Pillars of Heracles Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Quick Start Guide
• Component Overview
  • The Game board (1)
  • First Player marker (1)
  • Player boards (4)
  • City-state tiles (12)
  • Player aids (5)
  • City tiles (20)
  • Track tiles (6)
  • Resource tiles (20)
  • Population tiles (18)
  • Strategy tiles (21)
  • Player pieces (in 4 player colours)
  • Prophecy cards (24)
  • Forbidden Domain cards (2)
  • Scorepad (1)
  • Action cards (100)
  • Mythology cards (54)
  • Mythology tiles (4)
  • Siege tiles (4)
  • Gameplay Mode components (pages 15–31)
• Setup
  • Game Board Setup
  • Player Area Setup
  • Finishing the Game Board Setup
• General Rules
  • Game Objective
  • The Golden Rule
  • City-state Abilities
  • Gaining Strategy Tiles
  • Forbidden Domains
  • Power
  • Control
  • Progressing on Tracks
  • Exploring Land Spaces
  • Gaining Cities
  • Spending Resources
• Gameplay Overview
  • Status Check
  • Advance Turn
  • Free Actions
  • Replenish Turn
  • Movement
  • Rondel Actions
  • Population Tile Rewards
• Game End
• Appendix 1 — Prophecy Cards
• Appendix 2 — Strategy Tiles
• Appendix 3 — Lexicon
• Appendix 4 — Gameplay Modes
  • Standard Game
  • Tutorial Game
  • Short Game
  • Barbarian Hordes
  • Symmachia
  • Atlantis
  • Skirmish Mode
  • Legendary Heroes
• Basic Strategy Tips
• Special Gameplay Mode: The Siege of Destiny
  • Setup
  • Rules
• Solo Mode
  • Prologue: Dawn of Freedom
  • Setup
  • General Rules
  • Track Rewards
  • Improved Action Reminder tiles
• Solo Play Combat Rules
• Gameplay
  • 1. Status Check
  • 2. Reveal a card/Replenish and end turn
  • 3. Advance on the Rondel
  • 4. Perform the Rondel action
• Rondel Actions
• Game End
• Card Ability Appendix

Quick Start Guide

Welcome to the exciting world of Pillars of Heracles!

Here are a few points to get you started:

1. Component Overview: Familiarise yourself with the game components to the right to understand the tools at your disposal.
2. Game Flow: Read the top-left section of page 8 to grasp the basic sequence of play.
3. For first time players, we suggest using either the Tutorial Mode, which is the shortest version of the game, or the Short Game. See page 15 for instructions.
4. Basic Strategy: Check out basic strategies on page 17 to help you during gameplay.
5. How-to-play Video Guide: You can watch our official how-to-play video at apeiron.games/pillars.

Component Overview

The Game board (1)

The Game board has 2 sides:

• The Mediterranean side, showing the Mediterranean Sea.
• The Aegean side, showing the Aegean Sea.

Each side of the Game board consists of spaces and Regions.

• A space is a territory on the map of the Game board defined by white borders; either a Land space (belonging to a Region), or a Sea space.
• A Region consists of 3 Land spaces indicated with the same border colour on the Game board.

On the Aegean side of the Game board, although spaces of the Kyklades region show islands in the sea, they are still only considered to be Land spaces.

The Rondel

The lower-left corner of the Game board features a Rondel, a circular action selection wheel. You can advance on the Rondel and select an action from it by playing an Action card from your hand.

First Player marker (1)

Player boards (4)

Your Player board represents the city-state you lead. It holds your City-state tile. During the game, you will be placing your Pillars, Units, and Buildings from your Player board to the Game board.

City-state tiles (12)

Each City-state tile has a unique ability. Each side of a City-state tile corresponds to a side of the Game board, as indicated in its lower-right section.

Player aids (5)

City tiles (20)

There are the following types of City:

• 4 Starting City tiles (1 in each player colour)
• 16 Common City tiles

Track tiles (6)

At the start of the game, one Track tile will be randomly assigned to each Region. Each track is associated with one type of Resource (as shown in its leftmost space), and the Titan track is considered Wild.

• Civilisation (Marble)
• Mercenary (Gold)
• Navigation (Wood)
• Olympian (Wine)
• Military (Iron)
• Titan (Wild)

Resource tiles (20)

There are five Resources in the game: Wine, Marble, Gold, Iron, Wood.

