A Game of Thrones: A Storm of Swords Expansion

A Game of Thrones: A Storm of Swords Expansion Rulebook

Table of Contents

Using this Expansion
Components
Playing on the Storm of Swords Board
Leaders
Winning the Game
Three-Player Game
Playing on the Original A Game of Thrones Board
The Tactics Cards in Detail
The Ally Cards in Detail
The New Westeros Cards in Detail
Regaining Used House Cards

Using this Expansion

This rulebook is divided into several parts. The first part provides an overview of the new components included in this expansion. The second part, beginning on page 3, describes the A STORM OF SWORDS board in detail and the new components and rules that are used with it. The third part, beginning on page 9, provides the rules for how to use this expansion when playing on the original A GAME OF THRONES board. Finally, beginning on page 10, this rulebook provides complete descriptions of many of the cards included in this expansion.

Components

Enclosed in this box you will find the following components:

This Rulebook
The standalone A STORM OF SWORDS game board
44 Tactics Cards
24 Ally Cards (6 cards each in 4 different Ally Decks)
40 New Westeros Cards
42 New House Cards
4 House Start Cards
5 Wildling Cards
6 Player Reference Cards
5 Garrison Tokens
15 Leader Tokens
1 Weather Marker
10 Claim Markers, 3 of which double as Neutral Force Tokens (for Harrenhal, Riverrun, and Silverhall)
6 Support -1 Order Tokens
6 Holding Cells
3 Replacement "Eyrie," "King's Landing" and "Sunspear" Neutral Force Tokens

The Storm of Swords Seal and the Throne Symbol

There are two important icons you will see on various cards in this expansion:

The Storm of Swords seal on cards indicates that the cards may only be used if you are playing on the new STORM OF SWORDS game board.
The throne symbol on cards indicates that the cards may only be used if you are playing on the original game board (or the original game board with the CLASH OF KINGS board overlay).

Cards from this expansion that have neither icon may be used with either the new STORM OF SWORDS board or with the original board.

The STORM OF SWORDS Game Board

This board may be used to play a new four-player game, which is described in detail beginning on page 3.

Tactics Cards

This expansion includes six decks of Tactics Cards, one for each of the six great houses. Houses Baratheon, Greyjoy, Lannister, and Stark each have eight total Tactics Cards, while Houses Martell and Tyrell have seven. The Tactics Cards represent each house's plans during a given turn.

Ally Cards

These four decks of six cards each represent the support of the Houses Arryn, Frey, and Tyrell, as well as various Mercenaries and Outlaws.

New Westeros Cards

The STORM OF SWORDS expansion includes a completely new set of Westeros Cards. The card backs of the new Westeros Cards are blue to differentiate them from the original Westeros Cards, which have orange backs. Two new "III" decks are included, one for use with the new board and one for use with the original game.

New House Cards

This expansion includes a completely new set of House Cards for the six great houses. The backs of these new House Cards are illustrated with their respective house shields as well as two crossed swords. This differentiates them from the House Cards found in the base game as well as from the House Cards included in the CLASH OF KINGS expansion (which are marked with a crown symbol).

New House Start Cards

Players should use the House Start Cards from this expansion when playing on the STORM OF SWORDS board. Like the House Cards, these New House Start Cards are marked with two crossed swords.

The Six Great Houses

This rulebook sometimes refers to the "six houses" of Westeros. These include Baratheon, Greyjoy, Lannister, Stark, and Tyrell, which were included with the original A GAME OF THRONES board game, as well as House Martell, which was added with the CLASH OF KINGS expansion. Components for House Martell (including Leader tokens and new House Cards) have been included in this expansion for players who own A CLASH OF KINGS, but players do not need that expansion to use this one.

Wildling Cards

These cards may be used with the original game to vary the effects of a Wildling Attack.

Player Reference Cards

These six player reference cards provide summaries of the order tokens and turn sequence.

Garrisons

Garrisons are special pieces that provide strength when defending.

Leader Tokens

Leader tokens represent certain powerful characters that provide extra strength and special abilities to the army they are with, but Leaders may also be taken hostage.

Holding Cells

Leaders that have been taken hostage are placed in holding cells.

Weather Marker

The weather marker is used to track whether the fords on the new STORM OF SWORDS board are open (when the weather is fair) or closed (due to heavy rains).

Claim Markers

These markers are used to show who has control of each City and Stronghold on the STORM OF SWORDS board. Three of the Claim Markers are also used to show the neutral forces defending Harrenhal, Riverrun, and Silverhall at the start of the game.

Support -1 Orders

These orders may be assigned to armies through the effects of certain Tactics Cards. An army with a Support -1 order assigned to it that is adjacent to a battle may add its strength, minus 1, to either the attacker or defender during the "Call for Support" step of a battle.

Replacement Neutral Force Tokens

These tokens replace the original neutral force tokens when playing with the Leaders option on the original game board (see page 9).

Playing on the Storm of Swords Board

While many of the rules for playing on the new STORM OF SWORDS board are the same as in the base A GAME OF THRONES game, the new game features different victory conditions and many other new additions.

Object of the Game

The object of A STORM OF SWORDS is to gain the most Claim over Westeros. At the end of game turn 10, the player who has the most Claim over Westeros wins the game. In addition, if a player, at any time, has 8 Claim over Westeros, the game is immediately over and that player is declared the winner.

Claim

Claim is acquired from Cities and Strongholds, as well as from certain cards. The amount of Claim that a City or Stronghold provides is indicated on the board itself as well as on the City or Stronghold's Claim marker. As long as a player controls a City or Stronghold, he has the Claim provided by it.

