The Duke: Lord's Legacy
The Duke: Lord's Legacy Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
Lord's Legacy contains everything you need to play, for 2 players.
Gameboard
The gameboard is where the action of The Duke takes place.
Rules Booklet
The Rules Booklet is what you're reading right now.
Bags
The two bags hold each player's Troop Tiles during game play (and can be used to store the tiles between games).
Troop Tiles (2 Sets)
There are two sets of the following identical tiles, in light and dark wood:
- Duke
- 3 Footman
- 3 Pikeman
- Knight
- Wizard
- Ranger
- Seer
- General
- Priest
- Champion
- Marshall
- Bowman
- Adjutant
- Countess
- Sage
- Light Horse
- Royal Assassin
Of these, Adjutant, Countess, Sage, Light Horse, and Royal Assassin are the five Troop Tiles new to the Lord's Legacy edition; all others also appear in the original edition of The Duke. As with every other Troop Tile, each has its own two-sided movement grid printed on the tile itself; like the base rulebook, this booklet refers players to the physical tiles rather than re-describing every grid in prose, so those five new tiles' movement patterns are only available on the physical tiles and reference cards, not reproduced here.
Terrain Tiles
These tiles modify game play on the board and how the Troop Tiles interact:
- Mountain
- Fort
- 2 Flags
Arthurian Legends Tiles (8 Tiles)
These tiles are used to play out the battles of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table (see the Arthurian Legends Expansion, below, for the rules for using these tiles in a game).
The following tiles are in light wood:
- Arthur
- Guinevere
- Lancelot
- Perceval
- Merlin
- Camelot / Fort
The following tiles are in dark wood:
- Morgana
- Mordred
Reference Cards
Cards for easily referencing rules during gameplay.
Set-Up
First, place the gameboard on a smooth surface in the center of the playing area.
Next, each player selects one bag of Troop Tiles. Both players set aside the Duke Tile and two Footman Tiles of their color, and place all of their remaining Troop Tiles into their bags.
Determine which player will set up first. That player chooses a side of the gameboard and places his Duke Tile in one of the two center squares in his edge row (or home edge). He then places his two Footman Tiles in any two squares that share a side with the Duke; their long sides must match (that is, no "kitty-corner").
The second player places his Duke Tile in one of the two center squares on the edge row opposite the first player (his home edge), and places his two Footman Tiles in any two squares that share a side with the Duke. Once again, their long sides must match. The second player does not have to place his Duke Tile exactly opposite his opponent's Duke Tile.
Each player's remaining Troop Tiles are placed back in their bags.
Starting Side: Each Troop Tile has a "starting" icon on its "starting" side, with another icon on the reverse, or "non-starting" side. All tiles placed on the board for the first time, whether at the start of the game or added during the game, must be placed with the starting icon visible.
Orientation: Each Troop Tile must be placed on the gameboard with its name oriented directly toward the player who controls the tile. Regardless of where a tile moves or where on the board new tiles are placed, they must always be oriented toward the controlling player, and remain so throughout the game.
How to Play
The player who placed his Duke and Footman Tiles first during set-up begins the game. Play alternates back and forth between players until one player achieves victory.
Each turn, a player must do one of the following (but not both):
- Move a Troop Tile: Move a Troop Tile on the gameboard using any legal move as shown by its movement pattern.
- Place a New Troop Tile: Pull a random Troop Tile from the player's bag and place it on the gameboard in an unoccupied square sharing a side with the square occupied by the player's Duke.
A player can never pass; he either moves a Troop Tile or places a new one every turn.
See below for a full description of these two options.
Move a Troop Tile
During each player's turn, he may choose to move any single Troop Tile he controls on the gameboard. Each tile has a movement grid; the space in the center of the grid shows the Troop Tile's current square as it corresponds to the gameboard, and the other movement icons show the squares that this Troop Tile may interact with on the board. The icon in a given square in the movement grid determines how the Troop Tile interacts with that location during a move.
Movement Icons
The following rules define what the various movement icons on each Troop Tile's movement grid allow. A player may only choose a single target square in a turn to interact with, and hence a single icon, regardless of how many squares the tile may potentially interact with, or the number of different icons on the movement grid.
Move: This icon allows a Troop Tile to move to the indicated square if there is a clear and straight path to it from the starting square (the square the tile occupies on the gameboard). If there is a friendly or enemy Troop Tile in between the starting and target squares, then the move cannot be made. Likewise, the move cannot be made if there is a friendly Troop Tile in the target square. If there is an enemy in the target square, however, the move can be made and the player captures the enemy tile (see Capturing Tiles, below).
