Fjordar

Fjordar Rulebook

Table of Contents

Appendix
- Appendix 1: Map Setup - First Time Playing
  - 1 From the box, take out the following pieces
  - 2
  - 3
  - 4
  - 5
  - 6
  - 7
- Appendix 2: The Standard Map Setup
  - 1
  - 2
  - 3
  - 4

Overview

In Fjordar you play as one of the parties that gradually formed around the various pretenders during these 110 years of conflict. You win the game by having the most victory points; you gain victory points by building and burning churches, beating your opponents in battle, keeping your beacons lit, and by retrieving your heirs from the various castles on the map.

A player's turn in Fjordar always begin with playing a movement card. The movement card gives you movement points that you use to move your units around the map. If you move a unit into an area occupied by another player, there will be a battle.

Battle is resolved by comparing the strength of the units involved, before each player plays a battle card that may give them additional strength. You only gain additional strength from the card if you correctly guess the suit of your opponent's card. The fewer guesses you decide to use, the more strength you gain from guessing correctly.

Then you may use your units to do location actions and at the end of your turn, you sometimes draw an event card that represents time moving forward to let new forests grow and let villages gain new resources for all players to exploit.

The game ends when one player reaches or exceeds 50 victory points, and all players have had an equal number of turns.

Any text in this rulebook that is written on a light green background is an example. If you prefer to just read the rules and only check the examples if anything is unclear, you can safely skip any text and images with a background like this.

Components

Map Tiles

2 double-sided Level 1 Center Base Tiles. Center Base Tiles always have six numbered letters A or B around the edge.
6 double-sided Level 1 Edge Base Tiles. Edge Base Tiles always have one letter A numbered 1-6 on one side, and one letter B numbered 1-6 on the other side.
16 double-sided green Level 2 Tiles of various shapes and sizes.
10 double-sided snow covered Level 3 Tiles of various shapes and sizes.
6 double-sided Level 2 and Level 3 Tiles of 1 hex size.
8 double-sided mountain Level 4 Tiles of 1 hex size.

Common Components

8 Event Cards
1 Scoreboard
12 Castles
12 Ships
24 Leader Cards
16 Forests
24 Resource Cubes
12 Villages
22 Gold Coins
10 Event Tokens
12 Churches
1 Start Player Token
8 Beacons

Player Components

Each player has the following:

1 Action Board
1 Hird
6 Leidang
1 Alliance Board
25 Control Cubes
8 Alliance Tiles
12 Heir Tokens
4 Different Common Battle Cards
4 Different Common Movement Cards
6 Church Builder Tokens
1 Score Token

General Setup

(The setup illustration labels pieces 1-12 and 3a-3j, 4a-4f, 5a-5f, 6a-6b, 7; the labels are referred to in the text below.)

1 Placing Base Tiles

Place the base tiles you want to use in the middle of the table. If it's your first time playing Fjordar go now to Appendix 1: Map Setup - First Time Playing and follow the instructions there to the end. Then, continue with step 2, Score Board, below.

If it's not your first game, go now to Appendix 2: Standard Map Setup and follow the instructions in steps 1 and 2. Only place the base tiles, then come back here. We'll do the rest in step 9.

2 Score Board

Place the score board on one of the sides of the map.

3 Location Pieces and Resources

If this is your first time playing, you should already have placed all the location pieces you need, on the map or next to it. If so, you can ignore the instructions in this step regarding castles, churches, villages, beacons, forests and ships.

Place all gold (3a), villages (3b), resource cubes (3c), ships (3d), forests (3e) and churches (3f) next to the map, along with 3 castles (3g) and 2 beacons (3h) for each player. From those castles, place a castle on each starting castle space that corresponds with your player count (see the inscriptions on each starting castle location), and on the castle location on the center tile (3i). The castle closest to each player's seat is that player's starting castle. Place a ship adjacent to each player's starting castle (3j).

4 Player's Pieces

Each player takes:

6 Leidang (4a) of their color, placing 1 of them in the ship adjacent to their start castle.
The Hird (4b) of their color, placing it in their starting castle.
12 cylindrical heir tokens (4c) of their color.
6 Church Builder Token discs (4d)
25 cubes (4e) of their color, placing 1 in the tower of their starting castle and 1 in the adjacent ship.
1 score track token (4f) of their color, placing it on the start space on the score track.

5 Personal Boards, Cards, Alliance Tiles and Starting Resources

Each player takes:

1 of each common movement card: Sumar, Haustr, Jól and Páskar (5a), placing them in their hand.
1 of each common battle card: Bagler, Birkebein, Lendsmenn and Øyskjegg (5b), placing them in their hand.
1 action board (5c) placing it in front of them.
1 alliance board (5d) placing it directly below their action board.
8 alliance tiles (5e); one level II and one level III from each of the four alliances (Bagler, Birkebein, Lendsmenn and Øyskjegg), and setting them aside near their player area.
2 gold (5f).

(Note in the prototype: the action boards in the current prototype are split into 2 parts.)

6 Event Tokens and Event Cards

Place an event token (6a) on each event space on the score track. Shuffle the event cards and place them face down next to the score board, forming the event deck (6b).

7 Preparing the Leader Card Deck

Shuffle each leader card generation individually (marked with roman II, III, IV, V and VI) and lay them sequentially face-down in a pile with the 6th generation at the bottom, and the 2nd generation on top. This is the leader card deck (7). Put the generation I leaders aside for now.

Each step from here on requires the participation of all players.

8 Choosing a Start Player

The player who last gave chase to their enemies across a frozen lake, will be the start player. If this does not apply to any player in your group, it's ok to use any other means of randomly picking a start player. Give this player the Start Player Token.

9 Building the Map

If this is your first time playing, you have already built the map, so skip this step.

If all of you have played Fjordar before, you should now go to Appendix 2: Standard Map Setup and follow steps 3 through 8 while observing the Tile Placement Rules found in the same appendix. Then, continue with step 10, Placing Heirs, below.

10 Placing Heirs

Each player places 1 heir of their own color in each neutral castle (castles that do not have any player's control cube in them). This step is not shown in the illustration since it is not showing a finished map.

