Royal Tank Corps
Royal Tank Corps Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- 1.0 Introduction
- 2.0 Components
- 3.0 Setup and Victory
- 4.1 Turn Sequence
- 5.0 Initiative Determination Phase
- 6.0 Mutual Reinforcement Phase
- 7.0 Artillery Bombardment Phase
- 8.1 Rolling Barrage / Interdiction Phase
- 9.1 The Action Phase
- 10.1 Attacks
- 11.1 Administrative Phase
- 12.0 Design Notes and Player Hints
- Appendix: Official English Play Aid Card
1.0 Introduction
1.2 Scale
The introduction (1.1) is the flavour text in the Table of Contents above.
The game has a scale of approximately one mile per inch.
British units are mostly brigades, with tank units usually represented as battalions. German units are mostly regiments, with some battalions. Each game turn represents one day.
2.0 Components
2.1 Components in General
The components consist of these rules, a 22" x 34" map, and the die-cut counters. After reading the rules, carefully punch out the counters. The players must have one or more six-sided dice. [Source text is truncated at this point.]
2.2 The Map and the Terrain
The map depicts the militarily significant terrain in and around Cambrai. The game map is divided into a series of numbered areas. The areas have different shapes and sizes and are separated from one another by a dotted green border. Each area has a box containing two numbers: an identification number in the upper left corner and a terrain effects modifier number (followed by a + sign) in the center. Some boxes also contain a red "BR", which indicates that control of this area adds a dice roll modifier to British initiative rolls (see 5.1). Some areas have a small black box, which indicates that the area contains blocking terrain that hinders enemy artillery fire through this area. Some areas also contain a black or red triangle, which indicates that the area is a target area for victory purposes. Finally, some areas contain a red (British) or black (German) symbol for a supply source.
Design note: With the exception of the canal runs shown as area boundaries, only the symbols described above have an effect on play. The trench lines, woods, towns, hills, marshes and the dry canal shown on the map are for decoration only. Their effects have already been built into the size and shape of the individual areas and into the terrain effects modifier (hereafter TEM).
2.3 Counters
The game includes 352 counters ("Spielsteine" or "Zähler" in the German). [Source text is garbled here: the remainder of this paragraph, which describes the counters included in the game, is missing from the German text.] These represent both the military units taking part in the battle and the various markers needed for play.
2.4 Example of a Counter
The upper left of the counter example shows a regiment of the 30th German Infantry Division. The division number is the number printed to the left of the German cross. It has an attack factor of 3, a defense factor of 4 and a movement factor of 5. Units with only one number use it for both attack and defense. The circled number on the right side of the counter indicates that it is a reinforcement unit that enters in turn 3. If the number were not circled, it would be a setup number indicating the unit's starting position on the map. If the reinforcement number for this unit appears in a red circle, this means that it is a conditional reinforcement. The unit on the right side is the reverse side of the same unit, indicating its defense factor of 2.
2.5 Nationality
All khaki-colored counters are British. All grey-green counters are German. All other counters are markers.
2.6 Unit Types
There are six unit types in the game: artillery, horse artillery, infantry, cavalry, tanks, and Stosstruppen (German shock troops trained in infiltration tactics).
2.7 Unit Size and Size Designation
Unless otherwise indicated on the counter (above the unit type field), all British units are brigades and all German units are regiments. All other units have a size indicator ("II" for battalion or "I" for company) printed beneath the unit identification. Most units belong to a particular division. The division number is printed to the left of the German cross or the British roundel. British tank battalions of the Royal Tank Corps are marked with letters. A "-" (minus) denotes a tank battalion with a detached company. Tank companies carry their battalion designation to the right of the company designation, unless they are an independent unit. Certain British artillery units have HA and RHA in their designation, for Heavy Artillery and Royal Heavy Artillery. Certain German units have J for Jäger, KG for Kampfgruppe (battle group), LW for Landwehr and R for Reserve.
2.72
For historical purposes, specific brigade and regiment identifiers may be found at the end of this rulebook. [The source text refers to identifiers at the end of the rulebook, but the text-only German file does not contain them.] They have no role in play. Colored boxes behind the counter text are for decoration only.
3.0 Setup and Victory
3.2 Setup
Place all units with a reinforcement number above a yellow circle in the appropriate turn on the Turn Record Track. (Note that British units with a reinforcement number above a red circle are conditional reinforcements that come into play only when certain conditions are met.)
3.11
The remaining units are set up in the numbered area shown to the right of the unit type field, in a number above a yellow triangle. All units begin the game fresh (front side up).
3.2 Victory
At the start of the administrative phase of each turn, it is checked whether the British have achieved an immediate victory. If so, the game ends and the British player is declared the winner. The British win an immediate victory if the British player controls either area 32 or area 57 and has a total of 3 or more cavalry units in one or both of those areas.
3.21 Control Defined
Control is defined by an area in which only one side has units; that is, spent units still block enemy control.
3.22
If the British have not achieved an immediate victory, the game continues. At the end of turn 15, after checking whether an immediate victory has been achieved, the number of victory areas controlled by each side is totaled. The player with the greater number wins. A tie is not possible.
Planning note: Where are the French troops that were to support the British attack at Cambrai? They wait off the map for the British player to achieve an immediate victory before they attack. In short, if the conditions that allow the French to take part in the battle are met, the British have already won. [Source text is garbled in the middle of this note; the sense has been kept.]
