Knee Deep in Hexes Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• The Game Board
  • Setting Up a Modular Board
• Goal of the Game
  • How to Win
• Setup
  • Choose a Faction and Two Companions
  • Casual Deck Setup
  • Basic Rules: Cards
  • Simple Deck Building
  • Deck Building: Basic Deck and Authority
    • Advanced Deck Building
    • Authority Points
  • Set Up the Supply
• In Depth: The Companions
  • Character Types
• Start of the Game
  • Before the Game
• Phase 1 - Power Up
  • 1) Gain resources
  • 2) Draw a card
• Phase 2 - Actions
  • 1) Deploy Vehicles
  • 2) Move a Vehicle
  • 3) Build Structures
  • 4) Play Action Cards
  • 5) Draw Card
  • 6) Recycle Card
• Phase 3 - War Zone Markers
  • A Step-by-Step War Example
    • a) Declaring a War Zone at the End of your Turn
    • b) The Enemy's Response
  • Resolve Enemy War Zone Marker
    • Step 1) Playing War Cards
    • Step 2) Reveal War Cards
    • Step 3) Calculate Combat Power
    • Step 4) War Result
    • Step 5) Assign Damage
  • Assigning Damage to the HQ
  • Neutral War Cards
• Phase 4 - Place a War Zone Marker
• Phase 5 - Exhaust
• End of Game
• Player Help
  • Turn Overview
  • Stats Table

Components

• 1x Game Board
• 4x Resource Tracker
• 2x Warzone Marker
• 12x ACVs (6 per color)
• 10x Tanks (5 per color)
• 6x Paloozas (3 per color)
• 8x Extractors (4 per color)
• 4x Factories (2 per color)
• 6x Turrets (3 per color)
• 4x Gondwana Companion Cards
• 32x Gondwana Faction Cards
• 4x Bukseon Companion Cards
• 32x Bukseon Faction Cards
• 18x Neutral Cards
• 56x Double-sided Terrain Fields
• 14x Terrain Cards

The Game Board

The game board in Knee Deep in Hexes consists of three parts:

• the battlefield,
• the scrapyard and
• 2 resource trackers for each player.

The battlefield consists of 31 sectors.

Each sector has 7 fields. Any field without mountains, resources, parts of an HQ, or any vehicles or structures counts as an empty field.

The diagram below identifies different parts of the battlefield:

1) HQ - Headquarter

Vehicles can be deployed from an HQ onto an empty adjacent field.

Vehicles cannot move through an HQ. Structures cannot be built on an HQ.

2) Resource Tracker

At the beginning of an active player's turn, count all resources gained from companions and friendly extractors adjacent to resource fields and move that player's resource tracker accordingly.

3) Scrapyard

Vehicles and structures destroyed during the game are placed here.

4) Material Resource Field

Extract material resources by building an extractor in an empty (unoccupied by mountains, resources, or any buildings or structures) adjacent field. Material resources can be used to deploy vehicles, build structures, and play or draw cards.

You cannot move a vehicle through a material resource field.

You cannot build a structure on a material resource field.

5) Energy Resource Field

Extract energy by building an extractor in a valid adjacent field. Energy can be used for moving or recycling cards.

Vehicles are unable to move through energy resource fields. Structures cannot be built here.

6) Mountain Field

Vehicles cannot move through mountains. Structures cannot be built on mountains.

Setting Up a Modular Board

Place the game board on the table, with the resource trackers facing both players.

Shuffle the planetary cards into a face-down draw pile.

Draw and reveal the first card; note that each card shows a horizontally mirrored sector.

Place terrain tokens on the board according to their orientation on the cards. Start in the bottom-left corner of the board and continue as indicated by the arrows on the diagram below. Do not place terrain tokens on the HQ sectors.

Once the board has been set up, return the remaining planetary cards back to the game box.

Set the remaining terrain tokens aside, as they may come into play through card effects.

Goal of the Game

How to Win

Knee Deep in Hexes ends immediately when a player's HQ is destroyed or the Scrapyard is completely filled with vehicles and structures.

