BREAKING AWAY
August 1st 1991 Postal Rules - Version 2.2
Breaking Away is a
race game loosely based on last year's trendy sport of cycling. Players each
run a cycling team, consisting of four cyclists, and compete to have the top
team at the end of the race.
2.1 Each
player has four cyclists on his or her team.
2.2 The four cyclists on each team are graded A,
B, C, D. The gradings come into effect when determining the order of movement.
3.1 At the beginning of the game, players choose 3
cards numbered between 1 & 15 inclusive for each of their cyclists (but see
rule 3.1.4 for an exception concerning cyclist A). The choice of cards is
subject to the following restrictions:
3.1.1 The sum total of cyclist B's cards may not
exceed 25.
3.1.2 The sum total of cyclist C's cards may not
exceed 20.
3.1.3 The sum total of cyclist D's cards may not
exceed 16.
3.1.4 Cyclist A may start with 3 or 4 cards
(player's choice).
3.1.5 The sum total of cyclist A's cards may not
exceed 30.
3.2 Given
below are some examples of legal starting line-ups:
A: 10, 10, 10 A: 1,2,12,15
B: 8,8,9 B: 2,10,13
C:
3,8,9 C: 3,6,11
D: 5,5,6 D: 1,1,14
4.1 The
track is 120 squares long.
4.2 There
are no lanes on the track.
4.3 Sprint
finish lines may be found between squares 40 & 41 and 80 & 81. The
significance of these will be explained later.
4.4 The
finish line is between square 120 and "square 121".
5.1 The
first eight cyclists past a sprint finish line score points as follows:
1st = 10 points 5th = 4 points
2nd = 8
points 6th = 3 points
3rd = 6
points 7th = 2 points
4th = 5
points 8th = 1 point
6.1 See
rule 5.1 for points earned in the sprint stages.
6.2 The
first eight cyclists across the finish line receive the following points:
1st = 20 points 5th = 8 points
2nd = 16 points
6th = 6 points
3rd = 12 points
7th = 4 points
4th = 10 points
8th = 2 points
6.3 Race
points are accumulated over the course of the race, including the sprint
stages. At the end of the race the points earned by ALL the cyclists on each
team are aggregated to give a total team score. The team with the highest score
wins. In the event of a tie, the finishing places of the teams involved in the
tie are consulted: the team who had the highest placed rider wins the tie
break.
6.4 Places
in the sprints and at the finish line are determined on a first past the post
basis, not furthest past the post.
7.1 Movement
round the track is effected by the playing of a card for each cyclist each
turn.
7.2 Players
may only play a movement card for a cyclist if that card value is present in
that cyclist's "hand". For example, if Percy Vere's selection of
cards consists of a 7, a 14 and a 23, he may be ordered to move either 7, 14 or
23 squares.
7.3 Once
a card is played from a cyclist's hand it is not returned.
7.4 Each
cyclist's hand is replenished with a new card, the value of which is determined
according to the cyclist's position in the field of riders.
7.5 To
determine the value of the new card for any given cyclist, the GM will count
the number of cyclists in an "unbroken string" ahead of the cyclist
in question and add that number to 3.
7.6 An
"unbroken string" is defined as a group of cyclists occupying every
square of a section of track. In other words, a string of riders is broken by
an empty square.
7.7 An
example of how to calculate the value of a replenishing card is given below:
Percy Vere is on
square 38. The positions of the other riders are as follows:
Square |
Riders |
43: |
Fred Bare (Winner of sprint = 10 pts.) |
|
|
42: |
Empty |
|
|
41: |
Empty |
|
|
40: |
Dick Scratcher, Pete Sake |
|
|
39: |
Jeff Andum, Dick Envy, Ben Doone & Phil McCavity |
|
|
38: |
Percy Vere, Harry Carey, Walter Raleigh |
|
|
37: |
BMX Bandit |
Percy
has an unbroken string of six cyclists in front of him (Scratcher, Sake, Andum,
Envy, Doone & McCavity), and so therefore replenishes with a 9 (6 + 3).
Note
that Percy does not receive anything for being behind Fred Bare because square
41 is empty, and therefore breaks the string (as indeed does square 42). Also
note that he receives no bonus for being on the same square as Harry Carey and
Walter Raleigh. However, BMX Bandit, tucked in behind on square 37, receives a
new card of 12 (9 + 3), because he receieves a further bonus for being behind
Vere, Carey & Raleigh.
7.8 Breaking Away - there is a special rule
for a cyclist who has made a break from the rest of the field. On the turn he
establishes a lead he replenishes with a card equal in value to his lead over
the second placed rider. Thus if he leads by 5 squares he replenishes with a
5. If he remains in the lead on
subsequent turns he replenishes with a 3 as per usual.
7.9 First
turn only - if at the end of the first turn (only), any square has 5 or more
cyclists on it then the square in front is treated as if were blank for card
replacement purposes. For example:
Square |
Riders |
Replacement
card |
7 |
Empty |
n/a |
6 |
Eenie, Meenie, Minie, Moe |
3 |
5 |
Ipp, Dip, Sky, Blue, Bottle |
3 |
4 |
Get, Outof, Derway |
8 |
Square 5 is the
overcrowded square (it has 5 or more riders on it) so Square 6 is treated as if
it were blank. This means Ipp, Dip, Sky, Blue & Bottle replenish with a 3 and not a 7. This has a
knock-on effect to the riders on square 4, who replenish with an 8, not a 12.
8.1 Movement
is always processed from the front of the field to the back, with the race leader moving first and the man at the
back moving last.
In
the event of two or more cyclists occupying the same square, the order of movement is determined by a succession
of checks, detailed below.
8.2.1 Grade
A cyclists move before grade B cyclists, who move before grade C cyclists who
move before grade D cyclists.
8.2.2 If
cyclists of the same grade occupy the same square, priority movement is given
to the cyclist playing the highest card that turn.
8.2.3 In
the event of rule 8.2.2 failing to resolve the tie, priority movement will be
given to the cyclist with the highest card available for play in his hand.
8.2.4 If
rule 8.2.3 fails to resolve the tie, the GM refers to the second highest card
available for play (and if that fails the third highest and - if applicable -
the fourth highest).
8.2.5 If
the tie is still not resolved, priority will be given to the cyclist who arrived on the square first.
(On rare occasions, a cyclist will have occupied the same square on every turn as another cyclist, in which case
it will not be possible to determine
which cyclist arrived on the square
first. In these situations the cyclists move simultaneously and any
sprint points gained by them on a turn are shared between them.)
9.1 For
those new to postal gaming, "NMR" stands for "No Moves
Received". In the event of an NMR, the GM will automatically play the
highest value card for all of the cyclists under that player's control.
10.1 It
is possible for a cyclist to get dropped by the pack. It will usually be
obvious when this has occurred and the GM will indicate that the cyclist has
been dropped. It will then not be necessary for the controlling player to
continue submitting orders for the cyclist (unless he's a masochist).
Ó JOHN HARRINGTON August 1991
A WORD
FROM OUR SPONSORS
Breaking Away is
available as a board game from Fiendish
Games (co/ John Harrington, 1 Churchbury Close, Enfield, Middlesex, EN1
3UW) for a price of £16, inclusive of postage & packaging, for European
customers and £18 for American customers (p&p included, air mail). UK customers can make cheques payable to
Fiendish Games, overseas customers should make money orders to John Harrington.
Further details are available on www.fiendishgames.demon.co.uk or
via e-mail from [email protected] .