Engagements

An Engagement occurs when a moving Legion enters a Land already occupied by another player's Legion. The Engagement involves only the players owning the two Legions, the characters which these Legions currently contain, and the characters which may be added during Battle, Reinforcements and Summoning Angels).

The Mover is considered the attacker and the other player is the defender. An Engagement ends when at least one of the engaged Legions is completely eliminated by fleeing, concession, agreement, or by Battle.

The Mover selects the order in which all Engagements are to be resolved, and may complete each Engagement before selecting which one will be next. For each Engagement, the two involved players first consider their options by secretly examining the characters in the opposing Legion.

The characters in the two opposing Legions are kept secret from the other players until they are either voluntarily slain as part of an agreement or concession, and turned over to the caretaker, or the Engagement is resolved by Battle, which must be conducted in view of the other players. After this examination, the players determine how they will resolve the Engagement.

The defender may immediately opt to Flee. If the defender flees, his characters are automatically eliminated and the attacker wins with no losses. The attacker receives only half the total value of the eliminated characters (rounding down) add- ed to his score. The attacker cannot flee and a defending Legion containing a Lord cannot flee.

If the defender SUGGESTS an agreement or accepts Battle, he may not then flee. (Note, even if the attacker refuses the suggested agreement, the defender still may not flee).

An agreement to resolve an Engagement must be mutually agreed to by both of the engaged players and must include the elimination of at least one of the engaged Legions. An agreement can include losses to the winning Legion (and even mutual elimination), but it cannot involve characters not present in either Legion.

Agreements may involve promises of later movements or actions by the players, but only that part of the agreement involving the elimination of present characters is binding. Agreements cannot involve the awarding of more or less points than the value of all of the characters to the Legion that is eliminated. If the agreement is for a mutual elimination, NO POINTS ARE AWARDED.

Except when the defender wishes to flee, either player may demand that the Battle be played out. This makes Battle the fall back of any negotiated agreement.

Once the defender declines the option to flee and cannot conclude an agreement, either player has the option at anytime of conceding the Engagement. Only one player can concede, thereby ending the Engagement. The conceding player's Legion is completely eliminated and the victor's Legion suffers no further losses.

The winner of an Engagement by concession receives full value for the loser's characters. A player can concede with any Legion, including his Titan Legion (which eliminates him from the game). Concessions are generally made to speed play, to deny the defender a reinforcement, or to avoid slaying a weak character in a Loaded attacking Legion which could be replaced after the Battle by acquiring an Angel or Mustering.

When an Engagement is decided by the elimination of at least one of the engaged Legions, the point values of the losing Le- region's characters are added to the score of the winning player. If the winner receives enough points, he may be able to add an Angel to the victorious Legion. Creatures eliminated from either Legion are permanently lost.

Lords and Demi-Lords are returned to the caretaker and can be reused. The marker of a Legion that is eliminated is removed from the Masterboard and returned to its owner, who may reuse it. The surviving characters of a winning Legion are returned to the Land on the Masterboard where the Engagement took place, beneath their Legion Marker.

Battle and Battlelands

The battle is the tactical area of the game. It is fought on the Battle- land corresponding to the terrain of the Land where the Engagement has occurred.

Battle is resolved in consecutive turns called Battle Rounds, during which each player conducts an individual Maneuver Phase - he is the "moving player" for this half Battle Round - followed by a Strike Phase which has two separate elements. Regular Striking is where adjacent characters attempt to injure each other. All characters who are adjacent to an enemy character will be able to Strike.

There is also Rangestriking, which takes place during the Strike phase but can ONLY be used by the MOVING player. The battle ends when all of the characters of one (or both) of the engaged Legions are eliminated, or after seven Battle-Rounds, whichever occurs first.

Each Battleland is marked with the name of its terrain. The location of this name/title is placed on the Battleland to correspond with the numbered side of the Land of the Engagement on the Masterboard. This helps players orient the Battleland to match the Masterboard hex.

