Hellas Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal
• Contents
• Preparation
• Initial Map Creation
• Playing the Game
  • The Three Possible Turn Options
  • 1. Burst of Strength
  • 2. Voyage
  • 3. Attack
• Regrouping
• God Cards
• Game End
• The Author

Goal

The first player to have Greeks in control of 10 cities is the winner of the battle for the islands!

Contents

• 30 Greeks (15 in each of the two player colors)
• 20 ships (10 in each of the two player colors)
• 48 God cards (16 each of Ares, Poseidon, and Zeus)
• 2 summary cards in the two player colors
• 24 map tiles

Preparation

• Each player chooses a color and takes the 15 Greeks, 10 ships, and summary card in that color.
• Separate the God cards by type (Ares, Poseidon, and Zeus), shuffle them, and place them face down in three separate stacks at the edge of the playing area.
• Each player draws one card from each stack as his starting hand of God cards (players keep their God cards secret from each other).
• Take the map tile with the dolphin and place it face up in the middle of the table as the starting tile.
• Shuffle the remaining 23 map tiles face down in a stack next to the God card stacks. Each map tile has both land and water in various forms. Each map tile has a city, some of which have temples.

Initial Map Creation

The player with the lighter colored figures begins the game. He draws the top-most map tile from the face down stack and places it next to the starting tile in the middle of the table. Next he places a Greek from his supply on the city of this map tile and a ship from his supply next to the city.

The players then alternate turns, drawing a map tile, placing it next to already placed map tiles, and placing a Greek and a ship on each map tile just placed.

Rules for placing map tiles:

• Water segments must always be placed next to water segments and land segments always placed next to land segments.
• A new tile must be placed next to the dolphin tile or next to two previously placed tiles (one could be the dolphin tile).

The initial map creation ends when each player has taken four turns, placed four map tiles, and has four Greeks and four ships on the map.

If a player draws a map tile that has no legal place where it can be placed, the player sets it aside and draws another. If a player draws a tile with a temple, he places this aside as well, drawing another.

Note: the temple restriction only affects initial map creation; map tiles with temples may be placed when drawn (if there is a legal place for them) during the game.

When the initial map creation is complete, shuffle the map tiles that were set aside with those remaining in the map tile stack to make a new face down map tile stack.

The player with the lighter colored figures now begins the game and the players alternate turns as before.

Playing the Game

• On a player's turn, he chooses one of three possible turn options, calls it aloud, and executes it: "Burst of strength", "Voyage", or "Attack".
• During his turn, a player may play as many God cards as he chooses (see "God cards" below).
• After executing the turn option he chose, a player may regroup his figures (see "Regrouping" below).
• After his turn, his opponent takes his turn, choosing one of the same three possible turn options.

The Three Possible Turn Options

1. Burst of Strength

The player, who chooses "Burst of strength", takes three actions. The player chooses from the three possible actions which to take and the order to take them. He may take each action once, or may take one action twice and another once, or may take one action thrice.

Temple majority allows an extra action

Except during an attack, only one player may have Greeks and ships in a city. This is considered his city. If a player has more cities with temples than his opponent, he may take four actions when he selects "Burst of strength".

The "Burst of strength" actions:

• place a new Greek The player takes one Greek from his supply and places it in one of his cities. However, a player may not have more than three Greeks in a city.
• place a new ship The player takes one ship from his supply and places it next to one of his cities. He need not already have a ship there. However, a player may not have more than three ships next to a city.
• take a God card The player draws one God card from any of the three face down God card stacks. However, the player may not have more than seven God cards and not more than three of any one kind of God card. The player keeps the cards drawn face down. He may look at them and add them to his hand only after he has finished "Burst of strength". If a player plays the Zeus card "Take two turns…", he may add any God cards drawn during "Burst of strength" to his hand and use them in the "Voyage" or "Attack" that follows. A player must play the Zeus card "Take two turns…" at the start of his turn and not after "Burst of strength".

Examples of "Burst of strength":

• A player chooses to place 2 Greeks, 1 each on two of his cities and 1 ship next to one of his cities. By doing so, he may not exceed the limit of 3 Greeks or 3 ships in a city.
• A player chooses to draw 3 God cards. He may take them in any combination as long as he does not exceed the total limit of 7 God cards or the limit of 3 God cards of each kind.
• A player places 1 Greek on one of his cities, places 1 ship next to one of his cities, and takes 1 God card, taking care not to exceed any of the limits stated above.

Not enough figures for "Burst of strength"

When a player has no more Greeks or ships in his supply, he may not add Greeks or ships with "Burst of strength".

2. Voyage

A player has two possible ways to get control of a city: he can discover a new city or he can attack one of his opponent's cities.

If the player wants to discover a new city, he chooses "Voyage":

• He draws the top-most map tile from the face down map tile stack.
• Then, he places the map tile next to already placed map tiles on the map.

