Bloodstones Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Components
  • Tile Description
• Description of the Map
• Starting the Game
• The Factions
  • Dragon Riders
  • Horse Lords
  • Hill Folk
  • The Necromancers
  • Chaos Horde
  • Corsairs
• Playing the Game
  • A Note on Discarding Tiles
• Phase 1: Capture Villages
• Phase 2: Move Undead
• Phase 3: Main Actions
  • Action: Build Unit
  • Action: Move Units
  • Action: Battle
  • A Note on Battle Modifiers
  • Clean-Up
  • Withdrawal and Retreat Rules
• Phase 4: Construct Villages
• Phase 5: Draw Tiles
  • Regrouping
  • OMG I've Been Wiped Out!
• Ending the Game
• Extra Map Rules
• Optional Cutiecorn Rules
• Faction Unit Notes
  • Standard Units
  • Irregular Units
  • Special Units
  • Faction Composition Notes
• Strategy Tips
• Player Aid Summary

Overview

Bloodstones is a two to six player fantasy wargame featuring asymmetric factions. You take control of a faction, which has its own special units and powers, all encompassed within a unique 'tile' system.

Your aim is to gain Victory Points by constructing villages, capturing other players' villages and winning battles.

Your tiles will be placed in a bag, from which you will draw to make up your 'hand'. The tiles are multi-use. When placed on the map they become units. While in your hand they can be used to build other units, move units, improve your strength in battle, construct villages and capture villages.

On your turn you can perform as many actions as you wish, in any order. There are three actions to choose from: 'Build Unit', 'Move Units' and 'Battle'.

• Pay to build a unit by discarding tiles from your hand.
• Move units by spending the pips on other tiles from your hand.
• When you fight a battle you draw Battle tiles. You may substitute up to one of these with a tile from your hand.

After completing all of your actions you may construct villages, which you pay for in pips. You draw back to six tiles at the end of your turn. If you run out of tiles, then you score points for your villages and place your tiles back in the bag so that they are available to be drawn again (a Regroup).

The game ends when players have scored their villages a certain number of times — three times with two players and twice with three or more players.

Components

There are six factions, each with its own set of pieces. Each faction typically comprises:

• 36 Faction tiles (the Necromancers have an additional four Undead tiles, which should not be shuffled in with their other tiles).
• 20 Villages (the Chaos Horde have no villages).
• 1 Citadel (the Chaos Horde have no citadel).
• 1 VP Marker (double-sided so you can record when a player scores more than fifty points).
• 1 Regroup Marker.
• 1 Faction information card.

A full list of each faction's units can be found on their respective Information cards and on the back page of these rules.

Other components:

• 2 Sets of 8 Battle tiles.
• 2 battle bags.
• 6 faction bags.
• 5 small faction bags.
• 1 travel bag.
• 6 Maps.

Tile Description

Each tile shows a build cost (0–2) on its left, indicated by zero, one or two stone block symbols, and a pip value (1–5).

• Build cost: In order to build a unit, you must discard as many tiles from your hand as indicated by the blocks on its left. A tile showing one block requires you to discard one other tile from your hand to build it.
• Pip value: You can expend a tile for its pip value, which can be used for movement, combat, constructing or capturing villages. A tile could grant you a pip value of 4 when discarded from your hand.
• Unit type: Once a tile is on the map, it is considered to be the indicated unit (e.g. a Swords unit).

Some tiles do not have any indicated cost. They are free to build i.e. without having to discard other tiles. A tile with no unit indicated on it cannot be built; it can only be used for its pip value or to build another unit.

Description of the Map

The map shows a Victory Point track and a Regroup track (Space 3 of the Regroup track is only used in two-player games). Terrain area types are: Mountain, Forest, Hill, Plains, Sea, Desert, plus Rivers. Note that rivers act as regular borders and do not inhibit movement. Each map indicates the range of players it is suitable for.

