Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Board Game – Stronghold Expansion Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Component List
• New Elements
  • Subterranean Map Tiles
  • Subterranean Gate
  • Time Tokens
  • Spell Scroll Cards
  • Quicksand Spell
  • Attack Tokens
  • Corrosion Tokens
• Alliance Mode
  • Additional Rules
  • Finishing Scenario
  • War of the Mighty
• Clash Mode
  • Dungeon Keeper
• Cooperative Mode
  • Dwarven Tunnels
• Campaign Rules
  • Clarification on Some Rules
    • From the Core Game
    • Using Different Heroes
  • Your Might and Magic Deck
    • Between Scenarios
  • Setting the Player’s Income
  • Neutral Units in AI Armies
  • AI Deck Sharing
  • Disproportionate Numbers of Cards in the AI Spell Deck and Magic Cards in the AI Deck
  • Not Enough Card Copies During Setup
  • AI Under Siege—Arrow Tower, Gate, and Walls
• Stronghold Campaign – Barbaric Brotherhood
  • 1. Harvest
    • Checking Out the Rumors
    • The Decaying Lands
    • The Seer’s Hut
    • Isra
    • Aislinn
    • Nothing Personal
  • 2. Gathering the Legion
    • The Town of Hartferd
    • The Peasants and the Lords
    • Old Retainer
    • Guards
• Map Locations
  • Town
  • Settlement
  • Cyclops Stockpile
  • Spell Scroll
  • Subterranean Gate

Component List

• 5 × Map tile: 1 × Starting tile, 3 × Far tile, 1 × Near tile
• 7 × Subterranean Map tile: 6 × Near tile, 1 × Center tile
• 1 × Town board
• 1 × Mission book
• 1 × Player’s Aid
• 1 × Unit leaflet (Stronghold)
• 2 × Hero model
• 1 × Town model
• 7 × Unit model
• 2 × Hero card (double-sided)
• 7 × Unit card
• 7 × Town Building tile
• 8 × Neutral Unit card
• 3 × Astrologers Proclaim card
• 4 × Artifact card
• 6 × Spell card
• 3 × Ability card
• 12 × Specialty card
• 7 × Statistic card: 4 × Attack card, 1 × Defense card, 1 × Power card, 1 × Knowledge card
• 20 × Spell Scroll card
• 1 × Build token
• 1 × Population token
• 1 × Spell Book token
• 1 × Morale token
• 5 × Movement token
• 12 × Quicksand token
• 6 × Corrosion token
• 8 × Attack token

New Elements

Subterranean Map Tiles

These tiles work similarly to regular map tiles, except that you cannot move between a Surface and a Subterranean tile without using a Subterranean Gate or a Town Portal spell. No other move effect from a card can allow you to move from one to the other.

Subterranean Gate

The Subterranean Gate is the way in and out of the Subterranean tile. Tiles that contain a Subterranean Gate are indicated by each scenario’s map layout.

When you discover a tile with a Subterranean Gate on it, place the tile according to normal rules. Then, choose a field that is adjacent to the Subterranean tile—this is the “entrance”—and place the Subterranean Gate token on both this field and an adjacent hex of the Subterranean tile (each half of the token is placed on a different tile). Keep in mind that the Subterranean Gate token replaces the field’s original location and cannot be placed on blocked fields, other tokens, or fields containing locations required to meet any of the scenario’s victory conditions. You can place the token however you wish, provided that it follows the above rules—the scenario map layout only shows which two tiles are connected by the Subterranean Gate, not the exact fields that must be connected.

When a Hero enters a field with a Subterranean Gate, discover the Subterranean Map tile and place it normally, choosing the field that will be replaced by the Subterranean Gate token—this will be the “exit”. Then, move the Hero from the “entrance” to the “exit” of the Subterranean Gate without spending additional Movement Points—both fields covered by the Subterranean Gate token (the “entrance” and the “exit”) are treated as one location. Once both ends of the Subterranean Gate are placed, it allows traveling both ways.

Time Tokens

To mark the remaining duration of an Ongoing effect, you can use Time tokens. Just put them on the card or a token that provides the effect and reduce their total value by 1 at the end of the round. When there are no Time tokens left, the effect ends—discard its card or token.

Spell Scroll Cards

This is a set of 20 new cards. During game setup, shuffle 10 of the Spell Scroll cards into the Artifact deck. Set the rest aside to form the Spell Scroll deck—some locations or scenario effects may call for them later. When you gain a Spell Scroll card, place it near your Hero card, then take the 2 top cards from the Spell deck and place them face down on the Spell Scroll card—from this time forward treat them as if they were one. You can look at the spells at any time, and you can use them like any other spell, with the following 4 exceptions:

1. A spell played from a Spell Scroll does not count towards the spell limit, meaning that you can also play a spell from your hand during the same Combat Round.
2. When casting a spell from a Spell Scroll, you can only use the spell’s lowest Power—you cannot strengthen it with additional Spell Power from any source.
3. A spell from a Spell Scroll cannot be used to increase the Spell Power of another spell.
4. You can sell a Spell Scroll together with its spells at a Trading Post for 2 Gold per each spell on the Spell Scroll.

