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COMMAND CARDS
Q: When a command card states, for example, order 3 Units and/or Generals, can I order up to 3 units and 3 generals this turn making it essentially 6 orders?
A: No. The number of orders issued to your units and generals can’t be above the number determined by the Command card played. (BC:150 p.5) “When you play a section card, the card will indicate how many and which type of units you may order to move and/or battle.” But you usually do have the flexibility of distributing the balance of the orders any way you like. And so long as a general remains attached to an ordered unit, it may move and battle with the unit without the need to issue a second order for the general.
REVIEW THE STAFFING NOTES:
Q: The Victory Conditions state that you must capture a number of flags and this is determined in the scenario. I have looked at all of the scenarios and they do indeed tell you how many flags you are to capture. But where are the flags? I don't see them depicted on the very colorful scenario set ups. What did I miss?
A: The flags referred to in the scenarios are typically flag bearers of the individual units and generals (BC:150 p.6). In battle (BC:150 p.10), “Remove the flag bearer piece last. When the flag bearer (last piece) in the opponent’s unit is removed, place it on an empty space of the the victory stand on your side of the battlefield.” Also, any specific objectives detailed in the scenario’s special rules may also count as flags for purposes of victory.
PLAY A COMMAND CARD
Q: Can you play a card on an area (flank) when there are no units there to be ordered (whether or not you have other playable cards in hand)? Basically, can you play an “unplayable” card?
RB: Yes. A player may play any card from his hand. It is possible that a player may hold cards that will not be an effective card to play. Example: A player has no units on this left flank but holds a Probe Left (order 2 units) card. In this case the player may play the card, and do nothing. It was never our intent to have players only play cards that could activate units.
Q: Player 1 plays the Call for Reinforcements card. Can Player 2 use the Counterattack card on his turn to also get reinforcments? My almost certain assumption is yes. The one thing that makes me wonder is is that the card says CounterATTACK. making me think that it's really only to be used against cards where the opponent is actively attacking.
A: Yes. The titles of cards are for identification and flavor only. They do not create any rules themselves. The Counterattack card allows you to play a duplicate card of what was just played: “When you play this card, it becomes a copy of the card your opponent played on his or her last turn. Follow the instructions on that card as though you were actually playing it...”
ANNOUNCE ORDERS
Can a general attach itself to a unit, and then a unit attack at the same time as long as it has 2 orders?
In the game, all orders must be announced before any movement takes place. In your situation, if you have two orders to give, you may first issue one order to the general and one order to the unit in the Announce Orders phase if they are eligible to receive orders under the Command card being played. Next, during the Movement phase, the general may move to attach to the unit. And then in the Battle phase the unit with attached general may battle.
MOVE
Moving Generals
A general may pass through a hex occupied by a friendly unit, a friendly unit with an attached general, or a friendly general. You may move a general onto a hex occupied by a friendly unit (as long as there is no other general in the same hex). If a general enters a hex occupied by a friendly unit, must the general end his movement for that turn?
The general may attach to a friendly unit with no other general attached to it. It must attach only if it ends its movement there, terrain in the hex prohibits the general from moving further, or the general has no movement remaining.
I have read the FAQ and rules section but still I have one concern about general movement. The situation is that I give orders to a general and 1 unit in the section. First I move the general and attach him to the unit that was ordered. As far as I understand the rules: The unit cannot move because the general would move a second time in the turn—am I right?
That is correct. (BC:150 p.9) “A general that moves and joins a unit may not move again with a unit
it has just joined.”
Can the unit move leaving general behind?
No. The general is now attached to the unit and moving the unit would violate the rule quoted above. But you could sequence your movement so that the unit moves out first and then the lone general moves in to occuppy the vacated hex.
“Some terrain features affect movement and may prevent a general from moving its full distance or battling.” What does that mean? A general alone in a hex may not battle.
That is correct. (BC:150 p.9) “A general alone in a hex may not battle.” Units with attached generals which are eligible to battle do receive certain benefits from the generals in battle, such as Embolden Troops and Take Ground.
Attached Generals
I need a clarification on the movement rules for generals when attached to units. The rules state that if a unit is ordered the general MUST move with the unit. Therefore in order to move a general into another unit, or away from that unit I assume I must order the general first, move him, then order the unit to move if able.
The way the game is phased, all orders are allotted to units and Generals before any movement takes place. (BC:150 p.9) “You may give an order to an attached general to move away from the unit that it’s attached to for a cost of one order. The unit that the general moves away from is not considered ordered unless it is also given an order.” What you could do is issue one order to the unit and another to the attached general (two orders) and announce that the general is splitting from the unit. They both may then move separately in any order you want, but they can’t move together and one of them could remain in the hex as the sum of its movement.
BATTLE
Can a unit be issued an order and attack without moving?
