Core Rulebook: T LL Osts
Core Rulebook: T LL Osts
Core Rulebook: T LL Osts
CORE RULEBOOK
This booklet contains all rules common to this game system. Currently this series of strategic-level games focusing on an individual theatre of World War 1 includes TO THE LAST MAN! For information specific to the game being played, please see the appropriate THEATRE RULEBOOK.
Fortify markers: placed on units that are Fortified. Control markers: used to identify empty Friendly areas. OoS markers (Out of Supply): place on any unit that is not in supply at the end of the turn. Do not remove until the unit is in supply (during the Check Supply Status phase) or eliminated. Retreat markers: place on any unit that retreats to an area with an unresolved battle, remove at the end of combat. Rail markers: place on units which use Rail Movement as a reminder they may move no further this turn.
1.3 CARDS
The card deck is the heart of TO THE LAST MAN! The majority of actions can only be performed as the result of card play. Playing cards represents the logistical wherewithal needed to conduct campaigns: ammunition, fuel, transport, and even reserves. After playing a card, it is placed face up on the Discard Pile. Players draw any new cards from the unplayed portion of the deck, called the Draw Pile. The deck is reshuffled whenever the Draw Pile runs out of cards and at the end of every WINTER Seasonal Turn. Players without the right cards are in trouble, and an empty hand usually indicates a retreat will soon follow. A player seeks to bankrupt his opponents hand while maintaining his own hand with as many cards as he can. Players must purchase new cards for their next turn during the Production Phase. As a general rule-of-thumb, players should buy as many cards as they can one less card means one less opportunity. Each type of card is described in the 9.0 Card Manifest.
Armies contain other units, such as Infantry and Auxiliary pieces. Infantry comprise the main force in Armies, while Auxiliary units support the Infantry. Unlike other units, Forts represent installations and cannot move nor attack. Each type of unit is summarized in the Playing Pieces Characteristics Chart. For a detailed description of each unit type see 8.0 Unit Manifest.
Offensive: Playing an Offensive card allows the player to move any or all Friendly units on the map or Army Templates subject to movement rules and restrictions. He may also initiate new battle(s) and conduct Combat rounds therein. Most units may move one Area per Player Turn, but there are a few exceptions (Cavalry, Rail Moves, etc.). Passing: Not playing an Offensive card means there will be no Battles nor Combat Phases for the player that Turn. Not playing an Offensive card is called Passing. The phasing player may move one unit only. This unit may not move into an Enemy Area even if that Area is empty; no Combat Phase occurs. Even though he doesnt play an Offensive card, the Passing player may play a Crisis! card. A Strategic Reserves! card may be played, allowing a second unit to be moved. If the player plays no cards at all, he has the option to discard one or more unwanted card(s) and draw new card(s) from the deck to replace them. Any cards so drawn cannot be played until the next impulse.
2. MOVEMENT PHASE
When an Offensive card is played, the phasing player may move any or all units. Otherwise, the player Passes and is still allowed to move one unit (some restrictions apply). A unit may move up to its normal movement allotment (usually one Area except for Cavalry, Biplanes, and Rail Moves). Units are moved one at a time and must always obey Stacking Limits (1.2.2). When moving from a Friendly area, a unit may move into any adjacent Friendly, Disputed, or Enemy area. When moving from a Disputed area, a unit may not move into an Enemy area. When a Friendly unit moves into an Enemy Area, the area becomes Disputed and a battle ensues.
1. CHECK SUPPLY STATUS 2. SPEND BUILD POINTS 3. DISCARD EXCESS CARDS 4. CHECK FOR EFT BOX LOSSES
VI ADVANCE TURN MARKER
I PLACE REINFORCEMENTS
Both players check the Game Events Chart to see if they get any Reinforcements, i.e., new units to place on the map. Arriving Reinforcements are placed in any Supplied Friendly or Disputed Areas within Staking Limits.
