Arabian Struggle
Arabian Struggle Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Overview
- Goal
- Components
- Setup
- Sequence of Play
- Phase 4 – Overpopulation
- Phase 5 – Nomad Movement
- Phase 6 – Scoring
- Phase 7 – End of Era Cleanup
- Victory Quality Levels
- Annex
- Items to Remember
- Quick Reference
Overview
Arabian Struggle is a card-driven conflict game set in the Arabian Peninsula in the early years of the 20th Century.
Three players each play one Faction seeking to gain power over Arabia: the Hashemites, the Rasheedis and the Saudis.
Each Faction must deal with the other two Factions, along with the considerable interference of two non-player Empires, the Ottomans and the British.
A two player variant uses only the Hashemites and Saudis – the Rasheedis become a non-player element, like the Empires.
2 Player rules are shown in red text.
A game consists of 3 Eras: Pre-War, Great War, Post-War.
Great War = First World War.
Eras comprise up to 6 rounds each, with each Faction taking one turn per round.
2 Players: 7 Rounds.
The game can end early by completing an End-of-Era win victory condition.
Note: An End-of-Era early win is immediate game end.
Goal
Have the most Victory Points (VP) at the end of a 3 Era game.
VP are gained by controlling population, great victories in battle, and in Tribal Conference.
There are two End-of-Era early win victory conditions:
- Key Cities: Control all 4 cities: Ha'il, Riyadh, Makkah, and Madina al-Munawwarah
OR
- Current Score: Your faction has 12 VP
Note: Control of the 4 key cities is the greatest possible victory.
2 Players: 14 VP.
Components
Map – areas contain either a city, a pastoral tribe or open terrain and are defined by dotted lines.
Areas are grouped into 9 NAMED REGIONS to enable certain card effects and for End-of-Era population scoring.
Note: Rub' Al-Khali is not a scoring region – there is no population icon.
Faction pieces – 20 per Faction; one for the Victory Point track, one for Turn Order track; the remainder represent the Faction's influence and power on the map.
Player Controlled Pieces:
- Saudi (all games)
- Hashemite (all games)
- Rasheedi (3-player only)
Empire pieces – Ottomans have 12, British have 8.
Empire Pieces: British, Ottoman.
Nomad pieces – Representing nomadic tribes (5 pieces), these are a part of the population that move around.
Era Marker – 1.
Dice – 3d6: 1 black, 1 green, 1 white.
Card display – Spaces for the draw deck, the discard pile, the removed pile and the Tribal Conference cards.
Note: All pieces are piece count limited.
Cards – 48 cards: 12 cards per Faction, plus 12 neutral.
Card Anatomy
(Heading added by the transcriber; the draft prints no heading above the card diagram.) The card diagram in the rulebook labels these parts:
- Operation Points (OP) – the number in the black circle.
- Eligible Regions – the regions where the card may be played.
- Faction – the Faction the card belongs to (for example SAUDI).
- Title and Event – the card's name and its event text.
- Event Eligible Eras – shown in black along the top (Pre-War, Great War, Post-War).
- Event Duration Indicator – a red corner marker: End-of-Era (red triangle) or End-of-Game (red square).
- Event Duration – the text describing how long the event lasts (for example "FOR THE REST OF THIS ERA").
- Card Number.
- Faction Modifiers and Empire Modifiers – the four numbers under the card icons, one per Faction and one per Empire, used in combat.
The card example printed in the rulebook is card 04, MUBARAK AL SABAH (Kuwait, Eastern Province), with 2 OP and Saudi faction. In the diagram its Pre-War and Great War eras are shown in black and its Post-War era in red. Its event reads: "Remove any Ottoman pieces from Dahran. Add 1 Saudi piece in Kuwait City." Its duration reads: "For the rest of this Era, add +1 to card modifier in any combat in Kuwait."
Modifiers for this card are:
- Faction: Hashemite 0, Rasheedi 1, Saudi 2
- Empire: Ottoman 2, British 1
Setup
Setup (lettered markers refer to the setup diagram on the rulebook's setup page):
- A – Place Faction, Empire and Nomad pieces using the map Key and Region Chart. (In areas, 1 piece per flag.)
