Ettin Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• How to Play
  • Learning the Game
  • 2, 3, 5, 7 Players
  • 9+ Players
• Setup
  • Nations
• Components
  • Example Central Area and Example Enemies
• Examples of Seating
• Overview
  • Ages of Conflict
  • Simultaneous Play
  • Ally Interactions
  • Anatomy of the Game Board
  • Anatomy of a Nation Mat
  • Anatomy of the Unit Cards
• Phase 1: New Age
• Phase 2: Skirmish and Peacetime
  • Skirmish
  • Peacetime
  • Empty Decks
  • First Time Drafting?
  • Example Skirmish
  • Example Peacetime
• Phase 3: War
  • Warring for the First Time
  • Deploy
  • Deploy Abilities
  • Battle
  • Start-of-Battle Abilities
  • Battle Scores
  • Location Defenses
  • Battle Results
  • Battle Result Abilities
  • Example Battles
  • Adventure
  • Adventure Score
    • Example Adventure
• Winning the War
  • Example War Victory
  • Accelerated Play
• Winning the Game
• 2 Players
• Odd Numbers of Players
• 9+ Players
• Round Summary
• Abilities Summary

How to Play

Ettin is a fast-paced strategy game played in teams of two. It is played over three Ages, in which you draft cards with your Ally on one side and your Enemy on the other.

Each Age ends in a War where you fight your Enemy for Victory Points (VPs). At the end of the third Age, the team with the most VPs wins the game!

Learning the Game

Since Ettin is played as a team of two, we recommend learning the game with exactly 4, 6, or 8 players.

2, 3, 5, 7 Players

To play with two or an odd number of players, see the rules for these player counts beginning on page 18.

9+ Players

With multiple copies you can play with 16, 24, or even more players at the same time! See guidelines for large groups on page 18.

Setup

Set up the general play area as noted below. Seating order is important in this game, so if some of your players are new, we recommend seating them next to veteran players.

1. Place the Game Board in the center of the table.
2. Place the Age Marker on the Age I Skirmish space of the Game Board.
3. Shuffle the Mercenary Cards into separate decks for Age I, II, and III, noted on the bottom right corner of each card. Place the Mercenary decks facedown on the corresponding spaces on the Game Board.
4. Shuffle the Adventure Cards into separate decks for Age I, II, and III. Place the decks facedown on the corresponding spaces on the Game Board.
5. Place the Adventure Dice near the Game Board.
6. Pile the Siege and Gold Tokens in reach of all players. (Sieges and Gold are not limited by components.)

Each player takes these next steps for setting up their personal play area. Pick a player at random. The player to their left is their Ally. The player to their right is their Enemy. Continue around the table, so each player has an Ally on one side and an Enemy on the other. In a learning game, we recommend experienced players pair up with new players.

7. Place a War I Token, a War II Token, a War III Token, four Battle Won Tokens, and an Initiative Token between each pair of Enemies. Return any extra Tokens to the box. They will not be used this game. Note: No Battle and Battle Lost tokens may be useful in a learning game, but won't be necessary once you're an experienced faster player.
8. Select a Nation to play. See the summary below for highlights of each Nation. Take your Nation Deck and Nation Mat. Note: The Mercenary Mat is only used in games with an odd player count. Return it to the box in an even player count.
9. Place your Nation Mat facing your Enemy so that its Initiative Arrow points toward the center of the table and its Location slots face your Enemy. This may require you to flip the mat.
10. Shuffle your Nation Deck into separate stacks for Age I, II, and III, noted on the bottom right corner of each card. Place the Age III stack facedown on the Nation Cards space on your Nation Mat. Place the Age II stack facedown on top of the Age III stack. Place the Age I pile facedown on top of the Age II stack.
11. Compare your Initiative Arrow to your Enemy's Initiative Arrow. The player with the higher Initiative number chooses to take the Initiative Token or give it to their Enemy. If this is your first time playing, we recommend giving the Initiative Token to your Enemy.

You are now ready to begin playing.

