Clash of Armies: Medieval
Clash of Armies: Medieval Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Contents
Basic Game:
- 104 Cards
- 4 Damage taken cards
- Rulebook
Victory
To achieve victory, you must deal more damage to your opponent than you take from him. Once one of the players has at least 55 Damage Points, the end of the game triggers. If the player who started the game triggers the end of the game, the other player has one more turn to play. In the end, the player with the least total damage wins.
Damage Taken Cards
To keep track during the game, 2 cards allows you to control the damage received from your opponent.
Setup
To set up their Player Decks, each player takes 6 Gold cards (value 1) and 1 Gems card (value 2). These cards have an orange border. Shuffle the other Resource cards (value 2 and value 3 resources, which have a white border), and place them in a pile face up in the middle of the table. This is the Resources Deck, which will be a part of the market.
Shuffle together all the Soldier cards, which have a blue border. Each player draws 3 of these cards. Then place the remaining Soldier cards in a pile face up in the market. This is the Soldiers deck.
Each player should now have 10 cards. The players each shuffle their cards to form a pile they place face down in front of them. These are the Player Decks.
Each player takes a Camp card and places it face up in front of them. Each player also takes 2 Damage Points counter cards.
The 5 Fortification cards are the cards with a purple border. Arrange these cards from least to greatest Defense Value, with the weakest, the Watchtower, on top. Place these in a pile face up in the market. This is the Fortifications Deck.
Place the 2 Vassal cards face up to the side of the market.
COA has 6 factions, but only 3 at a time are used in each game. In whatever way the players choose, they decide which 3 factions they will use in the game. Each faction has 6 cards. Shuffle all the cards from the 3 chosen factions together into a single pile. Place this pile face down in the market. This is the Factions Deck. Unused factions can be put back into the box.
COA has 10 medieval events, which can have positive or negative consequences. Together, the players decide how many events to include in the game. We recommend that you include 6 randomly drawn Medieval Event cards. Unused cards can be put back into the box.
Shuffle together any medieval events you chose with all of the game's remaining cards. These will consist of: Medieval Events, Heroes without Factions, Siege Weapons, Upgrades, Special Units, and Special Cards. Place these cards in a pile face down in the market. This is the Standard Deck.
From the Standard Deck, draw 3 cards and place them face up in the market. From the Factions Deck, draw 2 cards and place them face up in the market.
If you drew any medieval events during this part of setup, they have no effect and are considered past events. Immediately discard them and draw new cards for those empty spots.
From their Player Decks, each player draws 5 cards. Choose a player to start the game, and the Clash of Armies begins.
Each player has his own Player Deck. Each player also has his own discard pile, which is reshuffled whenever he needs to draw a card but has no more cards in his Player Deck.
Turn Sequence
COA is played in consecutive turns, one player after the other. On each turn, a player plays their cards and carries out 3 phases: Military, Economic, and Wrap-Up. Then the other player plays their cards and carries out the 3 phases.
Military Phase (1st Phase)
Multiple cards can be played on a player's turn, including multiple cards in this phase. For each card in his hand, the player can:
- Activate and perform the card's abilities.
Activated cards can provide Attack Points, Resources, or Recovery Points.
Attack Points add to the Attack Total for an attack on your opponent this turn. (The number of Damage Points your opponent takes depends on his defenses.) Resources will be used in the Economic Phase. Recovery Points immediately reduce the amount of Damage Points you have taken.
- Garrison military units in a fortification, if you have a Fortification card in play.
If you choose to garrison a military unit card in a fortification, you do not activate the military unit card. Instead, place the card with your fortification. A garrisoned military unit's Defense Value will help protect you from your opponent's attacks. See Fortifications.
In later rounds, if your fortification still stands, you can remove a garrisoned military unit card from the fortification to activate it. By not activating the military unit card now, the card's only use will be its Defense Value, unless the card explicitly indicates otherwise (for example, a card that says if it is garrisoned, draw a card).