There are two ways to win. Either:

1. Be the first to destroy your opponent's HQ, OR
2. If both HQs survive, the total health points of your vehicles and structures in the Scrapyard are lower than those of your opponent.

If there is a tie in the Scrapyard, the player who destroyed the smaller number of their enemy's vehicles and structures wins.

Setup

Choose a Faction and Two Companions

1. Choose your faction:

Every player first chooses one out of the two factions Bukseon/Blue and Gondwana/Orange.

2. Choose two companions:

Each faction has one of the following character types: General, Commander, Tech, Trickster.

Each player lays down their 2 chosen companion character cards face up on the table in front of them.

Each companion is represented by an individual character card.

A companion card shows its Character Type, Character Type Symbol, Starting Resources, Health Points added to the HQ, and its Special Ability.

Casual Deck Setup

Every player starts with a 25-card deck. These decks consist of the 16 strategy cards associated with a player's chosen companions (Base Deck), along with 9 neutral strategy cards.

Each player receives an identical set of neutral strategy cards, comprised of:

6 War Cards:

• 2x Sling
• 2x Barrier
• 2x Skirmish

and 3 Action Cards:

• 1x Improvised Turret
• 1x Improvised Extractor
• 1x Improvised Factory

Each player shuffles their starting deck and places it face-down on the table in front of them. These decks are also referred to as draw piles. Make space next to each draw pile for a discard pile.

Basic Rules: Cards

A) Card texts have priority over rule texts.

B) Vehicles or structures mentioned on the card text refer to the active player. Unless it is explicitly designated as 'enemy' or 'opponent'.

Example. „Place a factory beside a vehicle" has the same meaning as „Place a factory beside one of your own vehicles".

C) If a draw pile is depleted during the game, it is gone: discarded cards will not be shuffled in it again. Therefore take good care of your cards!

Simple Deck Building

This variant gives players more options; it can be played with one copy of the basic game.

After each player has their basic deck, shuffle together all remaining cards and set them aside as a deckbuilding draw pile; players will use this pile to form their respective deckbuilding pools.

Each player draws two cards from the draw pile, selecting one to place face-down in front of them as part of their deckbuilding pool, and one to place face-down in their opponent's deckbuilding pool.

Continue in this way until the draw pile is exhausted. Each player must then assemble a personal deck, comprised of their basic deck along with 9 cards from their own deckbuilding pool. The following rules apply:

• A deck must consist of exactly 25 cards.
• Each deck is allowed a maximum of 4 "foreign" cards (those belonging to Companions other than the two you selected when assembling your basic deck).

Deck Building: Basic Deck and Authority

Beyond the base game, Knee Deep in Hexes has two deckbuilding variants that offer additional strategic depth. These are particularly suitable for tournaments.

In each variant, each player starts with the basic, 16-card deck. They will then draft or purchase additional cards until each has a deck with exactly 25 cards.

These additional cards must be added or acquired individually — adding or acquiring a particular card does not mean that you gain its double.

Advanced Deck Building

In this variant, players use authority points to purchase cards for their decks. Two copies of the basic game are required.

After assembling their basic decks, players may select their remaining cards from the entire card pool (i.e., all factions and their companions) by spending authority points. The following rules apply:

• A deck must consist of exactly 25 cards.
• A deck may have no more than two cards with the same name.
• Each player may spend a maximum of 8 authority points on "foreign" cards (those belonging to Companions other than the two you selected when assembling your basic deck).

Exceptions:

• Neutral cards have no authority cost. They may be added to a deck free of charge.
• "Signature" cards can only be added to a deck that includes their respective Companion (as marked); they cannot be purchased with authority points.

Note. Vehicles and structures destroyed in the course of the game are not returned to a player's supply.

Authority Points

As battle-tested commanders, the players possess a special authority. This authority not only binds their own troops to them, but also acts as a magnet for other units that want to join the players' glorious battle units.

Each player has 8 authority points that can be spent on strategy cards for their deck.

Each strategy card has a cost of 1-3 authority points; these costs can be found below the card's text. Cards must be purchased individually.

Set Up the Supply

Each player has the following supply of vehicles and structures in their color:

• 6 ACVs
• 5 Tanks
• 3 Paloozas
• 4 Extractors
• 3 Turrets
• 2 Factories

Each player also receives a War Zone Marker matching their color.

