Tanks of War: Third Reich Rising Rulebook (updated)

8/22/2019 Tanks of War: Third Reich Rising Rulebook (updated)

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hank you for purchasing Tanks of War: Third Reich Rising!

Our hope is that the game inspires you to learn more about

he fascinating struggles of World War 2 and the many heroesnd villains it created. The game is dedicated to all the soldiers

nd civilians who went through this terrible war.

What is tanks of War?

anks of War (TOW) is a fast paced World War 2 deck building

oard game of mighty tank battles. 2-4 players can take the side

f either Germanys Third Reich or the Soviet Union (Russian)

orces during the early years of WW2.

OW brings the intensity of WW2 tank battles into an easy-o-understand and play format which will delight historical buffs

nd casual gamers looking for deep strategy, explosive turns,

nd pitch battles.

What is a Deck builDing game?

ach turn players build and customize their play deck by buying

nd adding cards to it as the game progresses. This is unlike

most other games youve played where you may have a xed

eck of playing cards. Youll have to make tough choices as to

which mix of cards will work best with the scenario youre

aying and the challenges youll be facing.

War start Date

he vehicles and cards found in Tanks of War: Third Reich Ris-

g cover the rst year of the war from its opening salvos of

Operation Barbarossa spanning from June 1941 to June 1942.

uture expansions will expand the time line and introduce new

ations such as the British and U.S. along with new cards and

ehicles for the Germans and Russians.

authenticity

ach vehicle and their respective stats were painstakingly

esearched from real technical data then converted to game

erms to provide an authentic WW2 gaming experience.

number of Players

TOW can be played by up to 4 players in the base set, thouits strongly recommended each player have their own copy

(see the Multiplayer Rules on page X).

object of the game

TOW lets players enjoy a variety of challenging and fun sce

narios which will test the skills and bravery of the most die

hard tank commanders. In most games, the player who rea

and has the most victory point by the end of a given turn w

This is accomplished primarily by destroying enemy tanks a

holding objectives.

game length anD Variants

TOW allows players to engage in short 30-50 minute skirm

level battles to more grand battles which can take up to tw

hours. Variants add additional options for players to custom

their game experience and are located in the Variants secti

first time

Included in the back of the rule book is a training scenario.strongly recommend playing this before the others.

Dont feel you need to read all the rules in one sitting. As

come up, look them up. Get a feel for the game and remem

it will take a few plays to start understanding and appreciat

ing all the subtleties in strategy that TOW offers to its tank

commanders. Play a few games, study the cards, and then st

developing your paths to victory!

No two games will ever be alike so be versatile with your p

and attack when ready!


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comPonents

After opening your box, carefully punch out the tokens and

put the different cards in their respective decks.

x1 Game Board

x2 Player Reference Cards

x1 Rule Book

Dice including one of: d4, d6, d8, d12 and two d10s

X Reverse Tokens

X Built-Up Momentum Tokens

X Damage Tokens

X Ammo Tokens

X Objective Tokens

2 Commander Action Tokens

X Force Cards

X Vehicle Cards

X Common Cards

X Terrain Cards

X Movement Point Tokens

XX

game Dice

In TOW youll be using the 10 sided dice as a percentile for

many of your actions such as attacking and spotting. When

rolling for a percentage if you roll equal to or under the

target number it is a success. Example: if you need to roll a

40% to hit, a roll of 40 or under is a success.

german anD russian oVerVieW

The Germans (Reich) were a mighty

and nigh-unstoppable force the world

had ever seen. In Tanks of War this is

reected in the type of cards the Ger-

mans can use and the general leadership of the tank crews

which gives them a signicant advantage over their Russian

counterparts. Players who enjoy quality over quantity will

want to play the Germans. Unfortunately, the Germans suf-

fer from a general lack of strong tanks during the early part

of World War 2. Youll have to use your superior trained

crews to make up for this deciency.

The Russians (Soviet Union) unleashed

innumerable tanks on the Eastern

Front that the Germans couldnt

destroy enough of. Though their crews

are usually untrained they have raw

courage and their cards reect that.

Players who enjoy swarm armies and believe in quantity

over quality will enjoy this force.

carD oVerVieW

1

2

3

4

Force Cards:

1. Card Name

2. Card Type

3. Card Information

4. Card Cost

5

7

1

2

3

4

6

8

109

Vehicle Cards:

1. Hull Points

2. Date of Card

3. Vehicle Armor for that Side

4. Speed Levels and the Movement Points it generates5. Vehicle Name

6. Crew Number

7. Vehicles Abilities

8. Penetration for Hard and Soft Targets

9. Starting Ammo

10. Rarity

11. Vehicles Point Cost and Victory Points (VP) it gives

12. Base Attack and Crew Quality Percentage

11

12

3

3

3


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the Decks

Common Deck:These cards are recognized by its white

border. Common Cards that can be used by either player

and are not limited by which nation uses them. These are

mixed into a players Force Deck to purchase throughout

the game.

Draw Deck: Players will buy and place cards here to drawto their hand each turn.

Force Deck: These cards are recognized by either the Red

(Russian) or Gray (German) border. Force Cards cannot

be intermixed between nations. Similar to the Common

Cards these can be purchased to add powerful actions

specic to the nation you are playing. Youll need to have a

good mix of these if you stand any chance of winning!

Vehicle Deck: These cards are recognized by either the

Red (Russian) or Gray (German) border. Your nations

vehicles (such as Tanks and Tank Destroyers) can be pur-

chased from this deck during the Buy Phase.

Supply Deck: These cards are recog-

nized by the oil barrel and its cor-

responding Supply Value it provides.

Any player may purchase any number

of these Supply Cards during the Buy

Phase. These cards are then used to

purchase Force, Vehicle, and Supply

cards.

running out of carDs

If at any time your Force, Vehicle or Supply decks run out

of cards to draw from youre simply out of luck. This repre-

sents your doomed struggle to obtain sufcient supplies to

continue the battle and/or mismanagement of your ability

to wage war with what has been given to you.

Decommissioning a carD

Sometimes you may choose or be forced to Decommis-sion a card. In these cases, the cards are returned to their

respective discard pile from the deck they came from

instead of into your draw decks discard. Decommissioned

cards cannot be drawn and/or used again.

Example: You have a Force Card in your hand that requires

it to be Decommissioned to play. Normally, when you play

a card it goes into your draw decks discard pile. In this

case, it would be removed from play and returned to its

respective decks discard pile, i.e. If it was a Force Card it

would go to the Force Cards discard pile)..

setuP

For your rst game well setup a short 50 point Tank

Death Match (TDM) for two players. Other variants such

as historical scenarios and playing with more than one play

er are presented later. The 50 point TDM is a great way to

learn Tanks of War in a relatively short amount of time.

Decide your Nation: Players may choose or randomly

select which nation they wish to play. After both players

have chosen, take your nations corresponding HQ Refer-

ence Card, Momentum Token, Force and Vehicle decks.

Layout: Place each deck as shown in the set-up diagram on

the page XXX.

Note: Each of the different Supply cards should have their

own separate pile and be placed face up.

Terrain: For your rst game no Terrain will be used. In

standard games, players can follow any of the Terrain Setupguides (SEE X) or place Terrain as determined by the sce-

nario.

Create your Draw Deck: Each player takes x4 Supply 10

cards from the Supply Deck. Find the common card Com-

mander Spotting from your Force deck and take it. Place

these ve cards into your hand. Next, shufe your Force

Deck, draw 7 cards from it, then add these to your hand as

well. You should now have a total of 12 cards in your hand.

