Walking on the Moon
Walking on the Moon Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Set Up the Race
- Shuffle the lunar cards and put 5 of them in the depicted areas of the board. There are 5 'extra difficult' cards marked with a red dot at the bottom; don't use more than one or two in your first game.
- If playing with advanced rules, put a random special box token in each of the 4 circled boxes between the cards.
- Pick a jump card and the astronaut pawn of the same colour and put it in the exit/goal box (the one with the blue circle); the first player goes on top.
- Give an action card to each player.
- The last one who walked on the Moon is the first player; in case of a tie the older player begins.
How Do I Win?
When one player completes a lap around the Moon, walking in or moving through the blue circle, the players end the current round and the game ends. The player with the most points wins.
You get points for your position in the race and for the Sputnik counters you have collected.
- First astronaut reaching the goal gets 11 pts.
- Other astronauts reaching the goal get 10 pts.
- If you don't reach the goal but step on the last lunar card you score the points marked in your box.
- Each Sputnik counter (yellow) is worth 1 point.
If there is a tie the higher board scoring wins; if there is still a tie, the first arriving wins.
When you cross the goal your turn ends. You can't get Sputniks behind the goal line.
The Sputnik
If during your move you pass through a box with a Sputnik (you don't need to end the jump there) you get a yellow 'Sputnik' counter. Each one is worth 1 point at the end of the game.
How Do I Reach the Goal?
To move, you'll program up to 3 jumps each turn. At the beginning of your turn pick up 4 of the 6 jump dice and distribute them in your jump card as you wish between up to three jumps. You can use several dice in the same jump, mix dice of different colours in a jump and make fewer than 3 jumps.
Then throw the dice for the first jump and pick up one of the results to apply. After the jump, if you haven't suffered an accident, you can try the next one or pass before throwing the dice. The first jump is mandatory.
After a player makes his turn it's the next player's turn. Player order is determined each turn by position in the race, the player in first position playing first. In case of a tie, players on upper levels go first; if in the same box, the player on top goes first.
How Do I Jump?
When you pick a die, you must move forward as many boxes (square yellow lined boxes) as indicated. Lunar cards have several height levels; the colour of the die indicates which kind of move you can make.
- Blue dice. Used to move straight forward. They are fast but you can't climb up or down. (Faces: 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3 - straight arrow.)
- White dice. To step down to the Moon plains and caverns. You must change at least one move for a diagonal descent. (Faces: 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2 - diagonal down arrow.)
- Black dice. To climb up; you can change one or both advances for a diagonal climb. But beware, because if you get a 1 with the accident symbol, you'll have an accident at the end of the jump. (Faces: 1 with accident symbol, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2 - diagonal up / straight arrow.)
Sample Jump
- Player programs 4 dice.
- Rolls the first jump and gets a 1 and the accident-symbol 1, picks up the 1 and climbs up 1 box.
- Chooses to risk a second jump and rolls the die for a 1. She failed to calculate the distance and has an accident.
What's an Accident?
Each one of your three jumps must land in a box with a circle (safe ground). If you roll the dice and land in a box without a circle, you'll have an accident:
- Your turn ends.
- You lose half your Sputnik counters (rounding down).
- Flip your astronaut face-down. The next turn you'll wake up and will only throw 2 dice.
Put your face-down astronaut in the box of the crash:
- If you ended flying in the air you'll fall down; put it in the box with the circle under it.
- If landed in a box without circle, it's hazardous terrain; flip your astronaut.
- If trying to open a pass through the Moon with your head you end in the box previous to the crash.
- If you got the accident-symbol 1, flip the astronaut after the movement.
You can have an accident while crossing the goal and lose Sputnik counters.
Picture notes: a regular mountain - you shall not pass! This mountain has a tunnel (darker background) and you can pass through.
Tunnels
Some of the lunar mountains have tunnels inside them; it's important not to mistake them for regular mountains. Players can pass through these mountains with tunnels, although they must be careful as some tunnel boxes are difficult terrain and have no circle (see above). Tunnels have a ceiling and it is not possible to move up or down through it.
End the Round
After all players have completed their turns and before starting the next round:
- Players in last position (or tied) take an EC counter (blue).
- Players in first position (or tied) get a Handicap counter (red).
Earth Control (EC)
Your Earth Control Center assists you with instructions to gain ground if you get delayed. You can spend as many EC as you wish to:
- Repeat the roll of one die at any moment.
- Add 1 extra die at the beginning of the turn (up to the six dice available).
You get an EC counter if you are in the last position and for some effects of action cards or special boxes.
