Runewars: Banners of War Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Component List
• Component Descriptions
• Setup
  • Map Tile 12
  • The Lost City
  • Tile 12 and Lost City: Description
• Application
  • New Units
  • Structure of a Reinforcement Sheet
• Tactical Fate Cards
  • Example of Playing a Tactical Fate Card
• Revealing Rune Tokens
• Garrison Order Card
• Devastation Tokens
• Frost Tokens
• Additional Influence Tokens
• Capital Tokens
• Skeleton Tokens
• Peasant Tokens
• Optional Rules
  • Development Cards
  • Commanders on the Battlefield
  • Flourishing of the Free Cities
  • Road to Victory
  • Exploration Tokens
• Revised Battle Phases

Component List

• 12 blue plastic units, including:
  • 8 Apprentice Wizards
  • 4 Roc Birds
• 12 green plastic Elf units, including:
  • 8 Leonx Riders
  • 4 Forest Wardens
• 12 red plastic Uruk units, including:
  • 8 Blood Sisters
  • 4 Abhorrents (Отвращенье)
• 12 purple plastic Undead units, including:
  • 8 Vampires
  • 4 Great Lizards
• 8 grey plastic heroes
• 3 cardboard sheets of punch-out components, including:
  • 4 Activation tokens (1 per faction)
  • 8 alternative City tokens
  • 8 Exploration tokens
  • 5 additional Influence tokens
  • 4 Outpost tokens (1 per faction)
  • 3 map tiles (each containing 1 to 4 hexes)
  • 10 Rune tokens (5 dragon runes, 5 false runes)
  • 4 Capital tokens (1 per faction)
  • 15 Training tokens
  • 1 Lost City token
  • 8 Commander tokens

Translator's note: unit names are rendered from the Russian text. Where the Russian name has no English equivalent in the text, the Russian is kept in parentheses.

Component Descriptions

Each faction receives two new types of units to increase the strength of its army. Their special abilities are described on the corresponding Reinforcement sheet. The figures come in four colours, one for each of the four factions.

Grey plastic figures represent new heroes that players can command. In the "Commanders on the Battlefield" variant, they can even lead their units into battle.

These tokens are alternative neutral settlements that replace the base game's cities in the "Flourishing of the Free Cities" variant. The alternative cities give more bonuses than the base ones, and some of them allow the player to receive a dragon rune.

This legendary city appears on the game board only when the corresponding Quest is completed or as a result of game effects.

These new cards are shuffled into the existing Hero deck. Each Hero has a special ability that gives an advantage in battle or when completing Quests.

These new cards are shuffled into the existing Goal decks of the base game, giving players more ways to gain dragon runes.

These new cards are shuffled into the existing Reward deck and can be earned by Heroes for completing Quests.

These new cards are shuffled into the existing Season deck, triggering additional events to which players must adapt.

These new cards are shuffled into the existing Tactic deck. In addition to new abilities, some of them introduce a new type of Tactic card: Tactical Fate cards (see page 7).

This card offers players a new title to compete for. The winner receives additional resources for their faction.

All cards of this expansion carry a special symbol on the front side, which allows them to be separated easily from the base game.

Reinforcement sheets list the new units and their abilities. Each of the four factions has its own Reinforcement sheet. These sheets are placed to the right of the Faction sheets, so that their initiative lines line up.

These new map tiles add new locations that armies can capture, and new places where Heroes search for hidden rewards and forgotten secrets.

Garrison Order card: this new Order card lets players prepare better for an invasion from outside.

Victory cards provide an additional way to end the game, removing the element of surprise when determining the winner. These cards are used only when playing with the optional rule "Road to Victory" (see page 11).

Development cards are improvements that players can acquire to strengthen their units, capitals and fortresses when playing with the optional rule "Development Cards" (see page 9).

Commander cards describe the abilities of Heroes that they can use while commanding armies on the battlefield. These cards are used only when playing with the optional rule "Commanders on the Battlefield" (see page 10).

Capital tokens can replace fortresses when acquiring the corresponding Development cards. Capitals give greater protection and, unlike standard fortresses, allow one more Outpost to be built.

Commander tokens are placed under a Hero's base to mark that Hero as a commander leading an army into battle. They give the Hero's units additional abilities during battle (see "Commanders on the Battlefield" on page 10).

Devastation and Frost tokens mark areas that war has turned into barren wastelands, or where shifting forces have caused unnaturally strong frosts and snowfalls.