Shufe these 12 cards and place them face down to form

your starting draw deck.

Drawing Cards: Each turn youll draw cards from your

draw deck to form your hand for the turn. Throughout the

game youll have the option of purchasing more cards to

add to your draw deck. If you play a card from your hand

it will go directly into your draw decks discard pile to be

drawn again at a later time.

starting tanks

For your rst game, look in your vehicle deck and nd tank

X if youre the Germans and tank X if youre the Russiansand set it aside for now. This will be your starting tank

for your rst game. Afterwards, each player shufes their

Vehicle Deck. Take a few minutes to review your cards.

Note: In standard Tank Death Matches, players will custom

build their vehicles based on the point limit agreed to by

both players. In other scenarios you may start with a num-

ber and type of tanks already on the battleeld.


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Set Momentum: Players set their starting Momentum on

the 3 space on their HQ Card by using their respec-

tive Momentum Tokens. Momentum is a reection of that

players tactical control over the battleeld. Whenever you

destroy a vehicle raise your momentum by 1 and lower

your opponents by 1. In game terms, Momentum adds to

your Initiative Roll to determine who goes rst each round

(See Momentum).

Setup Vehicle and Force Purchase Stacks: Place your

Vehicle and Force Purchase Decks in their respective slots

next to your Reference Card (see setup diagram). Each

player draws 2 cards from each of these decks and places

them face up in a row of 2 under their respective deck as

shown in the setup diagram. The cards placed here are in

what is called your Vehicle and Force purchase stacks.

On your rst Buy Phase youll draw a card from each of

these stacks thus having 3 total cards in the Vehicle and

Force Purchase Stacks. In subsequent turns, youll draw

one card from each of the Vehicle and Purchase decks (seeRefresh Purchase Stacks pgXXX). Cards on the Purchase

Stacks can be purchased during the Buy Phase (see setup

diagram).

Place Objective Tokens: For your rst Tank Death Match

game well use two of these tokens. Place the Objective

Token according to the setup diagram. Youll score ad-

ditional points by controlling these tokens (see Objective

Token pgXXX).

Roll to Deploy: Each player rolls a D6 and adds their cur-

rent Momentum. Reroll any ties. The player who wins the

roll may choose to deploy their vehicle rst

or opt to have their opponent go rst. Ve-

hicles are placed in a players Home Row. Each

player takes turns deploying their vehicles face

down (showing the icon of the nation) one at

a time until all vehicles have been placed.

Face-down vehicles are considered Hidden

and cannot be red upon until Spotted (see

Spotting).

Note: No more than one vehicle can be

deployed in one space.

What Vehicle Do i haVe?

Dont worry, you can look at your face-down vehicle cards

on the battleeld at any time during play. Your opponent,

however, cannot look at your vehicle card unless he has

spotted it.

turn oVerVieW

There are 5 steps to a game turn:

Draw cards1.

Buy phase:2.

Refresh Purchase Stacks

Purchase

Vehicle Deploys

Roll for Initiative3.

Players Alternate Turns4.Wrap Up5.

DraW carDs

Players simultaneously draw a number of cards from their

Draw Deck until they have a total of 7 cards in their hand.

If at any time your Draw Deck is depleted, the player im-

mediately shufes his discards to form a new Draw Deck,

and then draws accordingly.

Example: Jimmy has 2 cards in his draw deck, 18 in hisdiscard, and 3 cards in his hand. He draws the 2 cards and

immediately shufes his discards to form a new draw deck.

He then draws 2 more cards to have a full hand size of 7.

hoW to Win your first game

The player who has a total of 50 VP or higher at the

end of a turns Wrap Up phase wins. If both players

score 50 VP or higher on that turn then the player with

the higher VP wins. If there is a tie both players

have a stalemate.

Youll gain VP by holding Objectives and/or destroyingenemy vehicles. When you completely destroy a

Vehicle youll gain VP equal to its purchase cost.


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setuP Diagram

2

5

11

1

4

3

6 78

9 10

12

13

Momentum Token on the Momentum Track1.

Force Card Reserve2.

Player Reference Card3.

Supply Card Reserve4.

Vehicle Deck Discard Pile5.

Vehicle Deck6.

Force Card Deck7.

Force Card Discard Pile8.

Vehicle Purchase Stack9.

Force Card Purchase Stack10.

Draw Deck11.

Draw Deck Discard Pile12.

Players Starting Hand of 7 Cards13.

Supply Purchase Stacks14.

Token Pool15.

Objective Token16.

Home Row of 6 Spaces17.

14

SETUP KEY

15

16

16

16

Vehicle Deck

DiscardForce Card

Deck Discard

Draw

Deck

Discard


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buy Phase

There are 3 steps to this phase:

Refresh Purchase Stacks1.

Purchase2.

Deploy Vehicles3.

REFRESH PURCHASE STACKS

Each player simultaneously may draw up to 3 Force Cards

and up to 3 Vehicle cards. These cards are placed face-up

on their respective Purchase Stacks. You may place any

number of cards drawn in any of the 3 spaces of its respec-

tive stack. If you dont like the card(s) drawn, you can freely

Decommission it instead.

If this is your rst turn, you should have a total of three

cards in this stack (two from set-up and the one you just

drew).

Note: Youll always have at least 3 cards in these stacks.

PURCHASE

Both players simultaneously may purchase any number of

cards from their Force Purchase Stacks, Vehicle Purchase

Stacks and/or Supply Cards.

Cards are purchased by Discarding a number of Supply

Cards from a players hand and/or Supply Reserve with a

value equal to or greater than the cost of the card.

Once nished purchasing, place any purchased cards face

down in front of you along with any Supply Cards used. No

further purchases may then be made by you this turn. A

player may opt to pass. By doing so they may not purchase

again this turn.

When all players are done, players may see what was pur-

chased by the other players and/or conrm that the right

amount of Supply was spent. Both players then put any

non-Vehicle cards purchased, including Supply Cards used

to buy those cards, into their Draw Decks discard pile.

Example: Jimmy has x2 Supply 10 cards in his hand and

wishes to buy a Force card which costs 10 Supply. He buys

the card by discarding the Supply 10 card from his hand.

Only the top card of any stack may be purchased. Any

card(s) located under another card in any of these stacks

cannot be purchased.

Any Supply Card(s) used to purchase a card(s) are then

put into the players Draw Decks discard pile to be used

again on a later turn. If any Supply Cards were used from a

players Supply Reserve they are Decommissioned instead

(see XXXX)..

When a Force card is purchased, immediately draw a new

Force card from your Force deck and place it face-up in its

purchase stack. This card is now available to immediately

purchase.

When purchasing a Vehicle, place the newly purchased card

in front of you face-down to deploy later during the Vehicle

Deploy sub-phase of the Buy phase. Similar to when you

buy a Force Card, draw a Vehicle card to place it in its

Vehicle Purchase Stack, this card is now available to imme-

diately purchase.

Example: Jimmy uses a Supply 10 card from his hand to

buy a Force Card. He discards the Supply 10 and buys the

Force Card then places these cards face down in front ofhim. He then draws a new Force Card and places it face-up

in its Purchase Stack. He then discards 20 points of Supply

from his hand to buy a vehicle from his vehicles Purchase

Stack. He takes the vehicle and places it face-down to

deploy later. He then draws a Vehicle Card and places it

face-up in his Vehicle Purchase Stack. After both players are

nished buying, hell place the Supply Cards he used and

any Force Cards into his Draw Decks Discard.

