Brawling Barons Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Card Overview (Rule page 1)
• Game Setup (Rule page 2)
• The Goal of the Game (Rule page 3)
• The Course of the Game (Rule page 3)
• The Map (Rule page 5)
• The Town (Rule page 6)
• The Wall (Rule page 6)
• Attacks (Rule page 7)
• Royal Aid Cards (Rule page 8)
• Events and Action Cards (Rule page 9)
• Unit Card Effects (Rule pages 10-11)
• Multiplayer (Rule page 12)
• Teamplay Rules (4, 6 or 8 players) (Rule page 12)

Card Overview (Rule page 1)

1. Bonus / Strength
2. Unit name
3. Card cost and health
4. Unit type
5. Upgrade / Effect

(The example card shown is a Peasant: cost/health 1, bonus +1 resource, upgrade cost 4.)

1. The bonuses are the +1 resource bonus (a coin stack) or the +1 card bonus (a card) (see page 3). If it's a military unit it uses a strength value instead.
2. Unit name. When recruiting a new unit it always starts as a "Peasant" or a "Squire".
3. Card cost and health. This value shows how many resources you need to pay for this unit. It is also this unit's health. The more it costs, the more health it has.
4. Unit type. There are three types: Civilians, Military and Buildings.
5. Upgrade / Effect. Upgrade (a number, then an arrow to a rotation arrow) tells you how much it costs to rotate the card so that you get the upgraded unit. The upgraded units have different effects instead (see page 10-11).

Game Setup (Rule page 2)

1. Remove the 5 Royal Aid (green star, see page 8) cards from the deck, and then shuffle it. Place it so that everyone can reach it.
2. Each player draws 5 cards.
3. Reveal 3 cards from the deck and place them face up beside the main deck. These cards are the market.
4. Shuffle all Royal Aid cards back into the deck.
5. Each player chooses any number of his non-peasant cards. All players then reveal them simultaneously. The one who revealed most cards starts the game. If there is a tie: play paper, rock, and scissors to decide who goes first. The turn then proceeds clock-wise. If a player hesitates, that counts as zero cards revealed.

Layout: discard pile, deck, market (3 face-up cards) and each player's hand.

The Goal of the Game (Rule page 3)

The game ends instantly when the last card of the main deck is taken. The player with the most Victory Points (VPs) wins the game. If there is a tie, the tied player next in turn wins; you cannot win ties by ending the game!

Each building is worth 1VP. Each military unit in the King's Army is worth 2 VPs. There is no other way to get VPs.

The Course of the Game (Rule page 3)

Starting with the first player, the players take turns doing 1 action each, going clockwise round the table. The available actions are:

• Gather Resources - You collect 1 resource plus any +1 resource bonuses on your unit cards. To collect resources, move that amount of cards from the top of the main deck to your own resource pile (see page 5). The resource cards are always face down, you don't look at them. One card is one resource.
• Draw Cards - You draw 1 card plus any +1 card bonuses on your units from the main deck to your hand.
• Market - Take 1 of the revealed market cards to your hand. Replace it with the top card of the main deck.
• Recruit - Play as many Peasants and Squires from your hand as you can and want by paying their costs (there are limits to how many units you can have in your town, read more on page 6). To pay, move that amount of cards from your resource pile to the top of the main deck.
• Upgrade - Upgrade (rotate) as many units as you can and want by paying their upgrade costs. You can only upgrade units in your town.
• Move - All your military units may move 1 step (page 5).
• Attack - Use as many military units as you can and want to attack opposing units (see page 7).
• Play an action card (red cards) - Play an action card from your hand, paying for it if it has a cost (event cards of other colors do not take actions to play).

You must always do an available action on your turn. You cannot do an action without effect (as moving no troops, recruiting no units, attack without strength or gather only part of the resources you should have had). In some situations, you can be forced to end the game, because that is your only option. Forcing opponents to end the game can be a good strategy to win ties.

The Map (Rule page 5)

Each player has a resource pile, a town, a wall and the King's Army (illustrated as a layout: the wall above the town, the King's Army to the side, the resource pile at the town's edge).

Each player needs space to place the cards. You need space for a resource pile, a town, a wall and space for your forces in the King's Army. When recruiting new units they are always played at the town, and it's only in the town that you can upgrade units. From there, military units may move to the wall to better defend the town. From the wall, upgraded military units may move to the King's Army. (At the end of the game, each unit in the King's Army is worth 2 VPs.)

There is no way to go back from the King's Army to the wall, or from wall to the town.

The Town (Rule page 6)

Your town only has space for 2 civilian units and 2 military units. To get more space, upgrade Peasants into Farms, Barracks and Inns. Once a Peasant is upgraded into a building, it is no longer a civilian unit, and so you have space for a new Peasant. You can have any number of buildings in your town.

