Quartermaster General: East Front Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Credits
• Components
  • Components Summary — Markers
  • Components Summary — Wooden Pieces
• Setup
  • Game Board Setup
  • Game Board Features
• Pieces
• Control
• Players and Factions
  • Factions
• Cards
  • Late War Cards
  • Card Anatomy
  • Running Out of Cards
  • Contingency Cards
• Supply
  • Supply Flags
  • Supply Paths
  • Supply Effects
• Game Rounds
  • Reaction Reminders
• Turn Sequence
• Actions
• Deploying Pieces
  • Rules for Deploying Pieces
  • Deploy vs. Recruit
• Movement
  • First Movement Step
  • Second Movement Step
  • Movement During Action Steps
  • Retreat Movement
  • Airplane Movement
  • Movement Chart
• Combat
  • Attack Rounds
  • Continuing the Attack
  • Combat Rank (Top to Bottom)
  • Airplanes and Fleets in Combat
  • After Combat
• Reactions
  • Factions and Reactions
  • Reaction Icons
  • Stand Fast
  • Sustain Attack
  • Retreat
  • Exchange
  • Anti-Air
  • Naval Combat
  • Advance!
• Scoring and Victory
• Example of Play
  • Axis Turn 1
  • Allies Turn 1
• Special Card Cases

Credits

• Game Design: Ian Brody
• Development: Karin Weston-Brody
• Graphic Design & Illustration: Nicholas Avallone
• Additional Layout: Honda Eiji
• Editing: John Velonis and Kevin Chapman
• Additional Editing: Fabrizio Rolla
• Production & Supervision: Roberto Di Meglio and Fabio Maiorana
• Playtesting: Adam Sherson, Andy Daglish, Artem Stepanov, AshraamCPC, Ben Foster, Chris LaRue, Darrell Rushton, David Thompson, Edward Woods, Egor Balitsky, EvilBob, Fabio Maiorana, Heikki Laakkonen, Kalle Paju, Ilkka Rytkönen, Hervé "Graftodt" SICRE, Jeffrey Owen, John Velonis, Kent Fujita, Leonardo Rina, LaSala and Sons, Marc Lecours, Mark G. McLaughlin, Marvin Birnbaum, Nicolas Le Roux, Norm Stewart, Pablo Martinez Peon, Roberto Di Meglio, Roger PITFIELD, Samy, Sean Lynch, Sergey Krupin, Sharon Santucci Douglas, Simon Macdonald, Vincent Wurster, Waxence, & the gamers of the Leverett Gaming Guild.

A game created by the Griggling Games' design studio. Produced and distributed worldwide by Ares Games Srl.

Components

• 1 rulebook
• 1 game board
• 110 cards:
  • 51 Soviet Union cards
  • 5 Soviet Union Contingency cards
  • 49 Axis cards (31 Germany, 18 Pact)
  • 5 Axis Contingency cards (3 Germany, 2 Pact)
• 55 wooden pieces:
  • 26 Soviet Union pieces
  • 29 Axis pieces (19 Germany, 10 Pact)
• 1 punch-out counter sheet:
  • 1 Game Round marker
  • 20 double-sided Control markers
  • 1 Gorki Victory Star marker
  • 1 Scorched Earth marker
  • 1 Allies Victory Point marker
  • 1 Axis Victory Point marker
• 2 Player Aid sheets

Components Summary — Markers

• 1 Game Round marker
• 20 double-sided Control markers
• 1 Gorki Victory Star marker
• 1 Scorched Earth marker
• 2 Victory Point markers

Components Summary — Wooden Pieces

Faction	Infantry	Tank	Airplane	Fleet
Soviet Union (Allies)	x14	x5	x4	x3
Germany (Axis)	x7	x5	x5	x2
Pact (Axis)	x6	x1	x2	x1

Setup

• Place the game board between the players. Place both Victory Point markers on space "0" of the Victory Point track, and the Game Round marker on the gray space at the top of the Game Round track, pointing to the "Summer 1941" space.
• Place all of the other markers to the side until needed.
• Each player takes a Player Aid sheet.
• Each player takes their 5 Contingency cards and sets them to the side, Initial side up.
• Take the deck of cards for the side you're playing, Axis or Allies, and separate the Mid War cards from the Late War cards, and set aside your Late War cards. (The Axis-Soviet conflict started in the middle of World War 2.)
• Shuffle your Mid War cards and draw 7 cards. However, if this is your first game, you may want to select the 7 cards labeled "First Game" instead, and shuffle the rest.
• Place your starting pieces on the board (see below). Set the rest of your pieces to the side — these are your available pieces.