Yes. From the rules “...You may move units you’ve ordered...” The key words here are “may move.”
Quick question, I am new to this game and have played it twice with two people. One person had me roll battle dice every time he attacked as a defensive fire and the other guy would only let me roll battle dice when I attacked or had a Counterattack card. Here is my question, which guy was right? Can I only roll the dice during my attack turn or whenever I’m attacked?
Normally, you may only battle (rolling dice against an opponent’s unit) during your own turn. An exception to this is play of the card Fight Back. “Play this card on your opponent’s turn after one of his or her units battles, and only if your defending unit wasn’t eliminated or forced to retreat. Your unit battles the attacking enemy unit...”
Generals in Battle
Is a general allowed to move, attach to a unit, and battle with a unit already in a Woods, Homestead or Town hex with an ordered unit already there?
Yes, provided the unit the general is attaching to has also received an order.
There was a conundrum in Antietam (could have been any scenario) regarding the Take Ground rule from BC:150 p.9. A Union infantry unit with 3 figures and an attached general was attacked on a hill by a Confederate infantry unit with an attached general. Three dice were thrown, resulting in 3 hits which eliminated the Union infantry unit. According to the rule, the Confederate infantry unit should be able to Take Ground and advance onto the hill. Does the Union general prevent this?
Because the hex was still occupied by the enemy general figure, the unit and its attached general cannot Take Ground. Perhaps the Take Ground rule could be reworked as followed...
Take Ground: An attached general and the infantry or cavalry unit to which he is attached may “take ground” after battling an adjacent enemy unit and/or general that is eliminated or that retreats from its hex. The unit with the attached general takes ground by moving onto the hex that was occupied by the enemy unit and/or general.
As I understand a unit can attack and Take Ground if not moving.
Infantry and Cavalry units need to have an attached general to be eligible to Take Ground. Whether the unit moved or not during the Move phase has no effect on Taking Ground.
An infantry unit with an attached general moves into a Wood Hex and battles against an adjacent enemy unit, forcing it to retreat. May the attacking unit Take Ground?
Yes. (BC:150 p.9) Under Take Ground: “A general’s ability to Take Ground overrides terrain features that require a unit to stop and move no further on the turn.”
When a general alone in a hex is attacked and a flag is rolled, may he ignore the flag or must he ignore the flag? Could he retreat if I wanted him to?
Your general may ignore the flag, if you wish it to. Or you may apply it and make a retreat move with the general (1 hex per flag), if you would rather do that. (BC:150 p.9) “Each time a general that is alone in a hex is attacked, that general may ignore one retreat flag rolled against it.”
Line of Sight (LOS)
Is a LOS blocked that travels along the edge of the board if the on-map terrain is blocking? The question really becomes what is in the hexes that are just off board. Do you always assume blocking terrain around the entire perimeter of the board?
Yes, in the above situation LOS is blocked. Off board hexes or those around the edge are considered as blocking terrain for LOS purposes.
If a unit is adjacent to a half hex and there is a unit on a full hex behind him but on the edge of the board (sandwiched between two half hexes) can I see through the half hex to the full hex?
Are half-hexes playable? I can’t find a reference to them in the rules, which would imply to me that they are playable, and not just there in case you join two maps together.
The half-hexes along each side of the map are not playable in a standard size (9 hexes by 13 hexes) Battle Cry scenario. However, for a BIG Battle Cry scenario where two 150 Anniversary map boards are set side by side, then the half-hexes will form a full playable hex where the two maps are side by side. The half-hexes along each side of the BIG Battle Cry map are still not playable. A BIG Battle Cry map is 9 hexes by 26 hexes.
Would obstructing, non-hill terrain, midway between two hills that are, say four-hexes apart, block LOS between the two hills? The rules would indicate yes, just making sure that these are indeed smallish hills.
Yes. (BC:150 p.10) “...line of sight is blocked if a hex (or part of a hex) between the battling unit and the target hex contains an obstruction. Obstructions include a unit or general (regardless if friend or foe) and some terrain.” (See Terrain BC:150 p.12)
Does an Infantry or Cavalry unit on a hill have its line of sight blocked when attacking over a unit (any unit friendly or enemy) in an adjacent hex on lower/non LOS blocking terrain? The rules state that an artillery unit may fire over a friendly unit or general in an adjacent hex.
Infantry or Cavalry on a hill may not fire over friendly units. Only artillery, on a hill hex, may fire over a friendly unit in an adjacent hex to the hill. Therefore, their line of sight would be blocked.
I played the other night and my buddy wanted to know if he could target a unit on a hill that was behind another unit in front of it at lower elevation.