Skeleton tokens are treated as Skeleton figures, which are brought into play for the forces of Vaikar by one of the Development cards.

Peasant tokens represent the common folk of Dakan. They allow the Human player to leave their territories under the protection of loyal servants while their units take part in battles.

These new cards are shuffled into the existing Quest deck, giving heroes travelling across Terrinoth an extra chance to earn a reward.

Head of the Merchants' Guild: this Title card reduces the costs of managing the empire. The player who holds this title receives two additional resources of any one type whenever they play the Order card "Harvest". A player may choose different resources each time they play the "Harvest" Order card. In addition, the player may ignore any resource losses caused by the basic effect of Season cards.

Setup

The following instructions explain how to add this expansion to the base game:

• New Hero, Goal, Quest, Reward, Season and Tactic cards are shuffled into their corresponding decks.
• After a faction is chosen, players receive the corresponding Reinforcement sheet, units, Order cards and other components needed for that faction.
• During the first map-building action, the Quest cards for tiles 10, 11 and 12 are shuffled into the existing Quest deck. If a player receives one of these cards as a Preparatory Quest, they also receive the corresponding map tiles from this expansion.

Map Tile 12

• If this tile is placed first, the next tile must be placed so that its two different locations (hexes) touch the two sides of tile 12. Because mountain (red) and water (blue) borders must not touch parallel borders of other hexes, the same rule applies to this tile's yellow border.
• If this tile is not placed first, it must be placed so that two of its sides touch at least two different locations on previously placed tiles. The yellow border must not be parallel to a red or blue border. Apart from these restrictions, the yellow border has no further effect on the game.

The Lost City

After the conditions of a Quest card instruct the player to place the Lost City, the player places it on tile 12 so that the blue border of the token matches the yellow border of the tile. If a Devastation/Frost token is lying on tile 12 (see page 8), the Lost City is not placed. Instead, all Devastation/Frost tokens are removed from the location.

This token is treated as a normal City token, giving the player all the bonuses that cities support. The city can be destroyed by the corresponding ability. If it is destroyed, it can be found again later. This city allows the player who controls the location to receive a dragon rune (see the rule "Flourishing of the Free Cities" on page 11), and it adds additional resource icons to the location.

If a card instructs the player to place the Lost City while this token is already on the game board, the text of the card is ignored, because the city has already been found. Fortresses cannot be built on tile 12.

Unlike other City tokens, this token has two sides. This has no effect on play; it serves only as a reminder that this token may not be placed on city spots during the "Game Preparation" phase.

Tile 12 and Lost City: Description

1. Location number: used to link the location to a Quest card.
2. Resources: these icons show the resources the location produces.
3. Yellow border: this border cannot be parallel to the red or blue borders of other hexes. It has no effect on movement.
4. Dragon rune: this icon shows that the faction controlling the location with this city also controls one additional dragon rune.
5. Resources: this icon shows which additional resources the location yields once the Lost City has been found.
6. Water border: this blue border is placed over the yellow border and follows the normal rules for water borders.

Application

This section describes in detail how to use the new components and rules found in the Banners of War expansion. It is important to note that all rules described in this section must always be used when playing with this expansion.

Any rules or components not described in this section are optional, and players may add all or some of them to the game as they wish (see pages 9-11).

New Units

In Banners of War, each faction receives two unique unit types into its forces. The Reinforcement sheet for each faction contains all the information about these new units. Players must place the Reinforcement sheets to the right of their Faction sheet.

Each new unit may be recruited in place of the corresponding unit from the base game (as shown on the Reinforcement sheet). For example, if the Human player has 4 wood, they can recruit 2 Archers, 2 Apprentice Wizards, or one of each type.

Roc Bird. Tamed as combat pets by the Lords of Dakan, Roc Birds are the largest birds of prey known to man.

Apprentice Wizard. Graduates of the prestigious University of Greyhaven, these battle-ready wizards are bound by ancient obligations to serve the Lords of Dakan in times of war.

Leonx Rider. Like many creatures of the Aimelin forests, the Leonx have made a pact with the Latari elves, who now go into battle mounted upon them.

Forest Warden. Some say that the trees of the Aimelin forests go into battle together with the Latari. Only the Elves know the truth of these rumours.

Blood Sister. Bound by a Blood Pact, these deadly witches command the magic of blood and serve their tribes.

