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Darkest Days: The Gathering Storm Rulebook (v1.1)
© Copyright 2017 DarkestDaysCG.com
DARKEST DAYS WWII CARD GAME
TM
www.darkestdayscg.com
Darkest Days: The Gathering Storm Rulebook (v1.1)
© Copyright 2017 DarkestDaysCG.com
ANATOMY OF A CARD
Card Title
Deployment cost
Card type (and subtype, if any)
Attack type and value
Game text
Endurance and value
Set and card number
CARD “UNIQUENESS”
Some cards are one-of-a-kind.
“Unique” cards have a dot (·) in front of
their card titles that denotes their
“uniqueness.”
There can only be one copy of a unique card
in play. If another copy would ever enter
play, it is spent (placed on top of the own-
er’s Spent Pile), immediately.
This unit card is unique.
While this one is not.
Darkest Days: The Gathering Storm Rulebook (v1.1)
© Copyright 2017 DarkestDaysCG.com
CARD TYPES UNIT CARDS
Units represent your troops and equipment
in the field. These are your soldiers and the
hardware they use to achieve victory.
Units may be classified as either as Armor
Artillery, Infantry, or Vehicle units. Units
may also have a subtype defined in paren-
thesis next to its unit type identifier on the
card. These are only for card effect refer-
ence.
In future sets, we will introduce new unit
types.
ORDERS CARDS
Orders represent the directives your Field
Commander, and both his subordinates and
superiors give the forces under command.
Orders affect the field and the units on it in
a variety of ways by enhancing your capabil-
ities, placing special restrictions on the ene-
my, or some combination of the two.
Orders cards may have a subtype listed in
parenthesis next to the card type identifier
on the card. These are only for card effect
reference.
FIELD COMMANDER CARDS
These cards represent the commander of
your armed forces.
While not typically the commander-in-chief
of your nation, these cards represent sea-
soned and high-ranking generals given com-
mand of a narrow band of the conflict.
A Field Commander provides you with a
number of abilities throughout the game.
Unlike unit cards, Field Commanders cannot
be destroyed and remain in play for the
entire game.
Darkest Days: The Gathering Storm Rulebook (v1.1)
© Copyright 2017 DarkestDaysCG.com
LOCATION CARDS
Location cards represent the various locales across the world
where the Axis and Allied forces meet to do battle.
There is always only one Location card in play at a time, though
the Location can change (often several times) throughout the
course of the game.
Unlike other types of cards, Locations are considered neutral
(used by either the Axis or the Allies).
EXHAUST AND RECOVER
Throughout this rulebook and in the cards that make
up Darkest Days ™, you will see numerous references
to both the Axis and the Allies.
For the purposes of this rulebook, and the first few
sets of the game, the Axis and Allies are defined as
follows:
AXIS: Germany and Italy
ALLIES: Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, and the
Netherlands
As the game continues and new sets are released,
new nations will be added to the conflict and will
join either the Axis or Allies, stay neutral (usable by
both sides) or even switch sides.
Any card that refers to the Axis or Allies refers to
cards only of the respective nations listed in this
section and the player that controls that side of the
conflict during the game.
There is only one Axis player and one Allies player
per game, and each player may only use cards from
his or her side of the conflict.
Please keep in mind that Location cards are always
NEUTRAL.
A player’s deck may contain any Location card.
THE AXIS AND ALLIES
Many card effects and rules will refer to exhausting
or recovering a unit card or to and exhausted or re-
covered unit.
An exhausted unit is one that has been turned ninety
-degrees to the right.
To exhaust is a unit is to move it from an upright
position to this ninety-degree position.
A recovered unit is one that is turned upright (with
its game text readable by its controller).
To recover a unit is to turn an exhausted unit upright
again.
A recovered unit. An exhausted unit.
Darkest Days: The Gathering Storm Rulebook (v1.1)
© Copyright 2017 DarkestDaysCG.com
ABOUT DARKEST DAYS ™ CARD GAME
“Germany will either be a world power, or there will be no
Germany.”
—Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler
“Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory how-
ever long and hard the road may be; for without victory there
is no survival.”
