GWAR vs. Time!

GWAR vs. Time! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Goal

To conquer your opponents by collecting the most Victory Points before the Time Pool is emptied.

Source note: the Goal section says "Time Pool"; the rest of the rulebook tracks the ticking clock on the Time dial, and the source's Time Dial wording is kept throughout. Transcribed as printed.

Components

40 GWAR cards
10 Field of Battle cards
44 Warsong cards
16 Artifacts of War cards
100 Villain cards
103 Starter & Generic cards
1 game board (tri-fold)
1 Time dial

Assembly of the Time Dial

To properly assemble the Time dial:

Punch out both the top and bottom halves from the punchboard.
Place the bottom half so that the numbers are face up (the other side is Sleazy).
Place the top half with the art side face up (the other side is black).
Place the top half on the bottom half, so you can see the numbers through the slot.
Use the included plastic peg pieces to secure the two halves together.

Overview

Players start with identical decks. Each player, on their turn, totals up their resources and may purchase new cards. Players place the new cards in their discard pile. When the players' draw deck runs out of draw cards, you shuffle the discard pile to create a new draw pile. At the end of the game, each player will total up their Victory Points of all of their cards. The player with the most Victory Points wins.

Resources

GWAR vs Time uses two resources: Violence and Conquest. The Violence resource is used to defeat Villains, which do not go into player discard piles like Conquest cards. Villains sit neatly to the side until the end of the game. The Conquest resource allows players to acquire GWAR, Artifact of War, Field of Battle, and Warsong cards, which generate resources and other beneficial effects. Conquest cards go into the player discard pile when acquired.

Timestream

There are two rows in the Timestream: the Conquest Row and the Violence Row. Players spend the Violence resource to defeat Villains for their dead pile. Players spend the Conquest resource to acquire cards for their deck. Remember Conquest cards go into the player's discard pile once the player purchases them.

Conquest Row (blue icons) and Violence Row (red icons): the face-up cards in the Timestream.

Generic cards

To the left of the Timestream are several stacks of face-up cards. These Generic cards are available until the supply is depleted. While not the best cards in the game, if you can't buy anything else from the Timestream, Mind Control Monthly and Intergalactic Wrestlers are not only useful, they're worth Victory Points. Minor Extinctions let you use Violence you might otherwise not be able to use, to get you a Victory Point.

Minion deck

The remaining face-down stack is the Minion deck. These cards may come into play if the other cards trigger them to appear.

Play Card Anatomy

Conquest Cost (upper left)
Card Name
Sweet Image
Card Effects
Conquest Generated (middle bar)
Flavor Text (GWAR lyrics)
Violence Generated (middle bar)
Victory Points (bottom right, in the purple VP gem)
Card Suit
Attack or Defense Icon (may be blank)
Factions (Advanced Play)

Villain Card Anatomy

Violence Cost (upper left)
Card Name
Sweet Image
Defeat Effects
Attack Icon (may be blank)
Defeat Effect Icon (may be blank)
Victory Points (bottom right, in the purple VP gem)
Card Suit
Flavor Text (GWAR lyrics)
Factions (Advanced Play)

Card Suits

There are nine suits of cards in GWAR vs. Time.

GWAR (Red): These cards represent the band and other original characters close to the, past and present. They are powerful cards in terms of resource generation and card effects, but cost a lot of Conquest to acquire.
Field of Battle (Blue): These cards represent the key locations of the GWARniverse. They are persistent cards, which stay in play until removed, giving you resources and effects every turn. Uncommon, but worth it.
Villain (Yellow): These cards represent the enemies of GWAR throughout their history. They are high Victory Point generating cards and they don't go into your deck. It's important not to underestimate the value of the Violence resource.
Starter (Black): These cards generate basic resources at the start of the game to get your deck rolling. If you can bury these cards later and remove them from your deck, it will help.
Draft Starter (Black): These cards are considered to be starters, and you will draft three cards from the six types available. They'll help you give your initial deck some strategy.
Generic (Gray): These cards generate both resources and provide Victory Points. They are always available for purchase, until all twenty are acquired.
Artifact of War (Green): These cards represent the physical objects used by GWAR in their battles. They vary in costs and there aren't that many in the game, but they usually have great card effects.
Warsong (Purple): These cards represent a wide variety of resources and card effects, themed as songs of GWAR. They're plentiful and useful.
Minions (Yellow): These cards represent Warsongs that summon minions that affect every player. There are two kinds of minions in this set, penguins and wharghouls.

