Stronghold: Undead (Second Edition) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
  • Invader Components
  • Defender Components
• The Board
• Base Game Setup
  • Invader Setup
  • Defender Setup
• Goal of the Game
• Breaching the Stronghold
• Mana and Hourglasses
• Course of the Round
• Spending Hourglasses
• Moving Around the Stronghold
  • Moving Units and Priests
  • Swapping Units
• Actions in Buildings
• Phase 1: Supplies
  • Step 1: Gather Resources
  • Step 2: Mana Cards
  • Step 3: Altar of Death
  • Step 4: Necromancer's Library
  • Step 5: Councils' Deliberations
  • Step 6: Defender's Time
• Phase 2: Preparations
  • Step 1: Casting Spells
  • Step 2: Activations
  • Step 3: Grounds
  • Step 4: Maneuvers
• Units
  • Invader
  • Defender
  • Priests — Strength 2
• Phase 3: Assault
  • Ranged Combat
    • Stage 1: Cannon and Crossbow Barrage
    • Stage 2: Siege Machines Barrage
    • Stage 3: Marksmen's Volley
    • Stage 4: Strigoi Lairs
  • Melee Combat
    • Stage 1: Priests' Phantom Banish
    • Stage 2: Consecrated Ground
    • Stage 3: Skeleton Cauldrons
    • Stage 4: Stakes
    • Stage 5: Resolve Strength
    • Stage 6: The Hospital
  • Dark Presence
    • Stage 1: Destroying the Gates
    • Stage 2: Panic in the Stronghold
• Phase 4: Cleanup

Contents

• 1 Game board
• 1 Round marker (blue wooden disc)
• 1 Panic marker (blue wooden disc)
• This rulebook

Invader Components

• Invader Aid sheet
• 1 Bag
• 180 Invader Units
  • 53 Phantom wooden pieces
  • 90 Skeleton wooden pieces
  • 37 Vampire wooden pieces
• 30 Red Mana crystals
• 15 Green Activation crystals
• 3 Graveyard tiles
• 3 Marsh tiles
• 3 Spectral Ballistae tiles
• 3 Bone Throwers tiles
• 12 Bone markers
• 3 Strigoi Lair tiles
• 3 Drum tiles
• 3 Mists tiles
• 3 Totems tiles
• 3 Cursed Bat tiles
• 3 Reinforcement tiles
• 3 Marksmen Nightmare tiles
• 3 Phantoms Hunger tiles
• 3 Poisonous Clouds tiles
• 3 Path of the Damned tiles
• 1 Heavy Rain token
• 8 Green Spell cards
• 8 Blue Spell cards
• 8 Red Spell cards
• 36 Siege Machine cards (10 Hit cards, 26 Miss cards)
• 9 Mana cards
• 1 Altar of Death card
• 1 Camp card
• 1 Supplies card
• 1 Activation card

Defender Components

• Defender Aid sheet
• 45 Defender Units
  • 17 Marksmen wooden pieces
  • 20 Soldiers wooden pieces
  • 4 Veterans wooden pieces
• 4 Priests cardboard pieces
• 25 Hourglass wooden pieces
• 23 Stone Wall wooden pieces
• 3 Skeleton's Cauldron wooden pieces
• 3 Cannon tiles
• 3 Crossbow tiles
• 3 Hospital Bed tiles
• 3 Perturbation tokens
• 1 Saint token
• 1 Malfunction token
• 12 Panic cards
• 6 Cannon cards
• 6 Crossbow cards
• 3 Stakes tiles
• 3 Cross tiles
• 3 Consecrated Ground tiles
• 3 Inscriptions tiles
• 3 Footbridge tiles
• 3 Trap tiles

Note: With the exception of Hourglasses, Mana crystals, and Activation crystals, all components in the game are limited to those provided. If all the pieces of a given type are in use, no more are available until they become free. (Example: there are 3 Skeleton's Cauldrons. The Defender can not build a 4th Cauldron, or move any of the existing ones in use on the board.)

The Board

Spaces on the board: The spaces on the board are where players may place components such as wooden pieces, tiles, tokens, and Units. The components must match the shape of the space in order to be placed, and only a single component may occupy each space at a time. Players can not change the position or remove tiles/tokens already placed on the board.

Gate: The Gate divides the Stronghold into 2 sides. The Wall sections on both sides of the Gate are not adjacent. When you play with the Highest Power expansion, place the overlay Gate tile on this space—the Gate may be Breached.

Sides: The Stronghold has 2 sides that are divided by the Gate.

Locations: When a card refers to a Location, it indicates one of the following: Camp, Foregrounds, Ramparts, and Wall sections.

Foregrounds: The Foregrounds are staging areas for Invader Units advancing toward the Walls. The Foregrounds' limit is up to a maximum of 10 Invader Units.

Paths: Paths connect the Foregrounds, the Ramparts, and the Wall sections that are used by the Invader Units to advance. On paths are also located spaces for the Defender's or Invader's tiles.

Note: the Invader Units cannot move backward—they may only move toward the Walls.

