Battle for Sularia
Battle for Sularia Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1. Card Types
A. Combatants
i. A combatant card may be deployed during your combatant phase and requires Sularium to deploy.
ii. You may deploy one or more combatants during your combatant phase with Sularium costs equal to or less than your current Sularium pool.
iii. Each Combatant played from either the player's hand or influence row places a deploy effect on the command chain.
iv. Each combatant must resolve before additional combatants may be placed on the command chain. Combatant cards are deployed activated (rotated 90°) and cannot take any action, such as attack or defend a site, on the turn they come into play.
v. Combatants may have continuous modifiers, trigger effects, or other Abilities that will affect other objects in play.
vi. Combatants are used to primarily to attack sites your opponent controls.
vii. Combatants have their own ATK and DEF values.
viii. ATK value is the amount of damage a combatant deals when it attacks or defends.
ix. DEF value is the amount of damage a combatant can take before the combatant is placed in the damaged pile. (See Damage Pile.)
x. Combatants may also used to defend a site that is under attack from an opponent.
xi. ATK/DEF values that are modified during the current turn are reset back to the printed amount during the end phase of the current turn.
xii. Each combatant has a Type N This number N represents the maximum number allowed on the Battlefield at any one time.
a. If a Combatant Type N would reach its maximum allowed on the Battlefield and another combatant of the same name would be deployed, place the existing Type N combatant into the damage pile, and resolve the new Type N combatant to the Battlefield as normal.
B. Anatomy of a Combatant Card
The source shows an annotated combatant card diagram here. The diagram has no text layer and is not transcribed.
C. Sites
i. A Site card is played during your site phase and requires influence to establish.
ii. You may establish one or more sites during your site phase with influence costs equal to or less than your influence pool.
iii. Each site played from either the player's hand or influence row places an establish effect on the command chain.
iv. Each site must resolve before additional sites may be placed on the command chain.
v. This is an action that players may respond to.
vi. Sites come into play reset and abilities on sites may be used immediately.
vii. Sites will also generate Sularium points.
viii. Sularium points are added during the Sularium phase and the total Sularium points are called Sularium generation.
ix. Sites may be attacked by combatants and all sites have their own Attack (ATK) and Defense (DEF) Values.
x. ATK value is the amount of damage a site returns to a combatant when it is attacked by a combatant.
xi. DEF value is the amount of damage a site can take before the site is placed in the damage pile.
xii. ATK/DEF values that are modified during combat are reset back to the printed amount during the end phase of the current turn.
xiii. Each site has a Type N This number N represents the maximum number allowed on the Battlefield at any one time.
a. If a Site Type N would reach its maximum allowed on the Battlefield and another site of the same name would be established, place the existing Type N site into the damage pile, and resolve the new Type N site to the Battlefield as normal.
b. The player controlling the Site Type N would lose Health equal to the site's influence cost.
D. Anatomy of a Site Card
The source shows an annotated site card diagram here. The diagram has no text layer and is not transcribed.
E. Tactic/Conditions
i. A Tactic card is a card that may be played instantly from either your influence row or your hand.
ii. A tactic card is played in the command chain zone and the effects of tactic cards are resolved in the order of "Last In First Out." Typically tactic cards are played in response to some other event in the game.
iii. Tactic cards may only be played if they have valid targets.
iv. Tactic card effects last until the end phase of the current player's turn.
a. Unless otherwise stated by the card itself.
v. A Condition card may be played from the influence row by flipping it face up.
vi. Condition cards are different from tactic cards in that they provide continuous or ongoing effects to other objects in the game.
vii. Condition cards may be played from your hand as well but they function like a tactic card when you do so.
viii. When a condition card is played its effect is put into the command chain zone, and resolves "Last In First Out."
ix. Tactic and Condition cards may only be played during the Command Window steps of the turn. See Phases of the game.
x. Tactic and Condition cards may only be revealed when a player controls a site or a combatant on the Battlefield.
F. Anatomy of a Tactic/Condition Card
The source shows an annotated tactic/condition card diagram here. The diagram has no text layer and is not transcribed.
G. Special Card Types
i. There is one special card type that occurs through normal game play. This is the face down influence card.
ii. Any card may be an influence card and while that card is face down it takes on no properties of its own other than its a card.
iii. A player may take action to reveal that card and when they do that card is still an influence card along with any other properties it has.
iv. If the revealed card is a site or combatant, once the site or combatant resolves into the play zone it is no longer an influence card. Tactic and condition cards that are revealed from the influence row remain influence cards along with any other properties that they gain.
v. Influence cards may only be revealed during command windows of the turn.
H. Special Rules for Condition Cards
i. Condition cards may be played from your hand, instead of being revealed from your influence row.
ii. If you choose to play a condition card in this way then any continuous modifiers apply until the End Phase of the current turn.
iii. During the End Phase remove the modifier.
iv. Condition cards played from your hand are placed into the damage pile after they resolve off the command chain.
I. Mercenary Faction
i. The mercenary faction cards have a special set of rules.
ii. Mercenary cards function like they do not have a faction.
iii. Tactic and condition cards with the mercenary faction on them may be revealed or played as long as you control any site or any combatant.
iv. Combatants with the mercenary faction on them may be deployed using the Sularium of any faction in play.
v. Mercenary combatants may joint strike force with combatants of another faction.
vi. Mercenary faction cards do not gain a faction, therefore card abilities that target a specific faction do not effect Mercenary cards.