Mulligan: If you don't like your starting hand, you may reshuffle your hand into your Mid War cards and draw a new hand. This is known as a mulligan. Once you decide to take a mulligan, you must play with the new hand — you can't take another mulligan!

Game Board Setup

The map on the game board has land and water spaces. All named spaces are playable. (The unnamed land areas of Sweden and Turkey are not playable in Quartermaster General: East Front). Spaces that share a common border are adjacent to one another.

Game Board Features

• A. Victory Star: Each Victory star in spaces you control is worth 1 Victory Point during scoring. Spaces with Victory Stars may be referred to as Victory Star spaces.
• B. Supply Flags: Spaces with Supply Flags may be referred to as Supply Flag spaces (see Supply, page 8).
• C. 1939 Line: This denotes the border of the Soviet Union in 1939.
• D. 1941 Line: This denotes the border of the Soviet Union in 1941.
• E. Game Round track
• F. Victory Point track

The illustration also shows the pieces placed during setup.

Allies Starting Pieces

• Karelia: 1 Soviet infantry
• Leningrad: 1 Soviet airplane
• Baltic States: 1 Soviet infantry
• Brest: 1 Soviet infantry
• Smolensk: 1 Soviet airplane
• Moscow: 1 Soviet tank
• Lwow: 1 Soviet infantry
• Kiev: 1 Soviet tank
• Bessarabia: 1 Soviet infantry
• Sevastopol: 1 Soviet infantry
• Rostov: 1 Soviet airplane
• Gulf of Finland: 1 Soviet fleet
• Black Sea: 1 Soviet fleet

Axis Starting Pieces

• Berlin: 1 German infantry, 1 German airplane
• East Prussia: 1 German infantry, 1 German tank, 1 German airplane
• Warsaw: 2 German infantry, 2 German tanks, 2 German airplanes
• Hungary: 1 Pact infantry
• Yugoslavia: 1 Pact infantry
• Finland: 1 Pact infantry, 1 Pact airplane
• Romania: 1 Pact infantry, 1 Pact tank, 1 Pact airplane, 1 German infantry
• West Baltic Sea: 1 German fleet

Pieces

Each faction has a fixed number of pieces; if all are on the board, no more may be placed. Pieces removed from the board immediately become available to be placed again, and at any time during your turn you may remove any of your own pieces from the board.

Except for the number of pieces provided, there is no limit to the number of pieces that can be in one space; however, pieces from opposing sides may never occupy the same space.

German and Pact pieces may occupy the same space without restriction.

Control

At the beginning of the game, the Axis control all land spaces west of the 1941 line, and the Allies control all land spaces east of that line.

Whenever one of your infantry or tanks occupies a land space, you take control of the space. You continue to control the space, even if your piece is no longer there, until an enemy piece occupies the space.

Use Control markers to indicate which side controls unoccupied spaces, when it isn't obvious.

In water spaces, a fleet controls the space it occupies; unoccupied water spaces are considered to be controlled by both players.

Players and Factions

Players: The game is played by two opposing players, the Axis and the Allies.

Factions: The Allies player has only one faction, the Soviet Union. (We still refer to the Allies player for consistency and integration with other games in the series, which have other Allies factions). The Axis has two factions, Germany and the Pact. The Pact represents the nations that fought alongside Germany in World War II — signatories of the Tripartite Pact, plus Finland.

• When a card refers to a piece (or force) without specifying the faction, the faction of the card is implied.
• A card's reaction can only be used in conjunction with a piece of the same faction (see Reactions, page 15).

Factions

Faction	Supply Flag Spaces
Soviet Union (Allies)	Vologda, Gorki, Stalingrad, Caucasus
Germany (Axis)	Berlin, Vienna
Pact (Axis)	Finland, Berlin, Trieste, Hungary, Romania

Cards

Each player has a draw deck, hand, and discard pile. There is no hand size limit. You will use cards in various ways throughout the game, including:

• Playing a card as an action, to resolve the card's play text;
• Using a card's reaction;
• Discarding cards to use the Conscription, Forced March, or Desperate Attack actions (see Actions, page 10);
• As directed by the play text on certain cards.

Whenever you are directed to discard cards, these always come from your hand. After you use a card in some manner, it is immediately discarded face down. If you did not use the card for its play text or reaction, your opponent cannot examine it.

Late War Cards

Late War cards are not used in the initial setup. After the Winter 1941 Allies turn, both players shuffle their Late War cards into their draw decks, mixing them together with those Mid War cards that haven't yet been drawn.