Abhorrent (Отвращенье). Those who sold their souls to the demons of gluttony, these Uruk warriors constantly feed their hunger, which can be called nothing but abhorrent.

Vampire. The Lords of Baylhall renounced their allies and now fly in the form of hideous bats in the host of Vaikar the Undying.

Great Lizard. Many of these huge monsters fell in the Dragon Wars, and now they are reborn to serve the Great Traitor.

Translator's note: the unit abilities and combat values are printed on the Reinforcement sheets and are not part of the rulebook text.

Structure of a Reinforcement Sheet

1. Unit name and picture: used to distinguish these units from units of another type.
2. Recruitment: this picture shows in place of which unit type this figure may be recruited (in this case, a Leonx Rider may be recruited in place of an Elf Warrior).
3. Unit base shape: this symbol shows the shape of the unit base, and is used in battle when Fate cards are drawn.
4. Unit health: the number shows how many wounds must be dealt to a unit to defeat it.
5. Special unit ability: this ability is resolved when the special ability symbol appears during battle.
6. Initiative value: this number shows the row the units occupy during battle, and also the battle round in which these units may attack.

Tactical Fate Cards

Several of the new Tactic cards in this expansion have a dual purpose, which is identified by the Fate symbols at the bottom of the card (see below). These special Tactic cards are called TACTICAL FATE CARDS. Like other Tactic cards, they can be played from the player's hand to use their abilities.

As an alternative, a player may play one or more of these cards during a battle or duel instead of drawing Fate cards.

A player who wants to play a Tactical Fate card in this way must declare that they are doing so before they draw Fate cards for a particular unit type. They then draw one fewer Fate card for each Tactical Fate card they play for that unit type. The symbols at the bottom of a Tactical Fate card are resolved in the same way as the symbols on a Fate card, and then the Tactical Fate card is placed on the Tactic discard pile. When a Tactical Fate card is played instead of a Fate card, its text is ignored. A Tactical Fate card cannot be used in the season in which it was acquired.

Example of Playing a Tactical Fate Card

The Human player is about to draw Fate cards for their Knights during a battle:

1. The player looks at the Tactic cards in their hand and sees that they have the Tactical Fate card "Bribery". They take the information on the card into account. a. Tactic card name: used to distinguish Tactic cards from one another. b. Tactical manoeuvre: if the player plays this card as a Tactic card, they may use the tactical manoeuvre described in the text. c. Fate symbols: the symbols printed here are used when the player plays this card instead of drawing Fate cards.
2. The player declares that they play one Tactical Fate card. They draw two Fate cards instead of three. The Tactical Fate card is played in place of the third Fate card.
3. The player looks at all three cards. The Tactical Fate card has a special ability symbol, and the Fate cards show a miss and a rout symbol.
4. In accordance with the rules, the player first reveals and resolves the card with the special ability symbol. The Knights' ability triggers, allowing them to knock down one unit and take one Tactic card. After it is resolved, this card is discarded to the Tactic discard pile.
5. Finally, the player reveals and resolves the Fate card with the rout symbol.

Revealing Rune Tokens

Several situations in Banners of War force a player to reveal Rune tokens, for example when playing the Tactic card "Power Play".

When a player must reveal a Rune token, they choose any token in a location they control (unless stated otherwise) and turn it face up, showing whether it is a dragon rune or a false rune. If a card requires the player to reveal one of the dragon runes, they may not reveal a false rune token.

Tokens turned face up in this way stay face up. They may be turned face down again only after the Order card "Fortify" is played. Rune tokens that have been moved in this way may be turned face down before they are moved.

When a card's effect is triggered, the player must reveal Rune tokens that are not yet revealed. For example, if the player already has a revealed Rune token, they cannot show that same token when playing the card "Power Play"; to play this card they must reveal a different token. If all of the player's Rune tokens are already revealed, they cannot activate the effects of cards that require revealing Rune tokens.

If the Epic variant of the base game is being played, any drawn Tactic cards that force the player to reveal Rune tokens may be discarded and replaced with new Tactic cards.

Garrison Order Card

Every faction now has access to the Order card "Garrison". When this card is played, the defending player in this season receives a bonus during the battle phase "Strength Calculation".

The Seniority bonus of this card allows the player to recruit 2 triangular-base units of their faction, which they may place in any fortress they control.

Devastation Tokens

Some game effects instruct a player to "place a Devastation token". The player who controls the location in which these tokens are placed immediately receives all the resources produced by that location. These tokens stay in play until they are removed by special game effects.

