Nations
Nations Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Credits
Game design Einar Rosén, Robert Rosén, Nina Håkansson, Rustan Håkansson
Card art Frida Lögdberg
Graphic design, rulebook Jere Kasanen
Game box cover, colony card art Ossi Hiekkala (www.archipictor.com)
Logo Paul Laane (www.designaqua.com)
Publisher © Lautapelit.fi 2013 (www.lautapelit.fi)
Thank you for help and suggestions Adam Jakobsson, Andrea Nini, Anna Call, Anthony Williams, Brent Lloyd, Christian Brunner, Daniel Danzer, Daniel Hammond, Eric Fridén, Erik Arnström, Erik Eriksson, Filip Wiltgren, Heikki Hyhkö, Jere Kasanen, Jessica Kang, Johan Falk, Jonatan Björkman, Jonathan Madison, Juuso Mattila, Jukka Autio, Keith Leonard, Kim Williams, Lewis Wagner, Linnea Talltjärn, Lukas Bremer, Markus Bremer, Mikael Andersson, Mikael Call, Michael Bauland, Mikko Snygg, Oskari Westerholm, Pernilla Vighagen, Peter Andersson, Pontus Nilsson, Sami Lappereläinen, Sebastian Pöder, Shawn Macleod, Simon Winter, Tomas Wallström, Toni Niittymäki, Valentina Chapolova, Vlaada Chvátil
And thank you to all playtesters over the many years of development, your encouragement and enjoyment kept the project going!
Special thanks Ulf Lundström
Textures www.cgtextures.com
Game Components
- Score Board — x1
- Two-sided Player Boards — x5
- Rulebook — x1
- Workers (meeple pieces) — x13
- Player discs — x5, in five player colors
- Progress Board — x1
- Progress Cards — x296
- Event Cards — x48
- Book tokens — x4 (each worth 50)
- Scoring pad — x1
- Player aid tile (Round Summary) — x4
- Player order cards — x5
- Food resource tokens — x36 of value 1, x16 of value 3, x8 of value 10
- Stone resource tokens — x36 of value 1, x16 of value 3, x8 of value 10
- Gold resource tokens — x36 of value 1, x16 of value 3, x8 of value 10
- VP (Victory Point) tokens — x36 of value 1, x16 of value 3, x4 of value 10
- Solo Event tiles — x24
- 6 sided die — x1
- War marker — x1
- Round marker — x1
- Architect cubes — x15
- Used markers — x12
Setup for 4 players
- Each player takes a Player Board. When playing for the first time you should use A-sides. When playing with B-sides, Player boards are chosen in reverse player order after Scoring and Progress Board setup. See more on page 21.
- The Scoring Board and the Progress Board are placed in the middle of the table next to each other.
- Place the Architects next to the Scoring Board. This is called the "Architect Supply."
- Shuffle the Event Card decks for each age separately. Place the Event Card decks for ages II-IV aside for now. For your first game leave out Advanced and Expert cards. See more on page 11.
- Place the shuffled Event Card deck for age I next to the Scoring Board.
- The 50-Book tokens will be taken by players completing a full circle of the Heritage Track.
- Shuffle the Progress Card decks for each age separately. Place the Progress Card decks for ages II-IV aside for now. For your first game leave out Advanced and Expert cards. See more on page 11.
- Place the shuffled Progress Card deck for age I next to the Progress Board.
- Place the resource markers within easy reach of all players. This is called the "Resource Supply."
Scoring Board Setup
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Step 1: Randomly select player order. The first player places her disk on number 1 of the Heritage Track, followed by each player in player order, i.e. the last player's disk is highest on the track.
Each player also places another disk on corresponding numbers of the Player Order Track.
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Step 2: Place the white round marker on the "A"-space of Age I (Antiquity).
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Step 3: Each player selects the difficulty level they wish to play by placing a player disk of their colour on the desired level (see page 11).
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Step 4: Each player places one player disk of their color on value 0 of the Military Strength Track.
Each player's Military Strength will be measured on this track through the game (see page 8). Any Military Strength above 40 is counted as 40.
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Step 5: Place the black War Marker in this slot. If a player buys a War during a round, the Progress Card representing the War will be placed here and the War Marker is moved on the Military Strength Track (see page 15).
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Step 6: Each player places one player disk of their colour on value 0 of the Stability Track.
Each player's Stability will be measured on this track through the game (see page 8). Any Stability above 15 is counted as 15, and any Stability below -3 is placed on -∞ but counted as its real value.
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Step 7: Place up to three Architects (depending on the number of players) on the squares reserved for them.
Note that further Architects may be added depending on the Event Card for the round (see page 9).