You can garrison military unit cards, in either a fortification or your camp, of a quantity no higher than the maximum limit indicated on the card. But in your camp, heroes and generals do not count toward this limit. So you can have up to 3 military unit cards, plus 1 or more Hero cards, garrisoned in your camp. In your fortification, your active monarch does not count toward this limit.
- Garrison military units in your camp, if you also have a hero or general garrisoned there.
As indicated on the Camp card, a hero or general must be garrisoned here in order to garrison other cards. If you choose to garrison a military unit card in your camp, you do not activate the military unit card. Instead, place the card with your camp. A garrisoned military unit's Defense Value can help protect you from your opponent's attacks. But you get to decide that when you are attacked.
Attack, Defense, and Damage
To conclude the Military Phase, a player declares their attack by telling their opponent their Attack Total.
If the player's opponent has units garrisoned in his camp, he can now use them if he chooses to.
There are 3 possible results of the attack:
- Attack Total is less than Defense Total: The opponent takes no damage. The attack has no effect.
- Attack Total is equal to Defense Total: The opponent takes no damage, but his fortification and any units garrisoned in it must be discarded.
- Attack Total is greater than Defense Total: The opponent receives the difference between the Attack Total and the Defense Total as Damage Points. And his fortification and any units garrisoned in it must be discarded.
When you take damage, add the amount you took using your Damage Points counter cards. Proper card play can generate from 1 to more than 30 Damage Points at once!
Economic Phase (2nd Phase)
Add the value of all resources from all the cards you activated this turn, and active cards such as your monarch, to purchase cards from the market.
Besides Gold, Gems, and Jewels Resource cards, some cards, like the Merchant, can also generate resources.
You can purchase 0 or more cards on your turn. You can purchase as many cards as you want; you are only limited by the amount of resources you generated this turn and the availability of face-up cards in the market. You can purchase from the 3 cards face up from the Standard Deck, the 2 cards face up from the Factions Deck, or any of the top cards showing, face up, on the Resources, Soldiers, and Fortifications Decks.
Each card has a cost value shown at the top of the card. If you want to purchase a card, if you have at least as many resources this turn as that card's cost, reduce your total resources for this turn by the card's cost and take it from the market.
Cards you purchase usually go directly into your discard pile. Exceptions are cards like monarchs and upgrades, which are left face up on the table.
Cards you purchase from the market will be replaced once your turn ends. But the Resources, Soldiers, and Fortifications Decks always show a card face up, and you can purchase multiple cards from these decks on your turn.
If a Medieval Event card appears when replenishing the market, resolve the event according to the card's directions.
Wrap-Up Phase (3rd Phase)
In the Wrap-Up Phase, take the following steps:
- Discard all cards you have activated or played this turn but that you have not garrisoned or scrapped. You should have no cards left in your hand.
- Declare the value of your Total Defense, from your fortification and your camp.
- Draw 5 cards for your next turn.
- Replenish each empty space in the market with a new card drawn from its respective deck.
If any of the market decks completely deplete (Resources Deck, Soldiers Deck, Fortifications Deck, Factions Deck, or the Standard Deck) they will not get replenished for the rest of the game.
If a Medieval Event card appears during replenishing, replenishing is suspended. Resolve the event, then continue replenishing, including replacing the Medieval Event card.
Order of Play
The phases of a turn can be carried out in any order. But note that on your turn every card in your hand must be played unless a card ability directs you to do something differently, such as discarding or scrapping a card. To "play" a card means activating it or garrisoning it.
You are not required to use all resources and abilities each activated card provides. But you are required to use the abilities of Special Cards in your hand. Special Cards also cannot be garrisoned.
When activated, a card is set aside, and when the player ends his turn, he moves all activated cards to his discard pile.
Scrapping Cards
Cards with the Scrap symbol can also provide you what is indicated to the right of this symbol. For example, a Gold card provides 1 resource when it's activated, and you can choose to scrap the card for 1 additional resource. If a card is scrapped, set it aside, out of play for the rest of the game.
Some scrap abilities can be triggered during your opponent's turn, such as with upgrades.