In Depth: The Companions

Choose your companions wisely, as you cannot change them during a game. They will stick with you for the entire game.

Each companion has its own character type - this determines their general strategic orientation, and each companion has their own unique set of strategy cards.

Each companion has a total of 8 specific cards: 2 pairs of War Cards and 2 pairs of Action Cards. Use character type symbols to match cards to companions.

Each companion provides Material & Energy as starting resources, which are added to your resource pool at the beginning of each of your turns.

Companions also add a certain number of HQ health points, as indicated on their cards.

Most importantly, each companion has a powerful special ability that remains active throughout the game. Use those abilities well, but be sure to keep an eye on your opponent's special abilities, too!

Character Types

Generals overlook the battle from their fleet's main ship in planetary orbit. They intervene in battle with long-range weapons and support their ground forces with supplies from space.

Commanders lead their troops directly on the battlefield. They draw on many years of experience in combat and adjust their tactics rapidly.

Techs constantly improve their troops' technological capabilities. They gain an advantage through steady innovation.

Tricksters surprise their opponents with fancy maneuvers. Their power lies in their unpredictability.

Start of the Game

Before the Game

Pick a starting player at random.

Each player draws 3 cards from their draw pile.

Free Mulligan: Before the start of the game, each player has a one-time opportunity to discard their entire hand and draw a new hand of 3 cards. In this case, reshuffle the discarded cards back into that player's deck.

The game is played in rounds. Each player will take one turn per round.

A turn consists of the following phases, which must be completed by the active player in the order below:

1. Power Up (Resources + Card Draw)
2. Actions (Move, Build and Play Action Cards)
3. Resolve enemy war zone marker
4. Place own war zone marker
5. Exhaust (Reset resource trackers)

Once a player completes the final phase, it is the next player's turn.

Balancing Note. In the very first round, the starting player does not draw a card and removes one Material from their resource pool.

Phase 1 - Power Up

1) Gain resources

There are two resources in Knee deep in Hexes: Material & Energy.

At the beginning of their turn, the active player gains:

a) all resources shown on the players two companion character cards.

b) all resources from resource fields adjacent to own extractors (see also 'Extractor').

Example. As long as on the battlefield, this Extractor adds 1x Material and 1x Energy every round.

Balancing Note. Resource fields adjacent to more than one extractor of the active player are counted once per Power Up phase only. So building two Extractors adjacent to the same resource field won't provide any benefit. This rule does not extend to enemy Extractors, meaning those will be ignored in the active player's Power Up phase.

The active player ignores enemy Extractors during their Power Up phase.

Track resources using the corresponding resource trackers.

2) Draw a card

The active player draws a card from their deck, up to a limit of 6 cards. Excess cards must be discarded immediately, as chosen by the player.

Phase 2 - Actions

The Action phase is the main phase of a player's turn. The actions available to a player are as follows:

1. Deploy vehicles
2. Move vehicles
3. Build structures
4. Play Action Cards
5. Draw a card
6. Recycle a card

A player may take as many actions their resources and cards in hand allow. Actions may be taken in any order, and individual actions may be taken more than once in a turn.

1) Deploy Vehicles

There are 3 types of vehicle: ACVs, Tanks and Paloozas. Vehicles are used to move around the map, build structures, and attack enemy assets (vehicles, structures and HQs).

Vehicles have the following stats:

• Their cost, measured in Material
• How many fields it may move for every Energy spent on movement
• How much damage it does in combat
• Health points (always equal to a vehicle's cost)

ACV — A very fast construction vehicle with almost no firepower. Only vehicle in the game with build ability. Costs: 1 Material. Movement: 3 per Energy. Combat Points: 1. Health Points: 1.

Tank — Robust standard unit with medium firepower and medium movement. Costs: 2 Material. Movement: 2 per Energy. Combat Points: 2. Health Points: 2.

Palooza — The fearsome battle behemoth. Slow movement, but provides the highest firepower in the game. Costs: 3 Material. Movement: 1 per Energy. Combat Points: 3. Health Points: 3.

