First to Fight (2014) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
• Game Objective
• Game Setup
• Game Overview
  • 1. Orders Phase
    • Movement
    • Sabotage
    • Training
    • Recruitment
    • Concentration
    • Maneuvers
• Ending Phase
  • Treatment
  • Actions of the Axis
  • Moving the Time Marker
  • Resolving Missions
  • Losses
• Ending and Winning the Game
• Advanced Rules
  • Distribution of Missions
  • Neutral Events
    • Placing a New Neutral Event Card
    • Resolving Event Cards
• Description of Mission Cards

Game Components

• rulebook
• board
• 54 soldier cards
• 30 mission cards (in two colors: red from stage I and yellow from stage II)
• 24 neutral event cards
• 10 wound tokens
• 40 training tokens
• 12 nurse tokens
• 6 order tiles
• concentration tokens
• victory point tokens (with values 1 and 5)
• time marker
• domination markers
• six-sided die
• 4 player aid sheets

Game Objective

Each player's task is to bring about the victory over the Axis by completing missions distributed at the beginning of the game. Every mission card – if it is completed successfully – gives victory points. If a player fails a task, they lose some of the points. During the game the players will be able to earn additional points for Sabotage in occupied regions, getting soldiers to the area of Concentration or by using some characters' skills. The person who has gathered the most points by the end of the game wins.

Game Setup

Before starting the game:

1. Place the board in the middle of the table;
2. Place the order tiles active side up near the board;
3. Shuffle the soldier deck and place it within all players' reach;
4. Place one randomly chosen soldier from the top of the deck in each region. Placing a soldier means putting the card near the edge of the board in the color corresponding to the color of a given region (Note! If 4 or 5 soldiers from the same formation appear at the board, re-shuffle the whole soldier deck and take this step again);
5. Divide the mission deck into two parts according to the colors of the cards, then shuffle each part separately;
6. Deal 4 mission cards from the stage I (red mission cards) to each player. A player may keep 3 or 4 cards in hand. Any cards that have not been chosen by the players should be removed from the game without being revealed;
7. Shuffle the event deck and place it next to the board near the time track;
8. Place domination markers on the appropriate squares of each domination track (numbers on the starting squares are black);

Editor's note on steps 6 and 8: the setup diagram on the last page of the rulebook words these steps slightly differently. Step 6 there reads "Deal 4 mission cards from stage I to each player. A player may keep all the cards or discard one. Remove the discarded stage I cards and the rest of the red deck from the game" (the text above says "keep 3 or 4 cards"). Step 8 there reads "Place the time marker on September 1939 and domination markers on appropriate squares of each domination track (numbers on the starting squares are black)"; the time marker placement is missing from the text list. Both versions are reproduced as printed; the diagram's time-marker placement is part of setup. 9. Place training, wound, nurse, concentration and victory point tokens as well as event markers (only for the advanced version of the game) next to the board within all players' reach; 10. Choose the starting player in a random way.

Game Overview

Each round of the game is divided into two phases:

1. Orders
2. Ending

1. Orders Phase

It is the main phase of the game in which the players take actions aiming at completing the missions they have. There are 6 orders that the players can use. Each order has its basic effect that all the players can use after the tile has been chosen (going clockwise, starting from the player who has chosen a given order). A player may decide not to take an action, then the next player acts. Additionally, orders offer special actions which can be used only by the player who has chosen a given order. Depending on the tile, the special action is used instead of the basic effect of an order or provides an extra action for the person who has chosen a given order. This player also takes all victory points placed on the tile (if there are any).

After choosing an order and taking the actions related to it, flip the tile to its inactive side. Inactive orders cannot be chosen again by any player until somebody chooses the Maneuvers order (among other effects, it restores all inactive orders to the active side). Below you fill find a detailed description of all orders available in the game:

Movement

Movement enables you to move soldiers between regions. Each player may move one chosen soldier to a neighboring region (they are connected by the arrows). Each soldier may be moved only once while the effect of the order is being resolved (a player cannot move a soldier that has already been moved by another player as an effect of the order this round).