11 Choosing Start Leader Cards

Find the 4 generation I leader cards and give them to the player sitting to the right of the start player. In reverse player order (anti-clockwise), each player chooses a leader card to start the game with. When playing with 2 players, the first player to select a card also discards a card they do not want the other player to have. Unless it's a 2 player game, all players now show the other players their chosen start leader, while placing any unselected cards face up in a discard pile next to the leader deck. This is the only time you show other players your hand.

12 Start playing!

Key Terms

Active Player: The player whose turn it currently is.

Area: A space on the board made up of one or more adjacent hexes of the same color on the same terrain level. Only one player can control an area and have their units there at the same time. Read more on page 12 (Movement).

Cliff: Two adjacent areas that are separated by 2 or 3 terrain levels are considered to be separated by a cliff. Read more on page 13 (Movement).

Controlled Area: An area where a player has a control cube. Read more on page 12 (Movement).

Controlled Location: A location in an area controlled by a player.

Influence: Your influence with an alliance is the total number of locations you control belonging to that alliance, plus the number of leader cards from that alliance you have in your playing area. Read more on page 7 (Alliances).

Location: A game piece on the map you can interact with. They are churches, castles, villages, ships, forests and beacons. Read more on pages 18-21 (Location Actions).

Movement Point: A number that indicates how much movement you can do in a turn. Abbreviated in these rules as MP. MP are gained through playing cards and are represented by a footprint as symbol. Read more on pages 11-12 (Playing cards and Movement).

Movement Row: The row of cards to the left of your alliance board made up of previously played movement- and leader cards. Read more on pages 10-11 (Paying for cards and playing cards).

Occupied Area: An area where a player has at least 1 unit.

Saga Row: The row of cards to the right of your alliance board, made up of previously played leader cards. Read more on page 10-11 (Paying for cards and playing cards).

Strength: A number that determines the winner in battle. Strength is provided by units and cards and is represented by an axe symbol. Read more on page 14-17 (Battle).

Supply Line: A continuous line of adjacent areas controlled by one player. A player can have several separate supply lines that are not adjacent to each other. A supply line can be as small as 1 area. A controlled ship on a sea area can be part of a player's supply line. Read more on page 12 (Movement).

Terrain Levels: There are 4 different terrain levels in Fjordar. Level 1: sea and land areas at sea level. Level 2: foothills with a light snow cover. Level 3: hills with a thick snow cover. Level 4: mountain tops. Read more on page 12 (Movement) and page 14 (Battle).

Unit: A piece representing soldiers in the game. The two unit types in the game are Hird and Leidang. New Leidang units are usually aquired through the Muster and Light Beacon actions (page 24), while if you lose your Hird in battle, the only way to get it back on the board is by playing a leader card. Read about how they are used in battle on page 14 (Battle).

Victory Points: A number used to keep track of your score. Abbreviated in these rules as VP. Each time the game instructs you to gain VP you do so by moving your VP marker up the indicated number of spaces on the VP track on the score board. You can never lose VP in Fjordar.

Alliances

There are four alliances you can gain influence with in Fjordar. Each alliance is associated with their own color and their own location type on the board. They are:

Bagler: You gain 1 influence with the Bagler Alliance for each church you control, and for each leader card you have in your player area with the Bagler symbol. Their color is black.
Birkebein: You gain 1 influence with The Birkebein Alliance for each castle you control, and for each leader card you have in your player area with the Birkebein symbol. Their color is white.
Lendsmenn: You gain 1 influence with the Lendsmenn Alliance for each village you control, and for each leader card you have in your player area with the Lendsmenn symbol. Their color is green.
Øyskjegg: You gain 1 influence with the Øyskjegg Alliance for each ship you control, and for each leader card you have in your player area with the Øyskjegg symbol. Their color is blue.

Upgrading Alliances

When you have 4 influence (from controlled locations and/or leader cards) you immediately gain a level II alliance tile in that alliance's space on your alliance board. This increases the movement and strength you gain when playing leaders from that alliance, rewards you gain when winning battles using that alliance, and various special abilities.

When you have 7 influence with an alliance you immediately gain a level III tile with that alliance. Place the level III tile on top of the level II-tile so that the height of the tile stack makes it easier for other players to see your alliance levels at a glance.

Gaining a new alliance tile happens instantly and automatically when you reach the required influence. Once you have an alliance tile you never lose it, even if your influence drops below the requirement. Read more about the various alliance tiles in Appendix 6.

Example: Blue controls 2 castles (a and b) and has 2 leader cards with the Birkebein symbol (c and d). This means they have 4 influence with the Birkebein Alliance and immediatly place the level II Birkebein tile in the Birkebein space on their alliance board (e).

Movement Cards, Battle Cards and Leader Cards

The most used cards in Fjordar are the movement cards, the battle cards and the leader cards. Movement cards can be identified by the card symbol with a footprint in their left margin, battle cards have a card symbol with an axe in the left margin, while leader cards have a card symbol with a crown in the same place. Leader cards can be played either as movement cards or as battle cards. They will stay in your player area for the rest of the game. Unlike common movement and battle cards.

IMPORTANT: all symbols in a card's left margin affect your later turns and other players' turns as long as the card stays in your player area. All other symbols only affect the turn the card is played.

Card anatomy

(Three card types are shown: a common movement card, a common battle card and a leader card.)

Name of the card.
Main Movement Points (common movement cards only). The common movement cards have a fixed amount of main MP, for instance this card gives you 1 MP on your turn.
Alliance Movement Points (leader cards only). A symbol referencing the MP on the current alliance tile of the same suit as the leader card. When playing a leader card as movement card, add the MP printed on the current alliance tile belonging to the suit of the leader card being played.
Alliance Strength (leader cards and battle cards only). A symbol referencing the Strength on the current alliance tile of the same suit as the battle card or leader card. When playing a card in battle, always use the Strength printed on the current alliance tile that corresponds to the suit of the card being played. See pages 15-16 for more information on how alliance strength is used in battle.
Left margin MP or Strength (leader cards and common movement cards only). Common movement cards always have 1 MP in the left margin, while leader cards can have either 1 MP or 1 Strength in the left margin.
Alliance symbol (leader cards only). A symbol that shows which alliance the leader belongs to. See Alliances on page 7.
Card type (on all cards). A symbol showing if the card is a movement card, leader card or a battle card.
Generation number (leader cards only). This number is used when sorting the deck of leader cards during setup.
Special ability (leader cards and common movement cards only). This is an effect or action that only applies on the turn you play the card.

