Mage Knight Board Game: The Lost Legion Expansion
Mage Knight Board Game: The Lost Legion Expansion Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Expansion Overview
The main theme of this expansion is the frightening General Volkare – you will find his figure and large token here, as well as several New Scenarios that feature him. Volkare usually represents an ultimate enemy, similar to cities – except that in most scenarios, Volkare moves around the map with his huge army and the players have to avoid him until they are strong enough to confront him.
The second major part of this expansion is Wolfhawk, a New Playable Hero, with her figure, a full set of Basic Action cards (two of them unique just for her), a complete set of Skill tokens and other required components.
Besides that, the game is also expanded in most other aspects:
- Each original hero gets one card of his basic deck upgraded with a New Unique Basic Action Card. So now, each hero possesses two cards no other hero can access, which differentiates the Mage Knights more from the start.
- There are New Deed Cards – new Advanced Action, Spell and Artifact cards, for greater variety in your games.
- There are New Units you can recruit to help your cause, both regular and elite, including some new approaches to how Reputation works.
- There are New Map Tiles with several new sites and map features, including the corresponding Site Description cards.
- There are New Enemy Tokens, some of them possessing new combat abilities. There is an overview of these enemies and abilities on the last page of this rulebook.
- There are five Cooperative Skill Tokens, together with their Skill Description card. You can replace the competitive tokens with these whenever playing cooperative or solo scenarios.
- We also added some Extra Components (Wound cards, Shield tokens, mana tokens and one mana die) so you are less likely to run out of them, even in the most epic battles against Volkare (or for 5 player games).
- The new scenarios and mechanics, as well as player feedback (which we highly value), made us include some Rebalanced and Tweaked Cards and Tokens that replace the corresponding older versions from the base game.
- Also, for those owning the first print run, we added several Corrected Cards and Tokens, so your game is complete.
In the next chapter, all these expansion parts are described in detail, including a full list of components related to it.
Expansion Mark
The new cards are marked with a small mark next to their numbers, so you know they came with this expansion. If the card is a rebalanced version of an older card, it has the same number (just with the added mark). If it is a completely new card, it has a new number, higher than those of cards from the base game.
The only cards that do not have a mark are Wound cards (which are all identical and have no numbers) and corrected cards from the first print run (which should be identical to cards from the later print runs).
The new enemy tokens are not marked, but you can always tell whether they came from this expansion by consulting the last page of this rulebook.
New Mechanics
Please note that by adding the new cards and tokens, some of the base game mechanics had to be enhanced or tweaked slightly. Please read the new rules before playing with the new cards.
This chapter helps you to sort the new cards and other components and prepare your game for playing with them.
Components of the Expansion
Volkare
Not much is known about Volkare. Whether he is good or bad, or whether he follows higher goals or his own personal agenda, Volkare has become your nemesis in the new cooperative and solo scenarios (there is no need for an impersonal dummy player any more in them). He can also spice up your conquest games.
- 1 Volkare miniature with clix base
- 1 large Volkare token
- 1 Volkare's Round Order token
- 2 Volkare Scenario cards
- 1 Volkare's Camp card
This is just the list of components related to Volkare. You will find more about how to use them in Volkare's Rules chapter and the Scenarios section of this Rulebook.
Wolfhawk – New Playable Hero
Orphaned as a child, Wolfhawk was raised by the greatest Amazon warriors of the Cainus Mons forests. She proved to have an exceptional talent for swordsmanship joining queen Corella's army at a young age. Her heroic deeds during the Battle of Nepharus Mons did not go unnoticed and she was soon promoted to Corella's personal guard. During the next few years, Wolfhawk became one of the queen's closest and most trusted companions.
When Wolfhawk later became oathsworn to the mysterious Solonavi, some said it was on the orders of the queen herself. Whatever the reason, Wolfhawk began to set out alone on secret missions under the cover of night. She would go for months at a time, sometimes years. It was no wonder that no one questioned it when she disappeared during the Breaking. It was assumed she had died on one of her dangerous journeys.
But now, she has returned as one of the Mage Knights. Deadlier and swifter than ever, her swords scythe through anyone getting in her way. What convinced the most loyal servant to abandon her queen and leave her oath to the Solonavi behind? We can only guess; Wolfhawk remains as silent, focused and solitary as she ever was.
- 1 Hero card
- 16 Basic Action cards
- 1 Skills Description card
- 10 Skill tokens
- 6 Level tokens
- 20 Shield tokens
- 1 Round Order token
Treat Wolfhawk as any other hero in the game. As with the original Heroes, we recommend you keep all cards and tokens related to Wolfhawk in a separate bag.
New Unique Basic Actions
We are aware that only one player gets to play a completely new character. To offer a new experience to other players, and also to distinguish the heroes more, we enhanced the starting decks of all other heroes with a new unique card.
- 4 Basic Action cards for original Heroes
Each of the original Heroes has one new Basic Action card in this expansion. You can recognize them by that hero's symbol in the upper right corner.
Each such card replaces the Basic Action card with the same number of that hero's deck. Remove the replaced cards from the game and make sure they do not get shuffled back into it accidentally.
Each player's starting deck should still have 16 cards, but now, each hero has two unique cards no other hero can access. Note that the unique cards are slightly better than the cards they replaced, so with the expansion, the Heroes start a bit stronger than in the base game.
New Deed Cards
Your heroes can now learn more useful and interesting tricks. For the epic final battles, there is a set of powerful spells; useful during the day, and deadly during the night. There are also new powerful Artifacts; it seems with the new magic filling the world after the Breaking, the old relics that were buried in tombs or guarded by monastic orders for centuries, slowly wake up and regain their lost power.
- 12 new Advanced Action cards (29/40 to 40/40)
- 4 new Spell cards (21/24 to 24/24)
- 8 new Artifact cards (17/24 to 24/24)
These cards just get shuffled into the original decks of the appropriate type, improving their variability (and also lowering the chance you run out of them during your game).
Please read the New Effects and Detailed Game Concepts sections of the rulebook, to make sure you understand the new cards fully.
New Units
As word about heroic Mage Knights spreads, more and more locals want to join their ranks. Some of them are not really soldiers – but whether they are brave Heroes longing for fame or just Thugs wanting to enrich themselves, they may prove useful. Scouts come in handy in unknown territory, and Shocktroops are a good counter to the most annoying enemies. And have you heard of Delphana Masters? Now, with magestone gone, the Delphana faction possesses the greatest magical power in the kingdom and persuading them to join your cause may be a good move. Or if you are tired from all that haggling and reputation, and depend on your own magic instead, why not try to summon your own Magic Familiars?
- 8 new silver Regular Unit cards (21/28 to 28/28)
- 8 new gold Elite Unit cards (21/28 to 28/28)
Shuffle the new cards into their respective original decks. Note that some of the new Units have various marks next to their recruitment cost. To understand them, you have to read the New Units and Banners section of this rulebook. Also, to understand the cards fully, you need to read the Detailed Game Concepts section.
New Map Tiles
You get to explore new parts of the Atlantean kingdom. You will have to cross majestic long walls going through the landscape and fortifying certain spaces (some of them now occupied by raiders). You can go through mazes and labyrinths to find guarded treasures or you can gather mana crystals in deep mines. And if you come upon a refugee camp, you can recruit units of all types there.
- 3 countryside (green) Map tiles (12, 13, 14)
- 2 non-city Core (brown) Map tiles (9, 10)
- 1 Volkare's Camp Core (brown) Map tile (V)
- 2 Site Description cards
- 1 Volkare's Camp City card
Just add the new countryside and Core tiles to the original piles.
For a description of the new map features see the new Site Description cards. You can find more details about some of them in the New Map Sites section.
As for Volkare's camp, use it only if the scenario says so (either in a predefined position, or as one of the city tiles). You can read more about this in the Scenario section.
New Enemy Tokens
Times are not good for the Atlantean Kingdom. The Orc Khans have become a serious threat; they progress deeper and deeper into the countryside and scouts report that siege machines and war beasts were spotted in their ranks. They may attempt to attack keeps, or maybe even cities. The weakened emperor's army is not strong enough to hold back so many troops, and it has already abandoned some of the frontier keeps, to strengthen the defense of the cities.
However, both sides are aware of the new threat, the Mage Knights. While orcs want to avoid direct conflict, dispatching trackers and skirmishers to distract you and slow you down, the Atlanteans asked Delphana Masters to join their ranks. Prepare for the confrontation; Delphana magic grows stronger and stronger since the Breaking, and it is said that it can take down even a Mage Knight. You can also run into cohorts of the Lost Legion, grim battle hardened veterans that fear neither your strength nor your magic.
Meanwhile, some of the empty keeps have become bases for ruthless thugs, and locals would not mind if you wipe them out; but there are also groups of local heroes that have taken over some abandoned keeps, determined to defend them both against orcs and Mage Knights, and these heroes have won the hearts of the people. Other keeps are still under control of the Empire, garrisoned by traditional units or even specialized shocktroops ready to counter-assault the besieging armies.
Mages improve the defenses of their towers – and if they can't protect them personally, they summon demonic familiars to do so.
New types of monsters spawn in dungeons and abandoned places, some of them natural, some of magic origin. But what is really deadly are the new kinds of great dragons that awake in ancient tombs. These beings combine the growth and power of the wild dragons from Wylden forests with a bright intelligence and an ancient wisdom. They declare themselves to be the true Draconum, but it seems the Draconum nation is as surprised by their coming almost as much as the Atlanteans. Whatever they are and wherever they came from, they claim the Land to be their heirloom; and as their number grows, they may soon have enough power to force that claim.
Times are not good for the Atlantean Kingdom indeed.
- 8 new green enemy tokens
- 6 new tan enemy tokens
- 6 new red enemy tokens
- 8 new gray enemy tokens
- 4 new purple enemy tokens
- 6 new white enemy tokens
- 3 new yellow hexagonal ruin tokens
Just add the tokens to the corresponding piles.
The new enemies have some new abilities; check the New Enemy Tokens part of this rulebook for more details. Also, on the last page of this rulebook, you will find an overview of the new enemy abilities, as well as a list of the new enemies.
Cooperative Skills
You didn't like how you ran out of Skills during the last level up in cooperative and solo games? Not anymore. Cooperative Skills are very useful if you can coordinate your needs with the needs of other players (or plan a sequence of turns in a solo game).
- 5 cooperative skills with symbols (one for each hero)
- 1 Cooperative Skill Description card
When playing cooperative or solo scenarios, remove the interactive Skills (the ones with symbol) from a player's Skill set, as suggested by the base game. But now, you can add the corresponding new Cooperative Skill instead, so you have 10 Skills again. In solo games, do the same for the dummy player's skill set.
(Alternatively, if you play both cooperative and competitive games often, you can keep all 11 Skills with each character, and when a non-appropriate Skill shows up, remove it and draw another.)
The Cooperative Skill Description card contains both general rules on how to use Cooperative Skills, and descriptions of each Skill. See the Cooperative Skills section for a more detailed description of how these Skills work.
Extra Components
For your convenience, we added these components, so the chance of running out of them during your game is lower.
- 14 new crystal tokens (3 of each basic color, 1 gold and 1 black)
- 1 mana die
- 12 Wound cards
- 20 Shield tokens (5 for each hero from the base game)
Rebalanced and Tweaked Cards and Tokens
With the introduction of new mechanics, cards and scenarios, several cards needed to be reworded and tweaked. We also rebalanced some of the cards, based on your feedback and the opinions of our most experienced testers.