Handicap
Handicap counters represent any kind of complications. Players discard them at the beginning of their turns and will get only 3 dice for this round.
The conditions a player can have are:
- Normal: 4 dice
- Handicap: 3 dice
- Accident: 2 dice
These conditions aren't cumulative; apply only the most harmful.
Action Cards
Action cards are always played out of your turn. At the beginning of each round, if you don't have a card you get one. If you already have a card you can discard it to get a new one.
Play your card when indicated according to the icon in the middle:
- At the end of the round by player order. These cards can't be played if going in first position (or tied).
- Before a player distributes dice.
- When a certain condition is met.
You can play action cards even if you have an accident.
You can't play red cards against players who started the turn in last position.
- Slipstream: If a player overtakes you, move to the next available circle box.
- Cooperation: When another player moves over a Sputnik, you also gain one Sputnik counter.
- Planification: At the end of the round get 1 EC counter if not in first position.
- Extra jump: If not in first position throw any one die to make a free jump.
- Teamwork: At the end of the round, you and a player of your choice move forward one circle box.
- No instructions: Before a player programs his turn remove one of the six dice from the pool (you must leave at least one die of each colour).
- Miscalculation: When a player rolls 2 or more dice he or she must re-roll all of the dice.
- Sanction: If a player thefts or sabotages you, he also gets a red handicap counter.
Advanced Rules
Robbery and Sabotage
If you end any jump over one or more players you can rob one of them. Pick a player and take one Sputnik counter from him; if he doesn't have any you can instead give him a red handicap counter.
You can't steal if you have crashed or if you don't land by a jump (i.e. with a free move of a special effect). You can't steal from a player that has ended the race.
Special Boxes
If you step into a special box an effect will activate (even if you end up in the box crashed or by the effect of an action card).
- You can advance one circle box.
- Move one circle box back.
- You can spend Sputnik counters to get free advances.
- Get one EC counter.
- You can re-roll any dice on your next jump.
- Get 2 Sputnik counters.
- (?) You can make a jump with 1 die immediately.
2 Player Games
Games with 2 players follow the normal rules but each player will control 2 astronauts.
- For the set up each player alternates when placing their astronauts.
- EC and Sputnik counters are kept separately and cannot be shared.
- If landing over an own astronaut, players can exchange EC and Sputnik counters between them freely.
- Add up the points of both astronauts for the final scoring.
March on Mars
Components: 7 Special Training cards, 8 Equipment cards, 6 'Upgrade' counters, 1 'MMM' counter.
After taking over the Moon, mankind is ready to colonize Mars and our first task is to exterminate all these creatures infesting our new home. Join the Space Marines Corps and prove to those aliens that Mars doesn't have a place for them! March on Mars is a cooperative game for 2-5 marines in search for glory.
Prepare Landing
This is the 3+ players setup; for 2 players you'll use only half the board.
- Shuffle the martian cards and put 4 of them in the square areas of the board. The pre-printed area on the opposite side of the MMM is your Landing Zone (LZ).
- Put a red alien counter in the 2 boxes marked with a special symbol at each side of the Martian Master Mind (MMM).
- Put an 'Upgrade' counter on each side of the LZ. Put the round counter at 1.
- Pick up a combat card and the astronaut of the corresponding colour, give each marine a 'Special Training' card. Players choose which of the two abilities they will use for the rest of the game and put themselves in any box on the LZ.
- Put all the yellow, blue and red counters (now alien counters) face down or in a bag or opaque container and set up a random wave of aliens in each of the four terrain cards. An alien wave is composed of as many aliens as astronauts plus 1 (see wave setup rules below).
How We Win?
The objective is to destroy the MMM with a nuke. To do so you must be in a box beside it, free of aliens, and as your only action this turn throw 4 dice and get a result of 9+. If you fail to destroy the MMM in 8 turns or the aliens attack successfully your LZ 3 times (see below) you'll lose the game.
How I Reach the MMM?
There is no turn order between players; you can change the order each round as you need.
Each turn you program up to three actions (can be fewer if you want), by taking 4 dice and distributing them among the 3 available actions in your combat card. You can put several dice in the same action box, even mix dice of different colours.
Roll the dice for the first action and after looking at the result choose if you want to move or to attack. Movement rules are similar to those in Walking on the Moon. However, on Mars you can move and shoot backwards too.
Can I Kill the Aliens?
When shooting, arrange the dice by value, ignoring their colour; those groups are the different fire solutions you have. The value shows the precise range you can shoot and the number of dice showing this value is the number of hits you get. You can distribute hits among the aliens in the same box, but cannot shoot several boxes at once. 1's results can also be used to kill aliens in the same box as the marine.
