Dirge: The Rust Wars
Dirge: The Rust Wars Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Component List
- 9x Unit Cards
- 9x Unit Stat Cards
- 18x Unit Ability Cards
- 10x Starting Ability Cards
- 9x Location Cards
- 3x Action Cards
- 1x Turn Sequence Card
- 2x Location Effect Cards
- 2x Victory Point Cards
- 6x Slide Trackers
- This Rulebook
Setup
Place the 9 Location Cards in the middle of the play area in a 3x3 grid, forming the board, and place the 3 Action Cards to the side of the play area as shown.
Determine a Start Player using whichever method the players agree on. The Start Player takes the Turn Sequence Card and places it in their play area.
Give each player a starting deck of Ability Cards consisting of: 2x Assail, 2x Mobilize, and 1x Regroup. Each player places these in their deck in their play area.
Give each player a Location Effect and Victory Point Card, and a Slide Tracker. Each Player places these Cards in their play area, with their Slide Tracker on their Value Card, set at 0.
Victory Point Cards dictate which side of Unit and Unit Stat Cards the player will use.
Separate all Units, Unit Stat Cards, and Unit Ability Cards, and place them to the side of the play area as shown. Each player will create a Warband of 2 different Units, each of a different Unit Type (Cavalry, Infantry, or Engine indicated by an icon). A player cannot choose 2 Units of the same Type when creating a Warband.
Then, the Start Player chooses one available Unit from the side of the play area and adds it to their Warband. When a Unit is added to a player's Warband, the player takes that Unit and places it on one unoccupied corner of the board, takes that Unit's Stat Card, places it in their play area, and takes a Slide Tracker and places it on the Unit Stat Card, set to the Unit's Wounds. Finally, the player takes the chosen Unit's Ability Cards and places those cards with their starting deck.
The non-Start player then adds two Units to their Warband. Finally, the Start Player adds one Unit to their Warband.
Return all non-Selected Units and Unit Stat Cards to the box, but leave any unselected Unit Ability Cards to the side.
Setup Reminder: each player should begin the game with a deck of 9 Cards (5 starting Cards and 4 Unit Ability Cards), 2 Units on the Board, 2 Unit Stat Cards, a Location Effect Card, a Victory Point Card and 3 Slide Trackers.
Playing Dirge: The Rust Wars
Once each player has created their Warband, each player shuffles their deck and draws 3 cards. Then, the game begins.
Dirge: The Rust Wars is played over a series of Rounds. The Turn Sequence Card and three Action Cards drive the gameplay.
Each Round, beginning with the player with the Turn Sequence Card, that player selects one face up Action Card and takes a turn by performing the top half of the selected Action Card. Then, the other player (who does not currently have the Turn Sequence Card) takes a turn and performs the bottom of the selected Action Card. Afterwards, the selected Action Card is flipped face down.
Then, the Turn Sequence Card is passed to the other player.
This process repeats until all three Action Cards have been used, at which point the Turn Sequence Card is flipped over and the round ends. If neither player has scored 12 or more Victory Points, the game continues to a new round. If either player has scored 12 or more Victory Points, the game ends with the player with the most Victory Points winning the game.
The Action Cards
There are three Action Cards. The Action Cards are tied to, but not entirely restricted by, Unit Type: Infantry, Cavalry, Engine. These cards dictate what the player must do during their turn.
Ability Cards
Each player begins the game with a deck of 9 Ability Cards. Like Units, each Ability Card has a Type: Infantry, Cavalry, or Engine, and is indicated by the icon in the top right corner.
Players draw and play these Ability Cards, and draft new Ability Cards from the side of the play area. Each player also has a discard for their played and drafted Ability Cards.
There is no maximum handsize. Player's hands are kept secret from the other player. If a player would draw a card and their deck is empty, they shuffle their discard to form a new deck.
When a player "plays a card," they choose an Ability Card in their hand, reveal it, follow the card's text to the best of their ability, and then move it to their discard.
When a player "drafts a card," they choose one Ability Card from the side of the play area of the indicated Type and move it to their discard. If a player would draft a card and are unable to draft a card, they instead draw one card from their deck.
Units
Each Unit has a corresponding Unit Stat Card. This card shows the Unit's Type, Name, Stats (Wounds, Move, and Attack), and Skill.
The Unit's Wounds indicate how much damage the Unit can take before it is Destroyed. When a Unit is Destroyed, it is removed from the board. As a Unit receives damage, the Slide Tracker on the Unit Stat card is moved to show the remaining Wounds.
The Unit's Move indicates how many spaces it can move. Units move orthogonally on a 4x4 board comprised of 9 Location cards, but cannot move through, or end their move on, a space occupied by another Unit.
The Unit's Attack indicates how much Damage it inflicts on other Units when it attacks. Units attack other adjacent Units to cause damage. When a Unit takes more Damage than it has Wounds, it is Destroyed.
The Unit's Skill is a unique attribute that can either be situationally triggered or ongoing. Skills are not optional and are followed to the best of the player's ability.
Move Example: The Cloudclimber has a Move of 2. It can move to any of the indicated spaces. But it cannot move through, or end its move on, another Unit.
Attack Example: In this example, the Slitherig can attack the Raider because it is orthogonally adjacent. It could not attack the Rubblecannon because it is not orthogonally adjacent.
Damage is never removed from a Unit once it is inflicted, until the Unit is destroyed, and removed from the board.
Destroyed Units may be Respawned at full Wounds at corner of the board.
Locations
The game is played on a 4x4 board comprised of 9 Location Cards. While the board is made of cards, their positions are set and are never altered. The corner of each Location is a space.
A Unit that is at a Location's corner is at that Location. A single Unit can be at several adjacent Locations at once. Each Location offers a unique Effect. The Effects of the various Locations are covered on the Location Effect Cards.
A player controls any Location(s) where their Units are. Both players can control the same Location.
Spaces are marked by the [icon not reproduced in text extraction; see the printed rulebook].
At the end of the Round, if both players Control the same number of Sawgrass Sea Locations, both players gain 1 Victory Point.
Transcriber note: the sentence "Spaces are marked by the" is followed by an icon in the printed rulebook that the text layer does not reproduce.
Victory Points
Throughout the game, players will score Victory Points. As the player scores Victory Points, the Slide Tracker is adjusted on their Victory Points Card to indicate their Victory Points.
The ways to score Victory Points are indicated on the Victory Points Cards and Location Effects Cards.
Ending the Game
At the end of the Round, if either player has scored 12 or more Victory Points, the game ends. The player with the most points wins. In the event of a tie, players compare the number of cards in their Deck, hand, and discard. The player with the most cards wins.