Nations

• Cannites (Average Difficulty) — Dog-like nomads roaming plains and forests. Strengths: Excellent scouts. Uncommonly swift and second only to Elves in their skill with ranged weaponry. Weaknesses: Few Defenses and a sluggish economy.
• Daemons of the Void (Difficult) — Brutal creatures emerging from the darkness. Strengths: Strong troops that can bypass defenses. Weaknesses: Weak in an adventure. Expensive to recruit, forcing tough choices about who makes the cut.
• Greenwood Elves (Very Difficult) — Fierce, resourceful heroes ready for adventure, though are few in number. Strengths: Supportive allies. Keen adventurers. Oh, and they have a dragon on their side. Weaknesses: Costly to recruit.
• Orcs of Ud (Very Easy) — Impulsive gangs of warriors. Strengths: Orcs consider death in battle to be the most honorable act, rushing headlong into conflict. Weaknesses: Orcs build few defenses and spend little time developing any special abilities enjoyed by other nations.
• Dwarves of Skyhold (Very Easy) — Defensive airborne military. Strengths: Strong economy. Troops are often mounted on flying hippogriffs and griffons. Weaknesses: Below average strength and slow to get higher powered units into battle.
• Dommorian Giants (Easy) — Ancient civilization of nigh-immortal giants. Strengths: Time is on the Dommorian's side as their siege tactics and solid defenses can outlast most opponents. Weaknesses: Disinterested in most mortal affairs, they are expensive to recruit and rarely adventure.
• Kingdom of Joymore (Easy) — An army of knights eager to forge a destiny. Strengths: Well-rounded units, siege weapons, and magic, all supported by a robust economy. Natural adventurers. Weaknesses: Few ranged or terrifying units, less control of their battles.
• Risen (Difficult) — Undead forces raised by arcane magics. Strengths: Even defeated, they still can fight another day. The ceaseless horde overwhelms enemies with sheer numbers. Weaknesses: Freed from mortal necessities, the Risen disregard economy and defense.

Components

• A. 1 Game Board
• B. 101 Mercenary Cards
• C. 36 Adventure Cards
• D. 1 Age Marker
• E. 14 Siege Tokens
• F. 90 Gold Tokens (37x 1, 21x 3, 16x 5, 16x 10)
• G. 4 Adventure Dice
• H. 9 Nation Mats (The Mercenary Mat is only used in games with an odd player count.)
• I. 120 Unit Cards (8 Nations: 15 in each Nation)
• J. 48 Battle Tokens (32 "Battle Won" / "Battle Tie" Tokens and 16 "Battle Lost" / "No Battle" Tokens that are used to assist learning the game but are otherwise not necessary for experienced players.)
• K. 12 War Tokens (4x Age I, 4x Age II, 4x Age III)
• L. 4 Initiative Tokens

Example Central Area and Example Enemies

(Diagram pages.) The Game Board holds, for each of the three Ages, a Mercenary deck and an Adventure deck, and the Age track (War, Skirmish, Peacetime, Skirmish for Ages I to III). Between each pair of Enemies are the War I, II and III Tokens, four Battle Won Tokens and the Initiative Token. Your Nation Mat faces your Enemy, with your Nation Deck (Age I on top, then II, then III) on the Nation Cards space; Age I, II and III cards are drafted in turn.

Examples of Seating

If you're playing for the first time, we recommend the following player counts and seating arrangements: 4 players (two teams of two: Allies sit across from each other's sides, Enemies face each other across the table), 6 players, or 8 players, seated in a circle around the Game Board so that every player has an Ally on one side and an Enemy on the other.

There are special rules for small or odd player counts. After you've learned the game and played for the first time, see the variant rules on page 18.

(Seating diagrams for 2, 3, 5 and 7 players: in a 2-player game the two players are Enemies. In 3, 5 and 7 player games the odd player sits next to a Mercenary Nation Mat, which acts as that player's Ally.)

Overview

Ages of Conflict

Ettin is the story of national conflict over the course of three Ages.

• Age I: Small nations desperately cling to scarce resources. Few cards get drafted. Battles are often small.
• Age II: Nations mature into substantial economies and strong armies.
• Age III: Each nation reaches the pinnacle of their might. They wage huge battles, crumbling Enemy defenses.

Each Age begins with a New Age phase. The Age continues with three drafting phases in which you draft cards to your War Camp. At the end of each Age, War breaks out between Enemies. The winners earn Spoils and Victory Points.

At the end of the third War, allies combine their Victory Points to determine a winning team.