Playing the Game

Each player, on their turn, completes the following 6 phases in the order described on this page. You MUST finish a phase completely before moving on to a later phase. For instance you can not do a location action with a unit and then move it to a different area.

Beginning with the Start Player, each player does their complete turn before proceeding to the next player in clockwise order. This continues until the end of game condition (see page 26) is met.

Phases

Pay gold, or retrieve all movement cards. Skip this phase on your first turn of the game. Pay 1 gold for each card already in your movement row, or take back all movement cards from your movement row to your hand. If you take back all movement cards, any leader cards in your movement row are moved over to the saga row.
Play a Movement Card. Play a common movement card, or a leader card, to gain MP to spend on your units in the movement phase, along with the special abilities printed on the card.
Movement. Spend MP to move your units and ships around the board.
Battle. Resolve a battle in each area you have moved any of your units into that is occupied by another player.
Location Actions. Use your units to do actions at the various locations around the game board. You can do up to 1 location action with each unit you have in an area with a location.
End of Turn. Score 1 VP for each Beacon you have lit. And if your score token has passed or landed on at least 1 event token during your turn, draw 1 event card.

Phase 1: Pay Gold, or Retrieve All Movement Cards

Skip this phase on your first turn of the game.

Before playing a new movement card, you must choose either:

Pay 1 gold for each card (common movement and leader) that is currently in your movement row.

Take back all the common movement cards from your movement row to your hand, while moving any leader cards from your movement row to your saga row, overlapping any cards already there, so that each card's left margin is still visible.

Pay gold or reset movement row example: Blue has 3 cards in their Movement Row. At the start of their turn they must either pay 3 gold or remove all the cards from the Movement Row. If they remove the cards, they take the 2 common movement cards there back to their hand, while moving the leader card (Nikolas Arnesson) over to the Saga Row. There, Nikolas is placed overlapping the Margrete Ragnvaldsdotter-card so that the left margin of her card is still visible.

Phase 2: Playing a Movement Card

Each turn, you MUST play exactly 1 card from your hand. Place it face up in front of you to the left of your alliance board. Each subsequent card is played so that it overlaps the previous card, leaving each card's left margin visible.

The first card in the movement row cannot be a leader card. You can only play a leader card into the row when there is at least one other card there. If your Hird unit isn't on the board when you play a leader card, immediately place it on the board in an area you control.

A movement card gives you MP that your units can spend to move around the map in the next phase: Movement. It also gives you special abilities that apply on your turn only. The different abilities are detailed in appendices 4 and 5.

Gaining Movement Points

After playing a card, gain:

1 MP for each MP symbol showing at the top of each card in your movement and saga rows (including the newly played card).
The MP indicated on the topmost corresponding alliance-tile if you played a leader card.

Place a control cube on the reminder track on the bottom of your alliance board in the space that corresponds to the total MP gained. These MP can be spent to move your units and ships this turn.

Playing movement card examples: Blue has just played the Páskar card (a). They gain 4 MP from the cards in their movement row (b and c), in addition to 1 MP from their saga row (d), giving them a total of 5 MP to spend in the movement phase this turn.

The next turn, Blue plays the Kristin Sigurdsdotter card (a). They gain 4 MP from the cards in their movement and saga rows (b, c, d and e). Since Kristin is a leader belonging to the Lendsmenn alliance (green), Blue also gains MP from the topmost Lendsmenn alliance tile (f), which shows 3 MP, giving Blue a total of 7 MP to spend in the movement phase this turn.

Phase 3: Movement

In the movement phase, you move your units and ships around the board by spending the MP gained in the previous phase.

Areas

The map you play on is separated into areas of various sizes. When moving your units, you use the MP to move between areas. Movement within an area is free.

There are 3 types of areas in the game:

A cluster of landhexes of the same terrain colour, on the same terrain level are considered a land area. These areas can be as small as 1 hex, and they can have as many locations in them as they have hexes.
Sea areas. Each individual hex of sea terrain is considered a distinct area. Units may only move to sea areas containing a ship.
A castle. Castle locations are always considered their own, single-hex areas.

Spending Movement Points

You may spend MP to move a unit from one area to another. MP can be distributed freely among all the units you control on the board, and there is no limit to how far each unit can move as long as you have MP to move them. However, units that move into an area occupied by enemy units cannot move any further this turn. You cannot save unspent MP from one turn to the next.

Place 1 of your control cubes in each unoccupied area you move into that you did not control before. When moving into an unoccupied area controlled by another player, simply replace their control cube with your own.

The map in Fjordar is 3 dimensional, which means that the physical difference in elevation between areas affects the cost of movement. The various options you have when moving a unit between two areas, and their costs in MP, are listed below:

1 MP: to move a unit to an adjacent area on the same terrain level. Note that sea areas are on the same terrain level as the lowest land areas.
1 MP: to move a unit to an adjacent area 1 terrain level below.
2 MP: to move a unit to an adjacent area 1 terrain level above.
1 MP: to move a unit to any other area on the same supply line, ignoring all other movement costs and cliffs.
1 MP: to move a ship to any other unoccupied sea area. (Enemy ships do not block your path, so you can freely move past them).

Ships

Ships are considered a location in Fjordar and not a unit. There can never be more than one ship in a sea area. Ships are governed by the same control rules as areas: you can gain control of an unoccupied ship by moving a unit into it or take control of an occupied ship by winning a battle there.

When gaining a new ship, either through the 'Build a Ship' location action or through free actions on cards, you always place your own control cube in it. Never place a control cube directly in the sea, the control cube moves with the ship when you move it. A ship you control is part of your supply line and functions as a bridge for your units to move across.

Ships can hold up to 2 units and must have at least 1 unit on board to be able to move. When you move a ship, the units on board move with the ship for free.

Cliffs

Adjacent areas separated by 2 or 3 terrain levels are considered to be separated by a cliff. You cannot move up or down a cliff unless you control both areas separated by the cliff (i.e., they are on the same supply line) or you play the Sumar card (See Appendix 4: The Common Movement Cards).

Moving into Battle

A unit that you own, that you have moved into an area occupied by another player, is considered part of your supply line for the rest of your movement phase. This means that you can move other units on the same supply line into this area for only 1 MP each.