4.1 Turn Sequence
4.2 Turn Sequence General
Royal Tank Corps consists of up to 15 game turns, each of which is made up of the phases listed below. Each game action can only be carried out in its corresponding phase. Most actions are carried out by both players during the action phase.
- I. Initiative Determination Phase
- II. Mutual Reinforcement Phase
- A. Non-initiative player reinforcement segment
- B. Initiative player reinforcement segment
- III. Artillery Bombardment Phase
- A. Initiative player bombardment segment
- B. Non-initiative player bombardment segment
- Repeat segments A and B as desired.
- IV. Rolling Barrage / Interdiction Phase
- V. Action Phase
- A. First action segment
- B. Second action segment, and so on
- VI. Administrative Phase
- A. British immediate victory segment
- B. Victory segment (turn 15 only)
- C. Barrage marker removal segment
- D. Cleanup segment
- Supply control
- Check artillery ammunition resupply
- Check fatigue
- Flip eligible units to their fresh side
- E. Advance the turn marker
5.0 Initiative Determination Phase
5.1 Determining Initiative
The players determine which player has the initiative in the current turn (who moves first). In turns 1-3 the British player automatically has the initiative. In turns 4-15, initiative is determined by each player rolling 2 dice; the higher roll goes first. Each dice roll (hereafter DR) may be modified. The British add one to the DR for a tank unit (of any size) currently on the map. The Germans add one to the DR for each Stosstruppen unit currently on the map. The British add one to the dice roll for each of the areas 31, 32, 41, 42, 43, 44, 56 and 57 that they currently control. (These areas contain a red BR in the terrain box.)
6.0 Mutual Reinforcement Phase
6.1 General
In this phase both players place all arriving units on the map. Units may not enter an area under enemy control. They may enter an area containing enemy units, but in that case they are placed spent side up. Stacking restrictions apply when placing reinforcements. The player with the initiative places his units second (and thus has the advantage of seeing the other player's reinforcement placement before placing his own).
6.2 British Placement
British reinforcements may be placed in areas 22 and/or 58. All units of the same division must enter through the same area. The British 3rd Cavalry Division, which arrives in turn 5, is a conditional reinforcement. It comes into play only if the British control area 56 (Cambrai) at the start of turn 5. Only in turns 2-4 may the British player place a previously destroyed (not eliminated!) tank unit in either area 23 or area 35, with its spent side up.
[Note: the source prints the spent side here as "verbrannten" (burnt); the same side is called the "verbrauchte" (spent) side in 10.61 and everywhere else, so "spent" is used.]
6.3 German Placement
German reinforcements may be placed in areas 32, 56, 57 and/or 98. Units may be placed in area 56 only if the Germans control areas 31, 32 and 43 or 57, or areas 64, 74, 90 and 98 (in other words, to be placed in Cambrai in area 56, the German player must control one of the railway lines leading to the town). All units of the same division must enter through the same area.
[Note: the source numbers the two placement subsections "6.2" and "6.2" as printed; this translation keeps the source's numbering.]
7.0 Artillery Bombardment Phase
7.1 General
Artillery bombardment is the large-scale use of artillery, almost always fired indirectly. Because the British had used up most of their shell stocks in Third Ypres during the summer, and the Germans were not prepared for a British attack at Cambrai, both sides will have difficulty supplying their guns with ammunition.
7.2 Artillery Bombardment Phase Procedure
Both players (the player with the initiative begins) alternately activate artillery units in an area to bombard, until both players have carried out all the bombardments they wish or are able to carry out.
7.3 Target Types
A single bombardment may be conducted against all infantry/tank/cavalry units or all artillery units in the target area, but not against both. Artillery units in the same area do not have to bombard, bombard the same area, bombard the same target type in the same area, or bombard at the same time. But for each side, each of the two kinds of target in an area (artillery and non-artillery) may be bombarded only once per turn, regardless of whether the bombardment was effective. In other words, an area containing both British and German artillery and both British and German non-artillery units may be bombarded a total of four times: once by each side for each of the two target types. Mark all units of one target type with a "Bombarded" marker after the bombardment is completed. All these markers are removed at the end of the bombardment phase.
7.31 Bombardment Range
The bombarding units may fire on any area within the range printed on the counter. To determine whether the target area is within range, count the areas from the firing unit to the target area, as if the artillery were moving from one to the other in accordance with rule 9.3. Do not count the area the bombarding unit occupies. Count the target area. All bombarding units, including supporting ones, must be within range of the target area.
Design note: Yes, artillery shells travel in a straight line; they do not move like ground units. Originally I had a rule that drew a line from the center of the firing area to the center of the target area. The above rule gives almost exactly the same result while preventing disputes over where the center of an area lies.
7.32
The range and the presence of a blocked-area symbol (a solid black square) can affect the strength of bombarding artillery. You may fire into an area that contains a blocked-area symbol without penalty. You may also fire through an area that contains blocked terrain. However, if the attacker fires at a range of 4 or more, or through a blocked area, AND in either case has no friendly unit adjacent to or in the target area, the lead bombarding unit automatically has a strength of 1.
