Cambria
Cambria Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective
The object of Cambria is to surround and capture Roman forts. Place your warrior tokens on the roads connected to forts with the number of your dice roll. If you have placed the majority of the warriors on the connecting roads when it is completely surrounded, you capture the fort and receive the victory points.
Components
- 1 Double-sided Game Board
- 2 Wooden Dice
- 16 Fort Tokens
- 7 Victory Point Tokens
- 25 Colored Warrior Markers (cubes)
- 1 Legion Pawn
Board Layout
The main board depicts Cambria, the Roman name for Wales, and a system of roads leading to fort sites. Each road connects two fort sites. Each fort site is marked with a roman numeral. The roman numeral is equal to the number of roads leading to it. In the sea, there are 5 boats numbered "II", "III", "IV", "V", "VI" as well as the SPQR Legion Eagle standard. On the reverse side is the land to the north, known as Cumbria. The fort sites on this map are in different locations requiring different strategy.
Setup
- Place the Fort tokens on the board. Match the roman numerals depicted on the Fort tokens with the roman numeral on each of the Fort sites.
- Place the Victory Point tokens. Place a "IV" Victory Point token underneath each of the "VI" fort tokens, a "III" Victory Point token under each of the "V" fort tokens, and one "II" Victory Point token under each of the "IV" Fort tokens.
- Each player takes a set of five Warrior Markers in one color. Place the Legion Pawn on the SPQR Eagle Standard in the sea.
- Roll the dice to determine which player goes first. Lowest roll goes first. Play always proceeds clockwise from the start player.
- Each player rolls one die (re-rolling any roll of the Legion symbol), and places one of their Warrior Markers on a road leading to a Fort matching the number on their die.
- Once all players have placed a Warrior Marker, regular turns now begin with the start player.
Gameplay
On your turn you will always roll 2 dice. The results of the dice will tell you whether to place the Legion Pawn or to place one of your Warrior Markers, and where you may place them. Players initially place Warrior Markers from their off-board supply. When all your Warrior Markers are on the board, you may move markers already on the board, either from roads or ships. A warrior removed from a boat can be used for placement immediately. You may decide to pass on your turn and not roll the dice or place Warrior Markers. However, this is rarely advantageous.
Choose one of the numbers rolled and place a warrior marker on an unoccupied road connected to a Fort matching the number rolled.
Example: Mike rolls a III and a V. He chooses to use the V. He then takes one of his Warrior Markers and places it on an unoccupied road that leads to a Fort marked with a "V".
Doubles
If you roll doubles of a number (other than the Legion symbol), you have three options:
- You may place a Warrior Marker on an unoccupied road connected to a Fort matching the number rolled.
- You may replace an opposing player's Warrior Marker that is on a road connected to a Fort matching the number rolled.
- You may replace the Legion Pawn if it is on a road connected to a Fort matching the number rolled.
Example 1: Karen rolls double IV. Kenny has a Warrior Marker on a road connected to a Fort marked with "IV". Karen chooses to remove Kenny's Warrior Marker and replace it with her own.
Example 2: Bobby rolls double II. The Legion Pawn is on a road connected to a Fort marked with "II". Bobby chooses to remove the Legion Pawn and replace it with one of his Warrior Markers.
Displaced warriors are returned to the opponent's supply. The Legion Pawn is returned to the SPQR box if displaced.
Rolling the Legion Symbol
If you roll the Legion symbol and another number, you have two options:
- You may place a Warrior Marker on an unoccupied road connected to a Fort matching the number rolled that is not the Legion symbol.
- You may move the legion. If you move the legion, it must move onto a road connected to a fortress matching the other number that was rolled. If an enemy warrior is on this road it is displaced.
If you roll double Legion symbols, you must move the Legion Pawn. You may move it to any road on the board, displacing any warrior on that road.
After moving the legion, you may place a Warrior Marker on an open boat. You can choose any boat, but a boat may only be occupied by one warrior at a time.
Example: Karen rolls double Legion symbols. She moves the Legion Pawn to a road of her choosing. She then places a Warrior Marker on one of the boats. Displaced warriors are returned to the opponent's supply. The Legion Pawn is returned to the SPQR Eagle Standard.
Using a Boat
If you start your turn with a warrior on a boat, you may substitute one of the numbers you rolled with the number of the boat that you previously put a Warrior Marker on. Remove the warrior from the boat, and place it on a road that connects to a Fort of the same number.
Example: Karen rolls II and VI. On a previous turn she had placed a Warrior Marker on the boat marked "III". Instead of placing a Warrior Marker on a road connected to the Forts marked "II" and "VI", she can place the Warrior Marker from the boat marked "III" and place it on an unoccupied road connected to a Fort marked "III".
Capturing Forts
If at the end of your turn, all the roads leading to a fort are occupied by warriors, the player that occupies more roads than any other single player captures the fort. The capturing player takes the fort token off the board. If the legion pawn is on a road leading to a fort, that fort cannot yet be claimed. If 2 or more players are tied for the most occupied roads, the fort cannot yet be claimed. Whenever a fort marked "IV", "V" or "VI" is captured, the Victory Point Token underneath is given to the single player with the second-most warriors occupying roads leading to that fort. If there are tied second-place players, or the fort is totally surrounded by one player, then the Victory Point Token is removed, and not awarded to any player.
Game End
The game ends at the conclusion of the active player's turn, whenever 6 or fewer fort spaces still have fort tokens on them.
Remove the legion from the board. A player may now claim any Roman fortress remaining on the board if she occupies more of the roads leading to it than any other single player, even though all the roads leading to the fort are not occupied. Tied forts are not claimed. Victory Point Tokens are awarded using the normal criteria.
Scoring
Fort Tokens and Victory Point Tokens are worth the number indicated on the Token. The player with the most victory points is the winner. In the case of a tie, the following tiebreakers apply:
- The tied player with the most tokens wins.
- The tied player who had a turn least recently wins.
2 Player Variant
Use 1 set of Warrior Markers to be a "dummy" player. Each turn, before beginning her own turn, the active player rolls one die and places a "dummy" Warrior Marker on an unoccupied road leading to a fort matching the number rolled.
If there are no unoccupied roads matching the number rolled, then the "dummy" Warrior Marker may be placed on any unoccupied road. If the active player rolls the Legion symbol then the "dummy" Warrior Marker may be placed on any unoccupied road. "Dummy" Warrior Markers must be placed from the off-board supply, until all are on the board; then "dummy" Warrior Markers on the board may be moved.
The "dummy" player never replaces, never moves the legion, and never places on a boat. Fort Tokens cannot be claimed at the end of the "dummy" player's placement, even if a fort is surrounded at that time. Forts are only claimed at the end of the active player's turn. The "dummy" player may claim fort and victory tokens, both during the game and in the endgame at the end of each active player's turn per normal rule. In the unlikely event that the "dummy" player wins the game, the human players should feel shame; however, the highest scoring human player is technically the winner of the game.