Rules

Objective

There are 3 ways to win. Each is checked at the end of every round.

Fortress Draft

First, territories are dealt evenly at random, with 1 troop on each. No player starts with all, or all but one, of a region that pays a bonus, unless the region is too small to share out.

Then each player places a fortress on one of their territories, one at a time, in reverse seat order. The last to pick goes first in the game. No two fortresses can be within 3 steps of each other, unless a player has no valid spot left. Paths through mountains do not count.

• Some maps have neutral territories, held by bandits and the like. They aren't dealt, never move and give no orders, but they defend. A region with one pays no bonus until it is cleared. Taking one counts as a capture.
• Some neutrals are beasts: trolls and dragons on land, krakens and sea serpents at sea. They are drawn as their own figure ringed in brass. Kill all of a beast in one round or it heals to full when the round ends. Attacks from several players in the same round add up. Only the attack that kills a beast counts toward your card tier, and it counts the beast's full strength.

Initial Deployment

Each player secretly places their free starting troops on territories they hold, then locks. Unplaced troops are lost. All deployments are revealed together, then Round 1 begins.

Gold

Gold buys troops and some orders. Unspent gold carries over.

You start with no gold. Your first income comes at the start of Round 1.

You can hold 7 gold, plus 5 per fortress. Gold over the cap is lost.

• Orders are paid for when the round resolves, even if they fail.

Troop 1 gold From Round 1, troops can only be placed on a fortress or barracks you hold, unless a card says otherwise.

Income

Each round you earn 1 gold per territory for your first 5, then 1 gold for every 3 more.

• Hold every territory in a region to earn its bonus. Regions are outlined on the map. Turn on Regions in the menu to see each bonus.
• Some territories, such as mountains and marshes, pay their own bonus, shown in brackets after the name.
• Bonuses can be negative, but income is never below 0.

Structures

Build orders put up buildings on territories you hold. Capturing a territory destroys its building.

Fortress 7 gold

• Troops may be placed here
• Defenders roll 1 extra die on rolls 1-3 of every battle here
• Holds 5 more gold
• Founded in the draft
• Upgraded from a barracks
• Or raised in one go by a Stronghold card

Barracks 4 gold

• Troops may be placed here

Camp

• Troops may be placed here
• Removed 3 rounds after it is built
• Only built by a Field Camp card

Shipyard 3 gold

• Only on maps with water, on water next to land you hold
• Ships are bought here with your troops

Planning & Locking

Each round you secretly choose troops to buy and orders to give, both paid from the same gold. You can change your plan until you lock it.

• You can see each opponent's gold, but not how they spend it.
• When the last player locks, all plans are revealed and the round resolves.

Orders

Each round you get a fresh set of order slots. You don't have to use them all. Each order is given to one territory, and each territory takes one order per round.

Only Moves send troops. One Move can go to any number of adjacent territories you hold, plus at most 1 you don't, each with its own troop count and retreat threshold.

• Deploy is listed with the orders but isn't one. It buys troops, has no limit, and doesn't use a territory's order.

Move 3 slots 0 gold Send troops to adjacent territories: any number you hold, plus at most 1 you don't hold when you give the order. Each destination has its own max troops and retreat threshold, where the attack stops. Destinations go in the order you set, each taking the troops left, so a later one may get none. 1 troop always stays behind. Moving into your own territory is a transfer; otherwise it is an attack. On maps with water, troops board and land from fleets, and fleets move too: see Ships.

• Moves can chain. Move into a territory, then give a second Move from it, even before you hold it. Your Moves go one per turn, in the order of your plan, so the second goes after the first has landed. If the first fails, the second is skipped.

Defend 2 slots 0 gold Your troops there roll 1 extra die on rolls 1-2 of every battle. Lasts all round while you hold the territory.

Support 1 slot 0 gold Give 1 extra die to 1 player in 1 adjacent territory, for their first battle there, attacking or defending. The more troops your territory holds when the battle starts, the more rolls it covers. Losing troops first weakens it, and losing the territory ends it. Every Support in a battle adds its own dice.

