Virtuti Militari: Complete Rulebook

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Introduction

Virtuti Militari: World War 2 in Europe is a turn-based strategic game for two players (referred to as the Axis Player and the Allied Player) competing for domination in Europe during World War II (1939 to 1945).

The Allied Player controls two factions: the Western Allies and the USSR. In the Full Campaign scenario, the USSR faction starts inactive, so the Allied Player effectively controls only the Western Allies faction at the beginning of the campaign.

The Axis Player controls one faction: the Axis.

Most of the game logic and sequence flow are faction-based (not player-based), which means the Allied Player will make moves for the two factions he or she controls. Victory conditions, however, are player-based—one of the two players will win in the end.

 

Key Game Concepts:

 

Combat Dice: 6-sided dice used to determine losses dealt to the enemy. There are 8 types of dice: white, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, black and a ‘skull’ die, each with a different distribution of pips. 

Units: There are 6 types of units in the game: Army, Corps, Armored Corps, Armored Division, Artillery, and Fleet. Each unit has three main statistics: Strength, Hit Points, and Combat Die. Each unit has a level, which may be 1, 2, or 3. The level determines the unit’s Strength, HP, and Combat Die. 

The Map: Displays the European continent and Northern Africa, divided into areas where land units will move and fight. The map also has sea areas where naval units will move and fight. Some area borders are rivers or mountains. The map has several view modes:

  • Faction mode: shows areas color-coded by controlling faction (gray for Axis, blue for Allies, red for USSR, white for neutral). This is the default mode.
  • Weather mode: areas are color-coded by weather (green for clear, brown for mud, white for snow).
  • Political mode: shows areas color-coded by countries.
  • Supply mode: shows areas color-coded by supply status (green – player’s area is supplied, red – player’s area is out of supply, dark green – enemy area is supplied, dark red – enemy area is out of supply).

Order Tokens: Players will place these on the map to move their land and naval units, attack enemy units, provide support to adjacent units, boost defense, and so on. Each Faction has its own pool of order tokens. Some orders need to be purchased and are single-use (they do not return to the Faction’s pool after they are executed) – they are marked with a different color.

Fortification Tokens: Placed on the map, they improve the strength of units defending in the fortified area and absorb losses. 

Air Support Tokens: Players will use these tokens to boost their strength during battles and deal additional losses. Each faction has its own Air Support Token pool which may change during the course of the game. There are five types of Air Support Tokens. 

Deck of Cards: Players will play cards to get Production Points, Air Support Tokens, or to buff their strength in battles. Each Faction has its own deck of cards.

Initiative Track: Determines the order of play for all three Factions during specific Phases in the game. 

Logistics Track: Determines the stacking limit for each of the three Factions. The higher the faction is on the Logistics Track, the more units it will be able to stack together in Land/Sea Areas. 

Supply Sources: Areas on the map to which units need to trace supply during the Supply Phase, or they’ll get Out of Supply status and suffer penalties.

Production Points Sources: Areas on the map which yield Production Points to the controlling Faction.

Production Points (PP): The game currency. Factions collect PP by controlling PP Sources on the map. PP can be spent to buy or upgrade units, research new technologies, etc.

VP Areas: Areas on the map worth Victory Points to the controlling Player.

Victory Points: Players get VP by controlling VP Areas on the map. At the end of the game, the winning player is determined by the number of Victory Points they control.

Submarine Markers: Special markers used to raid enemy convoys (a mini-game within the game). Note: These markers are NOT considered units – they may not receive orders, move, or fight.

Discard Pile: Each Faction has its own card discard pile. Cards in the discard pile are always visible to the opponent player.

War Economy: percentage modifier for Production Points, tracked separately for each Faction. War Economy increases automatically by 10% each turn up to a maximum value of 100%. War Economy can decrease due to special events or enemy submarines/fleets raiding a faction’s convoys

Technologies: Each Faction can invest PP to level up 7 technologies: Infantry, Tanks, Artillery, Fleet, Air Support, Submarines, and Sonars. The minimum technology level is 1, and the maximum is 3.

 

General Rules

Access To Information

The game has no ‘fog of war.’ All units on the map are always visible to both players at all times. All cards in hand and in the discard piles are always visible to both players. All Order Tokens and Air Support Tokens possessed by a player are always visible to the opposing player. Production Queues are always visible to the opposing player.

Even though both players always have full access to information, the most important decisions in the game are made secretly. This includes placing Orders on the map, playing cards, and selecting Air Support Tokens in battle. Players make their selections in secret and reveal played cards, orders, or tokens simultaneously.

Playing cards

Players start with a hand of cards, according to the scenario setup. Each Faction manages cards independently, meaning the Allied player will have 2 independent decks, hands, and discard piles (one for the Western Allies Faction, the other for the USSR Faction). Each card played by a Faction is placed in that Faction’s discard pile. Whenever a Faction plays its last card in hand, they take all remaining cards from the Discard Pile into hand and put the played card in the Discard Pile.

Stacking limits

The stacking limit is determined by a faction’s position on the Logistics track. The track shows how many stacks of 2, 3, and 4 units a faction may have on the map. A faction cannot go lower than position 1 or higher than position 8 on the track.

Unit type and level don’t matter for the purpose of stacking. For example, two Armored Divisions in the same Area count as a two-unit stack, just like 2 Armies or an Army and a Corps, or two Fleets count as a two-unit stack.