Card Anatomy

Example: the Soviet Union Mid War "First Game" card Dig in! ("Deploy a Soviet infantry in each of 2 different spaces that already contain a Soviet piece.") with the reaction Stand Fast ("Defending infantry").

1. Faction
2. Era: Mid War or Late War
3. Card Title: Has no game play effect
4. Play text: Effect when the card is played as an action
5. Reaction: May only be used in combat (see Reactions, page 15)
6. Reaction details: Modifiers or reminders for the reaction
7. First game label: These cards are recommended as your first game starting hand.

Running Out of Cards

When you run out of cards in your draw deck, continue playing with the cards in your hand. (You do not reuse or reshuffle cards from your discard pile!) A shortage of cards on the last few turns reflects the diminishing manpower and raw material reserves available to the combatants.

Contingency Cards

Example: the Soviet Union Contingency card Increased Aid from the West ("Deploy a Soviet tank or airplane.") flips to Industrial Realignment ("Deploy a German tank or airplane in a German Supply Flag space.").

• Contingency cards have two sides.
• Each player starts with 5 Contingency cards, Initial side up.
• You may choose a Contingency card to play on your turn as an action. You cannot use or discard a Contingency card in any other way.
• After you've used its Initial side once, flip the Contingency card over to its Second side. After the Second side has been used once, discard the card. You cannot flip a card to use its Second side without using its Initial side first.
• Contingency cards are not part of your hand.

Supply

At any point, a piece is either supplied or unsupplied. This situation may change throughout the course of the turn as positions on the board change.

Supply Flags

For a piece to be supplied, it must be able to trace a supply path back to a space containing a Supply Flag of its faction.

• Soviet pieces may trace supply to Vologda, Gorki, Stalingrad, or Caucasus.
• German pieces may trace supply to Berlin or Vienna.
• Pact pieces may trace supply to Finland, Berlin, Trieste, Hungary, or Romania.

Supply Paths

A supply path:

• Can only include spaces controlled by that side (Germany and Pact share control).
• Can include unoccupied spaces, as long as they are not adjacent to an enemy piece that is able to interdict supply in that space (see below). This includes the space with the Supply Flag itself.
• Infantry, tanks, and airplanes can interdict supply in adjacent land spaces.
• Fleets and airplanes can interdict supply in adjacent water spaces.

Hint: Don't forget about the many smaller bodies of water when tracing supply. Remember, a water space is controlled by the player who has a fleet in it, or by both players if it is unoccupied.

Supply Example 1: The infantry in Lwow can trace supply through Kiev, as Kiev is occupied by a Soviet piece, and therefore controlled by the Allies. It cannot trace supply through Mogilev, even though it is controlled by the Allies, because Mogilev is unoccupied and adjacent to a German infantry, which interdicts supply through adjacent unoccupied spaces. It cannot trace supply through Bessarabia either, since it is controlled by the Axis.

Supply Example 2a: A German tank in Sevastopol does not prevent a fleet in the Black Sea from tracing supply to Caucasus, as tanks only interdict supply in land spaces. The infantry in Bessarabia is thus likewise supplied.

Supply Example 2b: However, a German airplane in Sevastopol would cut off supply for both pieces, since Sea of Azov is unoccupied, and airplanes interdict supply through both land and water.

Supply Effects

• You cannot move a piece into a space where it would be unsupplied at the moment you move it. (However, an airplane may jump over such a space.)
• An unsupplied piece can move (to a space where it would be supplied) but it cannot attack.
• Unsupplied attacking airplanes and fleets cannot be used to continue an attack (see page 14). Unsupplied defending airplanes and fleets can be used to support a battle in an adjacent space (see page 15).
• All of your unsupplied pieces are eliminated during the Supply step of your turn. The other player's pieces are not affected.

Game Rounds

Quartermaster General: East Front is played over 16 seasonal game rounds. The Axis player takes the first turn in each game round. After the Axis turn is complete, the Allies player takes a turn. After the end of each Allies turn, advance the Game Round marker one space on the Game Round track.

Most of the spaces on the Game Round track are game rounds, but the following special spaces trigger other events:

• + Late Cards: Shuffle in Late War cards (see Late War Cards, page 7).
• Scoring: Players gain 1 Victory Point for each Victory Star they control, winning the game if they are 10 or more points ahead of their opponent (see Scoring and Victory, page 18).