Jump: This icon allows a Troop Tile to move to the square shown, jumping over any Troop Tile (friend or enemy) along the straight path from the starting square to the target square. If there is a friendly Troop Tile in the target square, the move cannot be made. If there is an enemy in the target square, the move can be made and the enemy tile is captured (see Capturing Tiles, at right). Nothing happens to the Troop Tiles that were jumped over.
Slide: This icon allows a Troop Tile to move any number of squares in the direction shown, as long as it has a clear path. The Troop Tile may not jump over any pieces. If it ends its turn in an opponent's square, the controlling player captures that piece (see Capturing Tiles, at right); it cannot end its movement in a square occupied by a friendly tile.
Strike: This icon allows a Troop Tile to capture from afar. Remove an enemy Troop Tile in one of the squares indicated by this icon (see Capturing Tiles, at right), but leave the Troop Tile in its original place; using this icon does not move the tile. This icon has no effect on a friendly tile.
Command: A Troop Tile with these symbols can move other Troop Tiles around. Instead of moving this Troop Tile, the player moves one of the Troop Tiles he controls from any square indicated by one of these symbols to any other square indicated by one of these symbols. If the Troop Tile that was moved ends its turn in a square occupied by an enemy tile, capture that tile (see Capturing Tiles, at right); a tile cannot end its move in a square occupied by a friendly tile.
Flip the Tile: In all instances above, at the end of a player's turn (after a movement icon has been used), the Troop Tile that used the icon is flipped to the other side. If the Troop Tile moved to a new square, it is turned to the new side after reaching the new square. When Strike and Command icons are used, this still flips the Troop Tile, even though the tile didn't move. When using the Command icon, the Troop Tile that is moved does not flip; only the Troop Tile that initiated the move is flipped (that is, the tile that used the Command icon).
Capturing Tiles: Any time a Troop Tile ends its move in a square occupied by an opponent's Troop Tile, remove the opposing piece from the gameboard (simply place it next to the board).
Putting the Duke Tile in Danger: A player cannot move a Troop Tile if it would allow the opponent to capture his Duke Tile in the next turn.
Looking at Opposite Sides of a Tile: A player can always pick up and review the reverse side of any Troop Tile he controls; he does not have to show his opponent that side when doing so. A player can never pick up and review an opponent's Troop Tiles, however.
Hint: The opposite side of a Troop Tile's movement grid can often be very different from the front. A player may move thinking he's safe from a tile, only to have his opponent move the tile and flip it, putting his own tiles in danger. Part of the strategy and thrill of The Duke is trying to remember all the capabilities of the opponent's Troop Tiles, while maneuvering your own tiles toward victory.
Place a New Troop Tile
During each player's turn, instead of moving a Troop Tile he controls, he may place a new Troop Tile on the gameboard.
Draw a random Troop Tile from the appropriate bag and place it starting side up (marked with a starting icon) in any empty square that shares a side with your Duke (it cannot be "kitty corner"); remember to place it with the correct orientation (see Orientation, above). If the controlling player's Duke is surrounded (either by the controlling player or the opponent's Troop Tiles, or the edge of the gameboard), a new Troop Tile may not be placed; a player must instead move a tile already on the gameboard.
Once a tile is removed from the bag, it must be placed on the board, even if it is automatically in danger of being captured next turn.
If a player's bag runs out of Troop Tiles, that player can no longer place new troop tiles during this game; the player will have to move a tile every turn.
Stuck Tiles: Tiles can be "stuck" in a position, either moved or placed there, where they can't move there for the rest of the game.
Hint: Because Troop Tiles may become stuck, players should take careful note of where they are moving a tile and especially where their Duke is when they are drawing a new tile.
Winning the Game
The game is won as soon as a player captures the opponent's Duke Tile.
Expanded Play
The following rules provide expanded game play options for additional enjoyment of The Duke.
As any of the expanded game play options can add more complexity, which often means a longer game, both players should agree to using any such rules before game play begins.
Terrain Tiles
The following tiles modify the gameboard as follows.
Mountain Tile
Before play begins, randomly determine the placement of the Mountain Tile after set-up is complete.
The following rules apply to the Mountain Tile:
- The square occupied by a Mountain Tile cannot be moved into with the Move or Slide icons, or jumped over with the Jump icon.
- New Troop Tiles drawn from the bag cannot be placed in this square.
- The Strike icon cannot be used if a straight line between the target square and the center of the square occupied by the Troop Tile crosses any part of a square occupied by the Mountain Tile. If that line directly cuts through a square "kitty corner" to the Mountain Tile, then the icon can still be used.
- The Command icon cannot be used to move a Troop Tile into a square occupied by a Mountain Tile, or to another square if the path of the moving Troop Tile would pass through the square occupied by the Mountain Tile.
Fort Tile
Before play begins, randomly determine the placement of the Fort Tile after set-up is complete.
