tm

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!

Working Together?

Storm the Castle! is a semi-cooperative game meaning players can work together to weaken the castles 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 position to win.

Join us Online

Join us on Facebook.com/GiantGoblinGames and Twitter.com/GiantGoblin for the latest news, updates, promos, variants, contests, and more!

Learning the Rules

Like any new game it may take a few plays to fully grasp the subtle strategies that Storm the Castle! offers. You dont need to read every section to start playing. Try going through the turn phases and read only sections that apply for each unique situation. Youll start building up the knowledge of how the game plays instead of trying to memorize everything at once.

Game Overview

Storm 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 Havens defenses and overrun its Fantasy Defenders. The games 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.

Components
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 x3 Peasant 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.

How the Dark Forces Win

Attacking 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 treachery. The player whose Dark Force unit enters the castles keep first, claims total victory!

How the Fantasy Defenders Win

Throughout the game, players will have the opportunity to control the Fantasy Defenders, including playing Event Cards, summoning heroes, and mustering brave defenders to keep the Dark Forces at bay. If the Defenders manage to prevent the players from reaching Castle Storm Havens keep by the end of turn 8, the Dark Forces are repelled and must try again another day!

Note: weve included some extra tokens (just in case!)

Components Overview
Battlefield Upgrades Unique buildings that Dark Force players may place in their respective Battlefield Upgrade slot. Boss Deck A deck of mighty cards used by the turns Boss. Castle Buildings Placed in any unoccupied Castle Building Space when certain Event Cards are played. Damage Tokens Each token represents 1 damage to either a Structure or Unit. Dice The Burst and Battle Dice, used to resolve Battle. Equipment Tokens Used by the Green Tide and Dark Elves to equip their units. Defender Events and Magic Spells Decks of various events and spells that can occur throughout the game giving bonuses to the Fantasy Defenders. Game Board The game board shows the 4 Battlefields, Castle Storm Haven, Turn Track, Battlefield Locations and Battlefield Upgrade Slots. Game Turn Marker Tracks the current game turn. Gold and Magic Tokens Used to purchase and/or play units, Power Cards, and more. Ladders Equipment used to scale walls. Peasants Guards the 4 Battlefield Locations. Attack 1 - Health 1 and always Strikes Last in battle.

Power Cards Cards used to augment the Dark Force armies. Each deck back has the icon of the Dark Force army. Reference Cards Used to refer to the abilities of the Dark Force and Defender units. Turn Order Tokens Used to keep track of turn order among the players. Units Dark Force and Defender units used in the attack and defense of Castle Storm Haven. Walls Castle and Keep Walls are placed, per the set-up diagram to prevent the Dark Forces from easily entering the keep.

Structures

Units

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 invade the rich and fertile fields of the land of Holmenstein. But only one thing stood in their path, Castle Storm Haven. As the invaders neared, the outnumbered 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. Weve also included rules for an Introductory 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 Conflicts

Sometimes the text of a card will conflict with that of the rules. The cards text will always supersede the rules.

Dice Rerolls

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

He/She

For 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!

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

Speeding Up Play

Pros: Hard hitting units with potentially powerful As a suggestion to speed up play, we recommend that equipment. players take no more than 5-7 minutes on their turn. Cons: Equipment can be deadly for both you and foe! If not, thats OK! But remember, in the thick of battle, generals are usually given seconds to make critical The Undead Horde: The walking decisions. deads power derives from ever

A Challenge!
Winning at Storm the Castle! is challenging, very challenging! Youre likely to be repelled several times before understanding how to fully utilize your army and develop winning strategies.

increasing numbers. Players looking to overwhelm their opponents and use dark magic will find great pleasure in fielding this army.

The Dark Forces

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

The Arcanists: Masters of metal and magic, they use Opening up your box strange powers to manipulate the events and minds of Carefully punch out the tokens, shuffle the different their enemies and allies! We recommend non-experidecks separately and open the game board. The folenced players to choose a different army. lowing instructions detail how to set up for the standard 4-player game (see pg 20-21 for variants). Pros: Incredible Power Cards that can shift game elements to your favor. Many units can be augmented for even Game Setup Gather the Turn Order Tokens into the game box or a more powers. Cons: Many units have low health and cup and have each player blindly draw 1. are not strong in melee battle. 1. The player with the lowest numbered Turn Order Token (the First Player), and continuing in turn The Dark Elves: No foe is safe from the tips of their order (Second, Third, Fourth Player), each player arrows nor the teeth of their treachery. Players who chooses the Dark Force army they wish to play revel in backstabbing and shooting and collects the corresponding Reference Card, should choose this Dark Force army. Power Cards, and Tokens. 2. Then starting with the First Player, and continuing Pros: Awesome ranged attacks and in turn order, each player selects 1 of the 4 Battledevious Power Cards. Special back fields to start at. Note: It really doesnt matter stab cards give you a unique comwhich side you choose as each Battlefield is the petitive edge against other players. same in terms of game play. Cons: Low health units means that youve got to know when to fight and when to move in. Players may give you strange can I trust you? looks. Each player then: 1. Shuffles their Power Card deck and then draws 3 cards. They may look at these cards. 2. Collects 5 Gold Tokens and 3 Ladder Tokens. 3. Collects 3 Magic Tokens if playing the Arcanists and/or Undead Horde. Give the Fantasy Defender Reference Card to the player to the left of the First Player.

Remember, each Dark Force army has its own strengths, weaknesses, and ways to win. Discover interesting ability combos to thwart your friends and foes!

Fantasy Defender Setup

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

1. Place 3 Castle Walls on each of the 4 Castle Sides. 2. Place 1 Castle Wall on each side of the Keep Grounds. The Current Player may never have the Card. If this 3. Place 1 Peasant Token on each of the 4 Battlefield happens, the Current Player passes the Card to his Locations (i.e. +2 Draw, +2 Magic, +2 Hand, left. +2 Gold) If playing the Introductory Game, put the Intro Game Peasant Tokens back into the game box. 4. Place the Defender units into a cup or the game Castle Walls have a health of 2 (instead of 3). box. Starting with the First Player and continuing Pre-selected Fantasy Defender units will be clockwise, blindly draw 1 Defender unit token and placed as per the Setup diagram. place it on any unoccupied space in the Towers or Towers do not confer a +2 Cover Defense, or +1 Ramparts. Range to the Fantasy Defenders ranged units. The Hero is not summoned (lucky for you!). If playing the Introductory Game, place the Place the Hero Tokens back into the game box. 2 Musketmen and 2 Dwarven Pikers on the Do not place the Peasants at the 4 Battlefield Towers as show in the Setup Diagram.

