Farsight
Farsight Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
This box contains:
For more information on components, see Page 6.
If any part of your product is incomplete or damaged upon arrival from the publisher or a retailer, contact the publisher with details, including your name, address, and where you bought the game.
Game Components
Event Cards
Each turn brings the possibilty of a new Event Card being drawn. These introduce the discoveries of new elements or conditions on the battlefield, which can help or hinder players.
Casualty Tokens
When damaged, a unit receives Casualty Tokens, each of which has two sides - Light, and Heavy. When a Unit sustains it's third casualty, the token and the unit piece are removed from the board.
Objective Tokens
The Objective Tokens are all double-sided, displaying the colour and icon of each faction. When a faction captures an Objective space, the appropriate token is placed in the corner of that space.
Battlefield Unit Pieces
Divided into four Factions, Unit Pieces represent military units and their orientation/status on the battlefield. When deployed, they are placed face-down ('Blipped.') The front of each Unit Piece displays its Attack/Defence values, and any relevant abilities.
Specialist Units
Each player receives a deck of Specialist units, which may be played onto their Shadowmap. Each card details that unit's abilities.
Player Boards/Shadowmaps
The Player Boards contain helpful quick reference information, such as Turn Order and Unit Abilities. On the reverse side of each Player Board is the Shadowmap, which is used to deploy and track friendly and enemy Specialists.
Dice
The game contains three kinds of dice: six-sided Hit Dice used during combat and Event phases, and ten/twelve-sided dice, used for calculating grid references during the game.
Map
The map is a 12 x 9 square grid, divided into 12 Zones, each with a numbered objective building in the centre. For details on calculating random map references, see Page ###.
Unit Cards
The colour of the metal and Insignia on the front and back of the card tells you to which faction the unit belongs - Daia, Vestus, Ares or Zafar. The two sizes of unit card - small and large - indicate whether they are Battlefield (Small) or Specialist (Large). Battlefield cards are played straight onto the battlefield, whilst Specialists are deployed onto the Shadow Map (see Page x).
The stars and insignia (Gold or Silver) in the top right are used for assembling armies: stars are used to balance custom armies (see Page X), and ensure that both sides are equally matched without revealing what units you have, whereas Insignia indicates the cards you will need for the pre-built armies. If you're fighting alone against your opponent(s), use all the Gold units from one faction. If you're fighting as a team, each player uses the Silver units from two separate factions.
The Type and Name of the unit are described in the bottom left hand corner. There are 5 Battlefield unit types: Infantry, Artillery, Assault, Armour and Prototype. Names are purely for flavour, and don't affect gameplay.
The values listed in the top left of the card are the units Attack and Defence values, which indicate how many hit dice that unit will roll when attacking or being attacked, +/- any modifiers. Also in this section are the units special abilities, if any.
Dice
These are Hit Dice - each has 2 hit symbols (star-burst) and 1 '!' symbol. These dice have a few different uses, but are predominantly used during combat: when rolled, every dice that shows a hit symbol result causes a casualty.
The 12-sided and 10-sided dice are used for calculating coordinates on the map. To see how these work, go to 'Game Board' (Page x).
Reference Board and Shadow Map
Each game, every player is given a reference board, which shows vital information for gameplay. On the left hand side, the board details Unit Abilities, and breaks down the play turn. On the right, the board lists the different modifiers that may apply to units during combat, sorted into Attack Only Modifiers, Attack or Defence Modifiers, and Defence Only Modifiers.
On the reverse side of the Reference Board is the Shadow Map, which is used to deploy and hunt Specialists. When they are deployed, players write the corresponding letters into a square on the grid with a drywipe pen. When attempting to hunt enemy units, players may make notes on the Shadow Map of where they think the enemy might be.
Game Board
The map is a 12 x 9 grid, split into '12 Zones', with a Base at the centre of each 'Zone'. Base Tokens are placed at the corner of a Base space to indicate which Faction is currently in control of that Base.
When rolling to determine coordinates, use the 12 and 10 sided dice, corresponding the results with the numbers and letters on the edges of the map. If you roll a blank on the 10 sided dice, simply re-roll until a number appears.