Players can also receive Claim from certain cards. Claim received from cards is kept track of on the Claim over Westeros track. When a card instructs you to gain a certain number of Claim, place that number of Power tokens (from your Power Pool or your available power) on the Claim over Westeros track (see sidebar). A player's total Claim is the amount of Claim he or she has from Cities and Strongholds plus the number of Power tokens he or she has on the Claim over Westeros track.

Claim Markers

Each player starts with the Claim marker of his house's starting area in front of him. Lannister also starts with the King's Landing Claim marker, Stark with the Twins marker, and Baratheon with the Storm's End marker. When a player takes control of a City or Stronghold, he takes the corresponding Claim marker (whether from the board or from another player) and places it in front of him. In this way, players can easily see the Claim each player receives from Cities and Strongholds by looking at the Claim markers in front of each player, rather than checking every City and Stronghold on the board.

The Claim markers for Harrenhal, Riverrun, and Silverhall also act as neutral force tokens that are placed on the board during setup. These neutral force tokens act exactly like the neutral force tokens from the original game. When a player successfully attacks one of these neutral force tokens, he places it in front of him so that the Claim marker side is faceup.

The Claim over Westeros Track

When a card instructs you to gain a certain number of Claim, you place that number of Power tokens (from your Power Pool or your available power), one by one, on the highest-numbered empty space on the Claim over Westeros track. If the track is full and a player gains a Claim, the Power token on the "6" space is returned to its owner's Power Pool, and all the Power tokens on the Claim over Westeros track move up one space. The new Power token is then placed on the "1" spot on the track.

Example: The Lannister player gains 2 Claim on the first turn of the game. On turn 4, the Claim track has filled up, and the Greyjoy player receives 1 Claim from an Ally Card. The Greyjoy player places his Power token on the "1" spot of the track, and all other tokens move up one spot. One of Lannister's tokens is in spot 6, and therefore is pushed off the track.

Setup

When setting up to play on the new STORM OF SWORDS game board, follow the steps below:

Unfold the STORM OF SWORDS board and place it centrally on a large table.
Place the Harrenhal, Riverrun, and Silverhall markers on their respective areas on the board, with their "neutral force" side up (the side with a white numeral in the lower right).
Place the Turn Order token on "Turn 1."
Place the weather marker on the first "fair weather" position on the weather track.
Shuffle the new blue-backed Westeros Cards separately and place them near the board. For deck III, use only the cards marked with the Storm of Swords seal.
Shuffle the four Ally Decks separately and place them near the board.

At this point, the board should look like the one pictured at the top of the "Storm of Swords Setup" diagram on page 4.

After performing the first six steps of setup on page 3, the STORM OF SWORDS game board should look like it does in the above diagram. Each player should also follow the instructions on his House Start Card, and place his House Cards, Tactics Cards, holding cell, and the Claim markers for any Cities and Strongholds he controls before him. These components are pictured on page 4 for House Stark.

Each player now randomly draws a STORM OF SWORDS House Start Card to determine which house he will play.
Each player takes the 7 House Cards that correspond to his house. Use the new STORM OF SWORDS House Cards, with the crossed swords on their backs.
Each player takes the Tactics Deck corresponding to his house. Each deck consists of 7 cards – the "Support Allies" Tactics Cards with the throne symbol are not used.
Each player receives a holding cell.
Players now set up their starting units and tokens as instructed by their House Start Cards.

Note: Each player starts with a certain amount of available power, as instructed by his House Start Card.

Note: All four houses start with 2 Leaders in play, as described on the House Start Cards. Lannister starts with the Eddard Stark Leader token in its holding cell, and Stark starts with the "Frey Leadership" Ally Card and the Black Walder Ally Leader token.

Each player takes the Claim marker for each City or Stronghold he controls and places them in front of him. See the sidebar on page 3 for details.
Each player places his supply marker on the appropriate space on the Supply track.

The game is now ready to begin.

The Storm of Swords Game Board

The STORM OF SWORDS game board is different from the original game board in several important respects. See page 5 for a full overview of the new board's elements.

Overview of the Storm of Swords Game Board

The Claim over Westeros Track. The Claim over Westeros track is used to track any Claim that players have received from sources other than controlling Cities and Strongholds. See the sidebar on page 3 for more information.
Sea Areas. When playing on the STORM OF SWORDS game board, players may not muster Ships. Instead, all island areas are connected to land areas using movement arrows. In addition, there are no named sea areas on the STORM OF SWORDS map. However, the oceans on each side of the board are considered to be two large sea areas for the purposes of resolving House Card special abilities.
Movement Arrows. Movement arrows represent large distances that units (and Leaders) may move along. Units can only use movement arrows when they are moving because of a March order or because of a retreat. Units cannot not raid or support across movement arrows.

Note that there are two house-specific movement arrows on the board, each marked with a house shield. Only Greyjoy may use the arrow connecting Pyke with Flint's Finger, and only Baratheon may use the arrow connecting Dragonstone and King's Landing.
The Weather Track. The weather marker is used to keep track of whether the weather is fair (the left and top positions on the track) or stormy (the bottom and right positions). The weather marker moves one space when a Westeros Card that contains a Weather symbol is resolved.
Impassable Terrain. Areas shaded grey are completely impassable.

City and Stronghold areas are considered to be separate areas on the STORM OF SWORDS game board. These areas are considered adjacent to all connecting areas and are treated like normal areas.

Tactics Cards

Tactics Cards represent each house's plans during a given turn. They provide special abilities that favor different strategies.

Each turn during the "assign orders" step of the planning phase, all players choose one Tactics Card and place it facedown in front of them. When revealing orders, all players also reveal their chosen Tactics Card. At the very start of the action phase, all players announce the Tactics Card they have chosen. Then, in turn order, each player performs any actions on the card that are preceded by the word "immediately" in bold type. Players may take advantage of all abilities on their Tactics Card until the next planning phase, when they will choose a new Tactics Card. Note that a player may choose the same Tactics Card every turn if he so desires.

