Wohrom: Swords and Magic Against Evil Forces Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents of the Box
• The Map
• The Counters
• Preparation of the Game
• Object of the Game
• How to Play
  • A) Entry of Knights
  • The Calendar
  • B) Escape
  • C) Movement
    • General Rules
    • Special Rules
• Combat
  • Legend of the Tables
  • D) Combats
  • Particular Rules
  • Singular Combat
    • Outcome of Singular Combat
    • Advantages
  • The Ambush
  • Combat between Units
    • Results of Combat
  • Combat against Beings
  • Discovery of Beings
    • The Dragons

Contents of the Box

• 1 map
• 1 table for resolving combats
• 8 cards for duels
• 1 series of tables with the knight cards, the knight and magic-people counters
• 1 counter holder
• 2 dice
• 1 rulebook

Translator's note: the Italian box list reads "1 sottovuoto" (literally "vacuum-sealed"), where the French reads "1 porte-pions" (counter holder). The English above follows the French, which is the only reading that makes sense for a component.

The Map

The map represents the province of Ragatai, with its rivers, mountains, castles and forests. It shows the magic points, marked by letters of the Marcoman alphabet, and the numbered roads along which the knights arrive. Over the whole map is printed a hexagonal grid, used to establish the position and movement of the various characters.

The Counters

Each counter represents a character (beings, peoples, knights, etc.) taking part in the conquest of the throne of Wohrom. Some counters show, in numbers, a movement factor (the maximum number of passable hexes in one move) and a combat value (the base combat value of that character). These counters are generally called armies (Fig. 1 A B C D).

The Kobold counters have a combat value of 2 and a movement value of 6. For the other counters, these factors are shown on the various combat tables (for example the beings) or on the personal cards (for example the knights).

Looking at the personal cards, each knight has several characteristics:

• combat value
• diplomatic value
• number of transportable talismans

The movement capacity is fixed at 10 for all knights. A series of boxes shows the knight's wound capacity (the damage it can take; wounds are recorded or cancelled during play), and the knight's charm: for each move made with a princess, one of her hearts is cancelled, and when the hearts are all cancelled the princess falls in love with the knight. The shame that falls on a knight who refuses a challenge to Singular Combat is also recorded there.

Preparation of the Game

Once the map is set out on a table, distribute the counters at random and without looking at them, as follows:

• The talismans are placed face down, in the hexes marked by a magic letter without an asterisk.
• The beings are placed in the same way as the talismans, on top of them, one per hex.
• The wild peoples are placed face down in pairs of identical counters, in the hexes marked by a letter and a star.
• One black knight and one princess are placed in pairs in the castle hexes, with the counter's design face up.

At this point the map is populated by all the characters, but where they are remains unknown to the players, except for the black knights, whose value is not known (it is written on the back of the counters).

The knights of the two clans, the dragons, the sceptre, the crown, the wolves and the peasants are set aside together with the combat cards and the Dead City and Destroyed Castle markers.

(Translator's note: the French column reads "les Chevaliers Noirs desquels pourtant, on ne saura pas la valeur, qui est inscrite au dos des pions", which matches the above.)

Object of the Game

The aim of the game is to equip one of your knights with the crown and the sceptre of Wohrom. That knight can then be crowned, if he remains stationary for 2 turns on the tomb of Wohrom while accompanied by a princess who is in love with him.

If the players want to end the game earlier, they may determine the winner at the start of the game, by agreement, using these rules:

a) The game lasts only 20 moves.

b) At the 20th move the players count their points using this table:

Item	Points
Each knight of your own clan still in play	2
Each retinue (seguito) still in play	2
Each enemy knight taken prisoner	3
Each allied peasant counter	1
Each subjugated Wild People	3
Each subjugated Being	3
Each princess in love	4
Each talisman obtained	2
For the crown and the sceptre	10

If the difference between the players is less than 5 points, the game ends in a draw. A difference of 5 to 10 points is a marginal victory. A difference of more than 10 points is a substantial victory.

