RULE BOOK Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction ............................................................ 2 11.0 Strategic Movement ............................................... 11 2.0 Game Components ................................................. 2 12.0 Regular Movement ................................................ 12 3.0 Set Up .................................................................... 4 13.0 Combat ................................................................... 13 4.0 How to Win ............................................................ 5 14.0 STAVKA & OberOst ............................................. 15 5.0 The Turn Sequence ................................................ 6 15.0 The Brusilov Offensive .......................................... 16 6.0 Central Powers Cooperation .................................. 6 16.0 Russian Plan 19 ...................................................... 17 7.0 Random Events ...................................................... 6 17.0 Schlieffen East Variant ........................................... 17 8.0 Stacking ................................................................. 8 Player’s Notes ................................................................. 17 9.0 Supply .................................................................... 8 Designer’s Notes ............................................................. 18 10.0 New Units & Withdrawals ..................................... 9 GMT Games, LLC • P.O. Box 1308, Hanford, CA 93232-1308 www.GMTGames.com 2 When Eagles Fight Rules Manual 1.0 Introduction 2.2 The Game Map The map represents the militarily significant terrain found on the eastern front during World War I. A hexagonal (“hex”) grid is 1.1 In General printed over the map to regulate the placement and movement of When Eagles Fight (or WEF) is a two-player game simulating units. A unit is considered to be in only one hex at any one time. the campaigns fought between the Central Powers and Czarist Each hex contains natural and/or manmade terrain features that Russia, from Tannenberg in1914 to the fall of the Romanovs in can affect the movement of units and the combat between units. 1917. Players step into the shoes of the front commander of their The manmade and natural terrain on the map has been altered side. The Central Powers player is generally on the offensive, from their real-world configurations to fit within the hex-grid, but attempting to capture enough Russian cities to bring on revolu- the relationships between the terrain from hex to hex are accurate tion in that empire. But the Russian army has remarkable staying to the degree necessary to present players with the same space/ power and is capable of delivering powerful blows of its own. time dilemmas faced by their historic counterparts. Each hex on the map has a four-digit identification number. They 1.2 Game Scale help you find places more quickly (for example, Warsaw is in Each turn represents one or two months, depending on the sea- hex 2419), and allow you to record unit positions if a match has son. Each hex equals 25 miles from side to opposite side. Units to be interrupted and the game temporarily put away before it are mostly corps, with a few divisions, representing between can be finished. 10,000-60,000 men each. The charts and tracks on the map are used for recording and resolving game functions. Details on their uses are explained in 1.3 Time Limits the appropriate rules sections below. After you have become familiar with the game, we recommend limiting each player to no more than eight minutes total for his 2.3 The Counters New Units & Withdrawals, Strategic Movement and Movement Phase of each turn. The other phases may take as much time as There are 264 counters included in the game, most of which rep- needed, but allow no more than 15 seconds for a player to decide resent combat units; a few others are provided as informational whether he will fight a particular battle. This rule not only speeds markers and memory aids. After reading through these rules at play, but forces players to make hurried decisions of the kind least once, carefully punch out the counters. Trimming the cor- faced by their historical counterparts. ners with a fingernail clipper will facilitate handling during play. Each combat unit counter displays several pieces of information: 1.4 List of Game Terms nationality, historical identification, unit size, combat strengths, Following is a list of acronyms used in When Eagles Fight, what regular movement allowance, replacement status, turn of entry each stands for, and the main rule reference for each. or initial placement hex. CRT - Combat Results Table (13.8) 2.4 Sample Combat Units DRM - Die Roll Modifier (13.11) This unit is the Austro-Hungarian 1st Corps. It is a one-step infan- MA - Movement Allowance (12.1) try corps with an attack strength (factor) of 6, a defense strength MPs - Movement Points (12.1) of 7, and a movement allowance of 4. It starts Game Turn 1 