Ramparts: The Ramparts are the halfway point between Foregrounds and Wall sections. Each Rampart's limit is up to a maximum of 7 Invader Units. They also have 2 spaces for tiles and 1 space for either a Ground tile or a Siege Machine tile.

Note: Invader Units must first move from Foregrounds to Ramparts, and then from Ramparts to the Wall sections. When moving Units from Ramparts or Foregrounds, be sure that the capacity of the space is not full. Units can never enter a Rampart or Foreground if it already has the maximum Units allowed in the space.

Wall Sections: The Stronghold Walls are divided into sections. This is where the fight between Invader and Defender Units takes place during the Assault. Each Wall section has a number of spaces for Invader and Defender Units, but not all sections contain the same number of spaces. Sections also have spaces for 3 Levitating Phantoms, 2 tiles, spaces for the Walls, and they may also have up to 2 spaces for Skeleton's Cauldrons.

Note: Starting spaces indicate beginning Units for the Defender, but do not limit the types of Units that can be placed there later in the game.

Towers: The Defender may use each Tower to hold one Construction. Constructions include: Cannons, Tower Crossbows, Stakes, and Crosses.

Buildings: The Stronghold contains several imprinted Buildings which provide various actions that the Defender may use by spending Hourglasses. The Buildings are: The Forge, the Workshop, the Scouts' Quarters, the Cathedral, and the Barracks. The Stronghold also contains the Hospital and the Courtyard, but they do not provide actions.

Base Game Setup

First, decide who is playing as the Defender and who is playing as the Invader. Place the board on the table with the Defender sitting behind the Stronghold.

1. Place the Round marker on the space marked "I" on the Round track.
2. Place the Panic marker on the space marked "0" on the Panic track.

Invader Setup

3. Place the following on each Foreground space:
   • 1 Phantom
   • 3 Skeletons
   • 1 Vampire
4. Create the Invader's supply by placing the following near the board:
   • 5 Phantoms
   • 20 Skeletons
   • 5 Vampires
5. Put all of your remaining Units into the bag.
6. Place all tokens, tiles, Mana crystals, and Activation crystals into the Invader's supply.
7. Create the Mana deck by shuffling all Mana cards and placing them near the board.
8. Place the Altar of Death card to the right of the Mana deck.
9. Take all base game Spell cards (marked with an icon in the upper right corner), divide them into three separate decks according to their colors, which represent different tiers.
   • Create the Spell Tome by taking all the Green Spell cards, shuffling them, and drawing 6 cards. Place them face up, to the right of the Altar of Death, next to each other (in any order). Place remaining Green Spell cards back to box—they will not be used during this game.
   • Create the Necromancer's Library by repeating the previous step with the Blue Spell cards, and then with the Red Spell cards, but instead of placing them face up, create a face down pile consisting of both those tiers. Place the Necromancer's Library to the right of the last Green Spell card.
10. Place the Activation card to the right of the last Spell card of the Spell Tome.
11. Place the Camp card to the right of the Activation card.
12. Place the Supplies card to the left of the Necromancer's Library.
13. Place the Siege Machine Hit and Miss cards near the board.

Spell Tiers: Green Spell cards are helpful at the beginning of the game, Blue Spell cards are recommended for use in the mid-game, while Red Spell cards are best for the final stages of the game.

Note: A random selection of Spell cards enhances the diversity of the game and may require extra Stronghold experience from the Invader.

Defender Setup

14. Place the following on each Wall section:
    • 1 Marksman on each space with a blue rim
    • 1 Soldier on each space with a grey rim
    • 1 Stone Wall on each Wall space
    • 1 Priest on each space with a purple rim
15. Place the depicted matching tiles, tokens, and wooden pieces onto the following Buildings (on the piles if necessary):
    • the Forge
    • the Cathedral
    • the Scouts
    • the Workshop
16. Place on the Barracks:
    • 1 Marksman on each space with a blue rim
    • 1 Soldier on a space with a grey rim
17. Create the Cannon deck by shuffling all Cannon cards, then place it near the board.
18. Create the Crossbow deck by shuffling all Crossbow cards, then place it near the board.
19. Create the Defender's supply by placing near the board Hourglasses and the remaining Units and Priests.

You are all set up and ready to play!

The setup of the game with expansions will be described in different section of this rulebook. We highly recommend playing your first game with the base components only.

Goal of the Game

The Defender's goal is to defend the Stronghold for the duration of 8 rounds. If, after the 8th round's Assault phase, the Invader hasn't Breached the Stronghold, the undead army turns to dust and you win!

The Invader's goal is to Breach the Stronghold before the end of the 8th round. Time works against you. Your great strength is slowly fading, and your undead army will turn to dust at sunrise (at the end of the eighth round).

Breaching the Stronghold

Crossing the Wall: During the Assault, if the Invader kills all of the Defender's Units on a Wall section and the Invader's Units can deal further Damage, the game ends immediately, and the Invader wins.

Destroying the Gates (only if you are playing with the Highest Power expansion): During the Assault, if the Phantom Dragon has been summoned, it will deal Damage to the Gates. Once the third Gate tile is destroyed, the game ends immediately, and the Invader wins.

