Paw of Duty Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• How to Win
• Components
• Board Layout
• Kitty Cards
• Tactic Cards
• Terminology
• Setup
• Gameplay
• Gameplay (cont.)
• Combat
• Combat (example)

Overview

You are the Commander of a kitty squad, tasked with regaining control of a war-torn city. Choose and deploy feline Huntress, Pilot, and Tank units into the battlezone each turn. Issue commands using tactic cards. Queue up a series of actions to control key spaces and capture enemy kitties.

How to Win

1. Control Victory: 3 of your Kitties placed in a line (vertically, horizontally, or diagonally) on the central 3x3 "City" zone of the board will set you up for victory. You win if these Kitties can remain in their established positions by the end of your opponent's next turn. A Control Victory is difficult to achieve but will always occur before a Power Victory, as described below.

2. Power Victory: At the end of the game, if neither player can secure a Control Victory, both players must add up the levels of all their captured enemy Kitty units. The player with the highest total captured Kitty levels wins by Power Victory.

Components

• Kitty cards (15)
• Tactic cards (45)
• Paw Tokens (18)
• Grid Markers (9) and a Reference card

The Reference card displays which unit types deal double damage to others. Its arrows run in a circle: Pilot deals double damage to Tank, Tank deals double damage to Huntress, and Huntress deals double damage to Pilot.

Board Layout

"City" zone of the board is shown in green (grid markers enlarged here for clarity). Kitties placed in the City zone can be used to establish a Control Victory.

"Outer City" zone is comprised of an imaginary ring of squares surrounding the City. Kitties placed in the Outer City zone cannot be used to establish a Control Victory and also risk getting captured by the enemy if they remain in the Outer City zone for too long.

Kitty Cards

• Kitty Level: Shows how much damage is dealt and can be received during combat. Also counts towards a Power Victory.
• Unit Type: Each unit type deals double damage to another specific unit type when attacking.
• Tactic Cards: Shows the maximum number of Tactic cards that can be used AND/OR discarded this turn if this Kitty is played.

Tactic Cards

• Card Name: The name of the Tactic card.
• Ability Summary: Quick reference of what type of actions can be taken with this card.
• Description: Actions that need to be taken (resolved from top to bottom) if this card is played.

Terminology

• City: Inner 3x3 portion of the board, comprised of 9 Grid Markers, where a Control Victory can be achieved.
• Outer City: An imaginary ring of squares surrounding the 3x3 City portion of the board. Any Kitties in these spaces do not count toward a Control Victory and also risk getting captured by the enemy if they remain in the Outer City zone for too long.
• Adjacent: The 4 spaces surrounding a space (bordering on the North/South/East/West sides). This does not include diagonals.
• Friendly Kitty: A Kitty that is under your control.
• Move: Change a Kitty's location to an adjacent space (unless specified differently on a Tactic card). Only 1 Kitty card may occupy a space at a time. Unless specified on a Tactic card, do not rotate a Kitty card when it is moved on the board.
• Rotate: Turn a Kitty to face any direction that is different from the direction that it first started.
• Target: The space directly in front of a Kitty (based on the direction it is facing), unless specifically modified by a Tactic card.

Setup

1. Organize the 9 Grid markers into a 3 x 3 grid in the play area.
2. Find the 2 "Claws Out" Tactic cards and place one in each player's hand. The "Claws Out" Tactic card has the following unique properties: a. The "Claws Out" card is your main form of attack, but can also be used to move or rotate a Kitty unit. b. The "Claws Out" card cannot be used on a Kitty that was just played on the current turn. c. The "Claws Out" card should never be discarded. Instead, it is returned to its owner's hand at the end of the turn.
3. Place 9 black/white paw tokens in front of each player. Each player is represented by a different color of tokens.
4. Choose a player to go first.
5. The first player should find the "Radio" Tactic card and place it into their hand. a. TIP: The "Radio" Tactic card is strong due to its versatility. Since the first player would otherwise start at a disadvantage, the "Radio" card is provided to the first player to lessen their disadvantage.
6. Separate the Kitty cards and Tactic cards into their own decks, shuffle the decks, and place the decks face down.
7. Each player draws 4 Tactic cards. Drawn cards are placed directly into the player's hand and are not shown to their opponent.
8. Each player may discard up to 4 Tactic cards (excluding the "Radio" and "Claws Out" cards) and re-draw from the deck to replace them. Shuffle any discarded cards back into the deck. a. The 1st player should now have 6 cards in their hand, while the 2nd player should now have 5 cards in their hand.