You can only have 2 Spell Scrolls in play at a time. If you gain a third one, draw the new spells normally and then decide whether you discard the newly gained Spell Scroll or use it to replace one that you already have next to your Hero card.

When a spell from a Spell Scroll card is used or sold, the Spell card is Removed. If there is no spell on it, the Spell Scroll card is placed in the Spell Scroll deck that was formed during the scenario setup.

Quicksand Spell

Depending on the Spell Power used, take 2, 4, or 6 Quicksand tokens. Make sure that all of them are taken from the same set and that half of them are empty and half have the Quicksand symbol. Next, shuffle the tokens face down and place them on chosen empty spaces of the Combat board, 1 per space. If there are not enough empty spaces left to place all of them, discard any leftover tokens.

Once they are placed, you can always look at your tokens. When a unit enters a space with a Quicksand token, reveal that token. If it is empty, the unit continues its movement, but if the token shows the Quicksand icon, the unit’s movement and activation ends.

NOTE: Two Quicksand tokens can occupy a single space only if the tokens are placed by different players.

Attack Tokens

A unit with this token gains an additional +1 Attack or +2 Attack, as indicated by the token’s side. Each unit can have only one such token at a time—if a unit that already has such a token would gain another one, the player controlling it chooses which one to keep.

Corrosion Tokens

A unit with this token has its Defense reduced by 1 to a minimum of “0”. A unit can have only one such token at a time—if a unit should gain such a token while it already has one, just discard one of the tokens. Unless removed by a spell or other effect, a Corrosion token stays on a unit until the end of Combat.

Alliance Mode

This mode requires at least one expansion and 4 players to form an Alliance of 2 players vs. 2 players.

Additional Rules

When playing in this mode, the following rules apply:

• An Alliance is a team of 2 players that is determined at the beginning of the game and lasts for the duration of the chosen scenario.
• Each player chooses their faction at the beginning of the scenario.
• Allied players can exchange artifacts. To do so, they need their Heroes to occupy adjacent fields.
• Resources may be exchanged without the need for both players’ Heroes to occupy adjacent fields. Members of an Alliance can exchange resources freely during the turn of either player in the team.
• Players in an Alliance cannot Flag locations that are already Flagged by another player from the same Alliance.

Finishing Scenario

Allied players share the victory and defeat conditions. There is no additional step of comparing who did better in the given game or who contributed to the victory more.

War of the Mighty

Rumors abound about horrible monsters waiting underground. Your spies tell you your neighbors are trying to recruit them so they can conquer your lands. You have no choice but to take your neighbors’ lands and secure the underground. Your territory is vast. Soon it will be larger.

Player Count: A scenario for 4 players (2 vs. 2).

Scenario Length: This scenario plays out over 13 rounds.

Map Setup: Take the following Map tiles and set them up as shown in the scenario map layout:

• 5 × Starting (I) Map tile, 1 of which must contain a Dungeon Town
• 6 × Near (IV–V) Subterranean Map tile
• 8 × Far (II–III) Map tile

NOTE: Place 4 Subterranean Gate tokens as shown in the map layout.

Starting Resources: Each player starts with the following resources: 14 Gold, 4 Building Materials, 1 Valuable.

Setting a Player’s Income: Set the income on the income tracker to: “10” Gold, “0” Building Materials, “0” Valuables.

Starting Buildings: Each player starts with these buildings:

• Bronze-tier Dwelling

Starting Units: Each player starts with the following units:

• 2 × A Pack of Bronze-tier units with the lowest Recruitment cost

Additional Scenario Rules:

Before the start of this scenario:

• There are 4 starting locations divided into 2 starting areas. The teams choose their starting areas, and then each player picks their starting position within their team’s starting area. (The scenario map layout labels the two starting areas as Area A and Area B.)

During this scenario:

• The Dungeon faction is not available for play, as its Starting tile is used as a Subterranean tile required for a victory condition.
• The Dungeon Town is defended by: a Pack of Evil Eyes, a Pack of Medusas, a Pack of Minotaurs, a Few Manticores, and a Few Black Dragons. For the purpose of gaining experience, this field counts as having difficulty level VI.
• Players can use their deck of Might and Magic when paying gold to defend their Faction Town.

Victory Condition: To win the scenario, an Alliance must either capture the Town on the Subterranean tile and maintain Control over it for the next round, or capture one of the enemy Towns and maintain Control over it for the next 2 rounds.

Round Tracker: If the above condition is not met, the game ends with the 13th round. If one of the players Flags an enemy Town in the 12th or 13th round, the game extends until the end of the 14th or 15th round, respectively. If both teams meet the victory conditions, the game ends in a draw, and if no team meets the victory conditions, both Alliances lose.

Timed Event: There are no timed events in this scenario.

Clash Mode

Dungeon Keeper

You are the evil Dungeon Overlord, master of all that is dark and insidious. Your master has determined it is time to have your evil seep into the lands above and destroy those fools happily residing in Pleasantville.

Player Count: A scenario for 2 players.

Scenario Length: This scenario plays out over 12 rounds.