Mana and Hourglasses

Mana and Hourglasses represent resources that may be spent to empower positions before the Assault (Mana for the Invader and Hourglasses for the Defender).

The Invader may spend Mana crystals to summon Siege Machines, Grounds, and supporting troops. Each of the Invader's preparations gives the Defender precious time to counteract. This time is represented by Hourglasses.

The Defender may spend Hourglasses to use actions in Buildings, move Units, and use Priest Orders.

Course of the Round

Stronghold: Undead is played over a series of up to 8 rounds. Each round is divided into 4 phases that must be played in the order shown below:

• Phase 1: Supplies
• Phase 2: Preparations
• Phase 3: Assault
• Phase 4: Cleanup

During the Supplies and Preparations phases, the Invader and Defender prepare Constructions, use powerful effects, and move their Units. Then, during the Assault phase, they engage with each other using their prepared assets. If, at the end of the Assault phase, the Invader was not able to Breach the Stronghold, players proceed to the Cleanup phase. If, after the 8th round's Assault phase, the Invader has still not been able to Breach the Stronghold, the Defender wins.

Spending Hourglasses

During the Supplies and Preparations phases the Defender spends Hourglasses they have received for the following actions:

• Building actions to prepare Constructions or temporary effects.

• Moving Units and Priests.

• Use Priest Orders.

• The Defender may divide and spend Hourglasses between any number and type of actions, Unit movement, and Priest Orders.

• The Defender may spend Hourglasses on actions, even if after spending them, they do not immediately complete the actions in which they are spent. Hourglasses may be built up over a number of Preparation phases and rounds.

• Hourglasses may sometimes be spent outside the Supplies and Preparations phases during specific moments dictated by the rulebook.

Moving Around the Stronghold

Moving Units and Priests

The Defender may spend 1 Hourglass to move any Unit or Priest to an available space at a Location in the following ways:

• From a Wall section to an adjacent Wall section.
• From any Wall section to the Courtyard or the Barracks, and vice-versa.
• From the Barracks to the Courtyard and vice-versa.

Priests may only move to dedicated spaces on the Wall sections, and to or from the Courtyard and the Barracks.

The Defender can not move Units to the Forge, the Workshop, the Scouts, the Hospital, or the Cathedral.

Example: The Defender has 1 Hourglass. They choose to spend it to move 1 Unit and then move 1 more Unit for free using a Footbridge tile ability.

Swapping Units

The Defender may spend 1 Hourglass to swap one Unit with another Unit on an adjacent Wall section, in the Courtyard, or in the Barracks. This is the only way 2 Units may be moved using a single Hourglass.

• The Defender may move and swap any number of Units each round (as long as they have an Hourglass to spend for each move or swap).
• An individual Unit may move multiple times.
• Spent Hourglasses are placed back to the Defender's supply.
• Wall sections divided by the Gate are not adjacent.
• The Workshop and Wall sections have limited spaces for Units and Priests, and you can not move Units or Priests if they would exceed those limits.
• You may have any number of Units and Priests in the Courtyard.

Example: The Defender has 1 Hourglass, which they choose to spend to swap 1 Unit with 1 other Unit.

Actions in Buildings

The Defender may spend Hourglasses on various available Building actions. Spent Hourglasses are always placed on the dedicated space on the Buildings. When the last required Hourglass is placed on the Action space the Defender resolves that action. There are 3 kinds of actions:

• Instant action: this effect is resolved immediately.
• Temporary action (The Saint and Malfunction): this effect only lasts for the current round.
• Construction action: this effect allows you to place a token or tile on any available dedicated space on the board. Constructed pieces last for the rest of the game, unless otherwise stated.

There are also actions with a repeat icon: these actions may be used any number of times during the round.

When an Hourglass is placed on the last required space, resolve its action and then immediately discard all Hourglasses from it—you may now place more Hourglasses on the newly available spaces.

Note: Remember that you may only place tiles on empty, available matching spaces on the board. You can not remove or replace tiles from the board unless otherwise stated.

Important: The Defender does not need to have all the Hourglasses required to complete an action at one time—the Hourglasses may be built up over a series of steps or even rounds. Each available Building action may only be performed once per round (except actions with the repeat icon).

Example 1: The Defender receives 2 Hourglasses and immediately places them on the Crossbow Construct action. Since the Defender has placed all the required Hourglasses on this action, they resolve it by placing a Crossbow tile on the empty Tower space.

Example 2: The Defender receives 2 Hourglasses and immediately places them on the Exorcism Instant action. Since the Defender has placed all the required Hourglasses on this action, they resolve it by changing 1 Vampire into a Phantom.

Example 3: During the Supplies phase the Defender receives 1 Hourglass and immediately places it on the Saint Temporary action. Since the Defender has not yet placed all the required Hourglasses on this action, it does not resolve. During the following phase, the Defender receives another Hourglass and places it on the 2nd space of the Saint Temporary action, which completes the action, so they resolve it by placing the Saint token on any Rampart. At the end of this round the Saint token will be returned back to the supply.