[Note: the source reads "blockierendes Zehnersymbol" (blocking ten symbol) here, which is garbled; it is rendered as the blocked-area symbol described in 2.2.]
7.4 Bombardment Resolution
The bombarding player chooses the lead bombarding unit and all supporting bombarding units. In general the player will choose the strongest participating artillery unit as the lead unit. All participating units must be fresh (face-up) artillery units located in the same area.
7.41
If the target area contains more than one target type, the bombarding player must announce whether he is firing at artillery or non-artillery units in the target area. The bombarding units may fire on any area within their range. Such an area may contain units of the bombarding side, but these may come under fire from their own troops (see 7.9). Artillery may not bombard if it is itself in an area with enemy units (it may instead use direct fire during the action phase). The same area may be bombarded by both sides more than once, but each of the two enemy target types (artillery and non-artillery) in a single area may be bombarded only once in this phase.
7.5 Determining the Offensive and Defensive Totals
The bombarding player must now determine his offensive total (hereafter OT), and the defending player must determine his defensive total (hereafter DT).
To determine the OT, add:
a) The printed strength of the lead bombarding unit. If the attacker fires at a range of 4 or more, or through a blocked area, and has no friendly unit adjacent to or in the target area, the lead unit automatically has a strength of 1.
b) Plus one for each supporting artillery unit.
c) Plus a DR. If the attacker decides to conduct a Hurricane Bombardment (see 7.7), he rolls 3 dice.
To determine the DT, add:
a) The terrain effects modifier of the target area, doubled (a 1 becomes a 2, a 4 becomes an 8, and so on). When bombarding an artillery target, the TEM is always considered to be 4, which doubles to 8. (Artillery is generally located in fortified positions.) When bombarding infantry or tanks, the doubled TEM number is reduced by one for each such unit in the target area above 4, but the final TEM number is never reduced below 1. Example: If there are 8 tank/infantry units in an area with a TEM of 1, the final bombardment TEM would be 1 x 2 - 4 = 1.
b) Plus a DR.
7.6 Loss Points
After the OT and DT have been determined, the players subtract the DT from the OT to determine the result of the bombardment. If the result is 0 or less, the bombardment has caused no damage. The bombarding guns are turned to their spent (reverse) side and marked with an "Out of Ammo" marker, if appropriate. Play then passes to the opposing player, who may now bombard if he wishes.
7.61
If the result of subtracting the DT from the OT is 1 or more, the bombardment of the attacked target type has inflicted that many loss points (hereafter CP). The attacked player must now apply these CP to the bombarded unit(s).
7.62
The allocation of CP against the two target types is handled slightly differently. In all bombardments, partial results must be applied, even if this means the defender takes more losses than the number of CP would actually require.
7.63
The players may spend the required CP as follows.
Artillery targets:
a) 2 CP are spent to flip a fresh artillery unit to its spent side. b) 2 CP are spent to eliminate a spent artillery unit. c) 4 CP are spent to eliminate a fresh artillery unit.
Non-artillery targets:
a) 3 CP are spent to flip a fresh infantry/tank/cavalry unit to its spent side. b) 3 CP are spent to eliminate a spent infantry/tank/cavalry unit. c) 6 CP are spent to eliminate a fresh infantry/tank/cavalry unit.
7.7 Hurricane Bombardment
The bombarding player may conduct a Hurricane Bombardment only if he has the initiative. Only the initiative player may conduct a Hurricane Bombardment. Simply announce, before determining the OT or DT, that you will conduct a Hurricane Bombardment. The bombarding player now rolls 3 dice instead of 2 to determine his OT. This of course increases the effectiveness of his bombardment, but also the likelihood that his ammunition will run out.
7.8 Ammunition Shortages
After the results of a bombardment have been determined, the firing units (lead and supporting) are turned to their spent side. If the unmodified OT DR (3 dice in a Hurricane Bombardment) was 8 or higher, mark the bombarding artillery unit(s) with an out-of-ammunition marker. This also applies to all supporting units. Units without ammunition must, in the cleanup segment of the administrative phase, make a dice roll to determine whether their ammunition has been replenished. If not, they remain under the "No Ammo" marker and remain spent.
7.9 Friendly Fire
If fresh units belonging to the bombarding player are in the target area [source text partly garbled here], and the unmodified OT DR was 8 or higher, all such units in that area are spent by friendly fire. If all such units in the area were already spent, one unit is instead eliminated (at the choice of the bombarding player).
8.1 Rolling Barrage / Interdiction Phase
8.2 General
After all bombardments under rule 7.0 have been completed, the player with the initiative may (only) conduct a Rolling Barrage and/or Interdiction Barrages with all fresh artillery units. He may conduct a barrage of one of the two types, but not both, per unit. All units that conduct a barrage are turned to the side they are on. In this phase there is no Hurricane barrage, and units cannot run out of ammunition or be fired upon.
[Source text for this rule is ambiguous ("auf die Seite gedreht, auf der sie sich befinden"); it is rendered as printed.]
8.3 Rolling Barrage
A unit firing a Rolling Barrage (hereafter RB) may place an RB marker in any area within range that:
a) contains no friendly unit, but is adjacent to an area that contains a friendly unit; b) is adjacent to an area that contains another RB marker.
