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Components

Learning the Rules

Thank You!A sincere thank you for purchasing Storm the Castle!. This is just the beginning of a long line of premium games from Giant Goblin Games. We wish you the best as you summon your ruthless hordes, pillage defenseless villages, and crash down castle walls as you play the bad guys!

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Game OverviewStorm the Castle! is an exciting and challenging 1 - 4 player, semi-cooperative game. Players control 1 of the 4 unique Dark Forces armies in a race to breach Castle Storm Haven’s defenses and overrun its Fan-tasy Defenders. The game’s unique mechanics, allow for players to constantly be in the action. Since the strategies, card combinations, and paths to winning are so varied, players will have a unique experience each game played.

How the Dark Forces WinAttacking Castle Storm Haven is no easy feat! It takes hordes of minions willing to be led to certain death (err victory), cunning strategy, and a touch of treach-ery. The player whose Dark Force unit enters the castle’s keep first, claims total victory!

How the Fantasy Defenders WinThroughout the game, players will have the opportu-nity to control the Fantasy Defenders, including play-ing Event Cards, summoning heroes, and mustering brave defenders to keep the Dark Forces at bay. If the Defenders manage to prevent the players from reach-ing Castle Storm Haven’s keep by the end of turn 8, the Dark Forces are repelled and must try again another day!

Working Together?Storm the Castle! is a semi-cooperative game mean-ing players can work together to weaken the castle’s defenses to make it easier to win. Although there may be times when it makes sense to attack your so-called “allies” to put your Dark Force army in a better posi-tion to win.

Rulebook. • Game Board.• Dice x4 (1 Burst Die, 3 • Battle Dice).Army Reference Cards • x5.Arcanists Power Cards • x22.Boss Deck x8.• Dark Elves Power Cards • x22.Fantasy Defender Event • Deck x54.Fantasy Defender Magic • Deck x5.The Green Tide Power • Cards x22.Undead Horde Power • Cards x22.Fantasy Defender Units • x15.Fantasy Defender Heroes • x3Peasant Tokens x4.• Arcanist Units x13.• Dark Elves Units x13.• The Green Tide Units • x13.

Undead Horde Units • x13. Battlefield Upgrade • Tokens x4.Castle Building Tokens • x4.Castle Walls x17.• Dark Elf Equipment • Tokens x3.Green Tide Equipment • Tokens x12.Gold Tokens x42 ones • and x5 fives.Magic Tokens x20 ones • and x3 fives.Ladder Tokens x 15.• Player Turn Order • Tokens x4.Structure Damage • Tokens x32.Unit Damage Tokens • x53.Turn Tracker Token x1.•

Note: we’ve included some extra tokens (just in case!)

Like any new game it may take a few plays to fully grasp the subtle strategies that Storm

the Castle! offers. You don’t need to read every section to start playing. Try going

through the turn phases and read only sec-tions that apply for each unique situation. You’ll start building up the knowledge of how the game plays instead of trying to

memorize everything at once.

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Components Overview

Battlefield UpgradesUnique buildings that Dark Force players may place in their respec-tive Battlefield Upgrade slot.

Boss DeckA deck of mighty cards used by the turn’s “Boss.”

Castle BuildingsPlaced in any unoccupied Castle Building Space when certain Event Cards are played.

Damage TokensEach token represents 1 damage to either a Structure or Unit.

DiceThe Burst and Battle Dice, used to resolve Battle.

Equipment TokensUsed by the Green Tide and Dark Elves to equip their units.

Defender Events and Magic SpellsDecks of various events and spells that can occur throughout the game giving bonuses to the Fan-tasy Defenders.

Game BoardThe game board shows the 4 Battlefields, Castle Storm Haven, Turn Track, Battlefield Locations and Battlefield Upgrade Slots.

Game Turn MarkerTracks the current game turn.

Gold and Magic TokensUsed to purchase and/or play units, Power Cards, and more.

LaddersEquipment used to scale walls.

PeasantsGuards the 4 Battlefield Locations.Attack 1 - Health 1 and always Strikes Last in battle.

Structures Units

Power CardsCards used to augment the Dark Force armies. Each deck back has the icon of the Dark Force army.

Reference CardsUsed to refer to the abilities of the Dark Force and Defender units.

Turn Order TokensUsed to keep track of turn order among the players.

UnitsDark Force and Defender units used in the attack and defense of Castle Storm Haven.

WallsCastle and Keep Walls are placed, per the set-up diagram to prevent the Dark Forces from easily enter-ing the keep.The Invasion Begins!It all began one day when a mysterious Dark Boss gathered together the 4 emissaries of the Dark Lands, representing the different Dark Forces. With his charm, threats, oversized helmet, and promises of untold wealth, the Dark Forces banded together to in-vade the rich and fertile fields of the land of Holmen-stein. But only one thing stood in their path, Castle Storm Haven. As the invaders neared, the outnum-bered defenders called upon any who would come to their aid. Can you bring victory to your Dark Force or will you return to face the Dark Boss in shame? Playing Storm the Castle! (STC)We find playing STC with 4 players to be the optimal experience. If playing with less than 4 players, please refer to the end of the rule book for additional game variants. We’ve also included rules for an Introduc-tory Game and recommend players play this variant first to get a feel for the mechanics and rules of the game before doing a full castle assault!

Card and Rule ConflictsSometimes the text of a card will conflict with that of the rules. The card’s text will always supersede the rules.

Dice RerollsIf an ability allows you to reroll, you may only ever reroll a die once for that ability keeping the result.

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He/SheFor sake of simplicity players are referred to as “he” instead of “he/she.” Though we do value and love female gamers with all our hearts!

Speeding Up PlayAs a suggestion to speed up play, we recommend that players take no more than 5-7 minutes on their turn. If not, that’s OK! But remember, in the thick of battle, generals are usually given seconds to make critical decisions.

The Dark ForcesThe Arcanists: Masters of metal and magic, they use strange powers to manipulate the events and minds of their enemies and allies! We recommend non-experi-enced players to choose a different army.

Pros: Incredible Power Cards that can shift game elements to your favor. Many units can be augmented for even more powers.Cons: Many units have low health and

are not strong in melee battle.

The Dark Elves: No foe is safe from the tips of their arrows nor the teeth of their treachery. Players who

revel in backstabbing and shooting should choose this Dark Force army.

Pros: Awesome ranged attacks and devious Power Cards. Special “back stab” cards give you a unique com-

petitive edge against other players.Cons: Low health units means that you’ve got to know when to fight and when to move in. Players may give you strange “can I trust you?” looks.

The Green Tide: This tribal alli-ance specializes in brute force and strange technology. Players who enjoy large explosions will enjoy this deadly team!

Pros: Hard hitting units with potentially powerful equipment. Cons: Equipment can be deadly for both you and foe!

The Undead Horde: The walking dead’s power derives from ever increasing numbers. Players look-ing to overwhelm their opponents and use dark magic will find great pleasure in fielding this army.

Pros: Many units cause Fear and can sustain a lot of damage. Cons: Slow units with low attack values.

Opening up your boxCarefully punch out the tokens, shuffle the different decks separately and open the game board. The fol-lowing instructions detail how to set up for the stan-dard 4-player game (see pg 20-21 for variants).

Game SetupGather the Turn Order Tokens into the game box or a cup and have each player blindly draw 1.

The player with the lowest numbered Turn Order 1. Token (the First Player), and continuing in turn order (Second, Third, Fourth Player), each player chooses the Dark Force army they wish to play and collects the corresponding Reference Card, Power Cards, and Tokens. Then starting with the First Player, and continuing 2. in turn order, each player selects 1 of the 4 Battle-fields to start at. Note: It really doesn’t matter which side you choose as each Battlefield is the same in terms of game play.

Each player then:

Shuffles their Power Card deck and then draws 3 1. cards. They may look at these cards. Collects 5 Gold Tokens and 3 Ladder Tokens. 2. Collects 3 Magic Tokens if playing the Arcanists 3. and/or Undead Horde.

Give the Fantasy Defender Reference Card to theplayer to the left of the First Player.

A Challenge!Winning at Storm the Castle! is challenging, very challenging! You’re likely to be repelled several times before understanding how to fully utilize

your army and develop winning strategies.

“Remember, each Dark Forcearmy has its own strengths,

weaknesses, and ways to win. Discover interesting ability combos to thwart your friends and foes! “

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Fantasy Defender SetupPlease refer to the Setup Diagram (on pg 5) and the Intro Game side image to the right.

Place 3 Castle Walls on each of the 4 Castle Sides.1. Place 1 Castle Wall on each side of the Keep 2. Grounds.Place 1 Peasant Token on each of the 4 Battlefield 3. Locations (i.e. +2 Draw, +2 Magic, +2 Hand, +2 Gold)

If playing the Introductory Game, put the • Peasant Tokens back into the game box.

Place the Defender units into a cup or the game 4. box. Starting with the First Player and continuing clockwise, blindly draw 1 Defender unit token and place it on any unoccupied space in the Towers or Ramparts.

If playing the Introductory Game, place the • 2 Musketmen and 2 Dwarven Pikers on the Towers as show in the Setup Diagram.

Battle Tip: You’ll want to place the Defenders in a space that will hinder the other players while making it easier for you to “storm the castle.”

Place any Hero Tokens off to the side for now.5. If playing the Introductory Game, place the • Hero Tokens back into the game box as these will not be used.

Shuffle the Defender’s Event and Magic Decks.6. Place the Game Turn Marker on the “Turn 1” posi-7. tion of the Game Turn Track.

