Orcz
Orcz Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the Game
The dark lord Llovar rewards his Orc Warlords' victories on the battlefield with Goblin Slaves. The tribe with the most Goblin Slaves will become the wealthiest—and therefore the strongest—tribe on the Broken Plain. To win this prize, a Warlord must prove his martial prowess and leadership on the four Battlefields of Mennara: the Lothari Forest (Tree), the Urth Valley (Anvil), Falladir's Kingdom (Tower), and the Sunderlands (Tent).
To win a battle on one of these Battlefields, the combined forces of all the Orc Warlords must be strong enough to defeat the Battlefield's Challenge. If the Challenge is defeated, the Orc Warlord with the strongest army on the Battlefield receives Goblin Slaves as his reward. The player with the most Goblin Slaves at the end of the game is the winner.
Game Components
Orcz: Da Boardzgame includes 1 rules booklet, one small booklet with "Event" details, 4 player screens, 4 plastic stands (for the round Warlord stands) and 12 sheets of game tokens, including:
- Goblin Slaves
- Battlefield (Lothari Forest) and the other Battlefield boards
- Battlefield Challenges
- Event Cards
- Troop Cards (Cavalry)
- Troop Cards (Archers)
- Troop Cards (Grunts)
- Hero Card (Champion)
- Hero Card (Scout)
- Hero Card (Shaman)
- Warlord Reference Stand. (Place these in the plastic stands for color reference during the game.)
Setup
Before each game begins, follow this simple setup procedure:
- Separate the game components and counters.
- Place the four Battlefields face up in a row at the center of the table.
- Randomize the four Warlord stands (red, green, blue, and yellow) and deal one to each player.
- Take the 10 Troop and 3 Hero cards for your color and place them behind your player screen.
- There are six Challenges for each Battlefield (marked by an anvil, a tree, a castle, or a tent). Shuffle each of the four, discard three (remove these from the game) for each Battlefield, and place the remaining counters face down in stacks of three on their respective Battlefields (so they form stacks of three counters on each battlefield).
- In a three-player game, discard four Challenges for each Battlefield instead of three and place two face down on each Battlefield. There are only three turns in a three-player game.
- Shuffle the Event cards and place them face down on the table.
- Give each player 5 starting Goblin Slaves and place the remainder of the Goblin Slave counters in a common pool.
Turn Order
Orcz is played in a series of four turns (three turns in a three player game). Each turn is broken down into four steps:
- Reveal Challenges
- Deployment
- Struggle
- Resolve Battlefield Challenges
1. Reveal Challenges
At the beginning of each turn, the players must reveal which challenge is to be faced at each of the four Battlefields:
- Turn the top Challenge on each Battlefield face up (Note that if a Challenge was not defeated in the previous turn, do not reveal a new Challenge). These are the four Challenges the Orcs must defeat on the Battlefields this turn.
- Draw one random Event card and place it face up on the table. The effects of this Event apply throughout the turn (see Events, below).
2. Deployment
Once Challenges have been revealed, players begin committing their troops to the Battlefields.
Each turn of Orcz is played by a series rounds going clockwise around the table. In the first turn, randomly determine the first player. When it is a players turn to deploy troops, he places two cards (Troop or Hero cards) on the next available "Rank" of any of the four battlefields. These two cards are always placed side-by-side, one card face-up, and one card face-down.
What is a "rank"?
A rank is two cards of the same color, one face up and one face down. Ranks are formed beneath each Battlefield and represent the united army of Orcs marching against the enemy. The first rank of a Battlefield is always placed immediately in front of the battlefield. Subsequent ranks at that Battlefield must be placed behind any existing rear-rank.
Example: It is the start of the game and the Red player has placed his first two cards in the first rank behind the Valley of Urth (Anvil) Battlefield. It is now the yellow players turn. Since this is the second deployment of the game turn, only the Urth Valley has an existing rank of Orcs (the Red rank just placed). The yellow player can place his rank behind the Red rank in the Valley of Urth (thus forming the second rank) or deploy as the first rank on any of the three other Battlefields.
In this fashion players take turns to place ranks behind one of the four Battlefields. When every player has placed 5 ranks (after 5 rounds), deployment ends. Note that battlefields can have any number of ranks (some Battlefields may have no ranks deployed at all). A player is free to deploy any number of his ranks to any one Battlefield.
A player cannot forfeit the deployment of a rank. When it is a players turn, he must place a rank.