For example, if a Faction position on the Logistics Track is 4, it means they can have a total of four stacks, of which three can be up to 2 units in size, and one can be up to 3 units in size.

Over the course of the game, factions may move up and down on the Logistics Track. Whenever a faction moves down the track, thus decreasing its stacking limits, it must check whether the new limit is fulfilled. If not, the controlling player must immediately remove units from the map to satisfy the new limit. Players choose which units they want to remove.

Overstacking

A player may temporarily break stacking limits when moving a stack of units, but at the end of the move, the limits must be fulfilled. The exception to this rule is an area with a maximum stack of 4 units. No other units may pass through such an area, even temporarily.

Other limits

There are no limits on cards in hand, cards in deck, Order Tokens, or Air Support Tokens a player can have at any given point in the game.

Status of Map Areas

Each Land Area on the map has an Original Owner – this is the country that historically controlled the given Area. The Original Owner never changes unless explicitly stated in the game rules.

The game tracks the status of each Land Area on the map independently for each of the 3 Factions (Western Allies, USSR, and Axis). There are 5 available statuses:

Neutral Area – An Area that is not controlled by any of the 3 Factions. 

Friendly Area – An Area controlled by the Faction whose Original Owner is a member of that Faction. For example, Rome becomes a Friendly Area for the Axis Faction when Italy joins the Axis Faction. 

Occupied Area – Any area controlled by the Faction that is not a Friendly Area. For example, Paris, when controlled by the Axis, is an Occupied Area. 

Enemy Area – An Area controlled by an enemy Faction.

Allied Area – Friendly Areas controlled by the Western Allies Faction are considered Allied Areas by the USSR Faction and vice versa: Friendly Areas controlled by the USSR Faction are considered Allied Areas by the Western Allies Faction.

The game keeps track of all Land Area Statuses for all three Factions and ensures they’re always up to date.

Sea Areas and Ports do not have statuses – they never have any owner.

 

Factions War Status

The Western Allies Faction starts the game at war with the Axis Faction; they can attack each other and capture each other’s Areas.


The USSR Faction can never be at war with the Western Allies Faction. It can only be at war with the Axis Faction.


The USSR Faction starts the game inactive. As long as the USSR Faction is inactive, the Allied player may not perform any actions on behalf of the USSR Faction during any Phases. The only exceptions are Calendar Events, which will modify the USSR token pool and card pool.

The USSR can activate in one of the following ways:

  • The Axis player chooses to break the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact after Poland surrenders.
  • The Axis player declares war on Lithuania, Latvia, or Estonia.
  • The USSR activates automatically in Early Summer 1941 due to the special event ‘USSR Prepares for War.’

USSR activation does not bring it to war yet, meaning its units cannot enter Axis-controlled areas and attack Axis units, but all other actions are unlocked (the Allied player may give orders to USSR units, build new units, research technologies, etc.). Also, the USSR War Economy starts increasing when the USSR is active.

The USSR can go to war with the Axis in one of two ways:

  • The Axis player declares war on the USSR.
  • In Spring 1942, the USSR will declare a pre-emptive war on the Axis via a special Event.

 

Countries’ Statuses

The game tracks the political status of each country in the game. A country can be in one of three statuses:

  • Neutral: The country is not part of any faction.
  • Active: The country is a part of a warring faction.
  • Surrendered: The country has surrendered.

For example, in the 1939 scenario, the Western Allies faction includes three active countries: Great Britain, France, and Poland.

Countries can progress from Neutral to Active as a result of a war declaration or a special event, and from Active to Surrendered when surrender conditions are met. Surrender conditions can be checked for each country in the Diplomacy screen.

Sequence of Play

The game is played in turns. Each turn represents a few calendar months, with the turns being Spring, Early Summer, Late Summer, Autumn, and Winter (5 turns per year). The starting turn depends on the selected scenario; for example, the Full Campaign starts in Late Summer 1939, while Operation Barbarossa starts in Early Summer 1941.

The game ends in Autumn 1945 or when either side achieves a Decisive Victory. Each turn is divided into 10 phases:

  • Weather Phase
  • Calendar Event Phase
  • Random Event Phase
  • Strategic Phase
  • Production Phase
  • Planning Phase
  • Operations Phase
  • Supply Phase
  • Diplomatic Phase
  • Summary Phase

1 – Weather Phase

In the weather phase, the game determines the weather (Clear / Mud / Snow) for each land area. This phase is fully automatic.

Each land area in the game belongs to one of the three climate zones: Subtropical (52 areas), Temperate (113 areas), or Subpolar (16 areas).

In the Weather Phase, each land area is assigned one of the 3 weather statuses: Clear, Mud, or Snow, according to the following algorithm:

  • In Spring and Autumn turns: All areas start Clear. Select 5-10 areas randomly in the Temperate zone and give them Mud. Then, for each of those areas, spread Mud recursively to 0-5 additional random adjacent Clear weather areas. Finally, assign Clear to all Subtropical zones and Snow to all Subpolar zones (thus overwriting potential Mud that could spread there).
  • In Summer turns: All areas start Clear. Select 0-5 areas randomly in the Temperate/Subpolar zone and give them Mud. Then, for each of those areas, spread Mud recursively to 0-3 additional random adjacent areas. Assign Clear weather to all Subtropical zones (thus overwriting potential Mud spread earlier).
  • In Winter turns: All areas start Clear. Assign Snow to the Serov area (the one in the northeast corner of the map), then spread Snow from the Serov area recursively to 70-120 randomly selected adjacent areas. Finally, assign Clear to all Subtropical zones and Snow to all Subpolar zones.