—Prime Minister Winston Churchill
Darkest Days ™ Card Game chronicles the events of the Sec-
ond World War over its major movements and battles
starting with the Battle of France in May-June 1940, to the
ultimate surrender of Germany and Japan in 1945.
We have done our best to balance both historical accuracy
and enjoyable game mechanics within the confines of a
humble online trading card game.
Wherever possible, we have tried to preserve original unit
and place names, historical distinctions, and other fine de-
tails of the real-world conflict.
That being said, there are sure to be numerous omissions
(both intentional or otherwise) and a great deal of creative
license on the designers’ behalf in order to make this a game
first and a piece of historical commentary second.
Our intent is to release regular “virtual expansions” every
few months to advance the internal game calendar through
the course of the Second World War and give players a feel
for the epic drama that involved countless millions of brave
souls, dauntless martyrs, and unfortunate victims.
From the very outset we decided not to broach certain top-
ics within this game. Chief among these are the horrendous
atrocities of the Holocaust and maltreatment of prisoners of
war, political dissidents, civilians and others during the war
years.
Our focus is on the strategy, tactics, and political and diplo-
matic events that shaped the conflict.
We do not endorse the ideology or politics of any side de-
picted in the game, but rather, let the game design and me-
chanics speak to real and perceived strategies employed by
the belligerent nations during the War.
Forgive our errors, wherever they may be.
And above all else, enjoy!
—Darkest Days ™ Design Team
DECK CONSTRUCTION
Each player should come to the game with both an Axis deck
and an Allies deck.
Each deck must conform to the following rules:
• All cards in a single deck must be from the same side of
the conflict (either the Axis or the Allies). Neutral cards
(such as Location cards or any card from a neutral na-
tion) are permitted in any deck.
• Each deck most contain exactly 60 cards.
• Each deck must contain at least 1 Field Commander card
and 1 Location card.
• Each deck may not have more than 6 copies of a card
with the same card title.
PLAYING A “GAME SET”
When players sit down to play, they play a set of two games.
During each of these two games, there is one Axis player and
one Allies player. Each player will play both sides of the con-
flict during a set.
During the first game, players randomly determine who will
play which side of the conflict. (A coin flip, dice roll, rock-
paper-scissors, etc. can be used to determine this.)
During the second game, players will switch to the other side
of the conflict.
After each game, the winner counts the number of cards left
in his or her Reserves and adds them to his or her “game set
score.”
After both games, the player with the higher game set score
is the winner of the game set.
SETTING UP THE GAME
At the start of the game, each player does the following in
the order described below:
• Each player takes 1 Location card and 1 Field Command-
er card from his or her deck and places them face-down
in from of him or her.
• Each player shuffles his or her deck and presents his or
her deck to the opponent to allow the opponent to
shuffle, cut, and replace the deck in front of the owner.
(In a virtual game, the game engine or simulator is used
to accomplish this mandatory shuffle.)
• Each player reveals his or her starting Location card. The
Darkest Days: The Gathering Storm Rulebook (v1.1)
© Copyright 2017 DarkestDaysCG.com
Location with the lower Distance number is placed into
play between the players on the game table and the
card with the higher Distance number is placed onto the
owner’s Spent Pile, face-down. If there is a tie between
Distance numbers for starting Locations, the Axis play-
er’s Location is put into play and the Allies’ Location is
placed onto the Allies’ Spent Pile.
• Each player reveals his or her Field Commander.
• The Axis player draws the top five cards of his or her
Reserves to form his or her starting hand; the Allies play-
er draws the top seven cards of his or her Reserves.
After these steps have been completed, the players begin
taking turns.
TAKING TURNS
After the game has been set up, the players begin taking
turns (as described below), until one player wins (or loses)
the game.
The Axis player will always take the first turn of the game.
WINNING THE GAME
A player wins the game when his or her opponent has no
cards left in his or her Reserves.
A player may also win (or lose) the game if a card effect
states that they do.
THE TURN SEQUENCE
During each player’s turn, he or she will move through the
following turn phases in the order described below.
