Cloudspire Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Factions of Ankar
• Components
• Playing Cloudspire
• Objective
• Set-up
  • Create Your Island
  • Create the Market
  • The Rest
• The Basics
  • Terrain
  • Source Wells
  • Fortresses
    • Fortress Gate
    • Fortress Advancements
  • Spires
  • Minions
  • Heroes
• Sequence of Play
  • Event Phase
  • Income Phase
  • Market Phase
  • Build Phase
  • Prep Phase
    • Selecting Minions
    • Selecting Heroes
  • Onslaught Phase
    • 1. Start of Turn
    • 2. Movement
    • 3. Spires Fire
    • 4. Exploration
    • 5. Attack
• Winning the Game
• End of Onslaught Phase and End of Wave
• Gameplay Walkthrough Notes
• Other Modes of Play
  • Playing a 3- or 4-Player Game
  • Modifications to the Game
  • Team Play (2 vs. 2)
  • Solo and Co-Op
  • Endless Mode
• Credits
• Quick Reference
  • Wave Sequence
  • Source and CP per Wave
  • Heroes vs. Minions
  • Spire Limits and Market Options by Player Count
  • Upgrades

Factions of Ankar

Brawnen (Gray, Bones). The brawnen are an industrious, ambitious race of giants. The only thing outstripping their desire for additional supplies of Source is the rate at which they're burning through what they already have. A race with a martial history dating back to their defeat of their island's dominant predator species, the brawnen put their all into every battle, led by their unpredictable, destructive forsaken units – oversized brawnen whose enhanced fighting abilities correlate to their reduced intelligence.

Grovetenders (Green, Vines). The grovetenders were once an introverted, serene race, cousin to plant life and possibly created by the Source itself. Though grovetenders count culture, harmony and peace among their greatest values, they have been forced into The Joining War after several attacks on their home island of Rapport made it clear that neutrality is not an option. While fighting is not their first nature, the grovetenders' creative minds and ability to shape fearsome constructs from surrounding plant life make them a formidable foe on the battlefield.

Heirs (Purple, Feathers). The heirs believe controlling all of Ankar's islands is their birthright. The bird-like race holds itself to a strict caste system, but every heir keeps one principle close to their heart: the lowest heir is still superior to any other being. Lacking the strength of their opponents, the heirs have compensated with intensive training and quick-strike tactics. They also make the most of their aerial advantage, with elite flying squadrons dispatching terror from above.

Narora (Blue, Electricity). The narora believe controlling the Source is their calling. Even before the Joining, the narora were eyed askance by the other nation-states due to their fanatical ways. While grovetenders respect the Source and honor its power in their day-to-day lives, the narora worship it, bathe in it, consume it and ultimately wish to become one with it – leading to their appearance as mildly unstable lifeforms with a glow that matches the purest pools of Source energy. Core to their reverence of Source is a belief that other races are using the energy heretically, and the narora seek control over the islands in order to dictate a "pure" Source consumption amongst all peoples.

Components

• 8 Neoprene Isles
• 8 Neoprene Earthscapes
• 4 Neoprene Faction Fortresses
• 18 Attack Upgrade Chips
• 14 Range Upgrade Chips
• 12 Fortification Upgrade Chips
• 60 Faction Unit Chips
• 32 Faction Spire Chips
• 12 Faction Dice
• 4 Source Tracker Chips
• 69 Health Chips
• 4 Gate Health Tracker Chips
• 19 Landmark Chips
• 4 Faction Mark Chips
• 20 Market Chips
• 29 Event Cards
• 15 Relic Cards
• 1 D6
• 6 Spire Attack Dice
• 1 Co-Op Scenario Book
• 1 Solo Scenario Book
• 50 Fortress Advancement Pegs and 1 Container
• 4 Chip Trays
• 4 Barracks Chip Organizers
• 1 Dice Tray
• 5 Reference Sheets

Having trouble getting everything back into the box? Visit the Cloudspire section at chiptheorygames.com/support for detailed instructions on how to store your Cloudspire collection.

Playing Cloudspire

Cloudspire is a 1-4 player competitive, cooperative, and solo board game. The main rules discuss the competitive mode of the game and also provide the basis for solo and cooperative modes. Additional details on the rules for those modes can be found in the solo and cooperative scenario books.

We recommend that new players learn Cloudspire through a standard 2-player game, using the colored sidebars as a walkthrough. These portions will walk you through the first wave of your first game and introduce you to the main concepts of Cloudspire. More detailed topics and rules are included in the Rules Reference.

After your first game, you can still refer to the set-up and sequence of play portions of the rulebook while ignoring the walkthrough sidebars. The set-up and sequence of play portions of the rulebook assume you are playing a 2-player competitive game. See the Other Modes of Play section for the differences in 3- or 4-player competitive games.

