1. Seasonal Phase
Important: This Phase is performed on Seasonal Turns only.
1.1 Option Card Segment
Each player should designate a space on the table for his Current Card (which is face up) and Pending Card (which is face down). It must be clear to all players at all times which cards are Current Cards and which are Pending Cards.
Players are not allowed to examine another player’s cards before they have been played. Players may share or withhold information about their own cards with other players at their own discretion.
All players are free to examine all discarded cards at any time.
© In AE, each faction will have a Current Card and Pending Card on each map. TK cards are used on the TK map. DS cards are used on the DS map.
1.1.1 Option Card Procedure
Step 1: The phasing faction discards its Current Card. If the card has a symbol that indicates it is a recyclable (♺) card, it is returned to the faction’s deck for possible future play. If the card does not have such a symbol, it is set aside and cannot be played again.
Step 2: The phasing faction reveals its Pending Card. The card is turned face up on the table in view of all players. This option card becomes the faction’s new Current Card.
As this card is revealed, any interned units (16.7) on its back are repatriated back to the map as per Placing Replacements (1.3.4).
After the phasing faction places any repatriated units, it must verify the card played was in compliance with its Option Card Selection Restrictions (1.1.1) at the time it was selected. If found with an illegal Current Card, it must immediately return that card to its hand and will not have a Current Card this Season. Important: This returned card is not considered to be played.
In addition, if the Axis faction makes an illegal Current Card play during Pre-War or Limited War, either Allied faction may declare that Total War (12.3) immediately goes into effect.
This can be really bad for the Axis, so if your opponent made an honest mistake, the sporting thing to do would be to pass on starting Total War. The intention behind this penalty is to prevent crafty players from selecting illegal cards to extend Limited War.
© If the phasing faction legally plays an option card with a © symbol, it must remove the identically named card found in its other deck.
© Example: : If the Soviet faction reveals TK card 26b Siberian Reserves Released, it must remove DS card 11b Siberian Reserves Released.
Step 3: The phasing faction performs any actions listed under Option Card Segment on the Current Card, in the order listed. See 1.1.2.
Step 4: The phasing faction selects a Pending Card to play in his next Seasonal Phase. See 1.1.3.
1.1.2 Option Card Segment Actions
The phasing faction performs any actions listed under the Option Card Segment on the Current Option Card, in the order listed.
Some actions may call for removing other option cards. An option card may be played even if a required card has already been discarded. However, if a card says to remove a certain type of card (for example, Axis Production Directive cards) that exists in both the faction’s hand and the discard pile, the faction must remove a card from its hand. Some actions may call for rolling on a table, selecting or activating a country, etc. These actions are all performed, in the order specified, before moving on to the next step. Important: If you are rolling on a table, you must add any Political DRMs (1.1.2.1) that apply unless the event specifically instructs you otherwise.
Some results on Political Events Tables will direct players to another Political Events Table. If this happens, roll the die again, apply Political DRMs and compare the result to the appropriate table. If directed to yet another Political Event Table, continue rolling (still applying Political DRMs) until some final result is obtained.
A final result is any result that does not call for rolling on another Table. If the final result is an italicized Political Event, look it up in the appropriate rules section for instructions on how to apply it.
1.1.2.1 Political DRMs
Political DRMs must be applied to all die rolls made in the Option Card Segment and the Political Events Segment unless specifically stated otherwise. Political DRMs cannot be applied to any die rolls made in other Segments, again unless specifically stated otherwise. Political DRMs are cumulative. The DRMs are as follows:
- △ +1 for each VP in the Box containing the VP marker if it reads Axis Tide.
- –1 for each VP in the Box containing the VP marker if it reads Allied Crusade.
- –? for the Political DRM based on the location of the European USCL marker on the USCL Track.
