map's Scenario Book.)
Phase 6: Combat
In PHASE 6, every Unit, whether it moved or not, suffers casualties in its current Sector. The number of Soldiers lost is equal to the defense value for the Sector plus Machine Gun Fire, with any other modifiers that apply.
Every Sector contains a shield with a Sector label and a large number indicating the Sector's defensive capabilities (DEF). This value is equal to the number of Soldiers every Unit in the Sector will lose per turn in PHASE 6. The higher the number, the deadlier the Sector. The shield color shows how long a Unit may stay: a white DEF shield denotes a normal Sector where Units can stay up to 3 turns, while a black DEF shield denotes that Units cannot stay more than 1 turn. The large number always indicates the per-turn Soldier casualties, and the black (or white) label of the shield indicates the Sector's (Bunker's) number relative to the other ones.
Some Sectors have multiple DEF shields, one for each turn you spend there. Use the first DEF during your first combat turn, the second one for the second combat turn, and so on. The number of chevrons on your Unit Marker indicates which DEF shield value to use.
Some Sectors (called "Fight Once") have 2 different DEF values. The first (and highest) is the one used in the very first combat by the first Unit to enter. Once this combat is resolved, the Sector takes the grayed 2nd value (in the example shown, 0). If 2 or more Units enter the Sector at the same time, they decide among themselves who fights first. The other Units will benefit from the reduced DEF.
Some Items and effects allow players to reduce the DEF of a Sector, such as the Flame-Thrower Item or the Engineer Specialist. When this happens, the DEF value changes affect all Units present in that Sector until the end of the turn. All DEF reducing effects are cumulative, but a Sector's DEF cannot fall below 0.
Machine Gun Fire (MGF)
Some Sectors are exposed to Machine Gun Fire (MGF), making these Sectors deadlier. Such Sectors are identified by a special crosshairs symbol beside the DEF shield. Each PHASE 6, when Units are present in such a Sector, have one player roll a d6 to determine how many additional Soldiers each player will lose during combat in this Sector.
MGF dice can be modified or re-rolled by special circumstances, like Items or Specialists. All Units present in the Sector benefit from or suffer from any change to MGF.
Many Battle Map Sectors have more than 1 MGF symbol. When this happens, roll a die for each MGF symbol, and add them together.
Some Items allow you to prevent MGF. This means no MGF is rolled and all Units present in the Sector benefit from this. These Items must be played before combat. Other Items allow you to ignore MGF. In that case, MGF is rolled normally, but only your Unit can ignore the losses due to MGF. These Items can be played after MGF has been rolled.
Special Damage
When a black die icon appears beside the MGF symbol, you will suffer Special Damage on any die roll of 6. See the Battle Map description in the Scenario Book for the Special Damage incurred. In Sectors with multiple MGF symbols, rolling more than one 6 means you suffer multiple instances of Special Damage. Special Damage is always in addition to the regular MGF damage.
Casualties
During any phase, when you suffer casualties subtract that number from the total number of Soldiers in your Unit. Since Specialists also count as Soldiers, you may choose to lose some to keep your Unit in action. If your Unit runs out of Soldiers and Specialists, it is wiped out.
A Unit consists of the number of Soldiers being tracked on your Resource Card plus the number of Specialist cards you have in play. If you have 24 Soldiers on your Resource Card and 1 Specialist in play, then your Unit has 25 Soldiers total.
End of Game: Victory
To win the game, every Unit must conquer the Final Bunker – which means entering the Bunker at the top of the Battle Map and surviving 1 round of combat with at least 1 Soldier remaining. If even 1 Unit fails to make it, all players lose the game.
When a Unit successfully conquers the Final Bunker, it is no longer in harm's way and stops rolling dice. It can help the remaining Units by placing its surviving Specialists beside the Bunker. Their abilities are ignored, but every Specialist placed there reduces the DEF of the Final Bunker by 1 point for the remaining Units. If 2 or more Units enter the Final Bunker at the same time, they cannot benefit from each other's Specialists this way. The game ends when the last Unit conquers the Final Bunker.
End of Game: Defeat
The game ends in defeat for the players if either of these conditions occurs:
- A Unit is wiped out (it has no more Soldiers and Specialists), or
- A Unit is forced to move but cannot do so due to Sector Requirements, lack of Courage, or another game effect.
