Paths of Glory 9.8

The Paths of Glory 9.8 project was led by Brian Reynolds. None of it would be possible without the efforts of Joel Koepp, who led most of the module 7.0/8.0 efforts which formed the backbone of all that followed. Claudio Ciardelli, who built 9.0, added the Deluxe Historical map, snazzier card decks, and pushed forward with automation features. Brian Reynolds then took over and built 9.2 through 9.8 incorporating the rest of the 2018 Deluxe Edition art assets, adding RB/Eliminated box organization and RB-counting, automatic corps-army substitution, VP site control and scoring, automated AR markers, improved logfile reporting, and continued bug-fixing and polish. Special Thanks to Pranas Pauliukonis who did a thorough round of testing for the 9.3 and 9.4 versions, to Tom Gregorio for providing veteran-player feedback, to Michael Kiefte who shared his Chess Clock source code from Twilight Struggle, and also to Bill Thomson who integrated Paul Blankenship's "LookAt" feature - original code credited to David Sullivan. Thanks also to everyone who has contributed to the module over the years, including Davout, Kaiman, Pmanlig, ampercival, and egg_salad!

The module is presently maintained by Brian Reynolds - please report any problems to brian@brianreynolds.net.




1. First Things First

Under the "Help" menu you will find a link to the latest Living Rules version of the Paths of Glory rulebook, in case you are still learning how to play the game itself, or just need to "look up a rule". A nice "Rules Overview" video that uses the latest version of the game can also be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHMr-gu1u1c

Meanwhile if you've played using earlier versions of the module and just want to check out the latest list of changes, please see the "Change List" from the Help Menu of the module.

Advanced Players should page through and take in the latest capabilities of the module! It may have changed a lot since the last time you checked it out!

This version of the Paths of Glory module aims to incorporate the graphics from the latest release of the physical game, including all of the artwork from the Deluxe 2018 edition, along with considerable play enhancements, interface improvements, and automation. We hope you enjoy it!



      

Deluxe Map                                 Classic Map


2. Setting Up

The latest 2018 rulebook includes two scenarios - the Historical Scenario used in most competitive play and the Campaign Scenario representing more closely the "classic" original rules. You can choose to play the Historical Scenario either on the original "classic" map by Mark Simonitch or the new "deluxe" map by Terry Leeds. The original Campaign Scenario is only supported on the classic map.



      

3. Choosing a Side

The side you choose gives you access to its hand of cards--or choose Solitaire to have access to both (also useful for local play on one computer, and for PBEM play via ACTS). For players and competitive events in need of security for cards and dice rolls, it is recommended to use ACTS or a similar server -- the Vassal client by itself cannot provide meaningful security.



Locations of Cards


4. Cards

Note: Players using ACTS can skip straight to section 5 on Units and Markers.

To reduce window clutter, card decks have been placed on the main map below the board. Cards can be drawn through several methods, including right-clicking on the draw pile, the "draw" button below each draw pile, and "Draw Cards" buttons located on the toolbar ribbon of both the main window and the player hand windows.


Guns of August, Historical Scenario: If you start the Historical Scenario (on either map), the Guns of August card will have been played automatically to start the game -- the appropriate German Armies will already have activation markers placed, the Liege fort will be destroyed, etc. The CP player should thus draw one fewer card than normal when filling their hand for turn 1.

Guns of August, Classic Scenario: If you start the Classic Scenario, the Guns of August card will begin in the discard pile. The CP player may either take it into their hand (open the CP Hand window from the toolbar and drag the card into the window) or right click on it and select "Reshuffle" to shuffle it into the deck. At this point the CP player should draw cards to fill their hand to the correct hand size.

  
Optional Cards: Instead of creating several scenarios that include/exclude the Optional cards, they are in their own labeled decks for inclusion if you wish. The window containing them can be opened either by clicking the "Optional" button on the toolbar (see icon to the left), or by clicking on the "Optional Cards" button in the center of the card-play area below the gameboard.

Once the optional cards window is open, click the "Add to Game" buttons below each deck to automatically add the Optional cards to their respective decks. You can also choose to fish out specific cards and then add them to their appropriate decks manually if you wish to play with an agreed subset. Once the desired optional cards have been added to the appropriate decks, play can proceed normally.


Playing Cards: Select a card in your hand, right click, and choose from: Play as Event (Ctrl-E), Play for OPS (Ctrl-O), Play for RPs (Ctrl-R), Play for SR (Ctrl-S). Combat Cards also have these options: Play as Combat Card (Ctrl-C), or Discard (Ctrl-D). Combat Cards get played to locations below the game map. Events that adjust War Status or VPs will modify those values automatically. Some of the options are greyed out or removed based on the game status (Ex: Play as Event is not available on Turn 1 for Reinforcements events).


