Flick Wars

Flick Wars Rulebook

Table of Contents

How to Read This Rulebook

Read through pages 2-3 (the pages you're on) to get the basic descriptions of the pieces, pages 3-4 for game setup, and then pages 5-6 for how to play. Play a game!

Once you've played a game or two, read through pages 7-8 for advanced game rules and clarifications on abilities, 9-12 for solo play (you must understand the basic gameplay first), 13-14 for the Terrain expansion components and rules.

Battlefield Mat: This surface is where you'll be fighting.
6 Wood Domes: These wood domes are placed around the battlefield as obstacles. They can also be placed underneath the battlefield for 3D terrain!
6 Base Cards (1 per faction): Fold these bases in half along the creased line. The bottom part with the faction icon will slide under the edge of the battlefield. Units are deployed from players' bases.
60 Gems: (30 small gems worth 1 and 30 large gems worth 5.) This is the currency for deploying units.
57 Unit Discs (varies per faction): Each disc represents one of your units. These are your fighting forces. The number in parentheses shown to the bottom of the sticker illustration is the number of units of that type you have for your faction. Sticker all the discs on both sides. Match the illustrations to the disc color as shown.
- The unit sticker goes on one side of the disc.
- Put a debris sticker on the back of each disc.
- When a unit dies, it will flip over and become debris and is no longer considered a unit.
66 Unit Cards (11 per faction): Each card provides the information for all units matching the type of unit shown on the card (upper left corner illustration). You only use one card for each type of unit disc. You will have multiple units of the same type on the battlefield and they will all share the same unit card. For your first game, you'll use the two unit cards labeled "Basic". Abilities on the cards are used anytime the card says they can - usually when the unit is activated.
4 Range Rulers: Used to measure range for deploying, attacking and abilities. Measure range from closest edge to closest edge. The Blue unit is within 1 range of the Yellow unit.

Setup

Randomly pick a turn order for players. In turn order, each player picks one of the 6 factions. Each player will take the base card and all the unit discs and unit cards that match the color/icon of that faction. First player sits at the circle marked 1 and other players sit around the table close to the circle matching their turn order (see illustrations below). Colors are for example only. Any faction can play at any of the locations.

Starting with the first player, each player places one of the black wood dome obstacles on the battlefield, one at a time, until all 6 domes have been placed. Domes may be placed underneath or on top of the battlefield mat. No domes may be placed within 3 range of another dome (regardless of whether the dome is above or below the battlefield) or within 3 range of a player's base.

Each player should simultaneously follow the steps on their faction setup card. The circles in the illustrations below indicate your base's location. (Bases are either 2 range from the edge or directly in the middle of that side of the battlefield.) Each faction will end up with 30 worth of gems (5x small gems and 5x large gems worth 5), 2 unit cards, and a varying number of unit discs in front of them. Each player will have 2 unit discs bought and paid for and deployed to the battlefield, in front of their base.

Units and bases belonging to your target (whoever the arrow is pointing towards) and the person who has you as a target (the player whose arrow is pointed at you) are enemy forces. All other players' units and bases are friendly to you (you cannot attack them).

Turn order goes around the table, clockwise. Numbers show turn order: (#1 goes first, and then #2, etc.).

Arrows show who your target is. (Red's target is Yellow.)

Example 3 player game: Red's target is Yellow. Yellow's target is Blue. Blue's target is Red.

4 player turn order diagram (illustration).

Example 5 player game: turn order goes around the circle (Red, Yellow, Blue, Gray, Purple).

Example 6 player game: Red's target is Blue. If Blue has no units at the end of any turn, Red wins! Both Blue and Purple are enemy forces to Red and can be killed by Red. Yellow, Orange and Gray units and bases are friendly to Red. Blue and Orange bases are in the middle of the edge they are on, all other bases are 2 range from the edge.

How to Win

You win at the end of your turn, if your target has no units on the battlefield.

Unit Cards

Each unit card has the costs, abilities and other attributes for all the unit discs that match that card.

TITLE - Unique name of the card.
SYMBOL - Faction symbol.
COST - Cost in gems to purchase another unit disc of this type.
RANGE - How close you need to be to attack.
TYPE - The unit image matches the disc image.
CLASS - There are 3 different classes: Infantry - Tanks - Air. Some abilities reference these classes.
STARTING GAME CARDS - Use both cards labeled "Basic" for your first game.
ABILITIES - Special ability title and text describing the ability. Many units have multiple abilities.
FLAVOR TEXT - No gameplay effect.