Fantasy Defender Reference Card (“The Card”)The player who currently has the Fantasy Defender Reference Card is referred to as the Defender’s Con-troller. To simplify naming this Reference Card throughout the rules, it is known as “the Card” from here on.

The Card reminds the Defender’s Controller of his 4 responsibilities:

Drawing and resolving the Event Card on the 1. Current Player’s turn and resolving any Castle Building and/or Event Card Remain-in-Play (RIP) effects. Deploying the Defender’s units during the Rein-2. forcement Phase.Explaining the abilities of the Defender’s units and 3. heroes.Rolling the dice during battles involving the De-4. fenders.

The Card will pass clockwise among players after:An Event card is drawn and resolved. 1. A Hero is summoned and does its own Onward 2. March 1. Placing the Defender unit(s) during the Reinforce-3. ment phase.

The Current Player may never have the Card. If this happens, the Current Player passes the Card to his left.

Turn Summary A game turn is played over a series of phases. Below is a brief summary of each phase in a turn:

Collect: 1. Players collect gold and magic, draw cards, and refresh any Exhausted Cards.Who’s the Boss?:2. Players bid to become the all-powerful Boss for the turn.Turn Order:3. Players draw Turn Order Tokens to determine the turn order. The Boss first draws 2 and picks 1.Let’s Buy & Deploy: 4. Starting with the First Player, and continuing in turn order, the player may buy Power Cards, units, and/or equipment. After all players have purchased, units and/or equipment are deployed in turn order. Reinforcements:5. Additional Defender units arrive in the Castle to stop the invaders and the number of Event Cards to be drawn this turn are deter-mined.Players Turn:6. Starting in turn order, Players will resolve Events, may play Power Cards, and acti-vate and move their units.Wrap Up: 7. Check for victory or defeat. Players discard down to 3 cards, Defenders unflip, shuffle the highest Onward March Event card drawn this game turn back into the Event Deck. Then advance the Game Turn Marker.

Castle Walls have a health of 2 (instead of 3).• Pre-selected Fantasy Defender units will be • placed as per the Setup diagram.Towers do not confer a +2 Cover Defense, or +1 • Range to the Fantasy Defender’s ranged units.The Hero is not summoned (lucky for you!). • Place the Hero Tokens back into the game box.Do not place the Peasants at the 4 Battlefield • Locations.Players can’t deploy into other players’ Battle-• fields.Do not use any of your units’ text abilities (ex-• cept for traits).

Intro Game

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Setup Diagram

Boss Deck. 1. Damage Tokens: Health (Hearts), Structure (Circles).2. Castle Buildings. 3. Loot Pile Tokens: Magic (blue) and Gold (yellow).4. Ladder tokens (each player receives 3).5. Player Turn Order tokens.6. Defender’s Unit Reinforcement pool.7. Defender’s Hero Reinforcement pool.8. Defender’s Event Deck.9. Defender’s Magic Spell Deck.10. A player’s Power Card Deck.11. A player’s Reference Card.12. A player’s hidden hand consisting of Power Cards.13. A player’s unpurchased units.14.

15. A player’s Gold and Magic pool.16. Game Turn Marker on the Game Turn Track.

17. 1 of 4 Battlefield Locations (don’t place the Peasants here if playing the introductory game). 18. 1 of the 4 player’s Battlefield Start Locations where units deploy, and their 3 Start Spaces (first row of arrows).19. 1 of the 4 player’s Battlefields with 3 Paths, each having 3 Spaces (represented by the arrows).20. 1 of 4 Castle Towers.21. 1 of the 4 player’s Battlefield Upgrade Slots.22. Shows 1 of the 4 Castle Sides and Castle Ramparts, each having 3 Castle Walls.23. Castle Grounds.24. Keep Grounds. Each side having 1 Castle Wall.25. Castle Keep.26. 1 of 4 Castle Building spaces to place Castle Buildings.

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CollectPlayers perform this phase together:

Place any Exhausted Cards (1. see Exhausted Cards pg 19) back into your hand.Collect Gold:2.

Each player collects 5 Gold Tokens.• If you control the Battlefield Location named • (+2 Gold), collect an additional 2 gold.

Collect Magic:3. The Arcanists will collect a number of Magic • Tokens equal to the amount of magic generat-ed by their magic-generating units (see Magic pg 19). The Undead Horde collects 1 Magic Token for • each non-flipped Undead unit they currently have in play (see Flipped Units pg 16).If you control the Battlefield Location named • (+2 Magic), collect an additional 2 magic.

Draw 1 Power Card:4. Draw 1 Power Card from your Power Card • Deck (reshuffle if out of cards). If you control the Battlefield Location (+2 • Draw), draw an additional 2 Power Cards.

You can only hold so much A player can hold a maximum of 10 gold and 10 magic at any one time. Any excess gold or magic is immediately discarded and cannot be used to pay for an ability, card, etc. Additionally, you can only hold a maximum of 3 Power Cards and 3 Boss Cards at the end of your turn.

Who’s the Boss? PhasePlayers will bid to become the Boss. Being the Boss grants unique bonuses such as:

Gain access to the powerful Boss deck.• No player may attack the Boss with their units, • though the Boss may attack other players. How-ever, once the Boss attacks another player, that player may counterattack and attack the Boss as normal that game turn.Break any Boss vote ties. • During the Turn Order Phase, the Boss first draws • 2 Turn Order Tokens instead of 1 then picks 1 of those 2.The Boss may give any amount of gold to any • player during the Let’s Buy and Deploy Phase – it doesn’t hurt being charitable to your underlings.

Note: Players can play Power Cards against the Boss, including cards that can attack the Boss’s units.

The Boss VoteEach player declares how many base votes they have this turn and are calculated as follows:

Each player has 1 base vote and then add:1. +1 vote for each Castle Wall you’ve destroyed.• +1 vote if your Battlefield Upgrade is in play.• +1 vote if your Champion is in play and not • flipped.+1 vote for each group of 3 Fantasy Defenders • (excluding peasants) you’ve destroyed during the game.+1 vote if you’ve defeated a Hero during the • game.

Players then secretly put any amount of gold 2. (including nothing) they wish from their current stash into their right hand. Each gold contributed adds +1 to your vote total.

Note: Any gold contributed (win or lose) is lost after the bid and placed back into the loot pile.

When everyone is ready, players reveal what’s in 3. their right hand (even if no gold was contributed). The player with the most votes (base votes plus gold-contributed votes) becomes the Boss for the turn.

Note: If this is the first turn, the First Player breaks any tie. On subsequent turns, the current Boss will break any ties.

The Boss

If you win the Boss Vote:Take the Boss Reference Card.1. Draw 2 Boss Cards, choose 1 to keep, and 2. discard the other into the Boss discard pile.

Boss Cards don’t count against your • hand-size limit of 3 Power Cards.You may hold up to 3 Boss Cards in your • hand at the end of any game turn. At any time should you run out of Boss • Cards, reshuffle the Boss Card discard pile to create a new deck.

The former Boss must discard any Remain-in-3. Play (RIP) Boss Cards. If he has any Boss Cards in his hand, you may 4. look and choose 1 to keep. Any remaining Boss cards in his hand are discarded. Take 1 gold or 1 magic from the loot pile.5. Revel in your glorious victory!6.

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Turn Order PhaseTo determine turn order:

Return all Turn Order Tokens to the game box.1. The Boss first blindly draws 2 Turn Order Tokens, 2. looks and chooses 1 to keep, and then returns the non-chosen Turn Order Token to the game box.Going clockwise from the Boss, players each draw 3. 1 Turn Order Token.Place your Turn Order Token near your Battlefield 4. Start Area for all to see.The player with the lowest Turn Order Token is 5. considered the First Player for the turn. The player with the next-lowest token is considered the Sec-ond Player, and so on.

Note: The Boss gets a distinct advantage. By draw-ing 2 tokens first and choosing 1, he can decide to go either earlier or later during the game turn.

Let’s Buy and Deploy PhaseThe battlefield is a constantly evolving spectacle of whirling blades with masses of troops attempting to scale Castle Walls. Players will need to wisely plan what to purchase and how to deploy these forces each turn if they are to be successful.

Players can simultaneously spend any amount of their available gold to buy any number of units, ladders, equipment, and additional Power Cards.

After all purchases are made, starting in turn order with the First Player, players deploy any units and/or equipment purchased.

What you may buy:Units: The costs for units, noted by the gold icon, are shown on your Reference Card. Once purchased, take the unit token and place it on your Reference Card to deploy later.

Note: Each Dark Force Player is limited in the number of units he may purchase by the number of unit to-kens provided. Gold spent is returned to the Loot Pile.

Battlefield Upgrade: You may buy and deploy your Battlefield Upgrade in your Battlefield only if you have the Battlefield Upgrade Power Card in your hand. Pay the card’s cost and place the token on your Reference Card to deploy. To deploy, place the token in your Battlefield Upgrade Slot on your Battlefield. Once paid for, you may keep your Battlefield Upgrade Power Card in your play area to use as a reference; it no longer counts as being part of your hand.

Power Cards: You may purchase additional Power Cards for 1 gold each. Your Reference Card will have an image of your Power Card, reminding you of this option. Equipment Tokens: You may pay the cost of any Equipment Cards in your hand. Once purchased, take the corresponding equipment token and place it on your Reference Card to deploy. You may place the Equipment Card near your play area to use as a refer-ence. Once you pay the cost of that Equipment Card to play it on a unit, it no longer counts as part of your hand (see Equipment pg 18).