- B – Place Turn Order marker.
- C – Place Era Marker on Pre-War.
- Prepare deck & deal cards.
Region Placement chart (piece counts per region, "1 piece per flag" in areas):
| Region (area) | Saudi | Hashemite | Rasheedi | British | Ottoman | Nomad |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trans Jordan | 1 (Great War) | |||||
| Madinah | 3 | |||||
| Najd | 4 | 2 | ||||
| Ar-Riyadh | 3 |
Faction pieces Region Placement – 1 piece per flag.
Start of game (Pre-War Era): Only place 1 British piece in Asir region.
Start of Great War Era: Place 5 British pieces.
3 Players
- Shuffle all cards or use the Historical Game Variant (page 16) or use the Draft Variant (page 17).
- Deal 6 cards to each player.
- Place the deck on card display (D).
2 Players
(Shown in red text in the rulebook.)
- Move all Rasheedi cards (#25–#36) into a separate Rasheedi deck.
- Place these Rasheedi cards on the card display Removed area (E):
- #27 – British Budget cuts
- #34 – Ottoman Alliance
- Shuffle the remaining 10 cards of the Rasheedi deck.
- Deal 3 Rasheedi face up cards near the map for a Rasheedi display (F).
- Place the Rasheedi deck near the Rasheedi display (G). (The printed diagram labels this the "Rasheedi draw deck (7 cards)" and the three face-up cards "3 Randomly drawn Rasheedi cards".)
- Shuffle remaining cards (36).
- Deal 7 cards to each player.
- Place draw deck on card display (D).
Map Key and Turn Order
The map (printed on page 5) shows the Victory Point track, the Turn Order, the Era track and the Tribal Conference box.
- End-of-Era Instant Win Threshold: 14 VP for 2 players; 12 VP for 3 players. (Victory Point track runs 0–16.)
- Turn Order (B):
- 3 Players: 1. Hashemite, 2. Rasheedi, 3. Saudi.
- 2 Players: 1. Hashemite, 2. Saudi.
- Era Marker (C): place on Pre-War. The Era track reads Pre-War, Great War, Post-War.
- Reminders for Reset Pieces (Phase 7, Step 4) are printed beside the Era track.
- Tribal Conference box is printed on the map.
- Rub 'Al-Khali is NOT a scoring Region.
Sequence of Play
Eras
A game spans three eras, comprising these 7 phases in every era:
- Deal cards
- Select turn order
- Action Rounds (up to 6)
- Overpopulation
- Nomad Movement
- Scoring
- End of Era cleanup
2 Players: Up to 7 Action rounds.
Phase 1 – Deal Cards
Deal 6 cards to each player.
Place the remaining cards face down on the draw pile space on the card display.
2 Players: 7 per player.
Start of the Post-War Era and there are less than 19 cards available? Deal each player an equal number of cards. There must always be at least one card left for the draw pile.
Example: With 33 cards (of the 48) removed during the first two eras, players get 4 each (3 x 4 = 12) with 3 to the draw pile.
Phase 2 – Select Turn Order
Pre-War Era: Place Hashemite (1), Rasheedi (2), Saudi (3).
Great War and Post-War Eras: Remove turn order markers from track. The Faction with the lowest score selects their place on the turn order track, then the second lowest selects, then the leader places.
If tied score: Saudi always selects first; Rasheedi always selects last.
2 Players: No Rasheedi piece on the turn order track – Rasheedi events are played as part of the Hashemite or Saudi turns.
Phase 3 – Action Rounds
In turn order, each player selects and plays one card from their hand. All card effects and combats are completed before the next player plays their card.
Phases for each card played include:
- A – Select a card … as Tribal Conference, … as Event, … as Operation Points (OP).
- 2 Players: also A – play a card to execute a Rasheedi event.
- B – Invoke Tribal Conference attempt (each Faction: once per Era), or execute the Event, or execute the Rasheedi Event – 2 Player only, or spend the OP (for recruitment, or movement, or attacking Empire areas).
- C – Combat (all areas where you and opponent exist).
Action rounds for the Era end when all players have no cards remaining in hand.
If the draw pile is empty, shuffle the discard pile to create the new draw pile.
