Glossary
Even if you do not like reading definitions, we recommend you give this list a glance. Like “How to Read the Rules” above, it will help you understand the game better.
Particularly important terms are underlined. If you forget what these terms mean, refer back here for the definition.
Active: A Minor Country that is not Neutral or Conquered. Major Countries are always considered active.
Air Base: A Land hex containing a City, Port, Road, or Rail; and a supplied ground unit, Detachment marker, or Logistics marker.
Exception: A hex containing an enemy Air unit does not have an Air Base.
When a Road or Rail hex is used as an Air Base, that Road/Rail does not have to be the one used to trace a supply line.
Example: A supplied Japanese ground unit is in hex w5422, a Road hex. This hex may serve as an Air Base even if it traces a supply line from w5522 back along the road to Hailar (w5625), then along the rails back to Dairen, and eventually back to Japan.
Allied: This indicates something related to either the Soviet or Western factions.
Example: “Allied ground unit” refers to any ground unit belonging to any country aligned with the Soviet or Western faction.
Beachhead Hexside: The hexside faced by the arrow on a Beachhead marker. Units can move and attack across a Beachhead Hexside.
△ Blitz-enabled: If a faction has a Blitz or Totsugeki marker on the map, then all friendly units within two hexes of that marker are said to be Blitz-enabled.
That includes all friendly units in the hex containing the Blitz marker itself.
If the Axis faction has an SNLF Beachhead-0 marker on the map, any friendly unit or marker within the hex containing that SNLF Beachhead-0 marker is Blitz-enabled.
SNLF Beachhead-0 markers do not have a Blitz range like Blitz or Totsugeki markers.
Border: A Country or Dependent “shares a Border” with another Country or Dependent if there is at least one Border Hexside between the two (see the Terrain Key). A Border Hexside can be exclusively across a Strait or All-Sea hexside.
Example: Indochina (a French Dependent) and Kiangsu share a Border, as do Malaya (a British Dependent) and the Netherlands East Indies.
△ China / Chinese: The rules and cards use the word “China” when referring to all seven Chinese Minor Countries collectively: Hopeh, Kansu, Kiangsu, Sinkiang, Szechwan, Tibet, and Yunnan.
The word “Chinese” by itself is used to refer to something that belongs to any of the seven Chinese Minor Countries or the Allied Chinese pan-national HQ units.
“Communist Chinese” refers to something that belongs to a Soviet Chinese Minor Country, or a Soviet Chinese pan-national HQ unit.
“Nationalist Chinese” refers to something that belongs to a Western Chinese Minor Country, or a Western Chinese pan-national HQ unit.
China was an extremely divided country in World War II. We handle this by treating it as seven smaller countries most of the time.
City: This refers to any hex containing a City, Capital, or Provisional Capital symbol.
Col or Colonial: Ground units with a white unit-type symbol box.
Colonial units represent foreign troops. They are treated like regular steps for most purposes, but they have special placement restrictions (1.3.4) and are subject to certain Political Events.
Conquered: An Allied Minor Country that has had the Axis Minor Country Conquest Conditional Event (16.1.1) applied to it and is not currently active.
Control: A hex is under Axis control if any of the following conditions applies:
- Priority 1: The hex is an Allied Strategic Hex (green or red) in a Chinese Country or Russia that contains an Axis Devastation marker.
- △ Priority 2: The hex contains an Axis ground unit, Detachment, Logistics, or Logistics marker.
- Priority 3: The hex is in an active Axis Country or one of its Dependents, or in a Conquered Allied Minor Country or one of its Dependents.
A hex is under Allied control if any of the following conditions applies:
- Priority 1: The hex is an Axis Strategic Hex (orange) in Japan that contains an Allied Devastation marker.
- △ Priority 2: The hex contains an Allied ground unit, Detachment, or Logistics marker.
- Priority 3: The hex is in an active Allied Country or one of its Dependents.
This last item does not include a hex in a Neutral Country or a Conquered Allied Minor Country.
If more than one faction could potentially claim control of a hex, the faction able to claim the lowest-numbered priority is the faction in control.
Example: A Western Devastation marker is in Nagasaki (e4801), inside Japan, which is an Axis Country. The Western Allies have Priority 1 status in the hex, which trumps the Axis claim of Priority 3 – so the Western faction controls Nagasaki.
Delay Box: A holding box for counters with Delay Stripes that are removed from the map. These counters will cycle back to the map after a delay of one or more Game Turns. A Naval Warfare Delay Box is printed next to the regular Delay Box on the map.
© A unit that is moved to a Delay Box must be placed on the same map that it is being removed from, unless the unit is performing the European Commitment Political Event (15.14).
DRM: Die Roll Modifier – a number you add or subtract to a die roll. Modifiers are cumulative. Except for Delay Results (7.1), all modified rolls less than 1 or greater than 6 are treated as 1 or 6, respectively.
DRMs associated with counters are printed in a square on that counter. Black means it applies to the Axis; green to the West; red to the Soviets; and white to all factions.
Enemy: This indicates something related to one of the other two factions.