Starting the Game

Decide on a map that is suitable for the number of people playing.

Determine player order. There are two sets of Battle tiles, each of which has its own bag. A set of tiles should consist of tiles 2,2,3,3,4,4,5,5. Each player draws two tiles each from one of the bags. Whoever draws the highest total becomes the first player. In the case of a tie repeat the process. Place all of the tiles back in the bag once you have finished.

Choose factions. In clockwise order from the first player, select a faction to play. Take the corresponding tiles and Information card for this faction.

• We recommend not using the Corsairs with two players.
• The Chaos Horde should only be used when there are four or more players.

Draw your initial hand. Draw nine tiles from your faction bag. Stand them upright facing you so that you can see them and other players cannot. These tiles form your 'hand'. Note that the Necromancer player keeps their four Undead tiles to one side; they do not go into the bag.

Place your villages to one side to form a pool that you will draw from.

Place citadels. In reverse player order, place your citadel in a plains, forest or hill area on the map. There must be two empty land areas between your citadel and any other players' citadel. You cannot place your citadel in a sea, mountain or desert area.

Place initial units. Immediately after placing your citadel you may select a number of tiles from your hand to place in the same area (or adjacent if placing a ship). You are granted five 'Build Points', which you use to build tiles from your hand. To the left of a tile's unit type is its build cost (zero, one or two stone blocks) — this is how many other tiles you have to discard to build that unit. If the tile has no build cost then you can simply place it with your citadel. Depending on your hand you may place up to all nine of your starting tiles. If your citadel is adjacent to one or more sea areas then you may build ships in such areas. You cannot place your starting land-based units in a sea, mountain or desert area.

Chaos Horde placement: If the Chaos Horde are in play then they always place their units after all other factions have placed their citadel and units, no matter what the order of play is. The Chaos Horde do not have a citadel, so they choose an area to place their five Build Points worth of units. This area cannot be within two areas of another player's citadel. They can build ships adjacent to their starting area.

Refill your hand. After placing your initial units you refill your hand to the standard hand size, which is normally six tiles. If you already have more than six tiles left in your hand then you retain these and do not draw more. (The Horse Lords have a hand size of seven.)

Once a tile has been placed on the board it will be referred to as a unit.

Markers. All players place their Victory Point Marker on the zero space of the Victory Point Track, making sure it is not on the '+50VP' side. The Chaos Horde start the game with 10VPs. All players place their Regroup Marker on the zero space of the Regroup Track.

IMPORTANT: Although citadels are not standard tiles, for the purposes of these rules they should be regarded as units. When you see the term 'unit' that also encompasses citadels. Villages are not regarded as units.

Units and Villages are limited to your supply; once placed you may not choose to remove them from play. You are free to count how many tiles you have left in your bag, and other players can request that you inform them.

The Factions

A faction power applies to all units in a faction. Special units have their own specific powers.

Dragon Riders

• Faction Power: None.
• Special Units: Two Dragon units. They gain +4 in battle. Nothing can withdraw from them. They can always withdraw from battle as long as they have somewhere to withdraw to. Any dragon involved in a successful attack is removed from the map and placed in the discard pile. Dragons are not removed in this way if defending or capturing. They do not pay the standard movement costs, instead they only pay one pip per area moved. They can fly into sea, mountain and desert areas and remain there if they wish.

Horse Lords

• Faction Power: They have a hand size of seven rather than six tiles.
• Special Units: No special unit as such, but they have two leaders. A leader can move another leader with it for no additional cost; the second leader can then move another unit for no additional cost (e.g. you can move two leaders and another unit and pay the cost of moving just one unit).

Hill Folk

• Faction Power: The cost for moving into hills is two pips. Units can also move into mountains at a cost of three pips.
• Special Units: Two Giant units, which gain +2 in battle. If one or more Giants are in a battle then you draw four Battle tiles, no matter the respective size of the forces. Hill Folk also have six castles which are cheaper to build than those of other factions.