When creating a new draw pile DO NOT shuffle in any Tribal Conference cards – those are still in play until End-of-Era Cleanup.
There is no combat with Empire pieces unless you choose to attack them.
Note: There are 10 Event cards that can add pieces to the Tribal Conference in addition to the Invoke Tribal Conference action.
Helpful: Chart on page 20.
Action Round: Invoke Tribal Conference Attempt
Once per Era, your Faction may play any card to your Tribal Conference space on the card display, to indicate the attempt has been made for this Era.
The event does not trigger, even if it is an opponent's card, and the OP are not used for recruiting, movement, or attacking an Empire area.
Create a 'target' value by adding the card's OP value to your faction's modifier.
Roll 1d6. Rolling the 'target' number or less is a success.
Example: The Saudi player plays a Hashemite 2 OP card with a Saudi modifier of 1, yielding a Saudi target of 3 or less.
If successful, your Faction may place one of their pieces into the Tribal Conference space on the map.
The Tribal Conference piece may be taken from stock or from the map.
Action Round: Execute Event
Events are optional; the player may choose to execute all, part, or none of a played eligible Era Event.
Faction and Empire pieces are piece limited; if no pieces are in stock to place for an Event, then they are simply not placed.
Some Events are playable only during specific Eras indicated by Era eligibility. If played in an Era when the Event is not playable, the card must be spent for the OP or to invoke Tribal Conference (see those sections).
There are 20 Event cards with effects lasting over the entire era or game. Place the card in front of the appropriate player to remind them of the lasting effect. Remove the card once it expires (see next paragraph).
Cards used for Events are removed from the game. Place it on the removed pile on the card display.
Example: Event with text of 'Place 2 pieces', may be read as 'place 0, 1 or 2 pieces'.
Note: A Tribal Conference action is not an Event, so map removal is allowed for its placement.
20 Events are only playable in specific Eras.
End-of-Era (19 cards); End-of-Game (1 card).
Note: Event cards with opposing modifiers cancel each other out.
Out of turn event
If you are the active player and play an opponent's card for OP, the opponent may still trigger the Event if it is Era eligible.
However, as the active player you choose when the opponent's Event may occur – before or after your recruit, or move, or attack Empire action.
The player acting first (Event or OP) executes their turn, including any resulting combat(s). After completion of the first player combat(s), the player acting second executes their turn, including any resulting combat(s).
Any pieces lost due to an Event are returned to stock.
Example: Rasheedi plays Saudi card Traditional Enemies (#06) for the 2 OP. Rasheedi lets Saudi act as first player to execute the Event. Saudi chooses to use the Event, moving some pieces and initiating two combats, which are resolved. Rasheedi then uses the 2 OP to try to counter what the Saudi accomplished.
Action Round: Execute Rasheedi Event (2 Players Only)
(Shown in red text in the rulebook.)
Play any card to the discard pile – the event does not trigger.
Execute the event on a face up Rasheedi card.
You act as if you are Rasheedi until the event, including any combats or retreats, is concluded.
Any pieces lost due this event are returned to stock.
Place the card on the REMOVED pile on the display and do not replace the Rasheedi card.
Note: End-of-Era Cleanup replenishes Rasheedi cards.
Action Round: Spend Operation Points (OP)
A card provides 1–3 Operation Points (OP) that are spent (as a bloc) for:
a. Recruitment, or b. Movement, or c. Attacking Empire pieces.
Action Round: Spend OP → Recruitment
Place your Faction pieces (from stock), up to the OP card value, onto the map in, or adjacent to, areas where your Faction pieces already exist. Pieces may be placed into one area or spread amongst several areas.
Note: Already existing pieces are ones at the start of your turn.
If you have no Faction pieces on the map, your pieces may be placed into any one area in your Faction's home region or into the Rub' Al-Khali area.
Faction home regions: Hashemite – Madinah; Saudi – Ar-Riyadh; Rasheedi – Najd.
Combat is triggered at the end of your turn in all areas containing pieces of an opposing Faction.
Action Round: Spend OP → Movement
Move some of your Faction pieces. How many – up to the OP value of the card plus 1.