When using Tactics Cards (or the Leaders, discussed on pages 6-8), players should follow the revised turn sequence below:

The Westeros Phase (skipped on Game Turn 1)
The Planning Phase a. Reveal the top Ally Card of each deck (when playing on the STORM OF SWORDS board) b) All players assign orders and choose a Tactics Card c) All orders and Tactics Cards are revealed d) Messenger Raven may be used
The Action Phase a) Resolve immediate effects of Tactics Cards b) Resolve Raid orders c) Resolve March orders (and resolve battles) d) Resolve Consolidate Power orders e) Routed units recover f) Advance Turn marker

The Tactics Cards are discussed in detail on page 10.

Ally Cards

These decks represent the support of the Houses Arryn, Frey, and Tyrell, as well as various Mercenaries and Outlaws. Players using the "Forge Alliances" Tactics Card (see page 10) may draw the top card from the Ally Deck of their choice.

At the start of each planning phase, the top card of each of the four Ally Decks is placed faceup on top of its deck (if it is not faceup already). When resolving Tactics Cards, players using Forge Alliances may take the top card of any Ally Deck.

Example: Both the Stark player and the Baratheon player select the Forge Alliances card this turn. Stark is higher on the Iron Throne track, so Stark goes first. The Stark player chooses the faceup card on the Tyrell deck. The Baratheon player may now choose between the faceup Arryn card, the faceup Frey card, the facedown Tyrell card, and the faceup Mercenaries and Outlaws card.

When a player acquires an Ally Card, he places it faceup in front of him and it remains there until it is stolen or the card's text instructs the player to discard it. Which Ally Cards each player possesses is always open knowledge. When any Ally card is discarded, it is placed at the bottom of the appropriate Ally Deck.

Ally Units

Use the green (Tyrell) units from the base game to represent Ally units when playing on the STORM OF SWORDS board. Players gain Ally units by acquiring certain Ally Cards. These units function exactly the same as any other unit under your control, with a few exceptions. First, Ally units may never be left by themselves in an area without any units of your house color. Should you ever be required to remove units from the board, you may not remove units so that an Ally unit is by itself in an area, and must choose to remove the Ally unit instead. Second, Ally units that are removed from the board cannot be mustered back into play. Finally, Ally Footmen cannot be upgraded during mustering.

Permanent Alliances

If a player ever controls three Ally Cards from the Arryn, Frey, or Tyrell decks, then that player has a permanent alliance with that house. For the rest of the game, no one but the that player may draw further cards from that deck. (If any player has an Arryn, Frey, or Tyrell Ally Card in front of him when this happens, he keeps it in front of him.) No player may forge a permanent alliance with the Mercenaries and Outlaws.

The Ally Cards are discussed in detail on page 11.

Storm of Swords Westeros Decks

Players should use the blue decks I and II, and the blue deck III with the Storm of Swords seal when playing on the new board; the original Westeros decks from the base game are not compatible with the STORM OF SWORDS game board.

Moving the Weather Marker

When resolving Westeros Cards from Deck III, if there is a Weather symbol on the card, move the weather marker one space clockwise on the board to mark the change. Remember that fords may not be crossed when the weather is stormy.

The Mammoth symbol found on Westeros decks I and II is not used when playing on the STORM OF SWORDS game board and should be ignored.

The new Westeros Cards are discussed in detail on page 12.

Storm of Swords House Cards

When playing on the STORM OF SWORDS board, use the new House Cards for Houses Baratheon, Greyjoy, Lannister, and Stark. The STORM OF SWORDS House Cards are used exactly like the House Cards from the original game.

Note: You must use the new STORM OF SWORDS House Cards when playing on the STORM OF SWORDS board. While the STORM OF SWORDS House Cards are compatible with the base game, we do not recommend using the House Cards from the base game or the CLASH OF KINGS expansion with the STORM OF SWORDS game board. This is primarily because several House Cards from the previous sets affect Ships, which are not used on the STORM OF SWORDS board.

Garrisons

Garrisons are special pieces that provide strength when defending. They represent troops that are permanently assigned to defending a house's starting area. Garrisons are not Units, so they do not count toward Supply limits, and they may never move or be assigned orders. Each house starts with one 2-strength Garrison at its starting area. Additionally, House Lannister starts with a special 6-strength Garrison in King's Landing.

If a location with a Garrison is attacked, the strength of the Garrison is added to the defender's strength. If there are no defending units present with the Garrison, a battle still happens, with both players using House Cards (and possibly the Valyrian Steel Blade) as normal.

If a Garrison is ever on the losing side of a battle, it is removed from play and may not be mustered back into play for the remainder of the game.

Remember that you may not place an order in an area containing only a Garrison, and a Garrison's strength is only used when the area it is in is attacked, not for Support or any other type of order.

Lannister's Garrison at King's Landing

At the start of the STORM OF SWORDS game, Lannister has control of King's Landing and has a special 6-strength Garrison there. This Garrison functions exactly like the 2-strength Garrisons. If this Garrison is present in King's Landing without any other units, Lannister is still considered to control King's Landing (that is, the Lannister player does not have to establish control of King's Landing if he moves all his units out of the area).

Leaders

This expansion includes two Leader tokens for each of the six major houses as well as three Ally Leader tokens. See the "Leader Token Overview" diagram for a full breakdown of the Leader tokens. Leader tokens represent certain powerful characters from each house. Leaders provide extra strength to the army they are with and may also act as a March order under certain conditions. However, if a Leader finds himself on the losing side of a battle, he may be taken as a hostage.