Reinforcement Cards: Reinforcement events for e.g. AH, FR, GE, RU now allow the destination to be selected when the event is played. For the occasional situation where it is desired to play a two-army reinforcement card (e.g. GE 17th and 18th armies) split between two spaces, simply event the card to one location and then move one of the armies manually to the other. This was judged more desirable than giving cards a vast menu of split deployment options.

                          

5. Units and Markers

Control markers, forts, trenches, armies/corps, and the various map markers (Attack/Move markers, etc) are separated into different game piece layers to prevent accidental movement and stacking. The drawing order from bottom to top is: Forts, Control Markers, Trenches, Units (armies/corps), then everything else. Units placed in a space will stack with other units there (double click to expand a stack so that individual pieces can be clicked on). Trenches and other markers do not "stack" and can therefore be dragged/adjusted around for better visibility. From 9.2 forward, an effort has been made to make hotkeys consistent across various counter types (e.g. Ctrl+F is always the "Flip"), and to have counters "flip" to the same back-side as they'd have in the physical game (so e.g. control markers can be flipped AP/CP).


The Markers can be found on the toolbar, and opens a "palette" window to open to the left of the chat log. All of the common markers (e.g. trenches, control markers) can be found here in infinite supply, and can be dragged to the map as needed. A separate tab also makes available VP markers for various situations.

       
Activation Markers: With any unit OR stack selected, you can use Ctrl+M or Ctrl+A to activate the stack for movement or attack (you can also right click). All activation markers can be removed by the toolbar button, and are also removed when the turn is advanced.

           


Operations count: An appropriate count of operations will be maintained as stacks are activated. Multinational stacks, for example, will be charged extra ops to activate per rule 9.2.3. However appropriate exceptions will be made for e.g. Sud Army, 11th Army, British/Belgian cooperation, French/US cooperation. Likewise appropriate additional costs will be assessed for e.g. Moltke and attacking during Fall of the Tsar when those events are in effect.



           

6. Scoring, War Status, and Events

Event markers have now been provided for all events that either affect War Status, award VP's, or produce lingering game effects that need notation (e.g. Entrench, Moltke, etc). When an event marker is placed on the map or turn track, both the War Status and the VP level will be automatically adjusted as appropriate (they can also be adjusted manually if desired).

When a card is "played for the event" with the normal live-play or PBEM interface, the event marker will be placed on the turn track automatically. When playing via ACTS, the event markers for each side can be found on the reinforcement card screens for each side.

  
Blockade: Once the Blockade event is played (or its marker placed on the turn track), appropriate -1 VP markers will be added to the turn track automatically at each Winter turn, and the VP level adjusted accordingly. NOTE: Although Blockade VP's are formally supposed to be added during "War Status Phase" at the end of each turn, that is also the only time that VP's are actually checked for victory purposes. For technical and interface reasons, a Blockade VP marker will be placed at the beginning of each Winter turn (or at the moment the event is played if the event is played during the turn) - but as long as this is understood it will not affect gameplay since autovictory is checked only at the end of each turn.

   


Control Markers and Scoring: When control markers are placed in (or moved to, or deleted from) VP sites, the VP level is automatically adjusted. In the event the VP marker has been manually dragged, the correct VP level (based on current control markers, and any event/vp markers presently on the map or turn track) can be recalculated by right-clicking on the VP marker or from the VP button on the main toolbar.


Final Scoring: By right clicking the VP marker, or from the VP button on the main toolbar, it is possible to calculate Final Scoring using the current map conditions. If the game has not yet reached the end of turn 20 and the combined war status is below the Armistice level of 40, it is still perfectly safe to use the button to compute "hypothetical" final scoring.




7. Placing Action Round markers

At start, and after turn advance, the Action Round markers are positioned near the Action Round chart. When cards are played the AR markers will automatically place themselves on the chart to appropriate locations (e.g. "Ops", "Neutral Entry", etc); for 1-Ops actions and in ACTS play they can be dragged manually or right+clicked for a menu of choices.

NOTE: when playing with ACTS and not using the module's cards, the module will still attempt to move the action round markers appropriately by interpreting what the players are doing. One action that it simply cannot detect, however, is Strategic Redeployment (SR), which must be manually marked or it will go undetected.

Action round markers can always be manually relocated as needed.




8. Mandatory Offensives and "Missed MOs"

When Mandatory Offensive are rolled at the beginning of the turn, they can be marked by moving the MO markers appropriately (one can also right-click on them and select a destination).