Cloudspire is a game with many talents, effects, and abilities coming into play that often conflict with the rules found in this rulebook. Wherever that occurs, text found on a card, reference sheet, or scenario takes precedence over the rules presented in this book.

We consider this rulebook to be a living document and may continue to update it as necessary. The latest version can be found at chiptheorygames.com/support.

Objective

In Cloudspire, you will advance your fortress, build spires, hire mercenary forces, and send minions and heroes barreling toward opposing fortresses. Your goal is to defeat your opponents' fortress gates while protecting your own. At the end of the game, the faction with the most powerful fortress will be declared the winner!

Set-up

Randomly determine a first player. Starting with this player and continuing clockwise, each player should select a faction to play and take the reference sheet, fortress, dice, and chips of that faction. They should also take a barracks, a gate health tracker chip, and a Source tracker chip. Factions not being played can be returned to the box.

Each player should prepare their barracks. The silver spires belong in the back 2 slots, the bronze minions in the middle 6 slots, and the gold heroes in the front 3 slots. Place same spires and minions in the same slot with the non-starred side faceup. It is helpful to arrange units according to their CP cost. Your faction's mark chip should be placed to the side of your barracks for now.

Create Your Island

Place the center isle in the middle of your play area. This is the isle with the small "1" printed on it.

Shuffle the 7 remaining isles, and place 6 facedown surrounding the center isle, as shown. Return the unused isle to the box.

The second player selects one facedown isle, reveals it, rotates it to choose its orientation, and sets it back in the same place faceup. All isles must be oriented so that a path hex on the revealed isle is adjacent to a path hex on the center isle.

That player then attaches their fortress to the isle they revealed so that the following is true:

• The fortress gate hex is adjacent to a path hex.
• The fortress gate hex is touching the isle on all three sides.
• The fortress does not overlap with any other neoprene.

Note that the fortress gate (protruding piece) touches the adjacent hex group on all 3 sides, at least one of which must be adjacent to path. The edge of the fortress may touch another hex group, but may not overlap.

The first player then does the same with any facedown isle not adjacent to the one already flipped.

After both fortresses are attached, the second player then flips any other facedown isle, again orienting it so that path on the flipped isle is adjacent to path on the center isle. Players continue taking turns flipping and orienting the remaining isles until all are revealed.

Each player should place their gate health tracker chip in the right-most chip cutout on their fortress, with the side that counts from 1 to 10 faceup and set to 10. Players should place their Source tracker chip in the left-most chip cutout with the side that counts from 0 to 20 faceup and set to 0. Place your faction's reference sheet, barracks, and faction dice in front of you.

Landmarks. Find the white landmark chips. Return the ancient traxxyr to the box, but keep it accessible, as you may need it during gameplay. Keeping all landmarks facedown, choose and place a random swamp landmark on the Source well closest to each fortress gate (if two are equally close, the player controlling that fortress may choose).

Mix the remaining landmarks together and randomly place one on each remaining Source well on the isles.

Unused landmarks should be placed to the side of your play area as the landmark stack. These landmarks will not be added into play unless specifically called for. Leave space for a landmark discard.

The landmark chip backs include Ruins, Temple, Swamp, and Ancient Traxxyr.

Create the Market

Shuffle all market chips and create a facedown market stack. Beside this stack, flip faceup an amount of chips equal to the number of players +1.

Mix together all earthscapes facedown and create a stack near the market chips. Flip the top earthscape on the stack faceup. The faceup market chips and the topmost earthscape, collectively, are your market. Leave space nearby for a market chip discard and an earthscape discard.

The Rest

Shuffle the event and relic decks separately. Place the event deck in front of the first player. This will act as your first player marker for the game. Place the relic deck near the play area, leaving room for a discard pile for both decks.

Use the provided chip trays to create stacks of attack, range, and fortification upgrades, as well as health chips.

Place the fortress advancement pegs, spire attack dice, the D6, and Landmark and Market Talents reference sheet within reach of all players.

The Basics

To understand how to play Cloudspire, you must first understand some basic aspects of the game.

Terrain

Isles are the large hex groups placed at the start of the game, making up the world of Ankar. Each isle contains a number of different hexes with a terrain type, which can include path, plains, forest, mountains, and water. Hexes sharing a side are considered adjacent to each other.

Terrain types are tiered, and the terrain allowance icon on heroes and some minions indicates the most difficult type of terrain they are able to traverse. Units may travel on any hexes of this terrain type, as well as any hexes with terrain types of lower difficulty. Minions that do not have a terrain allowance icon can only move on path hexes.

Source Wells

Source wells are the glowing blue features found on some hexes. They are where landmarks are placed during set-up and where spires can be constructed. Units can move through or end their movement on a Source well, provided the Source well is on a valid terrain type for that unit. Source wells must be visible – a hex with a unit, spire, landmark, or other chip covering its Source well is not considered a Source well for game effects.