Icons

There are eight types of icons used in GWAR vs. Time.

Violence Generated (middle bar) or Violence Cost (upper left)
Conquest Cost (upper left)
Conquest Generated (middle bar)
Victory Points (bottom right)
Attack (middle bar)
Defense (middle bar)
Defeat Effect (middle bar)
Minion Spawn (middle bar)

Game Setup

Set out the game board. Grab the tri-fold board from the box, open it up, and set it somewhere everyone can see. If it all looks black, turn it over.
Determine player order. Randomly choosing the first player is a sound way to go, but it's kind of boring. Generally speaking, the player who most recently listened to GWAR and can name a song they were listening to goes first. You may have people in your group that are Bohabs, so instead you might go with whomever can summon the best barbaric yawp. You can also use honors, in which the player who lost the last game goes first. Play proceeds clockwise from the first player.
Place the Generics & Minions. Place all of the Mind-Control Monthly cards face up in their space. Do the same for the Intergalactic Wrestler, Minor Extinction, and Minion cards.
Shuffle & place the Conquest deck. Take all the cards with the blue back and shuffle them. Place them in the Conquest draw deck space on the board.
Lay out the Conquest Row. Fill up the Conquest row with a number of face-up cards equal to the number of players, plus 2.
Shuffle & place the Violence deck. Take all the cards with the red back and shuffle them. Place them in the Violence draw deck space on the board.
Lay out the Violence Row. Fill up the Violence row with a number of face-up cards equal to the number of players, plus 2.
Pass out starter cards. Each player gets a starter deck of 7 cards: 2 Ragnarockers and 5 Bohabs. If you don't use them all, set the extras back in the box.

A Game Turn

Because the starting players miss the opportunity to chain (see p. 18), they get extra starting cards on their first turn. In a 3 player game, the first player will start by drawing 2 extra cards, the second player will start by drawing 1 extra card, and the third player plays as usual. In a 4 or 5 player game, the first player will start by drawing 3 extra cards, the second player by drawing 2 extra cards, the third player will start with 1 extra card, and players 4 and 5 play as usual.

The starting player begins their turn and follows the steps below.

The rules text illustrates the steps with an example turn: it is a four-player game, and it is not the first turn. Matt has the following cards in his five-card hand.

Play a lead card. Announce to everyone the suit of card that is being played. Other players may chain off the suit (see p. 18). Chained cards may not be used to Lead. (Example: Matt leads his turn with a Warsong card. Eric, Jake, and Lori may each chain a Warsong, if they have one in their hands.)
Chained card effects. Check any previously played chained cards. Any of them that have effects go off before you use any cards in your hand. Some effects won't go off until later in the turn, so you won't need to address them during this step. (The starting player skips this step on turn 1, as they have no chained cards.) (Example: Since the only thing Matt has been able to chain since his last turn are Starters, there are no effects to resolve.)
Play cards that have draw and/or discard mechanics. Play any cards from your hand that have draw and/or discard mechanics and work that out in the order that makes the most sense. Once done, this becomes the final hand for the turn. (Example: Berserker Blothar's effect allows Matt to draw two more cards, and then discard one from his hand. Matt draws these two, both of which are better than the Bohabs or Ragnarockers in his hand. He discards a Bohab from his hand.)
Lay out all cards for this turn. Place these cards face up on the table. (Example: After executing Berserker Blothar's ability, these are the cards remaining in Matt's hand.)
Played card effects. Check the cards just played for effects. Use any and/or all of them, in the order that makes the most sense. Some effects won't go off until later in the turn, and won't need to be addressed during this step. (Example: The only card effect remaining is Hans Orifice's ability, which won't apply until Matt totals up his Conquest for the turn.)
Merge with previously played chained cards. Add all chained cards to the hand. These are the cards you will use to execute the rest of the turn.