Map Setup: Take the following Map tiles and set them up as shown in the scenario map layout:

• 2 × Starting (I) Map tile
• 4 × Near (IV–V) Subterranean Map tile
• 4 × Far (II–III) Map tile, none of which must contain a Settlement

NOTE: Place 2 Subterranean Gate tokens as shown in the map layout.

Starting Resources: Each player starts with the following resources: 10 Gold, 3 Building Materials, 1 Valuable.

Setting a Player’s Income: Set the income on your income tracker to: “10” Gold, “0” Building Materials, “0” Valuables.

Starting Buildings: Each player starts the game with these buildings:

• Bronze-tier Dwelling
• Mage Guild

Starting Units: Each player starts with the following units:

• 1 × A Pack of Bronze-tier units with the highest Recruitment cost

Additional Scenario Rules:

Before the start of this scenario:

• Both players roll 2 Resource dice. The player with the highest raw amount of resources on their dice will get to choose who starts and who the second player is.
• One of the players must choose the Dungeon as their faction.

During this scenario:

• When a player visits an Obelisk, they Search (2) the Ability, Artifact, or Spell deck.
• No player may have a Secondary Hero.
• Players can use their deck of Might and Magic when paying gold to defend their Faction Town.

Victory Condition: To win the scenario, a player must capture their opponent’s Town or defeat their Hero.

Round Tracker: If the above condition is not met by the end of the 12th round, the game ends in a draw.

Timed Event: At the start of the 3rd, 6th, and 9th rounds, the second player’s Main Hero gains 1 Movement.

Cooperative Mode

During all cooperative games, all players are allied and play together to beat the scenario.

When controlling Neutral Units, use Combat rules for the solo mode (see page 33, “AI Combat” in the Core Rulebook).

Additionally, when your Hero visits a Trading Post, apart from taking advantage of the normal effects of that location (see page 36, “Trade Table” in the Core Rulebook), you may also use it to give resources to any player.

Victory Conditions for cooperative scenarios can include:

• Defeating a specified number of Neutral Units.
• Taking control of specified locations.

If any player meets a scenario’s Victory Condition—unless stated otherwise—the game immediately ends and all players win the scenario.

Dwarven Tunnels

Ancient tunnels dug by the dwarves have long since been infested by creatures of all sorts. Steep mountains and thick forests block the path to your enemies and your ally, but these old tunnels may prove very useful in conquering the world.

Player Count: A scenario for 2–3 players.

Scenario Length: Depending on the chosen difficulty setting of the scenario:

• Normal: 10 rounds
• Hard: 11 rounds
• Impossible: 12 rounds

Map Setup: Take the following Map tiles and set them up as shown in the scenario map layout:

For a 2-player scenario:

• 2 × Starting (I) Map tile
• 4 × Near (IV–V) Subterranean Map tile
• 1 × Center (VI–VII) Subterranean Map tile
• 4 × Far (II–III) Map tile, none of which must contain a Settlement

For a 3-player scenario:

• 3 × Starting (I) Map tile
• 6 × Near (IV–V) Subterranean Map tile
• 1 × Center (VI–VII) Subterranean Map tile
• 6 × Far (II–III) Map tile, none of which must contain a Settlement

NOTE: Place 2 or 3 Subterranean Gate tokens as shown in the map layout.

Starting Resources: Each player starts with the following resources: 14 Gold, 4 Building Materials, 1 Valuable.

Setting a Player’s Income: Set the income on your income tracker to: “10” Gold, “0” Building Materials, “0” Valuables.

Starting Buildings: Each player starts the game with these buildings:

• Bronze-tier Dwelling

Starting Units: Each player starts with the following units:

• 3 × A Few Bronze-tier units

Additional Scenario Rules:

During this scenario:

• No player may have a Secondary Hero.
• During their turn, a player can give Building Materials and Valuables to another player without visiting a Trading Post.
• No Gold can be transferred between players.
• Although there is no limit on how many times the players can attempt to defeat the level VII Neutral Units, each player can win the Combat only once—a victorious Hero is immediately removed from the map.
• To discover the Center tile, the players must pay 2 Gold, 2 Building Materials, and 2 Valuables per player. For example, in a 3-player game, a total of 6 Gold, 6 Building Materials, and 6 Valuables must be paid. Contributions can be split in any way you like. The required amount can even be paid by only 1 player.

Victory Condition: Each player must win a Combat with level VII Neutral Units on the Center tile.

Round Tracker: The time limit for defeating the level VII Neutral Units on the Center tile depends on the chosen difficulty. If the players fail to defeat the Neutral Units within the time limit, they fail the scenario.

Timed Event: There are no timed events in this scenario.

Campaign Rules

By the campaign, we understand a series of scenarios designed for solo play.

Each scenario is divided into two sections:

• The game-mechanics section.
• The story section.

Campaigns make use of an additional set of rules that are described in the first Mission Book, in the Core Game. Reading them before starting the campaign below may be a good idea.

Clarification on Some Rules

From the Core Game

• You cannot surrender to AI Heroes.
• The AI Heroes move after the player.
• When an AI Hero’s Skill card calls for drawing a card, draw another AI card and resolve its effect.
• The AI cards that raise Defense or trigger the use of other cards that do so stay on the units till they are used for defending against one attack. Use them in a manner similar to how a real player would use them.
• The bonus from the campaign’s scenario setup replaces the default starting bonus.