Any game effect referring to a "non-path hex" cannot occur on a Source well.

There is 1 Source well on the center isle (isle #1) and 2 Source wells on each other isle.

Fortresses

Your fortress is your faction's home base. It contains your fortress gate, your supply of Source, and all of your fortress advancement structures. Most fortresses also contain 2 Source wells, on which the faction controlling the fortress may construct spires.

Fortress Gate

The fortress gate is the foremost hex in your fortress and what you must protect from your opponents.

During the Prep Phase, your units selected for deployment are placed here. During the Onslaught Phase, opposing units may target your fortress gate with their attacks, but they cannot enter your fortress gate.

Your gate health tracker starts the game at 10 health. When an opposing unit attacks your fortress gate, reduce your gate health tracker by the amount of damage that is received. Fortress gates retaliate when attacked by units. This retaliation deals 1 damage to the attacking unit any number of hexes away. This damage is dealt even if the gate is defeated.

Fortress Advancements

Fortress advancements allow you to improve your faction in significant ways and also count towards your fortress power at the end of the game. Each faction's fortress advancements are unique, and each advancement falls within a progressive fortress structure. A structure's level 1 advancement must be purchased before you are able to purchase the level 2 advancement of that structure and so forth. Place a peg in the hole beside an advancement to indicate that it has been purchased. Your faction's reference sheet provides details on the abilities granted by each fortress advancement.

Spires

Each faction generally has 4 spire types unique to them. Spires are stationary structures that can be constructed on Source wells within your influence. You have influence over a hex if it is on a hex group that is adjacent to your fortress gate, already contains a spire controlled by you, or is adjacent to a hex group containing a spire controlled by you. You also have influence over your fortress Source wells. Your spires attack as part of the "Spires Fire" stage of your opponents' turn during the Onslaught Phase. Each of your spires will attack 1 of the current opposing player's units within range, if possible. For each spire that is firing, roll attack dice equal to its attack stat and deal the rolled amount in damage to the targeted opposing unit in range of the spire.

Spires are constructed with the starting upgrades shown on their chip. You can arrange the starting upgrades in any order when you construct it, but the order may not be changed later. Upgrades can be purchased by paying Source to upgrade your spire and adding an upgrade to the bottom of the spire's upgrade stack. The bottom upgrade on the spire is removed when the spire is dealt at least 1 damage. Upgrade chips on spires therefore represent the spire's health as well as its stats. When a spire loses its last upgrade, it is defeated.

The elements of a spire chip are: 1. Silver Border (denotes that this chip is a spire). 2. Spire Name. 3. Starting Upgrades (the stats that tell you the upgrades this spire starts with when it is constructed). 4. Source Cost (the amount of Source a faction must spend to construct this spire). 5. Upgrade Capacity (when upgrading this spire, players may not add upgrades that would exceed this capacity). 6. Talent(s) (the special abilities this spire has; see the relevant reference sheet for further explanation of talents). 7. Source Reward (the amount of Source granted to the opposing faction that defeats this spire). 8. Promoted Icon (indicates that this is a promoted spire; these spires can only be constructed once a specific fortress advancement is purchased as outlined on the faction's reference sheet).

A spire's range determines the maximum number of hexes away that it can attack. A spire has a base range of 1, and each range upgrade on it increases its range by 1. A spire with 2 range upgrades, for example, can attack units up to 3 hexes away. A spire's range can count through occupied hexes, but it cannot count through sky, which is any area that does not contain neoprene.

A spire's attack determines how many spire attack dice it rolls when it attacks. A spire has a base attack of 0, and each attack upgrade on it increases its attack by 1.

A fortification upgrade only provides a benefit to its spire if it is the spire's bottom upgrade. When a spire has a fortification as its bottom upgrade, at least 2 damage must be dealt to it, instead of just 1 damage, for the fortification upgrade to be removed.

Each faction can have a maximum of 6 spires in play at a time. This spire limit cannot be exceeded for any reason.

Minions

Each faction typically has 12 minions specific to them. Minions look a lot like heroes, but they act differently.

The elements of a minion chip are: 1. Bronze Border (denotes that this chip is a minion). 2. Minion Name. 3. Health Stat (the number of health chips this minion starts with and the maximum amount of health it can have). 4. Attack Stat (the amount of damage this minion deals when it attacks and retaliates). 5. Movement Stat (the number of hexes this minion must move on its turn if possible, while making progress towards its mark). 6. Talent(s) (the special abilities this minion has; see the relevant reference sheet). 7. CP Cost (the amount of Command Points (CP) you must spend to select this minion from your barracks for deployment). 8. Source Reward (the amount of Source granted to the opposing faction that defeats this minion). 9. Terrain Allowance (the highest level of terrain this minion can move on; if there is no icon here, this minion can only move on path hexes). 10. Promoted Icon (indicates that this is the promoted side of this minion; the side without this icon is its basic side).

