53 Dywizja 12+ Strzelecka 2 2 17 30 min 164 Brygada 3 Armia Strzelecka 4 Armia 03 Pułk 5 Armia Rewolucyjny 2 1 21 Mozyrska Grupa Grupa Obrońcy Warszawy 3 Armia 3 4 Armia 4 1 Armia 3 KawKor 3 “Battle of Warsaw” is a fast-paced wargame for two 3 60 command cards: 15 Armia 2 Armia players, depicting the landmark events of August х 30 Red Army cards 16 Armia 1 Dywizja Litewsko- 3 -Białoruska 1920 during the Polish-Bolshevik war. The Polish х 30 Polish Army cards 3 Dywizja Piechoty Army must face the Bolshevik armies attacking War- 4 24 wooden command markers Legionów 3 Pociąg 3 pancerny „Mściciel” saw. The Red Army player’s goal is to invade the cap- 5 6 two-sided attack markers ital. The Polish Army player’s goal is to block them 6 1 wooden time marker 44 and destroy the attacker’s armies. 39 Will Polish soldiers succeed? Can they defend 52 Warsaw? If they fail, Bolshevik armies will continue Good order unit Dispersed unit west over “the corpse of white Poland”, and commu- Units begin the game in good order, with their A dispersed unit never becomes good order, and an nism will spread across Europe... name in white letters face up. When a unit loses eliminated unit never reenters play. a combat, it becomes dispersed, and is turned to show its name in black letters. Warsaw Defenders Game components 15 Armia 15 Armia Both sides of this unit are the same. Obrońcy Warszawy Soviet Federative Socialist Republic 1 Game board with a hexagonal grid Units of the Red Army Russian The Warsaw Defenders are a 2 12 army unit tokens: 5 Armia 5 Armia unique Polish unit which never moves х 6 pentagonal Red Army units or attacks. It represents hastily organized х 6 round Polish Army units, including volunteer troops defending the capital. 1 “Obrońcy Warszawy” (Warsaw Defend- If a dispersed unit loses a combat, it is eliminated The Warsaw Defenders are immediately elimi- ers) unit 5 Armia 5 Armia and removed from the game. nated and removed from play after losing a combat. Dispersal and removal are both permanent. of the Second Polish Republic Units of the Polish Armed Forces Units of the Polish Armed Forces 2 3 Game preparation 1 Place the board in the center of the table. called the player’s reserve. Each player’s Choose which player will play which side. reserve is concealed from their opponent. Orient the map with its west side near the 4 Place 1 command marker on each unit, ex- Polish player and its east side near the Red cept for the Warsaw Defenders. Place the re- Mozyrska Grupa Grupa player. maining command markers near the board, 3 Armia 2 Place all units on the board in their starting where both players can easily reach them. positions. (Map spaces are marked to show 5 The Red player takes 2 additional command 16 Armia 16 the starting positions of units.) markers and places them on freely chosen 4 Armia 3 Shuffle the two command card decks sepa- Red units. One unit can receive both mark- 15 Armia 15 rately. Put the Polish deck on its designated ers, or two different units can each receive 3 Armia 3 place on the west side of the map, and the one marker. Red deck on its place on the east side. 6 Put the time marker on the first day of the 4 Armia 4 х The Polish player draws 7 cards from calendar (August 13). the Polish deck. 7 Put the Attack markers near the board. The Red player draws 10 cards from the х 3 KawKor 3 Red deck. 2 Armia х Note: The cards in a player’s hand (wheth- er drawn during setup or during play) are 1 Armia Obrońcy Warszawy Order and attack Goal of the game markers are 5 Armia not limited Each player has a different goal in the game. this, eliminate any 3 Red Army units, or disperse by the physi- all Red Army units. cal supply; there The Red player’s goal is to invade Warsaw, which should be enough, happens if any Red Army unit enters Warsaw If neither player achieves their goal by the end but in the rare case (marked with a red border). of the fifth (final) round, then victory depends on that they run out, whether a Red unit occupies Radzymin (northeast players may impro- The Polish player’s goal is to smash the attacker’s of Warsaw, marked with an orange border). vise as needed with units, forcing the Red troops to retreat before being buttons, coins, tooth- reinforced by the Southwestern Front. To achieve picks, etc. 4 5 Sequence of play Command cards Red Army cards Polish Army cards The game lasts 5 rounds, each representing a day Each round has three phases, which from August 13–17, 1920. The game continues un- happen in order: Unit name til one player fulfills their goal, or until the end of 1. Operational phase the fifth round. 