This slot is for placing Event Cards (see page 9). Do not draw an Event Card during setup as players will need to choose their growth option first (see page 13).
Player Board Setup
- Advisor slot — This slot is reserved for your Advisor. As a general rule, you may only have one Advisor at a time. If you acquire a new Advisor, remove the previous one.
- Building and Military Progress Card slots — These are the slots available for Building and Military Progress Cards. Each of the slots may be used either for a Building or a Military.
- Wonder under construction — When you purchase a Wonder from the Progress Board, it is placed here. You may only have one Wonder under construction at any one time. If you purchase a new Wonder before the previous is ready, the old one is removed.
- Ready Wonder slots — Ready Wonders are placed in these slots. You cannot have more than 5 ready Wonders.
- Colony slots — These two slots are reserved for the Colonies you conquer. As a general rule, you may have two Colonies at a time. When you acquire a third, you must remove either of the previous ones at your choice.
- Population Track — This is the Population Track. When you grow your population, you may take any Worker you wish from the Population Track.
- Nation name — The name of your nation is displayed here.
- Resource Area — The starting resources and number of starting Workers of the nation. Place your resource here. This is called your "Resource Area."
Progress Board Setup
The Progress Board is empty in the beginning of the game. You will fill the board with Progress Cards at the beginning of each round (see page 12).
When Progress Cards are bought from the Progress Board, their price will depend on the row that they are located. Cards on the top row cost 3 Gold each, 2 on the middle row and those on the bottom row can be bought for 1 Gold (see page 14).
Game Concepts
Resources
There are 4 resources that nations gain and consume during the game: Gold, Stone, Food, and Books.
Gold is used for buying Progress Cards, Stone for deploying Workers in Buildings and Military as well as constructing Wonders, Food protects from famine and permits the growth of the population and accumulated Books give Nations VP:s at the end of every age.
Red circles indicate a gain of the applicable resource and black circles consumption/upkeep.
Victory Points
During the game, nations gain and lose Victory Points (VP:s). In the game materials, gained VP:s are indicated by a yellow circle with laurels and a loss by a black circle with laurels.
Stability and Military Strength
Stability and Military Strength are not produced in the Resolution Phase (see page 18), instead their value changes immediately when something during game play affects their value. You can always count your respective values from the Progress Cards on your Player Board (Stability & Military Strength) and from the empty slots on your Population Track (Stability).
Military Strength keeps your nation safe against War and Events, helps you conquer Colonies, fight Battles and act early.
Stability mitigates the effects of War and negative Events and permits the growth of the population. High Stability represents contentment and civil preparedness for War, while low Stability means problems with civil unrest, crime and revolt.
Red squares indicate an increase of Stability or Military Strength and black squares a decrease.
Workers
Workers represent your population. You may deploy one or more worker on each of your Building and Military Progress Cards in order to gain the effects of those cards.
Progress Card anatomy
A Progress Card shows: Background, Title, VP, Set icon, Minimum Military Strength required, Architect slots, Construction cost, Age, and Effect/Special abilities.
A card with a per-Worker effect shows: Raid value, Title, VP condition, Set icon, Deploy cost, Age, and Effect per Worker deployed.
An Event Card shows: Architects, Famine, Background, Title, Event 1, Event 2, Set icon, and Age.
Progress Cards
During the game, nations will purchase Progress Cards from the Progress Board. The Progress Cards represent the investments that each nation makes. There are 8 different types of Progress Cards: Advisors, Battles, Buildings, Colonies, Golden Ages, Military, Wars and Wonders. These categories are described in detail on pages 15-16.
Events
At the end of a round, when all players have taken their actions and calculated their production and consumption of resources, two historical events will occur (see page 19). These are referred to as Events. The Events are revealed at the beginning of each round in the Maintenance Phase (see page 13), so the players will have time to prepare for them during the Action Phase.
Some Events have positive effects and some negative and most influence only players who fulfill certain conditions, such as highest Military Strength.
The Event Cards also indicate the number of additional Architects available to all players during the round as well as the number of Food that each nation will need to have available due to famine in the Resolution Phase.
Resolving Ties
When there is a tie between two or more players for any measurement, for positive effects no one will receive the benefit or reward (you must have the most alone) and for negative effects all players tied for the lowest value will suffer the effects or penalty. All nations with negative Stability (i.e. in Revolt) are considered to tie for last place in respect of Stability irrespective of the negative amount.
Remember that to win a reward, you must win alone, even in a two player game. You also suffer the full negative effect if tied for last place, there is no splitting of the effect between the weakest players.
Resource loss
When a nation is required to lose resources but does not have enough, it must lose what it has plus 1 VP. In addition it loses 1 Book per missing resource.