During a player’s turn, he or she is referred to as the “turn
player.”
PHASE 1: SUPPLY
The turn player may select one card from hand and place it
face-down in his or her Supply Zone.
A card that is placed face-down in a Supply Zone is hereafter
referred to as a “supply.” No player may look at any face-
down cards in any player’s Supply Zone unless permitted by
a card effect.
PHASE 2: DRAW
The turn player draws either one, two, or no cards from the
top of his or her Reserves.
The choice to draw a quantity of cards during this phase is
made before any cards are drawn.
If a player would be required to draw, spend, or destroy a
card from his or her Reserves and there are no cards left in
his or her Reserves, that player loses the game.
PHASE 3: READY
The turn player performs the following steps in the order
described below:
• All of the turn player’s unit formations are
“dissolved” (units are no longer grouped together in
formations if any of them had been in this state from
the start of this turn).
• All of the turn player’s units and supplies are recovered
(turned in an upright position).
PHASE 4: MAIN
The turn player may do any of the following, in any order,
and any number of times he or she is able to pay the supply
costs for:
• Deploy a unit card from hand by exhausting (turning
sideways) a number of recovered supply cards as indi-
cated in the supply cost for the unit and then placing
that unit in a recovered position from the turn player’s
hand into his or her field.
• Play an Orders card (see below).
Additionally, the turn player may only do one of the follow-
ing during his or her Main Phase.
• “Initiate battle” (see Phase 5: Battle [Optional], below).
• “Dismiss” his or her Field Commander by placing a new
Field Commander with a different card title into play in
his or her Home Row and placing the old Field Com-
mander face-down onto the turn player’s Spent Pile.
• “Withdraw” to a new Location by resting a number of
recovered supplies equal to the difference in Distance
numbers between the current Location and a new Loca-
tion card from the turn player’s hand, and then placing
the new Location card from the turn player’s hand into
play and the old Location card face-down onto its own-
er’s Spent Pile.
• “Prioritize” Orders by first swapping any Order cards the
turn player currently has in play from one supply stack
to another any number of times and then selecting one
or more Orders cards and sending them to the top of his
or her Spent Pile and returning the supply cards under
them to his or her Supply Zone in the recovered posi-
tion.
• “Restore” up to two cards from the turn player’s Dead
Darkest Days: The Gathering Storm Rulebook (v1.1)
© Copyright 2017 DarkestDaysCG.com
Each player should follow a standard set-up in terms of their
side of the gaming table.
While player may more or less organize the cards within
their zones as they see fit, all players are expected to con-
form to the layout shown below (as seen by the player that
controls the cards depicted below).
Pre-installed playmats on the gaming software will have
dotted lines to show where these various zones are located
for each player on the gaming table.
Any player may look at any card in either player’s Deploy-
ment Zone, Home Row, or Dead Pile at any time.
No player may look at the cards in either player’s Reserves,
Spent Pile, Supply Zone , or cards placed face-down under
other cards (such as under Orders cards or those placed un-
der other cards by certain card effects) unless a card effect
allows or instructs them to do so.
THE GAME TABLE AND PLAYER ZONES
Deployment
Zone
(Units)
Home Row (Orders and Field Commander)
Supply Zone Dead
Reserves
Spent
Darkest Days: The Gathering Storm Rulebook (v1.1)
© Copyright 2017 DarkestDaysCG.com
Pile by placing those card, one at a time, face-down onto
the turn player’s Spent Pile.
• “Mend” his or her units by removing 1 damage marker
from each of up to 2 units the turn player controls (a
single unit cannot receive this effect more than once
from this turn option).
• “Recycle” his or her Spent Pile by placing the Spent Pile
facedown (in the same card order) under his or her Re-
serves.
Playing Orders Cards
Orders cards stay in play until removed from play when a
player “prioritizes” (see previous section). If removed from
play, Orders cards go onto the top of their owner’s Spent Pile
unless a card effect states otherwise.
Each player may have any number of Orders cards, each with
different card titles, in play at one time. A player may not
have multiple copies of the same Orders card with the same
card title in play at the same time. If a player ever controls
two or more Orders cards with the same card title, he or she
places all but one of them onto his or her Spent Pile, imme-
diately.