The characters of the attacking Legion enter the Battleland on the same relative side (which will be four hexes wide) as their Legion entered the Land when moving on the Masterboard.

The defending Legion's characters enter the three hex-wide side opposite that assigned the attacker. The attacker's forces will always enter along a wide side, and the defenders will enter from a narrow side.

Distinction between the opposing forces is based upon the counters' facings; each player should have the bottom of his counters nearest his entry side. Characters from either Legion that do not enter onto the Battleland during each player's first Maneuver Phase are considered eliminated and may not be brought on later. Characters eliminated in this manner count toward the victor's score.

When the Tower Battleland is used, the attacker's entry side is always the lower left side opposite the name-side. The defend- er's forces must be deployed directly within the walled area in lieu of the defender's first Maneuver Phase (they do not enter from the name-side).

Defenders skip their first Maneuver phase, so a battle in a Tower land begins with the Defender deploying inside the walled area and the Attacker then entering the board in the first maneuver phase.

The name-side is considered the defender's entry side for purposes of reinforcement.

The defender always takes his Maneuver Phase first each Battle-Round, except in a Tower Battleland.

When the attacker uses Titan Teleportation to cause an Engagement, he may enter from the four hex wide side of his choice (except when attacking in a Tower Land).

A Turn Record Track is provided at the bottom of every Battle- land. Place the turn marker on the first turn box prior to the first Maneuver Phase. At the beginning of each Maneuver Phase, advance the marker one box. (The Legion Marker of the attacking Legion remains on the Masterboard to mark the location of the Engagement).

If the Battle has not ended before the defender's eighth Maneuver Phase, the remaining characters of the attacker's Legion are eliminated, and whatever is left of the defender's Legion is returned to the Masterboard. This is referred to as a time-loss, and the defender receives no points for the victory (but he does have the benefit of surviving!)

Maneuver Phase

During a Maneuver Phase, the moving player may move the characters of his engaged Legion on the Battleland. He may move as few or as many of his characters as he wishes, as long as he moves his characters one at a time and completes the movement of one character before the next one is moved.

When entering the Battleland during the player's first Maneuver Phase, the first hex a character moves into must lie along the correct side of entry. This hex counts against the character's maximum allowable movement for that phase. Characters cannot be moved off the Battleland.

During a Maneuver Phase, a character may be moved a maximum number of hexes on the Battleland equal to, or less than, that character's Skill factor. Movement may be restricted due to the presence of other friendly characters, enemy characters, and hazards within hexes and along hexsides.

Any two opposing characters occupying adjacent hexes at the start of any Maneuver Phase are considered to be locked in contact with each other (exception: see Cliffs on the Hazards Chart. A character moving through a hex or hexes adjacent to enemy characters is not in contact with them and need not end its move in such hexes.

Certain hazards along a hexside or inside a hex may slow characters attempting to enter those hexes. When crossing or entering such a hazard, the hex moved into counts as two hexes entered.

If a character does not have the movement allowance left to move two hexes, it cannot enter or cross the hazard. A flying character ignores all hazards (except Volcanoes, which only Dragons may enter or cross) until it lands.

If a flying character is slowed by a hazard in a hex in which it chooses to land, landing in that hex counts as moving two hexes. Hazards have no effect on the movement of characters leaving a hex (exception: see Cliffs on the Hazards Chart).

A non-flying character cannot enter a hex that contains another character (even one that is friendly). A flying character may be moved across occupied hexes. A flying character always lands at the end of its move, but may not land on a hazard that forbids its entry, in an occupied hex, or in a hex which it does not have a sufficient movement allowance to enter.

Characters may not straddle hexes, nor may unused movement be carried over to the next Maneuver Phase.

Strike Phases

The combat portion of each turn takes place in two different kinds of "Strike" combat. There is regular Striking and Rangestriking. Only the moving player may use Rangestriking wherever it is applicable and allowed. He may freely intermix Rangestriking with regular Striking.