Ladders: Your army begins with a total of 3 ladder tokens and may have up to 3 Ladders out at any given time by paying each Ladder’s cost (see Ladders pg 18). Place the Ladder Token(s) on your Reference Card to deploy. Ladders don’t require a corresponding Power Card to purchase. Your Reference Card has a Ladder symbol on it reminding you of this purchase option.

Deploying UnitsAfter you’ve purchased your unit(s), you may deploy them in any of your non-occupied 3 Battlefield Start Spaces.

Deploying in your Battlefield

Battlefield Start Areas have the first 3 spaces (see • image below) into which units can be deployed. Only 1 unit may occupy any space at any time (i.e. you cannot deploy 2 units to one space).You may destroy any of your units to make room • for a newly purchased unit that you’re deploying. Place the destroyed Unit Token back into your token pile.

The Boss

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Deploying in your Battlefield (Cont)Should another player’s unit occupy a space your unit is deploying on, a Battle with multiple rounds imme-diately begins (see Battle Rounds pg 15).

The Battle is considered to be at range 1. • The deploying unit is considered to have acted for • the turn and may not attack, move, or use abilities again this turn, though it may counterattack. If an ability allows your unit to deploy in a space • other than a Battlefield Start Area (i.e. the Dark Elves Portal Battlefield Upgrade allows this) and another player’s unit is already there, a Battle with multiple rounds begins as normal.

Deploying in another player’s BattlefieldYou may also choose to deploy any of your units in any of the 3 Battlefield Start Spaces of another player’s Battlefield by paying 1 additional gold for each unit deployed in this manner. This gold is immediately spent when the unit declares its deployment into that space.

Example: Greg decides to deploy his Witchlings into 1 of Katrina’s Battlefield Start Spaces. In addition to the cost of his unit, he must pay 1 additional gold to deploy there.

If deploying on another player’s unoccupied Battle-field Start Area, that unit deploys normally. If oc-cupied, a Battle with multiple rounds immediately begins.

Note: You cannot deploy units in the Battlefield Loca-tions (i.e. +2 Gold, +2 Magic, etc).

Deploying EquipmentYou may place any purchased equipment on any of your units in any space in any Battlefield, including a unit that is being deployed.

Equipment must be placed on a deploying unit before it is actually placed on a Battlefield’s space.

Ladders are considered to be Equipment and can only be placed on units in your Battlefield’s start space or as your unit is being deployed.

Fantasy Defender’s Reinforcement PhaseYou didn’t think the Defenders were pushovers, did you? During the Reinforcement Phase, the brave guardians of Castle Storm Haven will call upon their allies to repel the invaders!

There are 2 steps to the Reinforcement Phase:

Summon the Defenders.1. Determine the number of Event Cards to be 2. played during the turn.

Summon the DefendersOn all turns, except 4 and 7, 1 Defender unit is sum-moned. On turns 4 and 7, 2 are summoned instead. The Turn Track has larger images for turns 4 and 7 to remind you of this.

The Defender’s Controller must:

Blindly draw a Defender Token (2 Tokens during 1. turns 4 and 7) and deploy it in any non-occupied space within the castle. Place a Defender inside the Keep if a Dark Force 2. player has a unit within 3 spaces of the Keep.Pass the Card clockwise, remembering to 3. always skip the Current Player, once all Defenders are deployed.

Note: Should the Defenders run out of their Unit To-kens, they cannot add units during the Reinforcement Phase.

Determine the Number of Event CardsThe final step to the Reinforcement Phase is determin-ing how many Event Cards will be played this turn:

Count the number of Castles Sides that have at 1. least 1 Castle Wall remaining (whether damaged or not) and add +1 to that number. The Castle’s Keep Walls are never counted in this manner. Example: On turn 1, all 4 Castle Sides have at least 1 Castle Wall. Add +1 to this number. The Dark Forces will be facing 5 Event Cards this turn!

Draw that many Event Cards and place them 2. side by side in a row face down. This is called the Event Card Stack. This allows the players to more easily track which Event Cards were played and how many remain this turn.

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Determine the Number of Event Cards (Cont)Note: Event Cards are never removed from the Stack if a Castle Side is destroyed later during the turn. Once they are drawn, they remain for that turn.

Some Event Cards may remain in play (RIP). Simply place any RIP card on or near the game board so that all players may easily reference it. Any Event Cards that RIP, stay in play, unless somehow canceled.

Player’s TurnDuring a player’s turn they’ll have the opportunity to move and attack with their units, play Power Cards and much more.

At the START of the First Player’s turn:

If the Fantasy Defender’s Hero is currently in play, 1. the Defender’s Controller will resolve the Hero’s Onward March now (see Heroes pg 16). If not, skip to step 2.The Defender’s Controller resolves the first Event 2. Card on the Event Card Stack. Once the Event is resolved, the Card is passed clockwise as ex-plained before. The First Player may then perform any actions (see Player’s Actions pg 9). At the end of the First Player’s turn, the second 3. Event Card on the Event Card Stack is resolved by the current Defender’s Controller. Once that Event Card is resolved, pass the Card clockwise, always skipping the Current Player and start the next player’s turn.

The Second, Third, and Fourth Player’s turn:The Second Player now begins his turn. Unlike the First Player, an Event Card is only resolved at the END of the turn for players 2, 3, and 4 (this is assum-ing 5 Event Cards were drawn for the game turn).

Important! There may be times when more or less than 5 Event Cards will be drawn during a turn (see More/Less than 5 Events on pg 20).

Player’s ActionsDuring a player’s turn, he may do any of the follow-ing in any order:

Move and/or Attack with any Units.• Play Power Cards.• Play Boss Cards (if he’s the Boss).•

Example: Jimmy moves his Dark Elf Archer 2 spaces, then attacks a unit 1 space away. After the battle, he plays a Power Card. He then proceeds to move his Dark Miner.

Move Units Each player begins his turn with a total of 5 Army Moves which he may use to move any combination of his units. Each space a unit moves costs 1 Army Move. Once a player uses all 5 Army Moves, that player can no longer move any more units.

Most units can move up to 2 adjacent spaces each un-less an ability or card specifies otherwise (i.e. such as a unit being Slow). All moves and attacks by a single unit must be uninterrupted by other move or attack actions – in other words, you can’t move 1 unit a single space, then move and/or attack with a different unit, and then move and/or attack with the first unit a second time. Nor can a unit remain in a space with another unit as this will cause a Battle with multiple rounds.

Example: Greg decides to just move his Skeleton Warriors 1 space. He then moves his Zombie Horde 2 spaces. He can no longer move or attack with the Skeleton Warriors.

Additional Move Guidelines:

Units can only move into spaces that are adjacent.• You may move through any Dark Force unit, but • no unit can remain in a space already occupied by another unit, as a battle with multiple rounds must immediately begin to remove one of those units (see Battle Rounds pg 15).You may not move out of a space controlled by a • Defender’s unit (see Move Lock pg 17).Spending a unit’s move to move into a Battlefield • Location (which costs that unit 2 of its moves) does take away 2 Army Moves.

Battle Tip: Destroy all walls on a Castle Side. Events can severely impact your ability to win the

game. Player’s may need to work together for the greater “good!”

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Moving in the BattlefieldA Battlefield Space is designated on the board by an arrowhead. In the Battlefield, spaces forward, backward, and to the left and right of a space are considered adjacent. Spaces that are diagonal are not considered adjacent, and therefore units cannot move directly between them.

Moving in the CastleA Castle Space is designated on the board by a dia-mond. In the Castle, spaces forward, backward, left, right, AND diagonal are considered adjacent spaces.

Moving into another player’s BattlefieldPlayers can enter another player’s Battlefield to either help or hinder them! A unit on a space located either on the right or left paths of a Battlefield may move to the corresponding path and space of an adjacent Battlefield at the cost of 2 moves for that unit.

Note: This is only possible with either the player to the left or right of you. Though it is possible to continue to move your unit, from turn-to-turn into other players Battlefields in the same manner.

If your unit moves to another player’s Battlefield and his unit is on that space, a Battle immediately begins at range 1 (see Battle Rounds see pg 15).

Moving to a Battlefield LocationA unit on any space in any Battlefield may move to ANY Battlefield Location for a cost of 2 moves. If a Peasant or another unit is already at that Battlefield Location, a Battle immediately begins at range 1 and continues until one of those units is victorious (see Battle Rounds see pg 15).

Play Power and Boss CardsPower and Boss Cards provide unique abilities to further your unrighteous cause. You may play any number of cards on your turn so long as you meet the require-ments of each card and can pay its cost (if any). These cards can only be played on your turn, unless noted otherwise.

Some Power Cards Remain-in-Play (RIP) unless somehow canceled. You may choose to cancel any of your RIP cards on your turn. Simply place RIP cards in your play area so all can know of their constant effect.

Power Card Types

Action – Cards unique to your army.• Common – Cards that other players also have.• Magic – Cards that are also referred to as Spells. • These cards are unique to the Arcanists and Un-dead Horde and typically have a magic cost.

Running out of cardsAt any time, should you run out of Power or Boss Cards, shuffle your Power Card discard pile (or the Boss Card discard pile) to create a new deck, as needed.

Hand SizeYou may hold up to 3 Power and 3 Boss cards at the end of your turn. Any excess must be discarded. Note: Remain-in-Play (RIP) cards count against your respec-tive hand sizes for both Power and Boss cards.