- 2 Artifacts (Banner of Fear, Horn of Wrath)
- 1 Spell card (Wings of Wind/Wings of Night)
- 1 Basic Action card (Cold Toughness)
- 5 Advanced Action cards (Agility, Refreshing Walk, Blood Ritual, In Need, Magic Talent)
- 2 Regular Unit Cards (Utem Guardsmen)
- 3 Elite Unit cards (Altem Guardians)
- 4 white Enemy tokens (Altem Mages, Altem Guardians)
To make your game more balanced and compatible with the new mechanics, please replace the older versions of these cards and tokens with the new ones, and remove the older ones from the game permanently. If you are interested, here are our reasons for this rebalancing:
The "Skip the Block and Damage Assigning phases" effect is gone. What was very powerful even in the basic game, became insane in great battles versus Volkare. But be assured that the new Banner of Fear and Wing of Night Spell remain two of the strongest cards in the game. In addition, Wing of Night is now useable also when defending versus other players or Volkare.
Similarly, Agility is now also useable when defending and is compatible with the new rules that do not allow for transferring unused move points to later phases – see Detailed Game Concepts. Refreshing Walk was tweaked so it is now also useable after combat.
A few Action cards were rebalanced: Ritual of Blood was strengthened, so it is on par with other crystal generating cards, and In Need is now a bit more useful even when you do not have many Wounds. On the other hand, Magic Talent was made slightly less universal, not only because it was probably the most powerful Advanced Action, but also to make it consistent with the Tome of All Spells Artifact.
We also decided to weaken Cold Toughness (Tovak's unique card) slightly. The card was very good even in the base game, and with this expansion, it gets even better, as blocking is more important (there are very strong combos that work with blocking, and also elusive enemies that are hard to kill unless blocked). Also, the new enemies usually have a lot of icons on them, which make the card even stronger still. We slightly modified the basic effect, and excluded enemy tokens with Arcane Immunity. Specifically, the Block does not get increased against general Volkare, whose token is full of special abilities. Note that although the word "resistances" was dropped from the text, the resistances still count, as they are defensive abilities – it was just redundant in the original wording.
Horn of Wrath was tweaked on request and with the help of the mages. They said their towers were just not prepared even for its basic effect. In fact, they demanded an even higher reduction of its power, but we insisted it has to remain one of the strongest Artifacts, so there was a compromise. The mages reacted by summoning Magic Familiars to protect some of their towers.
Utem Guardsmen and Altem Guardians block abilities needed to be reworded because some enemies now have more than one attack, it was not right that blocking one of these attacks caused the enemy to lose Swiftness. Also, the effect of their block against swift enemies was reduced a bit.
As for enemy tokens, Altem Mages are no longer fortified, and Altem Guardian's attack was reduced. The fact they were overpowered was not so visible behind the city walls, when they were fortified anyway, but it became more apparent when they appear in Volkare's army.
Corrected Cards and Tokens
These cards and tokens had various issues and the wrong text in the first print run; they were corrected in later print runs. Adding them to the expansion was the easiest way to get them to those who had the first print run.
- 4 Spell Cards (Demolish/Disintegrate, Whirlwind/Tornado, Energy Flow/Energy Steal, Space Bending/Time Bending)
- 3 site description cards (Monster Den/Spawning Grounds, Keep/Mage Tower, Ruins/City)
- 1 Day Tactic card (Planning)
- 3 white Enemy tokens (Amotep Gunners)
Please ignore this section and leave out these cards if you own a print run of the game later than the first. You can recognize the first print run by the Rulebook (the later runs have a Content Table on the first page of the Rulebook, while the first print run does not). If you have the first edition, just replace the corresponding cards and tokens with the new ones, and remove the older ones from the game permanently.
Note: If you have the first print run, you can also download an improved version of Rulebook from the wizkidsgames.com website.
New Rules
New Map Features
Please check the Site Description cards. They should provide the complete rules for each site but they are written and explained in even more detail here.
Walls
Walls are always between two spaces of the map. It costs you 1 extra Move point when you travel across a wall from a space to an adjacent space using the standard movement rules. You get no discount for this (even if an effect reduces the cost of all terrains for you). However, this Move cost is ignored by effects that allow you to move directly (Underground Travel, Wings of Wind, Druidic Staff, Flight, Temporal Portal etc.) and also when the Space Bending effect is active.
If challenging a rampaging enemy across a wall, or if attacking another player or general Volkare across it, the enemies are fortified (as if it were a fortified site). If assaulting a fortified site across the wall, defenders are fortified twice (or even triple, if they also have Fortified ability). Note that you get no advantage if Volkare assaults you over a wall, as Volkare ignores map features.
Rampaging enemies never assault you across a wall. So, a movement that ends on a space separated from rampaging enemies by a wall never provokes them. Movement that starts on such a space and ends on a space that is not separated by a wall from these enemies provokes them as usual.
Maze/Labyrinth
Maze and labyrinth are new adventure sites. As usual, you can ignore them even if you are on their space, if you wish.
As your action, you may announce that you are entering the site. You can choose up to one ready Unit that goes with you. For the entire action part of your turn, you cannot use any other Unit (neither to activate them for abilities, nor assign damage to them): not even a Unit recruited through Norowas' Bonds of Loyalty Skill, unless you chose that Unit. There is no room for more Units, no matter how loyal.
Then, you have to pay 2, 4 or 6 Move points. You cannot use unused Move points from the movement part of your turn, you have (and are allowed) to play separate Move effects. See Detailed Game Concepts to learn more about playing Move effects at times other than the movement phase. Also note that you cannot use a Unit to provide these Move points unless you chose that Unit to go with you.
The amount of Move points you spend determines what your reward will be. If you pay less than 2 Move points, you failed to enter the site – nothing happens. In the other cases, you draw a random tan monster enemy token (in a maze) or a red Draconum enemy token (in a labyrinth) and fight it. Whether you defeat it or not, discard it afterwards (next time, a new token will be drawn). If you do not defeat it, the action is over (without any reward).
If you win, you get a reward according to how many Move points you spent: see the Site Description card. Note that if you win crystals, you do not roll for them, you choose any 2 crystals. Also, you mark the space with your shield – put the shield on one of the three numbers, according to the Move points you paid. You cannot enter the same site during the game, but other players can enter it, as long as they choose different path (different amount of Move points and thus a different reward). If all three paths are marked, no one can enter the site any more.
Partially conquered: Another player may enter the maze, but will have to choose another path. No player may successfully conquer the same maze twice, and each path may be conquered only once.
During the final scoring, each maze and labyrinth provides 2 Fame (towards the Greatest Adventurer title) for anyone who has a Shield token on it.
Deep Mine
Deep mines work completely the same way as regular mines, except when taking the crystal at the end of your turn, you can choose one of the depicted crystal colors instead of a fixed color (one of two colors in desert and forest, one of all four basic colors in the swamp). Note that according to the End of Turn sequence order, you have to decide which crystal to take before claiming combat rewards or performing a level up.
Mining: If you end your turn on a mine, choose and gain one mana crystal of one of the colors that the mine produces to your Inventory.
Refugee Camp
During interaction at a refugee camp, you can recruit any Unit from the Unit offer. A Unit that can be recruited in a village can be recruited for the normal cost, a Unit that cannot be recruited in villages but can be recruited in a keep, mage tower or monastery can be recruited for a cost of 1 higher, and a Unit that can be recruited only in cities can be recruited for a cost of 3 higher. This is depicted on the Site Description card.
Recruiting: You can interact to recruit Units here. For purposes of recruiting, you may consider this to be any of the depicted sites. Units that require more advanced sites for recruitment have their cost increased. For Units that can be recruited on multiple sites, choose the cheapest option.
All regular interaction rules apply here (your Reputation does count, you can recruit more than one Unit etc.)
New Units
Some of the new Units have special marks next to their cost (in their upper left corner). Please take a look at these cards.
Recruiting Thugs and Heroes
If you are going to recruit at least one Thugs Unit during an interaction, your Reputation bonus or penalty counts in reverse for the entire interaction. Thus it is easier to convince Thugs to join you if your Reputation is low and more difficult if it is high.
If you are going to recruit at least one Heroes Unit during an interaction, your Reputation bonus or penalty is doubled for that interaction. Thus it is much easier to convince Heroes if your Reputation is high and very difficult if your Reputation is low.
If you recruit more Thugs or more Heroes Units during the same interaction, this effect counts only once. You also cannot recruit both Heroes and Thugs during the same interaction!
These special rules have no effect if such a Unit is recruited via other means than interaction (advanced effect of Banner of Command Artifact, Call to Glory Spell, or a combat reward for some ruins).
Influencing Thugs and Heroes
Note that Thugs are not willing to take damage for you, unless you convince them by paying two Influence points during combat.
Heroes refuse to take a part in any assault on a fortified site (keep, mage tower, city) – unless you pay two Influence points during combat, you cannot use their abilities during such combat. You can assign damage to them, though.
For details on how to pay Influence during combat, please check the Detailed Game Concepts chapter.
Delphana Masters
Delphana Masters are the ultimate Unit, and you really need to convince them if you want them to join your cause: The symbol says the only way to gain them is through interaction (in a city or a Refugee Camp). They cannot be recruited by Call to Glory Spell, stronger effect of Banner of Command Artifact or chosen as a combat reward. Also, they cannot be a target of the Call to Arms Spell.
Note that Delphana Masters are the only Unit that can use more than one ability when activated. Spend it when using the first ability, but you may keep adding mana on the card to activate other abilities (as long as the Unit remains unwounded). The abilities can be used against the same or different targets, but each of them can be used only once.
Magic Familiars
Magic Familiars can be recruited in monasteries and mage towers, using normal rules. In addition, they can be recruited on a magic glade; it counts as your action for the turn, but it is not considered to be an interaction – you just play the required Influence and recruit them. Reputation bonus or penalty has no impact on this, and effects marked "if used during interaction" are not triggered.
There are two symbols next to the Familiar's cost. The first symbol (shown on the card) means that you cannot recruit or use them in any other way than interaction. (They usually do not exist in our reality to be called to arms or glory, and can rarely be saved from enemy captivity.)
The second is explained at the bottom of the card – whether you recruited Familiars on a magical glade or at another site, you have to pay one mana of a basic color. You have to pay a crystal of the same or a different color again at the start of the next Round (before Tactic selection), or you have to remove Familiars from the game.
New Banners
The Banner of Command can be assigned to a Unit instead of a Command token, allowing you to have one more Unit. When that Unit loses this banner (another player steals it, you try to assign another banner to the Unit or you take the banner back at the end of a Round), the Unit is removed from the game; you cannot assign a Command token to it at that moment, even if you have a free one.
The Banner of Fortitude allows you to ignore any one situation in which the Unit is about to get wounded (enemy attack, another player action, Utem Swordsmen ability), including its special effect (paralysis, poison). So if assigning damage from an enemy attack to this Unit, it remains unharmed – but if the attack is not reduced to zero by the units Armor, you have to continue assigning it to another Unit or to your hero; you cannot assign any damage to this Unit again this combat.
Enemies With Multiple Attacks
Some enemies have multiple attack values. This means that they perform several separate attacks. In the Block phase and Assign damage phase, you have to handle these attacks separately, one by one, in any order (as if coming from different enemies). You cannot group them and block them by a single block. The same applies for the double summon attack of the Summoning Dragon – it just summons two tan enemy tokens that have to be blocked separately.
Effects that prevent an enemy from attacking stop all its attacks. Effects that affect an enemy attack affect only one of the attacks (your choice).
An enemy is considered successfully blocked (for purposes of effects like Disease or Counterattack) only if all attacks of the enemy are blocked.
For the purposes of attack bonuses or abilities that cities give to their garrison, each attack is handled separately. Thus Heroes (who have both fire attack and physical attack) will get only their fire attack increased when defending the Blue city, and the brutality granted when defending the Red city only applies to their physical attack.
Abilities and Attack Types
For the purposes of some effects (Wolfhawk's Know Your Prey Skill or Tovak's Cold Toughness card), we need to define what is an enemy token ability. In the overview of the base game, attack types are wrongly listed under offensive abilities. We apologize for confusion – in fact, Ice Attack, Fire Attack, Ice Cold Attack, Summon Attack and Multiple Attacks are types of attack, not offensive abilities.