Rule Conflicts and Ties
In the event of a conflict between rules or card text, use the following order of precedence to resolve the issue:
- Battle Conditions (see p. 138) (override everything else)
- War Stories (see p. 236)
- Awards
- Items and Vehicles
- Specialists
- Battle Map description/Scenario description
- Sector attributes
- Game rules (overridden by all of the above)
Some effects have "built-in" priority that affect their place in this list. For example, in the Advanced Training for N-01 Exercise Tiger, the description reads: "The Scout/Sharpshooter cannot be rallied otherwise, even by game effects that allow players to rally an unavailable Specialist." This wording gives the scenario description absolute priority, instead of being #5 on the list.
If a tie occurs between 2 Units who try to do the same thing (find an Item, pick up an Award from a Battle Map, etc.), the Unit with the least Soldiers has priority. If the tie persists, the players should roll dice or settle without rolling. The important thing is to have fun storming the beach.
Trading Dice
Some Specialists (like the Lieutenant from D-Day Dice: 2nd Edition) allow the trading of dice from the players' Final Tallies during PHASE 2. When this occurs, a Unit can only trade once with another Unit. In a 3-player game, this means 1 player won't be able to trade dice during any given turn.
Trading dice differs from trading resources in two important ways. First, Units do not need to be in the same Sector to trade dice. Bonus results, like those given by the Leadership RWB bonus, some Specialists or Sector attributes, cannot be traded away: only real dice can be traded. Second, a player can only trade dice for the same amount in return.
After trading dice, make sure each player resets their dice to 2 Red, 2 White and 2 Blue, at the beginning of PHASE 3.
Discarding and Renouncing
When a game effect or Sector requirement instructs you to discard cards or explosive icons, these must be in your Unit or inventory. An Item cannot be used before being discarded, as using it would remove it from your inventory (unless it is a Permanent Item). The same goes for Awards and other 1-use cards. Discarded Items become used, discarded Specialists become lost, other cards go to their respective discard piles.
When asked to renounce an RWB bonus, the bonus itself can be obtained through dice in your Final Tally or the use of other cards like Items or Awards. If you renounce an RWB bonus from your Final Tally, you still gain the resources indicated by the dice results. Warning: If you renounce a Dead Man's Gift RWB, the Skulls in your Final Tally become active again.
When asked to renounce dice or results from your Final Tally, the effect of these dice is ignored (they do not give resources and, if Skulls are renounced, they do not cancel dice).
Special Rules
A Few Good Men
Battle Maps that bear this symbol (the red A Few Good Men icon) must be played with this special rule. When A Few Good Men is in play, Soldiers become harder to collect: only 1 Soldier is gained for every 2 obtained in your Final Tally (discarding leftovers). The division happens at the end of PHASE 2: UPKEEP, so RWB bonuses are compiled before dividing your total by 2 (rounded down). For example, if you obtain 7 Soldiers in your Final Tally, you only add 3 to your Unit during PHASE 2.
This rule only affects Soldiers gained during PHASE 2. Soldiers gained during other phases (from playing Items and Awards, for example) are not divided by 2.
Note: Casualties are not divided by 2. This makes both Land Mines and Machine Gun Fire a lot deadlier!
Nighttime Conditions
In D-Day Dice: Pacific, "A Few Good Men" is replaced by "Nighttime Conditions". These follow the same rules as A Few Good Men with one exception: they can be temporarily lifted.
To suspend Nighttime Conditions until the end of the turn in your Sector, discard any "Flare", "Lamp" or "Light" Item (including "Flashlight") before PHASE 2. This can be done at the end of PHASE 1, after your Final Tally. Follow the discarding rules explained above. All Units present in the Sector benefit from this suspension.
Optional Rules
Solitaire
D-Day Dice plays very well in solitaire mode: all the normal rules apply except for trading. Items, Awards and RWB that mention "another Unit" now affect your Unit (for example, if you are playing green/USA, the Reinforcements RWB now gives you 4 + 4 Soldiers).
For Awards and Items that have 2 effects, one for you and one for the other Units, you should only consider the first part for yourself. Ignore effects that mention "all other Units".
Consider all Sectors marked "Max 1 Unit" (the Max 1 Unit icon) as being a "Can't stay here" Sector (the shield icon).
You can track your performance using the optional Victory Points rule (see page 237).
