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Rules : Part I
(v2.0, 25 jan 2004)

“They would come,” echoed in his mind. Like the rhythmic flow of the tides these words undulated through his every conscious thought. The signs of their coming were being fulfilled daily. A fortnight ago the seagulls had washed up on the beaches, their delicate bodies broken by the chilled water. After an oppressive fog blanketed the shoreline and stretched its tendrils of mist inland the seas were inexplicably calm. The mist diffused the moonlight creating a baleful ambience. The seas were dark, no longer did the light dance upon the breakers. Not a wave crashed upon the rocks.

“They would indeed come,” the words taunted him and tore at his sanity for all reason of his being had long been erased from his conscious. Was it the seduction of gold? Lust for immortality? Sent by king and kinsman? Alas, he could not recall. Something whispered in his mind, calling to him, a sensuous beckon swathed in abhorrence, “When they come we shall be ready…”

***

“Land ho!” has been sounded. Drop anchor. Launch the boats. Many nations have sent their forces to the shores of Briternia. What does Briternia hold for you? Are you going to take up sword and shield to claim Briternia for your kinsmen? Discover the mystery of this land and ascertain the allure that it holds for all.


Overview

(Tentative)
After Tomb King Yami took control of the beastmen city, he ordered the liche priests to move the Casket of Souls to the highest mountain peak. Upon reaching the summit the casket was opened and the horrors that were released wiped out all of the remaining races on the island.

Rumors and stories have returned home that the ancient king moved his forces to the island in the middle of Briternia. He then crowned himself Pharaoh and created a new tomb. The leaders of the various races have sent expeditionary forces to the island to uncover the truth of those rumors.


Setup
The map is divided into "Provinces" of: Plains, Marshland, Forest, and Mountains.  Some provinces contain ruins.

Players select their home province (where their capitol will be located) from a set of predetermined locations. Each player rolls 2d6 dice (re-roll any duplicate numbers). The player with the highest number selects the first home province, and then the player with the next highest number selects a home province. Continue with this process until all the players have selected a home province.

The player with the lowest number then selects 2 provinces that are adjacent to their home province. Then the player with the next lowest number selects 2 adjacent provinces. Continue with this process until all the players have selected a home province.

Each kingdom starts the game with a city (the capitol, which is predetermined on the map) and one army that starts in any of the kingdom's starting provinces. This starting army is exempt from the Armies are created from towns, cities, and capitols rule. Each kingdom also starts with 7,000 gold pieces in their Treasury.

Armies
Each kingdom starts the game with one army and can add (or lose) additional armies as kingdoms grow. Armies are created from towns, cities, and capitols. Keep track of each army.  Each army must have a record of what provinces it has been through in each turn, its characters, items, and army composition.  The army may only be altered if it is in a town, city or capitol, and this action counts as creating/upgrading an army so it will not be able to move the turn this occurs.   Magic Items must remain the same from turn to turn as well, unless they are "swapped out" in a town or city.  This does NOT count as altering or upgrading the army (so it can move that turn) unless it raises the army point value to the next 500 pt level or changes army composition.  The army composition of units must also remain the same unless it is being upgraded or changed in a town, city, or capitol.  All magic items must be available in your armory in order to be equipped into an army.

Kingdoms can always field a minimum of one army (1000 pts) as long as they control at least one province. This is to allow a player who is near death to make quick allies and try to make a come back. If, at the end of a Campaign Turn a kingdom does not control any provinces they utterly annihilated.

Note: The player may come back into the campaign as a pirate force conducting raids against other players. This will depend on how quickly the player was eliminated. More information on this option will come later.

Army Restrictions

The minimum army size is 1000 points and the maximum army size is 2000 points. NO special characters may be used, unless specified by the campaign organizer. Each army may only include up to one character mounted on a monstrous creature.

Armory 

The armory is the magical items, armor, talismans, enchanted items, arcane items, and magic banners that are available to your army. Items used from your armory cannot be duplicated in any of your armies, i.e. your kingdom has only one of that item (only one army can have that item). If the army containing that item is destroyed, your kingdom does not get another one. This does not apply to common magic items.

