Monsters Menace America Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• The Goal
• Setup
  • Starting Positions
  • Record Tile Anatomy
• How to Play
  • 1. Move
    • Monsters
    • Military Units
    • Movement Abilities
  • 2. Fight
    • Attacking
    • Damage
    • Retreating
    • Hollywood
    • Example Battle
  • 3. Encounter
    • Stomp
    • Mutate
    • Challenge
    • Encountering Other Spaces
  • 4. Deploy
    • Redeploy
    • Military Research
    • Giant Military Units
• The Monster Challenge
  • Challenging
  • Fighting
• Winning the Game
• Credits

Components

• 6 Giant Monster pieces (Zorb, Tomanagi, Konk, Megaclaw, Toxicor, Gargantis)
• 6 Giant Monster Record Tiles
• 2 Giant Military Units
• 2 Giant Military Unit Record Tiles
• 42 Military Units (8 for each branch, plus 2 black X-Fighters)
• 5 Military Record Tiles
• 3 Dice
• 15 Plastic Sliders
• 42 Infamy Tokens (in denominations of 1 and 5)
• 23 Stomp Markers
• 1 Game Board
• 16 Military Research Cards
• 16 Monster Mutation Cards

The Goal

You control one giant monster and one military branch. Strengthen your monster by mutating, increasing Health, and earning Infamy. Weaken the other monsters by attacking them with your military units and interfering with their vile plans. The game ends with the Monster Challenge, in which all the monsters battle to see who will become the King of the Giant Monsters and win the game.

Setup

Before you play for the first time, punch out all cardboard pieces from their frames. Carefully attach the plastic sliders to the giant monster and giant military unit tiles to keep track of their Health.

Randomly determine who plays first (rolling dice is the usual method). Then prepare the game for play as follows.

Place the game board in the center of the table. Place the 3 dice near the game board.

Stomp markers indicate spaces that have been destroyed by giant monsters. Pile these up beside the game board in a single stack. (If you're playing with 4 players, use 20 markers; use 17 for a 3-player game, and use 14 for a 2-player game.)

Place the Infamy tokens near the game board.

Shuffle the Mutation and Research cards separately and place the two decks face down near the game board.

The first player chooses one of the six giant monsters and takes its piece and record tile. The player to the left of that player does the same, and so on. Each player adjusts the plastic sliders on the record tile to mark the monster's starting Health.

The last player to choose a giant monster chooses one of the four military branches (except National Guard) and takes its record tile and military units (usually shortened to "units"). The player to the right of that player does the same, and so on.

Each military branch has color-coded plastic pieces representing military units of that branch. Place the pieces where indicated on each tile.

The National Guard is not controlled by any player. Place this branch's record tile and its associated military units near the game board.

If there are fewer than 4 players, the last player places the units for each unused military branch (except National Guard) on that branch's bases on the game board, 1 unit per base.

Starting Positions

Each giant monster has 3 possible starting lairs (each lair space has the monster's silhouette in it). Starting with the first player, place your giant monster piece on one of that monster's lairs. Then either deploy your military units (see Deploy) or draw a Military Research card. The player to that person's left repeats this, and so on.

Record Tile Anatomy

Giant monster and military branch record tiles carry the same kind of information:

• Deployment — how many units you may deploy each turn, and from which branches.
• Move — how many spaces the monster or unit may move, plus any movement ability (fly, lake, sea, and so on).
• Defense — the value an attacker's die roll must equal or beat to hit this monster or unit.
• Damage — how much Health the target loses when this monster or unit hits.
• Special Instructions — any special ability text for that monster or unit.
• Units (Silhouette & Number) — the branch's unit types (Fighter, Nuclear Submarine, and so on) and how many of each are available.
• Health / Starting Health — tracked with the plastic slider on the monster's record tile.

How to Play

Players take turns going left from the first player. During your turn, do the following in order.

1. Move: Move your monster and military units.
2. Fight: Resolve any battles you started.
3. Encounter: Encounter the space your monster ends its move on (unless it retreated there).
4. Deploy: Place new military units or draw a Research card.

Breaking the Rules — Monsters, some military units, and Mutation and Research cards have special rules that override the general rules. In the case of a conflict, follow the rules for that monster, unit, or card.

1. Move

The game board is divided into hexagonal spaces, many of which contain icons representing features such as cities, military bases, Infamy sites, and monster lairs.

During your turn you may move your monster and any number of your military units on the game board.

Monsters

Each turn your giant monster may move any number of spaces up to its Move value. It doesn't have to move.

• A monster must stop as soon as it enters a space containing a military unit, even if that unit belongs to your branch.
• A monster can never enter or move through a space containing another monster until the Monster Challenge at the end of the game.
• A monster can't cross water barriers unless it has a movement ability that allows it (see Movement Abilities below).
• A monster does not encounter spaces it merely passes through during its move.