To deploy a vehicle, a player must first pay the vehicle's cost. To do so, lower the resource counter by the amount of Material to be paid.

After this cost has been paid, the player may deploy that vehicle from their supply.

A vehicle may be deployed on any empty field that:

• is located directly adjacent to the player's own HQ or factory
• contains no mountains or resources
• has no vehicles or structures belonging to either player

2) Move a Vehicle

As an action, a player may move vehicles up to as many fields as the vehicle's movement points allow. For every movement action the active player must remove one Energy from his resource pool. You can't stack movement.

To deploy a vehicle, a player must first pay the vehicle's cost. To do so, lower the resource counter by the amount of Material to be paid.

Fields where vehicles are allowed to move and end their movement on are furthermore fields where there are:

• no mountains
• no resources
• no enemy vehicles or structures
• Vehicles are not allowed to move through HQs.

A moving vehicle may pass through fields occupied by friendly vehicles or structures, but must always end its movement on an empty field.

One field - one unit!

Basic Rule. During the turn, a player may spend multiple Energy to move a vehicle, but they may not spend multiple Material as part of a single action. A vehicle must always complete one movement action before it can start a new one.

Example. To move this ACV to the designated field, its player must pay 1 Energy. The ACV has 3 movement, so it can reach that field for the cost of 1 Energy.

Note. Resource fields adjacent to more than one Extractor are only counted once per Power Up phase. Thus, building two Extractors adjacent to the same resource field won't provide any additional benefit. This rule does not extend to enemy Extractors, meaning those will be ignored in the active player's Power Up phase.

The player may repeat this action with a vehicle that has already been moved in the turn. The action sequence, including the issuance of energy points, starts anew.

3) Build Structures

There are 3 types of structure: Extractors, Factories and Turrets. These are used to exploit resource fields, deploy vehicles beyond the HQ, and build defenses.

Note. HQs do not count as structures.

Factory — Produces vehicles. Costs: Material. Health Points: 2. This is the only structure in the game with the ability to deploy vehicles.

Extractor — Extracts Resources out of adjacent resource fields such as Material and Energy. Costs: Material. Health Points: 2.

Turret — Defense structure. Costs: Energy. Combat Points: 2. Health Points: 2. This is the only structure in the game with combat points.

ACVs by default have the „build ability," which is used to build structures.

To build a structure, a player must first pay Material equal to the structure's cost. To do so, lower the resource counter by the amount of Material to be paid.

After this cost has been paid, the player may take that structure from their supply and place it on an empty field adjacent to at least two of their own vehicles that have the build ability.

Vehicles with build ability remain on the battlefield after building a structure.

4) Play Action Cards

Each player deck consists of two types of strategy cards: War cards and Action cards. War cards can only be played during battle, while Action cards can only be played during your Action phase. Action cards cannot be played during War.

An Action card can be identified by a cogwheel symbol in the upper left corner and its „Action card" title. You must pay Material to play an Action card. A card's cost is noted in its upper-left corner. An Action card that has no Material cost may be played for free.

You may play any number of Action cards on your turn, as long as you are able to pay for them.

Resolve Action cards according to their rules text. Some cards have specific conditions that must be met in order to be played. You cannot play a card whose conditions have not been met.

A War Card shows a Card Type, Card Costs (Amount of Material to be removed in order to play out this action card), and Card Text (Stating the effect of the card).

5) Draw Card

You may spend 1 Material to draw the top card of your draw pile. Until the end of the player's turn, the hand card limit of 6 cards does not apply.

6) Recycle Card

You may spend 1 Energy to discard a card from your hand and draw a new card from the top of your draw pile. You may recycle more than one card on your turn, as long as you can pay to do so. You may not take this action if you do not have a card to discard.

Until the end of the player's turn, the hand card limit of 6 cards does not apply.

Phase 3 - War Zone Markers

Wars in Knee Deep in Hexes are fought with a delay; this means you can't immediately rush in and start shooting.

To start a fight you must first declare a War Zone (and place a War Zone marker) at the end of your turn, after you have completed your other turn actions.

All battles in Knee Deep in Hexes take place in War Zones.