The Necromancers

• Faction Power: None.
• Special Units: Four Necromancer units. If one or more of these are part of a victorious battle then all opposing eliminated units may be replaced with Undead units, if available. Undead units have their own movement phase, where they can move up to two areas without having to pay any movement costs. This includes the ability to move into mountain areas (but not sea areas).

Chaos Horde

• Faction Power: The Chaos Horde do not have villages or a citadel. During set-up they always choose a starting location after all other players have done so, irrelevant of the order of play. They choose one area on the board to place their 5 Build Points worth of units (all other rules must be followed). They can build ships in a sea area adjacent to their starting area. They start with 10VPs. During the game the Chaos Horde can build units where they already have units, including building ships adjacent to where they have units AND building units adjacent to ships (but only if there are no enemy units in the same area). They can capture villages DURING their Main Action Phase — this is an action and only one tile can be expended towards the costs, and it can only be performed once per turn. They do not have a Capture Village phase. At the end of the game they score 2VPs per captured village. If all their units are eliminated from the map, then the next time the Chaos Horde are the active player they can place one unit in an empty area of their choice, paying for this placement, then continue their turn as normal. If there are no empty areas on the map then the Chaos Horde are eliminated from the game.
• Special Units: None, but their Cavalry is cheaper to build than other factions and they have two Leaders.
• We do not recommend that you use the Chaos Horde in a two or three player game.

Corsairs

• Faction Power: The Corsairs can always withdraw by sea unless they are attacked by dragons. Otherwise it does not matter how many cavalry the attacking force has. When attacking a land area adjacent to one of their ships the defending force can only withdraw if they have one or more Cavalry or have Dragons present. They gain +1 in sea battles. When resolving a battle the Corsairs always choose to substitute a tile last AND their opponent must reveal their Battle tiles, including any substitute tile, before the Corsairs decide whether they wish to substitute or not (this includes battles where the Corsairs are the attacker). When the Corsairs win a battle they gain one extra VP.
• Special Units: None. Note that the Corsairs have no cavalry.
• We do not recommend that you use the Corsairs in a two player game.

Playing the Game

The order of play progresses clockwise around the table from the first player. When you are the active player you work through the following sequence of phases:

1. CAPTURE VILLAGES (Excluding Chaos Horde)
2. MOVE UNDEAD (Necromancer only)
3. MAIN ACTIONS
4. CONSTRUCT VILLAGES (Excluding Chaos Horde)
5. DRAW TILES

If you have drawn all of the tiles from your bag and need to draw more to reach your hand size then place all of your discarded tiles back into the bag and continue drawing. You also score one victory point for each village you have on the board — this is called a Regroup — and mark it by moving your Regroup marker one space along the Regroup track.

Play then proceeds to the next player, to the left, until the game end condition is met (determined by how many times each player has regrouped). If there are two players the game ends when both have regrouped at least three times each. With three or more players it ends when all players have regrouped at least twice each.

A Note on Discarding Tiles

During the game you will be required to discard tiles from your hand for various reasons. All such tiles should be placed in your discard pile, face-up so they can be seen by other players if necessary. Any units eliminated in battle are also placed on your discard pile (except for citadels, which are gained by the victorious player).

Phase 1: Capture Villages

During this phase you may capture villages belonging to other players from areas that contain one or more of your units. Each village you capture grants you one victory point at the end of the game (this is open information; you retain captured villages until the end of the game).

You can only expend one tile in this phase, so you can capture a maximum of five villages each turn. To capture a village from a plain or forest area costs one pip. To capture a village from a hill area costs two pips (the cost of capturing a village is the same as the cost to construct it).

The Chaos Horde do not capture villages in this phase. They capture during their Main Action Phase instead, still only expending one tile, and score 2VPs per captured village.