J. Card Symbol Key
Attack Value: This numerical value represents the amount of damage an object can deal.
Defense Value: This numerical value represents the amount of damage an object can take.
Influence Cost: This value is the amount of influence that must be spent from the Influence pool to play the object.
Influence Threshold: This value is the amount of influence cards that must be in the influence row in order to reveal the card or play it from your hand.
Sularium Cost: This value is the amount of sularium that must be spent from the sularium pool to play the object.
Sularium Generation: This value represents the amount of sularium the object provides to you during the sularium phase of your turn.
2. Actions, Objects, Modifiers, and Timing
A. Actions
i. Anything you do as a player in a game is taking an action.
ii. The only exceptions to this rule are drawing cards and playing influence cards.
iii. Whenever you take an action as a player your opponents have an opportunity to respond to that action with an action of their own.
iv. All actions are placed on the command chain in the form of effects. Actions resolve into either a continuous modifier, trigger modifier, payment modifier, or an object in play.
B. Commands
i. Every card that is in your hand or play deck is a command.
ii. You play commands by taking an action.
iii. When a command is played an effect is put on the command chain. The result of this effect may be a modifier or an object in play.
C. Modifiers
i. There are three types of modifiers that exist in the game. Each has its own set of unique properties.
D. Continuous Modifiers
i. Continuous modifiers are modifiers to the game that do not end during the discard step.
ii. These modifiers are generally present on sites, combatants, and condition cards.
iii. Other types of continuous modifiers are counters, and any effect that does not require a payment in order to use it.
iv. Other than the action of placing a continuous modifier's effect on the command chain, continuous modifiers function after resolution until the object that created it leaves play.
E. Payment Modifiers
i. Payment modifiers are modifiers that are written [Cost]: [Effect].
ii. The cost section of the modifier must be paid first in order to put the effect of the modifier on the command chain.
iii. If a payment is made and the effect does not resolve for some reason the payment is not refunded back to the player.
F. Triggered Modifiers
i. Triggered modifiers occur when something happens during the game that meets the requirements to trigger the modifier.
ii. Triggered modifiers trigger on their own from either player created or game created events.
iii. They typically use words such as during, at the start of, whenever, when, etc. Triggered modifiers are not an action but they do put their effect on the chain.
iv. A player may add actions to this chain providing that the game allows for it at that particular phase.
G. Timing
i. Timing has to do with when a player may take actions and play effects.
ii. The player whose current turn it is considered to have priority to take action.
iii. If the player who has priority passes during a phase where the command chain is open his or her opponent may add their own actions to the command chain.
iv. Once all players have passed during a phase where the command chain was open then the effects on the chain resolve. This is called "passing in succession."
H. Objects
i. Objects are actions that have resolved off the command chain and their effects create a card in one of the play zones.
ii. Objects are Sites, Combatants, Influence cards, and condition cards.
iii. Objects in play may have any number of modifiers and once they are in play can be used immediately providing the player meets all requirements for the modifier.
I. Actions/Objects Quick Reference Table
| Card Type | Command | Object | Action | Can Attack | Can be Attacked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combatant | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Site | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Tactic | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
| Condition | Yes | Yes* | Yes | No | No |
| Influence |
* Condition cards played from a player's hand do not become objects in play.
** Playing an Influence card is not an action, however revealing a card from your influence row is.
J. The Command Chain
i. Whenever you take an action the effect is placed on the command chain before it resolves into the play zone.
ii. Playing effects on the command chain is done in a sequence called First In, Last Out.
a. This means that the first effect played on the command chain is the last effect to resolve off it and that the last effect placed on the command chain is the first to resolve.
b. You may think of the command chain as each effect stacking on top of one another until all players have passed on adding effects to the chain.
K. Passing in Succession
i. When a command chain has been started it may not end until all players in the game have chosen to pass.
ii. Passing in this way is called passing in succession.
iii. Once all players have passed in succession the command chain begins its resolution.
L. Command Chain Example 1
The source example is an image with no text layer. Its printed text, transcribed:
1.) Jotune player activates Storm Citadel and puts a +2/+2 on the command chain, targeting the Gray Harrier.
2.) Synthien player responds to the action and targets the Gray Harrier with their Feedback for 2 Damage.
Resolution: Feedback resolves dealing two damage, and removes the Gray Harrier from play. Storm Citadel resolves, with its target no longer in play.
M. Command Chain Example 2
The source example is an image with no text layer. Its printed text, transcribed:
1.) Synthien player takes an action and targets the Gray Harrier for 2 Damage.
2.) Jotune player responds by activating their Storm Citadel, targeting the Gray Harrier.
Resolution: Storm Citadel resolves modifying the Gray Harrier's ATK/DEF values to 4/3. The Feedback now resolves for 2 damage which modifies the Gray Harrier's DEF value to 1.
3. The Play Zones
A. Play Zone Map
The source play zone map is a diagram. Its printed captions, transcribed:
- Combatant Zone: Combatants come into play activated.
- Activated Card: the area where an activated card is placed.
- Hidden Zone: Combatants deployed in the hidden zone may not be the target of effects by their opponent. Some effects allow an opponent to target a hidden combatant. Those effects target combatants in the hidden zone. Combatants that attack or defend, become visible and may be the target of effects.