The game then progresses to the next phase.

Effects of Weather

  • Clear Weather: No effect.
  • Mud Weather: Players cannot put Feint Attack and Maneuver orders in the area with Mud weather. A battle in an area with Mud weather skips the Air Support step (no air support due to heavy rains).
  • Snow Weather: The river crossing penalty is ignored if areas on both sides of a river have Snow weather (frozen rivers).

2 – Calendar Events Phase

The Calendar Events Phase is fully automatic. In this phase, pre-determined events occur. Events may include factions gaining or losing specific Order Tokens or specific Cards. Click on the Calendar button in the top menu to get a list of all calendar events for each turn. 

The game then progresses to the next phase.

3 – Random Event Phase

This phase is skipped in turn 1. On all subsequent turns, a random event card is drawn from the Random Events deck. The event’s effects are applied, and the card is discarded. Click on the Random Events button in the top menu to review all Random Event cards in the deck and their effects.

The game then progresses to the next phase.

4 – Strategic Phase

In this phase, each faction plays two cards: the first card is played for the Production Points multiplier, and the second one is played for Air Support Tokens.

Playing Card for Production Points Multiplier

Both players secretly pick a card they want to play for the Production Points multiplier. If the USSR is at war, the Allied player selects 2 cards, one for each faction they control. The cards are played face down and are revealed simultaneously.

Factions then receive Production Points (PP) according to the formula: PP Received = Sum of all PP sources controlled by the faction on the map * Faction War Economy Multiplier * PP Multiplier from played card.

The sum of all PP controlled on the map is calculated as follows:

  • A faction receives 100% of the amount from PP sources in Friendly Areas.
  • A faction receives 25% of the amount from PP sources in Occupied Areas.
  • PP Sources in Areas Out Of Supply do not yield any PP. See ‘Supply Phase’ for details on how supply is calculated.

Example: The Allied player has a total of 35 PP controlled on the map, a War Economy at 60%, and played the ‘Charles de Gaulle’ card, which has a 50% PP Multiplier. The Allies faction receives 35 * 0.6 * 0.5 = 10.5 PP, and puts the played card in the discard pile.

Note: Production Points in the game are counted with 1 decimal place precision.

After collecting PP, War Economy increases by 10% for each faction. War Economy is capped at 100%. The USSR faction does not increase its War Economy if it is not at war.

Playing Card for Air Support Tokens

Next, both players secretly pick a card they want to play for Air Support Tokens. If the USSR is at war, the Allied player selects 2 cards, one for each faction they control. The cards are played face down and revealed simultaneously.

Factions then draw Air Support Tokens equal to the number of the value on the played card from the faction’s Air Support Tokens pool.

The game then progresses to the next phase.

5 – Production Phase

Production Phase actions are taken simultaneously by both players. Actions taken by a player are not seen immediately by their opponent. All actions are revealed after both players have completed all their actions. During the production phase, players can do the following actions, on behalf of the factions they control:

Spend PP on buying new units

Factions pay the Production Point cost of the unit to queue the unit for production. Purchasing higher level units requires that the faction has the corresponding technology level. Army and Corps units require ‘Infantry’ technology, Armored Corps and Armored Division require ‘Tanks’ technology, Artillery units require ‘Artillery’ technology, and Fleet units require ‘Fleet’ technology. For example, to purchase a level 3 Army, the faction needs ‘Infantry’ technology to be at level 3.

Spend PP on strengthening units on the map

Factions pay the Production Points cost to strengthen a Corps to Army or to strengthen an Armored Division to Armored Corps. Other types of units cannot be strengthened. The unit being strengthened must be in supply. Strengthened units retain their level. For example, a Level 2 Corps is strengthened to a Level 2 Army.

Spend PP on upgrading units on the map

Factions pay the PP cost to upgrade (level up) a unit. Factions need to have a corresponding technology at the given level to upgrade a unit to that level. For example, to upgrade a level 1 Corps to a level 2 Corps, a level 2 Infantry technology is required. The unit must be in supply to be upgradable. Since the max technology level is 3 for all technologies, the max unit level is also 3 for all unit types. 

It is possible to upgrade the same unit multiple times during the same Production Phase. It is also possible to strengthen the unit and then upgrade it in the same Production Phase.

Spend PP on buying special Order Tokens

Factions pay the PP cost of the token to queue a special Order Token for production. Some tokens are purchased in sets; for example, an Amphibious Landing token always comes with a Shore Bombardment Token. Using Order Tokens is covered in later sections of the rulebook.

Deploy new units on the map

When unit production is completed, it becomes available to be deployed on the map. 

Land units can be placed in any friendly area that is in supply (see the Supply Phase on how supply is calculated). 

Fleet units can be placed in any port belonging to a supplied friendly area. 

Axis Submarine markers can be placed only in the North Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Arctic Sea.

Soviet Submarine markers can be placed only in the Baltic Sea.

Allied Submarine markers can be placed only in the North Sea and Central Mediterranean Sea. 

Submarine markers are NOT considered units—stacking limits don’t apply to them, and they can’t be given any orders. They remain in the area where they were deployed until they are destroyed or damaged. 

Players may not break stacking limits when placing new land units or fleets on the map. If there isn’t any area where a player can deploy a unit, they cannot deploy it. 

If a faction decides to skip deploying a unit on the map, it stays in the faction’s deployment pool and can be deployed in subsequent turns.