- If a Country with an Influence or Neutrality marker is selected for an event requiring a die roll, apply the indicated +1 or –1 DRM. DRMs for Influence and Neutrality markers apply only to rolls directly involving that country. Specifically, this means rolls on the Diplomatic Incident Table, International Crisis Table, or any Current Card table.
Sometimes rolls will take you to different tables or different countries. If that happens, the Influence or Neutrality DRM that was in force for the first roll doesn’t “carry over.”
Example: The Axis faction plays card 28a Treaty. It selects Hungary, which has an Axis Influence marker with a +1 DRM. The VP marker reads Axis Tide, but it is in the 0 VP Box. The US hasn’t entered the war yet, so the USCL is 0. Thus the total DRM for this roll is +1. The Axis faction rolls a 1, which is modified to 2. Looking at the card, the result says “Roll on Diplomatic Incident Table.” This next roll also has a +1 DRM. The Axis rolls a 5, which becomes a 6. This result is “Roll on Guarantee Table.” The roll on that table will have a 0 DRM, because the Influence marker DRM doesn’t apply to a roll there.
1.1.2.2 Reinforcements
After the faction’s Pending Card has been placed, check if the Current Card enters new units into the faction’s Force Pool, the Delay Box, or the Strategic Warfare Box:
- Add to Force Pool: All counters listed are placed in the faction’s Force Pool.
- Place in Delay Box: All counters listed are placed in the Delay Box. These pieces will be available on a future turn based on their Delay Result (7.1).
- Place in Strategic Warfare Box: All counters listed are placed in the Strategic Warfare Box.
Units are placed as reinforcements only if they have not already entered play or been removed from the game.
A faction’s Current Card may list counters belonging to Major Countries or Minor Countries. Major Country units are always received. Minor Country units are received only if that country is an active Minor Country aligned with the faction.
Example: The Western faction plays card 28a Gamelin Line. This card places three French fortress units in the Delay Box. If France is not an active Western Minor Country, these units would not be placed.
© Important: A counter that enters play by a TK card must be placed in a TK Force Pool, Delay Box, or Strategic Warfare Box.
You can’t immediately enter counters from a TK card into a DS Pool or Box. Counters that enter through DS cards or rules likewise must start out in the Pacific.
1.1.3 Pending Card Selection
The card must be from those currently in its hand. This card is placed face down on the table and becomes the faction’s Pending Card.
Card selection is final. Once a faction has selected a card and placed it as its Pending Card, it is bound to that card.
A faction that finds it cannot select any option card without violating a restriction must say so. It will not select a Pending Card and thus will not reveal a new Current Card during its next Seasonal Phase.
1.1.3.1 Pending Card Selection Requirements
Before selecting a particular card, carefully check any Selection Requirements listed under that card’s name. Many cards cannot be selected unless certain conditions exist.
Each condition that must be met is listed next to a 🗹 symbol. When more than one condition is listed, all conditions must be met to select the card.
Example: Look at the Selection Requirements on Axis card 4a Nazi-Soviet Pact. It cannot be selected unless both card 3 Continuing Rearmament has been played and Total War is not in effect.
When an individual condition lists multiple requirements separated by an “or,” the condition is considered met if any or all of the requirements are met.
Example: Western card 20 Lend-Lease to Allies has a Selection Requirement that reads “Russia’s Posture is War, or France is an active Western Minor Country with a Posture of War.” The card may be selected if either or both of those statements are true.
1.1.3.2 War State Selection Restrictions
While Pre-War is in Effect: A faction can only select a blue Pre-War card.
While Limited War is in Effect: A faction can only select a blue Pre- War card or gray Limited War card.
While Total War is in Effect: A faction can select a blue Pre-War, gray Limited War or red Total War card.
1.1.3.3 Other Selection Restrictions
Sequential Selection Restrictions: A faction cannot select a particular type of card listed below as its Pending Card if its Current Card is the same type:
- Axis: Demand cards
- △ Axis: Blitz cards with a Blitz Value of 2 or more
- Western: Limited War Blitz cards
Axis Demand cards have the word “Demand” in their names.