How to have a successful voyage (place the tile):

• Water segments must always be placed next to water segments and land segments must always be placed next to land segments.
• The new tile must be placed next to the dolphin tile or next to two previously placed tiles (one could be the dolphin tile).
• A new water area may not be created. New water segments must always connect to previous water segments and built to form a single sea.
• A player may only place a map tile where he has more ships on the adjacent map tiles than his opponent has. Note: ships that stand on map tiles that have land segments connected by bridges can be counted for either direction.

Placement examples:

• Map tile A may be placed, as it continues both the land and water segments from the adjacent map tiles.
• Map tile B may not be placed at (1) or (2) as it would create a new water area. Also, it may not be placed at (1) as it is adjacent to only one previously placed map tile (it needs two, at least).
• Map tile C may only be placed by the player with the white figures as he has more ships (3:2) on the adjacent map tiles than his opponent.

The white player places map tile C (he has more ships on adjacent map tiles than his opponent). He places one of his Greeks on the city on the new tile and removes one of his ships from an adjacent map tile, placing it in his supply.

Successful voyage

When a player can place the map tile he drew, he has had a successful voyage.

• The player takes one Greek from his supply and places it on the city on the new map tile. If he has no Greeks in his supply, he may take a Greek from any of his cities with two or more Greeks.
• To "pay" for the voyage, the player must remove one of his ships from an adjacent map tile and return it to his supply.

Unsuccessful voyage

When a player cannot place the map tile he drew, his voyage was unsuccessful and he places the map tile face down under the map tile stack.

3. Attack

The attack is the other way (other than "Voyage") for a player to get a new city. A player can attack an opponent's city over land or water.

Attack over land

The player points to the city he wants to attack. He now may attack from all his cities that have direct routes over adjacent connected land segments to the attacked city.

• The player moves as many Greeks from his adjacent cities (one or more) as he wants to the attacked city. In each city, however, he must leave at least one Greek. From a city with just one Greek, he may not attack an opponent's city.
• The attacker may move more than 3 Greeks to the attacked city when he attacks from several cities.
• The attack is successful when the attacker has at least as many Greeks in the attacked city as the defender.
• Ships play no role in an attack over land.
• Both players may play several God cards to change the outcome of the battle in their favor. The players are likely to play cards alternatively as they respond to each other's cards.
• If the attack is successful (after the players have finished playing God cards), the defender loses the city and must take all his Greeks and ships from the city and place them in his supply. If the conquered city had ships next to it, the attacker may place the same number of ships from his supply as his opponent had next to the city. If he does not have enough ships in his supply, he places fewer.
• If the attack is successful, the attacker leaves all his attacking Greeks in the conquered city. However, if he has more than three in the city, he must remove the excess and place them in his supply.
• If the attack fails, the attacker must remove all his attacking Greeks from the city and place them in his supply.

Attack example:

The white player can move 1 Greek to map tile D from map tile C or E to attack the orange player's city. The white player can also move 1 Greek from map tile C and 2 from map tile A to attack the orange player's city on map tile B. The orange player can move 2 Greeks from map tile B to map tile C to attack the white player's city there.

Attack over water

As before, the player points to the city he wants to attack. He may attack from all his cities that have direct routes over adjacent connected water or land segments to the attacked city. The rules for the attack are as a land attack with the following changes:

• To be successful, the number of attacking Greeks must be at least one greater than the number of defending Greeks. If some Greeks attack over land and some over water, it counts as an over water attack.
• All water segments that are adjacent to the dolphin tile count as adjacent by water to other tiles adjacent to the dolphin tile. Thus, Greeks may "jump" over the dolphin tile to attack a city on the other side.

Attack over water example:

The orange player moves 1 Greek from each of his cities on land tiles A, B, C, and E to map tile D to attack the white player's city there. As the orange player has a majority of Greeks in the attacked city (4:3), he defeats the white player there.

The white player removes all his Greeks from map tile D and places them in his supply. The orange player reduces his Greeks on map tile D from 4 to 3 to meet the limit of 3, placing the removed Greek in his supply.

Note: the orange player was able to attack map tile D from map tiles A, B, and C even though they were not adjacent to D because all four were adjacent to the dolphin tile.

Regrouping

• After the "Burst of strength", the player may move his Greeks and ships among his cities in any way he wants to regroup them.
• After a successful "Voyage" or a successful "Attack", the player may move his ships and Greeks from any of his cities to the newly discovered or conquered city only.
• When a player regroups his figures, he must maintain the limit of 3 Greeks or 3 ships per city.
• When a player regroups, he may not leave a city empty. He must always leave at least one Greek in each of his cities. Ships, however, may be moved from a city without restriction.

God Cards

There are three different God card stacks. Poseidon, the God of the Sea, can assist players in their voyages. Ares, the God of war, helps in battle. The father of Gods, Zeus, can offer help in many special situations.

Tip: to get an idea of how the God cards can affect play, the players should read through the text on the cards before their first game.

