Gnome Tribes Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• What Changes in Version 2.0
• Setup
• Phases of Play
  • Phase 1: Income
  • Phase 2: Investment
  • Phase 3: Actions and Scientific Demonstrations
  • Phase 4: Wars and Deployments
    • Support Forces
    • Defence
    • Invention, Air and Gnomsub Cards
    • Calculating Combat Strength
    • Combat Result
    • Attacker's Victory
    • Defender's Victory
    • After Combat
    • Deployment
• Stacking
• Important Details
  • Colour Code
  • Home Territory and Magic Portals
  • Citadel
  • After Combat
• Victory Points
• End of the Game: Arrival of the Gnompax Card
• Annexes
  • Notes on Some GnomGag Cards
  • Notes on Some Attack Cards
  • Variant for a Faster Game: the turboGnom
  • Variant for a Longer Game: the escarGnom
  • Option for a More Devastating Game: the Gnomicide

What Changes in Version 2.0

The revision introduces these changes to the original rules:

• The combat system is entirely reworked.
• Much less is left to chance.
• Action cards (assassination, espionage and so on) take a much larger and more strategic role.
• Invention cards become weapons to be used with subtlety.
• The calculation of victory points and the determination of the game's goal have been completely changed.
• The deployment system of troops has also been changed.

No change is made to the components. The shortage of 1 Gnomgold bills remains a problem, though a manageable one.

Setup

Nothing is changed apart from the position of the Gnompax card in the invention deck.

After shuffling the invention deck, remove 10 cards from the deck without looking at them. Place the Gnompax card among them, shuffle this small deck of 11 cards, and place it under the main deck.

The Gnompax card is therefore among the last 11 cards of the deck, which makes its appearance at the end of the game random.

Phases of Play

Phase 1: Income

Nothing has really changed, but the following clarifications apply compared with the original rules:

• Each player receives 5 GG plus 1 GG per territory controlled.
• The Gnome cities and the Gnomlab at the centre of the map count as territories.

Phase 2: Investment

Nothing is changed.

Phase 3: Actions and Scientific Demonstrations

The following clarifications apply:

• Apart from research on the Gnomlab, attacks (espionage or assassination) may not be launched before the 5th turn. The game therefore starts in a relative peace. This does not prevent anyone from financing these posts, of course.
• When action cards (espionage / assassination) are used, players always get back their bills of 0 GG that were used.
• A player who steals an invention card from another player immediately gains 4 victory points.
• There is no longer a limit on the number of invention cards won in a turn. The original rules allowed a maximum of 2 cards. All 4 players may each win one invention card in a turn.
• Victory points are no longer counted only when an invention card is drawn. Victory points are now calculated in real time during each player's actions (see below).
• A player who wins an invention card immediately gains 4 victory points. The corresponding victory point marker is immediately moved 4 spaces on the board.

Phase 4: Wars and Deployments

The combat phase now comes before the deployment phase.

Dice are no longer rolled; there is no more chance in combat. Strategists take over.

In turn order, each player may launch one or more attacks on territories occupied by an enemy. Each Gnome piece of the attacking player may take part in only one attack per game turn.

The attacker designates the region that attacks and the region being attacked. The territory under attack must be adjacent to the attacker's territory, unless the home territory rule (see below) applies.

Not all Gnome pieces present in the attacking territory have to take part in the combat. The attacking pieces are placed at the edge of the attacked zone.

One territory may thus attack several territories at the same time.

Support Forces

In addition to the attacking troops, the attacking player may designate adjacent territories as support armies.

All armies stationed on territories adjacent to the attacking army or to the attacked territory may take part in the combat to support the attack. Place your armies at the edge of the zone they are supporting.

The attacker thus organises the attack plan as they wish and may launch several simultaneous attacks against different territories and different players. The important point is that the same Gnome piece may not take part in several actions.

Once the attacker has finished the "invasion plan", the defender's options are examined.