What this means is that you can’t play these cards “back-to-back.” For example, if the Axis Current Card is Demand Austria (card 10), then Demand Denmark (card 11) cannot be selected as the Axis Pending Card. Both are Demand cards.
This restriction is only within a particular card type, and only within a faction. If the Axis reveals a Blitz card with a Blitz Value of 2 one season, it can select a Demand card for the next. If the Western Current Card is a Limited War Blitz card, that doesn’t prevent the Axis faction from selecting a Demand card.
Because of the strict sequencing of the Option Card Procedure (1.1.1), you won’t be able to play recyclable (♺) cards like Support Republicans or Support Nationalists “back-to-back” when there is only one of that card in your deck.
Annual Selection Restrictions: A faction cannot reveal a particular type of card listed below more than once per calendar year.
- Axis: Rearmament cards
- Western: Rearmament cards
- Soviet: Rearmament cards
- Soviet: Offensive cards
Rearmament cards have a hammer-and-wrench (🛠) symbol. Soviet Offensive cards have the word “Offensive” in their names.
For determining the “calendar year” of a Winter season, use the Nov-Dec turn.
A faction can play one of these cards in 1937, one in 1938, and so on. If the Axis faction reveals a Rearmament card in Nov-Dec 1937, it can select another Rearmament card as its Pending Card because that won’t be revealed until the Mar-Apr 1938 turn.
© Theater Selection Restrictions: A faction cannot select a TK card for its DS Pending Card, nor can it select a TK card for its DS Pending Card.
When selecting TK and DS Pending Cards, a faction cannot select identically named option cards with © symbols in their upper left-hand corners during the same season.
© Example: If the Soviet faction wishes to select TK card 26b Siberian Reserves Released, it cannot select DS card 11b Siberian Reserves Released in the same turn.
Provided it is abiding by its Production Limit (see below), the Soviet faction can select TK card 23 Limited War Production and DS card 24 Limited War Production. Although these cards have identical names, they do not have © symbols.
© Soviet Production Limit Restrictions: Each Soviet option card has a Production Value printed in a black circle in the upper left-hand corner. When selecting TK and DS Pending Cards, their combined Production Value cannot exceed the Soviet Production Limit.
If Pre-War or Limited War is in effect on both maps, the Soviet Production Limit is 1.
If Total War is in effect on either or both maps, the Soviet Production Limit is 3.
© Example: Total War is in effect on the TK map, and Russia’s Posture is War on both maps. If the Soviet faction selects TK card 38 Total War Production, the card’s Production Value of 3 won’t allow any card with a Production Value greater than 0 to be selected in DS.
So the Soviet faction selects TK card 39 Total War Production instead, a 2-point Production Value card. That allows it to play DS card 24 Limited War Production, which has a Production Value of 1.
1.2 Logistics / Partisan Segment
The phasing faction may place or remove one Logistics and any number of Partisan Base markers it may have.
These markers serve as locations where you can place Replacements, so they’re very useful.
1.2.1 Logistics Markers
Each faction has one or more Logistics markers. The phasing faction may either place or remove one Logistics marker on the map. It cannot do both in the same Logistics / Partisan Segment.
If a Logistics marker is in its Force Pool, the phasing faction may place it on the map per these placement limitations:
- △ Axis: Place in any City hex containing a German ground unit that can trace an overland supply line (10.2) to a supply source in Germany.
- Soviet: Place in any Road or Rail hex that contains or is adjacent to a Russian HQ unit that can trace an overland supply line (10.2) to a supply source in Russia.
- △ Western: Place in any City hex containing a supplied US ground unit.
If a Logistics Marker is on the map, the phasing faction may leave it there or pick it up and place it in the Delay Box.
This means you won’t be able to place it back on the map until your next Logistics / Partisan Segment, at the earliest.