The following special rules govern Leaders:

Leaders are not considered Units and do not count towards a house's supply limit. Unlike Garrisons, however, Leaders may move and they always add their strength to the army they are with, even when attacking Neutral Force tokens or supporting.
A Leader may move when the army he is with marches or retreats, as if the Leader were a unit. Leaders are never routed.
A Leader may never be left in an area without any units present. A Leader may not be left alone with just a Garrison. Should a Leader be unable to retreat from a battle to an area containing units of his house, then the Leader is taken hostage by the opponent in the battle.

Leader Token Overview

Normal Strength. When faceup, Leaders add their normal strength to the army they are with.
Trigger Icon. When an order matching the trigger icon is placed in the same area as the Leader, that order is considered a trigger order and may be used to flip the Leader to its facedown side.
Marching Strength. When facedown, Leaders add their marching strength to the army they are with.
March Order. A facedown Leader may act as a March order. See page 7 for details.
Ability Icons. Two kinds of icons may be pictured here, indicating that the Leader grants a special ability when triggered:
- Sword Icon: Gain a Sword Icon when present during battle.
- Power Token Icon: Gain the pictured number of Power tokens immediately after triggering the Leader (before – and regardless of whether – units are moved or a battle occurs). Note that the Ally Leaders Littlefinger, Black Walder, and Thoros of Myr have their own house crests printed on the Power Token Icon, but players controlling them should take power from their own Power Pools.

Using a Leader's March Order

In this example, the Leaders Robb Stark and Black Walder are in the Twins with 1 Footman. There is also a Stark Footman in Greywater Watch, and a Greyjoy Footman in Seagard.

During the planning phase, the Stark player placed a Raid order at the Twins. Notice that Robb Stark's "trigger" is a Raid order.

When it is his turn to resolve a Raid order during the action phase, the Stark player chooses to use the Raid order in the Twins to trigger (flip over) Robb Stark. He then has the option of immediately using the March order printed on the Robb Stark Leader token. He marches Robb Stark and the 1 Footman to Seagard, thus starting a battle. Note that because the Stark player is using Robb Stark's March order to attack, Robb must move with the attacking units.

The Stark player also chooses to march Black Walder to Greywater Watch. This is legal because Black Walder is ending his movement in an area with Stark units. The Stark player could also have chosen to bring Black Walder to the battle in Seagard, but he could not have left Black Walder in the Twins without any Stark units or moved him to Fairmarket.

Triggering a Leader

When an order matching the trigger icon on a Leader is placed in the same area as that Leader during the planning phase, it is considered a trigger order. During the action phase, a player may either execute a trigger order normally or discard the trigger order to trigger the Leader. When a Leader is triggered, immediately flip the Leader token facedown.

Example: Jaime Lannister is present in Tumbleton with 2 Footmen. Jaime's trigger icon is the Raid icon. During the planning phase, the Lannister player places a Raid order in Tumbleton. The Raid order is a trigger order for Jaime. When resolving Raid orders during the action phase, the Lannister player may choose not to resolve this Raid order normally and instead discard it in order to flip Jaime Lannister facedown.

On the facedown side of every Leader is a March order icon, which may executed as if it were a (+0) March order. If a player wishes to execute the March order on the facedown side of a Leader, he must do so immediately after the leader is flipped facedown. This means that some Leaders (those with the Raid or Consolidate Power icons as their trigger icons) will execute their March orders earlier or later in the action phase than normal.

Example: Jaime Lannister is in Tumbleton with 2 Footmen, and the Lannister player has discarded a Raid order in Tumbleton in order to flip Jaime Lannister facedown. If the Lannister player wishes to use Jaime Lannister's March order, he must do so immediately after flipping him. The Lannister player chooses to execute Jaime's March order, moving Jaime and 1 Footman to the Roseroad. There are no enemy units or Neutral Force tokens on the Roseroad, so there is no battle and Jaime is flipped faceup after being moved. By triggering Jaime's March order with a Raid order rather than placing a normal March order in Jaime's area, the Lannister player was able to march much earlier in the action phase.

Note: In the original game, routed units are returned to their normal upright position after the "resolve March orders" step. When playing with Leaders, however, routed units do not recover until the end of the action phase (as per the revised game turn sequence on page 4).

When the March order on the facedown side of a Leader is executed, the Leader may move with any of the moving units, or stay with any units that do not move. However, if any units move into an area containing units of another house (thus starting a battle) or a Neutral Force token, the Leader must move with the attacking units. (Note that Leaders moving via a normal March order or another Leader's March order are not required to move with the attacking force.) Finally, a Leader may also move by itself, but only if it ends its movement in an area with other units of its house.

Once the Leader's March order, including any resulting battle, is fully resolved, the Leader is immediately flipped back to its faceup side.

Many Leader tokens have different strengths printed on their faceup and facedown sides. Leaders add whichever strength value is currently showing to the army they are with. Because of the rules governing how Leaders are flipped, a Leader should always be faceup unless its March order is currently being resolved. Thus, a Leader can only use its facedown strength value when attacking via the Leader's own March order. Conversely, a Leader can only use its faceup strength value when defending, supporting, or marching via a normal (or another Leader's) March order.

Finally, Leaders have ability icons on their facedown sides, which are described in the Leader Token Overview on page 6. Players may examine the strength and icons on either side of any Leader token (their own or opponents') at any time.

Ally Leaders Switching Sides

If an Ally Leader is "taken hostage," the Leader is not placed in a holding cell, but rather simply joins the winner's side: The winner immediately takes the appropriate Ally Leadership card from the loser and places it in front of him, and the Leader token remains in the area with the victorious army.

Note: Causing an Ally Leader to switch sides in this manner is the only way to end a player's permanent alliance (see page 6) with Houses Arryn, Frey, or Tyrell. Any player may then draw cards from that Ally deck, possibly establishing another "permanent" alliance.

