Battleground: Crossbows & Catapults
Battleground: Crossbows & Catapults Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
Orc Contents: Castle, Flags, Bricks, Cannon, Power Disks, Catapult, Orcs, Firing Disks, Crossbow, Hero.
Knight Contents: Castle, Flags, Bricks, Cannon, Power Disks, Catapult, Knights, Firing Disks, Crossbow, Hero.
Each army's Castle includes a working balcony and a spring-loaded gate. Firing Disks are the ammunition flicked from the catapults, cannons, and crossbows. Power Disks are placed under a warrior or hero to grant that figure an extra life.
Set Up Rules
- Flip a coin (or a disk) to see which army you will lead into battle, Orcs or Knights.
- Set up your Battleground area approx 1m / 39" by 1.8m / 71" (or smaller/larger depending on your skill).
- Set up your army — including castle, bricks, and weapons — at opposite ends of the battleground. Your army must be contained within 40cm / 15" from either end. Note: weapons must not be placed in front of the castle gate.
- Position your warriors/hero and flags within your camp following these rules: a. To use a weapon, a warrior/hero must be within 5cm. Figures must be placed to the front and side of the weapon. b. Warrior/hero and flags cannot be placed behind weapons or buildings. c. To use the castle catapult, a figure must be placed on the castle balcony.
- You can place one or more Power Disks under any of your warriors/hero to give them extra lives. When your warrior/hero is knocked over you may bring it back to life after removing 1 Power Disk.
Game Rules
- Orcs always attack first.
- Players take turns and are allowed 2 ACTIONS per TURN. An ACTION can be any of the following: a. Fire a round of ammunition from a weapon. b. Move a warrior 15cm / 6". c. Move a weapon 15cm / 6". d. Move the hero 30cm / 12".
- In order to fire from a weapon, you must have at least 1 warrior within 5cm of that weapon.
- If you knock down all the opponent's flags, you can bring one of your warriors back to life. Your opponent must then stand all their flags back up and miss their turn.
- Knocking down 3 enemy flags in 1 ACTION allows you to bring 2 warriors back to life or take an extra TURN.
- If the hero is knocked over before all other warriors are taken out of play, then the hero figure must be stood up again and the defender loses an ACTION on their next TURN.
- No weapon can be used twice in the same TURN.
- Once the castle gate is activated, the castle catapult cannot be used.
- Warriors, flags, and bricks that have been upturned or flipped onto their sides must be removed from the battleground.
- If a warrior/hero is bumped but not knocked over, then he can be moved back to his original position.
- If a warrior/hero with a Power Disk is knocked over, then the Power Disk must be removed and the figure brought back to life.
- Battle debris will sometimes get in the way of your shot. You cannot move this by hand — it must be shot away.
Winning the Game
The winner is the player who is the first to knock over all the opposing warriors and finally the hero.
Product & Elastic Assembly
Follow the diagrams printed on the back of the rules sheet for assembly of the castle and for elastic placement — elastics should only be assembled as shown there.
- Castle Assembly: slide the top section of the castle forward into its slots.
- Castle Gate Elastic: an elastic is strung across the gate mechanism so that the gate slams shut when triggered.
- Castle Catapult Elastic: an elastic is strung across the castle's catapult arm to power its throw.
- Catapult Elastic: an elastic is strung across the catapult's frame to power its throw.
- Cannon Elastic: an elastic is looped around the cannon's firing pin to power its shot.
- Crossbow Elastic: an elastic is strung across the crossbow's bow arms to power its bolt.
Product and colors may vary. Retain this information for future reference, remove all packaging material before giving the game to children, and do not use projectiles other than those provided with the toy. Do not launch projectiles at people or animals.
Rules Clarifications (Official FAQ)
The following rulings are drawn from the publisher's own FAQ, which answered player questions about the base War Chest rules above.
- Debris: debris refers to any bricks or flags that have been shifted out of position without being overturned — it is left in place and can only be cleared by shooting it away.
- Collecting ammunition: ammunition is unlimited. You may collect your fired disks at the end of each turn, or once you run out of disks to fire.
- Reviving a Power Disk figure: if you knock down a hero or warrior that has a Power Disk, remove the Power Disk and stand the figure back up anywhere in its owner's camp — no action is lost, and there's no need to place another Power Disk under it afterward.
- Moving the hero: the hero can be placed anywhere in its owner's camp, including out of the castle, and may fire weapons like any other warrior.
- Killing the hero: you must knock down all of a player's other warriors before the hero can be knocked down for good. If the hero falls early, it is stood back up and its side loses one action on its next turn — heroes are always the last figures standing, so they're always the last to fall.
- Attacking: the only way to attack is by firing disks from your weapons — warriors and heroes cannot attack each other directly, and moving a warrior into the opponent's camp does nothing on its own.
- Rounds of ammunition per weapon: firing counts as one action regardless of how many disks the weapon throws at once. The Catapult, Castle Catapult, Cannon, and Crossbow fire one disk each. The Twin Crossbow, Trebuchet, and Gatling Gun fire two disks. The Triple Catapult fires three disks.
- Armory Pack weapons: all Armory Pack weapons except the Battering Ram cost 1 action to fire a round of ammunition. The Battering Ram may only be used twice in a game, and each use costs 2 actions.
- Aiming: you may rotate a weapon — including the Castle — from side to side to aim before firing, without that rotation counting as an action.
- Hit weapons: a weapon that is hit is still active; weapons are not destroyed or disabled by being struck.
- Moving weapons: weapons cannot be moved into the opponent's camp, with one exception — the Battering Ram. The Battering Ram must start its turn in its owner's camp; if fired successfully it ends up in the opponent's camp, and it is picked up and returned anywhere in its owner's camp once the turn is over.
- The castle gate: the gate is activated (knocked down) by hitting it with a firing disk, a Battering Ram, or a mortar ball. Once knocked down, the castle is not removed from play the way bricks are, but the warrior manning the castle balcony is knocked over and removed (unless it has a Power Disk, in which case it may be revived elsewhere on the field). A warrior/hero may move between the castle tower and the ground only while the gate has not yet been activated, and another warrior may take over manning the castle balcony as long as the gate has not been activated.