Logistics Marker Placement Restrictions:
- A Logistics marker cannot be placed in a hex containing an enemy unit, Detachment, or Logistics marker.
- A Logistics marker cannot be placed in a hex that already contains a friendly Logistics marker.
- A Logistics marker can be placed in a hex with a friendly Detachment marker, but the Detachment marker is immediately placed in the Delay Box.
Removing Logistics Markers: If an enemy ground unit or Airdrop marker enters a hex containing only a Logistics marker during any Movement or Combat Phase, the Logistics marker is placed in the Delay Box. The enemy ground unit or Airdrop marker can then proceed normally.
Shooing away a Logistics marker does not slow down the unit in any way.
1.2.2 Partisan Base Markers
The Allied factions may receive Partisan Base markers through Political Event results. An Allied faction can place and/or remove a friendly Partisan Base marker as restricted below.
More than one Partisan Base can be placed in the same Logistics / Partisan Segment, although no more than one can be placed in a single Conquered Allied Minor Country per Logistics / Partisan Segment.
1.2.2.1 Partisan Base Placement
If a Partisan Base is in its Force Pool, the Allied faction may place it in any Rough or City hex (see Terrain Key) in any Conquered Allied Minor Country.
You can place a Partisan Base in a Conquered Minor Country belonging to the other Allied faction.
Example: Yugoslavia is a Conquered Western Minor Country, but the Soviet faction has an available Partisan Base marker and chooses to place it in that Country. In the Soviet Conditional Events Phase, Yugoslavia may be activated as a Soviet minor (16.5.1).
Partisan Base Placement Restrictions:
- A Partisan Base cannot be placed in a hex containing another Partisan Base marker or an enemy unit, Detachment, or Logistics marker.
- A Partisan Base cannot be placed in a hex containing an EZOC unless another friendly unit is in that hex.
- A Partisan Base cannot be placed in a Conquered Allied Minor Country containing an enemy Partisan Base.
Example: If there is a Soviet Partisan Base in Yugoslavia, the Western faction cannot place one in the country.
1.2.2.2 On-map Partisan Bases
If a Partisan Base is in a hex, the Allied faction may leave it there or remove it and place it in the Delay Box. The Allied faction may do this even if the hex contains an enemy unit or marker.
Placing a Partisan Base plants the seed of military insurgency that grows to fruition at the end of the Allied Turn. For example, the Western faction places a Partisan Base at the beginning of a Seasonal Turn and follows it up by reactivating the Minor Country (16.3.1) in the Conditional Events Segment of the same turn. When reactivated, the country’s Reserve unit is placed on the Partisan Base. The Partisan Base then serves as a Replacement Location where the Western player can bring in more replacements belonging to that country.
If the Axis faction occupies the Partisan Base, the marker can remain in that hex for the Axis player to garrison as long as the Western faction keeps it there. Furthermore, if all Cities and Partisan Bases in a country are occupied, that country once again becomes a Conquered Allied Minor Country, making it eligible to receive more Partisan Base markers! If you look at Yugoslavia, you see a lot of room to place Partisan Base markers and tie down Axis ground units on garrison duty
1.3 Replacements Segment
In its Replacements Segment, the phasing faction may receive Seasonal Replacements steps. Unless otherwise stated, all replacement steps received are cumulative.
Seasonal Replacements steps received in this Segment are received on Seasonal Turns only. Replacements received in Political Event or Conditional Event Segments can be received on any Turns in which they might occur.
1.3.1 Current Card Seasonal Replacements
The phasing faction may receive replacements as indicated on its Current Card, in the red box with the Replacements Segment heading.
Some option cards do not have a Replacements Segment box.
1.3.2 Additional Seasonal Replacements
The phasing faction may receive additional seasonal replacements if the following markers are in the Strategic Warfare Box or on the VP Track. These replacements are cumulative.
Example: Say the Axis faction is eligible to receive an Axis Minor Country Step and an Italian War Economy step in the same Seasonal Turn. It could build two Italian steps with these replacements.
