Rules for Civil War Card Game
Casey Foote
Introduction
This is a entertaining and educational card game that is easy to learn and fun to play. All of
the cards contain a caption of information relating to the card.
The Cards
The cards are all drawn from the Civil War period (1861-1865). The cards represent
everything and everyone from Abraham Lincoln to the conical bullets developed during the war.
The Game
The game takes place in the states, the ones that seceded and the ones that didn't. The
game is closely formulated to match the real war. The North has more cards in its deck,
representing the tactical resource advantage the North experienced at the time. The South has
on average, better officers and cards. Many of the North's cards benefit the opponent.
The Object
The object is to capture the opponent's capital city and if they have deployed their president,
capture him too.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Playing The Game
Beginning
Shuffle your deck and have your opponent cut it, removing your capital and one other
location of your choice before you do so. Place all the locations in numerical order. Draw 5
cards from the top of your deck. The South goes first in the game.
Phase 1: Draw and Untap
First, before everything, draw one card from the top of your deck into your hand. Next,
untap any tapped cards you have. (Tapping will be explained later).
Phase 2: Move
You may now move any characters you have out on the table. It costs 1 to move a
character from one location to an adjacent one. Each character may only move once per turn.
Phase 3: Deploy
You now deploy any cards you wish. Cards may only be deployed during this phase,
except Interrupts which may be played at any time (even during your opponent's turn). To
deploy, you need farms to deploy. Look in the upper right corner of your card you wish to
deploy. The number there is the deploy cost. Tap that many farms to activate enough
resources to deploy it. To tap something, turn it sideways. It is "used" now and may not be
used again until it is untapped. (To untap, turn the card back right side up). Numbers in bold
indicate a cost to do something. The North may only deploy characters in Washington D.C..
The South may deploy anywhere in the South. You may also deploy locations. These deploy
sideways. All locations must be lined up in numerical order. The North may only deploy
characters at Washington, D.C.. The South may deploy characters anywhere in the South.
Phase 4: Battle
This is the time when the real action takes place. You may initiate a battle where you and
your opponent each have at least one character. If you are battling on home ground (anywhere
in the North for the Union, South for the Confederacy), pay 1 to initiate it. If you are not battling
on home ground, pay 2 to initiate the battle. All the characters at the location must participate
in the battle. Ok, here are the very simple steps to battles:
1.) Total all your power at the site. If an army is battling, the general adds his leadership skill
value to the total. Your opponent totals his defense at the location. If the character's card
indicates no defense, it is the same as the power. The general again adds his leadership to
the total. If you are defending against a battle on home territory, draw a card. The deploy cost
of that card is added to your power.
2.) Compare the numbers. The lower total takes damage equal to the difference. To relieve
this damage, loser must forfeit that number in deploy cost from that location. Opponent may
sacrifice any cards at site. Instead of forfeiting a president, move him to the opponent's capital
and place him under the location. If opponent captures location (meaning he has characters
there and you don't), president is released to your capital for free.
3.) Lather, rinse, repeat as desired. (Meaning you can have as many battles as you can afford
per turn. You may even have another battle at the same location.)
Phase 5: End Turn
Tell your opponent it's his or her turn. Opponent proceeds with the cycle of phases.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Armies
Armies play a big part of the game. To form an army, you need an officer and at least one
other character at a location. Declare an officer to be a General of the army and say which
characters at that location are in the army. The army moves as one character. You may
deploy directly into an army. You may disband an army at any time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skills
All characters have all these skills - it is indicated on his card that Jefferson Davis has
"influence" of 2 and no other skills, but he still has all the other skills listed but only has 1 in
those skills. In other words, a character has all the skills, but usually only excels in one.
Influence: Your total power at battles anywhere is increased by this much while this character is
in play. If this character is captured, your total power in battles is decreased by this much.
Influence is not cumulative, meaning if you have more than one character on table with
influence, choose one to use. You cannot change the character you are using unless it is
removed from play. Characters with influence of 1 do not add or subtract from power.
Leadership: Any character with leadership of 2 or more is an officer. An army must always
contain an officer or it is disbanded. The character with the highest leadership rating in army is
the General of that army. The General adds his leadership rating to the total power in that
battle.
Range: Characters may participate in battles as long as the battle is occurring a number of
sites away equal to or more than their range (their current location is 1, the next is 2, 3, so on).
Recon: If a character has recon, you may deploy up to this many characters per turn to the
same location as the character with recon.
Speed: Speed is the number of locations a character may move in a turn.
Strength: Characters can carry a number of weapons and devices equal to their strength.