Escape from Colditz

Introduction scape from Colditz is an iconic game, and a classic part of British culture. EThe game has built up a mythology over the years, through house rules and differing editions, and for some players their memories of those editions form an undeniable part of the game’s appeal. When given the opportunity to revisit the rules to a classic game, the temptation is to apply decades of game development and refinement to create something entirely new. This is not the approach we took when designing this edition. Escape from Colditz means so much to so many players, to say nothing of its designers who painstakingly struck a balance between exciting gameplay and Major Reid’s real experience as the first British escape officer at Colditz, that to do so would be disrespectful. We wanted this edition to be a remastering rather than a remake, to refine and to clarify what made the original so exciting rather than to replace it. Some rules have been tweaked to clarify the designers’ original intent, while others address ambiguities in the original rulebook. All of these changes have been made in consultation with Brian Degas, the game’s surviving designer. For those who are interested (and those for whom the fun lies in revisiting classic arguments), we have included the original rules in full at the back of this rulebook. We hope you enjoy reliving the escape once more. – The Osprey Games team 3 Game Components • Game board of Colditz Castle • 2 dice • Round marker • 16 black pawns, representing the German Guards • 5 sets of 8 pawns, representing the different nationalities of POWs at Colditz: Americans (blue), British (red), Dutch (orange), French (brown) and Polish (green) • 5 sets of Escape Attempt markers • 16 Security cards, used by the Security Officer Outside the Castle • 47 Opportunity cards, used by the Escape Officers POWs outside the castle • 27 Escape Equipment cards are exempt from the Security Officer’s ‘Appel’ • 5 Escape Kit cards card, but may be targeted • 5 Do or Die cards, which are only used in the classic rules of the game with a ‘Shoot to Kill’ card. Outer Courtyard POWs arrested here will have a piece of equipment Legend confiscated. The rules and cards refer to three areas of the board – the inner courtyard, the Inner Courtyard POWs who are arrested outer courtyard and outside the castle. These are detailed below, while in this area will not have the different types of spaces in the game are listed on the next page. equipment confiscated. Round Countdown At the end of every turn the Security Officer will move the round marker down one number as you count down to the end of the game. Targets A POW must reach one of these to escape. Guard Posts Guards may deploy or return to the Commander’s office from these spaces. They can be moved through as normal spaces. Any POW who ends their movement on one of these spaces is liable for arrest. Staff Car This can only be used with the matching Opportunity card. Commander’s Office Guards return here after an arrest. Barracks Guards are deployed from here. Drops POWs may use a rope to move from a space marked ‘30’ (indicating 30ft) to the white space below, or two ropes to move down drops of 60ft. Doors POWs must use a key to move into these spaces. Inspection Points POWs must use a pass to move into these spaces. Barbed Wire POWs may cut through with a wire cutter where there are connected spaces on both sides. Solitary Cells This is where POWs are placed after arrest. A POW can only exit solitary if their Escape Officer rolls doubles on a movement roll or plays the relevant Opportunity card. When released they start as close as possible to the space indicated with the arrow. Safe Areas POWs on these spaces are exempt from arrest and Security card effects. Guards may not enter these spaces unless they contain an Escape Attempt marker. Searchlights POWs may not end their movement on one of these spaces. Rooms These are where POWs will assemble Equipment with the matching symbol, or Escape Kits. Guards may not enter rooms unless they are pursuing a POW down a rope, or have discovered the tunnel in that room. Walkways Guards may not end their movement on one of these spaces. Appel This is where POWs will begin the game. The Appel area also counts as a safe area for most purposes. Tunnels POWs may use a tunnel if they have the relevant Opportunity card. All pawns may move over these spaces, even if there is a POW on that space, but only POWs that have entered that tunnel may end their turn on these spaces. The tunnel’s entrance is the darker space in each room, while the exit is the darker space in the outer courtyard. 6 Appel At the start of the game, POWs should be aligned in this pattern, depending on the number of players. The colours used here indicate starting positions for sets of POWs, rather than for specific nationalities. These are the same positions POWs will return to when the Appel card is used. 2 Players 3 Players Rules of the game Setup Before you begin, decide together how many rounds you wish to play, and place the round counter on that number. We recommend 50 rounds for new players, and 40 rounds or fewer for more experienced players – the fewer rounds you play, the more unlikely escape will be. At the end of every round the marker will count down towards the eagle space (number 1), until escape is no longer possible. Next, decide which player will take the role of the German Security Officer. That player’s duty will be to prevent the others from escaping. Each other player will play as the Escape Officer of a different nation among the Allied POWs held captive at Colditz. A different number of pawns are used depending on the number of players. Each player should take the number of pawns of their chosen colour listed in the grid below. Number of Players Security Officer Escape Officers 2 6 8 3 12 7 4 14 6 5 15 5 6 16 4 Separate the Escape Equipment cards into four piles and place them face-up beside the board. Give one Escape Kit to every Escape Officer. Shuffle the Security and Opportunity decks and place them face-down beside the board. Deal one Security card to the Security Officer, and one Opportunity card to each Escape Officer. Note: if playing with six players, remove the six cards titled ‘Escape Kit (part)’ from the Opportunity deck and give them to the Security Officer, who must keep them face-down on the table. Set up the POWs according to their starting positions in the Appel Diagram above. The Security Officer can then choose where to deploy the Guards. One Guard for every Escape Officer must be deployed to guard posts in the inner courtyard, and between two and seven additional Guards must be deployed to guard posts in the outer courtyard. The remaining Guards are placed in the Barracks. 7 4 Players 5 Players 6 Players Playing the Game The goal of Escape Officers is to get as many POWs to escape targets as possible. They will assemble escape equipment, manage their opportunities and plan carefully to achieve a successful escape run. Escape Officers will need to work together to thwart the Guards, but must prioritise the needs of their own nation when the going gets tough. The goal of the Security Officer is to prevent as many escapes as possible. On every turn, starting with the Escape Officer to the left of the Security Officer and moving clockwise, players will roll their dice and move some or all of their pawns based on the result, playing cards and assembling Equipment as they see fit. Once they’ve finished, they pass the dice to their left for the next player’s turn. The Security Officer will go last, then move the round marker down one space as time runs out for the escapers. The game will end after 50 rounds, or at the end of a round where the second POW of the same nationality has escaped. Note: the section describing the board contains important clarifications, and should be considered part of the rules. Movement At the start of every turn, you will roll both dice. The combined result gives you the total distance you can move your pawns (Guards or POWs) this turn. Movement can be split between as few or as many pawns as the player sees fit. For example a roll of 9 could mean moving a single pawn nine spaces, moving three pawns two spaces each and another pawn three spaces, moving nine pawns a single space each, or any other combination. You do not need to use all of your allowed movement on your turn. A pawn may never move through a space containing another pawn. Each time an Escape Officer rolls doubles on their movement roll, they may move a POW of their choosing out of solitary, at a cost of one point of movement. If you roll doubles on any dice roll, be it for movement or due to a card, you may roll again adding the extra dice to your total. You may never roll more than two extra times due to rolling doubles. If the rules or the cards ever say ‘directly’, you do not need to use your movement roll to carry out that action.

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