Special action: The player who has chosen this order may move a chosen soldier to any region, regardless of the rules of neighborhood. The special action replaces the basic effect of the order.

Neighborhood and movement: In the game there are 5 regions between which soldiers can be moved. Movement may take place only between neighboring regions (see the map beside). The exception is the special action related to the Movement order, which lets one soldier move between any two regions, regardless of the neighborhood rules.

Sabotage

Starting from the player who has chosen this order, each player may take a sabotage action in a chosen region. A player cannot choose a region where sabotage has taken place during the resolution of the effect of this order. In order for a sabotage action to be successful, the sum of Underground of all soldiers in a given region should be higher than the number on the arrow on the left side of the square where the domination marker currently is. If this requirement is met, the player moves the marker one square to the left. If this action is taken in an occupied region (the domination marker was on one of three darker squares before the sabotage), the player gets 3 victory points.

Special action: After taking a sabotage action (or not taking it, if the player decides so) the player may use a special rule of any chosen region, unless this region is occupied by the Axis (the domination marker must be on the light side of the track). Below you will find the list of special rules of the regions.

Axis domination track: Each region has a domination track. The number shown on the track increases the difficulty level of the missions in this region and the number of wound tokens that should be distributed to the soldiers fighting in this region. The last three squares are darker – this means that a given region is Occupied. When using the special action of the Sabotage order, the players cannot use the special rules of the Occupied regions.

Training

Starting from the player who has chosen this order, each player may raise one attribute (Strength or Underground) of a chosen soldier. Appropriate tokens are used for marking the training level. During training they should be put on an appropriate place on the soldier card (covering the printed attributes or replacing a token that was there before). None of a character's attributes can be higher than 5. A player cannot train a soldier that has already been trained while resolving the effect of this order.

Special action: The player who has chosen this order additionally gets a nurse token (unless they already have 3 such tokens – then ignore this rule). The special action DOES NOT replace the basic effect of the order.

Strength and Underground: Each soldier in the game has two attributes. Strength, which is used for completing missions, and Underground, which increases their chance of surviving and makes sabotage actions more effective. During the game soldiers may be trained, which increases one of their attributes. If you train a soldier, place an appropriate training token on the soldier card in the place of the printed attribute values.

Special rules of the regions (used through the Sabotage special action, see above):

• Silent Unseen drops (Warsaw): Immediately move a chosen soldier from any region to Warsaw. Limitations related to the concentration token still apply.
• Polish Underground State (Poland): Choose a formation and start revealing cards from the soldier deck until you reveal a soldier that belongs to this formation. Place him/her in Poland. After this, shuffle the revealed cards together with the whole soldier deck. If there is no soldier from the chosen formation in the deck, nothing happens.
• Training camp (Northern Europe and the Atlantic): You may raise the Strength of one, two or three soldiers in this region by 1.
• Main front (Western Europe): You may discard a mission card from hand. Show it to the other players. If you discard a mission from stage I, draw two cards from stage II mission deck, choose one and put the other at the bottom of the deck. Do not draw any cards if you already have 3 missions from stage II in hand. Finally, move the domination marker in Western Europe one square to the right.
• Reinforcements from the Middle East (North Africa and Italy): Immediately reveal top two soldier cards from the deck and place them in this region (you cannot use their abilities).

Recruitment

Going clockwise, each player chooses any region (apart from North Africa and Italy and the regions that have already been chosen by other players while resolving the effect of this order) and recruits a new soldier there. A player draws two cards, then choses one and places it at the board in a chosen region. The other card should be put at the bottom of the soldier deck. Immediately after playing a new soldier card, the player can use the soldier's ability. Below you will find the description of all abilities available.

Special action: The player who has chosen this order draws 3 cards instead of 2 and chooses the recruited soldier from them. The special action replaces the basic effect of the order.

Abilities of recruited soldiers:

• Additional recruitment: After playing this soldier card, the player may immediately recruit again in the same region (choose one soldier from two drawn from the deck). The player cannot use the ability of a soldier drawn during the additional recruitment.
• Victory point: The player immediately gains one victory point.
• Training: After recruiting this soldier, the player may immediately raise one of his/her attributes by 1.
• Underground activity: The player may move the domination marker one square to the left in the region where recruitment has taken place. They do not get victory points for this.
• Movement: After recruiting this soldier, the player may move him/her to a neighboring region.
• Liaison: The player draws two cards from the top of the neutral event deck. Then they choose one and place it on the top of the deck. The other one is placed at the bottom of the deck.