Minions, in general, must always use their full movement stat to make progress towards their mark. If they cannot do so, they will use as much of their movement as possible to make progress towards their mark. A minion makes progress if it ends its movement closer to its mark than where it started. How close a minion is to its mark is measured by counting the amount of hexes between the minion and its mark using the shortest route possible. Its route includes hexes that fall within its terrain allowance, whether or not they are occupied by faction units (but not including hexes occupied by spires or landmarks). Minions may displace friendly heroes, swapping positions with them, while moving. Any other unit may block them, which may prevent them from using their full movement until that unit moves out of the way or is defeated. If a minion cannot make progress with its movement, it may make a lateral move.

Your minions must attack on your turn if they are able to do so. Each minion may only attack once per turn, dealing damage to an adjacent opposing unit, spire, or fortress gate equal to the minion's attack stat. The first time each turn that a minion is attacked by an adjacent opposing unit and is not defeated, it retaliates by dealing damage equal to its attack stat.

When minions are selected for deployment, they can optionally be grouped. Minions are grouped by stacking some minions under others, between the top minion's chip and its health chips. Minions that are grouped move and act as one unit, using the stats and talents of the topmost minion. The minions grouped underneath are inactive. When the minion on top of them is defeated, the next minion in the group becomes the active minion. Minions that are grouped must be ordered within the group from lowest movement stat to highest.

Minions do not level up and in general do not get upgrades. Most minions can be promoted, and how this happens is outlined on their faction's reference sheet.

Heroes

Each faction has 3 heroes specific to them. Between the two types of units (heroes and minions), you have much more autonomy over your heroes. Once your heroes have left your fortress, you can use as much or as little of their movement as you would like, and they can move in any direction. If a hero can attack, you choose whether or not it does so. Each hero may only attack once per turn, dealing damage to an adjacent opposing unit, spire, or fortress gate equal to the hero's attack stat. The first time each turn that a hero is attacked by an adjacent opposing unit and is not defeated, it retaliates by dealing damage equal to its attack stat.

The elements of a hero chip are: 1. Gold Border (denotes that this chip is a hero). 2. Hero Name. 3. Health Stat (the number of health chips this hero starts with and the maximum amount of health it can have). 4. Attack Stat (the amount of damage this hero deals when it attacks and retaliates). 5. Movement Stat (the maximum number of hexes this hero can move in a turn). 6. Upgrade Capacity (the maximum number of upgrades this hero can have). 7. Talent(s) (the special abilities this hero has; see the relevant reference sheet). 8. CP Cost (the amount of Command Points (CP) you must spend to select this hero from your barracks for deployment). 9. Source Reward (the amount of Source granted to the opposing faction that defeats this hero). 10. Terrain Allowance (the highest level of terrain this hero can move on). 11. Promoted Icon (indicates that this is the promoted side of this hero; the side without this icon is its basic side).

You also have the option to level up your heroes when they defeat an opposing unit, spire, or fortress gate. If a hero is not at its upgrade capacity, a level up will entail the hero gaining an upgrade of your choice. If a hero is on its basic side and at its upgrade capacity, it can level up by flipping to its promoted side. When it does so, it loses all of its current upgrades, but it gains health equal to the difference in health stats from its basic side to its promoted side, if any. If a hero is at its upgrade capacity on its promoted side, it cannot level up any further.

Upgrade chips on heroes work a bit differently than on spires. An attack upgrade increases the hero's attack stat by 1, adding to its printed attack stat. A fortification upgrade acts as defense. This upgrade is removed from the hero in place of the next health chip that would be removed from it. Note that unlike spires, it only takes 1 damage to remove a fortification upgrade from a hero, and additional damage dealt removes health chips from the hero. Range upgrades can only be added to units with the # Range talent, and each range upgrade increases the # on its Range by 1.

When a hero is defeated, it is removed from the game.

Sequence of Play

Event Phase

In the Event Phase, you will reveal an event that will help shape the upcoming wave.

Note: The Event Phase is skipped in Wave 1.

The first player draws and reads the top card on the event deck. Events supersede any other game rules or effects. The event card will indicate in which phase(s) its effect will trigger. If it says "Event Phase," it will trigger immediately.

Place the event card faceup near the play area. It may be referenced by players throughout the wave as needed.

Income Phase

In the Income Phase, you will increase your Source supply as you prepare to construct and make purchases.

All players gain Source as detailed below:

Wave 1	Wave 2	Wave 3	Wave 4
Gain 5 Source	Gain 7 Source	Gain 9 Source	Gain 11 Source

Increase your Source tracker by this amount to show this. Note that under normal circumstances, you may have no more than 20 Source. Any Source gained above a faction's maximum capacity is lost.

Market Phase

In the Market Phase, you have the opportunity to hire mercenaries, procure unique spires and equipment, or even reshape the map by purchasing earthscapes.