Reaction Reminders

These symbols remind players they cannot use the indicated reactions during these game rounds — for example, the Sustain Attack reaction cannot be played during certain rounds, and the Advance! reaction cannot be played during certain rounds. (See the individual game round track spaces on the board.)

Turn Sequence

1. First Movement step: You may move all of your pieces (see Movement, page 12). An airplane cannot end its movement in a space you didn't control at the beginning of the step.
2. First Action step: Take 1 action.
3. Second Action step: Take 1 action.
4. Second Movement step: You may move your tanks and fleets.
5. Supply step: Remove your unsupplied pieces from the board. The other player's pieces are not affected.
6. Draw step: Draw until your hand has 5 cards or until you have drawn 3 cards, whichever comes first. If you start your draw step with fewer than 2 cards in hand, you will not end your turn with 5 cards in hand. In the rare situation where you begin your draw step with 5 or more cards, do not draw any cards.

Actions

Most of the time, you'll want to use the Play action, but don't forget the other options, as they will give you flexibility and help counteract bad luck.

• Play: Play a card to resolve its play text, discarding it afterwards.
• Conscription: Discard 1 card to deploy an infantry, or 2 cards to deploy a tank, airplane, or fleet. This piece must be deployed in or adjacent to a Supply Flag space of its faction.
• Forced March: Discard 1 card to move 1 piece.
• Desperate Attack: Discard 2 cards and then attack a land space.
• Production Initiative: Draw 1 card.
• Contingency: Use one of your 5 Contingency cards.
• Pass: Do nothing.

Discards for Conscription, Forced March, and Desperate Attack actions do not need to be of the same faction as the piece(s) affected.

Deploying Pieces

When you deploy, take an available piece and place it on a space you control. You'll have the opportunity to deploy during your Action steps when you:

• Resolve the play text of certain cards;
• Use the Conscription action to deploy a piece.

Rules for Deploying Pieces

• You may only deploy a piece in a space you control. You may deploy a piece in a space you didn't control at the beginning of the turn, as long as you control the space at the moment you deploy the piece.
• You may only deploy a piece in a space where it is supplied at the moment you deploy it. In other words, you must be able to trace a path to a space with a Supply Flag of the same faction (see Supply, page 8).
• When you deploy a piece using the Conscription action, you must place it in a space containing a Supply Flag of its faction, or in a space adjacent to such a space.
• Infantry, tanks, and airplanes may only be deployed in land spaces. Fleets may only be deployed in water spaces (including lakes and rivers).

Remember, opposing pieces cannot occupy the same space, but German and Pact pieces can. Also, there is no restriction on the number of pieces that can occupy a space.

Deploy vs. Recruit

Most of your pieces will be placed on the board by deploying them. However, some cards direct you to recruit a piece. In this case, there are fewer restrictions:

• You may recruit a piece in a space that you control, or in a space that is enemy-controlled but unoccupied, in which case you gain control of that space. You cannot recruit a piece in an enemy-occupied space.
• You may recruit a piece in a space where it is unsupplied. However, that piece will be removed during your Supply step unless you put it in supply before then, or unless there is play text to the contrary.

For example, a Soviet infantry recruited using Diversionist Groups ("Gain 1 VP; then recruit a Soviet infantry in an unoccupied Axis-controlled space east of the 1941 line. That infantry is supplied until the start of your next turn.") will not be removed during the Supply step if it is unsupplied.

Movement

You'll have opportunities to move your pieces during the Movement steps of your turn, and possibly during the Action steps as well. Most movement happens during the First Movement step.

• When you move a piece, move it to an adjacent space, except for airplanes, which may move up to 2 spaces.
• You may never move a piece to a space occupied by an enemy piece. However, an airplane may "jump" over an enemy-occupied space (see Airplane Movement, below).
• You may not move a piece to a space where it would be unsupplied at the moment it moves there (see Supply, page 8). However, an airplane may jump over such a space.
• Infantry, tanks, and airplanes may only move to land spaces, although an airplane may jump over a water space. Fleets may only move to water spaces.

When you are directed by a card to move a piece, you may choose to not move the piece from the space, but declare it to "have moved" in place. For example, you may use Romanian Cavalry Corps ("Move a Pact tank; then attack with a force containing that tank.") to take advantage of this card's text to initiate an attack, but not actually move a tank first.

First Movement Step

You may move each of your pieces during your First Movement step.

• Move your pieces one at a time, in whatever order you wish.
• An airplane cannot end its move in a space that you did not control at the beginning of the step.
• Supply is determined for a moving piece at the moment it moves, so the order you move your pieces may matter.