Example 1: Yolanda, Ann, Paul and Jacob are playing. Yolanda chooses the Recruitment order. Then, being the first to act, she chooses Northern Europe and the Atlantic and draws 3 soldier cards from the top of the deck (she can take 3 cards thanks to the special action). She draws the following cards: gen. bryg. Antoni Chruściel ps. Monter, Zofia Rapp-Kochańska ps. Marie Springer and płk. Zdzisław Krasnodębski ps. Król. She is preparing for the mission "Battle of Britain", so she chooses a pilot – płk. Krasnodębski. This soldier's ability is Training and Yolanda decides to use it. The recruited soldier may get +1 to Strength or +1 to Underground. His printed Strength and Underground are 3 / 2. Yolanda decides to increase his Strength. To do this, she takes a 4 / 2 training token and places it on the top left corner of the card, covering the previous values – now the token shows the current attribute values. If płk. Krasnodębski already had a training token, +1 should be added to the appropriate attribute and then the previous training token should be removed. If this soldier is trained again in the future, the token should be replaced by a new one, with new values.

Ann recruits her soldier next – she has the following regions to choose from: Poland, Warsaw and Western Europe. Ann chooses Poland. She draws two soldier cards from the top of the deck and chooses one. Then she may use the chosen soldier's ability. After this action, it is Paul's turn. He can also recruit a soldier (in Warsaw or Western Europe) – he chooses Warsaw. Jacob must recruit a soldier in Western Europe or he may decide not to recruit at all. He decides to recruit in Western Europe.

Concentration

Starting from the player who has chosen this order, the players go clockwise to choose one of three available bonuses. These are:

• Moving the concentration token: The player removes a concentration token from the board if there is any, and then places a chosen concentration token (related to one of the six military formations) in any chosen region. As long as the concentration token is in this region, soldiers that belong to the chosen formation cannot be moved out of this region in any way. Moreover, each player who makes a new soldier (regardless of the formation) appear there (through orders: Movement, Recruitment, through a soldier's ability or a region's special rule) gets 1 victory point per each such soldier.
• Soldier movement: The player may move a chosen soldier to a neighboring region.
• Nurse: The player takes a nurse token. If you already have 3 such tokens, you cannot use this action.

If any of the bonuses has already been chosen, the rest of the players cannot use it this round. This means that in a 4-player game the last person does not benefit from this order in any way.

Special action: None. The player becomes the first to choose one of the three bonuses.

Concentration tokens: In the box there are 3 double-sided concentration tokens related to one of the 6 military formations present in the game. At a time there can be only one concentration token on the board (in one of the 5 regions), and related to a specific formation. A token in a region means that the players cannot move soldiers from a given formation out of this place. Additionally, each player who delivers a new soldier there (regardless of their formation) immediately gains one victory point.

Maneuvers

This order ends the Orders Phase. The player who has chosen it puts 1 victory point on each active order tile (an order that has not been chosen by any player this round), then flips all inactive orders to the active side. If Maneuvers are the last active order when they are chosen, the player will start the next round. Otherwise, the starting player for the next round is the person on the left side of the player who has chosen Maneuvers. Then proceed to the Ending Phase.

Example 2: Yolanda, Ann, Paul and Jacob are playing. At the beginning of this round Yolanda was the first to choose the Recruitment order. Then Ann chose Training. Now it is Paul's turn – he chooses Maneuvers. After this, he places 1 victory point on the following order tiles: Concentration, Movement and Sabotage, then he flips Recruitment and Training tiles to the active side. Then he proceeds to the Ending Phase. Jacob is sitting on Paul's left side. Paul chose the Maneuvers order, so Jacob will be the starting player in the next round.

