Imperial Settlers: Empires of the North – Barbarian Hordes
Imperial Settlers: Empires of the North – Barbarian Hordes Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 4 Nearby Island cards
- 2 Distant Island cards
- 33 Boudicca Clan cards
- 33 Urvart Clan cards
- 6 Clan Ship tokens
- 4 Raft tokens
- 8 Ambush tokens
- 2 Clan markers
Game Setup
- Shuffle the new Distant Island cards into the appropriate deck.
- Shuffle the new Nearby Island cards into the appropriate deck.
- Players may choose a Clan from the new ones.
- If playing with the Boudicca Clan, follow the special Setup instructions (see Boudicca Clan, Setup below).
Urvart Clan
Urvart has his spies in all corners of the world. You ask why? These sneaky barbarians are everywhere, stealing the knowledge of other nations for their own means. Are they hiding among your village unseen, trying to figure out how you make your most famous ale, or learning the intricacies of ice cream production...? How dare they be so dubious and then return home to spread their findings among their people... Outrageous!
Difficulty level: 6
Ambush Tokens
Several Urvart Clan card Actions allow you to place an ambush token on a card in your opponent's Empire.
When an opponent activates a Field or Action card with an ambush token:
- First the opponent declares they are activating a card with an ambush token.
- You, the Urvart player, gain 1 Resource from the general supply that matches a Resource the opponent has in their supply. If the opponent does not have any Resources, you gain 1 Gold instead.
- The opponent removes the ambush token from the card and resolves the action.
If an opponent has passed for the round, you may not place any ambush tokens on cards in their Empire.
If an opponent uses a card with an ambush token, but you have already passed for the round, each step is resolved as normal, but the Resource you gain is chosen by your opponent (as usual it has to match a Resource the opponent has in their supply, or 1 Gold if they do not have any Resources).
If a card with an ambush token is ever discarded, resolve the steps as if the card had been activated, and then discard the card. Do not discard ambush tokens from cards during the Cleanup phase.
For example: Kate decides to Harvest her Grassland (003) that has an ambush token on it. She has 2 [blue fish] and 1 Stone in her supply, so the Urvart player decides to gain 1 [blue fish] from the general supply. Then Kate removes the ambush token from Grassland and resolves the Harvest by gaining 2 [sheep].
For example: Tom decides to resolve Offering (044) that has an ambush token on it. He has 1 [blue fish], 1 Wood, and 1 Stone in his supply, so the Urvart player decides to gain 1 Wood from the general supply. Then Tom removes the ambush token from Offering and resolves it by spending 1 [blue fish], 1 Wood, and 1 Stone from his supply to gain 3 points.
Reveal Island
When a card instructs you to reveal an Island card, you may choose to reveal a card from either Island deck. Place the revealed Island card on the appropriate side below the Expedition board to indicate that it is now available for all players using the Expedition board.
For example: Tom resolves Spy on Deck! (424): he spends 1 Worker and 1 Stone from his supply, and then chooses to reveal a Distant Island card, placing it below the Expedition board. He sees that it is a card he is interested in, so he Sails and places his Ship with [blue fish] assigned on the Expedition board.
Urvart Clan Card Explanations
Welcome Wagon (408), Low-Key Theft (422): Each time you activate one of these cards, you may choose to resolve the full effects multiple times—once for each of your opponents.
For example: During a 3 player game, Kate activates Welcome Wagon (408) and decides to resolve the effect for both of her opponents. She spends 2 Workers and places 1 ambush token on her first opponent's card, and then places 1 ambush token on a Field of the second opponent.
Forgery (433): When you activate this card you may choose one of these 2 options:
- Spend 1 Worker and exhaust [tan Explore icon] to EXPLORE.
- Spend 1 Worker and exhaust [tan Populate icon] to POPULATE.
Shinto Bandits (434): When this card is activated, the Resource is taken from an opponent's supply.
Ring Around the Romans (438): In order to Retrieve the Worker you must spend 1 [red apple] to move your Clan action pawn to an adjacent Action tile, activate the tile, and flip your Clan Action pawn to the exhausted side.