If your total amount of Books is at 0 and should be reduced below, it stays at 0 and you lose one VP plus one other resource of your choice per Book you should have lost.
It is only possible to lose at most 1 VP per round per resource that you do not have enough of. It is not possible to have less than 0 VP.
You can lose one VP for each type of resource you do not have enough of, but only once per round for each type of resource, i.e. a maximum of 4 per round.
Example: lose only 1 VP even if you have too little Food during production, Events and famine.
Removing
Any reference to "removing" means removing the game piece in question (usually a card) from the game and returning it to the game box.
Some Progress Cards state that it is removed if certain conditions are fulfilled, e.g. having least Military Strength. Those conditions can be fulfilled at any time, even during the turn of other players. If the condition is fulfilled, the card is removed immediately.
Taking and Returning Workers
In these rules, taking a Worker means taking a Worker from your Population Track and adding it to your Resource Area. Returning a Worker means returing a Worker back on the Population Track. In each case, you can freely decide in which section of the Population Track (Food or Stability) you take and return Workers.
You can, for example, have taken three Workers from the Food section and none from the Stability section. A section may not, however, have more than 4 Workers. If you are forced to return a Worker when you have no free slots available on your Population Track, place the Worker on top of the Population Track nonetheless. The next time you take a Worker, take this "free" Worker first.
Deploying and undeploying Workers
The word deploying referes to placing a Worker on a Building or Military Progress Card on your Player Board and paying its deployment cost indicated on the card it is deployed on. Workers may be deployed from your Resource Area or another Building or Military, but not from your Population Track.
Undeploying a Worker means moving a Worker back from a Building or Military on your Player Board into your Resource Area.
Hiring
Hiring an Architect means taking an Architect from the Architect Space, placing it on your Wonder under construction and paying its associated construction cost in Stone.
Interpretation of symbols
The text on some Progress Cards use certain symbols that should be interpreted as follows:
"/" means a choice between the resources listed. You may only choose one of the resources listed, not a mix of two or more. For example, with Piazza San Marco you may once per round exchange two Gold for one of the following; 5 Books, 5 Food or 5 Stone.
":" means the result of an action or effect or the fulfillment of a condition. For example, with the Great Lighthouse, each time you buy a Progress Card for 3 Gold, you gain a Book and with Notre Dame when it is the Production Phase, in case you have most Stability you gain 3 Books.
Base, advanced and expert cards
The Progress Cards have three difficulty levels: base, advanced and expert. In your first games, it is recommended that only base cards are used. Add the advanced and/or expert cards when you have played a few games.
The symbols are as follows:
- base set, no symbol
- advanced set: (plus symbol)
- expert set: (crossed swords symbol)
- promotional cards: (dot symbol)
Grand Duchy of Finland is a promotional card that is included only in the 1st printing of the game.
Difficulty levels
Nations has an in-built handicap system that allows players of varying experience to enjoy an equally challenging and balanced game. At the beginning of the game, each player will choose between four difficulty levels; chieftain, prince, king and emperor.
While the difference between these difficulty levels only materializes during the growth step of the Maintenance Phase (see page 13), make no mistake - it is a significant difference.
Playing the Game
During each round, the following phases take place in the order presented below:
MAINTENANCE PHASE (p.12-13)
- Round Marker: Move to next round
- Progress Cards: Refill Progress Board
- Growth: Take a Worker or Gold/Food/Stone
- New Events: Draw new Event Card
- Architects: Refill Architect spaces
ACTION PHASE (p.14-17)
- A. Buy Progress Card
- B. Deploy Worker
- C. Hire Architect
RESOLUTION PHASE (p.18-19)
- Production: Building+Military+Colony+Wonder+Advisor. Remember consumption/upkeep.
- Player order: Adjust if needed
- War: If defeated, lose VP and pay resources
- Events: Resolve both events on Event Card
- Famine: Consume amount of Food stated on Event Card
- Book: Score if end of age
The Maintenance and Resolution Phase are mainly for technical upkeeping measures. The main part of the game will be spent during the Action Phase.
Maintenance Phase
Do the following steps in order.
1. Round Marker
Move the round marker to the next space on the Round Track. Skip this step and the next in the first round of play.
2. Progress Cards
Remove any remaining Progress Cards on row 1 and 2 of the Progress Board. Then move all remaining cards from row 3 to row 1. To make it clear what cards are old move these old cards from row 3 as far left as possible on row 1.
Draw new Progress Cards from the Progress Card deck specific to the current age and fill all empty spaces on the Progress Board in use with the number of players in the game. For example, in a 4-player game columns 1-6 are in use.
