Tiny Epic Defenders: The Dark War Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Expansion Overview
• Expansion Components
• Expansion Setup
  • Choosing a Game Mode
• Campaign Mode: "The Dark War"
  • Additional Campaign Setup
  • Mode Card: The Dark War, Campaign Side
  • Playing a Battle
  • Rebuild, Regroup, and Reconcile
• Single Game Mode: "The Great Battle"
  • Additional Single Game Setup
• Dark War Region Scenario Setup
• Generals and Epic Foes
• Skill Cards and Experience Points
  • Gaining Experience Points
  • Leveling Up a Defender
  • Preparing for Action
• Caravans
  • Add a New Caravan to a Region Each Round
  • Escorting Caravans
• Component Notes

Expansion Overview

This expansion adds 6 elements to Tiny Epic Defenders:

1. New Defenders, Artifacts, Dire Enemies, and Epic Foes
2. Generals: a new threat that Defenders must overcome
3. War Regions that replace the regular Regions
4. Caravans that must be Escorted to the Capital City
5. Skill Cards and Experience Points
6. Your choice of Campaign Mode or Single Game Mode

Expansion Components

• 7 Dark War Region Cards (double-sided)
• 5 Player Cards
• 4 Experience Cards
• 6 General Cards
• 4 Artifact Cards
• 6 Epic Foe Cards
• 4 Artifact Items
• 1 Mode Card
• 12 Skill Cards
• 4 XP Tokens
• 6 Dire Enemy Cards
• 6 Caravan Constructs

War Region Components:

• 3 Fleet Dice
• 3 Storm Tokens
• Great Tree Construct
• Manticore Construct
• 5 Soldier Cards
• 6 Death Tokens

Expansion Setup

Setup the same as a regular game of Tiny Epic Defenders, with the following additions and exceptions:

1. Shuffle all the new Defender, Artifact, Dire Enemy, and Epic Foe Cards in with their respective types from the base game.
2. Replace the base game's Capital City Region Card with the Dark War Capital City Region Card.
3. Randomly place the 6 Caravans within reach with their Region symbols facing down.
4. Give each player an Experience Card and an XP Token, placing the Token on the "0 space" on the Experience Card's XP Track.
5. (A) Shuffle the Skill Cards into a Deck and place it near the Artifact Deck. (B) Deal each player 2 Skill Cards, and players choose 1 to keep and discard the other to the bottom of the Skill Deck. (C) Each Defender places their chosen Skill Card face up next to their Player Card.
6. Place the Dark War Region Cards/Components and General Cards in the Expansion Box Lid, ready to be added when needed.
7. Place the Mode Card in the play area. Before dealing an Epic Foe Card, choose which Game Mode to play:

Choosing a Game Mode

As a group, decide which Game Mode to play:

• Campaign Mode: "The Dark War" (~60 min playtime, see Campaign Mode below)

OR

• Single Game Mode: "The Great Battle" (~25 min playtime, see Single Game Mode below)

Campaign Mode: "The Dark War"

In Campaign Mode, in order to save Aughmoore players must win a series of 3 Battles in a row. Each Battle will build off the next, and new threats get added each step of the way. Between the Battles, players will have a chance to repair the realm and Level Up. In the first 2 Battles, players will face off against Generals, but in the final Battle, players must defeat an Epic Foe in order to claim victory. In addition, Regions are now at war and are more dynamic, however the deadlier Dark War Regions can become assets if players are victorious.

The Campaign Mode has the following gameplay flow:

1. Play the "First Battle" and defeat the General
2. Rebuild, Regroup, and Reconile [printed as "Reconile" in the source; the term is "Reconcile" on the next page] for the Second Battle
3. Play the "Second Battle" and defeat the General
4. "R.R.R." for the Final Battle
5. Play the "Final Battle" and defeat the Epic Foe

Additional Campaign Setup

1. Flip the Mode Card to its Campaign side.
2. Shuffle the General Cards and place 2 face down next to the Mode Card's "Battle 1" and "2" slots. Place the remaining General Cards back in the box without revealing them.
3. Add 1 less Dire Enemy Card when making the Horde Deck, and place it on top of the "First Battle" General Card.
4. Shuffle the Epic Foe Cards and place 1 face down next the Mode Card's "Final Battle" slot. Place the remaining Epic Foe Cards back in the box without revealing them.
5. Secretly shuffle the 6 Dark War Regions under the table and draw 1. Add it to the Game Map "Hostile" side up, replacing the regular Region (place the regular Region back in the box), with its Threat Token on 0. Setup the War Region based on its Scenario Setup (see Dark War Region Scenario Setup below).