How to Play

Each move is divided into two turns, one for each player. Who takes the first turn is decided by a dice roll at the start of the game. The activities of each turn are:

• A) Roll 2 dice to determine how many knights enter and from which road; advance the calendar.
• B) Attempt to escape by prisoner knights who were previously taken, and torture of knights held prisoner by a Black Knight (C.N.).
• C) Movement of the counters in play. Roll for the "Dead City".
• D) Attempt to search for and capture isolated knights.
• E) Combat with enemy knights, with armies and with the Beings.
• F) Recruitment of peasant levies and gathering of wolves by the subjugated lycanthropes.
• G) Diplomatic phase to subjugate the peoples encountered, and falling in love of princesses.
• H) Exchange of talismans and princesses between knights; healing of wounds.

When the first player's turn is finished, the second player repeats the same actions, from point A to point F.

Let us now look at each of these phases in more detail.

Translator's note: the phase headings in the detailed text are lettered as the booklet prints them (C Movement, D Combats, E Diplomatic phase, F Exchange of talismans or princesses), which does not match the letters of the turn list above (in the list, D is the search and capture of isolated knights and E is combat). The headings are kept as printed. The figures cited in the text (Fig. 1 to Fig. 13) are not part of this scan and are not reproduced.

A) Entry of Knights

Each turn in which you still have knights off the map, the player rolls the dice twice: the first result shows from which entry the knights arrive, the second shows how many. Each knight is accompanied by a retinue counter ("seguito").

The entry used by one player may never be used by his opponent on the immediately following turn; the opponent must re-roll the die until it shows a different entry. The knights to be brought in are kept aside face down, so that they are chosen at random.

The Calendar

Wohrom develops over a maximum of 30 moves, marked on the calendar. At the start of each move, slide any marker along the calendar, so that it is clear which move has been reached.

B) Escape

Knights who were previously captured and taken prisoner (see the combat section for details) may, in this phase, attempt to escape. This is done by rolling two dice for each prisoner. If the total is 2 or 12, the escape succeeds if the prisoner is in a castle; if he is in a wood or marsh, he may escape with a 4 or 10; if he is in a village or on the plain, he escapes with a 3 or 11.

(Translator's note: the French column reads "dans la fleuve" (in the river) where the Italian reads "pianura" (plain) for the 3 or 11 case. The English follows the Italian.)

An escaped knight is placed immediately, within 12 movement points of the place where he was held prisoner, without of course recovering the possessions lost through his capture. He may normally move again from the following turn.

C) Movement

General Rules

In each move you may move all the counters in play that belong to you (such as knights and retinues) or that have been subjugated (such as Wild Peoples, Beings or Peasants).

It is not compulsory to move them all: you may move some of them, or none. Movement may be made in any direction, including zig-zag (Fig. 2). However, the movement of each counter must not exceed its specific movement factor (corresponding to the hexes that can be crossed in each move).

Counters may not be moved through or over enemy pieces or enemy-subjugated pieces (except in some cases). It is, on the other hand, allowed to move through friendly or subjugated pieces.

Movement factors cannot be transferred from one counter to another, nor accumulated from one move to the next.

THE DIE IS USED ONLY TO RESOLVE COMBATS; IT HAS NO INFLUENCE ON MOVEMENT.

Within the same hex, a maximum of two friendly knights and 3 armies (peoples, retinues, peasants) may be stacked. Only knights may enter hexes marked with magic letters.

Special Rules

If the normal cost of entering a plain hex is 1 movement point, other hexes may cost more or less.

• Forest – Entering a forest hex costs 2 points.
• Marsh – Marshes cost 3 movement points.
• Roads – Roads, on the other hand, cost 1/2 point, while lake hexes are impassable.

In some cases, two hexes are separated by particular features, which in turn cost more movement points:

• Contour lines (Linee di livello): 2 movement points.
• Escarpments (Scarpate): cost 5 points for knights, and cannot be crossed by armies.
• Rivers (Fiumi): cannot be crossed by anyone.
• Bridges (Ponti): cost no additional points.
• Fords (Guadi): cost 3 movement points.
• Ditches (Fossati): cost 5 points for knights, and cannot be crossed by armies.