Defence

• When an attack is made, the defender's whole territory is on alert. All pieces in the attacked zone are mobilised to the front. Even if a single Gnome attacks a territory occupied by 5 defenders, all 5 defenders are mobilised by that attack. It is therefore possible to paralyse an opponent by launching diversionary attacks.
• All of the defender's armies stationed on territories adjacent to the attacked zone must support the defenders.
• If the defender suffers several attacks at once and support armies are in contact with several attacked territories, the defender chooses which armies support which territory.
• One army may not support two territories at the same time. Several armies based in one zone may split to support two different territories. Place armies entering the action at the edge of the territories they support so that everything stays clear for resolving the combat.
• An army controlling the Gnomlab may attack or support. Reminder: it is forbidden to place more than one army on the Gnomlab.
• An attacked territory may not support another attacked territory.

Invention, Air and Gnomsub Cards

Once the attackers and defenders are defined, the players may play their invention cards (2 at most, valid for all combats of this game phase).

To prevent any form of cheating, the 2 cards are chosen and placed face down on the table. Both players then reveal their cards and the outcome of the combat is calculated.

• If a player plays an air card, they may still add extra support at the last moment. This support is equal to the number of troops based on a region of their choice that are not yet taking part in the battle. These troops are then airlifted. Unlike the old rules, the limit on airliftable troops is not 1 army but 5 (the maximum number of armies that may be stationed in one territory).
• The same applies to the Gnomsub card. The Gnomsub card may only be used on coastal zones, but has the advantage that it is not cancelled by your opponents' anti-aircraft cards.
• It is possible to attack from the start of the combat phase with the Gnomsub or with an air card. The attacking armies may then only be supported by troops adjacent to the attacked zone.

Calculating Combat Strength

Each player calculates the value of their army involved in the battle:

1. The number of Gnome armies involved in the battle (including support troops).
2. The bonus provided by any invention cards for the terrain attacked.
3. The home territory bonus, for the defender only (+1). Reminder: only the nature of the attacked terrain is taken into account.

Combat Result

• In case of equal strength, nothing changes and everyone stays where they are.
• If the defender is stronger than the attacker, the same applies.
• If the attacker is stronger than the defender, the defender must retreat to an adjacent territory controlled by its own troops. If retreat is impossible, the player loses all or part of their troops (see the rule on maximum stacking). An army may not retreat to a territory that is under attack.

If several attacks take place simultaneously, the attacker chooses their order of resolution.

If the result of the attack exceeds the defence and the difference in strength is more than 2 points, all the defender's troops are destroyed.

"Defender's troops" means only those located in the attacked zone. Support troops are never affected.

Likewise, if the defender wins by more than two points, it is the attacker's troops that disappear (again, support troops are not counted).

The attacker loses 2 victory points for each Gnome army destroyed during its combat phase (counting both its own troops and those of its opponent). Yes, the gnomes are not wicked people after all and deplore violence. Even in wartime, death is a great misfortune for all gnomes.

Attacker's Victory

• When the attacker wins the battle, they may place all or part of the attacking troops (not counting support troops) in the conquered zone. These pieces are turned over to show that this army has moved.
• The attacker gains 2 victory points. If the target was the Gnomlab, the victory points gained are 5. If the target was a city, the victory points are 10.
• The attacker loses 2 victory points if it abandons a territory in order to invade another. If the attacker abandons a territory because it has been wiped out, the 2 VP penalty does not apply. A player loses 2 VP only if they voluntarily abandon a territory.

Defender's Victory

• If the defender wins, it does not occupy the attacker's zone, even if the attacker has been wiped out.

Once all attacks are resolved, the attacking player deploys its troops, and the next player takes their turn.

After Combat

All armies and invention cards of both belligerents may again be used in the attack actions of other players.

Deployment

Only the attacking player may deploy its troops.

Each Gnome army may move one territory (to a free or friendly territory). Each piece moved this way is turned over (white side up). This stops an army from moving twice.

Once the player has moved all the armies they wish to move, all pieces are turned face up again and the next player begins its combat phase.

If the player has air cards, they may deploy a group of pieces per card in their possession anywhere on the board.

A city abandoned by troops does not become a neutral zone; it is forbidden to deploy into a vacant enemy city.

Stacking

Whatever the phase of the game, a player may never stack more than 5 Gnome armies on the same territory. So if, when an army retreats, the retreating army pieces cannot all find room in adjacent friendly territories, the player loses the excess armies.

Reminder: it is forbidden to place more than one army on the Gnomlab.

Important Details

Colour Code

Reminder: each player has a particular type of gnome: plains, swamp, mountain and marsh. Each region of the map belongs to one of these 4 terrain types and is ringed in a matching colour. The region's name is also printed in this colour.