Each activated piece has 3 movement points.
Movement along a road expends 1 movement point per area; all other movement expends 2 movement points per area.
Your pieces must stop when entering an area containing one or more opposing Faction pieces; areas containing only Empire pieces do not stop your movement.
Combat is triggered at the end of your turn in all areas containing pieces of an opposing Faction.
Example: A 1 OP card activates 2 pieces for movement (1+1). Both pieces have 3 movement points.
Adding the "Plus 1" to OP value for movement usually is the most forgotten rule in the game!
Note: A card adjusted to 0 OP cannot be used for movement.
Action Round: Spend OP → Attack Empire Pieces
Attack Empire pieces in areas where you exist with them.
The cost is 1 OP per area attacked, regardless of Empire piece quantity in that area.
Each area may be only attacked once.
Note: Attacking Empire pieces is always at player discretion.
Note: An opponent could foil your planned Empire attack by adding faction pieces to an area using an Out of turn Event.
Action Round: Combat
At the end of your turn, combat occurs in every area where your pieces exist with opposing Faction pieces, and in areas you selected to attack Empire pieces.
If the area contains your pieces, opposing Faction pieces and Empire pieces you must attack the opposing Faction pieces and cannot attack the Empire pieces.
You may not attack Nomad pieces.
Combat Resolution
For every combat area, follow this process:
- Count each Faction's/Empire's pieces in the area and add any relevant modifiers from in-effect cards to each appropriate Faction's/Empire's count. This is the combat strength of each Faction/Empire.
- Draw 1 card. Add the faction/Empire modifier from the card to the combat strength of each faction/Empire.
- Highest total wins; the attacker wins ties.
- Inflict losses
- a. Winner: Roll 1d6; on a 5–6 result, lose 1 piece.
- b. Loser:
- i. Lose 1 piece immediately.
- ii. Roll 1d6; on a 4–6 result, lose 1 piece.
- iii. If piece lost on roll, repeat roll 1d6 step.
- c. Lost pieces go back to stock.
- Retreats (some Event cards override below)
- a. If all enemy pieces removed: your pieces stay.
- b. If any enemy piece remains: Attacker must retreat to an adjacent empty or friendly-controlled area. (Areas with only Empire pieces are also considered friendly-controlled.)
- Lose all your pieces if you cannot retreat.
- Great victory: Active player earns 1 VP if:
Note: Empire modifiers are 1–4, making it risky to attack Empire pieces.
Note: Loser continues rolling until 1–3 is rolled, or pieces run out.
Note: A losing attacker with pieces remaining claims the area if the sole winning defender dies due to a Losses roll, but is still not considered the winner of the combat.
Note: Your pieces can retreat to an area that is over supply capacity.
Note: If you have to retreat after winning the combat consider it a "raid."
Note: If Empire piece(s) must retreat (due to a card event) and have multiple retreat options, roll random for area determination.
Example of Movement and Combat
Saudi player plays the Saudi card Shooting Accident (#07), using the 2 OP for movement, allowing 3 Saudi pieces (2+1) to move (3 movement points each).
Shooting Accident (#07), Saudi card, 2 OP: "Remove 1 Rasheedi piece from a region with at least 1 Saudi piece present." Faction modifiers 0 (Hashemite), 1 (Rasheedi), 2 (Saudi), 1 (Ottoman), 2 (British).
Saudi moves 2 pieces from Layla and 1 piece from the Pastoral Tribe into Riyadh, containing 3 Rasheedi pieces.
With movement over, combat begins.
Each side has 3 pieces, and there are no events to modify the combat strength of either side.
The card Stipend (#37) is drawn.
Stipend (#37), Neutral card: "FOR THE REST OF THIS ERA, add 1 OP to each card played by your faction for OP or to Tribal Conference ('target' value)." Faction modifiers 2 (Hashemite), 1 (Rasheedi), 1 (Saudi), 1 (Ottoman), 2 (British).
Saudi adds their +1 Faction Modifier to their 3 piece count for a combat strength of 4.
Rasheedi adds their +1 Faction Modifier to their 3 piece count for a combat strength of 4.
It's a tie… but ties are won by the attacker (Saudi).