At the start of each Market Phase (with the exception of Wave 1), refresh the market by discarding all current market offerings and refilling them. There should always be one faceup earthscape and market chip options equal to player count +1.

Each player may take only 1 turn during the Market Phase. Starting with the first player and continuing in turn order, each player must either pass their turn or do one of the following:

• Purchase a market chip from the offerings for its shown Source cost.
• Purchase the faceup earthscape from the offerings for 2 Source. This may only be purchased if no other player has purchased an earthscape, as only one may be purchased each wave.

There are four types of market chips that can be purchased:

• Equipment have a blue border. Equipment can be placed under a hero's chip while the hero is in the deployment stack, in order to give that hero the talents shown on the equipment.
• Merc spires have a silver border. They can be constructed as one of your spires. Since you already paid a Source cost to purchase them, there is no cost to be paid when they are constructed.
• Merc minions have a bronze border, and merc heroes have a gold border. These units can be selected for deployment under your control. Since you paid a Source cost to purchase them, they do not cost CP when you select them for deployment.

Purchases from the market should be placed beside your barracks. After a purchase is made, the next chip or earthscape is flipped faceup to refill the market.

Build Phase

In the Build Phase, you will improve your fortress and exert control on the map by constructing and improving spires.

Each player may take as many turns during the Build Phase as they would like until they pass. Starting with the first player and continuing in turn order, each player must either pass or perform a build option. Once you have passed, you may no longer take a turn. The phase continues until all players have passed. Build options are as follows:

• Construct a Spire: Either pay the Source cost of an available spire in your barracks or select a previously purchased merc spire from beside your barracks. Place that spire on a Source well within your influence with its starting upgrades stacked in the order of your choosing.
• Upgrade a Spire: Pay the appropriate Source cost per upgrade to add any number of upgrades to a spire under your control, up to the spire's upgrade capacity. Each range and attack upgrade costs Source equal to the number of upgrades the spire will have after adding it. Each fortification upgrade costs 2 Source.
• Earthscape: Place an earthscape from beside your barracks on a valid position. As part of this build option, you may immediately construct a spire on one of the earthscape's Source wells as long as you have influence over its hex. If constructing a spire from your barracks, you must still pay its Source cost.
• Advance Your Fortress: Using your faction reference sheet as a guide, you may advance a fortress structure by paying the Source cost to purchase an advancement in that structure. Use the fortress advancement pegs to indicate which advancements you have purchased. Advancements within each fortress structure are progressive and must be purchased in order.
• Other Build Options: Some relics, events, or fortress advancements may grant you additional build options as well.

Prep Phase

In the Prep Phase, you will choose your units and your plan of attack for what's to come.

In turn order, each player declares their mark. This indicates which faction's fortress gate all of your minions must make progress toward. Give that player your faction mark chip to set beside their fortress as a visual reminder of this. In a 2-player game, you will generally only have one mark option.

In turn order, players then use the command points (CP) available to them to select units from their barracks for deployment this wave. Players do not have to use all of their available CP, but any CP left unused is lost. Available CP is dictated by the current wave as outlined below:

Wave 1	Wave 2	Wave 3	Wave 4
5 CP	7 CP	9 CP	11 CP

Your selection of units for deployment is open information to the players acting after you in turn order.

Selecting Minions

• You may select any number of minions for deployment each wave, limited only by your available CP and units available in your barracks. Merc minions purchased from the market can be selected at no cost.
• Minions can be prepared for deployment in two different ways: grouped or ungrouped. You may group as many or as few minions as you desire. Each ungrouped minion should have health chips equal to their health stat under their unit chip. When preparing a group of minions, begin by placing all of the chips you would like to group together in a stack, ordered top down from lowest to highest movement stats. Then, place health equal to the top minion underneath the entire group.

Selecting Heroes

• Each faction has a starting hero with no CP cost. This is the only hero you may select for deployment in Wave 1. Each faction has 2 additional heroes with a CP cost that you may select starting in Wave 2, along with any heroes purchased from the market that can be selected at no CP cost. Each faction may have no more than 2 heroes in play at any time from Wave 2 onwards.
• Heroes cannot be grouped with minions or each other. They are always ungrouped. Each selected hero should have health chips equal to their health stat under their unit chip.
• Each hero must be placed in the deployment stack either before or after all minions; they may not be stacked in between minions.

Players now simultaneously prepare a deployment stack – a single stack containing all of the units they have selected for deployment this wave. In doing so, they will determine how to group their minions and the order in which their units will deploy. Players may use their hands to obstruct the order in which they stack their units. Only the top unit on the deployment stack is open information.

Place this deployment stack on your fortress gate hex when your deployment stack is complete. When all players have done so, the Prep Phase ends.