- Front Site Row: Sites established in the front or rear, must be established in front of, behind, or to the side of an already established site.
- Rear Site Row: the rear row of the site zone.
- Play Deck: the private play deck zone.
- Damage Pile: Any cards that are removed from play are placed here.
- Destroy Pile: Any effect that instructs a player to place a card in the destroy pile places it here.
- The Influence Row: Cards come into play in the influence row face down. You may reveal a card from your influence row at any time you can meet the costs. Tactic and Condition cards revealed from the influence row have an influence threshold cost of X. This means you must have X influence cards in your influence row in order to meet an influence threshold cost of X to reveal a tactic or condition card. Tactic or condition cards revealed from the influence row remain there after they have been resolved. Sites and/or combatants revealed from the influence row are placed into their respective zones.
- Card Play Priority: Condition, then Tactic, then Site/Combatant.
B. Private Zones
i. There are 3 private zones in the game.
ii. If a zone is private only the player owning these zones may look at cards in these zones.
a. With one exception, no player may look at their play deck.
iii. The private zones of the game are:
a. play deck
b. hand zone
c. influence zone.
C. Play Deck
i. The play deck is the zone which contains all the cards a player brings into the game.
ii. The play deck cannot have less than 60 cards in the deck.
iii. The play deck cannot have more than four copies of a card of the same name in the deck at any time. This is called the "four card rule."
iv. A play deck may not exceed ninety points in construction value.
v. Players may not look at any cards in their play deck.
D. Hand Zone
i. The hand zone is where a player places cards drawn from their play deck.
ii. The hand zone may not exceed seven cards.
a. During the discard phase a player must discard down to seven cards.
iii. Each player may only look at cards in their own hand zone.
E. Influence Zone
i. The influence zone is where a player places a card from their hand zone during the influence phase of the turn.
ii. Only the player who owns the influence zone may look at face down cards in the influence zone.
iii. The only properties of a card in the influence zone is that it is an influence card.
iv. A card revealed from the influence zone gains all of its regular properties.
v. If a card is revealed from the Influence zone that resolves to a different zone, it must be moved from the influence zone to its proper zone on the battlefield.
F. Public Zones
i. There are 5 public zones in the game.
ii. Any cards in a public zone are free for all players to look at any point.
iii. The public zones are referred to as the battlefield.
iv. A public zone is made up of the players damage pile, destroy pile, combatant zone, site zone, hidden zone.
G. Battlefield
i. The battlefield is where objects in play resolve.
ii. Each resolves to their respective zones based on their category.
iii. Combatant cards resolve to the combatant zone.
iv. Site cards resolve to the site zone.
v. Condition cards revealed from the influence zone resolve to the influence zone face up and are free to look at by all players in the game.
vi. Tactic cards revealed from the influence zone resolve to the influence zone face up and are free to look at by all players in the game.
H. Damage Pile
i. Your damage pile is where you will discard cards.
ii. Your tactic and condition cards played from your hand are placed in the damage pile.
iii. Anything that causes a card to be discarded will place those cards in the damage pile.
iv. Combatants and sites that have their DEF value lowered to zero or less will be placed in the damage pile.
v. Cards in your damage pile are always face up and may be viewed by any player in the match.
vi. Each player has his or her own damage pile.
I. Destroy Pile
i. If an action or ability instructs you to destroy a card, that card is put into the destroy pile and is removed from the game permanently.
ii. Cards in the destroy pile are always face up and may be viewed by any player in the match.
J. Combatant Zone
i. The combatant zone is where a player may deploy his combatants.
ii. The order or position of combatants in the combatant zone does not matter and has no effect on game play.
K. Site Zone
i. The site zone is where the player establishes his sites.
ii. The position of the site in the site zone does affect gameplay.
iii. Establishing a site must follow the site establishment rules. (Please reference the site phase later in these rules to learn how to establish sites.)
iv. The site zone has two sub zones referred to as the front row and rear row.
v. Sites established in these rows affect gameplay.
L. Hidden Zone
i. The hidden zone is a special zone where objects in play with the keyword hidden are placed.
ii. These objects cannot be the target of abilities an opponent controls unless something specifically allows them to be the target.
iii. Objects in the hidden zone can still be affected by continuous abilities that do not have specific targets.
4. The Turn
A. General
i. Some effects in the game are trigger effects that occur at specific times during the game. They will read "At the start of [phase]." These effects go out on the command chain but are not actions and players cannot prevent these effects from resolving after they have triggered.
ii. Other effects in the game are trigger effects that occur during specific phases but are actions controlled by a player. These read "during the [phase]."
a. These effects cannot be put on the command chain until the player controlling them can put them on the chain.
b. These effects can be responded to by other players in the game by playing effects on the command chain.
B. Reset Phase
i. The reset phase is where a player takes any objects in play and resets them to a vertical position or the reset position.
ii. On the first round of the game players will not have any cards to reset and you may skip this phase.
iii. Players cannot take any actions during the reset phase.
iv. Resetting combatants is not an action and is part of the game state.
1. Steps of the Reset Phase:
a. Reset all objects in play to a ready position.
b. Step to the draw phase.
