Red Flag Over Paris - Rules of Play

A barricade erected by national guard troops,

18 March 1871.

Introduction

Red Flag Over Paris is a 2-player strategy card-driven

game, pitting the French government in Versailles

against the Paris Commune in up to three rounds of

political and military maneuvering, culminating in a

Final Crisis representing the “Bloody Week” in May

of 1871.

Versailles ~ This player represents the government in

Versailles trying to find a diplomatic end to the 1870

war against Prussia and take back military control of

Paris. Versailles is represented by blue components.

Commune ~ This player represents the people of

Paris, rising up against the bourgeoisie and the “ca-

pitulard” government of Versailles. The Commune is

represented by red components.

Players use cards to place cubes representing political

influence or military presence on the map in order

to take control of map spaces. Political and Military

Victory Points (VP) are gained during each round and

at the end of the Final Crisis based on control of vari-

ous map spaces. The player who fulfills their victory

conditions wins the game—Versailles attempts to take

back control of Paris while the Commune attempts to

expand their political influence over France.

The rules in this booklet include all rules needed to

play with two players or solitaire. The solitaire rules

assume familiarity with the 2-player rules.

Components

●

18 blue Influence cubes

●

2 blue Fortification discs

●

^{1 blue Prussian Collaboration}

cylinder

●

18 red Influence cubes

●

2 red Barricade discs

●

^{1 red Revolutionary Momentum}

cylinder

●

1 black round marker pawn

●

1 orange Political VP cylinder

●

1 purple Military VP cylinder

●

1 mounted board

●

1 6-sided die

●

1 Rules of Play (this manual)

●

1 Playbook

●

1 deck of 54 cards (39 Strategy, 12

Objective, 2 Final Crisis, 1 Initiative)

●

2 double-sided Player and Solo Opponent

Aid Cards

Rules Manual Cover: A barricade at the corner

of Boulevard Voltaire and Richard Lenoir [street]

during the Paris Commune of 1871.

Box Cover art: Georges Jules Victor Clairin.

Fire in the Tuileries, May 1871. Oil on canvas,

48 x 79 cm. RF1981-31.

Photo: Hervé Lewandowski.

Musee d’Orsay, Paris, France. Photo Credit: ©

RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY

Cards

Operations

Points

Card #

Image

Event

Text

Title

Flavor Text

Strategy Cards ~ A deck of cards, each listing Opera-

tions Points, a title with a color background (blue, red,

or gray), event text, and flavor text. A Strategy Card

can be played for its event, for operations, to use a

discarded event, or to advance Player Momentum. A

Strategy Card can only be played for its event if the

event’s colored background matches that player’s

color (Red: Commune, Blue: Versailles) or is neutral

(Gray).

Card #

Image

Objective

Space

Title

Event Text

Objective Cards ~ A deck of cards, each listing a

specific location on the map and an event. Objective

Cards are revealed at the end of each round for Victory

Points and possibly for their event. Each space on the

map has an associated Objective Card.

Final Crisis Cards ~ Each

player has a Final Crisis Card

which is placed face-up in

front of them. This card may

be played for its Operations

Points during a game round or

for its event during the Final

Crisis.

Initiative Card ~ The current

Initiative Player is tracked

with the Initiative Card.

Pieces

Influence Cubes ~ Used to indicate Po-

litical or Military influence in a space.

Most of these cubes begin play on the Crisis Track.

Once removed from the Crisis Track, they cycle be-

tween map spaces and the player’s cube pool. There

may never be more than 4 of each player’s influence

cubes in a space.

Fortification and Barricade Discs

~ Defensive assets in Military

spaces, brought into play via events. They contribute

to Control of and Presence in a space but not to the

influence cube limit. A space can only contain one

Fortification or Barricade. If an event allows the

player to place a Fortification or Barricade and both

are in play, the player may move one that is already

on the map.

Game Board

Map Spaces ~ Spaces on the board are grouped by

a color/icon combination, labeled with an individual

name, and divided into Political and Military spaces.

Each space can hold up to 4 of each player’s cubes.