Bone markers on Buildings: If there is a Bone marker on a Building, the Defender must spend 1 Hourglass to remove the Bone marker before they are able to place an Hourglass on the space previously covered by it.

Priest Orders: Each Priest may perform 1 Priest Order per round to aid the defense. A Priest may perform the following Orders: Order to Repel a Vampire, or Speech to lower Panic.

Each of these Orders cost 1 Hourglass and may only be performed once per round. After performing an Order, place the spent Hourglass near the Priest to indicate that they can not move or perform any more Orders this round.

Phase 1: Supplies

The Supplies phase consists of the following steps:

• Step 1: Gather Resources
• Step 2: Mana Cards
• Step 3: Altar of Death
• Step 4: Necromancer's Library
• Step 5: Councils' Deliberations
• Step 6: Defender's Time

Step 1: Gather Resources

The Invader gains (or, in later rounds, spends) a number of Mana crystals shown on the space beneath the Round marker. They may then choose to spend some, all, or none of the Mana.

Each round the Defender gains 2 Hourglasses (except for round 1 in which they gain 10). Also, if the Invader must spend Mana but chooses not to, the Defender gains 1 Hourglass for each unspent Mana.

Example: The Invader has 7 Mana. The cost for this round is 4 Mana, but the Invader chooses to only spend 3 Mana, and keep 4 Mana. The Defender then gains 3 Hourglasses (1 for the 1 unpaid Mana plus the 2 Hourglasses that the Defender gains each round (except round 1 in which they gain 10)).

Step 2: Mana Cards

The Invader may choose to draw a single card from the Mana deck. Mana cards provide 1 to 3 Mana, but may also give the Defender extra Hourglasses or Units.

If the Mana card that is drawn shows Units, the Defender places them from the Defender's supply to the Courtyard. If it shows Hourglasses the Defender gains the number indicated by the card.

Once all the effects from the Mana card have been resolved, remove the card from the game.

Step 3: Altar of Death

The Invader may spend any number of Units from the Altar of Death to gain Mana crystals: for every 2 Units spent from the Altar of Death, gain 1 Mana. Spent Units are returned to the Invader's supply.

Note: Most likely, Skeletons will be placed on the Altar of Death, but various Spell cards may place other types of Units on the Altar of Death.

If the Altar of Death is activated the Defender gains 1 Hourglass.

Step 4: Necromancer's Library

The Invader may exchange any number of Spell cards from the Spell Tome (Spell cards placed face up during the setup) with those in the Necromancer's Library (Spell cards placed in a face down pile to the right of the Green Spell cards during the setup). The Necromancer's Library may be browsed at any time by any player.

The Invader must first choose which of the Spell Tome cards to remove from the game, and then replace them with Spell cards from the Necromancer's Library.

Spell cards must always be placed in the following order: Green/Blue/Red, but it is up to the Invader to choose in which order they arrange Spell cards of the same color. Keep in mind, that even though colors suggest when to use Spells (e.g. Red Spell cards are best for the final stage of the game), it is up to the Invader to choose when to bring Spells into the game. The Invader may even choose to bring Red Spell cards to the Spell Tome in round 1.

Example: The Invader chooses to use the Necromancer's Library. They remove the Spells: Graveyard and Marshes from their Spell Tome and change the placement of Strigoi Lair to the left-most of the Spell Tome. Then they take the Spells: Heavy Rain and Nomination from the Necromancer's Library and place them in order (first Blue, then Red) to the right of the last Green Spell.

If the Necromancer's Library is activated the Defender gains 1 Hourglass.

Note: The Invader may activate the Necromancer's Library to rearrange cards without actually adding any new Spell cards, but the Defender still gains 1 Hourglass.

Step 5: Councils' Deliberations

This Step is only resolved if you are playing with the Highest Power expansion.

Unless the Council has been closed, the Defender rolls the Councilmen die and gains the number of Council markers shown on the die, and then the Defender must choose to allocate the gained Council markers between any of the six Council cards in front of them.

Example: The Defender rolls the Councilmen die. They rolled a 2 and choose to place 1 Council marker on "Woodcutters' Uprising" and 1 Council marker on "Motivational Speech."

Step 6: Defender's Time

The Defender has to spend all gained Hourglasses (see Spending Hourglasses above).

Phase 2: Preparations

After all Mana has been gathered the Necromancer may start using their dark powers. The Defender must still use gained time to prepare for the assault. This phase consists of the following steps:

• Step 1: Casting Spells
• Step 2: Activations
• Step 3: Grounds
• Step 4: Maneuvers

Step 1: Casting Spells

Spell Cards: There are 2 types of Spells: Immediate and Token/Tile.

• When casting Immediate Spells (indicated by the keyword: Immediate effect) immediately resolve the effect described on the card.
• When casting token/tile Spells (indicated by the keywords: Token effect, or Tile effect) immediately place the matching tile on any available space corresponding to the shape on the board, or token on the chosen side.