3. Growth
Every nation, in reverse player order, decides to either grow its population or take bonus resources. To grow your population, take a Worker of your choice from the Population Track into your Resource Area. Every Worker taken from the Population Track either reduces your Stability immediately by 3 or causes you to pay 3 Food during Production in the Resolution Phase (see page 18).
Nations that take bonus resources choose either Food, Stone or Gold. Gain as much of that resource as your difficulty level (for example, 3 for Prince). It is not possible to mix and take some from one resource and some from another.
Example: Egypt grows and takes a Worker from the Food section. It has taken one before from that section (none from the Stability section), so Food upkeep for population increases from 3 per round to 3+3=6 per round.
4. New Events
Draw one Event Card from the current age and place it face up on the historical event space on the Score Board. The events on the Event Card will be resolved during the Resolution Phase (see page 19).
5. Architects
Move any remaining Architects from the Architects space on the Score Board to the Architect supply. Place 0 (1 player), 1 (2 players), 2 (3-4 players) or 3 (5 players) new Architects there, and add as many as shown at the top of the Event Card. If you placed Architects based on the number of players during set-up, on the first round of play only add those based on the Event Card.
Example: In a 4-player game the Event Card shows 1 architect at the top. Place 2+1=3 Architects on the Architects space.
Some Progress cards may grant players extra "private" Architects per round. Check at this time that these cards also have the correct number of Architects as well (usually one). Such Architects do not accumulate if unused. If such cards are bought during the round they come with these architects on them.
Action Phase
This is the main phase of each round. Nations take one action each in player order until all players have passed. Once a player has passed, she may not resume taking actions later during the round.
The Actions
There are 3 basic actions available for the players:
- A. Buy a Progress Card
- B. Deploy a Worker on a Building or Military
- C. Hire an Architect to build a Wonder
You can only do one of these or pass on your turn. Some Progress Cards allow you to take special actions. Place a "Used" marker on a Progress Card when you have used a special action on it.
A. Buy a Progress Card
To buy a Progress Card, take the card from the Progress Board, pay the price in Gold shown on the left of the row in which the card was located and immediately use the card. You cannot buy Progress Cards "in reserve".
Depending on the type of card bought, you either:
- i. place it on your Player Board on a space with the same border color (Buildings, Military, Advisors, Colonies and Wonders);
- ii. remove it after resolving its effect (Battles and Golden Ages); or
- iii. place them in the "War" slot on the Scoring Board (Wars).
When placing a card on your Player Board, the number of spaces per type is limited to what you have on your Player Board. If you have no free spaces for that type of card remove an old card from play to make room for the new card. The removed cards, including the pre-printed cards on the Player Board (if covered with a new card), can never be used again.
Remember to update your Military Strength and Stability immediately when covering an old card, buying a new card and deploying or undeploying Workers.
Progress Card types
Building
New Buildings can replace existing Buildings and Military so you can, for example, have 5 different Buildings at the same time. When an existing Building is removed by a new Military or Building, the Workers on the old Building are undeployed (moved back to your Resource Area). In the Resolution Phase, each Worker deployed on the Building produces the amount of resources stated on the top of the card. Any Stability adjustments are performed immediately. Buildings without Workers have no effect.
Example: the cost to deploy a Worker on Ziggurat is 1 Stone. Each Worker deployed on the card immediately increases the nation's Stability by 2 and in the Production Phase each Worker produces 1 Stone. At the end of the game, the first and second Worker deployed on the card gives 1 VP each.
Military
New Military can replace old Military and Buildings so you can, for example, have 3 Military cards at the same time. When an existing Military is replaced by a new Military or Building, the Workers on the old Military are undeployed (moved back to your Resource Area). Each Worker deployed on the Military immediately increases the Military Strength by the amount stated on the top of the card. If the Military has an upkeep cost, adjust it immediately (Stability) or pay it during the Resolution Phase (resources).
Each Military also has a Raid value. The Raid value of the Military can be used for Battles if the card has at least one deployed Worker. Multiple Workers on the card do not increase its Raid value. Military without Workers has no effect.
Example: the raid value of Hoplites is 3 if there is at least one Worker deployed on it. The cost to deploy a Worker on the card is 1 Stone and it provides 3 Military Strength per deployed Worker. Each Worker deployed on the Hoplite during the Production Phase consumes 1 Stone and the first and second Worker deployed on the card at the end of the game gives 1 VP each.
Colony
Colonies have a Military Strength requirement. To buy a Colony you must meet or exceed its Military Strength requirement. Once you have bought a Colony the Military Strength requirement no longer matters; your Military Strength may fall below it without any effects on your acquired Colony. Bought Colonies are immediately in effect.
Example: when a nation conquers Macedonia, the nation's Military Strength will immediately increase by 2.