Terrain
As well as Bases, the map features several types of terrain, each with their own effect on gameplay:
Forests: Dense trees provide cover even for the largest units. When attempting to attack units that are occupying a forest, the attackers receive a -1 Attack penalty. Note that this does not apply to either party when a unit attacks FROM a forest. However, units attacking from a forest whilst hidden (unrevealed) can remain hidden.
Lakes: These large bodies of water are impassable. Units cannot move into or through a square which has a lake in it.
Hills: Defending and attacking from an elevated position always gives an advantage - any unit on a hill gains +1 Attack and +1 Defence strength. Artillery on a hill gains +1 range, allowing it to fire 4 spaces. You can differentiate a hill on the map by its shadow.
Bases: These installations are heavily defendable, and any unit attempting to attack a unit inside a base receives a -1 Attack penalty. Units inside the base do not receive a bonus.
Debris: The map is scattered with ruins, craters, and other pieces of debris. These objects have no effect on combat.
For more information on Combat Strength, go to page X.
Setup
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First, place the Map Boards so that the coordinate information lines up, creating 2 rows of A-L and 1-9.
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Choose whether to play a Training Game. Training games are recommended for new Farsight players, or those who have not played many board games before, in order to introduce the mechanics of the game slowly. Training Games can be found on Pages [ ] through [ ], under 'Learn as you Play.'
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If there are 3/4 players, two/all players must form teams. Players on the same team must sit on the same side of the board, along the longest side. All players must still choose a unique faction.
In 3 player games:
- The lone player removes all Supply Lines from their deck.
- When building custom armies, the lone player builds an army with twice the value of the opposite players' armies.
- The lone player may deploy extra units during deployment.
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Choose whether to play with pre-built or custom armies. For pre-built armies, see below. For custom armies, go to page [ ].
Pre-Built Armies can be formed quickly to ensure a level playing experience. Simply select a Faction (Ares, Daia, Zafar, or Vestus), and take all of the Battlefield Units (smaller tiles) and Specialists (larger cards) from that faction with the relevant insignia:
a) If you are playing on your own (i.e. Without another player fighting on your side this game) take all the tiles and cards with the Gold insignia.
b) If you are playing on a team with one other player, take all the tiles and cards with the Silver Insignia.
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Shuffle the Events Deck and place alongside the gameboard, in a single face-down pile.
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Ensure that all tokens and dice are nearby, ideally with a space reserved for dice rolling. Unused Battlefield Units and Specialists are not used, and may be returned to the box.
Custom Armies
In a game of Farsight, players are given the option to build their own custom armies.
Custom armies are simple: each unit, both Battlefield and Specialist, has a unique 'star' value, which is detailed on the card. Star values range from 1-3 stars.
Before armies are built, players agree on a star value for their armies. In 3 player games, the lone player gets double the amount that each player on the opposite team is given. In 2 and 4 player games, all players build to the same value.
A 30 star army per team (15 per player) is the recommended army size for a 60-90 minute game.
When building an army, here are some strategic decisions to consider:
- Discuss privately with your team member, if you are playing with one, what to focus on. If, for example, one player chooses to focus on offence whilst the other focusses on defence, they may be able to co-operate better during gameplay.
- As units can take a while to traverse the battlefield, information is a valuable asset in the game: make sure to include Spies in your specialist deck, to ensure you make effective decisions ahead of time.
- Try and include a mix of high and low value units: groups of lower value units can be used to harass and confuse the enemy, giving higher powered units the chance to manoeuvre into key positions where they may do the most damage.
Learn as you Play
If you don't want to read the entire rulebook before you play, once you've followed the set-up instructions you can play through the game by referring to pages and sections with a [ ] indicator.
We have written this book in roughly chronological order, so that you can flick through it section by section as you play your first few turns to familiarise yourself with how the game plays as you go.
To make learning easier, you may wish to play one of the three training modes:
- The Basics: During setup, don't take the Specialist cards or Event Cards. During the game, skip the Event and Specialist phases, playing only the Deploy and Battlefield phases. Play this mode as many times as needed, or play it as a quick express mode.
- Espionage: Introduce the Specialist decks and start playing through the Specialist phase.
- Forces of Nature: Finally, introduce the Events deck and Events phase.