Chaining Cards

At the start of the turn, a player picks which of their cards is their lead. All other players may take a card from their hand that matches suit, play it on the table to use with their next turns, and draw back up to a hand of five. Essentially, the first card you play gives everyone else a chance to get an extra card for their next hand. This also means you'll have an opportunity to chain cards during other players' turns.

Tip: This mechanic is great for speeding up the early game, where you're just starting to build your deck. Lots of Starters will be played, and you'll have lots of them in your hand with which to chain. As the game goes on, choosing your lead card becomes strategic. You'll assess what is in other players' decks and which card you can play that will lead to the least number of chains.

Example: Matt plays a Starter as his lead card. Eric, Jake, and Lori each have Starters in their hand. They each chain one off Matt's lead card, placing them face up on the table in front of them, and draw to replace it in their hands. The chained cards will be part of the player's next turn. Matt plays out the rest of his turn, and play passes to Eric.

Example: Eric plays an Artifact of War as his lead card. Only Jake has an Artifact of War in his hand, so he chains it off Eric's lead card, placing it face up on the table in front of him, and draws to replace it in his hand. This chained card will be part of his next turn. No one else has an Artifact of War in their hand, so they cannot chain cards on Eric's turn. Eric plays out the rest of his turn, and play passes to Lori.

Fields of Battle

Fields of Battle are special, because once played on your turn, they stay in play and give their benefits every turn. Just keep it off to the side, where other players can see it. Make sure it isn't accidentally placed in the discard pile at the end of the turn. There are cards that will send Fields of Battle to your discard, so you have to draw and play them again.

For example, Flab Quarv VII stays out when played, until sent back to the discard by an opponent's card. Each turn it generates either 2 Violence or 2 Conquest, player's choice.

Burying & the Boneyard

Burying a card means take it out of play for the rest of the game. This is especially useful to get rid of starter cards, which makes recently purchased Conquest cards available to be drawn into your hand.

When a player has the option of burying a card in their hand, they play their hand fully first and then choose the card or cards to bury at the end of the turn. Put them in the Boneyard space on the board.

Minions

Minions are pesky cards that come into play to have fun with all players. There are two Warsong cards that spawn Minions into play: Gathering of Ghouls and Penguin Attack. Each of these also lowers Time by one (see p. 20).

When one of these cards turns face up in the Conquest row of the Timestream, it immediately spawns Minions. The card will direct how and where. Bury the card, replace it, and place the Minions. This cannot be prevented by players, though both kinds of Minions have conditions that may prevent them from spawning more Minions.

Whargouls are placed under cards in the Timestream, and must be taken when the card above is acquired or defeated. Put it in the dead pile, where they're each worth -1 VP at the end of the game.
Penguins are shuffled into the top half of the Conquest draw deck. Whenever one is turned face up in the Conquest row of the Timestream, it buries the cards adjacent to it. Depending on placement this may be to left and right, left or right and below or above, or above and below. Two cards are always buried, unless the Penguin appears on the very end of a row, where it only buries one. Once a Penguin explodes, it's put in the Boneyard and players immediately refill the empty spaces in the Timestream.

Attack Cards

There are some cards that are attacks that will somehow cause other players trouble. Each attack card explains exactly what it does, and their effects vary. Attacking is easy. Play the attack card, choose your victim, and they suffer the effects, unless they have a defense card.

Defense Cards

Defense cards shield from attacks. If a player has a defense card in their hand when they are attacked by another player, simply show the card and the attack fails. Put the defense card back into the player's hand for use on their turn.

Villain Defeat Effects

Some Villains have effects that happen when a player defeats them. When such a Villain is defeated, follow the text on the card. This may also be an attack, which is resolved by the player who defeated the Villain.

