Throw Down That Flag

In Throw Down That Flag, you play as the First Minnesota on two crucial days during the battle of Gettysburg. On July 2, you will relive the heroic charge that General Hancock ordered the First Minnesota to make against the 11th Alabama Infantry Regiment in order to buy time for reinforcements to arrive and preserve the end of the Union line. This charge resulted in disastrous casualties — it is estimated that 262 men made the charge and that 215 of them became casualties within five minutes. Hancock would go on to say that “no more gallant deed has been recorded in human history.” 

On July 3, what remained of the First Minnesota was reinforced by two companies that had been on other assignments the day before. The regiment was relocated to the center of the Union line just in time to receive Pickett’s Charge. Once again, they fought valiantly. During the fray, Private Marshall Sherman confiscated the colors of the 28th Virginia Infantry Regiment. According to his account, he ran up to the flagbearer and said, “Throw down that flag, or I’ll run you through.” 

Game Rules

Round Structure In each round, perform the following steps:

1) Pull Activation Token Pull one token from the activation bag and place it flat on the table without looking at it. The side that is facing up (First Minnesota or Confederate) is the side that will activate first that turn. 

If the token has a letter on it, that letter represents the company will activate. Place the token in the top row of circles beneath the map. If one side has no company with the matching letter, they do not activate the company this round. If neither side has an active company with the matching letter, remove that token from the game. 

If the token has no letter, but only an image of the flag, this token represents the colors.  There are three of these tokens in the bag, meaning the company holding the colors may activate multiple times before the bag is reset. Place this token in the leftmost open space on the bottom row of circles beneath the map.

2) Player and Confederate Activations Both you (the First Minnesota) and the Confederates activate. The side displayed on the activation token when it was revealed is the side that will activate first. For more detailed activation rules, see the Player Activations and Confederate Activations sections below.

If all three colors activation tokens have been drawn from the bag, continue to the bag reset step below. Otherwise go back to the first step (pull activation token) and start a new turn.

3) Bag Reset If all three colors tokens have been drawn from the activation bag, reset it after resolving the activation for the third colors token. To reset the bag, place all activation tokens back into the activation bag and shuffle its contents.

4) Begin a New Round After you reset the bag, begin a new round at the first step (pull activation token). Continue this process until one of the scenario’s victory or defeat conditions are met.

Player Activations When your company activates, it can do one of the following: 

• Move one or two spaces.  • Shoot (aimed shot).  • Move one space, then shoot.  • Shoot, then move one space.  • Melee.  • Move one space, then melee.  • Melee, then move one space.  • Pass (take no action).

Move A company may move through a friendly company. A company may not end its movement in a space already occupied by another company, friendly or enemy.

Shoot Your company can shoot if its counter has a gun marker and it is not adjacent to an enemy company (i.e., in melee). If your company is adjacent to an enemy company, it cannot shoot at any enemy company. 

To attack, declare your target and the number of tokens you'll pull from the success bag, up to a maximum of 10. Pull that many tokens and compare First Minnesota and Confederate successes. If First Minnesota successes are equal to or greater than the distance to your target, your shot hits and reduces the target’s Str by one. If Confederate successes are equal to or greater than the distance to you, their return fire hits you and reduces your company’s Str by one. If either side pulls two or more flame symbols, their weapon overheats regardless of whether the attack was successful, and you remove their gun marker. Companies without gun markers are not be able to shoot for the remainder of the scenario.

Confederate companies always return fire if they have a gun marker, and can't fire at all without one — if you shoot a Confederate company with no gun marker, ignore any Confederate results from the pull.

After resolving the attack, return all tokens back to the success bag.

Melee Your company can melee if it is adjacent to a Confederate company.

To attack, declare your target and the number of tokens you will pull from the success bag. You need a number of First Minnesota successes at least equal to the target's Str to hit (e.g., two successes to hit a Str 2 company). Pull that many tokens and compare First Minnesota and Confederate successes. If the First Minnesota drew successes equal to or greater than the target's Str, your attack hits and reduces the target’s Str by one. If you drew Confederate successes equal to or greater than your own company's Str, reduce your Str by one as their counter-attack hits you.

After resolving the attack, return all tokens back to the success bag.

Confederate Activations When a Confederate company activates, it will move toward its objective. It will not attack any of your companies; all damage to you results from attacks you choose to carry out yourself. A Confederate company may move through another Confederate company but cannot end on a space with another Confederate company.  A Confederate company may not move through or end its movement in a space occupied by a First Minnesota company.   —description from the designer