Phase 2: Move Undead

This phase is unique to The Necromancers. The Necromancer may move any or all Undead units in this phase. Undead units do not use pips to move but may each move up to two land areas regardless of terrain, including mountains. Undead units may also remain in deserts with no penalty.

Undead can also move by sea, using the standard rules explained later, BUT cannot move into a sea area on their own. Undead starting in the same area can move to different areas; they do not have to move as a group. Undead cannot be moved in any other way, so cannot be moved later using the normal 'Move Units' action. They must stop moving as soon as they enter an area containing enemy units and cannot leave an area containing enemy units. Only Undead can be moved in this phase.

Phase 3: Main Actions

In this phase you may perform as many Main Actions as you wish, in any order. The actions are:

• BUILD UNIT
• MOVE UNITS
• BATTLE

You could build a unit, move, resolve a battle, then build another unit. You must resolve all battles before completing this phase — to end this phase you must have no units in the same area as any other players' units.

Action: Build Unit

You may build a unit by placing a tile from your hand in an area that contains one of your villages or your citadel. You must pay its 'build cost' to build it. The build cost is indicated by zero, one or two blocks to the left side of the tile; to pay it you discard a number of tiles from your hand to match the number of blocks. The tiles you spend to pay this cost are all considered equal, regardless of their unit type, pips or build cost. What is on the discarded tiles is of no significance.

Skirmishers are an example of a unit with no 'build cost', so they can be placed anywhere you are legally allowed to build. If you build a ship you place it in a sea area adjacent to your citadel or one of your villages; you may build a ship in a sea area occupied by enemy units, which means at some point during this phase you would have to attack those units.

The tile is placed face-up so other players can see what it is. There is no stacking limit — you can have as many units as you like in an area, including multiple units of the same type and multiple castles.

There is nothing to stop you from building your unit (or ship) in an area containing one or more enemy units if you have a village there. This will lead to battle, but at a time of your choosing, so you could continue building more units in the contested area. Note that you could build a castle in a contested area but it would eventually have to attack the opposing units, which would mean you would not gain its defensive modifier.

Action: Move Units

You may move one or more units by paying for the movement with the pips on one or more tiles from your hand. Each unit you move costs one or more pips for each area it moves into; the cost is calculated by adding up the movement cost of each area that each unit moves into.

Movement costs are paid by discarding tiles from your hand to gain their pip values. Unspent pip values are lost, but you may pay for the movement of multiple units with the combined pip values of one or more tiles. The costs for moving a unit into an area are shown on your Faction Card. Below are the costs for all factions other than the Hill Folk:

Plains	Forest	Hills	Mountains	Desert	Sea
1	2	3	NA	1	1

Units may enter areas containing enemy units but may NOT leave an area that contains enemy units. This means moving or building units into an area with another player's units commits those units to battle; if they defeat the opposing forces then they are able to move. Villages alone do not stop units from moving — you may move in or out of any area that only contains enemy villages. Castles and citadels cannot move. Ships can only move to adjacent sea areas. Rivers act as borders and do not inhibit movement.

Ship Passage by Ship: You can use your ships to move your other units across sea areas. A unit can move along a chain of contiguous ships at no cost; however, you still pay the cost of moving into the final area. Only ships and Dragons can remain in sea areas — all other units have to end their movement in a land area. All units that can move can use Ship Passage, including Dragons and Undead. Ships cannot use ship movement. You cannot move through a sea area that contains units belonging to another player (a contested area).

Leaders and Movement: When a leader unit moves it can take one other unit with it at no additional cost. The Horse Lords and Chaos Horde have two leaders; it is legal for a leader to move another leader who may also simultaneously move another unit at no cost, so you can move a stack of three units for the cost of one unit.

Dragon Movement: Dragons pay one pip to move into ANY area, including sea and mountain areas. They still cannot move from an area containing enemy units.