A War Zone marker must be placed at the exact intersection of exact three sectors. Those three sectors make up the War Zone.

A war will take place in your War Zone at the end of your opponent's turn. This gives your opponent an opportunity to react.

Note. Be careful: A badly placed War Zone marker could cause you to lose the game!

Before you can place your own War Zone marker, you must first resolve your opponent's War Zone.

If each player has at least one vehicle or structure in the War Zone, a war happens. A war can also happen if the War Zone contains one player's HQ and another player's vehicle or structure. A war always consists of the following 5 steps:

Step 1) Play War Cards Step 2) Reveal War Cards Step 3) Calculate Combat Power Step 4) War Result Step 5) Assign Damage

If at least one player has no vehicles, structures, or an HQ within the War Zone, no war happens. Return the War Zone marker to its owner.

A war is won by having more combat points than your opponent. Combat points come from vehicles, structures, and war cards.

When you win a war, assign your excess combat points to your opponent's vehicles and structures in the War Zone.

If there is a tie for combat points, the war ends. No damage is assigned, and no further action is necessary.

See below for a step-by-step example of a war.

A Step-by-Step War Example

a) Declaring a War Zone at the End of your Turn

The Bukseon plans to declare this War Zone at the end of their turn.

Bukseon wants to attack the two Gondwana extractors, which give Orange +1 Material and +1 Energy every turn so far.

Each extractor has 2 health points and 0 combat points.

To destroy both Gondwana extractors the Bukseon player needs a total surplus of 4 combat points at the end of this war. To achieve this goal, the Bukseon player moves 1 ACV and 1 Palooza to the planned War Zone on their turn.

Bukseon now has 4 combat points in this War Zone (3 for the Palooza and 1 for the ACV). Presently, Bukseon is ahead of Gondwana by a score of 4-0.

Bukseon completes their preparations. At the end of the turn, they place their War Zone marker and officially declare those three sectors as their War Zone.

b) The Enemy's Response

Bukseon's War Zone marker will resolve at the end of Orange's turn. This gives Gondwana the opportunity to react.

First, Gondwana spends 2 Energy to move a tank into the War Zone from a neighboring sector. The combat point totals in the War Zone are now 4-2.

Then, Gondwana spends 2 Material to play the „Carry All" Action card from their hand. This card lets them move a vehicle already on the map to any empty field. Gondwana moves their distant tank adjacent to their other tank.

Gondwana isn't done yet. They also play their „Improvised Turret" card for one more Material.

This card allows Gondwana to place a defense turret next to only one vehicle on an empty field, even if that vehicle lacks the build ability. Gondwana builds that turret next to their 2nd tank.

The balance of power within the War Zone has changed. The combat point totals are now 4-6, giving Gondwana a surplus of 2 combat power. At the end of the war, Orange could apply that surplus as damage to Bukseon's units in the War Zone.

With preparations complete, Gondwana chooses to end their turn and resolve Blue's War Zone marker. Gondwana has 2 combat points to spend. The Palooza has 3 health points, so Gondwana cannot destroy it. However, Bukseons's ACV only has 1 health point — Gondwana spends 1 point and sends it to the scrapyard. Even better for Gondwana, their two extractors are able to remain in play.

Resolve Enemy War Zone Marker

Step 1) Playing War Cards

War cards are marked as such, and can also be identified by a cross-hair symbol in the upper left corner.

Starting with the attacker, in a war, each player may play one War card from their hand. These cards are played face-down on the table.

The defending player may decide to play a war card of their own in response by also laying one face down onto the table.

Note. In order to play this card, all conditions specified on it must be met: In this case the player playing this card must have three tanks within the war zone.

In our example, Bukseon plays a neutral war card from their hand face-down onto the table. Bukseon's card will provide a bonus of 3 combat power, but only if they have arranged their vehicles in the required formation (friendly structures do not count as part of this formation).

Blue has planned to play this war card from the beginning. They have positioned their vehicles accordingly. The combat totals now stand at 7-6, giving Blue the lead.

If Bukseon were to win this war, their combat power surplus of 1 would not be enough to destroy any of Orange's units. However, it also means that Bukseon will not lose any units. This gives them the opportunity to improve their position within the war zone if they wish to attack again on a later turn.