Deployment Restrictions
As previously mentioned, ranks must be played one troop card face down and one troop card face up. The following restrictions also apply:
- You can never place the Shaman and the Champion together in one rank.
- You can never place two Archer Troops or two Cavalry Troops together in the same rank.
- Scouts are never played in a rank.
- (Note that you are allowed to place two Grunts together in the same rank).
Hero Cards
Heroes are nifty allies to send into battle, but they'll only fight for you once. After a Battlefield has been resolved, any heroes played may not be played again for the remainder of the game. "Used" Hero cards are placed in front of their owner's screen so that other players can see that this Hero has been used (The abilities of Heroes are explained later).
Example of Struggle and Challenge Resolution
The printed example is a four-panel illustrated sequence. Captions are transcribed in panel order; figure labels are given in italics.
Panel 1. It is a four player game, and a 3/1 Challenge is present at the Urth Valley Battlefield. The Orcs will need at least 12 combined troop Strength here to defeat the Challenge.
After deployment, there are five ranks on this Battlefield. Yellow, Red, and Blue have deployed ranks here, (the Green player did not deploy ranks at this Battlefield). The Red player has the rear rank, and reveals his face down card. He must now decide if that rank should struggle with the Yellow rank ahead.
Panel 2. The Red player decides to Struggle against the Yellow rank ahead. The Yellow defending rank reveals its face down card, and the struggle begins:
First the Red "1" Archer attacks the Yellow "3" Cavalry. Since Cavalry Trumps Archers, the Red Archer has lost and is removed. Now the Red "1" Cavalry attacks the Yellow "1" Archer. Again Cavalry Trumps Archers, the Yellow Archer has lost and is removed.
Since both the attacker and the defender lost units and their ranks are "broken", the two surviving units are pulled slightly aside. They remain in the battle and will help defeat the Battlefield Challenge.
Panel 3. Since the Yellow rank 4 and the Red rank 5 were broken, the Red Warlord now controls the rear rank again (rank 3). He reveals his face down card, and quickly decides to struggle against the Yellow rank ahead (The Yellow Warlord groans loudly).
First the Red Cavalry trumps the Yellow Archer, and the Yellow Archer is removed. Then the Red Grunt "4" beats the Yellow Grunt "3" (because its Troop Strength is higher), and the Yellow Grunt is removed.
After this struggle, the Yellow Warlord pays one Goblin Slave to the Red Warlord because the Red Warlord beat both cards in the Yellow rank.
Figure label: (Yellow Warlord pays one slave to the Red Warlord)
Panel 4. The Red Player now moves his rank 3 up into the rank 2 spot. Since the Red Warlord defeated the entire Yellow rank, and his rank remains unbroken, he may struggle again.
The Red player, however, chooses not to struggle against the Blue rank (rank 1). Finished, the Red rank is placed slightly aside, and the Blue rank 1 is now the rear rank and its face down card is revealed. The Blue rank, however, cannot struggle because it is the first rank on the Battlefield.
Since all struggles are now complete, the Challenge must be resolved. The combined strength of all the Orcs is "14" - sufficient to beat the Challenge! The Red Warlord has the most strength (with 7) and is rewarded the 3 Goblin slaves. The Red player allocates the Secondary prize of 1 Goblin Slave to the Blue Player.
Figure label: (The victorious rank 3 moves up into rank 2 spot.)
The sheet prints the following passage below the example figure with no heading of its own. It is transcribed in printed order.
You must place five ranks every turn as long as you can do so legally. If you are down to two Archers or two Cavalry, you must play a Shaman or Champion with one of the Troops to make it a legal rank. If you have already played your Shaman and Champion, you cannot make a legal rank and your turn is skipped.
When the Divided Forces Event is revealed, we cannot play all of our Troop cards. Do we have to keep placing Troops until all the ranks are filled?
Yes.
Why are there only 3 turns in a 3-player game?
It is an advantage to be the last player to place a rank in a turn. This allows each player to place last during one turn.
What if there are no Challenges left on the Battlefield?
As soon as the last challenge on a Battlefield has been defeated, no more ranks may be placed on this Battlefield.
Where do I keep my Goblin Slaves?
Your Goblin Slaves are kept behind you screen, hidden from the other players.
What if I must pay Goblin Slaves, but I have none left?
Lift your screen to show the other players that you truly have no more Goblin Slaves. The debt is then forgiven.
What happens if two or more Warlords have an even number of troop Strength during Challenge Resolution?