Action: Battle

Select an area that contains both your units and one or more enemy units. Land and sea combat use the same rules. The attacker and defender take one bag of Battle tiles each. Resolve a battle in five steps:

1. Defender may choose to withdraw (if possible).
2. Attacker and defender draw Battle tiles.
3. Attacker then defender may choose to replace one (and only one) Battle tile with a tile from your hand.
4. Attacker and defender reveal the three tiles with the highest pip values and calculate their total. Add any battle modifiers from your units.
5. The player with the highest total wins. If there is a tie then fight the battle again, discarding any tiles used to substitute.

The victorious side gains VPs equal to the number of opposing units that entered the battle. The losing side eliminates one unit of their choice and retreats the remaining units.

Step One: The defender may withdraw BUT only if they have the same or more cavalry units than the attacker. If the defending forces include a castle or citadel then all defenders must stay and fight — you cannot partially withdraw. The Dragon Riders can withdraw if they have one or more Dragons in their force (except if defending a castle or citadel). You can never withdraw if there are one or more Dragons in the attacking force. The attacker cannot withdraw.

Step Two: Each combatant draws a number of Battle tiles from their own bag. The player with the most units in the combat draws four tiles; the other draws three. If both have the same number of units they each draw three. If the Hill Folk have a giant present then they always draw four tiles (this might mean both players draw four). You keep your drawn tiles secret from your opponent.

Step Three: Starting with the attacker, each combatant may substitute ONE of their Battle tiles with a tile from their hand (the value of a tile equals its pips). You cannot substitute more than one. Exception: if the Corsairs are involved, their opponent must decide whether to substitute first and reveal their three tiles before the Corsairs decide.

Step Four: Both players reveal three of their tiles (unless the Corsairs were involved) — the ones with the highest values. Remaining tiles do not count, so the maximum raw score is fourteen, or fifteen if you have substituted. You then add Battle modifiers from the units you have present, as shown on your Faction Information card. Modifiers may depend on whether you are attacking or defending, or the terrain. Modifiers apply to each unit present (e.g. two Sword units give +2).

Step Five: The side with the highest final total wins. Place all Battle tiles back in their own bag; any tiles used to substitute are discarded. If the battle ends in a tie and the defender has one or more Shield units present, then they win. Otherwise you must fight the battle again from step two (the defender cannot now choose to withdraw), and any tiles used to substitute are discarded and cannot be reused.

The victorious player gains VPs equal to the number of units in the opposing force (before casualties). A citadel counts as one unit. If your marker reaches the end of the track then flip it to its +50VP side and move it back to the start. The Corsairs gain one extra VP when they win a battle.

The losing side eliminates one unit of their choice, placing it in their discard pile, then retreats all remaining units. Villages remain in place, unaffected by battle. Note that if the defender substituted tiles during combat they do NOT draw replacements at the end of combat, so they will begin their turn with less than their normal hand size. If the defender has to eliminate their citadel then they give it to the attacker, who scores a bonus of five VPs at the end of the game.

A Note on Battle Modifiers

Each race has an information card indicating whether a unit gains a Battle modifier (shown to the right of the unit image). Most modifiers apply both in attack and defence. Some are situational, depending on terrain or whether the faction is attacking or defending (e.g. skirmishers only gain their modifier in forest).

Clean-Up

After the battle is resolved make sure all Battle tiles are returned to their own bag. Any tiles used to substitute Battle tiles are discarded.

Withdrawal and Retreat Rules

If you withdraw before battle or are forced to retreat after losing, the following rules apply.

You may withdraw before battle if you are the defender and have the same or more cavalry units present than the attacker (if each side has no cavalry then the defender can withdraw). You can also withdraw if you have a dragon present, no matter what the attacker has. You cannot withdraw if the attacker has one or more Dragons present. You cannot withdraw if you have a castle and/or citadel present, even with dragons.

You can withdraw or retreat to one adjacent area that contains one or more of your pieces (units and/or villages) or an area that is empty. You cannot withdraw or retreat to an area that only contains pieces belonging to another player, including villages. This means you could withdraw or retreat to an area where another battle will occur as long as you already had some pieces there. All withdrawing or retreating units must end up in the same area.