Simultaneous Play

Because you only interact with your Ally or your Enemy during each phase, each phase should be played simultaneously around the table. Players should complete one phase before moving on to the next phase.

Ally Interactions

Allies may share information and discuss their joint strategies. This can be done at any time. Working together is the key to victory. Be considerate and talk when needed. However, you make your own choices for your Nation.

Anatomy of the Game Board

The Game Board has an Age Track, a space for Adventure Cards and a space for Mercenary Cards for each Age, a Lost Pile (space for discarded "Lost" cards) and a Summary of Play.

Anatomy of a Nation Mat

A Nation Mat has three Locations, each with a Location Strength and a Location Ability, the Nation Name, the War Camp, the Nation Deck, a space for Gold, a space for "Retired" cards, and the Initiative Arrow.

Anatomy of the Unit Cards

• Troop Unit: troops are noted by a sword and white border. Shows Strength, Nation, Victory Points (appears on some cards), Nation and Unit Type, Name of Unit, Age, Recruit Cost, Sell Value, and Adventure Strength (appears on some Troops). Some Troops are Dragons, noted by a dragon icon.
• Defense Unit: defenses are noted by a blue shield and border.
• Protected Defense Unit: protected defenses are noted by a red shield and border. They show their Weakness icons.
• Abilities: each ability has an icon, with the color and number of diamonds reminding you of the phase in which the ability resolves. Reminder text on the card explains each ability.
• Adventure Card: shows the name and any special conditions of the adventure, the Difficulty (dice), the Victory Points, and Gold. Some Adventure Cards transform into Defenses, noted along the bottom.

Phase 1: New Age

It's the dawn of a new Age! Make sure the Age Marker is at the first space of this Age.

1. Each player gains Gold.
   • Age I: Gain 5 Gold.
   • Age II: Gain 10 Gold.
   • Age III: Gain 15 Gold.
2. Between each pair of Enemies, the Enemy with the Initiative Token draws an Adventure Card of the current Age.
3. Place the Adventure Card closer to the center of the table, between your Nation Mat and Enemy's Nation Mat.

Phase 2: Skirmish and Peacetime

Each nation now engages in Skirmish and Peacetime. These are alternating phases in which you draft cards with your Enemy (Skirmish) or your Ally (Peacetime).

Overview of how Skirmishes and Peacetime alternate within each Age:

• Age I: Skirmish, Peacetime, Skirmish
• Age II: Peacetime, Skirmish, Peacetime
• Age III: Skirmish, Peacetime, Skirmish

Skirmish

Each pair of Enemies draws the top four cards of the Mercenary Deck of the current Age.

Place them faceup to create a Lineup of four cards between each Enemy.

The Enemy with the Initiative Token drafts first and fourth. The other Enemy drafts second and third.

When it is your turn to draft, choose one of the four cards from your Lineup. Place it in front of you.

After you and your Enemy draft two cards and the Lineup is empty, choose one of the following two actions with each card you drafted:

• Recruit: Pay the Recruit Cost on the card to the Gold Pile, and place it facedown in your War Camp on your Nation Mat.
• Sell: Gain an amount of Gold equal to the Sell Cost on the card. Discard it to the Lost Pile. Gain this Gold immediately. You may use the Gold you earn from selling one card to pay the Recruit Cost on the other.

Peacetime

Each Ally draws the top two cards of their Nation Deck. Place them faceup between you and your Ally, creating a Lineup of four cards.

Each Ally drafts two cards from their Lineup. Initiative is not used during Peacetime. You and your Ally may freely discuss which cards to Sell or Recruit.

As in Skirmishes, you may Recruit to your War Camp or Sell.

Allies may not give each other Gold.

Empty Decks

If no cards remain in your Nation Deck when you must draw from it, instead take the top card(s) from the current Age's Mercenary Deck. If no cards remain in the Mercenary Deck, gain Gold instead: 5 Gold in Age I, 10 Gold in Age II, or 15 Gold in Age III.

First Time Drafting?

If this is your first game, then you might be overwhelmed by the options in front of you the first time you draft. As a general rule of thumb, we recommend looking for Defenses with high Strength, at least one unit with Adventure Strength, and Retire abilities that help grow your War Camp for free. And don't forget about the recruit costs! You don't want to draft a unit to Recruit that you can't pay for.