8.21
Areas are adjacent if they share a common border, not if they meet only at a point. In fact, rolling barrages must work from the enemy front line toward the enemy rear, without skipping any areas in between. A rolling barrage reduces the cost of entering and attacking this area in the action phase by 2 movement points, but movement costs are never reduced below 1.
8.3 Interdiction Barrage
A unit firing a barrage may place an "Interdiction" marker in any area that contains no friendly unit. The cost for an enemy unit to enter or leave this area in the following action phase is increased by 1. Thus it costs 2 extra movement points to enter and break through an interdicted area in the same turn. Friendly units may not enter, during this turn, an area that contains an Interdiction marker.
9.1 The Action Phase
9.2 General
The player who has the initiative activates one area at a time, in any order, and carries out movement and attacks. This continues until one of the following occurs:
a) He decides to pass the action phase to the other player. b) He has no fresh units left. c) He conducts an attack in which the OT was equal to or less than the DT. In that case he must pass the action phase to the other player immediately after the combat has been fully resolved.
9.11
Once the action phase has been passed to the other player, that player keeps it until one of the cases a, b or c above occurs, whereupon the action phase returns to the first player. This continues until both players pass without carrying out an action, or both players must pass because they have no fresh units. Then the action phase ends.
[The German text repeats the opening of this paragraph; it is given once here.]
9.2 Carrying Out Actions
During an action phase, the player who is currently active activates one area at a time. Such an area must contain fresh units. All units activated at this point need not carry out the same action, and they need not all carry out an action at all. The same area may be selected for activation any number of times, but each individual unit may be activated only once.
9.21
Activated units may move, attack, or move and attack.
9.3 Movement and Stacking
Terrain on the map has no effect on movement, except that tank units may cross only blue (water) borders that are marked with bridges. Units move from area to area. Areas are adjacent if they share a common border, however small, but areas that meet only at a point are not adjacent and units cannot move directly between them. Example: units can move directly from area 54 to area 62 or area 55, but not from area 62 to area 55.
9.31
Units may move any number of areas up to their current movement allowance. The cost of movement is determined by the presence and status of enemy units, prohibitions, and rolling barrage markers. Only fresh units may move.
9.32
It costs 1 movement point (MP) to enter an area that contains no barrage marker and no enemy units, and that is not adjacent to an area containing fresh enemy units of any kind.
9.33
It costs 2 MP to enter an area that contains no enemy units but is adjacent to a fresh enemy unit, unless that enemy unit is in an area with friendly units. This cost can be reduced to 1 by a rolling barrage marker of the player with the initiative.
[The official English play aid card words this condition as "adjacent to Area with fresh enemy and no friendly units". The German text as printed is kept above.]
9.34
Units may leave areas occupied by the enemy, but only to enter an area that is under their own control and contains no enemy units, and they may not move further in this turn.
Exception: German Stosstruppen may move from an area containing enemy units into any area, regardless of enemy units or their control, but must end their movement in that new area. If this area contains enemy units, they must immediately attack them.
9.35
No more than 8 units of each side (16 units in total) may [the source reads "überfallen", "raid", here; the sense is a stacking limit] be in an area at any time. These restrictions apply at all times, including during movement.
9.4 Attack
Units may attack enemy units. Units may attack all units that are in the area in which they began the round. This costs all of the unit's current movement points.
9.5 Movement and Attack
Units may move into an area that contains enemy units. They must attack those units immediately upon entering the area.
9.51
It costs 4 MP to enter an area containing fresh enemy units, regardless of the presence of spent enemy units or of friendly units already in that area. A friendly rolling barrage marker reduces this cost to 2.
9.52
It costs 2 MP to enter an area containing only spent enemy units, again regardless of the presence of other friendly units. A friendly rolling barrage marker reduces this cost to 1.
9.53
Units that enter an area in order to attack may never join friendly units already in that area. They must attack separately. A single area may be attacked any number of times in a round.
9.6 Restrictions on Tank and Artillery Units
Tank units may never attack across blue water borders (that is, enter an enemy-occupied area), whether or not bridges are present.
9.61
Artillery may never enter an area containing enemy units, and therefore may never move and attack. Artillery may remain in an area into which enemy units have entered, and may take part in an attack in such an area only as a supporting unit. Artillery units defend normally, but always with a defense factor (DF) of 1 when chosen as lead defender.
10.1 Attacks
10.2 General
Only fresh units may attack. All units in the defending area must be attacked. Attacks (of any kind) are resolved as follows.
Determine the OT by adding:
a) The attack factor (AF) of the lead unit chosen by the attacker. The lead unit may never be artillery.
b) Plus 1 for each supporting unit (all attacking units other than the lead unit).
Exceptions: Cavalry may never support an attack if the lead attacker is cavalry. Units of the British 51st Division may never support a lead tank unit in an attack, or vice versa. (The commander of the 51st had no confidence in the usefulness of tanks.)
c) Plus 1 if 3 units of the same division, including the lead unit, take part in the attack.
d) Plus a DR.
Determine the DT by adding:
a) The defense factor (DF) of any one defending unit (chosen by the defender).
b) The bombardment factor of any fresh artillery unit under attack, if the lead defender is infantry only.
c) Plus 1 for each fresh supporting defending unit (all other fresh units in the area).
d) Plus 1 for an SOS barrage (see 10.2).
e) Plus the printed terrain effects modifier.
f) Plus a DR.
