Agamemnon
Agamemnon Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- Double-sided Board
- 2 player aids
- 2 sets of 15 Playing Tiles
- 3 sets of 20 String Tiles
- 4 Loom Tiles (used only in the Loom variant)
Setup
New players should put the Loom Tiles aside, and use the front of the Board. Place a String Tile between the empty spaces on each matching area on the Board. Each player should take a set of Playing Tiles, turning them all face down and mixing them randomly.
The Playing Tiles are different colours, but are otherwise identical. Each set consists of six Warriors of different strengths, five Leaders of different rank (also with varying strength), and four Weavers (two Warp, and two Weft).
Strings of Fate
Each space on the board is connected to the other spaces by multiple Strings of Fate. A line of connected Strings of the same type forms a path which will be controlled by one of the players at the end of the game. Control of the Strings is decided by the Playing Tiles in their connected spaces.
Most spaces are connected to multiple Strings. The different types of String are influenced by different outcomes.
- Strength Strings are won by the player with Playing Tiles of the highest combined strength. Strength is measured by the number of spears on each Tile.
- Leadership Strings are won by the player with the single Playing Tile of the highest rank. Rank is measured by the letter on a Leader Tile.
- Force Strings are won by the player with the most connected Playing Tiles of any type.
Each String type forms a path which will be scored at the end of the game. The spear on this Playing Tile will count towards the Strength String, and the Playing Tile itself will count towards the Force String. The letter on the Tile will not matter, as it is not connected to a Leadership String.
The Greek (black) player is currently in control of this Leadership String, as he has the Playing Tile of the highest rank.
Playing Tiles
Warriors
Warrior Tiles have a number of spears between 1 and 3, which represent the strength of that Tile.
Leaders
Leader Tiles have a number of spears representing their strength, but also a letter representing their rank. A is the highest rank, and E is the lowest.
Weavers
Weavers are Tiles which affect the Strings around them. The Weavers do not contribute strength or rank but they do count as a Tile for every other purpose. There are two types of Weaver: Warp and Weft.
If players reveal a Weaver during their first two turns, they may replace them with another Tile. If so, players should flip them face down again, and shuffle their Tiles.
Warp
When a player plays a Warp Tile on a space, they may swap two String Tiles connected to that space. This can cause a String to split in two, two Strings to be combined, or the connections of a String to shift.
Weft
When a player plays a Weft Tile on a space, it splits all connected Strings at that point. All connected Strings now start and end at that point, and the Weft Tile is connected to each of those Strings separately.
Turns
The starting player flips one Playing Tile face up and places it on an available space on the board, ending their turn. Every turn thereafter, players flip two Playing Tiles face up and can place them in an available space in any order. On the final turn of the game, a single Playing Tile is played in one of the three available spaces.
Each Tile is then connected to the Strings around that space, and will be used to decide who collects those Strings at the end of the game.
Two spaces will remain empty on the board at the end of the game. These spaces will split a String the same way a Weft Tile does.
The Trojan (orange) player can use their Weft Tile to split the String into two Strings, each one String Tile in length. The Greek player controls the left String, while the Trojan player controls the right String.
The Trojan player could also use their Warp Tile to redirect the String. They gain control of the entire String for now.
Ending the Game
The game ends as soon as the last Playing Tile has been laid. Each String of Fate is now decided individually. A String is any connected path of the same String Tile, remembering that Strings are split by Weft Tiles and empty spaces. In each case, count only the Tiles connected to that Thread. Whichever player controls a String takes all of those String Tiles into their score pile, but leaves the Playing Tiles in place.
We suggest scoring one String type at a time to simplify this process.
- Strength Strings are controlled by the player with the highest total number of spears.
- Force Strings are controlled by the player with the most Playing Tiles (including Weavers).
- Leadership Strings are controlled by the player with the highest-ranked Playing Tile. If there is a tie for highest rank look at the next highest-ranked Tile, and so on.
If there is ever a tie for control neither player gets those Strings, and they are put to one side.
Once all the Threads have been scored, the player with the most Strings of Fate wins.
Variants
Here are two variants for the game, which may be used separately or combined as you see fit.
