Hold the Line - Frederick's War

Hold the Line - Frederick's War is a board game depicting battles of the War of Austrian Succession published and copyrighted by Worthington Games in 2013. This module is intended for the use of those who own a copy of the game and wish to play with opponents via the internet.

How to Play

When the module is opened, you can find all the saved games in the module by looking for the menu under “Files > Scenarios”. The base module contains all the scenarios from Frederick's War, as well as the Highland Charge Expansion Set, and extras that can be found on Worthington Games' website.

Once you’ve opened a game and chosen a side to play, you can review any special rules and the victory conditions by clicking the “Notes” button and viewing the notes for that scenario.

The side board shows (from top to bottom) the scenario title, an empty space where images of combat dice rolls appear, a turn tracker label, an empty space where images of the AP die roll appears, an Action Point track, two Victory Point tracks.

To begin your turn, you would click the control panel button “APs”, which causes the 1D3 random Action Point die to roll and display. You add the result to your side’s Command APs, noted on the Action Point track by a small flag, and drag the AP marker to the total.

You spend your APs by right-clicking on the AP marker on the AP track and selecting if you wish to spend 1 or 2 APs, which allows you to keep track of spent.

Above the AP track are two nation-specific markers with a big "0" on them. This is used to track the amount of APs banked between player turns. To add or adjust the value, right-click on the marker and select the value. When it is your turn, before rolling the AP value, right-click on the marker and select the transfer option and it will change the value to 0 and move the AP marker. Note: if it moves to the 2nd line, you will need to readjust the marker.

If you lose a leader in combat, your base APs decrease. To do this, locate the small flag marker on the AP track and right-click on it, which highlights it. Then move it to the new AP box in the middle. It can only be moved while highlighted. If both players start with the same base AP, their flags stack on top of each other. If you do not see your flag, that is because it is underneath your opponent's flag and you will need to move that first. It is very important to move the flags, because at the end of the turn, the AP marker flips and moves on top of your flag. Because of that, you will also want your flag in the middle of the square.

If you right-click on a unit, you can place a marker on it in order to indicate the intentions of the unit. An attack, close combat, cavalry charge marker will attach the marker to the specific unit. After you have performed the action, right-click again, and select the "Battled" marker to show that unit is spent. You can also right-click on the target unit or stack and select a target marker to show who is being fired upon. This marker floats above a unit or stack, rather than attaching to a specific unit. You can grab the marker and move it around the board. If you right-click on the target marker and select "delete," it will remove it, and not the unit itself. You can also do this for retreat markers if you wish to track them.

Once your APs are all spent, you end your turn by clicking the “End” button on the control panel. This does several things at once: removes movement trails and highlights, clears any combat markers on the board, clears any dice images from the side board, advances the turn tracker, and flips the AP marker, and resets it to the amount of base APs that side receives each turn.

During the game, as VPs are earned for eliminating units or capturing VP counters, they can be placed on the appropriate spot on that side’s Victory Track. A VP marker for that nationality marks which track belongs to which side. A flag of that nation is on the victory track showing how many victory points are required for victory. Consult the "Notes" to determine how many turns each side has, as well if conditions can result in a draw.

In each scenario, the army commander has an asterisks by his name listed with the piece. The commander is also listed in the "Notes" section.

Contact

Module created by Judd Vance.

Graphics by Richard Canavan

Email: airjudden@hotmail.com

BGG user: airjudden

Special thanks to Richard Canavan for the graphics work on the game board, counters, and tile pieces.

Special thanks also to Bill Bennett, the creator of the original Hold the Line module.