Game Basics
The standard Farsight game mode sees two teams of 1 or 2 players compete for control of 12 Bases, each Base located in the centre of one of the twelve 3 x 3 'Zones.'
Capturing Bases
To capture a base, a player must move a Battlefield unit onto it, and stay there until the start of the next turn. Once captured, simply place that Faction's marker onto the base. Already captured bases may be taken by other players using the same method. Once captured, the unit may move away without the player losing control of the base.
Victory Conditions
Victory is given to the first team to complete any one of the following objectives:
- Eliminate all Battlefield units belonging to the enemy team.
- Control 8 Bases anywhere on the field for 1 complete turn.
- Control 3 of the 4 Bases closest to the enemy team for 1 complete turn.
Turn Sequence
At the start of each game, roll the 10-sided die to determine the starting team. The highest rolling team takes the Starting Team Token, which means they will take the first actions in all phases this turn.
At the start of each subsequent turn, the Starting Team Token is given to the other team.
The game is played in turns, each of which is broken down into four phases. Turns continue until a victory condition is met. The phases are:
- Events Phase
- Deployment Phase
- Specialist Phase
- Battlefield Phase
These are described in detail in the following sections.
In each Phase, starting with a player on the Starting Team, each team takes turns to allow one player from that team to perform one action from the current phase/sub-phase until there are no more possible moves or until all players pass.
If two players cannot agree on who should move on their team's turn, they may roll a D10 to resolve the dispute.
Once all players have completed a Phase (no more moves can be made or everyone has passed,) they move to the next phase, and so on, until the turn is complete.
Events Phase
If there are active Events that expire after one turn at the start of the Event Phase, remove the card from the game. If there are Tornados or Plagues active, resolve their ongoing effect before proceeding to the Events Phase.
At the start of each turn, both Teams roll one hit die each. On any symbol result, an Event is drawn from the pile, and resolved immediately. Some Events remain in play, and some require a roll or test.
If players have Seers deployed, this is when they are used. For each Seer deployed by a Team who has rolled an Event, that Team may draw one extra Event card, and choose which one of the possible Events resolve. Unused Event cards must be returned to the bottom of the pile.
In addition to choosing events, each Seer allows the player to re-roll one Combat or Events dice, once per turn, per Seer deployed. A single Seer may be used to both choose Events and re-roll a die in a single turn.
Event Guidelines
Use of the word 'Zone' applies to all 3x3 squares with a Base in the centre. There are 12 Zones on the map.
Blizzard/Contamination/Eclipse/Solar Flare: These events affect all players.
Camouflage: Drawing player chooses. Newly camouflaged units may be spied upon or revealed by Spies/Combat as normal. Ambush Bonuses and Forest Camouflage rules still apply.
Fog: Ambush Bonuses work as normal. Affects all players.
Heroic Last Stand: Applies only to the team who draw it. Applies as soon as there is an eligible unit. If there are multiple eligible units, the player must choose. The player should declare when a unit is on Last Stand.
When used on an Armoured unit, the Armoured bonus is doubled.
Lightning: Roll the D12 to determine a zone, using the numbers on the Base spaces. Units are damaged by the regular Hit symbol. Armoured bonuses do not apply.
Meteors: Roll a D10 to determine which square in each zone is hit: 1-9 refer to each space in a zone left-to-right top-to-bottom from the rolling player's perspective. On a blank, re-roll.
Minefield: Roll the co-ordinate dice to determine the start space of the 2x2 minefield, and place the card at the intersection of 4 spaces. The start space occupies the top left part of the card, with the rest of the card occupying the lower-right spaces (unless there isn't room) from the player's perspective. If there's no room, rotate the card 90° on it's start space axis until it fits.
Units within the minefield when it is discovered are not in danger until they move, but when they do so, even to leave the field, damage is rolled. Units suffer damage rolls for each minefield square they enter.
Plague: Roll the co-ordinate dice to determine a random space - 'nearest' is determined by the least amount of spaces a unit would take to move there. If there is a tie, the drawing player chooses.
During the Events Phase each turn, roll a dice for each infected unit. On a hit result, they take a casualty. Once this roll has been made, roll once for each adjacent (not diagonal) unit to see if the plague spreads to it.