The Loom
The back of the board is the Loom, where over twenty different paths for Fate can be woven. Each Loom Tile corresponds to a different type of symbol on the Loom board. At the start of the game players should shuffle the Loom Tiles and turn three face-up, one at a time.
Strength String Tiles should be placed on the board areas which match the first Loom Tile, Force String Tiles placed on the areas which match the second Loom Tile, and Leadership String Tiles on the third. Each alternative layout will give a balanced board for a new game of Agamemnon.
Each layout will contain one space which is unconnected to the others by any Strings. This space is not part of the game, and should be ignored by the players.
In this variant, Warp Tiles may be used to swap a connected String Tile with an empty connection from the fourth Loom Tile.
The Oracle
At the start of the game, each player should separate their Playing Tiles into three piles – Leaders, Weavers and Warriors. Each pile is turned face-down and shuffled separately, to form three draw stacks.
On their turn, players can choose which piles to draw from, taking one or both Playing Tiles from any of the stacks. Players may not look at either Tile until both have been drawn.
Defy the Gods
Players can agree to play the game with all Playing Tiles face up, allowing both players to choose which Tiles they wish to use on their turn. This makes the game quite tricky but we do not recommend it, as it slows play significantly.
That said, this is your game! Play it as you see fit.
Leaders of the Iliad
Greeks
Agamemnon
High King, and leader of the Greek forces. Not a well-liked leader, he took the flight of Helen as an opportunity to strengthen his control over the Greeks. Calling together all the noble houses to go to war, he sacrificed his own daughter to ensure safe passage across the sea. This act of cruelty cost him the loyalty of Achilles, and almost cost him the war.
Odysseus
The most cunning of the Greek leaders, and the one whom Agamemnon felt was a challenge to his authority. Odysseus initially tried to avoid his obligation to go to war, having heard a prophecy that he would not return for decades. It was Odysseus who designed the Trojan Horse that finally ended the war.
Achilles
The greatest warrior since Heracles, Achilles was rumoured to be impervious to harm in battle. His fabled weakness was his heel, but his true weakness was his temper. Achilles refused to fight for a time, after suffering too many slights to his honour from Agamemnon. His fury turned the tide of battle when he re-entered the fray after the death of his companion Patroclus.
Ajax
A huge man, the strongest of all the Greeks, and the only fighter besides Achilles to defeat Hector in battle. Ajax often fought alongside his brother Teucer, protecting them both with his giant shield and spear while Teucer picked off Trojans with his bow.
Menelaus
Husband to Helen and brother to Agamemnon. When Paris eloped with his wife, Menelaus went straight to his brother, demanding that his honour be restored.
Trojans
Aeneas
A cousin of Priam, ruler of Troy, Aeneas led a force of Troy's allies from the beginning of the war to its end. The son of the goddess Aphrodite, Aeneas was one of the few to escape Troy when it was destroyed, and led a group of refugees to Italian shores where they founded Rome.
Memnon
King of the Ethiopians. He came to Troy's aid late in the war, leading the combined armies of Troy and Ethiopia in a new onslaught against the Greeks.
Hector
The eldest son of Priam and heir to Troy. Hector took up arms to defend his wife and child against the invaders from across the sea. Time and again he brings the fight to the Greeks, at one point almost destroying their fleet and ending the war. Hector killed Patroclus, thinking he was defeating Achilles. In the aftermath he sought out the furious Achilles to take him head on, despite knowing that it was a fight he could not win.
Penthesilea
Queen of the Amazons of Scythia. Penthesilea lead an elite band of warrior women to Troy's aid after the death of Hector. Penthesilea was the only warrior to fight on horseback, rather than in a horse-drawn chariot, during the war.
Paris
Brother of Hector, and prophesied to bring about the downfall of Troy. This eventually came to pass when Paris took Helen as a reward from the gods, despite her marriage to Menelaus. Though often cowardly, refusing to face Menelaus in combat to end the war, he is rallied by Hector's bravery. It is his arrow that eventually fells Achilles.
Credits
Game Design by Günter Cornett Graphic Design by Steven Meyer-Rassow Illustrated by José Daniel Cabrera Peña & Rocío Espín Piñar
Osprey Games, part of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc PO Box 883, Oxford, OX1 9PL, UK
This edition © 2016 Osprey Publishing Ltd. All Rights Reserved.