Using Different Heroes

Although each campaign has its own recommended Hero for whom it is balanced and who is also the main character of the story, you are free to play with any other Hero—there is only one condition, the champion you choose for your cause must belong to the same faction as the recommended Hero.

Your Might and Magic Deck

Between Scenarios

After finishing a campaign scenario, follow these steps:

1. Return the cards from your hand and the discard pile to your deck.
2. From these cards, take out all the Statistic cards and the level 1 Specialty card, and set them aside.
3. Now remove the rest of the Specialty cards.
4. From the remaining cards, choose 5 and add them to the cards you set aside in the second step—this will be your Starting deck for the next scenario.
5. Note down the cards that make your new Starting deck.

If you lose a scenario, reset your deck by removing all the cards that are not part of your current Starting deck.

Remember! Every time you start a scenario, you reset your Hero’s Experience Level to 1.

Remember! Spell Scrolls are not part of the deck! You cannot carry them over to the next scenario.

If you choose to change your Hero between the scenarios or when you repeat the scenario with a different Hero, in step 3 replace all of the previous Hero’s Statistic cards and the level 1 Specialty card with all of the Statistic cards and the level 1 Specialty card of your new Hero. If the previous Hero had Empowered Statistics cards, you can remove Statistic cards of the same type from the new Hero’s deck, and replace them with Empowered Statistic cards of the corresponding type.

In step 4 you can replace any card that remains in the deck after step 3 with the new Hero’s starting Ability card and Magic Arrow(s). You can neither add a second copy of the Hero’s Ability card to your deck in this way, nor have more than 4 Magic Arrow cards. After replacing the cards, proceed with choosing 5 cards from the deck and adding them to the new Hero’s level 1 Specialty card and Statistic cards—this will be your Starting deck for the next scenario.

Setting the Player’s Income

At the start of each campaign scenario, set your income by placing your faction cubes on the following spaces of the income tracker on the Town board:

“10” Gold, “0” Building Materials, “0” Valuables.

Special rules in each scenario can change the above values.

Neutral Units in AI Armies

Unit cards originating from the Neutral Unit decks are listed in each campaign scenario’s AI Hero setup with both their tier (Bronze-tier, Silver-tier, Gold-tier, Azure-tier) and name. Before you start the scenario, find the indicated cards in their relevant Neutral Unit decks.

AI Deck Sharing

If the setup does not specifically say that a given deck (e.g., a Spell deck) or Skill is to be used exclusively by one AI Enemy Army, you should assume it is shared. After each Combat, shuffle the deck’s cards—used and unused—back together.

Disproportionate Numbers of Cards in the AI Spell Deck and Magic Cards in the AI Deck

Sometimes in the AI Spell deck, there are more Spell cards than there are Magic cards in the AI Hero’s deck. This is no mistake. Not all spells must be used, some are there for the sake of diversity.

If the AI Spell deck empties before Combat ends, shuffle the AI Spell discard pile to form a new Spell deck. After the Combat, shuffle the Spell deck and the discard pile together.

Not Enough Card Copies During Setup

If you lack some of the cards listed in the setup because they are already in your Hero’s Starting deck, you may use other cards instead.

During setup, if multiple AI Heroes use the same unit, and you do not have enough copies of its card, the AI Heroes must share it—set everything up without that card, and add it to the AI Hero’s Army the moment you trigger Combat with them.

AI Skill cards cannot be replaced, so if setup assigns the AI Hero a card that your Hero has, remove the needed card from your Hero’s deck and Search (3) the respective card’s deck to compensate your Hero for the loss. If the AI Hero is assigned a Spell card that is unavailable, substitute it with a Magic Arrow card.

If your Hero is assigned a Spell, Artifact, or Ability card that is unavailable, Search (3) the respective card’s deck to get another card in its stead.

AI Under Siege—Arrow Tower, Gate, and Walls

The Arrow Tower is treated as a Ranged unit of the Silver-tier. When it attacks, follow the normal order of targeting enemy units—prioritize other Ranged units of the same tier. If there are no valid targets, the Arrow Tower attacks lower tier Ranged units (in the order of descending tier), and if there still are no valid targets, it attacks higher tier Ranged units (in the order of ascending tier). When there are no Ranged units to target, the Arrow Tower attacks the Ground and Flying units, following the same order. If there is more than one valid target, attack the one that is the closest to perishing—has the smallest difference between its HP and the number of current Damage. If there is still more than one valid target, then you can choose which unit is attacked.

When the Walls and Gate are mentioned in Combat preparation but no additional information on how to arrange them is given, arrange them just like a human player would—place the Gate in front of the Ground unit with the highest Initiative. By default, the units do not attack the Walls—they would rather fly over them to attack their target or move towards it through the Gate. If it is not possible, they take a Defense Action.

Rules for More Complex Spells

In the following campaign, enemies use a number of spells whose effects are not fully compatible with the standard use of AI Magic cards. To fully use their effects, we present extended descriptions of how AI Heroes should use each of these spells.