AttackDuring your turn, each of your units may initiate a single attack against another eligible unit or structure. An eligible target is a unit that is within range (see Ranged Battles pg 12) and with nothing blocking the line of site to that unit, or in an adjacent space for me-lee battle. Attacking is a free action and does not take a move action or count against your 5 Army Moves.

The Witchling may spend 2 movement (from any space it’s at) to enter this Battlefield Loca-

tion (BL) or ANY BL in ANY Battlefield!

Gold Cost

Magic Cost

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Attack (Cont)A unit does not have to move to attack, but it may move and then attack. Once a unit attacks, it may not move again this turn unless it Battle Marches (see Battle March pg 15).

The Dice for Battles!Battles are fought using the Burst and Battle Dice. A unit attacks by rolling a single red Burst Die PLUS 1 Battle Die for each attack value greater than 1. (i.e. a unit with an Attack 2 would roll 1 Burst Die and 1 Battle Die. A unit with an Attack 1 would just roll 1 Burst Die). Any hits rolled will damage the defending unit unless somehow canceled (see Defenses pg 20).

Note: Attack values for units are listed on your refer-ence card.

The red Burst Die has one side showing a “hit” (the sword) and another showing a “critical hit” (the flam-ing skull). Blank sides represent a miss and deal no damage. When a critical hit is rolled, first count the roll as a normal “hit” then roll 3 additional Battle Dice. Any hits rolled with these Battle Dice are added to the previous hit total. The white Battle Die has 2 of its sides showing hits. Blank sides represent a miss and deal no damage. Any hits that equal or exceed the tar-get’s health will destroy that unit or structure. Other-wise, place a number of Unit Damage Tokens on that unit, or Structure Damage Tokens if it was a Structure (see Structures pg 17). Damage Tokens remain unless somehow removed.

Melee BattlesA melee unit is a trait that’s found on your Reference Card. Melee units adjacent to another unit or structure may attack to begin a Battle.

In the first example, the Ghost Fiend is adjacent to the War-rior Knight and may attack it. In the second example, the Ghost Fiend may not attack, as the Battlefield’s diagonal spaces are not considered adjacent.

Melee Battles (Cont)A Battle is simultaneous, meaning both the attacker and defender will roll their attack value (see Melee Counterattacks pg 11) to determine if they hit.

After rolling the attack and any counterattacks, the battle is over unless your unit is involved in Battles requiring multiple rounds (see Battle Rounds pg 15).

Melee CounterattacksAfter a Melee unit rolls its attack, the defending unit rolls for its counterattack even if the attacker rolled enough damage to destroy it. Battle is simultaneous, so it’s possible for both the attacker and defender to destroy each other.

Example: Greg uses his Dark Miner (Attack 1) to at-tack Katrina’s Witchling (Attack 1). Greg and Katrina will each roll a Burst Die. Greg rolls a miss. Katrina rolls a Critical and inflicts 1 hit. She then rolls an ad-ditional 3 Battle Dice further scoring another hit. The 2 damage is enough to destroy the Miner (2 Health).

Counterattack LimitA Melee unit (Defenders and Dark Forces) can coun-terattack only once during a player’s turn unless involved in Battle with multiple rounds (see Battle Rounds pg 15) or for a single Onward March. Should another Onward March be played later during the turn, the unit may counterattack once, as normal, if attacked again.

Example 1: Greg had previously unsuccessfully at-tacked Katrina’s Witchling. He attacks her again with another Dark Miner. Because the Witchling had already counterattacked during Greg’s turn, she may not counterattack again. Should another player attack the same Witchling, she may counterattack again (but only once per player’s turn).

Example 2: During an Onward March 2 Event, a Warrior Knight attacks Katrina’s Arcane Warrior. Both may attack and counterattack as normal. Should another Defender unit attack that Arcane Warrior again it may no longer counterattack again during this Onward March Event.

Battle Tip: Particularly devious players will attack a unit with one of their weaker units, and then attack that same unit again (if it survives) with another of their units since that defending unit

can no longer counterattack.

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Ranged BattlesA Ranged unit will be denoted on the unit’s reference card with the “Range” trait along with its maximum range.

A Ranged unit may attack another unit or structure, within its range and line of sight (see Line of Sight below), to begin a ranged battle.

A Ranged unit may shoot up to a number of adjacent spaces equal to its range value. Some ranged units may have a range of 1. This simply means it may shoot an adjacent unit.

Similar to melee battles, Ranged units will roll a number of dice equal to their attack value.

Ranged Battles and Line of Sight (LOS)The examples below show when a Ranged Unit can-not “see” and attack their target.

Ranged Attacks and Counterattacks vs Melee unitsRanged units have the opportunity to deal their dam-age before a Melee unit can attack or counterattack.

If a Ranged unit attacks, or is attacked by an adjacent Melee unit, the Ranged unit rolls its attack first and then deals its damage first. If the Ranged unit does enough damage to destroy the Melee unit, it is imme-diately removed and cannot participate in the battle. If the Melee unit survives (and is adjacent to the Ranged unit) it may attack or counterattack as normal.

If a Ranged unit attacks a Melee unit that is not adja-cent to it, that Melee unit cannot counterattack - it’s simply too far away.

Note: During Battles with Multiple Rounds, the Ranged Unit would do its damage first ONLY during the first round.

Ranged Attacks & Counterattacks vs Ranged units.If a Ranged unit attacks or counterattacks another Ranged unit, battle is then simultaneous as normal. The target Ranged unit must be in range of the attack-er or it cannot counterattack - it’s too far away.

Range Counterattack LimitationSimilar to Melee counterattacks, a Ranged unit can counterattack only once during a player’s turn or on a single Onward March, unless involved in a battle with multiple rounds (see Battle Rounds pg 15). Should another Onward March be played later during the turn, the unit may counterattack as normal if attacked again.

Unable to CounterattackSome units cannot counterattack due to an ability, being Flipped (see Flipped Units pg 16), etc. In Battle, the attacker will roll his attack as normal and inflict any damage on the non-counterattacking unit. The battle is then over. If a unit that cannot counterattack is involved in a Battle with multiple rounds, and the attacker has at least an Attack 1, then that unit is im-mediately destroyed.

Example: Greg’s Dark Miner attacks a Musketman that is flipped in the castle. The Dark Miner would roll its attack and inflict any damage. The Musketman cannot counter attack.

Example 2: Katrina deploys her Witchling on a Battle-field start space containing a Dragon Ballista. Since the unit cannot counterattack, due to a trait, and the Battle involves multiple rounds, the Dragon Ballista is immediately destroyed.

With a Range 2, the Dark Elf Archer may strike any of these spaces. Note:

the Wall and Unit share the same space and may target either one. The

Archer cannot shoot past the wall.

1. The unit cannot “see” the Warrior Knight (WK), as the tower is blocking (LOS) to that unit. It would be able to “see” the WK to the right of the Keep (since the Keep Wall is not there). If there were a WK to the left of the Keep, it could not be “seen” for the same reasons.2. This unit cannot “see” the WK on the opposite end of the Keep.3. The Rock Lobber can attack the WK in the Keep Grounds (since the Keep Wall was destroyed and nothing is preventing LOS). Un-like the Dark Elf Archer, the Rock Lobber can attack the WK in the Castle Ground’s space due to its special ability to attack targets it cannot “see”.

1

2

3

With a Range 2, the Dark Elf Archer may strike any of these spaces.

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Magic AttacksMagic attacks work in the same manner as either melee or ranged battles, depending on if a melee or ranged spell used. If your Caster is attacked, or counterattacking, it may use either its melee/ranged attack value, or it may cast 1 spell with an attack value (should you have enough magic to cast it), but not both!

Casters may cast additional non-attack spells, during the battle, if they meet all requirements (i.e. magic cost) of that spell. Once a spell is cast, it will either Exhaust (see Exhausted pg 19), meaning the card is turned to its side to be used again another turn, or Fizzle (see Magic pg 19), meaning the card is placed in your Power Card discard pile. Rolling for an Attack outside of BattleSome Boss, Event, and Power Cards may ask the player to roll an Attack X. Similar to normal battle, roll a Burst Die for an attack of 1. For each attack value greater than 1, add a Battle Die to the roll.

Example: An Event Card says to roll an Attack 3 against a Dark Force unit. The Defender’s controller will roll 1 Burst Die and 2 Battle Dice.

Defeated Units & Battle TrophiesThe more you destroy, the more respect you get on the battlefield in the form of extra votes for the Boss Phase. These votes stay with your Dark Force from turn to turn unless those trophies are somehow re-moved from you.

To represent your inglorious battle prowess:

When you destroy a Wall, place it in your play • area. So long as the Wall is in your play area, it counts as +1 vote during each Boss phase.

Note: Sometimes an Ability/Event may force • you to return a Wall token that you worked so hard to destroy!

When you destroy any non-peasant Fantasy De-• fender, place those Defender Unit Tokens in your play area so all may admire your battle prowess. For each group of 3 non-peasant Fantasy Defend-ers you slay, you gain +1 vote during each Boss Phase. For each Hero slain, set him aside for +1 vote.•

Note: You do not gain a trophy for defeating another Dark Force player’s unit.

Wrap-Up PhaseStorming a castle is a tiresome and bloody job. Now it’s time to clean up the mess.

Each player discards down to 3 Power Cards and 1. 3 Boss Cards (if he’s the Boss).

Remain-in-Play (RIP) and Exhausted cards • count against your hand size. Cards set aside to use as a reference (such as played Cham-pion, Battlefield Upgrades, and Equipment Cards) do not.