You must follow all the rules unless an ability on a card says differently. Then follow the card.

Example 3 player setup (illustration).

Player Turns

Starting with the start player, and following the turn order, each player will take a turn, one at a time, until the game is over. On the starting player's first turn, they must do TAKE 2 COMMAND ACTIONS.

On your Turn, choose: ACTIVATION OR TAKE 2 COMMAND ACTIONS. And then do END OF TURN.

Activation

Choose one of your units on the battlefield; that unit is now activated until End of Turn. Take a flick with that unit. The unit card in front of you that matches the activated unit has the cost, abilities and attack range of that unit. During ACTIVATION, every flick can be a move or attack flick.

A move flick moves the unit around the battlefield. You can hit into other discs/obstacles. If your unit hits an enemy base, your unit dies.

An attack flick is used to kill enemy units. If your unit is within attack range of an enemy unit, you may use a flick to make an attack flick. If you hit the enemy disc, you kill it, and their disc flips over and becomes debris. You can only make one attack flick per turn.

Take 2 Command Actions

Take any 2 of the Command Actions listed below, for free. You may take the same action multiple times. You may use the actions on the same unit.

Command Actions:

Take a move flick with a unit (Flick any of your units on the battlefield)
Deploy a unit (Pay for a new unit from your supply with gems, and place it within 2 range of your base.)

Command action examples: (illustrations showing a valid example and two invalid examples).

End of Turn

You may take unlimited Command Actions (see above for Command Actions) at the cost of 1 gem per action. However, you cannot use a Command Action on a unit that has been activated this turn!
If you sent any discs off the battlefield on your turn, whoever has you as a target will place them back on the battlefield anywhere within 1 range of the edge that the discs went off. They will place ALL the discs that you sent off, your discs, friendly discs, debris, enemy discs, etc.
If your target has no units on the battlefield at the end of the turn, you win!

Off the table? End of Turn: Opponent places anywhere within 1 range of that edge.

Move Flick

A move flick is used to maneuver your unit around the battlefield. Flick the unit using your finger. You may hit units/domes/debris during your flick. These pieces remain where they land on the battlefield. You may purposely flick a unit into another unit to push it. Move flicks never kill enemy units. A unit flicked into an enemy base will die (move flick or attack flick). However, a unit pushed into an enemy base remains alive.

Move examples: (illustrations showing valid move flicks and two invalid ones).

Attack Flick

If your unit is within range of an enemy unit, you may use a flick to make an attack flick.

Measure the shortest distance from edge to edge using the range ruler. You can measure range over other units, debris or obstacles. If the range is equal to or less than the range listed on your unit card, you may make an attack flick. The white dividing line between two different ranges counts as "in range", so if the unit is on the line, it is in range.

Announce that you are making an attack flick and specify the target unit that is within range. If you do not say that you are making an attack flick, it is assumed to be a move flick! You can only target a single enemy unit during an attack flick. Flick your unit into the enemy unit.

As long as your attacking disc collides at some point during its flick with the target disc, the kill is valid. If the enemy disc goes off the table after being hit, it is still killed and is added back to the battlefield as debris at END OF TURN.

A unit may only make one attack flick per turn.

When a unit dies, flip it over. It becomes debris. Debris are not friendly or enemy. Debris are simply obstacles on the battlefield from now on.

Attack example 1: Insertion Team has a flick to attack and wants to attack the yellow unit. Insertion Team has a range of 1. Since the yellow target unit is in the green range 1 section, Insertion Team can make an attack flick.

Attack example 2: Jumper Spider has a range of 2. The target unit is at 3 range, so Jumper Spiders CANNOT perform an attack flick.

Disruptions

If for any reason a disc gets flipped from its previous orientation, or rolls onto its side during a flick, turn it back the way it was. If a unit ends on top of an obstacle/terrain (terrain above the battlefield) or another piece, the player owning the piece on top must move it to the battlefield surface, moving it the shortest possible distance so it touches the battlefield again.

If a base slides out from underneath the battlefield, just push it back in. If an obstacle leaves the battlefield, leave it off.

You can temporarily move terrain / discs / your base out of the way to get your finger behind your disc for a flick. However if this would affect any part of the shot, you may not move the pieces.

If there is a dispute regarding a flick or range measurement, flip a disc to resolve.