War
Any player can buy a War as an action. Each round only a single War may be bought. Once a War is bought no nation may buy another War. When bought, it is placed on the War space of the Score Board. Place the War marker on the same Military Strength as the nation who bought the War. In the Resolution Phase, any nation with less Military Strength than the War will suffer a defeat (see p. 19). The War marker does not move with the nation that bought it, so if that nation increases its Military Strength the War marker stays where it is. If the nation that bought the War later decreases its Military Strength that nation may also be defeated by the War.
A nation with no military may buy War. It is impossible for any nation to suffer any losses due to a Strength 0 War.
Battle
When you buy a Battle you immediately gain either Books, Food or Stone and then remove the card. You decide what type, but you have to choose only one type. How much you gain depends on the Raid value of your best military (your best military card that has at least one Worker on it). Your Raid value does not increase by having more than one Worker deployed on a raiding Military. You may only buy Battle if you have at least one Worker deployed on a Military.
Example: Blue has 3 Workers on Hoplite. Its raid value is 3.
Remember that when buying a Battle, you must have a Worker on a Military, but you only get a Military's Raid value once, irrespective of the number of Workers on the Military.
Wonder
Wonders bought from the Progress Board are placed on the "Wonder under construction" space of your Player Board. You may only build on one Wonder at a time. If you buy a new Wonder while currently constructing another, the old Wonder is removed and all Architects on it are lost.
When a Wonder is ready (i.e. the construction of its last section is completed), its special effects are activated and it will produce in the Resolution Phase (if it has resource production capability).
Advisor
A bought Advisor is placed on the Player Board in the slot reserved for Advisors. You can have just one Advisor at a time unless you have a Progress Card stating otherwise.
Golden age
A Golden Age gives you a choice. You can either gain the resources printed on the card or gain 1VP by paying the number of resources required in any combination of Stone, Gold, Food or Books. The card is then removed from play.
If you have a Golden Age bonus you will either get more of the resource or pay less resources for a VP, how much depends on the bonus number. Multiple bonuses are added, but a VP can not cost less than 0.
You can only buy one VP per Golden Age and the price of the VP increases each age. Remember that you can pay the cost of the VP with a mix of resources, including Books.
Example: Persia buys a Renaissance Golden Age, chooses to either take 2 Stone or pays 3 resources (for example 1 Food and 2 Books) to get 1 VP. If Persia had Uraniborg (Golden Age bonus: 2) the choices would have been to take 4 Stone or pay 1 resource to get 1 VP.
B. Deploy a Worker
An empty Building or Military does nothing. To deploy a Worker on a Building or Military, place the Worker on the card and pay its deployment cost in Stone. The Worker deployed can be taken either from your Resource Area or another Building or Military. You can place several Workers on a Building or Military, multiplying the card's effect, but only one Worker can be deployed per turn.
A Worker can be undeployed from a Building or Military at any time during your turn. Undeployment is not an action so you can do it for example just before passing or buying a War. You can undeploy multiple Workers at once.
The effect of each deployed Worker is displayed at the top of the Building or Military it is deployed on. Buildings produce resources and/or increase your Stability. Military increases your Military Strength and consumes some resource and/or decrease Stability.
Workers can only be deployed on Buildings and Military. When a Worker is undeployed from a card, its benefit is lost immediately. Workers cannot be deployed on Colonies, Wonders or Advisors.
Remember that Military Strength and Stability are adjusted immediately when the Worker is deployed and the resources are produced and consumed during the Resolution Phase.
Example: A Worker on Conquistador is moved to Railroad. Pay 4 Stone, reduce Military Strength by 7, increase Stability by 3.
C. Hire Architect
A Wonder must be built in sections while it is placed on the "Wonder under construction"-space. To construct a section of a Wonder, take an Architect from the Score Board, place it on the leftmost free section of the Wonder under construction and pay the section's construction cost in Stone.
If there are no Architects available, you do not have a Wonder under construction or you do not have enough Stone to pay the next section's cost, you cannot choose this action.
When the last section of the Wonder is constructed, the Wonder is ready. Move it immediately to a Wonder space on your Player Board. You may place it on top of another ready Wonder which is destroyed in the process. Return the Architect(s) to Architect Supply.
Certain cards allow additional Architects to be used in addition to those available to all nations. Place extra Architects from the supply on it when buying such a card or take from the supply when using such effects from an event.
This is my favourite action! Remember that in case you are tempted to purchase a new Wonder before your current Wonder under construction is finished, you can do so. Unfortunately, any Architects as well as Stone paid for sections of the unfinished Wonder are lost.
Resolution Phase
Do the following steps in order.
Remember to check all Progress Cards on your Player Board, including Advisors, Wonders and Colonies. Do not forget to pay upkeep costs!
