Imperia Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• The Goal of the Game
• Components
• The Game Boards
• The Army
  • Soldier Rank
  • Infantry
  • Cavalry
  • Generals
  • Warlord
  • Fortress
• Setup
  • 1. Building the Game Board
  • 2. Placing the Fortresses
  • 3. Recruiting an Army
• Starting a Campaign
• Army Movement
• Formation
• Battle
• Generals
  • Mobilisation
  • Directing Troops
• Placing the Warlord
• End of the Game
• Scoring the Conquered Territories
• Rules for 2 and 3 Players
  • Two Players
  • Three Players

The Goal of the Game

Each player, directing their own army, tries to bring as much territory as possible under their own rule. To do so they may deploy their infantry and cavalry, and mobilise their generals, who give orders to the soldiers ranked below them.

The game is won by the warlord who holds the most valuable territories at the end of the game.

Components

• 4 double-sided game boards (each divided into a 4×4 grid of spaces)
• 1 royal castle tile
• 4 wooden cubes (red, lemon yellow, burgundy and orange)
• 64 wooden tiles (16 for each player, in their own colour)
• 4 sticker sheets

Before the first game, all the wooden tiles must be stuck with stickers of their player's colour, so that each colour has the following pieces:

• 1 fortress
• 1 warlord
• 4 generals
• 4 cavalry
• 6 infantry

The Game Boards

The 4 double-sided game boards show 3 different terrain types: field, mountain and village.

Note: On each side of each board these terrain types appear in a different arrangement, so no two boards are alike.

The Army

Soldier Rank

Each soldier's rank is shown by the number of stars on it. The lowest-ranking soldier is the infantry, with 1 star. The cavalry has 2 stars, and the general has 3 stars. Above them stands only the warlord. Warlord tiles show a heraldic shield (a coat of arms).

Infantry

Each player has 6 infantry, of which 3 point in an orthogonal direction (sideways) and 3 point diagonally. After an infantry soldier, the next soldier must be placed on the adjacent space in the direction of the arrow.

Cavalry

Each player has 4 cavalry, of which 2 point sideways and 2 point diagonally. These make up the cavalry. After a cavalry soldier, the next soldier must be placed two spaces further on, in the direction of the arrow. With them one may jump not only over an empty space, but also over one's own or an enemy soldier, and even over a player's fortress.

Generals

Each player has 4 generals. They give orders to soldiers already committed to battle (infantry and cavalry). The descriptions of the generals' mobilisation and troop-direction orders follow later.

Warlord

Each player has one warlord, which must be deployed last in the battle. After it, no more soldiers can be placed, even if some remain. Soldiers that were not used do not count in the final scoring.

Fortress

Each player has one fortress, which is placed on the board at the start of the game according to the rules.

Setup

The players each choose a colour, and take the army of that colour together with its fortress and wooden cube.

The player who most recently attended a tournament of knights begins the game.

1. Building the Game Board

The starting player chooses one of the four boards and places it in the middle of the table, with the side of their choice facing up. The next player also chooses a board and places it next to the previous one, and so on, until they have a large square board of 8×8 spaces.

Place the royal castle in the middle of the board.

Important: The terrain types on the board have different values. Occupying them at the end of the game scores victory points: a field is worth 1 point, a mountain 2 points, and a village 3 points. Keep this in mind when building the game board!

Note: With two or three players the playing area is smaller. The areas excluded from play are covered with the wooden pieces of the armies that no player chose at the start. (See page 12.)

2. Placing the Fortresses

The first fortress is placed by the player who placed the last board, and the others follow in reverse order. So the player who placed the first board places their fortress last.

A fortress cannot be placed directly next to the royal castle (not even diagonally), nor on the edge of the board. There must be at least 2 spaces' distance between two players' fortresses.

Note: A fortress may be placed on any terrain type. However, the space on which a player's fortress stands does not score points in the final scoring.

Example: The distance between the red and orange players' fortresses is at least 2 spaces.

3. Recruiting an Army

Each player sets their warlord aside from their own army, then shuffles the remaining soldier tiles face down. They then draw 3 tiles and set them up in front of themselves, so that the other players cannot see them.