Advanced Game

All Unit Cards

After you've played your first game, you can play with all the unit cards. In step 2 of your faction setup, take all your unit cards, not just the basic cards. You can pick one card for every type of unit disc that you have. Some factions have more unit types than others. The unit type is the picture in the upper left corner. Secretly pick which cards you want to use for this game and place all the other cards in the box. After you pick those cards, during step 4 of faction section, you can deploy any two units. (You can deploy two of the same type.)

Team Game

For a slightly longer but more involved game, try the designer's favorite, the Team Game. This allows for lots of unit ability combos between factions. Your team is on one side of the battlefield. Your team's units and bases count as friendly. Teammates may give unspent gems to other teammates at any time. The opposing team's units and bases are all enemy forces. Turn order goes back and forth between teams as shown by the numbers in the illustrations to the right, NOT clockwise turn order. The game is only over once the entire opposing team has no units on the battlefield at the end of a turn. If you are playing with an odd number of people, one player can play multiple factions. For purposes of placing discs back on the battlefield at end of turn, the person before you in turn order (whose arrow is pointing at you as shown in the illustration) will place those discs back on the battlefield.

Team game setup: 4 players and 6 players (illustrations).

Advanced Obstacles

During setup, players may propose un-used game pieces or even objects from outside the game as obstacles. If all players agree, then the object may be used. As usual, place it underneath the mat or above for crazier-than-usual battlefields.

Ability Details

Card abilities may negate rules in the rulebook. The rules on the ability always trump the rules. If several choices have to be made, the active player chooses first, and in any order he chooses (unless an order is stated here in the Ability Details).

Many units have one or more abilities. These can give the unit more flicks, more range or various other abilities. The ability will say when it can be used. Most of the time the ability can only be used when the unit is activated on an action turn. Abilities that are "may" are optional, all the rest are mandatory. However, you never have to use all your flicks during an activation.

Enemy units - Alive units that are your target's or the person who has you as a target (or any of the opposing team's units in a team game). You can attack these units.

Friendly units - Alive units that are yours, or another player's that is on your team (Team Game) or is counted as friendly to you (see set up, page 4). You cannot attack these units.

Before activating - This ability occurs before activation, so you must activate this unit but all abilities that trigger after starting activation will trigger based on the new position of the disc.

Starts its activation - This ability can be used once, directly after activation, not at any other point.

During activation - This ability is used once, directly after activation, or after any flick, including after the unit's final flick.

Automation - You can use the other abilities on this unit even if you choose TAKE 2 COMMAND ACTIONS for your turn.

Placing a unit (Blink / Boost) - You may not place this unit off the battlefield or on other units, debris or obstacles.

Camouflage - To attack this unit, enemy units must be in 1 range. ALSO, the enemy unit must be closer to the edge of the battlefield that your base is on than this unit OR they must be within 3 range of your base or a base that is friendly to you.

Death Touch - If your unit takes a move flick for any reason (including a command action), and it hits a unit with Death Touch, your unit dies. Hitting another unit into a unit with Death Touch will not kill it.

Drones - You can take your own discs from the box, your live units, your debris or your supply.

First Strike vs ___ - This free attack flick still counts as an attack flick, and you may not make another attack flick this turn, unless another ability says you can.

Guard - If a unit is attacked and is protected by Guard, that unit is not killed. Two or more friendly units with Guard within 1 range of each other will not able to be killed until they are knocked away from each other.

Intimidate - You can take a flick with enemy or friendly units when you use this ability. If you flick a unit into a base or a unit that would normally cause it to die, it does not die.

Launch - You can place this unit before you activate a unit. If you do that, you can activate this unit.

Quick Fire - For your second attack flick, if you do not have a target within range, you do not get a flick. This ability is the exception to the one attack flick per activation.

Shields - Gems on this card count for all units of that type on the battlefield. At the start of the game, put a number of gems from the box on the card equal to the shield value. Whenever a unit of this type takes a hit, you must remove a gem if there is one on the card. If there aren't any on the card when this unit is hit, the unit dies. After a unit of this type dies, add a number of gems back to the card based on the shields value. The number of gems does not change when deploying more units of this type.

Need any other clarifications not answered here? Post a question to the forums here: www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/142829/flick-wars

Co-Op (1-3 Players)

You and up to 2 others can try to beat the AI. Make sure you know how to play the main game before jumping into the Co-Op game. You can use the "All Unit Cards" from the Advanced game with this mode.

Difficulty

Pick one of the three difficulty levels below.

Difficulty	Player Bonuses	Redo Shots (Per Player)	AI Powers
Easy	Yes	3	No
Normal	Yes	2	Yes
Hard	No	1	Yes

For every redo shot that you have, each player on the team can reset one flick as best as possible and retake that flick. (Player Bonuses and AI powers will come into play on the AI turns, during steps 6 and 7, detailed on page 13.)