C. Draw Phase
i. The draw phase is where a player is allowed to draw cards.
ii. Players draw two cards on their turn with one exception:
a. During the first round of play neither player draws when it's their turn.
iii. Drawing cards is not an action and it cannot be responded to during the draw phase.
1. Steps of the Draw Phase:
a. Objects in play that say "at the start of your draw phase." are placed on the command chain. After all effects that read "at the start of your draw phase." are placed on the command chain they resolve as normal.
b. The player whose turn it is draws two cards. This is not an action and may not be responded to by any player in the game.
c. Step into the influence phase.
D. Influence Phase
i. The influence phase is where a player may place any card from their hand into the influence row face down.
ii. Each card in the influence row generates a point of influence.
iii. This calculation is made at the end of the phase and the total amount of influence generated during the influence phase is added to a pool called the influence pool.
a. The total amount of influence generated is referred to as Influence Generation.
iv. After the player has played an influence card the command chain opens up and both players are allowed to add effects to the command chain.
v. If both players pass on the command chain then the game steps into the site phase.
1. Steps of the Influence Phase:
a. Objects in play that read "at the start of your influence phase." are placed on the command chain. After all effects that read "at the start of your influence phase." are placed on the command chain they resolve as normal.
b. The player whose turn it is will play any command from their hand face down in the influence row. This is not an action and cannot be responded to.
c. Command Window: the command chain opens and the player whose turn it is has priority. Players may play effects on the command chain. After all players have passed in succession then the command chain resolves.
d. The player whose turn it is calculates their influence and adds this number to the influence pool.
e. Influence is calculated based on the total number of influence cards in the influence row plus any additional modifiers.
f. Step into the site phase.
2. Influence Priority:
a. Certain types of cards are more beneficial in the influence row than others. There is a preferred priority of cards to place from your hand into the influence row. They are as follows:
1. Condition Cards played from your influence row remain face up after being played and provide continuous modifiers until the end of the game or the influence card leaves play.
2. Tactic Cards played from the influence row remain face up after being played but their modifiers are removed from the game during the discard phase.
3. Site Cards may be revealed and established out of the influence row, and the site is moved from the influence row to the site zone.
4. Combatant Cards may be revealed and deployed out of the influence row and the combatant is moved from the influence row to the combatant zone.
3. Influence Threshold:
a. Influence threshold is the cost that exists on tactic and condition cards.
b. Influence threshold costs are still costs that must be paid but they do not deplete the influence pool.
c. A player may reveal and play as many tactic or condition cards that they have as long as an individual card's threshold does not exceed the influence cards currently in the play in the influence row.
E. Playing Tactic/Condition Cards from Your Influence Row
The source shows an illustration here. Its printed caption, transcribed:
In the above example the player has three influence cards face down.
- Card #1: Spoils of War, Threshold: 2
- Card #2: Spoils of War, Threshold: 2
- Card #3: Art of War, Threshold: 4
The player may reveal either or both Spoils of War during a command window step of a turn. They cannot reveal Art of War because they do not have 4 Influence Cards in their influence row.
F. Site Phase
i. Players may spend points out of their influence pool to establish sites in the play zone or pay any costs that require a payment of influence to resolve.
ii. Sites may be established in either the front or rear row.
iii. Sites must be established in front of, behind, or to the side of an existing site.
a. The only exception to this rule is the first site established may be established in either the front or rear row. Establishing sites has impact on game play in terms of combat and what sites are able to be attacked during the combat phase of the turn.
iv. A site is a player's primary way to generate the resource Sularium.
1. Steps of the Site Phase:
a. Objects in play that say "at the start of your site phase." are placed on the command chain. After all effects that read "at the start of your site phase." are placed on the command chain they resolve from the last one placed till the first one placed.
1. The player whose turn it is may choose the order of all "at the start of..." effects.
b. The player whose turn it is may establish a site into the site zone.
1. This is an action and the command chain opens.
2. After the site resolves the player may establish their next site until they have either depleted their influence pool or have no additional sites to establish.
c. The command chain opens and the player with priority may take actions.
d. After all effects on the command chain have resolved the game steps into the Sularium phase.
2. Establishing a Site:
a. A player may establish a site in either the front or rear row.
b. Establishing a site may only be done during the site phase and player spends points from their influence pool in order to establish a site.
c. The first site established may be established in either the front or rear row of the site zone.
d. Any sites played after this must be established in front of, behind, or to the side of an already established site.
e. If at any point during the game a player does not have any sites in the play zone then the next site may be established exactly the same as the first one.
f. Establishing a site is an action and other players may respond to this action on the command chain. A site may not be established as long as the command chain has effects that need to be resolved.
3. Protected Site:
a. A protected site is another site in the rear row that has a second site established in front of it. A protected site cannot be targeted by their opponent for attacks, unless their opponent has combatants with the keyword value flight.
4. Site Establishment Example:
*The source shows a hand-and-site-zone diagram here. Its printed caption, transcribed:*
1.) Perimeter Alert System is established from the Synthien player's hand and placed into the rear site row.
2.) Sularium Mining Station is established next and it must be established to the side of or in front of the Perimeter Alert System.
3.) Prototype Development Base is established next, and it must be established on either side of the Sularium Mining Station or Perimeter Alert System.