Gameplay

1. At the beginning of each turn, draw 2 Kitty cards from the Kitty deck. Choose 1 Kitty card to play and return the unused Kitty to the bottom of the Kitty deck.
2. Place the chosen Kitty card face-up on an open Grid Marker and place a paw token of your color on top of the Kitty card. a. When placing a Kitty card in the play area, you may rotate it in any direction of your choice. The direction of the paw token claws as well as the top edge of your Kitty card should both be used together to indicate the front of your Kitty - i.e. the direction that your Kitty is facing.
3. For each horizontal line shown on the top right of the Kitty card you played this turn, you may choose to either: a. Play a Tactic card OR b. Discard a Tactic card and draw another. To discard a Tactic card, place it face-up into a discard pile that is separate from the Tactic deck.
4. Each Tactic card can only be played once per turn. If a Tactic card is played, follow the instructions on the card from top to bottom. If you attack or deal damage this turn, see the next section - Combat. a. NOTE: The "Claws Out" Tactic card is returned to your hand at the end of the turn. All other Tactic cards played during a turn are discarded at the end of the turn.
5. If you have less than 5 Tactic cards in your hand, draw Tactic cards from the deck until you have 5 total Tactic cards in your hand. No additional Tactic cards can be played or discarded on this turn. a. If the Tactic deck ever runs out of cards to draw, shuffle the Tactic card discard pile and use it as the new deck.

Gameplay (cont.)

6. If you have more than one friendly Kitty in the Outer City zone, choose one of them and place one of your paw tokens on it. If the chosen friendly Kitty has 3 paw tokens on it, it is immediately captured by your opponent. a. NOTE: If a friendly Kitty is captured by your opponent, place it face-up on the opponent's side of the play area.
7. Check to see if you are eligible to achieve a Control Victory. If a Control Victory is possible, you must declare it out loud before your opponent's next turn. a. You are eligible for Control Victory if 3 of your Kitties are placed in a line (vertically, horizontally, or diagonally) on the central 3x3 "City" portion of the board. b. You win by Control Victory if these Kitties can remain in their established positions by the end of your opponent's next turn.
8. Kitty Rescue: If you are eligible for a Control Victory AND if the total sum of your captured Kitty levels is currently less than that of the opponent's, you may remove 1 of your opponent's lowest-level captured Kitties from the game. The removed Kitty no longer counts towards your opponent's Power Victory.
9. It is now your opponent's turn. Both players will continue to take turns until a player wins by Control Victory or there is only 1 card remaining in the Kitty deck. a. If there is only 1 card remaining in the Kitty deck at the beginning of a player's turn, neither player can win by Control Victory. The battle ends and no additional Kitty or Tactic cards can be played on the board. Both players must add up the levels of all their captured enemy Kitty units. The player with the highest total captured Kitty levels wins by Power Victory. b. In the event there is a tie, both players must add up the levels of all their Kitty units that are remaining on the board. The player with the highest total Kitty level wins.

Combat

1. Attacking with the "Claws Out" and "Bamboozle" Tactic cards: When attacking with these two specific Tactic cards, the defending Kitty is dealt damage equal to the attacking Kitty's level. The attacking Kitty does not receive any damage back from the defending Kitty. a. If the attacking Kitty's unit type (Tank, Pilot, or Huntress) is strong against the defending Kitty's type, the attacking Kitty temporarily doubles its damage while attacking. b. A reference card is included in the game that displays which units deal double damage to others.

2. Damage: Whenever the total combined damage dealt to a defending Kitty during a turn is greater than or equal to the defending Kitty's level, the defending Kitty is captured by its owner's opponent. Damage does not carry over between turns - all Kitty damage is reset to zero at the start of each player's turn. a. NOTE: When capturing an opponent's Kitties, stack the captured Kitties together face-up on your side of the play area. b. NOTE: Your Kitties can still be captured by the opponent even when it is your turn. Be careful about damaging your own Kitties while it is your turn.

Combat (example)

1. Red highlighted Kitty is currently targeting the empty space in front of it (you are using the black Paw Tokens). a. The black Paw Token shows that this Kitty belongs to you. Note the Paw Token and Kitty card are both facing right. b. This is a PILOT type Kitty, which means it deals double damage to TANK type Kitties when attacking. c. This Kitty is level 2, which means it deals 2 damage when attacking with the "Claws Out" card. Also, it is captured by your opponent if it takes 2 or more damage in a single turn. d. The 3 horizontal lines on the top right of the card indicate that you can play and/or discard up to 3 tactic cards on the turn that this Kitty is played.

2. You play Tactic card # 1 (Bombs Away). This allows your Kitty to hop over the above adjacent Kitty and deal 2 damage to it. a. You capture the opponent's level 1 Huntress Kitty since it receives 2 damage, which is greater than its level.

3. You play Tactic card # 2 (Claws Out) and choose to attack the enemy TANK kitty that is now in front of your PILOT kitty. a. Since your Kitty type (Pilot) counters the enemy's Kitty type (Tank), your level 2 Pilot deals double damage to the opponent's Tank (2 x 2 = 4 total damage) and captures it.

4. Control Victory: Three of your Kitties are lined up diagonally (blue line), so you can win by Control Victory if your opponent is unable to capture or move those Kitties on their next turn.