BRIEF BORDER WARS II: System Rules
SYSTEM RULES Read these first!
1.0 INTRODUCTION Brief Border Wars Volume II is a volume of four small games for two players exploring short border conflicts between countries during the first half of the 20th Century. Players represent the local military leaders of these respective governments. The time covered by an entire game may represent days to months, depending on events within the game. These system rules form the common framework for play. Each game has an exclusive rules set that will give specification and qualification to these rules and add or subtract rules and mechanics to fit the particular historical conflict. Passages and phrases in italics provide explanation, rationale, extra detail, clarification, or “color” commentary by the designer.
stripe, to denote that it has been disrupted and cannot attack (however, it can defend itself). Players will also note that some units have a lower CF when they are disrupted. Air units have a blank back to show they cannot do anything while disrupted.
• Nationality. Units in the game are colored to distinguish them by nationality.
• Identification. Units in the game will usually have a distinctive
formation number, or an abbreviated title. See the Identification Chart (2.2) in each game’s exclusive rules.
2.2 Type and Identification Chart See the Type and Identification Chart (2.2) in each game’s exclusive rules.
1.1 General Course of Play
2.3 Maps and Displays
The play of each game is divided into a number of Game Turns. Each Game Turn is divided into several Phases. See 4.0 for the Sequence of Play. In general terms, both players will draw a number of cards from a common deck of Action Cards, then will expend them alternately to conduct different activities with their counters on the map. The game will end in the Final Phase of the final Game Turn, at which time play stops and players determine victory (see 8.0).
2.31 Map. The map depicts the general region where the conflict took place. During play, units move from one area to another (see 6.1) and conduct combat within them (see 6.2).
2.0 GAME COMPONENTS AND CONCEPTS This volume comes with a set of counters for each of the four games, four maps of the general region where the conflicts took place, a common set of cards, these system rules, four sets of exclusive rules, and twelve dice.
• All map areas contain a circle symbol that contains smaller symbols denoting Woods (icon of tree), Mountain (icon of hill) or Urban terrain (black upper half of circle). These are used to denote rough or closed ground that aids the defender in combat. See legend on each map for the key to this and other symbols.
• Each circle symbol is marked with a Victory Point value, which will be awarded to one player if they control it at the end of the game (see 8.0 for definitions).
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2.32 Displays. Each side also has one or more boxes labelled “Rear Area” which represents off-map or otherwise inviolable military bases, logistical sites and garrisons. Units will move from the Rear Area to areas on the map. Units may not move or retreat into friendly or enemy Rear Area boxes. Each Rear Area box also has one smaller section within it marked “Damaged Units.” Units that have been damaged in combat are placed here and must be moved out of it into the Rear Area by die rolls or play of Special Action cards (7.0, 6.31). In some games, a unit in the Damaged Units box is not actually damaged but will take a variable amount of time to reach the front; see exclusive rules.
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2.4 Game Concepts
If any of these parts are missing or damaged, please contact the publisher: Compass Games LLC PO Box 271 Cromwell, CT 06416 USA Phone: (860) 301-0477 E-Mail: support@compassgames.com
2.1 Counters Each game has a set of cardboard counters. They represent military formations and are deployed and moved on the map. These are called “units” and each one has the following information on it:
• Type symbol. This will tell you what type of formation the counter
represents. Ground units have a “box symbol” denoting their troop type. Air units have the silhouette of an aircraft representing the majority of plane types in that group.
• Combat Factor. Each unit has a Combat Factor (CF) printed under-
• Damage: A unit that takes significant casualties or leadership losses is damaged and is placed in the Damaged Units section in the Rear Area Box. Units recover from this state through use of Special Action cards (6.31) or die rolls in the Final Phase (7.0). Some units in some games are not damaged but are eliminated instead; see the exclusive rules for exceptions.
• Disruption: A unit may be disrupted for a variety of reasons,
usually as a result of combat. It is flipped over to show its reverse side. A disrupted ground unit may move but cannot attack; a disrupted air unit cannot do anything. Units recover from this state through use of Special Action cards or die rolls in the Final Phase (7.0).
neath its symbol. This is the number of d6 it will roll during combat (6.2). The reverse side of each ground unit has a differently colored © 2023 Compass Games, LLC.
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