Example Skirmish

It's Age I, so you each start with 5 Gold. Draw 4 cards from the Mercenary Deck matching this age. You draw Guard Tower, Swordsmiths, Militia, and Ogre Bashers. Your Enemy has the Initiative Token. They go first, taking Ogre Bashers. You then take the Guard Tower and the Swordsmiths. Finally, your Enemy takes the Militia. Now that you and your opponent have drafted, you must both pay the Gold cost for any of the units you wish to recruit into your War Camp. You recruit the Guard Tower for 1 Gold and the Swordsmiths for 0 Gold. Your Enemy recruits Ogre Bashers for 4 Gold and the Militia for 0 Gold.

Example Peacetime

Draw 2 cards from your Nation Deck to add to the lineup, and your Ally does the same. The lineup of cards is Paladin Kendrick, Old Vets, Arc Tower, Dommorian Mages. Your Ally really wants to win their Adventure, so they request Paladin Kendrick for a 6 adventure value, noting that Return to Ally means she will go to your War Camp, provided she survives the round. You don't think the Dwarves will have a lot of Magic units, so you think the Arc Tower, a protected defense with only a Magic weakness, will be particularly helpful. However, you would need to sell a unit to afford it. You and your Ally agree that you will select the Old Vets, to sell for 2 Gold, and the Arc Tower, to recruit for 5 Gold, leaving you with 1 Gold. Your Ally selects and sells the Dommorian Mages, and recruits Paladin Kendrick.

Phase 3: War

Each Age ends with War. Each pair of Enemies follows these steps:

• Deploy
• Battle
  • Adventure
• Spoil
• Retire
• Produce

Most units have abilities that will resolve at these particular phases.

Warring for the First Time

If this is your group's first time playing Ettin, we recommend going through the phases of War step by step as you read these rules. It may be tempting to read all the rules ahead of time before you get started. However, we've found it much easier to teach new players by breaking out War into these small chunks.

Deploy

Draw all of the cards from your War Camp into your hand. Keep these cards secret from your Enemy, but you may reveal and discuss them with your Ally.

Then each Enemy takes turns doing one of the following.

• The Enemy with the Initiative Token places a card first. They may place one card from their hand facedown at one of the three Locations on their Nation Mat or beside the Adventure card.
• The Enemy without an Initiative Token then places two cards.
• Continue alternating between Enemies, playing two cards at a time, until both Enemies have placed all cards from their War Camp.

Deploy Abilities

There is only one Deploy ability: Scouting. You may resolve this ability when you deploy the card. The Scouting ability is optional. If you do not use the Scouting ability, place the card facedown.

Scouting: Reveal this unit when deploying it. Your Enemy must reveal all units at a Location of your choice.

Battle

All players flip their deployed cards faceup.

There are four battles between each pair of Enemies. The first battle is at the Enemies' Locations farthest from their Adventure. The second battle is at the middle Locations. The third battle is at the Locations closest to the Adventure. The fourth battle is at the Adventure.

You and your Enemy must resolve each battle before moving on to the next. To resolve a Battle, first resolve Terrify, Dragonslayer, and Ranged Battle abilities. These happen at the start of an individual battle and may only affect units in that battle.

Start-of-Battle Abilities

The Enemy with the Initiative Token chooses targets for their Battle abilities first. Then their Enemy chooses targets for their Battle abilities. Then all Battle abilities resolve simultaneously.

If neither player has any Troops remaining in a battle after the Battle abilities resolve, the result of the battle is No Battle.

• Terrify: At the start of the battle, move an enemy unit from this battle to your Enemy's Retired Pile. Note: If a Location is Protected and you remove the Defense protecting it, that Location can be attacked.
• Dragonslayer: At the start of the battle, move an Enemy Dragon from this battle to your Retired Pile.
• Ranged: You may place this unit in your Retired Pile. If you do, move an Enemy Troop with equal or lower Strength from this battle to your Retired Pile. Note: If two Ranged units target each other, each goes to their Enemy's Retired Pile, not their owner's.

After resolving start-of-battle abilities, any remaining units compare Battle Scores.

Battle Scores

If either player has any Troops remaining in the battle after Battle abilities resolve, the battle continues. The winner is determined by Battle Scores.

Determine your Battle Score by summing the Strength of your Troops and Defenses in this battle, including the Defense on the Location itself. (Adventures have no Defense.)