• Each player may have at most seven God cards and at most three God cards of each kind in his hand (for example, 3 Ares cards, 2 Poseidon cards, and 2 Zeus cards). The affect of the cards is basically positive for the player playing them.
• When a player wants to play a God card, he places it face up on the table, reads the text aloud and executes the action described. Then he discards the card face up. For each God card stack, there is a corresponding discard stack. If a God card stack becomes exhausted, shuffle its discard stack and place it face down as the new God card stack.
• A player may play several God cards in a turn
• Some cards may be played during an opponent's turn. These are marked with a special symbol.
• When a player wants to use the Zeus God card to void an opponent's God card, he must play his card immediately after his opponent plays the God card and his opponent must pause briefly to allow such a play. For example, Alfonzo plays the Zeus card "Swap a city…". If Mike wants to play the Zeus card to void Alfonzo's action, he must do so before Alfonzo declares which cities will be swapped. Alfonzo must also wait a bit to give Mike some time to play his void card.
• A player may not use a God card drawn on this turn.
• When a player is allowed to place his Greeks or ships on a map tile via the action of a God card and his supply is exhausted, he may move his ships or Greeks from other map tiles.
• A player may not use a God card that is designed for a specific turn option when he chooses a different turn option. For example, Alfonzo chooses "Voyage" and may not then play "Attack two cities, one after another!" or "Attack one non-adjacent opponent's city…" as these cards must be played when a player chooses "Attack".

Note: the starting player may not play a God card in his first game turn (after the initial map creation).

The use of the God cards in attacks is shown in the following examples.

Example 1:

Alfonzo attacks Mike's city on the adjacent map tile over land (he must have at least as many Greeks as his opponent to win) with 1 Greek. Mike has 1 Greek and 1 ship in the city.

• Mike plays the Poseidon card "All ships in your attacked city defend like Greeks…" to defend against the attack. With this, he is now stronger than Alfonzo (2:1).
• Alfonzo answers with the Zeus card "The God card, just played by your opponent, is voided!…" to void the affect of Mike's Poseidon card. With this, Alfonzo's attack is successful (1:1).
• If Mike chooses not to play additional God cards, he loses the battle and takes his figures (1 Greek and 1 ship) from the city and places them in his supply. Alfonzo takes 1 ship from his supply and places it next to his Greek in the conquered city to replace the ship Mike lost. Alfonzo may also now move other Greeks or ships from his other cities to the conquered city if he chooses. If he does so, he must always leave at least 1 Greek behind and may not have more than 3 Greeks or 3 ships in the conquered city.

Example 2:

Alfonzo has 1 Greek and 1 ship in one of his cities. Before his attack, he plays the Ares card "Before an attack, swap as many ships for Greeks as you want in one of your cities!…" and trades both ships for 2 Greeks from his supply. Now he attacks with the 2 Greeks one of Mike non-adjacent cities over water. Mike's city has 2 Greeks and 1 ship. To attack, Alfonzo plays the following God cards:

• Ares: "Attack one non-adjacent opponent's city with Greeks!…"
• Ares: "In an attack over the water, you need just equal power to win…"

If Mike does not react with God cards, Alfonzo wins the attack. However, Mike chooses to play the Zeus card "The God card, just played by your opponent, is voided!…" to void the Ares card that allowed Alfonzo to win with equal strength over water.

Mike has successfully defended against the attack, but Alfonzo counters with the Zeus card "The God card, just played by your opponent, is voided!…" to void Mike's just played void card. Thus, Alfonzo "restores" his Ares card allowing him to win with equal strength across water. The battle is now 2:2 and Alfonzo will win the attack.

Mike, however, is not ready to give up the fight and plays the Poseidon card "All ships in your attacked city defend like Greeks…". Now the battle is 3:2 in Mike's favor and Alfonzo loses his attack. Alfonzo places his 2 attacking Greeks back in his supply.

Example 3:

Alfonzo uses 2 Greeks to attack one of Mike's adjacent cities over water. Mike's city has 2 Greeks and 1 ship. To win, Alfonzo plays the following God cards

• Ares: "Attack as though you had one additional Greek!"
• Zeus: "Use a God card without discarding it!…"

Thus, Alfonzo is able to keep his Ares card for later use, even in this attack should Mike decide to react with God cards. Mike loses the battle 2:3 and places his ship and 2 Greeks in his supply. Alfonzo then places 1 ship from his supply in the conquered city and may now regroup other Greeks or ships to the conquered city.

Game End

The game ends immediately when, at the end of a player's turn, one player has his Greeks in 10 cities. The player with 10 cities is the winner!

The Author

Franz-Benno Delonge, born in 1957, is a judge of the district court in Munich. Since his youth he has been designing theme-based games. Hellas is his first two-player game. Its design brings out the feeling of the battles in ancient Greece over the islands in an exciting and realistic way. This is his second game with Rio Grande Games after TransAmerica.

Game development: TM-Spiele Graphics: Grafikstudio Krüger, Claus Stephan English translation: Anna & Jay Tummelson

© 2002 KOSMOS Verlag

Rio Grande Games PO Box 45715 Rio Rancho, NM 87174 USA

Art.-Nr: 692117

All Rights Reserved.

The author and publisher thank all the test players and rule readers for their help with this game. The author especially thanks Theo Bauer, Veit Delonge, Wolfgang Jeschke, Horst Krä, Ekkehardt Krebs, Peter Noll and Wolfram Stutz.