Game Rules

To win the game, a faction must control more than 10 “star spaces” after the fall season of any given year. Star spaces are marked with pink stars.


The game starts in the spring of 2047. Each year has a turn in the spring and one in the fall. 


Each factions starts with a home base (the flag symbol). If a faction loses control of their home base, and they don't control any other land-based star spaces, they are eliminated from the game. Otherwise, they are allowed to move it to another land-based star space they control.


Note: A home base can only be defended if the faction has a Unit in that space - an undefended home base has a Defense Power of 0.


Units:


Each faction starts the game with a minimum of 3 units, and will earn and/or lose units during the game.
Units can be positioned on water or land.


There is a limit of only one unit per land space, except for a factions' home base (no limit there)
A faction can group any number of their units on any water space, and those units can support each other


Units on water space cannot attack a land space – they can only move onto a land space if it is uncontested. However, they can support a land unit’s attack on another land space.


Earning New Units: For each additional Star Space controlled, a faction is allowed to have an additional unit on the board. When they are allowed an extra unit, it will be automatically assigned at the end of the next turn. The new unit will enter play at the factions' home base.


Losing Units: If a faction ever controls more units than two more than the number of star spaces (due to losing one or more during the last turn) – they are forced to disband that many units of their choice.


Submitting Orders:


On each turn, they must submit an order for each Unit they control. The available choices for each Unit are: MOVE, HOLD OR  SUPPORT:


MOVE: 
Moves a unit into a neighboring space.
Result: 


- Space is empty and uncontested = Move successful
- Space is occupied by another of Unit of same type:
       LAND SPACE: Move does not occur 
       WATER SPACE: Move successful**
- Space is occupied by another faction = It ATTACKS (See Attacking)
           Only if move is LAND to LAND or WATER to WATER


** - Units who MOVE into a space already occupied by another unit of the same type will successfully move BEFORE that space is attacked by another faction.


HOLD: 
Unit does not move. 
Note: This is the default order for every unit – should a faction forget to provide one.


SUPPORT: 
The unit being ordered will provide 1 unit of support to another units attack or hold.  The unit being supported does not have to be of the same faction. This is the main reason for negotiating with the other players.


Notes on Supporting:

• The space being where the battle occurs must be touching the space being supported from
• The supporting unit is not attacked by another unit on the same turn.         ** See Clarification (1) at bottom of document
• Supports can be offensive or defensive.
• Units on land CANNOT support a water space.
• Units on water CAN support a neighboring land space.

Attacking:


When an attack occurs, the greatest concentration of Power is always victorious; if the forces are equal, a standoff results and the units remain in their original positions. If a supporting unit is attacked by another unit, its support is nullified.


Since all units in the defending space immediately have all Support orders nullified, they are now declared as Defenders, and their strength is added to the defense value, regardless of the number of attackers.


Attack Power is dictated by:
+1 for Attacking Unit
+1 for each other Unit of the same faction Attacking the same space
+1 for each Support action from other Units (yourself or other players)


Defense Power is dictated by:
+1 for each Unit in space
+1 if the space is a Home Base
+1 for each Support action from other Units (yourself or other players)


In order to win the battle, Attack Power must be greater than the Defense Power.


If the attack is not successful: Attacking faction loses all units in the attack. Defending units are unharmed. Supporting units in other spaces remain unharmed.


If the attack is successful: Defending units are all lost. Supporting units in other spaces remain unharmed.


In the case where multiple players attack the same space, the attacking unit with the highest Attack Power conducts the attack and all others do not attack. In the case of a tie, no attack occurs is made – a standoff.


If a unit is ever defeated, it is removed from the board and it will respawn at your home base at the end of the following turn, as long as you have enough star spaces under your control to support the rebuilt unit.


Controlling Spaces:


Once a Unit is successfully moved into any land space, their faction gains control it until another faction moves a unit into it. Therefore, if a unit is moved out of a space they control, they continue to control it. They don’t have to “camp” a unit in each space.


For water spaces, as long as a faction has a unit there, they control it – and any other player trying to move into that space must hold a battle in that space.


Elimination: 


If a faction is eliminated, the player that successfully captured their home base gains control of all territories remaining under the eliminated faction's control. All units of the defeated faction vanish from the game immediately.

Movement Examples:


ONE:
- Players A and B move into same space
- A supports move with 1 unit, B supports with 0.
- A enters space and now controls it - B stays in current space and
does NOT move unit.


TWO:
- A and B move into same space
- Neither A or B support the move (or support with same #)
- Neither A or B enters space, as there is a "standoff"
- Neither player loses units.


Turreton Rules:


Moe, Larry & Curly are the only three Turretons in existence. They are permanently located in the following Sea Spaces:


Moe:Lower Hudson River
Larry: Lower Bay
Curly: Long Island Sound


When they first enter play, Turretons are dormant, and have no defensive strength. The first time a space with a Turreton is occupied, it will become loyal to the current controller of that space. 
If defeated in battle, the Turretons remain and become loyal to the new controller of that space.


When defending, Turretons have a Power of 2. 


Turretons can support units in all land and water spaces it is adjacent to. When a Turreton supports, it does so with only one Power. However, they can only support units of their own faction.