Mode Card: The Dark War, Campaign Side

The Mode Card's Campaign side shows the Battle sequence "Battle 1", "Battle 2", and "Final Battle", with "Battle 1: Place General Card", "Battle 2: Place General Card", and "Final Battle: Place Epic Foe Card" marked on the card.

Battle Victory Objectives:

• Escort all 6 Caravans to the Capital City
• Defeat the General/Epic Foe

After winning a Battle:

• A. Rebuild: Restore all Outer Regions to their Non-Destroyed sides at Level 0 and all Defenders to full Hit Points. Defenders may spend 2 Experience Points to reduce every 1 Threat in the Capital City.
• B. Regroup: Remake the Turn and Horde Decks:
  • Redistribute Enemy Cards into each Deck
  • Add the previous Battle's Dire Enemy Cards to the Horde Deck, and ADD 1 New Dire Enemy
• C. Reconcile: Flip the "Hostile" War Region to its "Friendly" side and then draw 1 new "Hostile" War Region for the next Battle.

If a Battle is lost: The Capital City is Destroyed and the Dark War ends in Defeat.

Playing a Battle

Battles are played like a normal game. After the Horde Deck is exhausted, either a General or the Epic Foe Card is revealed. Players win the Battle if they first Escort all of the Caravans to the Capital City and then defeat the General or Epic Foe. If the Capital City however is Destroyed, then they have lost and the entire campaign is over.

Rebuild, Regroup, and Reconcile

To set up for the next Battle, players Rebuild, Regroup, and Reconcile:

A. Rebuild: The realm is rebuilt and the Defenders are restored:

1. Defenders keep any Artifacts, Skills, and Experience Points earned.
2. Defenders may trade Artifacts with each other and Level Up if they have 8 Experience Points.
3. Defenders heal to full Hit Points and any effects from War Regions are removed.
4. All Outer Regions return to Threat Level 0, and any Destroyed Regions are restored. All Caravans are mixed up and returned to the Caravan pile with symbols facing down.
5. The Capital City does not return to Threat Level 0.

B. Regroup: The horde is now preparing to attack again. Separate out the Turn Deck into its Defender, Enemy, and Dire Enemy Cards, and refer to the "Creating the Card Deck" chart on pg. 5-6 in the base game rulebook:

1. Collect all 9 Enemy Cards and redistribute them. Form the starting Turn Deck with Enemy Cards and Defender Cards as normal.
2. To form the Horde Deck, keep all of the Dire Enemies from the Turn Deck of the previous Battle and place them back into the Horde Deck. Now collect ALL of the unused Dire Enemies from the Leftover Cards, ADD 1 new random Dire Enemy into the Horde Deck, and shuffle, placing it on top of the next Battle's General or Epic Foe Card. Return the remaining Dire Enemy Cards back to the Leftover Cards in the box lid.

C. Reconcile: Flip the Dark War Region that was previously "Hostile" to its "Friendly" side. Then add a new "Hostile" Region by secretly shuffling the remaining Dark War Regions under the table and drawing 1. This new Region replaces the matching Region for the next Battle and is placed "Hostile" side up, following its Scenario Setup (see Dark War Region Scenario Setup below).

Single Game Mode: "The Great Battle"

Single Game Mode offers all of the epicness of The Dark War, in a single Battle. Players win the Battle if they first Escort all of the Caravans to the Capital City and then defeat the Epic Foe. If the Capital City however is Destroyed, then they have lost The Great Battle.

Additional Single Game Setup

1. Flip the Mode Card to its Single Game side.

Battle Victory Objectives (The Great Battle, Single Game Mode):

• Escort all 6 Caravans to the Capital City
• Defeat the Epic Foe

2. Shuffle the Epic Foe Cards and place 1 face down on the Mode Card. Place the remaining Epic Foe Cards back in the box without revealing. Place the Horde Deck on top of the Epic Foe.
3. Secretly shuffle the 6 War Regions under the table and draw 1. Add it to the Game Map "Hostile" side up, replacing the regular Region (place the regular Region back in the box), with its Threat Token on 0. Setup the War Region based on its Scenario Instruction (see below).
4. Secretly shuffle the 5 remaining War Regions under the table and draw 1. Add it to the Game Map "Friendly" side up, replacing the regular Region (place the regular Region back in the box), with its Threat Token on 0. Setup the War Region based on its Scenario Setup (see below).