Second Movement Step

During the Second Movement step, only tanks and fleets may move. Otherwise, the same rules apply as in the First Movement step.

Movement During Action Steps

There are several situations where you may be able to move a piece during an Action step:

• You play a card with play text that allows you to move one or more pieces;
• You use a Forced March action to move a piece;
• You use a card with the Advance! reaction after combat to move a piece into a space you attacked (see Advance!, page 17).

Retreat Movement

When defending during your opponent's turn, you may be able to move a piece by using a card with the Retreat reaction (see Retreat, page 16).

Airplane Movement

Airplanes have somewhat different movement rules than other pieces.

• They can move up to 2 spaces.
• If moving 2 spaces, they can "jump" over the intervening space, even if it is a water space, enemy-occupied, enemy-controlled, or unsupplied.
• They cannot end their move in a space that you did not control at the beginning of the step, although they can jump over such a space.

Examples: The airplane in Romania:

• Can move to Brest, moving through an enemy-occupied space;
• Cannot move to East Prussia, as it is too far away (3 spaces);
• Cannot move to Mogilev because it is enemy-controlled. Even if an Axis piece had moved into Mogilev earlier in that same Movement step, it would not have been controlled at the beginning of the step;
• Cannot move to Bessarabia, as it is enemy-occupied.

Movement Chart

Piece type	Spaces allowed	Special movement
Infantry	Land	—
Tank	Land	May also move in Second Movement step.
Airplane	Land, Water (must end move on Land)	May move 2 spaces and "jump" over enemy-controlled spaces (see First Movement step, above). Must end movement in a space controlled at the beginning of the step.
Fleet	Water	May also move in Second Movement step.

Combat

In Quartermaster General: East Front, all combat takes place between opposing pieces on adjacent land spaces. Fleets and airplanes do not directly engage each other, but only support land battles.

You may initiate combat when directed to attack by a card's play text, or when using the Desperate Attack action (see Actions, page 10).

• At least one infantry or tank must participate in an attack — you cannot attack with just your airplanes and/or fleets.
• All of the attacking pieces must belong to the same faction.
• All of the attacking infantry and tanks must be in the same space.
• All tanks and infantry in the attacking space and from the same faction are called a force. No infantry or tanks from the attacking faction in that space can be excluded from the attacking force.
• Airplanes and fleets are not considered part of a force.
• A force can contain any number of pieces.
• Combat is conducted by one attacking force against a single adjacent enemy-controlled land space.
• You may attack an unoccupied enemy-controlled space, if that seems beneficial.

Combat is fought over one or more attack rounds. You cannot change forces between attack rounds.

Attack vs. Eliminate: Some cards will direct you to eliminate an enemy piece. When you eliminate a piece, simply remove it from the board. You need not have an adjacent tank or infantry, and no reactions are allowed — it is not considered "combat".

Attack Rounds

Immediately after an attack round is initiated, the defender may use one reaction (see Reactions, below) in response to the attack. If the reaction does not prevent it, the defender must either:

• Remove one piece of any faction from the attacked space, or
• Remove an airplane or fleet adjacent to the attacked space, of the same faction as a defending piece.

The defender chooses which piece to remove.

After an attack round, if any pieces remain in the attacked space, the attacker may initiate another attack round.

Continuing the Attack

To initiate a second (or subsequent) attack round, the attacker must do one of the following:

• Remove a piece from the attacking force,
• Remove an airplane or fleet adjacent to the attacked space, or
• Use a Sustain Attack, Anti-Air, or Naval Combat reaction (see Reactions, below).

A piece removed must be of the same or higher rank (see Combat Rank, below) as the piece removed by the defender in the previous attack round. A Sustain Attack is considered to have higher rank than any piece, and is the only way to initiate a further attack round (for this combat) after the defender has used a Stand Fast.

You cannot remove the last piece of an attacking force to continue an attack.

Combat Rank (Top to Bottom)

1. Stand Fast and Sustain Attack reactions
2. Airplane, Fleet
3. Tank
4. Infantry

The attacker may continue the attack, initiating a new attack round, as long as they are able to remove a piece of sufficient rank, or using an appropriate reaction.

Airplanes and Fleets in Combat

An airplane in the attacked space may be removed as the result of the attack, like an infantry or tank.

Airplanes and fleets in adjacent spaces may also participate in combat.

When defending, instead of removing a piece from the attacked space, you may remove an airplane or fleet from a space adjacent to the attacked space. The airplane or fleet must belong to the same faction as a piece currently in the attacked space this attack round.