Rescuing and Stealing Hostages

A hostage may be rescued or stolen from a holding cell by an player who has played the Secure Hostages Tactics Card. When a player who has played Secure Hostages successfully attacks an opponent, he may take one hostage of his choice from the loser's holding cell. If the hostage belongs to the attacker's house, he is rescued and the attacker immediately places the Leader in the area of the battle. If the hostage belongs to a different house, the attacker places the hostage in his holding cell.

Hostage Negotiations

Immediately after receiving power from a Consolidate Power order, a player may choose to initiate hostage negotiations in that area. The player initiating negotiations can ask any player to release one or both Leaders belonging to the initiator's house. In exchange, the initiator can offer any amount of his available power and/or any hostages he currently has.

If the opponent agrees, then negotiations are successful: The initiator discards the agreed-upon amount of Power tokens to his Power Pool, the opponent takes the agreed-upon Power from his or her Power Pool, and the relevant Leaders are exchanged.

The player who initiated negotiations must place the Leader(s) he receives in the area where he initiated negotiations.

If the other player receives a Leader belonging to his house, he may place it at any City or Stronghold he controls. (In the unlikely event that the player does not control a City or Stronghold, he may place the Leader in any area he controls.) If the other player receives a Leader not of his house, that Leader must be placed in his holding cell.

If the opponent does not accept the negotiating player's offer, no hostages are released.

Example: Eddard Stark is being held hostage by House Lannister, and Balon Greyjoy is being held hostage by House Stark. During the planning phase, the Stark player assigns a Consolidate Power order to a Footman in Greywater Watch. After resolving this Consolidate Power order in the action phase, the Stark player declares that he will initiate hostage negotiations with the Lannister player. The Stark player offers the Lannister player 4 power and Balon Greyjoy in exchange for Eddard Stark. The Lannister player accepts the offer. The Stark player discards 4 Power to his Power Pool, and the Lannister player moves 4 Power tokens from his Power Pool to his available power. The Stark player receives Eddard Stark, and must place him in Greywater Watch, since that is where the hostage negotiations took place. Balon Greyjoy does not belong to House Lannister, so the Lannister player must place Balon in the Lannister holding cell.

Leaders as Hostages

When an army with one or more Leaders loses a battle, its Leaders may be taken hostage according to the rules below.

First, during a battle where the loser is forced to take casualties, the winner may choose to have the loser remove one fewer unit from the board in order to take one opposing Leader (that is present at the battle) of the winner's choice hostage. (The number of casualties inflicted is defined as the attacker's Sword Icons minus the loser's Fortification Icons.) Only one hostage may be taken per battle through the reduction of casualties.

Second, the winner takes as hostages Leaders who are unable to retreat. Leaders follow all the normal retreat rules, except that they are never routed, do not count against Supply limits, and may not retreat to an empty area unless at least one losing unit accompanies them. If multiple Leaders belonging to the loser are unable to retreat, the winner takes all of them hostage.

If the hostage belongs to the opponent's house, it is immediately placed in the winner's holding cell and remains there until rescued, stolen, traded through negotiations, or executed.

Executing Hostages

When the Swing the Sword Westeros Card is resolved, each player (in turn order) may execute one hostage in his or her holding cell. The Leader token and the House Card corresponding to that Leader are permanently removed from the game.

Example: Lannister is the only player with a hostage (Eddard Stark), and Swing the Sword is drawn during the Westeros phase. The Lannister player decides to execute Eddard. The Eddard Stark Leader token and the Eddard Stark House Card are both removed from the game. The Stark player will have one fewer House Card for the remainder of the game.

Winning the Game

If, at any time during the game, a player has 8 Claim over Westeros, the game is immediately over and that player is declared the winner.

If no player has gained 8 Claim by the end of Turn 10, the player with the most Claim is the winner. If two or more players are tied for the most Claim, then the player who controls the most Cities and Strongholds is the winner. If there is still a tie, then the player with the highest placement on the Supply track wins the game. If there is also a tie for highest supply, then the player with the most available power wins the game. If there is still a tie, then the game ends in a draw.

Three-Player Game

The STORM OF SWORDS board was designed with four players in mind. However, if you would like to play with three players, use the following changes:

House Greyjoy is unavailable to players during the game. The starting units for Greyjoy are set up as normal on the board, along with 1 additional Footman in each area Greyjoy controls. These units act as neutral forces (like those at Harrenhal, Riverrun, and Silverhall). Do not place Greyjoy tokens on the Influence or Supply tracks. The other house's starting positions on the Influence tracks are moved up to fill in spaces left by the absence of Greyjoy. This means that House Stark starts on top of the Fiefdoms track and gains the Valyrian Steel Blade.
No player may enter the areas of Pyke or Flint's Finger for the entire game (not even through the use of the Mercenary Transport card).

Playing on the Original A Game of Thrones Board

Many of the new rules and components are compatible with the original A GAME OF THRONES board game. Below, you will find five options describing in detail how you can use these new options in the base A GAME OF THRONES board game.

Option 1: The New House Cards

The new set of House Cards completely replaces the House Cards provided in the original game and gives players seven entirely new cards for their House. These new cards have new text abilities and a higher variance in combat strength than the base game (but a lower variance than the House Card set in the CLASH OF KINGS expansion).

It is important that you do not mix the card sets (the original, the Clash of Kings set, and the new Storm of Swords set) and that all players play with the House Cards from the same set.

Option 2: The New Westeros Decks

Players can play on the original A GAME OF THRONES board with the STORM OF SWORDS Westeros Decks. The new set of cards completely replaces the Westeros Decks provided in the original game. If you play with the STORM OF SWORDS Westeros Decks, use the new (blue) Westeros Decks I and II, as well as the Westeros Deck III with the throne symbol on it. Do not use the Westeros Deck III with the Storm of Swords seal.