Note: If all of the first three starting tiles are generals, the player shuffles them back in among the others and draws three soldiers again.

Let the campaign begin!

Starting a Campaign

The army always sets out on its campaign of conquest from its fortress. If during play the army is forced to halt, the player may start a new campaign from their fortress.

Note: A campaign may be started from the fortress in four directions, onto a space where the player has no soldier yet, or onto a space the opponent may already have taken.

The starting player places one of the three soldiers they drew on the board, so that it is directly adjacent (sharing an edge) with their own fortress. The soldier may be rotated in any direction, and the arrow on it shows where the next soldier must be placed. Then they place the wooden army-front cube on the soldier that starts the campaign from the fortress. Finally they draw one tile from the face-down tiles, bringing the number of soldiers in front of them back up to three. The player to their left then does the same, and so on.

Note: As a first move it is not worth placing a general next to the fortress, since there is no soldier on the board for it to give orders to.

Example: The red player placed one of their infantry here. Their next soldier must be placed here! Soldiers could also have been placed on these other spaces to start the campaign.

Example: The red player placed one of their cavalry here.

Note: The army-front cube must always be placed on the soldier that was placed or moved most recently.

Important: A soldier with the army-front cube on it cannot be attacked by another player!

Army Movement

The arrows on the soldier tiles show where the next soldier must be placed, so consider carefully which way to orient your soldiers when you lay them down. During the campaign, another player's army may stand in your way, and your army may be unable to move.

If the army is forced to halt (because the player does not wish to engage in battle, or cannot move), the player starts a new campaign from their fortress.

Important: As long as there is an empty space in front of the army, the campaign must be continued!

Example: The orange player's campaign has halted. Since it cannot advance onto the burgundy player in front of it, because that soldier is protected by the cube on it, it is forced to start a new campaign from its fortress. Its first soldier of the new campaign cannot be placed north or east of the fortress, since soldiers from earlier campaigns already stand there. It may start the new campaign to the south, or leave the fortress westward, defeating the red player's infantry standing there. It may do so because that soldier is at the edge of the red player's formation.

Important: No one may step onto a player's fortress!

Formation

For an effective campaign it is important to create and keep a suitable formation. A unit that is not orthogonally adjacent to the army that starts from the fortress does not belong to the formation! Every unit that does not belong to the formation, or that stands on its edge, may be attacked freely.

Example: This soldier is currently not part of the formation, because it is not adjacent to any member of the formation.

Example: This infantry may be attacked, because no one breaks away from the formation.

Example: This cavalry cannot be attacked, because an infantry would break away from the formation.

Example: A connected formation, because it starts from its own fortress and every one of its members is adjacent to another of its own soldiers.

Example: This soldier is currently not part of the formation.

Note: A player may break up their own formation, but this gives their opponents a point of attack.

Example: This soldier touches the next one only by its corner, so it is not part of the formation. However, placing the next soldier joins the army into one connected formation, which is linked to the fortress from the north.

Example: The red player started a campaign here. However, this soldier is not connected to the fortress by the longest contiguous campaign that touches the fortress.

Battle

When a player's next move lands on a space where a soldier, their own or an enemy's, was placed earlier, one of the following may happen:

1. If the space holds a unit of another player that is of equal or lower rank than the one the player wants to place, they may place their own soldier on it, thereby taking that space from the opponent. Units may keep being placed on an enemy unit for as long as the placement meets this condition.
2. If the space holds a soldier of the player's own army, they may place another of their own units on it regardless of rank.
3. If the player cannot or does not wish to step onto the unit in their path, they are forced to start a new campaign from their fortress.

Important: If covering (attacking) the unit of the attacked party would cause one or more of its units to break away from the formation connected to its fortress, then that unit cannot be covered!

A unit on the edge of a formation may be attacked, because this does not split the opponent's formation, it only defeats its edge unit.

Example: The yellow player may not step onto the red infantry in front of it, because then the red player's army would no longer be connected to its fortress, that is, its army would be cut off from its fortress. The burgundy player may not attack the red infantry in front of it, because that is the leading unit of the red player's army, the one carrying the cube. The red player may place its next unit onto the orange infantry in front of it, because that one is not in a formation, that is, it is not adjacent to any unit connected to the fortress. Thus the red player can take a space from the orange player with its next move. However, if the orange player moves first, the red player could no longer advance, because doing so would cut off from the orange player's formation the unit on which the cube now stands.