Spring 2047 - Turn 1

Map of New York - Spring 2047
Click to enlarge

The Factions

The Tower Syndicate


The Tower Syndicate specializes in "life cycle management" - controlling and benefiting from all aspects of people's lives.  The syndicate secretly owns a network of well-known establishments such as factories, power companies, hospitals, law firms, restaurants, and even brothels.  In short, the syndicate profits from all aspects of its unsuspecting members daily lives.  While outsiders in the know see the syndicate as the latest example of a corporation gone horribly wrong, there is no denying that the syndicate benefits from heretofore unknown economies of scale.

The director of the Tower Syndicate, known only as "The Director" lives in NY's oldest remaining landmark, the Cloisters.  From his tower high above the city, the Director organizes his minions, counts his money, and plays with a fully functional 1:28 scale model of his newly constructed death ray.

Die Schwarzen Papst

The Black Pope is considered by many as a cult of religious zealots, who gathered their following through playing Go in the parks of Astoria, Queens. It was through this method that they assimilated some of the smartest minds in New York into their fold. It is believed by many that the method of religious preaching is bizarre (cats are the perfect manifestation of the universe, and the creators of all life). However, this message is really just a front for a much more sinister and diabolical plan. Many feel their mastermind is really a braintrust of several devious brainiacs.

Rossoni’s Rebels

The Rossoni Rebels started as a small bakery on Arthur Ave. dealing in fine traditional Italian pastries, decades of dark secrets about hundreds of high-profile public officials, and the misinformation publication" Il Aspide".  The leader of the rebel movement, Mr. Rossoni, is notorious for letting secrets manifest themselves if the right price hasn't been paid.  Despite the family's past loyalties to their "premiere customers", their true loyalties lie with themselves.

The Christofori Coalition


After numerous failed grass cutting ventures, one would think the Cristofori Coalition would acknowledge that there just isn't much demand for lawn care in Manhattan.  Unable to accept defeat, the mild-mannered lawn boy set up shop on Staten Island where he successfully terraformed the former landfill into a pristine stretch of lawn using an army of genetically modified weed-whacker wielding garden gnomes.  Some say that eating too much fertilizer and drinking garbage laden water drove him mad, and on a quiet afternoon you can hear the a distant echo of him yelling at imaginary children from his front porch, "Get off my grass!"

The Dunning Institute


The history of the Dunning is unknown.  Dunning is constantly experimenting with new ideas focusing heavily on pleasure and pain. Refugees who enter Coney Island find themselves the target of an experiment.  All is welcome to enter, but all will not necessarily be able to leave.  There appears to be some connection between the military and all the deranged inventions.

The Greene Berets


Long established as the secret naval arm of the Rhode Island state militia after the collapse of the US Government, the Greene Berets were forced from their native lands during the epic invasion of the Quebecois. They setup shop in eastern Queens, where Jamaica Bay was as close of a natural home to Narragansett Bay as they could find. Their leader, the legendary Nathaniel Greene – fashions himself as a prime candidate to restore New York to the world stage with honor and grace.

The People’s Hamblet

Voted by many as the smartest of all the faction leaders – it remains to be seen just how far The People’s Hamblet will go in order to restore solidarity to New York. There is nothing their fearless leader will do to inspire those around him. He is famous for his epic free-climbs of the Palisades in New Jersey, his skydive off the second World Trade Center building, and his impressive win-loss record in the classic board game Twilight Struggle (4,313 to 1). To date, Mr. Hamblet has never revealed who his loss was to – many rumor that person never lived long enough to tell the tale of their victory…

The modern bourgeois society that has sprouted from the ruins of American Society has not done away with class antagonisms. It has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression, new forms of struggle in place of the old ones do not.  

Rising from the ashes of a fallen republic, heralding the dawn of a new age, the proletariat calls out for new leadership, all Hail the PEOPLE'S HAMBLET!

Listen to the silent heart of the city, from greene lawns to the assault tanks of the tower syndicate. The People's Hamblet disdain to conceal their views and aims. Without the people the Grass will not grow, the tanks will not roll.  The people's Hamblet openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at the revolution that rises in Jersey City! The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains.  Do not play slavish minion to your would be NY overlords, workers of the world UNITE!

Prologue

April 28, 2047

Ten years ago, the United States government, in light of its insurmountable debt and failing social system – collapsed, leaving the states of a once proud nation to fend for themselves. Most of them were just as destitute already, so it became open season across North America. The former United States was ravished by the power struggle that ensued. Canada took New England and most of the northern states. Mexico took New Mexico to Louisiana. Florida and Georgia were annexed by New Cuba. China conquered most of everything west of the Rocky Mountains. The Neo-Confederate Party even managed to form a new government in what was formerly Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee & the Carolinas. There were so many wars – and when the dust settled, there wasn’t much left but a desolate post-apolocolyptic mess. All that remains of America’s past glory is The Big Apple; New York, New York. The envy of every country, the city survived invasions from many nations intact – and remains a vibrant, modern, independent city. It serves as the only lasting reminder of America’s former glory.

What was deemed by some as World War III ended last month with the Global Peace Initiative. The GPI was inevitable after the biogenic weapons detonated throughout many regions were too much for the global community to bear. With the GPI signed, New York remains an independent city – with no clear government. Effectively sealed off from the rest of the world, it finds itself loosely held together by the last remaining influential people, corporations & gangs of the United States. These seven titans of America’s past have all established modest, yet equal footholds in New York. They are the only factions with the financial and material means to wrestle control of the city from the other factions and establish themselves as the official government of New York.