Once the battle resolves, repeat the process with the next battle, continuing towards the Adventure Card.

Location Defenses

Nation Mats have four possible types of Locations.

• Ruins have a Defense strength of 0.
• Villages have a Defense strength of 1.
• Towns have a Defense strength of 2.
• Cities have a Defense strength of 3.

Be mindful of these relative strengths. Each nation is balanced between the average strength of their units and the base defense of their locations.

Battle Results

Each battle ends in one of three ways.

• Winner/Loser: The Enemy with the higher Battle Score wins. The winner gains the Battle Won Token, placing it on their winning Location. The winner also gets Spoils. (See Spoil on page 14.)
• Tie: Each side gains one Spoil of its choice.
• No Battle: Neither Enemy gains anything. A battle never took place as no Troops attacked.

Note: The "Battle Lost" and "No Battle" tokens are mainly useful for learning the game, but not necessary for experienced players.

Battle results may be affected by Swift and Protected Battle abilities.

Battle Result Abilities

Swift: If you have a Swift unit in a battle, you win ties in that battle. This cannot override the "No Battle" caused by a Protected Location (See below). If both Enemies have Swift units, the Enemy with the most Swift icons wins. If both players have the same number of Swift icons, the battle still results in a Tie.

Protected: After checking all Battle abilities, if you have a Protected Defense in the battle and your Enemy has no units with the abilities noted on your Protected Defense's parapet, the result is No Battle.

(Example: a Protected Defense unit whose parapet shows Flying, Siege and Conquest requires Enemy units to have either Flying, Siege, or Conquest abilities. If they do not, then the result is No Battle.)

Example Battles

• First battle (farthest from the Adventure): your Enemy adds their Village's 1 defense to their Dwarf Warriors' 2 Strength, for a total of 3. Your Ruins start with 0 defense, and your Guard Tower only adds 2, so your Enemy wins this battle and places a Battle Won Token on their side.
• Second battle: your Swordsmiths are unopposed, so you win this battle. Place a Battle Won Token on your side.
• Third battle: your Enemy brought their Ogre Bashers, giving them a total strength of 7, while your Arc Tower only brings your strength to 6! However, your Arc Tower is protected. It is weak to Magic, which the Ogre Bashers don't have. Therefore, instead of your Enemy winning, there was No Battle there instead.
• Fourth battle (the Adventure): your Enemy sent their Militia to the Adventure, and you did not send opposition, so they place a Battle Won Token on their side. Militia do not have an Adventure value, so they cannot attempt the adventure.

Adventure

After the three battles on the Nation Mats resolve, a fourth battle occurs at the Adventure.

Though you may deploy any unit to help you win the Adventure Battle, only Troops with Adventure Strength can go on the Adventure. A unit's Adventure Strength is noted by a compass icon on the top-right corner. If they have no Adventure Strength, the icon does not appear.

Resolve the Adventure Battle using the same rules as a Location Battle. In addition to gaining the Battle Won Token, the winner earns the right to attempt the Adventure.

If the Adventure Battle results in a tie or no battle, no Adventure occurs.

Adventure Score

To attempt the Adventure, sum the Adventure Strength of all your units at the Adventure to determine your Adventure Score.

Your Enemy rolls one Adventure Die. Add the result to the Base Adventure Difficulty listed on the Adventure Card to determine the total Adventure Difficulty.

If your Adventure Score is equal to or greater than the Adventure Difficulty, you completed the Adventure! If your Adventure Score is less than the Adventure Difficulty, you've failed the Adventure.

• Success: Resolve any effect on the Adventure card.
• Failure: Move one of your Troops with Adventure Strength from this Adventure to the Lost Pile.

About half of the Adventures will become Defense units if completed successfully.

If that is the case, take your newly won Defense and set it aside for now. We will address it again at the end of the Spoil phase.

Otherwise, resolve the Adventure's effect and place it in your Retired Pile.

Example Adventure

With the help of your Nation's Paladin Kendrick, your Ally has won the battle for their adventure, and now they can attempt it! With Paladin Kendrick, they have a total adventure score of 6. Their Enemy rolls one Adventure Die. The result is a 3. Added to the base 2 difficulty on the card, the total Adventure Difficulty is 5. Their adventure score of 6 is greater, so they complete the adventure! This Adventure will eventually become a Defense, so your Ally sets it aside for now.