Monarch

Players may use up to 400 points to create a Monarch and their items. The Monarch will remain in the capitol and may not leave it. The Monarch will follow Armory restrictions for magical items, armor, talismans, enchanted items, and arcane items. The Monarch will also follow the Army Restrictions that the army may only include up to one character mounted on a monstrous creature (includes the capitol garrison army) and no special characters. The Monarch is to be created after the home province and capitols are selected. Once the Monarch is created, they will not change through the course of the campaign. Any points that were not spent in creating the Monarch can be added to the capitol's garrison force. The Monarch is one additional Lord / Hero choice to the normal amount of Lords / Heroes allowed for that army. The Monarch will only take up one Lord / Hero choice in the army organization chart. If the Monarch takes up more then one Lord / Hero choice (requires additional Hero / Special / Core / Rare slots), they will be used accordingly in the garrison / army organization chart. This also applies to any mount they take.

Treasury

The kingdom's treasury is where all the gold is stored. The gold can be used for building towns, cities, to pay for raids, pay for army support, payoff enemies, etc.

Campaign Turn Sequence
Each Campaign Turn is organized in the following phases:

  1. Tally resources
  2. Maintain armies
  3. Create / Upgrade armies
  4. Create town / Upgrade town
  5. Write Orders
  6. Execute Orders
  7. Fight Battles
  8. Aftermath
  9. Raids
  10. End of Turn

1. Tally Resources
Each province gives the kingdom resources points that they may use to support their armies.

These resource points (RP) are as follows:

City (including a Capital):
125 RP / turn
Town:
75 RP / turn
Unbuilt Territory:
20 RP / turn
Razed Territory:
0 RP / turn


2. Maintain Armies

Resources may be spent in the following manner. Any unused resource points are converted to gold pieces and added to your treasury:

Maintain an army of 500 points:
75 RP / turn
Create/Maintain an army of 1,000 points:
100 RP / turn
Create/Maintain an army of 1,500 points: 150 RP / turn
Create/Maintain an army of 2,000 points:
200 RP / turn


3. Create / Upgrade Armies

Newly created or upgraded armies of 1k or 1.5k must start in a town or city.  2k armies must start in a city. To upgrade an army simply pay the RP difference and recreate it at a higher point value. Newly made or upgraded armies may not move the turn they are created or upgraded. They also may not Support other armies. While it is true that the main army may not Move while it is sending Support, the act of Support is considered movement.

Armies can only be created / upgraded after all existing armies are maintained.  If your lands cannot support various armies, they will be disbanded in the field. The army furthest away from your capitol / home province will be disbanded first. If 2 or more armies are the same distance from your capitol / home province then 1 of those armies will be selected to disband (controlling player's choice) until the player's armies can be maintained.

4. Create town / Upgrade town
A player may only make one building action per turn. A building action consists of building a town or upgrading a town to a city. A town can be created for every 3 provinces a kingdom controls. A town can be upgraded for every 6 provinces controlled. To make any build move you must have controlled the province for a full turn and there must not have been any combat in the province this turn. A new town may be built in any of the kingdom's territories that does not already contain a town or city and has not had an enemy army in the province this turn. To build a city, the same conditions apply except that a city must be upgraded from a pre-existing town. To make either build costs 1,000 gold pieces.

5. Write Orders
In each Campaign Turn, armies may be given one of the orders listed below:

    • Raze and Hold

    • Raze and Move

    • Move

    • Fortify

    • Recover

    • Hold

    • Support


Note: Some armies may have special rules for movement. Players should indicate any unusual orders when they write their orders (e.g., when an Orc & Goblin army moves, it may use its special Forced March ability.)


6. Execute Orders
All players move simultaneously and must write complete orders at the beginning of the Campaign Turn. Orders must be submitted and received before the deadline set by the organizer. If the organizer fails to receive orders from a player before the deadline, all of their armies act as though they have received Hold orders. Players should use and fill out the Order Sheet, which can be found in the Appendix.

After all the orders are received, they are then executed in the following order:

  • Raze

  • Move / Support

  • Fortify

  • Recover

  • Hold

The results of these orders are described below.