G. Sularium Phase
i. During the Sularium phase the current amount of Sularium is calculated. This is the total Sularium generation for the turn.
ii. Any cards that have effects dependent upon Sularium generation are to use this point count for activating their effects.
iii. The Sularium generation amount stays the same for the purposes of Tactics/Triggers/& Conditions until the player's next Sularium phase.
iv. At the end of the phase Sularium points are moved into the Sularium pool which may be used to pay costs on commands, abilities, or to deploy combatants during the combatant phase.
1. Steps of the Sularium Phase:
a. Reset the Sularium Pool and Sularium Generation values to zero.
b. Objects in play that say "at the start of your Sularium phase." are placed on the command chain. After all effects that read "at the start of your Sularium phase." are placed on the command chain they resolve from the last one placed till the first one placed.
c. The Command Chain opens and the player with priority may play or pass on effects.
d. The player whose turn it currently is counts all the Sularium generated by objects in play as well as any amount of sularium currently in the sularium pool. This number is called their Sularium generation. Any effects that look for Sularium generation use this number, until Sularium generation is calculated on that player's next Sularium phase.
e. The Sularium generation number is transferred to a Sularium pool where players may spend points from to deploy combatants into the play zone during the combatant step.
f. The game steps into the combatant step.
H. Combatant Phase
i. Combatant phase allows the player to spend Sularium points earned during the Sularium phase to deploy combatant cards.
ii. Combatant cards resolve to the combatant zone.
iii. Any combatant deployed during this phase comes into the combatant zone Activated.
iv. They may be reset only if players have cards or abilities that allow them to do so.
1. Steps of the Combatant Phase:
a. Objects in play that say "at the start of your combatant phase." are placed on the command chain. After all effects that read "at the start of your combatant phase" are placed on the command chain they resolve from the last one placed till the first one placed.
1. The player whose turn it currently is decides the order for all effects placed on the command chain from step a.
b. The player whose turn it is may deploy their first combatant. This is an action and the command chain opens. After the combatant resolves the player may deploy another combatant until they have either depleted their Sularium pool or have no additional combatants to deploy.
c. The command chain opens and the player with priority may take actions.
d. Steps b and c are repeated until all combatants have been deployed.
d. After all effects on the command chain have resolved the game steps into the attack phase.
2. Position of Combatants in the Combatant Zone:
a. The position of combatants in the combatant zone does not affect gameplay with one exception.
1. Combatants placed in the hidden zone cannot be the target of abilities, or effects controlled by an opponent as long as they remain hidden in the hidden zone. (See HIDDEN rules.)
I. Attack Phase
i. During the attack phase a player selects one or more of their combatants to target opponent's sites.
ii. All attacks must be declared at the same time and after the attackers have been declared the player may not add any more attackers to an attack.
1. Steps of the Attack Phase:
a. Start of Attack Step
1. Objects in play that say "at the start of your attack phase" are placed on the command chain. After all effects that read "at the start of your attack phase" are placed on the command chain they will resolve in order from "Last In First Out."
b. Attacker Declaration Step
1. The player whose turn it is declares any and all combatants he wishes to use as attackers into target sites controlled by his opponent.
2. The target sites must be legal targets at the time of the declaration.
i. If an opponent does not have any sites in their site zone then the opponent may be targeted for attacks.
3. Rotate all combatants who will be attackers 45° to the left to indicate they are attacking.
4. The command chain opens up and the player with priority may take actions.
5. After all attackers have been declared the Attack Phase proceeds to the next step.
c. Defender Declaration Step
1. The defending player may choose to add combatants of their own to aid in the defense of their sites. The player chooses which of their combatants to defend, against individual attackers.
2. Only reset combatants may be used to defend.
3. Rotate all combatants who will be defenders 45° to the left to indicate they are defending and announce who the targets are to the attacking player.
i. Multiple defenders may be used on an individual attacker.
4. The command chain opens up and the player with priority may take actions.
5. After all defenders have been declared the attack phase proceeds to the next step.
d. Keyword Value Step
1. All declared "attackers" and "defenders" gain the keyword value "ATTACKER" and "DEFENDER" respectively.
2. Any modifiers that trigger from keyword value "ATTACKER" or "DEFENDER" are added to the command chain and resolve "Last In First Out."
3. The attack phase proceeds to the next step.
e. Command Chain Step
1. The attacker player with priority has the ability to play an action.
2. The defending player has the ability to respond to this action.
i. Play between all players proceeds this way until both players have passed on the command chain. All effects on the command chain resolve "First In Last Out."
ii. If any ability or effect would activate or reset a combatant that is either attacking or defending, then that combatant would be removed from the attack and any modifiers which may have triggered from it being part of the attack are removed from the attack.
3. The attack phase proceeds to the next step.
f. Alpha Strike Step
1. Combatants that are either ATTACKER or DEFENDER with ALPHA STRIKE become activated.
2. Any combatants with the keyword value ALPHA STRIKE and SPECIALIST and/or BARRAGE have their ability trigger and effect legal targets.
3. Any combatants or sites involved in the attack with the keyword value ALPHA STRIKE get to deal their damage accordingly. (See Damage Dealing step for resolution.)