Dark War Region Scenario Setup

• Coast: Place the 3 Fleet Dice on their spaces on the Region Card.
• Desert: Place the 3 Storm Tokens on the Region Card.
• Forest: Place the Great Tree Construct on the Region Card.
• Mountains: Place the Manticore Construct on the Region Card.
• Plains: Place the deck of 5 Soldier Cards near the Region Card.
• Ruins: Place the 6 Death Tokens on the Region Card.

Generals and Epic Foes

A new challenge during the Dark War that Defenders MUST Fight are the Generals.

As a rule of thumb, the term "General" and "Epic Foe" are synonymous in regards to Defender and Artifact Abilities.

Example General Card, Cyclops: "Increase 1 in ALL Outer Regions when the Cyclops enters play and at the beginning of every subsequent Round."

Skill Cards and Experience Points

During the game, players will gain Experience Points (XP) and then may spend these to Use their Skill Card's Ability. Unless the Skill says "On your Turn," the Defender may use it during any Defender's turn.

Example Skill Card, First Aid: Spend 2 Experience Points: On your Turn, restore 1 Hit Point to yourself or a Defender in your Region.

Gaining Experience Points

Defenders gain Experience Points (XP Token moves up its track) in the following ways:

• Gain 1 Experience Point by spending 1 Action Point when their Defender Card is drawn (see below).
• Gain 1 Experience Point for Defending against an Enemy or Dire Enemy.
• Gain 2 Experience Points for Escorting a Caravan to the Capital City.
• All Defenders gain 3 Experience Points when a General is defeated.

Leveling Up a Defender

Whenever a Defender reaches 8 Experience Points (the maximum amount), at anytime they may spend the 8 Experience Points to Level Up. They immediately draw a Skill Card and place it face up next to their existing Skill Cards AND they also restore to full Hit Points. This action is optional, and a Defender instead may choose to remain at 8 Experience Points.

Preparing for Action

A new action that a Defender may take ONLY when their Defender Card (not an All Defenders Card) is drawn is to Prepare. The Defender spends 1 Action Point to gain 1 Experience Point. They may do this as many times as they have Action Points to spend.

Caravans

Villages from the Outer Regions have been displaced, and as a Defender it is your duty to protect these innocent civilians. In addition to defeating the Epic Foe, players MUST also complete this objective to achieve victory:

Victory! Escort all 6 Caravans to the Capital City AND then defeat the Epic Foe.

All the Caravans MUST be in the Capital City before the Epic Foe can be defeated. Until then, the Epic Foe cannot lose its last Hit Point and will remain at least at 1 Hit Point.

Add a New Caravan to a Region Each Round

At the beginning of each Round (including the first), reveal 1 Caravan from the pile and place in the corresponding Region with the matching symbol.

Escorting Caravans

A new action that a Defender may take on their Turn is to Escort a Caravan. When a Defender spends an Action Point to move from a Region that contains a Caravan, a Defender can also spend 1 Experience Point to move the Caravan with them. This action applies only to a "regular Move Action" and not a move enhanced by an Ability. A Defender may Escort multiple Caravans at once as long as they spend 1 Experience Point for each. Once a Caravan is in the Capital City, it must stay there.

(Side note on the page: "When moving, Spend 1 Experience Point to also Escort a Caravan.")

Component Notes

• Icons are written as words: the heart icon is a Hit Point, the XP token icon is an Experience Point, the boot icon is an Action Point, and the flame icon is a Threat.
• The abilities printed on the new Dark War Region Cards, Skill Cards, Defender (Player) Cards, Experience Cards, Artifact Cards, Dire Enemy Cards, General Cards, and Epic Foe Cards are printed on the cards themselves and are not reproduced in this rulebook text, apart from the examples quoted above. Consult the card for each ability.
• The source rulebook's final page is a "Future FAQ Section" placeholder with no content, and its last page is credits and copyright; neither is transcribed.