Add the primary and secondary value of the Challenge, and divide this total (round down) among the Warlords who are tied. If the challenge is beaten, each winning Warlord receives this number of Goblin Slaves. If the Challenge is lost, each tied Warlord must pay this number of Goblin Slaves. In the case of a tie, there is no allocation of the secondary value to other Warlords.
Optional Rule
Despite its light-hearted theme, Orcz requires strategic decision making to play well. This can sometimes cause the game to slow down when players take too long considering their moves. Players should get about 15 seconds to place each Troop rank. If a player takes longer, you can challenge him. To issue a challenge, you must recite the following Orcish phrase:
Gnorish vor kladden imtach, hadick vor lotten, ab zamock vor nuamsh!
Roughly translated, it means: You're slow as a dwarf, cowardly as an elf, and clumsy as a human! If the player has not placed his rank by the time you finish saying the phrase, he must do so immediately and discard one Goblin Slave. The phrase is printed on your Player Screen, and you're encouraged to use it liberally if the game starts to slow down...
Example of Rank Placement
Figure labels: Challenge Card; Battlefield; Rank 1 (Face Up Troop Card, Face Down Troop Card); Rank 2 (Face Up Troop Card, Face Down Troop Card); Rank 3 (Face Down Troop Card, Face Up Troop Card); Additional Ranks.
Battlefield with three ranks, the rear rank (rank 3) decides not to struggle and the rank is placed slightly aside. Now rank 2 is the "rear rank." The owner of rank 2 also decides not to struggle, so only rank 1 remains. Since Rank 1 is the first rank, it cannot struggle. All struggles are now resolved for this battlefield, and the players proceed to resolve the Battlefield Challenge.
If the player with the rear rank CHOOSES TO STRUGGLE, his rank attacks the rank directly in front. Struggle is resolved in the following fashion:
The defending player reveals his face-down troop card (so that both the attacking and the defending troop ranks are all face up). Now compare the right (the rear troop card on the right side of the battlefield) attacking troop card with the right defending troop card and resolve the struggle. Then compare the left attacking troop card with the left defending troop card and resolve this struggle.
Resolution of a Struggle:
The rear attacking troop card is compared to the defending troop card directly ahead. Certain troop types automatically trump each other (regardless of the troop strength). Cavalry trumps Archers, Archers trump Grunts, and Grunts trumps Cavalry. Trumps work for both the attacker and the defender. Defeated units are always removed from the Battlefield and placed behind their owner's screen.
Example: A Cavalry Unit is attacking a defending Grunt unit. Since Grunts trump Cavalry, the attacking Cavalry unit is removed (the owner takes his defeated troop card and places it behind his screen).
When two struggling units are of the same type (ie. an Archer attacking another Archer unit) the troop card with the highest Troop strength wins the battle.
Example: An Archer "2" is attacking a defending Archer "1". Since the attacking archer is stronger than the defending archer, the defending archer is removed from the battle (and placed behind its owners screen). If the troops are equally strong, nothing happens! Both troop cards remain in play.
THERE ARE THREE DIFFERENT RESULTS OF A STRUGGLE:
-
The attacking rank defeats BOTH defending troops (both attacking troop cards remain in play). The defending units are removed, and the attacking rank is moved up behind the next rank (if there are more ranks on this Battlefield). This rank remains the rear rank and MAY KEEP ATTACKING the rank ahead (or choose not to struggle again, see above).
-
The attacking rank loses BOTH units, and the defending troops are both intact. The attacking units are removed, and the defending units now form the new rear rank. The owner of the new rear rank now decides whether to struggle or not, etc.
-
Units from BOTH THE ATTACKING AND THE DEFENDING RANKS are defeated. Undefeated units from both sides are placed slightly aside (they will later count towards resolving the Battlefield Challenge). After such units are placed aside, the new rear rank must decide whether to struggle or not, etc.
Example: The rear rank (rank 4) decides to struggle against rank 3. The result of the battle is that one attacking troop and one defending troop are removed, leaving both rank 4 and 3 with "broken" ranks. The two surviving troops from rank 3 and 4 are placed aside. Rank 2 is now the new rear rank and must decide whether to struggle against rank 1.
3. Struggle
Once every player has placed five ranks on the Battlefields, struggles between rival troops and Battlefield Challenges are now resolved for each Battlefield. The struggles and Challenge for a Battlefield must be resolved before resolving another Battlefield. Randomly select a Battlefield, and begin the resolution there:
Struggle?