Ending Phase

After the Orders Phase the player who has chosen the Maneuvers order leads the rest through the Ending Phase. It consists of a few steps which should be taken in the following order:

Treatment

First the players can cure wounded soldiers. Starting from the player who has chosen Maneuvers, everyone can discard any number of nurse tokens and remove the same number of wound tokens from chosen soldier cards.

Nurse and wound tokens: A wounded soldier is marked with a wound token placed on the soldier card. Such soldiers always give only 1 Strength point to the total Strength while resolving a mission, regardless of their formation. Wounds may be removed by discarding nurse tokens (the players can do it at the beginning of the Ending Phase). Nurse tokens may be obtained by using Training and Concentration orders. No player can have more than three nurse tokens at a time.

Actions of the Axis

The player who has chosen Maneuvers draws a top card from the event deck. Then they move the domination marker one square to the right in the region shown on the card. In a 4-player game move the marker by two squares instead of one.

Moving the Time Marker

Move the time marker on the time track by as many squares as the number on the event card shows.

Neutral event cards: A neutral event card is divided into two parts. The right side contains two important pieces of information used during the Ending Phase. The first one is the region where the Axis intensifies its actions. After revealing an event card, the domination level in the region determined by the card rises (by 1 square for 2 and 3 players, by 2 squares for 4 players). The number on the card shows by how many squares the time marker should be moved on the time track. The rest of the information (left side of the card) is used in the advanced game and is explained later in this rulebook.

Resolving Missions

Starting from a player who has chosen Maneuvers, the players must reveal all mission cards in their hands whose date is earlier or the same as the one currently shown by the time marker. Then they resolve the missions according to the rules below.

In order to check if the mission is successful, add the domination level in a given region to the difficulty level of the mission. Then count the total Strength of the soldiers present in the region where the mission is taking place. Each soldier from the formation required by the mission card who is not wounded adds his/her current Strength to the total Strength. Wounded soldiers and those who do not belong to the required formation always add only 1 point to the total Strength (regardless of their current Strength). If the total Strength is equal to or higher than the modified difficulty level, the mission is successful. Otherwise, the player fails the mission.

Mission difficulty level: On each mission card there is a number showing its difficulty level. While resolving a given mission, add this number to the number shown on the domination track in the region. The Strength of the soldiers in this region must be equal to or higher than the sum of the difficulty and domination level. Each soldier gives some Strength to the total Strength, while resolving a mission:

• +1 if the soldier is wounded (regardless of their formation)
• +1 if the soldier belongs to a different formation from that shown on the mission card
• +X, where X is the Strength of a non-wounded soldier from the formation determined by the mission card.

Place your successful mission cards face up in front of you. At the end of the game they will bring you as many points as the number on each card shows. Unsuccessful missions should be placed face down. Each such mission means minus 5 points at the end of the game.

Regardless of the result of the mission, if it is from stage I, after resolving it, the player draws 2 top cards from stage II mission deck. They must keep one and put the other at the bottom of stage II deck. The only exception is a situation when you already have 3 mission cards from stage II in hand. Then you do not draw more cards. If you have resolved a mission from stage II, you do not draw more mission cards either.

Mission cards: Missions in the game are divided into two groups, chronologically. The red cards are related to the first period (September 1939 – December 1942). The yellow cards represent the second period of the war (January 1943 – May 1945). The players start the game with 3 or 4 cards from the first stage in hand (the rest of the cards from this stage are not used in the game). Each time they get rid of such a card from hand they immediately draw a card from the later stage of the war (take two yellow cards and keep one). The exception is a situation when a player starts the game with 4 cards from the first stage in hand. In this case, after getting rid of the last red card, they do not draw the fourth one from stage II (yellow deck).

Symbols of military formations in the game: Infantry, Sabotage, Sailor, Armored divisions, Pilot, Paratrooper.

Losses

This is the last step of the Ending Phase, when the losses in men resulting from the missions are determined. The losses should be checked in each region where at least one mission has taken place during the Ending Phase. The player leading the Ending Phase decides about the order of checking the losses in regions, but each region where at least one mission has taken place must be checked.