Spoil

After all battles resolve, the winner of each battle takes a number of their Enemy's units from the battle. These are called Spoils. When you take Spoils, you must follow a few rules:

• You may take a number of Spoils up to the current Age number.
• If a battle is tied, EACH Enemy takes one Spoil from the other.
• You must always take Troops before Defenses.
• Keep your Spoils in your Retired Pile facedown.
• You may look at your Spoils at any time.
• If there are no Enemy units at their Location, you MAY take a single Spoil from the top of the Enemy's Nation Deck. This risks granting your Enemy quicker access to their more powerful Nation Cards.

There are many Spoils abilities that activate during this phase. Generally these make exceptions to the rules noted above or offer additional rewards to the standard Spoils.

Example Spoils

Continuing the example from page 12, the Spoils break down like this:

• 1st battle: Your Enemy takes your Guard Tower.
• 2nd battle: You may take the top card of your Enemy's Nation Deck because they have no card at their Location.
• 3rd battle: Because there was No Battle, neither Enemy gets a Spoil.
• 4th battle: Your Enemy may take the top card of your Nation Deck.

Spoils Abilities

• Bounty: When your Enemy takes this unit as a Spoil, they also gain its Bounty in Gold. Bounty has no effect for you, the unit's owner.
• Conquest: You may take Enemy Defenses as Spoils, even if Enemy Troops are in the battle.
• Flying: You cannot take Flying units as Spoils unless you have Ranged or Flying units in the battle.
• Magic: You may take Enemy Stealth units as Spoils.
• Siege: Place a Siege Token on an Enemy Defense. It cannot activate its Produce abilities this Age.
• Stealth: Cannot be taken as Spoils unless your Enemy has a Magic unit in that battle.
• Vicious: If you win or tie the battle, take an additional Spoil.

Adventure Defense

After you take Spoils, you may place a Defense card you may have earned from the Adventure. Place it at one of the Locations on your Nation Mat.

Because this is done after taking Spoils, this is an opportunity to add Defense to a Location that lost it during the Spoils phase.

In future Ages, this can be taken as a Spoil, following all other rules for Defenses, so make sure to defend it well!

Example Defense Spoils

Continuing the example from Page 13, your Ally can now tuck the Defense they won from Goblin Trading Post under one of their Locations.

Retire

All players take the following steps simultaneously:

• Move all your Troop units at each Location to your Retired Pile.
• Your Defense units remain at their Locations on your Nation Mat. Slide them under their Locations to remind you of their abilities. Your Defense units' Strength and Abilities contributes to your Battle Score in upcoming battles.
• Move any of your Defenses at the Adventure to your Retired Pile.
• Resolve the special abilities of this phase such as Return, War Cry, and Wealthy.

Retire Abilities

• Return to Self: Instead of Retiring this unit, place it in your War Camp.
• Return to Ally: Instead of Retiring this unit, place it in your Ally's War Camp.
• Wealthy: When this retires, gain the listed amount of Gold.
• War Cry: When this retires, move the top card of your Nation Deck to your War Camp.

Example Retire

Retire your Swordsmiths and gain 5 Gold for their Wealthy ability. Your Arc Tower defense remains in place, tucked under its Location. When your Ally retires Paladin Kendrick, it goes into your War Camp instead — you'll be able to Deploy it in the next age!

Produce

All players take the following steps simultaneously.

• Check each of your Defenses and Locations for Produce abilities. You may resolve any Produce abilities, such as Gate, Taxes, and Prosperous.
• If you have at least one Defense at a Location, you may perform the Defended Location abilities listed on the Location as well.

Produce Abilities

• Gate to Self: You may move a Troop of your choice from your Retired Pile to your War Camp.
• Gate to Ally: You may move a Troop of your choice from your Retired Pile to your Ally's War Camp.
• Prosperous: You and your Ally both gain the listed amount of Gold.
• Taxes: You gain the listed amount of Gold.

Defended Location Abilities

These abilities are resolved if the Location has a Defense.

• RUINS — Lost Souls: If this Location is defended, move the top card of your Nation Deck to the Lost Pile.
• VILLAGES — Taxes: If this Location is defended, gain the listed amount of Gold.
• TOWNS — Call to Arms: If this Location is defended, move the top card of your Nation Deck to your War Camp.
• CITIES — Prosperous: If this Location is defended, you and your Ally both gain the listed amount of Gold.