Tornado: Roll the co-ordinate dice to determine the start space. Place a Tornado token there. During the Event space, the Tornado moves one space, determined by the roll of a D10, and from the rolling Team's perspective, according to the diagram on the left.
On a 9 or blank result, the Tornado dissipates, and is removed from the board. When causing damage, Armoured bonuses apply as normal.
Tunnels: When this card is drawn, roll co-ordinates twice: place a tunnel token on both squares. Any player may use the tunnel. A unit wishing to use the Tunnel must first move onto the tunnel space, and then spend 1 movement to reach the other Tunnel Space.
If more than 2 tunnel tokens are placed on the board, entering a tunnel will bring the unit out at an exit of the player's choosing.
Deployment Phase
Keeping their remaining units a secret, teams take turns to deploy any 1 unit until they have reached their maximum allowance for this turn. Each player may deploy:
- 1 Battlefield Unit (+1 if you are the lone player in a 3 player game)
- 1 Specialist Unit (+1 if you are the lone player in a 3 player game)
- +1 of any type for each Supply Line you have deployed. (Supply Lines only provide this bonus the turn after they are deployed. Battlefield units must still be placed on the back row.)
Specialists
Place the Specialist card you're deploying in front of you, face-down (reveal when used), to indicate that it has been deployed. Then, they pick a square on the Shadow Map to deploy the unit to, using the + marks (which indicate the bases) to orient themselves.
Below the Shadow Map is a key that shows which letters refer to which units:
SB - Saboteur, SP - Spy, SL - Supply Line, SR - Seer
Once deployed, Specialists do not move. Assassins are not deployed to the Map or Shadow Map.
Battlefield Units
Battlefield Units are placed on the map, face-down, on the 1-space deep row of spaces closest to the deploying player.
They may not deploy or move onto squares already occupied by other units.
When deployed, the player may choose an alternate direction for the unit to face (the top end of the card indicates which direction the unit is facing) if they wish.
Specialists Phase
In this phase, teams take turns to activate their deployed Specialists, one at a time, in the following order:
- Assassins
- Spies
- Saboteurs
All Specialists of a certain type must be activated before the next is used. Each Specialist may be used once per turn until they are eliminated by an Assassin. Players are not obligated to use all their Specialists during this phase.
Assassins
Assassins may hunt one enemy Specialist per turn. Using triangulation, information from previous turns, and intuition, assassins home in on their targets before eliminating them.
Assassins are not deployed like other Specialists, but instead are placed face-up on the table. They do not occupy a space on the map, do not have a restricted range, and cannot be assassinated themselves.
To hunt, a player indicates a space on the map where their Assassin is hunting, as well as a player on the opposing team, and the unit type they are looking for. The named player must respond with whether or not the Assassin has chosen the correct space - if the space is vacant, they must tell the hunting player the lowest number of orthogonal moves it would take to be on the same space as the nearest instance of that Specialist.
If a player indicates a space that is occupied, the Specialist in that space is destroyed, and crossed out/rubbed off the map.
To aid the hunt, players may write on their Shadow Map any information that they have gathered.
On the previous turn, Player 1's Prototype was revealed by Player 2's Spy - at the time, they made a note of this, surmising that this must mean there was a Spy within 2 spaces of that Prototype - marking that space with a "2."
On the next Specialist turn, Player 1 uses their deployed Assassin to attempt to hunt - they indicate the space directly to the left of the Prototype, and declare a search for a Spy. Player 2 says that they have missed, but that they were only 1 move away - narrowing it down to the four adjacent spaces.
Player 1 marks down those spaces, and on the following turns hunts each one until the Spy has been captured.
Spies
Spies are used to gather information about the enemy so that you can better plan ahead.
During the Spy turns of a Specialist Phase, players can reveal one hidden Battlefield unit within two spaces of a spy.
Although the advantages of a spy are great, their short range means that they are easily hunted by Assassins.
Saboteurs
Each turn, the Saboteur may sabotage any one unit within 2 squares of its position, placing a 'Sabotaged' token on that unit.
Sabotaged units:
- Cannot move.
- Cannot fire artillery.