Movement Examples

Red is considering where to move the unit marked (a). To move to area (b) they must use 1 MP since this area is one terrain level below the unit. To move to area (c) they need to use 2 MP since this area is one terrain level above the unit. To move to the castle (d) they need to use 1 MP since this is another area on the same terrain level as their unit. To move all the way to areas (e) or (f) they only need to use 1 MP, since these areas are on the same supply line. If they would like to move into the ship controlled by blue at (g) and take it over, they would need to spend 2 MP; 1 to first move to (f) and then 1 more to move into the adjacent ship at (g).

Blue wants to move their unit at (a) to the Beacon at (e). To do so they must use 7 MP altogether; 1 MP to move to the end of the supply line at (b), 2 MP to move one terrain level upward from (b) to (c), then 2 more MP to move upward from (c) to (d), and then 2 more MP to move upward from (d) to (e).

Phase 4: Battle

After the movement phase, a battle occurs in each area occupied by multiple players' units. These areas are referred to as battle areas.

There can be more than one battle on a player's turn, if they have entered several areas containing other player's units during their movement phase. Resolve a separate battle for each area, they are resolved in the order the active player chooses. When resolving a battle, go through the following 4 steps:

1 Calculate Initial Battle Strength

Both players add the strength of all their units in the battle area.
- A Hird adds 3 strength.
- A Leidang adds 1 strength.
- If the battle area is a castle, the defending player adds 2 strength for defending a castle.
Both players add the strength of their Leidang in adjacent areas. For each Leidang in an area adjacent to the battle area, add 1 strength, plus 1 strength for each terrain level they are above the battle area. Adjacent Hird do not add any strength. Note that adjacent Leidang that are at a terrain level below the battle area, also add 1 strength each.
Both players add the strength from their movement and saga rows. Add 1 strength for each strength symbol in the left margin of the cards in your movement and saga rows.

The total from these steps is your initial battle strength. Place a control cube on the reminder track on the bottom of your alliance board in the space that corresponds to the total strength gained.

Calculating Initial Battle Strength Example: Orange is attacking Blue. They both have a Hird in the battle area (a), giving them 3 Strength each. In addition orange has 2 Leidang in an adjacent ship (b) giving them 2 additional Strength. Orange also has 1 strength on a leader card in the saga row (d), giving them a total initial strength of 6. Blue has 1 Leidang on the adjacent mountain (c), 3 terrain levels above the battle area, giving them 4 additional Strength; 3 from the elevation difference and 1 from the Leidang itself. Blue has 1 additional strength on a leader card in the movement row (e), giving them a total initial strength of 8.

2 Play Battle Cards

After calculating initial strength, each player attempts to gain strength from one of the four alliances in the game.

First, both players secretly choose a battle card (common battle or leader) from the alliance that they want to use (a).

Next, both players choose 1, 2 or 3 common battle cards to predict the alliance of their opponent's battle card. Battle cards used this way are called prediction cards. Rotate each prediction card 180 degrees and place it behind your chosen battle card so that only the alliance color area (b, c and d in the illustration) of the card is visible.

Finally, both players simultaneously reveal their chosen battle and prediction cards. If one of your prediction cards matches the alliance of your opponent's chosen battle card, you gain the strength printed on the topmost tile of the alliance belonging to your battle card.

Depending on how many prediction cards you used to correctly guess the alliance of your opponent's battle card, add the strength on the alliance tile corresponding to your battle card multiplied by 1, 2 or 3 to your initial battle strength:

If you played 3 prediction cards, multiply the strength on your alliance tile by 1.
If you played 2 prediction cards, multiply the strength on your alliance tile by 2.
If you played 1 prediction card, multiply the strength on your alliance tile by 3.
If none of your prediction cards matches the alliance of your opponent's battle card, you gain no strength from your chosen alliance.

Return all common battle cards and prediction cards back to your hand.

Playing leader cards as battle cards

When playing a leader card as a battle card, increase your total strength by 1 for each strength symbol in the card's left margin, but do not use the card's ability. If playing a leader card gives you enough influence to gain a new alliance tile, immediately upgrade that alliance and base any strength gained on the new tile. If your Hird unit isn't on the board when you play a leader for your battle card, immediately place it on the board in the battle area currently being resolved. After the battle, place the leader card directly into your saga row where it will stay for the rest of the game giving you influence with it's alliance and 1 extra strength or MP.

Note that when you use a leader as a battle card you can predict the same alliance as the one you play yourself, since you have all 4 common battle cards available to use as prediction cards.

Playing Battle Cards Example (Orange): Orange plays an Øyskjegg leader card (a) from their hand since they are at Level II with the Øyskjegg alliance (b) and since this card also has 1 extra strength in it's left margin (c). They have an initial strength of 6, so they decide they need to push their luck a bit to try to beat Blue's initial strength of 8. They see that Blue is at Level I in every alliance but Birkebein, which is at Level II (d), so they make a gamble that Blue will play a Birkebein card and use only the one Birkebein card for their prediction. They rotate this card 180 degrees and place it behind their battle card so that only the alliance color area is visible (e). If they guess correctly they will gain +7 strength (2 from the Øyskjegg alliance tile (f), multiplied by 3 since they used only 1 prediction card (e), and +1 from the leader card's left margin (c)). They will only gain +1 strength (from the leader card's left margin (c)) if they guess incorrectly.

Playing Battle Cards Example (Blue): Blue doesn't have any leader cards available, so they need to use a common battle card. The Birkebein alliance (d) is their strongest, so they decide to play a Birkebein card in battle (g). They see that Orange is strongest in the Bagler and Øyskjegg alliances (see (b) and (h) above), and not sure which alliance their opponent will use they decide to play both the Bagler and Øyskjegg cards as prediction cards. They rotate these cards 180 degrees and place them behind their battle card so that the black and blue colors are clearly visible (i). If they guess correctly, this will gain them +4 strength (2 from the Birkebein alliance tile (j), multiplied by 2 since they used 2 guessing cards (i)), and +0 strength if they get it wrong.

3 Compare Total Battle Strength

After adding any extra strength from playing a battle card to your initial strength, you now have your total battle strength. Compare total battle strength with your opponent. The winner is the player with the highest total battle strength. If there is a tie, the attacker wins.