The following rules apply to the Fort Tile:
- The square occupied by a Fort Tile can be moved into with the Move or Slide icon; simply place the Troop Tile on top of the Fort Tile. If an enemy tile already occupies the square, capture it.
- Only a single Troop Tile can be in the same square occupied by a Fort Tile at the end of a turn; if a friendly Troop Tile is already there, then the move cannot be made.
- A Fort Tile cannot be jumped over with the Jump icon.
- New Troop Tiles drawn from a bag cannot be placed in this square.
- The Strike icon cannot be used to capture a Troop Tile in the same square as a Fort Tile.
- The Strike icon cannot be used if a straight line between the target square and the center of the square occupied by the Troop Tile crosses any part of a square occupied by the Fort Tile; if that line directly cuts through a square "kitty corner" to the Fort Tile, the icon can be used (just like the Mountain Tile).
- The Command icon can be used to move a Troop Tile into a square occupied by the Fort Tile, but a moving Troop Tile cannot move past a Fort Tile. When using the Command icon to move a Troop Tile into a Fort Tile, if an enemy tile occupies the Fort Tile, capture it; if a friendly Troop Tile, the move cannot be made.
Flag Tiles
In some Alternate Objectives games, described below, the players place Flag Tiles on the gameboard before play starts.
Flag Tiles can be picked up and carried by Troop Tiles that end their move in a square occupied by a Flag Tile; simply place the Troop Tile on top of the Flag Tile.
On a player's turn, instead of making a normal move as indicated by the movement icons on the Troop Tile's movement grid, the Flag may be moved to another Troop Tile controlled by the player if that Troop Tile occupies a square that shares a side with the current Flag Tile holder; simply move the flag tile from underneath the first tile to underneath the new tile. If there are no other squares occupied by Troop Tiles the player controls that share a side with the Flag Tile holder, the Flag Tile cannot be moved.
Alternate Objectives
As with any military campaign, the objectives of a given battle can change based on circumstances. These rules provide a variety of options for mixing up the style of any The Duke game; players may find that these ideas spawn additional variants they'd like to create themselves.
Unless stated otherwise below, all the standard rules of game play apply.
Counting Coup
When honor is at stake, shaming your opponent with minimal bloodshed can raise your glory high.
The following additional rules apply:
- Each player places a Flag Tile, after set-up, in any space along either edge of the gameboard. The player who finished set-up last places his Flag Tile first, followed by his opponent.
- Using the rules under Flag Tiles, above, each player may choose to move his Flag Tile on his turn.
- A player cannot enter the square occupied by an opponent's Flag Tile.
- Score 1 point for ending a move in a square sharing a side with the square occupied by the opponent's Flag Tile (simply write the score down on a piece of paper, or track it in some other fashion); "kitty-corners" do not count. After the point is scored, the owner of the Flag may immediately move that tile to any square sharing a side with one of the Troop Tiles he controls, and then takes his standard turn. If there is no open square that fits this criteria, the Flag Tile cannot be moved.
- No points are scored for Troop Tiles that begin a turn in a square that shares a side with the opponent's Flag Tile square (even if a Troop Tile uses the Strike or Command icon and flips at the end of a move).
- Placing a new Troop Tile on the board in a square that shares a side with the Flag Tile square does score a point.
- If a player's Duke is captured, that player cannot place any new Troop Tiles on the gameboard; players do not win by capturing the Duke, however.
- If a player has all of his pieces captured, he automatically loses (the opponent wins).
- A player wins immediately upon scoring 3 points.
Other Objective
A Duke may be powerful, but he's not always the endgame in the Machiavellian power plays within the king's lands.
The following additional rules apply:
- Each player places a Flag Tile, after set-up, in any open space on the opponent's home edge. The player who finished set-up last places his Flag Tile first, followed by his opponent.
- A player cannot pick up or move his own Flag Tile; that is, he cannot end his turn with one of his Troop Tiles occupying the square of his Flag Tile.
- Using the rules under Flag Tiles, each player may choose to move his opponent's Flag Tile on his turn.
- If a player's Duke is captured, that player cannot place any new Troop Tiles on the gameboard; players do not win by capturing the Duke, however.
- If a player has all of his pieces captured, he automatically loses (the opponent wins).
- A player wins immediately by moving his opponent's Flag Tile to any square along his own edge of the gameboard.
Dark Rider
Sending a lone rider to harass an enemy's flank can be devastating to enemy morale, while showcasing the superiority of your own troops.
The following additional rules apply:
- One player selects 5 Pikemen (he'll need to use Pikeman Tiles from both bags), and places them in any squares of his edge of the gameboard. How the player chooses which squares to place the Pikemen in is completely up to him.
- Once the first player has placed all his Pikemen, the opponent places a single Knight Tile in any square along his edge of the gameboard and then takes the first turn to start the game.