Pick a faction for the AI for each player playing.

1 Player = 1 AI faction
2 Players = 2 AI faction
3 Players = 3 AI faction

Winning:

You win if all the AI units are dead (including in the AI supply).

You lose:

(1 Player): If the AI team gets 5 base kills.
(2 Player): If the AI team gets 9 base kills.
(3 Player): If the AI team gets 12 base kills.

If your team has no units on the battlefield at the end of a turn.

The AI gains base kills by attacking the neutral or player bases and whenever the AI deck is reshuffled.

Difficulty ranking, easiest to hardest: Orange - Blue - Red - Yellow - Gray - Purple.

Battlefield Setup

Place 6 domes on the battlefield, 3 on top of the mat and 3 underneath the mat, roughly equidistant apart (see illustration below).

Each player picks one of the unused factions. Set up for the bases is the same as the team play (see pg 8), 2 player Co-Op is the same as 4 player team game, etc. However, when playing by yourself, set up a neutral base on the long side closest to your base.

1 player setup: illustration showing your base, a neutral base on the long side, the AI base, and domes on top of and underneath the battlefield.

AI Setup

For each AI faction, flip all of their discs face down and shuffle them, this forms their supply. Discard two random discs from each AI faction from the game.

Deploy three units for each AI. Whenever you deploy units for the AI, take a random unit from their supply and turn it face up and place it 2 range away from their base and at least 2 range (if possible) from their other units.

Shuffle the AI deck (All AI factions share this deck). Place any AI Units & Powers cards that match the AI Factions playing nearby. These cards show the class of each unit, the attack range of each class, the number of discs of each type that faction has, and the AI Powers for each class.

AI Special Rules

You must choose the shortest path for the AI if possible. Anytime you need to make a choice for the AI, or choose an angle to go around an obstacle, or need to make a choice between two equally close units, you can make the choice to suit you. If you are moving/deploying at a certain range, you must choose the max range to move/deploy at if possible.

The AI ignores all abilities on your unit cards except for shields.

Every time the AI gets a base kill, place a gem off the battlefield, on their edge. The AI team shares base kills.

Turn Sequence

Take turns, following the standard turn order. Pick one of the human players to start. Your turn is a usual turn according to the standard rules. The AI faction's turn is described on the following 2 pages. Continue taking turns until you or the AI wins.

Step 2 during END OF TURN becomes:

If an AI unit went off the battlefield, return it to their supply, face down, and the AI gains 1 base kill.
If any of yours or friendly units of yours went off the battlefield, place them on the edge where they went off, 1 range from the edge, at the closest point to an AI unit. Then the closest enemy unit to them gets a free 3 Range move towards them.
If any debris went off the battlefield, leave them off.

AI Turn

If this AI faction has no units on the battlefield, discard 2 AI cards. Skip all the steps below, and instead deploy 2 units for the AI.

Otherwise, turn over 2 cards from the AI deck, place the first card down, and the second card on top of it, rotated 90 degrees. Follow all steps below to complete the AI turn for that faction. Discard the cards after the AI turn is done. Only the AI faction whose turn it is will use their units this turn.

If the AI deck is empty and you need to draw cards, first shuffle the discards and then make a new draw pile, and then the AI gets 1 base kill.

Step 1 - AI Finds Its Target: This is where the AI units are moving towards this turn. The neutral base (1 player only) is not considered an AI base.

Target is the closest non AI unit. (Closest to the nearest AI unit who is not already in range to attack this turn.)
Target is the closest non AI base. (Closest to the current AI faction's base.)
Target is the farthest non AI base. (Farthest from the current AI faction's base.)

Step 2 - Which AI Units Move: This shows which unit class will move this turn. All of the AI units that are this class will move UNLESS they are already in range to attack. (See attack range in step 4.)

If there are none of that unit class on the battlefield OR none of that unit class will move, due to already being in range to attack: Move a single AI unit closest to the target that isn't already in range to attack this turn.

Step 3 - AI Moves Units: Start with the AI unit closest to the target. Each AI unit who is moving, moves once per range ruler shown, directly towards the target. They move the length shown (either 2 range or 3 range). After each ruler length moved, place the unit down. (Unit may slide due to hills/valleys in the battlefield.) Move each unit one at a time. They stop moving (even mid move) once they are in range of the target.