Unflip any Defender units.2. Shuffle the 3. highest Onward March Event Card drawn this turn back into the Event Deck.

Example: During the turn an Onward March 2 • and an Onward March 1 were drawn among 3 other Event cards. Take the Onward March 2 Event Card and reshuffle it back into the Event Deck and discard the rest.

Move the Turn Tracker to the next game turn.4.

If at the end of turn 8 the Dark Forces embarrassingly cannot reach the Castle Keep, all is lost! The invaders are routed, the Boss beheaded, and the Defenders can celebrate their valiant win!

If the Dark Forces unfortunately do not conquer the Defenders, the players can celebrate the vilest, most cunning valuable player.

Each player’s score is calculated as follows:

+1 for each Wall destroyed.• +1 for each group of 3 Defender units slain (• Peas-ants are not counted).+1 for each defeated Hero.• +1 if their Champion is in play and not flipped.• +1 for each group of 3 units they have in play and • not flipped.+1 if their Battlefield Upgrade is in play.• +1 for every 3 gold they have.• +1 if they’re the Boss.• +1 if they’re wearing a pink tie and green goblin • ears.

The player with the highest total may celebrate being the baddest of the bad (even though you techni-cally lost). Always think positive, dark invaders! If somehow there is a tie, the Boss decides who wins between the tied players.

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IntermissionCongratulations, you now know how to play! The remaining sections of the rule book explain additional rules that will occur throughout the game.

Onward MarchOnward March Event cards are the primary way Defenders activate to move and attack during a turn. There are different versions of Onward March, (i.e. Onward March 1, 2, and 3). The number represents how many different Defenders will be activated. The Defender’s Controller resolves all the units in an On-ward March Event before passing the Card. Note: The same Defender unit can NEVER be acti-vated more than once during a single Onward March event. The unit may be activated again, as normal, with another Onward March Event card.

Example: On turn 3, the first Event Card is an Onward March 2. There is a Dwarven Piker and Musketman currently in the castle. The Controller would be able to activate both of these, but not the same unit twice.

Onward March-Defender’s ActionsDefender units act similar to the Dark Force units: each have 2 moves, may attack, counterattack, and can Battle March (see Battle March pg 15). And like the Dark Forces, 1 Defender unit must complete its actions before moving to another Defender unit. De-fender units that can attack a Dark Force unit must be activated first. This may require the Defender to move into position to do so. Sometimes the Defender’s Con-troller may have to attack his own Dark Force units to meet this requirement. There may be times when more than 1 unit is eligible to be attacked. In this case, the Defender’s Controller chooses who to attack.

Onward March-Protecting the KeepIf at the start of an Onward March event a Dark Force player’s unit is within 3 adjacent spaces of the Keep and the Keep is undefended (i.e. not occupied by a Defender unit) a Defender unit must first be activated to enter into the Keep so that it may protect it. If that unit cannot enter the Keep during its move, it must destroy the next Dark Force unit that can enter it this game turn. If it can’t attack it must move as close as possible to the Keep. A Defender unit, currently defending the Keep, may move out to make room for another Defender unit. This is only possible if the new unit can enter the vacated Keep space during the same Onward March Event (i.e. During an Onward March 2 a wounded Warrior Knight is moved out of the keep and replaced by a Halfling Archer).

Onward March–Moving and Attacking in the KeepWhile in the Keep, a Hero/Defender unit will only attack another unit:

If that Defender has a ranged attack and can’t be • counterattacked. The target unit can’t counterattack. • If the target is flipped (• see Flipped Units pg 16).

A Hero or Defender unit may move and/or Battle March to leave the Keep if there is not a Dark Force unit within 3 adjacent spaces of the Keep.

Onward March–Moving and Attacking in the Keep GroundsAs a special rule only a melee Defender unit, in the Keep Grounds, may attack a unit in any of the 3 adja-cent spaces in the Castle Grounds. Because the De-fender left the protection of the Keep Wall (assuming the Wall is there), it does not gain Cover Defense (see Defenses pg 20).

Ranged Dark Force and Defender units may fire at a unit adjacent to the Keep Wall. The Ranged Dark Force unit can choose to attack the Keep Wall instead.

Melee Dark Force units may attack the Keep Wall, or the unit behind the Keep Wall (if a Ladder has been placed).

In this example, all three of these Dark Force units are within three spaces of the Defender within the Keep. As such, the Arch Priestess cannot leave.

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Onward March Guidelines

The Hero can be activated with an Onward March • Event Card even if activated by a previous On-ward March Event Card. Once a Defender unit attacks, it cannot move. • An activated Defender unit must complete all ac-• tions before the next Defender unit is activated or it loses its remaining actions. Defenders are unaf-fected by Move Lock (see Move Lock pg 17).Defenders may move up to 2 spaces.• A Defender may spend 1 of its move actions to • knock down a Ladder, even if a Dark Force unit is on it (see Ladders pg 18).Defenders may not move into Battlefield Locations • or Battlefields, but they may attack into the Battle-field.If there are not enough Defenders to activate, re-• maining activations are lost.Defenders may Battle March as normal.• Peasants are never activated nor can move.•

Onward March and Fantasy Defender CastersWhen a Defender’s Caster (i.e. Battle Mage, Wizard Lord) is chosen to activate, the Defender’s Control-ler first draws a number of spells as directed by that unit, on the reference card. The player may then move and/or attack with that Caster.

Like Dark Force Casters, a Defender Caster may choose to make a melee or ranged attack, or cast a spell, but it cannot do more than 1 of these things.

Battle RoundsSome Battles require multiple battle rolls to determine a victor. Each series of rolls is called a Battle Round. The only time you’ll go through more than one Battle Round is if 2 units share the same space; otherwise, the Battle is over after 1 round.

Battles with multiple rounds of battle are immediately initiated when:

2 units are at a Battlefield Location.1. 2 units are sharing the same space, such as when 2. a unit moves from 1 Battlefield to another player’s Battlefield.A unit deploys on another player’s unit.3.

For each round of battle, the attacker and defender roll their dice for attack and counterattack.

Note: To clarify, the defender rolls his counterattack for each round of battle involving multiple rounds.

Battle Rounds-Magic Any Magic cast during Battle Rounds stays in effect until the conclusion of the Battle. After the first round, no new spells with an attack value can be played nor can the caster choose to switch how it attacks (i.e. ranged and/or melee) for this Battle.

Example: Greg, playing the Arcanists, casts Vorpal Blast as his attack against a Peasant unit occupying the same space. Neither of the 2 units destroys the other so another round of battle begins. Vorpal Blast remains in play as Greg’s attack spell. He cannot cast another spell with an attack value, but he could play another non-attack spell.

Battle MarchIf a Melee unit attacks and destroys an adjacent unit, it may move into the target’s space. To do this, the unit must be able to move into the new space (i.e. have at least 1 Unit and Army Move remaining). A Battle March is considered a “move” and takes 1 unit/army move as normal. It may not continue moving after the Battle March even if it has moves remaining.

Example: Jimmy has 2 Army Moves remaining. He moves his Skeleton Warriors 1 space (1 Army Move and 1 move remaining for that unit), then attacks an adjacent unit. After defeating it, he decides to Battle March into that units space (which takes the remain-ing unit move). He no longer has any Army Moves remaining.

A unit may ignore Move Lock (see Move Lock pg 17) with a Battle March.

You may not Battle March:After destroying a structure.• If the adjacent unit destroyed is behind a Wall. • You may Battle March if your unit is on a Ladder (see Ladders pg 18).If involved in a Battle with multiple rounds.•

First StrikeSome units have the trait “First Strike”. This will be noted on their unit card. A unit with First Strike deals its damage first in an attack or counterattack. The unit with First Strike rolls first. If the First Strike unit deals sufficient damage to destroy the target, that unit can-not roll its attack or counterattack as normal.

A Ranged unit, regardless of range, will deal its dam-age before a Melee unit with First Strike can.

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The Hero’s Onward MarchOnce the Hero has been placed, the Defender’s Con-troller (who placed the Hero) activates the Hero as if given his own Onward March 1.

Similar to both how the Dark Forces and Defender units act, the Hero acts the same (i.e. he gets 2 moves, may Battle March, counterattack, etc).

If the Hero was placed in the Keep and there is a • Dark Force unit within 3 spaces of the Keep, the Hero will not leave the Keep. The Hero will move into an unoccupied Keep, if • possible, if a Dark Force unit is within 3 spaces of the Keep. While in the Keep space, the Hero will only attack • Flipped (see Flipped Units below) units or units not able to counterattack.

The Hero’s Event CardOnce the Hero has completed its Onward March, add 1 extra Event Card to be resolved at the end of the Current Player’s turn (this may result in more than 1 Event Card to be resolved at the End of a player’s turn). Hero Abilities

Heroes are an inspiring force. They add 1 1. additional Event Card during the Reinforcement Phase!They’ll also make their own Onward March 1 2. BE-FORE the first Event Card is drawn and resolved each game turn. Unlike other Dark Force and Defender units, 3. Heroes ALWAYS counterattack even if they’ve previously done so.

The Hero is always controlled by the Defender’s Con-troller. Once the Hero’s activation has been resolved, the Card is passed clockwise (as normal).

Flipped UnitsThere may be times when a unit is forced to Flip or voluntarily Flips (i.e. a unit’s special ability). A Flipped Unit generally represents the unit being dazed, confused, etc. The other side of unit tokens show a “dazed/confused” symbol. This side is used to represent being flipped.