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

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

Locations. Players cant deploy into other players Battlefields. Do not use any of your units text abilities (except for traits).

5. Place any Hero Tokens off to the side for now. Turn Summary If playing the Introductory Game, place the A game turn is played over a series of phases. Below Hero Tokens back into the game box as these is a brief summary of each phase in a turn: will not be used. 6. Shuffle the Defenders Event and Magic Decks. 7. Place the Game Turn Marker on the Turn 1 posi- 1. Collect: Players collect gold and magic, draw cards, and refresh any Exhausted Cards. tion of the Game Turn Track. 2. Whos the Boss?: Players bid to become the allFantasy Defender Reference Card (The Card) 3. powerful Boss for the turn.Turn Order Tokens to Turn Order: Players draw The player who currently has the Fantasy Defender determine the turn order. The Boss first draws 2 Reference Card is referred to as the Defenders Conand picks 1. troller. To simplify naming this Reference Card 4. Lets Buy & Deploy: Starting with the First Player, throughout the rules, it is known as the Card from and continuing in turn order, the player may buy here on. Power Cards, units, and/or equipment. After all players have purchased, units and/or equipment The Card reminds the Defenders Controller of his 4 are deployed in turn order. responsibilities: 5. Reinforcements: Additional Defender units arrive in the Castle to stop the invaders and the number 1. Drawing and resolving the Event Card on the of Event Cards to be drawn this turn are deterCurrent Players turn and resolving any Castle mined. Building and/or Event Card Remain-in-Play (RIP) 6. Players Turn: Starting in turn order, Players will effects. resolve Events, may play Power Cards, and acti2. Deploying the Defenders units during the Reinvate and move their units. forcement Phase. 7. Wrap Up: Check for victory or defeat. Players 3. Explaining the abilities of the Defenders units and discard down to 3 cards, Defenders unflip, shuffle heroes. the highest Onward March Event card drawn this 4. Rolling the dice during battles involving the Degame turn back into the Event Deck. Then advance fenders. the Game Turn Marker.

p Diagram Setu
1

2 3 21 4 22 5 6 7 8 9 18 12 11 13 14 17 20 23 24 25 27

26 19

16

10

15

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

Boss Deck. Damage Tokens: Health (Hearts), Structure (Circles). Castle Buildings. Loot Pile Tokens: Magic (blue) and Gold (yellow). Ladder tokens (each player receives 3). Player Turn Order tokens. Defenders Unit Reinforcement pool. Defenders Hero Reinforcement pool. Defenders Event Deck. Defenders Magic Spell Deck. A players Power Card Deck. A players Reference Card. A players hidden hand consisting of Power Cards. A players unpurchased units. A players Gold and Magic pool. Game Turn Marker on the Game Turn Track.

17. 1 of 4 Battlefield Locations (dont place the Peasants here if playing the introductory game). 18. 1 of the 4 players Battlefield Start Locations where units deploy, and their 3 Start Spaces (first row of arrows). 19. 1 of the 4 players Battlefields with 3 Paths, each having 3 Spaces (represented by the arrows). 20. 1 of 4 Castle Towers. 21. 1 of the 4 players 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.

Collect

Players perform this phase together: 1. Place any Exhausted Cards (see Exhausted Cards pg 19) back into your hand. 2. Collect Gold: Each player collects 5 Gold Tokens. If you control the Battlefield Location named (+2 Gold), collect an additional 2 gold. 3. Collect Magic: The Arcanists will collect a number of Magic Tokens equal to the amount of magic generated 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. 4. Draw 1 Power Card: 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.

The Boss Vote Each player declares how many base votes they have this turn and are calculated as follows: 1. Each player has 1 base vote and then add: +1 vote for each Castle Wall youve 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) youve destroyed during the game. +1 vote if youve defeated a Hero during the game. 2. Players then secretly put any amount of gold (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.
3. When everyone is ready, players reveal whats in 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.

Whos the Boss? Phase

The Boss
1. 2. If you win the Boss Vote: Take the Boss Reference Card. Draw 2 Boss Cards, choose 1 to keep, and discard the other into the Boss discard pile. Boss Cards dont 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-inPlay (RIP) Boss Cards. If he has any Boss Cards in his hand, you may 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. Revel in your glorious victory!

Players 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. However, 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 Lets Buy and Deploy Phase it doesnt hurt being charitable to your underlings.

3. 4. 5. 6.

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

Turn Order Phase

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

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 cards 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 reference. 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).

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

Lets Buy and Deploy Phase

The 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.

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 Ladders cost (see Ladders pg 18). Place the Ladder Token(s) on your Reference Card to Players can simultaneously spend any amount of their deploy. Ladders dont require a corresponding Power available gold to buy any number of units, ladders, Card to purchase. Your Reference Card has a Ladder equipment, and additional Power Cards. symbol on it reminding you of this purchase option. 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. Deploying Units After youve 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 youre deploying. Place the destroyed Unit Token back into your token pile.

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.

Deploying in your Battlefield (Cont) Fantasy Defenders Reinforcement Phase Should another players unit occupy a space your unit You didnt think the Defenders were pushovers, did is deploying on, a Battle with multiple rounds imme- you? During the Reinforcement Phase, the brave diately begins (see Battle Rounds pg 15). guardians of Castle Storm Haven will call upon their allies to repel the invaders! The Battle is considered to be at range 1. The deploying unit is considered to have acted for There are 2 steps to the Reinforcement Phase: the turn and may not attack, move, or use abilities again this turn, though it may counterattack. 1. Summon the Defenders. If an ability allows your unit to deploy in a space 2. Determine the number of Event Cards to be other than a Battlefield Start Area (i.e. the Dark played during the turn. Elves Portal Battlefield Upgrade allows this) and another players unit is already there, a Battle with Summon the Defenders multiple rounds begins as normal. On all turns, except 4 and 7, 1 Defender unit is summoned. On turns 4 and 7, 2 are summoned instead. Deploying in another players Battlefield The Turn Track has larger images for turns 4 and 7 to You may also choose to deploy any of your units in remind you of this. any of the 3 Battlefield Start Spaces of another players Battlefield by paying 1 additional gold for each unit The Defenders Controller must: deployed in this manner. This gold is immediately spent when the unit declares its deployment into that 1. Blindly draw a Defender Token (2 Tokens during space. turns 4 and 7) and deploy it in any non-occupied space within the castle. Example: Greg decides to deploy his Witchlings into 2. Place a Defender inside the Keep if a Dark Force 1 of Katrinas Battlefield Start Spaces. In addition to player has a unit within 3 spaces of the Keep. the cost of his unit, he must pay 1 additional gold to 3. Pass the Card clockwise, remembering to always deploy there. skip the Current Player, once all Defenders are deployed. If deploying on another players unoccupied Battlefield Start Area, that unit deploys normally. If ocNote: Should the Defenders run out of their Unit Tocupied, a Battle with multiple rounds immediately kens, they cannot add units during the Reinforcement begins. Phase.