For ease of play, we recommend the mover complete all his attacks first, followed by the non-mover doing all of his attacks. All combat results are actually simultaneous, so a defending character "killed" by the attacker will still be able to execute any attack it merits.

(A defender killed by Rangestriking, which is not adjacent to any enemy characters, would get no attack this turn and simply be dead!)

Rangestriking

During a Strike Phase, the moving player (only) is entitled to employ Rangestriking; the opposing player may not employ Rangestriking this Strike Phase. A range strike is a special strike representing thrown weapons, spells, breathing fire, etc., which is directed against one specific, nonadjacent enemy character (no carry over to another target is ever allowed).

Only characters with the Bow and Arrow symbol between their Battle-factors have the ability to range strike. Range strikes can- not be made by characters locked in contact with enemy characters.

The number of dice rolled in a range strike is determined by the character's Range-strength, which is equal to one half the character's Power-factor, rounded down. For example, a Dragon with a Power factor of 9 would have a Range-strength of 4, and would throw four dice when resolving a Rangestrike. (see the Range Strike chart)

Rangestrikes may be conducted up to a range of hexes equal to the character's Skill factor, counting the rangestriker's hex, the target's hex, and each intervening hex. (This means that characters with one empty space between them are at "range 3").

Rangestrikes traveling a distance of three hexes strike with the character's normal Skill factor. Rangestrikes at a range of four hexes reduce the attacker's Skill factor by 1.

For example, a Minotaur with a Skill factor of 4 Rangestrikes at a range of four hexes. Because of the long range, the Minotaur's Skill factor is reduced to be 3 (instead of 4) when calculating the Strike-num- ber for the Rangestrike. Rangestrikes may not be conducted at a range greater than four hexes. (To make a point completely clear, units adjacent an enemy character may not Rangestrike.

Units with one space between them and an enemy character are at "range 3". Since 4 hexes is the maximum, units with more than 2 hexes between their character and an enemy character are out of Rangestrike range).

A Rangestrike must trace the most direct path possible from the range striker's hex to the target's hex. The players should imagine a line drawn from the center of the range striker's hex to the center of the target's hex.

The hexes through which this imaginary line passes are the path of the Rangestrike. When this path passes lengthwise along a hexside, it is considered to be passing through one of the two hexes the hexside separates.

The Rangestriking player decides which hex is part of the path. If any of the intervening hexes are blocked, the range strike is not allowed. Rangestrikes are blocked by certain Hazards, and friendly and enemy characters in the paths.

The above diagram shows the possible paths that Rangestrikes must take. When not blocked, a Rangestrike can be targeted to any hex within range by one of the examples above. The arrows approximate trajectories. The numbers count the Rangestrikes' distance. Note that there are two paths to hex E. If either of these is blocked, the Rangestrike must pass through the other to reach E. If both are blocked, the Rangestrike is not allowed.

Rangestriking and normal Striking can be employed by a play- er's characters in any order. All Rangestrikes do not have to be conducted at the same time. They can be conducted first, interspersed with normal Strikes, or saved until all normal Strikes have been conducted.

Lords (Titans, Angels, and Archangels) are immune to Rangestrikes from any character except the Warlock. The range strike of a Warlock is never blocked or affected by the presence of hazards or characters.

Warlocks may Rangestrike four hexes with no reduction in their Skill factor. However, a Warlock's movement and conventional strikes are subject to the normal effects of the presence of hazards and characters. Warlocks cannot Rangestrike when in contact with an opposing character.

Regular Striking

During a Strike Phase, both players attack with all of their characters that began the phase on the Battleland in contact with one or more enemy characters. The moving player resolves the strikes of all of his characters first, and only his characters may employ Rangestriking.

Characters slain during a Strike Phase are not removed from play until the end of that phase, after they have had a chance to strike. Every character that can strike must do so, unless all adjacent enemy characters are already slain.