Saudi rolls 1d6 for casualties and rolls a 6, losing 1 piece.
Rasheedi immediately loses 1 piece. Rasheedi then rolls 1d6 for casualties and rolls a 4, losing another piece. Rasheedi must roll 1d6 again, this time rolling a 2 and ending the loser casualty rolls.
Only 2 Rasheedi pieces were lost, with 1 piece remaining. Saudi won the battle but must retreat since enemy units are still in the area.
No Great Victory VP awarded, as 1 Rasheedi piece survived.
Note: the example's card-modifier values above are read from the card art on page 12; the draft prints them as icons with numbers.
Phase 4 – Overpopulation
Check each area for overpopulation. Each area has a number showing supply limit (1, 2 or 3 points).
Nomads do not require supply.
Empire pieces have first claim on supply points – one point used per Empire piece.
Any remaining supply points support that many pieces of the existing faction – all excess pieces are removed.
2 Players: Rasheedi pieces are also checked for overpopulation.
3 supply point areas are cities.
Phase 5 – Nomad Movement
Step 1: Move Nomads
Reveal the top card of the draw deck.
Each Faction may move a number of Nomad pieces equal to their Faction modifier on the card to an adjacent area.
Only Nomad may exist in a single area. (Printed wording as in the draft.)
Faction with the highest faction modifier moves Nomad pieces first, then second highest moves, then remaining faction moves.
The same Nomad piece may be moved by different Factions, with a Nomad Raid occurring in each area moved to.
New draw pile needed? See sidebar note by Action Rounds on page 7.
2 Players: Rasheedis don't move Nomads in this phase – ignore Rasheedi modifier.
If tied modifier: Saudi always moves first; Rasheedi always moves last.
Step 2: Nomad Raids
If a Nomad piece enters an area containing Faction pieces, roll 1d6 for a raid. Remove one Faction piece if a 6 is rolled.
Nomads never raid Empire pieces, but Faction pieces are still raided even if Empire is present.
Phase 6 – Scoring
Step 1: Tribal Conference
Award 1 VP to the Faction with the most pieces in the Tribal Conference space. If tied, no VP is awarded.
2 Players: Rasheedis do not gain any VP.
Rasheedi pieces on the map and in Tribal Conference may affect player Faction VP awards.
Step 2: Region Population
Score each of the 9 regions and award 1 VP to the Faction that controls the most population icons and nomad pieces in that region – ties award no VP.
If an Empire controls the most population in that region, no VP is earned.
An Empire controls an area (and any Nomad piece) with at least one piece regardless of the amount of Faction pieces in that area.
Compare the sum of all Faction controlled population icons plus "their" Nomad pieces to determine most population.
A Faction with at least one piece and no Empire pieces controls the population icon and any Nomad piece in that area.
Note: Rub' Al-Khali is not a scoring region – there is no population marker.
If Factions tie for a region's popularity, that region awards no VP.
Phase 7 – End of Era Cleanup
Step 1: Check for End-of-Era Early Win
There are two End-of-Era early win victory conditions:
- Key Cities: Control Ha'il, Riyadh, Makkah, and Madina al-Munawwarah.
OR
- Current Score: Your faction has 12 VP.
Completing either condition ends the game as a win for that Faction.
If the game ended, go to Victory Quality Levels section and use the VP to gauge the strength of the win.
Note: Key cities are titled in red.
Note: Control of all Key Cities is the highest possible victory.
2 Players: 14 VP.
If tied score: Saudi always wins; Rasheedi always loses.
Step 2: Post-War Era Completed?
If no, move to Step 3.
[If yes:] The Faction with the highest score is the winner.
Go to Victory Quality Levels section and use the VP to gauge the strength of the win.
Step 3: Reset Draw Decks
Add the Tribal Conference cards and discard pile cards to the draw pile then shuffle to form the new draw deck.
2 Players: Also remove from game any remaining face up Rasheedi event cards, then deal 3 new ones to Rasheedi display.
Step 4: Reset Pieces
Starting the Great War era:
Add British Empire pieces, one each to the areas marked with a British flag (Baghdad, Hit, Um Qasr, Amman, Yemen).