No. Not if the line of sight passes through the unit at the lower elevation (BC:150 p.10) “...This line of sight is blocked if a hex (or part of a hex) between the battling unit and the target contains an obstruction. Obstructions include a unit or general (regardless if friend or foe) and some terrain...”
Resolving Battles:
Must all shots be “called” before resolving any? This would seem to be yes, to keep a player from seeing who was successful and then targeting a different enemy.
No. In “Battle Cry,” unlike most war games, shots are not called. As each unit battles you should state the unit battling and its target unit. Determine the number of dice you will roll. Roll the proper number of dice and remove hits and the enemy unit is move back if any retreats were rolled. After all this, and only after all this is completed, should the next unit battle. You may call the same target unit... but this is up to you based on its position etc.
Are ALL casualties from ALL firing units removed before ANY retreats? I believe this is yes from a reading of the rules, but there is some small room for doubt. Yes, would make sense because the units might retreat out of range. Please Clarify.
Each unit’s battle is resolved before the next unit’s battle is started. Hits are taken first followed by retreats. The order you choose to battle with your units is an important skill a “Battle Cry” commander must learn. As you noted, after the first unit’s battle dice are rolled, the target unit may retreat out of range of another unit you were planning to battle with on the turn.
Hitting a General
If a unit attacks another unit with an attached general and after eliminating all figures it still has sabres result left, is the general eliminated?
No. (BC:150 p.11) “If a general is attached to a unit that has just been eliminated, and the attacker still has one or more additional sabers to use, those sabers do not affect the general.”
Do I need 2 different attacks to eliminate an attached general? Or could flags rolled in just one attack eliminate the general, too?
The general has to be alone in a hex first before it can be eliminated in a battle.
(BC:150 p.10) “Hitting a General: A general may only be attacked and hit when alone in a hex.” Once a unit is eliminated from hits, an attached general now alone must still resolve any of the flags rolled in the battle. (BC:150 p.11). “An attached general must retreat with its unit to the same hex. If the unit is eliminated in battle, the general must make any retreat moves required.” and “If a general can’t retreat because of reaching the edge of the battlefield, or if enemy units or impassble terrain blocks its retreat, the general is eliminated.”
Eliminating an attached general on hits alone requires two attacks. Eliminating an attached general on a combination of hits and flags in one roll is a remote, situation-dependent possibility.
If the Unit that a Leader is attached is in the last hex of battlefield. This unit is eliminated and the enemy roll 1 flag. May the leader ignore the flag?
Yes, the general could ignore the flag and remain in the hex.
If the enemy had rolled 2 flags the Leader is dead?
Yes, the general could only ignore 1 flag, for the second flag the general must retreat, but because the figure is on his baseline hex, the general cannot retreat and therefore is eliminated.
If the attacking players does not succeed, the defending general has a lucky escape? A lucky escape is that a move a leader can retreat 1 to 3 hex like in Ancients?
Unlike Commands & Colors Ancients a general may only retreat one hex and may not retreat of the battlefield.
Retreat
Are terrain movement restrictions ignored when retreating? Does this mean a retreating unit may enter or pass through a normally impassable rough terrain hex?
A unit will ignore terrain movement restrictions when it retreats but may not retreat onto or through a hex with impassable terrain.
Is one piece removed from a unit for each flag received if the unit is unable to retreat (due to units, impassible terrain, etc.)?
Yes. (BC:150 p.11) “If a unit can’t retreat because of reaching the edge of the battlefield, or other units (friend or foe) or impassable terrain blocks the retreat, the player of the retreating eliminates one figure in the retreating unit for each retreat flag move that can’t be completed. Such losses may include an attached general if there are no other figures available to be taken as casualties.”
I know this topic has been covered quite a bit, but a question came up during a game last night: Can a leader negate the retreat for the unit he is attached to, or only for himself?
A general can negate a retreat flag in two ways (BC:150 p.9): A general may Embolden Troops each time the unit he is attached to is attacked, which permits the attacked unit to ignore a retreat flag. Also, each time a general that is alone in a hex is attacked, that general may ignore a retreat flag rolled against it.
If an attacking unit rolls a flag, can a general choose to retreat using his speed of 3 movement spaces?
No. Units retreat 1 hex per flag rolled. (BC:150 p.11) “For each flag symbol rolled during the battle, the defending unit must retreat 1 hex towards its own edge of the battlefield.” What is clear is that all units— even cavalry, which also move three hexes—retreat 1 hex per flag and any attached generals retreat with them. What’s not clear in the rules is how far generals retreat when they are alone. A universal convention among players is that generals retreat 1 flag per hex.
Units and Generals do indeed retreat 1 hex per flag.
DRAW A COMMAND CARD
What happens when you reach the end of the Command Card deck?
Reshuffle the cards in the discard pile and continue playing. Since the discard pile is reshuffled into the deck whenever Battle Cry card is played, this shouldn’t happen all that often.