3. DECLARE BATTLES
This phase is only used when an Offensive card has been played. Newly initiated battles must be fought. That is, Enemy Areas which have just become Disputed this Player Turn must have a Combat round conducted. Whether there is Combat in any other Disputed Area is for the player to decide. a Announce Battle Areas. The Offensive player announces all Disputed Areas where he intends to battle. Players fight one round of Combat in all such designated Battle Areas.
b Play Cards. The Offensive player plays any combat enhancement cards (like Poison Gas! or Surprise Attack!) and designates which Battle Areas are affected by these played cards. The Defending player may now also play any combat enhancement cards he wishes (e.g., Bad Weather or Poison Gas!), designating the Battle Areas so affected.
Retreat instead of Firing: Defending units may Retreat into adjacent Friendly or Disputed Areas instead of Firing. Some units may Retreat while others stay to fight. Place a Retreat marker on retreating units to show they have retreated this Combat phase. A unit which retreats loses all firepower for the remainder of that Combat phase. Units forced to Retreat twice in the same Combat phase are eliminated instead.
d Offensive Players Fire Phase
4. COMBAT PHASE
All designated Battle Areas go through a separate Combat phase. In a designated Battle Area, units fire at the opposing units by rolling dice, one die for each unit. Any Hits a player rolls indicates the number of units (or other equivalents) the opposing player must lose. Losses can be satisfied in three ways: units, cards, or both. NOTE: In all cases, the Attacker or Offensive player is the one whose Turn it currently is, i.e., the guy who played the Offensive card. The Defender or Defensive player is the other fellow. Each Battle Area is resolved individually. Before any dice are rolled, Cavalry units from either side may retreat before combat (Attacker chooses first). Then each players units fire in a strict order:
a Dogfight Phase
All of the Attackers units fire (except Dogfighters). Defender takes any losses incurred, by removing units or playing Ersatz.
e Retreat Phase
Either player (in TTLM!) may retreat any or all units from the Battle Area into one adjacent Friendly or Disputed Area (Attacker chooses first).
When both players have Biplanes involved in the same Battle Area, all Biplane fire is resolved during the Dogfight phase. Opposing Biplanes in the same Battle Area must fire exclusively at each other. Dogfight fire is resolved simultaneously; both sides take any losses immediately. NOTE: Dogfighting Biplanes may not fire again later in this Combat phase, even if all opposing Biplanes are eliminated. If neither player, or only one player, has Biplanes in the Battle Area, skip the Dogfight phase and move on directly to the next phase.
b Offensive Players Artillery Fire Phase
When both players have Biplanes involved in the same Battle Area, all Biplane fire is resolved during the Dogfight phase. Opposing Biplanes in the same Battle Area must fire exclusively at each other. Dogfight fire is resolved simultaneously; both sides take any losses immediately. NOTE: Dogfighting Biplanes may not fire again later in this Combat phase, even if all opposing Biplanes are eliminated. If neither player, or only one player, has Biplanes in the Battle Area, skip the Dogfight phase and move on directly to the next phase.
b Offensive Players Fire Phase
The Attackers Artillery units fire. The Defender takes any losses incurred, by removing units or playing Ersatz.
c Defensive Players Fire Phase
All of the Attackers units fire (except Dogfighters). Defender takes any losses incurred, by removing units or playing Ersatz.
c Defensive Players Fire Phase
All of the Defenders units fire (except Dogfighters). Attacker takes any losses incurred, by removing units or playing Ersatz.
All of the Defenders units fire (except Dogfighters). Attacker takes any losses incurred, by removing units or playing Ersatz.
d Retreat Phase
Either player (in TTLM!) may retreat any or all units from the Battle Area into one adjacent Friendly or Disputed Area (Attacker chooses first).
V PRODUCTION PHASE
In the Production Phase, players spend their allotment of Build Points (BPs) to buy new units, more cards, and/or Entrench units. Players must first see if any of their units are unsupplied.
* This 5BPs = 1VP modification is only used when playing solely with TTLM! Do not use this
modification when linked with AT ALL COSTS! since events on the Russian front are directly represented there.
