Playing the Game

Object

The Invader wins if the Great Hall is destroyed. The Castellan wins if his forces can occupy all four corners of the board, cutting the Invader off from supplies. Either side loses if they have no troops on the board.

Units

Each player's army is made up of units of different kinds. Each type has its own strengths and weaknesses.

Name

Category

Description

Footmen

Infantry

Basic infantry units, equally strong in attack and defense

Pikemen

Infantry

Defensive specialists, especially strong defending against mounted units.

Archers

Bowman

Can fire arrows from a distance, but are weak when used as infantry. Archers won't fire with enemy troops next to them. They have trouble aiming at groups of moving cavalry.

Crossbowmen

Bowman

Like archers, with a shorter range and more deadly fire. They also won't fire when enemy troops are next to them.

Horsemen

Mounted

Fast, powerful cavalry troops. Horseman can travel twice as fast as infantry and bowmen each turn.

Knights

Mounted

As mobile as horsemen and twice as powerful when attacking

Special Units

Unknown

Rare units that occasionally arrive to aid the Castellan.

The Invader also has siege engines:

Catapults

Siege Engine

Hurl stones against castle walls and towers, first cracking and them bringing them down in rubble.

Rams

Siege Engine

Can easily batter down a gate, if they can be brought up next to it.

Siege Towers

Siege Engine

When brought aside low walls of a castle, allow units to move from the ground below onto the walls.

Placement

The Invader begins the game with a large army. As the Invader, you can place new units in any of the four corner regions, unless the Castellan's forces control the region. Because any region can hold at most four units, it takes several turns to get all of your army onto the board.

As the Castellan, you place your entire army at the start of the game. Any units not placed are lost. You can place your units almost anywhere on the board, except for regions that are too close to the corners. After the first turn, reinforcements may arrive at the battlefield. Some of the time you can choose where on the board the reinforcements will go, but they can never be placed in or near the castle. Reinforcements must be placed in the turn they are received, or they are also lost.

To place a unit on the board, select a unit type from the Orders tab, and click on the region where you want it to go.

Orders

Each player gives orders to his army every turn. Every unit under a player's command may be ordered individually.

Advance

The advance order tells a unit to attempt to move into a nearby region. Infantry and bowmen can advance one region, so they can only reach neighboring regions. Mounted units can advance two regions, but they cannot cross enemy controlled regions or go up stairs. Siege engines can advance one region per turn if there is at least one friendly unit to move it.

An advance becomes an attack when it is directed into an enemy controlled region. Attacking units will attack the enemy before they try to move into the region.

To order a unit to advance, select the unit and click on the destination region. You can select all the units in a region by double-clicking on the region, or individually select or de-select units in a region by control/command clicking on units.

If both sides try to advance into a region that neither controls, one or both will bounce out of the region and return to where they started. If one side is sending in mounted units and the other side isn't, the side with the mounted unit wins. If one side is sending in enough troops to fill the region and the other side isn't, the side with the full complement wins. Otherwise, both sides bounce out of the region.

Defend

Units ordered to defend will have a preemptive strike any unit attacking them.

Units not ordered to do anything else will defend. To change a unit's order to defend from something else, click on the unit and the click again somewhere in the unit's region.

Fire Missile

Bowmen can fire missiles at enemy units from a distance. They lose this ability whenever there are enemy units in an adjacent region.

To give a shoot missile order, select one or more bowmen and choose where you want that archer to fire. Regions within range of the archers will turn the cursor into the image of a bow. Missile ranges are not calculated in regions, but in distance between regions. The only way to know whether one region is in missile range of another is to have a bowman go there and check.

Special Orders

When the units you select can perform a special order, that order button is enabled in the Orders tab. Click on the button and then choose the target region of the special action. For example, to set a building on fire, click on a unit next to the building, click on the Burn button, and then click on the building you want to burn.

  • Smash. Soldiers and machines both use Smash to damage fortifications. Catapults fire by smashing walls or towers, and rams work by smashing gates. Soldiers can also smash fortifications little by little.
  • Burn. The goal of the Invader's troops is to burn down the Great Hall. Buildings burn slowly, and bigger buildings more slowly. Machines can also be burned if the Castellan's forces capture them.
  • Extinguish. Buildings and machines that are on fire can be extinguished. To extinguish, a well or open water must be available within four regions.
  • Pour oil. Units on walls and towers can pour oil down on adjacent regions if there is a full oil caldron within four regions. Oil can kill all the units in the region.
  • Open or close gate. A unit on top of the gate can move the doors open or closed. (Open/close gate orders do not require a target.)

 

Orders Resolution

After both sides have made their orders those orders are carried out in battle. One side's orders are not carried out before the other's; instead, orders are enacted from both sides simultaneously.

Orders are resolved in stages:

  1. New units are placed on the board.
  2. Archers and crossbowmen fire.
  3. Defending units strike at their attackers.
  4. Attacking units strike at enemy units in the regions they are advancing to.
  5. Burning, extinguishing, and smashing take place.
  6. Units advance into regions.
  7. Gates open and close.
The results of a turn can be replayed from different locations on the board and from different viewpoints.

When a unit scores a hit into a region, the unit that gets killed depends on the type of unit attacking. Most units hit infantry first, then bowmen, then horsemen. Mounted units hit other mounted units first, then infantry, then bowmen. Pikemen also have the ability to hit mounted units first, but only when defending. Within a category, units will kill the strongest unit they can. For example, a footman scoring a hit in a region with only a horseman and a knight (both in the mounted category) will kill the knight.

Units can be at an advantage or disadvantage in a particular attack, which is indicated by lines drawn on their attack arrow.

Defense is never advantaged or disadvantaged.

A near miss into a region will scare an enemy unit. If missile fire or an attack scares a unit, the enemy will run away from its attacker. If a defensive strike scares an attacking unit, the scared unit loses its attack. Scared units that have nowhere to run to will die.

Regions

The map is split into regions. Most regions can hold four units, but some are smaller and hold fewer. Troops from opposing sides never share regions.

There are several types of regions:

Land

Open land.

Forest

Provides protection from enemy attacks. Forest regions are smaller than land regions. Troops friendly to the Castellan often appear in forests.

Marsh

The sogginess of marsh regions make it difficult to attack from marshes, and impossible to defend oneself. Marsh regions are also smaller than land regions.

Water

Very small regions that can't be defended. Units attacking from water are at a disadvantage.

Road

Long regions that make it possible to quickly move from one side of the board to the other.

Building

Buildings block the movement of troops, but can be burned down.

Fortification

Fortifications block troops, and can only be overcome by repeated smashing to bring them down or by siege towers to go over them.

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