Spells attacking multiple targets (like Fireball and Chain Lightning)—When activated, target any unit with one or two adjacent units from the player’s army, prioritizing the groups where there are more higher-tier units. If there is more than one valid group, attack the one that is the closest to perishing—has the smallest difference between its HP and the number of current Damage. If there is still more than one valid target, then you can choose which unit is attacked. If there are no player units adjacent to one another, target units that are not adjacent to any of the AI units. If that is also not possible, do not use this spell—instead, skip the AI card that activated this effect and put it on the bottom of the Enemy AI deck. Then, shuffle this spell back to the Enemy Spell deck.

Instant Defense spells (like Stone Skin)—When activated, put this card on the side of the Combat board, then put a Defense token on the unit with the highest defense to represent the card’s effect—it stays there until the defense is resolved. If there already is a Defense token on that unit, choose another one in the order of decreasing Defense. In case of a tie in Defense value, give preference to the unit of the highest tier and then to the greatest value of Damage.

Healing spells (like Cure)—When activated, remove the Damage from the AI unit with the greatest value of Damage tokens, starting with the highest tier available. If no AI unit has any Damage, put the AI card that triggered the spell at the bottom of the Enemy AI deck. Then shuffle the “Cure” Spell card back to the Enemy Spell Deck.

Single-round buffs (like Fire Shield)—When activated, check the tier of the unit on which you are about to cast the spell and count how many units of the same or higher tier there are on the board. If more than half of them have already activated this turn, do not cast the spell now—instead, place it on the side of the Combat board and play it when the first AI unit activates in the next combat round. Skip drawing the AI card for that activation.

Attack-weakening spells (like Weakness)—When activated, if the AI’s activated unit is to perform an attack that will provoke a Retaliation, cast this spell on the Retaliating enemy to lower their Attack. If the AI’s unit causes no Retaliation, do not cast this spell—instead, ignore the AI card that activated the spell and put it at the bottom of the Enemy AI deck. Then, shuffle the Spell card back to the Enemy Spell deck.

Stronghold Campaign – Barbaric Brotherhood

1. Harvest

Two fierce barbarians, Crag Hack and Yog, unite with a common purpose: to vanquish the malevolent necromancers wreaking havoc in Erathia. Together, they strive to crush their adversaries underfoot and restore peace to the troubled lands.

Scenario Length: This scenario plays out over 10 rounds.

Player Setup:

• Faction: Stronghold
• Faction Hero: Yog
• Faction Army: A Pack of Goblins, A Pack of Wolf Raiders
• Starting Resources: 12 Gold, 0 Building Materials, 1 Valuable
• Town Buildings: Bronze-tier Dwelling, Citadel
• Bonus: Choose one of the following options:
  • A Pack of Orcs
  • Search (4) the Artifact deck
  • +6 Building Materials Resources

AI Hero Setup:

• Faction: Necropolis
• Enemy Heroes: Isra, Aislinn
• Enemy Armies:
  • Isra’s Army: A Pack of Skeletons, Bronze-tier Skeletons, a Pack of Vampires, a Few Liches, a Few Dread Knights
  • Aislinn’s Army: A Pack of Skeletons, a Pack of Zombies, a Pack of Vampires, a Pack of Dread Knights
• Enemy Decks:
  • Isra’s Deck: 3 × Might card, 2 × Magic card
  • Aislinn’s Deck: 5 × Magic card, 2 × Skill card
• Enemy Spell Deck: 3 × “Magic Arrow” Spell card, 1 × “Curse” Spell card, 1 × “Blind” Spell card, 1 × “Stone Skin” Spell card
• Skill: “Fireball” Spell card*
• Special: Prepare 3 Wall cards and 1 Arrow Tower card for a special story event.

*Whenever this skill is activated, put one Necropolis faction cube on this Spell card. After adding the cube, if there are two on the card, cast Fireball with Spell Power 4.

Map Setup: Take the following Map tiles and set them up as shown in the scenario map layout:

• 3 × Starting Map tile (I):
  • 1 × Necropolis (S1)
  • 1 × Dungeon (S2)
  • 1 × Stronghold (S7)
• 3 × Far Map tile (II–III):
  • 3 × random tile from Castle (F3, F6, F9) and Stronghold (F19–F21)
• 3 × Near Map tile (IV–V):
  • 3 × Near tile from Necropolis (N1, N4) and Stronghold (N13)

Heroes Placement: Place your Stronghold Hero on the Town field of the Stronghold Starting tile. This tile is already discovered. Use two Necropolis models to represent the Enemy Heroes. Place one of them on the Town field of the Dungeon Starting tile—this is Isra. Place the other one on the Town field of the Necropolis Starting tile—this is Aislinn.

Additional Rules: During this “Stronghold” campaign scenario, the following rules apply:

• When your Hero visits an Obelisk for the first time, a special story event is triggered. After resolving it, treat every Obelisk as an empty field.
• Isra does not move until you discover the tile that is adjacent to the Dungeon Starting tile. After that, she rushes towards your Hero, ignoring the normal order of AI Movement. Aislinn stands in the Necropolis Town and does not move.
• Whenever you defeat AI’s Enemy Army, gain 1 Experience.
• From the Neutral Unit decks, remove all cards except for the following*:
  • a) Bronze-tier deck: Rogues, Zombies, Wraiths, Harpies, Evil Eyes
  • b) Silver-tier deck: Nomads, Mummies, Vampires, Liches, Medusas
  • c) Gold-tier deck: Enchanters, Dread Knights, Ghost Dragons, Manticores, Black Dragons

*Keep the removed cards and the newly created decks after finishing the scenario—you will need them in the following scenarios of this campaign.