Note 1: token/tile Spells are always used to immediately place a matching token/tile on the board. The text on the Spells describe the effect of the tokens or tiles already placed on the board (and, if necessary, activated). Token/tile Spells indicate which stage or step of the phase the placed tokens/tiles are resolved.

Note 2: Remember that you may only place tiles on empty matching spaces on the board. You can not remove or replace tiles from the board unless otherwise stated.

Note 3: If the Spell effect indicates "this" Location, it always refers to the one on which the tile is placed.

Whenever the Invader casts a Spell to summon a tile with an Activation space, it's also activated for the current round—the Invader immediately places an Activation crystal on that tile. During each Cleanup phase, the Invader must discard all Activation crystals from tiles. To activate them again, the Invader must use Mana (more about activation in the next step).

When the Invader summons a Siege Machine (Spectral Ballistae or Bone Throwers) they must build a Siege Machine deck. This is done by taking 2 Hit cards and 4 Miss cards, and then shuffling them and placing the deck on the newly summoned tile. The Invader may only summon up to 4 Siege Machines (Spectral Ballistae or Bone Throwers) on to the board.

The Invader may Cast or skip each Spell from the Spell Tome in order from left to right. After each Cast Spell, the Defender gains and spends Hourglasses. After the Spell is Cast or skipped, rotate the card 45 degrees to the right to indicate it's exhausted (you can not return to exhausted Spells).

To Cast a Spell the Invader must spend the Mana shown on the upper left corner of the card.

The Invader is not required to spend all Mana during a single round. Saved Mana may be spent in following rounds.

After each Spell is Cast the Defender takes a number of Hourglasses equal to the Mana cost of the Cast Spell and must immediately spend all of them.

Example: When resolving the Casting Spells step, the Invader must start with the leftmost card. They choose to skip Phantom Gale, so they rotate it 45 degrees and move on to the next Spell, Strigoi Lair, which they want to Cast. To Cast Strigoi Lair they spend 2 Mana, to place the Strigoi Lair tile on a Rampart with an available space, and then place an Activation crystal on it because it has been activated. They then rotate the Strigoi Lair Spell card 45 degrees. Since 2 Mana was spent by the Invader to Cast the Strigoi Lair Spell, the Defender gains 2 Hourglasses and immediately places them on the Crossbow Construct action. As the Defender placed the last required Hourglass on this action, they resolve the action by placing a Crossbow tile on the available Tower. The Invader then continues to the next Spell in their Tome, Bone Thrower.

Step 2: Activations

Some tile effects require the Invader to activate the tile. An activated tile is indicated by an Activation crystal on the tile's Activation space.

Even though all tiles with an Activation space enter the board with an Activation crystal on them, these crystals will be removed during the Cleanup phase.

To activate tiles with an Activation space the Invader must spend 1 Mana to activate all tiles of the same type. The Invader may activate any number of tiles on the board (always paying 1 Mana for each activation of a single tile type).

The Defender does not gain any Hourglasses for Invader activations.

Example: There are 3 Strigoi Lairs on the board. The Invader spends 1 Mana to activate 2 Strigoi Lair tiles on the board—1 was placed during step 1 so it already has an Activation crystal, but the other 2 gain a crystal. During future rounds, the Invader may activate all 3 tokens by spending 1 Mana.

Step 3: Grounds

During this step, the Invader resolves effects for activated Marshes and Graveyards.

Step 4: Maneuvers

At the beginning of this step, the Invader randomly takes 14 Units from the bag and places them on the Camp card. The Invader may move those Units from the Camp card to the Foregrounds during this phase, as long as they have not reached their Unit limit.

Then, the Invader chooses which type of maneuver they want to perform: Minor maneuver, Major maneuver, or both. Both types of maneuvers move the Invader Units toward the Stronghold, following paths and respecting Unit limits. Units may never move away from the Stronghold.

• Minor maneuver allows the Invader to move up to 6 Units from each Rampart, then 6 Units from each Foreground. Then they may move up to 6 Units from the Camp card to each Foreground (12 Units total). Resolving Minor maneuver allows the Defender to gain 3 Hourglasses.
• Major maneuver allows the Invader to move up to 8 Units from each Rampart, then 8 Units from each Foreground. Then they may move up to 8 Units from the Camp card to each Foreground (16 Units total). Resolving Major maneuver allows the Defender to gain 5 Hourglasses.

Units are moved in the following order:

1. From each Rampart to any number of connected Wall sections.
2. From each Foreground to any number of connected Ramparts.
3. From the Camp card twice—each to a different Foreground.

The Invader must abide by the following rules:

• The Invader may only resolve 1 Minor and 1 Major maneuver per round (in any order).
• The Invader must resolve at least 1 maneuver each round.
• The Units may only move forward, and along the paths on the Board.
• Units may only move if there is enough space available for them (7 for the Rampart and 10 for the Foreground; each Wall section varies).
• Units may move from 1 section to any number of other sections connected by paths.
• Units can not withdraw from the Wall sections.
• When the card effect states "Location" it indicates one of the following: Camp, Foregrounds, Ramparts, or Wall sections.