● Political:

Green/Square

Institutional

Orange/Triangle

Public Opinion

● Military:

Purple/Diamond

Paris

Teal/Circle

Forts

Each set of three same-color/icon map spaces is a Cri-

sis Dimension. During scoring at the end of a round

and at the conclusion of the Final Crisis, a player gains

1 Political or Military VP for each Crisis Dimension

where they control all three spaces.

Adjacent spaces are connected by arrows or double

lines; the direction of the arrow indicates adjacency

(e.g., National Assembly is adjacent to Royalists but

not the other way around). Spaces connected by a

double line are adjacent to each other.

Play Note: Pieces cannot be placed into Versailles

HQ and Prussian Occupied Territory. These spaces

function only as adjacent controlled spaces for the

Versailles player.

Pivotal Space ~ The star-shaped

space of a Crisis Dimension with

a triple border around the space

(National Assembly, Press, Butte

Montmartre, and Mont-Valéri-

en). Control of a Pivotal Space

gives the player a bonus action

at the end of each round before determining Control

of that Crisis Dimension.

Crisis Track ~ The two tracks at the top of the game

map, one for each player. Most influence cubes begin

play on the Crisis Track as available or bonus cubes.

Each track is composed of four zones (Starting, Esca-

lation, Tension, and Final Crisis). When the first cube

is removed from a zone, that zone is breached. When

a zone is breached, all bonus cubes from that area are

moved to a player’s cube pool at the end of that card

play or Pivotal Space bonus action.

Victory Point Track ~ VPs are tracked using an

orange Political VP marker and a purple Military VP

marker. Both factions fight for Political and Military

VPs, meaning only one side can have a positive

Victory Point value at a time (e.g., 1 Military VP for

Versailles is –1 Military VP for the Commune). Each

Victory Point type cannot exceed 5 VPs.

Player Momentum Tracks ~ There are two Player

Momentum Tracks below the Victory Point track:

● Prussian Collaboration ~ A track showing the

level of support Versailles receives from the

Prussian invader.

● Revolutionary Momentum ~ A track showing the

level of radicalization of the Parisian population.

Cube Pool ~ Influence cubes that are not on the map

or Crisis Track are placed in their respective faction’s

cube pool. Versailles’s cube pool is always present

and never full, and can be found to the left of the

Prussian Collaboration Track.. Conversely, the Com-

mune has no cube pool at the start of the game and

must advance Revolutionary Momentum in order to

access the cube pool spaces found below this track.

If a Commune cube cannot be placed in a cube pool

space, it is removed from play.

Round Track ~ Track the current game round on this

track with the included pawn.

Presence and Control

A player has Presence (or is present) in a space

if they have one or more pieces there. Pieces are

cubes and Fortification/Barricade discs.

The Commune is always present in

Père Lachaise and Social Movements.

Versailles is always present in Royal-

ists—even without cubes there.

A player Controls a space if they have

more pieces in it than their opponent. Versailles

always controls Versailles HQ and controls

Prussian Occupied Territory when Prussian Col-

laboration is at “3.”

A player Controls a Crisis Dimension if they

control all three of its spaces.

Important! Presence and Control is assessed once

before conducting all Remove operations, and once

before conducting all Place operations.

Setup

Place the black round marker on the “1” space of the

round track. Place both VP cylinders on the “0” space

of the Victory Point track. Place the blue and red cylin-

ders on the “0” space of the Player Momentum Track.

Place six blue cubes on the Versailles side of the Cri-

sis Track and nine red cubes on the Commune side,

as well as four blue cubes and six red cubes in their

respective bonus cube areas above the Crisis Track.

Place six blue cubes in their spaces below the Prussian

Collaboration track. Finally, place one blue cube in

the Royalists space, one blue and one red cube in the

Press space, one red cube in the Social Movements

space, and one red cube in Père Lachaise. An image

of the starting setup for the board can be found on

page two of the Playbook.

Set the Fortifications and Barricades off the board

near the map. Place both Final Crisis cards face up in

front of each player. Shuffle the Strategy and Objec-

tive decks separately and place them near the board.

Place the Initiative Card above the board with the

Commune side face up.