Area status is checked prior to movement and changes immediately as a result of movement. Area ownership can be determined at any time. NOTE: When a Friendly unit moves into an Enemy Area, the area immediately becomes both a Disputed and a Battle Area one round of combat must occur therein.
4.2 RESTRICTIONS
Units may move from Friendly Areas to any other type of Area: Friendly, Disputed, and even Enemy (Neutral Areas are a special case). Units moving from Disputed Areas are more restricted in their movement options; they may only move to Friendly or Disputed Areas. Units may never move from a Disputed Area to an Enemy Area. Even units which may move more than one area (e.g., Cavalry & Biplanes) cannot move from a Disputed to an Enemy Area. Units may only enter an Enemy Area during an Offensive. The Strait of Dover, North Sea, Baltic Sea, Black Sea, and the Netherlands are not playable and units may never enter these regions.
4.0 MOVEMENT
4.1 PROCEDURE
When an Offensive card is played, the phasing player may move any or all units. Otherwise, the player Passes and is still allowed to move one unit (but not into an Enemy Area, even if empty). Although moving into or out of armies within in the same area counts as zero areas moved, it still counts as having moved a unit. Movement must be from area to adjacent area, or into and out of an Army. A unit may move up to its normal movement point allotment (usually one Area except for Cavalry, Biplanes, and Rail Moves). Units are moved one at a time and must always obey Stacking Limits (1.2.1). There are four kinds of Areas, based on who controls it: Friendly Area: Your units were the last ones to occupy or move through this Area. All Areas in your country are Friendly in Summer 1914. All Areas on your side of the frontline are Friendly when a scenario begins. Enemy Area: Your opponents units were the last ones to occupy or move through this Area. Disputed Area: Both your units and your opponents units currently occupy this Area. Sometimes this is referred to as a frontline Area or a Battle Area. Neutral Area: Neither players units have occupied nor moved through this Area. Neither player owns this Area, and in some cases neither players forces may move into this Area. For example, HOLLAND is a Neutral Area and may never be entered. In the Free Game and some Historical Variant set-ups, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the UK begin as Neutrals. See the THEATRE RULEBOOK.
Rail moves allow units to move up to three (3) areas. To use rail movement a unit must begin the movement phase in a Friendly area, move only through Friendly areas, and end the move in a Friendly area. Rail moves cannot be combined with any other type of movement. All areas must have been Friendly at the beginning of the players turn to be eligible for rail movement. Thus its easier to remember if you do Rail Moves first. Rail moves are limited to two units per Player Turn.
5.0 COMBAT
5.1 BATTLE AREAS
5.1.1 CREATING DISPUTED AREAS
Disputed Areas are created when a Friendly unit is moved into an Enemy Area. Disputed Areas can only be created during an Offensive. Battles must be declared in newly created Disputed areas, and a round of Combat must be fought therein.
NOTE: In all cases, the Attacker or Offensive Player is the one whose Turn it currently is, i.e., the guy who played the Offensive card. The Defender or Defensive Player is the other fellow. If there are multiple Battle Areas, the Offensive player decides the order in which combats are resolved. Combat in an area is always completely resolved before beginning with another area.
Units fire at each other by rolling one (1) six sided die for each unit in the Battle Area, in the order dictated by the Combat Sequence. Certain conditions may cause some units not to fire (e.g., a Siege Gun unit in a Battle where there are no Forts present).
5.2.2 FIREPOWER
A units Firepower F followed by a number indicates what it needs to roll in order to Hit. F1 means that a Hit occurs on a die roll of 1. F2 means a Hit occurs on a die roll of 1 or 2. F3 a Hit occurs on a die roll of 1 or 2 or 3. [F#] means that the player rolls a die for that unit only in certain circumstances. Please see 8.0 Unit Manifest, as well as the Unit Capabilities Chart for further details.
