Legion: The Siberian Story Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
• Course and Goal of the Game
• Game Setup
• Course of the Game
  • Recruitment and Equipment
  • Plots
  • March
  • Order and Assault resolution
  • Plot resolution
  • Round end
• End of the Game
• Despatches – Optional Game Mode
• Character Abilities
• Summary of Orders
• Summary of Order Icons
• Summary of General Icons
• FAQ
• Survival Mode – Optional

Game Components

• 15 big Location cards
• 24 Plot cards
• 80 Decoration tokens (representing 1, 2 and 3 Victory points)
• 150 transparent cards: 16 Frostbite cards, 30 Wound cards, 24 Crippled cards (3 different types), 30 Equipment cards (Sabre, First Aid, Coat), 50 Enhancement cards (Perfect Aim, Medal, Erudition, Promotion and Officer Exams)
• 60 Character cards, 15 for each Faction, including 2 Officers
• 1 Graveyard card and 1 card with a token to mark game rounds
• 9 Despatch cards
• 60 card sleeves, 15 for each Faction
• 32 Order tokens, 8 for each Faction
• 50 Supply tokens
• 4 Survivor cards
• 1 Starting Player token
• 8 Commander screens, 2 for each Faction

Course and Goal of the Game

Each player commands a military unit consisting of a group of soldiers and a limited number of supplies for each round.

The game is played over four rounds. Each round players first recruit Characters and acquire their Equipment, placing the Equipment in Character card sleeves. In the next phase, players deploy their Characters to individual Plots and issue officer Orders. Then, the skills of the Characters and the Orders they have received are evaluated. At the end of the round, the Combat power of each Faction at each Plot is counted and the player with the highest Combat power gains the Plot. All Character cards then return to players' decks.

The goal of the game is to gain military dominance on the Plots, thus earning Victory points for each won Plot.

Game Setup

Before your first game, carefully punch out the tokens from the cardboard sheets. Remove the protective plastic film from the cards and insert Character cards into their corresponding Faction sleeves (using the symbols in the upper right corner as a guide). Sort the transparent plastic cards according to the symbols in the lower right corner (placing each type of card into the same deck). Place the sorted cards into the plastic insert, where you can store them long-term.

1. Each player chooses a Faction and receives 15 Character cards, including 2 Officer cards (with a yellow frame around the number and the 'Officer' title) and 2 Commander screens with the symbol of the chosen Faction.
2. Each player selects a Faction Commander, keeps the corresponding Commander screen, and takes the Order tokens displayed on the back of the screen. Each Commander has several unique tokens available, as well as some universal tokens for each Faction: 1 Order "+2", 1 Order "Retreat", and 1 Order "Redeployment", which are available to all Commanders. You will not use the remaining tokens in this game, so you can return them to the box.
3. Each player takes 1 Supply token. Place the rest in the middle of the table as a common reserve.
4. Take the Location cards, shuffle them, and place the entire deck face down in the middle of the table.
5. Shuffle the Plot cards and place them face down next to the Location card deck.
6. Take the insert with transparent cards and place it on the edge of the table. For future games, leave the transparent cards in the insert and always return the used cards after each game to their respective places.
7. Create piles of Decoration tokens in an easily accessible place. Those represent Victory points.
8. Place the Graveyard card and the card with the token to mark game rounds nearby.
9. The starting player takes the Starting Player token. The game begins with the player whose ancestor fought in the Czechoslovak Legion. If none did, the player wearing the darkest shade of green starts the game. If none qualifies, choose the starting player randomly.
10. Take both Officer cards from your Faction deck, choose one, and return the other to the box. Place your selected Officer behind your screen. Shuffle the rest of your Character cards, draw six, and keep four in your hand. Place the other two at the bottom of your Faction deck. Add your chosen Officer to your hand. These are your soldiers for the entire game.

Course of the Game

A game round consists of four phases:

1. Recruitment and Equipment
2. March
3. Order and Assault resolution
4. Plot resolution

Round setup: Draw a Location card and place it face up on the table. Then, draw and arrange Plot cards next to it based on the number of players:

• 2 players – 3 cards
• 3 players – 4 cards
• 4 players – 4 cards

Recruitment and Equipment

In this phase, players recruit and equip their Characters and prepare them for combat at the Plots. During your initial playthrough, we recommend that you do this one action at a time, following the order of the game. As players become familiar with the game mechanics, they can do these actions simultaneously while placing their spent Supply tokens in front of them.

