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lntroduction to Sprbs/

Spies! is a game of espionage and intrigue for up to five players, set in the turbulent European era of 1933-1939. You control the secret service of one of the major powers of that era - Germany, Italy, Russia, France, and Britain - in the constant struggle to gather your opponents' secrets and return them safely to your own capital while protecting your own country's secrets. Each copy of Spies! comes complete with the following components: One22" x34' mapsheet,one sheetof 50 Event Tiles, one sheet of 200 assorted playing pieces, one four-page standard rules booklet, one four-page long-game rules booklet, one I l" xlT" display. The Mapsheet. The Spies! mapsheet shows the major nations and colonies of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, including the important cities, capitals, ports, and land, air and sea routes. In addition, the mapsheet features various summaries, records, tracks, and other material that summarizes and enhancesmost of the essential rules of the game. As you read the rules, be sure to refer to the mapsheet whenever appropriate to familiarize yourself with the map itself and with the various play aids. Playing Pieces. The Event Tiles, secrets, police pieces, spies, and Action chits and markers used in the game feature the following information: EventTile: Front (Back is blank)

Secret: Back

Counterspy: Front


I .r"* sPY

Counterspy: Back

Police(Russian): Front

Police (Russian):Back



zech Crisk!
3c: Berlin, Prague. 2c: Paris, Moscow, Bucharest, Warsaw. 2f: Budapest, Vienna, Bratislava.



tThis number servesa particular purposeonly in theLong Game. tThis information has no effect on the gameperse, but is includedto lendcolor or serve asa means of identification.

C o p y r i g h tO 1 9 8 1 S , i m u l a t i o n sP u b l i c a t i o n s I ,n c . , N e w Y o r k , N Y 1 0 0 1 0


Action Chit (Discovery): Front

cosrroPLA"{fl| sYMBoL* Action Chit (Any): Back


How to Begin the Game

Choosing Countries. Select the country you will play. The turn order in which you set up and take your turns is always the same: Germang ltaly, Russia, France, Britain. Setting Up the Bank Track. Place your Bank marker on the Bank Track (see mapsheet)in the numbered box containing your country's name. Record the amount of money you have during the game, in thousands of pounds (f), on this Track. Drawing Event Tiles. Thke the 7 Event Tiles coded for your country; shuffle the 15 Tiles marked random, spread them face down on the table, and draw 3 of these random Tiles blindly for a total of l0 event Tiles. Drawing and Deploying Seqets. Shuffle all40 secrets,spread them all face down on the table, and draw your allotment at random. Place the 8 remaining secrets face-down, one per city in the 8 cities marked SECRET; then place your

secretsface-down,one per city, in any citiesin your territory. Deploying Police. Place your police face-down,no more than 2 per city, in any cities coded for police (including your capital)in your homecountry. Selecting and Deploying Spies. Select whicheverspiesof your nationality you prefer,up to the numberspecified on the Starting Set-Up (see mapsheet).Place your spiesface-down,without restrictions,in anycitieson the map. Drawing Action Chits. Mix all Action chits (except Double Cross, Intercept, Drop, and Source,which are not used) in a cup and draw your allotmentat random. The remainingAction chitsstayin the cup to be usedduring the game. Setting Up the Year Track, Place the GameYearmarker in the top row under 1933on the Time and Victory Record (see mapsheet).Each time the British playerendsa turn, advance the marker oneyearuntil 7 arecompleted. Note: It is suggested that you limit each player's turn to 5 minutes.

WhatYou Gan Do During Your Turn

Playing Event Tiles.At the start of your turn, you must eitherdiscardany Event Tile face-down, or play face-up an Event Tile markedwith the currentyear (for instance, a Tile marked1934-35 can be played only in 1934or 1935).Read aloud the information on the Tile. The codeslc, (2c, etc.) and 1f.(2f., etc.) indicate awards of Action chits (c) or money (E).Every player receives the indicated number of Action chits or amount of moneyfor eachcity listedin which he has a spy, provided the spy is not in its own territory.Thereis no additional rewardfor having} or morespies in a city. When you receive Action chits, draw the indicatedquantityat random. You can neverhavemore than 7 Action chits. If you draw chits so you have more than 7, immediately return the surplus chitsof your choice to the cup. Re-Arranging Your Police. Re-arrange your police among your home country