The colour of the alien shows how many hits you need to kill them. Aliens regenerate any damage almost instantly so you must kill them within the same shot; any partial damage is cleared at the end of each action.
Put the dead aliens aside; once the alien reserve is depleted use them to create a new one.
They Are All Over Me!
During your movement you can cross boxes with aliens, but if you are with an alien when rolling the dice you are engaged in close combat. Your combat suit keeps you safe from the weak martian attacks. However, getting all these aliens on top is a real hassle as you can't move or shoot other targets until you have gotten rid of these annoying creatures.
To kill aliens in your own box you must use your actions to attack and use the 1's values to end them in close combat. If you don't get any, you can't use other results to move or shoot to other boxes; discard the dice without effect.
Don't Stop, Marine!
We don't like slackers in the marine corps. Each time you roll the dice you must take an action, either shooting an alien, even if you don't kill him, or moving. You can pass after the first action, but if you roll the dice you must do something.
The Red Defenders
The two red aliens in the special boxes are the defenders of Mars; these aliens will not move with the waves (see below) nor will be replaced when eliminated.
The box with the defender can't be passed across until the red alien defending it is killed; a force barrier behind them will make you crash if trying to pass over. You can shoot across the barrier but cannot move, even with special abilities like Teleport.
Martian Waves
Apparently, martians aren't going to let us just occupy the planet and this damn MMM sends us wave after wave of troops in an effort to stop the advance of our heroes.
At the end of each turn the MMM sends an alien wave. Roll a white die; with a result of 1 the wave comes from the left side of Mars, with a 2 it will come from the right side. In 2 player games, ignore alien waves from the other side of the planet, other marines are taking care of them.
Also, if a player ends with the accident-symbol 1 in his dice, even if he doesn't use it, he will unleash an alien wave on his side of the planet.
When a wave comes, all the aliens in this side of the planet move one card onward to the LZ. To do so, just get all the aliens from a terrain card and set them up in the next one.
Martians deploy over terrain cards following simple rules:
- Yellow martians are explorers; they deploy box to box starting from the farthest from the MMM.
- Red and blue ones deploy the same way but starting from the closest box to the MMM (deploy red first).
In the case of several levels, occupy higher levels first.
Martians ignore difficult terrain boxes.
Finally set up a new wave of aliens in the empty card next to the MMM: get out at random as many alien counters as marines in this side of Mars plus one (minimum 2 alien counters) and deploy them with the normal rules.
They Are Into the Base!
When the aliens move to the LZ, they must first get over the perimeter defences. To reflect this small respite put the assaulting group in the 'Incoming wave' big box.
At the beginning of the next turn deploy all the aliens there in the LZ according to the normal deploy rules.
At the end of the turn, if there are any aliens left in the LZ they have succeeded in attacking the base: discard all the alien counters in the LZ and destroy one base 'Upgrade' counter. The third time this happens the base is destroyed and mankind loses the game.
Base Upgrades
The Landing Zone has some buildings that will help you with your mission. There are three Upgrade types:
- Bunker: Eliminate any one alien of each wave passing through this defence.
- Sentinels: Makes an attack with 2 dice each round.
- Antenna: Each turn players can repeat 1 die from the first roll on this side of the planet.
You can choose the upgrades or put them at random. Use 'Bunkers' in your first games.
Are We a Team?
That's it, son. The marine space corps is a great family and we are trained for team play.
- If you are with other marines in the same box, you can re-roll one die of any roll you make (that's critical to get some chance of success blowing up the MMM).
- If you have an accident in a box with a stand-up companion you can ignore it and keep playing.
- Also if you land safely into a box where a mate has had an accident you can put him up again automatically.
Supporting from Base
Any marine in the LZ can re-roll one die from his first roll (this ability doesn't affect the special actions described below).
Also a marine in the LZ not doing any action and free of aliens in his box can take one of these special actions:
- Tactical support: Use the tractor beam of the military satellites to put up a crashed marine.
- Missile Battery: Charge a piercing missile or a fragmentation missile and choose a marine as artillery beacon. Roll 2 white dice and add up the results; this is the exact distance from the marine (from 2 to 4 spaces) where the missile impacts. The piercing missile makes 3 hits in the selected box; the fragmentation missile makes 1 hit in the impacted zone and in the 2 adjacent zones (in all the boxes).
- Bait: You can deceive the MMM making it send its waves away from the marines. At the end of the turn, re-roll the white dice when choosing which side the alien wave goes.