First Strike (cont)First Strike-Battle RoundsA unit with First Strike, only applies its First Strike in the first round of battle.

Fantasy Defender HeroesJust when you think you’re about to crush those pesky Defenders, a mighty Hero always appears to save the day.

Immediately PAUSE the game and summon the Hero when any one of the following happens:

The 9th Wall is destroyed (Castle and/or Keep • Walls).A Dark Force unit declares he will enter the Keep • (pause the game before the unit actually moves into the Keep).A Dark Force unit declares it will attack a Defend-• er in the Keep (pause the game before the battle begins).

Note: Only 1 Hero is summoned in this manner dur-ing the game.

After the Hero’s Onward March, continue play as normal.

Summoning the HeroThe Defender’s Controller randomly chooses a Hero and places him in a space based on the following priority:

The Keep, if unoccupied OR:• The Keep Grounds, if any of • the 4 spaces are unoccupied OR: If all 4 spaces in the Keep • Grounds are occupied by any Dark Force units, place the Hero on top of a Dark Force unit within the Keep Grounds, immediately de-stroying that Dark Force unit OR: If all the spaces in the Keep Ground are occupied • by Defenders, place the Hero on any unoccupied space in the Castle Grounds OR:If all the Castle Ground spaces are occupied, place • the Hero on top of a Dark Force unit, immediately destroying it OR: If all the Castle Ground spaces are occupied by • Defenders, place the Hero in any unoccupied space within the Castle.

Battle Tip: Some dastardly players will place a strong Defender unit in the Keep to free up the

mighty Hero to attack the other players.

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StructuresAll Castle Walls, Keep Walls, Towers, the Keep, Castle Buildings, and the player’s Battlefield Upgrades are considered Structures. When a Structure takes dam-age, place one Structure Damage Token on it for each point of damage taken.

WallsCastle and Keep Walls prevent movement into the Castle until they have been destroyed. Each Wall has a health of 3.

If a unit is in the Rampart’s space when that space’s Castle Wall is destroyed, that unit takes an immedi-ate Attack 1. This represents the Wall collapsing and possibly damaging the unit there. Note: This does not apply to units behind the Keep Walls.

Walls - Attacking Units/Walls A space in the Castle Ramparts is shared by both the Castle Wall AND the unit there. A space in the Keep Grounds is shared by both the Keep Wall AND the unit there. Ranged units may target either the Wall or the unit in the space directly behind the Wall.

Melee units may only attack the Wall, unless a Ladder has been placed (see Ladders pg 18), in which case he may choose to either attack the Wall OR the unit directly behind the Wall. If the Wall is destroyed, Melee units may attack adjacent units (the arrows in the image below show what the units can or cannot attack).

Note: Dark Force units can attack Walls only from the front (not from the rear/sides), and may not Battle March after destroying a Wall.

Walls – DefenseDefenders gain a +1 Cover Defense (see Defenses pg 20) while directly behind a Wall, unless a Ladder (see Ladders pg 18) has been placed and they’re being at-tacked by an adjacent unit on the Ladder.

Flipped Units (Cont) A unit that is flipped may not:

Move.• Attack or Counterattack.• Use Abilities.• Generate Magic. • Cast Magic.• Contribute any Vote Bonuses. • Use Equipment or have Equipment Deployed on • it.

If the unit is equipped, it cannot gain any of • the abilities and/or bonuses that equipment confers.

Cause Move Lock (• see Move Lock below). Gain any Armor or Cover Bonuses (• See Defenses pg 20).

Note: A Flipped Unit does not count for purposes of controlling a Battlefield Location or the Keep.

Flipped Units and MovingDark Force units may move through a Defender’s Flipped Unit, and vice versa.

Attacking a Flipped UnitA unit attacking a Flipped Unit gains +1 Battle Die. The Flipped Unit cannot counterattack or benefit from Defenses (see Defenses pg 20).

Unflipping UnitsA Dark Force unit may unflip on its next turn for a cost of 1 of its 2 moves then may act normally. A Defender may spend 1 of its 2 moves to unflip and act during an Onward March. They’re motivated to de-fend their castle even at the point of exhaustion! Note: Defenders automatically unflip during the Wrap-Up Phase

Move LockIn the Castle, Defender units prevent adjacent Dark Force units from rushing past them. A Dark Force unit adjacent to a Defender cannot move into another space until that Defender unit is either destroyed or Flipped.

Melee Unit

Melee Unit

Ranged Unit

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Structures (Cont)Walls and Line of Site into the Castle GroundsNormally, units cannot fire through or over Castle Walls to hit targets in the Castle Grounds, and vice versa into the Battlefield from units in the Castle Grounds. If a Castle Wall is destroyed, units in the Castle Ground can see out to the Battlefield (and can themselves be seen) by following a straight line of adjacent spaces.

Castle BuildingsCastle Buildings are considered to be Structures. Some Event Cards will allow the Defender’s Controller to place the Castle Building in any of the four Castle Building Spaces (see Setup Diagram pg 5). The Castle Building is treated as a “clear” space and may be moved onto and fired through.

Note: The Castle Building may be placed “on-top” of any unit, as they can share the same space.

Should a unit be on a Castle Building space the attack-er may choose to attack the Castle Building or Unit.

Battlefield LocationsEach of the 4 Battlefield Loca-tions confer a unique bonus. The Dark Force player who has 1 of their non-flipped units on that Battlefield Location is consid-ered to “control” that location and gains its unique bonus.

Battlefield Location Bonuses:

+2 Draw• - Draw 2 additional non-Boss Power Cards during the Collect Phase.+2 Gold• - Collect 2 additional Gold Tokens during the Collect Phase. +2 Magic• - Collect 2 additional Magic Tokens dur-ing the Collect Phase.+2 Hand• - Your maximum hand size for Power Cards (not the Boss cards) increases from 3 to 5.

Battlefield Locations (Cont)The following also applies to Battlefield Locations:

A unit may move from any Battlefield Space (in-• cluding another player’s Battlefield) to any Battle-field Location for 2 moves. Slow units will have to Push (see Pushing Units pg 20) to move here.If a Dark Force player moves into a Battlefield • Location containing a Peasant or another unit, a Battle begins immediately and continues until one unit is victorious (see Battle Rounds pg 15). A unit may return from a Battlefield Location to • any space on any player’s Battlefield Start Area for 2 moves.Only 1 of your units may be at a single Battlefield • Location at any time.

EquipmentA unit may be equipped with a maximum of 2 Equip-ment, and each must have a different name. Example: An Orc Pirate may be equipped with a Ladder and Pirate Ale but not 2 Pirate Ales.

Equipment can be given to any of your units on any Battlefield Space or while your unit is being deployed.

Equipment Summary:

A unit may have a maximum of 2 pieces of equip-• ment, each with a different name, equipped at any one time. If a unit is destroyed, any Equipment Tokens at-• tached to it return to your token pile to be used again at a later time.You may not deploy Equipment on units in Battle-• field Locations.You cannot transfer Equipment to another unit.• You may un-equip any Equipment on your units. • Return the token to your play area to be used again.Any Equipment purchased must be deployed that • same turn; it can’t be saved. If you cannot deploy the Equipment, the money is lost and the tokens are returned to your token pile.

Equipment - LaddersLadders are considered Equipment and are used to quickly scale Walls to pour your minions into the Castle.

Each Dark Force army may have in play up to 3 Ladders at one time. Unlike other Equip-ment, Ladders can only be placed on units in your Battlefield Start Area or while deploying a unit.

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Equipment (Cont)Ladders - PlacingA unit equipped with a Ladder Token may place it in its space, while adjacent to a Wall. Placing the Lad-der Token is a free action and may only be placed in front of the Wall (i.e. not from the Wall’s back or side). The Wall also must not currently have a Ladder token already on it.

A Ladder Token can only be used by the unit on the space that the Ladder Token is on. A unit sharing a space with a Ladder Token is considered “on the lad-der.”

Ladders - MovingA unit in the Battlefield may move over a Wall with a Ladder into an unoccupied, adjacent Rampart’s space for 1 move.

A unit may move over a Wall with a Ladder in the Castle Grounds into the adjacent Keep Grounds space for 1 move.

Ladders - Knocking DownA Defender unit may spend one of its moves to knock down a Ladder Token. Should a unit be on the same space as the Ladder when this happens, it takes an Attack 1.

A knocked-down Ladder is destroyed and returned to the player who deployed it.

Ladders - Battlefield BattlesIf a Wall is between two Melee units, they can only fight each other if a Ladder has been placed on that wall. Normally Defender Units gain a +1 Cover De-fense (see Defenses pg 20) while behind a Wall.

An attacking Dark Force unit, while on a Ladder, ne-gates the Defender’s Cover Defense.

MagicThe streams of magic can only be tapped into by Wizards and Mages who have learned to wield its hidden power. Some Power Cards are labeled “Magic Actions,” which is synonymous with “Spells.”

Some Magic Cards may remain-in-play (RIP). These are considered “in-play” and count against the Power Card hand size.

Important: Only Non-Flipped units can generate magic for the Arcanist and Undead armies during the Collect Phase.

Magic (Cont)Fizzle CardsSome spells may say “Fizzle.” This simply means that when this spell is cast, it is then discarded instead of Exhausted (see Exhausted Cards below).

Arcanist MagicThe Arcanists collect Magic based on what their Cast-er units can generate at the start of the Collect Phase, as noted on their Reference Card.