• 1-3 troops — 1 roll
• 4-6 troops — 2 rolls
• 7 or more troops — 3 rolls

Build 1 slot 4-7 gold In a territory you hold, build a barracks on empty ground for 4 gold, or upgrade a barracks to a fortress for 7 gold. It is built after all battles if you still hold the territory. The gold is spent either way. On maps with water a Build on water can also raise a shipyard: see Ships.

Cards

Capture at least one territory in a round to draw a card. You can hold up to 4, and a full hand draws nothing. You can discard cards while you plan.

Each card is an extra order on top of your slots. It is used up when played.

Your card's tier depends on how many enemy troops your attacks killed that round, won or lost. Kills while defending don't count.

Up to 5 troops: Tier 1

6-14 troops: Tier 2

15 or more troops: Tier 3

• A Move card goes to one territory only.
• Lasting cards (Levy, Palisade) stay on their territory across rounds. They end if the territory is captured or you give another order there. A Raid also ends a Levy.
• Some cards are played from your hand rather than on a territory. They use no territory's order.
• Everyone sees that you drew, and which tier, but not which card.
• Each tier has its own deck. When a deck runs out, its discards are shuffled back in. If a tier's deck and discards are both empty, you draw from the tier below.

Ships

Only on maps with water. Water is a territory only fleets go on. You hold it while your fleet is there. Sail away and it's empty again. It pays no income and doesn't count toward the win or toward staying in the game, but a region of water still pays its bonus.

A fleet is up to 3 ships on one water territory. Each ship carries its own troops, up to 8.

• Shipyards: a Build on water next to land you hold raises a shipyard there for 3 gold, if the water is empty or holds your fleet. It goes up after all battles. One shipyard per water. It is lost only if an enemy fleet takes the water, or if you are out of the game. Losing the land next to it doesn't matter.
• Ships: buy them at your shipyard the way you buy troops, 3 gold each, while its water is empty or yours. They go onto the water empty when the round starts, joining your fleet there up to 3. Buying doesn't use your Build slot.
• New ships: troops can board a ship the round it is bought, but it can't sail or land anyone until the next round.
• Boarding: a Move from the coast onto your fleet next door. You choose how many troops board each ship. If fewer troops are available, the ships fill in order.
• Sailing: a fleet's Move names the ships that go, each with its own troops. They can sail to empty water, join another of your fleets, or attack an enemy fleet, pirates or a sea beast. A Move that sends ships has no other destination.
• Landing: a Move from your fleet onto land. You choose how many troops leave each ship. The fleet stays where it is.
• A fleet can only move from water you held when you gave the order. It can't sail on from water it reaches this round.
• Sea battles: empty ships sink as the battle starts. Then each side's losses come off its emptiest ship first, and a ship left with nobody sinks. A failed attack's ships sail home.
• Sea beasts (krakens and sea serpents) hold some water. Only a fleet can attack one. Like any beast, it must be killed in one round or it heals.
• A player with only fleets left is out, and their fleets sink.

Resolution Order

Raids go first and cancel every order from the territories they hit. Next, lasting cards take effect and early troops arrive. Then Defends and Supports are set up and Feints march. Then Moves take turns: everyone's first Move in initiative order, then everyone's second, and so on. Musters and Builds come last. Each round, initiative passes to the next player still in the game.

A Move's destinations all march on the same turn, in the order you set, each taking the troops the source has left. Put the most important one first.

• The number on each player's HUD chip is their initiative this round. Players out of the game sit at the bottom with a dash.
• Orders use the board as it is when they resolve. If a territory changes hands, your order may do something different.
• A Move from a territory you don't hold is skipped. If there are fewer troops than requested, fewer are sent, possibly none.

Combat & Retreat

Moving into a territory you don't hold starts a battle. The attacker rolls up to 3 dice, the defender up to 2. Extra dice from a Defend, Support, card or building are rolled too, then the lowest are dropped back to the normal count. Dice pair highest against highest. Each pair's lower die loses a troop, and ties go to the defender.

• The battle goes on until the defender is wiped out or your force drops to its retreat threshold.
• If you capture the territory, your survivors move in. Its building is destroyed and any lasting card on it ends.
• If you retreat, survivors return home.