If due to terrain restrictions only some units can withdraw or retreat to an area, then any units that cannot are eliminated; otherwise all units must withdraw or retreat together.

When withdrawing or retreating you can no longer move through areas containing just enemy villages (imagine the villagers emerging with pitchforks). You could withdraw or retreat to an area containing one or more of your villages and enemy units belonging to a non-active player — in which case the next active player would be obliged to attack those units (only the active player is ever the attacker). You are allowed to withdraw or retreat to the area the enemy attacked from, as long as the above rules are observed.

You can withdraw or retreat by sea if you are adjacent to a sea area containing one or more of your ships, handled like Ship Passage — moving along a chain of your ships until you reach an area you can legally withdraw or retreat to. You cannot withdraw or retreat through a contested sea area. Castles and citadels cannot withdraw or retreat, and no defending units can withdraw from an area with a citadel or castle in it. After the battle, any castles/citadel will be eliminated and the surviving units can then retreat as normal; any eliminated castle/citadel counts as a casualty.

A player can only withdraw or retreat if there is a legal place to do so. If a player is forced to retreat and there is no legal area, then all of the units in that combat are eliminated (eliminated units go to your discard pile). You cannot withdraw or retreat to an area that you previously withdrew/retreated from in the same player's turn.

Phase 4: Construct Villages

During this phase you can place one or more of your villages on the map. You expend pips to construct villages: one pip in a plains or forest area, two pips in hills.

Plains	Forest	Hills
1 pip	1 pip	2 pips

You can only expend a maximum of one tile on this action, so the maximum number of villages you can place is five. You may place villages in areas that are:

a) adjacent to your existing villages, b) adjacent to your citadel, c) adjacent to a chain of your units that connects to either your villages or your citadel (even if those units occupy areas containing enemy villages), d) in the same area as a single existing village if this is in the Plains.

You may construct villages adjacent to villages placed in this phase. You can construct a village adjacent to one of your ships if that ship connects back to another of your villages or your citadel, either directly or via a chain of other units.

You cannot place a village in an area containing pieces belonging to another player — it must be empty or only contain your units. You can place up to two villages per plains area, but only one village per forest or hill area. You cannot place a village in an area containing your citadel, nor construct in deserts, mountains or seas (the mountain prohibition applies to the Hill Folk).

Phase 5: Draw Tiles

Deserts: Check whether any of your units are in desert areas. Only Goblins, Lizardmen, Dragons and Undead can remain in desert areas. Any other type of unit in desert terrain is eliminated and placed with your discarded tiles. If you forget to do this and another player spots the situation then the units are still eliminated.

You now refill your hand of tiles to six, drawing replacement tiles from your bag. If you are the Horse Lords then you draw back to seven tiles.

Regrouping

When you need to draw a tile and your bag is empty then place all of your discarded tiles back in the bag and continue drawing. You then score VPs (unless you have already scored the requisite number of times). This is called Regrouping.

Each village you have on the map is worth one victory point. Move your VP Marker up the Victory Point track accordingly (if you reach 50 VPs then flip the marker to its '+50VP' side, move it to the start, and continue). Move your Regroup marker one space along the Regroup track.

In a two-player game the game ends as soon as both players have regrouped at least three times each. With more than two players the game ends as soon as all players have regrouped at least two times each.

Note that a player continues to draw tiles into their hand even after they have scored the required number of times, and may even have to put their discarded tiles in their bag again before the game ends — but if this occurs you do NOT score VPs again. You do not score points for captured villages at this time; they only count at the end of the game.

OMG I've Been Wiped Out!

In the extremely unlikely event that you lose all of your villages and your citadel then you can construct a village in any empty area, after which you would place villages according to the standard rules. The Chaos Horde have their own rules for what happens if they are wiped off the map.

