Why More World War Two Rules?
Combat HQ grew out of my desire to play a fast moving World War Two miniatures game that not only required players to make decisions as army commanders, but also contained sufficient detail to capture the intricacies and complexities of World War Two combat in a tense but fun game.
Combat HQ is the culmination of many years of tabletop game design and real-time video game design. My initial goal was to create a game that didn’t follow a predictable “I Go, You Go” structure but without having to rely on random cards or dice rolls to activate units. Alternate Command Pulses and the threat of a Command Failure make each turn different. You may not only have enough dice each turn to do everything you want, but your opponent may also be using your own dice against you!
Command Dice
Command Dice are used to activate or rally units. Sets of doubles and triples may be used to increase the number of Staff Orders available. Doubles and triples can also be used to issue multiple move orders. A tank company could be ordered to move three times this turn by using three dice to activate them, but by using three dice on one command, fewer orders are available to other command groups.To issue an order choose a platoon to act as the Command Unit, and place a Command Dice next to it. Then nominate up to three other units to be part of the unit’s Command Group. Command Groups represent a company with attached assets. They are flexible and may be changed each turn.
Early in the game, you have enough Command Dice to order all your units, but as the battle heats up you’ll need to rally units and restock Staff Orders. Each of these actions costs one or more Command Dice so you have to choose which units to activate this Command Pulse. As the number of Command Dice can also fluctuate each turn, Combat HQ forces you to prioritise your actions.
Staff Orders
Staff Orders are used to call off-table artillery, but they may also be used to issue orders. Staff Orders may be stocked each turn allowing a player to build up his order pool ready for a dramatic assault or stalwart defence. But Staff Orders are used frequently – it’s a balancing act between using Command Dice to issue orders and using them to increase your Staff Orders.
The Turn Sequence
At the start of each turn, both players roll Command Dice. Any 1s rolled represent lost opportunities. Each 1 that is matched by a roll of a 6 is discarded until next turn. If a player rolled more 1s than 6s a Command Failure occurs and the 1s are given to his opponent who gets to use them as wild dice.
After any 1s have been discarded or given to the opponent, players arrange their dice into chains. Each chain consists of all dice of the same number, so a player who rolled a 5, two 3s, and three 2s, would have three dice chains. Any 6s rolled are wild dice and may be used to boost combat results and can also be combined with other dice to create chains.
Players now carry out alternate Command Pulses. The first Command Pulse goes to the player who rolled the most 6s. If one player rolled a Command Failure, his opponent automatically has the first Command Pulse.
During a Command Pulse you get to choose one of your dice sets and use it to issue orders or restock Staff Orders. Once all dice in a set have been used, your Command Pulse ends and it’s your opponent’s Command Pulse. Command Pulses can be as short as only one dice, or could be as many as six dice making each turn different. Command Pulses alternate between players until all Command Dice have been used. The turn then ends and a new one begins.