Note: A soldier may therefore step onto another player's soldier only if its rank is equal to or higher than that of the attacked soldier, there is no army-front cube on it, and doing so does not split the other player's formation.

Generals

Generals are key members of the army, and their special orders can greatly influence the outcome of a campaign. Think carefully about when and how to deploy them!

Generals are placed on the space indicated by the soldier at the front of the army, just like the other members of the army. As soon as a general is placed on the board, its order must be carried out immediately.

The generals' powerful troop-mobilisation orders support the campaign, so the soldiers they direct cannot become involved in battle.

Important: A general cannot give orders to another general, only to infantry or cavalry ranked below it!

Note: When a general gives an order, the soldier carrying out the order may be rotated in any direction.

Mobilisation

An already placed soldier of the player's own is moved one space in the direction the general indicates (horizontally, vertically or diagonally), if the space is empty or holds one of the player's own soldiers. The army-front cube is then placed on the soldier to which the general gave the order.

Example: The red player wants to mobilise their cavalry. Following the order of the diagonal-facing officer, they move the cavalry that was at the front of the army, which connects their formation and lets them continue the campaign into the royal castle. The general cannot be placed pointing left, because the red player would then push their cavalry onto the yellow infantry, which is not allowed, and would also cut the yellow units off from their fortress.

Example: When mobilising with a diagonal-facing officer, place it facing the direction in which we want to move our soldier. In this way, moving the leftmost infantry between the cavalry and the general also connects our formation.

Note: One may always step onto one's own unit, regardless of its rank or height.

Note: If the general orders a soldier to step onto an empty space where other soldiers stand on top of it, then the whole "tower" must be moved along, and the space from which they stepped is freed, that is, becomes empty.

Important: You may not mobilise onto an opponent's soldier!

Directing Troops

Two already placed soldiers of the player's own are swapped. The player then decides which of the two swapped soldiers receives the army-front cube.

One soldier of the player's own and one enemy soldier are swapped. An enemy soldier may only be swapped with a soldier of the player's own that is of equal or higher rank. After this, the army-front cube is placed on the soldier that was swapped with the opponent's.

Example: The red player swaps out two of its own infantry. By placing the general it also reconnects the units that had broken away with the formation starting from the fortress.

Example: The red player swaps out its infantry that had broken away from its formation with the opponent's infantry, which it takes from the edge of the yellow player's formation. With this move it also makes its own formation connected, and it can continue its campaign into the royal castle.

Important: If the soldiers to be swapped are already on other soldiers, that is, on "towers", then the swapping player's soldier must be at an equal or higher level. Otherwise, even if its rank is higher, it cannot be swapped.

Important: Players may not look at the soldiers in "towers".

Note: When directing troops, if the soldier to be swapped has another soldier beneath it, the rank of the lower soldier need not be taken into account.

Important: An enemy soldier that has the army-front cube on it cannot be moved!

Placing the Warlord

• When a player has only their warlord left, the soldier at the front of the army shows where it must be placed. If it cannot be placed there according to the rules (for example, another player's warlord or fortress stands there), then it must be placed on the soldier at the front of the army, and the army-front cube is placed on it.
• When a player wants to start a new campaign but has no free exit from their fortress and cannot start one, they can make no further moves, so they must place their warlord on the last soldier placed (the one at the front of the army).
• The warlord may also be placed when the player still has further move options, but no longer wishes to make that move. The warlord is then placed on the space indicated by the soldier at the front of the army, as long as nothing prevents it.

Important: A warlord can never be placed on another warlord!

End of the Game

The game ends when every player has placed their warlord. Then the scoring follows.

Example (the last round): The last round follows, in which the players are placing the warlords they have kept until last. The outcome of the game may vary depending on whether the red or the yellow player comes up first. One possible ending of the game is shown.