When it’s your Faction Turn, everything that doesn’t belong to your faction is in your way. So for the Western faction, “enemy ground unit” refers to any ground unit belonging to the Axis or Soviet faction.
* ESV: European Strategic Value – a measure of Allied success fighting the war in Europe against Nazi Germany.
Exp or Expeditionary: A Minor Country one-step unit that is not subject to restrictions regarding cooperation with other friendly Minor Country units.
EZOC: Enemy Zone of Control – one of the six hexes adjacent to an enemy unit (8.1).
Faction: One of the three “sides” in the game – the Axis, the West and the Soviet.
Force Pool: A holding box for a faction’s counters not in play.
© Each faction has a TK Force Pool (for Europe) and a DS Force Pool (for the Pacific).
Units are placed in the Force Pool that corresponds to their location. For example, a unit that enters play from a DS card or that is removed from a DS map is placed in the faction’s DS Force Pool – not the TK Force Pool – unless specifically directed otherwise.
Friendly: This indicates something that belongs to the same faction.
In other words, it’s the opposite of “enemy” above. Axis ground units are friendly to the Axis faction.
Hex: Hexes are identified by hex numbers. An “e” stands for the East Map (which has Hawaii on it) and “w” stands for the West Map (which has India on it).
Example: Tokyo is in hex e4904.
There are two types of hexes, All-Sea and Land. When the word “hex” appears by itself, it refers to any hex on the map.
- All-Sea hex: A hex that contains only water (dark blue in color).
- Land hex: A hex that contains any amount of land in it, including hexes that have both land and water. Note that an All-Sea hex with a Beachhead marker is not considered a Land hex.
Home Country City or Home Country Port: A City or Port in a Land hex of a unit’s respective Home Country.
A Western Off-Map Box can also serve as a Home Country Port for any Western unit – no supplied ground unit, Detachment marker, or Logistics marker is required.
Example: Cities and Ports in Japan are Home Country Cities and Ports for Japanese units. Cities and Ports in Korea (a Japanese Dependent) are not.
Island: One Land hex surrounded entirely by All-Sea, Strait, or Beachhead hexsides.
Example: For game purposes, Guadalcanal (e2611) is an Island. Rabaul (e2808) is not.
Map: The play area. © In a combined game, DS and TK are considered separate “maps.”
Marker: A counter that is not a ground unit or support unit.
Multi-Zone Port: Port that is considered to be in more than one Naval Zone at the same time (for example, e3408 Truk).
Regardless of where a Port might be on the map, only those Ports designated as Multi-Zone Ports are considered as such.
Naval Base:
A Land hex containing a Port and a supplied ground unit, Detachment marker, or Logistics marker.
A Western Off-Map Box can also serve as a Naval Base for any Western Unit – no supplied ground unit, Detachment marker, or Logistics marker is required.
Naval Base Restrictions:
- A hex containing an enemy Air unit does not have a Naval Base.
- A hex containing a Beachhead marker does not have a Naval Base.
- An Ice hex affected by Snow does not have a Naval Base.
Example: If Midway (e4519) contains a supplied British ground unit and an unsupplied US ground unit, it is a British Naval Base, but not a US Naval Base. That’s because the US unit is not supplied.
The Western US Box is a Western Naval Base for any Western unit. Since it is an Off-Map Box, it does not require a supplied ground unit.
Naval Zone: : An area consisting of All-Sea hexes and coastal Land hexes as defined by a Naval Zone border. A Port, City, unit, or marker is considered in a Naval Zone if it is in any hex in that Naval Zone’s defined area. Some coastal Land hexes on the map may be in more than one Naval Zone at the same time.
Naval Zones are considered adjacent to each other if they share a Naval Zone border hexside.
Example: Find the Bay of Bengal Naval Zone Box on the map. The All-Sea hexes in this Naval Zone are fairly obvious. Other examples of hexes in the Naval Zone are Rangoon (w4015) and Madras (w3809). Less obvious, but still in the Bay of Bengal are Telukbetung (w2818) and Singapore (w3218). Bandung (w2719) is in both the South China Sea and Southeast Indian Ocean Naval Zones. The Bay of Bengal Naval Zone is adjacent to the South China Sea Naval Zones, but not the Arafura Sea Naval Zone.
Naval Zone Box: Every Naval Zone has three Naval Zone Boxes: On Station, Convoys, and Used. These boxes are used to show the status of support units and markers within that Naval Zone.
Note that Naval Zone Boxes are printed over All-Sea hexes on the map. Those hexes are still in play! We’ve tried to place the boxes so that crowding shouldn’t occur very often, but when it does, take care to place your pieces so that you know what is where.
Neutral: A Minor Country that is not Active or Conquered.
△ Off-Map Box: The boxes on the map labeled Western US, Panama Canal, French Polynesia, Europe/Africa, and Eastern Europe.
An Off-Map Box belongs to one of the Allied factions; only units friendly to that faction can enter a particular Off-Map Box.
An Off-Map Box is considered part of a Naval Zone if a unit is able to enter or exit that Naval Zone using the Port-to-Port movement procedure (3.1.2), as stated in that Off-Map Box.