Comparing Battle Strength Example: Continuing the battle in the previous examples, Orange guessed the alliance of their opponent's battle card (the color of (e) matches (g) on the opposite page) correctly and gains +7 strength in addition to their initial strength of 6, for a total of 13 strength. Blue also correctly guessed their opponent's Øyskjegg card (the color of one of the cards at (i) matches (a) on the opposite page) and gains +4 strength in addition to their initial strength of 8, for a total of 12 strength. This makes Orange player the winner of the battle!

4 Aftermath

If the Attacker Wins

The attacker replaces the defender's control cube with their own, placing the defender's cube back in their supply. The defender retreats their units to any area they control. If they control no areas, remove the units from the board (see Being Wiped Out on page 23).

If the attacker gained a new location associated with the alliance they used in battle, and controlling that location gives the attacker enough influence to gain a new alliance tile, they gain the alliance tile immediately.

Next, the attacker gains the reward printed on their topmost alliance tile corresponding to the alliance on their battle card, (gold or VP).

If the Defender Wins

The attacker removes one of their units that participated in the battle to their supply. Then, they retreat their surviving units from the battle area to any area they control.

The defender keeps control of the battle area and gains 1 gold.

Aftermath Example: Since Orange won as the attacker they gain control of the battle area and replace Blue's control cube with their own (m). They also gain the reward printed on their alliance tile matching the battle card they used. They played an Øyskjegg card so they gain the rewards on their Øyskjegg alliance tile (Level II)-either 2 gold (k) or 4 VP (l). Blue lost as the defender and must retreat to an area they control. They choose to retreat to the village (n) so that they don't need to move their Hird if they decide to tax the village on a future turn.

Phase 5: Location Actions

General Location Action Rules

After movement and battle, each of your units may take 1 location action.

A unit must be in the same area (not hex) as a location to take a location action.
Units placed as the result of a location action cannot be used to perform a location action in the same turn they were placed.
More than one unit may take an action at the same location, if the location permits it.
Some actions have a cost in gold. If you cannot pay the cost you cannot do the action.
Perform location actions in the order of your choosing.
If there are not enough location pieces or units left in the supply to complete a location action, you may remove one of your own locations or units of the appropriate type, from the board to place when doing the action.

Locations Overview

Forest, Church, Beacon, Village, Castle, Ship.

Descriptions of All Actions

Forest Action: Build a Ship

Pay 1 gold to the supply.
Remove the forest from the board.
Add a control cube to a ship from the supply and place it in an empty sea area adjacent to any area connected with the forest via a supply line. In the unlikely event there are no such sea areas, place it as close as you can to any area connected to the forest via a supply line.
The unit that built the ship may immediately move into it.

Forest Action: Build a Village

Remove the Leidang taking the action from the board (this action can not be done using a Hird).
Remove the forest from the board.
Replace the forest with a village from the supply.
Place 2 resource cubes in the village.

Forest Action: Build a Church

Pay 1 gold to the supply.
Remove the forest from the board.
Replace the forest with a church from the supply.
Place a church builder token of your color in the same hex as the church.
Gain 1 VP.

Church Action: Burn a Church

You cannot take this action at a church with a church builder token of your own color.
Remove the Church from the board and put it in the general supply. If the church was built by another player, return the church builder token to the player who owns it.
Then, either gain 1 gold, OR gain 1 VP for each church builder token you have on the board.

Beacon Action: Light the Beacon

Take the control cube you have next to the beacon and place it on top of the beacon. The beacon is now considered lit.
Take a new Leidang unit from your personal supply and place it in any area that is connected to the beacon via a supply line.
You cannot do this action at a beacon that is already lit with a control cube of your own color.
You can take this action without placing a Leidang.

Village Action: Muster or Tax

Remove 1 resource cube from the village. If a village does not have any resource cubes, you cannot muster or tax in that village.
Either: 1) Muster: Place a new Leidang unit from your personal supply in any area connected to the village via a supply line. OR 2) Tax: Take 1 gold from the supply.

Castle Action: Retrieve Heir

Take 1 heir of your color from the castle occupied by the unit performing the action and place it in your personal supply.
Choose an alliance that hasn't been used yet this turn for retrieving an heir. Score VP using the table on your action board based on the sum of: 1) the number of locations associated with the chosen alliance that are connected via a supply line to the castle you removed the heir from, and 2) the number of alliance symbols matching the chosen alliance in the left margin of leader cards in your player area. (The table on the action board: 1 = +1 VP, 2 = +2, 3 = +3, 4 = +4, 5 = +6, 6 = +8, 7 = +10, 8 = +12.)
Draw the top 3 cards from the leader deck. Choose one to take into your hand, and place the other two back on the deck in the order they were drawn. In a 2-player game, choose 1 card to take into your hand, 1 card to discard, and place the remaining card back on top of the deck.

Heir scoring example: Orange is retrieving the heir at castle (a) and would like to score as many VP as possible. They only have 1 ship (b) connected to the castle and no Øyskjegg leaders in their player area, so scoring the Øyskjegg alliance would only score them 1 VP according to the table on their action board (c). They have 1 village (d) connected to the castle and 1 Lendsmenn leader (e), so scoring the Lendsmenn alliance would score them 2 VP. They have 2 castles on this supply line (a and f) but no Birkebein leaders, so scoring the Birkebein alliance would also only give them 2 VP. However, they have 3 churches (g, h and i) on this supply line and 2 Bagler leaders (j) in their player area, so scoring the Bagler alliance would score them 6 VP according to the table above.

Phase 6: End of Your Turn

Gain Victory Points from Beacons

Score 1 VP for each beacon lit with one of your control cubes on the board.

Draw an Event Card

At the end of your turn, if there is an event token (see "Event Tokens" below) in the event space at the bottom of the score board, remove that token, then draw and resolve an event card. If the event deck is empty, shuffle the event discard pile to form a new deck. Then, play continues with the player to your left.

Event Tokens

Every turn, the first time you move your score token past an event token on the score track, place that event token in the event space at the bottom of the score board. If you pass any other event tokens later in the same turn, do not remove them. These will be removed by players that are behind you on the score track later in the game.

An event token in the event space indicates for you to draw an event card at the end of your turn, as explained under "Draw an Event Card" above.