Spend PP on advancing on the Logistics Track

Factions can spend PP to advance their position on the Logistics Track, thus increasing their stacking limit. The cost in PP is the new position on the track. For example, to advance to position 5, a faction pays 5 PP. Factions may advance multiple times on the Logistics Track in the same Production Phase.

Spend PP on technology research

Factions can spend PP to buy a Research Point in one of the available technologies. Factions can buy as many Research Points as they wish during the same Production Phase. 

The first Research Point in a given technology costs 10 PP, the second one costs 20 PP, the third costs 30 PP, and the fourth costs 40 PP. The maximum Research Points a faction can invest in any given technology is 4. The minimum technology level is 1. The maximum tech level is 3. When a faction reaches level 3 in a technology, they can no longer invest a Research Point in that technology. 

Each Research Point gives a 25% chance to make progress in researching the technology, and finally developing the technology. To develop level 2 of a technology, three progress steps are needed. To develop level 3 of a technology, four progress steps are needed. Progress checks occur in the Summary Phase—refer to that chapter of the document for more details.

Effects of Technologies

Infantry Tech: Allows the Faction to build or upgrade Corps and Army units up to the technology level. Decreases build time for Army and Corps units by 1 per level (build time cannot be lower than 1 turn).

Tanks Tech: Allows the Faction to build or upgrade Armored Division and Armored Corps units up to the technology level. Decreases build time for Armored Corps and Armored Division units by 1 per level (build time cannot be lower than 1 turn).

Artillery Tech: Allows the Faction to build or upgrade Artillery units up to the technology level. Decreases build time for Artillery units by 1 per level (build time cannot be lower than 1 turn).

Fleet Tech: Allows the Faction to build or upgrade Fleet units up to the technology level. Decreases build time for Fleet units by 1 per level (build time cannot be lower than 1 turn). Makes Fleet units more effective in raiding enemy convoys.

Air Force Tech: This technology improves the quality of Air Support Tokens present in the faction’s pool:

  • When Level 2 is developed: remove 3 Level 1 tokens, add 3 Level 3 tokens, and 1 Level 4 token.
  • When Level 3 is developed: remove all remaining Level 1 tokens, add 2 Level 4 tokens, and 1 Level 5 token.

Submarines Tech: Makes submarine tokens more effective in disrupting enemy War Economy. Decreases build time for Submarine tokens by 1 per level (build time cannot be lower than 1 turn).

Sonars Tech: Makes fleets more effective in fighting off enemy submarines.

6 – Planning Phase

In the Planning Phase, players take Order Tokens from their faction’s Order Token Pool and place them on the map. Players place Order Tokens secretly (they can’t see each other’s order placement). Once both confirm they have finished, all Order Tokens are revealed simultaneously. The following rules apply:

  • Order Tokens can only be placed in an area (Land, Sea, or Port) where the faction has its own units. It is illegal to place an Order Token in an empty area.
  • Only one Order Token can be placed per area.
  • A faction can only place Order Tokens from its own Order Token Pool.
  • Build Fortification and Strategic Movement Tokens can be placed only on land areas.
  • Maneuver orders can be placed in land and non-Mud areas only.
  • Defense Orders may be placed only on land and sea areas (i.e., cannot be put in ports).
  • Feint Attack orders can be placed in non-Mud land areas, sea areas, or ports.
  • +0 Amphibious Landing Order may be placed only on a single unit stack in an area with a friendly-controlled port.
  • +1 Amphibious Landing Order may be placed only on a stack size of 2 or smaller, in an area with a friendly-controlled port.
  • +2 Amphibious Landing Order may be placed only on a stack size of 3 or smaller, in an area with a friendly-controlled port.
  • Shore Bombardment Order may be placed only on a sea area.

The game then progresses to the next phase.

7 – Operations Phase

The Operations Phase is where all Orders are executed. It is the main phase of the game, where most action takes place: units will move, fight, capture Areas, etc.

Sequence of Play in the Operations Phase

The Operations Phase is divided into Sub-Phases. In each Sub-Phase, a different type of Orders gets executed:

  • 1st Sub-Phase: Feint Attack Orders
  • 2nd Sub-Phase: Movement Orders (Move, Maneuver & Amphibious Landing)
  • 3rd Sub-Phase: Strategic Transport Order
  • 4th Sub-Phase: Build Fortifications Orders

Each Sub-Phase starts with the Faction highest on the Initiative Track. The controlling player must execute one of their Orders of a type appropriate for that Sub-Phase, apply all results, then remove the executed Order Token by putting it back in the Faction’s Order Token Pool. Then, the next Faction on the Initiative Track must execute one of their Orders of that type, apply the result, remove the token, and so on, until all Orders of the given type are executed.

If a Faction has no more Order Tokens of an appropriate type on the map, they pass this Sub-Phase and wait until other Factions finish executing their orders.

Once the Sub-Phase is completed by executing all Orders of the given type, the game then progresses to the next Sub-Phase, where the next type of Orders gets executed using the same sequence of play.

Important: When executing any Order, a player may decide to skip its effects. For example, when executing a Move Order, a player may decide not to move any units.

Executed Order Tokens always return to the Faction’s Order Token Pool and can be reused in subsequent turns. The exception to this rule is Maneuver and Amphibious Landing Order Tokens, which are single-use: they are permanently removed from the game after they’re executed.

Sections below explain the effects of executing Orders.