Onslaught Phase

In the Onslaught Phase, your chosen heroes and minions will march toward your opponent and meet on the field of battle.

Each round of the Onslaught Phase consists of all players taking one full turn, starting with the first player. On your turn, you will complete all of the following stages in order before the next player takes their turn.

1. Start of Turn

Check if campfire mode triggers for any faction. This occurs if any player is the only player with faction units left in play. If so, that player's heroes go into campfire mode. When in campfire mode, their heroes are inactive and will remain so until the end of the wave.

Then, in any order:

• Resolve any talents, events or relics that trigger at the start of your turn.
• Use a limited build option to construct or upgrade a spire. This may be done a maximum of two times during each Onslaught Phase, and you may use both limited build options in the same turn. Place a peg in one of the holes at the bottom of your fortress each time you use a limited build option to track how many you have used.

2. Movement

• Move Heroes – Any of your heroes may move before your minions. Heroes on top of your deployment stack must move now if there are any minions under them in the stack.
• Move Your Minions – All of your minions must move one after the other. You must always move your leading minion, which is the minion that is closest to your mark that has not yet moved this turn.
• Move Heroes – Any of your heroes that did not move before your minions may move after all of your minions have moved. Any heroes on top of your deployment stack at this time must move.

Some units may have talents that activate during this stage, either before or after units have moved.

When units deploy, they must do so in the order they are stacked.

3. Spires Fire

The player to your left checks if you, as the current player, have any units within range of any of their spires. If you do, their applicable spires will attack. For each attacking spire, they must choose a target if there are multiple possible units in range, roll spire attack dice equal to the number of attack upgrades it has, and deal the rolled result in damage to the targeted unit. Then, the next opposing player in turn order does the same until all opposing players have had a chance to fire their spires.

4. Exploration

• You may explore any landmark that is adjacent to one or more of your units. When you explore a landmark, you look at its facedown side without showing it to other players.
• After exploring a landmark, you must immediately choose to either reveal it by flipping it up or leave it facedown. If you reveal it and the landmark has a health stat, place the appropriate number of health chips under the chip immediately.
• You may continue exploring landmarks until you decide to stop or you have no more new landmarks to explore. Each landmark may only be explored once per turn.

5. Attack

• Your units attack in the order of your choosing. Minions must attack if they have a valid target; heroes may optionally do so. Valid targets are adjacent opposing units (including landmark minions), spires, and fortress gates. Adjacent landmarks with health chips under them are also valid targets even if they are not landmark minions. Each of your units may only attack once per turn.
• When a unit attacks, it deals damage equal to its attack stat.
• Each damage dealt to a unit removes a health chip from that unit. If its last health chip is removed, that unit is defeated.
• Each unit will retaliate the first time each turn it is attacked by an adjacent unit, unless it is defeated. Retaliation deals damage to the attacker equal to the target's attack stat.
• If a grouped minion is defeated, the next minion in the group is revealed and gains health chips equal to its health stat. Any damage left over from defeating the first grouped minion does not carry over to the next minion in the group. The newly revealed minion does not retaliate on behalf of the defeated unit.
• When attacking a spire, any amount of damage removes 1 attack or range upgrade chip from the bottom of the spire. An attack dealing 2 or more damage removes a fortification upgrade chip from the bottom of a spire. An attack cannot remove more than 1 upgrade from a spire, no matter how much damage is dealt. Spires do not retaliate.
• Collect rewards for any opposing units or spires defeated. If a hero was responsible for the defeat, it may level up. Faction minions and spires are returned to their barracks when defeated, except for merc minions and spires which are discarded. Faction heroes, including merc heroes, are removed from the game when defeated.

Once you have completed a full turn as outlined above, the next player will take their turn.

Winning the Game

In a 2-player game, the goal of Cloudspire is to defeat your opponent's fortress gate within 4 waves. If neither player accomplishes this, the goal is to have the most powerful fortress at the end of the game.

The game ends immediately upon the defeat of a faction's fortress gate. A fortress gate is considered defeated if it loses its last health. The player whose fortress gate remains is declared the winner.

At the end of Wave 4, if both players' fortress gates are still undefeated, the game ends and players will compare fortress power to determine a winner. Your fortress power is calculated by adding your fortress gate health to the number of fortress advancements you have at the end of the game. The player with the most powerful fortress is the winner.

In the event of a tie for fortress power, the faction with the most gate health wins the game. If there is still a tie, the faction with the most remaining Source wins. If there is still a tie, the faction with the most spires in play is the victor. And if somehow there is yet still a tie, the tied factions will share the victory.

End of Onslaught Phase and End of Wave

The Onslaught Phase ends when there are no faction minions in play and no units yet to deploy. If the defeat of a minion triggers the end of the Onslaught Phase, the current player will resolve the defeat, including collecting rewards and leveling up. However, they do not finish the rest of their turn. Heroes will remain in play and start the next wave on their current hex.