per turn. the maximumof 5 total spaces Move a spy to seafrom a port to a ship symbolin the sameseazone;movea spy by sea from the ship symbol in one sea zoneto the ship symbol in an adjoining seazone; move a spyfrom sea from a ship symbol to a port in the sarnesea zone.A spycannotendits movement at sea. You must finish moving one spy beforeyou beginmovinganother. Controlling Secrets.A secretthat is still in oneof threestates: in play is always l. You control i/.' You have a police piece it. or spyon top of it, guarding 2. It is uncontrolled: No player has a policepiece or spyon top of it. 3. It is enemy-controlled: Some other player has a police pieceor spy on top of it. is no longerin play onceone of A secret your spies, has who controlsthe secret, Captureand Counterspies. You can cap- movedit to your capitalcity and cashed ture a spyasa resultof a search in which you cashin a secret, you imyour police strengthis greaterthan the it in. When mediately get 20f. and an Action chit, spy's(providedthe strengthcomparison is placed in your Time and and the secret is not evaded by a Papers or Escape Victory Recordunderthe Yearyou cashchit). You canalsocapturean enemyspy ed it in. Secrets are divided into two with a counterspy. Whenever a spy broad categories,dependingon how you discoversa secretthat control and they began thegame: that secret is a counterspy, make a l. secret:A secretthat began Original strengthcomparisonby looking at the enemyspy'sstrength.If the counterspy the gamein your hometerritory. 2. Foreign secret: A secretthat began is stronger, the enemyspy is captured;if the enemyspy is as strong or stronger, the gamein a neutralcountryor another hometerritory. the counterspyhas no effect. Whatever player's the outcome of the strength com- A secret's category never changes, regardless of its control state.You may parison, remove the counterspy from cash in only foreign secrets during the play. Placeany spy you captureon your can be placTime and Victory Recordunderthe Year game.Your originalsecrets onin which it wascaptured. Note that cap- ed on your Time andVictory Record tured spies can return to play by an ly underall of the followingconditions: Escape chit. If one of your spies is cap- I . It is theendof thegame tured by a counterspy in a neutralcoun- 2. Theyarein your hometerritory try, placethat spy in the SpiesCaptured 3. They are not enemy-controlled in Neutral Countriesbox, not on the (whetheryou control themor not). Time and Victory Record. You receiveno money or Action chits Moving Your Spies. After you have for original secretscashedin; you researched for enemyspies,you can move ceiveonly the Victory Points indicated your spies.Each spy can move a max- on the Time and Victory Record. To per turn, and eachcity control a foreign secret,you must alimum of 5 spaces or sea zone enteredcounts as a space ways play a Discoverychit and, if sucmoved.You canmovea spyby rail lines, cessful,placethe spy who has madethe on top of the secret. air lines, and/or sea. A spy can move discovery To control one of your original secrets, along any combination of routes up to that is

citiesin any way,but placeno morethan 2 per city. Searching for Enemy Spies.Immediately after re-arrangingyour police, you can searchfor enemyspiesin everycity containingyour police and one or more enemy spies. Announce which enemy for first, if thereis spyyou aresearching more than one in a city. You and your the strength opponentprivatelycompare of your police (both police combinedif there are 2 in the city) and the enemy the spy.If your policestrengthis greater, captured. If the spy's spyis immediately strength is greater or the same, the search has no effect. Your police can spy searchonceper turn for each-enemy your police.Note: in any city containing A spy can avoid a strengthcomparison or Escape chit. by playinga Papers

in your territoryand not enemy-controlled, you mustplacea spy or policepiece on top of it; you neednot play a Discovery chit. If one of your original is enemycontrolledandlor not secrets in your home territory, you can gain controlof it only asyou would a foreign secret. You may, while moving your you control from spies, transfera secret one of your spies to anotherby moving the spy with the secretinto a city containing your other spy and placing this second spyon top of the secret. The second spy may then movewith the secret (provided he has not moved already). Note: Only one spy or policepiececan control a secretat one time. If more than onespy or policepieceare in a city with a secret, the controlling piece shouldbe directlyon top of the secret. If no onecontrolsa secret, nothingshould be on top of it. Playing Action Chits. You can play the following five typesof Action chitsduring your spies' movement:Discovery, Papers,Sanction, Recruit,Escape. The play of these Action chitsis summarized on the mapsheet. To play a chit, spend the number of pounds specifiedand returnthechit to theAction chit cup. Initiating Diplomacy. At any time during your turn, you can try to negotiate with your opponentsby offering trades or sales of chits,askingor grantingconcessions,and so forth. You cannot, however. exchange EventTiles.

itiate negotiations duringan opponent's turn, and you must stop trying to negotiate whena playerwhoseturn is in progress tellsyou to stop.

HowtoWin the Game

At the end of the British turn in 1939, every secretwhich is now in your territory and is not controlledby an enemy in the 1939 spyis placed columnon your Time and Victory Record.Each secret, capturedspy, and sanctioned marker is worth a numberof Victory Points equal to its value times the multiple found in the box it occupieson your Time and Victory Record. The player with the highesttotal of Victory Points is the playerwins. winner.In a tie, the richest

Playing the Game with FewerThan Five Players

When you play with four players,one personplays Germanyand ltaly. When playing with three players, one person also plays Britain and France. When playing with two players, Russia is played on alternate years by the German-Italian and British-French players. When playing two countries, you cannot exchange Action chits, money, or secrets betweenthem. Victory Points are totalled independently for each country, just as though they wereplayed by two players.

WhatYou Gan Do During Another Player's Turn

Searching for Arriving Enemy Spies. You can search for eachenemyspyeach time it moves into any city containing yogr police.You cannotsearch for a spy that has not moved. The procedurefor searchis the sameduring an opponent's turn asit is duringyour own. Playing Action Chits. You can play Papers, Escape, and Coverchitsduring an opponent's turn (see the mapsheet). Respondingto Diplomacy. You can respond whenever an opponent initiates negotiationswith you. You cannot in-

Sprbs.rDesign Gredits
Game Design: John Prados, Lenny Glynn Physical Systemsand Graphics: Redmond A. Simonsen Game Development: Brad Hessel, Redmond A. Simonsen (Standard Game); David James Ritchie. Justin Leites (Long Game) Rules Editing: Bob Ryer Playtesting: Derek Avery Madge Cohen, John Duchman, Lisa Kay Fedder, Steve Fisher, Michael George, Taras Hnytyshyn (Standard Game); Edmund Hack, J. Haskell, Dave Miller, Deborah Ritchie (Long Game) Production: Ted Koller, Manfred F. Milkuhn, Michael Moore, Ken Stec