Example: Red (a) has 8 VP. They retrieve an heir and score 9 points, moving their score token up to 17. In doing so, they pass 2 event tokens with their score token. They remove the first token they pass (b) and place it in the event-space (d), but leave the second token (c) where it is. Any additional event tokens they pass this turn will remain in place. At the end of their turn they remove the token from the event-space and draw an event card.

End of the Game

When Does the Game End?

The end of the game is triggered when one player reaches or exceeds 50 VP.

When the end of the game is triggered, finish the current round so that all players take the same number of turns.

End of the Game Scoring

When the game is over, each player performs final scoring as follows:

Score VP for each set of leaders from different alliances in your player area (not in your hand). 2 VP for 2 different alliances, 5 VP for 3 different alliances, and 10 VP for 4 different alliances (as shown in the table on the right of each player action board).
Score the end game VP on your level III alliance tiles (if any, see Appendix 6: The Alliance Tiles).

The player with the highest score wins. In case of a tie, the tied player with the most units on the board wins. If still tied, the tied player with the most gold wins. If there is still a tie, the tied players share the victory and the throne of Norway.

End of the Game Scoring Example: At the end of the game Blue has managed to get 6 leader cards in their player area; 2 Øyskjegg (a), 2 Birkebein (b), 1 Bagler (c) and 1 Lendsmenn (d). This means that they have 1 full set of leaders (1 of each alliance) and 1 half set (1 Birkebein and 1 Øyskjegg that are not included in the full set). According to the table on the right of each player action board, this means they score 10 VP for the full set (e) and 2 points for the half set (f), giving them a total of 12 VP from their leaders at the end of the game. Additionally they have managed to gain enough influence throughout the game to upgrade the Øyskjegg alliance to the third and last alliance tile (g). This tile gives them 1 VP for each beacon they have lit in their color at the end of the game. So if they have managed to keep 3 beacons lit, they would score 3 additional VP, for 15 VP in total end of game scoring.

Being Wiped Out

In the Norwegian Civil War, it was not uncommon for new rebel groups to pop up, seemingly out of nowhere, whenever there was a power vacuum after the death of a pretender. And even sometimes when there wasn't a power vacuum after the death of a pretender.

Although rare, it is possible to begin your turn with no units on the board. If this happens, complete an additional step prior to phase 1 of your turn according to how many areas you control:

If you control 3 areas or more, place your Hird and a new Leidang on the board, distributed as you see fit in any areas you control, before starting your turn.

If you control 2 areas or less, do the following before starting your turn:

Place a control cube in 2 uncontrolled areas. If insufficient uncontrolled areas exist, you may place cubes in unoccupied areas controlled by any player, removing those player's cubes in the process.
Place a new ship with your control cube in it, in any empty sea area.
Place your Hird and 2 Leidang in any areas you control, distributed as you see fit.
Draw the top 3 cards from the leader deck, choose two to take into your hand and place the last one back on top of the deck.
Gain 2 gold.

Two Player Games

Changes to the rules for playing with 2 players are listed throughout the rules, but are collected below for convenience.

Appendix 2: The Standard Map Setup, Step 7

In a 2-player game there is no limit to how big an area can be, so skip this step.

General Setup, 11 Choosing Start Leader Cards

Find the 4 leader cards and give them to the last player. In reverse player order, each player chooses a leader card to start the game with. The first player to select a card also discards a card they do not want the other player to have. Put any unselected cards from the first generation into a face down discard pile without looking at them.

In a 2-player game do not reveal your chosen start leader card to your opponent.

In a 2-player game the discard pile for the leader cards is face down.

Location Actions, Castle Action: Retrieve Heir, Step 3

Draw the top 3 cards from the leader deck, choose 1 card to take into your hand, 1 card to discard face down in the discard pile, and place the remaining card back on top of the deck.

Appendix

(Appendix booklet Version 2.14. Some changes will be done to the leader cards and alliance tiles shown in the appendix before the final version.)

Appendix 1: Map Setup - First Time Playing

The very first time you play Fjordar, we recommend you set up the map in the way described on these two pages. Using this map ensures an enjoyable playing experience for new players. When familiar with the game, use the Standard method in Appendix 2.

This setup is for 2 to 4 players. The tiles shown in these illustrations with a black border are to be used for all player counts. When playing with 3 or 4 players also place the tiles shown with a bright pink border. When playing with 4 players, also place the tiles shown with a light blue border. The location icons and number labels on the tiles have been enlarged in these illustrations for better clarity.

1 From the box, take out the following pieces

The 7 base tiles depicted in step 2 (all base tiles except the one marked with B1 to B6 on all six sides).
All tiles depicted: 4 1-hex tiles on level 2 side; 2 1-hex tiles on level 3 side; all 6-hex tiles; all 3-hex tiles; 2 2-hex level 2 tiles and 2 2-hex level 3 tiles; 2 more 2-hex level 2 tiles and 2 more 2-hex level 3 tiles; 4 mountain tiles; 2 more mountain tiles; 2 more mountain tiles. The tiles within a pink border are only used with 3-4 players. The tiles within a blue border are only used with 4 players.
All location pieces depicted: all ships, all churches, 2 beacons for each player, 3 castles for each player, all forests, all villages and resource cubes. When placing the terrain tiles following the instructions in illustrations 2 through 5, place these location pieces on the corresponding symbols on each terrain tile. The location symbols on the terrain tiles are only used during setup and have no effect during the rest of the game. The pieces that are not placed on the terrain tiles during setup are set aside next to the board to be used during the game.

TIP: For faster setup, have one player place the tiles while another player places the location pieces after each tile has been placed.

2

Place the center base tile in the middle of the table, and place the corresponding edge base tiles around it as depicted. Place castles on the city spaces that correspond with your player count. Also place a castle on the indicated hex in the center tile. Place ships on the starting ship spaces corresponding with your player count.

3

Place the level 2 tiles that correspond to your player count, as depicted. Place location pieces on the indicated hexes, including 2 resource cubes at every village.

4

Place the snow covered level 3 tiles corresponding to your player count, as depicted. Place location pieces on the indicated hexes, including 2 resource cubes at every Village. The level 2 tiles from the previous step that are only used with 3 or 4 players are shaded pink and blue for reference.

5

Place the level 4 mountain tiles corresponding to your player count, as depicted. The level 2 and level 3 tiles from the previous steps that are only used with 3 or 4 players are shaded pink and blue for reference.