10.2 SOS Barrages
Fresh artillery units may conduct SOS barrage attacks if they are located in an area that contains no enemy units. If a unit of the same division as the artillery unit, and within the artillery unit's range, is used as the lead defender in an attack, the artillery unit may add 1 to the DT of the defending area. Turn the artillery to its spent side when it conducts an SOS barrage. An SOS barrage never causes a unit to run out of ammunition.
10.3 Resolving Attacks
To determine the result of an attack, subtract the DT from the OT. If the result is 0 or less, the lead attacking unit is eliminated. All supporting attacking units are spent. If they entered the area during this turn, they are returned to the area they occupied just before entering the attacked area. Stosstruppen units that advanced into this attack from an area containing enemy units do not retreat but are eliminated. In addition, the action phase is passed to the other player after the combat has been resolved.
10.31
If the result is 1 or higher, the defender must spend that many loss points (CP). Partial losses must be taken, even if this means taking more CP than the combat result would actually require. CP are spent as follows:
a) 2 CP to flip a fresh unit to its spent side. b) 2 CP to eliminate a spent unit. c) 4 CP to eliminate a fresh unit. d) 2 CP to retreat a spent unit. A unit may not retreat and then be eliminated; all eliminations must be carried out before any retreat.
10.4 Retreat
Attacking units that fail to take CP from the defender must retreat into the area from which they attacked. Exception: Stosstruppen that attacked from an enemy-occupied area are eliminated when forced to retreat.
10.41
Defending units may retreat in order to spend CP. Defending units may retreat into an area that contains no units, only friendly units, or friendly and enemy units, in this order of priority. Subject to this, the defender may choose which areas to retreat into, and not all units need retreat into the same area. Stacking restrictions apply; units may not retreat into an area that would violate the stacking restriction. Units may not retreat into an area that contains only enemy units.
Design note: Yes, under certain circumstances the defender can use a retreat as a form of advance. This reflects the fact that the unexpected can happen in battle.
10.5 Overruns
In any attack in which a tank or Stosstruppen unit was the lead attacking unit, and the attacking units did not begin the turn in the attacked area, an overrun may occur. If all defending units are eliminated by the attack (that is, if the CP were higher than the defender could pay, or their retreat was blocked, or they did not wish to retreat for any reason), an overrun has taken place.
[The official English play aid card words the overrun condition as "all defenders were eliminated (not retreated)"; the German parenthesis above is broader and is rendered as printed.]
All attacking units (not only the lead tank or Stosstruppen unit) may now use all remaining movement points to move further, or to move and attack. This may in turn lead to a further overrun. Units that have no movement points left after the attack are of course finished for this turn (turned to their spent side).
10.6 Tank Breakdown
If the attacking force contained tank units and the unmodified attack DR was 7 or higher, a tank unit must be eliminated due to breakdown. If the attacker lost the battle (an OT less than the DT), the broken-down unit is eliminated in addition to any lead tank unit. If the attacker won the battle (an OT greater than the DT), the broken-down unit must be the lead tank unit, if a tank unit led the attack. A breakdown has no effect on a resulting overrun: even if the broken-down tank unit was the only unit involved in the attack, the remaining attacking units may still overrun under rule 10.5, although of course they could not produce additional overruns by moving into another area.
[The German sentence beginning "Wendende Einheiten" is garbled in the source; the sense of the final sentence is kept.]
10.61
Keep broken-down tank units separate from eliminated units. A broken-down tank unit may be returned to play at the start of turns 2, 3 and 4 (with its spent side up).
11.1 Administrative Phase
11.2 General
During the administrative phase, the following steps are carried out in this order:
-
Determine whether the British player has achieved an immediate victory. He wins an immediate victory if he controls either area 32 or area 57 and has a total of 3 or more cavalry units in one or both of those areas. If this is not the case and it is turn 15, a winner is determined under rule 3.2.
-
Remove all barrage markers from the map.
-
Each player rolls one die for each artillery unit without ammunition. If the number rolled is within the range shown for this turn on the turn record track, the marker is removed from that unit.
-
Flip all supplied units to their fresh side. Units are supplied if they can trace a path through areas free of enemy units to the supply areas marked on the map. Stosstruppen (only) may trace their supply through areas that contain both friendly and enemy units. Artillery units still under an ammunition marker are not attacked.
-
From turn 4 onward, the player who has the initiative checks fatigue first, then the player who does not have the initiative. Each player rolls one die. This die is halved, rounded down, but never below 1. This is the number of areas containing friendly units that are not tanks, artillery or horse artillery, and that the opposing player may fatigue. Infantry and cavalry units in these selected areas are moved to their exhausted sides, if they came into play within the turns indicated on the turn record track. For example, in turn 4 only units that started the game on the map are affected by fatigue. In turn 5, units that started on the map or entered in turn 2 are affected, and so on. (Tank and artillery/horse artillery units are not affected by fatigue.)
-
Move the turn marker and begin the next game turn.
12.0 Design Notes and Player Hints
12.1 The Battle
The Battle of Cambrai (20 November to ? December 1917) was the idea of Major (later Colonel) J.F.C. Fuller, who had joined the newly formed British Royal Tank Corps as a staff officer at the end of 1916. Tanks had made their combat debut in the last days of the Somme offensive, but their numbers were too small and the terrain unsuitable for them to influence the battle decisively. Fuller decided that in the next offensive the tanks should be used in large numbers and at a carefully chosen point.