The first Orders card a player puts into play requires that the
turn player “commit” 1 supply. The supply card is exhausted
(turned sideways) and the Orders card is placed vertically
over top of it.
If the turn player wishes to play a second Orders card, the
committed supply cost increases by 1. The second Orders
card will require that the turn player commit two supply
cards and the second Orders card will be placed over top of
those two exhausted supplies.
This pattern continues for each additional Orders card a sin-
gle player maintains in play.
PHASE 5: BATTLE (OPTIONAL)
The turn player may declare battle against his or her oppo-
nent only once per turn.
If battle does occur, players perform the following steps in
the order described below:
• Players exchange Artillery fire.
• The turn player, referred to as the “attacking player,”
forms one or more attacking formations with his or her
units.
• The non-turn player, referred to as the “defending play-
er,” may form a number of defending formations with
his or her units, or opt not to form any defending for-
mations.
• The defending player may assign each of his or her de-
fending formations to join battle with the attacking for-
mations, one at a time, so that there is no more than
one defending formation joined with one attacking for-
mation.
• Joined formations “skirmish.”
• Any attacking formations that are not joined in battle
destroy the top card of the defending player’s Reserves
for each 1 total Firepower of all units in that formation
(this is referred to as a “breakthrough”).
i. Artillery Fire
The attacking player may exhaust one or more of his or her
Artillery units in play and then the defending player may
exhaust one of more of his or her Artillery units in play.
The attacking player must then either exhaust one or more
Infantry units (called “pinning” the Infantry unit; such a unit
is considered “pinned” for the remainder of the Battle
Phase) with total Endurance equal to or greater than the
defending player’s Artillery total, or place X damage markers
among his or her units where X equals the defending player’s
Artillery total. After this is done, the defending player does
likewise.
All Artillery units exhausted in this step are group together
(for each player respectively) into a formation of only ex-
hausted Artillery units. This formation does not attack this
turn, but remains inert and exhausted until the controller’s
next Ready Phase.
ii. Attacking Formations
The attacking player creates one or more attacking for-
mations from his or her available (recovered) units.
A single formation must consist of at least one unit, and may
contain as many units as the attacking player desires.
All units that will be part of a single formation are exhausted
and group together in one area of the game table to show
their relationship as part of the same formation.
The attacking player may create as many such formations at
they desire.
Each attacking formation must be given an attack target:
either the defending player’s Reserves, or a one of the de-
fending player’s exhausted formations (including the defend-
ing player’s exhausted Artillery formation). The declaration
of attack targets must be made as each of the attacking for-
mations is created during this step of the Battle Phase.
Darkest Days: The Gathering Storm Rulebook (v1.1)
© Copyright 2017 DarkestDaysCG.com
ARTILLERY FIRE EXAMPLE AXIS COMMITS AN ARTILLERY UNIT
During the Axis player’s Battle Phase, the Axis
player commits Lightning Artillery by exhausting
it.
The Axis Artillery Total is now 2.
The Allies player has French Light Armor Regi-
ment (recovered), Battlefield Veterans
(recovered), and Defenders of the Republic
(exhausted) in play.
In these examples, the Allies player does not
commit any Artillery units to the Artillery Step.
SCENARIO ONE: “PINNING” INFANTRY UNITS
The Allies player chooses to apply the Axis Artillery
Total as follows:
The Allies player “pins” Battlefield Veterans.
Since Battlefield Veterans is an Infantry unit, it can
be pinned by being exhausted and satisfying the Axis
Artillery damage by up to an amount equal to the
total pinned units’ Endurance value.
All points of the Axis Artillery Total have been satis-
fied and the Artillery Step ends.
SCENARIO TWO: APPLYING DAMAGE MARKERS
The Allies player chooses to apply the Axis Artillery
Total as follows:
The Allies player places 1 damage marker on French
Light Armor Regiment and 1 damage marker on
Battlefield Veterans.
All points of the Axis Artillery Total have been satis-
fied and the Artillery Step ends.