Example Produce

Since your City is defended by your Arc Tower, you resolve its Prosperous ability. You and your Ally each gain 2 Gold.

Winning the War

If you have more Battle Won tokens than your Enemy, you win the War of that Age. You then claim the Victory Token for the current Age.

• Age I: Winning earns 5 VP
• Age II: Winning earns 10 VP
• Age III: Winning earns 15 VP

The loser of the War places the top card of their Nation Deck into their War Camp. The loser also chooses whether to take the Initiative Token or give it to the winner.

If the War was a tie, the winner of the Adventure battle wins the War.

If still a tie, both players gain an amount of Gold equal to the number of Gold received at the start of the Age. The Initiative Token moves to the player who did not have it in this Age.

Pick up all Battle and Siege tokens. Move the Age Marker to the next Age. If this is the end of Age III, the game ends.

Example War Victory

Continuing the previous examples, your Enemy has more Battle Won Tokens, thus wins the Age I War. They gain a Victory Token worth 5VP. On the bright side, you earned 7 Gold, have a defended City, a powerful card in your War Camp, and you get to add another from your Nation Deck. You may have lost this War, but you're well on your way to winning the next one.

Accelerated Play

Once you have a handle on the game, most players can combine the steps of War into a single phase. This is highly encouraged if everyone is experienced, as it can increase speed of play considerably. Just be careful not to Produce until after all Retirements are completed. You need Troops in your Retired Pile to Gate back out!

In time, you may also find you don't need to use the Battle Lost or No Battle side of the battle tokens. They're useful while teaching the game, but ultimately faster to ignore once you know the game well.

Winning the Game

After the third Age concludes, the game is over. Each player takes the following steps to tally their Victory Points:

• A. The sum of all Victory Points on your Victory Tokens.
• B. The sum of all Victory Points on cards in your War Camp.
• C. The sum of all your Defenses' Victory Points.
• D. The sum of all Victory Points on the cards in your Retired Pile. (Some cards may grant bonuses based on your other achievements.)
• E. 1 Victory Point for every 2 of your Gold. (1 Gold is 0 points.)
• F. Once you have your individual total, add it to your Ally's individual total to determine your Alliance Score.

The highest-scoring Alliance wins!

In case of a tie, the Alliance with the most Gold wins.

If there is still a tie, the tied Alliances share victory.

2 Players

Each player is one nation without allies. During peacetime, draw two cards from your Nation Deck, and two cards from that Age's Mercenary Deck. Draft two of the four, and send the other two to the Lost Pile. You receive any benefits your Ally would receive from your cards.

Odd Numbers of Players

If you are the odd player, you play against two Enemies, using one Nation Mat in one direction and the Mercenary Nation Mat in the other. This is a difficult position meant for very experienced players.

You Skirmish and Battle against both enemies separately. You keep separate War Camps, Gold, and Retired piles. In Peacetime, you draw two cards from your Nation Deck and two from the current Mercenary Deck, splitting them two and two as normal. Your score is the combined total of your Nation and the Mercenary nation.

9+ Players

Ettin is designed for epic games with large player counts. All you need is multiple copies of the game to accommodate 9 or more players.

Setup: To keep each copy organized, seat groups of 2-8 players around the central board and components from one box. Make sure neighbors play different nations, so that each box's nation cards do not get mixed together. This helps during clean up.

After Game: Verify each box's Mercenary Deck has all of its cards. 36 for Age I, 20 for Age II, and 44 for Age III. Do the same with Adventures. You can also verify individual cards by looking at the serial numbers along the edge of the front of the card.

