Combat Commander: Europe

Edition and scenario: This entry covers GMT Games' Combat Commander: Europe base game and follows rulebook v1.1 plus General Consolidated FAQ v10 as currently linked by GMT. The product page lists a fifth printing and says known errata have been corrected; where the downloadable v1.1 text conflicts with explicit FAQ corrections, this summary follows the FAQ. A scenario defines the map, forces, posture, objectives, and Order capability, so no single setup applies to every game.

Units, map, and Victory Points: Units include Leaders, Teams, and Squads with firepower, range, movement, and morale values. Terrain provides cover and may change line of sight or movement costs. Germany, America, and Russia each have a national Fate Deck; the scenario determines which armies oppose one another. The usual sources of Victory Points are eliminating enemy units, exiting friendly units from the opponent's map edge, and controlling Objective hexes. Objective chits assign values; an objective with no value does not award points automatically.

Fate cards and hand size: A Fate card in hand can be used only for the Order or Action printed at its top. Events are handled when revealed from the draw pile under the trigger rules; they are not a third command that a player may choose from hand. The scenario's posture sets the starting hand and refill limit: Attack is six cards, Recon five, and Defend four. Initiative and player aid cards are not Fate cards and do not count toward hand size. Drawing the last card in a deck is treated as a Time! trigger under the official FAQ.

Turns and Orders: The players alternate Turns. On a Turn, the active player may play one or more Orders or Pass. Each Order is played from hand and resolved completely before another is chosen, allowing the player to react to its result. The number of Orders is limited by the scenario or army Order Capability. Orders activate eligible friendly units: Move spends movement points hex by hex, Fire attacks a visible target within range, and Advance moves an activated unit one adjacent hex and may enter an enemy-occupied hex. The card, activation rules, and relevant sections determine who may act and where.

Actions and reactions: Either player may play an Action during either player's Turn when its condition and timing are met. An Action is not an extra Order reserved for the active player, and it has no separate fixed per-turn limit; the hand and card requirements still constrain use. The defender may respond to an opponent's movement with qualifying Opportunity Fire, Mines, Wire, or other reactions. The rules and FAQ specify windows in which such responses must be resolved before movement or melee continues; they cannot be added after the entire movement is over.

Fire, cover, and morale: A Fire Order requires at least one activated unit or weapon that can spot and reach the target hex. Ordinary weapons proceed to a Fire Attack; Ordnance first makes a Targeting Roll. Eligible pieces firing at the same target may form a Fire Group. The attacker combines firepower with permitted modifiers and a card die roll; each target unit separately compares its morale, cover modifiers, and defence die. An attack total higher than defence breaks the unit. On an equal total, a moving target is broken while a non-moving target is Suppressed; a lower total has no effect. Broken and Suppressed status reduce what a unit can do.

Melee, recovery, and rout: Units entering a hex with enemy units may cause Melee under the scenario and rulebook procedure. The official FAQ says a Melee has no further effect if a trigger leaves no units in that hex. A Recover Order first removes Suppression as instructed, then attempts to rally previously broken friendly units. A Rout Order selects a side and uses the rules' morale and draw values to set how far broken units must retreat toward their own map edge. Terrain, enemy positions, and the map edge can prevent a legal retreat; an impossible retreat may eliminate the unit. A unit broken again is eliminated and can yield Victory Points to its opponent.

Time and game end: A Time! trigger advances the Time Marker. FAQ v10 also treats revealing the final card of the draw pile as a Time! trigger. The FAQ lists four general endings: a player is forced to place an eliminated unit on the Surrender marker's Casualty Track space; a player's last unit on the map is eliminated; a player's last unit voluntarily Moves or Advances off the map; or a Sudden Death Roll is lower than the number on the current Time Marker space. The first two conditions cause an immediate automatic loss; the other endings normally reveal secret objectives and score Victory Points. Some scenarios add a special Sudden Death objective condition.

Final scoring and ties: If the game ends through surrender or the last unit being eliminated, the FAQ's revised rule declares the affected player the automatic loser without ordinary Victory Point comparison. If both players lose through those conditions simultaneously, the Initiative card holder breaks the tie. If the last unit exits or Sudden Death ends the game and neither automatic-loss condition applies, reveal the secret Objective chits and add their values. The higher total wins. If both Victory Point markers remain at zero after scoring, the Initiative card holder wins the tie. Use the FAQ correction where it replaces older wording in the v1.1 PDF.