Darkest Days: The Gathering Storm Rulebook (v1.1)
© Copyright 2017 DarkestDaysCG.com
EXAMPLE SKIRMISH THE AXIS’ FIELD
For our example, the Axis side of the field contains Alpini
Regiment, Lightning Artillery, German Armored Patrol,
Light Panzer Regiment, and two copies of Heer Reservists.
THE ALLIES’ FIELD
The Allies side of the field contain Battlefield Veterans,
·600th Armored Brigade, Heavy Artillery, and British Expe-
ditionary Forces (BEF) (B).
1A.THE AXIS INITIATES BATTLE
The Axis initiates battle and moves first into the
Artillery Step by committing Lightning Artillery.
Lightning Artillery is exhausted and the Axis Ar-
tillery Total is increased to 2.
Darkest Days: The Gathering Storm Rulebook (v1.1)
© Copyright 2017 DarkestDaysCG.com
EXAMPLE SKIRMISH (CONTINUED)
1B. THE ALLIES COMMIT ARTILLERY
The Allies commit Anti-Tank Battery and Heavy
Artillery to the Artillery Step and increase the Al-
lied Artillery Total to 3.
1C. THE AXIS APPLIES ARTILLERY DAMAGE
The Axis player chooses to apply the Artillery
damage from the Axis Artillery Total as follows:
• The Axis “pins” (exhausts) Alpini Regiment,
satisfying 2 damage since Alpini Regiment has
2 Endurance.
• The Axis places 1 damage marker on Light-
ning Artillery, which destroys it (since it has 1
Endurance).
The Allied Artillery Total has been satisfied.
1C. THE ALLIES APPLY ARTILLERY DAMAGE
The Allies player chooses to apply the Artillery
damage from the Allied Artillery Total as follows:
• The Allies “pin” (exhausts) Battlefleld Veter-
ans, satisfying 2 damage since Batttlefield
Veterans has 2 Endurance.
The Axis Artillery Total has been satisfied.
Darkest Days: The Gathering Storm Rulebook (v1.1)
© Copyright 2017 DarkestDaysCG.com
EXAMPLE SKIRMISH (CONTINUED)
2. THE AXIS FORMS ATTACKING FORMATIONS
The Axis player chooses to form three separate
formations:
• Formation A contains two copies of Heer Re-
servists.
• Formation B contains one copy of Light Pan-
zer Regiment.
• Formation C contains one copy of German
Armored Patrol.
3. THE ALLIES FORM DEFENDING FORMATIONS
The Allies player chooses to form one formation:
• Formation A contains one copy of ·600th Ar-
mored Brigade and one copy of British Expe-
ditionary Forces (BEF) (B).
4. THE ALLIES ASSIGN DEFENDERS
As defender, the Allies choose to assign their For-
mation A to defend against Axis Formation A,
leaving Axis Formation B and Axis Formation C
undefended.
Darkest Days: The Gathering Storm Rulebook (v1.1)
© Copyright 2017 DarkestDaysCG.com
EXAMPLE SKIRMISH (CONTINUED)
5. FORMATIONS SKIRMISH
Allies Formation A and Axis Formation A skirmish.
Allies Formation A has a total of 5 Firepower.
Axis Formation A has a total of 4 Firepower.
The Allies’ formation wins the skirmish, and each
unit in the losing Axis formation is given 1 damage
marker.
Both copies of Heer Reservists are destroyed (as
each only has 1 Endurance).
The Allies, as the winner of the skirmish, must
choose to place 1 damage marker on a unit in the
winning formation.
The Allies choose to place 1 damage marker on
British Expeditionary Forces (BEF) (B).
British Expeditionary Forces (BEF) (B) remains
alive, as it has 2 Endurance.
6. BREAKTHROUGH
Axis Formation B and Axis Formation C “break
through” the Allies’ defenses.
The total Firepower of all breakthrough for-
mations equals 4.
The Allies destroy the top 4 cards of their Re-
serves.
After this step, the Battle concludes.