Win/Lose Conditions:

• Win: You must defeat both Enemy Armies.
• Lose: You fail the scenario if your Hero is defeated in any Combat, but you can still retreat from Combat with non-Azure tier Neutral Armies.

Timed Events: When you reach the following rounds, follow the corresponding instructions:

• 1st Round: Read the “Checking out the Rumors” section below.
• 4th Round: Discard all cards from your hand, then gain Negative Morale. Remove all Black cubes from all locations on the map. These locations can be visited again. Read the “The Decaying Lands” section below.
• 10th Round: At the end of the round, all is lost—you lose!
• When you enter a field with an Obelisk: Read the “The Seer’s Hut” section below.
• When you start Combat with Isra’s Army: Read the “Isra” section below.
• When you start Combat with Aislinn’s Army: Read the “Aislinn” section below.
• When you complete the scenario: Read the “Nothing Personal” section below.

The Story

Checking Out the Rumors

Story only; this section contains no rules text.

The Decaying Lands

Story only; this section contains no rules text.

The Seer’s Hut

The narrative leading up to the choice is omitted.

Choose one option:

1. If you have a Silver-tier Dwelling, discard 20 Gold worth of units (in the case of Packs, add the Recruitment and Reinforcement costs) and:
   • Build Gold-tier Dwelling for free.
   • This event ends here—do not read the continuation of this section of text.
   • Put your faction cube on this field. You cannot visit this location again.
2. Gain Negative morale and:
   • Gain 20 Gold.
   • Draw from the Artifact deck until you have two cards granting Defense bonuses to units. Add one of them to your hand and shuffle the other back into the Artifact deck.
   • Read the rest of the story section below. (The continuation is narrative and is omitted.)
   • Put your faction cube on this field. You cannot visit this location again.

Isra

The narrative is omitted. The section ends with: Start Combat with Isra’s Army.

Aislinn

The narrative is omitted. The section ends with the following instructions:

Place the Arrow Tower card on the Combat board in one of the corners on the AI’s side, then surround it with three Wall cards. After that, place the AI Army in the third row of the Combat board in one line. Start Combat with Aislinn’s Army.

Nothing Personal

Story only; this section contains no rules text.

2. Gathering the Legion

Scenario Length: This scenario plays out over 10 rounds.

Player Setup:

• Faction: Stronghold
• Faction Hero: Crag Hack
• Faction Army: A Pack of Goblins, a Pack of Wolf Raiders
• Starting Resources: 8 Gold, 0 Building Materials, 0 Valuables
• Town Buildings: Bronze-tier Dwelling, City Hall
• Bonus: Choose one of the following options:
  • Bronze-tier Peasants
  • +6 Gold Resources
  • Search (4) the Spell deck

AI Hero Setup:

• Enemy Heroes: Lord Chasim, Lord Velmor, Tyranell
• Enemy Armies:
  • Lord Chasim’s Army: A Pack of Halberdiers, a Pack of Griffins, a Few Crusaders, a Few Zealots
  • Lord Velmor’s Army: A Few Marksmen, a Few Crusaders, a Pack of Zealots
  • Tyranell’s Army: A Pack of Halberdiers, a Pack of Marksmen, a Pack of Zealots, a Pack of Crusaders, a Few Champions
• Enemy Decks:
  • Lord Chasim’s and Lord Velmor’s Deck: 3 × Might card, 1 × Magic card
  • Tyranell’s Deck: 4 × Might card, 2 × Magic card, 2 × Skill card
• Enemy Spell Deck: 2 × “Magic Arrow” Spell card, 1 × “Lightning Bolt” Spell card, 2 × “Cure” Spell card
• Skill: “Offense” Ability card

Map Setup: Take the following Map tiles and set them up as shown in the scenario map layout:

• 4 × Starting Map tile (I):
  • 1 × Necropolis (S1)
  • 1 × Dungeon (S2)
  • 1 × Castle (S3)
  • 1 × Stronghold (S7)
• 5 × Far Map tile (II–III):
  • 3 × random tile from Castle (F3, F6, F9), Necropolis (F1, F4, F7) and Stronghold (F19–F21)
• 4 × Near Map tile (IV–V):
  • 1 × Castle tile with an Obelisk (N3)
  • 1 × Dungeon tile with an Obelisk (N5)
  • 2 × random Subterranean tile (U1–U6)

NOTE: Place a Subterranean Gate token as shown in the map layout.

Heroes Placement: Place your Stronghold Hero on the Town field of the Stronghold Starting tile. This tile is already discovered. Use the two Castle models to represent Lord Chasim and Lord Velmor. Place one of them on the Town field of the Castle Starting tile—this is Lord Chasim. Place the other one on the Town field of the Necropolis Starting tile—this is Lord Velmor. Tyranell does not have a model or appear on the map.

