How to Play Combat Commander: Europe/Med. – 20th Anniversary Edition

Game Objective

Combat Commander is a series of card-driven board games that simulate tactical infantry combat in World War II. In this volume, one player takes on the role of the Axis (Germany) while the other commands the Allies (America or Russia). Players take turns playing one or more Fate cards from their hands to activate their Units on the mapboard for various military functions.

Players attempt to achieve victory by moving their combat Units across the game map to attack opponent units and occupy as many Objectives as possible. A player’s success or failure is measured by scenario-specific objective chits, the destruction of enemy units, and the exiting of friendly units off the opponent’s map edge.

A player generally wins the game by having more VPs (Victory Points) than their opponent when the game ends. VPs are gained in three ways: elimination of enemy units, exiting of friendly units off the opponent’s map edge, and control of mapboard Objectives.

Setup

Refer to the rulebook for details on this section.

Game Flow

A game of Combat Commander begins with one of the players (as specified by the scenario) taking the first Turn. When he finishes – and draws up to his Hand Size – the opposing player takes his first Turn. These Turns then alternate until a Sudden Death Roll or other occurrence ends the game.

A Turn consists of a player choosing between:

• Performing one or more Orders by playing cards from his hand; or
• Discarding any number of Fate cards.

At the end of each Turn, the active player (only) must draw Fate cards from the top of his draw pile until the number of cards in his hand equals his Hand Size.

Time Marker Advancement

The Time marker advances one space on the Time Track (located on the Track Display):

• Whenever a Time! trigger is rolled; or
• Whenever a player reveals/draws the last card from his draw pile: treat such an occurrence exactly as if a Time! trigger had been rolled.

Immediately upon the Time marker advancing, normal play is paused for the following steps to be executed:

1. The player who triggered the Time Advance (only) shuffles his deck and discard pile together to form a new draw pile.
2. The player who triggered the trigger makes a Sudden Death Roll, if appropriate.

If the game has not ended due to Sudden Death, execute the following four steps in the order shown:

3. The Defender (only) gains 1 VP.
4. The player who triggered the trigger (only) must remove any Smoke marker from the map.
5. If there are one or more units in the space now occupied by the Time marker, the owning player(s) place(s) them into play as reinforcements, positioning them in any hex(es) along their friendly map edge (the inactive player first). Stacking limits must be observed. Any reinforcing Radio is placed in that player’s (empty) Artillery Box.
6. Both players may play Dig In Actions.

Upon the completion of these six steps, normal play resumes from where it left off.

Actions and How to Play

In Combat Commander, no Order or Action may be announced without the play of a card from a player’s hand.

Fate Cards

Fate cards are the heart of the game. Once the game begins, no action may be taken on the map by any player – whether via Order or Action – without a Fate card in hand that allows it. While a Fate card is in a player’s hand, only its Order or Action may be declared; everything else (from the Event down) is ignored.

There are three sets of Fate cards: one for Germany (gray), one for America (green), and one for Russia (brown). A player’s 72-card Fate Deck is the core of the game.

Golden Rule (1.0): Some card effects may conflict with one or more rules in the rulebook. When this occurs, the card effect always takes precedence.

Orders

Orders are listed at the top of each Fate card. A player may only play a card for its Order during his own Turn, and may never announce more Orders in a Turn than his Order Capability. Orders do not have to be pre-designated – they are played from hand, then executed, one at a time. A player may observe the results of one Order before deciding to play another. If a card is played for its Order, it is immediately placed in that player’s discard pile.

Actions

Actions are listed just below the photo on each Fate card or, in the case of Fire (Opportunity) [A33], at the top of the card. A player may play a card for its Action at any time during any player’s Turn, provided its prerequisite is met. There is no limit to the number of Actions a player may perform during any player’s Turn, other than the number of cards in hand. If a card is played for its Action, it is immediately placed in that player’s discard pile.

Events

Events are listed below the Action on each Fate card. Events are never played from hand, voluntarily or otherwise – only from the top of the draw pile, and only at random intervals due to certain die rolls.

Random Hexes

This is the light-green "hex" in the lower-left corner of each Fate card. Snipers and some Events will require a Random Hex to be determined, and if so, the top card of that player’s Fate Deck is revealed and this "hex" is consulted. The letter/number combination within the "hex" will correspond to a specific hex on the map, where the Sniper/Event will occur. A Random Hex may also have an effect on any broken Weapons in play.

Die Rolls

This is the pair of six-sided dice in the lower-right corner of each Fate card. "Real" dice are not used in Combat Commander: instead, whenever a "roll" is called for, that player reveals the top card of his draw pile and only the two dice are consulted; everything else on the card is ignored. When such a roll is made, the two dice are summed to arrive at a total (exception: during a Targeting Roll, the dice are multiplied).

Die Triggers

Many die rolls are surrounded by a thick red box with the word Event!, Jammed!, Sniper!, or Time! also within it; these are called "triggers". These four triggers immediately and temporarily pause normal play to perform a specific task. Normal play resumes after the trigger is fully resolved.

• Event! Trigger: Whenever a player makes a die roll and that roll is surrounded by a red box with the word "Event!" within it, normal play is paused to execute that Event: The player who rolled the Event! trigger reveals the top card of his draw pile and, ignoring everything else, reads aloud and executes the Event on that card. Unless stated otherwise, any decisions required by the Event are made by the player reading it.
• Jammed! Trigger: Whenever a player makes a Fire Attack Roll (only; no other roll will trigger a Jammed!, including Targeting) and that roll is surrounded by a red box with the word "Jammed!" within it, all firing Weapons become broken.
• Sniper! Trigger: Whenever a player makes a die roll and that roll is surrounded by a red box with the word "Sniper!" within it, normal play is paused to resolve that Sniper: The player who rolled the Sniper! trigger reveals the top card of his draw pile and, ignoring everything else, reads aloud the Random Hex on that card. That player may then select a unit within or adjacent to that hex and break it.
• Time! Trigger: Whenever a player makes a die roll and that roll is surrounded by a red box with the word "Time!" within it, normal play is paused to perform a Time Marker Advancement.

Leaders

A Leader unit has a Command number that measures how well a Leader can control the friendly units around him.

• Command Radius: Normally, an Order or Op Fire Action will activate only a single unit. However, when a Leader is activated, he has the ability to activate all, some, or none of the friendly non-Leader units within his Command Radius to perform the same Order/Op Fire. The Command Radius is counted in hexes radiating outward from the Leader’s hex. A Leader with Command "2" may activate friendly units up to two hexes away – even through impassable terrain or past an enemy unit. A Leader with Command "1" may activate friendly units in his own hex or adjacent to it. A Leader with Command "0" may activate units in his own hex.
• Unit Command: A Leader’s Command number is added directly to the FP, Range, Movement, and Morale of all friendly Squads and Teams (only) as long as those units are in the same hex as the Leader – even if the Leader himself is not activated. This effect is cumulative if two or more Leaders occupy the same hex. Leaders may never affect themselves or other Leaders.
• Weapon Command: A Leader’s Command number is added directly to the FP and Range of each friendly Weapon without a white stripe that is being carried by a non-Leader unit as long as that unit is in the same hex as the Leader – even if the Leader himself is not activated. This effect is cumulative if two or more Leaders occupy the same hex.

Broken Units

A unit is always in one of two states: broken or unbroken. A unit usually begins a scenario face-up on its unbroken side, but Fire Attacks and other adverse effects may "break" it – causing it to flip to its broken side.