Tercio de la Muerte: The Battle of the Ebro River, July-August, 1938

1938 went from bad to worse for the Republican cause in Spain. Successes the previous year at Guadalajara and Teruel and defeats at Brunete and Aragon did not stop Nationalist victories that overran the whole of Republican North Spain (Vizcaya, Asturias, Cantabria) while continued military support from Nazi Germany and fascist Italy proved more effective than Soviet backing of the Republic.

Madrid , Central and Eastern Spain held, but after Teruel´s winter reconquest by the Nationalists and their Spring march to the Mediterranean Sea, which cut Republican territory in two, many outside of Spain felt the Republican cause was lost. However, there was some hope in the Republican enclave centered on Barcelona. A new and friendly government came to power in France that reopened shipments of badly needed arms and supplies, and new shipments of arms from the Soviet Union successfully made it past the Nationalist blockade, reinvigorating the Republican forces still in the field. A larger war in Europe was increasingly apparent, and it was hoped that if the Republican forces could hold out long enough, they could be part of this larger conflict. As such, the Republican military decided upon a bold offensive across the Ebro River to retake ground and stop Nationalist offensive towards Valencia, as well as demonstrate that all was not lost.

Each copy of Tercio de la Muerte is composed of the following:

 Two 11 by 17 inch map sections with Turn and Game Record tracks.
 154 un-mounted, double sided units.
 This set of rules.

Players will also need a standard deck of playing cards and a six-sided die (D6) to play the game. Units represent regiments or brigades or regiments (infantry, cavalry) and companies (infantry detachments and armor). Each turn represents three days of time. A map hex is a little less than 1.5 miles across.

Players use a standard deck of playing cards (a custom card set is available from the publisher) to activate their units and determine some game events (Random Event and End of Turn occurrence). A six-sided die is used to determine how air and artillery strikes a player has each turn, as well to resolve those types of attacks as well as for resolving ground combat between opposing units.

—description from the designer