Crossbows & Catapults: Fortress War Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
  • 1. Place Your Gate
  • 2. Build Your Castle
  • 3. Plant Your Flags
  • 4. Deploy Your Army
  • 5. Plan for Battle
  • 6. To Arms
• Playing the Game
  • How to Win
  • Take Your Turn
  • Moving
  • Firing
  • End of the Turn
• Tactics Cards
  • Mercenary
  • Ammo
  • Building
  • Event
  • Sample Tactics Cards
• Optional Rule: Treasure!
• Credits

Components

• 2 Crossbows
• 2 Catapults
• 6 Special Ammo Pieces
• 6 Red Ammo Pieces
• Dwarf Tactics Cards
• Goblin Tactics Cards
• 5 Dwarf Warrior Figures & 1 Dwarf General Figure
• 4 Dwarf Flags
• 5 Goblin Warrior Figures & 1 Goblin General Figure
• 4 Goblin Shields
• 4 Goblin Flags
• 28 Tan Castle Pieces
• 4 Dwarf Shields
• 5 Dwarf Mercenary Figures
• 5 Goblin Mercenary Figures
• 28 Gray Castle Pieces
• Punch board terrain, 2 Sticker Sheets, and 2 Treasure cards (not shown)

Gray Castle Pieces key:

• A - 15 2x1 Brick
• B - 2 Foundations
• C - 1 Arch
• D - 2 Turrets
• E - 2 Towers
• F - 1 Spire
• G - 1 Balcony
• H - 2 Stairs
• I - 1 Gate
• J - 1 Jail

Setup

Each player takes their pieces and sets up their play area as follows:

1. Place Your Gate

Each player sets up their gate on their castle line, facing each other. To set up your gate, place the arch on two wall bricks and slide the gate into place.

2. Build Your Castle

Build the rest of your castle using the following rules:

• A. Your castle must be one continuous structure. (Each piece must be connected to the structure.)
• B. Place your shields into four bricks.
• C. Your wall bricks with shields must be facing forward, towards your opponent's castle.
• D. Your jail must be facing forward, towards your opponent's castle.
• E. Your castle may not extend past your backline.

3. Plant Your Flags

Place two of your flags on the left side of the battlefield, one at the midline and one at the castle line, lined up with the front of your castle. Do the same on the right side of the battlefield.

NOTE: You can make the battlefield as wide as your table permits.

Use this diagram to help you set up your game: the field runs Back Line, then a 10" (25.4 cm) Right Flank / Left Flank strip, the Castle Line where each player's castle sits, 15" (38.1 cm) of Battlefield, the Middle Line, another 15" (38.1 cm) of Battlefield, the opponent's Castle Line and castle, a 10" (25.4 cm) Left Flank / Right Flank strip, and the opponent's Back Line.

4. Deploy Your Army

Place one warrior in each of your flanks. Place one warrior on top of your castle. Behind your castle, place one warrior and your general. Give your remaining warrior to your opponent to put in their jail (and put the warrior you get from them in your jail).

5. Plan for Battle

Take your faction's tactics cards, shuffle them to make a deck, and draw 2 cards.

6. To Arms

Take a crossbow, a catapult, 3 regular ammo discs, your special ammo discs, and your mercenary figures. Place them near you, out of play.

Let the battle begin! The younger player goes first.

Playing the Game

How to Win

You win if you wound all of your opponent's warriors and their general.

A figure is wounded if its base is not flat on the table or if it ends up outside the play area. You do not need to wound your opponent's mercenaries if they are in play; as soon as your opponent's warriors and general are wounded, the game ends.

Take Your Turn

On your turn, you will play one tactics card, take two actions, and draw one tactics card. Certain effects might give you additional actions.

1. Play a Tactics Card. At the beginning of your turn, you must play a tactics card and resolve its effect.
2. Take Two Actions. On your turn, you get two actions. The available actions are Fire and Move. You can do them in either order, or you can take the same action twice.

Moving

Use this action to move a figure from one area to another. Pick up one of your figures and place them anywhere on your side of the play area.

Firing

Use this action to fire a weapon. Choose one of your figures. Place your weapon near, and no further forward, than that figure and fire the weapon.

NOTE: when you fire the crossbow, you may only use 1 hand, and you must use the pinch points.

NOTE: when using the catapult, turn the knob to change the angle of attack!

After firing, clean up the battlefield as follows:

1. Remove from play any building pieces that are not connected to at least one other piece.
2. Reset any flags to their original position.
3. Remove from play any wounded figures.
4. If your opponent's jail door was removed, take the captured figure and place it anywhere on your side of the battlefield.
5. If you wounded your opponent's general, your opponent discards one tactics card.
6. Place your weapon and the disc you fired out of the play area.

End of the Turn

1. Draw the top card of your tactics deck. (If your general is wounded, you will only have one card in hand.) If you have no cards left, skip this step.
2. Then, the other player takes their turn.

Play continues until someone wins!

Tactics Cards

There are four types of tactics cards: mercenary, ammo, building, and event.

Mercenary

These cards let you deploy special figures to the battlefield. Place that figure in the play area indicated on the card. Leave the tactics card face up in front of you. As long as the mercenary remains in play, you get its effect. Discard the card when the mercenary is wounded. (Reminder: You do not need to wound your opponent's mercenaries to win the game.)

Ammo

These cards let you fire a special ammo disc with unique effects. Use the ammo disc indicated on the card. After resolving the attack, discard the card and remove that ammo disc from play.

Building

These cards let you use a special effect if you have a particular building piece in play. If you do not have the piece in play, fire your catapult from behind your castle instead. Either way, resolve the effect and discard the card.

Event

Resolve the effect and discard the card.

Sample Tactics Cards

• Karram the Bloodthirsty (Mercenary): Place Karram on your side of the battlefield. On each of your future turns, as a bonus action, fire your crossbow from Karram. If it wounds a figure, fire again as a bonus action. Repeat this effect until you don't wound a figure.
• Bombarang (Ammo): As your first action, fire the bombarang ammo disc from your catapult. If it lands face up, you may fire it again as a bonus action. Keep firing until it lands face down.
• Full Volley (Building): If your balcony is in play, fire your crossbow from each of your figures on the battlefield and flanks as a bonus action. Otherwise, fire your catapult from behind your castle as a bonus action.
• Press the Advantage (Event): Gain a bonus action.

Optional Rule: Treasure!

This optional rule offers a new, alternate way to win the game.

Each side has a treasure card. During setup, after building your castle, place your treasure card somewhere behind your castle line. During the game, if any part of your ammo disc lands on your opponent's treasure card, you immediately win the game!

Credits

Restored from Crossbows and Catapults, originally published by Lakeside in 1983 and designed by Ray Frigard.

• Game Design: Rob Daviau, Noah Cohen, Brian Neff, and Justin Jacobson.
• Weapon and Building Component Design and Engineering: Stephen Baker and David Bird
• Dwarf and Goblin 3D Modeling: Punga Miniatures
• Cover Illustration: George Doutsiopoulos
• Card Illustrations: Nastya Lehn
• Graphic Design: Jason Taylor, Lindsay Daviau, and Ian Reed
• Additional Visual Design and Concepts: Ben Dinsmore
• Rulebook Design: Matt Paquette & Co.
• Project Management: Brian Neff and Suzanne Sheldon
• Fulfillment and Logistics: Josh Willenbrink and Stephen Baker