The additional replacements provided by these markers are printed in a circle. As with the square DRM notation, black means it applies to the Axis; green to the West; red to the Soviets; and white to any faction.
△ 1.3.2.1 Anti-Comintern Crusade
If the Anti-Comintern Crusade marker is in the Strategic Warfare Box and Russia’s Posture is War (13.6), the Axis faction receives one German colonial replacement step.
1.3.2.2 Minor Country Production
If a faction’s Minor Country Production +1 marker is in the Strategic Warfare Box, that faction receives one Minor Country replacement step. If a faction’s Minor Country Production +2 marker is in the Strategic Warfare Box, that faction receives two Minor Country replacement steps.
1.3.2.3 No Retreat
If the No Retreat marker is on the VP Track and the VP marker reads Axis Tide, the Axis faction receives one German infantry replacement step for each VP in the VP Track Box containing the VP marker.
If the Axis faction is entitled to more than one No Retreat infantry step in a Replacements Segment, it may exchange pairs of them for single German armor steps instead.
Example: The Axis Tide VP marker is in the 4 VP Box. The Axis player could take these four replacements as either four infantry steps, one armor step and two infantry steps, or two armor steps – German units only!
△ 1.3.2.4 SS Europa
If the SS Europa marker is on the VP Track and the VP marker reads Axis Tide, the Axis faction receives one German infantry replacement step for each VP in the VP Track Box containing the VP marker. Additionally, the Axis faction receives one German infantry replacement step for each VP in the VP Track Box containing the SS Europa marker itself.
If the Axis faction is entitled to more than one SS Europa infantry step in a Replacements Segment, it may exchange pairs of them for single German armor steps.
△ 1.3.2.5 US Victory Program
If the US Victory Program marker is in the Strategic Warfare Box, the Western faction receives one US infantry replacement step and one US armor replacement step.
△ 1.3.2.6 War Economy
If a Minor Country’s War Economy +1 marker is in the Strategic Warfare Box, that country receives one replacement step of the same nationality. If a Minor Country’s War Economy +2 marker is in the Strategic Warfare Box, that country receives two replacement steps of the same nationality.
1.3.3 Taking Replacements
Important: The following rules apply in any Segment a faction receives replacements. They are listed here for convenience.
Players cannot accumulate or save replacements. If a player cannot take all his replacement steps and place them on the map for any reason, the extra unplaced replacement steps are lost.
Replacements are taken from a Force Pool as one-step ground units of the nationality, number, and unit type received. A player cannot place multi-step units as replacements. Replacements are placed on the map per Placing Replacements (1.3.4).
Many one-step ground units are the reduced-strength sides of two-step army units. These one-step units are available to be taken as replacements. You’ll get to build them up to their full-strength two-step sides in the Organization Segment.
Force Pool Limitation: The one-step units in a faction’s Force Pool limit how many and what type of units can be taken as replacement steps. One-step units located anywhere else, such as in the Delay Box or on the Turn Track, cannot be taken as replacement steps.
Example: The Soviet faction receives 12 Russian infantry replacements, but only 10 one-step Russian infantry units are in the Soviet Force Pool. Two replacements are lost.
Unit-Type Limitation: Infantry replacements can be taken only as infantry-type units (airborne, cavalry, infantry, marine, mountain, or ski – but not garrison). Armor replacements can be taken as either armor-type (armor, mechanized, or helicopter) or infantry-type units (as above).
Example: Axis card 22a Case Yellow states “Germany: 3 panzer & 6 infantry steps” as Seasonal Replacements. The Axis player could take 2 panzer and 7 infantry steps instead.
1.3.3.1 Minor Country Replacements
If not specifically stated otherwise, a phasing faction may allocate its Minor Country replacements received to any Minor Country or Countries belonging to that faction. Exception: An Allied faction cannot allocate replacements to a Conquered Allied Minor Country.
