Take Cover
Take Cover Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
Players choose to play as either the Germans or the Russians. Place the two German squad cards directly opposite the two Russian squad cards. Squads remain in these positions until the end of the game. Shuffle the remaining cards and deal each player a five-card hand. The remaining cards serve as the draw deck. When the draw deck is depleted, shuffle the discard pile and use it as the new draw deck. During play, place discarded cards face down.
Sequence of Play
High die roll goes first. Players alternate turns performing a single action ("passing" the turn without performing an action is not allowed). After an action is performed, the acting player draws back up to five cards. This completes that player's turn. Play continues until both of one player's squads are eliminated.
Actions
Each turn, a player must perform one of the following actions: Attach, Detach, Discard, or play one of the following cards: Fire, Advance, Event (Strafe, Mine, Artillery Round, Sniper), or Medic. Smoke cards do not take a turn's action, and are played immediately before performing any one of the other actions.
Attach: Place a single weapon, terrain, or leader card from your hand onto a friendly squad (place the card next to the squad). The maximum number of cards that can be attached to a squad is three: one weapon, one leader, and one terrain card. Multiple cards of the same type can never be attached to a squad. These cards are printed with positive and negative modifiers used in fire resolution.
Detach: Remove a single weapon, terrain or leader card from any friendly squad, discarding it.
Discard: You may discard one to five cards from your hand and draw back up to five. If you have less than five cards, you are not required to discard any cards (simply draw up to five cards as your action). If you have five cards in your hand, you would need to discard at least one card and draw up.
Fire: When you play a Fire card, one of your squads fires at an enemy squad according to the Targeting Restriction rule. Follow the Firing Procedure in exact order. Grenade and Flank cards are played at the same time as a Fire card, according to their rules. Discard the Fire card. (Card text: 1 = Auto hit; 0 = Auto miss/reaction-fire.)
Advance: If a squad has an attached leader, play a single Advance card and place one yellow marker on the squad. Each marker provides +1 fire power (FP) when firing (or reaction-firing). A maximum of three advance markers are allowed on a squad at any one time. Each advance marker also allows the play of one Grenade card when firing or reaction-firing. Discard the Advance card. (Card text: Squad must have Leader.)
Event (Strafe, Mine, Artillery, and Sniper): May be played on any enemy squad. Roll a d10 on the card chart for the result. The result will remove either a weapon card, terrain card, leader card, or advance marker, inflict a hit, trigger a backfire, or miss (no effect). A backfire result changes control of the card, requiring the targeted player to play the card on any enemy squad and roll on the chart again. If the roll result is not applicable, the card has no effect. Discard the used card.
Sniper card chart (as printed in the booklet illustration): 1 = Hit; 2 = Cover; 3-4 = Advance; 5 = No Effect; 6-7 = Leader; 8-9 = Weapon; 0 = Backfire. Card text: Play on any Squad.
Event example: There are currently four squads on the battlefield. It is the Russian turn. A German squad has an attached HMG (+3), Leader (+1), and Building (-4). The squad also has one Advance marker on it. The Russian player wants to remove some of the threat that the German squad poses. As his action, the Russian player plays an Artillery Event card on that German squad. After playing the card, he rolls a d10 and refers to the card's chart to determine the results. His roll was a 6, and according to the Artillery card's chart, a 6 or 7 removes the squad's Cover card. The German player discards the Building Cover card from his squad. The Russian player now draws up to his five card hand and ends his turn.
Medic: Play this card to attempt to heal a squad (removing one hit marker). Roll a d10 on the card chart for the result. After it has been played, instead of discarding the Medic card, set it aside until the end of the game. Medic cards are not shuffled back into the deck after it is depleted if they have been played. (Card chart as printed: 1-5 = Remove one hit marker; 6-10 = No Effect.)
Smoke: Play this card immediately before performing an action. You may look at the opponent's hand and then perform your action for the turn (the Smoke card does not count as a turn's action). Discard the Smoke card.
Firing Procedure
When a Fire card is played, perform the following in exact order:
- Add the firing squad's inherent 2 FP to all its positive modifiers: advance markers, attached weapon and/or leader card, and any supplementally played grenade cards. Also add the coordinated position bonus if applicable. This number is the attacker's fire power (FP).
- Subtract defender's attached terrain card modifier (if present) from the attacker's FP.
- Defender may play up to three Dig In cards. Subtract their modifiers from the attacker's FP. You now have the attacker's modified fire power number (MFP).
- The firing player rolls a d10. A roll equal to or lower than the MFP inflicts a hit on the defending squad. A roll of 1 automatically inflicts a hit regardless of MFP total. Rolls higher than the MFP (but not 10) miss with no effect. A roll of 10 automatically misses and allows the enemy the option of reaction-fire.
- If a hit is scored, place a red hit marker on the targeted squad card. Three hit markers eliminate a squad and all of its attached cards are discarded.
Note: A squad may fire even if there MFP is negative.
Cards Played During Fire
Grenade and Dig In cards are only played during fire and reaction-fire combat.
Flank cards are only played during fire combat, and cannot be played during reaction-fire combat.