The end of the Onslaught Phase is also the end of the wave. At the end of the wave, players should remove the limited build option pegs in the bottom of their fortress, discard played "entire wave" relics, pass the event deck and first player designation to the left, and discard this wave's event card unless it has ongoing effects.

If you've just completed Wave 4, the game ends. Otherwise, move on to the next wave, starting with the Event Phase.

Gameplay Walkthrough Notes

The rulebook includes a first-game walkthrough (a 2-player game between the brawnen and grovetenders) that illustrates the concepts above. Selected clarifications drawn from that walkthrough:

• Retaliation from a Relentless unit rolls a spire attack die to determine how much damage its retaliation deals. It keeps rolling, stopping when it rolls either a blank or a 2, summing the results.
• Tough reduces retaliation damage received.
• Impale deals 1 damage to a unit when the acting unit finishes its movement adjacent to an opposing unit it was not previously adjacent to. This is not an attack, so it does not provoke retaliation.
• Hunter causes a unit to deal 1 extra damage (e.g., 2 instead of 1) against valid targets.
• # Range allows a unit to attack and retaliate from up to # hexes away, instead of only adjacently.
• Engage forces adjacent opposing units able to attack the unit to do so.
• Foreboding forces an explored landmark to be revealed (it must be revealed and given its health).
• Toxic Secretion (as found on a cebyssa landmark minion) damages units as they move into hexes adjacent to it.
• When a hero on its basic side at its upgrade capacity levels up, it flips to its promoted side, loses its upgrade, and gains a health chip if its promoted health stat is higher.

Other Modes of Play

Playing a 3- or 4-Player Game

A 3- or 4-player game of Cloudspire plays the same as a 2-player game with the following exceptions.

Adjustments to Set-up. In a 3- or 4-player game, the last player in turn order goes first in flipping an isle and attaching their fortress. Players continue doing so in counter-clockwise order until all players have done so. In a 3-player game, players must flip one of the next 3 unrevealed isles counter-clockwise from the isle flipped by the previous player. In a 4-player game, players must flip one of the next 2 unrevealed isles. Once all fortresses are placed, continue in counter-clockwise order from the last player to place their fortress, flipping the remaining unrevealed isles.

Prep Phase. In a 3- or 4-player game, each player will have several mark options to choose from. There is no limit to the number of opponents that can mark a faction.

Spire Limits. In a 3-player game, each faction has a limit of 5 spires in play at a time. In a 4-player game, the spire limit is 4 spires per faction.

Repairing Your Gate. If your fortress gate has been defeated, you are not eliminated from the game. During the next wave's Income Phase, you must repair your gate after receiving your Source income.

In order to repair your gate, you must restore it to exactly 3 health by sacrificing (removing) fortress advancements, gaining 1 gate health for each sacrificed advancement. You must sacrifice the highest level advancements possible, so all level 3 advancements must be sacrificed from all structures before you can sacrifice any level 2 advancements, etc.

If all remaining fortress advancements have been sacrificed and your fortress is still below 3 health, you must repair your gate using Source. Spend Source, at the cost of 2 Source for each health, until your fortress gate has reached 3 health. It may not be repaired higher than this.

Winning the Game. In a 3- or 4-player game, the goal of Cloudspire is to have the fortress gates of all opposing factions defeated in a single wave or to have the most powerful fortress at the end of four waves of play.

The game will end immediately upon the defeat of a faction's fortress gate if only one faction's fortress gate remains. A fortress gate is considered defeated if it loses its last health. The player whose fortress gate remains is declared the winner.

Otherwise, gameplay continues after a fortress gate has been reduced to 0 health, and the player who made the last hit immediately pillages the defeated faction's fortress. That player increases their Source by the amount of Source the defeated faction has (up to their Source capacity) and reduces the defeated faction's Source to 0.

Having a defeated fortress gate does not impact your units in any way. You will continue to take your turns as normal after your fortress gate is defeated.

While a fortress gate is defeated, it cannot be another faction's mark. All players with this fortress gate as their mark must declare a new mark immediately (in turn order). Any player that has their fortress gate defeated must repair their gate during the next Income Phase. If your gate is defeated in the last wave of the game, your fortress power will be considered 0.

Modifications to the Game

Removing the Event Deck. We recommend that games of Cloudspire with beginners do not use the Event Deck. Some experienced players may not enjoy the random element that the Event Deck brings to Cloudspire, and these players are also welcome to play the game without this deck. If you draw a relic that relates to the event deck, discard it and draw a new one.