Other movement characteristics are then assigned to the various pieces:

• Armies – They may never leave the magic hex in which they were placed at the start of the game, unless they have been subjugated by a knight (they are then removed from the map and placed on the card of the knight who won them, in the space provided).
• Wolves – Called up by a lycanthrope subjugated by a knight (see the specific paragraph), they carry their movement factors printed on the counter itself.
• Peoples, Peasants and retinues (armies) – They move normally, according to the factors written on the counters.
• Talismans – They have no movement capacity at all: once the Beings guarding them are defeated, they are carried to the card of the winner.
• Black Knights – They never leave the castles in which they were placed at the start of the game.
• Princesses – Placed on the card of the knight who defeated the Black Knight that guarded them, they follow that knight until he is eliminated or captured.
• Boats (Barche) – They allow the movement of up to 4 knights and 4 armies stacked on them, along 50 hex sides of rivers or lakes (Fig. 3). Mixed movement, partly by land and partly by water, in the same move is not allowed. Counters placed on boats can never be attacked.
• Knights – They move normally, according to the movement factor of each.

In general, movement serves three purposes: to travel towards a distant objective, to search for talismans or Beings at the magic points, and to attack enemy pieces.

Combat

Legend of the Tables

To read the tables, bear in mind that:

• DD = die
• D = Dragon
• SP = Specter
• ST = Witch
• M = Wizard
• L = Lycanthrope
• E = Hermit
• SA = Saurian
• TAE = Table of Attacks of Beings
• TAC = Table of Attacks of Knights
• TCE = Table of Combats of Armies
• RF = Force Ratio
• C = Calendar

D) Combats

Regardless of the strategic situation, the player who makes an attack (that is, who moves against an enemy) is called the attacker; the one who suffers it is called the defender.

Particular Rules

1. Unlike other games, in Wohrom, to attack an enemy one must either enter a hex adjacent to it or, in other cases, enter the same hex directly. These two types of attack occur under the following conditions:

• a) Knight against knight: Singular Combat in the same hex.
• b) Knight with army against army with or without a knight: combat from adjacent hexes.
• c) Knight with army against knight without army: Singular Combat and/or an attempt at capture in the same hex.
• d) Knight against knight with army: Singular Combat from adjacent hexes.
• e) Army against knight: attempt at capture in the same hex.
• f) Knight against army: this type of attack is not allowed.

By "knight with army" is always meant the situation in which the two are in the same hex.

2. In the preceding paragraph we saw that, depending on the attacks made, there may be two types of combat: Singular Combat (S.T.) and combat (comb.). Let us examine them separately.

Singular Combat

Singular Combat is the typical combat between knights. When one knight attacks an opponent, the opponent is obliged to accept the challenge in two cases:

• a) if the challenged knight has no armies (regardless of whether the attacker has any);
• b) if the challenged knight falls into an ambush (regardless of whether he is accompanied by armies or not).

Acceptance of Singular Combat is instead at the discretion of the challenged knight when he is accompanied by a retinue; but if he refuses, he would become unworthy of becoming king. This is marked indelibly on his cards, in the space for refusal. Once a first challenge has been refused, it is then permitted to refuse any other challenge.

The consequence of refusing the challenge is that the knights do not fight in that turn.

Outcome of Singular Combat

Once the challenge has been accepted by both knights, it is carried out as follows:

• The players each take 4 weapon cards, all different from one another.
• One card of choice is then revealed by each player, simultaneously with the opponent. The winning weapon between the two is established by the Singular Combat table, by cross-referencing the columns of the weapons revealed by the two players (for example, Lance against Sword = the Lance wins).
• This procedure is repeated until the 4 cards of each player are used up.
• Whoever obtains more points wins.

Advantages

A duel does not always take place under conditions of parity, that is, between knights of equal value and with the same number of talismans. When calculating victories with weapon cards, the following elements must therefore also be considered:

• a) base values;
• b) effects of terrain on combat (a knight defending behind a bridge or a ford has an advantage of 1 point);
• c) each magic weapon, talisman or princess in love: 1 more point.
• d) ambush attack: 1 point more;
• e) magic horse: 2 points more;
• f) each unhealed wound: 1 point less.

The algebraic sum of the points listed above is then added to the result of the combat obtained with the cards.