1st Sub-Phase: Feint Attack Orders

When executing a Feint Attack Order, a player may remove an opponent’s Order Token from an adjacent area. Only Feint Attack, Support, Build Fortification, Strategic Movement, Amphibious Landing, and Shore Bombardment orders may be removed that way. The removed order returns to the faction’s order token pool (including Amphibious Landing or Shore Bombardment).

Feint Attack Orders executed from land areas can remove an opponent’s order from adjacent land areas only. They can’t remove orders from adjacent sea areas or port areas. For example, a Feint Attack order placed in Danzig cannot remove an opponent’s order present in the Baltic Sea.

Feint Attack Orders executed from sea areas can remove an opponent’s order from adjacent sea areas only. They can’t remove orders from adjacent land areas or port areas. For example, a Feint Attack order placed in the English Channel can’t remove an opponent’s order present in Caen or in Caen’s port.

Feint Attack Orders executed from port areas work only on adjacent sea areas.

2nd Sub-Phase: Movement Orders

In this Sub-Phase, players can execute Move, Maneuver, and Amphibious Landing Orders.

Move Orders for land units:

Players can move units from the Area with the Move Order Token to an adjacent Area. If more than one unit moves, they may move to different Areas. It is illegal to enter Neutral Areas (a war must be declared first) and Allied Areas (USSR units can’t enter Western Allies’ areas and vice versa).

A player may temporarily break stacking limits when moving a stack of units, but at the end of the move, the limits must be fulfilled. The exception to this rule is an area with a maximum stack of 4 units. No other units may pass through such an area, even temporarily.

When units move into an Enemy Area that does not have enemy units in it, the Area becomes controlled by the entering Faction.

Units may move into an Enemy Area with enemy units in it – if that happens, a battle begins. The battle must be resolved immediately (see the ‘Battle’ section below). After the battle is resolved, the Movement Sub-Phase resumes.

Important: It is illegal to initiate more than one battle with a single Movement Order.

A unit can move into a friendly Area containing another Move Order, and as a consequence, it can move again when executing that order. There are no limits on how many times a unit can move during a turn.

Transporting Land Units Over Sea

Players can send land units over sea with a Move Order. The following requirements must be met: 1) Units need to be in an Area with a Port, 2) The destination Area must have a Port and be controlled by the same Faction, 3) The Faction must be able to trace a continuous chain of its Fleet units over the Sea Zones leading from the departure port to the destination port (requiring Fleets only in Sea Zones, not in ports).

For example, a unit in Manchester can move to Gibraltar with a Move Order if the Western Allies have fleets in the North Sea, English Channel, and South Atlantic (a continuous chain of fleets between Manchester and Gibraltar).

There is no ‘carrying capacity’ – a chain consisting of single-unit Fleets can carry multiple unit stacks of any size during the turn.

When a stack of multiple units is moving over sea, they can move to different destination Ports, as long as all requirements are met.

Special Rule: The Western Allies faction can send their land units over sea to Cairo and Kuwait if they can trace a continuous chain of their own Fleets over Sea Zones leading from the departure port to the South Atlantic Sea Zone. This represents sending troops to the Middle East around Africa, avoiding Italian fleets in the Mediterranean. The movement works the other way as well (i.e., the Western Allies can transport from Cairo/Kuwait to any port as long as they are connected via a chain of fleets from the South Atlantic Sea Zone).

Move Order for Fleets 

Fleet units move just like land units, and all of the above rules apply, but they can only enter Sea Areas and friendly-controlled Ports. Sea areas are never controlled by either side. 

Strategic straits: Fleets can move from the North Sea to the Baltic only if the moving Faction controls Copenhagen. Fleets can move from the South Atlantic to the Western Mediterranean only if the moving Faction controls Gibraltar. Fleets can move from the East Mediterranean to the Black Sea only if the moving Faction controls Istanbul.

Maneuver Order  

With this order, a player can move Armored Corps and Armored Division units up to 2 areas. Other units may move only 1 area. All regular movement rules apply, with the following exceptions: 

  • Units moving with a Maneuver Order may NOT enter areas controlled by enemy units (can’t start a battle). 
  • A Maneuver Order cannot be used to send units over the sea. 
  • A Maneuver Order is single-use. After it is executed, it is removed from the game.

Amphibious Landing Order

With this Order, a player can move units over sea to an enemy-controlled Area.

The following requirements must be met: 1) Units must be in a friendly-controlled port. 2) The faction must be able to trace a continuous chain of Fleet units over the Sea Zones, leading from the departure port to the destination Area. 3) The destination area must have Clear weather.

There is no carrying capacity: a chain of Fleet units can carry multiple stacks of any size in a single turn.

When multiple units are moving with the Amphibious Landing Order, they can land in different Areas but can initiate only one battle.

The Amphibious Landing Order token is single-use. After it is executed, it is removed from the game.

Example: To invade Axis-controlled Caen with units from Cardiff, the Allied player needs at least 1 Fleet in each of the North Atlantic, South Atlantic, and English Channel sea zones. An alternative would be to have at least 1 Fleet in each of the North Atlantic, Arctic Sea, North Sea, and English Channel sea zones.