Only Arcanist’s Casters may use Power Cards that are Magic Actions (AKA Spells). If no Caster is in play, Magic Actions cannot be played. When a Magic Ac-tion Power Card is cast that does not say “Fizzle,” you may choose to Exhaust the card (see Exhausted Cards below) by rotating it to its side instead of discarding it.

Exhausted cards will be refreshed during the next Collect Phase and can be used again. A Spell that “Fizzles” is discarded after the spell resolves.

Undead MagicThe Undead collect Magic somewhat differently than the Arcanists: For each non-flipped Undead unit you currently have in play, gain 1 Magic during the Col-lect Phase. Example: Greg has 4 Undead units on the board and 1 of them is flipped at the start of the Col-lect Phase. He would generate 3 magic.

Their Magic Action Power Cards are played as nor-mal Power Cards and unlike the Arcanists they don’t require a caster unit to play.

Exhausted CardsMost Power Cards are discarded when played. A card that can Exhaust is simply turned to its side show-ing it can no longer be used this turn or until it is refreshed. Exhausted Cards refresh at the start of the game turn.

Exhausted cards count towards your hand size. Should an ability force you to discard one or more cards, place any Exhausted Cards back into your hand before discarding. After the ability resolves, return the exhausted cards to your play area in their exhausted state if they weren’t discarded.

Battle Tip: The Undead grow in power with more of their units in play. That’s a subtle hint

to deploy A LOT of Undead units in yourBattlefield and elsewhere!

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Pushing UnitsSome units can exert themselves to provide additional bonuses. This is referred to as “Pushing” the unit, or a “Pushed” unit. Units that can Push will be denoted on your Reference Card, or the ability will be gained by use of a Power and/or Boss Card.

When a unit is Pushed, immediately roll an Attack 1 against it (to reflect the strain of the extra exertion). Any hits rolled cause damage to that unit. Should the unit survive, it may continue as normal. A unit may only ever Push once per game turn.

DefensesThere are 2 types of Defenses in Storm the Castle!: Armor and Cover. Though they are called by differ-ent names to add flavor to the context of the game, they work in the same manner. Some units have thick plates of steel armor, defensive magical auras, or are simply behind a Castle Wall. This protection, called “Armor X” will be noted on the unit’s Reference Card.

A unit behind a Castle Wall gains Cover 1 or while in the Castle Tower gains Cover 2. It’s possible for a unit to have both Armor and Cover Defense and as such the defenses are cumulative.

For each Defense-granting bonus that applies to a given unit, roll 1 Battle Die (not the Burst Die). Each hit rolled cancels 1 damage. This damage is canceled before the Dam-age Token is placed on the unit.

Example: Greg attacks a Warrior Knight and inflicts 2 hits. The Knight has Armor 1. It rolls 1 Battle Die for its Armor and rolls a hit. This cancels 1 of the 2 hits.

Castle TowersDefenders in a Castle Tower space gain +2 Cover De-fense against Ranged Attacks. If the Defender unit has the Range trait, it gains +1 to its range value.

FearFear is a Trait found on your Reference Card. When a Fear causing unit is involved in a Battle, roll a number of Battle Dice equal to its Fear value once before the Battle. If at least 1 hit is rolled, the other unit is imme-diately flipped. The Fear-causing unit attacks or coun-terattacks as normal. The Fear-causing unit would then gain +1 attack and the flipped unit cannot attack or counterattack (see Attacking a Flipped Unit pg 17).

More than 5 Event CardsFor more than 5 Event Cards, follow the steps below:

6 Event Cards:• An Event Card is resolved at the Beginning and End of the turn for both players 1 & 2.7 Event Cards:• An Event Card is resolved at the Beginning and End of the turn for players 1, 2, & 3.8 Event Cards:• An Event Card is resolved at the Beginning and End of the turn for players 1, 2, 3, & 4

Fewer than 5 Event CardsIf fewer than 5 Event Cards are to be resolved, follow the normal procedure for resolving Event Cards until they run out; some players will not have an Event Card resolved during their turn.

For less than 5 Event Cards, follow the steps below:

4 Event Cards: • Player 3 would have the last Event Card resolved at the end his turn. No Event Cards would be resolved during Player 4’s turn.3 Event Cards: • Player 2 would have the last Event Card resolved at the end his turn.2 Event Cards:• Player 1 would have the last Event Card resolved at the end of his turn.1 Event Cards:• Player 1 would have the only Event Card resolved at the beginning of his turn.

VariantsSolo Game: Setup the game as normal. Event Cards drawn each turn are +1 in addition to the Castle Side, with Castle Walls still remaining, at the player’s starting Battlefield. Ignore the 3 other Castle Sides for purposes of drawing Event Cards. During the De-ployment Phase, you may choose to deploy units in another Battlefield as normal. Skip the Boss vote and the Turn Order Phase, as you will be the Boss and first player each turn. The Hero is summoned as normal when any 3 Castle Walls are destroyed. When con-trolling the Defenders, any units and/or effects must target your units that cause the most threat to the se-curity of the keep. Ultimately, this is your judgement call due to the solo-nature of this variant.

2-Player Game: Setup the game as normal. Event Cards drawn each turn are +1 in addition to the number of Castle Sides that still remain at a player’s starting Battlefield. Ignore the 2 other Castle Sides for purposes of drawing Event Cards. During the Deploy-ment Phase, players may choose to deploy in other Battlefields as normal. Use only Turn Order Token “1” and “2” when determining Turn Order. The non-Boss player CAN attack the Boss.

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Variants (cont)2-Player Game (cont): The Boss must keep the first token drawn. The Hero is summoned as normal when any 5 Castle Walls are destroyed.

3-Player Game: Similar to the 2-player variant, adjust for 3 players, except: use Turn Order Tokens 1,2, and 3. The Boss chooses 2 Turn Order Tokens, and picks one. The Hero is summoned when any 7 Castle Walls are destroyed. Ignore the unused Castle Side for the purpose of drawing Event Cards.

The tables below show the # of Event Cards to be drawn at the start (first slash) and end (second slash) of the player’s turns for the 2 and 3-player variants. If playing solo, use the Solo column in the 2-player table.

Additional Trait Explanations (cont)Immune to Fear/No Fear: The unit is not affected by Fear. The Fear causing unit’s ability is not rolled.

Units without the Melee trait: Some units may not have this trait. The unit may still make a melee attack (unless its card says otherwise) but does not gain any benefits from abilities that may enhance units with the melee trait. FAQs

Do the Undead need a caster to cast Magic Action 1. Power Cards? - No. What happens to a Magic Action card that does 2. not say “Fizzle”? The player may choose to dis-card or Exhaust the card. If Exhausted, the card counts as part of that player’s hand and when refreshed may be used again. Can I move my unit to any Battlefield Location?3. For 2 moves yes. Your unit may move to ANY Battlefield Location from ANY space from ANY Battlefield its at. When I capture a Battlefield Location do I gain its 4. effect immediately? You gain the bonus during the appropriate phase. Example, the +2 Hand Loca-tion would give you the bonus of allowing you to hold additional cards during the Wrap Up phase.Can the Fantasy Defenders move into the Battle-5. field or Battlefield Locations? No, but they may attack into the Battlefield if possible.If I have an ability that allows me to Reroll a die 6. and another ability allows me to Reroll can I reroll it twice or more? No. You may only ever reroll a single die once per situation (i.e. Battle, for a Power Card, etc). Can I push a unit more than once on my turn? 7. No. You may only ever push a unit once during a game turn. In the rules it says I can “voluntarily flip a unit”?8. You can flip a unit if an ability allows you to do so.Can I contribute my Boss votes to another player? 9. No.Let’s say I have an attack 2. I roll 1 Burst Die and 1 10. Battle Die. If I roll a miss on the Burst Die does the entire attack miss? No. Each die’s result is counted separately.In Battles with multiple rounds, does my Fear-11. causing unit roll for its Fear every round? No, only before the start of the Battle.If a unit is feared in Battle with multiple rounds, 12. can it ever attack or counterattack? No since that unit is flipped.

PeasantsFour Peasant Tokens protect the 4 different Battlefield Locations. Be warned, Peasants have been known to put up a fight and may take repeated assaults to wipe them from the land. Peasants may not be activated nor move. Peasants: Melee - Attack 1 - Always Strikes Last.

Note: Peasants are never counted as trophies.

Additional Trait ExplanationsStrikes Last: The unit rolls and applies its damage last in Melee and Ranged Battle only. Should it take dam-age sufficient to be destroyed, it cannot counterattack or finish its attack, if it were the attacker.