Disappearing — Instead of moving, your monster can disappear for a short time. Take the monster's piece off the game board. On your next turn, place the piece on one of your monster's lairs; that ends its move for that turn. Its Health also returns to its starting value if it was lower.

Military Units

Each turn, each of your military units may move any number of spaces up to its Move value. You don't have to move any units.

• You can move only your own military branch's units. You can't move National Guard units, even if you deployed them.
• A unit must stop as soon as it enters a space containing a monster, even if it is your own monster. However, a unit can freely move through other units (including giant units).
• Any number of units can be in the same space, even units from different branches.
• A unit can't cross water barriers unless it has a movement ability that allows it (see Movement Abilities below).

Movement Abilities

Monsters and military units have movement abilities listed next to the Move value on their record tiles.

Many spaces contain some water (colored blue). Spaces that are entirely blue are water-filled. Many spaces have water barriers that can be crossed only by monsters or units with the right movement ability.

• Fly: Ignores water barriers and can freely move through spaces containing other units and monsters.
• Lake: Can cross water barriers on inland bodies of water only.
• Sea: Can cross water barriers on sea spaces.
• Sea/Seacoast Only: Can enter a space only if its current space, the space it is moving into, and all spaces in between contain water.

2. Fight

During this step, resolve any battles you started by moving your monsters or units. A battle occurs if your monster ends its move in the same space as one or more military units (including your own), or if any of your units end their move in the same space as a monster (even your own monster). If you start several battles on the same turn, you choose what order to resolve them in.

A battle consists of 2 rounds of combat. In each round, the monster attacks first, then any surviving military units attack.

Attacking

For each attack you make with a monster or a military unit, choose a single target, then roll 1 die. If the result of the roll is equal to or greater than the Defense value of the defending unit, it's a hit. You can attack the same target more than once, and you can wait and see whether you hit before choosing another target.

Monsters and military units have slightly different attack rules.

• Monsters: Your monster starts the game with 3 attacks per round. Monsters can attack only military units until the Monster Challenge begins.

  Monsters get Infamy tokens for stomping certain spaces (see Encounter). Each Infamy token can be "cashed in" for 1 extra attack at any time, including during the Monster Challenge.

• Military Units: Most units get only 1 attack per round. Military units can attack only monsters, not other units.

Smash — Whenever an attack roll result is a 6, that attack is a smash and deals 1 extra point of damage.

Attacks That Cause Mutations — Some military units, such as cruise missiles, might cause a monster to mutate. In this case, the monster's player draws a Monster Mutation card.

When attacking with multiple units that might cause mutations, roll for each attack separately. If the monster mutates as a result of an attack, the Mutation card takes effect before the other units attack. (The monster's Defense value might change, for example.)

Damage

Each monster and military unit has a Damage value, which is the amount of damage it deals to a target when it hits. When an attacking monster or military unit hits a monster, the monster loses Health equal to the attacker's Damage value. When a monster hits a military unit (except for giant units), that unit is destroyed regardless of the monster's Damage value.

A destroyed unit returns to its branch's record tile and is available for later deployment (see Deploy).

A monster whose Health drops to 0 goes to Hollywood (see Hollywood below) except during the Monster Challenge.

Retreating

If any military units survive after 2 rounds of combat, the monster must retreat to an adjacent space. Military units don't retreat (they are either victorious or destroyed).

• A retreating monster does not encounter the space it retreated from or the space it retreats to (no stomping or mutating).
• A monster can't retreat to a space that contains other players' military units or monsters, and it can't retreat across a water barrier if it doesn't have the appropriate movement ability. If it has no legal space to retreat to, the monster must disappear (see Disappearing above).

If your monster attacks enemy units on its turn and is forced to retreat, it retreats to the adjacent space it came from.

If your units attack a monster on your turn and force it to retreat, you choose the space it retreats to. You also draw a Military Research card.

Hollywood

If your monster's Health drops to 0 before the Monster Challenge begins, it gets shipped off to Hollywood as an attraction. Place its piece in the Hollywood area of the game board and discard any Infamy tokens from its record tile.

If your monster's Health was reduced to 0 on another player's turn, that player draws a Military Research card.

At the beginning of each turn that your monster is in Hollywood, roll 1 die and add the result to its Health. When its Health improves to 5 or more, it breaks free. During the Move step, place your monster's piece in the space containing Los Angeles or in one of its lairs. This ends its move. If another monster is in the Los Angeles space, your monster must appear in one of its own lairs.

A monster can't disappear while in Hollywood.

Military Tactical Tips — The role of your military units is to weaken and slow the giant monsters while your monster gets stronger. To be more effective in your military campaign, keep the following tips in mind.