The player who leads the Ending Phase rolls a die and adds the result to the current number on the domination track in a region. The sum determines the number of wounds that should be given to the soldiers in this region. The player takes an appropriate number of wound tokens and places them (one by one) on soldier cards, beginning from the ones with the lowest Underground. If there is a tie in the Underground level, the player decides which soldier gets the wound token. If each player in the region has already got a wound, but there are still wound tokens left to distribute, perform this procedure again. After distributing the wounds, remove all soldiers who have 2 or more wound tokens and those who have only one wound token but do not have any training token. Use the above rules to check the losses in every region where a mission has taken place this round.

Example 3: Yolanda, Ann, Paul and Jacob are playing. Paul chooses the Maneuvers order and leads the others through the Ending Phase.

1. Treatment: At the beginning of the Ending Phase Paul may discard a nurse token to cure a chosen soldier. He decides not to do this. Then he asks the rest of the players, one by one, starting from the person to his left, if they want to discard any number of nurse tokens to cure soldiers. Jacob does not discard any tokens. Yolanda discards one and chooses a wounded soldier – then she removes a wound token from the card. Ann does not have any nurse tokens, so she cannot do anything at the moment.
2. Actions of the Axis: Next Paul draws a top card from the neutral event deck and shows it to the other players – it is "Operation Overlord", which raises the domination level in Western Europe by 2 (since it is a 4-player game).
3. New neutral event: Yolanda, Ann, Paul and Jacob are using the advanced version of the rules, so they put an event marker on VI 1944 – as the date on "Operation Overlord" shows. When the time marker reaches or exceeds this date, the effect of this event will be introduced to the game.
4. Moving the time marker: Next Paul moves the time marker by 6 squares further on the time track from May 1940 to November 1940. If any player has a mission from this period (May – November 1940) in hand, they must reveal it. Yolanda has "Battle of Britain" from August 1940.
5. Resolving missions: Yolanda counts the Strength level of all the soldiers in Northern Europe and the Atlantic. Currently there are 4 soldiers in this region: płk Zdzisław Krasnodębski ps. Król, Komandor Stanisław Nahorski ps. Kamyczek (he is wounded), gen. bryg. Stefan Bałuk ps. Starba and mjr Adolf Pilch ps. Góra. Their total Strength is 7 (4 + 1 +1 +1 ). The difficulty level of the mission is 8 + 1 = 9 (difficulty level + domination level = total difficulty level of a mission). Yolanda does not succeed in the mission, she lacks 2 Strength points. She puts the failed mission card face down in front of her – now it means -5 points at the end of the game.
6. Losses: Then Paul, as he has chosen Maneuvers, rolls a die. He adds the result to the current domination level, in this case it is 1. The final result is 2 + 1 = 3. Paul must distribute 3 wound tokens. First he gives the wounds to the soldiers with the lowest Underground level – these are Komandor Stanisław Nahorski ps. Kamyczek and płk Zdzisław Krasnodębski ps. Król. Each of them gets one wound. The last wound may be given either to gen. bryg. Stefan Bałuk ps. Starba or mjr Adolf Pilch ps. Góra. Paul chooses mjr Pilch. One wound kills an already wounded soldier and those who do not have any training tokens. Komandor Nahorski is killed – it is his second wound. Gen. bryg. Stefan Bałuk ps. Starba also dies (he does not have any training tokens), while płk Krasnodębski gets a wound but survives – it is his first wound and he has a training token.

Ending and Winning the Game

The game ends when no player has any mission cards in hand.

After finishing the game the players count their points. A player adds the points from successful missions (the number of points is shown on each mission card) to the points gathered throughout the game (the sum of the numbers on victory point tokens). Finally, each player loses 5 points per each of their failed missions.

The player with the most victory points wins the game. If there is a tie, compare the number of successful missions – the player who has more of them wins. If there is still a tie, the players share the victory!

Advanced Rules

The version of the game described above is the basic variant. If you want to add variety to the game, you can use one or both optional rules presented below. Each of them introduces a new element to the game, changing some aspects and adding more color to it.

Distribution of Missions

In the basic variant, at the beginning of the game the players get mission cards at random. If you want to take more decisions in the game, we suggest distributing the starting cards in a different way: first each player gets 4 random missions from stage I. They keep one and pass the remaining three to the player on their left side. From the three cards received from the player on the right a player chooses one and passes the remaining two to the left. Finally, a player gets two cards. They may keep both or choose one and remove the other from the game.