TERRAIN
Hill Hex—Rule Update
Movement:
No restrictions.
Battle:
• When targeting an enemy unit or general that is up hill, reduce the number of battle dice rolled by 1.
• When a unit is on a hill hex and targets an enemy unit or general that is on another hill hex, reduce the number of battle dice rolled by 1, unless the unit battling and the target unit are on adjacent hill hexes.
• Artillery firing from a hill hex has its ranged increased to maximum of 6 hexes. When battleing from a hill hex, roll the standard number of battle dice for the normal range of 1 to 5 hexes. At range of 6 hexes, roll 1 die.
• An artillery unit on a hill hex does not have its line of sight blocked by a friendly unit or general that is on an adjacent hex as long as that adjacent hex is lower and has no other terrain feature that blocks line of sight.
Line of Sight:
• A hill hex blocks line of sight to units behind a hill hex.
• A unit on a lower level has line of sight to the first hill hex and vice versa. A unit on a lower level does not have line of sight through one hill hex onto a second hill hex and vice versa.
• Line of sight is not blocked between units on the same hill looking acoss connected hill hexes. The units are considered to be on a plateau.
• Line of sight is not blocked between units on hill hexes separated by one or more intervening hexes of lower elevation unless any of thoes hexes contain a unit, general or terrain that blocks line of sight.
When you are on a hill can you fire over field works, trenches and fences without the one less dice penalty?
Fences, Entrenchements, and Fieldworks do not block line of sight. Dice reductions for these features only apply when units occupy them. If any units are in these hexes, the units will block any line of sight drawn through them.
Orchard
Officialy there is absolutly no difference between an Orchard hex and a Field hex, right?
No. Just the name and the illustrations on the tiles. A scenario’s special rules might impose a difference to recreate a historical situation.
Rough Terrain:
Can artillery on a hill shoot over the rough hexes as if it were friendly units?
No. (BC:150 p.14) A rough terrain hex blocks line of sight.
Waterway:
There is no dice reduction when firing on units in a river. Is that correct?
Correct, there is no reduction when targeting a unit on a waterway hex. A unit on a waterway hex, however, rolls 1 less battle dice.
WINNING THE GAME
Does a player win one flag for each unit occupying an objective hex, so he may win several flags? Or may a player win one and only one flag, even if several of his units occupies an objective hex?
Review the Staffing Notes carefully. There are many scenarios with different conditions for earning flags through the capture of objective hexes. Only one unit may occupy a hex so several units may not occupy a single objective hex.
LINE OF SITE DIAGRAM
(Incorporating Richard Borg’s rules update for Hill hexes.)
- Example 1: No terrain, units, or generals block line of sight between the units on the hill hex and clear hex.
- Example 2: Hill hexes block line of sight on both sides of the line between the units on the hill and clear hexes.
- Example 3: The hill does not block line of sight between the two units on the hill hexes. They are part of the same complex of hills to form a plateau. The hill hex is on only one side of the line of sight to the Zouaves (on the right).
- Example 4: No terrain, units, or generals block line of sight between the two units on the hill hexes.
- Example 5: The Homestead hex only blocks of the line of sight on one side of line. The hills form a plateau.
- Example 6: The Homestead hex blocks line of sight between the unit on the hill hex and the hlear hex.
- Example 7: The unit in the clear hex blocks line of sight between the units on the hill hexes.
- Example 8: Confederate artillery on a hill hex has line of sight over a friendly unit in an adjacent hex at a lower level in a clear hex to the Union Infantry on the hill hex. The Confederate Infantry unit on the clear hex blocks the Union infantry line of sight to the Confederate artillery on the hill hex.
- Example 9: The rough terrain hex is blocking the line of sight between the two units on the hill hexes.
- Example 10: Two different pieces of blocking terrain are on both sides of the line of sight, even though apart.
Fence, Entrenchment and Fieldwork Protection Diagrams
Fences: Reduces the attacker's Battle Dice by 1 die.
Entrenchments: Reduces the attacker's Battle Dice by 2 dice and allows the defending unit or lone general to ignore 1 Flag. A unit or general must end movement when entering the Entrenchment from the protected side.
Fieldworks: Reduces the attacker's Battle Dice by 1 die and allows the defending unit or lone general to ignore 1 Flag.
UNITS
Horse Artillery
Horse Artillery detailed rules.
Horse Artillery will battle with 4 dice in adjacent hex, 3 dice, 2 dice and 1 die at four hex range (4-3-2-1).
Horse Artillery on a hill increase the range NOT the number of dice, so a HA on hill battles 4-3-2-1-1!
Horse Artillery may move 2 hexes and not battle or move 1 hex and battle. Also note that a Horse artillery unit order to move by a Bombard card may not battle.