4. The attack phase proceeds to the next step.
g. Damage Step
1. Combatants that are either ATTACKER or DEFENDER become ACTIVATED.
2. Any combatants with the keyword value SPECIALIST and/or BARRAGE have their ability trigger and effect legal targets.
3. Damage is applied in this order:
i. Combatants
ii. Sites
iii. Player
4. If an attacking combatant is being defended by another combatant or combatants, the attacking combatant's attack value is compared to the defending combatant/s defense value. If the attacker has enough attack value to reduce the defender/s defense value to zero, any remaining attack is passed through to the site. If the attack value is high enough to reduce the defense value of the site to zero then any remaining Attack value is applied directly to the player being attacked.
5. If the attacker is defended by multiple combatants the player controlling the DEFENDER combatants gets to decide in which order the attack value of the ATTACKER is applied to their combatants.
6. The attack value must be applied to one combatant until its defense value is reduced to zero, and then the attack value must be applied to the second defender until its defense value is equal to zero, and so on until all defenders have received attack value.
7. The attacking combatant is dealt damage equal to the total attack value of the defending combatant/combatants. If the attack value of the DEFENDER combatants is high enough to reduce the defense value of the ATTACKER then the ATTACKER is placed into the damage pile.
8. If the DEFENDER's attack value is not high enough to reduce the ATTACKER's defense value to zero then modify the defense value of the ATTACKER to the remaining defense value until the end phase of the current turn.
9. The site gets to deal its attack value to an ATTACKER combatant/s. The player controlling the ATTACKER/s gets to choose which ATTACKER will absorb the attack value.
10. If the attack value of the site is high enough to reduce an ATTACKER's defense value to zero then the next attacking combatant is chosen to absorb the attack value of the site, this continues until all ATTACKER/s have taken all the attack value of the site.
11. Place all ATTACKER and DEFENDER combatants with defense value modified to zero by this attack into the damage pile.
12. If a site's defense value was reduced to zero it is placed in the damage pile and the controlling player loses health equal to the influence cost of the site.
13. Damage resolution repeats this above process until all attackers and defenders have resolved their damage.
i. End of Attack
1. After all damage has been resolved the game steps into the discard phase.
2. Attack Examples
a. One Combatant
*The source's attack example is an image area marked "Coming Soon." No example content is printed.*
J. Discard Phase
i. The discard phase is where the player cleans up any actions from the round.
1. Steps of the Discard Phase:
a. Objects in play that say "at the start of your discard phase" are placed on the command chain. After all effects that read "at the start of your discard phase" are placed on the command chain they will resolve in order from "Last In First Out."
b. The Command Chain opens and the player with priority may play or pass on effects.
c. Check hand size, if a player has more than seven cards in hand they must discard down to seven.
d. Proceed to the End Phase.
K. End Phase
i. The end phase is where the player cleans up any actions from the round, removes any remaining modifiers that last until the end of turn and passes play to the player on the right.
1. Steps of the End Phase:
a. Reset the printed attack value and defense values on objects in play.
b. Return any tactic or modifiers that state until the end of turn to their original printed values plus any continuous modifiers that are in effect.
c. If the player whose current turn it is is the initiative player, pass play to the next player on the right.
d. If the player whose current turn it is is the last player in the round, check health of all players. Any player that is below zero health is removed from the game.
1. If two or more players have health below zero but are at the exact same negative health number then the game proceeds into the next round with those players that still remain.
L. The First Turn
i. The first turn for each player is slightly different than the rest of the game. During the first turn each player skips the following steps:
a. Reset Phase
b. Draw Phase
ii. These phases are skipped and the player only works with their opening hand of seven cards on the first turn.
1. Maximum Hand Size:
a. During the discard step of the turn a player checks the number of cards that they are holding in their hand. If that number exceeds seven cards then the player must discard down to seven cards. The discarded cards are placed into their damage pile.
2. Starting Health Pool:
a. Each player starts the game with exactly 25 Health.
b. This number may increase or decrease throughout the game, a player does not lose the game unless their health is reduced below zero.
c. Player's do not immediately lose a game when their health is reduced to zero.
d. At the end of the round during the final player's end phase the health pools are checked.
e. Any player at or below zero health at this point is removed from the game and loses the game.
f. If all players are at or below zero health at this point then the player with the health total closest to zero is the winner.
g. If all players are at or below zero health but have the same health amount then play will continue for another round.
5. Deck Building/Rules
A. The Constantly Changing Meta
i. Experienced players in the Battle for Sularia game will not be satisfied using their standard starter deck for long.
ii. We recommend for the first few games that players use the starter decks of the Battle Kit to familiarize themselves with not only the mechanics of the game but also the individual cards.
iii. Many powerful combinations of cards exist just in the starter decks alone.
iv. Battle for Sularia will expand from time to time and when it does so, new cards will be added to the reserves that allow players to explore new and additional combinations.
B. Formats of Play
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Standard Constructed
a. Standard play is comprised of two players bringing a minimum of a 60 card deck.
b. Their deck construction costs may not exceed 90pts in total construction.
c. Only one faction may be used in a standard constructed deck.