New Enemy Token Abilities
Elusive
Elusive enemies are good at avoiding your attacks. The best way to defeat them is to block their attack:
The Armor value of an elusive enemy is increased, unless all of the attacks of the enemy were successfully Blocked.
An elusive enemy has two Armor values. In the Ranged and Siege Attack phase, the higher value is always used. If you block the enemy attack successfully (if the enemy has multiple attacks, you have to block them all), the lower Armor value is used in the Attack phase. If you do not block it, i.e. you let it deal damage (even if no damage was actually dealt) or if you prevented it from attacking in some way, it keeps using the higher value for the rest of the combat. Note that if an attack value is reduced to zero during the Block phase, it is considered to be successfully blocked.
If the Armor value of an elusive enemy is modified (increased or decreased) by any effects, the bonus or penalty applies simultaneously to both values.
Assassination
Enemies with Assassination go directly after your hero. If the attack with Assassination is not blocked, the damage cannot be assigned to a Unit; it has to be assigned to the hero entirely, including any additional effects. It can still be blocked with help of Units, though.
Cumbersome
Cumbersome enemies usually have huge attacks, but they can be dodged easily.
In the Block phase, you may spend Move points: for each Move point spent, decrease one attack of a Cumbersome enemy by 1. The attack is reduced for both the Block phase and for the Assign damage phase (if not blocked). An Attack reduced to 0 is considered to be successfully blocked.
Note: You cannot use surplus Move points from the Move phase for this effect; you have to play Move effects during the combat. For more about this, see the Detailed Game Concepts chapter.
Unfortified
Unfortified enemies never hide behind walls, they charge at you even when defending a fortified site. Ignore all site fortifications for such enemies (if they are the garrison of a fortified site, and/or when attacked over a wall).
Arcane Immunity
Enemies with Arcane Immunity are not affected by any non-Attack/non-Block effects, from no matter what source they are from. i.e. ignore any effects that directly destroy an enemy, prevent it from attacking, reduce its Armor etc. Attacks and Blocks of any elements work normally, though. If an effect has both Attack/Block part and another part, only the Attack/Block part applies.
While the enemy itself is protected, its attacks are not. If an effect reduces an enemy attack or affects it in any other way, it can also be used against the attack of an enemy with Arcane immunity.
Examples:
- Burning Shield Spell works fully on an enemy with Arcane Immunity, as its effects are Block and Attack only. For Exploding Shield Spell however, only the Block effect applies; the enemy is protected from the "destroy" effect.
- If you use the stronger effect of Shield Bash to Block the attack of an enemy with Arcane Immunity, the Block works, the attack even loses eventual Swiftness (as it targets the attack, not the enemy), but the Armor of the enemy is not reduced.
Reputation as a Reward
Some enemies also have a Reputation change depicted next to their Fame. You gain or lose this Reputation in addition to the Fame whenever you defeat them. This is in addition to any changes caused by the standard rules.
Example: When assaulting and conquering a keep garrisoned by Heroes (Reputation –1), you get –2 Reputation in total for the assault and for defeating the Heroes. If you fail to defeat them, you only get –1 for the assault. On the other hand, after assaulting and conquering a keep protected by Thugs (Reputation +1), your Reputation does not change. In fact, if you were on the X space, it actually rises, as the Reputation loss for the assault is evaluated before the Reputation gain for defeating Thugs.
Cooperative Skills
Cooperative Skills replace competitive Skills in the cooperative and solo games. They are both called interactive skills.
Use of such a Skill is always initiated by the player who possesses it. He uses its benefit (if any) on his own turn and then:
- In cooperative games, one of the other players (not the player himself) can use its secondary effect. Some of these effects are triggered automatically (when the first mana of a certain color is used, when the first combat happens), whilst some are triggered voluntarily. If the secondary effect is not used before the next turn of the player that played it, or before the end of the Round, it is wasted.
- In Solo games, the secondary effect can be used by the same player during his next turn (and only then). If it is not, or if it is played during the player's last turn of the Round, it is wasted.
For the purposes of both competitive and cooperative Skills, the regular turn order matters, i.e. they expire when it is your turn to play, even if your Round Order token is face down, and they do not expire earlier if you are taking your turn in advance. However, if you are taking two turns immediately following each other (Right Moment Tactics, Time Bending Spell), interactive Skills used during the first turn expire before the start of the second turn.
New Effects
Effects Used as Your Action
Some new cards have effects that may be used (Peaceful Moment) or even have to be used (Temporal Portal) as your action for the turn. These cards have an Action symbol in their upper left corner. You can play these effects only if you do not take another action during your turn, and you can play only one such effect in your turn. You cannot play them when resting.
Effects Increasing Your Hand Limit
There are some effects that increase your Hand limit "when drawing cards next time". This applies to drawing cards during your End of Turn phase, or, when played if the End of the Round was announced by another player (i.e. your last turn during a Round), to drawing your cards at the start of the next Round. We recommend also using this rule for the card Meditation/Trance, that uses the old wording.
General Volkare
The scenarios in this expansion feature General Volkare, a legendary Atlantean leader whose fate is veiled with many mysteries. He managed to unite sworn enemies under his banner, and rose as the only force able to face and stop Mage Knights. Will he also be successful in your case?
In most scenarios featuring Volkare, some common rules apply, unless the scenario specifically says otherwise.
Components
Volkare's Figure
On the map, Volkare is represented by his figure. Depending on the scenario, the figure may be static (similar to cities), or it may move over the map following certain rules. If moving, he usually ignores terrain, walls and sites on the map, and he does not provoke rampaging enemies. He can enter any terrain and move costs do not apply for him; the scenario just says "Volkare moves one space in that direction", and he does. (This is to keep the rules for his movement simple – just imagine that after what he went through, he has his own arcane ways to cross mountains or lakes.)
Volkare's figure has a clix base and that works in a similar way to cities – you set it to a certain level (according to the scenario specifications and chosen difficulty) and the window of clix base tells you how many enemy tokens of each type is in Volkare's army. Unless stated otherwise by the scenario, the tokens of Volkare's troops are face down.
Volkare usually has a few white or gray tokens (the remains of his Lost Legion), and then some red and lots of green tokens (his new Draconum and Orc Khans allies).
Volkare's clix base shows levels 4 to 15. Volkare is never of lower level than 4. If you want to set him to a level the dial does not contain (especially in cooperative scenarios with more players), set it to half the required level and give him twice as many units.
Example: You want to face level 16 Volkare. Set the wheel to level 8. It shows 1 1 2 2. Thus give Volkare 2 2 4 4.
If you want an even higher level or an odd level – just be creative. It is your scenario and your difficulty choice.
Example: For level 36 Volkare, you may for example set the base to level 12 and give triple as many units, or add up units for level 15, 15 and 6. The results will be a bit different, but of similar difficulty. (The rulebook illustrates the result with two rows of tokens, labelled 6 and 5: 6 red and 18 green in the first row, and 2 white, 7 red and 15 green in the second.)
It may look like a hell of an army. You are correct – Volkare's scenarios offer the most epic battles you have ever encountered in Mage Knight. Do not fear however, during playtesting, armies of his size were defeated.
Clix base levels (number of enemy tokens of each type in Volkare's army; the rulebook shows these as a figure, transcribed here):
| Level | White | Gray | Red | Green |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | – | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | 1 | – | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | 1 | – | 1 | 3 |
| 7 | 1 | – | 2 | 2 |
| 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 9 |
Volkare's Token
Besides having a big army, Volkare also usually participates in the battle personally. See his large token.
When playing with Volkare, keep his token next to the map. Put his troops around the big token. It not only looks impressive, it also represents the fact that Volkare's troops protect his master – to defeat Volkare, you need to defeat all his troops.
Volkare's Attack
In addition to his troops, Volkare also participates in the battle. Before the combat, roll his die and put it on his token, next to the corresponding mana symbol – it shows what attack Volkare will use against you.
Note that all of Volkare's attacks are Brutal and all have the Assassination ability (damage from them cannot be assigned to Units – see New Enemies section). The element, strength and other abilities vary according to the roll.
Volkare attacks alongside his troops, and you treat the Attack in the same way – you either block it in the Block phase, or you take a number of Wounds to your hand during the Assign Damage phase, and eventually suffer from Poison or Paralysis. Note that because of the Assassination ability, you cannot assign this damage to Units.
Volkare's Scenario Cards
Each scenario has a card that summarizes the special rules and Volkare's behavior. Keep the card nearby.
Volkare's Camp Tile
There is a Core map tile containing Volkare's camp. Some scenarios require use of that tile. In others, you can use it as a city tile (see Volkare's Camp in Place of a City later). In all other cases, leave this tile out of the game.
Defeating Volkare
Volkare cannot be targeted with your attacks, neither in the Ranged and Siege Attack phase, nor in the Attack phase. To defeat Volkare, you need to defeat all of his troops.
The only way to avoid Volkare's attack is to kill all of Volkare's troops in the Ranged and Siege Attack phase, in which case he is defeated immediately.
Volkare's Deed Deck
In some scenarios, Volkare has his own Deed deck that determines what he does during the game. Follow the scenario description to see how this deck is composed. Shuffle it very well (to ensure Volkare acts unpredictably) and put it face down next to Volkare's token. During the game, the cards from the deck are flipped over and form Volkare's face up discard pile.
Mana Die
Volkare also usually needs one mana die. Keep it on or close to his token.
Combat versus Volkare
Each scenario specifies on which conditions one or more players engage in combat with Volkare and his army. Generally, it happens in two cases – because Volkare attacked them, or because they attacked Volkare (as an assault).
No matter how the combat begins, it has a similar structure to the usual combat with enemies. It has the same four phases as combat with enemies, and you follow the same rules. When fighting Volkare, you are facing all the enemy tokens forming his army.
Note that contrary to cities, Volkare's troops are not fortified by default (unless you attack Volkare at a fortified site or across a wall). Thus you can freely combine Ranged and Siege Attacks in the Ranged and Siege Attack phase against the tokens that do not have the fortified ability, and Siege attacks against those who have the fortified ability.
Note the Arcane Immunity icon on Volkare's token. This means that Volkare is immune to all special effects that would destroy him, prevent him from attacking or otherwise affect him.
Combat with Volkare Overview
- Roll a die to determine Volkare's attack.
- Ranged and Siege phase. Any amount of Ranged and/or Siege Attacks, each of them targeting one or more of Volkare's troops (not him). If you eliminate all enemies, Volkare is defeated and the combat is over.
- Block phase. Remaining enemies and Volkare himself attack, you can block any of these attacks, one by one, in any order.
- Assign Damage phase. Assign damage from the attacks that were not blocked (including Volkare's attack), one by one, in any order. Do not forget Volkare's Assassination and Brutal abilities.
- Attack phase. Any amount of attacks of any types, each of them targeting one or more of Volkare's troops (not him). If you eliminate all enemies, Volkare is defeated.
Combat Situations
Volkare Attacks a Player
In some scenarios, a nearby player may be attacked by Volkare. As with movement, Volkare can attack a player regardless of terrain and other map features and his attack never provokes rampaging enemies. When attacking, Volkare also ignores any site fortifications, i.e. it does not matter if the player sits at a fortified site or is attacked over a wall when he is attacked by Volkare (imagine when a Mage Knight accepts Volkare's challenge, he faces him on a battlefield, not behind city walls). The scenarios usually give the player two options – to flee (and suffer certain consequences) or to face Volkare. For the first case, see the scenario description. Facing Volkare is described below.
Attention to the Combat
When attacked by Volkare, a player can choose whether to take his full turn in advance (like when attacked by another player) to attend the combat fully or not. Follow the same rules – if the player chooses to take his turn, he flips his Round order token and may use everything as if it is his turn, and then perform his end of turn sequence (but then he skips his next turn). If he decides to not take his turn, he cannot use his normal one mana die or skills useable once per turn, and he does not perform his end of turn sequence.
Note that there are no limitations in Volkare's ability to attack. Volkare can even attack a player that has his token flipped face down (because of participation in cooperative assault, or because of an attack of another player). In that case, the player does not have the choice of taking his full turn.