Resolving Battles 

When units enter an enemy-occupied area, a battle begins. A battle must be fully resolved before the game can advance. The battle is resolved in the following steps:

Step 1: Calculate Initial Strength of Attacker and Defender 

Both sides calculate their initial strength as per the following rules:

  • Units present in the embattled area contribute their attack/defense strength.
  • If either side has a Support Order Token present in an area adjacent to the embattled area, the attack/defense strength of all units in that area is added to the attacker/defender strength.
    • If an improved Support Order Token was used (e.g., +1 Support Order), its bonus value gets added as well.
    • It is possible to receive support from more than one adjacent area.
    • Fortification Tokens present in the adjacent areas do not provide support.
  • If a Defense Order Token is present in the embattled area, its bonus value is added to the defender’s strength.
  • A Move Order token bonus used to trigger the battle modifies the attacker’s strength. For example, a +2 Move Order adds 2 to the attacker’s strength.
  • If a Fortification Token is present in the embattled area, add its value to the defender’s strength.
  • Attack or support strength projected across rivers or mountains is halved, rounded down. Strength bonuses from order tokens are not affected by rivers and mountains. For example: Armored Corps (Strength 2) and two Armies (Strength 1 each) support combat in an adjacent area across the river using a +1 Support Order token. The support strength is calculated as (2+1+1)/2 = 2. Then a +1 bonus from the Support Order Token applies, and the final support value is 3.
  • Frozen rivers: River crossing penalties do NOT apply if areas on both sides of the river have Snow weather.
  • Land units cannot support battles in Sea Areas.
  • Fleet units cannot support battles in Land Areas with a Support Order Token. They can, however, support land battles in an adjacent area with a Shore Bombardment Token. The Shore Bombardment token is permanently removed from the game at the end of the turn.
  • Receiving all strength bonuses from all sources (order tokens, support, etc.) is mandatory.
  • The USSR Faction cannot support Western Allies in battle and vice versa.

Step 2: Play Card 

Both sides secretly pick one card from their hand. Once both players confirm their decision, the cards are revealed simultaneously. Players add the card strength to their strength in battle. Apply any additional effects from played cards, if applicable. 

Step 3: Use Air Support Tokens 

This step is skipped if the weather in the embattled area is Mud (no air support due to the rain). This step is also skipped if it’s a sea battle. 

Both sides secretly pick any number of Air Support Tokens they have. It is possible for a player to not pick any Air Support Tokens. Once both players confirm their decision, selected Air Support Tokens are revealed, and their strength gets added to the corresponding player’s strength in the battle. Used Air Support Tokens return to the Faction’s Air Support Token pool.

Step 4: Determine the Winner 

The side with higher total strength is the winner. In case of a tie, the winner is the Faction higher on the Initiative Track.

Step 5: Calculate & Deal Losses 

Both sides determine how many combat dice of which color they will roll to inflict losses on the enemy. The following sources provide combat dice:

  • Dice from units present in the embattled area. Dice from supporting units are NOT counted.
  • Artillery units’ dice apply only if artillery is attacking.
  • Dice from played Cards
  • Dice from Air Support Tokens 

Both sides then roll all the dice to determine how many loss points they dealt to the opponent’s side. After that, players select which of their units will take losses to satisfy the result of the dice roll. The defender takes losses first and reduces / destroys his units, then the attacker does the same.

Destroyed Armies are reduced to Corps. Unit level is retained; for example, a Level 2 Army gets reduced to a Level 2 Corps.

Destroyed Armored Corps are reduced to an Armored Division. Unit level is retained.

Other unit types don’t get reduced – they are eliminated when they take losses equal to their HP.

A unit’s Hit Point value determines how many loss points it takes to destroy it. Units always take losses equal to their full HP; they never get ‘wounded.’ For example, an Army with 2 HP cannot take 1 loss point and be left with 1 HP. It can only take 2 loss points.

The following rules apply when allocating losses:

  • Only units in the embattled area can take losses. Supporting units never take any losses.
  • Losing side artillery units cannot take losses. Instead, they get automatically eliminated before allocating any losses.
  • Players must absorb all losses resulting from the dice roll if possible. They cannot intentionally avoid taking damage. For example, if a player has 2 Armies in the embattled area (2 HP each) and must take 4 losses, he cannot reduce an Army to a Corps for 2 HP, then reduce the Corps for 1 HP and be left with 1 unassigned loss point. He needs to spend all 4 points, and the only way to do that is to reduce both Armies.
  • Only if there is no way to take losses, the losses are ignored. For example, if a player has only one Army (2 HP) in the embattled area and takes 1 loss point, the army keeps 2 HP, as it may not get ‘wounded.’
  • If a Fortification token is present in the embattled area, it may absorb losses. Each level of Fortification counts as 1 HP. For example, a Level 3 fortification may absorb 1 loss point and be reduced to Level 2, or it may absorb 2 loss points and get reduced to Level 1, or absorb 3 loss points and be destroyed.
  • Some cards include HP symbols. Players may use those symbols to absorb losses. Each symbol counts as 1 HP.

Step 6: Losing Units Must Retreat and Gain ‘Exhausted’ Status 

After taking losses, all remaining units of the losing side must retreat.

Exception: when the embattled area is ‘Out of Supply’ and the defender loses the battle, the retreat step is skipped, and all units in the area are automatically eliminated. This rule takes precedence over ‘Stalin’s Line’ and ’62nd Army’ card effects (those cards cannot save the unsupplied units).

If the losing side is the attacker, they retreat to the area from which they attacked. If the attack was an amphibious invasion, all attacker units are automatically eliminated.