Note: The paths on the bottom right side of the Stronghold (Defender's perspective) require Units to move through a Rampart before reaching the outermost Rampart. To reach the outermost Rampart, Invader Units move in the following order: if necessary to clear space in the outermost Rampart, Units move from the outermost Rampart to a connected Wall section, then new Units coming from a previous Rampart may move to the outermost Rampart.

As mentioned above, the Defender gains 3 Hourglasses if the Invader resolved Minor maneuver, and/or 5 Hourglasses if the Invader resolved Major maneuver. In addition, if the Invader left Units on the Camp card, the Defender may gain extra Hourglasses as shown below:

Invader's Units on the Camp card	Defender gains
0-3	0
4-7	1
8-11	3
12 or more	6

After the Invader resolves all maneuvers, and Units remaining on the Camp card are counted, the Defender must spend all gained Hourglasses.

Example: The Invader uses the Minor maneuver action as follows:

• The Invader moves 5 Units from Rampart 1: 1 Unit to Wall section A and 4 Units to Wall section B.
• The Invader also moves 5 Units from Rampart 2. 4 Units to Wall section C and 1 Unit to Wall section D.
• The Invader moves 2 Units from Rampart 3 to Wall section D. Wall section D has reached its Unit limit of 3, so no more Units may be moved to that Wall section (unless the Units are Phantoms).
• The Invader moves 2 Units from Rampart 3 to Wall section E. The Invader moved a total of 4 Units from Rampart 3.
• The Invader now moves 6 Units—the maximum for the Minor maneuver—from Foreground 4 to the following spaces: 4 Units to Rampart 1, and 2 Units to Rampart 5.
• The Invader moves 5 Units from Foreground 6: 2 Units to Rampart 2 and 3 Units to Rampart 3.
• The Invader then moves the maximum number of Units for their Minor maneuver from the Camp card to Foregrounds 4 and 6: 6 Units to each.
• For resolving a Minor maneuver the Defender gains 3 Hourglasses. Also, there are 4 Units left on the Camp card so the Defender gains 1 Hourglass, which gives them a total of 4 Hourglasses that the Defender must immediately spend.

Units

Invader

The Invader has the following Unit types, each with unique abilities:

Phantoms — Strength 1. Levitation: Aside from occupying standard spaces, Phantoms may also occupy the special Levitating spaces located on the Wall sections. Each Wall section has 3 spaces for Levitating Phantoms.

Skeletons — Strength 2. Magical essence: Skeletons killed in combat or other effects are always placed on the Altar of Death card instead of being removed like other Invader Units.

Vampires — Strength 3. Vampire aura: When a Vampire is located on the same Wall section as Phantoms, the Vampire increases the Phantom's Strength to 2 (instead of 1). This affects up to 3 Phantoms on the same Wall section of the Vampire, and applies to all Assault steps.

Defender

The Defender has the following Unit types with abilities:

Marksmen — Strength 1. Volley: In the Assault phase, during the Marksman's Volley stage of Ranged Combat, all Marksmen located on Wall sections, who are not currently engaged in Melee Combat, may fire at Skeletons.

Soldiers — Strength 2. No unique abilities.

Veterans — Strength 3. No unique abilities.

Priests — Strength 2

Priests help defend the Stronghold, despite adding strength to the Wall section and being able to move, they are not Units. They have 1 dedicated space on each Wall section, cannot be killed, nor stop Invader Units from Breaching the Wall.

Phantom Banish: During stage 1 of Melee Combat in the Assault phase, each Priest automatically repels 1 Phantom from their Wall section. The Invader chooses and moves the Phantom to a Rampart of their choice.

Priest Orders: Each Priest may perform one Priest Order per round to aid the defense. Each Order costs 1 Hourglass and may be used during any Defender phase. Once an Order is performed, the Priest can not move, or perform another Order for the remainder of the round. Place the spent Hourglass near the Priest to indicate they can no longer act for the current round.

Orders:

• Vampire Repel: A Priest located on a Wall section may repel a single Vampire from their Wall section. The Invader chooses and moves that Vampire into a Rampart of their choice.
• Speech: The Panic level is decreased by 1. If Speech is used at the Courtyard, and there are Crosses built on the Towers, the Panic level is additionally lowered by the number of built Crosses.

Phase 3: Assault

Once all Preparations are complete, the Assault phase begins. This phase consists of the following Stages, in order:

Ranged Combat

• Stage 1: Cannons and Crossbows
• Stage 2: Spectral Ballistae and Bone Throwers
• Stage 3: Marksmen's Volley
• Stage 4: Strigoi Lairs

Melee Combat

• Stage 1: Priests' Phantom Banish
• Stage 2: Consecrated Grounds
• Stage 3: Skeletons' Cauldrons
• Stage 4: Stakes
• Stage 5: Resolving Strength
• Stage 6: The Hospital

Dark Presence

• Stage 1: Destroying the Gates (only when playing with the Highest Power expansion)
• Stage 2: Panic in the Stronghold

Golden Rules:

• Killed Invader Units are discarded to the supply (except Skeletons, which are placed onto the Altar of Death).
• Killed Defender Units are placed on the Hospital Building.
• Any time Units are killed as a result of combat or an action, your opponent chooses which of the Units are killed.
• Any time the Invader is forced to move their Units from a Wall section into a Rampart of their choice, and there is no available space left on the Rampart, any Units that exceed the limit are instead killed.
• Any time a Spell refers to "this" area on the board, it indicates the space where the tile is placed.