Neutral Events

On each card from the event deck, apart from the information necessary to play the Ending Phase (right side of the card), there is a short description of some event that took place during the war. In the basic version these events do not affect the game and constitute only additional historical information. However, you can introduce them to the game.

The introduction of neutral events makes the Ending Phase a bit longer. Two additional steps appear in it. The first one should be taken after increasing the domination level in the region determined by the card (step: Actions of the Axis), but before moving the time marker.

Placing a New Neutral Event Card

On each card there is a date of the event presented. If it is later than the date currently shown on the time track (before moving the marker), place the card next to the time track (it is best to put the upcoming events in a chronological order). Place an event marker on the time track on the date determined by the card.

If the card shows an event that should have taken place before the current date (or exactly on that date), discard it – this event will not take place in the game.

Resolving Event Cards

Finally, after taking all the other steps, you should resolve all the neutral events that took part in recent months. Apply the effects of all the cards whose markers are on the left side of the time marker (or exactly on the same square). The effects should be applied chronologically, introducing all the necessary changes to the game. Remove a card from the game after applying its effect.

Neutral events: On the left side of an event card there is a date and the effect of a given event which may take place if you have decided to use the extra rule of neutral events. Remember that the effect of an event is not applied immediately after drawing the card, but only when the time marker shows an appropriate date. If you draw such a card and see that it is impossible to apply the effect (the current date in the game is "later" than the one shown on the new event card), discard it with no extra effect (apart from moving the time marker and increasing the domination of the Axis in a given region).

Description of Mission Cards

Each mission card carries a short historical description. The English text is given here; the Polish text is omitted.

Sinking of MS Rio de Janeiro. IV 1940. Only a few hours before the Third Reich started its attack on Norway, a Polish submarine ORP "Orzeł" came across a German freighter carrying troops. The ship's crew refused to stop the engines. They radio-called for support and continued the cruise. "Orzeł" fired two torpedoes, which sank the ship. ORP "Orzeł"'s report was the first signal of the beginning of the invasion on Norway.

Battle of Narvik. V 1940. One of many battles of the Norwegian Campaign. The Polish Independent Highland Brigade under gen. Zygmunt-Bohusz-Szyszko played an important role in it. Polish destroyers: "Grom", "Burza", and "Błyskawica" as well as Polish passenger ships: "Chrobry", "Batory" and "Sobieski" also took part in the battle.

Attack on Montbard. VI 1940. The 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade under gen. Stanisław Maczek received an order to conquer the town of Montbard in France, in order to facilitate and cover the retreat of the French army. Polish soldiers entered the town using the element of surprise, but they were forced to withdraw on the next day.

Battle of Britain. VIII 1940. After taking control of almost whole Central and Western Europe, Adolf Hitler decided to invade the British Isles. The English sky was protected by the Royal Air Force, consisting, among others, of Polish fighter squadrons: 302 and 303, and bomber squadrons: 300 and 301.

Establishment of the resistance movement in Auschwitz. X 1940. The aim of the resistance in the camp was self-help, documenting Nazi crimes and preparing for an armed uprising. Several groups of conspirators functioned in this way. Among the most important people leading the resistance movement at its beginning were: Stanisław Dubois, Norbert Barlicki, Julian Wieczorek, Juliusz Rydygier, Stefan Bratkowski, colonel Kazimierz Rawicz and colonel Witold Pilecki.

Establishment of the "Wawer" Small Sabotage. XII 1940. The aim of this organization was psychological fight against the invader. Taking off Nazi flags, smashing the windows of German shops or writing pro-independence slogans on the walls and distributing the underground press were the main tasks of the Small Sabotage. The structure of this organization was mainly based on the underground scouting association – the Grey Ranks.

First drop of the Silent Unseen. II 1941. As a part of Operation Adolphus, two officers who were to join the Union of Armed Struggle and a courier of the Government Delegation were dropped in Poland from a 1419 Flight RAF plane. This operation was the beginning of intensified air support for the Polish Underground State – until the end of the war 316 well-trained soldiers and several tons of equipment were delivered to Poland.