Losses applied to a Fort reduce it by that number of Hits. For example, if the Antwerp Area Fort were forced to take a Hit, the Antwerp 3 Fort marker would be replaced with the Antwerp 2 Fort marker. If forced to take another Hit, the Fort marker would be removed and replaced with the Antwerp 1 Fort marker. When a fort reaches zero (0) strength, it is removed from the game (except: see Sedan). Example: The Entente player suffers 3 hits during a battle in the Verdun area. His forces consist of three units: an individual cavalry unit, an entrenched army (containing 3 infantry and 2 artillery), and the Verdun fort at 4. The first hit must come from the army since it has the largest strength of 5. Infantry units are the most numerous component of that army so an infantry unit must be taken as the first loss. The second loss can be taken from either the 4 fort or the army as it now has 4 units. The Entente player decides to reduce the 4 fort to a 3 fort satisfying the second loss. The third loss must now come from the army as it is once again the strongest unit. The player now has a choice of taking either an infantry unit or artillery unit for the loss since there are two of each. Because the army is entrenched (and hes on the defensive) the player elects to take an artillery unit for his third loss.
5.2.3 HITS
Hits cause Enemy losses which must be removed immediately. Hits can be paid for by eliminating units and/or cards as detailed below.
5.3.4 ANNIHILATION
Players are never forced to play cards to satisfy remaining losses when all Friendly units are eliminated from a Battle Area. In other words, a player is never compelled to take losses in excess of the number of his pieces he has in the Battle he can completely eliminate all his units in the Area, instead. This is sometimes a good way to cut losses, but at the cost of territory lost. For example, suppose the German 1st Army containing 5I + 2A, causes 3 Hits to a single French Infantry unit. The French player has the option to lose 3 Hits of Ersatz cards, thus allowing the unit to continue to exist. On the other hand, he can also choose to eliminate that one Infantry unit from the Battle and so not suffer the additional 2 Hits loss.
units are of equal strength the player taking the loss decides which unit is removed. For example, if an
Army containing 3 Infantry, 2 Artillery, and 1 Cavalry were forced to take 1 Hit it would have to lose 1 Infantry piece (the most numerous type). NOTE: An Army that loses its last unit in Combat is eliminated.
5.4 RETREATS
There are three kinds of retreat in TO THE LAST MAN! Retreat Instead of Firing, Retreat After Combat, and Cavalry Retreat. Place a Retreat marker on each unit that retreats; these are removed at the end of the combat phase in which they are placed. A unit which retreats loses all firepower for the remainder of that Combat phase. Units may never retreat into an Enemy area.
6.0 SUPPLY
Military forces require supplies to function they need ammunition, food, fuel and other equipment. If an armys supplies cannot reach it, the army will lose the ability to fight effectively. Independent units will dissolve quickly without supplies.
7.0 PRODUCTION
Players consult the Build Point Chart to see how many Build Points (BPs) they can spend during the Production Phase. BPs may be spent on any combination of new units, entrenching, and/or more cards. Both players expend BPs at the same time. BPs must be used during the current Production Phase or they are lost.
1 Card or 1 Army (empty) or 1 Infantry unit or 1 Cavalry unit or 1 Artillery unit or 1 Siege Gun unit (German & A-H only) or 1 Biplane unit or Entrench 4 units (an Army equals 1 unit) or Upgrade 1 German Infantry into Stosstruppen Fortify an Entrenched Army (optional).
Two (2) BPs can buy:
1 Tank unit or 1 Stosstruppen unit (German player only). 1 Imperial Guard unit (Russian player only). Rebuild 1 Commonwealth Infantry (UK only).
See the Unit and Card Manifest for sections 8.0 and 9.0 See the THEATRE RULEBOOK for sections 10.0 and up.
7.4 ENTRENCHING
Four (4) units on the mapboard can be entrenched by expending one (1) BP. Flip the counters to their entrenched side. A limit of 1 BP can be spent on Entrenchment during SUMMER of 1914 (Turn 1) and AUTUMN of 1914 (Turn 2). During the WINTER of 1914 and thereafter there is no limits to Entrenchment.