1. Production
All nations produce simultaneously. Calculate production and consumption for each resource in the order shown on the player aid cards (Gold, Food, Stone, Books). Sum up your total production and consumption of each resource from your Player Board, multiplying production and consumption for each Worker on a Building and Military. Take (or pay) that much of each resource and place them in your resource area.
If your total Books exceed 50, take a 50 Books tile and continue counting from 0.
All nations in revolt (with negative Stability) lose 1 Book per negative point and also 1 VP regardless of how many negative points they have.
If you do not have enough Stone, Gold or Food, lose 1 Book for each missing. In addition, lose 1 VP for each.
If your total amount of Books is at 0 and should be reduced below, it stays at 0 and you lose one VP plus one other resource of your choice per Book you should have lost. You can not lose more VP if you are at 0.
Example: If you should pay 5 stone but only have 2, you lose those 2, 1 VP, and 3 books.
Food production: +2-1+3+2-2-3=+1
2. Player order
Determine the order of play for the next round. Order of play is determined in accordance with Military Strength with the player with the highest Military Strength going first, second highest going second and so on. In the case of a tie, higher Stability acts as a tiebreaker. If there is still a tie, the order between the tied players from the previous round remains.
Redistribute the player order cards and update the player order track on the Score Board.
3. War
Nations matching or exceeding the strength of the War are unaffected. Nations with lower Military Strength than the War suffer a defeat. The amount of resources each defeated nation has to pay is shown on the bottom of the War card. If a defeated nation has a Stability that is higher than 0, its resource loss is reduced by that number. It is possible to lose no resources to a War even if defeated. However, all defeated nations lose 1 VP as shown on the War card, even if they did not lose any resources. The VP loss cannot be mitigated by Stability. Then remove the War and return the War marker to the War space.
Remember to reduce the resource loss of defeated nations by the amount of their Stability. The VP loss cannot be mitigated.
Example: Player order is 1: China, 2: Persia, 3: Rome. Rome must choose first to pay 2 Food or pass and go last. Then Persia. Then China. After that all who did not pay are moved to the end, but keep relative order. All who did pay go to the front, but keep relative order. So if Rome paid but not the others the order would become 1: Rome, 2: China, 3: Persia.
If you can't pay the required amount of Food you must pay what you can, lose 1 VP and lose as many Books as you could not pay. It is only possible to lose at most 1 VP per round per resource.
4. Events
Determine the effect of each Event on the Event Card in order from top to bottom.
If two or more nations tie for strongest, none get the benefit. If two or more nations tie for lowest (lowest Military Strength is also called the weakest), all suffer the penalty in full. All nations with negative Stability are considered to tie for lowest Stability.
Some Events change the player order. If several nations are affected by such an Event, resolve it in player order.
Whenever multiple nations have a choice, the choice is made in reverse player order (last in player order goes first). After all have chosen, the event happens at the same time for all.
Some Events increase or decrease the number of Workers for nations. Gained Workers are always taken from the Population Track on the Player Board, and lost Workers are placed back on an empty space there. Which track to take from or place back to are chosen by the player.
5. Famine
All nations must pay the famine cost in Food shown at the top of the Historical Events card.
The accumulated Books scoring happens at the end of each age. This means at the end of rounds 2, 4, 6 and 8.
(6.) Score Book at the end of each age
At the end of an age, each nation gains a VP for each nation that has accumulated less Books than itself.
Example: At the end of Antiquity Blue has 13 Books, Yellow 11, Green 11 and Red 4. Blue gains 3 VP, Yellow and Green 1 VP and Red 0 VP.
Game end
Victory points are awarded normally for accumulated Books at the end of Resolution Phase in round 8. After that the final scoring is done and the winner celebrated!
Final scoring
At the end of the game, record the score of each nation on the score pad as follows:
- A. Game VP
- B. Colonies
- C. Wonders
- D. Buildings and Military
- E. Resources
Although the last part of the end scoring is called 'Resources' for short, do not forget to add your Military Strength and Stability to the figure.
A. Game VP
Game VP is the sum of the value of the VP tokens that you have at the end of the game (those you started with plus or minus any gained throughout the game).
B. Colonies
Add the VP:s gained from your Colonies.
C. Wonders
Add VP:s gained from your Wonders, including any special VP bonus they might award.
D. Buildings and Military
Sum up the VP:s gained from your Workers deployed on Buildings and Military. The number of VP:s for a deployed Worker can be seen below the picture of the Building and Military. The first Worker on a card gives the leftmost VP value, the second Worker the next and so on. If there are more Workers than VP symbols on the card, the excess Workers gain no VP:s for you. Buildings and Military without Workers do not yield any VP:s.