Overview

At the beginning of each round, deal four Strategy

Cards and two Objective Cards to each player. Both

players secretly choose one of their Objective Cards

to keep and remove the other from the game without

revealing it. Then conduct the Initiative Phase.

Starting with the Initiative Player, alternate playing

Strategy Cards until both players have played three

times. Set aside each player’s remaining Strategy Card

face down for the Final Crisis.

Perform Pivotal Space bonus actions, followed by

Crisis Dimension scoring, both in the order decided

by the Initiative Player. Then Objective Cards are

revealed simultaneously and scored. Finally, check

if the conditions have been met for Final Crisis and,

if not, continue with the next round.

Sequence of Play

1. Deal 4 Strategy Cards and 2 Objective Cards to

each player.

2. Each player secretly chooses one Objective Card

to keep as this round’s objective and removes the

other from the game, face down.

3. Conduct the Initiative Phase to determine the

Initiative Player.

4. Alternate playing Strategy Cards until each player

has played three times.

5. Each player sets aside their remaining Strategy

Card for use during the Final Crisis.

6. Perform Pivotal Space bonus actions.

7. Score Crisis Dimensions.

8. Reveal and score Objective Cards.

9. Check for Final Crisis or end of third round.

Initiative Phase

Initiative Phase ~ The Initiative Phase occurs just

before Strategy Card play in each of the three rounds

and Final Crisis. There are two steps during the Ini-

tiative Phase:

1. Calculate the initiative level of each player. A

player’s initiative level is equal to their Political

VPs minus their Player Momentum.

Note: Initiative level can be negative, and often

is, because 1 Political VP for one player is –1

Political VP for the other player.

2. Decide Player Order. The player with the higher

initiative level (Commune wins ties) decides

whether to play first or second in the round. Flip

the Initiative Card with the first player’s faction

face up; that player becomes the Initiative Player.

Initiative Player ~ The player whose faction is face

up on the Initiative Card is the Initiative Player. The

Initiative Player plays the first Strategy Card each

round and will decide the order in which Pivotal

Space bonus actions, Crisis Dimension scoring, and

Objective Card scoring will be resolved at the end

of the round.

Playing Strategy Cards

When played during a normal round, each Strategy

Card can be used in one of four different ways: for its

event, for operations, to use a discarded event, or to

advance Player Momentum. After playing 3 Strategy

Cards, set aside the remaining Strategy Card (face

down) for use during the Final Crisis. When played

during the Final Crisis, a Strategy Card is used only

for its event.

Event ~ A player may use an event if the background

color of the event matches that player’s color (Red:

Commune, Blue: Versailles) or is neutral (Gray). If a

card is played for its event, implement the event text

exactly as written. Some events can only be played if

their conditions are satisfied (e.g., “If…” or “must”).

If an event grants Operations Points, spend these

as described in “Operations” below. After a card is

played for its event, place it on top of the discard pile.

Note: Anything that says “up to” a certain number

of cubes includes zero cubes.

Operations ~ A player may spend the Operations

Points from a card in hand to Remove or Place cubes.

After a card is played for operations, place it on top

of the discard pile.

● Operations are conducted in spaces where the

player is present, or spaces adjacent to spaces the

player controls.

● When conducting both operations, always Remove

first, then Place.

● On a player’s turn, all operations are restricted to

either Political or Military spaces (whichever the

player chooses).

Important! Determine Control and Presence once

before any Remove operations and again before

any Place operations (e.g. no “daisy-chaining”).

Remove: Attempt to remove opponent’s pieces.

Fortifications and Barricades may only be removed

once there are no opposing cubes remaining in a

targeted space.

● Political ~ All attempts succeed. Spend an

Operations Point for each cube removed.

● Military ~ Spend 1 Operations Point per attempt

(or 2 per attempt if the space has an opponent’s

Fortification/Barricade).

○ Assess military strength (from 0):

+1 per adjacent spaces controlled

+1 for Presence in target space

+1 for Control of target space

+1 (maximum) by spending an extra Operations

Point

○ If military strength is 3+, the attempt succeeds.