Round Summary

The game lasts three rounds. Each round is as follows:

1. New Age
   • A. Each player gains Gold. Age I: 5, Age II: 10, Age III: 15
   • B. Each pair of Enemies draws an Adventure.
2. Drafting: Alternate between Skirmish draft and Peacetime draft.
   • Skirmish: A. Enemies draw 4 cards from that Age's Mercenary Deck. B. Enemy with Initiative drafts first and fourth. The other drafts second and third.
   • Peacetime: A. Allies draw two cards from each Nation Deck. B. Allies each draft two cards, they may discuss and choose freely.
   • For each Unit drafted, either Recruit (pay the Recruit Cost, place in your War Camp) or Sell (collect the Sell Cost, place in the Lost Pile).
3. War
   • Deploy: A. Draw your War Camp into your hand. B. Enemy with Initiative places one unit. Then the other Enemy places two units. Go back and forth placing two units at a time until all units are placed.
   • Battle: There will be a battle at each of three locations and a fourth battle at the Adventure: A. Start at Location farthest away, resolve each battle separately. B. Resolve Start-of-Battle abilities simultaneously. Enemy with Initiative chooses targets first. C. Enemy with the higher Battle Score wins the battle and places a Battle Won Token. If a tie, flip the Battle Won Token to the Battle Tied Token. If no Troops at a Location, place no Token. (While learning, also use the Battle Lost and No Battle Tokens.) D. The player that wins the battle at the Adventure attempts the Adventure.
   • Spoil: Collect Spoils at each battle: A. Winner takes a number of Spoils equal to the current Age. If Loser has no units, Winner may collect one from the top of Loser's Nation Deck. If a Tie, each player takes one. If no battle, nothing happens. B. Players must select Troops as Spoils before Defenses.

End of Game: After three Ages, tally your total Victory Points, including on your Victory Tokens, in your War Camps, on your Defenses, in your Retired Pile, and 1 point for every 2 of your Gold. Add your total to your Ally's total.

Abilities Summary

Deploy Phase

• Scouting: Reveal this unit when deploying it. Your Enemy must reveal all units at a Location of your choice.

Battle Phase

• Terrify: At the start of the battle, move an enemy unit from this battle to your Enemy's Retired Pile.
• Dragonslayer: At the start of the battle, move an Enemy Dragon from this battle to your Retired Pile.
• Ranged: You may place this unit in your Retired Pile. If you do, move an Enemy Troop with equal or lower Strength from this battle to your Retired Pile.
• Swift: If you have a Swift unit in a battle, you win ties in that battle. This cannot override the "No Battle" caused by a Protected Location. If both Enemies have Swift units, the Enemy with the most Swift icons wins. If both players have the same number of Swift icons, the battle still results in a tie.
• Protected: One or more Enemy units must have an ability noted on the parapets of this card. Otherwise, a Protected Location cannot be attacked. If you lose a battle at a Protected Location, but your Enemy's units don't have a specified ability, the result is No Battle instead.

Spoil Phase

• Bounty: When your Enemy takes this unit as a Spoil, they also gain its Bounty in Gold. Bounty has no effect for you, the unit's owner.
• Conquest: You may take Enemy Defenses as Spoils, even if Enemy Troops are in the battle.
• Flying: You cannot take Flying units as Spoils unless you have Ranged or Flying units in the battle.
• Magic: You may take Enemy Stealth units as Spoils.
• Siege: Place a Siege Token on an Enemy Defense. It cannot activate its Produce abilities this Age.
• Stealth: Cannot be taken as Spoils unless your Enemy has a Magic unit in the battle.
• Vicious: If you win or tie the battle, take an additional Spoil.

Retire Phase

• Return to Self: Instead of Retiring this unit, place it in your War Camp.
• Return to Ally: Instead of Retiring this unit, place it in your Ally's War Camp.
• Wealthy: When this retires, gain the listed amount of Gold.
• War Cry: When this retires, move the top card of your Nation Deck to your War Camp.

Produce Phase

• Gate to Self: You may move a Troop of your choice from your Retired Pile to your War Camp.
• Gate to Ally: You may move a Troop of your choice from your Retired Pile to your Ally's War Camp.
• Prosperous: You and your Ally both gain the listed amount of Gold.
• Taxes: You gain the listed amount of Gold.

These abilities are resolved if the Location has a Defense.

• RUINS — Lost Souls: If this Location is defended, move the top card of your Nation Deck to the Lost Pile.
• VILLAGES — Taxes: If this Location is defended, gain the listed amount of Gold.
• TOWNS — Call to Arms: If this Location is defended, move the top card of your Nation Deck to your War Camp.
• CITIES — Prosperous: If this Location is defended, you and your Ally both gain the listed amount of Gold.

Note: the printed Card Index (list of unit card U1-U221 and Adventure cards A1-A36 by name) is omitted from this transcription.