Example: Alfar (A) against Cird (C). Cird, with a value of 4 and having a princess in love (1) and a magic weapon (1) in his retinue, imposes Singular Combat on Alfar by an ambush (1). Alfar, with a base value of 5, has suffered two wounds (−2), a subjugated being (0) and has the magic horse (2). The values of the knights will be: CIRD: 4 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 7; ALFAR: 5 − 2 + 2 = 5. To the results of the cards, therefore, Cird adds +2.

If one of the two wins, the defeated knight permanently loses the subjugated beings and the princesses in love. The amulets and the princesses not yet in love pass to the winner (who begins to court them, cancelling one heart from that turn), who also rolls a die to determine the fate of the defeated knight. If the die shows 1 to 4, the defeated knight is dead; on a 5 or 6 he is taken prisoner and suffers a wound.

In case of a tie in Singular Combat, the two knights will meet again immediately, under the same conditions as before; or one of the two decides to withdraw, moving 12 movement points and recording the refusal on his card.

A knight who suffers more wounds than are marked on his card is in any case eliminated.

The Ambush

We have seen that attacking from an ambush (guet-apens) gives an advantage to the attacker. To set one up, it is enough to place on a knight, at the end of his movement, the counter with the letter "A".

As long as he remains stationary in that position, he has the right to impose Singular Combat on all opposing knights (accompanied or not by armies) who enter his range of movement. Naturally, by doing so, he may attack only one knight per move, and after that he loses the advantage of the ambush.

Combat between Units

Peasants, wolves, retinues and Wild Peoples are the military units which, once the players have convinced them to ally, can be manoeuvred together with the knights. Clashes between these units always take place as combats.

• A unit of this type may never initiate a battle unless it is placed with, or adjacent to, at least one knight acting as "Leader" (Fig. 4).
• It is, on the other hand, allowed for a unit without a leader to move or to capture an isolated knight.
• Combats always take place between adjacent hexes, provided the common side of the two hexes is not impassable (Fig. 5).
• It is allowed to attack an enemy from more than one hex (Fig. 6), or to attack several enemy units adjacent to it with a single unit (Fig. 7).
• It is not allowed to place your units next to other enemy units without attacking them (unless they have no leader or are separated by impassable sides), except when the defender is already attacked by others in the same turn (Fig. 8).

The ratio between attackers and defenders is calculated, where several units are stacked, on the basis of the sum of the combat factors of all the attackers and of all the defenders. The same applies to attacks from several sides or against several enemies at the same time.

To determine the result of a combat, the following other factors must be taken into account:

• a) Calculation of the force ratio between attackers and defenders, expressed by the sum of their combat points. (For example, Attacker 5 + 3 = 8; Defender 3 + 1 = 4; ratio 8 − 4 = 2 − 1. Attacker 18; Defender 6; ratio 18 − 6 = 3 − 1, etc.) Where decimals are present, they are not considered (for example, 19 − 10 = ratio 1 − 1; 18 − 7 = ratio 2 − 1, etc.). The combat factors of the defender alone are doubled if it is placed in forest, marsh or village hexes, or if it is attacked only across a bridge or a ford.
• b) Where there are several knights, only one is named "leader" of the army by both sides, for the duration of the combat only. The leaders must be stacked with, or adjacent to, the armies in combat.
• c) Modifications to the result of the die, according to these rules:
  • −2 if the defender is on or adjacent to the tomb of Wohrom.
  • −1 if the attacking leader is, in base value, lower than that of the defender.
  • −1 if the attacking leader has fewer talismans.
  • +1 if the attacking leader has a subjugated Being.
  • +1 if the attacking leader commands units with missile weapons (Fig. 9).
  • +1 if the defender has no leader.
  • +1 if the attacking leader has a base value of 5.
  • +1 if the attacking leader has the Crown or the Sceptre.
  • +3 if the attacking leader has the Crown and the Sceptre.

Having considered these three elements, the result of the combat is found at the intersection of the corresponding columns of the Army Combat Table, on the basis of the die roll modified from point C and the ratio established at point A.

These operations are repeated, at the end of all the movements that you wish to make with your counters, for each combat set up.