1. The exception to this rule is the Mercenary faction. -
4 Player Draft
a. Draft play consists of 3 rounds of drafting from a preconstructed pool of cards.
b. Up to four players may participate in the Draft.
c. The Draft Pool is composed of the following items:
1. 180 Cards from no more than two factions. i. Mercenary faction cards may be included in addition to the two other factions. 2. It is recommended to have the following Draft Pool: i. 84 total cards from a Faction: Jotune/Synthien/Exsularian/Protoan. ii. 84 total cards from an additional faction not included from above. iii. 12 total cards from the Mercenary faction. -
5+ Player Draft
a. This format allows for a larger pool of players for draft play.
b. For every 4 players in a draft you must add 180 cards to the Draft Pool.
c. All factions are allowed in this format of Draft Play.
d. The guidelines for 4 player draft apply here only; add an additional 84 cards from the third and fourth factions as well as an additional 12 cards from the Mercenary faction.
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Multiplayer
a. Battle for Sularia can be made into a multiplayer game.
C. Deck Size
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Decks may not have less than 60 cards in them.
a. Players may construct decks with more than sixty cards, it is recommended to stay as near to 60 cards as possible.
b. Each card will have a construction point value.
1. This value represents its deck construction value and is used to meet the format requirements the player is constructing for. 2. Cards may have a point value from one point all the way to four points. 3. It is up to the player to determine how they want to construct their decks.c. We have a few reminders to help new Battle Commanders construct the best decks possible.
1. Remember that Sites are established by using influence, combatants are deployed from sularium generated by your sites. 2. It is important to have enough sites to generate enough sularium to play all of your combatants. 3. Sites are targets for your opponent, sometimes a strong defense is the best offense, but don't forget you need to be able to strike back at opportune times. 4. Condition cards are the best cards to place into your influence row. They can only provide continuous modifiers to the game if they are revealed from your influence row. -
Decks may not contain more than four copies of any one named card.
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Card Ratios for Deck Building:
a. While the following card ratios for deck building are not required, these are simply the suggested construction guidelines to help create a consistent performing Battle Deck.
1. 15 – 20 Tactic/Condition Cards 2. 20 – 25 Site Cards 3. 20 – 25 Combatant Cards
6. Keywords
i. Keywords are usually printed on the text of a card.
ii. Some keywords are gained based on game states or actions that occur.
iii. Keywords allow other triggered modifiers to go out on the command chain, or allow for certain declarations to be made legal.
iv. Keyword Values that are triggered due to game states or actions can stack.
a. Each Keyword Value will be added to the card as a separate individual Keyword Value.
b. Example:
1. Fire in the Sky has a continuous modifier that provides all Jotune combatants with FLIGHT BARRAGE 1:2. If a player added a second Fire in the Sky then each Jotune would have two separate trigger modifiers for BARRAGE 1:2.
c. For some Keyword values, multiple instances will not affect gameplay.
d. Example:
1. If an Object had the keyword value ALPHA STRIKE and it was affected by another object giving it ALPHA STRIKE this would create two separate instances of ALPHA STRIKE on the object. This would not allow that object to deal its damage twice in the Alpha Strike Substep of the Attack Phase.
2. However, if an Action or Object said to remove ALPHA STRIKE from an object that had two instances of ALPHA STRIKE the Object with two instances of ALPHA STRIKE would still have one remaining instance of ALPHA STRIKE.
A. Activate
i. Activate is a payment that is listed on Site and Combatant Cards. Activation requires the player to rotate their card to the horizontal position to activate the effect. Activation effects are added to the command chain in the same fashion as other abilities and effects.
ii. Activate Cards will read: Activate: [Some Effect]
iii. Activate is a payment effect.
1. Example of an Activated Card:
*The source illustrates this with an image that has no printed text.*
B. Alpha Strike
i. A Combatant or site with alpha strike gets to deal its attack value to an object during the alpha strike sub-step of the attack.
ii. Only combatants and sites with Alpha Strike may deal their attack value in damage during the alpha strike step.
iii. During a Joint Strike Force a combatant with alpha strike must distribute all of its attack value into combatants/sites/players in that order before the attack substeps can proceed to the normal damage dealing step.
C. Armor
i. Combatants or sites with armor are put into play with an armor token.
ii. If an object with an armor token would become damaged the player removes the armor token and the combatant remains an object in play.
a. If that object would become activated it cannot not reset during your next reset phase. *(Printed as "cannot not reset"; the intended meaning appears to be "cannot reset", but the printed wording is kept here.)*
iii. If an object with armor has its defense value reduced to zero and does not have an armor token to remove then the object is placed into the damage pile as usual.
D. Attacker
i. The keyword value attacker applies to any combatant that has been declared in an attack during the attack declaration step.
a. The combatant does not gain the value attacker until the keyword value step of the attack phase. Any effects looking for the keyword attacker cannot apply until after the keyword value step has finished.
ii. During the end phase of the turn a combatant who gained the keyword value attacker will lose the keyword value attacker.
E. Barrage
i. Cards that have the characteristic Barrage will read: BARRAGE X:X
a. The first X indicates the number of adjacent sites that will be affected by the barrage.
b. The second X indicates the amount of damage that will be dealt to sites affected by barrage.
c. The attacking player chooses which adjacent sites are affected by barrage.
d. The barrage damage applies during the normal damage step of the attack phase.
e. Barrage damage cannot BLAST THROUGH to an opponent.
1. Any damage that exceeds the defense value of a site targeted by barrage will not hit the opponent.
2. If a combatant is also attacking a site that is affected by barrage the barrage damage applies to the site before the combatant's normal attack damage. (See Damage Sub-Step in Attack Phase.)