To strike, a character rolls a number of dice equal to its Power-factor. The Skill factors of the striking and target characters are cross-referenced on the Strike Chart to determine the Strike-number (minimum number needed on each die to hit). Each die roll equal to or greater than the Strike-number is a hit. When a character accumulates hits equal to or greater than its Power-factor, it is slain.

The moving player attacks with his characters first, deciding the order in which they will strike and at which enemy characters. Each character strikes once per Strike-phase. It strikes individually and must complete its attack before the next character strikes. Players may not strike their own characters. When the first player is finished, the opposing player conducts his attacks.

For each character that strikes, the owning player must first specify which enemy character he will strike and then determine the Strike number needed to hit. The Strike-number is found by cross-referencing the Skill factors of the attacking and target character on the Strike Chart, which will reveal a number result.

For example, an Ogre (Skill factor of 2) is striking a Lion (Skill factor of 3). Cross-referencing the Ogre's factor of 2 with the Lion's factor of 3 gives the Strike-number of 5, which is the minimum number needed on the dice of the strike to score points of damage on the Lion.

When the Ogre rolls its strike of six dice (Ogre Power-factor of 6), all results of 5 or 6 will be hits and results of 1-4 will be misses.

The Lion is slain and removed from the game at the end of any Strike Phase in which it reaches the 5 hit limit of its Power-factor. Hazards in either the attacker's or target's hex, or on the hexside between them, may affect the Strike-number and the number of dice the attacker rolls.

Damage that characters take during Battle should be noted with the hit chits provided. Damage accumulates and cannot be repaired during Battle. Damage has no effect on the wounded character's ability to move or strike, even if it has only one hit remaining. Characters that are damaged (but not slain) are automatically healed when the Battle ends. Slain characters are eliminated and cannot be healed.

If a strike scores more points of damage than are needed to slay the target character, the extra points may be carried over to another enemy character (which must also be adjacent to the attacker) provided that the attacker would not have normally needed a higher Strike-number to hit the second character.

No damage can be carried over to a character which would require a higher Strike-number to hit, regardless of whether the numbers on the dice would have been high enough to score damage at that higher Strike-number. For example, an Ogre has the option of striking at either a Lion which already has accumulated three hits or a Centaur which is undamaged.

The Strike- numbers for his two potential targets are 5 for the Lion and 6 for the Centaur. He elects to strike the Lion, needing to roll 5s to hit. Regardless of how many 6s he rolls, the best he can do is give the Lion two more hits and slay it. He cannot cause any damage to the Centaur.

A player may, however, choose to strike at the first character using a Strike-number higher than normally necessary so that any extra points of damage can be carried over to the second larger character. This option must be announced prior to rolling any dice, clearly stating the first target and the optional Strike-number for this strike. You need not declare where extra hits will carry to.

In the above example, the Ogre could decide to count only 6s rolled as hits, and thus if he rolls more than two 6s, the Centaur will be damaged by these additional hits. However, now 5s will not hit the Lion. Carrying over points of damage is optional; the striking player decides whether or not to do so if he can.

Characters may increase their power or skill when striking down across various hazard hexsides (see the Hazards Chart).

Characters employing these benefits may not carry over damage to characters against which the attacker's benefits would not normally have applied. Players wishing to carry over damage, may forego any benefits to their attacks which the hazard allowed.

Characters are removed from the Battleland at the end of the Strike Phase in which they are slain. Each player's slain characters should be stacked off the Battleland near the edge which they entered to facilitate scoring at the end of the Battle.

Slain Lords and Demi-Lords, are not returned to the caretaker's stacks until after an Engagement is resolved. Thus, they are not available to be acquired for points or recruited as a reinforcement, respectively, during an Engagement in which they are slain.