Excess Supply: If a player has excess Supply

Points from the card(s) he just used he may

buy up to 1 additional card, if able, with those

unused points. If not, those points are lost.

Example: Jimmy uses a supply 10 to purchase

a card worth 5 supply points. Since he has 5 left, he may

purchase another one at this time worth up to 5 points.

Buying Supply Cards: Supply Cards may be purchased for

+10 of its face value. Like purchased Force Cards, these

will go into your draw decks discard pile to be used at a

later turn.

Example: A Supply 10 card would cost 20 Supply to buy. A

20 Supply card would cost 30 Supply.

Using Supply Cards from your Reserve: If any Supply

Cards from your Supply Reserve were used for purchases,

they are considered Decommissioned (see Decommis-

sion). Return any Supply Cards used in this manner to

their respective Supply Card Deck instead of going to your

discard. Decommissioned Supply Cards can always be pur-

chased again by players.


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Free Supply 5 Card: Once per Buy Phase a player may take

one 5 Supply Card for free. Like purchased cards, this is put

into a players discard pile.

Battleeld Vehicle Limitation: For your rst game, a maxi-

mum of three vehicles per player can be on the Battleeld

at any given time. Otherwise, a maximum of ve Vehicles

per player may be on the Battleeld at any given time. Any

changes will be specied in the variants notes.

A player cannot purchase a Vehicle if he currently has the

maximum limit of Vehicles on the Battleeld! If the player

accidently does this then the points he used are lost and

the Vehicle is Decommissioned.

Vehicle Rarity: Vehicles are labeled Rare, Uncommon, and

Common. This represents different factors such as how

many of that type of Vehicle was historically

produced in that year and the availability of

such vehicles.

Based on a Vehicles rarity you may only

eld a certain number of Vehicles you con-

trol and with the same name on the battle-

eld at any given time. If your vehicle is

destroyed and at a later turn another copy of that vehicle

appears in your Vehicle Deck, you may freely buy it again.

You cannot purchase a Vehicle that matches another Vehicle

of yours on the Battleeld if it breaks the Rarity rule.

Rare (R): Limit of 1

Uncommon (U): Limit of 2

Common (C): Unlimited

Deploy Vehicles: The player with Initiative may choose to

start deployment. He places a newly purchased vehicle

face down on a space in his Home Row that does not have

a vehicle on it. Vehicles may be placed in any orientation

(i.e. facing forward, sideways, or to its rear).

Should all the areas in your Home Row be occupied the

vehicle cannot be deployed, the supply spent is lost, and

you must Decommission that Vehicle.

Alternate deployment of Vehicles between players until all

have been placed. Remember, Vehicles that are face down

have not yet been spotted and cannot be red upon.

Example: Jimmy has bought 3 vehicles and Ernest bought 2.

Jimmy won the Initiative Roll and decides to have Ernest

go rst. Ernest deploys one of his vehicles. Afterwards,

Jimmy deploys his rst vehicle. Ernest deploys his last ve-

hicle, Jimmy then deploys his remaining two vehicles.

Player turns

After both players have nished purchasing and deploying,

the player who won initiative may choose to go rst or

second.

On a players turn he may activate one of his Vehicles (if

able). Once a Vehicle has been activated and that player has

no other actions to play (i.e. playing cards, using a Com-mander Action, etc), his opponent begins his turn and acti-

vates one of his Vehicles. This alternates and continues until

no more Vehicles can be activated by either player. Once a

players vehicles have all been activated, he can no longer

activate any vehicles he controls until the following turn.

Example: Jimmy starts his turn by activating 1 of his 2

vehicles. Afterwards he plays a Force card. His turn is now

over (as you can only activate one vehicle a turn). Greg

now takes his turn by activating 1 of his 4 Vehicles. After-

wards, Greg decides not to do anything else. It is now

Jimmys turn. He activates his last Vehicle and decides todo nothing else. With no more Vehicles to activate, his abil-

ity to take a turn is over. Greg will then activate his 2 other

Vehicles, one after the other. Both players then proceed to

the Wrap-up Phase.

The following actions may be played in any combination

and/or order during a players turn:

Activate a Vehicle1.

Move

RotateAttack

Aim

Spot

Reload

Hide

Pass

Rally

Commander Actions2.

Play Cards3.

actiVate a Vehicle

Vehicles can use different actions such as moving, ring etc

attacking etc., by spending Action Points (AP). Each Vehicle

normally has 2AP to spend on its activation. A Vehicle can

choose any available action, and in any order, assuming it

has sufcient AP to do so. Once your Vehicle has activated

or passed place a Done token on it.


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MOVE (1AP)

A Vehicle has several move options it can choose from:

Increase its Speed Level1.

Remain In Motion2.

Decrease its Speed Level3.

Stop4.

Reverse5.

Rotate6.

Increasing Speed Level: Each Vehicle has 3

Speed Levels. Each level generates a different

amount of Movement Points (MP) that is spent

to move into spaces. A Vehicle may increase

its Speed Level by 1 for each 1AP it spends.

Place a number of MP tokens on your vehicle equal to the

amount of MP it is currently generating.

Example:At Speed Level 1, this Vehicle generates 5MPs

(which is quite fast). Should the vehicle increase its Speedlevel to 2 it would generate 6MPs!

If accelerating more than once on your activation, count

only the nal MP your Speed Level generates, less any MP

already spent on moving (if any). You do not cumulatively

add MP for each Speed Level you accelerate to.

Example: You decide to accelerate

to Speed Level 2, which generates

2MP. You move into an adjacent space

costing 2MP leaving you with 0MP. You

decide to accelerate to Speed Level

3, which generates 4MP. You tank

already spent 2MP by moving which

leaves you with 2MP to use.

In Motion: A Vehicle generating at least 1 Movement Point

(MP) is considered to be In Motion. A vehicle is con-

sidered to be moving in the direction its card is facing. A

Vehicle In Motion must move its total number of MP dur-

ing its activation or decelerate or stop to not violate this

rule. The Vehicle can move in any order and combination

with other actions it can take.

Example: Jimmy spends 1AP to accelerate his tank to speed

level 1, generating 2MPs. He moves his vehicle, then spends

1AP to attack. His vehicle is now out of AP to use. Alter-

natively, he could have done a different sequence of actions.

Remain in Motion: A Vehicle may continue at its current

Speed Level for 0 AP from turn to turn. This normally hap-

pens when a vehicle was generating Movement Points (MP)

the previous turn. It must move its total MP if able.

Remaining in Motion effectively frees up AP for that vehicleto use on other actions such as attacking, rotating, etc. You

may increase your speed level (thus paying any AP needed)

while Remaining in Motion. Any additional MP generated

by accelerating contribute to your total MP you can use to

move on this and subsequent turns.

Decelerate and Stopping: A Vehicle may

decelerate any number of Speed Levels and/or Stop for

0AP. Remove any MP tokens on your Vehicle equal to

the MP of its new speed level. A Vehicle that decelerates,

reverses, or stops may not stop, reverse, decelerate, or

increase its speed again this turn.

Example: Jimmy moves his Panzer 3 into a space on its acti-

vation and then decides to stop. It cannot reverse, deceler-

ate or increase its speed again this activation but may do

other actions such as re, rotate, etc.

Reversing: A Vehicle may reverse for 1AP. It

comes to an immediate stop (remove any MP

tokens) and a Reverse Token is placed on it.