- Receive a -2 combat strength penalty.
The unit remains this way until the beginning of the next Events phase. Units may be sabotaged multiple times.
Spy and Saboteur range works as indicated on the diagram.
Whilst they're counted as Specialists, Seers and Supply Lines are used in the Events and Deploy phases, respectively, and described in those sections. They are still hidden on the Shadow Map, and can be assassinated.
Battlefield Phase
The Battlefield Phase contains the majority of Farsight's gameplay, giving players the opportunity to manoeuvre and attack with their units.
This phase is divided into 3 sub-phases, which are completed in strict order:
- Artillery: Where 1 Action = Letting one Artillery unit fire.
- Movement: Where 1 Action = Moving one unit up to its full movement speed.
- Combat: Where any combat initiated by movement is resolved.
Again, teams take turns to allow one player from their team to complete one action. Turns proceed like this until no more actions from the current sub-phase can be played, or until all players pass. Once a player passes in a sub-phase, they may no longer act in that sub-phase.
In the Combat sub-phase, all combat must be resolved. Players may not pass.
Battlefield Basics
Hit Points & Casualties: All Battlefield Units have 3 hit points, regardless of any abilities or event effects. When a unit takes a hit, it has sustained 'casualties.' A unit has four states:
- Uninjured (3 Hit Points)
- Light Casualties (2 Hit Points)
- Heavy Casualties (1 Hit Points)
- Destroyed (0 Hit Points)
Facing: The top end of a unit card (indicated on its rear side by chevrons) indicate which direction the unit is facing. Units do not need to be facing an enemy to be in combat with them, or to fire artillery at them.
In the text, the top of the unit card is referred to as the 'Front.' Its left and right sides are both referred to as 'Flanks,' and the bottom end of the card is referred to as the 'Rear.'
Unit Abilities
Fast: Usually, unit movement adheres to two rules: if it's hidden, it moves three spaces in one movement, and if it's revealed, it moves two. However, units with the 'Fast' icon on their card may move 3 spaces, even when they have been revealed. Note that this does not operate as a bonus, and Sabotaged units with 'Fast' are still unable to move.
Armoured: Armoured units have tough plated armour, making them harder to damage - to represent this, units that attack them will roll 2 less dice. When rolling for Events or Artillery attack damage, only roll 1 less die.
Artillery: Most combat in Farsight is initiated by moving into a target's space, and engaging in close combat. Whilst Artillery units can engage in this sort of combat, it's not their strength, opting instead for a special ranged attack with it's own unique rules, detailed below.
After taking a turn to move into position and set-up, artillery strikes first in battle. When an artillery unit fires, it does the following:
- Reveals, flipping face-up if it has not done so already.
- Declares a target within 3 spaces (4 if on a Hill.) (See left.)
- Determine attack dice.
- Artillery roll the remaining hit points of the target unit:
- 1 if targeting an Armoured unit.
- 1 if targeting a unit on an objective.
- 1 if targeting a unit on a forest.
- Artillery will always roll a minimum of 1.
- Artillery roll the remaining hit points of the target unit:
- Roll damage.
Just like other units, artillery causes casualties on a hit symbol.
Movement
The fog of war makes it difficult to accurately pin down a units location: to represent this uncertainty, units that are hidden will move faster than those which are revealed:
- All hidden units may move up to 3 spaces per movement.
- Revealed units move up to 2 squares per movement.
- Revealed units with the Fast ability may move up to 3 squares per movement.
- Artillery that fired this turn cannot move.
Green spaces mark the range a unit may move when it is hidden. Once revealed, a units range is reduced, unless it has 'Fast.'
Movement must follow the following rules:
- Units cannot move diagonally.
- Units that are being attacked are considered 'pinned down' and cannot move.
- A unit can turn for free during a movement, including choosing the unit's orientation at the end of a movement.
- A square can only hold 1 unit at a time.
- Units cannot move through occupied squares.
- You may choose to not move a unit according to it's maximum range.
To prevent moving units twice, you may wish to place a hit dice on each unit that has already moved this turn.
Combat
To begin an attack, one or more of your units must be able to move into the square that the target unit is occupying. Move your unit so that it is partially in the target space, to indicate that it is attacking, and that the target unit may not move away.