Darkest Days: The Gathering Storm Rulebook (v1.1)
© Copyright 2017 DarkestDaysCG.com
iii. Defending Formations
The defending player creates one or more defending for-
mations from his or her available (recovered) units in the
same way as the attacking player (see above).
iv. Defenses Assigned
Each of the defending formations must be assigned to de-
fend against a single attacking formation to join battle in a
“skirmish.”
The defending player cannot assign more than one defend-
ing formation to each attacking formation. If there are more
defending formations than attacking formations after each
attacking formation has been defended against, the excess
defending formations remain exhausted and they do not
participate in the Exchange of Fire step (as described below).
If the attacking player has assigned an attacking formation to
attack a defending formation as its attack target, the defend-
ing player may assign an additional “reinforcement” for-
mation to help defend; the new units in the newly created
defending formation are added to the formation of the
attacked defending formation to form a new, larger defend-
ing formation.
v. Skirmish
In the order of the attacking player’s choosing, each pair of
joined formations “exchange fire.” The total Firepower of
each side in a joined skirmish is calculated.
The formation with the lowest total Firepower is the “losing”
formation and each unit in the losing formation is given 1
damage marker. The formation with the highest total Fire-
power is the “winning” formation and only 1 unit (owner’s
choice) is given 1 damage marker.
If the total Firepower on both sides is tied, the skirmish is
considered a “tie” (with neither a “winner” or a “loser”), and
both the attacking and defending player choose 1 of the
units in their participating formations to receive 1 damage
marker.
vi. Breakthrough
If any attacking formations were not defended against, the
total Firepower of all units in all undefended attacking for-
mations is totaled.
The defending player destroys (sends to his or her Dead Pile)
1 card from the top of his or her Reserves 1 card for each 1
point of this Firepower total.
Attacking formations and units in them that are undefended
in this way are considered to have “broken through” and the
event is known as a “breakthrough.”
After these steps have been completed, the Battle Phase
ends.
PHASE 6: END
If the turn player has more than seven cards in hand, he or
she must place cards from hand face-down onto his or her
Spent Pile one at a time until his or her hand contains seven
cards.
After this phase is complete, the turn passes to the turn play-
er’s opponent, and that player begins a new turn in which he
or she is the turn player.
KEYWORD ABILITIES
Blitz X: The turn that a unit with Blitz X is played, its Firepow-
er is +X.
Defender X: If at the conclusion of a skirmish, if a unit with
Defender X would be part of a losing defensive formation
that lost by X or less total Firepower, the skirmish is consid-
ered a “draw” instead. If more than one unit has the Defend-
er ability within a single formation, only the unit with the
highest Defender ability applies it. If more than one unit in a
single formation has the Defender ability at a level tied with
one or more other units, in the same formation, the control-
ler of those units chooses which of the units applies the abil-
ity.
Rally X: When a unit with Rally X is deployed, its owner may
draw up to X cards from his or her deck and then place the
same number of cards from his or her hand onto his or her
Spent Pile.
Supply X: A unit with Supply X may be exhausted by its own-
er to provide X supplies.
Transport X: If the owner a unit with Transport X would
“withdraw,” he or she pays X fewer supplies to
“withdraw” (to a minimum cost of 0 supplies).
Darkest Days: The Gathering Storm Rulebook (v1.1)
© Copyright 2017 DarkestDaysCG.com
EXPLAINING ORDERS CARDS FIRST ORDERS CARD
The first Orders card a player puts into play
requires that the player exhaust one supply
card he or she controls and places it under
the Orders card played from hand.
This Orders card and the supply under it
remain in play, turn after turn, until re-
moved from play.
SECOND ORDERS CARD
The second Orders card a player puts into
play, requires that the player exhaust two
supply cards he or she controls and places
these supplies under the second Orders
card.
With two Orders cards in play, the player
now has a total of three supplies cards un-
der his or her Orders.
THIRD ORDERS CARD, ETC.
The third Orders card a player puts into
play, requires that the player exhaust three
supply cards he or she controls and places
these supplies under the third Orders card.
With three Orders cards in play, the player
now has a total of six supplies cards under
his or her Orders.
This pattern continues with each new Or-
ders card put into play.
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