Additional Rules: During this “Stronghold” campaign scenario, the following rules apply:

• You cannot Recruit units from your faction Dwellings.
• After each Combat with a Neutral Army, shuffle its Unit cards back into their respective decks.
• The Enemy Heroes do not move until their movement is triggered by a timed event.
• If you have them, take the following cards out of the Artifact deck: Arms of Legion, Head of Legion, Legs of Legion, Loins of Legion, and Torso of Legion. Use them to create a separate pile—the Legion Deck. If any of these cards are in your Hero’s deck of Might and Magic, replace each of them with a “Magic Arrow” Spell card.
• Whenever you defeat AI’s Enemy Army, Search (2) the Legion Deck and gain 1 Experience and 5 Gold.
• Once during the Resource round (including the first round) and each time your Hero visits an Obelisk for the first time, you can draw 2 cards from the top of the Neutral Unit deck that corresponds to one of your Dwellings. You can Recruit one of these units if you pay its Recruitment cost. Shuffle the Neutral Unit cards that you did not Recruit back to their deck.
• When you enter the Town field on the Dungeon Starting tile, start Combat with Tyranell’s Army.
• Remove the following Neutral Unit cards from the Neutral Unit decks:
  • a) Bronze-tier: Rogues, Zombies, Wraiths, Harpies, Evil Eyes
  • b) Silver-tier: Nomads, Mummies, Vampires, Liches, Medusas
  • c) Gold-tier: Enchanters, Dread Knights, Ghost Dragons, Manticores, Black Dragons

Win/Lose Conditions:

• Win: You win the moment you have 3 “Legion” cards in your deck.
• Lose: You fail the scenario if your Hero is defeated in any Combat, but you can still retreat from Combat with non-Azure tier Neutral Armies.

Timed Events: When you reach the following rounds, follow the corresponding instructions:

• 1st Round: Read the “The Town of Hartferd” section below.
• 3rd Round: Build the Silver-tier Dwelling—Fort under the Nest—for free. Lord Chasim and Lord Velmor start moving. Read the “The Peasants and the Lords” section below.
• 7th Round: Build the Gold-tier Dwelling—Mountain Caves—for free. Add a Few Champions to the armies of Lord Chasim and Lord Velmor if you have not defeated them yet. After you receive your income this round, pay 5 Gold. Discover both Subterranean tiles on the Map. Read the “Old Retainer” section below.
• 10th Round: At the end of the round, you lose. All is lost!
• When you enter a field with the Subterranean Gate: Read the “Guards” section below.

The Story

The Town of Hartferd

Story only; this section contains no rules text.

The Peasants and the Lords

Story only; this section contains no rules text.

Old Retainer

Story only; this section contains no rules text.

Guards

The narrative leading up to the choice is omitted. The text reads: The guards will permit you passage if you pay the toll.

Choose one option:

• Pay 15 Gold, then put your faction cube on this field. You cannot visit it again.
• Discard 12 Gold worth of units (in the case of Packs, add the Recruitment and Reinforcement costs), then put your faction cube on this field. You cannot visit it again.
• Move back to the field you have visited last.

3. Secrets Revealed

Scenario Length: This scenario plays out over 13 rounds.

Player Setup:

• Faction: Stronghold
• Faction Hero: Choose any Stronghold Hero
• Faction Army: A Pack of Goblins, a Pack of Wolf Riders, a Pack of Orcs
• Starting Resources: 10 Gold, 3 Building Materials, 1 Valuable
• Town Buildings: Bronze-tier Dwelling, Citadel, City Hall
• Bonus: Choose one of the following options:
  • +10 Gold Resources
  • +3 Valuables Resources
  • Draw from the Artifact deck until you have 2 cards granting bonuses to Spells. Choose one of them to add to your deck and shuffle the rest of the cards drawn back into the Artifact deck.

AI Hero Setup:

• Faction: Necropolis
• Enemy Heroes: Necromancer Attackers, Nimbus, Moandor
• Enemy Armies:
  • Orc Chieftains’ Army: Bronze-tier Goblins, Bronze-tier Wolf Riders, Bronze-tier Orcs, Silver-tier Ogres
  • Necromancer Attackers’ Army: Neutral Army of a level equal to the current round number divided by two (rounded up). If the Army would consist of fewer than 5 units, add a Pack of Skeletons.
  • Nimbus’s Army: A Pack of Zombies, a Pack of Wraiths, a Pack of Vampires, a Pack of Dread Knights
  • Moandor’s Army: A Pack of Vampires, a Pack of Dread Knights, a Pack of Ghost Dragons, a Pack of Liches, Silver-tier Liches
• Enemy Decks:
  • Nimbus’s Deck: 2 × Might card, 4 × Magic card
  • Moandor’s Deck: 5 × Might card, 2 × Magic card, 2 × Skill card
  • Other AI Heroes’ Deck: 1 × Might card, 2 × Magic card
• Enemy Spell Deck: 3 × “Magic Arrow” Spell card, 1 × “Lightning Bolt” Spell card, 1 × “Slow” Spell card
• Skill: “Bowstring of the Unicorn’s Mane” Artifact card*
• Special: Prepare the “Archery” Ability card for a special story event.