E. Resources
Add up the value of your remaining Gold, Food and Stone tokens as well as your accumulated Books. To that figure, add your current Military Strength and Stability. For each full 10 of this sum you get 1 VP.
Example: 3 Stone, 7 Gold, 5 Food, 6 Books, 10 Military Strength and 6 Stability sums up to 37, and gives you 3 VP.
Add up the total number, the nation with the most VP:s is the winner. Any ties are resolved in order of play.
Additional rules & clarifications
Recommendations to learn the game
- With beginners, use only basic cards, the A-sides of the Player Boards, play with 3-4 players and take no worker the first few rounds.
- With advanced players, use basic and advanced cards, play with 2-4 players.
- With expert players, use all cards, play with any number of players.
Advanced and expert game
The advanced and expert cards add more interaction, variation and new concepts. After a few games with basic cards you can add the advanced cards, mix them in with the basic cards. After a few more games you can add the expert cards.
5 players
With 5 players you must play the Advanced and/or Expert game to have enough Progress Cards.
Positive Events also affect the second strongest (unless tied), negative Events affect the two weakest (including all tied). Other card effects work similarly, so for Saint Augustine (most stable) you get the effect if you have most or second most Stability. Passed first counts for passed first or second. Passed last counts for passed fourth or fifth.
Example: China has 23 Military Strength, Persia 22, Greece 22, Rome 5, Egypt 4. China is strongest, Rome and Egypt are weakest.
Example: China has 8 Stability, Persia 7, Greece 5, Rome 5, Egypt 4. China and Persia are most stable. Greece, Rome and Egypt are least stable.
2 players
The 2-player game is tough, you either win or lose all Events. Competition is fiercer, you might take more risks and the game might be (or seem to be) decided early. Books yield fewer VP in absolute numbers, but like with more players you want to have just more than your opponent.
Competitive game
Nations is meant to be played as a friendly game. The individual difficulty levels, B sides of the Player Boards plus the advanced and expert decks enhance the enjoyment of friendly games and allow for players with varying experience to play very varied games together on equal terms. If you want to play a more competitive and regulated game we recommend playing with 3-4 players, using the A sides of the Player Boards and choosing the same difficulty level.
For balanced Progress Card decks, construct the decks for each age by starting with the base cards and then exchange some base cards with advanced and/or expert cards of the same type as the exchanged base card (e.g. replace a base set Advisor by an expert Advisor).
Short game
If you want to play a shorter game, decide before the start how many ages you want to play. Play the game normally and at the end of the last age do the full scoring calculation. For learning games with players unaccustomed to long and complex games, playing the first 2 or 3 ages instead of a full game can be a good idea.
Easier game
If you find the game too tough you can start with an extra Worker. Take one Worker from the track and hide the upkeep for it. This makes building up your engine easier, but also allows for more competition for events and Books. With this variant it is common to both overproduce a resource and to overcommit when fighting for early points.
B-sides
After a couple of games you can try to play with the B sides of the Player Boards. Each has some special rules and changes, all shown on the boards. Note the differences in starting resources, especially the additional worker for China.
The setup is done in this order: randomize player order, select difficulties, place initial cards on card row, randomize what Player Boards are in play (same as number of players). Then select Player Boards in reverse player order (player 5 selects first in a 5-player game). When electing you can choose to use the A-side instead of the B-side. You can have the same card twice if you buy a card already on the Player Board from the start.
Example: In a 3-player game the Player Boards China, Persia and Rome are drawn. The players look at the cards on the Progress Board. Player 3 picks Rome. Player 2 then chooses Persia, and flips it to the A-side. Player 1 picks China.
1 Player Variant
In the solo game you play against a shadow opponent represented by Event tiles and a die. You strive to maximize your victory points at the end of the game. If you play it to learn the game it is recommended to only use the basic cards, same as for games with more players, and play on Chieftain.
Instead of drawing a normal Event Card you will draw a random Event tile from the current age. It shows what values the shadow opponent has for this round, and possible changes. The game is played normally and all comparisons are done with the current value of the shadow opponent. If the shadow opponent has no value you win any ties in that category (always passed first, always most Workers etc). You lose the game if you have negative VP.
You start as player 1, with 1 Book. The shadow opponent starts with 2 Books. On the Progress Board, use 4 Progress Card columns.
After buying a Progress Card, deploying on Military or hiring an architect, roll the die for the shadow opponent. Also roll the die for the shadow opponent before your first turn in a round if you are 2nd in player order.
The D6 roll result is resolved as follows:
- 1-4: Remove all Progress Cards from the corresponding column on the Progress Board. If there was at least one War left in that column, the shadow opponent "buys" the cheapest War. The strength of the War is the shadow opponents Military Strength at the time it "bought" the War. If the column is empty, nothing happens.