While this token is in play, the location is considered not to produce any resources for the player. If there is a city in this location, it no longer gives the player any bonuses when playing the Order card "Call for Support". In addition, if this city would normally give the player a dragon rune (see page 11), that bonus is also cancelled until the Devastation token is removed. (Dragon rune tokens and Exploration tokens are also ignored.)

Devastation tokens may never be placed in home territories, or in locations that already contain a Devastation or Frost token. A Devastation token remains in place until it is removed by a card or an ability.

Frost Tokens

Frost tokens represent extremely low temperatures and unnatural snowstorms. While this token is in a location, units may ignore movement restrictions across water (blue) borders, as if it were winter. (Neighbouring locations with blue borders are not affected by this effect.)

While this token is in play, the location is considered not to produce any resources for the player. If there is a city in this location, it no longer gives the player any bonuses when playing the Order card "Call for Support". In addition, if this city would normally give the player a dragon rune (see page 11), that bonus is also cancelled until the Frost token is removed. (Dragon rune tokens and Exploration tokens are also ignored.)

Frost tokens may never be placed in home territories, or in locations that already contain a Devastation token. Several Frost tokens may be in one location.

Important: remove one Frost token from each location when the secondary ability of the Spring Season card is resolved.

Additional Influence Tokens

This expansion includes several Influence tokens with the number 3 on them. If players run short of Influence tokens, they may replace three ordinary tokens with one new token. Each additional Influence token is worth 3 ordinary tokens.

Capital Tokens

Each faction has access to a Development card that allows a player to replace one of the fortresses in their home territories with a capital. If that fortress had an Outpost, the Outpost token is attached to the capital token. Even if the replaced fortress was damaged, the capital is placed undamaged side up (its strength is at maximum).

Capital tokens are a special type of fortress, and two Outposts may be added to them instead of one. A capital's defence strength is also higher: if it is undamaged, its strength is 7.

If a capital is damaged for any reason, the next time the player rebuilds it in their home territories with the Order card "Fortify", they must pay 2 ore and 1 wood (instead of the 1 ore and 1 wood under the normal rules).

Each player may place a capital token only in their own home territories. After conquering an opponent's capital, a player may replace the opponent's capital token with one of their own fortress tokens (but not with a capital).

Skeleton Tokens

If Vaikar acquires the Development card "Baneful Lands" (Пагубные земли), it receives 8 Skeleton tokens. These tokens represent the same thing as the plastic Skeleton figures, and they can be recruited as normal units.

These tokens are subject to all the rules and restrictions that apply to the plastic figures, including the unit limit and the secondary ability of the Winter Season card.

Skeleton tokens may be replaced by plastic Skeletons at any time, and plastic Skeletons may be replaced by tokens, once the corresponding Development card has been acquired.

Peasant Tokens

After acquiring the Development card "Popular Support", the Human player receives three Peasant tokens. At any time when the Human player has moved all their units out of a location, they may place one of their unused Peasant tokens in it. In this case the location continues to be considered a friendly location controlled by this player.

If all three Peasant tokens are on the game board and the Human player moves all their units out of a location, they may not move a Peasant token from another location into it.

Peasant tokens are removed from the board only when an Activation token is placed in the location holding them, for any reason (even if the Human player places it). Removed tokens may be used again.

Optional Rules

This section contains additional rules that modify the game as players gain experience with it. Before the game, players must agree whether they want to use one or more of the variants described below. This expansion includes four additional variants: "Development Cards", "Commanders on the Battlefield", "Flourishing of the Free Cities" and "Road to Victory".

Development Cards

This expansion gives each faction 8 Development cards, which players may acquire to give their faction special advantages.

When a player plays the Bonus of Seniority of their Order card "Harvest", they may acquire one of their faction's Development cards in addition to the Outpost described in the base game rules. The player may choose any of the eight cards available to their faction. A player is not obliged to acquire a card: they may build an Outpost, acquire a Development card, or do both! If a player wants to acquire a card, they must pay the resources shown on it (the player immediately adjusts the corresponding resource trackers).

A player may not acquire a Development card unless they can pay its full cost in resources. The bonuses these cards provide are permanent and cannot be lost.

After acquiring a card, the player places it face up next to their Faction sheet. Until the end of the game, they receive all the bonuses listed on the card.