Exception: the cities and the Gnomlab are ringed in black and do not belong to any of these 4 categories. They represent a fifth category, that of fortifications (black ring). Any army stationed on a black territory gains +1 in defence (the Gnomlab included).

On invention cards, this colour code is also used to show the bonuses the card gives on each terrain type.

Home Territory and Magic Portals

A Gnome army on its home territory may attack any region of the same nature, even if that region is not adjacent.

Example: plains gnomes stationed on a plain may attack any plain on the map.

This is somewhat like having an air card... However, we assume that all terrains of the same colour are equipped with magic portals that make them all adjacent. Only Gnomes of the same nature as the terrain may use these portals.

Likewise, a Gnome army stationed on its home territory may support an attack at a distance if the attacking army is on a home territory or if the attacked zone is also home territory.

Citadel

Leaving your citadel empty of armies is never a very good idea. However, in case of attack, remember that your city may be supported by the 3 territories adjacent to it...

Warning: since your city is a black-ringed territory, the magic portal rule does not apply. No troops based on home territory may support your city when it is attacked. Neither may an army stationed on the Gnomlab, even though its territory is ringed in black like the city...

After Combat

All armies and invention cards of both belligerents may again be used in the attack actions of other players.

Victory Points

A player who invests a free territory immediately gains 2 victory points.

If a player, during their deployment phase, voluntarily abandons a territory, they lose 2 victory points.

So abandoning one territory to invest a free one gains nothing in victory points.

Leaving your city empty does not incur the 2 victory point penalty.

End of the Game: Arrival of the Gnompax Card

When the Gnompax card comes into play, the goal is no longer drawn by dice but is voted on by all the players. Starting with the player with the fewest victory points and going up to the player with the most, each player votes for a game goal that will apply after 4 game turns.

Each player has a number of votes equal to their number of victory points. All players may consult and influence one another during the vote. Once the vote has taken place, the game goal is official.

Note: nothing stops you from creating your own game goals to enrich the range of possibilities.

Annexes

Notes on Some GnomGag Cards

The Gnom'But card, which allowed the dice to be rolled again to define a new game goal, is used as follows:

If the player holding it does not accept the result of the vote, they may ask for the vote to be cancelled, and the players vote again, except for one player designated by the holder of the Gnom'But card. The vote then takes place among the remaining 3 players.

The Super Bingo card: 50 GG seems enormous to me, so I think it is reasonable to reduce the sum won by this card to 20 GG... which is still pretty good, isn't it?

The "Gnom'but" card, which lets its holder stop waiting 4 game turns to exchange everything with an opponent of their choice: the exchange of places is immediate as soon as the card is drawn.

Notes on Some Attack Cards

Anti-aircraft cards cancel the effect of flying inventions. A single one is enough to cancel 2 flying invention cards.

Cards bearing the "anti-bonus armies" symbol (silhouettes of 3 gnomes, 2 of which are crossed out): these decisive cards prevent your opponent from bringing support troops to combat... Each of the opponent's territories is then isolated.

Warning: holding such a master card can only lead to strong envy. A tip: armour your Gnomguards!

Cards that give a bonus on attacks on castles work the same way against the Gnomlab.

Variant for a Faster Game: the turboGnom

To shorten the playing time for those who want a shorter game, you may, during setup, deal one invention card to each player and immediately place 12 Gnome armies on the map as follows: 3 armies in the city + 3 armies on the 3 territories adjacent to the city.

The rule of 4 turns without an espionage or assassination action no longer applies.

Variant for a Longer Game: the escarGnom

During setup, simply place the Gnompax card at the end of the deck.

Option for a More Devastating Game: the Gnomicide

The home territory bonus and the bonus shown on invention cards apply to each army piece present in the territory that is the subject of the battle. These bonuses do not apply to support troops.

Example: 5 Gnome armies attack with the "GnomSnake" card. The attacked territory is the Forest. The GnomSnake gives a +2 bonus to each Gnome. The attack strength of the 5 Gnomes is therefore 15 (each Gnome is worth 3)!

To this are added the support troops, at a value of 1 per troop.

The defender also benefits from this type of bonus. In addition, if the defender fights on its home territory, all its gnomes gain +1 (the gnomes become real "Rambos" when fighting at home).