Players can freely spend their Supply tokens (hereafter referred to as Supplies) during the Recruitment and Equipment phase on the following actions:

• Draw a Character card – costs 3 Supplies
• Gain Equipment – costs 1 Supply
• Restore 1 Order token – costs 2 Supplies

Recruitment: When a player has less than five Character cards in their hand, they draw cards from their Faction deck at the start of the Recruitment phase until they have five Character cards in their hand. In case a player buys a new Character card, they can have more than five cards in their hand. Once the number of their characters drop below five, they can always draw up to five cards.

Equipment: Players can spend one Supply to gain any transparent Equipment card and insert it into the sleeve of any character. This gives the Character a Military skill (which allows him to participate in Plots of a certain type) or a new Ability. No Character can have any Military skill or Ability more than once. In each round, players can buy only one card of each type of Equipment.

Equipment effects:

• Sabre – adds the ASSAULT ability. Cannot be assigned to a Character that already has the Assault ability.
• Medical kit – adds the FIRST AID ability.
• Coat – adds resistance to Frostbites.
• Perfect Aim – adds a Combat Military skill (icon: bullets).
• Medal – adds a Charisma Military skill (icon: two people).
• Encryption – adds an Intelligence Military skill (icon: star).
• Promotion – the Combat power of the Character increases by one.
• Officer Exams – the Character gains the ability to give Orders.

Restoration of Order tokens: Players may spend two Supplies to replenish one exhausted Order token.

When none of the players want to buy equipment anymore, the next phase of the game follows.

Plots

Plots are the primary source of Victory points, but they also offer additional rewards. That's why they are the focal point of intense battles. Plots unfold on Locations that, in various ways, affect the game for the entire round.

There are three types of Plots:

• Freezing (snowflake symbol) – Characters participating in this Plot receive the Frostbite transparent card. If a Character is supposed to receive a second Frostbite card, they immediately die. Characters can protect themselves from Frostbite by equipping a Coat.
• Warming (flame symbol) – Each Character participating in this Plot can remove one Frostbite card at the end of the Plot resolution phase.
• Peaceful (bird symbol) – No Assaults are resolved at this Plot.

The symbol and the number in the bottom right corner represent the number of Victory points obtained by the winner of the Plot, that is, the player with the greatest Combat power on the Plot. In case of a tie, all tied players obtain Victory points. The reward in the bottom left corner belongs to all players who have at least one living Character on the Plot during its resolution.

Types of rewards:

• +1 Supply – Players obtain certain number of Supplies for surviving a Plot.
• +2 Supplies – Players obtain certain number of Supplies for surviving a Plot.

Plot card layout: plot conditions (Military skill icons, upper left); plot type (upper right); reward for survivors (bottom left); reward for winners, in Victory points (bottom right).

March

In this phase, players take turns sending Characters from their hand to the revealed Plots, starting with the first player. Only one Character can be sent at a time. Players place their Characters next to individual Plots, facing up.

Each player can place any number of Characters on any individual Plot and stack them on top of each other so that their Combat power remains visible in the upper left corner, along with their Abilities on the left side. There should also be enough space left on each Character card to place Order tokens.

Each Character sent to a Plot must meet its entry conditions – that is, they must possess corresponding Military skills (symbols in the upper left corner) depicted on the Plot. For example, if there is a star on the Plot, the Character must also have a star.

Once a player cannot or does not want to send any more characters to the Plots, they pass. When a player passes, they cannot play any more Character cards in this round. After all players have passed, the next phase of the game follows.

Orders: When a player sends their Officer to a plot, they have the option to assign Order tokens, however, all played Order tokens must be assigned immediately upon its arrival. Each officer may assign up to two Orders during their March. Players choose from the available Order tokens in their reserves and assign them to individual Characters that are already present at any of the Plots. Order tokens are placed face down on the chosen individual Character cards. Orders that are resolved in the Order resolution phase bear the exclamation-mark symbol. Orders remain on the Character cards until the end of the Plot resolution. Order tokens with the lightning symbol are turned face up and resolved immediately when assigned to a Character. Orders that remain on the Character cards until the end of the Plot resolution bear the stopwatch symbol.