Note: You cannot deploy units in the Battlefield Locations (i.e. +2 Gold, +2 Magic, etc).
Deploying Equipment You 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 Battlefields space. Ladders are considered to be Equipment and can only be placed on units in your Battlefields start space or as your unit is being deployed.

Determine the Number of Event Cards The final step to the Reinforcement Phase is determining how many Event Cards will be played this turn: 1. Count the number of Castles Sides that have at least 1 Castle Wall remaining (whether damaged or not) and add +1 to that number. The Castles 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!
2. Draw that many Event Cards and place them 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.

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.

Players Actions During a players turn, he may do any of the following in any order: Move and/or Attack with any Units. Play Power Cards. Play Boss Cards (if hes the Boss).

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.
Battle Tip: Destroy all walls on a Castle Side. Events can severely impact your ability to win the game. Players may need to work together for the greater good!

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.

Players Turn

Most units can move up to 2 adjacent spaces each unless 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 cant move 1 unit a At the START of the First Players turn: single space, then move and/or attack with a different 1. If the Fantasy Defenders Hero is currently in play, unit, and then move and/or attack with the first unit a second time. Nor can a unit remain in a space with the Defenders Controller will resolve the Heros another unit as this will cause a Battle with multiple Onward March now (see Heroes pg 16). If not, rounds. skip to step 2. During a players turn theyll have the opportunity to move and attack with their units, play Power Cards and much more. 2. The Defenders Controller resolves the first Event Card on the Event Card Stack. Once the Event is resolved, the Card is passed clockwise as explained before. The First Player may then perform any actions (see Players Actions pg 9). 3. At the end of the First Players turn, the second Event Card on the Event Card Stack is resolved by the current Defenders Controller. Once that Event Card is resolved, pass the Card clockwise, always skipping the Current Player and start the next players turn. The Second, Third, and Fourth Players 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 assuming 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).

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 Defenders unit (see Move Lock pg 17). Spending a units move to move into a Battlefield Location (which costs that unit 2 of its moves) does take away 2 Army Moves.

Moving in the Battlefield A 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.

The Witchling may spend 2 movement (from any space its at) to enter this Battlefield Location (BL) or ANY BL in ANY Battlefield!

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

Play Power and Boss Cards Power 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 requirements of each card and can pay its cost (if any). These cards can only be played on your turn, unless noted otherwise.

Gold Cost

Some Power Cards Remain-in-Play (RIP) Magic Cost 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 Undead Horde and typically have a magic cost.

Moving into another players Battlefield Players can enter another players 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 players 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 Location A 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).

Running out of cards At 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 Size You 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 respective hand sizes for both Power and Boss cards. Attack During 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 melee battle. Attacking is a free action and does not take a move action or count against your 5 Army Moves.

10

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).

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 Counterattacks After 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 its possible for both the attacker and defender to destroy each other.

Note: Attack values for units are listed on your reference card.

The red Burst Die has one side showing a hit (the sword) and another showing a critical hit (the flaming 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 targets health will destroy that unit or structure. Otherwise, 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.

Example: Greg uses his Dark Miner (Attack 1) to attack Katrinas 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 additional 3 Battle Dice further scoring another hit. The 2 damage is enough to destroy the Miner (2 Health).
Counterattack Limit A Melee unit (Defenders and Dark Forces) can counterattack only once during a players 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 attacked Katrinas Witchling. He attacks her again with another Dark Miner. Because the Witchling had already counterattacked during Gregs turn, she may not counterattack again. Should another player attack Melee Battles the same Witchling, she may counterattack again (but A melee unit is a trait thats found on your Reference Card. Melee units adjacent to another unit or structure only once per players turn). may attack to begin a Battle. Example 2: During an Onward March 2 Event, a Warrior Knight attacks Katrinas 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.

In the first example, the Ghost Fiend is adjacent to the Warrior Knight and may attack it. In the second example, the Ghost Fiend may not attack, as the Battlefields diagonal spaces are not considered adjacent.

11

Ranged Battles

A Ranged unit will be denoted on the units 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.
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. With a Range 2, the Dark Elf Archer may strike any of these spaces.

Ranged Attacks and Counterattacks vs Melee units Ranged units have the opportunity to deal their damage 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 immediately 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 adjacent to it, that Melee unit cannot counterattack - its 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 attacker or it cannot counterattack - its too far away. Range Counterattack Limitation Similar to Melee counterattacks, a Ranged unit can counterattack only once during a players 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 Counterattack Some 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 immediately destroyed.

Ranged Battles and Line of Sight (LOS) The examples below show when a Ranged Unit cannot see and attack their target.

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). Unlike the Dark Elf Archer, the Rock Lobber can attack the WK in the Castle Grounds space due to its special ability to attack targets it cannot see.

Example: Gregs 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 Battlefield 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.

12

Magic Attacks

Magic attacks work in the same manner as either Storming a castle is a tiresome and bloody job. Now melee or ranged battles, depending on if a melee its time to clean up the mess. or ranged spell used. If your Caster is attacked, or counterattacking, it may use either its melee/ranged 1. Each player discards down to 3 Power Cards and attack value, or it may cast 1 spell with an attack value 3 Boss Cards (if hes the Boss). (should you have enough magic to cast it), but not Remain-in-Play (RIP) and Exhausted cards both! count against your hand size. Cards set aside to use as a reference (such as played ChamCasters may cast additional non-attack spells, during pion, Battlefield Upgrades, and Equipment the battle, if they meet all requirements (i.e. magic Cards) do not. cost) of that spell. Once a spell is cast, it will either 2. Unflip any Defender units. Exhaust (see Exhausted pg 19), meaning the card is 3. Shuffle the highest Onward March Event Card turned to its side to be used again another turn, or drawn this turn back into the Event Deck. Fizzle (see Magic pg 19), meaning the card is placed in Example: During the turn an Onward March 2 your Power Card discard pile. 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 Rolling for an Attack outside of Battle Deck and discard the rest. Some Boss, Event, and Power Cards may ask the 4. Move the Turn Tracker to the next game turn. 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. 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 players score is calculated as follows: +1 for each Wall destroyed. +1 for each group of 3 Defender units slain (Peasants 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 theyre the Boss. +1 if theyre wearing a pink tie and green goblin ears.