The Wall (Rule page 6)

While there is 1 or more units on a player's wall, no unit in his town may be targeted by attacks. Thus, units in a town can never be attacked in the same action as units on the wall. (Note that action cards (red cards) still may target units inside the town even though the defender has units on his wall.)

Attacks (Rule page 7)

When using an Attack action, you choose any number of military units in your town and on your wall to participate in the attack (units in the King's Army may not participate). Each of them then chooses an opposing target. Several units may attack the same target, and you may play +2 Attack cards at this time. All targets are then simultaneously dealt damage equal to the combined strength of the units targeting it. Damage can then be reduced by Towers and by using Shield cards. If the damage equals or exceeds the unit's health, it is downgraded (rotated to the other side). When a Squire or Peasant is downgraded, it is discarded instead. If it doubles the health, the unit is discarded instead. After the attack has ended All attacking units are downgraded (participating Squires are discarded).

Buildings cannot be downgraded. To destroy a building you must double its health. If you do, it is discarded.

Example: 2 Squires (strength 1 each) and a Knight (strength 8) attack a Smithy (health 5). They deal 10 damage to the building. The defender plays a Shield card, so that 3 damage is prevented. The Smithy remains a Smithy (because buildings can't be downgraded), but both Squires die and the Knight is downgraded.

Royal Aid Cards (Rule page 8)

There are 5 different Royal Aid cards in the deck. Their purpose is to even out the game, aiding the weakest player, who may keep the card in front of him until he wants to discard it to get the bonus (this does not count as an action). If there is more than one player qualifying for the Aid, the card is discarded without effect. When a Royal Aid is drawn, or revealed at the market, it is automatically played, and a new card is drawn from the top of the deck to replace it.

• Goes to the player with the fewest buildings. Bonus: Discard to upgrade a Peasant into a building without paying the cost.
• Goes to the player with the least card production (If tied, the one with the fewest cards in hand). Bonus: Discard to draw 2 cards.
• Goes to the player with the fewest civilians. Bonus: Discard to take a card from the market.
• Goes to the player with fewest military units. Bonus: Use just like a Shield card.
• Goes to the player with the lowest resource production (If tied, the one with the fewest resources). Bonus: Discard to gain 3 resources.

Events and Action Cards (Rule page 9)

+2 Attack: During an attack action, you may play this card. It counts as a participating unit with strength 2, and is discarded after the attack. You may start an attack action using only this card.

Shield: You may play it when damage is being dealt to any of your units. Prevent up to 3 damage. Opponents may not play any +2 attack cards after you have played this card.

The Bomb: Use an action and pay 6 resources to play this card. You may bomb (discard) any card in play, including Royal Aid cards and enemy units in the King's Army.

Extra Action: Play during your turn to allow a second action this turn. You may only play one Extra Action per turn.

Flip Unit: Use an action to play this card. You may upgrade or downgrade any civilian or military unit without paying any resources. It may not become a building and units in the King's Army cannot be downgraded.

Military Action: Play during your turn and choose 1 of your military units. You may either upgrade it, paying the costs as usual, move it 1 step, or attack with it. If attacking this way, you may not play any +2 Attack cards.

Prison: Pay 5 resources and use an action to play this card. Discard any opposing military unit (you may not discard units in the King's Army).

Unit Card Effects (Rule pages 10-11)

• Upgrade cost: The cost varies.
• (Archers) +4 strength when attacking civilians or military units.
• (Catapults) +6 strength when attacking buildings.
• (Horsemen) On your turn, this unit may move 1 step without using any action.
• (Sheriff) When attacking a military unit, that unit is discarded. Since no damage is dealt, Shield cards cannot prevent this.
• (Farm/Inn) Gives space in the town for an extra civilian unit.
• (Barracks/Inn) Gives space in the town for extra military units.
• (Courthouse) Use an action and pay 3 resources to downgrade an opposing military unit (except in the King's Army).
• (Tower) All damage dealt to buildings in your town is reduced by 3.
• (Smithy) You pay 1 resource less for each military unit you upgrade.
• (Market) You may use an action and pay 2 resources to draw 3 cards OR you may use an and discard 1 card to gain 4 resources.

Multiplayer (Rule page 12)

Brawling Barons can be played by any number of players. For each 2 players, we suggest using another deck of cards, even though it is possible to play 3 (or even 4) players with only 1 deck. Due to the rapid changes in the main deck when players gather resources, the game length becomes very unpredictable when too many players share few cards.

Teamplay Rules (4, 6 or 8 players) (Rule page 12)

Players form 2 teams. Each player has his own resource pile, town, wall and plays with his own cards. When the game ends, the team's Victory Points are the sum of all its player's VPs. When Royal Aid cards are revealed, you compare the entire team to the other. The team that gets the Aid, chooses one of its player to receive it. There is also a new action; the Transfer action. You can give resources, cards from your hand, units in the town and on the wall to your teammates by paying 1 resource for each card you want to transfer.

Example: A player may pay 4 resources to move 2 Peasants to the other town and give him 2 cards.