CARAMBA!

$$$
Rules for the Chaco War (1932/1935), by Pierre Laporte
Caramba! is a simple ame, i!te!"e" to catch the atmosphere of the forotte! but bloo"y Chaco
War# Wishi! you mucho fu! a!" luc$y "ices% Viva Alcazar!##
&ateriel !ee"e"
A hexed playing surface, figures*, coloured tokens and six sided dices.
*: at best, Khurasan 15mm miniatures; otherwise, Airfix WW1 Tommies wearing SD caps will play
the role of oli!ians, an" their American contemporaries wearing #ontana hats will be able to ma$e
!ery con!incing %araguayans, to the eyes of lightly long&sighte" consenting players'
'!its
A unit symbolises an infantry division. The Combat (alue (C, i.e. number of figures! of a unit is
graded from 1 to ) and symbolises its fighting spirit.
Any hex may contain at most one single unit, "ith a sphere of influence (#C! of $ hexes around.
At the start of a game, each unit receives a marker, indicating its unseen status. A unit is localised and
the marker is removed "hen an enemy unit occupies an ad%acent hex, or due to an enemy aerial recce.
At the end of an activation se&uence, a localised unit may be considered unseen again if there is no
enemy unit "ithin ' hexes.
(n the course of the game, units are activated one after another) each unit must have completed its
possible move and resolved a possible combat before activating the next one.
*iffere!t types of terrai!
* +u!le +. A unit "hich enters a %ungle hex must stop and cannot fight during the same turn.
,urthermore, a unit situated in a %ungle hex needs an extra -upply .oint, and cannot ask for
artillery support. /astly, a unit cannot perform a fast mo!e from a %ungle hex.
* Chaco +. -tandard 0open1 terrain type.
* ,-amp +. -ame penalties as for (ungle, but no cover benefit.
* *esert +. A unit "hich enters a desert hex must stop, and a unit situated in a desert hex
needs an extra -upply .oint.
*epots
2ach player has 3, 4 or ' depots, according to the scenario (usually, 3 depot every 567 units!.
As a rule, depots must be situated in the player8s first hex ro", and are conventionally represented by
9uilt:up Areas. At the beginning of each turn, each depot products the results of t"o resource dices:
one supply dice, and one ammu!itio! dice chosen among the 5 available types.
.roduction is visuali;ed "ith coloured tokens:
9lue -upply .oints (3d$!: drinking "ater, food, gasoline, etc. (f not supplied, a unit loses one C
point per turn, and cannot fight, nor perform a fast mo!e.
<ed Ammunition .oints (3d$ if 9olivian, or 3d'* if .araguayan!: artillery ammunition. Cannot be
spent if the unit moves during the ongoing turn.
=reen Ammunition .oints (3d$ if 9olivian, or 3d'* if .araguayan!: .&//L&/ ammunition. Cannot
be spent if the unit performs a fast mo!e during the ongoing turn.
>ello" Ammunition .oints (3d'* if 9olivian, or 3d$ if .araguayan!: * poor ma!0s artillery +
(mortars, hand:grenades, etc.!. Can be spent in any circumstance.
?hite Ammunition .oints (3d$ : 5 if 9olivian, or 3d$ : 7 if .araguayan!: ammunition, gasoline and
facilities allo"ing airpla!e support. Can be spent in any circumstance.
@ote: unspent resource points are not discarded but retained and accumulated.
)* roll 1"+* 1,- . 1, /,0 . -, 5,+ . /1
/ame tur!
3 A 9oth sides roll for resource points.
4 A -upply, moves and combats, * A + player.
' A -upply, moves and combats, * 9 + player.
,upply
Bnits are freely supplied if occupying a depot or a hex ad%acent to a depot) other"ise, each unit
consumes 1 ,upply Poi!t per turn.
A unit needs an extra -upply point if:
-ituated in a %ungle, a s"amp, or a desert hex,
The -upply /ine (-/! linking the unit to its nearest depot must be lengthened to avoid
crossing a %ungle hex, a s"amp hex, or an enemy #C empty of friendly troops,
The -/ crosses a desert hex,
The unit benefits from Tank support (see belo"!,
The unit is air:supplied (see Air:/ift paragraph!.
(f no -/ can be dra"n "ithout crossing a %ungle hex, a s"amp hex, or an enemy #C empty of friendly
troops, and if there is no air:lift available, the unit is not supplied and thus loses one C point.
A depot can be captured and its resources exploitation s"itches side, but a captured depot produces
only 3d' -upply .oints per turn, and no ammunition points.
&o1es
A unit can move 3 hex per turn, or perform a 2ast &o1e (4 hexes!, if terrain and supply allo"s it.
Covement is forbidden from an enemy #C hex to another enemy #C hex.
Combats
A supplied unit can attack an enemy unit occupying an ad%acent hex.
The attacking player adds:
The unit8s C,
from D to 5 points per re" to$e! spent* (artillery support!,
from D to ' points per ree! to$e! spent* (Cachine =uns support!,
from D to 4 points per yello- to$e! spent* (*poor man8s artillery+ support!,
from 3 to ' points per -hite to$e! spent** (airplane support!,
4 points if unit benefits from Tank support.
The defending player makes a similar calculation, to "hich he adds:
3 or 4 points, according to the possible entrenchment level of his unit,
3 point if the defended hex provides cover (%ungle, or 9uilt:up Area!.