6

After all other tiles have been placed, place a 1-hex level 2 tile on all city spaces that do not already have a castle piece on them. Depending on your player count you may end up not using all the 1-hex tiles listed in step 1. Place any unused tiles back in the box.

7

Place a beacon on each mountain tile you placed.

Now, continue with the general setup from step 2 on page 4 of the rulebook.

Appendix 2: The Standard Map Setup

1

Choose one of the two center base tiles and which side to display, and place it in the middle of the table.

2

Place the edge tiles around the chosen center tile, with the A or the B side up, depending on which center tile you are using, so that the edges with the corresponding labels meet.

Now go back to page 4 in the rulebook and continue with setup from step 2 before placing the rest of the tiles!

3

Take out the level 2, 3 and 4 tiles from the box and place them in separate stacks next to each other from left to right as shown in the illustration: A (6-hex tiles), B and C (3-hex tiles), D (2-hex tiles), E (1-hex tiles, Lvl 4), F (1-hex tiles, Lvl 2-3). Make sure to shuffle stacks A, B, C and D separately. You do not need to shuffle stacks E or F.

The 2-hex tiles in stack D. Note that the 2-hex tiles are not used in 2-player games. Use 2 tiles of each type (Level 2 and Level 3) in a 3-player game, and use all 2-hex tiles in a 4-player game. Leave any unused tiles in the box.

The Mountain peak tiles in stack E. Only use 2 Level 4 tiles per player and leave any unused tiles in the box.

When following the general setup on page 4 in the rulebook you should already have taken out from the box the location pieces shown here (all ships, all churches, 2 beacons for each player, all forests, all villages and resource cubes, 3 castles for each player) and placed them near the map. If you haven't, do it now. When placing the terrain tiles following the instructions on the next page, place these locations pieces on the corresponding symbols on each terrain tile. The location symbols on the terrain tiles are only used during setup and have no effect during the rest of the game. The pieces that are not placed on the terrain tiles during setup are set aside next to the board to be used during the game.

4

Place a castle on each start castle location that is used with your player count, in addition to a castle on the indicated hex on the center tile. Also, place a ship on each starting ship space corresponding with your player count.

5

Beginning with the start player and continuing in clockwise order, each player places the topmost tile in stack A (first these), then stacks B and C (then these), then D, then E. When a stack is empty, the next player who's turn it is continues by placing the topmost tile in the next stack until all tiles in all stacks have been placed. Note that when placing tiles from stacks B and C you can choose the topmost available tile from either stack.

After placing a tile, immediatly place the indicated location piece(s) on the indicated hex(es).

6

When all stack E tiles have been placed, place a tile from stack F with the level 2 face up, on each starting castle location that does not have a castle on it, and that is not already covered by another level 2 tile.

7

Skip this step in a 2-player game!

Then, if there are any areas that are larger than 6 hexes, continue placing stack F tiles in player order. These must be placed so that an area larger than 6 hexes is reduced to 6 hexes or smaller. Continue doing this until no areas are larger than 6 hexes or until you run out of tiles of this type.

8

Put all unused castles and beacons back in the box, leave the rest of the churches, villages, resource cubes, forests and ships near the board.

Now, continue with the rest of the general setup from step 10 on page 5 in the rulebook.

Tile Placement Rules

Level 2 tiles should always be placed directly on the level 1 base tiles. Level 3 tiles (snow covered) should always be placed directly on top of level 2 tiles. Level 4 tiles (mountain peaks) should always be placed directly on top of level 3 tiles.
When placing a tile, the tile should always create a new area (see areas on page 12 in the rulebook) on it's terrain level if possible. Only when it isn't possible to create a new area are you allowed to place the tile so that it makes an already existing area bigger. In these cases the tile should be placed adjacent to the smallest existing area you can find.
Remember that castles are their own areas, so you can always place a new tile directly adjacent to a castle on the same level as long as it is not placed adjacent to any other areas on the same level.
You are not allowed to place a tile so that any part of it covers a sea hex. You are also not allowed to create an overhang when placing a tile.
You are not allowed to place a tile so that any part of it covers a location on the tile beneath it. However, when placing level 2 tiles you are allowed to place them so that they cover start castle spaces that are not in use with your player count.

Appendix 3: The Event Cards

Events in Fjordar represent the passage of time. Forests grow, the population in villages grows, new heirs are born, and old leaders die (remember, this conflict went on for 110 years). The symbols and the names at the top of each card are medieval holidays taken from the old Norwegian runic calendar and are purely thematic, with no effect on the gameplay. There are 8 cards in the event deck, with 4 different effects.

Gregorsmesse and Sumarmal: In turn order, starting with the active player, each player places a forest in an empty hex, in an area on the lowest or next lowest terrain level.
Jonsok and Olsok: Place 1 resource cube in each village with less than 2 resource cubes.
Gauksmesse and Benediksmesse: Each player take an heir from the personal supply of the player to their left, and place it in a castle that does not already have an heir of that colour. If all castles have an heir of that color, return that heir to the personal supply of the player.
Alle sjelers dag and Gjertrudsmesse: Remove the top leader card(s) from the leader deck. In a 3-player game, remove 2. In 2- and 4-player games, remove 1.

Appendix 4: The Common Movement Cards

All players start the game with the same four common movement cards on their hand. Most of these cards have special abilities that will apply on the turn they are played. The abilities are explained with symbols on each card and in detail below.

Haustr (Harvest): When playing Haustr, take one of these free actions during phases 3-6: Gain 1 gold, or place 1 new Leidang from your supply in an area you control, or add a control cube to a ship from the supply and place it in any empty sea area adjacent to an area you control. Note that the Leidang you acquire using a card effect like this can do a location action on the turn it is placed.
Jól (Christmas): The turn you play this card, moving up a terrain level only costs 1 MP, and you can move downhill as far as you want, as long as each subsequent area is 1 level below the previous, for only 1 MP. Drop control cubes in all new areas you pass this way. Since there were no roads in Norway before the 14th century, travelling across land went a lot faster during winter.
Páskar (Easter): No special ability beyond the MP granted during your movement phase.
Sumar (Summer): The turn you play this card, you are allowed to move directly up and down cliffs no matter the difference in elevation. It costs 2 MP to move directly up any number of terrain levels and 1 MP to move directly down any number of terrain levels. When the snow and ice have melted, the narrow paths up and down steep cliffs are finally traversable.