*Whenever this skill is activated, put one Necropolis faction cube on this Artifact card. Whenever a unit in Moandor’s Army rolls a “−1”, and there is at least one cube on this card, remove one of the cubes and roll the Attack die again.

Map Setup: Take the following Map tiles and set them up as shown in the scenario map layout:

• 2 × Starting Map tile (I):
  • 1 × Dungeon (S2)
  • 1 × Stronghold (S7)
• 3 × Far Map tile (II–III):
  • 3 × Stronghold (F19–F21)
• 4 × Near Map tile (IV–V):
  • 1 × Castle Near tile without any Obelisk (N6)
  • 1 × Stronghold Near tile without any Obelisk (N13)
  • 2 × random Subterranean tile (from: U1–U6)
• 1 × Center Map tile (VI–VII):
  • 1 × Center tile with Dragon Utopia (C1)

NOTE: Place 2 Subterranean Gate tokens as shown in the map layout.

Heroes Placement: Place your Stronghold Hero on the Town field of the Stronghold Starting tile. This tile is already discovered. Necromancer Attackers are represented by either Necropolis model and appear on the Town field of the Dungeon Map tile as a result of timed events. Nimbus, Moandor, and Orc Chieftains do not have models or appear on the map.

Additional Rules: During this “Stronghold” campaign scenario, the following rules apply:

• After each Combat with a Neutral Army, shuffle its Unit cards back into their respective decks.
• Whenever you defeat AI’s Enemy Army, gain 1 Experience.
• You cannot enter the Subterranean Gate before flagging the center field of the Center tile.
• From the Neutral Unit decks, remove all Neutral Unit cards, except for the following:
  • a) Bronze-tier: Rogues, Zombies, Wraiths, Harpies, Evil Eyes
  • b) Silver-tier: Nomads, Mummies, Vampires, Liches, Medusas
  • c) Gold-tier: Dread Knights, Ghost Dragons, Manticores, Black Dragons

Win/Lose Conditions:

• Win: You must win all Combats with Enemy Armies.
• Lose: You fail the scenario if your Hero is defeated in any Combat, but you can still retreat from Combat with non-Azure tier Neutral Armies.

Timed Events: When you reach the following rounds, follow the corresponding instructions:

• 1st Round:
  • Place Necromancer Attackers on the Town field of the Dungeon Map tile.
  • Read the “Two Barbarians” section below.
• 4th Round: Place Necromancer Attackers on the Town field of the Dungeon Map tile.
• 8th Round: Place Necromancer Attackers on the Town field of the Dungeon Map tile.
• 13th Round: At the end of this round, all is lost! You lose!
• The first time you enter a field with a Settlement:
  • Start Combat with the Orc Chieftains’ Army instead of the regular Neutral Army.
  • After defeating it, read the “Gold is Gold” section below.
• When you enter the center field of the Center Map tile:
  • Start Combat with Nimbus’s Army instead of the regular Neutral Army.
  • After defeating the Nimbus’s Army, put your faction cube on this field.
  • After defeating it, read the “Nimbus” section below.
• When you enter the field with the Dungeon Town: Read the “The Last Necromancer in the Region” section below.
• When you complete the scenario: Read the “Gathering Allies” section below.

The Story

Two Barbarians

Story only; this section contains no rules text.

Gold Is Gold

The narrative is omitted. The section ends with the following instructions, printed in red after the story text on page 31:

• After winning Combat with the Orc Chieftains’ Army, you capture the Settlement, but instead of gaining the standard bonus, gain 15 Gold and increase your Gold income by 5.
• Start Combat with Moandor’s Army. Before any unit activates, Moandor activates the “Archery” Ability card for his army—use the Basic effect for Easy and Normal difficulties, and the Expert effect for Hard and Impossible ones.

(The printed page does not separate these two instructions from the story sections above them; they are kept in printed order.)

Nimbus

Story only; this section contains no rules text.

The Last Necromancer in the Region

Story only; this section contains no rules text.

Gathering Allies

Story only; this section contains no rules text.

Map Locations

Town

Category: Flaggable

This is a player’s starting field. If a player captures a Town, they gain a bonus depending on the scenario.

Settlement

Category: Flaggable

When you Flag a Settlement, you may select your reward from a number of bonuses. If you capture a Settlement that has not been previously owned by any player, you gain an extra bonus (see page 25, “Settlements” in the Core Rulebook).

Cyclops Stockpile

Category: Visitable

When preparing the Neutral Army guarding this location, instead of drawing 1 Azure-tier unit, find 2 Gold-tier Cyclops and add them to the Neutral Army (look for them first in the Gold-tier discard pile, and then in the Gold-tier Neutral Unit deck). If you win the Combat, roll and resolve 4 Resource dice. Any additional effects depend on the scenario.

Spell Scroll

Category: Visitable

When you enter this location, take 1 Spell Scroll card, place it near your Hero card, and follow the instructions on the card.

Subterranean Gate

Category: Revisitable

When you enter this location, move to the connected location on the adjacent tile. This location allows you to enter or exit Subterranean tiles.