Grenade: Grenade cards may only be played by a firing squad that has one or more advance markers. Grenades are played simultaneously with a Fire card (or without a Fire card when reaction-firing). Multiple Grenade cards may be played at the same time, but only one per advance marker on the firing squad. Discard the Grenade cards. (Card: +2; Play one per advance marker when firing or reaction-firing.)
Flank: If a firing squad has an attached leader, a Flank card may be played simultaneously with a Fire card. The firing squad may fire at the directly-opposite enemy squad with the most hit markers, ignoring the Targeting Restriction rule. Advance markers and Grenade cards may be used normally in this attack. Discard the Flank card. (Card text: Play with a Fire card. Fire on the directly-opposite, weakest Squad. Squad must have Leader.)
Dig In: The defending player may play up to three Dig In cards at the same time in response to fire or reaction-fire. Each card provides an additional -2 terrain modifier for the squad. Dig In cards may be played even if the squad has no attached terrain card. Discard the Dig In cards.
Special Situations
Reaction-Fire: When any fire or reaction-fire roll results in a 10 (a very poor attack), the targeted squad has the option to immediately fire back at the firing squad. A Fire card is not played during reaction-fire. Advance markers and Grenade cards may still be used normally when reaction-firing.
Coordinated Position: Many of the weapon, terrain, and leader cards have a black or white dot (some have no dot). If a squad has an attached weapon, terrain, and leader card, all with matching dots, the squad receives a +2 FP bonus to fire and reaction-fire attacks. When defending, a squad with a coordinated position receives a -1 bonus terrain modifier against attacks.
Targeting Restriction rule: While all four squads remain on the battlefield, two targeting restrictions must be adhered to:
- A squad may only fire on the directly-opposite enemy squad (no diagonal attacks), AND
- The targeted enemy squad must have the least amount of hit markers of the two enemy squads (the "strongest" squad).
A Flank card may be played to ignore this restriction. If both enemy squads have equal amounts of hit markers, then either directly-opposite enemy squad may be fired on.
When the battlefield loses the first squad, these restrictions no longer apply. Any enemy squad, regardless of the amount of hit markers or position, may now be fired on (diagonal firing is now allowed).
Targeting Restriction Example
If it is the German player's turn, squad B may not fire because Russian squad D (the directly-opposite squad) has two hit markers (it is the "weakest" Russian squad). German squad A may fire at Russian squad C (the directly opposite squad) as it is the "strongest" of the two Russian squads (with only one hit marker). If the German player had a Flank card, he could play it with a Fire card allowing German squad B to fire on Russian squad D (as German squad B has a Leader).
If both Russian squads had no hit markers (or an equal number of hit markers), then German squad B could fire at Russian squad D, or German squad A could fire at Russian squad C.
Fire Example
There are currently four squads on the battlefield. It is the German turn. A German squad card has an attached LMG (+1), Leader (+1), and Brush (-1). The squad also has two advance markers on it. The German player wishes for that squad to fire at the directly-opposite Russian squad. It is determined that the Russian squad has the least amount of hit markers of the two enemy Squad cards, and is thus an eligible target. The German player plays a Fire card and adds the squad's inherent 2 FP to the LMG (+1), Leader (+1) and two advance markers (+2, 1 FP per advance marker). He also decides to play one Grenade card (+2) simultaneously with the Fire card (he could have played an additional Grenade card as the squad has two advance markers). The total FP of the attack is 8 (if the German squad would have had matching symbols on all three of its attached cards it would have received a +2 FP coordinated-position bonus). The targeted Russian squad has an attached Woods (-3) cover card. The Russian player chooses to play one Dig In (-2) card. Subtracting 5 from 8 FP leaves a final modified fire power (MFP) of 3. The German player must roll a 3 or less in order to score a hit. He rolls a 10! Not only is this an automatic miss, but this triggers reaction-fire. The Russian player may choose to return fire at the firing German squad without playing a Fire card. He does so and calculates his own attack in exactly the same way as the German squad did. Likewise, the German player can choose to play Dig In cards in his defense. If the Russian squad scores a hit, the German squad would receive a hit marker. It is possible for another 10 to be rolled, triggering yet another reaction-fire. The German player now draws up to his five card hand and ends his turn.
Note: Had the German player had a Flank card, he could have played it along with his Fire card in order to have fired on the directly-opposite, weakest squad (if that was the situation).
Optional Rules
Players may choose unanimously to add optional rules to the game before they begin.
- If one player has two squads that each have three Advance markers, that player has reached the objective and wins the game. This option is an additional winning condition (you may still win by eliminating both squads).
- Before the game begins, remove 4 cards from the deck face-down and set them aside. When the draw deck is depleted, before shuffling the discard pile, add the removed cards to it. Shuffle the pile, then remove 4 cards face-down again before continuing play. This option ensures any card is possible, but is not guaranteed.
Components
79 cards, 1 rules booklet, 8 red hit markers, 12 yellow advance markers, and a 10-sided die.
Cards (79 cards): (4) Squad, (10) Weapon (LMG, MMG, HMG), (13) Terrain (brush, wall, woods, building), (1) Sniper, (1) Mine, (1) Artillery Round, (1) Strafe, (7) Advance, (8) Leader, (7) Grenade, (6) Dig In, (2) Medic, (2) Smoke, (2) Flank, (14) Fire.