○ Otherwise, draw a Strategy Card. If military

strength ≥ the Operations Points of that card,

the attempt succeeds. Remove the drawn card

from the game (put it back in the box).

○ Remove a cube upon success.

Design Note: The lack of motivation for Versailles

troops and the lack of organization by the Commune

meant both factions were ineffective in combat.

This is why Military cube removal is not automatic.

Place: Using the remaining Operations Points, spend

1 Operations Point (or 2 if the space has an opponent’s

Fortification/Barricade) per cube placed. One may

never place the opponent’s cubes.

Use a discarded event ~ A player may use the event

on top of the discard pile previously played this round

by their opponent (if it is of the acting player’s faction)

by discarding a card with equal or more Operations

Points. The event occurs immediately, and then the

discarded card is placed on top of the discard pile.

Advance Player Momentum ~ A player may play a

card to advance their Player Momentum. The played

card is removed from the game.

Play Final Crisis Card ~ During normal rounds, a

player may discard a card to use their Final Crisis Card

for operations. The Final Crisis Card is then removed

from the game. Otherwise, the Final Crisis Card’s

event is available for use during the Final Crisis.

Crisis Track & Cube Pools

When adding cubes to the map, a player must first

use any cubes in their cube pool. If their cube pool

is empty, the player may use cubes from their Crisis

Track, removing cubes one at a time from the middle

of the board outward.

Note: If no cubes are available, the player may not

relocate cubes on the map.

As cubes are removed from the Crisis Track, zones

(Starting, Escalation, Tension, and Final Crisis) will

become breached when a cube is first removed from

them. At the end of a card play or Pivotal Space bo-

nus action (including Objective Cards) during which

a zone is breached, the owning player must take the

bonus cubes from that zone and place them in their

cube pool (or remove them from play if there is no

room in the Commune pool). The player who first

breaches their Final Crisis zone loses 1 Political VP

and places the two bonus cubes in their pool. The

second player to breach their Final Crisis zone has

no penalty but gains no bonus cubes (remove these

bonus cubes from play).

Note: The effects of breaching the Final Crisis zone

still apply if breached during Final Crisis.

Cubes are also placed in their respective cube pools

when they are removed from map spaces by either

player. Versailles’ cube pool is always present and

never full. Conversely, the Commune has no cube pool

at the start of the game and must advance Revolution-

ary Momentum in order to earn cube pool spaces (two

below the “1” space of the track, and one each below

the “2” and “3” spaces). If a Commune cube cannot be

placed in a cube pool space, it is removed from play.

Player Momentum Tracks

Player Momentum can be advanced either by remov-

ing a Strategy Card from the game (put it back in the

box) on a player’s turn or through events. The two

Player Momentum Tracks provide different benefits

to each player:

● Prussian Collaboration ~ Advancing on this

track permanently gives the Versailles player

the bonus cubes below, which are immediately

placed into the Versailles cube pool. When

Prussian Collaboration is at “3,” Versailles controls

Prussian Occupied Territory.

● Revolutionary Momentum ~ Advancing on

this track temporarily gives the Commune player

the cube pool spaces below. If Revolutionary

Momentum is decreased, any cube pool spaces

below the previous spot are no longer available,

and any cubes in those spaces are removed from

play.

Each time a player advances their Player Momentum

to the “2” and “3” spots on the track, the opponent is

immediately given the opportunity to place one cube

in any space in either the Public Opinion or Institu-

tional Crisis Dimensions (as directed by the track).

Design Note: This is to show the opposition of

the French population to collaboration with the

invader and how the political institution (more

conservative) was increasingly worried by the

Commune’s radicalization.

If a player’s Momentum is on the “3” spot on the

track at the end of the game, they will receive an extra

Political VP or Military VP (as directed by the track).

Important! Strategy Cards and Objectives Cards

are sometimes removed from the game instead of

being discarded. When instructed to remove a card

from the game, place it back into the game box.

Commune cubes may instead be removed from

play if the Commune cube pool is full. Place these

cubes to one side, as they may be returned to play

by a future event.