Each character can receive only one Order. Assigning Orders is optional, players do not have to assign all the orders they are entitled to. It is advisable to protect your Officer because their death will deprive you of the ability to give Orders. However, you can still spend Supplies to take Officer Exams, gaining the ability to give one Order.

Example: The player playing for Whites sent Officer Gorodsky to a Plot and placed two Order tokens on the Character cards that had already been placed at the same Plot.

Order and Assault resolution

In this phase, players one by one resolve the Orders assigned to their Characters. Note that Orders are resolved in the reverse order of play, meaning the first Order is resolved by the player to the right of the starting player, and then it continues counterclockwise. The active player can choose to resolve any of their Order tokens. After flipping over the chosen token, they may execute its effect and then set the token aside to indicate it has been used. Each player has a list of Orders and their functions on their Commander screen. There are three types of Orders: those resolved immediately when played, those resolved in the Order resolution phase, and those kept face down until the Plot resolution phase. A detailed description of Orders can be found at the end of the rules.

When a player is eligible to assign an Order but has none available, they may retrieve all of their used Order tokens, making them immediately available. Players place their used Order tokens next to their Commander screen for everyone to see. If a player chooses not to use the effect of an Order token, they may place it face down among the used tokens.

Once all Orders are resolved, proceed to resolve the Plots.

Plot resolution

The Plots are resolved one by one, starting with the closest one to the Plot deck. The Plot cards remain on the table until the end of their resolution phase. On each Plot card, the Plot is first entirely resolved step by step, then the next one, and so on.

Steps of Plot resolution:

1. Assault – Assaults are resolved sequentially, with each player monitoring the resolution of their own Assaults. For every Assault on a Plot, a player may inflict 1 Wound. The player calculates all their Assaults on the Plot and declares which Faction(s) will be affected and how many Wounds they inflict. Players can distribute their Assaults among multiple Factions on the same Plot. This announcement follows the turn order, starting with the first player. The player representing the affected Faction selects a specific Character to be injured and places a Wound card in its sleeve (if multiple Wounds are inflicted, they can be divided among different Characters). Each player evaluates all their Assaults on the Plot simultaneously. If a Character receives a second Wound, it goes to the Graveyard after the Assault resolution and is no longer available. After completing the Assault resolutions, proceed to the next step.

   Assault resolution example: The Whites resolve their assaults first. They inflict exactly two Wounds and they choose the Legionaries (green) as their target. The Legionaries decide to split them between two of their Characters, so that no one dies and the Officer remains unhurt. The Legionaries have one Assault available on the Plot, which they direct against the Whites.

2. Determining the Plot winner – In the following step, add up the Combat power of your Characters at the Plots. Do not forget to add various modifiers (e.g. Equipment +1, token +2, etc.). The Faction with the greatest Combat power becomes the winner of the Plot and gains Victory points (the value in the bottom right corner of the Plot card) in the form of Decoration tokens. In case of a tie, all tying players gain Victory points. All other non-winning players who have their surviving Characters on the Plot gain reward in the form of Supplies (the value in the bottom left corner of the Plot card). After the Plot rewards are awarded, leave the surviving Characters in place.

   Scoring evaluation example: The Whites have a total Combat power of 3+2+2=7, the Legionaries (green) have 2+2+1=5, and the Red Army has a Combat power of 2+1=3. White wins the Plot and gains 2 Victory points. Red and green each gain 1 Supply because their Characters survived the Plot.

3. Resolving other effects – In the last step, effects of other Character Abilities are resolved – Violence and First Aid. These effects are resolved one by one following the turn order. When resolving the Violence ability, the attacking player chooses which Faction will be affected (they can split between multiple Factions), and the owner of the targeted Faction selects a Character on the same Plot to be Crippled. The crippled Character loses one specific Military skill – the owning player inserts a transparent Crippled card, which prohibits a specific Skill, into its sleeve (remember that there are three types of Crippled cards with different positions they prohibit). The Skill (position) which will be prohibited is chosen by the owner of the crippled Character. The First Aid ability allows you to heal one wound of another Character from the same Faction on the same Plot. It cannot be used to heal the Character that applies this effect. You can get rid of the Crippled effect only by buying Equipment, which allows you to regain the lost Military skill.

Round end

At this point, the round ends. Players take all surviving Characters back into their hands, the dead are put into the Graveyard and another round follows. Now pass the Starting Player token clockwise to the next player and proceed with the start of a new round. The game is played for a total of four rounds.