Ranged Combat

Stage 1: Cannon and Crossbow Barrage

Reach of Cannon and Crossbow: The Defender chooses 1 target for each Cannon. Cannons have a limited reach: they can target the Foreground on the same side of the board, or the Ramparts that are opposite or adjacent to the Towers with the Cannons.

Reveal 1 Cannon card for each Cannon on the Tower. Kill 1 Unit on the targeted Foreground or Rampart of the Unit type indicated on the card (if possible). After all Cannons have fired, shuffle the Cannon cards back into their deck.

The Defender then chooses any Foreground or Rampart (within range) for Crossbows on Towers.

Reveal 1 Crossbow card and remove 1 Vampire if it was a Hit (if it was a Miss, nothing happens). After all Crossbows have fired, shuffle the Crossbow cards back into their deck.

Example: The Defender has 2 Cannons. First they choose to target Rampart A, and turn over Card 1, which kills 1 Skeleton (the Skeleton is placed on the Altar of Death). Then with the 2nd Cannon, they target Rampart B, and turn over Card 2, which kills 1 Phantom (the Phantom is returned to the Invader's supply). All Cannons have been fired, so the Defender now reshuffles the cards back into the Cannon deck.

Stage 2: Siege Machines Barrage

The Invader chooses any Buildings to fire at with each Bone Thrower.

Reveal the top card of its Siege Machine deck. If it is a Hit, place 2 Bone markers on up to 2 different actions in the targeted Buildings, covering empty Hourglass spaces. Then increase the Panic level by 1 and shuffle the card back into its deck. If it was a Miss, discard that card.

Then the Invader fires at Wall sections in front of Ramparts with Spectral Ballistae.

Reveal the top card of its Siege Machine deck. If it is a Hit, kill the strongest Defender Unit and place an equal-strength Invader Unit onto the Rampart. Increase the Panic Level by 1 and shuffle the card back into its deck. If it was a Miss, discard that card.

Example: The Invader has 2 Bone Throwers and 1 Spectral Ballista. With the first Bone Thrower, the Invader chooses the Barracks and reveals the top card of its Siege Machine deck, which is a Miss, so that card is discarded. The second Bone Thrower also attacks the Barracks, and this time the card is a Hit, so the Invader places Bone markers on both the "Training a Soldier" and "Training a Priest" actions. The Invader then reshuffles the card back into the Siege Machine deck.

The Spectral Ballista attacks Wall section A, and the Invader reveals a Hit, so 1 Defender Unit returns to the Defender's supply and the Invader gains 1 Unit from the Invader's supply onto Rampart A. The Invader then reshuffles the card back into the Siege Machine deck.

Stage 3: Marksmen's Volley

All Marksmen on Wall sections, who are not currently engaged in Melee Combat (don't have Invader Units on same Wall section), fire at the Skeletons on the Ramparts connected by Paths to their Wall section. Each pair of participating Marksmen that fire, kill a single Skeleton (killed Skeletons are then placed on the Altar of Death).

Note: Most Marksmen have a choice of connected Ramparts to fire on. They must choose which one they are firing on—they can not choose to fire at both.

If there are Invader Units on a Wall section with a Marksman, that Marksman is engaged in Melee combat and cannot fire.

Firing Marksmen do not deal Damage during the Melee combat, and so must be a pair to kill a single Skeleton on a Rampart.

Example: There are 2 Marksmen on Wall section A and 1 Marksman on Wall section B. They fire at Rampart C, and kill 1 Skeleton (a single Marksman, which is not paired, does not kill any Skeleton).

Stage 4: Strigoi Lairs

Each Phantom on a Rampart with an activated Strigoi Lair removes (do not place them in the Hospital) 1 Marksman from any connected Wall section that is unengaged (doesn't have any Invader Units). Then add 1 Phantom from the Invader's supply to that Rampart and increase Panic level by 1.

Example: If there are 3 Phantoms in Rampart A with an activated Strigoi Lair, and both connected Wall sections are unengaged, the Invader may remove 2 Marksmen from Wall section B, 1 Marksman from Wall section C, place 3 Phantoms on Rampart A, and increase the Panic level by 3.

Melee Combat

Stage 1: Priests' Phantom Banish

Priests on Wall sections automatically repel a single Phantom from their Wall section. The Invader chooses which connected Rampart the repelled Phantom is moved to. If there is no available space on any of the connected Ramparts, that Phantom is instead killed.

Stage 2: Consecrated Ground

In each Rampart with a Consecrated Ground tile, the strongest Invader Unit is killed.

Stage 3: Skeleton Cauldrons

For each Cauldron on a Wall section, the Defender kills 1 Skeleton (place all killed Skeletons on the Altar of Death).