Ending the Game

A two-player game end is triggered when both players have regrouped three times each. A three-plus player game end is triggered when all players have regrouped twice each. Note that the player who triggers the end of the game still scores all their villages, if applicable.

Resolve all remaining battles in player order, starting with the player to the left of the one who triggered the end of the game. The active player resolves any battles they are involved in and then draws their hand back to its normal size. No other actions can be performed during this process.

All players now capture all enemy villages in areas where they have one or more units. No pips are expended for this purpose and there is no upper limit on the number of villages captured in this manner.

Players now score additional end game points for villages they have captured, each worth one VP. The Chaos Horde score two VPs per captured village. A player also scores five VPs for each citadel they have captured.

The player with the highest total is the winner. In the case of a tie, the tied player with the most villages on the map wins. If still tied, the player who gained the most Victory Points from capturing villages and citadels wins. Any tied situation after that remains tied.

Extra Map Rules

Rivers: The rivers are darker to distinguish them from the sea areas. Rivers act as borders.

Adjacency: There are some areas on Map 1 for which the adjacency rules aren't 100% clear; the map's example diagram clarifies which specific areas are and are not adjacent to each other.

Optional Cutiecorn Rules

Due to events beyond the designer's control, someone thought Bloodstones would benefit from a cat riding a unicorn — otherwise known as the Cutiecorn. These rules are optional.

There is one Cutiecorn tile, treated in the same way as a regular unit (with a +1 in plains modifier). At the start of the game it is placed near the edge of the map and is available to be built by any player. The cost to build it is two Build Points and normal placement rules apply. As you place units in reverse player order, the last player in player order will have the first opportunity to build the Cutiecorn.

You treat the Cutiecorn as one of your units. However, as it is not the same colour as your faction, if for any reason the unit ends up on its own in an area containing units belonging to another player then it will fall under the control of that player, even if you have villages in the area. YOU DO NOT PAY TO MOVE THE CUTIECORN — it moves for free along with one or more of your other units.

The Cutiecorn is a cavalry unit and all rules that apply to cavalry units apply to it. The Corsairs have a 'notional' one cavalry when attacking enemy units adjacent to their ships; if they have the Cutiecorn in their attacking forces then this adds to that notional cavalry, so the enemy would need two or more cavalry units present to withdraw.

If you lose a battle and the Cutiecorn was in the same area (under your control) then the other player gains an additional 3VPs for winning the battle AND takes control of the Cutiecorn.

Faction Unit Notes

Standard Units

Each faction has a set of standard units with the same strengths and abilities, referred to by the same name:

• Skirmishers: +1 in forest.
• Swords: +1.
• Shields: +1 when defending. Win ties when defending.
• Siege Engines: +2 against castle or citadel.
• Castles: +3 when defending.
• Ships: +1; allow land units to cross sea areas.
• Citadels: +5 when defending.

Irregular Units

There are also irregular units that all have similar abilities (+1 when attacking) but are referred to by different names — Goblins (Necromancer), Lizardmen (Dragon Riders), Hordes (Chaos Horde), and Reivers (Hill Folk). Goblins and Lizardmen can survive in deserts.

Special Units

• Dragons (Dragon Riders): Movement costs are one pip per area (including mountains and sea). Can remain in desert. You cannot withdraw from a dragon. Dragons can always withdraw unless a castle and/or citadel is present. Gain +4 in battle. Are discarded if they win a battle as the attacker.
• Giants (Hill Folk): Always draw four Battle tiles. Gain +2 in battle.
• Necromancers: +1 in battle. Convert defeated units into Undead.