As the orcs are marching to the battle, their leaders are thinking about all those nice Goblin Slaves. Since Llovar (you know, the Dark Lord) rewards the most Goblin Slaves to the Warlord with the bravest troops, each leader wants his troops to be the dominant ones. Since each Warlord has little respect for the other Warlords, they will often order troops to run down and attack the marching troops ahead.
The Struggle Resolution
Struggles are resolved in the following manner.
Beginning at the rear rank of the Battlefield (i.e., the rank furthest away from the Battlefield), the player who owns the rear rank reveals his one face-down troop card. That player must now decide whether or not his rear rank will struggle with the rank in front or not.
If the player decides NOT to struggle, his rank is moved slightly to the side (these troops will count towards resolving the Battlefield Challenge). Now, the owner of the new rear rank (i.e the one previously in front of the rank that was placed aside) must decide if he wants to struggle with the rank in front of him, etc. This continues until the first rank is reached. The rank directly in front of the battlefield does not have the option to struggle.
Example: On a (the printed example continues under "Example of Rank Placement" above, beginning "Battlefield with three ranks, the rear rank (rank 3) decides not to struggle…").
NOTE: A "broken" rank (with only one troop card) can never choose to struggle, and is always placed slightly aside.
Spoils
After a struggle, if either the defender or the attacker won the struggle (result 1 or 2 above), the defeated player immediately pays to the winner 1 Goblin Slave.
Example: The rear player decides to struggle against the rank ahead. The attacker wins the struggle with both the right and the left card (both defending troop cards are returned to behind their owner's screen). Since his rank was completely defeated, The defender must pay the attacker 1 Goblin Slave.
4. Resolve Battlefield Challenges
Once all struggles between ranks have been resolved on a Battlefield, the remaining Orc troops must confront and defeat the Battlefield Challenge. Each Challenge has two numeric values, one primary (large) and one secondary (small). To defeat the Battlefield Challenge, the troops on that Battlefield must have a combined strength value equal to or exceeding the primary number on the Challenge multiplied by the number of players in the game (regardless of how many players actually have troops on that particular Battlefield). The strength value of all troop cards on the Battlefield that were not removed by struggle count towards the Orcs total strength.
Example: In a four player game, one Battlefield faces a 3/1 Challenge. The remaining Orc Troops on that Battlefield (after all struggles) need a combined Strength of at least 12 (the "3" challenge multiplied by 4 players) to defeat that Challenge.
Defeating the challenge: If the Orcs had sufficient combined Strength to defeat the Challenge, the Orc Warlord with the highest total troop strength remaining on the Battlefield immediately collects a number of Goblin Slaves equal to the primary number of the Challenge. After taking his reward, the winning Warlord must now allocate Goblin Slaves to the other participants of the battle (he may only allocate the reward to players whose troops counted towards defeating the Challenge). The winning Warlord allocates a number of Slaves equal to the secondary number on the defeated Challenge. The allocation may be split among players as the winning Warlord sees fit.
Example: It is a four player game, and three Warlords (Red, Yellow, and Blue) have placed ranks at the Urth Valley (Anvil) Battlefield facing a "4/2" challenge. After struggles, the three players all have troops here for a combined total of 18 Strength (which exceeds the 16 needed to defeat the Challenge). The Red player has the most troop Strength and is rewarded with 4 Goblin Slaves. The Red player must now allocate 2 goblin slaves among the Yellow and Blue players. The Red player decides to give the Blue player both Goblin Slaves (he could instead have given the Yellow and Blue player one Goblin Slave each, or have given both to the Yellow player).
After a Challenge has been defeated, remove the Challenge from the Battlefield, this Challenge is no longer a part of the game. All troops (not Heroes) on the Battlefield are returned behind their respective players' screens.
Losing The Challenge: If the combined troop Strength is LESS than the value needed, the Challenge is lost. The Warlord with the most troop strength must now PAY a number of Goblin Slaves equal to the primary Challenge value (place the Goblin Slaves back in the central pool). Once that Warlord has paid his penalty for losing, he may force another player or a combination of players to pay the secondary value in Goblin Slaves. Note that the losing Warlord is not restricted to players that participated in the specific Challenge, but can pick any player or players to pay the secondary fee.
Example: Let's change the results of the above example. Now the players have struggled more than they should, and the troops of the Yellow player have been completely removed from the Battlefield. This has caused the combined total troop strength to drop to 15. Since the 4/2 challenge requires 16 Strength, the Orcs have been defeated by the Challenge. The Red Warlord still has the most Strength and must pay 4 Goblin Slaves to the central pool. The Red player is grumpy with the Green player for not participating in this Battlefield at all, and so forces the Green player to lose 2 Goblin Slaves.