Example: The Western faction receives two Western Minor Country replacements. If there are four Western Minor Countries, the player must decide which Minor Countries get these limited resources. Both replacements can go to the same Western Minor Country.
Unless specifically stated otherwise, each Minor Country replacement step received may be taken as an infantry-type or armor-type unit. If more than one replacement is received, both unit types may be taken in the same Segment.
1.3.3.2 Airborne and Marine Units
A player must use two infantry-type replacement steps to take a onestep airborne or marine unit as a replacement.
For single-nationality airborne units and marine units, both infantrytype replacement steps must be of the same nationality. For the multinational Western airborne unit, the Western faction must use one British and one US infantry replacement step.
Example: You can use two Russian infantry steps to receive one Russian airborne replacement step.
1.3.3.3 Garrison Units
Garrison units (2.3.2.3) cannot be taken as replacements. They can only be placed in the Organization Segment.
1.3.3.4 Elite Units
Elite units (2.3.4.3) can be taken as replacements.
1.3.3.5 Colonial Units
Colonial units can be taken as replacements, but they have placement restrictions (1.3.4). When an option card specifies replacements to be colonial steps, non-colonial steps cannot be taken instead.
Example: Western card 23 Commonwealth Support has a Conditional Event that specifies “Britain: 1 colonial infantry step.” The Western faction cannot take a non-colonial infantry step instead.
1.3.4 Placing Relacements
Important: The following rules apply in any Segment a faction receives replacements. They are listed here for convenience.
The owning player chooses where units are placed.
Unless otherwise restricted, any number of replacements can be placed in the same hex.
Remember that stacking limits (9.2) are enforced after every Phase and Segment, so don’t place too many units in the same hex because you’ll have to eliminate the excess.
Replacement Locations: Units can be placed in any or all of the following locations of the TK map as specified below. Placing one unit in a location – a City hex, for example – does not prohibit placing another unit in the same or a different location in the same Segment. Important: No matter which Replacement Location is stated in this section, a replacement unit cannot be placed in a hex that contains an enemy ground unit, support unit, Detachment, or Logistics marker.
- A non-colonial unit can be placed in a Home Country City hex.
- A non-colonial unit can be placed in any Home Country hex that contains a supplied HQ of the same nationality.
- △ A British or US unit can be placed in the hex containing a Western Logistics marker, if that marker can trace a supply line to the Eastern US/Canada Box or a supply source in Great Britain.
- △ A British colonial unit can be placed as follows:
Afr, Fra or SA – Africa Box
Aus, Ind or NZ – Middle East Box
Can – Eastern US/Canada Box
Fra, Italy, Pol, Spain, Swe, or Turk – Any City hex in Great Britain or the Eastern US/Canada Box.
A British non-colonial unit cannot be placed in any Off-Map Box.
- A French colonial unit must be placed in a City under friendly control in any French Dependent. A French non-colonial unit cannot be placed in a French Dependent.
- △ A German unit can be placed in the hex containing an Axis Logistics marker if it can trace an overland supply line to a supply source in Germany.
- △ A German colonial unit must be placed in a Soviet Strategic Hex that contains a German ground unit, Detachment, or Logistics marker.
- △ An Italian colonial unit must be placed in a City under friendly control in any Italian Dependent. An Italian non-colonial unit cannot be placed in an Italian Dependent.
- A Minor Country unit can be placed in a Home Country hex that contains a Partisan Base marker.
- A Russian unit can be placed in the hex containing the Soviet Logistics marker if it can trace an overland supply line to a supply source in Russia.
- A Russian unit can be placed in the Central Asia Box.
- △ A US unit can be placed in the Eastern US/Canada Off-Map Box.
- The Western Airborne unit may be placed as either a British or US unit.
Be sure to garrison Cities in an enemy country to prevent enemy replacements from appearing in them. It’s trouble to have enemy replacements popping up behind your lines.