Cambrai was not intended by Fuller as a decisive battle. His plans envisaged only a massive attack on the German lines, in which the Royal Tank Corps, with over 400 machines, would smash a section of the enemy front, suffer heavy losses, then halt and dig in. It was meant to be an experiment that would show the way for a future decisive campaign with thousands of tanks.
Unfortunately for Fuller, the bloody failure of the British offensives in Flanders in 1917 had led the British commander, Douglas Haig, to seek an alternative plan for winning the war. Fuller's planned attack was therefore turned into a further attempt to break the stalemate in the trenches and force a breakthrough "to the green fields beyond". However, the forces available under General Julian Byng's Third Army were not sufficient for this ambitious goal.
The initial attack on 20 November was very successful. The Third Army dispensed with a long bombardment and caught the Germans by surprise. With 324 tanks in the first attack wave, the Royal Tank Corps flattened the enemy wire and overran large parts of the defenses. Byng ordered his cavalry divisions to prepare to exploit the breakthrough.
Confused objectives, missing reserves and heavy losses among the tanks (mostly through mechanical defects) soon slowed the British advance. The high point was reached on 23 November with the capture of Bourlon Ridge. The British had advanced at most five miles along a front seven miles wide, an impressive result by the standards of 1917, but the Germans sent their troops forward to close the gap in their line. On 27 November a strong German counterattack recaptured Bourlon Wood. Three days later the Germans launched a large counteroffensive.
Cambrai demonstrated not only the potential of the tank, but also the effectiveness of the newly developed German infiltration tactics. This new tactic, which employed specially trained Stosstruppen, aimed to find or create gaps in the enemy line through which heavily armed infantry units could penetrate. These units then attacked important points in the defender's rear and destroyed them by overrunning the artillery, the headquarters and the supply depots.
At Cambrai the German Stosstruppen penetrated up to three miles deep into the right British flank. On 2 December the British centre and left flank were threatened with being cut off by the German counteroffensive, and in the following days Byng was forced to withdraw his army. All the gains of November were given up.
The Cambrai offensive was a British defeat. It was also a warning to both sides that the stalemate of the previous three years was unlikely to continue into 1918. The British heeded this warning only in part. To counter the Stosstruppen they followed a policy of "defence in depth" that was not deep enough to prevent major breakthroughs in the German offensives of the following spring.
The German failure to learn from Cambrai was even greater. [Source garbled here.] Their ultimate success at Cambrai did not recognise the value of tanks. The German army had not only failed to develop its own tank arm, but also a defensive doctrine able to withstand the massive Allied tank attacks of July and August 1918. It would be left to a later generation of German officers to grasp the tank as a decisive new weapon of war.
[Source note: the German text reads "Jessons" and "Jed" here, which are garbled; the sense of the sentences is kept.]
12.2 The Design
ROYAL TANK CORPS was a happy accident. I had been asked to design a game about the Battle of Verdun. The challenge was to bring the vital "illusion of movement" into games dealing with the period of trench warfare on the Western Front in 1915-17. I quickly concluded that a variant of the area/impulse system would probably work best.
To test this hypothesis, I took out a copy of the old SPI design on the Battle of Cambrai, Dave Isby's "To The Green Fields Beyond". With analytical tools in hand, I set about examining Isby's design decisions with a view to applying them to the area/impulse game. When I had finished, I had proven to my satisfaction that I had a good system for simulating battles of the First World War in my head. I had not only completed an experiment, but had also developed a terrain-movement game that worked in its own way.
Royal Tank Corps thus builds on Isby's foundation, taking one step further. His research was sound, which I confirmed through additional investigation to verify the accuracy of his work. Players of both games will quickly notice the large differences in the game systems and in the general feel of play. Although both designs, in my opinion, simulate Cambrai well, they do so in almost opposite ways. TTGFB plays for the most part like a staff exercise. There is a lot of pre-planning for barrages and many logistical considerations. RTC dispenses with most of this and builds it directly into the game mechanics. The result is a viewpoint that is more from the fighting front than from GHQ.
The first challenge in designing RTC was the map. The division of the RTC map into areas was not arbitrary. Some decisions were obvious, such as using trench lines and canals/rivers to delineate minefields. Others were more subtle; for example, the boundaries were drawn so that different commands on the map start in different areas. The result is an area map that gives a different picture of the battlefield than a hex version, but is just as realistic in its effect.
In formulating the Orders of Battle, I combined Isby's research on unit organisation with my own research on the combat values of divisional units for my earlier book "The Great War in Europe". The decision to combine tank companies (for the most part) into tank battalions was dictated by the use of areas instead of hexes, and by my wish to eliminate any "clumsiness" in my design.
Perhaps the greatest change in RTC compared with earlier area/impulse games is that the impulse no longer automatically alternates between the players. In RTC you do not activate only a single area and then pass to your opponent. You may continue to activate as long as you have new units - or until you lose a combat. This creates a fundamentally different dynamic from earlier games.