Example: The Western US Box is part of the Gulf of Alaska and Northeast Pacific Naval Zones, but not the Central Pacific Naval Zone.
An Off-Map Box is considered adjacent to another Off-Map Box if a unit can move between them using the Off-Map Box to Off-Map Box movement procedure (3.1.3), as stated in the Boxes.
Example: The Western US Box is adjacent to the Panama Canal Box, but not the Europe/Africa Box.
Open Port: A hex has an Open Port for a faction if at least one of the following applies:
- It is a Port hex containing a friendly ground unit, Airdrop, Detachment, or Logistics marker.
- It is a Port hex in a friendly, active Country.
- It is an All-Sea hex containing a friendly Beachhead marker.
- It is an Off-Map Box identified as having an Open Port.
Unlike with Air Bases or Naval Bases, the unit or marker does not have to be supplied. Note also that control, by itself, does not create an Open Port.
Example: If the Netherlands East Indies is a Western Minor Country, then Batavia (w2819) does not require a friendly unit or marker to be a Western Open Port. If the Axis turns the Netherlands East Indies into a Conquered Minor Country, it would control Batavia for Victory Point Checks but could not use it as an Open Port unless it contained an Axis ground unit, Airdrop, Detachment, or Logistics marker.
Hong Kong (a British Dependent in w4222) requires a friendly unit or marker to be a Western Open Port, even for British units. That’s because Dependents are never considered to be “a friendly Country” (13.3.1).
Open Port Restrictions: A hex does not have an Open Port if any of the following applies:
- The hex contains an enemy ground or air unit, or enemy Airdrop, Detachment, or Logistics marker.
- The hex is an Ice hex affected by Snow.
- There is an enemy Fleet unit in the On Station Box of the Naval Zone containing the hex. There is an enemy Air unit in the On Station Box of the Naval Zone containing the hex, and* the hex is within three hexes of a Naval Base of that same enemy faction. (A Naval Base in an Off-Map Box is never considered to be within three hexes of any hex, no matter how close the Off-Map Box is to that hex.) This restriction applies only for an activity performed within the specific Naval Zone containing the enemy Air Force unit.
For Multi-Zone Ports, the last two restrictions only apply to a Naval Zone containing an enemy Fleet or Air Force unit.
Example: The British Sing fortress unit and a Japanese Air Force unit are both in Singapore (w3218, a Multi-Zone Port). Singapore is not a Western Open Port, in either of the Bay of Bengal or South China Sea Naval Zones.
Now let’s say the Japanese Air Force unit is in the South China Sea On Station Box instead, and there’s a supplied Japanese ground unit in Kota Bharu (w3417), making it a Japanese Naval Base. In this case, Singapore is not a Western Open Port in the South China Sea because it is within three hexes of Kota Bharu, but it is an Open Port in the Bay of Bengal Naval Zone, because only the South China Sea Naval Zone Box contains an enemy support unit.
If there is a Western Sub Fleet in the South China Sea On Station Box, then all Ports in the South China Sea Naval Zone are not Axis Open Ports.
An enemy support unit in an On Station Box represents the interdiction of the sea lanes and ports within that Naval Zone. Air Force units must operate within range of their Naval Bases. Fleet units, with their much greater range, patrol the entire area.
Open Port Mutual Interdiction: If one faction’s hex cannot be considered an Open Port or Naval Base directly because of an enemy faction’s Open Port or Naval Base, and the situation exists directly in reverse (i.e., it involves the same hexes for each faction), then neither faction has an Open Port in their respective hex.
Don’t worry if this doesn’t make sense to you right now. This is a very rare event, and you’ll recognize it if you encounter it in play
PAC or Policy Affected Country: A Country (and all its Dependents) affected by a Policy marker in the Posture Display.
Played: An option card is considered “played” if is a faction’s Current Card, or was a faction’s Current Card in an earlier season in the game.
Port: “Port” refers to any hex containing a port symbol.
Posture: A Country’s current status as a belligerent, Policy Affected Country (PAC), or Truce Affected Country (TAC).
Range: Count ranges by including the destination hex, but not the origin hex.
Example: There is a British Air Base in Dacca (w4313), and the Western faction wishes to place an air unit with a range of three hexes in Lashio (w4216). This is allowable. Chiengmai (w4016) is out of range.
△ Restricted Waterway: Each of the following is considered a Restricted Waterway: Batavia (w2819), Hakodate (e5205), Nagasaki (e4801), Singapore (w3218), and Toyohara (e5605).
TAC or Truce Affected Country: A Country (and all its Dependents) affected by a Truce marker in the Posture Display.
Turn (Seasonal Turn / Non-seasonal Turn): A Game Turn highlighted with a red box in red on the Turn Track is a Seasonal Turn (every Mar-Apr, May-June, Aug-Sept, and Nov-Dec Game Turn). All other Game Turns are Non-seasonal Turns.
Unit: A counter that is a ground or support unit.
USCL: United States Commitment Level – a measure of America’s wartime productivity.
VP: Victory Point – a measure of a faction’s success in the game.