Combat Outcome
There are two possible outcomes – you either eliminate all of Volkare's troops and thus defeat him, or you don't. What happens in each case depends on the scenario.
Assaulting Volkare
The second option is that a player attacks Volkare as his action for the turn. To do so, the player has to move to Volkare's space, as if attacking another player. He can even use the Underground Attack Spell for that. It is considered to be an assault (for the purposes of the Heroes Unit for example), but the player does not lose any Reputation for it. The locals still do not know whether Volkare is their ally or a new threat.
The combat goes exactly the same way as described above, except for a few details:
- Any rampaging enemies provoked by players movement also join the battle. Keep them separated; if you do not kill them, this does not affect the outcome of the battle.
- If Volkare is at a fortified space, or if the player is attacking across a wall (see New Map Features), Volkare's troops are fortified.
Combat Outcome (Assault)
If Volkare is not defeated, the attacking player returns to the space he is attacking from for free. If that space is not safe, he is subject to forced withdrawal.
If Volkare is defeated, remove his figure from the map and move the assaulting figure to its space.
In both cases, check the scenario description for what happens next.
Cooperative Assault on Volkare
Players can agree on a cooperative assault on Volkare the same way as when attacking cities. All conditions of cooperative assault on a city apply, unless stated otherwise – i.e. all players have to agree with the attack and proposed distribution of enemies, and all except the active player forfeit their next turn. All players joining the assault have to be adjacent to Volkare's space. In the scenarios where Volkare moves, it is more difficult to synchronize your cooperative assault.
Distributing Enemies
Contrary to a cooperative city assault, players have more control over enemy distribution:
Split tokens of Volkare's army into two groups. One contains elite troops (white and red tokens), and the other one common troops (gray and green tokens). Count the number of tokens in each group, and then agree how many elite and common tokens each player is going to face. You have to distribute all common and elite units amongst the assaulting players.
Then, shuffle each group and deal randomly. Players cannot decide exactly how many red and how many white tokens they will fight – they just decide the total amount of elite level enemies they will face. The same applies for common troops.
Course of the Battle
As with a cooperative city assault, players solve their parts of the combat independently, one by one, starting with the active player and continuing in Round order. Each player has to move to Volkare's space first (no other movement is allowed), and then to fight his portion of enemies.
Each part of the combat goes as a separate fight according to the rules above (i.e. as a usual fight with enemies). Volkare participates in all these fights – each player has to face his attack. Roll the die only once (after distribution of enemies, but before the first player starts his part of the turn) – all players are facing the same type of attack.
Note that it may happen that one player faces fortified enemies, because he is attacking across the wall, while another does not. If Volkare is on a fortified space, all players face fortified enemies. The effects that allow a player to ignore site fortifications (as well as any effect that affects all enemies) affect only his own portion of enemies.
Also note that a player has to fight any rampaging enemies he provokes by his movement. If two players are about to provoke the same monster, the one earlier in the Round order has to fight it.
Combat Outcome
To defeat Volkare, all his troops have to be eliminated. If one of the players does not eliminate all enemies assigned to him, Volkare is not defeated and all players return to their original spaces.
If all players defeat their portion of enemies, Volkare is collectively defeated. Remove his figure from the map and the player who initiated the cooperative assault moves to its space. Others return to their original positions.
In both cases, check the scenario description for what happens next.
Special Case
If a player defeats his entire portion of enemies in the Ranged and Siege Attack phase, his part of the combat ends. He does not have to face Volkare's attack, even if Volkare is not defeated because another player does not defeat all his troops.
Cooperative Defense
Simultaneous Planning
After you distribute enemies, roll a die for Volkare's attack. Now, all players reveal the tokens assigned to them and may start to plan their part of the combat. Even when his army is split, these combats may be the biggest ones you have encountered in Mage Knight so far, so solving it simultaneously is recommended.
In some cooperative scenarios, Volkare attacks players also on spaces where Player versus player combat is not allowed and where there can be more figures at the same time – in cities and at a portal. Players may take advantage of this and agree on a cooperative defense.
The Source
The defending players have to agree on how to distribute the enemies. If they don't, the cooperative defense fails. See scenario description to check what happens.
Note: Usually, all the players agree how to defend. It may happen that a more separate group of players (or a lone player) is willing to face Volkare themselves. In such a case, the group containing the player that plays soonest after Volkare is chosen.
Distribution of Enemies
Players distribute the enemies the same way as in Cooperative Assault on Volkare – i.e. elite troops separately from common troops. If a player is not assigned any enemies, he does not take part in the cooperative defense.
Attention to the Combat
As with usual defense, a player has a choice whether he takes his turn in advance to attend the combat fully (he flips his Round Order token face down) or not. If his token is already flipped face down, or if he has no non-Wound cards in his hand, then he cannot choose to attend the combat fully.
Course of the Battle
The battle goes exactly the same way as a cooperative assault, except players do not have to move and fortifications play no role for either side.
Combat Outcome
See the scenario description for what happens if the players defeat Volkare (i.e. all players defeat their portion of enemies), and what happens if they don't.
A Few Words about Cooperative Fights
Cooperative scenarios usually presume that the players will face Volkare together. That is why his army is so huge. Even when split into several groups, it is big enough to cause a serious problem for the players and it usually requires more than one turn to defeat them all (i.e. multiple combats).
When distributing enemies before a cooperative battle, consider the strength of the players carefully. Some players may have a better way of facing fewer elite enemies, while others can handle the weaker ones better.
During the planning, you may agree on who uses what die from the Source. It helps if you plan simultaneously. Players playing sooner may use effects that manipulate the Source to help those playing after them, but note the dice are not returned until the end of the turn.
The usual rules for reverting your actions apply. You can plan the entire combat in advance – except for random effects and revealing new information. When those occur, the things that happened before are fixed.
For example, if you are using an effect that allows you to reroll mana dice, all the things you did before that are fixed.
Also note how Summoning attacks work – the monster is summoned at the start of your Block phase. If you want to shoot some of the enemies, you have to state how you do so exactly before you reveal the summoned enemy.
Describing the Combat
When the first player (in Round order) is done planning, he announces that and then he shows the combat, phase by phase, attack by attack (or enemy by enemy in case of Block and Damage Dealing phases), to the others. Do not forget about Volkare's attack!
When describing the combat, other players should pay attention – it is easy to forget or overlook some nasty enemy ability when dealing with such large battles.
If you face enemies with a summon attack and you are not going to shoot them, you may decide to describe only the first part of the combat (move to Volkare's space and Ranged and Siege Attacks), then reveal the summoned monsters and return to planning, considering the first phase fixed (you may set aside all cards, mana, Skills etc. used so far, as well as any eliminated enemies).
A player should not describe his part of the combat until all players playing before him have finished their combat.
Note: If done properly, this should be an ultimate display of Mage Knight skill. You have enough time to think everything through, and now you just narrate how you use your powerful Spells, Units, Artifacts etc. to deal with a huge enemy force. With a bit of imagination, it may lead to a great story of an epic battle.
Detailed Game Concepts
This chapter does not only relate to the new elements. It clarifies and slightly adjusts the core Mage Knight Board Game system, so that the new elements can be incorporated into it more systematically.
Playing Effects
Special and Healing Effects
You can play special effects anytime after your turn starts and before you announce its end. The same applies for healing effects, except you cannot play them during combat.
You can play these effects even before you decide whether you are taking a regular turn or resting, and you can play them right before the end of your turn (for example to heal after combat). You cannot play them before your turn starts (you cannot for example empty your deck with Tranquility and then announce End of the Round) and you cannot play them during your End of the Turn sequence (you cannot for example, use a Skill you got during a level up to heal before you draw new cards etc.).
Healing points provided by effects stack and you can use them to heal your Units or Hero anytime during your turn. Unused healing points are lost once you start a combat, or at the end of your turn.
Move and Influence Effects
Here, the rules have changed a bit. Originally, you could play move and influence effects only in the corresponding phases of the game (movement, interaction), except for a few special effects (Diplomacy, Learning). Now, there are more situations where you can spend Move or Influence points during other phases of your turn, so we changed these rules:
- You are allowed to play move and influence effects anytime during your turn (i.e. anytime when you are allowed to play special effects).
- Unless explicitly stated otherwise, you cannot move your figure or explore new tiles in phases other than the Movement phase of your turn. Any effect that allows for this is ignored when played outside the Movement phase.
- Move points and Influence points provided by played effects are stored, and can be freely spent for various purposes.
- Unspent Move points and Influence points from previous phases of your turn are lost at the moment when you start your action phase of the turn. Also, unspent points from any phase are lost at the end of your turn.
Note: If your action for the turn is interaction, you gain Influence (positive or negative) according to the Reputation track immediately once you start the interaction. Later changes to Reputation have no effect on the bonus or penalty you gained. In the base game, this was stressed by wording like "Reputation +1 at the end of your turn". The new effects simply state "Reputation +1" or "Reputation -1".
Attack and Block Effects
Attack and Block effects work in a different way now. The points they provide are stacked, but they cannot be spent freely or saved for later use.
These effects have to be played at certain moments (when blocking a single enemy attack, or when attacking a group of one or more enemies), and contribute only to this Attack or Block. Surplus points are wasted, they do not transfer even to the next Attack or Block during the same combat (unless explicitly stated otherwise – for example Burning Shield or Shield of Fallen Kings).
Immediate Effects
Effects that do not provide Move, Influence, Healing points, or Attack or Block, work immediately at the moment they are played. They cannot be delayed and no other effects can be played before they are processed. If these effects modify some value or rules, these modifications last until the end of your turn.
Composite Effects
Some cards (Concentration, Magic Talent, Tome of All Spells, Circlet of Proficiency, Blood of Ancients, etc.) allow you to play the effect of another card or token as part of their effect (some even multiple times – Maximal Effect). This is all evaluated as playing a single effect. You have to respect all the limitations of the played effects. For the purposes of resistances, each effect maintains its color, even if the mana is not actually paid.
Special case: The Time Bending spell has to be set aside after it is played. If you use another card (Magic Talent) to play Time Bending, that card is set aside instead.
Examples
To help you understand the new rules, here are some examples covering various situations. Some of them may be rare or a bit complicated, and they do not cover all cases: they are here to illustrate the practical impact of the rules and how to think about them. When reading these examples, we recommend you look up the cards they mention.
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You play the basic effect of Diplomacy when assaulting a city. You gain Influence 2 and a chance to spend them (and any other Influence played before or after it during this combat). You may also split them, to block more enemies. For example, you then play the stronger effect of Promise (for a total of 6 Influence points), then spend 3 Influence as Block 3 to block one enemy, and then spend 2 Influence points as Block 2 (let's say combined with the stronger effect of Determination, for total Block of 7) against another enemy. You still have one Influence point left. Later, in the Attack phase, you may play a card sideways for another Influence 1 and then spend 2 Influence points to convince your Heroes Unit to attack.
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In the Ranged and Siege Attack phase, you play the stronger effect of Agility (note this card was changed in this expansion). It gives you Move 4 and a chance to convert Move points into Ranged Attack (2:1) or Attack (1:1). Then you play the stronger effect of March, for another Move 4. You convert 6 of these points to Ranged Attack 3. You may spend the remaining 2 Move points later during the combat, for example to reduce the attack of a Cumbersome enemy by 2, or for Attack 2 during the Attack phase. If you do not use them, they are wasted. You cannot spend the Move points to move or explore.
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You play Agility during movement. You can use the Move points provided for moving and exploring. The unspent Move points do not transfer to the combat phase, but the ability to convert Move points to Attack does. So, you can play additional Move during combat and convert them.
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You can still play Ambush the way you are used to. In addition, you can also play it during combat, even if you do not use the Move points. In that case, it does not have to even be your first attack or block – you can play it just before an attack or block you want to affect.
