Slava
Slava Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What's in the Box
Inside this box, besides this guide, you'll find the following components:
- 1 main deck with military cards (40 cards)
- 5 weather condition cards
- 2 reference cards
- 4 tear out reference guides
How to Start
Depending on the number of players you first select the cards for play. Make sure that you always add all the commander cards for each type of unit. (Only the bomb has no commander.) These are the cards with the commander symbol. Select your cards depending on the number of players:
- 2-player game: See the special two player section on setup (see 2-Player Game).
- 3-player game: You select 3 planes, 3 artillery, 3 anti-armor units, 6 tanks, 6 infantry, 2 anti-aircraft guns, and the bomb.
- 4-player game: You select 4 planes, 4 artillery, 4 anti-armor units, 8 tanks, 8 infantry, 3 anti-aircraft guns, and the bomb.
- 5-player game: You select 5 planes, 5 artillery, 5 anti-armor units, 10 tanks, 10 infantry, 4 anti-aircraft guns, and the bomb.
Next, shuffle your selection of cards and deal 8 cards to each player. Then shuffle the 5 weather condition cards and place them, face down as a separate pile on the side of the playing field. And finally, divide the tear out player guides among the players if necessary.
Setup
The printed setup page is a layout diagram (Player 1, Player 2, Player 3, the Battlefield in the middle, the Reference cards, the Weather condition cards and the Tear out reference guides). It contains no text beyond these labels, so it is described here rather than transcribed.
How to Play
First, you turn over the top card from the weather condition pile. This indicates if you have clear skies, or a storm and heavy fog brewing. These weather cards create different dynamics and influence the strength of each card. (The weather condition, however, does not affect the points of a card, the points are always the same!) The following points table shows the points of each type of card:
Points Table
- Plane: 10 points
- Artillery: 7 points
- Tank: 5 points
- Anti-armor unit: 3 points
- Infantry: 3 points
- Anti-aircraft gun: 0 points
- Bomb: 0 points
Good Weather Condition Reference
- Plane beats anti-armor unit, artillery, tank, infantry.
- Anti-armor unit beats artillery, tank, anti-aircraft gun.
- Artillery beats tank, infantry, anti-aircraft gun.
- Tank beats infantry, anti-aircraft gun.
- Infantry beats anti-armor unit, anti-aircraft gun.
- Anti-aircraft gun beats the plane.
- Bomb beats all, but makes that zero points are scored in the battle with the bomb.
Bad Weather Condition Reference
- Infantry beats plane, anti-armor unit, artillery, tank, anti-aircraft gun.
- Anti-armor unit beats the plane, artillery, tank, anti-aircraft gun.
- Tank beats the plane, artillery, anti-aircraft gun.
- Artillery beats the plane, anti-aircraft gun.
- Anti-aircraft gun keeps beating just the plane.
- Plane no take-off so sees nothing, beats nothing.
- Bomb beats all, but makes that zero points are scored in the battle with the bomb.
Now we know all the points belonging to each type of card and weather-related differences, it's time to start playing.
So, you just turned over the first weather card and know the weather condition. This type of weather will remain there for four battles. And after these four battles, which is halfway a campaign (8 battles = 1 campaign), you flip an additional weather card to see if the weather changes. And after each campaign the weather cards are shuffled again!
Let's Start!
The players shuffle clockwise for each campaign and the person sitting clockwise (left) from the player who shuffled begins.
Players take turns clockwise. Each round is a battle, in which each player plays one card. By playing a card, a confrontation is resolved. At the end of each battle, the last man standing per round wins the battle and takes all the cards of that battle. The winning player of a battle has to start the next battle. A campaign is finished after 8 battles have been completed. (1 campaign = 8 battles) The player who has earned the most points after one campaign, receives a victory point.
So how do you win a battle? You use the weather-related strength to determine who wins. Important here is that the first card of the same type (e.g., infantry and infantry) beats the identical cards in the same battle! Even the commander will be beaten if it's not the first card of its type.
When a commander is played the players that still need to play cards this battle have to follow type. If you cannot follow type you can play any card.
Battle Examples
Battle Example: 3-Player Game
It's a 3-player game. The weather is good in the first half of this campaign. The first battle of the campaign is commencing.
The first player plays the tank commander, the second player also plays a tank since it has to follow the commander type. The first confrontation has immediately been resolved and the first player's tank commander wins. Next, the third player plays a plane since he has no tanks and can choose what to play. Now it's the first player vs. the third player who wins by playing a plane. The third player wins the first battle with a total of two tanks and plane card. According to the points table, this player earned 20 points (2 tanks = 2x5 points, 1 plane = 1x10 points). You don't have to add up these numbers yet. Do this at the end of a campaign. The third player now places these 3 cards face down in front of him. And no looking back at cards by any player.
Then, the second battle starts.
Battle Example: 4-Player Game
(See the example image on page 12 of the printed rulebook.)
It's a 4-player game. Clear skies during the first half of the campaign. The second battle of the campaign is commencing.