1. Attack with 4 or more units as a group. Attacking with fewer than that is usually suicidal.
2. Defend large cities (those worth 2 or 3 dice of Health). Monsters get a big benefit from stomping them.
3. Delay the monster by placing single units in its path. It will either have to stop and fight or take the long way to prime stomping grounds.
4. Work with the other military branches to delay monsters and defend large cities.
5. Don't neglect research. Military Research cards are important tools in your anti-monster arsenal.

Example Battle

Konk attacks New York! The city space contains 2 Marines rocket launchers, 1 National Guard tank, and 1 Navy nuclear submarine.

Konk's record tile, shown alongside the example: Starting Health 10, Move 4 (land only), Defense 4, Attacks 3, Damage 3, Special Ability "+1 to hit fighters," War Cry "KABAAAM!" Origin: "Offspring of giant prehistoric apes found on a small, craggy island near Cuba. Captured by the owners of a Florida theme park, but escaped into the wild soon afterward."

The Navy player declares that her nuclear submarine is fighting as a submarine, so she lays that unit's piece on its side.

Round 1 — Konk attacks first.

• Attack 1: Konk attacks a rocket launcher. MISS
• Attack 2: Konk attacks the rocket launcher again. HIT (unit destroyed)
• Attack 3: Konk attacks the other rocket launcher. HIT (unit destroyed)

The remaining military units attack back.

• The nuclear submarine attacks Konk. MISS
• The tank attacks Konk. HIT (Konk loses 1 Health)

Round 2 — Konk attacks first.

• Attack 1: Konk attacks the tank. MISS
• Attack 2: Konk attacks the tank again. HIT (unit destroyed)
• Attack 3: Konk attacks the nuclear submarine. MISS

The nuclear submarine attacks back. SMASH (Konk loses 2 Health)

Konk failed to destroy all the military units after 2 rounds of combat, so it retreats to the adjacent space it came from. It doesn't encounter either space this turn (so it doesn't stomp New York and it can't visit Three Mile Island for a Mutation card).

Nuclear Submarine — The Navy's nuclear submarines can fight as either submarines or cruise missiles. If you're controlling the Navy units, declare at the beginning of a battle how the submarine is fighting. Lay the plastic piece on its side to represent a submarine, and stand it on end if it's acting as a cruise missile. Once you declare, you can't change your mind later in that battle.

Unlike the Air Force's cruise missiles, you can't move a Navy cruise missile to a new position. You must launch it into a battle on the turn you move it. All cruise missiles are destroyed after the first round of combat, whether they hit or not.

3. Encounter

When your monster has finished moving and fighting on its turn, it encounters the space it's in, taking actions or dealing with special effects of that space.

Stomp

A monster stomps a space containing a city, military base, or Infamy site. Take a Stomp marker from the stack and place it on the game board so it covers the space.

Once a space is stomped, it can't be stomped again.

The monster whose player places the last Stomp marker in the stack declares the Monster Challenge (see The Monster Challenge).

The benefits of stomping a space depend on what is in it, as described below. Spaces containing multiple icons (a city and a base, for example) grant the benefit of each.

• City: The Monster gains Health according to the city's size as indicated on the game board: gain 1 Health; or roll 1 die and gain Health equal to the result; or roll 2 dice and gain Health equal to the result; or roll 3 dice and gain Health equal to the result.

  A monster's Health can never be higher than 40.

• Military Base: Take 1 Infamy token and place it near your monster's record tile. The player whose military branch owns the stomped base chooses a unit from that branch and gives it to you as a trophy for your monster. (If your own branch's base got stomped, you still have to give your monster a trophy.) That player decides whether to remove the unit from the game board or from that branch's card, and it can no longer be deployed.

  Units cannot be deployed on stomped bases.

• Infamy Site: Take 2 Infamy tokens and place them near your monster's record tile.

Infamy Tokens — Each Infamy token can be "cashed in" for 1 extra attack at any time, including during the Monster Challenge. Tokens come in denominations of 1 and 5 (5 counts as 5 tokens).

A monster can have no more than 15 Infamy at one time.

Mutate

Your monster can visit a Mutation site to mutate. Draw a Monster Mutation card and immediately place it face up in front of you.

A monster can mutate only once at each Mutation site it visits. After a monster has mutated at a site, that space has no effect if it visits there later.

Challenge

Once the Monster Challenge has been declared, your monster can move to a Challenge site to become the new challenger (see The Monster Challenge). Nothing happens if you end your move on a Challenge site before that time.

Encountering Other Spaces

A space with no icons (including a stomped space) has no effect on a monster that ends its move there.

A monster lair has no effect on a monster that ends its move there.

