XIII the Plot

is a Board game created by Pascal Bernard in 2001 and published by Week End Game.

For 2 to 4 players, as from 12 years, for approximately 120 minutes.

General principle

This play proposes to incarnate a team composing the principal characters of the famous cartoon XIII, and to thwart some of the principal plots being unrolled during this series. This play of plate is a reduced mixture of strategy and wargame.

Rules of the game

The play proceeds out of turns, which are cut out in 8 stages. These stages make it possible to the players to constitute the resources of their team, to carry out recruitments, then to carry out their actions and displacements on the plate, to solve the conflicts by small skirmishes in the style of wargames, before solving the investigations and allotting points of investigation for the turn which has just been played.

Goal of the play

The objective of each player is to obtain a maximum of points of investigation. The points of investigation are obtained as a majority by the resolution of investigations which are opened at the beginning of a turn. Certain actions, like the resolution of secondary investigations or the fact of overcoming an unfavourable character, makes it possible to obtain some additional points of investigation. It is also possible to lose points of investigation in the event of failure in the resolution of an investigation.

Material

The play proceeds on a plate composed of about thirty boxes. Each box represents an important place of the universe of XIII. It is possible to move from one place to another by roads which are traced on the plate.

Each player has of a team made up from 1 to 3 important characters, and a whole of units of combat (until a maximum of 12 units). Each character and unit controlled by each player are represented by a pawn on the plate. Units of combat belonging to no player, and hostile with all, can also appear on the plate with the liking of the missions.

Charts known as charts of mission are openly revealed in margin of the plate. They indicate the currently available missions, their description, the benefit in the event of success and possible penalties in the event of failure. These charts are renewed regularly.

Examples of missions:

Go to the n°27 place and thwart the plot. The character must carry out a jet of investigation with -1. Penalty in the event of failure: the character undergoes 1 point of wound. Points of mission: 5.

Go to the n°4 place and beat the enemy. Place two units “agent” on the n°4 place. The units carry out a shooting before the beginning of the combat. Points of mission: 6.

Each player has a hand of 5 charts of action which it preserves hidden side. They are renewed partly or totality with each new turn. They confer no-claims bonus in various phases of the play: no-claims bonus with the die for the combat, the investigation, new resource, secondary mission, no-claims bonus displacement,…

For each character in the team of the player, the player has a chart character indicating his special competences, points of life, capacity of combat and capacity of investigation.

Lastly, each player sees himself allotting, during each turn, a certain number of points of autonomy which will enable him to carry out actions. A pawn on the plate indicates the number of points of autonomy remaining to each player.

Installation

The players begin the part with at their disposal a single character selected among five the best of the play, any unit, and 0 points of investigation.

The sequence of each turn will give to the players resources which they will spend to reinforce their team and to take actions on the plate in order to collect points of investigation and to prevent their adversaries from doing as much of it.

Unfolding

The play proceeds in a very sequential way: it is broken up into 8 turns cash each one a certain number of stages. Each stage is played for each player before passing to the following one.

The stages are the following ones:

To determine the order of the players. This order is selected by chance. The players thus carry out all the following stages of the turn in the sequence thus pre-determined.
To renew whole or part of the main missions available; to make the necessary installations on the plate (placement of units and markers of mission)
Renew whole or part of its hand of charts action, and look after possible wounds of its characters.
To obtain points of autonomy.
To recruit new characters and units.
To carry out displacements of its characters and units.
To solve all the skirmishes being produced during displacements.
To solve the missions, to allot the points of investigation and to pass to the following turn.

Strategic elements of the play

The play offers to the players to compose their strategy by the following characteristics:

Management of the team of character . Each character has varied capacities being able to be used with various stages of the play. One finds for example seduction allowing to carry out new recruitments, financial allowing to have more points of autonomy, infiltration allowing to obtain exemptions in the phase of displacement, or captures usable at the time them engagements to take possession of the enemy units. In addition, each character has scores of combat and investigation which are to him propres.

The team of a player being limited to three characters, it is interesting to carry out a turnover her characters in order to have a panel of competences and varied characteristics.

Management of the points of autonomy . These points have the double function to allow the purchase of units and the displacement of units and characters already on the plate. Their judicious consumption is thus capital, the more so as by defect their number (6) is very réduit.

As an indication, the various units cost: 1 Pt (simple soldier), 2 pts (tested agent), 3 pts (special unit among three different models).

Occupation of the plate . If to go on the boxes where have place of the missions is the main aim, the occupation of other sites of the plate is quite as important. Indeed, of many boxes marked by a code color confer allowances if they are occupied at the end of the turn by one of its characters. Thus, one will obtain care, an additional recruitment, more points of autonomy or more charts of action while having judiciously placed a character on one of these boxes. In addition, the players have the obligation to reveal secondary missions at the end of the turn, which bring back some (1 to 3) points of mission (against 5 to 10 for the main missions) if a character is present on the box indicated at the end of the turn. Being revealed only at the end of the turn, they constitute true assets for the player while laying out. Lastly, displacements on the plate are governed by some rules which make possible of the strategies of blocking of the adversary, of diversion even of confrontation by causing direct skirmishes.
Phase of combat . The engagements between units integrate a certain risk because they are solved on jets of Des. Cependant they are largely dependant on the distribution of the forces, and a player will launch a number of dice proportional to the number of units which it has. The sequence of combat is the following one:

Each unit has a capacity of combat , which represents the number to be obtained on the die to carry out a wound with the adversary.
the attacker, then the defender, as many play charts of their hand than they wish to improve the capacity of combat of their units.
the attacker throws, for each unit of which it lays out, a die (with 6 faces). Each unit obtaining at least its capacity of combat causes a wound. The defender makes in the same way.
the attacker and the defender distribute the wounds which were caused to them between their units. The units not having more point of life are eliminated.
the attacker, then the defender, declare if it maintains his units in place or if it beats a retreat.
the combat finishes when there is no more unit in a camp, or as soon as a camp beats a retreat.

Several units have special capacities during these small confrontations:

assassin : the holder of this unit can choose the target of the damage which this unit causes, rather than to let the adversary do it.
bomb disposal expert : this unit launches two dice in attack, each die reaching the capacity of combat causing a wound.
??? : allows to cause damage with the adversary when this last obtains a " 1" on one of its jets of die.

In addition, of the characters have competence allowing to capture, or to bribe units unfavourable during engagements.

End of part and winner

The play finishes when the 8th turn is completed. The player who gains the part is that which added up the greatest number of points of investigation. In practice, a possibility is to be appropriate of a less number of revolutions before the beginning of the part and to stop the play when the last agreed turn is completed.

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