The player that won the previous battle starts with a plane. The second player plays an anti-aircraft gun and therefore wins the first confrontation. The third player plays an infantry commander which beats the anti-aircraft gun. This is followed by the fourth player who plays infantry since he has to follow type of the third player. And is defeated by the infantry commander. The third player wins the battle which contains 16 points. And places the cards from the battle face down in front of him.
Important Terms!
Before we run through the last battle example there a few more rules to remember!
- Last battle win: If you win the last (8th) battle of a campaign you receive an additional 10 points.
- Playing the bomb: Playing the bomb will nullify all points of that battle. If you played the bomb you have to start the next battle unless the bomb was the last battle of the campaign. You can always play the bomb, even if you have to follow a commander.
- Bomb in last round: If you have the bomb and play it in the last (8th) battle of the campaign, you will still nullify all points of that battle, however you will get a 10-point penalty for not using the bomb earlier. Also, the 10-point bonus of winning the last round does not apply. These 10 points will be deducted from the player that played the bomb for this campaign. In all other battles, the first seven, this penalty does not apply.
- Follow commander: In a battle it is mandatory to follow the type of the commander card if you have the type. E.g. The second player plays a tank commander, and you have a tank card you must play it. Also if you are the fourth or fifth player. This is mandatory per battle. If another commander is played the first commander is still the one to be followed. There is one exception, the bomb can always be played even if you have the type.
- Play any card you like if you don't have the type: You are allowed to not top a card. So, there is no mandatory winning of confrontations in the battles, even if you have the cards that could do it. So, you can always play any card you have IF you don't have to follow a commander.
- Start of campaign: Shuffling and the person who begins each campaign keeps rotating clock wise. The person left of the person that shuffles has to begin.
- Equal campaign points: When a campaign ends in a tie for two (or more) players, they all receive a victory point. Even if that means they all win the game.
- No looking back: Finished battles are always stacked horizontally, face down, in front of the player who won that battle. No one is allowed to look back after the battle once the cards have been placed face down.
One More Battle Example and You're Good to Go!
It's a 5-player game. The weather is bad during the second half of this campaign. The 8th and therefore last battle of the campaign is commencing.
All players now only have one card remaining in their hands. The player that won the previous battle starts with a tank. The second player also plays a tank and therefore the first player wins this confrontation. The third player now plays some infantry which beats the tank of the first player in bad weather. The fourth player also has a tank left and plays it. The third player with the infantry card is still in a winning position. The fifth and final player plays the bomb. This nullifies all points of the battle. Including the 10 points you get for winning the last round. So, no points are awarded to anyone at the end of this battle. In addition, player number five has to deduct 10 points from his total because he played the bomb during the last battle. Since playing the bomb in the last battle always leads to a penalty.
Since it was the 8th and final battle of the campaign, all players add up the points from the battles of this campaign. Player number five deducts 10 points from his total for playing the bomb in the last round. After counting all battles in this campaign there will be a player with the highest total of points. And this player will receive a victory point. If this was the 3rd victory point, that player wins the game. If not, the main cards will be shuffled again will be equally divided among the players. The weather deck will also be shuffled for the next campaign and you are ready to go again.
How to Win
There is one way to win the game and that's by getting 3 victory points! So, whoever wins 3 campaigns first, wins the game. You can, of course, vary the number of necessary victory points to the desired length of playing.
2-Player Game
2-player game: You select 3 planes, 3 artillery, 3 anti-armor units, 6 tanks, 6 infantry, 2 anti-aircraft guns, and the bomb. And, as always, make sure all commanders are in there as well.
As you might have noticed the 2 and 3-player game is identical in terms of cards. This is because the third player in a 2-player game is the infamous 'Ivan', who serves as an automated third player. You shuffle for three players and the pile not belonging to a person belongs to Ivan. The deck played by Ivan is face down on the table and for each battle you draw the top card. Ivan always begins the first battle of a campaign.
Example: 2-Player Game
It's a 2-player game. This campaign is blessed with clear skies. The first battle of the campaign is commencing.
Ivan begins and plays infantry (turn over the top card of Ivan's deck). The second player plays an artillery commander and therefore wins the first confrontation. The third player has to follow the artillery commander since it also has artillery. The second player wins the battle, which contains 17 points and places the cards face down in front of him. And player two begins the second battle.
2 vs 2 Player Game
There is also an amazing 2-versus-2 player game mode which is played a lot in the community. (See the example image on page 18 of the printed rulebook.)
You can use the same setup as a regular 4-player game. However, this time your companion is sitting across from you. So, you select 4 planes, 4 artillery, 4 anti-armor units, 8 tanks, 8 infantry, 3 anti-aircraft guns, and the bomb. Including all commander cards.
The rules remain the same as a regular game, however, you add up the total amounts of points of each duo to see who has won a campaign. The duo that earns 3 victory points first wins!
The average playtime for the 2-versus-2 player game is 20-40 minutes but you can extend the number of victory points and consequently playtime according to your own wishes.
Important notice: You are not allowed to show, or state, your cards to other players. Also, you cannot try to influence your companion by signalling!