Use the new Westeros Decks exactly like the Westeros Decks from the original game. As with the House Cards, players should use all the Westeros Cards from the same set (either the original A GAME OF THRONES Westeros Cards or the new STORM OF SWORDS Westeros Cards). The decks should not be intermixed.

Option 3: Tactics Cards

Players can play on the original A GAME OF THRONES board with the Tactics Cards included in this expansion. Simply remove all the Tactics Cards with Storm of Swords seal and add in the cards with the throne symbol. The resulting sets of Tactics Cards (6 per player) are used exactly the same way as in the STORM OF SWORDS expansion, as described on page 4.

Option 4: Leaders and Holding Cells

If players want to use the Leaders and holding cells with the base A GAME OF THRONES game, use the rules on pages 6-8, with the following modifications:

Both of a house's Leaders start on the board in the house's starting area.
Use the replacement neutral force tokens for the Eyrie, King's Landing, and Sunspear. These tokens each have 1 higher strength than the original tokens, to help offset the extra strength provided by Leaders.
The STORM OF SWORDS House Cards (option 1) must be used when playing with Leaders, for proper game balance.
The STORM OF SWORDS Westeros Decks (option 2) must be used when playing with Leaders. (If the original Westeros Decks are used, hostages can never be executed.)
If all the units with a Leader are removed from the board because of Wildling attack, the Leader is destroyed (treat him as if he had been executed).

Option 5: The Wildling Cards

This expansion includes five Wildling Cards, which may be used with the original A GAME OF THRONES board to vary the effects of the Wildling Attack Westeros Card. To use the Wildling Cards, simply shuffle them and place them facedown near the Westeros Cards during setup. During the Westeros Phase, if the Wildling Attack Westeros Card is revealed, then also reveal the top Wildling Card. The effects listed on the Wildling Card replace the normal effects of a Wildling Attack.

Example: At the start of the Westeros Phase in a 5-player game, the Wildling Threat is at 5. "Last Days of Summer" is revealed from deck I, "Clash of Kings" is revealed from deck II, and "Wildling Attack" is revealed from deck III. Because Wildling Attack was revealed, the top Wildling Card is also revealed. It says:

WILDLING VICTORY Lowest Bidder: Discard your strongest House Card (if you have more than 1). Everyone Else: Randomly discard 1 House Card (if you have more than 1).

NIGHT'S WATCH VICTORY Highest Bidder: Nothing happens.

The players then resolve the Westeros Cards in order, as normal. "Last Days of Summer" has a Wildling symbol on it, so the Wildling Threat is moved up to 6. Then players bid on the Influence tracks for "Clash of Kings." Then players bid power to repel the Wildling Attack. Houses Baratheon, Greyjoy, Stark, and Tyrell bid 1 power each, while House Lannister bids nothing. It is a Wildling victory. The Lannister player was the lowest bidder, so he must discard his highest-strength House Card. The other players must each randomly discard a House Card. The Wildling Threat is returned to 0, and the revealed Westeros Cards and the revealed Wildling Card are placed facedown at the bottom of their respective decks.

Using A Storm of Swords and A Clash of Kings Together

When playing on the original game board, most of the STORM OF SWORDS options listed here may be used with any or all of the CLASH OF KINGS options. Just note that:

The Leaders option should not be used with the unique one-time orders.
The common one-time orders may not be used to trigger Leaders, and the Forced March one-time order may not be played in the same planning phase as the Manage Troops Tactics Card.
Players may not use Consolidate Power orders in Ports to initiate hostage negotiations.

When playing on the STORM OF SWORDS board, the following elements from A CLASH OF KINGS may be used:

Fortifications (A Fortification is not considered abandoned if a Garrison is in the area.)
Siege Engines (Siege Engines have 0 strength against Towns.)
The Common One-Time Orders
The Clash of Kings Westeros Phase Variant
The Clash of Kings Battle Variant

The following options from A CLASH OF KINGS are incompatible with the STORM Of SWORDS board:

House Martell
The Clash of Kings House Cards
Ports
The Unique One-Time Orders

Storm of Swords-Only Components

The following components are not compatible with the original A GAME OF THRONES board and should only be used with the STORM OF SWORDS expansion board:

Garrisons
The Ally Cards
The Storm of Swords–only Westeros Deck III (marked with the Storm of Swords seal)
The Storm of Swords–only Tactics Cards (the 4 cards marked with the Storm of Swords seal)

The Tactics Cards in Detail

There are six Tactics Cards that are common to all the houses, all of which have multiple effects, described below.

Careful Planning

Immediate: You may choose to either gain 2 Power or to spend 2 Power to choose another Tactics Card. You use the new Tactics Card in addition to Careful Planning.

Ongoing: You may use one additional special order (marked with a star) this turn.

Control Westeros

Ongoing: You gain an additional 2 strength to March orders against Cities or Strongholds.

Ongoing: You gain +1 to all of your bids during the next Westeros phase (the bids triggered by Clash of Kings, Claim Westeros, or Wildling Attack).

Forge Alliances

Forge Alliances is used only when playing on the STORM OF SWORDS board, and is marked with the Storm of Swords seal to show this.

Immediate: You may spend 2 power to draw an Ally Card. You may draw the top card (which may be either faceup or facedown) from any of the four Ally Decks.

Ongoing: Any time a Support order belonging to you is raided, you may spend 2 Power to replace it with a Support -1 order. Your opponent may not use the Raid +1 order to remove both your original Support order and the Support -1 order that replaces it.

Hold Territory

Ongoing: You gain one Fortification Icon in battles where you have a Defense order present.

Ongoing: You gain 1 additional strength when defending in battle or 2 additional strength when defending a City or Stronghold.