Upgrades
When you purchase an Upgrade card, it does not become part of your Player Deck. Do not put it into your discard pile; instead, place it face up in front of you, to the side of your Player Deck. Upgrades act as improvements to your fortifications, and they can only be used when your Fortification cards are used. (Notice the Fortification and Upgrade cards share the same color border.)
Monarchs
When you first purchase a Monarch card, it does not become part of your Player Deck. Do not put it into your discard pile; instead, place it face up in front of you, to the side of your Player Deck. Also, take a Vassal card, and put it into your discard pile. The vassal will represent your monarch when you draw the vassal into your hand. Then you can use the Vassal card to activate the Monarch card.
Some monarch abilities can be used without the need for the vassal.
If your monarch has a Defense Value, add it to your Defense Total only if you have a fortification in play. The monarch cannot defend without a fortification; it does not add to Defense Values from units garrisoned in your camp.
Monarchs also activate faction abilities. See Factions.
If you purchase another Monarch card after your first one, the new card goes into your discard pile like any normal card you purchase, and you do not take another Vassal card. When you draw the new Monarch card, you can switch it with your active monarch. When this happens the new Monarch card is not activated, and the old Monarch card is set aside as if it had been activated. Your vassal always represents only your active monarch, and it can only be used for 1 monarch per turn. If you draw a Monarch card into your hand, you cannot use it for anything besides replacing your active monarch.
Factions
Faction cards have a coat of arms symbol, and they are played like any regular card. But any ability on the card showing to the right of the coat of arms can only be activated when a monarch or hero of the same faction is in play or garrisoned. The faction units need their monarch or hero in sight.
- If you have that faction's monarch active beside your Player Deck, you can always activate that faction's actions.
- If that faction's hero is in your hand or garrisoned in a fortification or your camp, you can activate that faction's actions.
- If a faction unit is garrisoned and that faction's hero is in your hand or garrisoned, you can activate that faction's actions.
Note: If the faction's hero is garrisoned, it's not necessary to activate the Hero card to use faction units' faction actions; the hero's visible presence is sufficient.
Quick Questions
Can you have multiple fortifications? You can have multiple Fortification cards in your Player Deck, but you can only have 1 fortification actively in play on the table.
Can I use units that are defending in my attack? Yes, you can remove any number of garrisoned units from your camp and a fortification, to use them for an attack. You are "activating" these cards, then they will be discarded during the Wrap-Up Phase.
Can I save some cards between turns? You cannot save cards in your hand from one turn to another. But if you can garrison units, this is a way to set up a future turn with more cards you will be able to activate.
Can I garrison units with no Defense Value? Yes, you can. Garrisoned units don't have to provide defense. In fact, you may want to garrison certain units to strategize for a future attack.
I don't see that the card values have very high Attack/Damage values. Is it possible to generate more than 20 Damage in an attack? Yes, it is. It's the combination of cards that can generate a high amount of damage. The game relies on your skill to find card combinations that deliver the most powerful attacks. The total damage in one turn can exceed 30 Damage Points.
Can the game be played with a different starting setup? Of course! Seasoned players can start the game in whatever way seems convenient and the most fun. The setup detailed in these rules is the official standard setup.
What are the possible primary card abilities? In the basic game, there are 3 primary card abilities: Attack, Healing (or recovery of damage), and Resources. Defense is available on some cards as an ability that can only be used in certain situations, like when the card is garrisoned.
Does the order of the Economic and Military Phases matter? No. We provided an order of play in this rulebook for players new to the game. What you should bear in mind is that when a card is in your hand, you will activate it, garrison it, or discard it. Once cards have been activated, they are discarded.
I have a catapult in my hand, as well as Joan of Arc, which says I can draw a card from my discard pile. My idea is to activate the catapult, then discard it and activate it again thanks to Joan of Arc. Is that possible? No. Activation implies that the card was used during that hand, so you can set it aside, but you do not discard it until the end of your turn. If you set aside activated cards, you can make a pile of them that you discard all at once at the end of your turn. This can even be an indication to the other player that you have finished your turn. See Wrap-Up Phase.