Legendary Units
Legendary Units are playable on all Battle Maps. They usually consist of a mix of Legendary Specialists, Items, Vehicles or Awards. Each includes 5 cards plus a Legendary RWB Table. Cards from a Legendary Unit all share the same unique emblem, explained on the reverse of the Legendary RWB Table.
Playing with Legendary Units
Legendary RWB Table: Place your Legendary RWB Table card on top of the one printed on your player aid. These will be your RWB bonuses for the game, replacing the ones from your color.
(Where to place the Legendary RWB Table: diagram on page 235.)
Legendary Items: Place these in your pool. Only you can find them.
Legendary Specialists: Each player may choose individually which start option they prefer.
- Option 1: Add both Legendary Specialists to your player pool and start the game normally, collecting the resources from your Starting Sector. You can rally them when you have the necessary Stars.
- Option 2: Ignore the starting resources indicated on the Battle Map. Instead, begin with your Starting Specialist (with the start icon at the bottom) already in your Unit. Add the other Legendary Specialist(s) to your player pool, to be rallied normally.
Legendary Items, Vehicles, Awards and others: Place them face-up in your player pool. Legendary Items are found the same way as Regular ones, by paying their cost in Item Points. Legendary Vehicles are found like Legendary Items but follow normal Vehicle rules in all regards.
Legendary Awards can be drawn 2 ways: when directed to draw an Award from the deck, you can choose to draw your Legendary Award instead; or, you can spend 6 Courage to draw them.
Legendary versions of other card types, available in past and future expansions (Servicemen, Officers, Strike, etc.) all work the same way: when you are directed to draw their normal counterpart, you have the option to draw your Legendary version instead. They can also be bought normally, following the rules of their regular counterparts.
Note: Since Legendary Units add interesting options and powerful cards to your pool, they earn you a -10 VP penalty when using the Victory Points optional rule (see next page).
War Stories
War Stories are scenarios written on a card that add new layers and objectives to the coming battle. They are playable on all Battle Maps.
Many of these scenarios use tokens, some require other components like dice or other cards. After choosing a Battle Map, select the War Story card you want to play (never more than 1 per game!) or randomly draw 1 from the deck. War Stories are self-explanatory, so follow the instructions on the card and you're ready to go!
Instructions
If a War Story says you must lose something (a token, a Specialist, Courage, etc.) and you have none, ignore the loss. However, if it says you must "spend" something, you need said resource in order to spend it.
Many War Stories use the word must (underlined) when referring to a required task. In these cases, if the action is not taken, the game is lost.
Empty Sectors
The phrase "empty Sector" means a Sector with no Units in it (an unoccupied Sector, if you prefer). A Bunker is never considered an empty Sector.
Tokens
When tokens are mentioned, unless otherwise noted, place them at the start of the game.
Picking Up Tokens: When a token in a Sector is "to be picked up," it means the first Unit that enters the Sector picks up the token (this is mandatory). When 2 or more Units are in a position to pick up the same token, the Unit with the fewest Soldiers collects it. Break a tie with the roll of a die or settle without rolling.
Trading and Tokens: When a War Story says that tokens can be traded between Units, follow the trading rules on p. 232.
Final Bunker
Most Maps have only 1 Bunker, which is automatically the "Final Bunker". Some, however, have more than 1, like N07 Château de Vaumicel. On these, the Final Bunker is either the one at the top or the last Bunker to be entered (when more than 1 Bunker are on the same row, as found on N03 Gold Beach).
Victory Points (VP)
For solitaire and competitive players, it can be fun to determine the glory of your success or the tragedy of your loss. Count VPs when the game ends, whether in victory or in defeat. This will give players a score to beat on their next game.
| Scoring | Points |
|---|---|
| Conquering a Bunker | 20 VP |
| Being the first Unit to conquer a Bunker (every player who achieves this in the same turn wins 20 VP) | 20 VP |
| Victory – total number of map Sectors of the Battle Map (including Bunker) | x10 VP |
| Defeat – number of last Sector entered | x10 VP |
| For every Soldier left in a Unit | 1 VP |
| For every Soldier left in a Unit when using the Last Man Standing optional rule | 2 VP |
| For every Courage left in a Unit | 2 VP |
| For every Specialist left in a Unit | 3 VP |
| For every Award in a Unit's inventory | 10 VP |
| For every Straight obtained | 10 VP |
| For using a Legendary Unit |
Solitaire Victory note: When adding up VP for your victory, don't forget to count both the bonus for conquering a Bunker and for being the first to do so.