A Vehicle in reverse moves backward at its

lowest Speed Level at -1MP (to a minimum of1MP). A Vehicle in reverse is considered In Motion.

ROTATE (1AP)

A Vehicle may change its facing by rotating 90 degrees (1

side) for 1 AP. Rotating allows the vehicle to change its

facing and it may Rotate any number of times (assuming it

has the AP to do so) before, during, and/or after moving as

long as this does not interfere with the vehicle entering its

intended space (see Intended Space).

From the previous turn

this tank generated

2MP. Each Plains Space

costs 2MP to enter.

On its activation, it may

Remain in Motion to

move into the adjacentspace without spending

any AP to do so.


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Moving into and out of Spaces: A space next to a Vehicles

front, rear and sides is considered adjacent. Diagonal

spaces are not considered adjacent.

Each space normally has a number of MP required for a

Vehicle to enter into it. Plains spaces (such as those found

on the game board) cost 2MP to enter. Other terrain

cards also act as spaces, such as Forests, and have other MP

requirements.

A Vehicle cannot enter into a space if it lacks sufcient MP

to do so but may do so, in latter turns (see Insufcient

Movement Points).

A vehicles forward facing is determined by its orientation

and may only move forward in the direction it is facing, un-

less reversing in which it moves in reverse (opposite of its

forward facing).

Moving Diagonal: A Vehicle may move into a space that is

diagonal to at a cost of +1 Movement Points for that Ter-

rains movement cost.

Example: An adjacent plains space normally costs 2MP to

enter into. A diagonal plains space would cost 3MP.

There may be times your Vehicle cannot complete a diago-

nal move due to a lack of Movement Points (see Insuf-

cient Movement Points).

A Vehicle moving diagonal retains its current forward facing

and is considered to be front facing for terms of which

armor to use.

Moving Through Friendly Vehicles: You may move through

friendly Vehicles in another space by paying that terrain

movement cost as normal.

While on the same space as a friendly vehicle you cannot

perform any other action except to complete the move.

The exception to this is you may rotate as an action to

complete the move.

If for some reason you cannot complete the move through

a space containing a friendly Vehicle you must move the

moving Vehicle back to the space it came from (even if you

dont have the movement points to do so). This immediate-

ly ends your Vehicles activation, even if it had Action Points

remaining.

Moving through Spotted Enemy Vehicles: You may move

through Spotted (See Spotting pg XXX) enemy Vehicles by

successfully passing a Crew Test (see Crew Test pg XXX). Isuccessful, continue your Vehicles Activation as normal.

If you fail the Crew Test, or if for some reason you can-

not complete your move out of that space, the opposing

Vehicle may attack (0 AP) at your moving Vehicle.

Remove any ammo as required. The Attack is considered

to be shot at your Side Armor and from the adjacent space

for Attack modier purposes, receiving all bonuses that

apply.

This T34 spends 1AP

to rotate 90 degrees

to get into a better

position to attack.

Further movement is

now determined by

its new facing

The blue arrows represent

adjacent spaces. Diagonal

spaces are not considered

adjacent but can be

moved into

When a vehicle moves

diagonally forward it enters

the space with its forward

facing.


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After the Attack, return your Vehicle to the space it came

from. This immediately ends your Vehicles activation, even

if it had Action Points remaining.

Moving through Hidden Enemy Vehicles: Your Vehicle may

move through Hidden enemy Vehicles.

Prior to moving:

The hidden Vehicle may make a Crew Test to Spot1.

you, applying all relevant Spot modiers. If it passes,

the hidden Vehicle immediately Spots your Vehicle and

may attack it (0 AP) by passing another Crew Test at

+10% bonus. If your moving Vehicle had already been

spotted, the hidden Vehicle ignores the Spot Test and

may proceeds to make a Crew Test to re at the ve -

hicle with the +10% bonus.

The Attack is considered to be a Free Action (02.

AP), regardless of that Vehicles abilities. Place any

Ammo Tokens needed on it. The Attack is consideredto be shot at either the Moving Vehicles Side or Rear

Armor (attackers choice) and from an adjacent space

receiving all bonuses that apply.

Insufcient and Building Up Movement Points: There may

be times when you dont have enough Movement Points

(MP) to move into or out of a space. In these cases the Ve-

hicle can build up MP to use on its next activation to move

into or out of a space if it has MP left over to do so.

When building up MP, place an amount of Movement Point

Build-Up Tokens (BT) on your Tank Card. These are tempo-

rary tokens to show how many MP your vehicle has built

up from this and previous turn(s). The player may continue

to build up MP until he has a sufcient number to enter

the space. BT are removed once used.

A player cannot store up MP if he can move into

a valid space (see Intended Space).

Intended Space: A vehicle that ends its turn with built up

MP MUST ALWAYS show which space it intends to enter.

The player can either slightly tilt his vehicle to show thedirection or point the BT token in the direction he intends

to move next turn. If the player decides not to move into

the intended space on his Vehicles next activation he loses

any BT he has built up and comes to a stop.

Note: Once a player has sufcient MP (i.e. from the num-

ber of MPs he generates + MP hes built up as shown by

the BT token) he MUST enter the Intended space or come

to a stop.

In the example above, the tank has accelerated on its turn

and is generating 2MP (two MP tokens are placed on it).

It has insufcient MP to enter into the Hill space (which

costs 4MPs to enter). The player builds up 2MP since it

cant enter the space this turn. He places enough BT

tokens equal to how many MP hes built up, but not used

(which is 2BT).

He points the BT token towards the Hill showing that

tanks Intended Space for its next activation. Should thetank not move into its Intended Space on its next activa-

tion all MP are lost and it comes to a stop.

On the tanks next activation, it spends the two BT tokens

and adds it to the MP hes already generating on this new

activation (which is 2) for a total of 4MPs to use towards

moving into the Hill space. After moving into the Hill

space, the player removes the 2 BT tokens. The player

keeps the two MP tokens on his tank since he decided to

remain in motion with this vehicle.

Repeat Vehicle Speed Levels: Some Vehicles may have a

Speed Level that looks something like

3/5/5 or a 0/1/1. In the rst example, that

Vehicle generates the same amount of

MP at its third Speed Level as it does at

its Speed Level 2. In the second example,

this Vehicle is very slow. As such, it must

spend 2AP just to generate 1MP at Speed

Level 2. Like the rst example, its third Speed Level only

generates 1MP (like its second Speed Level). It wouldnt

make sense for that Vehicle to accelerate to its third Speed

Level.


11/21

Firing Arcs: Most Vehicles may re at targets in any of their

ring arcs that have been Spotted (see Spotting) and have

Line of Sight to (see Line of Site). To see which Firing Arc

your target resides, in draw an imaginary line from the

center of the terrain of your vehicle to the center of theterrain your target is in.

Firing in More than One Arc: A Vehicle can only re in one

arc during its Activation. Thematically, this represents the

difculty of the vehicles turret rotating from arc to arc.

Example: Jimmys tank is ring on a tank in its front arc.

He hits and destroys it. Unfortunately, there is a tank to his

right and not in his front arc. He cannot re on that tank

this turn since its in a different arc.

If a target straddles two ring arcs you may choose to have

it be in either arc.

Penetration Types: Youll notice many Vehicles have two

types of Damage Penetration; Hard and Soft. Hard Pen-

etration Damage is against other Vehicles, Fortications,

and the like. Soft Damage Penetration is against soldiers,

aircraft and lighter vehicles.