2. Combat phase 3. Cleanup phase (which can be 164 Brygada VII Brygada skipped in the fifth round) 2 Strzelecka 3 Jazdy Operational phase 03 40 Players alternate doing actions. Usually the Red Pass Front Back Front Back player does the first action, then the Polish player. (Exceptions: see “Broken Cipher,” page 16, and When a player is unable or unwilling to do an ac- Combat strength (0, 1, 2, or 3) “Warsaw Defenders,” page 23.) tion, the player passes. A star or eagle means A player who passes can no longer do any more Color and shape showing to this card can be used to Possible actions are: actions in this operational phase. The opponent which army the card belongs strengthen any of your units. х Pillage (Red player only) can continue to do actions. When both players have х Command a unit passed, the operational phase ends. Akcja 14 Wielkopolska 2 Dywizja 11 Dywizja 53 Dywizja Grupa х Play an (Action) card Manewr Dywizja Piechoty Strzelecka Strzelecka Strzelecka pościgowa Pillage 2 3 2 2 2 1 Akcja The Red player discards 2 command markers from one Red unit and draws 1 card from the Red Złamany szyfr Note: Only selected units appear in the deck to his reserves. 2 Dołóż 2 znaczniki rozkazów na swoją dowolną armię. Akcja gameMożesz od from razu wydać tej among armii Ta karta użytaall w czasie those manewru that took part This action represents Bolsheviks plundering Pol- rozkaz marszu i/lub natarcia. okrążającego ma siłę 5. A 31 card with 08 Akcja (Action) 12 in the 17 battle. The 26 units represented 54 in the ish territory. has special rules, overriding game were historically present, but players the game’s general rules. can create an alternate history, playing Podejrzyj 4 losowe karty z odwodów przeciwnika. W tej rundzie masz cards to assign their troops to formations pierwszeństwo w fazie walk. W następnej rundzie masz pierwszeństwo w fazie operacyjnej. other than happened in reality. 60 7 Command a unit х Attack: Discard 1 command marker from Attack markers Play an Akcja (Action) card the unit to attack an adjacent enemy unit. The player selects one of their units that has at Put an attack marker between these two units When one unit attacks another, place an attack 1. The player plays an Akcja card from their least one command marker and is not engaged in to show that the active unit is attacking the marker between them. hand, resolving its effect as described on the combat (i.e. it has no attack marker touching it). The other. Attacking ends a unit’s actions for the The arrow must point from the attacker to the card. unit can receive commands to march and attack: round: it cannot march or attack again this defender. 2. Then the card is discarded next to the board. х March: Discard 1 command token from the round. The unit being attacked immediately loses all unit, then move it to an adjacent empty space. its command markers. Playing an Akcja card does not require Com- A unit cannot enter a space occupied by an- mand markers. other unit. х A unit can march more than once in a sin- gle action, discarding a command marker Manewr 2 for each space it moves. Akcja Pociąg 1 Armia pancerny 3 Armia 3 „Mściciel” 1 Armia Syberyjska 3 Armia Brygada Piechoty 3 15 Wielkopolska 2 Dywizja Piechoty Dołóż 2 znaczniki rozkazów na swoją dowolną armię. Możesz od razu wydać tej armii 57 7 Dywizja rozkaz marszu i/lub natarcia. Piechoty 2 52 47 1 Armia 3 Armia 3 Armia Marching and attacking can both happen in one 41 action. Discard 1 command marker for each space Engaged units cannot be commanded this round. 37 marched, and then discard 1 more to attack an en- (They can only wait for their combat to be resolved emy adjacent to the unit’s final position. in the Combat Phase.) But an engaged unit can be attacked by other enemy units. Any number of command markers may be dis- When the Red player attacks, place the attack A list of action cards appears on page 23. carded during one action, but from only one unit. marker with the red side visible; when the Polish Commanding a different unit is only possible during player attacks, show the blue side. The Warsaw Defenders a different action. Obrońcy Warszawy never receive command If a unit marches but does not attack, and still markers and so cannot has command markers, then it may be activated be commanded.