If the losing side is the defender, they first determine areas to which they may retreat. The following rules apply:

  • All retreating units must retreat to the same area.
  • The area must be adjacent to the embattled area.
  • If retreating from a land battle: The area must be controlled by the losing side Faction
  • If retreating from a sea battle: The area must be empty or friendly-controlled. Units may never retreat to an area the attacking units moved from
  • When selecting a retreat area, players must prioritize those areas which do not cause breaking the stacking limits. Only if such an area is not available, may the player choose one of the areas where stacking limits would be violated. In that case, the player must destroy some of the retreating units to satisfy the stacking limits.
  • If there’s no valid retreat area, all units get eliminated.
  • In sea battles, all standard fleet movement rules apply: units can retreat to friendly-controlled ports, units can move through Strategic Straits only if the corresponding land area is friendly controlled.

Units which retreated gain exhausted status until the end of the turn.

Effects of Being Exhausted:

  • Exhausted unit strength is always zero in battles (that includes support strength).
  • Exhausted units do not inflict any losses in battles.
  • Exhausted units cannot make any moves using Movement, Maneuver, and Strategic Orders.

Step 7: Winning Side Captures the Embattled Area

If the winning side was the defender, nothing happens (all defending units remain in the embattled area). If the winning side was the attacker, all attacking units that survived the combat advance to the attacked area. The area is captured and the control changes to the attacking Faction.

If the attacker won but no attacking units survived, there is no advance: the area remains under the control of the defender.

All Fortification Tokens present in the captured area are removed.

If the captured area has a port with enemy Fleets in it, they are destroyed. 

Any Order Token present in the captured area is removed – it returns to the owner’s pool. If the Order Token present in the captured area was a one-time use Order (i.e., Amphibious Landing, Maneuver, or Shore Bombardment), it is destroyed.

The battle ends and the Movement Order Sub-Phase resumes.

3rd Sub-Phase: Execute Strategic Movement Orders 

When executing a Strategic Movement Order, a player may move all units to any Friendly or Occupied area to which they can trace a continuous path over other Friendly or Occupied areas. Stacked units executing a Strategic Movement Order may move to different areas. The movement cannot break the Stacking Limits for the Faction.

4th Sub-Phase: Execute Build Fortifications Orders 

This sub-phase is automatic. The game automatically places a Fortification Level 1 token in the area with the Build Fortification Order Token. If a Fortification token is already present, it gets upgraded to the next level. A Fortification Level 3 cannot be upgraded (the Build Fortification order can still be played in such an area, but the effects are ignored). Players are notified about built fortifications via the game log.

8 – Supply Phase

This phase is automatic (players take no actions). In this phase, the game calculates the supply status for each Faction separately, in order of Initiative. Supply status is calculated for land Areas under a Faction’s control. The algorithm for the calculation is as follows:

Step 1: Starting from a Faction’s Supply Sources, the supply spreads by land, through Areas controlled by the Faction, until it cannot spread anymore.

Step 2: Then supply moves by sea: all Areas with Ports that were supplied in Step 1 send supply over the sea to other controlled Areas with Ports, which have not been supplied in Step 1.

Supply carried over the sea does NOT require having one’s own Fleets in those areas but it cannot pass through Sea Areas with another Faction’s Fleets. Supply carried through the sea does not have any range (i.e., it can travel through any number of Sea Areas).

Strategic Straits: Supply can move between the North Sea and Baltic Sea only if the Faction controls Copenhagen. Supply can move between the South Atlantic and Western Mediterranean only if the Faction controls Gibraltar. Supply can move between the East Mediterranean and Black Sea only if the Faction controls Istanbul.

Sending Supply Around Africa: Western Allies’ supply moves over the sea from the South Atlantic Sea to ports in Cairo and Kuwait. This represents British sea routes to the Red Sea and Persian Gulf around Africa.

Step 3: Areas with Ports which gained supply in Step 2 spread the supplies inland, per the rules described in Step 1.

Step 4: If an ‘Out of Supply’ (OOS) marker exists in a supplied Area, it gets removed (unit re-connected with supply).

Step 5: All units present in Areas with an ‘Out of Supply’ marker get eliminated. Fortification tokens do not get eliminated when Out of Supply.

Step 6: Any Area controlled by the Faction which does not have supply and does not have an ‘Out of Supply’ marker gets an ‘Out of Supply’ marker.

Effects of being out of supply

In addition to units being eliminated if unable to re-establish supply the following turn, the following additional effects apply:

  • In the Strategic Phase, factions do not receive PP from PP Sources in Areas which are Out of Supply.
  • In the Planning Phase, units in Areas which are Out of Supply can be given only a Defense Order.
  • Units Out of Supply cannot be strengthened or upgraded.
  • A player cannot deploy new units to Areas which are Out of Supply.
  • Units Out of Supply which lose a battle are all automatically eliminated before the Retreat step. This rule takes precedence over ‘Stalin’s Line’ and ’62nd Army’ card effects, which means those cards cannot save the unsupplied units.

9 – Diplomatic Phase

In the Diplomatic phase, the game makes a series of automatic checks first. 

For each Active country, the game checks whether the country surrenders. The country surrenders when all of its key areas are controlled by the enemy. The player may check a list of key areas for each country on the Diplomacy screen.

When a country surrenders, the following effects take place: 

  • All areas of which this country is the Original Owner and which are not controlled by the winning Faction are immediately taken over by the winning Faction; all units present in those areas are eliminated. The winning Faction is the faction that controls the surrendering country’s key areas.
  • The winning Faction plunders the surrendering country, gaining Production Points. The player may check the plunder value for each country on the Diplomacy screen.