Wrap-Up Phase

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

Defeated Units & Battle Trophies

The 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 removed 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 Defender, place those Defender Unit Tokens in your play area so all may admire your battle prowess. For each group of 3 non-peasant Fantasy Defenders 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 players unit.

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

13

Intermission

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

Onward MarchMoving and Attacking in the Keep While in the Keep, a Hero/Defender unit will only attack another unit: If that Defender has a ranged attack and cant be counterattacked. The target unit cant counterattack. If the target is flipped (see Flipped Units pg 16).

Onward March

Onward 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 Defenders Controller resolves all the units in an Onward March Event before passing the Card.

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.

Note: The same Defender unit can NEVER be activated 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-Defenders Actions Defender 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. Defender 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 Defenders Controller 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 Defenders Controller chooses who to attack. Onward March-Protecting the Keep If at the start of an Onward March event a Dark Force players 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 cant 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).

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.

Onward MarchMoving and Attacking in the Keep Grounds As a special rule only a melee Defender unit, in the Keep Grounds, may attack a unit in any of the 3 adjacent spaces in the Castle Grounds. Because the Defender 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).

14

Onward March Guidelines The Hero can be activated with an Onward March Event Card even if activated by a previous Onward March Event Card. Once a Defender unit attacks, it cannot move. An activated Defender unit must complete all actions before the next Defender unit is activated or it loses its remaining actions. Defenders are unaffected 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 Battlefield. If there are not enough Defenders to activate, remaining activations are lost. Defenders may Battle March as normal. Peasants are never activated nor can move.

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 Gregs attack spell. He cannot cast another spell with an attack value, but he could play another non-attack spell.

Battle March

Onward March and Fantasy Defender Casters When a Defenders Caster (i.e. Battle Mage, Wizard Lord) is chosen to activate, the Defenders Controller 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.

If a Melee unit attacks and destroys an adjacent unit, it may move into the targets 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 remaining 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.

Battle Rounds

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

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). Battles with multiple rounds of battle are immediately If involved in a Battle with multiple rounds. initiated when: 1. 2 units are at a Battlefield Location. 2. 2 units are sharing the same space, such as when a unit moves from 1 Battlefield to another players Battlefield. 3. A unit deploys on another players unit. For each round of battle, the attacker and defender roll their dice for attack and counterattack.

First Strike

Some 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 cannot roll its attack or counterattack as normal. A Ranged unit, regardless of range, will deal its damage before a Melee unit with First Strike can.

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

15

First Strike (cont )

First Strike-Battle Rounds A unit with First Strike, only applies its First Strike in the first round of battle.

The Heros Onward March Once the Hero has been placed, the Defenders Controller (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, Just when you think youre about to crush those pesky may Battle March, counterattack, etc). Defenders, a mighty Hero always appears to save the day. If the Hero was placed in the Keep and there is a Dark Force unit within 3 spaces of the Keep, the Immediately PAUSE the game and summon the Hero Hero will not leave the Keep. when any one of the following happens: The Hero will move into an unoccupied Keep, if possible, if a Dark Force unit is within 3 spaces of The 9th Wall is destroyed (Castle and/or Keep the Keep. Walls). While in the Keep space, the Hero will only attack A Dark Force unit declares he will enter the Keep Flipped (see Flipped Units below) units or units (pause the game before the unit actually moves not able to counterattack. into the Keep). A Dark Force unit declares it will attack a DefendBattle Tip: Some dastardly players will place a er in the Keep (pause the game before the battle strong Defender unit in the Keep to free up the begins). mighty Hero to attack the other players.

Fantasy Defender Heroes

Note: Only 1 Hero is summoned in this manner during the game.

After the Heros Onward March, continue play as normal. Summoning the Hero The Defenders 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 destroying 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.

The Heros Event Card Once the Hero has completed its Onward March, add 1 extra Event Card to be resolved at the end of the Current Players turn (this may result in more than 1 Event Card to be resolved at the End of a players turn). Hero Abilities 1. Heroes are an inspiring force. They add 1 additional Event Card during the Reinforcement Phase! 2. Theyll also make their own Onward March 1 BEFORE the first Event Card is drawn and resolved each game turn. 3. Unlike other Dark Force and Defender units, Heroes ALWAYS counterattack even if theyve previously done so. The Hero is always controlled by the Defenders Controller. Once the Heros activation has been resolved, the Card is passed clockwise (as normal).

Flipped Units

There may be times when a unit is forced to Flip or voluntarily Flips (i.e. a units 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.

16

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).

Structures

All Castle Walls, Keep Walls, Towers, the Keep, Castle Buildings, and the players Battlefield Upgrades are considered Structures. When a Structure takes damage, place one Structure Damage Token on it for each point of damage taken. Walls Castle 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 Ramparts space when that spaces Castle Wall is destroyed, that unit takes an immediate 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: A Flipped Unit does not count for purposes of controlling a Battlefield Location or the Keep.
Flipped Units and Moving Dark Force units may move through a Defenders Flipped Unit, and vice versa. Attacking a Flipped Unit A unit attacking a Flipped Unit gains +1 Battle Die. The Flipped Unit cannot counterattack or benefit from Defenses (see Defenses pg 20). Unflipping Units A 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. Theyre motivated to defend their castle even at the point of exhaustion! Note: Defenders automatically unflip during the Wrap-Up Phase

Move Lock

Melee Unit Melee Unit Ranged Unit

In 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.

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 Defense Defenders 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 theyre being attacked by an adjacent unit on the Ladder.

17

Structures (Cont )

Walls and Line of Site into the Castle Grounds Normally, 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 Buildings Castle Buildings are considered to be Structures. Some Event Cards will allow the Defenders 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.

Battlefield Locations (Cont )

The following also applies to Battlefield Locations: A unit may move from any Battlefield Space (including another players Battlefield) to any Battlefield 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 players Battlefield Start Area for 2 moves. Only 1 of your units may be at a single Battlefield Location at any time.

Equipment

A unit may be equipped with a maximum of 2 Equipment, 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 equipment, each with a different name, equipped at any one time. If a unit is destroyed, any Equipment Tokens attached to it return to your token pile to be used again at a later time. You may not deploy Equipment on units in Battlefield 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 cant be saved. If you cannot deploy the Equipment, the money is lost and the tokens are returned to your token pile.

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 attacker may choose to attack the Castle Building or Unit.

Battlefield Locations

Each of the 4 Battlefield Locations confer a unique bonus. The Dark Force player who has 1 of their non-flipped units on that Battlefield Location is considered 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 during the Collect Phase. +2 Hand - Your maximum hand size for Power Cards (not the Boss cards) increases from 3 to 5.