Reinforcements

During Battle, the defender (only) may add a reinforcement to his Legion by mustering a character at the beginning of his fourth Maneuver Phase. To add a reinforcement, the defending Legion must be qualified to muster a Creature or Demi-Lord from the Land of the Engagement.

The reinforcement must move onto the Battleland during that player's fourth Maneuver Phase or it cannot be taken during the Battle. If the defender wins before his fourth Maneuver Phase, he may still muster a character after the Battle, if qualified.

If the defender wins after the fourth Maneuver Phase and has not taken a reinforcement (because either the Legion contained 7 characters at the beginning of the fourth Maneuver Phase or the reinforcement was unable to move onto the Battleland at that time), he may now do so.

Reinforcements enter the Battleland from the defender's side of entry, just as the defender's original characters did during his first Maneuver Phase. Reinforcements that join a Legion after a victorious Battle are placed with the survivors on the Masterboard under the Legion Marker.

A Legion may not muster a reinforcement if it presently contains seven characters (those just slain do not count against the 7). No Legion may receive more than one reinforcement per Battle. Only the defender may receive a reinforcement, but he is not required to do so

If the defender wins the Engagement by an agreement or by the attacker conceding after committing characters to the Bat- tleland, the defender is still entitled to a reinforcement, so long as he is qualified to do so. If the attacker concedes before placing any of his characters on the Battleland, the defender may not muster a reinforcement.

Summoning Angels

Summoning is a type of teleportation where an Angel (or Archangel) is removed from a friendly Legion somewhere on the Masterboard and added to another Legion which is either currently engaged in a Battle or which has just won a Battle.

For the former, the attacker must summon the Angel into a Battle during his first Maneuver Phase after the first Strike Phase in which one or more of the defender's characters are slain.

To summon an Angel, the attacker must have an Angel available in another of his Legions that is not currently involved with an opposing Legion in an unresolved Engagement. An Angel that has already fought in another Legion in a victorious Battle this Engagement Phase may be summoned, and any damage previously taken is healed before the summoning.

An Angel just acquired due to a previous Battle in this Engagement Phase may be summoned. A Legion cannot summon an Angel if it presently contains seven characters (do not count those already slain). Only one Angel can be summoned by a player during his entire Engagement Phase. Only the attacker may summon angels, but he is not required to do so.

A summoned Angel is removed from its original Legion and teleports to the Land of the Engagement, entering the Battle- land from the attacker's side of entry. The summoned Angel will remain with the Legion into which it was teleported (unless summoned elsewhere during a later Game-Turn).

If the attacker wins an Engagement by agreement or by the defender conceding, he may immediately summon an Angel, so long as he has one available and has not summoned one already during the current Engagement Phase. If the defender flees, the attacker may not summon an Angel.

While a Battle is being resolved, the attacker only has the option of summoning an Angel once, and that is during his first Maneuver Phase following the slaying of one or more opposing characters

If the attacker passes up his option to summon, or if he is unable to summon because his Legion presently contains seven characters, the option is lost during that Battle. If the attacker goes on to win, however, he may then summon an Angel after the Battle, within the restrictions mentioned above.

Scoring Battles

The battle ends when at least one of the engaged Legions is completely eliminated by combat or concession.

The Engagement is not fully resolved until the winning player has added any character which he is allowed and which was not taken during the Battle , and until the Battle has been scored. Battles are scored by totaling the value of the characters in the losing Legion and adding this total to the winner's score.

The value of a character is the product of its Battle-factors, calculated by multiplying the Power factor times the Skill factor. For example, a Lion (Power factor 5, Skill factor 3) has a value of 15 (5 x 3 = 15). The score track provided has spaces for 100s, 10s and 1s to record each player's total.

Any Engagement that results in mutual elimination scores nothing for either player. Engagements won by concession or agreement score full points to the winner. An Engagement won because the defender chose to flee scores only half the fleeing Legion's total value (round down any fractions).

A player's cumulative total score will influence the acquisition of Angels and the Power-factor of the player's Titan.

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