Making the Game Faster. In addition to removing the Event Deck from the game, you can make some or all of these modifications to speed up your game. These modifications also simplify the game and may be utilized when teaching the game to new players:

• Skip the Market Phase. We recommend that players not purchase advancements in their Gateport structure, as they generally impact the market. If you draw a relic related to the Market Phase, discard it and draw a new one.
• Have all players carry out the Build Phase simultaneously. In cases where players want to build a spire on the same Source well, this should still be resolved in turn order.
• After declaring your marks in turn order during the Prep Phase, have all players carry out the rest of the phase simultaneously. Players should not consider what units other players are selecting and instead focus on their own deployment stack.
• End the game after 3 waves instead of 4.

Making the Game Longer. A standard game of Cloudspire consists of 4 waves. However, players may optionally choose to lengthen the game by adding waves.

If adding waves to the game, add 2 Source to the Income Phase and 2 CP to the Prep Phase for each additional wave played. In Wave 5, each player receives 13 Source and 13 CP; in Wave 6, each player receives 15 Source and 15 CP, etc.

Team Play (2 vs. 2)

Team Play is an alternative way to play a 4-player game of Cloudspire. In this mode, teams of two factions face off against each other. The game follows the same rules as a standard 4-player game with the following exceptions.

Set-up. Teammates may sit either opposite each other or beside each other at the table. Turn order must alternate between teams, so establish a turn order if teammates are sitting beside one another. The first player designation should also pass in this order.

Prep Phase. When choosing your mark, you must choose an opposing faction, and teammates may not mark the same opponent.

Onslaught Phase. Factions on the same team are friendly to each other. Their spires and units will not attack each other.

The game ends immediately if any faction's fortress gate is defeated, with the defeating faction's team being declared the winner. Otherwise, the game ends after 4 waves of play. Each team will add the power of their fortresses together, and the winning team is the one with the highest total fortress power.

Solo and Co-Op

Cloudspire can be played as a solo campaign or a 2-player cooperative experience. See the Solo Scenarios and Cooperative Scenarios books, respectively, for further details on these modes of play.

Endless Mode

Endless Mode is an alternative way to play Cloudspire as a solo player. In this mode, you will play as one faction and try to last as long as possible against wave after wave of ever-growing opponents from three other factions. See the Solo Scenario book for further details on this mode of play.

Credits

• Game Design: Josh Carlson, Adam Carlson, and Josh Wielgus
• Rules Writing: Shannon Wedge
• Lore Writing & Editing: Ryan Howard
• Art and Illustration: Anthony LeTourneau and Jared Blando
• Creative Direction v2.0: Andrew Navaro
• Graphic Design: Melonie Lavely
• Package Engineering: Justin Schaub
• Publishing: Chip Theory Games
• Playtesting Leads: Salem Scott and Andrew Chesney

©2020 All Rights Reserved Chip Theory Games

Quick Reference

Wave Sequence

1. Event Phase (skipped in Wave 1) — Draw and read event card.
2. Income Phase — Gain Source; repair defeated fortress gates.
3. Market Phase — Refresh the market (skipped in Wave 1); make a purchase from the market.
4. Build Phase — Perform build options (Construct a spire, Upgrade a spire, Earthscape, Advance your fortress, Other build options).
5. Prep Phase — Declare your mark; select units using CP; prepare units into a deployment stack.
6. Onslaught Phase — Start of turn (check if campfire mode triggers, use limited build options); Movement; Spires fire; Exploration; Attack.
7. End of Wave — First player designation passes to the left; discard resolved cards and remove limited build option pegs.

Source and CP per Wave

Wave 1	Wave 2	Wave 3	Wave 4
5 Source	7 Source	9 Source	11 Source
5 CP	7 CP	9 CP	11 CP

Heroes vs. Minions

	Heroes	Minions
Deployment	Ungrouped	Grouped or Ungrouped
Movement	May move up to their full movement stat in any direction.	Must use their full movement stat and make progress towards their mark, if possible.
Attacking	May attack 1 unit, spire, or fortress gate within range.	Must attack 1 unit, spire, or fortress gate within range, if possible.
Leveling Up	May level up after defeating a unit, spire, or fortress gate.	Do not level up.
Defeat	Removed from the game when defeated.	Returned to their barracks when defeated (unless a landmark or merc minion, which are discarded).

Spire Limits and Market Options by Player Count

	2P + Solo	3P + Co-Op	4P
Spire Limit	6	5	4
Market Options	3	4	5

Upgrades

Upgrade	Cost (Spire)	Function (Spire)	Function (Hero)
Range	Source equal to the # of upgrades on the spire (including this one).	Increases the # of hexes away the spire may attack by 1. Each spire has 1 range by default.	Increases the # of hexes away the hero may attack. May only be added to heroes with the talent # Range.
Attack	Source equal to the # of upgrades on the spire (including this one).	Increases the # of attack dice the spire will roll when firing by 1.	Increases the hero's attack stat by 1.
Fortification	2 Source	An attacking unit must deal at least 2 damage to the spire to remove this upgrade. Only effective if it is the bottom upgrade on the spire.	Removed in place of the next health chip that would be removed from it.