3. Any additional damage applied to the site by a combatant will Blast Through to the player controlling the targeted site.
ii. Adjacent sites are any sites in front of, behind, to the side, or diagonal from the site being targeted by the combatant with barrage.
F. Bounty
i. Objects which contain the keyword Bounty read:
a. Activate: Deal this object's attack value to target combatant controlled by opponent. Target combatant controlled by opponent deals its attack value back to the object in play which targeted it. If any objects in play have their defense value reduced to zero they are placed into the damage pile. If the object which activated the bounty is not placed in the damage pile they gain a bounty counter.
ii. Activating bounty is an action and can only be used during command windows.
iii. Players may take actions on the chain until both players have passed in succession.
iv. Bounty counters may be used as a payment to any objects that require bounty counters for additional modifiers.
a. Spending bounty counters in this way is an action on the command chain which may be responded to by all players in the game.
G. Defender
i. The keyword value DEFENDER applies to any combatant that has been declared to be defending an attacking combatant.
ii. The combatant does not gain the value of defender until the keyword value step of the attack phase.
iii. Any effects looking for the keyword DEFENDER cannot apply until after the keyword value step has finished.
iv. During the End Phase of the turn a combatant who defended will lose the keyword value defender.
H. Diffuse
i. A card with the keyword value diffuse may be placed on the tactic chain.
ii. The diffuse keyword value negates or cancels any effect that was played immediately before the diffuse effect on the tactic chain.
I. Faction
i. Faction is necessary in order for a player to reveal or play tactic or condition cards and/or deploy combatants.
ii. A source that would generate sularium only generates sularium to deploy combatants of the same faction as the source.
iii. Tactic and/or condition cards may not be revealed from the influence row or played from a player's hand unless a combatant and/or a site is in play from the same faction.
iv. Combatants of separate factions may not declare a joint strike force on the same target.
v. Mercenary cards are an exception to the faction rules.
a. Mercenary cards may have their costs paid by any faction.
b. Mercenary tactic and condition cards may be revealed as long as there is any site and/or combatant in the play zone.
c. Mercenary Combatants are still of the faction mercenary, however they may joint strike force with combatants of a different faction.
d. Mercenary combatants cannot not be affected by modifiers that specifically affect objects of a particular faction. *(Printed as "cannot not be affected"; the intended meaning appears to be "cannot be affected" per the Mercenary Faction section above, which says mercenary cards are not affected by faction-specific modifiers. The printed wording is kept here.)*
J. Flight
i. Combatants with FLIGHT may target rear row sites for attacks.
ii. FLIGHT combatants may target protected rear row sites.
iii. Combatants with FLIGHT cannot be defended by other combatants unless:
a. The defending combatant has FLIGHT.
b. The defending combatant has SPECIALIST.
K. Focus
i. Objects in play that have the keyword value focus will read:
a. FOCUS: X
ii. Objects with FOCUS gain +X/+0 when they gain the keyword value ATTACKER. In addition, objects with focus gain +0/+X when they gain the keyword value defender.
L. Joint Strike Force
i. A Joint Strike Force is when two or more combatants from the same faction declare an attack into a legal site controlled by opponent.
ii. When two or more combatants enter the keyword value step of the attack phase they gain the Keyword JOINT STRIKE FORCE.
M. Hardened
i. Objects with the keyword HARDENED prevent any damage that would exceed defense value of another object from blasting through to the next object or player in the damage chain.
N. Harvest
i. HARVEST may only be used once per round.
ii. HARVEST reads:
a. Place a combatant from your damage pile into your destroy pile: Add one sularium counter to this object.
iii. This is an action and is placed on the command chain.
iv. The Object with HARVEST must make a payment of targeting a combatant in that player's damage pile who controls the object with harvest.
v. The effect is put on the command chain and if it resolves the player who controls the harvest object places one sularium counter on the harvest object.
vi. Each sularium counter provides one sularium in addition to any sularium that the object in play generates.
O. Hidden
i. Objects with HIDDEN come into play in the hidden zone.
ii. Any object with the HIDDEN keyword cannot be targeted by effects controlled by their opponent.
iii. The only way a HIDDEN object can be targeted by an opponent is if a card effect allows it to target a hidden object.
iv. HIDDEN objects function the same as normal objects in play.
v. Combatants with HIDDEN that become an ATTACKER or DEFENDER are considered to still have the HIDDEN keyword when they gain the ATTACKER or DEFENDER keyword.
a. Combatants with HIDDEN can be the target of effects if they gain the keyword ATTACKER or DEFENDER.
vi. If an object with HIDDEN were to be moved out of the hidden zone it would still retain the keyword value HIDDEN.
a. Objects that have the HIDDEN keyword value and are not in the hidden zone may be targeted as a normal object.
vii. If a HIDDEN object is moved from the hidden zone to the visible zone the player controlling the HIDDEN object gets to choose where to place the object in the visible zone.
viii. Players taking the action of playing a HIDDEN object may choose to play the card in the visible zones.
ix. If an action would place an object into the Hidden zone it is considered to have the HIDDEN keyword value.
P. Specialist
i. Combatants with SPECIALIST are able to remove an armor token from a combatant they are either being defended by, or defending.
a. This removal occurs during the damage step of the attack phase when that combatant would deal its damage normally.
ii. SPECIALIST combatants may also defend against combatants with flight.