Special Training
Every marine gets the standard military training, but those chosen for this dangerous martian mission are the best of the best and have superior abilities and equipment.
- Fusion cannon: This powerful weapon can vaporize anything at short range. Dice with value 1 cause 2 hits instead of 1. By contrast the dice with value 3 make no damage.
- Jet pack: With this equipment you can combine 2 dice to move each jump. Those dice can be of different colour and you only have to land after the movement of the second die. You can also move even if you are engaged in close combat.
- Power-up injector: A shot and you can use 6 dice to take your turn. It comes with a little side effect: the next turn after using the injector you can only use 3 dice. You can't roll 6 dice to put the explosives under the MMM but you can use 2 dice to move or shoot and then use the remaining 4 to put the bomb.
- Teleportation: Put your marine over the closest side to the LZ of a terrain card (terrain cards beside the MMM aren't reachable until its defender has been eliminated), roll a blue die and put your marine in the indicated box (see image); if there are several heights you can choose where to appear. You can get engaged or crashed if teleported over an alien or difficult terrain. You can use this ability anytime during your turn, but must program dice first.
- Ranger: You can ignore the bad effects of the accident-symbol results; you will not crash or trigger an alien wave. You can also move into hazardous boxes (the ones without circle) like the tentacles or the lava lakes without harm.
- Multi-shot: The latest in assault weapons, you can shoot with all your dice even if they show different values. Dice showing the same value must be assigned to the same box.
- Communications: The re-roll ability due to sharing a box with a companion extends to all the terrain card you are within, both for your rolls and the ones of your companions there.
- Precog: You can see glimpses of the future, which allows you to roll any 4 dice and distribute them in your actions after seeing the results. You can't use this ability twice in a row and when using it you can't re-roll dice by any means (the future is unalterable).
Equipment
You bring everything you need to complete this mission but at the beginning of round 5, if you haven't eliminated any of the Defenders (the red aliens in the special boxes) the High Command will drop some extra equipment from orbit to help you... But due to a small miscalculation all this equipment has ended up behind the enemy lines. We have to recover it!
Each time you kill a red or blue alien draw a random equipment card. These cards can be used anytime during your turn, even in the middle of an action! All the equipment cards are discarded after use.
You can freely share equipment cards with other marines in your box.
If the equipment deck is depleted shuffle the discard and build a new one.
There is a 'hidden' box (yellow circle) in a tunnel. The first marine entering this space will get an equipment card.
- Lucky charm: Can repeat any number of dice from an action, even when setting up the bomb.
- Badass ammo: The very best in anti-martian ammunition; add 1 hit to your attack roll.
- Jet-boots: Get a free climb-up diagonal movement.
- Neural chip: You can flip your training card. This change is permanent for the rest of the game.
- Laser knife: Kill an alien engaged in close combat.
- Rope: Get a free climb-down diagonal movement.
- Mount: Get a free straight movement.
- Rail-gun: 2 value results make two hits instead of one.
Threat Level
March on Mars uses the same movement rules as Walking on the Moon and, unless they are easy, it is strongly recommended to play at least one or two games on the Moon before trying to fight on Mars.
If March on Mars turns out too hard for you or, after some games, too easy, you can set the threat level easily.
- Baby marine: Use the equipment cards from the beginning of the game.
- (Easier level) Decrease the alien wave size by 1 (minimum is still 2 aliens).
- Sergeant: Equipment is for space elves, we don't need it! Also, marines in the LZ count as being in both sides of the planet when calculating the wave size.
- Exterminator: During the alien waves deploy, distribute the yellow ones engaged among the marines if any, beginning with those closer to the MMM. Also, marines in the LZ count as being in both sides of the planet when calculating the wave size.
Quick Reference (back page)
Walking on the Moon
Turn Order
- Deal Action cards.
- Each player by turn: program dice; take turn.
- Players play 'end of round' cards by turn order.
- Deal EC and Handicap counters.
Conditions: Normal: 4 dice. Handicap: 3 dice. Crashed: 2 dice.
Special boxes: advance one free box; move one box back; spend Sputnik counters to get free advances; get one EC counter; re-roll any dice on your next jump; get 2 Sputnik counters; (?) can make a jump with 1 die immediately.
March on Mars
Turn Order
- Move aliens from 'Incoming Wave' box to the LZ.
- Marine phase.
- Check if any alien is still in the LZ.
- Roll white die to generate a new alien wave.
Base upgrades: Bunker: kill any one alien of each wave. Sentinels: makes an attack with 2 dice. Antenna: re-roll 1 die from the first roll each turn.