The reason for this change is the linear nature of the battles of the First World War on the Western Front. Units did not advance gradually across the front. Instead, whole corps advanced together across a broad front. RTC's continuous impulse system allows players to launch proper First World War-style attacks. At the same time it allows the defender to seize the initiative when the attacker's plans fail, since he is forced to pass to the opposing player. Whether the change of initiative is only local or not depends both on the number of new units available and on whether the plans of the newly attacking player fail in combat.
The continuous impulse system therefore also rewards the husbanding of reserves. Without fresh units you cannot respond to take advantage of unexpected setbacks in your opponent's plans. RTC is indeed the rare game in which many turns end with both players holding their troops back so as not to be the first player without fresh reserves.
Artillery ammunition is handled in great detail in TTGFB, and indeed much of the "fun" of that game consists of managing the resources of the logistics. That is certainly a valid approach and very interesting for some players, but I wanted to brew a different "cup of tea". In broad terms the shell situation at Cambrai was fairly simple: neither side had enough. The British had too few shells because of the enormous expenditure in Flanders in the summer and autumn. The Germans lacked shells because it was a "quiet" section of the front and they were surprised. Inevitably, as the battle progressed, British ammunition shortages worsened, while the German situation improved somewhat. The dice-based system for ammunition shortage and resupply represents these historical factors simply but effectively, while adding an extra element of the fog of war.
Fatigue, too, played a role at Cambrai that had to be taken into account. Here again the historical dynamic was asymmetrical. Fatigue was a greater problem for the British, since most of their divisions had been sent into battle earlier. Again, the system used in RTC captures this without records, and in a way that prevents the exact effects of fatigue from being predictable.
The victory conditions in RTC reflect the divided character of the British plan. The automatic victory stands for the hope of Haig and Byng for a decisive thrust that would allow the cavalry to break in behind the Germans and restore mobile warfare. This is unlikely to happen, but the possibility will haunt the German player in the first two or three turns. The geographic victory conditions correspond to Fuller's original conception of the battle as a gigantic raid.
12.3 Playing the Game
12.31 The British
Take a look at the situation at the start of the game. Enjoy it while you can - it will not get any better. How you exploit your initial superiority in turns 1 and 2 will determine the rest of the game.
In turn 1 do not hesitate to send most of your guns into the opening barrage. Yes, some of them will fail their resupply rolls and have no ammunition left next turn, but you cannot save ammunition for later anyway. You have been given shells to launch an offensive, and Haig expects you to use them.
In general you should concentrate your artillery on enemy infantry. Infantry are smaller targets, harder to locate, and are usually in fortified positions (which is why they are harder to hit in the game). The Germans do not have many guns at the start in any case, so their counterattack will usually not be too painful (rolling barrages also represent much of the suppression fire directed at enemy guns).
Those guns not used in the opening bombardment should be switched to rolling and interdiction barrages. Rolling barrages are of crucial importance along the axis of the planned tank breakthrough. They allow you to make full use of the tanks' ability to overrun and to make multiple attacks possible. Barrages must be carefully planned - you do not want your own guns to prevent you from exploiting a successful breakthrough.
Your armour is a strong but brittle weapon system. Breakdowns far outnumber replacements, so after the first three turns no more than one battalion will remain. Although the attack strength of the tanks is impressive, their true value lies in overrunning. Use the Royal Tank Corps to punch holes and penetrate deeply, and resist the temptation to spread it out as pure infantry support along the front.
When setting the order of your attacks, consider what the loss of a combat - and the resulting loss of initiative to the Germans - means for your plans. With the possible exception of turn 1, you should keep some units in reserve on all fronts. You do not want to be the last player without fresh units.
Your minimum goal is to reach the objectives in areas 51, 62 and 72 as quickly as possible. If you simply take these objectives and stop your offensive, you can win the game. But you will have to withstand the inevitable German counteroffensive. And the sooner you give up the initiative, the more time the German player has to plan his counteroffensive.
A more ambitious plan (which opens up, or at least threatens, the possibility of an immediate victory) is to establish a bridgehead across the canal in area 41. Control of the bridge at Masnières will allow your armour to support a thrust along the road to Cambrai and perhaps open a route for your cavalry "to the green fields" of areas 32 or 57. Crossing the canal will be difficult and requires both careful planning and a decent measure of luck [the source word is garbled here], and if you have not crossed it by turn 3 you should not expect ever to do so. But even a failed attempt will draw German units on your right, away from the objective areas around Bourlon.
After turn 6 ammunition becomes a real problem, and unless you have a juicy target you should spare your guns. In particular the divisional artillery, which can provide SOS barrages. In the turns in which you have the initiative, you should make full use of the interdiction to hold up the Germans.
Fatigue will generally hurt you more than the Germans. Try to replace the divisions holding objective areas with fresher units. Above all, be careful about exposing your flanks. A successful German thrust over weakly held British trench lines could hand them the game.
12.32 The Germans
In turn 1 take a deep breath. The right German attitude for the first few turns is grim determination. You are outnumbered in guns and infantry. The British have more ammunition to hand straight away, and then there are all the tanks. In addition, the British automatically take the initiative in the first three turns (giving them the chance to roll and to lay down barrages), and your defensive abilities will be severely tested.