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After you entered a Maze, you play the stronger effect of Tirelessness (one of Wolfhawk's unique Basic Actions). You get Move 4, and a bonus +1 to all following Move effects. Then you play the basic effect of Agility, for a total of 7 Move points. You spend 6 of them to choose the longest path through the Maze. Later, when fighting the enemy, you play a card sideways as Move 2 (the bonus still applies), and convert all your remaining Move points for Attack 3.
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You play the stronger effect of Tirelessness during movement. The unused Move points do not transfer to the combat phase. However, the other effect does, so playing the basic effect of Agility gives you 3 Move points during combat.
Exact Game Sequence
Turn Sequence Overview
Please take a look at the new Turn sequence diagram (for your convenience put on the last page of the rulebook), to see the order in which things happen whenever it is your turn to play. Especially note:
- Cooperative and Competitive Skills expire regardless of the state of your Round Order token.
- If your Round Order token is face down, you cannot even announce End of the Round.
- You can play special and healing effects (and now also Move and Influence effects) even before you decide whether you are resting or taking other actions, and you can play them before the end of your turn.
- The End of Turn sequence is not part of your turn and you can play no effects there.
Before Your Turn / In Turns of Other Players Effects
You can play these effects between any two of your turns (even if they immediately follow each other) and also before your first turn (after Tactic selection). This also applies in solo games.
You cannot play them in the following situations:
- during your End of Turn sequence (for example: you cannot plunder a village before you level up or claim your combat reward).
- before Tactic selection is finished at the start of the Round.
- after your last turn during the Round.
You can play these effects independently, or in reaction to another player's actions (and evaluate them before those actions). You cannot do that in the middle of an effect evaluation, though (for example, you can use the Motivation Skill after a player announces he is playing the Mind Read Spell, but you cannot wait until he announces which color he chooses for it). If you have to play out of order (cooperative assault or defense, attack of another player), you can play these effects before you get to play (whether you take a full turn in advance or not).
You are not allowed to do anything else outside of your turn. Specifically, you cannot turn crystals into mana (to avoid Mana Radiation Spell for example).
Fighting in Other Player's Turns
There are several situations when you have to play your turn out of order – when attacked by another player or Volkare, or during a cooperative assault or cooperative defense. Let's define this more precisely:
- In the case of defense or cooperative defense, it is up to you whether to attend it fully or not. In a cooperative assault, you have to attend it fully.
- You are not allowed to attend combat fully (and thus also take part in cooperative assault) if either:
- Your Round Order token is face down.
- You have no non-Wound card in your hand.
- Whether you attend the combat fully or not, you can:
- Play cards and activate Units for any effects valid in the given situation.
- Turn crystals to mana.
- If you attend the combat fully, you can:
- Use your Skills for effects valid in the given situation.
- Use one mana die from the Source. (Note: you may use a Source die even if not attending the combat fully if an effect allows you to).
- Use special and healing effects after the end of the combat.
- Perform your complete End of Turn step.
- You may never:
- Move, reveal a new map tile or perform an action, except for movement and actions dictated by the situation.
End of the Round/Game
Let's take a closer look at these situations, and introduce one new limitation:
- End of the Round (announced by a player) and End of the Game (triggered by a game condition being fulfilled) states allow players to finish the Round (or entire game) with one last non-interactive turn.
- Note that if both happen, only the one that happened first determines which turns will be played. The game then ends.
- During the End of the Round / Game state, it is not allowed:
- To invoke Player versus Player combat (it leads to forced withdrawal instead). It is still allowed to attack another player's keep, if they are not present.
- To make cooperative assaults (either on cities or on Volkare).
- To affect other players with Competitive Skills or interactive Spells. If such a Skill or Spell is played during this state, only the part the owner benefits from applies, the part that affects other players is ignored. Also, you cannot steal a card with the Mind Read Spell at this time.
Also, to clarify:
- You do not draw cards after you finish your last turn. Effects that increase Hand limit "next time you draw cards" transfer to the next Round.
- No competitive or cooperative skills transfer between turns.
- You cannot play any effects, even those "in turn of other players", after your last turn.
Scenario Book
With this expansion, we bring you more scenarios and variants. Some are tied to the content of this expansion, some are just to add variability or to adjust the mechanics of the base game. Whether you like when each game is different, or whether you just want to tailor the game best to your tastes, you can find some interesting options here.
As you probably know by now, Mage Knight is a game system rather than a single closed game, and there are endless options for content to be added to it. We have playtested many of them and added those we liked the most. We encourage you to experiment with these variants and scenarios, combine them or even introduce your own; the game was designed with this in mind.
Variant Rules
Volkare's Camp in Place of a City (Any Format)
Volkare's camp is a new Core tile. In any scenario that does not include Volkare but features unconquered enemy cities (especially in Conquest, Solo or and Cooperation scenarios), Volkare's camp can be used instead of one city.
Game Setup
We recommend one of these three ways for preparing Core tiles:
- Deal one city tile less, and add Volkare's camp. Shuffle all Core tiles. This is recommended for your first games with Volkare (to ensure he and his camp is going to appear during the game).
- Deal one city tile less. Shuffle the Core tiles. Add Volkare's camp to the bottom. This is recommended especially for your first cooperative or solo scenarios with a high level of the last city – Volkare's camp will be the ultimate trial.
- Shuffle Volkare's camp amongst the city tiles. Choose the required amount of city tiles randomly. This is recommended as the standard method for further games – you can be never sure whether Volkare is present in this scenario or not until you reveal the cities.
Revealing the Camp
When Volkare's camp tile is revealed, find Volkare's Camp card and add it next to the map, together with Volkare's large token. Set the clix base of Volkare's figure to the city level specified by the scenario (or by your choice of difficulty level), draw enemy tokens of the colors the clix base shows and put them around Volkare's token (see General Volkare section of this rulebook). Then put the Volkare figure on his camp. Volkare never moves, he sits in his camp until conquered by the players or until the end of the game.
For the purposes of revealing these tokens, they behave the same way as tokens in a city – they are face down, until someone gets adjacent to the camp (regardless of whether it is Day or Night).
The Move cost of Volkare's camp space is 2, as with cities. Note that from some directions, the camp is protected by walls. Thus an assault from those directions costs one more Move point and the enemies (or their portion assigned to the player attacking across the wall) are fortified.
In addition to the standard rules for combat with Volkare (do not forget Volkare's attack), also do the following:
- For each red or white token you defeated, put one shield token on the Volkare token.
- For every two gray or green tokens you defeat put one shield token there (round down – defeating three green enemies brings you only one shield, the same as defeating two green or one green and one gray enemy).
If you do not defeat all of Volkare's troops, nothing happens. You return to the original space and you or someone else can try to defeat the remaining enemies later, as with cities.
If all of Volkare's troops are defeated, Volkare is captured and his camp is conquered. The assaulting player (or the player who invoked the cooperative assault) moves to the camp space. The leader of the camp is determined by the shield tokens on Volkare's token, following the same rules as cities. Note that it does not have to be the same player as the one who moved to the camp.
Assaulting the Camp
You can assault Volkare in his camp in the same way as you would assault a city, except that you lose no reputation for it. You can do it alone or cooperatively: see Combat with Volkare – Assaulting Volkare and Cooperative Assault on Volkare above.
Conquered Camp
When the camp is conquered, it provides three advantages (not just at the camp, but also on all adjacent spaces):
Hand Limit
All players that have at least one shield on the camp get their Hand Limit increased by the amount of keeps they own anywhere on the map, if they are on the camp or adjacent to it. In addition, for the camp leader, the camp counts also as a keep. This means that his Hand Limit is increased by 1 plus the number of keeps he owns on the map whenever he is close to the camp or any of his keeps.
Recruiting
There are scattered troops around Volkare's camp. Any Unit that can be recruited at a keep or village can be recruited in the camp. In addition, these units can also be recruited on any space adjacent to the camp (including the village). That means, you can start an interaction on those spaces, and recruit as if you were in the camp.
You can also pay influence to add Regular Units to the offer – for each point of influence spent, add one Regular (silver) Unit to the offer.
For interaction at the camp or adjacent spaces, you also receive additional Influence equal to the number of your own shield tokens on Volkare's token.
Pursuing
There are still some orcs and Draconum scattered and hiding around the camp. At the camp or an adjacent space, you can invoke a combat either with a green enemy token, or with a red enemy token, or with both (your choice). Draw the chosen tokens and fight them. You get nothing other than fame for defeating them. If you defeat at least one of the drawn tokens, mark the space with your shield. The enemies cannot be pursued in this space any more by any player.
Scoring
For the purposes of scoring, the camp leader counts as a city leader, and having a shield on Volkare's token counts as having a shield on a City card.
Each shield placed on the camp or adjacent spaces (because of pursuing) adds 1 Fame point to the Greatest Conqueror category.
Variants
For higher variability, you can also use Volkare with the Random Cities variant – just treat Volkare's Camp space as any other city tile and Volkare's Camp card as any other City card. But be prepared that Volkare is easier to defeat without all the walls, and some cities will be hard to conquer when double fortified.
Volkare cannot be part of a Megapolis (unless you develop your own rules for that). If playing with high level cities, just set Volkare to a very high level, too.
Adjusting Volkare's Level (Cooperative or Solo vs. Volkare)
This is a variant for cooperative and solo games against Volkare. These scenarios allow you choose the difficulty (Volkare's level) at the start. However, sometimes you see (after a few turns or Rounds of the game) that you are doing much better or much worse than usual, and thus the scenario will be too easy or impossible to finish for you. Instead of giving up, or regretting your choice of the wrong level, you may adjust Volkare's level on the go.
At the end of each Round, the players may increase or decrease Volkare's level by up to the number of real players in the game. All players have to agree, otherwise the level stays as it is.
If the level changes, do not forget to adjust Volkare's army. It can be done only before the first real fight with Volkare (i.e. before his troops are revealed for the first time). After the first fight, Volkare's level has to remain as it is.
More Players (Cooperative or Competitive)
With the fifth hero and a few added components, it is now possible to play with one more player (i.e. 5 player competitive and 4 player cooperative scenarios). However, the game will be slower and longer; take this into consideration beforehand.
If you want to give it a go, you can add one player to most scenarios introduced in the base game. Follow the standard rules for that scenario (do not forget to add one extra die to the Source and one extra Unit card to the Unit offer for the new player).
Map Tiles
If the number of map tiles for the scenario depends on the number of players, use the settings for the previous highest number of players, and for the additional player:
- Add 2 countryside tiles.
- Add 1 non-city Core tile.
- Add 1 city tile (except if the number of cities does not depend on the number of players). If you need 5 city tiles because of this, you have to use the Volkare's Camp in Place of a City variant (see page 11).
Tactics in Cooperative Scenarios
When playing a four player cooperative scenario, do not remove Tactics during the game even if the scenario says so.
Control Over the Offers (Solo)
When playing a Solo scenario (whether against a Dummy player or Volkare), the Spell offer and Advanced Action offer change very slowly. We recommend using this variant to give you access to more cards during the game:
At the end of each Round, you always remove the bottom most card in each offer (and eventually process the Dummy player according to this), as described in the base game. In addition, you may also remove the middle card of one or both offers. So, in total, you replace two to four cards. You have to decide before you start to reveal new cards for the offers (if you forget, just remove the bottom most cards only).
Slowing Down the Leader (Competitive)
Sometimes, a Mage Knight gets ahead in Fame and it is hard for others to catch him. In cooperative games, it is not so much of a problem. In competitive games – this is part of the game, if one player gets too far ahead, others can still try to do their best to close the gap or at least to achieve a good result on their own. However, if you feel this is a problem, you may try one of the following variants.
These variants give disadvantages to those ahead and/or advantages to those who are left behind on the Fame track. Some affect the game all of the time, making a breakaway more difficult, some are activated only when someone gets too far ahead. Choose the one that suits your group. Do not forget to agree on the variant before players pick their Heroes, as some Mage Knights are better at dealing with some types of disadvantages than others. You might even consider a Heroes auction variant.