Manage Troops

Immediate: You may move one or more units and Leaders from one area you control into an adjacent area you also control. If this leaves an area without any units, any orders assigned there are discarded. You may use Ship transport and movement arrows in conjunction with this ability.

Ongoing: After marching into an area that is not controlled by an opponent or a neutral force, you may immediately march into an adjacent area (or one connected by a movement arrow) that also is not controlled by an opponent or a neutral force. You may use Ship transport and movement arrows in conjunction with this ability. You may establish control of the first area you leave and the area you move through, and/or leave units behind in either area. This card then discarded and may be used again on a future turn.

Secure Hostages

Immediate: You may steal 2 Power for each hostage you hold from those hostages' owners. (If you hold both of another player's Leaders hostage, you steal 4 Power from that player.) The victim discards 2 or 4 his available power into the Power Pool (if able), and you take the number he discarded from your Power Pool.

Ongoing: When you attack an opponent and win, you may release one Leader from the loser's holding cell. If the Leader belongs to you, it is placed in the area of the battle. If the Leader belongs to another player, it is placed in your holding cell.

Ongoing: When you execute a hostage (see "Swing the Sword," page 12), you may choose to switch places with the hostage's owner on any one Influence track. If this switch results in you taking the first position on an Influence track, you take the appropriate Influence token (the Iron Throne, the Valyrian Steel Blade, or the Messenger Raven).

Example: The Lannister player played the Secure Hostages Tactics Card on the previous turn, and now the Swing the Sword Westeros Card is drawn. Lannister decides to execute Eddard Stark, whom Lannister had previously taken hostage. The Eddard Stark Leader token and House Card are removed from the game. Stark is first on the Fiefdoms track. The Lannister player chooses to switch positions with Stark on the Fiefdoms track, and takes the Valyrian Steel Blade from the Stark player.

Support Allies

Support Allies is used only when playing on the original A GAME OF THRONES board, and is marked with the throne symbol to show this.

Ongoing: When another player calls for support in a battle, you may give him +1 strength as if you were supporting him, regardless of whether you have units adjacent to the battle or not. This strength is added in the same fashion as if the army were being supported, and use of this card counts as a Support order for various other card effects.

Example: You are playing House Tyrell, and in the planning phase you select Support Allies as your Tactics Card. During the action phase, House Lannister attacks House Greyjoy. When House Greyjoy calls for support, you choose to provide him with +1 strength. The Greyjoy player plays the "Asha Greyjoy" House Card during the battle, which states: "If you are being supported in this battle, gain two Sword Icons." Because you supported him, the Greyjoy player receives the two sword icons.

House-Specific Tactics Cards

There are four unique Tactics Cards, one for each House, that are used only in the STORM OF SWORDS game (Hear Me Roar!, Ours is the Fury, We Do Not Sow, and Winter is Coming). Each of these cards allows a player to gain one Claim if he fulfills the objective specified on it. Should a player fulfill the objective, then at the end of the turn he gains one Claim and the Tactics Card is removed from the game. The Claim for any fulfilled objectives is awarded in turn order, after all players have consolidated power. After any player completes his house-specific objective, that Tactics Card is removed from the game.

The Ally Cards in Detail

Detailed explanations for all of the Ally Cards are listed below. Some cards abilities are resolved immediately after the card is drawn or stolen by you, while others provide ongoing effects that last until the card is stolen from you or discarded. When any Ally card is discarded, it is placed at the bottom of the appropriate Ally Deck.

There are three types of cards that are common to all four Ally Decks:

Army

Immediate: The player gains the Ally (green) units specified and must place them immediately. Ally units must be placed in an area (or areas) with units of the player's house. If the player cannot place one or more Ally units because of this restrictions or because of Supply limits, he does not receive the unit(s), but he keeps the Army card in front of him.

Ongoing: The Sellsword Army card (Mercenaries and Outlaws deck) also has an extra ongoing effect: Your opponents may not gain power from Consolidate Power orders in areas that are adjacent to your Ally units. Opponents may still place Consolidate Power orders adjacent to your Ally units, and may gain power from them if your Ally units are not longer adjacent to the order when it is resolved. Also, opponents may still use Consolidate Power for other purposes, such as triggering Leaders and initiating hostage negotiations.

Example: John has the Arryn Leadership card (which gives him Littlefinger), the Tyrell Army card (which grants 1 Knight and 1 Footman) and the Arryn Army card (which grants 2 Footmen). John currently has 1 Ally (green) Knight and 2 Ally Footmen on the board. (One of John's Ally Footmen was taken as a casualty last turn.) Dan uses Arryn Plots to steal a random Arryn Ally Card from John. John shuffles his Arryn Leadership and his Arryn Army cards, and Dan randomly draws the Arryn Army card. John must remove 1 of his Ally Footmen from the board. Dan then places the Arryn Army card in front of him, and places 2 Ally Footmen according to the rules for Army cards.

Leadership

Immediate: The player immediately gains the specified Leader token and places it, faceup, in any area in which he has units.

Military Support

Ongoing: During the "Call for Support" step of a battle in which the player is the attacker or the defender, he may use the card's ability to add the specified amount of strength to his army. This strength is added in the same fashion as if the army were being supported, and use of this card counts as a Support order for various other card effects.

Example: The "Catelyn Stark" House Card's special ability is "If you are being supported in this battle, gain +2 combat strength and one Fortification Icon." If the Stark player used the Arryn Military Support card during the "Call for Support" step and played Catelyn Stark as his House Card, he would gain the +2 combat strength and fortification icon from Catelyn Stark.

Note that the Outlaw Military Support card requires the player to discard the card in order to gain its ability, while the House Arryn, Frey, and Tyrell Military Support cards require the player to spend Power in order to use them, and may only be used once per turn.