In Tanks of War: Third Reich

Rising, youll primarily be us-

ing your Hard Attack DamageValue. Future expansions will in-

troduce rules for Soft Damage

and new units such as soldiers,

aircraft, etc.

ATTACK (1AP)

A Vehicle may perform an attack for each 1 AP spent. A

vehicle may re at any time during its activation.

Attack Summary:

Play any Force cards if able (this may be done at1.

any time during these steps unless the card says other-

wise).

Determine if your target has been Spotted2.

Determine if the vehicle is in your Firing Arc3.

Determine if you have Line of Sight to the target.4.

Place an ammo token on your Vehicle card. If the5.

number of Ammo tokens exceed your Vehicles Ammo

Value it cannot re until it reloads.

Find your Hit # and determine any modiers6. (i.e.

range, etc).

Choose if youre using a Hard or Soft type attack.7.

Roll 2d10 for your Hit Roll. If the number rolled is8.

equal to or under your Hit number youve scored a hit.Roll your Penetration Dice for that attack type,9.

then tally the number. The defender rolls its Armor

Dice for the side you struck and tallies that number.

For each point above the defenders armor it takes10.

one point of damage to its hull. Place a number of Hull

Damage tokens equal to the damage inicted. Should

the target have a number of Hull Damage

Tokens equal to or in excess of its Hull Points

it is immediately destroyed and you score Vic-

tory Points equal to its point cost.

If the Penetration and Armor scores are equal, inict one

damage unless it has Sloped Armor.

Counting Spaces: In TOW players will be counting spaces

to determine how far a target is away to Spot and/or At-

tack. Each adjacent space counts as one space away. Diago-

nal spaces count as 2 spaces away.

These examples shows the

number of spaces away the

Russian Tanks are to the

German Tank.

1

2

2

3

Front Arc

firing arcs

Rear Arc

Left Arc Right Arc


12/21


13/21

Critical Hit Rolls: A Vehicle that rolls 1-5% always scores

a Critical Hit, regardless of modiers. The target is auto-

matically hit and scores a Critical Damage (see Critical Hit

Damage). Targets 8+ spaces away cannot be Critically Hit.

Gun Jam: A Vehicle that rolls 95%-100% will

suffer a Gun Jam! Place the Gun Jam marker

on the vehicle. That Vehicle may not re

its Hard Attack weapon until the marker is

removed. A Gun Jam may be removed by

having that Vehicle spend 1AP. It may then

re again as normal.

The Dice: The Penetration and Armor rolls are color

coded to show which type of dice to use. Roll a number

of dice equal to the Armor or Penetration shown on your

Vehicle. Sometimes youll roll more than one dice. This will

be shown as a 1d8, 2d6, 3d4, etc. The number in front of

the d is the number of that dice to roll. Some Armor or

Penetration rolls will provide a bonus such as a +1. Simply

add the bonus to your total.

Damage Roll: When ring against Ve-

hicles use your Hard Armor Penetration

Value. Collect the appropriate type and

number of dice needed. Roll the Pen-

etration Dice and tally the total damage

scored.

Armor Roll: Depending on which side the target was hit,

that player will collect the appropriate type and number of

dice. Roll, then tally the results.

If the attackers Damage Roll is greater than the

Defenders Armor Roll, the target takes an amount of

Hull damage equal to the difference of the roll:

If the Damage and Armor rolls equal each

other and the target does not have Sloped Armor,the defenders Vehicle takes 1 damage.

If the Attack came from an Adjacent Space,

the Attacker may either Re-roll 1 of his Penetra-

tion Dice or add +1 to the total Damage roll. This

may be decided after the Damage Roll.

If the target is further than 3 spaces away

add +1 to the defenders Armor Roll.

If the attackers Penetration Value was less than the

defenders Armor Roll, no damage is done.

Ammo Counters: When announcing a Hard

Attack, place an ammo counter on your Ve-

hicle. Once a Vehicle has a number of Ammo

counters equal to its Ammo Value it can no

longer re until it reloads.

Determining your Hit Number: Look at your Vehicles Hit

Value. This is your Base Hit Number you must roll equal

to or under this number to strike a hit at a target exactly 3

spaces away. There will be times when certain conditions

modify your Hit Number such as if the target is in terrain,

moving, etc.

Modiers that add to your Hit Value

make it easier for your Vehicle to hit and

Modiers that subtract from your Hit

Number make it harder.

RANGE MODIFIERS TO THE HIT ROLL

Any Target that is:1 or 2 spaces away +10%.

Any Target 3 spaces away (+0% use your Base Hit

Value)

Any Target 4 or 5 spaces away -10%

6-7 spaces away -20%


10+ spaces away -50%

OTHER MODIFIERS TO THE HIT ROLL

-10% for each subsequent attack on a Vehicles

activation

If your Target currently generates 3+ Movement

Points -10%

If your Vehicle currently generates 3+ Movement

Points -10%

-10% for each Enemy Vehicle in between your Ve-

hicles LOS and your target (see Interfering Vehicles)

Once youve determined any modiers, make your Hit Roll.

Your Hit Roll is made by rolling two 10-sided dice (percen-

tile dice). If you score equal to or under your Hit Value you

score a hit!

Example:Ernests Panzer 3 has a base Hit Value of 50% with

a target 2 spaces away giving it a +10% bonus. Its new Hit

Value is 60%. A roll of 60% or less is a Hit. If the target was

4 or 5 spaces away it would have suffered a -10% to its

Hit, giving it an Hit Value of 40%, making it harder to hit.

D4 D8 D12

D10D6


14/21

Critical Damage: If the attacker rolled 1-5% on the Attack

Roll, he may add a D6 to the Damage Roll or add +3 to

the nal result. This must be decided prior to the Damage

Roll.

Applying Damage: When a Vehicle takes

damage, place Damage Tokens equal to the

amount of damage taken on it.

A Vehicle can take an amount of damage equal to its total

Hull Value. Once that value is reached, the Vehicle is de-

stroyed. Remove the Vehicle from play and the player that

scored the killing shot receives an amount of VP equal to

the targets point cost.

Any attachment cards that were on the Vehicle are placed

in the owning players draw decks discard unless the at-

tachment was played from the Reserve. In that case, it is

Decommissioned instead.

When a players Vehicle is destroyed, lower his Momentumby one and raise the Momentum of the player that de-

stroyed it by one (see Momentum).

Critical Cards: Critical Cards are Force cards that can ap-

ply additional negative effects to a damaged vehicle.

Your Vehicle card contains three

hull boxes with different colors.

Green represents minimal damage,

Yellow moderate damage, and Red

severe damage.

After damaging an enemy Vehicle,

you may immediately play one

Critical Card (from your hand or

Reserve) if you meet or exceed the

Critical Cards requirements and

only after you score a hit and damage the vehicle. Only one

Critical Card can be played on a Vehicle for each attack.

Example: Jimmy hits and damages an enemy Vehicle scoring

2 damage. The vehicles hull damage brings it to Yellow on

its hull. His critical card says it can be played on a Yellow1+. Since the hull damage is now at least on a 1 and in

Yellow, he may play the card.

If a Critical Card is played from a Players Hand or his Re-

serve, after resolving its affect, Decommission it unless the

card says to attach it to the vehicle.

If the vehicle or Critical Card leaves play, Decommission

the Critical Card.

A Vehicle cannot have more than one copy of the same

Critical Card attached to it unless the Critical Card says

otherwise.