With luck, the first turn will end with at least some of your regiments cut off, but still alive in your front trenches around Flesquières [the source word for "luck" is garbled here]. Do not try to rescue cut-off units. You do not have the strength to do so, and besides, they will hold up the British troops who would otherwise advance towards Bourlon and Cambrai.
If you can fight for areas 62 and 72, do so. If not, let them go and fall back to defend areas 64 and 65. These areas not only cover the bridges to Cambrai, but are the pivot of your entire right flank (where the river and the marshes protect the railway line to the north).
On the left, the outcome of the battle will depend on whether the British manage to establish a bridgehead across the canal early. If they do, and you cannot throw them back, you have no choice but to stop them. This will tie down some of your newly arriving troops and weaken you elsewhere. But given the four objective areas east of the canal and the possibility of an immediate British attack, you have no other choice.
Gradually, as more Germans arrive and the number of British tanks dwindles, the enemy offensive will run out of steam. The German player then faces a number of options. He can immediately launch a series of local counterattacks. Or he can wait and build up his forces for a prepared large-scale attack at the end of the game. Or he can attempt a combination of both - he can attack just enough to prevent the British from establishing a solid defensive line, while holding back most of his Stosstruppen and artillery for a major blow. Much of this will of course depend on how the battle develops in the first few turns.
Stosstruppen are a powerful tool, but like the tanks they must be used correctly. When they penetrate, care must be taken that they are not forced to retreat and destroyed. Some of your Stosstruppen will probably have to be used to defend the line as soon as they arrive. This is a waste of their potential, but often it cannot be changed. Once you have a solid defensive line and a few freed-up Stosstruppen divisions, you can plan your counteroffensive.
The location of this blow will depend on the line the British have established. While a direct attack to recover lost objective areas on the German side of the line is one possibility, do not overlook the chance of winning the game by taking objectives on the British side. Above all, seize the opportunity for revenge after you have previously been bombarded by the British.
Abbreviations used for the Germans: AKG Army Kampfgruppe Bayern (Army Battle Group Bavaria); G Garde (Guards); J Jäger; LW Landwehr; M Marine; QKG St. Quentin Kampfgruppe; R Reserve.
Appendix: Official English Play Aid Card
The official English Royal Tank Corps play aid card (one page), reproduced as printed. Its layout is flattened into sections; the designer credit line is omitted. The terms used throughout the rulebook above follow this card.
Bombardment
Perform vs. Artillery or Non-Artillery
OT: a) Strength of lead artillery (1) b) +1 for each supporting artillery c) + 2d6 (2), (3)
DT: a) TEM x 2 of target area (4), (5) b) + 2d6
Bombardment CP: If OT - DT <= 0, Bombardment failed. If OT - DT >= 1, inflict that many CP.
Artillery: a) 2 CP flip to spent b) 2 CP eliminate spent c) 4 CP eliminate fresh
Non-Artillery: a) 3 CP flip to spent b) 3 CP eliminate spent c) 6 CP eliminate fresh
Notes:
- Partial results must be applied, even if this means defender takes more losses than actually called for.
- Hurricane barrages +3d6.
- DR >= 8, Out of Ammo; Friendly Fire?
- If barraging artillery, TEM always is considered a "4," for a total of "8".
- -1 for each non-artillery unit >4, if target, but never less than 1 for TEM.
Assaults
Perform vs. All Enemy in Area
OT: a) Attack Factor of lead unit (1) b) +1 for each supporting unit (2), (3) c) +1 (Max) Divisional Integrity (4) d) +2d6 (5)
DT: a) Defense Factor of one defending unit b) Bombardment factor of one fresh artillery under attack (6) c) +1 for each supporting fresh defender d) +1 for SOS barrage (7) e) + TEM f) + 2d6
Notes:
- Lead unit may not be artillery.
- Cavalry may not support unless lead unit is cavalry.
- British 51st and Tanks may not support one another.
- Must be 3 Infantry units.
- If DR >=7, Tank Breakdown.
- Only if lead defender is infantry.
- If lead defender is of same division.
Assault Resolution
OT - DT <= 0, Attack fails: Attackers must retreat to where they entered from (unless they began in that Area), lead unit is eliminated, all others are spent.
OT - DT > 0, Attack succeeds: Defender must take CP. Overrun is possible.
Notes:
- Elimination comes before retreat, therefore you can't retreat, then eliminate.
Assault CP
a) 2 CP flip to spent b) 2 CP eliminate spent c) 4 CP eliminate fresh d) 2 CP retreat spent (1)
Leave Area with Enemy
Stosstruppen: May enter area with other units. Must stop in first new area.
Other: May only enter friendly controlled area that contains no enemy units. Must stop.
Overruns
If tank or Stosstruppen were lead, and all defenders were eliminated (not retreated), an overrun occurs.
Defender Retreat Priority
a) Area with no units b) Area with only friendly units c) Area with both friendly and enemy units
Movement Cost
1 MP: Area with no enemy units and not adjacent to Area with fresh enemy units.
2 MP: Area with no enemy units but adjacent to Area with fresh enemy and no friendly units.
2 MP: Area containing spent enemy.
4 MP: Area containing fresh enemy.
All MP: Assault Area units begin in.
Rolling Barrages: Reduce movement costs to enter Areas by -2, but never to less than 1.
Interdiction: Enemy units must pay +1 cost to enter AND leave these Areas.