Example of combat: 3 attackers with a leader of value 5, whose retinue consists of 1 Being and 1 talisman, against 2 defenders without a leader. The base factors of the attackers are 4 + 4 + 2 = 10. The die roll shows 5 (+1 for the leader of value 5, +1 because he has the Being, and +1 because the defender has no leader) = 8. The base factors of the defenders are 2 + 4 = 6. Ratio between the forces: 10 − 6 = 1 − 1. Crossing the die result 8 and the ratio 1 − 1 on the Combat Table gives DE, that is, both defenders are immediately eliminated.

Note well that the value of the Leader is never added to that of the armies.

Results of Combat

The outcomes of a combat may be:

• DE or AE = the defender or the attacker is eliminated.
• A/L or D/L = the attacker or defender must eliminate at least 50% of its forces and the Leader.
• A or D = the attacker or defender must eliminate at least 50% of its forces.
• AR or DR = the attacker or defender must retreat 6 movement points. (If this retreat, controlled by the retreating player, would carry one or more units into impassable hexes, those units would be eliminated.) A retreat must always take place into different hexes.
• AGG = the combat resumes immediately, reversing the roles of attacker and defender and recalculating the ratios.

In case of flight or elimination, the winner may occupy the hex left free.

Combat against Beings

As already seen at various points in the rules, the distribution of Beings and talismans at the start of the game is random, on the magic hexes without a star.

Exploring these hexes (that is, entering them) means fighting the Beings and, once these are defeated, one may seize the talismans they guard.

Some talismans are empty counters, which contribute to increasing the uncertainty of the game.

Let us recall here that only knights may enter magic hexes, while their retinues stop outside, supporting them in the combat from adjacent hexes.

Discovery of Beings

The Dragons

The Dragons are the guardians of the sceptre and crown, kept out of play.

When a knight enters a magic hex, a die is rolled; a Dragon appears if, since fewer than 9 other Beings have been discovered, the die shows 6; if more have been discovered, the Dragon comes out on a 4, 5 or 6.

The other results entail fighting the counters physically placed in the hex, which, on the other hand, are eliminated together with the talismans if the Dragon is there.

If the Dragon wins the combat against the knight, it then remains fixed at that magic point. If the Dragon is defeated, the winner chooses at random either the sceptre or the crown.

Once both Dragons have been discovered and defeated, these operations are no longer repeated.

In any case, the Being or the Dragon discovered in the hex will, at the end of the movements of that turn, necessarily attack the knights who discovered it.

Attack by Beings

Using the "Beings Attack Table", the opponent of the knight who entered the magic point finds the result of this attack by cross-referencing the column of the die (previously rolled and modified by various factors) with the characteristic column of the Being in question. The effects of this table are:

• C = the Knight is captured, with his possessions, and placed under the Being.
• V = the Knight is eliminated.
• F1 = the Knight suffers one wound.
• F2 = the Knight suffers two wounds.
• N = nothing happens.
• E = the Being is eliminated and yields its talisman.
• P = the Being is subjugated and yields its talisman (it is placed, that is, in the space relating to the knight's cards).

Once this attack is concluded, if the Knight or the Being has not been eliminated, the operation is repeated by the other player, using the "Knights Attack Table". Here too the die may be modified by various factors (see below).

These attacks and counter-attacks are repeated until one of the two combatants is victorious, or until the Knight, having suffered at least one wound, decides to withdraw one hex, interrupting the combat. This withdrawal does not affect the honour of the Knight (unlike Singular Combat).

The elements that modify the die are the same for the roll on behalf of the Being and for the roll on behalf of the Knight, namely:

• −1 for each wound the Knight has at the moment of the combat;
• +1 for each talisman the Knight has at the moment of the combat;
• +1 if the Knight has a princess in love, or subjugated Beings, or one or more armies in hexes adjacent to that magic point;
• +1 if the Knight has a base value of 4; +2 if he has a base value of 5;
• +2 if he is in possession of the sceptre and/or the crown.

Example: a knight with a base value of 4, with one wound, and with a princess, an army, a Being and the sceptre in his retinue, enters the hex in which a witch is found. The witch's player rolls the die and gets 3 (the roll is made by the enemy player of that knight). The modifiers are −1 (wound), +1 (princess), +1 (army), +1 (Being), +1 (base value 4) and +2 (sceptre), so the die total is 8. Along the witch column of the Beings table, in correspondence with the die total 8, we find E: the witch is eliminated and yields the talisman she guards.

