Description

They Died With Their Boots On, Volume 1: Custer's Last Stand is part of the first volume of "They Died With Their Boots On", which uses an interactive game turn in which both players command an overall force made up of several sub-commands. During each turn, players alternate picking "command markers," which designate the sub-command within their force they may then use to conduct operations. The player then moves units of that sub-command and, at the completion of its movement, conducts attacks with units of that same sub-command. Play then passes to the other player, who similarly picks a marker and moves and fights. That procedure continues until all command markers have been picked. Additionally, certain events cause players to pick "heroism markers" at random, which may generate anything from mad, impetuous charges to abject surrenders.

The rules are divided into the standard rules, which are common to all games in the system, and the scenario rules, which provide deployment and reinforcement instructions, as well as victory conditions, for each specific battle game.

In this game, each turn represents from three days to three weeks, depending on the level of intensity of campaigning, and each hexagon on the map represents 12.4 miles (20 kilometers) across. US Army units are battalions (actually task-organized sub-divisions of regiments). Indian 'units' each represent groups of warriors, with about 80-120 individual per strength point.