If a Challenge was not defeated, leave the Challenge on the Battlefield (do not reveal a new Challenge next turn). The next turn, the Orcs may try to defeat this Challenge again.
After resolving the Challenge, all remaining troop cards (not Hero cards) from the Battlefield are returned behind their respective players' screens.
For further understanding, please review the complete illustrated example of a Battlefield struggle and Challenge resolution (on the next page).
Next Battlefield!
Once players have resolved the struggles and Challenge of one Battlefield, randomly determine the next Battlefield. Once all Battlefields are resolved, the turn is over.
Special Cards
Each player has three Hero Cards: the Champion, the Shaman, and the Scout. Each of these has the following special capabilities:
The Champion: When this card is played in a rank (face up or face down), the Orcs will automatically defeat the Battlefield Challenge. However, the player who played the Champion will not necessarily be the dominant Warlord in the attack. Champions do not even have a Strength value to count toward the player's total Strength. A rank with a Champion cannot struggle! If a struggle is declared against a rank with a Champion, it is aborted as soon as the Champion is revealed (assuming that the Champion was face down).
The Shaman: When a Shaman is deployed in a rank, the other card in the same rank has its Strength value doubled this turn. Example: If the Shaman is played with a Strength 3 Cavalry, the Cavalry's Strength is increased to 6.
A rank with a Shaman cannot struggle (No sane Orc will mess with a Shaman!) If a rear rank declares struggle against a rank containing a Shaman, the Shaman is revealed (assuming the Shaman was face down) and the attacking rank skips over the Shaman's rank and must attack the next rank (the rank in front of the Shaman's)—even if those Troops belong to the attacking player himself!
The Scout: This card may be played at any time. It allows the player to secretly look at one of an opponent's face-down troop cards. The observed troop is returned to the table face down, and may not be revealed to the other players. Note that a Scout can never be deployed in a rank.
Remember that after a Hero has been used, he will not help you again. Place "used" Heroes in front of your screen.
Subsequent Turns
The position of first player changes every turn. When the first turn is completed (all Battlefields have been resolved), the player to the left of turn one's first player becomes the new first player. Play then proceeds normally until all four turns (or three in a three-player game) have been completed.
Note that each turn, the Warlord always has his basic 10 troops to play (4 Grunts, 3 Cavalry, and 3 Archers). Even though some units may have been removed from a battle due to a struggle, those units are still available to the Warlord the next turn. Only the Heroes can only be played once.
Events
Every turn during "Reveal Challenges," a random Event card is drawn. This card will have some effect on the gameplay each turn. Included is a small reference sheet that details the effects of the individual Events. Once a turn is over, the Event card is removed from the game.
Victory Conditions
At the end of the fourth turn (or the third turn in a three-player game), the Orcs must have defeated all Challenges in at least three of the four Battlefields. If the Orcs fail to do so, Llovar is overthrown and all the Orc Warlords lose.
If the Orcs have beaten all the Challenges in three or four of the Battlefields, the player with the most Goblin Slaves is the winner.
Summary
Orcs is a game of deduction, bluffing, and strategy. Placing your ranks, deciding which card to deploy face-down, and deciding when to struggle, are the core elements of the game. As much as you want your Warlord to be the strongest on the Battlefield, be careful not to struggle too much against the other Warlords, or the Battlefield Challenge will be lost. Note that it is an advantage to play the very last rank of a turn (that rank cannot be struggled against as there are no ranks behind it).
The summary of the game turn is as follows:
- Reveal Challenges, and draw new Event.
- Deployment. Starting with the first player, players take turns placing one rank behind any of the four Battlefields. This continues until all players have placed 5 ranks.
- Resolution. Resolve all Struggles for one Battlefield, and then resolve that Battlefield's Challenge. After one Battlefield is completed, continue to the next Battlefield until all the Battlefields have been resolved.
- End of Turn. If this is the end of turn 4 (or 3 in a three player game), the game is over. If not, go back to step 1).
Frequently Asked Questions
What if we defeat all Challenges on each Battlefield by the end of the third turn?
The game is over and the player with the most Goblin Slaves is the winner.
I've placed four ranks and the only Troops I have left are two Cavalry. What do I do?
The printed sheet ends with this question; no answer is printed in the source.