The following cards appear only in certain decks:

Plots

Plot cards appear in the Arryn, Frey, and Tyrell decks.

Immediate: When acquired, the player immediately chooses either to gain 4 Power or to spend 1 Power to steal a random Ally Card of the specified type from a single player. Then the player discards this card.

If a Leadership card is stolen, the player stealing the Leadership card immediately takes the Leader token and places it in an area with his own units.

If an Army card is stolen, the victim must immediately remove any Ally units in excess of the amount allowed on his remaining Ally Cards. The player acquiring this card then places the specified Ally units according to the normal rules.

Political Support

Political Support cards appear in the Arryn, Frey, and Tyrell decks.

Immediate: If the player's total Claim is 5 or less when this card is acquired, the player immediately gains 1 Claim (placed on the Claim over Westeros track).

Ongoing: The player gains +1 to Claim Westeros bids for each Political Support card he controls.

The following cards are unique:

Arryn Lookout

Ongoing: During the "Call for Support" step of a battle, the player with this card may discard this card to immediately raid a Support order of his opponent. The player with this card must be the attacker or defender in the battle, and the raided Support order must be belong to the player's opponent in the battle and be in an area adjacent to the battle.

Filthy Accusations (Mercenaries and Outlaws deck)

Immediate: When acquired, the player may remove one Claim belonging to any player from the Claim over Westeros track. Shift the remaining Claim on the track down to fill the vacant space as necessary. Then the player discards this card.

Frey Galleys

Ongoing: The player controlling the Frey Transport card may move units across the river at any point when marching or retreating, even if there is no bridge or ford there or the ford is closed. The player may not support or raid across the river unless he does so through a bridge or an open ford.

Mercenary Raiders

Ongoing: When resolving a Raid order, the player with this card may discard this card to raid an area that is two areas away (resolve the raid as if it were in an adjacent area) or to raid across a movement arrow. The player may not raid across a house-specific movement arrow unless he is able to march and retreat across the arrow.

Because this card is discarded when used, a player cannot benefit twice from this card when executing the Raid +1 order.

Mercenary Transport

Ongoing: The player controlling the Mercenary Transport card may treat any ford as if were open regardless of the weather (he can always march, retreat, support, and raid across fords).

Ongoing: The player may march or retreat across the house-specific movement arrows.

Tyrell Supplies

Immediate: When acquired, the player moves his Supply marker up one space on the Supply track.

Ongoing: As long as he has this card, he is considered to have one extra Barrel icon when the "Supply" Westeros Card is resolved.

The New Westeros Cards in Detail

There are six new Westeros Cards in the STORM OF SWORDS Westeros Decks. Each of the new cards is described in detail below.

Choice Cards

Three Westeros Cards – "A Throne of Blades," "Dark Wings, Dark Words," and "Punish the Guilty" – allow one player to choose what the card's effect will be. When one of these cards is resolved, the player controlling the named Influence token (Iron Throne, Valyrian Steel Blade, or Messenger Raven) chooses one of the available card effects to resolve. The effect is then carried exactly the same as if the drawn Westeros card had the chosen card's text.

Example: The "A Throne of Blades" Westeros Card is about to be resolved. The player controlling the Iron Throne may decide whether the card's effect is Mustering, Supply, or nothing at all. He decides that it shall be Supply, so players now re-adjust their Supply tracks as if the Supply Westeros Card were being resolved.

Note that only the Weather and Wildling symbols on the drawn card are resolved.

Example: When playing on the STORM OF SWORDS board, the Punish the Guilty Westeros Card, which has no Weather symbol on it, is drawn from deck III. The holder of the Valyrian Steel Blade chooses whether the card's effect is Claim Westeros, Swing the Sword, or nothing at all. The holder of the Valyrian Steel Blade chooses Claim Westeros. Only the text effect of the Claim Westeros card (as described below) is resolved – the fact that the actual Claim Westeros card has a Weather symbol on it has no effect on the game.

Swing the Sword

Each player (in turn order) may execute one hostage he controls. When a hostage is executed, two things happen: 1) The Leader token is removed from the game, and 2) The House Card or Ally Card corresponding to that Leader is also removed from the game.

Players may also receive certain benefits from executing a hostage if they have "Secure Hostages" Tactics Card in play (see page 10).

Ignore this "execute hostages" effect if you are playing without Leaders on the original A GAME OF THRONES board.

In addition, players may not assign March +1 orders during the next planning phase.

Hidden Schemes (found only in the Storm of Swords deck III)

Players may not select Forge Alliances as their Tactics Card during this planning phase. In addition, shuffle all the Ally decks, then flip the topmost card in each deck faceup.

Claim Westeros (found only in the Storm of Swords deck III)

When the Claim Westeros card is resolved, the four player houses rally to claim control of Westeros. There is a secret bid, and the winner gains 1 Claim on the Claim over Westeros track. The Claim Westeros card is resolved in the following way:

Players announce their available power as well as any bonuses they may have to this bid (such as those from the Control Westeros Tactics Card or certain Ally Cards).
Players hide their available power, and secretly place a number of Power tokens in their palm, making a fist.
Players simultaneously reveal their bids and add any bonuses.
The highest bidder immediately gains 1 Claim, placing a Power token on the Claim over Westeros track.
The lowest bidder may not play a Tactics Card during the next planning phase.
All Power tokens bid are discarded into the Power Pool.

Regaining Used House Cards

With the STORM OF SWORDS expansion, it is now possible for players to lose House Cards in a variety of ways (hostage execution, Wildling attack, etc.). Whenever a player discards his last House Card, he takes all his previously used House Cards back into his hand (except for House Cards corresponding to executed Leaders, which are permanently removed from the game).