in OOS - Out of Supply (9.1) hex 2425. The asterisk means this unit can’t be reclaimed from the Deadpile (see 2.12 and 10.12). TEC - Terrain Effects Chart VPs - Victory Points (4.1) Setup hex Unit ID WEF - When Eagles Fight, the name of this game Unit Size Unit cannot be Unit Type reclaimined from 2.0 Game Components Deadpile Attack Defense Movement Factor Factor Factor 2.1 Component List The components of When Eagles Fight are as follows. One 176-counter 5/8" countersheet One 88-counter 5/8” countersheet One 22"x34" mapsheet Two Player Aid cards (identical) This rulebook © 2014 GMT Games, LLC When Eagles Fight Rules Manual 3 2.5 Nationality 2.8 Unit Size A unit’s nationality, and therefore its “side,” is indicated by its A unit’s organizational size is indicated by the follow symbols. color scheme. XXX – Corps The Central Powers Side: XX – Division II – Battalion German units – Blue-gray Design Note: A bracket atop a unit’s size symbol means it’s an Austro-Hungarian units – Light Gray irregular or ad hoc formation of that approximate size. Note also the fortress infantry units don’t have size symbols. Their The Russian Side: peculiarities are discussed in 13.15. Russian units – Dark Green 2.9 Attack & Defense Factors Romanian unit – Yellow These two “combat factors” are separate measures of a unit’s ability to conduct offensive and defensive combat operations. *Design Note: The Turkish Corps is considered “German” Their use is explained in section 13.0. for all game purposes (but see 10.2). 2.10 Movement Factor 2.6 Historical Identification This number is a measure of a unit’s ability to move across the Each unit is identified by a number and/or a letter abbreviation hex grid printed on the map. Units pay different movement costs of their full historical names. The abbreviations are listed in the to enter different hexes, depending on the terrain in the hexes box below. This information is provided for historical interest; entered. it does not affect play. 2.11 Steps BL – Breslau Landwehr LTV – Latvian All units in the game are either “one-step” or “two-step” units. C – Caucasus NWF – Northwest Front Those with printing on only one side are “one-step units;” those CR – Combined Reserve PL – Posen Landwehr with printing on both sides are “two-step units.” FN – Finnish R – Reserve Important Exception: See rule 2.12 below. FNR – Finnish Reserve RM – Romanian The steps contained in a unit are a direct measure of its ability FR – Fortress Reserve S – Siberian to absorb combat losses before being eliminated. When a unit G – Guard SWF – Southwest Front is “eliminated” it doesn’t mean every individual within it has GN – Grenadier TL – Thorn Landwehr been killed. It means enough casualties and equipment losses have been sustained by that unit to render it useless for further GR – Guard Reserve TN – Turkistani combat operations. H – Hungarian TU – Turkish If a two-step unit “takes a step loss,” it is flipped over so its KMR – Kummer Group WL – Woyrsch Landwehr reduced side (the one with the lower combat and/or movement L – Landwehr values) shows. If a one-step unit (or a two-step unit that had al- ready been “reduced” once) takes a step loss, it is removed from 2.7 Unit Types the map (eliminated) and placed in the Deadpile. The symbols in the center of the counters indicate the kinds of Play Note: The “Deadpile” is any handy off-map location for units used during these campaigns. They are: keeping eliminated units. Infantry 2.12 Austro-Hungarian Step Strength German Active Corps Though it may not appear like it after first reading rule 2.11, all Austro- Fortress Infantry Hungarian units in the game are one- Cavalry step units, including those with printing on both sides (such as illustrated above). The printing on the Siege Guns reverse of the Austro-Hungarian units represents those forma- tions’ strengths after being reformed from the Deadpile. re 2.11, Deadpile: Kai notes: there is no specific Example: The Austro-Hungarian 1st Corps starts the game as “Deadpile” on the map or player aid cards. This is a 6-7-4 containing one step; disregard the information on the reverse side. After the 1st is eliminated in play—by suffering a an undefined term at this point in the rules. step loss—it goes into the Deadpile. If the Central Powers player © 2014 GMT Games, LLC 4 When Eagles Fight Rules Manual expends a replacement point, the 1st can be returned to play, but 2.14 Schlieffen East and Free Set Up Units as a one-step corps with factors of 3-4-3 (on the reverse side). From that time on, no matter how many times the unit goes in and out of the Deadpile, the original 6-7-4 side is ignored and the unit is always represented in play as a one-step 3-4-3. Design Note: What we’re getting at here is the fact the Austro- These units are used in the Schlieffen (17.0) and Free Set Up Hungarian army had certain morale and strength levels (3.9) scenarios, as denoted by “SEV” and “FS” (respectively) in available to it at the start of the war that it was never able to the counters’ upper left corner.