End of the Game

The game is over after 4th round. Players total their Victory points from their decoration tokens and subtract 1 Victory point for each of their soldiers in the graveyard.

The winner is the player with the most Victory points. In case of a tie, the number of Supplies will determine the winner; if there is still a tie, the player with fewer Characters that have died will be the winner. If the tie persists, the victory is shared.

Despatches – Optional Game Mode

In case you want to freshen up the game, you can add the deck of Despatch cards into the game. Shuffle it before the game and place it on the table. These cards come into play at the start of the second round, when each player draws two cards and picks one of them.

Each Despatch contains secret information known only to its owner. The upper part reveals its usable effect, and the lower part outlines its scoring condition. If a player decides to play the card, they immediately gain the bonus specified in the upper half. If a player chooses to keep the card, they may earn Victory points for fulfilling the scoring condition in the lower half. These points are awarded at the end of the game.

For scoring the effects of certain Despatch cards, it is necessary to track the types of Plots that players have won. Use the War Diary sheet and, in the Plot section, note the types of Plots you have won (if a Plot contains 2 types, note both).

Character Abilities

• Assault (icon) – Inflicts one Wound (drop icon).
• Violence (icon) – Inflicts Crippled (crossed-out circle icon).
• First Aid (icon) – After resolving a Plot, heals one wounded Character of the same Faction on the same Plot.
• Fragility (icon) – Dies after suffering a single Wound (drop icon).

Summary of Orders

Orders are listed with their token name and effect. The token colour is shown in the rulebook (grey, green, purple or red tokens).

Grey tokens:

• Transfer! – Move one of your Characters to a different Plot (it has to meet its conditions).
• Retreat! – Withdraw all your Characters from the Plot, put them on the bottom of your Faction deck and take one Supply.
• +2 – Add +2 to your Combat power on the Plot.
• Shoot and Move! – Inflict one Wound on any Faction on this Plot and then you may move this Character to another Plot (it has to meet its conditions).
• Promotion! – Give the Character with this Order +1.
• Win or Die! – If you win on this Plot, you get two extra Victory points. If you do not win, the character with this Order dies.
• Lure Away! – You can force one enemy Character to withdraw.

Green tokens:

• Get Down! – The Character cancels one wound from an Assault.
• Ceasefire! – No Assaults are resolved on this Plot.
• Take All! – If you win on this Plot, you get the award for survivors as well as Victory points.
• Camouflage! – The next card played for this Plot by this Faction is played face down.

Purple tokens:

• Prowl! – Move this Character to another Plot regardless of its conditions.
• Furious Assault! – Inflict one Wound on any Faction on this Plot, then you may withdraw this Character.
• No Medics! – First Aid is not resolved on this Plot.
• Sabotage! – Discard any Order token on this Plot and place it among used Tokens of the Faction.

Red tokens:

• Sacrifice! – Kill another one of your Characters on this Plot to give this Character +5 Combat power for this round.
• Muster! – Move any number of your Characters from other Plots to this Plot. These characters must meet the Plot's conditions.
• Replacement! – Swap this Character with one of your Characters on another Plot (regardless of the conditions on their new Plots).
• Theft! – Steal the Supplies from this Plot and place this Order token on the Plot.

Note: the Game Setup section lists a universal "Redeployment" Order token for every Commander, which is not described in the Summary of Orders as printed in this rulebook.

Summary of Order Icons

• Lightning symbol – Order token is flipped and resolved immediately when placed on a Character card.
• Exclamation-mark symbol – Order token is resolved according to standard rules in the Order resolution phase.
• Stopwatch symbol – Order token stays on the Character card until the end of the Plot resolution phase.

Summary of General Icons

Military skills:

• Combat (icon)
• Charisma (icon)
• Intelligence (star icon)

Equipment:

• Sabre – Adds Assault ability. Cannot be assigned to a Character that already has the Assault ability.
• Medical kit – Adds First Aid ability.
• Coat – Adds resistance to Frostbites.
• Perfect Aim – Adds Combat Military skill.
• Medal – Adds Charisma Military skill.
• Encryption – Adds Intelligence Military skill.