Bombing of Berlin. III 1941. In 1941 bomber squadrons 300 and 301 were flying over Berlin and performed 859 sorties. The bombing of Berlin and other cities of the Reich was mainly supposed to destroy the spirit of the German society and damage the military infrastructure of the Third Reich.

Regular radio connection with London. IV 1941. In Stanmore near London a unit of 16 radio stations functioned with an aim to contact Poland regularly. The production of Polish intelligence radio stations AP-1 that helped the underground keep constant contact with the resistance movement and the government in exile also started there. Easier communication enabled better planning of the actions in the country and more effective support for the Polish Underground State.

Chase and sinking of the Bismarck. V 1941. The German battleship Bismarck was one of the best equipped and armed vessels of the Kriegsmarine. In May 1941 the RAF discovered an attempt of Bismarck and Prinz Eugen to force their way to the Atlantic to attack the Allied convoys. A pursuit of the German squadron began. Several dozen Royal Navy vessels took part in it: aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers and destroyers, including the Polish ORP "Piorun". On 27th May, after a dramatic chase, they managed to sink Bismarck.

Establishment of the "Wachlarz" organization. VIII 1941. Due to the expected attack of the Third Reich on the USSR a decision was made to create a special unit within the Union of Armed Struggle that would have been carrying out sabotage and subversive actions in eastern regions conquered by the Soviet Union and the Third Reich.

Defense of Tobruk. XI 1941. After stopping the offensive of the German-Italian forces under gen. Erwin Rommel heading towards Egypt, it was crucial for the Allies to keep the fortress of Tobruk that remained at the rear of Rommel's army. Tobruk was defended by Australians, Britons, Indians, one Czechoslovakian battalion and the Polish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade. Despite a huge advantage of the Axis, the Allies managed to defend Tobruk in 1941.

Establishment of the Home Army. II 1942. By the order of the Commander-in-chief of the Polish Armed Forces and the Prime Minister of the Government-in-exile, gen. Władysław Sikorski, the Union of Armed Struggle was renamed to the Home Army (Armia Krajowa). The AK became the symbol and synonym of the Polish Underground State.

Battle of Gazala. V 1942. One of many battles in North Africa in which the most important role was played by armored divisions supported by infantry units. As a result of this battle Tobruk was conquered by the Afrika Korps (the fortress fell after seven days of siege) and the German-Italian troops achieved a tactical advantage in the region.

Dieppe Raid. VIII 1942. Operation Jubilee that took place in the Dieppe region engaged many different military formations: armored divisions, infantry, navy and air forces, including Polish squadrons 302 and 303. The aim of the operation was to check the possibility of conquering a port from the side of the sea, but Germans were not taken by surprise and managed to repulse the attack. However, the bloody experience of Dieppe facilitated the success of the future Normandy landings, as the mistakes made in 1942 were not repeated.

Operation Garland. X 1942. It was the first action conducted by the Home Army on such a big scale, targeted at the German railway transport supplying the eastern front. As a result the Warsaw rail hub was blocked for several hours and the train traffic near the capital was paralyzed.

Escort of convoy ON-166. II 1943. Materials from the United States and Canada for the European Allies were transported by sea, which meant the threat of attacks by German submarines (U-boats). Therefore, vessels were grouped into convoys guarded by battleships. Polish ships also served on the Atlantic. Among them was the destroyer ORP "Burza", which – guarding convoy ON-166 – took part in sinking the U-606 submarine.

Operation Arsenal. III 1943. An armed action by the Assault Groups of the Grey Ranks whose aim was to rescue harcmistrz Jan Bytnar ps. "Rudy" and other prisoners transported from the Gestapo headquarters to the Pawiak prison. It was the first such big street operation in occupied Poland.

Fights at the Salerno Bay. IX 1943. Polish ships provided support from the sea for Operation Avalanche, whose aim was to transport the Allied troops from Sicily and Africa to the Apennine Peninsula. Among the most distinguished one should name destroyers and escorts "Piorun", "Ślązak", "Krakowiak", submarine "Dzik" and ships "Batory", "Sobieski", "Kościuszko" and "Narvik" – used for transporting the troops.