Structure of a Development card:

1. Name: used to distinguish Development cards from one another.
2. Cost: the development cost to be paid in resources, marked on the resource trackers.
3. Unit: this picture shows which unit (if any) receives the bonus from the development.
4. Bonus: the permanent effect provided by the card.

Commanders on the Battlefield

This variant is for players who want a Hero to lead their units into battle. If the players agree to play with these rules, each of them receives two Hero cards corresponding to their alignment (instead of one) during setup. Each player then receives one Commander card. After that, they must choose which of their Heroes will become the Commander.

Each player places their Commander card face up next to the card of the chosen Hero and places one Commander token under the corresponding figure on the game board. That Hero is now considered a Commander and must follow all the rules and restrictions described in this section of the Rulebook.

Commanders continue to count as Heroes, not units. However, they may neither attempt nor complete Quests. In the Quest Phase they can still use their abilities, move, take part in duels, train or heal. Commanders may receive and use Reward cards in the same way as other Heroes.

Commanders are never counted toward the number of Heroes a player controls (under the normal rules a player may control no more than three Heroes). This means that a player may now control four Heroes, one of whom is a Commander.

Moving Commanders. Commanders may be moved in the same way as units when playing the Order cards "Redeployment", "Mobilization" and "Conquest". Commanders may not be moved out of activated locations, and they may not be moved while knocked down (even during the Quest Phase).

Acquiring Commanders. When resolving the Bonus of Seniority of the Order card "Call for Support", a player may acquire a new Commander card. Instead of spending three Influence tokens to look at the top three Hero cards, the player may, for the same price, look at the top three cards of the Commander deck. They must then choose one of them and replace their current Commander card with it. Both the unchosen and the replaced Commander cards are placed at the bottom of the Commander deck. A player is not obliged to discard their old Commander card if they take a new one; however, they may not have more than one Commander at the same time.

Choosing a New Commander. At the start of the Quest Phase, a player may choose a different Hero to become their Commander. The new Commander must be a friendly Hero in one of the player's fortresses. The Commander card immediately moves from the old Commander's card to the new Hero's card. The former Commander no longer follows the Commander rules and is now an ordinary Hero (for example, they may now attempt a Quest).

Only if the player's Commander is DEFEATED may the player draw a new Commander card and place it next to the card of a Hero who is currently in one of the player's fortresses. This may still be done only at the start of the Quest Phase.

Commanders in battle. If a Commander is in a location where friendly units are fighting a battle, the Commander may use the ability described on their Commander card. If the player loses the battle, their Commander must retreat together with the retreating units, as if the Hero were a unit.

If a Commander is in a contested location, they cannot be the target of any special unit abilities. For example, the Elf player cannot use the special ability of their Warriors to destroy a Commander who has been damaged in battle. Commanders receive damage in battle only if they have the corresponding ability described on their Commander card and the controlling player wants to let them take damage in this way.

If a Commander is DEFEATED, they are removed from the game, following the normal rules for defeated Heroes. The defeated Commander's card is then discarded.

General-Lieutenant. The Tactic card "General-Lieutenant" is used only if the players want to play with the variant "Commanders on the Battlefield". If this variant is not used and a player draws this card, it is discarded and a new card is drawn instead.

If the game is played with this variant, the card stays in play and allows the player to bring a second Commander into the game. This means that the player controls five Heroes in total, two of whom are Commanders. If one of them is defeated, the player must discard both that Commander's card and the Tactic card "General-Lieutenant".

When receiving a Commander card through the Bonus of Seniority of the Order card "Call for Support", the player may still keep one of the Commander cards they have drawn. They may choose which Commander card, if any, to replace.

Flourishing of the Free Cities

This variant is for players who want more emphasis on cities. The alternative City tokens used in this variant offer more Tactic cards, Influence tokens and even dragon runes as bonuses.

The alternative City tokens replace the corresponding City tokens of the base game. Three of them bear a dragon rune symbol. This means that a player who controls a location with one of these cities also controls one additional dragon rune (as printed on the City token). This rune is counted only when determining the winner, and it cannot be the target of effects and abilities that act on dragon runes. A Rune token may still be placed in this location. This means that a location with a city containing a dragon rune can potentially give the controlling player two dragon runes.

Important: when playing with this variant, players need to control one additional dragon rune to win. (If this is the only variant you are playing, the player must control seven dragon runes to win.)

Road to Victory

This variant is for players who prefer a game without unexpected endings.