Firing into an opponents HQ: Your HQ is abstractly repre-

sented by being behind your front home row on the battle

eld. Your Vehicle may re into an opponents HQ only if

there are no enemy Vehicles on the Battleeld.

The HQ is considered one space away from a Players front

row for determining to-hit modiers.

To re into your opponents HQ, choose either your

HARD or SOFT penetration value, roll your attack dice

and modify the roll by any relevant modiers (i.e. range,

vehicle traits, etc).

The damage dealt scores you that many additional Victory

Points.

Canceling HQ Damage: If the defender has cards in theirReserve or Supply Reserve, they may cancel 5 damage for

each card they discard from there. This can be done after

the nal damage tally. Any Force Cards discarded in this

way are considered Decommissioned.

AIM (1AP)

For 1AP your Vehicle may Aim, increasing its chance to hit

by +10% for its current activation. This may only be used

prior to the Attack Roll and for that one attack only. A

Vehicle cannot Aim while it is In Motion.

Aiming is an action that can only be combined with a Firing

Action.

SPOT (1AP)

Usually Vehicles enter the battleeld face down represent-

ing the vehicles not being seen by the enemy.

This represents two challenges for your opponent. First,

he must try to remember which vehicle it is. Secondly, it

cannot be targeted by attacks or cards until it has beenSpotted.

Once a Vehicle is spotted, ip it face-up. It is assumed that,

the now Spotted Vehicles position has been relayed to

other friendly vehicles and can now be attacked by any of

them.


15/21

A Vehicle may spot any other vehicle in their front or side

arcs and must have Line of Sight to the target (See Line of

Sight).

Note: You cannot spot another tank from your tanks rear

arc unless using a Commander Spotting card.

To Spot, a Vehicle will use their base Hit Value to deter-

mine the roll needed to successfully Spot another Vehicle.

Similar to the Attack Roll, the Spot Roll is made by rolling

2d10 (the percentile dice) and rolling equal to or under

the number needed. This number can be modied by range,

terrain, etc.

RANGE MODIFIERS TO SPOTTING

Any Target that is:

1 or 2 spaces away +10%.

3 spaces away (+0% use your Base Attack Value).

4 or 5 spaces away -10%6-7 spaces away -20%


10+ spaces away -50%

OTHER SPOT MODIFIERS:

If the Target red at least once this turn +10%

If your Target is currently generating 3+ Movement

Points +10%

If your Vehicle is currently generating 3+ Move-

ment Points -10%

-10% for each Enemy Vehicle in between your Ve-

hicles LOS and your target (see Interfering Vehicles)

Vehicle Information: Information on a hidden vehicle is not

available to be seen by an opponent. The player of the con-

trolling vehicle must relay any pertinent info (i.e. its to hit

number, armor value, armor penetration, etc.) that applies

at the time of an action and must be honest with this.

Example: If the player controlling the Hidden Vehicle makes

a mistake when relaying pertinent information about his

vehicle, his opponent gains 10 victory points for eachinfraction.

RELOAD (1AP)

A Vehicle may reload 1 Ammo for 1AP. This may be done

anytime during a Vehicles activation. To reload, spend the

1AP and remove an ammo counter from that Vehicle. You

cannot exceed your Vehicles starting compliment of ammo.

HIDE (2AP)

A Vehicle that is not in motion may hide for 2AP if it is in

Light or greater cover. To Hide, ip the Vehicles card over

as it is now considered Hidden and must now be Spotted

again to be red upon. Once it hides in this manner it may

act as normal (i.e. move again and still be considered Hid-

den, etc).

PASS (0AP)

A vehicle may choose to pass, forfeiting its ability to use

APs this turn. Place a Done token on it. A vehicle in mo-

tion must move if able or build up Movement Points.

RALLY (2AP)

A Vehicle may try to rally itself. Roll a Crew Test, if success-

ful follows the rules for rallying (see page XX)

commanDer actions

Each battle is led by a brave and strategic com-

mander that commands and coordinates his

forces to victory. In addition to normal Vehicle

actions you can unleash powerful Commander

Actions that could tip the tide of battle to your favor!

To represent this, the player may do one of the following

Commander Actions (CA) any time during his activation

or in the Wrap Up phase.

Refresh the Vehicle and Force Purchase Stacks1.

Rally a Fleeing Vehicle2.

Reload one Ammo from a Vehicle3.

Place Cards into the Reserves4.

Give one Vehicle +1 AP5.

Once youve performed your CA, ip the Commander Ac-

tion Token (on its Acted side) as a reminder that youve

used it this turn.

Refresh the Purchase Stacks: You may draw up to 3 cards

from each ofyour Vehicle and

Force decks and

place them on

the Purchase

Stacks. Remem-

ber each of your

Purchase

Vehicle

DiscardsForce Card

Discards


16/21

Refresh the Purchase Stacks Cont: Refreshing ones Pur-

chase Stacks is a great way to quickly nd cards you want

to buy on the next Purchase Phase.

Rally: The horrors of mechanized war are sometimes too

much for a tank crew. You may nd your Vehicle eeing the

Battleeld to safety in certain cases (see Panic). To inspire

your crews, you may Rally one Vehicle that is eeing with

the Rally Commander Action. The Vehicle takes a Crew

Test (see Crew Test). If successful its no longer considered

Panicking (see Panic). Immediately rotate the Vehicle to any

side and remove any speed level tokens on it.

This Rallied Vehicle has -1 AP this turn.

Reload: There may be times when you must reload your

Vehicle without spending valuable AP to do so.

A Vehicle given the Reload Commander Action makes

a Crew Test (see Crew Test). If successful, it removes 6

Ammo Tokens. If it fails, remove 3 Ammo Tokens instead. AVehicle may not have more than its original compliment of

ammo.

Place Reserves: This Commander Action allows the player

to place up to two non-Supply, non-Vehicle cards into his

Reserve (located on his HQ Reference Card) and/or up to

two Supply Cards into his Supply Reserve.

Cards placed in the reserves may be placed face up or face

down (players choice). Any cards that give a bonus while

in the reserve must be placed face up.

Remember, any cards played from the Reserves are De-

commissioned, meaning it goes straight to that cards deck

discard pile and not your own draw decks discard pile (see

Decommissioning)!

A player can have up to a number of Reserve and Supply

Reserve cards equal to his current Momentum. If at any

time a players Momentum decreases, he must immediately

Decommission a number of cards from his Reserves to not

exceed the new Momentum number.

Example: Jimmy has a Momentum of 3 and 3 cards in his

Reserve. He just lost a tank and must decrease his Mo-

mentum by 1. He must now immediately discard 1 of his

Reserve Cards to match his current momentum of 2.

Vehicle Action Point: As a Commander Action, one Vehicle

a player controls, may be given +1 AP for its activation. This

cannot be given after a Done Token has been placed on it.

Play force carDs

Most times youll be playing Force Cards on your turn,

with some exceptions. Cards played from your reserve

and/or hand can be played freely without paying any Supply

Cost as youve already purchased these.

Once a card is played from your hand simply discard it into

your draw decks discard pile. If it was played from your

Reserve, Decommission it instead.

Any cards attached to another card ( i.e. to a Vehicle), are

returned to the players discard pile should the card that

its attached to be removed from play, unless it was played

from your Reserve.

Playing More than One of the Same Named Cards: Youcannot play the same named card more than once on a

vehicles activation. Additionally, only one card of each

name may be played as an action/response on a vehicle per

activation.