Appendix 5: The Leader Cards

All players start the game with a first generation leader card that they choose during setup. Leader cards can be used as either movement or battle cards. Players gain new leader cards during the game when they take the Retrieve Heir action.

If your Hird unit isn't on the board when you play a leader card, you immediately place it on the board in an area you control or in the battle area currently being resolved.

There are 5 types of leader card abilities: 1) Free actions, which can be done at any point during your turn; 2) Movement modifiers, which are used in the movement phase; 3) Hird actions, which can only be done by a Hird unit at the specified location; 4) Action modifers, which make the specified action better this turn; 5) Battle modifers, which are used in the battle phase.

(Each leader card belongs to an alliance, shown by its color/symbol: Bagler = black, Birkebein = white, Lendsmenn = green, Øyskjegg = blue; the alliance of each card below was read from the card images and follows the order Bagler, Birkebein, Lendsmenn, Øyskjegg within each generation.)

Generation I

Ingerid Ragnvaldsdotter (Bagler). Free action: Add a control cube to a ship from the supply, and place it in an empty sea area adjacent to an area you control.
Harald Gille (Birkebein). Free action: Gain 2 Gold.
Kristin Sigurdsdotter (Lendsmenn). Free action: Place 1 new Leidang in any area you control.
Magnus Blinde (Øyskjegg). Movement modifier: Gain +2 MP this turn.

Generation II

Øystein Haraldsson (Bagler). Hird action: Take a Ward. Take a normal Retrieve Heir action, using an enemy heir.
Inge Krokrygg (Birkebein). Action modifier: Do not pay gold for Build Church actions this turn.
Erling Skakke (Lendsmenn). Action modifier: Each time you take the Burn Church action this turn, gain +1 gold in addition to the normal reward.
Sigurd Munn (Øyskjegg). Free action: Place 1 of your heirs in a castle you don't control that doesn't already have an heir of your color from before.

Generation III

Margrete Arnesdotter (Bagler). Action modifier: Do not pay gold for Build Ship actions this turn.
Sverre Sigurdsson (Birkebein). Hird action: Plunder and burn a village. Remove the village from the board and gain 3 gold.
Magnus Erlingsson (Lendsmenn). Action modifier: Each time you take a Muster or Tax action, gain +1 gold in addition to the normal reward.
Jon Kuvlung (Øyskjegg). Action modifier: Do not pay Leidang for Build Village actions this turn.

Generation IV

Nikolas Arnesson (Bagler). Action modifier: Each time you take a Retrieve Heir action this turn, gain +3 VP.
Cecilia Sigurdsdotter (Birkebein). Action modifier: Each time you take a Build Village action this turn, gain +3 VP.
Ragnhild Erlingsdotter (Lendsmenn). Battle modifier: Gain +2 strength in each battle you participate in this turn.
Kristin Sverresdotter (Øyskjegg). Free action: Place 1 of your heirs in up to 2 castles you don't control that don't already have an heir of your color.

Generation V

Erling Steinvegg (Bagler). Action modifier: Each time you take a Burn Church action this turn, gain +2 VP in addition to the normal reward.
Inge Bårdsson (Birkebein). Hird action: Christmas Party. Gain 2 VP for each heir (enemy and your own) at the castle where you take the action.
Brigida Haraldsdotter (Lendsmenn). Action modifier: Each time you take the Muster or Tax action this turn, gain +2 VP in addition to the normal reward.
Skule Bårdsson (Øyskjegg). Hird action: Take a Ward. Take a normal Retrieve Heir action, using an enemy Heir.

Generation VI

Filippus Simonsson (Bagler). Hird action: Write your Saga. Take this action at a church location to gain 2 VP for each leader card in your player area.
Håkon Håkonsson (Birkebein). Hird action: Military Might. Take a normal Muster or Tax action. Then, gain 2 VP for each Leidang you have on the board.
Sigurd Jarlsson (Lendsmenn). Hird action: Build Nidarosdomen. Take a normal Build Church action. Then, gain 2 VP for each church you control.
Margrete Skulesdotter (Øyskjegg). Hird action: Build Mariasuden. Take a normal Build Ship action. Then, gain 2 VP for each ship you control.

Appendix 6: The Alliance Tiles

Level I

All Level I alliance "tiles" are printed directly on your alliance board and give the player 2 MP when playing a leader card from the associated alliance. They may also give players an additional 1 Strength (that can be multiplied by 2 or 3) when they play a battle card from the associated alliance (See "Play a Battle Card" on page 15). When winning a battle using a Level I alliance, gain either 1 Gold or 2 VP.

Bagler, Birkebein, Lendsmenn, Øyskjegg: No special ability.

Level II

To upgrade to a Level II alliance tile you need to have any combination of 4 associated controlled locations on the board and/or leaders of the associated alliance in your player area. All Level II alliance tiles give the player 3 MP when playing a leader card from the associated alliance. They may also give players an additional 2 Strength (that can be multiplied by 2 or 3) when they play a battle card from the associated alliance. When winning a battle using a Level II alliance, gain either 2 Gold or 4 VP.

Bagler: Each time you take a "Burn Church" action, gain +1 VP if you choose to take Gold as your reward, or +1 VP for each Church Builder Token you have on the board.
Birkebein: Each time you take a "Retrieve Heir" action, gain +2 VP.
Lendsmenn: All your Leidang gain +1 Strength in battle.
Øyskjegg: In Phase 6 of your turn, all your lit beacons give you +1 VP.

Level III

To upgrade to a Level III alliance tile you need to have any combination of 7 associated controlled locations on the board and/or leaders of the associated alliance in your player area. All Level III alliance tiles give the player 4 MP when playing a leader card from the associated alliance. They may also give players an additional 3 Strength (that can be multiplied by 2 or 3) when they play a battle card from the associated alliance. When winning a battle using a Level III alliance, gain either 3 Gold or 6 VP.

Bagler: Same ability as Level II, plus gain +1 VP for each Church Builder Token you have on the board at game end.
Birkebein: Each time you take a "Retrieve Heir" action gain +3 VP.
Lendsmenn: Same ability as Level II, plus gain +1 VP for each Leidang you have on the board at game end.
Øyskjegg: Same ability as Level II, plus gain +1 VP for each beacon you have lit at game end.