The first soldier of the orange player's army points to a lemon-yellow general. Since a warlord can be placed on any unit, the orange player finishes the game by placing their warlord on the lemon-yellow player's general. Then the lemon-yellow player takes their turn, and they too may place their warlord on the space indicated by their infantry, because this does not break up the opponent's formation, it only detaches one unit from it. With this move their warlord also imposes a penalty of -1 point on three enemy units in the final scoring. Finally the red player takes its turn. Since a warlord can never be placed on another warlord, it cannot step onto the space indicated by its cavalry. In this case it is forced to place its warlord on the last soldier it placed (the one at the front of its army). With this, two yellow units receive a penalty of -1 point in the final scoring. Only two, because the red cavalry standing next to the red warlord is not part of the longest contiguous formation starting from the yellow player's fortress.

Scoring the Conquered Territories

Before the points are counted, each player removes from the board those of their units that are not part of the largest contiguous formation starting from their own fortress. A player's fortress is not part of the formations, and the space on which the fortress stands does not score points. Then everyone totals up their points.

Note: A unit joins the formation connected to its fortress if at least one of its sides touches it. If a unit touches the others only with its corner, it has broken away from the campaign and so does not belong to the conquering army that scores.

Scoring:

• Field: 1 point
• Mountain: 2 points
• Village: 3 points
• Royal castle: 5 points
• Each unit standing on one of the spaces around the royal castle: +1 point
• Each unit that shares a side with an enemy warlord that is in a formation: 1 point less. If the unit shares a side with several enemy warlords, it receives the -1 point penalty for each of them.

The player with the most points wins. In case of a tie, the player whose warlord is higher (on top of the taller tower) wins.

Example: After every player has placed their warlord, the units that do not belong to the largest contiguous formation starting from their fortress are removed from the board (the crossed-out units). The burgundy player has only five units left to score. Two of them are on mountains (4 points), two on fields (2 points), and one is in the royal castle (5 points). Only one infantry stands next to the royal castle, which adds +1 point, so the burgundy player scores 12 points in total.

The yellow player kept their formation well, so every unit of their campaign remained scoreable. Of their army, 4 stand on mountains (8 points), 3 on fields (3 points), one managed to take a village (3 points), and although they did not keep their position in the royal castle, 3 of their units stand next to the royal castle, which is worth +3 points. However, 1 point must be deducted from this result, because one of their generals stands next to the burgundy warlord. So the yellow player scores 16 points in total.

The red player occupied only 1 mountain (2 points) and 2 fields (2 points) in formation on the board, but remained in the royal castle with 3 of its units (15 points), for which it also gained +2 points from spaces next to the royal castle. However, two of its units stand on spaces next to the burgundy warlord, so it receives a penalty of -2 points. With this the red player scores 19 points in total.

The orange player stands on 6 mountains (12 points) and 3 fields (3 points), and gained a further 4 points from spaces next to the royal castle. Unfortunately it did not get into the royal castle, and could not connect its warlord to its formation, but unlike the red and yellow players it did not suffer a penalty from any warlord. The orange player scores 19 points in total in the game, which it could likely have increased had it also used its remaining infantry.

A tie in points is decided by the height of the warlords. However, none of the warlords of the tied players is part of a scoring formation, so they cannot impose minus points, and in this case their height does not matter either. The final result of this position is a draw.

Rules for 2 and 3 Players

The course of play does not change. Only at the start of the game are some areas of the large 8×8 board covered and thereby excluded from play. The royal castle is always placed in the middle of the board.

Two Players

The players alternately choose and place boards next to each other on the table until the large 8×8 board is formed. The fortresses are again placed first by the player who placed the last board.

The spaces marked in red and blue are covered with the soldiers of the armies that are out of play, placed face down on the board. (The booklet names blue here, although the four player colours are red, lemon yellow, burgundy and orange; it is transcribed as printed.)

Fortresses cannot be placed on the spaces marked "B", because that would block both exits of the fortress.

Three Players

One board is picked at random and placed on the table. The starting player then chooses one of the remaining three and places it beside the first, with the side of their choice facing up. The next player also chooses a board and places it beside the others. The last board is added by the third player, so that they are the one who places their fortress first on the board.

The spaces marked in red are covered with the soldiers of the armies that are out of play, placed face down on the board. Fortresses cannot be placed on the spaces marked "A".