Likewise, when you continue an attack, instead of removing a piece from the attacking force, you may remove an airplane or fleet from any space adjacent to the attacked space. The airplane or fleet must belong to the same faction as the attacking force.

After Combat

If there are no more pieces in the attacked space, the attacker may use an Advance! reaction to move a piece from the attacking force into the attacked space (see Advance!, page 17).

Reactions

During combat, you may use a card to utilize its reaction, discarding it afterwards.

Note that you cannot use a reaction in response to a piece being eliminated (see Attack vs. Eliminate, page 14).

• You cannot delay the use of a reaction. For example, you must use an Anti-Air reaction immediately after an enemy airplane is removed.
• You may normally only use one reaction at a time. For example, you cannot use both a Stand Fast and an Exchange simultaneously. However, you could use a Stand Fast on the initial attack round, and an Exchange on a subsequent attack round.
• The Advance! reaction is slightly different since it is used after the last attack round is resolved.

The Player Aid sheet has shortened versions of the descriptions that follow. Use these expanded descriptions to resolve any questions.

Factions and Reactions

A card used for a reaction must belong to the same faction as a piece currently involved in the combat.

For the attacker, this means the faction of the attacking force. For the defender, this means the faction of any piece in the attacked space during that attack round.

The entry for each reaction provides more specifics.

Reaction Icons

• Stand Fast
• Anti-Air
• Sustain Attack
• Naval Combat
• Retreat
• Advance!
• Exchange

Stand Fast

When defending, you may use a card with the Stand Fast reaction instead of removing a piece. The card used must be of the same faction as a piece in the attacked space.

Every Stand Fast reaction is limited by the reaction details on the card. For example, Dig in! ("Deploy a Soviet infantry in each of 2 different spaces that already contain a Soviet piece."), whose Stand Fast reaction is "Defending infantry", can only be used by a defending infantry.

Note, Stand Fast has the highest Combat Rank, so that the only way for an attacker to continue an attack against Stand Fast is with a Sustain Attack reaction.

Sustain Attack

When attacking, instead of removing a piece to initiate another attack round, you may use a card with the Sustain Attack reaction. This card must belong to the same faction as the attacking force.

Note that the Sustain Attack reaction is the only way to continue an attack after the defender uses a Stand Fast reaction.

You may not use a Sustain Attack reaction during a Winter turn.

Retreat

When defending, before you remove a piece as the result of the attack, you may use a card with the Retreat reaction to move one piece of that card's faction out of the attacked space.

The retreating piece must follow the normal movement rules, with some additional restrictions:

• The retreating piece must move to a space you currently control.
• An airplane may only retreat one space.

If you still have any pieces remaining in the attacked space after using a Retreat, you must still remove one of them as the result of the attack.

Exchange

When defending, when you remove a piece as the result of an attack, you may use a card with the Exchange reaction to require the attacker to remove an attacking piece as well.

The defending piece you remove as the result of the attack must belong to the same faction as the card you used.

The attacker may remove an infantry or tank from the attacking force, or an airplane or fleet of the attacking faction adjacent to the attacked space. In the latter case, the defender might additionally be able to use an Anti-Air or Naval Combat reaction to force the attacker to lose another piece (see below).

The attacker may remove a piece with any combat rank, regardless of the rank of the piece the defender removes.

Remember, the piece the attacker removes due to an Exchange does not by itself allow the attacker to continue the attack; the attacker must still remove another piece or use an appropriate reaction in order to continue the attack.

Anti-Air

Whenever your opponent removes an airplane in combat, you may use a card with the Anti-Air reaction. If you are attacking, this card must belong to the same faction as the attacking force. If you are defending, this card must belong to the same faction as a piece in the attacked space (with one exception, see below).

When you are attacking, if the defender removes an airplane as the result of the attack, you may use an Anti-Air reaction to continue the attack without removing a piece. (If this airplane was the last piece in the attacked space, there is no point to using an Anti-Air reaction, as there would be no further benefit.)

When you are defending, if the attacker removes an airplane to continue an attack, you may use an Anti-Air reaction to end the round. Then, in order to continue the attack, the attacker must remove another piece of at least the rank of the defending piece you removed as the result of the previous attack round. The attacker may choose not to continue after an Anti-Air reaction is used.

If you use an Exchange reaction, and the attacker removes an airplane because of it, you may additionally use an Anti-Air reaction (this is an exception to the restriction on using more than one reaction at the same time). The attacker must then remove an additional piece. Note: The Anti-Air reaction must match the same faction as the piece lost when the Exchange reaction was used, even if no pieces of that faction remain in the attacked space.