If the die had shown 1, the result, on the total of 6, would have been N. The knight would then roll the die, getting 4 (finally 9, with the same modifiers) on the Knights table, which would show E, that is, the elimination of the witch.

Characteristics of Some Beings

• Dragons, spectres and witches – cannot be subjugated.
• Spirits and saurians – can be subjugated and, placed on the knight's card, increase his combat possibilities.
• Magicians – can be subjugated and heal 2 wounds for each turn in which the Knight who possesses them remains stationary.
• Lycanthropes – can be subjugated and, if the Knight who possesses them stops for one turn in a forest of at least 4 hexes, they cause two wolf counters to appear around him, to be used as normal armies.

Like the magicians, lycanthropes are also placed on the knights' cards.

Talismans

Each knight who wins a combat against the Beings obtains the talisman that they guard, which was placed at random on the magic hexes at the start of the game.

The talismans are: the enchanted horse, magic weapons, philtres, rings, the crown and the sceptre. Each has defined qualities, which add strength to the knights in Singular Combat, in combat between armies and in diplomacy:

• Crown – adds 2 points in Singular Combat; 1 point in combat and 2 in diplomacy.
• Sceptre – adds 1 point in Singular Combat; 1 in combat and 3 in diplomacy.
• Horse – adds 2 points in Singular Combat and 6 movement points.
• Weapons – regardless of type, each adds 1 point in Singular Combat.
• Philtre – cures all the wounds of its owner, or of one of the allies who are with him in the same hex, provided these remain stationary for 1 turn.
• Ring – never runs out; it allows the refusal of all challenges (even an ambush) without loss of honour.

It is also important to note that one may not enter a city or a hex of Wild Peoples without having with oneself a talisman or a princess in love.

Capture of Knights by Armies or Peoples

Beyond the cases already seen, a knight may be captured by an enemy army that enters his hex at the end of its movement. This happens only if the knight is without a retinue; otherwise a normal combat takes place according to the rules already seen.

The capture of the knight depends on two factors: the terrain on which the combat takes place, and a die roll. The result is positive if:

• in a plain hex, a 1 to 4 is rolled;
• in a village hex, a 1 to 3 is rolled;
• in a forest or marsh hex, a 1 or 2 is rolled.

All the possessions of the captured knight (princesses not in love, talismans, etc.) pass to the captor, who places them on his card if he is a knight, or subjugates them if he is another Being, carrying them along with him if necessary. If they exceed the number of talismans the knight may carry, or if the knight already had a princess, they are eliminated from the game. Princesses in love and subjugated Beings are always eliminated. For an army, there is no limit to the number of talismans it may hold.

The captured knight can always attempt to escape, according to the normal rules.

Black Knights

The Black Knights (C.N.) are placed on the map at random, face up. Below each is written its value in Singular Combat. A princess is always added to each of them, as the prize for whoever defeats them.

Combat with a C.N. may be fought only by knights and in Singular Combat, and to engage it certain conditions must be met:

• a) the challenger is with an army;
• b) the challenger enters the castle across the moat;
• c) in the absence of conditions a) or b), the challenger rolls a die, which must show 5 or 6.

In all other cases the duel does not take place, but it may be proposed again in the next turn.

In cases a) and c), Singular Combat is resolved normally. In case b), no one uses a weapon card, and the magic horse gives no advantage (because the attack is simulated inside the castle). In compensation, for the surprise obtained, the knight begins with an additional advantage of +1.

• If the C.N. is defeated, the castle is destroyed (placing the appropriate counter) and the princess follows the victor.
• If the C.N. wins, the challenger is captured and, at each subsequent turn, if he does not flee, suffers a wound from the torture inflicted on him.
• If a knight who is a friend of the prisoner defeats the C.N. guarding him, the prisoner is automatically freed.

This naturally applies in all cases of liberation of prisoners.