Other effects:

• Crippled (crossed-out circle icon) – Inflicted by Violence. Prohibits one Military skill on a specific position.
• +1 (icon) – Increases Combat power by one.
• Order-token icons (order-token symbols) – Character may assign Order token(s) to any other Character of the same Faction. Officers cannot be given Orders.
• Wound (drop icon) – After receiving a second Wound, the Character dies and goes to the Graveyard.
• Frostbite – After receiving a second Frostbite, the Character dies and goes to the Graveyard.

Blank Token has no effect - it's for bluffing.

FAQ

Is it possible to cure crippling? Yes, when you buy an Equipment card with the skill that has been crippled, the skill is restored.

Can Officers assign their Orders to Characters on different Plots? Yes, Officers can place their Orders on any Characters already present on any Plots.

Can I resolve all my Orders at once? No, players take turns and resolve their Orders one by one, until all assigned Orders are resolved.

Can I Assault Characters on different Plots? No, not even if there are no enemy Characters present on the Plot. All Assaults are resolved within the same Plot.

Can I distribute Wounds from Assaults between Characters? Yes, the targeted player may distribute inflicted Wounds among their Characters on the Plot as they choose, so that they minimize damage and protect their most valuable Characters.

Survival Mode – Optional

At the end of the game, fill in the War Diary with the required information to determine how many Victory points you have scored and how many Supplies you have.

Introduction: Enjoy a longer adventure with a handful of your faithful companions. In Survival mode, carry your soldiers into subsequent games, experiencing more stories together. The entire campaign consists of three games, which you can play all at once or on different days, putting the game away in the meantime.

Example of a War Diary entry after the first game (GAME NO. 1, DATE: 6. 12. 1924):

Ranking	Name	Faction	Victory points	Supplies for the next game	Commander
1.	Francis	White	18	2	Konovalov
2.	Charles	Red	13	0	Polzin
3.	Vince	Legionnaires	12	3	Topol
4.	-	-	-	-	-

Note: the example's War Diary figures are printed as shown; the narrative below gives Francis 25 Victory points and Charles 18, which does not match the diary table. Both are transcribed as printed.

Goal of the game: The goal of this series of three games is to survive until the end and collect the most Victory points.

Setup of the first game: When starting the first game in this mode, prepare the game components as usual according to the basic rules. Set aside a deck of cards marked with "Survivor". Next, prepare the War Diary (record sheet) and a pencil. We recommend playing this game mode without Despatch cards.

Example: The first game of the campaign was won by Francis with 25 Victory points. At the end of the game, Francis had no Supplies, but he acquired 2 Supplies for 2 VP and decided to use them in the next game. Then he healed one wounded Character and removed Frostbite from another Character.

Course of the game: The game is played according to the basic rules.

End of the game: The game ends as usual after 4 rounds. Count the Victory points according to the standard rules. Now, players have the opportunity to spend any number of Victory points for healing their soldiers, removing frostbite, and providing additional equipment for their soldiers based on the price list below:

Number of players	Price of healing in VP	Price of warming in VP	Price of Supplies in VP
2	5	2	1
3	4	1	1
4	3	1	1

Example (continued): Charles finished second with 18 Victory points. He purchased 1 Supply for 1 VP but immediately spent it on Equipment for one of his Characters, leaving him with no Supplies for the next game. Charles also healed one Character and removed Frostbite from another, costing him 5 VP. Vince finished third with 12 Victory points. He has 3 Supplies remaining, which he carries over to the next game. Vince didn't purchase anything with his VP.

At the start of Game No. 2, Francis will take two stored Supplies, Charles none, and Vince three stored Supplies.

The Equipment of the Characters in your hand and in the draw deck stays for the next game, as well as Wounds and Frostbites. Remove all Equipment cards from the Characters that have ended up in the Graveyard and return everything back to the insert. You won't need these Character cards for the rest of the Survival Mode. Next, draw cards up to 5 in your hand, if you have fewer than 5. Place these cards in the insert, and separate your hand with a divider card marked 'Survivor.' Alternatively, you can place the cards from your hand into a bag along with any remaining Supplies and one token of your Faction.

Start of the next session: Before the start of the next game, take your cards separated by the Survivor card back into your hand. Next, take the Supplies you have left over from the last game. You start the next game with a complete set of Order tokens belonging to your Commander, the same as at the start of the first game. From now the game goes as usual according to the Survival mode rules.

End of the campaign: The campaign ends after three games. Players add up their total score. The one with the most Victory points becomes the overall winner of the campaign.