Assassination attempt on Hans Frank. I 1944. The attack on Governor General Hans Frank was prepared by the Cracow unit of the Home Army Kedyw. It was carried out by means of explosives placed under a railway. As a result of the explosion the train derailed and fell from the embankment, but nobody was hurt. The explosion took place one second too late and destroyed a compartment where Hans Frank was not present.

Operation Kutschera. II 1944. The most important operation organized by the Home Army targeted at a high German official in occupied Poland. As a result, Franz Kutschera, the SS and Police Leader of Warsaw district was killed. The action was carried out by the Home Army Kedyw company of military subversion called "Pegaz" (Anti-Gestapo). The scouts from "Pegaz" formed battalion "Parasol" in May 1944.

Battle of Monte Cassino. V 1944. The role the Polish II Corps played in conquering Monte Cassino was essential – thanks to their dedication, commitment and perseverance the Polish soldiers took the hill and the monastery that the Allied troops could not conquer for 4 months. The battle of Monte Cassino opened the way to Rome for the Allies.

Normandy landings. VI 1944. The biggest landing operation in the history of armed conflicts. It resulted in opening a new, western, front. Over 175 thousand people landed on the beaches of Normandy. 11 Polish squadrons took part in this operation – 8 fighter squadrons and 3 bomber ones.

Battle of Ushant. VI 1944. At night on 8th June two divisions of Allied destroyers intercepted a division of German destroyers preparing an attack on the landing vessels heading towards Normandy (see: Normandy landings). A battle began near the island of Ushant in which two Polish ships, ORP "Błyskawica" and ORP "Piorun", took part. The Allies sank two out of four German ships and made the English Channel safe for their vessels.

Battle of Ancona. VII 1944. After the battle of Monte Cassino the Polish II Corps headed towards Ancona, an important port city through which supplies for the German troops on the Gothic Line in northern Italy were transported. Gen. Władysław Anders's daring plan to force the Germans to retreat by the 5th Kresowa Infantry Division and the 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division – performing a flanking maneuver. The Allies managed to avoid losses among civilians and the destruction of historic buildings.

Operation Wildhorn III. VII 1944. After the information about the V-2 rockets was gathered, parts of the rocket, technical plans and an analytical report by the Home Army were to be handed over to the Allies. The fastest way, but also a difficult and dangerous one, was an airlift. A special RAF aircraft landed near Tarnów, on a spot secured by the Home Army. Couriers of the Government-in-exile were transported to Poland, while the plans and elements of the V-2 were taken.

Battle of Falaise. VIII 1944. One of the most important battles on the western front. Withdrawing German troops, risking potential encirclement by the Allies, met the 1st Polish Armored Division under gen. Stanisław Maczek. The defense in the region of Chambois made it harder for the Germans to escape from the pocket and forced them to leave their heavy equipment there. The battle of Falaise opened the way to the Seine and the Rhine for the Allies.

Warsaw Uprising. VIII 1944. The Home Army's armed uprising against the German units stationed in Warsaw. It lasted 63 days and was the biggest city battle in the history of armed conflicts. After the fall of the Uprising Germans decided to raze Warsaw to the ground.

Battle of Arnhem. IX 1944. The fights for Arnhem and Oosterbeek were a part of Operation Market-Garden, the biggest operation of airborne forces during World War 2. The Allies' aim was to take control of the bridges on the Rhine, which would enable the British 2nd Army to "jump" over the German forces in this region and enter Germany from the north. The 1st Independent Parachute Brigade under brigadier general Stanisław Sosabowski took part in the battle.

Battle of Bologna. IV 1945. 2. Korpus Polski took part in defeating the German forces in northern Italy and broke the defense line on the rivers Senio and Santerno. After a successful maneuver of the Polish-British units, the Germans began to withdraw – Bologna was conquered during the pursuit. The inhabitants of the city greeted the Poles enthusiastically. A commemorative medal was prepared by the city authorities and many Polish officers were given honorary citizenship of Bologna.