Group Victory: If you want to know how well you and your partners performed as a group, check the VP for each player. Your group score is equal to the Victory Points achieved by the player with the lowest score.
Sample Victory Point Score for a Single Player Game: A player wins on Omaha Beach with 5 Soldiers left, 2 Courage and 4 Specialists. The VP count would be:
- 20 VP for conquering the Bunker (20)
- 20 VP for being the first to conquer the Bunker (20)
- 100 VP for the total number of Sectors, including Bunker (10 Sectors x 10)
- 5 VP for remaining Soldiers (5 Soldiers x 1)
- 4 VP for remaining Courage (2 Courage x 2)
- 12 VP for remaining Specialists (4 Specialists x 3)
- 0 VP for Awards remaining (0 Awards x 10)
Total Victory Points earned: 161 VP
Last Man Standing
Last Man Standing is a completely different way to play the game. Think of it as "reverse D-Day Dice". Leading a Unit full of Soldiers, you work your way toward the Bunker with a shrinking force. Each Final Tally tells you how many Soldiers you lose.
Game Start
After choosing your Battle Map, consult its "Last Man Standing bonus Soldiers", printed in its description in the Scenario Book. Add that number of Soldiers to your Resource Card. These are in addition to the resources given by your starting Sector.
Follow the rest of the normal set-up for your game. You can play with Legendary Units or a War Story if you choose.
How to Play
Dice behave normally except for these:
- Active Skulls cannot cancel dice showing Soldier results.
- Soldier results are deducted from your Unit at the end of PHASE 2.
Losing Soldiers
Soldiers obtained in your Final Tally are deducted from your Unit's total at the end of PHASE 2. Effects that reduce losses (like the Medic Specialist from 2nd Edition) can be applied.
When you obtain a Reinforcements or Fresh Troops RWB, you still lose the results printed on the 3 dice. For example, if your Fresh Troops RWB gives you 7 Soldiers, you have to deduct from these the 6 Soldiers printed on the dice, leaving you with only 1 Soldier to add to your Resource Card.
All other RWB bonuses stay the same.
Rolling a Straight
When you roll a Straight, you earn an Award of your choice and ignore the Skull and the 3 Soldiers in your Final Tally.
Compatibility
When playing under A Few Good Men (see page 235), the total number of Soldiers is halved and rounded up before you deduct them. It is possible to die during PHASE 2, so be careful!
When playing with Victory Points, your Soldiers remaining at the end of the game are worth 2 VP each.
Difficulty Level
To make the game more challenging, you can reduce the starting number of Soldiers of your Battle Map by 5 (or 10, if you're a masochist). You can also make it easier by adding 5.
If using Victory Points rule, gain 2 VP for each Soldier you subtracted from your Battle Map's number, or lose 2 VP for each Soldier you've added.
Other Optional Rules
Soldier Mulligan (Recommended)
On your first roll of any turn, if your results show no Soldiers, re-roll all 6 dice. You can do this once per game. Use a token as a reminder you used a mulligan.
Blind Start
Players ignore the starting resources on the Battle Map; they add instead 1 Soldier to their Resource Cards. Each player then rolls all 4 Unit Marker dice to determine their additional starting resources, adding the results together as follows:
- Chevron (1 chevron) = 1 Soldier
- Double chevron = 2 Soldiers
- Triple chevron = 3 Soldiers
- Red up-arrow = 1 Star
- Green double chevron (Battle Cry) = 2 Stars
- Shield = Nothing
Concentrated Fire
If you find D-Day Dice too easy when playing multiplayer, consider this simple optional rule: every additional Unit Marker in a Sector adds 1 to the DEF. So when 2 Units share the same Sector, its DEF goes up by 1. If 4 Units are present, add 3 to the DEF.
Trader GI Joe's
If you find multiplayer games of D-Day Dice too challenging, you can change the trading rule (p. 232) so that the ratio for traded resources is 1-for-1.
Find Your Flock (Legendary Units)
Units cannot start with their Starting Specialists. Every Unit must rally/find/draw all their Legendary cards during the course of the game in order to win; otherwise, the game is lost.
Too Many Choices!
Here is a timesaver to reduce the analysis paralysis that may occur when a player gets to choose a card and the options are too numerous (like chosing a Vehicle from a deck of 20): randomly draw 5 and let the player pick between these 5 options.