Time

The Time dial tracks Time, the ticking clock that counts down to the end of the game. Set the dial according to the number of players (3 players: 11 Time; 4 players: 14 Time; 5 players: 17 Time).

The Time dial decreases by one for every GWAR card a player acquires during their turn, as well as any Minion-spawning Warsongs that appear when that player refills the Timestream. Minion cards that do not go off, because others have recently come out, do not affect the Time dial (see p. 19).

Victory Conditions

Once the game has ended, all players count up their Victory Points, from both their deck and their dead pile. Each card has a VP icon in the lower right of the card, in the purple VP gem. Add the VP numbers together to get your final Victory Point total.

Whomever has the most Victory Points wins the game! And can feel free to jump on the table and deliver their best barbaric yawp. You really have to get your hips into it, though our attorneys have advised us not to recommend this for liability reasons.

In the case of ties, we recommend arm or thumb wrestling. Or it's just a tie. Your choice.

Game End

When the Time dial runs down to zero, the game ends. Each player gets one final turn to snatch up VP.

Advanced Play

For players and deck-building pros who want to add more strategy to the game, there are two ways to do so: Suit Bonuses and/or Advanced Scoring.

Suit Bonuses

Using suit bonuses adds additional ways to benefit a player on their turn. When a player plays cards of the same suit in the same turn, the player will get a bonus. Starters and Generics do not have suit bonuses.

Suit	Turn Bonus
GWAR	If a player plays two or more GWAR suit cards on their turn, the player may draw and play an extra card.
Artifact of War	If a player plays two or more Artifact of War suit cards on their turn, the player may bury a card from their hand at the end of their turn.
Field of Battle	If a player plays even one Field of Battle on their turn, they may shuffle their discard back into their draw deck.
Warsong	If a player plays two or more Warsong suit cards on their turn, they may draw an extra card at the end of their turn, and the player may have six cards in their hand for their next turn.
Villain	If a player defeats two or more Villains on their turn, they gain +2 Conquest for their current turn.

Advanced Scoring

Using advanced scoring changes the strategy of the game. Each card, except for Starters and Generics, has at least one icon directly to the right of the card's purple VP gem on the lower right of the card. If a player matches a certain number of those trait icons, they will get bonus Victory Points. A player may forego beneficial cards during their turn in favor of seeking set completion.

It can look like a player could lose the game on base points from their cards, but have acquired enough sets to win with their bonus VP.

Players only get one bonus for each category, no matter how many cards of that type they have.

Faction	Icon	Bonus VP
GWAR	GW	Acquire a minimum of 4 GWAR cards, gain +5 VP
Front Line	FL	Acquire a minimum of 3 Frontline GWAR cards, gain +10 VP
Martini Family	MT	Acquire a minimum of 2 Martini Family GWAR cards, gain +10 VP
Maximus Clan	MC	Acquire a minimum of 3 Maximus Clan GWAR cards, gain +10 VP
Outsider	OU	Acquire a minimum of 3 Outsider GWAR cards, gain +10 VP
Urungus Clan	UC	Acquire a minimum of 2 Urungus Clan GWAR cards, gain +10 VP
Artifacts of War	AW	Acquire a minimum of 3 Artifact of War cards, gain +10 VP
Fields of Battle

Source note: the Suit Bonuses and Advanced Scoring tables are reprinted on the final pages of the source with identical content; they are transcribed once here.