Beware – the Mage Knight's power is not just in his Fame, it is in his Deed deck, Units and crystals supply, in the network of keeps, in a clever choice of his Skill tokens, and how it all complements and combines for the current scenario and map. Being ahead in Fame is just one of the aspects of a successful game. There is no sure way how to tell who is winning at a certain moment – except to finish the game.
Magical Seals
The Emperor is concerned at how fast the word about the Mage Knights spreads, as with their Fame, their power also grows. The best Atlantean mages gather to create a magic lock that suppress any rumors and gossip about Mage Knights.
There are two versions of this variant, choose the one according to how much you want to hinder the Fame leader.
Mild Seals Variant
At the start of the game, take one mana token of each basic color and put them randomly on the first space of rows 3, 5, 7 and 9 on the Fame track. As long as the tokens are here, no player is allowed to enter that row; he just stays at the last space of the previous row.
At any time, any player can remove the lowest blocking token by paying one mana of the corresponding color. Of course, those who are not ahead in Fame gladly leave this option to the leader.
Heavy Seals Variant
The rules are the same as above, except you use two tokens of each color and place them randomly on the first space of rows 3 to 10. In addition, take one gold mana token and put it on the first space of row 2. This token works the same way as the others, except it can be removed by paying a mana of any color.
Note: The Heavy seals variant works well with hero auctioning. It is no longer a big disadvantage to start one or two Fame behind; as the other players are more likely to break the first lock.
Envy and Pity
Becoming famous overnight has its drawbacks. The locals (and maybe even the Land itself) are extremely hostile to the most famous Mage Knight. On the other hand – the least famous hero can expect some mercy.
At the end of each Day Round, the player with most Fame adds one Wound to his deck (none in the case of a tie). At the end of each Night Round, the player with least Fame may remove one Wound from his deck (all tied in the case of a tie).
Intense Variant
At the end of each Round, the player with most Fame adds one Wound to his deck (none in the case of a tie) and the player with least Fame may remove one Wound from his deck (all tied in the case of a tie).
Ghostly Attacks
When the intruders rise too much in fame and power, the arcane powers of the Land itself are awakened to try and stop them.
While Magical Seals or Envy and Pity variants affect every game, this one is activated only if a player gets too far ahead in Fame, or if one or more players drop too far behind.
Preparation
At the start of the game, put a tan monster and a red Draconum token on the Fame track, face down. You may keep them on the first Fame row no one has achieved yet, to remind you that you need to check the Fame when a player levels up.
Level Up Check
Whenever a player gains a new level, check how much ahead of the other players he is. He is okay if he is:
- no more than 1 level higher than any other player, and no more than 2 levels higher than the last player
In other cases, he gets attacked, according to this table (choose the highest option that applies):
- 2 levels higher than any other or 3 levels higher than the last player – the tan monster attacks
- 3 levels higher than any other or 4 levels higher than the last player – the red Draconum attacks
- 4+ levels higher than any other or 5+ levels higher than the last player – both enemies attack
Hint: Check the rows of the Fame track. Something happens only if there is an empty row between this player and others, or when the last player is three rows behind.
Note: The player cannot get attacked when leveling up for the first time (even if a player has negative fame, he is still considered to be of level 1). During his second level up, he gets attacked if no other player has gained a level yet. On his third level up, he gets attacked if no one has gained two levels, or if there is a player that gained no level at all yet. If no player gained a level yet, he gets attacked by Draconum. Etc.
Note: In a two player game, the first condition is enough. With more players, only a player who gets too far ahead of all others gets attacked (either because of the first or second condition, or both). However, if someone stays too far behind, it may be that more of the other players are attacked when leveling because the second condition is met.
The Attack
The condition is checked when a player is about to gain a level. As soon as he finishes processing his End of Turn sequence (including the level up), he reveals one or both tokens from the Fame track that are about to attack him and puts them in front of him. The tokens are immediately replenished by new face down tokens.
Before his next turn according to the Round Order token, the enemies attack the player. He can decide whether to attend the combat fully or not, under the same conditions and with the same limitations and benefits as when attacked by Volkare. Especially note: if the player's Round Order token is face down, he cannot attend the combat fully.
Then, the first three phases of combat are evaluated – Ranged and Siege Attack phase, Block Phase and Damage Assigning phase. Any enemies killed during the Ranged and Siege Attack phase disappear. Any enemies blocked during the Block Phase disappear. The others disappear after they deal their damage (including special abilities). There is no Attack phase, and no Fame or other reward is awarded, even if the player defeats the enemy or destroys it by some effect. The ghostly monsters just appear from nowhere, try to perform their attacks, and whether they succeed or not, they then vanish. Killing them in the Ranged and Siege Attack phase is just one way to deal with their attacks.
Note: These ghostly attacks force a player or players that are too far ahead in Fame to spend their resources or let their hero or Units to get wounded with no gain; this should slow down them a bit.
Scenario List
The main theme of this expansion is General Volkare and his Lost Legion, the new scenarios concentrate on the confrontation between him and the Mage Knights.
Volkare's Return is the most epic scenario you have encountered yet. Players have to cooperate to conquer a large fortified city, and then to defeat the greatest army in the Mage Knight world. The scenario offers high variety, as both players and Volkare reveal the map in a race to get to the city first. This scenario also has a shorter Blitz variant.
In Volkare's Quest, the map has a fixed shape and Volkare goes more or less directly across it, towards you. You need to avoid him, get enough strength by conquering the map, and then chase and defeat him, before he enters the portal.
All these scenarios are designed for cooperative or solo play. If you want to face Volkare in competitive games, try the Volkare in Place of a City variant in the Variants section.
Volkare's Return – Epic
- Players: 1 to 4.
- Type: Solo or cooperative.
- Length: Six rounds (3 days and 3 nights).
- Purpose: A challenging solo or coop game with epic city conquering and city defense battles. Time is measured by enemy progress instead of a dummy player.
It started as a normal mission – you entered the region, ready to find and conquer its capital. But soon you realized you are not the only ones. The dreaded General Volkare just disembarked close to you and prepares to march. Despite his huge army of orcs and draconum, Atlanteans welcome him and some even join his forces. Have they made some strange alliance?
Whoever this Volkare is, and whatever allowed him to rise to such power, he has to be stopped at any cost. And it has to be done before he joins his forces with the garrison of the capital. Hurry to reach and conquer the city before Volkare – and at its gates, prepare one hell of a welcome for him. Get ready for the most epic battle the Land has ever seen!
Scenario Difficulty
- The scenario difficulty has two parameters for this scenario.
- Combat Level determines how difficult the combats are with Volkare and the city. Choose a higher level only if you are okay with very epic battles at the end of the scenario, and if you are experienced enough to handle them.
- Race Level determines how much pressure Volkare is exerting on you and how quickly you have to act. Choose a higher level if you want a tight and thrilling race, choose a lower level if you want a more easy going experience.
- These two aspects are independent and you can choose any combination you like. Please note even the lowest level of both difficulties leads to a highly challenging game, Volkare is never easy to beat. To beat the highest levels, you usually need both tremendous skill and a good portion of luck.
- After choosing both levels, use the values of the corresponding lines and columns from the following tables during the setup.
- Note: The values in the table are just suggestions. You may interpolate or extrapolate the values to make your own difficulties between the stated levels or even under or above the scope of these tables.
| Combat level | City levels: solo | 2 players | 3 players | 4 players | Volkare's levels: solo | 2 players | 3 players | 4 players |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daring | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 20 |
| Heroic | 6 | 9 | 12 | 16 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 32 |
| Legendary | 10 | 14 | 18 |
| Race level | Wounds in Volkare's deck: solo | 2 players | 3 players | 4 players | Indecisive Units: solo | 2 players | 3 players | 4 players |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Tight | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Thrilling | 12 | 12 | 12 |
Game Setup
Map (for solo game, 2, 3, or 4 players)
- Map Shape: Open limited to four columns, with Volkare's camp as the leftmost of the starting tiles (see the picture).
- Countryside Tiles: 7, 8, 10, or 12 (in addition to Volkare's camp).
- Core Non-City tiles: 1, 2, 3, or 4.
- Core City tiles: 1, always at the bottom of the tile stack.
- City Level: See scenario difficulty table.
- Cards and Skills: Remove the four competitive Spells from the Spell deck (numbered 17-20). Use cooperative interactive Skill tokens instead of competitive ones. If playing Solo, choose one of the other Heroes at random – add one Skill of that hero to the Common Skill offer after each of your level ups.
Volkare
- Unless stated otherwise General Volkare's section of this rulebook applies.
- Volkare is replacing the Dummy player in this scenario. Contrary to the Dummy player, Volkare counts towards the number of players, so you have one extra die in the Source and one extra Unit in the offer (number of real players plus 3).
- Use Volkare's Return scenario card as a reference. This summarizes Volkare's play in this scenario. Attach it to the map so its picture orientation exactly matches the map orientation (see the picture).
- Use Volkare's token. Put one mana die on it.
- See the difficulty table to learn Volkare's level. Deal the corresponding number of enemy tokens, face down, next to Volkare's token.
- Note: If Volkare is of a very high level, you may decide to not give him all the tokens from the start, to have enough tokens for the map. Give him the tokens before the first encounter.
- Prepare Volkare's deck. It should include:
- 16 basic Action cards of a hero that is not playing
- the 4 interactive Spells removed from the Spell deck
- a certain number of Wounds, according to the difficulty table
- Important: Shuffle Volkare's deck very well, so Wounds and Spells do not group together. Put it next to Volkare's token.
- Put Volkare's figure on Volkare's Camp space. Volkare is prepared for the journey.
- Volkare's Camp space has no effect in this scenario.
Unit Offer
- During the game, some of the Units in the Unit offer are indecisive, and they may join Volkare.
- See the difficulty table to see how many Units are indecisive. Take that many crystals of different basic colors from the bank (actual colors do not matter). Mark the first several slots in the Unit offer with these crystals, so each of these slots has one color assigned to it for the entire game.
- When revealing Unit cards at the start of each Round, the first Units go to the marked slots leaving the rest unmarked.
- Units that may be added during the Round (because of Bond of Loyalty skill or because of interaction in the White city) are not added to marked slots and thus have never a color assigned.
- Volkare's Camp tile is not considered a Core tile for the purposes of Unit dealing – you do not put Elite Units into the offer until another Core tile is revealed.
Course of the Game
Tactic Selection (for solo game)
- When taking Tactics, you always choose first. Volkare then takes a random Tactic from those remaining.
- At the end of each Day or Night, remove the Tactic card you used from the game. The Tactic Volkare used is not removed.
Tactic Selection (for coop game)
- When taking Tactics, the players always choose first. Volkare then takes a random Tactic from those remaining.
- You do not remove any Tactics from the game.
Volkare's Figure
- Volkare's figure moves across the map.
- The space with Volkare's figure is not considered safe. When a player moves to this space, his move immediately ends and it is considered an attack on Volkare (see later).
Volkare's Turn
- When it is Volkare's turn to play, reveal the first card from his deck. The card determines his action for this turn. It is summarized on Volkare's Return scenario card.
- When a Wound card is revealed, Volkare makes a camp and his army rests. Word of his power spreads. Roll Volkare's mana die. If there is a slot marked by a crystal of the rolled color in the Unit offer, and if there is still a Unit in that slot, remove it from the game. These soldiers join Volkare and can be no longer recruited for your cause. There is no Unit in this slot until the next Round.
- Whenever a Unit was removed from the offer in this way, add one gray enemy token to Volkare's army. (To keep things simple, only gray tokens are added, regardless of what Unit was removed from the offer.)
- When a non-Wound card (Spell or Action card) of any color is revealed, look at the Source. If there is one or more dice of the corresponding color, reroll one of them. During the day, if there is no die of the corresponding color but there is a gold die, reroll the gold one.
- Then, on a non-Wound card, Volkare moves. His behavior depends on what phase of the game it is:
- First, he tries to explore the map and locate the city.