Then the game checks if conditions are fulfilled to trigger a special Scripted Event. If conditions are met, the event triggers and its effects are applied immediately. A full list of Scripted Events, their trigger conditions, and effects is available in a separate chapter of this rulebook.

After the above checks are made and their effects applied, factions can take Diplomatic Actions. The Axis Player makes all their Diplomatic Actions first, followed by the Allied Player. Players can take one or more of the following actions: 

  • Declare War on a Neutral Country. If the Axis Faction declares war, the country on which they declared war joins the Western Allies Faction. If the USSR or Western Allies declare war, the country joins the Axis. The country joining the war immediately deploys its units on the map (See Appendix 4 for a list of units mobilized by each country). All country units and areas become controlled by the Faction it has joined.
  • Exert Pressure. A faction spends PP to bring a neutral country away from/towards joining the Faction via diplomatic efforts. It’s a mini-game with the following rules:
    • Each Neutral country has the following characteristics: Alignment (which can be either Western Allies or Axis), War Entry level (value from 0 to 10), and Political Pressure Cost (a cost in PP, to execute the Pressure action).
    • When a Faction decides to exert political pressure, it pays the PP cost, and the game makes a random check with the following results: 
      • 50% chance: no effect; 
      • 30% chance: War Entry changes by 10%; 
      • 10% chance: War Entry changes by 20%; 
      • 10% chance: War Entry changes by 30%. 
    • War Entry grows if the Faction exerting pressure is the same as the country’s Alignment or drops if it’s different. For example, Bulgaria’s alignment is Axis. When the Axis exerts successful pressure on Bulgaria, the War Entry goes up, bringing Bulgaria closer to joining the Axis. When the Western Allies or USSR exert successful pressure on Bulgaria, the War Entry goes down, moving Bulgaria away from joining the Axis.
    • If War Entry reaches 100%, the country joins the Faction – it deploys its units on the map, and its Areas become controlled by the Faction it has joined. War Entry cannot drop below 0%. 

War Entry will often change due to a Scripted Event. If War Entry reaches 100% due to a Scripted Event, the effects are identical: the country joins the Faction it is aligned with, deploys its units, and its Areas become controlled by the Faction.

10 – Summary Phase

The Summary Phase is fully automatic. The game performs the following actions:

  • All Orders still present on the map return to the owner’s Faction’s pools. Shore bombardment orders are permanently removed.
  • All unused Air Support Tokens return to the owner’s Faction’s pools.
  • Production Queues are updated for each Faction.
  • Raiding Convoys mini-game:
    • Each Submarine on the map checks whether it successfully raided an enemy convoy. The success chance depends on the owner’s Submarine Technology level: 20% for level 1, 35% for level 2, and 60% for level 3.
    • Each successful check deals 1%-5% damage to the enemy War Economy:
      • Axis Submarines in the Arctic Sea damage the Soviet War Economy (only if the USSR is at war).
      • Axis Submarines in the North Atlantic and South Atlantic areas damage the Western Allies’ War Economy.
      • Soviet Submarines in the Baltic Sea damage the Axis Economy.
      • Western Allies Submarine Markers in the Central Mediterranean Sea deal damage to the Axis War Economy only if the Axis has armored units in the North African areas between Casablanca and Cairo. This represents raiding supply convoys to Axis forces in Africa.
      • Western Allies Submarine Markers in the North Sea deal damage to the Axis War Economy only if Copenhagen and Oslo are not Axis-controlled. This represents raiding resource convoys from Sweden.
    • Then, fleet units present in appropriate areas attempt to raid enemy convoys. The rules are the same as for the Submarines. The chance for a fleet unit to successfully raid a convoy is 60%, 75%, or 90%, depending on the fleet owner’s Fleet Technology level.
    • Each Fleet unit present on the map in an area where the opponent faction has at least one submarine checks whether it was able to successfully attack an enemy submarine (1 fleet unit may attempt just 1 attack each turn). The success chance depends on the owner’s Sonar Technology level: 20% for level 1, 35% for level 2, and 60% for level 3. If the check is successful, another check is made:
      • 50% chance – the attacked submarine gets destroyed.
      • 50% chance – the attacked submarine gets damaged. It is placed in the production queue with a build time selected randomly between 2 and 4 turns.
  • The game checks for technology research progress:
    • For each technology in which a Faction has invested Research Points, a check is made. Each Research Point adds a 25% chance to make progress. For example, if the Axis has 3 Research Points invested in Tanks technology, the chance to make progress in Tanks is 75%.
    • If the check passes, a progress step is made and one Research Point is removed from that technology.
    • It takes 3 progress steps to develop technology to level 2, and 4 progress steps to develop technology to level 3. Once the final progress step is made, the technology is developed: all invested Research Points in that technology are removed, progress is reset, and the Faction can now benefit from the technology (see ‘Effects of Technologies’).
  • All exhausted units regain full readiness.
  • The game checks for victory conditions:
    • Decisive Victory: The Axis player achieves a Decisive Victory if they control areas worth 18 or more Victory Points. The Allied player achieves a Decisive Victory if they control London, Paris, Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad, Rome, and Berlin.
    • If no Decisive Victory is achieved, the game ends at the conclusion of the Autumn 1945 turn. If any player controls areas worth 15 or more VP (out of a total of 26 VPs on the map), that player achieves a Minor Victory.
    • Otherwise, the game ends in a draw.