Boudicca Clan
Boudicca has a simple plan—build as many boats as possible and then take what she needs. She discovered that the waters were loaded with plenty of resources, good sails, and no security. Why bother with growing crops? Just find them on the open seas! The hardest part, aside from the seas, was the decision to comfortably pluck the plunder from nearby ships, or to travel farther and discover an even more valuable commodity...
Difficulty level: 5
Setup
When playing the Boudicca Clan, you start the game with the following changes:
- Instead of 2 [red-striped ship icon], you begin with 1 Ship and 2 Rafts.
- Your starting Goods are those shown to the right of the Raft on all of your Basic Fields.
Note: the first icon in the first bullet is printed as the same red-striped icon used for the Ship, so it is transcribed as printed. The rulebook's text layer carries no words for it.
Like spent Workers, spent Rafts and Ships return to your supply during the Cleanup phase.
New Boats
The Boudicca Clan has 2 types of boats: Ships and Rafts. They may be used to Sail, or to Harvest.
Sail
When you Sail—either by using the Action tile or when instructed by the keyword Sail—you may only use a Ship.
You may only place a Raft on the Expedition board when a card specifically allows you to do so.
When you place a Raft on the Expedition board you are not allowed to place Goods on it and therefore may only Pillage Nearby Islands when using a Raft on the Expedition board.
For example: Kate activates Raft Away Teams (379) to Sail using a Raft. She places it on the Expedition board remembering that she may not assign a [blue fish] or [axe] to it, and will only be able to Pillage a Nearby Island when it is resolved.
Harvest
All the Fields in the Boudicca Clan deck require you to spend either a Raft or a Ship in order to Harvest from them.
When Harvesting, choose either to spend a Raft, or a Ship, by placing it on your Clan tile. Depending upon which you choose to spend, gain the Goods indicated to the right of the Raft or Ship on the Field.
For example: Kate resolves the Harvest Action tile, and decides to Harvest from Wool Transport Ransack (375) using a Ship. She places the Ship on her Clan tile and gains 3 [sheep].
Boudicca Clan Card Explanations
Building Fields: When you Build a new Field (Sakura Ship Ransack (385) or Drowning Dutchman's Pillage (398)), you do not have to spend a Raft, but will gain the Goods indicated to the right of the Raft when the Field is Built.
Raft Wrestling (389, 390): When you activate this card you may choose between the following options:
- Retrieve 1 Worker and gain 1 [axe].
- Gain 1 point and move your Ship 1 position up in the Expedition board queue.
Involuntary Reinforcements (400): When this card is activated, the Ship/Raft that resolves Pillage / Conquest comes back to your supply and you may use it again during this round.
Inspired Planker (403): When activating this card, you may change the Raft to a Ship and vice versa, or gain back the same Ship/Raft you removed, and then gain 1 point.
For example: Kate activates Inspired Planker (403), so she spends 1 Worker, 1 [blue fish] and removes 1 Raft (by returning it to the general supply) to gain 1 Raft (from general supply) and 1 point.
Brittania Bridge (404): The spent Raft is placed on your Clan tile in the same way it would have been spent to Harvest.
Clan Interaction Explanations
Saikoro Clan: When playing the Saikoro Clan you may not use cards regarding Rafts (Greed Stone (395), Inspired Planker (403), Brittania Bridge (404)). Also, if you ever gain Resources from Boudicca's Fields, you do not spend a Raft, and may only gain the Resources to the right of the Raft.
Umineko Clan: When you activate New Delivery (230) and resolve Docking, and there are more than 2 revealed Island cards, gain and assign Goods from each revealed Islands.
Urvart Clan: When you activate a card that gives an opponent a choice, and the choice is not possible, it may not be chosen (e.g. Art Thieves (409) an opponent has a choice of discarding 1 random card from their hand—but they have no cards in hand—they must choose the other option).
Island Cards Card Explanations
Happy Pigs Island (440), Abandoned Granary (218): Do not spend a boat when you gain Resources from Boudika's Fields.
Note: the printed text reads "Boudika's"; the Clan is Boudicca, and the spelling is kept as printed.