- Once the city is revealed (either by him or by players), Volkare takes the shortest path to it.
- If Volkare gets to the city, he either wins (if players have not conquered the city yet) or attacks it (if they have conquered it and now they defend it).
Volkare's Movement – First Phase (Exploring)
The first phase lasts from the beginning of the game until the city is revealed. Follow these rules:
- If a green, blue or white Action card is revealed, move Volkare one space in the direction shown on the Scenario card.
- Volkare's figure ignores any terrain or other things on the map.
- If the move would lead to an unexplored part of the map, reveal the top tile from the tile stack first, then move Volkare onto it.
- Volkare moves in all cases. If his move would lead off the map shape, just move him in the closest direction that does not lead off the map.
- If there is a hero figure on the space where Volkare moved, that hero is attacked by Volkare. Unless completely defeated, Volkare stays in his new space and the hero has to withdraw – see later A Player Attacked by Volkare.
- If a green, blue or white Spell card is revealed, Volkare behaves as if two Action cards of that color were revealed consecutively (but only one die is rerolled). i.e. he moves twice.
- Note: If the first of these two moves reveals the city, the second move follows the rules for the second phase (Race for the City).
- A double move may cause combat with two characters, if they are both in Volkare's way.
- Exception: If the first move causes a combat and Volkare then moves further, the attacked hero does not withdraw.
- If a red Action card is revealed, Volkare does not move. Instead, he looks around for a Mage Knight to fight. If there is any figure on the neighboring spaces, Volkare attacks them. If there is more than one, Volkare attacks the one with most Fame (in case of a tie, the one sooner in the Round order).
- Contrary to combat caused by movement, Volkare does not move to the attacked player's space and that player never withdraws after the combat.
- If a red Spell card is revealed, it works as if a red Action card is revealed, but if there is no-one in any adjacent spaces, Volkare looks two spaces away. Even if attacking a player two spaces away, Volkare returns to his original space once the combat is over.
Volkare's Movement – Second Phase (Race for the City)
Volkare switches to this behavior once the city (last tile) is revealed. It works the same way as the first phase, except for the following:
- When moving, Volkare always moves in a way so he gets closer to the city. He never moves so that he remains the same distance or moves away from the city.
- Distance is measured directly, even through unrevealed tiles.
- Volkare does not reveal new map tiles any more. If the shortest way to the city leads through an unrevealed area, just move Volkare through virtual spaces as if there was a tile revealed.
- If there are two options for his move (i.e. two spaces Volkare can move to while getting closer to the city), Volkare decides by the color of the card drawn (he chooses the direction that is closer to the direction corresponding to the card color).
- Note: When a Spell is drawn, it may happen that both moves are not in the same direction.
- During this phase, Volkare stops looking for players to fight, and he moves even on a red card. If a red Action card or Spell is drawn, handle it the same way as a blue Action card or blue Spell (except you reroll a red die, not blue). He still rests (and recruits) on a Wound card.
Volkare's Movement – Third Phase (Battle for the City)
When Volkare is standing next to the city and has to move (a non-Wound card was revealed), Volkare attacks the city. There are several options:
- The city is not yet conquered by players. In this case, it opens its gates to Volkare, he marches in and wins the scenario.
- The city is conquered by players, but they are not present in the city or do not want to defend it yet (usually because they are planning for a cooperative defense and they have not gathered in the city yet). In that case, Volkare destroys the city walls and plunders its vicinity instead of his movement – flip the City card face down. From now on, interaction is not allowed in this city (neither recruiting nor the special option of this city), and players who participated in its conquering do not get their hand limits increased for being in or close to it.
- If this happens again (i.e. if the city is plundered and no one wants to defend it), Volkare takes over the city and he wins the scenario.
- If there are one or more players who are willing to defend it, it leads to combat with Volkare. Players may agree on cooperative defense.
- If, during that combat, Volkare loses fewer tokens than there are real players in the game, he was not fended off, takes over the city, and wins the scenario.
- If he lost at least one token per real player (note – it does not matter which player or players eliminated these tokens), he has to move one space away from the city, opposite to the direction from which he has lead the attack (i.e. he ends up at a space in distance 2 from the city). On his next turn, he continues following the same rules (i.e. it takes revealing of two Action cards or one Spell card before he attacks the city again).
- Note: If a Spell card is revealed, evaluate each step separately. In one turn for example, Volkare is able to move next to the city and then attack it, or to plunder the city and then to win the game by attacking it again, or to attack a city and after being fended off, to make another move immediately to end up adjacent to the city again.
Frenzy (out of Cards)
- If Volkare's deck runs out of cards before the scenario ends, do not shuffle the discards back in: on each next turn, Volkare plays as if he reveals a Spell (i.e. moves/attacks twice). Consider the card blue for purposes of direction choosing, but reroll no die when Volkare is in a frenzied state.
End of the Round
- Volkare never announces End of the Round.
- When End of the Round is announced by a player, other players have one more turn, but Volkare does not.
- You never reshuffle Volkare's deck. On the next Round, you just keep revealing one card on each of Volkare's turns.
A Player Attacked by Volkare
- If a single player was attacked by Volkare outside of a city (whether as the result of a red card during the first phase, or because Volkare entered his space), he has two options:
- Retreat. In this case, there is no combat (and the player does not take his turn in advance) – the player just takes Wounds to his hand:
- two Wounds during the first Day or Night
- three Wounds during the second Day or Night
- four Wounds during the third Day or Night.
- Fight. In this case, he has to fight the entire of Volkare's army and his token, following the rules in Volkare's section of the rulebook (including the choice of whether or not to attend that combat fully).
- Retreat. In this case, there is no combat (and the player does not take his turn in advance) – the player just takes Wounds to his hand:
- Whether fighting or retreating, if Volkare ends his turn on the space where the player was standing, the player has to withdraw. He chooses any safe adjacent space except the one where Volkare came from and moves there for free.
- If Volkare ends elsewhere (either because he was attacking via a red card during the first phase, or because he moved through the player's space because of a revealed Spell card), the player does not retreat.
Attack or Cooperative Attack on Volkare
- A player or players may also attack Volkare, following the standard rules for attacking Volkare from this rulebook.
- Volkare is never moved or slowed down as result of such an attack.
- Note: The intention of this scenario is that the first fight with Volkare happens as a (cooperative) defense of the city. You may attack Volkare on your own, but note it may prove extremely difficult. On the other hand, in some cases, if you defeated most of Volkare's troops already, moving to meet him instead of waiting may be a reasonable choice.
Scenario End
The scenario can end by one of these ways:
- Volkare enters the city before players conquer it. The players lose.
- Volkare attacks the city conquered by players twice without players putting up a defense. The players lose.
- The sixth Round ends and players have not defeated Volkare's entire army. The players lose.
- The entirety of Volkare's army is destroyed. The players win.
- If you want to count your score, every player may then play one more turn – but note, for most players it just means they flip their face down Round order token face up.
- Otherwise, just rejoice in the victory.
Scoring
The goal is to defeat Volkare, no matter what it costs. If you want to score, though, use a similar method to other cooperative scenarios:
- Take the lowest Fame of all players.
- Score the best player in all categories (the one with most Wounds in case of the greatest beating). Assign no titles.
- Score 20 points if you conquered the city.
- If you defeated Volkare, you get:
- Bonus of 30, 40 or 50 points (depending on the chosen Combat level).
- Increase it by 2 for each card left in Volkare's deck.
- Then multiply the result by 1, 1.5 or 2, depending on the chosen Race level.
- In this scenario, you have to hurry, especially if you choose a higher level of race.
- Sometimes, it is better to play even good cards sideways, to give Volkare one turn less.
- In a cooperative game, one player may decide to not play the rest of his hand and end the Round sooner, if everyone else is ready to play their last turn.
- On the other hand, do not overdo the speed. You need to be powerful enough to conquer the city and then to fight off Volkare.
- Specifically, make sure you do not end the third night before or at the moment Volkare arrives at the city gates.
- Good timing is the key. Watch Volkare's progress closely. You should be at height of your power when Volkare arrives at the city. It is not good when Volkare arrives at the city right after you conquered it, but it is also bad if you run out of deck and have to discard great cards while waiting for Volkare (do not forget, on each turn you have to play or discard at least one card).
- Be prepared for it to take more than one battle to defeat Volkare. If the first encounter happens at the end of the last night, you may have not enough power and time to finish Volkare off.
- Be clever with where you reveal the city. You know it is last tile of the tile deck.
Volkare's Return – Blitz
Same rules as Epic variant, except:
- The time limit is two days and two nights only.
- The map shape is the same, but there are fewer tiles.
- The difficulty table differs.
- All the Blitz rules from the Blitz Conquest scenario apply (there is one die and one Unit more, you start with 2 Reputation and 1 Fame, and you get 1 Fame every time you gain a level).
Map (for solo game, 2, 3, or 4 players)
- Map Shape: Same as for the Epic variant.
- Countryside Tiles: 5, 6, 8, or 10 (in addition to Volkare's camp).
- Core Non-City tiles: 1, 1, 2, or 3.
- Core City tiles: 1, always at the bottom of the tile stack.
| Combat level | City levels: solo | 2 players | 3 players | 4 players | Volkare's levels: solo | 2 players | 3 players | 4 players |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daring | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 |
| Heroic | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 26 |
| Legendary | 5 | 8 | 11 |
| Race level | Wounds in Volkare's deck: solo | 2 players | 3 players | 4 players | Indecisive Units: solo | 2 players | 3 players | 4 players |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Tight | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Thrilling | 10 | 10 | 10 |
Volkare's Quest
- Players: 1 to 4.
- Type: Solo or cooperative.
- Length: Six rounds (3 days and 3 nights).
- Purpose: A challenging solo or coop game where you have to avoid Volkare at first, and then pursue and stop him before he enters the portal.
You were sent there with a clear task – to find the mysterious General Volkare and eliminate him. But it seems Volkare was ready for your arrival – once the portal opened and you entered the land, his huge army started to march directly towards you. You are not ready for the confrontation yet! Oh, wait – it is not you who is his target. He is heading directly to the portal. It seems he was just waiting for someone to open it for him.
What are his intentions? Does he want to enter the portal, or to destroy it? What happens if he succeeds? Your task is not to investigate that. Your task is to stop him. Destroy his army before he finishes his quest, whatever it is.
Scenario Difficulty
- The scenario difficulty has two parameters for this scenario.
- Combat Level determines how difficult the combats are with Volkare and the city. Choose a higher level only if you are okay with very epic battles at the end of the scenario, and if you are experienced enough to handle them.
- Race Level determines how much pressure Volkare is exerting on you and how quickly you have to act. Choose a higher level if you want a tight and thrilling race, choose a lower level if you want a more easy going experience.
- These two aspects are independent and you can choose any combination you like. Please note even the lowest level of both difficulties leads to a highly challenging game, Volkare is never easy to beat. To beat the highest levels, you usually need both tremendous skill and a good portion of luck.
- After choosing both levels, use the values of the corresponding lines and columns from the following tables during the setup.
- Note: The values in the table are just suggestions. You may interpolate or extrapolate the values to make your own difficulties between the stated levels or even under or above the scope of these tables.
| Combat level | City levels: solo | 2 players | 3 players | 4 players | Volkare's levels: solo | 2 players | 3 players | 4 players |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daring | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 14 | 20 | 26 |
| Heroic | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 18 | 26 | 34 |
| Legendary | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Race level | Wounds in Volkare's deck: solo | 2 players | 3 players | 4 players | Indecisive Units: solo | 2 players | 3 players | 4 players |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Tight | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Thrilling | 12 | 12 | 12 |
Game Setup
Map (for solo game, 2, 3, or 4 players)
- Map Shape: Predefined, with Volkare's camp at the opposite side (see the picture). The tiles are face down, except for Volkare's camp, the portal tile, and the three adjacent tiles.
- Countryside Tiles: 8, 9, 11, or 12.