Even

t Car

ds

# Player 1 Player 2 Solo1 1/0 0/0 1/02 1/1 0/0 1/13 1/1 0/1 2/14 1/1 1/1 2/25 2/1 1/1 3/26 2/2 1/1 3/37 2/2 1/2 4/38 2/2 2/2 4/4

Even

t Car

ds

# Player 1 Player 2 Player 31 1/0 0/0 0/02 1/1 0/0 0/03 1/1 0/1 0/04 1/1 0/1 0/15 1/1 1/1 0/16 1/1 1/1 1/17 2/1 1/1 1/18 2/2 1/1 1/1

22

Index

A – Arcanist Magic pg 19Armor pg 20Attack pg 10

B – Battle March pg 15Battle Rounds pg 15Battle Trophies pg 13Battlefield Locations pg 18Battlefield Upgrades pg 2, 7Boss Deck pg 2Boss Vote pg 6

C –Castle Buildings pg 2, 18Castle Towers pg 20Collect phase pg 4, 6Counterattacks (Melee) pg 11Counterattacks (Ranged) pg 12Cover pg 20

D –Damage Tokens pg 2Defeated Units pg 13Defenses pg 20Deploying Equipment pg 8Deploying Units pg 7Dice pg 2

E –Equipment pg 18Equipment Tokens pg 2, 7Event Cards pg 2, 8, 20Exhausted Cards pg 19

F –Fantasy Defender Heroes pg 16Fantasy Defender Reference Card pg 4Fantasy Defender’s Reinforcement Phase pg 8Fear, pg 20First Strike pg 15, 16Fizzle Cards pg 19Flipped Units pg 16

H –Hero’s Event Card pg 16Hero’s Onward March pg 16

I –Immune to Fear pg 21

L –Ladders pg 2, 7, 18, 19Let’s Buy & Deploy phase pg 4, 7

M –Magic pg 19Magic Attacks pg 13Melee Battles pg 11Melee Counterattacks pg 11Move Lock pg 17Move Units pg 9

N –No Fear pg 21

O –Onward March pg 14

P –Peasants pg 2, 21Player’s Actions pg 9Player’s Turn pg 4, 9Power Card Types pg 10Power Cards pg 2, 7Pushing Units pg 20

R –Ranged Battles pg 12Reference Cards pg 2Reinforcements phase pg 4

S –Strikes Last pg 21Structures pg 17Summoning the Hero pg 16

T –“The Card” pg 4Traits pg 21Trophies pg 13Turn Order phase pg 4, 7Turn Order Tokens pg 2

U –Undead Magic pg 19Units pg 7

V –Variants pg 20

W –Walls pg 2, 17Who’s the Boss? Phase pg 4, 6Wrap Up phase pg 4, 13

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A HUGE thanks to all of you who supported STC. GIANT GOBLIN BOSS: Beeker, BGK.THailand.Boardgame.Shop@groups.facebook.com GIANT GOBLIN: James Berry, Scantrontb, GOBLIN SCRIBE: John Steele, Michael Brown, Brian blad, Tim Williams, Miguel Jato. SCREAMERS! 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Judah Warshaw, Aaron Peters, Logan Moses, Maximilian Zotta, Sean Murray, Robert Clark, Brian Bennett, QPJAM, Tony McCall, David Rapp, Paul Harris, Marek Belski, Jose Angel Lara, Ranger Ross, David Hoffman, Patrick McKeon, Jason Preder, JSP, Tim Ryan, P&K McGregor, Jason Granat, Todd Lewis, Emperor Fooble, Cryptkicker, Nathan Mikeska, Drew Kallen, David Blank, Tom Meier, Paul Phillips, Jim Horvath, Richard Cook, Tony Tran, Eric Nussberger, Jandhuin, Die kleine Alex, Theron, David Newell, Jhonna Niver, Dave McAvoy, Matt Leitzen, D Seeley, Paul Mahacek, John Hanna, Michael Miller, John Kennedy, Ryan Jenkinson, Jeremy G, Craig ONeil, Sam Oppenheim, Greg Deutschlander, Dirk Wilking, Biewer Family, Andreas Sturm, Bernabe Family, Philip Rosen, Quentin Antrim, Charles Boyung, Griffin Brunk, Connor Hodge, Wyle Fox, crazymoes, Matthew Allen, Jeffrey & Kaori Bowdler, Omael, William Woods, Swordsman, Paul Silverio, Maneesh Goel, Postaljerk, Brent Schaffrick, Wayne Kaufman, Jared Eisenhart, Cole Family. WARCHIEF: Steven Dodd, Benjamin Bishop, Brandin Owens, Ken Thronberry, CardiacKangaroo, Pete Duchak, Taurik Cyprio, Andrea Cupido, Nik Kuhnle, Matthew Nyweide, Brodo Fraggins, Jens Wortmann, Kayne Kajewski, Samuel King Jr, Greater Fringe, Joel Johnson, Ryan Brolley, Teancum the True, Derek & Tiffny Kuper, Nick A. Niemiec, samuel bo, Jason Sherwood, Derek Carbonneau, Murray Smith, Ted Muenster, Scott Alden, Vittorio Insogna, Hiram Borrero. MIGHTY INVADER: Roger Eastep, Ka Lai, Vance Rawson, Kaskin, Ryan Edwards, David Cinabro, Dario Guedes, Kiai Weidemann, Tommy K., Frank Solnitzky, Arthur Changry (Dang this list was long!).

Thank YouDeveloping STC has been a long and incredible jour-ney. Thank you to everyone who contributed, from ideas to artwork, it took a team to pull this together. Thank you to all the Kickstarter supporters who made this game and dream come to life. Thanks to my fam-ily for all those early play tests and lastly to God for all the blessings.

AfterthoughtsSTC was developed over a 4-year period and went through many different iterations until finally set-tling on the one now before you. Inspiration drew from some of the old classic PC games like “Castles”, “Siege”, “Lords of the Realm” and “Age of Wonders”. I’m proud of what’s been accomplished and hope you enjoy STC as much as we have. We can’t wait to release new expansions to build upon the game by adding new features, units, and factions. We’ll see you on the battlefield!

CREDITSGame Design: Rich Nelson Art Direction: Rich NelsonEditing: Matt Shiners, Katrina Nelson, The Fans who helped Artists: Markus Lenz, Emmanuel Roldan, Gabriele Gabba, William Hung, Patrick Thompson, Chris Eisert, Tina Ghadge, Soumavo Dastidar, Indranil Bhattacharya, Khushnaz Bode Graphic Design: Crimzon Studio, G3 Studios Publisher: Rich NelsonPlaytesters: Greg Piercy, Marc Semadeni, Jason Maestri, Chad Stewart, Derek Kirby, Katrina Nelson, “the Girls”, Brett Petersen, John Payne,Garrett Hatfield, Mike Tanner, Dustin Swede, Alex Haig, Cavan Heps and the early playtesters at Salt Con.

Copyright 2010-2013 Giant Goblin Games, Inc., all rights reserved. No part of this product may be reproduced without specific permission. Storm the Castle!, Giant Goblin Games (G3), and the G3 logo are trademarks of Giant Goblin Games. G3 is lo-cated at 12207 Cove Crest Circle, Riverton, UT 84065 USA, giantgoblingames@gmail.com. Not suitable for children 13 and under due to small parts. Actual components may vary from those shown. Made in China.

THIS PRODUCT IS NOT A TOY. NOT INTENDED FOR USE OF PERSONS 13 YEARS OF AGE OR YOUNGER!

Rich Nelson January, 22 2013

24

REFERENCETurn Order Summary

Collect: 1. Players collect 5 gold and magic (if any), draw 1 Power Card, and refresh any Exhausted Cards.Who’s the Boss?:2. Players bid to become the Boss.Turn Order:3. The Boss draws 2 Turn Order Tokens first and chooses 1. Remaining players then draw Turn Order Tokens to determine the turn order. Let’s Buy & Deploy: 4. In turn order, the players may buy Power Cards, units, and/or equipment. After-wards purchases are deployed in turn order. Reinforcements:5. The Defender’s Controller draws 1 Defender unit (or 2 units on turns 4 and 7) and places the unit(s). Then count the number of Castle Sides with at least 1 wall and add +1 to that number to determine how many Event Cards will be drawn and resolved this game turn.Players Turn:6. In turn order, Players resolve Events, may play Power Cards, and activate their units (i.e. Attack, Move, Use any unit abilities).Wrap Up: 7. Check for victory or defeat. Players dis-card down to their hand size (normally 3 cards), Defenders unflip, and shuffle the highest Onward March Event Card drawn this turn back into the Event Deck. Then advance the Game Turn Marker.

HeroesThe Hero is summoned when the 9th/7th/5th/3rd wall is destroyed respectively in a 4/3/2/1-player game.

The Defender’s ControllerThe current Defender’s controller draws and places units during the Reinforcement phase, resolves Events and any Event RIP and Castle Building effects, and rolls for Battles.

The Card will pass clockwise among players after:

An Event card is drawn and resolved. 1. A Hero is summoned and does its own Onward 2. March 1. Placing any Defender units during the Reinforce-3. ment phase.

The Current Player may never have the Card and im-mediately passes the Card to his left.

Strategy TipsStorm the Castle! is a challenging game, especially when you’re not sure what your “ally” may be plan-ning. Here are some general strategy tips to get you going on the road to victory.

Be careful when deploying units on your right and 1. left paths that can’t counterattack. Other players may take advantage of this.Your first turn allows you the most gold (10). Use 2. this to buy expensive units. To be successful in the mid and late stages of the 3. game you’ll need a continuing wave of troops. Have your units constantly moving towards Castle Storm Haven.Take advantage of the Battlefield Locations. Get-4. ting these bonuses can really help! Consider tak-ing key Battlefield Locations to deny other players those bonuses.Don’t blow all your gold on the Boss during the 5. first few turns. The Boss becomes more of a factor on later turns. Units will win you the game, so buy plenty of them.There are some fun combos to discover. Experi-6. ment with different units and Power/Boss cards.Don’t allow a player to remain the Boss for more 7. than two turns. He’ll start entrenching himself in the position, making it more difficult to remove him.Use ladders! They’re cheap and allow your units 8. to start pouring into the castle to threaten the Keep. Destroy all the walls on a Castle Side. Remember, 9. Events are nasty and can severely hamper your chance to win. Consider working with other play-ers in taking down their walls.There are many more secrets and strategies to dis-10. cover. Trying new tactics and strategies is just one of the fun elements of Storm the Castle!