Pivotal Space Bonus Actions &

Crisis Dimension Scoring

After each player has played three Strategy Cards

for the round and placed their remaining card aside

for the Final Crisis round, check for Control of each

Pivotal Space. The Initiative Player decides in which

order Pivotal Space bonus actions will be performed

for each controlled Pivotal Space. Within spaces of

that Crisis Dimension, the controlling player may do

one of the following:

● De-escalate ~ Remove up to 2 of their cubes or

remove 1 of their cubes and 1 opponent’s cube.

● Spread Influence ~ Move up to 2 of their cubes

between any of the spaces in that Crisis Dimension.

● Turncoat ~ Remove an opponent’s cube from a

space and place one of theirs in the same space.

After performing all Pivotal Space bonus actions,

players gain 1 Political VP for controlling a Political

Crisis Dimension and 1 Military VP for controlling a

Military Crisis Dimension—in the order decided by

the Initiative Player.

Objective Card Scoring

After scoring Crisis Dimensions, both players reveal

their Objective Cards. The player controlling the

space on either Objective Card gains a VP (Political

VP for a Political space or Military VP for a Military

space)—in the order decided by the Initiative Player.

Then—in the order decided by the Initiative Player—

players who controlled their own objective may first

perform the event on their Objective Card and then

set it aside in their fulfilled Objective Cards pile

(each player maintains their own fulfilled Objective

Cards pile). If a player did not control their own

objective, that Objective Card is now removed from

the game (even if the other player did control it and

scored a VP).

Final Crisis

At the end of any round where both Final Crisis zones

are breached, or after completing three rounds, players

immediately proceed to the Final Crisis round.

First, players gather the cards they set aside for Final

Crisis and their Final Crisis Card (if it is still in play),

and discard to a hand size equal to the number of

rounds they played so far (e.g., 3 rounds = 3 cards).

Conduct the Initiative Phase as usual, and then alter-

nate playing Strategy Cards only for their events until

all cards are played. If a player plays an opponent’s

event during Final Crisis, the opponent decides if and

how the event is applied.

Finally, both players perform Pivotal Space bonus

actions and Crisis Dimension scoring in the order

decided by the Initiative Player. Any player whose

Player Momentum is at “3” now gains an extra VP

of the type indicated on their Player Momentum track

(Military for Versailles, Political for Commune).

Victory

To win at the end of the Final Crisis:

● The Versailles player needs more Military VPs (0

or more) than the Commune player has Political

VPs.

● The Commune player needs more Political VPs

(0 or more) than the Versailles player has Military

VPs.

If neither of the previous conditions have been ful-

filled, the game is a tie. Proceed to the Tiebreaker.

Tiebreaker: If no player fulfills their victory condi-

tion, the player who fulfills the most of the following

wins the game:

● Most combined Victory Points

● Most objectives fulfilled

● Most Pivotal Spaces controlled at the end of the

game

● Final Initiative Player

If no player fulfills more conditions than their op-

ponent, the Commune player wins.

A battery of guns atop the Montmartre Hills,

overlooking Paris, 1871.

A barricade on Place Blanche during Bloody Week,

whose defenders included Louise Michel and

a unit of 30 women.

Glossary

Adjacent ~ A space connected to another space by

an arrow or double lines is considered adjacent. The

direction of the arrow indicates adjacency (e.g., Na-

tional Assembly is adjacent to Royalists but not the

other way around).

Breach ~ When the first influence cube in a Crisis

Track zone is removed. When a zone is breached, all

bonus cubes from that area are moved to a player’s

cube pool at the end of that card play.

Commune ~ This player represents the people of

Paris, rising up against the bourgeoisie and the “ca-

pitulard” government of Versailles. The Commune is

represented by red components.

Control ~ Control is assessed once before conducting

all Remove operations and once before conducting all

Place operations.

● Space ~ A player controls a space if they have

more pieces (cubes, Fortifications/Barricades) in

it than their opponent.

● Crisis Dimension ~ A player controls a Crisis

Dimension if they control all three of its spaces.

Note: Versailles HQ is always controlled by

Versailles, and Prussian Occupied Territory is

controlled by Versailles when Prussian Collabora-

tion is at “3.”