Equipment - Ladders Ladders 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 Equipment, Ladders can only be placed on units in your Battlefield Start Area or while deploying a unit.

18

Equipment (Cont )

Ladders - Placing A unit equipped with a Ladder Token may place it in its space, while adjacent to a Wall. Placing the Ladder Token is a free action and may only be placed in front of the Wall (i.e. not from the Walls 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 ladder. Ladders - Moving A unit in the Battlefield may move over a Wall with a Ladder into an unoccupied, adjacent Ramparts 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 Down A 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.

Magic (Cont )

Fizzle Cards Some 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 Magic The Arcanists collect Magic based on what their Caster units can generate at the start of the Collect Phase, as noted on their Reference Card. Only Arcanists 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 Action 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 Magic The Undead collect Magic somewhat differently than the Arcanists: For each non-flipped Undead unit you currently have in play, gain 1 Magic during the Collect Phase. Example: Greg has 4 Undead units on the board and 1 of them is flipped at the start of the ColA knocked-down Ladder is destroyed and returned to lect Phase. He would generate 3 magic. the player who deployed it. Their Magic Action Power Cards are played as norLadders - Battlefield Battles mal Power Cards and unlike the Arcanists they dont If a Wall is between two Melee units, they can only require a caster unit to play. fight each other if a Ladder has been placed on that wall. Normally Defender Units gain a +1 Cover DeBattle Tip: The Undead grow in power with fense (see Defenses pg 20) while behind a Wall. An attacking Dark Force unit, while on a Ladder, negates the Defenders Cover Defense.
more of their units in play. Thats a subtle hint to deploy A LOT of Undead units in your Battlefield and elsewhere!

Magic

The 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.

Exhausted Cards

Most Power Cards are discarded when played. A card that can Exhaust is simply turned to its side showing 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 werent discarded.

19

Pushing Units

Some units can exert themselves to provide additional For more than 5 Event Cards, follow the steps below: bonuses. This is referred to as Pushing the unit, or a Pushed unit. Units that can Push will be denoted on 6 Event Cards: An Event Card is resolved at the your Reference Card, or the ability will be gained by Beginning and End of the turn for both players 1 use of a Power and/or Boss Card. & 2. 7 Event Cards: An Event Card is resolved at the When a unit is Pushed, immediately roll an Attack 1 Beginning and End of the turn for players 1, 2, & 3. against it (to reflect the strain of the extra exertion). 8 Event Cards: An Event Card is resolved at the Any hits rolled cause damage to that unit. Should the Beginning and End of the turn for players 1, 2, 3, unit survive, it may continue as normal. A unit may &4 only ever Push once per game turn. Fewer than 5 Event Cards

More than 5 Event Cards

Defenses

There are 2 types of Defenses in Storm the Castle!: Armor and Cover. Though they are called by different names to add flavor to the context of the game, they work in the same manner. Some units have thick For less than 5 Event Cards, follow the steps below: plates of steel armor, defensive magical auras, or are simply behind a Castle Wall. This protection, called 4 Event Cards: Player 3 would have the last Event Armor X will be noted on the units Reference Card. Card resolved at the end his turn. No Event Cards would be resolved during Player 4s turn. A unit behind a Castle Wall gains Cover 1 or while in 3 Event Cards: Player 2 would have the last Event the Castle Tower gains Cover 2. Its possible for a unit Card resolved at the end his turn. to have both Armor and Cover Defense and as such 2 Event Cards: Player 1 would have the last Event the defenses are cumulative. Card resolved at the end of his turn. 1 Event Cards: Player 1 would have the only Event For each Defense-granting bonus Card resolved at the beginning of his turn. that applies to a given unit, roll 1 Variants Battle Die (not the Burst Die). Each Solo Game: Setup the game as normal. Event Cards hit rolled cancels 1 damage. This drawn each turn are +1 in addition to the Castle Side, damage is canceled before the Damwith Castle Walls still remaining, at the players age Token is placed on the unit. starting Battlefield. Ignore the 3 other Castle Sides for purposes of drawing Event Cards. During the DeExample: Greg attacks a Warrior ployment Phase, you may choose to deploy units in Knight and inflicts 2 hits. The Knight has Armor 1. another Battlefield as normal. Skip the Boss vote and It rolls 1 Battle Die for its Armor and rolls a hit. This the Turn Order Phase, as you will be the Boss and first cancels 1 of the 2 hits. player each turn. The Hero is summoned as normal when any 3 Castle Walls are destroyed. When conCastle Towers trolling the Defenders, any units and/or effects must Defenders in a Castle Tower space gain +2 Cover De- target your units that cause the most threat to the sefense against Ranged Attacks. If the Defender unit has curity of the keep. Ultimately, this is your judgement the Range trait, it gains +1 to its range value. call due to the solo-nature of this variant.

If 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.

Fear

Fear 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 immediately flipped. The Fear-causing unit attacks or counterattacks 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).

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 players starting Battlefield. Ignore the 2 other Castle Sides for purposes of drawing Event Cards. During the Deployment 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.

20

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.

Additional Trait Explanations (cont )

Immune to Fear/No Fear: The unit is not affected by Fear. The Fear causing units 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