Example: You would not be able to play two First on the

Trigger cards in response to being attacked.

Action Cards: Normally played during your activation un-

less specied otherwise.

Response Cards: Usually played to respond to a specicevent during either your turn or an opponents turn, but

may also be played like an Action Card if it allows.

Equipment Cards: These are played on one of your vehicles

in your Home Row whether in motion or not. Putting an

equipment card on a vehicle activates it, meaning it begins

its activation.

You can never have more than 2 copies of a named card

on a Vehicle at any given time.

STRATEGY TIP

Placing cards into the

Reserve is a great way

for a player to stream-

line his Draw Deck to

get the most optimal

cards.


17/21

WraP uP

Final Commander Actions1.

Check for Victory2.

Discard Cards3.

Refresh Tokens4.

Final Commander Actions: During this nal phase of the

Game Turn, the player who is acting rst may choose to

go rst and use a Commander Action (if he hasnt already)

then the next player is given this option.

Check for Victory: Once a player meets or exceeds the

scenarios Victory Points (VP) requirement, apply this step

to the Wrap Up phase. If a players VP meets the VP re-

quirement, and exceeds that of his opponent, he wins the

scenario. Check the Victory Table below to see how well

you did!

Discard Cards: Players may discard any number of cards

from their hand.

Hand Limit: A player may never have

more than 7 cards in his hand at the end

of this phase.

Refresh the Tokens: Flip over the Com-

mander Action token if you used it this

turn and remove any Done tokens from

your vehicles.

Congratulations commander, youre now ready for battle!

Victory table

You may win a battle, but was it worthy enough to be writ-

ten about in the history books?

Tied your opponent or came within 10% of his VP

= Stalemate

Met the VP Requirement = Minor Victory

Scored 20% more than the VP Requirement and

your opponent = Victory

Scored 40% more than the VP Requirement andyour opponent = Major Victory

Scored 60% more than the VP Requirement and

your opponent = Stunning Victory!

aDDitional rules

The following will go over some additional rules you may

encounter on the battleeld.

momentum

Momentum in TOW represents the abstract conditions

of battle such as morale, courage, battleeld advantage

etc. The player with Momentum gains several advantages

including:

Option of Activating First during the turn1.

Option of when to deploy a purchased Vehicle2.

after another player

Placing more cards in Reserves.3.

Youll notice on the Momentum Track that the Momentum

can never be higher than 5 or lower than 1.

The primary way to change momentum is when a Vehicle is

destroyed. When a players Vehicle is destroyed, that player

adjusts his Momentum down by one (to a minimum of 1).

The player who destroyed the Vehicle raises his Momen-

tum by one (to a maximum of 5).

creW test

There are times where your tankers may need to take a

Crew Test to recover from panic, perform a heroic action,

etc. Normally this happens when

cards are played against you.

Vehicles are manned by different

types of crew. Some are recent

conscripts, others die-hardened vet-erans. The colored ring around your

Hit Value shows the quality of your

crew according to its color. This is

primarily an aesthetic element but

does provide a context for how well

your crew is trained based on its Hit

Value.

Similar to ring and spotting, you will roll your Hit Value. If

you roll equal to or under your value your crew success-

fully passes the test.

Band Color:

Yellow = Conscripts

Green = Tankers with some training

Blue = Veterans who have seen Battle

Black = Elite tankers who are the best of the best


18/21

Panic

If your Vehicle fails a Crew Test for Panic, its now consid-

ered to be Panicking. Place a Panic token

on your vehicle, immediately rotate it

to face your HQ, and place it at Speed

Level 1 (regardless of that Vehicles abili-

ties). Move it, if possible, interrupting any

players actions and following the rules of

Movement. This move not cost any AP.

The Panicked Vehicle can do nothing further this turn nor

can you play cards on your Panicked Vehicle unless the card

says otherwise.

On subsequent turns, if that Vehicle is not rallied, its speed

level will increase by 1 (0 AP) up to its maximum Speed

Level and regardless of that Vehicles abilities. It will move

its full movement towards the HQ. It may not perform any

other actions.

It may choose to move diagonal if it has sufcient move-

ment points so long as it is moving towards the direction

of your HQ.

If the Vehicle ees off the board it is removed from play.

The opponent that caused the panic receives its point

cost, rounded up in VP. The panicked Vehicles controller

loses 1 momentum and his opponent gains 1 momentum.

If a panicked Vehicle cannot move out of a space it is shar-

ing with another vehicle its automatically destroyed. The

player receives VP as if it had ed the board.

objectiVe marker

Each full turn that your Vehicle is on a

space containing an OBJECTIVE marker

you receive number of VPs equal to its

face value. A Vehicle can be in-motion for

a player to receive this bonus.

During setup players may choose to place this marker(s)

where they wish or follow the scenario setup.

oVerrun

If at the start of Game Turn, all the spaces in a players

Home Row are occupied by an opponent, he is considered

to have been Overran and immediately loses the game.

terrain

Terrain adds interesting situations that can dramatically

change strategies. Players can either agree to set up terrain

as they like or follow a scenario.

Terrain Bonuses: Most terrain will confer a cover and/or

hide bonus. This information is stated on the Terrain Card.

A Vehicle only ever gets the full bonus if it is stationary. Anin-motion Vehicle gains only of the cover and/or hide

bonus the terrain provides, rounded down.

line of sight

If Terrain blocks Line of Sight (LOS) trace an imaginary line

from the center of the space where your vehicle is located

to the center of the targets space.

If the line passes through or clips the corner of a space

with Terrain that blocks LOS then the target can not be

Attacked nor can any Spot attempts be made against it.

Here, the German

tank can Spot and

Attack any Blue

Circle Targets,

including a vehicle

were it in the Light

Woods

1

2

3

MP Cost to1.

Enter this Space

Additional Info2.

Terrain Name3.


19/21

Interfering Vehicles: Draw an imaginary line from the cen-

ter of the space your attacking Vehicle is on to the center

of the space your target is at. If the line enters or clips a

space containing an Enemy Vehicle to your target it is con-

sidered Interfering with your LOS.

Interfering Enemy Vehicle confers a negative to your Spot

and Attack attempts. These modiers are listed on pages X

and X.

In the example above, the vehicle diagonal to the KV1 is

interfering with the LOS to 3 different targets.

rerolls

You can only reroll a die once you cant reroll a reroll.

more than 2 Players

This starter box is intended to play optimally with 2 play-

ers but can be played with 3-4 players by following these

guidelines:

3-4 Players: If playing with 3 or 4 players, the additional

player(s) will be on one of the players teams. Decisions

and all actions are made collectively as a team. We recom-

mend divvying up the vehicles that are on the battleeld to

be controlled by the teammates. Any cards drawn, pur-

chased, and played are decided by the teammates.

multiPlayer rules

Tanks of War can expand based on the desires of its play-

ers. If players own more than one copy of TOW they can

expand the battleeld by connecting multiple game boards.

If playing with 3-4 players, and each player has their own

deck, we recommend the following changes to game play.

Players can connect additional game boards so

each player has their own home row to deploy their

vehicles.

Players may decide to be on teams or every man

for himself. If using teams, players can only deploy in

their home row (if using multiple boards). If not using

multiple boards they may deploy in the teams home

row. If using every man for himself, players should

have an additional board.

Each player rolls separately for Initiative (including

if players are playing the team format). For deploy-

ments, go in ascending order. For turn order, go indescending order.

VPs are shared by the team.