Note: Until a unit retreats after combat (see Advance & Retreat) the attacking unit officially occupies the space that it is attacking from, not the one it is attacking.
It is possible for multiple units to be involved in an attack. A unit may become surrounded from multiple sides, or a unit may attack only to be attacked itself.
In combat, both sides simultaneously roll dice in an attempt to damage the enemy.
Attacking units use the Attack strength indicated by the crossed swords symbol on their unit card, whilst units that are being attacked use their Defence (shield symbol) strength. The unit moving into the enemy space is always considered the attacker.
A unit's Attack/Defence values, combined with the following modifiers, indicate how many dice that player rolls for that combat:
- -1 die when attacking a unit in an objective/forest.
- +1 die when attacking a unit's flank.
- +2 dice when attacking a unit's rear.
- +2 dice when attacking whilst hidden. (Unless in a forest, a unit is revealed before combat is rolled, but the hidden bonus still applies. Bonus does not apply to defending units.)
- -2 dice when in combat whilst Sabotaged.
- -2 dice when in combat with an Armoured unit.
- +1 die when in combat on a hill.
- -1 die when defending a flank.
- -2 dice when defending the rear.
The symbols next to each modifier indicate whether they are relevant only to Attacking units, Defending units, or either.
Damage is caused when a rolled die shows a hit result. Multiple casualties can be incurred in a single attack.
Priority
In the case of multiple combats, a unit always rolls against the unit it is facing. If it is not facing a unit, it rolls against units engaged on the flanks (players choice) and then the rear.
If you destroy the unit you are rolling against, excess damage may be carried down in this priority order. You do not roll multiple times.
If excess damage is carried to an armoured unit, the armour negates one point of damage.
Multiple Combats
To work through combats where multiple units are all connected by one instance of combat, use the following guidance:
- In instances where units are attacking units that are attacking (and so on) these are treated as separate combats.
- Starting with the 'Ground Zero' where a target is only defending, resolve combat as normal.
- From then on, moving up the chain, units do not roll for defence - only attacks are rolled.
Each unit only rolls once, according to Priority rules. When rolling for attacks, include any modifiers incurred by being attacked in the flank/rear. Advance/Retreat does not occur until all combat has been resolved.
Advance/Retreat
Depending on the number of casualties inflicted in a single instance of combat, units will advance and retreat. The unit who inflicted the most casualties is considered the 'winner.'
In the case of a tie, defenders will always win.
If the Defending unit wins, all attacking units retreat to the space they were occupying before they attacked.
If an attacker wins, the defending unit retreats directly back towards its owner. If it cannot retreat backwards, it may retreat sideways (owners choice.)
If a unit must retreat but cannot physically do so, it is destroyed, even if it has remaining HP.
All units involved may re-orient for free after advancing/retreating.
If, in multiple combats, a unit may retreat or advance, it must advance.
The attacking unit moves into the space previously occupied by the defender (if there are multiple attackers, the owner chooses which unit advances.)
Diceless Rules
Farsight uses dice to simulate the unknown element of every encounter. However, some players may prefer a game where everything can be calculated, and accurately planned out. To suit this, the rules can be adapted in the following ways:
Events: Before building armies, players must agree to either omit or use the Events Deck. If the Events Deck is used, rolls will be used as normal to determine whether or not an Event occurs on any given turn, as well as to play out Event actions.
Combat: Instead of rolling an amount of dice based on strength and modifiers, each player adds up all the combat strength of units that are engaged. For every 3 combat strength, the unit inflicts 1 casualty on the enemy.
- All modifiers apply as usual.
- Any leftover strength is discarded.
- When multiple units from one faction attack a single unit, their strength is pooled.
- Like in regular combat, instances of multiple combats are calculated separately.
- Units will always have a minimum of 1 strength.
Artillery: Artillery will follow the same rules as the general Combat rules, remembering that they will always have a minimum of 1 strength. In addition, players can use a new ability: Barrage. With Barrage, two or more artillery units can attack a single unit together, as long as it is in range for both of the units. Each artillery suffers modifiers separately, but they still combine their strength, causing damage for every 3 strength.