Some Poles Apart: The Battle of the Westerplatte
Some Poles Apart: The Battle of the Westerplatte Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Set-Up
Place all Polish units (red) "Strong" side up on map land areas except areas "A" and "B" (Poles may never enter those). Place all German ground units (green) "Strong" side up off east mapedge. These enter areas "A" and "B" on Turn 1 or later when the German chooses to Activate them. Place battleship (BB) unit "4" side up in any water area "Wa" to "Wd". Up to 2 friendly ground units may stack in an area.
Turn Sequence
Turn Begins
Shuffle a card deck (include 1 Joker card). German player draws a card. If black, he can "Pass" or Activate units (including previously Activated units) equal to 1/2 the number on the card (round up). Aces equal "1." Black "face" cards Activate all units in an area, or allow 1 flipped over unit to return to its full-strength side. A red card drawn means Polish player can "Pass" or Activate his units same way.
Activated units can: a) Move 1 area or b) Not Move, and instead Attack. Units cannot enter enemy occupied areas. Ground units cannot enter water areas. BB cannot enter land. BB can move between "Wd" and "We". Game has no Zones of Control.
Turn end occurs when the Joker is drawn (in Activation or in Combat) or when all cards are drawn (whatever comes first, ignore Joker if drawn before both players can Activate at least once).
Combat
Combat is voluntary. Any unit on the map can attack up to 2 areas away. Off map units cannot attack/be targeted. Units and terrain do not block lines of sight.
Use a unit's printed Fire Strength (FS) to conduct attacks. Indicate up to two firing units (max.) and a single target unit. Firing player draws card (any suit/color can be used by both players to resolve combat). Add 1 to card's number if all firing units and target are not adjacent. Add 1 if a Polish Gun attacks the BB. Polish Infantry/Mortar cannot attack BB. When Germans attack Polish units (only, not vice-versa), add the area's terrain bonus (printed on map) as a modifier.
If card drawn plus the total of all modifiers is less than or equal to the sum of all firing unit's printed FS numbers, flip target over to "WEAK" side. Otherwise it's a miss. Already flipped units are eliminated. Redraw face cards or treat as a miss (attacker's option). After resolving an attack, return to drawing cards to Activate units.
German Air/Off Board Artillery (OBA) Markers
Both of these are available once per turn. Drawing a black odd numbered card or Jack means Air marker may be used instead of Activating ground units. Any other black card drawn means the OBA marker may be used instead of Activating ground units.
German OBA and Air markers can target any one Polish unit. OBA marker attacks with an FS of 3. Air marker can either: a) attack with an FS of 4 or b) target an entire area, and impose a +1 modifier on all Polish units in there that make attacks, for rest of turn.
Game Length and Who Wins
Game Length: Game lasts 6 turns (card deck shuffles).
Who Wins: Germans begin with 9 Victory Points (VPs). Deduct 1 VP for each reshuffle of the deck and for each German unit eliminated/reduced at game end. Germans win if by the last turn at least 1 VP remains and there are no Polish units on the map, otherwise the Poles win.
Unit Key
The rules card carries this unit key, reproduced as printed:
- Infantry Company (filled square), Infantry Platoon (open square)
- Engineer Company (square with engineer symbol)
- Mortar Platoon (mortar symbol)
- Anti-Tank Gun and Field Gun (symbols as printed)
- Symbols: Air, BB (battleship), OBA (off board artillery)
- Sample counter: ID, Damage, Type, Fire Strength (shown as "MAS 3 weak")
Counters shown on the card: MAS 6, MAS 5, MAS 4, MAS 3, MAS 2, MAS 1 (2 each, "weak" side), BB (2, anchor symbol), DSS HW (1, "weak"), PL 1, PL 2, PL 3 (1 each, "weak"), and an 81mm mortar (1, "weak").