Crisis Dimension ~ A set of three same-color/icon

map spaces. During scoring at the end of a round and

at the conclusion of the Final Crisis, a player gains

1 Political or Military VP for each Crisis Dimension

where they control all three spaces.

Crisis Track ~ Two tracks at the top of the game map,

one for each player. Most influence cubes begin play

on the Crisis Track as available or bonus cubes. Each

track is composed of four zones (Starting, Escalation,

Tension, and Final Crisis).

Cube Pool ~ Cubes that are not on the map or Crisis

Track are placed in their respective faction’s cube

pool. Versailles’s cube pool is always present and

never full. Conversely, the Commune has no cube pool

at the start of the game and must advance Revolution-

ary Momentum in order to earn cube pool spaces. If

a Commune cube cannot be placed in a cube pool

space, it is removed from play.

Fortifications and Barricades ~ Pieces, deployed

by events, that serve as defensive assets in Military

spaces. They contribute to Control of and Presence

in a space but not to the influence cube limit. A space

can only contain one Fortification or one Barricade.

If an event allows the player to place a Fortification

or Barricade and both of their Fortifications or Bar-

ricades are in play, the player may move one that is

already on the map.

Influence Cubes ~ Colored wooden pieces used to

indicate Political or Military influence in a space.

Most of these cubes begin play on the Crisis Track.

Once removed from the Crisis Track, they cycle be-

tween map spaces and the player’s cube pool. There

may never be more than 4 of each player’s influence

cubes in a space.

Initiative Phase ~ The Initiative Phase occurs just

before Strategy Card play in each of the three rounds

and Final Crisis. There are two steps during the Ini-

tiative Phase:

1. Calculate the initiative level of each player. A

player’s initiative level is equal to their Political

VPs minus their Player Momentum. Note:

Initiative level can be negative, and often is,

because 1 Political VP for one player is –1 Political

VP for the other player.

2. Decide Player Order. The player with the higher

initiative level (Commune wins ties) decides

whether to play first or second in the round. Flip

the Initiative Card with the first player’s faction

face up; that player becomes the Initiative Player.

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Initiative Player ~ The player whose faction is face

up on the Initiative Card is the Initiative Player. The

Initiative Player plays the first Strategy Card each

round and will decide the order in which Pivotal

Space bonus actions, Crisis Dimension scoring, and

Objective Card scoring will be resolved at the end

of the round.

Map Spaces ~ Spaces on the board are coded by a

color/icon combination, labeled with an individual

name, and divided into Political and Military spaces.

Each space can hold up to 4 of each player’s cubes.

● Political:

Green/Square

Institutional

Orange/Triangle

Public Opinion

● Military:

Purple/Diamond

Paris

Teal/Circle

Forts

Note: No pieces can be placed in the Versailles HQ

and Prussian Occupied Territory spaces. These

spaces function only as adjacent controlled spaces

for the Versailles player.

Objective Cards ~ A deck of cards, each listing a

specific location on the map and an event. Objec-

tive Cards are revealed at the end of each round for

Victory Points and, under certain conditions, for

their event. Each space on the map has an associated

Objective Card.

Operations Points ~ The number at the top-left of

each Strategy Card which is used to conduct op-

erations. Operations Points are also referenced when

playing the card to use a discarded event.

Pivotal Space ~ The star-shaped space of a Crisis

Dimension with a triple border around the space

(National Assembly, Press, Butte Montmartre, and

Mont-Valérien). Control of a Pivotal Space gives the

player a bonus action at the end of each round before

determining Control of that Crisis Dimension.

Player Momentum ~ A term used to represent the

growing strength of each faction. There are two Player

Momentum tracks below the Victory Point track:

● Prussian Collaboration ~ A track showing the

level of support Versailles receives from the

Prussian invader.

● Revolutionary Momentum ~ A track showing the

level of radicalization of the Parisian population.

Presence ~ A player has Presence (or is present) in a

space if they have one or more pieces (cubes, Forti-

fications/Barricades) there. Presence is assessed once

before conducting all Remove operations and again

before conducting all Place operations.

Note: The Commune is always present in Père

Lachaise and Social Movements, and Versailles is

always present in Royalists—even without cubes

there.