Remove (out of game) any Ottoman Empire pieces from these areas.
Starting the Post-War era:
Remove all Ottoman pieces.
2 Players: Each player, Saudi first, adds 2 Rasheedi pieces to Rasheedi controlled areas or adjacent empty areas. The pieces may be placed in the same area, or split between two areas, but must not cause the Rasheedi pieces to exceed the area support capacity.
If there are no Rasheedi pieces on the map, place the new pieces into any empty area in Rub' Al-Khali or the Najd region.
Victory Quality Levels
The winner was decided at the End-of-Era cleanup.
How good was the victory?
Good → Petty Sheikdoms
If the VP difference between first and last Faction is 2 or less, then Arabia is weak, disunited and squabbling; the "winner" is the marginally more powerful local sheikh.
Better → Arabian Kingdom
If a Petty Sheikdoms result is avoided, the winner unites the Arabian Peninsula under a monarchy (the historical outcome).
Best → Greater Arab Caliphate
- You conquered all 4 key cities.
OR
- If the difference between the winner and the second place Faction is 3 VP or more.
The dream is achieved – a united Arab Caliphate!
Annex
The Historical Game Variant
Some players, including the designers, may prefer a more "historical" game in which events associated with particular Eras are more likely to be played, but with less variance from game to game.
To play this variant, at start of each Era (game start, and Reset draw decks step) prepare the draw deck as follows:
Sort the available cards into 3 piles:
- Pile 1: Event cards that can be played in this Era
- Pile 2: Event cards for future Eras
- Pile 3: All remaining cards.
Shuffle each of these piles separately.
Stack the draw deck so that future events (Pile 2) are on the bottom, the "remaining cards" (Pile 3) are in the middle, with "this Era" Events (Pile 1) on top.
This ensures that most events that can be played in that Era will be dealt to players.
Available = not removed.
2 Players: Only do 3 passes of 2 cards – the 7th card is not passed.
Do not shuffle Tribal Conference cards until End-of-Era cleanup phase.
Draft Variant
For players concerned about Fate dealing them a handful of opponent Event cards every round, drafting ensures a better chance at a balanced hand.
The draft is to the left for the Pre-War and Post-War Eras; to the right for the Great War Era.
Select 2 cards to keep, placing them face down in front of you. Pass the remaining cards to the other player (see above for direction).
Repeat selecting and passing until you have 6 cards.
Items to Remember
- Opposing Factions will never end a turn in an area together; combat must occur and one Faction is either eliminated or must retreat.
- There is no limit to the number of pieces in an area. You can retreat to an area and be over the supply limit.
- Empire pieces always supplied before Faction pieces.
- Tribal Conference cards are in play until End-of-Era.
Quick Reference
Card Use Chart
| Card Type | Assign to Tribal Conference (once per Era) | Use for OP (no Era limit) | Play Event* (no Era limit) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your Faction or Neutral | YES | or YES | or YES |
| Opponent Faction | YES (Opponent Event does not trigger) | or YES (You use OP) AND YES (Opponent may execute Event*) | |
| Any card (2 Players only) | RASHEEDI EVENT (see below) |
*Eligible Era events only.
RASHEEDI EVENT (2 Players only)
- Discard any card from hand to discard pile. Event DOES NOT trigger, even if opponent Faction.
- Activate any one remaining Rasheedi event in display.
- Add that Rasheedi card to the REMOVED pile.
- DO NOT immediately replenish; replenishment is at End-of-Era.
Action Round Phases
- A – Play a card (see table above).
- B – Invoke Tribal Conference attempt (page 7), or execute the Event (page 8), or execute the Rasheedi Event – 2 Players only (page 9), or spend the OP: for recruitment (page 9), or for movement (page 10), or for attacking Empire pieces (page 10).
- C – Combat (all areas where you and opponent exist) (page 10).
Sequence of Play
- Deal cards (page 6)
- Select turn order (page 6)
- Action Rounds (up to 6) (page 7) (2 Players up to 7)
- Overpopulation (page 13)
- Nomad Movement (page 13)
- Scoring (page 14)
- End-of-Era cleanup (page 15)
- Victory Quality Levels (page 16)