Card Clarifications

Bury & Boneyard Cards

Antarctic Temple of GWAR: "Bury this card to immediately take another turn." By burying this card, you lose 3 VP as a trade-off for immediately taking another turn. This is a great end-of-game strategy, if you can keep it on the table.
Biledriver: "Bury one card per player from the Timestream as you wish. Draw to replace at the end of your turn, as usual." You can choose cards from either the Conquest row or the Violence row, or both. These cards do not refill, instead coming into play at the end of your turn, so you will not be able to acquire or defeat them.
Bonesnapper & Scumdog Bounty Hunters: "You may bury up to 3 cards in the Timestream. Draw to replace at the end of your turn, as usual." You can choose cards from either the Conquest row or the Violence row, or both. These cards do not refill, instead coming into play at the end of your turn, so you will not be able to acquire or defeat them.
General Zog: "Look at the top 5 cards of either Timestream Draw Deck. Bury any or all of them, reshuffle the remaining cards and put on top of the relevant Play Deck." You may choose to look at either the Violence or Conquest draw decks, burying up to five cards before putting them back. You may bury any or all of them.
Jizmak da Gusha & Madness at the Core of Time & Boss Glom & The One That Will Not Be Named: "You may purchase a card from the Boneyard." In addition to the Conquest row, you may also look at the cards in the Boneyard. You may buy any card there you want, that you can afford, though you do not have to. You may not acquire Starters, Villains, Minions, or Minion-spawning Warsongs.
Maggots & Pookie the Wonder Dog: "Bury one card per player from the Timestream and draw to replace, you may acquire these new cards if able." You can choose cards from either the Conquest row or the Violence row, or both. Once you've buried all the cards you wish to bury, these cards refill, so you can acquire or defeat them on your turn.
Oderus' Sword: "Bury a card from your hand to gain +2 Violence or +2 Conquest." Unlike other cards, which allow you to bury a card from your hand once your turn is complete, the Sword requires you bury a card immediately. You will not gain the benefits of playing it with your turn, but you will sacrifice the card to gain either 2 Violence or 2 Conquest for your turn. Starter cards are prime candidates for burying.

Manipulating the Conquest Deck

Bat-Shaped Helicopter & Ragnarok: "Look at top card of the Conquest Play Deck. If it's 7 Conquest or less, acquire it for free. Otherwise, bury it." You flip over the top card of the Conquest draw deck, so that everyone can see it. If it costs 7 Conquest or less, you acquire it and put it in your discard pile, like any other Conquest card. If it's more than 7 Conquest, just bury the card. If the top card of the Conquest draw deck is a card that spawns Minions, bury it and flip over another.
Flattus Maximus: "You may take the top card of the Conquest Play Deck. If it is 7 Conquest or less, play it with your hand this turn. Bury it when your turn ends, whether you could play it or not." You flip over the top card of the Conquest draw deck, so that everyone can see it. If it costs 7 Conquest or less, you can copy the effects on the card for your turn. This does not copy the card's Conquest or Violence, only its special effects. Once your turn is over, bury that card, whether you use it or not. If the top card of the Conquest draw deck is a card that spawns Minions, bury it and flip over another.
Skookum Maximus: "You may copy the effects of a card in the Conquest Row, of cost 7 or less." Choose a card in the Conquest row that costs 7 Conquest or less, and you can copy the effects on the card for your turn. This does not copy the card's Conquest or Violence, only its special effects.

Putting Cards on the Draw Deck

Oderus Urungus: "You may choose to put a different card from your hand on top of your draw deck instead of playing it this turn." If it would be advantageous to you, you can take one card in your hand, other than this one, and put it on top of your draw deck. It will now be the first card that you draw next. This is best done once you are done drawing all your cards for the turn, or the card you put down will just end up back in your hand.
The Planet Scumdoggia: "If you bought a card of cost 7 Conquest or less, put it on the top of your draw deck instead of your discard pile." If it would be advantageous to you, you can take one card of cost 7 Conquest or less you acquire this turn, and put it on top of your draw deck. It will now be the first card that you draw next. This is best done once you are done drawing all your cards for the turn, or the card you put down will just end up back in your hand. You may do this every turn Scumdoggia is in play, given that it's a Field of Battle.
Pustulus Maximus: "Put a GWAR card of 8 Conquest or less that you purchase this turn on top of your draw deck." If you buy a GWAR card that costs 8 Conquest or less, you may put it on top of your draw deck. It will now be the first card that you draw next. This is best done once you are done drawing all your cards for the turn, or the card you put down will just end up back in your hand.

