Solo Cdg Method Instructions (v3.0)

CDG SOLO METHOD INSTRUCTIONS for PATHS OF GLORY Version 3.0 ACTION ROUND PROCEDURE During the Action Phase, perform the following steps for each side in their respective Action Rounds: 1. Flip up all face-down cards in Spaces “A” through “E”. 2. Nominate a card for play from Spaces “A” through “E” (this is the “Nominated Card”), or take a 1-Ops Activation (the latter is mandatory if the side has no cards available for play). If a 1-Ops Activation is taken, go to Step 5. 3. If a card was Nominated for play, roll one white die and one colored die: a. If no DOUBLES are rolled and the white die result is within the Nominated Card’s range, the Nominated card is played for any allowable purpose. (Ignore the colored die result.) b. If no DOUBLES are rolled and the white die result is outside of the Nominated Card’s range, refer to the colored die roll: i.

If the colored die result is a “1”, “2”, “3”, “4” or “5”, the card in space “A”, “B”, “C”,”D” or “E”, respectively, is played for any desired purpose. (Note that Nominated card may still be selected for play through this procedure.)

ii.

If the colored die result is a “6”, draw the topmost card from the Draw Pile and play it for any allowable purpose.

c. If DOUBLES are rolled, a Random Event occurs: i.

On a “11”, “22”, “33”, “44” or “55”, the card in space “A”, “B”, “C”,”D” or “E”, respectively, is played for solely for its Event. If said card is a Combat Event Card or its conditions for play have not been met, then play the card for any other allowable purpose;

ii.

On a “66”, an Unexpected Random Event occurs. Draw the top card from the Draw Pile and play it for its Event. If this card is a Combat Event Card or its conditions for play have not been met, then play the card for any other allowable purpose;

4. Remove the played card, placing it face up in the Played Pile. If the card was played for its Event and the Event has an asterisk (*), remove the card permanently from the game. (Skip this step if a 1 Ops Action resulted in Step 3.) 5. Recycle cards. Slide the card (if any) currently in Space “E” to the Played Pile and then slide all remaining cards from right to left in Spaces “A” through “D” to the right of the track, filling each space from right to left so that each such space has one card. 6. Fill any remaining empty space(s) with card(s) from the Draw Pile, leaving these newly-drawn cards face-down.

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CDG SOLO METHOD INSTRUCTIONS for PATHS OF GLORY Version 3.0 SPECIFIC SITUATIONS NEW CARD DISPLAY AND CARD COUNTING SPACES (v2.0) It is recommended that you use version 2.0 of the CDG Solo Card Display. This display has a space between the Draw Pile and Played Pile spaces, which consists of two rectangles and is used to keep track of the Strategy Cards that are played during the Action Round. At the beginning of the Action Round, for each of the sides, place seven (7) cubes (or use any other kind of marker) on the upper, light colored, rectangle. Whenever a Strategy Card is played for any reason, move one cube to the bottom, dark-colored, rectangle. If a side is to play an Action round and it has no cubes in its light-colored (un-played) rectangle, that side must take a 1-Ops Activation. INITIAL STRATEGY CARDS Shuffle the initial Strategy card deck for each side (the Mobilization deck). For each side, deal five cards, and place them, face-down, one each in Spaces “A”, “B”, “C”, “D” and “E” of the display. (Remember to include the Guns of August card in the initial Central Powers hand.) At the start of the Central Powers’ first Action round, reveal all the face-down cards in the Central Powers’ card track (Spaces “A” to “E”); leave all Strategy cards in the Allied card track (Spaces “A” through “E”) face-down. SPECIAL INITIAL-HAND CARD (GUNS OF AUGUST CARD) In many CDGs, there are rules that require the placement of a particular card in a side’s initial hand, allowing play of the card’s event only during the first Action Round of the first turn. (Example: the Guns of August card in Paths of Glory). In this particular situation, if the Player desires to play this card for its event, no activation die roll is made and the card is played solely for its event. However, if the Player desires to play any other card, or the Guns of August card for a purpose other than its event, the Player must nominate the card and roll the dice to see if said card or any other card is eventually played. PLAY OF COMBAT EVENT CARDS Some Strategy Cards show Combat Events (denoted by the notation “CC”). These cards may only be played for their event during combat resolution in the Action Phase, as follows: • The Player may select one eligible Combat Event Card for the Attacking side during the Play Combat Step of Combat Resolution. (Only one Combat Card can be played on attack and no die roll is necessary to play this card.) • The Player now flips and reveals all face-down cards in the Defending side’s card track (Spaces “A” through “E”). Proceeding from left to right on Spaces “A” to “E” of the Defending side’s track, for each eligible Combat Event Card, the Player rolls one die: o If the roll is within the card’s space range, such card is played in defense. o If the roll is outside of the card’s space range, roll for the next eligible Combat Event Card. o Only one Combat Card can be played in defense. SKIP DRAW CARDS PHASE Because of the fluid nature of card play in this CDG Solo Method, where Strategy cards are constantly cycled through each side’s (virtual) hands during the Action Phase, skip the Draw Strategy Cards Phase entirely in the Sequence of Play. 2

CDG SOLO METHOD INSTRUCTIONS for PATHS OF GLORY Version 3.0 VERSION 3.0 NOTES (06/27/16) NEW CARD DISPLAY (VERSION 2.0). For those gamers that use the Display with the Method, I recommend you use the 2.0 version of the Display. This new version is less cluttered and has spaces to help count the number of Strategy cards played. Note that the “Discard Pile” has been re-named the “Played Pile”, since no cards are actually discarded in most CDGs (they are actually “played” and placed on a pile or removed permanently from play).

(NEW!) CARD COUNTING CUBE MECANISM. The new (version 2.0) card display has a space between the Draw Pile and Played Pile, consisting of two rectangles, one light-colored rectangle on top, and one dark-colored rectangle, below. This mechanism uses cubes or any other kind of marker to keep track of cards available and cards played. At the start of each Action Phase, place seven (7) cubes for each side in the upper (un-played) rectangle of their respective displays. When a card is played, move a cube to the lower (played), darker-colored rectangle. The counting of Strategy Cards played is essential to determine when a 1-Ops Activation must occur. In the previous rules for the Method (v2.0), 1-Ops Activations occurred only as a possible result of failing an Activation die roll. Now, they occur as intended in the original game, that is, as a consequence of running out of Strategy Cards during the Action Phase. Note also that keeping track of Strategy Cards played is essential in other CDGs where the number of Action or Strategy Rounds is determined by the number of cards that both sides have in their hands. (See, for instance, For The People, Washington’s War). There are two alternative mechanisms that may be used to keep track of cards played: •

Poker card mechanism. Poker cards of one suit are arranged in a pile with the Ace at the bottom, followed sequentially by the 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, and ending with the 7-card on top. Whenever a Strategy Card is played, remove the topmost Poker card (e.g. the 7-card) and the next lower-numbered card (e.g. the 6-card) will indicate how many cards are left to be played. (This “poker card” mechanism is recommended if you use the Solo CDG method without the Card Display. Thanks to Ernie Blofeld for this idea.

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Turn Record Track mechanism. Another alternative involves placing and moving an appropriately colored marker for each side on the Turn Record Track. At the beginning of each Action Phase, place a marker for each side on the “Turn 7” space. Whenever a Strategy Card is played, move the marker to the next lower-numbered turn space. Thanks to Bobby Factor for this idea. ***

NOTE: This CDG Solo Method is a work in progress. Further changes may be made to this method and I always welcome your input and comments. Please feel free to share your comments in Boardgamegeek or in my YouTube Channel. Thank you always for your support. Stuka Joe.

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