Raze
An army given the Raze order will burn crops, salt the earth, and ruin the land for kingdoms whom seek to control it. Depending on the army's orders it will either Hold after Razing, or attempt to Move. If the army attempts to Move after Razing, roll a d6. On the result of a 3+, the army may Move as normal after making any Difficult Terrain Tests (see rules under the Move section) or any other special test required. On a result of a 1-2, the Raze order has taken to long to execute and the army may not Move this turn.

Razed provinces may be controlled as normal, but do not generate resource points for that kingdom.

Armies may Raze a province only if they have been given the orders to do so.

Move
You may move an army into a single adjacent province. Armies maybe move into any adjacent province regardless of border size (even corner-to-corner map sections are considered adjacent). If there are no enemy armies in the province, then you may control it.

Some armies have special rules for movement (see Army-Specific Rules). Mountains, rivers and other special terrain features may also restrict movement. Armies may only Move if they have been orders to do so.

Difficult Terrain
Mountains and marshes can impede the movement of armies. When an army attempts to move into a province that contains mountains or marshes, the controlling player must make a Difficult Terrain Test by rolling a d6. A result of a 1 or 2 means that the army is halted and cannot Move; scouts have failed to find a safe passage or route. The army is treated like it has been given the Hold orders instead. The army can attempt to Move again in the next Campaign Turn. The result of a 3+ means the army may Move as normal. Some special rules (discussed later) may apply to movement through Difficult Terrain.

An army does not need to make a Difficult Terrain test if they already own the province.

Don't Pass in the Night
When enemy armies are in adjacent provinces and both receive orders to Move into the enemy's province the Don't Pass in the Night rules apply. To avoid the situation where two armies pass each other and exchanging provinces without conflict, both players roll a d6. The higher scoring player's army may move as normal; the lower scoring player is stationary. The battle takes place in the province occupied by the lower scoring player's army.

An exception to this rule is made when the higher scoring player fails a Difficult Terrain Test and cannot move. In this scenario, the lower scoring player battles in the province occupied by the higher scoring player. If both armies fail Difficult Terrain Tests, then neither army moves and a battle is not fought.

Occupied Province
Each province can only support one army at a time.

Fortify
If an army is given the Fortify order and was not in a battle the previous turn, then it may spend the turn fortifying the province. If an army was given Fortify orders and was in a battle the last turn, it acts as if it were given Hold orders. Armies that are attacked in a fortified province may add 200 points of additional core troops to their army list. In addition, armies in a fortified province may take advantage of Defended Obstacles (see below). It is possible for an army to Fortify a province controlled by an ally. Razed provinces cannot be Fortified unless they have been Recovered first.

All Fortification bonuses are lost when the Fortified army moves away and / or when the control of the province changes. Armies may not Fortify if they are fighting a battle. If an army was given Fortify orders is brought to battle, it acts as if it were given Hold orders. Armies may only Fortify a province if it has been given orders to do so.

Defended Obstacles
When an army is defending a fortified province, generate and place terrain as normal. After all terrain features have been place and deployment zones chosen but before any units are placed, the Defending player may remove any one piece of terrain from anywhere on the table. In addition, the Defending player may roll once (d6) on the Defended Obstacles Table to generate additional terrain features and placed anywhere on the table.

Defended Obstacles Table (d6)
1-2 :
1 piece of defenses ( defenses = 6" wall or hedge)
3-4:
2 piece of defenses
5-6:
3 piece of defenses

Recover
Armies occupying Razed provinces may attempt to Recover them. If an army is given Recover orders and is not brought to battle by an enemy army, roll a d6. On the result of a 4+ the province is Recovered. For each subsequent turn the army attempts to Recover the province, the controlling player may add +1 to the dice roll. A roll of a 1 before modification is always a fail. Once a province Recovers, it contributes resource points and maybe Fortified as normal. Armies may not attempt to Recover a province if they are fighting a battle. Armies may only attempt to Recover a province if they have been given orders to do so.

Hold
An army given Hold orders remains in place and does nothing. When an army has not been given orders during a Campaign Turn, it will Hold by default.

 


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