The tables below show the # of Event Cards to be 1. Do the Undead need a caster to cast Magic Action drawn at the start (first slash) and end (second slash) Power Cards? - No. of the players turns for the 2 and 3-player variants. If 2. What happens to a Magic Action card that does playing solo, use the Solo column in the 2-player table. not say Fizzle? The player may choose to discard or Exhaust the card. If Exhausted, the card # Player 1 Player 2 Solo counts as part of that players hand and when 1 1/0 0/0 1/0 refreshed may be used again. 3. Can I move my unit to any Battlefield Location? 2 1/1 0/0 1/1 For 2 moves yes. Your unit may move to ANY 3 1/1 0/1 2/1 Battlefield Location from ANY space from ANY 4 1/1 1/1 2/2 Battlefield its at. 5 2/1 1/1 3/2 4. When I capture a Battlefield Location do I gain its 6 2/2 1/1 3/3 effect immediately? You gain the bonus during the 7 2/2 1/2 4/3 appropriate phase. Example, the +2 Hand Loca8 2/2 2/2 4/4 tion would give you the bonus of allowing you to hold additional cards during the Wrap Up phase. # Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 5. Can the Fantasy Defenders move into the Battle1 1/0 0/0 0/0 field or Battlefield Locations? No, but they may 2 1/1 0/0 0/0 attack into the Battlefield if possible. 3 1/1 0/1 0/0 6. If I have an ability that allows me to Reroll a die 4 1/1 0/1 0/1 and another ability allows me to Reroll can I reroll 5 1/1 1/1 0/1 it twice or more? No. You may only ever reroll 6 1/1 1/1 1/1 a single die once per situation (i.e. Battle, for a 7 2/1 1/1 1/1 Power Card, etc). 7. Can I push a unit more than once on my turn? 8 2/2 1/1 1/1 No. You may only ever push a unit once during a Peasants game turn. Four Peasant Tokens protect the 4 different 8. In the rules it says I can voluntarily flip a unit? Battlefield Locations. Be warned, Peasants You can flip a unit if an ability allows you to do so. have been known to put up a fight and may 9. Can I contribute my Boss votes to another player? take repeated assaults to wipe them from the No. land. Peasants may not be activated nor move. 10. Lets say I have an attack 2. I roll 1 Burst Die and 1 Battle Die. If I roll a miss on the Burst Die does the Peasants: Melee - Attack 1 - Always Strikes Last. entire attack miss? No. Each dies result is counted separately. Note: Peasants are never counted as trophies. 11. In Battles with multiple rounds, does my Fearcausing unit roll for its Fear every round? No, only Additional Trait Explanations before the start of the Battle. Strikes Last: The unit rolls and applies its damage last 12. If a unit is feared in Battle with multiple rounds, in Melee and Ranged Battle only. Should it take damcan it ever attack or counterattack? No since that age sufficient to be destroyed, it cannot counterattack unit is flipped. or finish its attack, if it were the attacker.
Event Cards Event Cards

21

Index
A Arcanist Magic pg 19 Armor pg 20 Attack pg 10 B Battle March pg 15 Battle Rounds pg 15 Battle Trophies pg 13 Battlefield Locations pg 18 Battlefield Upgrades pg 2, 7 Boss Deck pg 2 Boss Vote pg 6 C Castle Buildings pg 2, 18 Castle Towers pg 20 Collect phase pg 4, 6 Counterattacks (Melee) pg 11 Counterattacks (Ranged) pg 12 Cover pg 20 D Damage Tokens pg 2 Defeated Units pg 13 Defenses pg 20 Deploying Equipment pg 8 Deploying Units pg 7 Dice pg 2 E Equipment pg 18 Equipment Tokens pg 2, 7 Event Cards pg 2, 8, 20 Exhausted Cards pg 19 F Fantasy Defender Heroes pg 16 Fantasy Defender Reference Card pg 4 Fantasy Defenders Reinforcement Phase pg 8 Fear, pg 20 First Strike pg 15, 16 Fizzle Cards pg 19 Flipped Units pg 16 H Heros Event Card pg 16 Heros Onward March pg 16 I Immune to Fear pg 21

L Ladders pg 2, 7, 18, 19 Lets Buy & Deploy phase pg 4, 7 M Magic pg 19 Magic Attacks pg 13 Melee Battles pg 11 Melee Counterattacks pg 11 Move Lock pg 17 Move Units pg 9 N No Fear pg 21 O Onward March pg 14 P Peasants pg 2, 21 Players Actions pg 9 Players Turn pg 4, 9 Power Card Types pg 10 Power Cards pg 2, 7 Pushing Units pg 20 R Ranged Battles pg 12 Reference Cards pg 2 Reinforcements phase pg 4 S Strikes Last pg 21 Structures pg 17 Summoning the Hero pg 16 T The Card pg 4 Traits pg 21 Trophies pg 13 Turn Order phase pg 4, 7 Turn Order Tokens pg 2 U Undead Magic pg 19 Units pg 7 V Variants pg 20 W Walls pg 2, 17 Whos the Boss? Phase pg 4, 6 Wrap Up phase pg 4, 13