4. Deploy

During this step, you deploy (place) new military units on the board. Your military branch card tells you how many units you may deploy each turn. For example, the Army allows you to deploy a total of 3 units: 2 of either Army or National Guard and 1 National Guard unit (if any are still available).

• You can deploy only 1 military unit (from any branch) in any given space per turn.
• You can deploy military units from your branch only on unstomped bases belonging to that branch.
• National Guard units can be deployed on any unstomped city, base, or Infamy site.
• You can deploy a unit in a space containing a monster (if it retreated there, for example), as long as the space is otherwise legal.

Redeploy

You can redeploy a unit of your branch by removing it from the game board and placing it on any one of your bases. (This can be useful if you run out of units on your branch's record tile.) This counts as deploying 1 unit from your branch.

You can't redeploy National Guard units.

You can't redeploy Captain Colossal and Mecha-Monster.

Military Research

You may draw a Military Research card instead of deploying units. Immediately place it face up in front of you.

Cards — When you draw a Mutation or Research card, immediately place it face up in front of you. Any cards that don't have a lasting effect will tell you when you can use them.

If either deck runs out of cards, don't reshuffle it. No more cards of that type can be drawn.

Giant Military Units

Captain Colossal and Mecha-Monster are giant military units that enter play through Research cards. They have Health just as monsters do, and Captain Colossal can even make 2 attacks per combat round.

The following rules apply to a giant military unit.

• It is removed from play when its Health reaches 0. It can't appear again in that game.
• It can't mutate, stomp, or declare the Monster Challenge.
• It can be in the same space as other military units, including the other giant unit.
• Placing it on a base doesn't count as deploying a unit there that turn.
• If a giant unit is in play during the Monster Challenge, it must be the last creature challenged, even if its controller also controls the challenging monster. Giant units don't weigh in like monsters and never fight each other. If either is still standing at the end of the Monster Challenge, it has saved America! Its controller wins the game.

The Monster Challenge

The Monster Challenge is a final battle in which the monsters duel to see who will be King of the Giant Monsters.

Monsters in Hollywood can't participate in the Monster Challenge.

Challenging

The monster whose player takes the last Stomp marker from the stack is automatically the challenger. The Monster Challenge will begin in that monster's space at the start of its player's next turn unless another monster gets to one of the 4 Challenge sites first. (There are extra Stomp markers in case other monsters stomp spaces in the meantime.)

If one of the other monsters reaches a Challenge site after the Monster Challenge has been declared, that monster becomes the new challenger. The Monster Challenge will begin at the end of that turn.

If a monster becomes the challenger by using the last Stomp marker but is forced to retreat before the Monster Challenge begins, it is still the challenger. However, if it disappears or is sent to Hollywood, it can no longer challenge. The new challenger is the first monster to reach one of the Challenge sites.

Fighting

Once the Monster Challenge begins, follow these steps.

1. The challenger's player chooses any other monster (except monsters in Hollywood), which immediately appears on the challenger's space.
2. The monsters "weigh in." Note the Health of each monster.
3. The monsters fight a battle, with the challenger attacking first in each round of combat. However, there is no round limit—the monsters keep fighting until one is knocked down to 0 Health.
4. The winner of the battle gains Health equal to the loser's weigh-in value.
5. The winner of the battle is the challenger and chooses the next monster to fight. The new battle begins immediately.

Repeat the above steps until only one monster is left.

Monster Challenge Example — It's a three-player game, with Konk, Tomanagi, and Zorb.

1. Konk is the challenger, and its player chooses to challenge Tomanagi first.
2. Konk weighs in at 24 Health and Tomanagi weighs in at 13 Health.
3. The monsters fight, with Konk attacking first. Konk wins but has only 9 Health remaining.
4. Konk adds Tomanagi's weigh-in Health of 13 to its 9 Health, for a total of 22.
5. Konk goes on to challenge Zorb. Whoever wins that battle wins the game.

Winning the Game

The last monster to survive the Monster Challenge is King of the Giant Monsters and wins the game!

Credits

Original & Revision Game Designers: J.C. Connors and Ben Knight

Revision Developer: Bill McQuillan

Art Director: Peter Whitley

Graphic Designer: Scott Okumura

Cover & Card Illustrations: Ron Spencer

Production: Kay McKee and Teresa Newby

Design Engineer: Bob Carrasca

Brand Manager: Linda Cox

Playtesters: Mons Johnson, Brandon Bozzi, Brian Campbell, Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Andy Collins, Mike Donais, Scott Larabee, Devin Low, Charlie Garganto, and Bill Rose

Thanks to Paul Bazakas, Tyler Bielman, Martin Durham, Brian Hart, Rachel Kirkman, Mary Kirchoff, Kim Lundstrom, and Laura Veasey.

Monsters Menace America is a revision of Monsters Ravage America, published by Avalon Hill in 1998.