- The Pikeman player immediately wins by capturing the Knight, or by moving three of his Pikeman Tiles into squares on his opponent's edge of the gameboard (if the Knight player captures at least two Pikemen, the Pikeman player cannot win in this second fashion).
- Once a Pikeman Tile reaches the opponent's edge, it is frozen and cannot be moved or captured for the rest of the game.
- The Knight player immediately wins by capturing three or more Pikeman Tiles.
Logistical Nightmare
Logistics can defeat you as quickly as any enemy when you're unable to deploy your troops during a battle, but snatching victory under such conditions is the mark of a true leader!
The following additional rules apply:
- Before the game begins, players set aside their Duke and three Footman Tiles, then place all the rest of their tiles in front of them and then randomly determine who will select first.
- The first player selects a single Troop Tile(s) type and places it in his bag. The second player takes all of the Troop Tile(s) of that type and places them back in the box; they won't be used this game.
- The second player then selects a single Troop Tile(s) type of those remaining in front of him and places it in his bag. The first player then takes all of his Troop Tile(s) of that type and places them back in the box; they won't be used this game.
- This alternates back and forth until all Troop Tiles are either in bags or in the box.
- Each player takes one of his Footman Tiles and places it in his bag.
- The player who picked first, as described above, sets up first; proceed with standard set-up.
- The player who picked second takes the first turn to start the game.
- All other standard rules apply during game play.
Each Turn
- Move a Troop Tile: Move a Troop Tile on the gameboard using any legal move as shown by its movement pattern.
- Place a New Troop Tile: Pull a random Troop Tile from the player's bag and place it on the gameboard in an unoccupied square sharing a side with the square occupied by the player's Duke.
Symbols
STARTING SIDE ICON — NON-STARTING SIDE ICON — MOVE — JUMP — SLIDE — STRIKE — COMMAND
Arthurian Legends Expansion
Arthur, Guinevere, Merlin, Lancelot and Perceval replace the light stained Duke, Duchess, Wizard, Champion and Assassin Tiles.
Morgana and Mordred replace the dark stained Duke and Duchess Tiles.
Both players start with the usual set-up of two Footman to go along with their Arthur and Morgana tiles, respectively.
To win, the Arthur player must capture Morgana (and Mordred as well, if he's on the board before Morgana is captured). For the Morgana player, capturing Arthur wins the game.
Morgana/Mordred: If both Morgana and Mordred are on the board at the same time, their controlling player can place new tiles to either tile; i.e. both Morgana and Mordred have the power of the standard Duke tile for the purposes of deploying tiles.
Fort Tile: Players can use the Fort Tile as shown in the rulebook for any game with these tiles. However, they can also play with the reverse side of the Fort, Camelot. Camelot is an Expanded Play tile, and so both players should agree to its use before play begins.
Randomly place Camelot in any square in one of the two middle rows of the board.
For the Arthur player, if one of his Arthurian Legends' tiles is inside Camelot (King Arthur, Lancelot, Guinevere, Percival, or Merlin), then the Camelot Tile gains Command ability in all eight squares surrounding Camelot. On his turn, any time those conditions are met, the player may use the Command ability of Camelot; the Troop Tile on Camelot does not flip, but the Camelot Tile DOES flip over to the Fort side; as long as it's on the Fort side, the Command ability no longer applies. As soon as the tile occupying the Fort Tile moves out of the square, the Fort Tile turns over to Camelot once more; i.e. the Arthur player can enter Camelot on a future turn and use its Command ability once more. Using the Camelot ability forms the player's entire turn, however; no other tiles are moved or flipped, or drawn from the bag.
For the Morgana player, if one of his Arthurian Legends' tiles (Morgana or Mordred) moves into Camelot (i.e. it's "seized"), the player may automatically "turn" any non-Arthurian Legend tile of the opponent to his own use right then; simply re-orient the piece to face the Morgana player (neither Camelot, nor the "seizing" tile are flipped). As above, the players should flip the Camelot Tile over to the Fort side to show that this ability has been used. The Morgana player must leave Camelot and "seize" it again on a future turn to be able to turn another non-Arthurian Legend tile (as above, it automatically flips back over from the Fort side to the Camelot side).
Credits
Game Design Jeremy Holcomb and Steven McLaughlin
Game Development Randall N. Bills
Editing Diane Piron-Gelman
Logo, Game Graphic Design & Rulebook Layout Matt Heerdt
Published by Catalyst Game Labs, an imprint of InMediaRes Productions, LLC PMB 202 • 303 91st Ave NE • E502 Lake Stevens, WA 98258
The Duke: Lord's Legacy is a trademark of Catalyst Game Labs in the United States and/or other countries. Catalyst Game Labs and the Catalyst Game Labs logo is a trademark of InMediaRes Productions, LLC.