If you use an Exchange reaction while removing a defending airplane, the attacker must still remove a piece because of the Exchange, even if the attacker is able to use an Anti-Air reaction to continue the attack.

Naval Combat

Whenever your opponent removes a fleet in combat, you may use a card with the Naval Combat reaction.

The rules for Naval Combat reactions are the same as those for Anti-Air reactions, except Naval Combat reactions counteract fleets instead of airplanes.

Advance!

When you are attacking, if no pieces remain in the attacked space at the end of an attack round, you may use a card with the Advance! reaction to move one infantry or tank from the attacking force into the attacked space. This card must belong to the same faction as the attacking force.

The advancing piece must follow the normal movement rules. In particular, you cannot advance if your piece would be unsupplied.

You may only use one Advance! reaction per combat.

You cannot use the Advance! reaction during a Spring turn.

Scoring and Victory

The game is won by the side with the most Victory Points (VPs). You'll accumulate VPs due to card text and during scoring, which happens after the Winter 1941, Winter 1942, Winter 1943, and Spring 1945 game rounds.

During each scoring round, players gain 1 VP for each Victory Star they control at that moment. If, at the end of a scoring round, you have at least 10 more VPs than your opponent, you win immediately.

If neither player is ahead by 10 or more VPs after the fourth and final scoring round, the player with the most VPs wins. If the score is tied, the Axis player wins.

The only time you can win is at the end of a scoring round; it does not matter if you have 10 more VPs than your opponent at some other point, only after a scoring round.

Example of Play

It is the beginning of the Summer 1941 game round. The pieces are set up as usual.

Axis Turn 1

First Movement Step

Most of the Axis pieces start in position to attack. The Axis player moves the German infantry and airplane in Berlin forward to Warsaw (A). The German fleet moves forward to Baltic Sea (B).

First Action Step

Appropriately, Barbarossa ("Attack with a German force from a space west of the 1939 line; then take another action." — Advance!, No Spring Turns) is the first card to be played. The German force in Warsaw (C) attacks Brest. The Allies player decides to defend the frontier, and removes the airplane from adjacent Smolensk (D).

Germany must remove a piece of the same or higher rank to continue the battle, and removes an airplane from Warsaw (E) to initiate another attack round.

The Allies player uses the reaction of the Militsiya card ("Deploy a Soviet infantry in each of 2 different spaces east of the 1939 line." — Retreat) and retreats the infantry back to Smolensk (F), ending the battle. The removed airplanes are placed back in their respective pools of available pieces.

Barbarossa also allows the Axis player to take another (additional) action. The Axis uses the action to play Panzergrenadiers ("Attack with a German force containing both an infantry and a tank; then, if it is not a Spring turn, you may move that tank and/or infantry into the attacked space." — Advance!, No Spring Turns), and the German force in Warsaw attacks into Lwow (G).

Again, the Allies player decides to defend the frontier, and uses Dig in! ("Deploy a Soviet infantry in each of 2 different spaces that already contain a Soviet piece." — Stand Fast, Defending infantry) in order to Stand Fast against the attack.

The only way to continue a battle against a Stand Fast is by using a Sustain Attack. Germany discards Army Group Center ("Deploy a German infantry in or adjacent to Brest; then move that infantry or attack with a force containing that infantry." — Sustain Attack, No Winter Turns) from hand, and initiates another attack round.

The Allies player has no further reaction, and removes the defending infantry (H).

As directed by the text of Panzergrenadiers, a German infantry and tank move from Warsaw into Lwow (I).

Second Action Step

The Axis player now plays Sonderkraftfahrzeug ("May only be played if it is not a Spring turn. Move both a German infantry and a German tank together; then you may attack with a force containing both pieces." — Advance!, No Spring Turns), moving the German tank and infantry from Warsaw to Lwow (J), and then attacking Kiev (K).

The Allies player sticks with a forward defense strategy, and hopes to hold Kiev. So instead of removing the tank, the Allies player removes the airplane from Rostov (L), which is adjacent to Kiev. Germany has no airplanes adjacent to Kiev, so this might stop the attack.

However, the Axis player anticipated this and uses the Anti-Air reaction of Airbase Surprise Attack ("Deploy a German airplane west of the 1941 line; then you may eliminate an Allies airplane within 2 spaces of the airplane you deployed." — Anti-Air). This counteracts the Soviet airplane, and now the Allies player is again faced with losing the Soviet tank in Kiev.