Attack Cards

Balsac the Jaws of Death & Go to Hell & Sawborg Destructo: "Take a Starter or Generic from an opponent's discard pile and put it on top of their draw deck." You choose the Starter or Generic. If there aren't any Starter or Generic cards in your opponent's discard pile, you have to wait until there are some for this effect to be useful. An opponent's discard pile won't always have Starters or Generics in it.
Parting Shot & The Master: "Force a player to shuffle the Starters in their discard pile back into their draw deck." Tell the player to separate out the Starters from their discard pile. Return the rest of the cards face up. Then, shuffle the Starters back into the remaining draw deck and place it face down. Opponents may not have Starters in their discard pile.
The Planet Ennui & Legion of Syn: "You may put a card from your hand or discard pile into another player's discard pile." These cards are great for getting unwanted cards out of your hand or discard, and then sticking them in someone else's deck. The cards are their problem now.
Sexecutioner & Techno Destructo & The Warrior Pope: "You may put a Starter card from the Boneyard into another player's discard pile." You choose whether it's a Ragnarocker or a Bohab. If there aren't any Starter cards in the Boneyard, you have to wait until there are some for this effect to be useful. The Boneyard won't always have Starters in it.

Minion Cards

Gathering of Ghouls: "Place a Whargoul under each card in the Timestream. If Whargouls are already in play, disregard." Whargouls spawn underneath every card in the Timestream, both Violence and Conquest rows. When you buy or defeat the card over one, you have to take it with you. The good news is that if there is already at least one Whargoul in play and you draw another Gathering of Ghouls, it is buried and you don't have to put out more Whargouls.
Penguin Attack: "Shuffle 1 Penguin per player into the top half of the Play Deck. If a Penguin Attack has already come out this turn, disregard." Penguins are shuffled into the top half of the Conquest draw deck. Whenever one is turned face up in the Conquest row of the Timestream, it buries the cards adjacent to it. Depending on placement this may be to left and right, left or right and below or above, or above and below. Two cards are always buried, unless the Penguin appears on the very end of a row, where it only buries one. Once a Penguin explodes, it's put in the Boneyard and players immediately refill the empty spaces in the Timestream. The good news is that if a Penguin Attack Warsong has already been in the Timestream this turn, you immediately bury any of the others that might show up.
They Swallowed the Sun: "Discard as many spawned minions as you wish, from your hand, discard, and the Timestream." Basically, this card allows you to bury any or all Wharghouls on the board. You choose when and which, so you can buy or defeat a card and then bury the Wharghoul beneath. You do not have to bury any Wharghouls. You won't find Minions that lurk in your hand or discard pile. Those rules are included as future proofing. You want an expansion, don't you?

Other Cards

Beefcake the Mighty: "Automatically defeat a Villain of 5 cost of less." If there are no Villains of cost 5 Violence or less, this has no effect. It may not be used to defeat Minor Extinctions or Minions.
Nippleus Erectus & Time for Death: "This card may be any one Suit for determining if you have Suit bonuses this turn." When you play these cards, choose if they're a GWAR, Artifact of War, Field of Battle, or Warsong. These cards are that single suit for determining if you have suit bonuses for the turn.
Nothing Left Alive: "Villains require one less Violence to defeat on your turn." This does not apply to Minor Extinctions or Minions.
Scumship: "Copy the effects of any Chained card on the table, of 7 Conquest or less, including starters." Look around at everyone else's Chained cards. Choose one that's 7 Conquest or less, including Starters like Spewie, and copy its effects for the turn. This does not copy the card's Conquest or Violence, only its special effects.
Zombies! March!: Unlike other Villains, you put this card into someone else's dead pile when you defeat it. Zombies! March! gives them a healthy dose of negative VP at the end of the game. If you're playing with advanced scoring, be careful as this gives them one Hell card to complete that set.

Source note: the card-clarification headings and card names are transcribed as printed in this build, including the printed spellings "Wharghouls" and "Whargouls" and the printed "5 cost of less" in the Beefcake entry. Where the printed card name differs from the name used in the rest of this rulebook, the printed name is kept.