22

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! Patrick Jones, Jeff Terrill, Logan Godfrey, Adam Doerfler, Joshua Rogers, Ken Mencher, MrAnadyPuppy, Aaron Seymour, Richard Valente, Nicholas Sturm, Damon Cammarano, Rolf Laun, Jacob Coon, Kurtis Bohanon, The Dougan Clan, Mads Larsen, crn, Jack Gulick, Victor Koch, Nelson Wong, Morgan Godfrey, Jake the robot, Andrew Beck, Tim Wyatt, Sam Byrd, Carlos Zermeo, Will Urban, Graham Wells, Gregory Milken, Mark Sautman, Jeffrey Flores, George Gibbs, Cid sugioka, Andy Goldman, David Kirlin, Rob Ruescher, Frankie Ramirez, Joseph Lee, Mark Johnson, Pam Vanmuijen, Bryan Graham, Clemens Zeilinger, Gareth Thomas, Evan Saft, Bruce Powell, Avi Zacherman, Chris Saguisag, Kevin Flynn, GladeGuard, Adam Everman, Eugene Koh, Matthew Sandlin, Keith Koleno, Michael Krauss, Janeer, HP Lustcraft, Kevin Moreno, Nick Stier, Dmitri Prime, Adam Bodnar, Shawn Gierlinger, Carroll Best, Burtallini, MJ Kuchenbrod, Palenoue, Shawn Hayden, David Doutch, Karen Gibbs, Jason Jackowski, @reldnahcire, Doug Herring, Geoffrey Green, RetroFanatik, Robert Montgomery, Rober McElfresh, Eric Bontz, Greg Frank, Jeffrey Herr, Bartow Wing Riggs, Jay Collins, Kelly Collard, Jimmy Ledbetter, Chi C, Evan Rattner, RV Bankston III, Mario Roy, Kevin Schantz, Steve Karaganis, Mark Jimenez, Mike Kohlhepp, Danny Cordell, John Idlor, Tribu Beauchamp, Anne-Sophie & Philippe-Guy, Vince Arebalo, Matthew Aaron, Jason Kol, Adam Lucas, Matthew Wasiak, Victor Khoesnadi, David Miller, Lawrence Wimsatt Jr, Nat Lanza, Matt Wolfe, Matthew Fernsler, Bryan Hehmann, Czar Garrett, Alan Nanes, Chris Beller, Kenny Stull, Chris Faehnel, Ryan Huff, Blake, Shane Allen, Mickey, Marc Von Canal, Another Widget, Craig Hackl, Seth Johnson, Moritz Salinger, Matt Way, Sara Ashead, Blair Galpin, Karen Haugland, Gbor Papp, Manicanet, Mathew Howell, Till H, Matt Gilbert, Matthew Sands, Stephan Reitz, Weyly, Eric Lafrance, Shawn Kimble, Clayton Mills, Zach Thompson, Bruno Fortin, Alywin, Brian Bishop, Cheppe Mock, Erhoo Lopez, John Baron von Kammer, John Bernardo, Alan Millard, Kevin Kenz, Mike Mullins, Nancy Hutchins, Jeff Pelchat, Pete Hines, Chris Wolfe, Chino Devine, Nate Miller, Hilary Goldstein, Trevyn hey, Sarah Reed, Eric Harris, Carlo Gozzi, Benjamn Steinhauser, Wolfkinjoe, David Dawson, Vandamias, Erik Fischer, Randall Fischer, Michael Morley, Brandon Helvie, Thomas Coyne, Manfred Junior, Prodigious3D.com23, Mark Kadas, Taalo, Eugene Khoo, Matt Olmstead, Shawn Grubaugh, Gabe Sprague, Matt Shinners, JA Lauritzen, Neal Moss, Jason Horn, Kevin Thoompson, Ben Hosp, Chris Paoliello, Ryan Syfargo, Peter Wilson, Simon McLucas, Saucy Jack, Basil Yong, Riley Hayes, Marin Zambata, Sven Berglowe, Catyrpelius, Christian Nord, Bryan Rosander, ThatGuy, Justin Shelby, Christo Stassis, Kevin Erskine, Anthony Johnson, Allen Clayton, dwayman, Sheila Davis, Jared Kinkade, Mickal Garcin, Daniel Andersen, Anthony Makarzec, Simon Ward, Amaranthus, Blake Martin, Shalydra, Eric Horbinski, Justin Adams, Cris Zerotonine, wargamermike, Tom ONeill, The Cville Chasses, David Setzer, Brian T, Kevin Iacoucci, Steve Leger, Ben Alsop, Wichartbhol Surapolbhichet, Darth Mungo, Michael Stevens, Scott Greene, Richard Dixon, Barrett Dent, Robert Tornai II, JP Jenkins, Andrs Baldov, Scott Cruickshank, Dennis Brugman, Christopher Briggs, loones27, David Morgans, Seth Hardiman, j-l Mari, John Morrow, Ropya, Aldermac HDB, Justin Phillips, Michael Knecht, David Schmitz, Marzio Ombra, Steve Crawford, Brady Chin, Andrew Snyder, Morgan Westbrook, Adam Argent, James Bothwell, Andrew Reeves, Edward Calabig, Niclas Andersson, Sven Tscheppainz, Ben Williams, Matthew Martinez, MattG 93, Chris Collette, Henry Kim, Wei Seah, Scott & Amy Price, Matt Parker, Patrick Dugan, Robert Mitchell Jr, Mark Montgomery, Brad Kim, Joel Grable, David Brittain, Sam Dafilis, James Carroll, John DiPonio, Gemi, Youmacon Enterprises, James Flannery III, Patrick Menard, Todd Hayes, Andrew B, Andy Marzec, Macsamis, Sorin, Derrick Leung, Jackson Percy, Christopher Vossen, Steven Saltsman, JJ Binek, Yanik DAigle, Pat Toohey, Brendan Nimwegen, Artisan Dice, Noah Bayens, Ian Allen, Russ Liley, Andrew Sekela, Paul Scadden, James Wickline, Robin Lees, Dante Gagne, Alexandre McGrath, David Swanson, Matt Nowina, Kaleb Michaud, Joshua Razbeau, Brynhide, Jason Clubb, Ivanbob, David Blair, James Greene, Shard73, Eric Mirkes, J Nonnast, Coltrane77, Dennis Watson, Sinnoch, Bradley Eng-Kohn, Adrian Bai, KMANT, Darsh 97 Cl.199, Matt Hendricks, Drew Kearney, Kevin Kowal, Morgan Little, Peter Wotruba, Lane Fields, Wolfgang Weber, Dan Thurot, Steamer, Simon Anderson, Glenn Sutton, Kyle Woods, Simon St-Pierre, Eoin Burke, Justin Steurich, Paul Haswell, Chris Marshall, Eduardo Guimares, Rene Roy, Mark Lorenzen, Meddling Pimp, Mike Nicholson, Glen Howard, Michael Fienen, Damon VanDemark, your base belongs to us, Matthew Ibbotson, Mark Innerebner, Ozzie Cwikla, Marco Grillini, Nico Koenig, Blake Jesch, Belina Family, Craig Gaddis, Nicolas LeBaut, Kevin Bruckert, Jason Thompson, Zim, Knuckles1388, Damon Rcjardson, Jo VanEyck, Alan Winterrowd, Damien Marsh, Kris Brown, Pepus, Scalifano, Dan Armstrong, Trevor Kindree, Ryusora, Ulfgar, Jonathan Sosebee, Arion Hypes, Trnhj, Ryan Lynn, Ed Kowalczewski, Krazer, VJ Paljas, Matthew Kokaly, George Breden, Geoff Skinner, Garry Jenkins, Jonas Salonen, Ryan Espin, James & Laura Goodwin, Reiner Perillo, Adam Ashworth, Kennedi Shafer, Kevin Bertram, Matthew McMahon, Jer Leedy, Kingston Lee, Jed Wegner, Matthew Strand, Dereck C, Arthur VanDuynhoven, Jeffrey Bielawski, Raymond Beckmann, Chris Hansen, Peter vanderMeeren, Kurt W, The Gort, Evan B, sssplat, MACLER67, Blaine French, Mauro DiRenzo, Chris B, Nathan Clegg, Roxy Martinez, Ewan Anderson, James Smith, Jennifer Fuller, Michael Poirier, Lance Hall, Aaron Landers, JS, Fyfe Meggs, Lily Chen, Craig Hallstrom, Davi Figueiredo, Ken Machacek, Holger Presch, Joshua Jordan,BSJ Morgan & family, Philippe St-Onge, Michael Lawson, Sid Stafford ,Jason McConville, Shehan Salgado, Josh Herreshoff, R Griffith, Steve Lord, Dragonology, Lewicki Boys, Bronoomsie, Edd Allard, Steven Black, William Jones, Etienne Quah, Tony Hodge, Graham Smallwood, Joseph Stark, PonSquared, Morgan Pelham, Aaron Phillips, louifxii, Jordan Bavis, Gragger, Jacob Purnell, Rob Mossop, Loren Overby, C. Pappathan, Francis Guilbeault, Craig Lallak, Casey Lynn, Kenny Rosenberg, Edward Kasch, Anlai Jiao, Radagast, Robert Fix, Garrick Archer, Kyle Murphy, Shannon Ryke, Jerry Chacon, Marty Devine, John Pachin, Bryan Barnes, Francois Perreault, Matthew Jackson, Maxwell Marquart, Thaddeus Croyle, John McCartney, Jeff Patino, Steve Elliott, Hung-Che Lin, Nathan Lax, Emerson Guitar, Chipmunk, Vincent Bellitto, Ian, Matt Freitas, Trent Boyd, Brian McBarron, Blake Johnson, Commander Shepard, Spyke Alexander, Majack Stark, Dweezil, Christopher Daley, Kris HuperniKao, Tiberius Nazamir, Aldazar, Johnathan Tan, Brent Sturdevant, Jason Brown, Matthias Nagy, Daniel Sandoval, Dale Lewis, Shaun Guth, Tijs & Naath, Nick Stahl, Christopher Buehl, Andrew Parent, Hector Cruz, Michael Zautner, John Mikel, Kevin J Butler, Samuel Spatt, Drew Jeffrey, Miles Matton, Shawn Marier, Bob Cowan, Herb Warren III, David Knepper, Rob The Unimaginative, Mark Tanis, Richard Gray, Jeff King, Glenn Mochon, Kyle Ryan, Vincent Caetto, AshraamCPC, Benjamin Walter, ColdFury, David Gerrard, H. Boyd, Marco Mezzasalma, Chris VonWahlde, Ben Knuchel, Graeme Rigg, Jay Schindler, Brooks Murrell, Steven Rutherford, Susan Davis, Ed Maranville, Irishenzio, kiwidan, Sergio Silvio Gea, Derrick Mason, Kevin Eng, Earl Walters, Wesley Steeves, Brian Sniffen, OriginalDM, XIII, Mike Gasch, Jeff Evans, Paul Mansfield, Murray Khool, James Anderson, Joshua Hoffman, Ricky Dang, Jetsharpe, Will Baker, Garrett Hatfield, Igor Karp, C. Schlichter III, Chris Murphy, Kevin Vasquez, Richard Leiva, C. Holgren, Alyindar, Roberto Bussetti, Peiblit, Brent Fortner, Mike Feldmeier, Leif Olson, John Coyne, Stephane Brochu, Daniel Hurlbut, kae, Rob Macary, Eric Clinton, Kevin Kidwell, Jason Connerley, Brian Rissing, Grunt Dungclaw, Justin Wolford, DragonLance, Gary HO, Bart Mooren, Lee Chen-Hung, Matt Randall, Chad Price, Benjamin Abrams, Raymond Chou, Joseph Propati, Daniel Kredens, Eric Kamphues, KihakuMec, Sean Restall, Dan F, Dominic Robertson, Scott Byrne, Harry White, Brian McDonald, Mark Reeve, Alan Jones, FluidLung, Stefano Rossi, Matthias Weeks, JJ Pearson, Rob Riendeau, A. Shamsi, Unwaz, Bill Valonis, Frank Raskow, Lord Ruffles, Tan Wei Yi Richard Gault, Matthieu Schloesing, Paulo Djordjevic, Don Christianson, bloodyraoul, Steven Sartain, Jens Cedermark, Dmitry Petrov, mark hom, Jordan Leung, Holst, Anders Pedersen, Jonathan Jordan, Mulan, Mark Erhardt, Matthew Soares, Andrew Horton, Melaku, Steven White, Mark Morell, Scott Geisler, Thor Deacon, The AfroDwarf, Josh Simonds, Stefan Loebig, Matt Wang, Brian Creswick, DarrylY, Boss Bragg, Dave Borne, Matt Logan, G. Bridge, Charles Patterson, J. Crisman, Lynden Sherriff, Laurana-Kaellyn, Becky Smith, Jmak-Att, Kai Brner,