- 5-6: Resolve the corresponding action for the shadow opponent stated on the current Event tile.
At the end of the game compare your score with the Hall of Fame. Try to score more in the next game and when you feel ready play on a harder difficulty level. Note that the total VP in a solo game is not comparable to a multiplayer game.
Solo round summary:
- Move round marker
- Refill Progress Cards
- Growth or bonus resources
- Draw Event tile (no normal Event Card)
- Place opponent Military Strength and Stability
- Add Books for shadow opponent
- Refill Architects
- Take actions.
- Produce
- Player order
- War
- +1 VP if more Stability than shadow opponent, -1 VP otherwise
- Famine
- Score 3 VP if more Books at end of age
Solo Hall of Fame
- 70 Trajan
- 60 Ashoka
- 55 Wu Zetian
- 50 Saladin
- 45 Victoria
- 40 Charles V
- 35 Cleopatra
- 30 Pericles
- 25 Darius III
- 20 Atahualpa
- 15 Cixi
- 10 Dan Quayle
Appendix
Card notes
Cards that have a specific effect when a condition has been fulfilled, or can only be used once per round: Place a "Used" marker on the card when fulfilled or used. Remove at the end of the round.
Examples: Great Wall (when you passed first), Versailles (when completed), Galileo (when used).
Card texts overrule the general rules in the rulebook.
Progress cards
- Anna Komnene: Treat the negative production on your military cards as if it does not exist.
- Boudica: Boudica is removed only if you have or place workers on a military card, not for gaining strength from other means.
- Elizabeth: When checking if you are defeated by a war you count as having 8 more strength.
- Great Wall: If you are defeated by a war and passed first this round you only lose resources, no VP, to this war.
- Machiavelli: You must show both historical event cards to all players.
- Mansa Musa: You must have this advisor when you spend your last gold to get the bonus.
- Sphinx: If another wonder is completed you gain the stone bonus, even if the new wonder replaces the Sphinx.
- Sun Tzu: You must have this advisor at the start of your first turn to do two actions.
- Titanic: If you have Porcelain Tower and two advisors you lose both.
- Tokugawa: The bonus is received per card, not per worker.
- Versailles: For the rest of the round when you complete this wonder, you count as having the least stability (same as those who are in revolt).
Events
- Bronze age collapse: Most Strength and most stability are protected. This might be one player, or up to 4 players in a 5-player game.
- Fourth Crusade: On 5 players the player with most strength makes the choice (and if tied the player of those that is first in player order), the bonus then applies to both strongest players. The negative effect applies normally to the two players with least strength.
- Glorious Revolution: On 5 players secondmost stability chooses first. If both makes the choice then secondmost goes last and most stability goes second to last.
- Great Exhibition: Hire architects from the supply without paying the stone cost.
- Han dynasty: This is a choice. You must take both or none.
- Janissaries: This is a choice. You must take both or none.
- Olympic Games: On 5 players the player with most stability goes first, secondmost goes second. Ties are broken by player order.
- Sinking of the Vasa: You can not have less than 0 strength.
- Zoroastrian revival: This is a choice, either the first or the second happens. On 5 players the most stable makes the choice, player order breaks ties.
Historical notes
The game starts in Prehistoric (before 4000 B.C.E) and is then divided into four ages: Antiquity (4000 B.C.E-500 C.E), Medieval (500-1450 C.E), Renaissance (1450-1750 C.E) and Industrial (1750-1913 C.E). A nation in Nations is not defined simply as a nation state in its modern form but also as cultrual spheres and as coalitions of peoples.
Many scholars argue that the concept of Nation is a fairly modern, post-Westphalian invention. To be truly accurate and capture the various political groupings that have existed throughout history, we should have called the game: Nations, empires, city states, tribes, polis, civilizations, kingdoms, republics, caliphates, cantons, hordes, democracies, dominions, principalities, countries, unions, confederations, tyrannies, despotisms and theocracies. However, that title didn't fit on the box.
Books represents the heritage of your Nation; developments in art, technology and religion. It is the sum of what is remembered and passed down the generations in the Nation and also what is known in the world about the Nation.
Food represents preparations for catastophies. Gold represents the development of your Nation, what you focus on accomplishing and improving. Stone represent industrial development. Strength represents military might. Stability represents national unity, the power of the central government and dynastic stability.
Game Summary
The final page of the rulebook is a quick-reference summary card recapping the round structure and final scoring, repeating the Playing the Game and Game End sections above (Round: Maintenance Phase, Action Phase, Resolution Phase; Scoring: Game VP, Colonies, Wonders, Buildings and Military, Resources).