- Core City tiles: 2, 2, 3, or 3 (in addition to Volkare's camp).
- Core Non-City tiles: 4, 3, 4, or 3.
- City Levels: See the scenario difficulty table.
- Cards and Skills: Remove the four competitive Spells from the Spell deck (numbered 17-20). Use the cooperative interactive Skill tokens instead of the competitive ones. If playing Solo, choose one of the other Heroes at random – add one Skill of that hero to the Common Skill offer after each your level ups.
Volkare
- Unless stated otherwise General Volkare's section of this rulebook applies.
- Volkare is replacing the Dummy player in this scenario. Contrary to the Dummy player, Volkare counts towards the number of players, so you have one extra die in the Source and one extra Unit in the offer (number of real players plus 3).
- Use Volkare's Quest scenario card as a reference. This summarizes Volkare's play in this scenario. Attach it to the map so its picture orientation exactly matches the map orientation (see the picture).
- Use Volkare's token. Put one mana die on it.
- See the difficulty table to learn Volkare's level. Deal the corresponding number of enemy tokens, face down, next to Volkare's token.
- Note: If Volkare is of a very high level, you may decide to not give him all the tokens from the start, to have enough tokens for the map. Give him the tokens before the first encounter.
- Prepare Volkare's deck. It should include:
- 16 basic Action cards of a hero that is not playing
- the 4 interactive Spells removed from the Spell deck
- a certain number of Wounds, according to the difficulty table
- Important: Shuffle Volkare's deck very well, so Wounds and Spells do not group together. Put it next to Volkare's token.
- Put Volkare's figure on Volkare's Camp space. Volkare is prepared for his quest.
Unit Offer
- During the game, some of the Units in the Unit offer are fearful, and Volkare may scare them off.
- See the difficulty table to see how many Units are fearful in your scenario. Take that many crystals of different basic colors from the bank (actual colors do not matter). Mark the first several slots in the Unit offer with these crystals, so each of these slots has one color assigned to it for the entire game.
- When revealing Unit cards at the start of each Round, the first Units go to the marked slots leaving the rest unmarked.
- Units that may be added during the Round (because of Bond of Loyalty skill or because of interaction in the White city) are not added to marked slots and thus never have a color assigned.
- Volkare's Camp tile is not considered a Core tile for the purposes of Unit dealing – you do not put Elite Units into the offer until another Core tile is revealed.
Course of the Game
Tactic Selection (for solo game)
- When taking Tactics, you always choose first. Volkare then takes a random Tactic from those remaining.
- At the end of each Day or Night, remove the Tactic card you used from the game. The Tactic Volkare used is not removed.
Tactic Selection (for coop game)
- When taking Tactics, the players always choose first. Volkare then takes a random Tactic from those remaining.
- You do not remove any Tactics from the game.
Volkare's Figure
- Volkare's figure moves across the map.
- The space with Volkare's figure is not considered safe. When a player moves to this space, his move immediately ends and it is considered an attack on Volkare (see later).
- When Volkare moves to a distance of 3 spaces from the portal, the Council of the Void close the portal. Any player who was on the portal space at that moment is out of the game. From now on, the portal space works as any other space – only one player is allowed there, and Volkare may be attacked there.
Volkare's Turn
- When it is Volkare's turn to play, reveal the first card from his deck. The card determines his action for this turn. It is summarized by Volkare's Quest scenario card.
- When a Wound card is revealed, Volkare makes a camp and his army rests. Word of his power spreads. Roll Volkare's mana die. If there is a slot marked by a crystal of the rolled color in the Unit offer, and if there is still a Unit in that slot, remove it from the game. These soldiers became scared by the power of Volkare and cannot be persuaded to join you anymore. There is no Unit in this slot until the next Round.
- Contrary to the other scenario, you do not add tokens to Volkare's army when this happens.
- When a non-Wound card (Spell or Action card) of any color is revealed, look at the Source. If there is one or more dice of the corresponding color, reroll one of them. During the day, if there is no die of the corresponding color but there is a gold die, reroll the gold one.
- Then, on a green, white or blue Action card, Volkare moves one space in the direction shown on the Scenario card.
- Volkare's figure ignores any terrain or other things on the map.
- In this scenario, Volkare walks over unexplored tiles without exploring them.
- Volkare moves in all cases. If his move would lead off the map shape, just move him in one space closer to the portal instead.
- Exception: If Volkare is next to the portal space, he always moves onto it, regardless of whether a green, blue or white card was revealed. If Volkare is already at the portal space, revealing a green, blue or white card means he wins and players lose – see later.
- If there is a hero figure on the space where Volkare moved to, that hero is attacked by Volkare. Unless completely defeated, Volkare stays at his new space and the hero has to withdraw – see later A Player Attacked by Volkare.
- If a green, blue or white Spell card is revealed, Volkare moves as if two Action cards of that color were revealed consecutively (but only one die is rerolled). Especially note:
- It can happen that he moves in different directions (if the first move leads next to the portal, or if one of the moves would lead off the map).
End of the Round
- Volkare never announces End of the Round.
- When End of the Round is announced by a player, other players have one more turn, but Volkare does not.
- You never reshuffle Volkare's deck. On the next Round, you just keep revealing one card on each of Volkare's turns.
A Player Attacked by Volkare
- If a single player was attacked by Volkare (whether as the result of a red card, or because Volkare entered his space), he has two options:
- Retreat. In this case, there is no combat (and the player does not take his turn in advance) – the player just takes Wounds to his hand:
- two Wounds during the first Day or Night
- three Wounds during the second Day or Night
- four Wounds during the third Day or Night.
- Fight. In this case, he has to fight the entire of Volkare's army and his token, following the rules in the Volkare's section of rulebook (including the choice whether to attend that combat fully).
- Retreat. In this case, there is no combat (and the player does not take his turn in advance) – the player just takes Wounds to his hand:
- Whether fighting or retreating, if Volkare ends his turn on the space where the player was standing, the player has to withdraw. He chooses any safe adjacent space except the one where Volkare came from and moves there for free.
- If Volkare ends elsewhere (either because he was attacking via a red card, or because he moved through the player's space because of a revealed Spell card), the player does not retreat.
Attack or Cooperative Assault on Volkare
- A player or players may also attack Volkare, following the standard rules for attacking Volkare from this rulebook (do not forget Volkare joins the fight, too). Note that after such an assault, you return to the place you attacked from.
- Note: In a cooperative game, cooperative assault is recommended in this scenario. But also note that it requires very good player synchronization, as Volkare moves and only players adjacent to his figure at the moment of the assault may join it.
Combat Outcome
- If all of Volkare's troops are eliminated (no matter who initiated the combat), the players win.
- If Volkare lost at least twice as many tokens from his army as there are players in the game, he is slowed down (no matter who initiated the combat). Turn his Round Order token face down (unless it already is face down). Next time it is his turn to play, he just flips his Round Order token back and his turn is over.
- If you kill less enemy tokens, you may put them aside – if another player attacks before Volkare moves, add these to the amount that player kills. They get discarded when it is his turn to play.
Scenario End
The scenario can end by one of these ways:
- Volkare enters the portal and then performs another move. The players lose.
- The entire of Volkare's army is destroyed. The players win.
- If you want to count your score, every player then may play one more turn – but note, for some players it may mean they just flip their Round order token face up.
- Otherwise, just rejoice in the victory.
Scoring
The goal is to defeat Volkare, no matter what it costs. If you want to score, though, use a similar method to other cooperative scenarios:
- Take the lowest Fame of all players.
- Score the best player in all categories (the one with most Wounds in case of the greatest beating). Assign no titles.
- Score 5 points for each conquered city. Note it is not a goal of this scenario.
- If you defeated Volkare, you get:
- Bonus of 30, 40 or 50 points (depending on the chosen Combat level).
- Increase it by 2 for each card left in Volkare's deck.
- Then, multiply the result by 1, 1.5 or 2, depending on the chosen Race level.
A Few Tips
- This scenario is a bit more straightforward than Volkare's Return.
- Volkare's strength is fixed (it does not grow with additional gray Units).
- Volkare's path is more predictable, and it takes a similar amount of turns each game; you cannot slow him down by clever placement of new map tiles.
- Note: Volkare should always have enough cards to win in his deck. If he fails to reach the portal and perform his final move, you probably made a mistake.
- The cities are not of a high level in this scenario, and conquering them is not the goal. However, they can boost your level and allow you to recruit strong Units.
- Volkare progresses relatively quickly, so you have to hurry, especially if you choose a tighter level of race.
- Sometimes, it is better to play even good cards sideways, to give Volkare one less turn.
- In a cooperative game, one player may decide to not play the rest of his hand and end the Round sooner, if everyone else is ready to play their last turn.
- The successful strategy in this scenario is to find ways for leveling up and gaining enough strength to face Volkare, while avoiding him on the map, and then succeed in returning before he enters the portal.
- Good timing is the key. A great army is useless if you can't make it back in time.
- That means: if players succeed in killing twice as many of Volkare's troops as there are players before Volkare plays, he will miss his next turn. Surplus kills do not transfer to the next turns, players have to eliminate another set of tokens if they want to slow down Volkare in subsequent turns.
- Good movement cards can help you significantly and allow you to spend more time plundering the rich sites of Core tiles. You may plan your return journey ahead of time and leave some sites unconquered, so you can start to return sooner, leveling and recruiting along the way back.
- Be sure you keep enough strength for the combat. The combat may take several turns to finish, even on lower Combat levels.
Turn Sequence Overview (Diagram)
The following is the Turn Sequence Overview diagram printed on the last page of the rulebook, transcribed as a list of steps.
- Before your turn / In turns of other players effects (your previous turn Cooperative or Competitive Skill tokens expire now).
- Is your Round Order token face down? Yes: flip it, and continue to step 6 as drawn.
- Do you announce End of the Round? Yes: continue to step 6 as drawn.
- Your turn:
- Special and healing effects ...
- Movement ... or Action ..., or One Rest action (the "or" branch shown on the diagram).
- Special and healing effects ...
- End of Turn sequence.
- Before your turn / In turns of other players effects ...
Enemy Token Abilities
The enemy token ability summary printed on the last page of the rulebook.
Multiple Attacks
Each attack has to be handled (blocked or get their damage assigned) separately. Effects that prevent an enemy from attacking prevent all its attacks. An enemy is considered "successfully blocked" if all its attacks are blocked.
Defensive
- Elusive – An elusive enemy has an increased Armor value. The lower value is used only in the Attack phase, and only if all of the enemy attacks are successfully Blocked. Any Armor modifications apply to both values.
- Unfortified – All site fortifications are ignored for such an enemy.
- Arcane Immunity – The enemy is not affected by any non-Attack/Block effects. Effects that directly affect enemy attacks still apply.
Offensive
- Assassination – Damage from this attack cannot be assigned to Units; if unblocked, it has to be all assigned to the hero.
- Cumbersome – In the Block phase, you may spend Move points; for each Move point spent, the attack is reduced by 1 for the rest of the turn. An attack reduced to 0 is considered successfully blocked.
Enemy and Ruin Tokens
The new enemy and ruin tokens introduced by this expansion, as listed on the last page of the rulebook (the count in brackets is as printed on the page):
- Orc Skirmishers (2x)
- Orc Trackers (2x)
- Orc War Beasts (2x)
- Orc Stonethrower (2x)
- Heroes (1x)
- Heroes (1x)
- Heroes (1x)
- Heroes (1x)
- Thugs (2x)
- Shocktroops (2x)
- Sorcerers (2x)
- Magic Familiars (2x)
- Shadow (2x)
- Manticore (2x)
- Hydra (2x)
- Grim Legionnaires (2x)
- Delphana Masters (2x)
- Storm Dragon (2x)
- Lava Dragon (2x)
- Dragon Summoner (2x)
- Fire Catapult (1x)
- Ice Catapult (1x)
- Ruins: Enemies (hexagonal ruin tokens)
- Ruins: Altars (hexagonal ruin tokens)