The Allies player has one last trick for this battle, and uses the Exchange reaction of Border Guards ("Deploy a Soviet infantry in each of 2 different spaces west of the 1939 line." — Exchange). The Soviet tank (M) is removed, but the Axis player must also remove a German piece (N), and chooses the infantry that just moved into Lwow.

Since no defenders remain in Kiev, the Axis player now uses the Advance! reaction of Motorized Corps ("One at a time, move up to 3 different German infantry." — Advance!, No Spring Turns), and moves a German tank into Kiev (O)!

Second Movement Step

Now the Axis player can move the 3 German tanks and 1 Pact tank. The tank in East Prussia moves to Brest (P), the tank in Lwow moves to Kiev (Q), the tank in Kiev moves to Rostov (R), and the Pact tank in Romania moves to Lwow (S).

Draw Step

The Axis player used 6 of their 7 starting cards. After drawing the maximum of 3 cards, the Axis player will end the turn with 4 cards in hand.

Allies Turn 1

First Movement Step

The Allies player must shift forces to meet the threat to the south! Unfortunately, the German tank in Rostov is blocking the supply of the infantry in Bessarabia (A) and Sevastopol (A), as well as the fleet in Black Sea (A). This is because the tank is able to interdict supply traced to Caucasus since Caucasus is not occupied by an Allies piece.

A piece may never move to a space where it would be unsupplied, therefore none of these three pieces will be able to move during the First Movement step. The Allies player does make the following moves:

• (B) Infantry Baltic States → Leningrad,
• (C) Airplane Leningrad → Novgorod,
• (D) Infantry Smolensk → Kursk, and
• (E) Tank Moscow → Voronezh.

First Action Step

The Allies plays Brothers and Sisters! ("Deploy a Soviet infantry in each of 3 different Victory Star spaces east of the 1939 line." — Exchange), and deploys an infantry in Moscow (F), Smolensk (F), and Voronezh (F).

Second Action Step

The Allies player wants to push back a bit on the rapid Axis advance (and avoid losing its unsupplied pieces), and plays Snipers ("Eliminate an Axis infantry or tank adjacent to a Soviet infantry." — Sustain Attack, No Winter Turns) to eliminate the German tank in Rostov (G). The Axis player was hoping to use an Exchange reaction in response to a Soviet attack, but no reactions are allowed when a piece is eliminated.

Second Movement Step

The tank in Voronezh moves to Rostov (H). The fleet in the Black Sea, which is now supplied, could move to Sea of Azov, but doesn't.

Supply Step

With the German tank removed from Rostov, all of the Allies pieces are supplied.

Draw Step

The Allies player now draws 3 cards, ending up with a hand of 5 cards.

To end the game round, the Game Round marker is advanced one season.

Special Card Cases

Generally, resolution of a card's text must be followed precisely and in the order presented.

• Text that refers to a space east or west of the 1939 or 1941 line can apply to any such land space, not just those that border the line. For example, both Kiev and Gorki are east of the 1941 line.
• A card's reaction is ignored when the card is played as an action (and vice-versa). For example, you could play Stavka ("Draw 1 card; move a Soviet piece; then take another action." — Advance!, No Spring Turns) during Spring, but you couldn't use it for its Advance! reaction.
• If a card's text would violate the rules — for example, if it directs you to deploy a piece in an enemy-occupied space — then you cannot play that card.
• Likewise, if a card requires something impossible — for example, eliminating a non-existent piece — then you cannot play that card. Exception: If a card directs you to draw a certain number of cards and you do not have that many cards left in your draw deck, draw as many as you can and resolve the rest of the text as usual.
• If a card specifies prerequisites or conditions that are not satisfied, you cannot play that card. For example, you cannot play the IS-2 Heavy Tank card ("Eliminate an Axis tank adjacent to a Soviet tank; then, if it is not a Winter turn, you may attack the space from which the tank was eliminated." — Sustain Attack, No Winter Turns) if you don't have a tank adjacent to an enemy tank.
• If a force must contain certain pieces, the force may contain additional pieces: the text specifies the minimum requirement, not the precise amount. For example you can play Hummel Self-Propelled Gun ("Attack with a German force containing a tank; then take another action." — Sustain Attack, No Winter Turns) to attack with a force containing both a tank and an infantry piece.
• If a card allows you to deploy more pieces than you have available, you may deploy fewer pieces, or remove one or more pieces from the board to make them available to deploy.
• When a card directs you to remove a piece, you choose which piece to remove. When a card directs the other player to remove a piece, the other player decides which one.
• When a card directs you to discard cards, these always come from your hand, not from your deck or Contingency cards.