Missed MOs can be noted by right clicking the marker and selecting the Missed MO option, which will send a victory point marker of the appropriate +1 or -1 value to the Turn Track for the current turn. Missed MO markers are also available on from the "Markers palette" (see section 5)



                 

9. Replacement Points markers

When a card is played as RPs, the Replacement Points markers are moved automatically on the tracker. In ACTS play, the "RP's" button on the main toolbar can be used to simulate the play of a card of the appropriate ops value for RP's. RP markers for initially neutral countries such as Italy, Bulgaria, and the US now properly stay put and do not accrue RP's before the country enters the war (as marked by either playing the entry card, dragging the appropriate event marker to the map or turn track, or in the case of the US moving the US Entry marker to the Over There box.



           

10. Near East Restrictions

Reminder markers have been provided to help players keep track of "Near East retrictions" that allow certain actions only once per turn. Right-click any of the four static Near East restriction markers to flip them over when each one is used in a turn. They will automatically flip back to their available side when the turn is advanced.



  

11. Reinforcements Card

Reinforcement Units: The Reinforcements Card from the 2018 edition is now supported, providing useful organization and visualization for available armies and corps. When playing via ACTS, the easiest way to deploy these units is to right click on them and pick the destination from the menu (e.g. AH armies will offer "Vienna" and "Budapest"). Units can also be dragged straight to their on-map destinations if desired.

Events: Event markers for all events that affect War Status, VP, or have lingering game effects are now provided. When an event marker is placed on the map (typically on the turn track, but this is not required), the proper War Status, VP, and game effects will be recorded and updated. If players are drawing their hands of cards in the module and using the interface provided to play them, then event markers will be moved automatically. When playing under ACTS, where cards are managed on a separate website, the Event Markers on the Reinforcement Cards can be right clicked to send them to the turn track at the appropriate time (or they can be manually dragged onto the map). This will keep the VP, War Status, and so forth up to date.




12. Empty Spaces - shortcuts for adding markers

By clicking on any empty space on the map, you can select it. Right clicking will display a context menu allowing common markers (trenches, control markers, etc) to be quickly added. The hotkeys listed on the context menu are also available any time an empty space is selected. The boundaries of the empty space selection zones intentionally come out a bit past the boundaries of the space itself, so that it is usually possible to select a space even if it already has pieces in it.




13. "Flaring" a space to attract opponent's attention

By using Ctrl+Click anywhere on the map, you can send a "flare", a signal to attract your opponent's attention to that particular spot. A green circle will briefly appear in the relevant location, indicating where you want to focus attention. If you are playing online, this flare will be displayed immediately on your opponent's map. If you are playing PBEM by logfiles, the flare will appear when your opponent replays the logfile.




13. Logfile Reporting

Substantial work has been done to clean up and de-bloat the logfile, to help with live and non-ACTS play. In particular units no longer report cosmetic adjustments within the same space or zone (i.e. no more "AH1 Budapest to Budapest" spam). Reporting has also been improved for other game-state changes such as when trenches are added, forts besieged, etc.




14. Chess Clocks

For those who would like to agree to time limits in a competitive game, the chess clock feature is new with version 9.8.






15. ACTS support - for server-based play.

Competitive events, and players who desire more hand and dice security, will want to combine use of this Vassal module with a card/dice management site like ACTS (http://acts.warhorsesim.com). Several features have been added to the module to facilitate this mode of play:


Reserve Box Counts (1,1): Whenever a corps is moved to or from the Reserve Box, a count of that nation's RB levels of full- and half- strength units is given e.g. (8,0), reflecting the values after the action just taken.


Quick Deploy: From the Reinforcements Card, new armies/corps can be directly dispatched to their appropriate arrival points via the right-click menu.


Functional Event Markers: Tracking War Status and VP's is facilitated through the use of Event Markers (e.g. moving "Zimmermann Telegram" marker to the turn track or map will raise Allied War status by 2 and apply -1 VP). Markers are now provided for all WS and VP-affecting events/penalties/etc.


Quick Replacement Point tracking: When a card is played for RP's in an ACTS game, a toolbar shortcut has been provided to make tracking the RP's in Vassal easier. From the toolbar's "RP's" button one can tell Vassal that one has just played e.g. "a 4-Ops card for RP's", and the RP levels will update appropriately. RP levels reset to 0 whenever the turn advances.

Draw All: For the occasional ACTS player who would like to track card plays and deck counts in Vassal, several new features have been provided, including a "Solitaire" player with access to both hands, "Draw ALL Cards" buttons, and a better zoom-out control on the hand windows. One can "Draw All" cards into the hand window for each side, and then manually organize them as they are played via ACTS.