E) Diplomatic Phase and Falling in Love of Princesses

Once the C.N. has been defeated, the victorious knight takes the princess it guarded and places her on his card. The effects of these counters, which we will see more fully later, apply only as a result of the fact that she is in love with the knight who guards her.

Falling in love is simulated in the game by cancelling, one per move, a heart on each knight's card. Once all the hearts have been cancelled, the princess is in love with the knight, and she cannot be taken from him unless she is completely eliminated when the knight is killed or captured.

The properties of a princess are:

• a) one cannot be crowned unless one has her at one's side;
• b) she increases the score in Singular Combat;
• c) she increases the score in combat with the Beings;
• d) she cures 2 wounds per turn to a knight who remains stationary with her;
• e) she increases diplomatic capacity (+1) and allows the knight to enter a village or a hex of Wild Peoples.

Diplomacy

As we have already seen in the struggle that will break out between the two opposing clans, the military clashes between armies will play no small part. It will therefore become a problem for both factions to deploy the greatest possible number of military units. The answers to this problem are:

• a) to rouse the peasants of the villages;
• b) to convince the Wild Peoples, through diplomacy, to align themselves with their own clan.

Villages and Peasant Units

The player who, for the first time, moves one or more of his units into a village must submit to the "Dead City" roll, to discover whether the village has been abandoned by its inhabitants and invaded by deadly specters. If the die roll gives 1 or 2 (dead city), the appropriate Dead City counter is placed on the village, and the village becomes impassable.

If a knight alone was the first to enter, he is eliminated; if the knight was accompanied by military units, only these last are eliminated.

However, the knight receives an unhealable wound (marked on his card with a small circle on one of the wound boxes) and flees 6 movement points away from the Dead City.

If the knight comes out of the previous roll unharmed, he may rouse the peasants, obtaining 2 units of peasant levies per turn, up to a maximum of 4.

It must be remembered that a knight may enter a village only if:

• a) he has with him a talisman or a princess in love;
• b) he has a diplomatic factor of at least 3.

Boats

If the village sides with one of the two clans, supplying it with peasant levies, and is situated on a river, the knight who entered the village receives a boat together with the last 2 peasant levy counters. The characteristics of the boat are:

• transport capacity: maximum 4 knights and 4 armies;
• movement capacity: 40 hex sides.

Wild Peoples

Wild Peoples are represented by 2 counters of equal value; these are placed in pairs, at random, on the map. Remember that they are placed in hexes marked with a letter and a star, with the blank face (the side without a design) upward.

The knight, to attempt the diplomatic approach, must enter alone, but with at least one talisman or one princess in love, into a People hex. At this point the 2 People counters are turned over and their identity is revealed.

Each people has a numerical value, given in the following table, which indicates its susceptibility to being convinced to join one of the two factions:

• Giants and Unicorns (Fig. 13) = 8
• Elves and Goblins (Fig. 10) = 7
• Dwarves, Trolls and Orcs (Fig. 11) = 6
• Kobolds (Fig. 12) = 5

The higher the numerical value in the table, the greater will be the people's attachment to its independence. Once the identity of the people has been revealed, the knight rolls a die, adding to the number shown his diplomatic value and the following advantages:

• a) +1 if he has an army in the adjacent hex;

• b) +2 if he is in possession of the crown;

• c) +3 if he is in possession of the sceptre.

• If the total exceeds the value of the people, the people is subjugated by the knight, who from then on may move and fight with those 2 units as well.

• If the total is equal to the value of the people, the knight has the option of withdrawing undisturbed, or of trying again with a new roll in the next turn.

• If the total is lower than the value of the people, the knight, with his talismans and/or princess, is captured and placed under the counters of the people. The captured knight may attempt to escape in the next turn, or be freed by other knights of his clan who subjugate or eliminate the people in combat.

• If the people is subjugated or eliminated by knights of the enemy clan, the captured knight passes into the power of those knights.

F) Exchange of Talismans or Princesses

A knight may give his talismans, or a princess who is not in love, to other knights of his clan if he is in the same hex as them at the end of his turn.

As regards the princess, both in this case and in cases where she passes to an enemy knight who has defeated her guardian, the winner begins to cancel her hearts from the following turn, while the defeated knight returns to the initial situation, with all his hearts intact.