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 You

Developing STC has been a long and incredible journey. 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 family for all those early play tests and lastly to God for all the blessings.

Afterthoughts

STC was developed over a 4-year period and went through many different iterations until finally settling 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. Im proud of whats been accomplished and hope you enjoy STC as much as we have. We cant wait to release new expansions to build upon the game by adding new features, units, and factions. Well see you on the battlefield!

CREDITS

Rich Nelson January, 22 2013

Game Design: Rich Nelson Art Direction: Rich Nelson Editing: 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 Nelson Playtesters: 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 located 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!

23

REFERENCE
Turn Order Summary
1. Collect: Players collect 5 gold and magic (if any), draw 1 Power Card, and refresh any Exhausted Cards. 2. Whos the Boss?: Players bid to become the Boss. 3. Turn Order: The Boss draws 2 Turn Order Tokens first and chooses 1. Remaining players then draw Turn Order Tokens to determine the turn order. 4. Lets Buy & Deploy: In turn order, the players may buy Power Cards, units, and/or equipment. Afterwards purchases are deployed in turn order. 5. Reinforcements: The Defenders 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. 6. Players Turn: In turn order, Players resolve Events, may play Power Cards, and activate their units (i.e. Attack, Move, Use any unit abilities). 7. Wrap Up: Check for victory or defeat. Players discard 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.

Strategy Tips

Storm the Castle! is a challenging game, especially when youre not sure what your ally may be planning. Here are some general strategy tips to get you going on the road to victory.

1. Be careful when deploying units on your right and left paths that cant counterattack. Other players may take advantage of this. 2. Your first turn allows you the most gold (10). Use this to buy expensive units. 3. To be successful in the mid and late stages of the game youll need a continuing wave of troops. Have your units constantly moving towards Castle Storm Haven. 4. Take advantage of the Battlefield Locations. Getting these bonuses can really help! Consider taking key Battlefield Locations to deny other players those bonuses. 5. Dont blow all your gold on the Boss during the first few turns. The Boss becomes more of a factor on later turns. Units will win you the game, so buy plenty of them. 6. There are some fun combos to discover. Experiment with different units and Power/Boss cards. 7. Dont allow a player to remain the Boss for more than two turns. Hell start entrenching himself in the position, making it more difficult to remove Heroes him. The Hero is summoned when the 9th/7th/5th/3rd 8. Use ladders! Theyre cheap and allow your units wall is destroyed respectively in a 4/3/2/1-player to start pouring into the castle to threaten the game. Keep. 9. Destroy all the walls on a Castle Side. Remember, Events are nasty and can severely hamper your The Defenders Controller chance to win. Consider working with other playThe current Defenders controller draws and places ers in taking down their walls. units during the Reinforcement phase, resolves Events 10. There are many more secrets and strategies to disand any Event RIP and Castle Building effects, and cover. Trying new tactics and strategies is just one rolls for Battles. of the fun elements of Storm the Castle! The Card will pass clockwise among players after: 1. An Event card is drawn and resolved. 2. A Hero is summoned and does its own Onward March 1. 3. Placing any Defender units during the Reinforcement phase. The Current Player may never have the Card and immediately passes the Card to his left.

24