Supply, cards, purchase stacks etc are kept separate

for each player.

Supply from a teammate cannot be used to pay for

another teammates cards.

Sometimes multiple players may play responses to

an action. In these situations place the rst card played

on the bottom of the stack of cards to come into

effect. Starting with the last card played and working

down resolve each card. Any cant cards overridecan cards.

Commander Actions can only be played on your

Vehicles.

Vehicle traits

Youll notice that each vehicle is not created equally. Some

Vehicles have unique traits that provides different bonuses

and/or penalties.

It is vital during game play that you know your cards and

check to see if any trait gives you or your opponent any

modiers.

Should your opponent make a mistake or forget to give

you information that was vital to a roll or action, they are

penalized -10VPs.

Some traits may say +1AP to an action. In cases such as

these, the vehicle must spend an additional AP to perform

that action.

Strategy Tip

Some wily commanders will screen their vulnerablevehicles to make it more difcult for them to be hit. Use

tactics like these to dominate the battleeld.


20/21

Vehicle traits (cont)

Example: Ernests vehicle says Move +1AP. To accelerate to

the next Speed Level his vehicle must spend 2APs instead

of 1.

Cumbersome: The vehicle is at Rotate +1AP. for each side

Attack: (on cards may change to attack): +1AP to each

attack.

Fuel Tank Exposed: XXX

High Silhouette: The vehicle is +5% to be Spotted and At-

tacked.

Low Silhouette: The vehicle is -5% to be Spotted and At-

tacked.

Move (X): The vehicle must spend an additional X AP to

accelerate for each Speed Level including reversing.

No Radio: This vehicle Spots independently. When it Spots

a target, it does not share what it sees with other friendly

vehicles.

Nimble: The vehicle may make one free Rotate (0AP) per

activation.Poor Visibility: The vehicle Spots and Attacks at -5%.

Rapid Fire (X): This vehicle may make an additional X

attack for each attack action it makes.Example, a vehicle

has Rapid Fire 2. For 1AP it may re twice. Any subsequent

attacks past the rst are cumulative -10% to hit on each of

the vehicles activations.

Reload (X): The vehicle must spend an additional X AP for

each reload action. This does not affect the Commander

Action Reload.

Rotate (X): The vehicle must spend an additional X AP for

each side it rotates.

Short Barreled (X): Decrease the damage rolled by X at

targets in base range (3 spaces) and beyond. Example: A

vehicle with Short Barrelled 1 would subtract 1 damage

from its damage roll at a vehicle 3 spaces or further away.

Sloped Armor: Normally when the Damage and Armor

rolls are tied 1 damage is inicted on the target. A vehicle

with Sloped Armor breaks that tie resulting in no damage

inicted.

Tank Destroyer (TD): A TD can only re at targets within

its front arc. To re at targets outside the front arc is must

rotate. If the TD, or its target, is generating 3+ MP, cumu-

latively penalize the TDs Hit Roll by -5%. Example: a TD isgenerating 3MP and its target is at 3MP. The TDs Hit Roll

would be at -10%.

Terrain Difculty: A vehicle with this trait must spend an

additional 1AP when moving into or out of any kind of

non-Plains space (i.e. Woods, Hill, etc).

Open Topped: When attacked on its side arc, this vehicle

takes +1 damage.

Wide Tracks: The vehicle subtracts 1AP from a Terrain

card that requires MP cost greater than 2.

scenarios

TOW allows players a multitude of game variants to

continually challenge the tank commanding mettle. Choose

either a Tank Death Match or Scenario Format. Scenarios

have their winning VP condition next to their title. Note:

not all scenarios are balanced to represent the historical

situation. Youll need to use all your wits in these situations

TANK DEATH MATCH (TDM)

In TDMs players agree to a VP goal and will follow the

normal setup rules. The rst player to score equal to and

higher than his opponents VP total by the end of any given

Wrap-Up phase wins. Players can also agree to a point

build to buy their starting vehicles with. Normally youll

match the agreed point build with the VP goal unless play-

ers decide otherwise.

Prior to the game, players will build any number of vehicles

equal to or lower than the agreed point build. Vehicles arebought by subtracting their point cost from the agreed

point build. Keep in mind the vehicles rarity rules (see XX)

when building your force!

Example: Ernest and Jimmy agree to a 50pt VP game. Both

players will build 50pts worth of vehicles from their Vehicle

Deck to be their starting vehicles. Ernest buys a tank cost-

ing 20 points. He has 30 points remaining to purchase his

remaining starting vehicles with.

Types of Battles:

50pts (Skirmish): This is recommended for quick games and

for teaching new players. Skirmishes normally run between

45 minutes to an hour, once players get the hang of the

game.

100pts (Battle): Here, players can really have time to build

their decks and explore new strategies. Game length will

run between 1-1.5 hours.

200+ (Major Battle): Players will really have to think long

term here and pull out the big guns. Game length will runfrom 1.5-2.5 hours.

Setting Up Terrain: Players can either agree to a Terrain set

up or roll a 1d8. Based on the roll, each player takes turns

choosing one Terrain piece and placing it anywhere on the

board.


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the players each roll a 1d8 again. The winner chooses

which side of the game board to start at.

In TDMs the maximum number of vehicles a player can

have on the battleeld at one time is 5 unless the players

agree to another limit.

SCENARIO 1: TRAINING EXERCISES (50 VP)

For your rst game the player who scores 50 VP wins.

Youll be ghting on an open battleeld with no terrain and

no Objective Marker so the only way youll score VPs is by

destroying enemy vehicles and attacking your opponents

HQ. The battleeld provides no cover so prepare for an

intense conict out in the open! The Russian player starts

with the T28M (yellow) tank and the German player begins

with the Panzer 4F1 (green) tank and follow the setup and

turn order as normal.

SCENARIO 2: OPERATION BARBAROSSA (70 VP)

On June 22, 1941 over 4 million Axis soldiers poured into

the Soviet Union. With aerial and vehicle dominance, the

Germans obliterated the surprised, ill trained, and poorly

equipped defenders. Can you punch a hole in the line andcontinue your drive into the heart of Russia?

Setup: Follow the terrain setup for this scenario. The Ger-

man player starts his hand with Aerial Recon, Reich Over-

run, Commander Spotting, and Luftwaffe Airstrike 1, x4

Supply 10 cards then draws 4 cards from his Force Deck.

Start the game with x1 Panzer 2C (Green), x1Panzer 3G

(Green), and x1, Panzer 3F(Blue) and will deploy his ve-

hicles last in any space on his home row.

The Russian Player follows the normal setup rules for

starting hand and begins the game with x2 T-28m(Yellow),

x1BT-7M(Yellow), x1 T60(Yellow) not hidden, which he

sets up in any of his home row spaces. The German player

automatically wins the Initiative for the rst turn.

SCENARIO 3: THE MINSK POCKET (80 VP)

From late June to early July 1941 the Germans and Rus-

sians attempted to encircle each other near the Minsk

railway junction. Can the Russians hold off the invaders

until reinforcements arrive?

Setup: Follow the terrain setup for this scenario. Each play-er starts the game following the standard setup rules but

may choose any one card from their Force deck to include

as part of their starting hand of 12 cards. Each player may

build up to 80pts of vehicles. The German player deploys

face up and in the orientation marked of any of the two

start positions and/or anywhere in his home row hidden.

The Russian player may only setup in any of the four start

positions in the orientation shown and face up.

Documents

Tanks of War: Third Reich Rising Rulebook (updated)