,inally, he subtracts 3 point from total per attack sustained by his unit during the ongoing turn, beyond
the first one.
.layers compare their respective totals: the difference bet"een both scores corresponds to the number
of C points lost by the defeated unit. (n case of a tie, both protagonists lose a C point each.
?hen its C falls to ;ero, a unit is eliminated. (f it occurs follo"ing an attack, the "inning unit may
occupy the vacant hex.
*: player rolls 1d6 for each support point spent, an" a""s the obtaine" score to the total*
1, 2, 3 or 4 if artillery support 25,+ is a miss3,
1, 2 or 3 if #4 support 20,5,+ is a miss3,
1 or 2 if 5 poor man6s artillery 7 support 2/,0,5,+ is a miss31
**: player rolls 1d3 per air&support point, an" a""s the obtaine" score to the total1
3a!$ support (3 or 4 max. per side!
Bnit is identified "ith a symbolic marker, or "ith a tan$ette model. (n case of losses due to a combat,
the tank support is lost first as a C point.
A unit "hich benefits from a Tank support uses one additional -upply .oint per turn. (f the player
declares to abandon the armoured support, the unit8s supply needs go back to normal, but this decision
is definitive. The tank support is unusable in a %ungle or s"amp hex.
4arrae fire
Can be performed only against a localised foe. Cannot be performed if the unit is not supplied, or if
attacking during the same turn.
<ange is ' hexes for artillery, 4 hexes for C=s, and 3 hex for * poor man8s artillery +.
C= barrage is forbidden if the /ine of ,ire crosses throughout a %ungle or a 9uA hex) on the other
hand, a clear /o, is not necessarily needed for an artillery barrage.
<oll 1"5 per token spent:
(f score is more than the threshold of efficiency* of the used category, it is a miss.
(f score is less or e6uals the entrenchment level of the targeted unit, it is a miss if using
artillery or C=s.
(f score is less or e6uals the threshold of efficiency* of the used category, the targeted unit
losses one C point.
<egardless of circumstances, a score of * 3 + is a miss if the targeted unit benefits from cover (%ungle
or 9uA!.
*: 4 if artillery, 3 if #4s, or 2 if 5 poor man6s artillery 71
7ote: if a hit due to an artillery barrage affects a unit that benefits from Tank support, player rolls 3d$
and the Tank support is lost instead of a C point if 5676$ is rolled.
8ir rai"
Can be performed against a localised foe, any"here on the playing surface.
<oll 1"5 per "hite token spent: 5676$ is a miss. (f 3, 4 or ' is rolled, the targeted unit losses a number
of C points e&ual to the difference bet"een the obtained score and its possible entrenchment level.
9!tre!chi!
A supplied unit earns one level of entrenchment at the end of a turn during "hich it neither moved, nor
deforested (see belo"!, nor fought, nor been attacked or fired at. A maximum of t"o levels can be
claimed, and the building of entrenchment is impossible in a s"amp hex.
*eforesti!
A supplied unit situated in a %ungle hex can "eforest: the area is treated as * open terrain + at the end of
a turn during "hich the unit neither moved, nor entrenched, nor fought, nor been attacked or fired at.
8ir recce
To perform an aerial recce, player must spend one "hite token and place a marker (or a plane model!
in the concerned hex. 2nemy units contained in this hex and in 3d$ ad%acent hexes are localised.
8ir:lift
A lost or surrounded unit can nonetheless be supplied, at the cost of one Air -upport .oint ("hite!, and
of as many -upply .oints (blue! as needed.
9!" of bea!s
(f a player has lost half or more of his army8s C points, ammunition production stops, and supply
points production is reduced to 3d' per depot.
Ca;a"a *ry (A fictive scenario inspired by the battle of CaEada -trongest.!
&ateriel<
A F hexes "ide and 3' hexes depth playing surface (such as those from attle 8ry,
8omman"s an" 8olours or #emoir 00, for example!,
Terrain items, to help represent %ungle and s"ampy areas,
About 3DD tokens,
5G figures.
4attle or"er<
2ach side has 4 depots, 3 air:support, 3 tank:support, and 45 C points distributed as follo"s:
G units "ith ' C points each (9olivian player!,
$ units "ith 5 C points each (.araguayan player!.
,etti!0 the -oo"s o! fire=
Three or five markers are placed upside do"n in the middle hex ro": all are decoys, except one "hich
represents the drinking "ater spring "hich is the stake of the scenario. A player can check a marker
only "hen one of his units enters the corresponding hex.
2xcept the first t"o hex ro"s of both sides, each hex receives a token indicating that the area has not
been discovered yet.
*eployme!t<
Alternately (A is 9olivian player, and 9 is .araguayan player!, players places their depots in the first
hex ro" of their side, and then deploys their units in the first t"o ro"s, "hich are considered * open +
terrain.
9>ploratio!<
2xcept for the first t"o ro"s, roll 3d$ for each hex * seen + by a unit (i.e. "ithin a 4 hexes radius from
the unit8s hex!. <emove the tokens, and place terrain items if necessary:
3 s"amp,
46' %ungle,
5676$ * open + terrain.
The process is rene"ed in the course of the game, according to the progression of units.
(ictory co!"itio!s<
The drinking "ater spring produces 3d' -upply .oints (blue! per turn to its last o"ner.
>ou must keep control of this place at all costs and fight to the last man, 8aramba H