Stage 4: Stakes

The Defender may choose to use Stakes connected to an adjacent Wall section in order to kill 1 Defender Unit and all Vampires on the chosen section.

Stage 5: Resolve Strength

During this stage, all the Strength of the remaining Units is individually compared on each Wall section. Both players sum the total Strength of their respective Units on each Wall section.

Invader Strength:

• Phantom — 1 Strength. OR, with a Vampire on the same Wall section: up to 3 Phantoms have 2 Strength. OR, with Phantom's Hunger active: all Phantoms have 3 Strength.
• Skeleton — 2 Strength
• Vampire — 3 Strength
• Bone Giant — 4 Strength
• Poisonous Clouds (with an activated tile) — 2 Strength

Defender Strength:

• Marksman — 1 Strength
• Soldier — 2 Strength
• Veteran — 3 Strength
• Wall — 1 Strength
• Priest — 2 Strength

Dealing Damage: The player with a higher result is the winner on this Wall section, and deals Damage to the enemy Units on this Wall section. In case of a tie, no Damage is dealt.

Subtract the winning player's sum from the losing player's sum. The difference between their Strength is the amount of Damage the winning player deals to the enemy Units. To kill a Unit a player must deal Damage equal to its Strength. Damage that does not kill a Unit is wasted.

Killed Invader Units are discarded to the Invader's supply (except for Skeletons, which are placed on the Altar of Death). Killed Defender Units are placed in the Hospital Building.

Note: Remember that you can not deal Damage to Priests and Walls.

Breaching the Stronghold: If, after Resolving Strength, all the Defender Units on a single Wall section are killed, and the Invader has at least 1 Damage left to deal, the game ends immediately, and the Invader wins!

Note: Remember that Walls and Priests can not be Damaged and are not able to stop Invader Units from Breaching the Stronghold.

Example: Both the Invader and the Defender sum their total strength on the Wall section. The Defender's strength: 1 for Marksman + 2 for Soldier + 3 for Veteran + (2 x 1) for 2 Walls = 8. The Invader's strength is (3 x 2) for 2 Vampires + 3 for Vampire + 2 for Phantom (2 because of the boost in strength from the Vampire Aura) = 11. The Invader has more strength so they are the winner and they subtract the Defender's sum (8) from the Invader's sum (11) to calculate the amount of Damage they may deal. They have 3 Damage to deal, so they may either kill a Veteran, or both a Soldier and a Marksman. They choose to kill both the Soldier and the Marksman. The Defender places them in the Hospital building.

Stage 6: The Hospital

During this stage, the Defender may move Units from the Hospital Building to the Courtyard. They may always move 1 Unit and an additional Unit for each built Hospital Bed. Any remaining Units are removed from the game.

Example: The Defender has 1 Marksman, 1 Soldier, 1 Veteran, and 1 Bed in the Hospital. They choose to move 1 Marksman and 1 Soldier to the Courtyard and then must remove 1 Veteran from the game.

Dark Presence

Stage 1: Destroying the Gates

(Only when playing with the Highest Power expansion.)

If the Phantom Dragon has been summoned, deal Damage to the Gate equal to the following:

• Phantom Dragon's Strength
• Positive Panic level
• Previously destroyed Gate tile

Note: Do not increase Gate toughness if the Panic level is negative.

When the Gate's toughness is reduced to 0, a single Gate tile is destroyed (remove the tile from the board), and the Gate's toughness marker returns to 8. Any further Damage will reduce the toughness of a remaining Gate tile.

Once the 3rd Gate tile is removed, the game ends immediately, and the Invader wins.

Note: Each Gate tile increases the Panic level by 1 during the next stage.

Stage 2: Panic in the Stronghold

1. The Defender returns any Panic cards that were drawn during the previous round to the Panic deck and shuffles it (this is ignored the 1st round, since the Defender will not have any Panic cards).
2. The Defender then draws 1 Panic card for each Panic level greater than 0 (if any). Then they read aloud the card effect and place it near the board.
3. If the Panic level is less than or equal to 0, nothing happens. Having the Panic level reduced below 0 helps the Defender by making them more secure before the next Assault.
4. The Panic Level returns to 0.

Note: If you play with the Highest Power expansion, the Panic level immediately increases by 1 for each Gate tile that has been destroyed.

Phase 4: Cleanup

If, after the Assault, the Invader did not Breach the Stronghold, or it was not the 8th and final round, both players prepare the playing area for the next round:

1. Advance the Round marker to the next space of the round track.
2. Remove all the tokens with a white border (the Saint, Malfunction, Heavy Rain).
3. The Invader discards all Activation crystals from the tiles on the board back to their supply.
4. The Invader rotates their Spell cards 45 degrees, back to their available position.
5. The Defender discards all spent Hourglasses from resolved actions in the Buildings back to their supply (Hourglasses on actions that are not complete remain in the Buildings).
6. The Defender discards all Council markers that were placed on the board.
7. If the Saint token was used, it returns to the Saint action space.

Players are now ready to play another round!