Normally, when a player controls a sufficient number of dragon runes (usually six, if no additional rules are used), they reveal them immediately and the game ends. With this variant, the player must first prove that they have the required number of dragon runes, and then they must hold that number for one year, up to exactly the season in which they revealed them.

At any moment of their turn, a player may reveal runes to prove that they have a sufficient number of them for victory (see "Revealing Rune Tokens" on page 8).

Instead of winning immediately, the player places their faction's Victory card face down on top of the current season's Season card deck. (If the current season is Summer, the card is placed on top of the stack of unrevealed Summer Season cards.) This card will be played in the summer of the following year.

If the top card of the current season's deck is a Victory card, it is revealed during the Season card step, before the Season card. If by that point the player controls the required number of runes for victory (revealing Rune tokens if necessary), they read the text of the Victory card aloud and win the game. Otherwise the card is returned to the player, and the Season card is resolved under the normal rules.

Only one Victory card may lie on top of each Season card deck. If one player has already placed their Victory card in the current season, another player with enough runes must wait for their turn in the next season to reveal their runes and place their Victory card.

Since Victory cards are played during the following year, they cannot be used in the last year of the game. If the current year is the last one in the game, the players must play that year out to the end, and then determine the winner by the rules of the base game.

Example: in the fifth year of the game, Tom has enough dragon runes to reveal them and place his Victory card in the current season's deck (Summer). However, in the spring of the following year he loses control of one of the locations containing a dragon rune. When his Victory card is revealed in the next season, he no longer has the number of runes needed to win. Because this is the sixth and last year of the game, no one may place a Victory card any more, and the winner will be determined at the end of Winter.

Exploration Tokens

These tokens are added to the other Exploration tokens of the base game if all players agree to play with the base game's optional rule "Exploration Tokens".

Flooded Location (TM). Leave this token face up in the location. When a Hero turns this token over, the player sitting to the left of the player who controls that Hero moves the Hero's figure up to two locations (this effect does not apply to units). Units and Heroes without the Flying ability may not enter or leave this location except in winter (or if there is a Frost token in it), as if all of its borders were water (blue) borders. This token remains in the location until the end of the game.

Defensible Terrain (RTM). Leave this token face up in the location. When determining the winner of a battle in this location, the defending player receives +1 Strength. If the player who owns the location gathers at least six units in it on their turn, they may discard this token.

Translator's note: the "(TM)" and "(RTM)" marks are kept as printed in the Russian text.

Revised Battle Phases

1. Placing the Battle marker.
2. Placing units next to the Faction sheets.
3. Resolving battle abilities: starting with the attacker, resolve any Tactic cards, Commander cards or other abilities that can be used "at the start of battle". Then the defending player has the opportunity to use their own abilities that are resolved "at the start of battle".
4. Battle rounds: during a round, each player chooses one of their unit types according to initiative and performs the following actions: a. The attacking player declares that they are playing Tactical Fate cards. b. The defending player declares that they are playing Tactical Fate cards. c. The attacking player draws additional Tactic cards. d. The defending player draws additional Tactic cards. e. Special abilities are resolved. f. Rout is resolved. g. Wounds are received.
5. Strength calculation: after all units have finished attacking, both players calculate their strength as follows: a. Fortifications: if the defending player has upgrades in this location that improve defence (Outposts), or has access to Development cards, they may now use them. b. Number of units: each player totals their standing units taking part in the battle. This total is called STRENGTH. c. Adding fortress strength: if the defending player has a fortress or capital in this location, they add its strength to their Strength. d. Fortress damage: if enemy standing units remain in the location, the defending player flips the fortress or capital token (damaged side up). If the fortress or capital was already damaged, the token simply stays damaged side up.
6. Summation: the player with the greater total Strength wins the battle; in the case of a tie, the defending player wins. After this, the players perform the following actions: a. Retreat: the losing player retreats all of their friendly units. b. Destruction or capture of a fortress: if the attacking player won the battle in a location with a fortress or capital, they remove the opponent's Fortress or Capital token. They may then place one of their own Fortress tokens there (damaged side up). If all of their tokens are already on the game board, the player may voluntarily destroy any of their own fortresses in order to place it in this location. They may not replace the opponent's capital with their own. c. Healing: both players remove all Wound tokens from the units that took part in the battle. d. Placing units: the winner takes all of their surviving units and places them in the contested location. Knocked-down units remain lying down. The winner then removes the Battle marker from the game board.