If their move would put them on an obstacle, or on another disc, put the unit on the closest side to where their move would end them.
Continue moving them until they run out of moves or they are in attack range of the target.
Move as best as you can to avoid moving past the target if hills/valleys are in the way.

Step 4 - All AI Units Attack: If the box says "AI Units Attack", then all AI units attack ONCE.

Air units attack at range 1.
Infantry units attack at range 2.
Tank units attack at range 3.

(The AI Powers card has a reminder of these ranges.) All AI units on the battlefield attack, regardless of which ones moved.

Measure range even over other obstacles/debris/units.
AI units will attack your units first if they can.
AI units do not move when attacking.
The AI will attack the neutral or player bases and will gain 1 base kill for each time they attack a base. The AI can gain only 1 base kill per AI turn.
Attack in order to maximize number of kills for the AI.

Step 5 - AI Deploys: Deploy as many AI units from their supply as the card says. For each deploy, take a random unit from their supply and turn it face up and place it 2 range away from their base and at least 2 range (if possible) from their other units. If they don't have any units left in their supply to deploy, they don't deploy any units.

Step 6 - AI Powers (Normal / Hard Only): If the AI has at least one unit of the class shown on the battlefield, the ability for that class activates. See the AI Powers card for that faction. Powers that refer to AI units will only affect the AI units from the faction whose turn it is. Ignore this step if you are playing Easy difficulty.

Step 7 - Player Bonuses (Easy / Normal Only): This is a special bonus for your faction to use against the AI. Check both AI cards. If any of the human players are playing a faction that is shown on either/both of the cards, place those cards into your team's supply. The player who is controlling that faction can save the card and use it at any time. The bold line right below the title says when the card can be used. Unless otherwise stated, the bonus is used once, and then discarded. Any cards without your faction's color are placed into the discard pile as per usual. After you use the player bonus card, place it in the discard pile.

Ignore this step if you are playing Hard difficulty.

Charge Boost card, Start of Turn: All your units can be placed 3 range from their starting positions.

Terrain Expansion

If you have the Terrain expansion you add some variety to the battlefield. There are a few different ways to change up the game. You can use any or all of the modules below when you play. (We recommend using only after your first game).

Terrain Expansion Contents

40 Black Gems
4 Wood Domes
6 Terrain Discs (with stickers): Before your first game, sticker all the terrain discs on one side.
32 Terrain Cards

Terrain Modules

Rocky Terrain: During battlefield setup, up to two players may place 20 of the black gems on the battlefield as one of their obstacles. Each obstacle of gems must be placed so all the gems start within 3 range of the other gems from that obstacle.
Hilly Terrain: During battlefield setup, place all 10 domes instead of just 6.
Unstable Terrain: Before battlefield setup, shuffle the deck of terrain cards, except for the gem source cards (see next module), and deal 3 random cards to the table. For every card dealt, remove one dome from the game, and replace it with a terrain disc matching that card's background. If you draw a terrain card of a type that doesn't have a matching disc, redraw that card.

Players will add the terrain discs to the battlefield during setup. Players can choose to place the terrain discs or the domes on their turn. They can place either underneath or on top of the battlefield as per usual. If they place the terrain disc underneath the battlefield, discard the card for that terrain. Place any terrain cards from terrain discs on top of the battlefield off to the side near their disc. Each disc will have its own card to show you the effects of that disc. Terrain discs must be placed farther than 6 range from bases (no other restrictions), if possible.

Cards that give units special new abilities only gain them for as long as they are within range of the terrain (range specified on the card) or till their activation ends, whichever is specified on the terrain card. Units on cards do not count as units on the battlefield. Cards that refer to a certain range, unless otherwise specified, are referring to the range from that terrain.
Gem Source Terrain: Before battlefield setup, draw one random gem source card and place the gem source disc into the middle of the battlefield. No other terrain discs or obstacles can be placed within 3 range. All cards with the gem source icon are gem source cards.

Epic Battlefield

The massive 4' x 4' battlefield mat (sold separately) gives you an epic surface for your fights! Additional rules when playing on the epic battlefield:

Any discs that go off the battlefield can be placed within 3 range of the edge they went off.
If your table can't quite handle the mat, roll the sides up underneath the mat. This has a really cool edge effect that keeps the discs on the battlefield and allows some neat edge shots.
Double the amount of domes you would normally use. Use other objects of about the size of the terrain domes (or larger if you want!).
Abilities that are 1 range abilities (Flyer, Guard, etc.) become 2 range abilities.