Faction Composition Notes

• Dragon Riders: 4 Skirmishers, 4 Swords, 4 Shields, 4 Cavalry (+1 in plains), 4 Lizardmen, 2 Siege Engines, 1 Leader, 5 Ships, 4 Castles, 2 Dragons; 20 Villages, 1 Citadel.
• Necromancers: 4 Skirmishers, 2 Swords, 2 Shields, 4 Cavalry, 8 Goblins, 2 Siege Engines, 1 Leader, 5 Ships, 4 Castles, 4 Necromancers; plus 4 Undead (kept aside); 20 Villages, 1 Citadel.
• Horse Lords: 4 Skirmishers, 6 Swords, 4 Shields, 6 Cavalry, 2 Siege Engines, 4 Castles, 2 Leaders, 5 Ships; 20 Villages, 1 Citadel. Special power: hand size of seven tiles.
• Hill Folk: 4 Skirmishers, 2 Swords, 4 Shields, 4 Cavalry, 4 Reivers, 2 Siege Engines, 1 Leader, 5 Ships, 6 Castles (cheaper to build), 2 Giants; 20 Villages, 1 Citadel.
• Chaos Horde: 10 Cavalry (cheaper to build), 20 Hordes, 2 Leaders, 2 Ships; no villages, no citadel. Special power: choose area to place initial units after all other players place citadels; start with 10VPs; build units where they have other units; capture villages as a Main Action; score 2VPs per captured village.
• Corsairs: 4 Skirmishers, 12 Axes, 4 Shields, 1 Siege Engine, 2 Castles, 1 Leader, 8 Ships; 20 Villages, 1 Citadel. Special power: +1 at sea; land units can retreat by sea when defending (except from dragons); when attacking adjacent to a ship, defenders can only retreat with cavalry (or dragon) present; substitute a battle tile after the other side reveals; +1 VP for winning a battle.

Strategy Tips

The designer offers a brief overview of do's and don'ts (feel free to ignore these).

• Faction balance: For less experienced players, the Dragon Riders or Horse Lords are easiest. The Necromancers are most challenging (their power depends on opponents making mistakes). Avoid the Chaos Horde until experienced, as they dramatically change the game's dynamic.
• Citadels: Placement is crucial. Do not feel you must hide it away — it is well-defended and can be the corner-stone of your defence at a choke-point. Against Dragon Riders, build an additional castle in the same area, as Dragons excel at burning citadels.
• Initial build: It is nearly always best to build your most expensive units with the five free Build Points.
• Focus on villages to begin with: Aim to have all twenty villages down before your first regroup, but construct them where they can be defended.
• Have a strike force: Maintain one main army positioned to threaten in multiple directions.
• Battle: When attacking, try to be almost assured of victory — anything less than a +2 advantage is a big risk; aim for +3 or higher. Keep a 5 pip tile in hand in case of a bad draw.
• Withdraw/retreat paths: Always keep a safe retreat path when venturing into enemy territory.
• Ships: Ship movement is very powerful. Dominating connected sea areas lets you move forces quickly; if pursuing a sea strategy, place your citadel next to a sea area.
• Use of terrain: Most battles happen in the plains. Dominating hills is effective for control. Be careful of deserts unless you are the Dragon Riders or Necromancers.
• Tile tempo: You need not burn through tiles as fast as possible; there is some benefit to being the last player to have a turn, though a fast-burn strategy gets more use from your tiles.
• End of game: All players capture at the end of the game, so position yourself to capture as many villages as possible while defending your own. Being the last player can be very powerful.

Player Aid Summary

Starting the game (P7): Randomly determine the first player. Draw nine tiles from your bag. Choose areas for citadels in reverse player order. Start with five Build Points of units in the same area as your citadel (or adjacent if a ship).

Battles (P16): The defender may withdraw if they have the same or more cavalry. If a player has more units than their opponent they draw four Battle tiles rather than three. Attacker, then defender, decide whether to substitute one Battle tile with a tile from their hand. Reveal tiles and count the total value of the top three tiles. Apply unit modifiers. Highest total wins; re-fight ties.

Ending the game (P23): With three or more players the game ends after all players have regrouped twice. With two players the game ends when both players have regrouped three times.