At this point, Gondwana doesn't know that Bukseon is focusing on limiting damage. They still fear a big blow! Gondwana holds the „War Bots" card, which adds 2 combat power.

Will it be enough?

Step 2) Reveal War Cards

Both players reveal their war cards with the war card of the defending player being resolved first.

The moment of truth. After the two players have revealed their battle cards, the war result is determined:

Gondwana wins, 7-8. Gondwana has successfully defended their interests, and has 1 surplus combat power remaining - enough to destroy Bukseon's ACV.

Bukseon's ACV goes to the scrapyard, where it will spend the rest of the game. Their Palooza remains unharmed.

Step 3) Calculate Combat Power

Each player counts the total combat power of their vehicles and turrets within the war zone, then add any bonuses from cards or special abilities.

The player with the higher number of combat power wins the war. In case of a tie, the war zone marker is resolved with no result.

Step 4) War Result

Determine how many combat points the winner has over the loser of the war. The winning player can assign the excess combat points as damage to enemy vehicles and/or structures within the war zone.

Step 5) Assign Damage

If a vehicle or a structure is assigned damage equal to its health points, it is removed from the battlefield and placed in the scrapyard.

Note. Any leftover or unassigned damage is forfeited. Vehicles or structures are either destroyed by assigning the full amount of damage needed or not at all.

Reference Health Points: ACV: 1. Turret: 2. Tank: 2. Extractor: 2. Palooza: 3. Factory: 2.

Assigning Damage to the HQ

The HQ has no combat points.

A player's HQ has health points equal to the number of HQ on their two companion cards chosen.

HQs explicitly do not count as structures.

Example. Two Companion cards adding 2 HQ health points each combine to give an HQ of 4 health points.

To destroy an HQ, damage equal to its total health points (in this case, 4) must be fully assigned to the HQ.

If an HQ is destroyed, the game ends immediately.

Neutral War Cards

Some war cards only provide combat point bonuses if specific vehicle formations are established by friendly vehicles within the war zone.

Sling — Two friendly vehicles must be arranged in a straight line, with one field between them. This field may be empty, or it may be occupied by a mountain, resource, or either player's vehicle or structure.

Barrier — Three friendly vehicles must be arranged in a straight line.

Skirmish — Three friendly vehicles must be arranged in a triangle within the war zone.

Phase 4 - Place a War Zone Marker

After a war zone has been resolved, the active player may place their own war zone marker.

Phase 5 - Exhaust

The active player must empty all unused material and energy from their resource pool tracker.

Cards exceeding the 6-card hand limit must be discarded.

End of Game

Knee deep in Hexes immediately ends if:

• one of the HQ's gets destroyed

OR

• the scrapyard tile is completely filled with destroyed vehicles and/or structures

The winner is the player who destroyed their opponents HQ. If the game ends because the scrapyard is full, the winner is the player with the fewest total health points on vehicles and structures in the scrapyard.

If there is a tie on the scrapyard, the player who has reached the result of destroyed health points by destroying less opposing vehicles and structures wins.

Player Help

Turn Overview

1. Power Up (Resources + Card Draw)

2. Actions (Move, build, additionally draw, recycle and play action cards)

3. War Zones — Resolve enemy war zone marker

• Step 1) Play War Cards
• Step 2) Reveal War Cards
• Step 3) Calculate Combat Power
• Step 4) War Result
• Step 5) Assign Damage

4. Place your own war zone marker

5. Exhaust (reset resource trackers)

Stats Table

CP: Combat Power. H: Health. M: Movement.

• ACV (Cost: Material) — CP: 1 / H: 1 / M: 3. Has build ability.
• Tank (Cost: Material, Material) — CP: 2 / H: 2 / M: 2.
• Palooza (Cost: Material, Material, Material) — CP: 3 / H: 3 / M: 1.
• Extractor (Cost: Material) — CP: 0 / H: 2 / M: 0.
• Factory (Cost: Material) — CP: 0 / H: 2 / M: 0. Has deploy ability.
• Turret (Cost: Energy) — CP: 2 / H: 2 / M: 0.