Starting Resource tiles have this symbol on the reverse.

Population tiles (18)

Population tiles represent the local population. These include Barbarian camps (with the grey border).

Strategy tiles (21)

These tiles provide permanent abilities during the game. There are 3 types of Strategy tile, each with a different icon on its reverse.

Player pieces (in 4 player colours)

• Buildings: Pillars (28), Citadels (8), Agoras (8), Temples (8)
• Units: Hoplites (24) Land Unit, Workers (12) Land Unit, Ships (12) Sea Unit
• Player markers (56)

Prophecy cards (24)

Prophecies represent quests given by the Greek gods. They are categorised into Eras I, II, and III, as shown on their reverse.

Example of an Era I Prophecy card.

Forbidden Domain cards (2)

Scorepad (1)

Action cards (100)

Each player has their own deck of Action cards, initially comprising their 10 Starting cards, with more Action cards able to be acquired from the Procurement Area (on the left side of the Game board).

Each Action card has a Power (indicated by a number in the middle of the card), and one or more Resources (indicated in the upper left corner of the card). Where a "/" is shown between two Resources, this indicates that only one of those two Resources may be used.

There are 4 types of Action cards:

• Starting (40) — 10 in each player colour
• Character (42)
• Monument (14)
• Kingdom of Egypt (4) — Used with Memphis City-state only

Each Character and Monument card has an ability written on it. When you play such a card during an Advance Turn (see page 8), you may use the ability of that card.

Mythology cards (54)

As opposed to Action cards, Mythology cards do not become part of players' decks, rather they are placed above their Player boards in the indicated slots. Some cards have accompanying tiles (see 'Mythology tiles' below). Mythology cards may be used during a Free Action (see page 8).

There are 3 types of Mythology cards, each with a different icon on its reverse:

• Demigod cards (22)
• Titan cards (16)
• Olympian cards (16)

Mythology tiles (4)

Siege tiles (4)

Gameplay Mode components (pages 15–31)

The remaining components are only used in certain gameplay modes.

• Barbarian tiles (12)
• Atlantis tile (1)
• Skirmish tiles (4)
• Hero tiles (10)
• Hero Unit standees (10)
• Standee bases (4)
• Odysseus tokens (6)
• Siege of Destiny Character cards (5)
• Siege of Destiny Monument card (1)
• Time markers (9)
• General Solo Player aid (1)
• City-state Solo Player aids (9)
• Improved Action Reminder tiles (5)

Setup

Game Board Setup

1. Select a side of the Game board: Mediterranean or Aegean, and place that side face up in the middle of the play area.
2. Separate the Mythology cards by type: create separate face-down decks for Demigods, Olympians, and Titans, shuffle each deck separately, then place them on the appropriate spaces (with matching icons).
3. When playing with fewer than 3 players, first remove any Character cards showing the 3-player icon. Then, shuffle the Monument cards and separate them into 3 face-down decks as evenly as possible on the top 3 slots of the Procurement Area (on the left edge of the Game board). Shuffle the Character cards, and separate them into 3 face-down decks as evenly as possible on the bottom 3 slots of the Procurement Area. Then, flip the top card from each of these decks face up.
4. Shuffle the Track tiles, and place one at random face up on the designated spot in each Region.
5. Place a Common City tile on step 3 and step 5 of each track, and a number of Common City tiles equal to the number of players on the space below the "Build" section of the Rondel. Remove any unused Common City tiles from the game.
6. Separate the Strategy tiles by type based on the icons on their backs. Shuffle each type separately and split into two face-down stacks of 3 tiles, placed on the spaces alongside the corresponding icon on the left side of the Game board. Then, flip the top tile from each stack face up.
7. Place the Mythology tiles next to the Game board.

Player Area Setup

8. Each player chooses a colour and takes all of the components in their colour: 1 Player board, 1 Starting City tile, 12 Units, 6 Buildings, 7 Pillars, 14 Player markers, 1 Siege tile, and 10 Starting Action cards. Remove all components of any unused player colours from the game.

   Each player places:

   • 6 of their Units in the upper-left area of their Player board ("Deploy") (from left to right: a Ship, a Worker, and a Hoplite in each row);
   • Their 6 Buildings in the lower-left area of their Player board ("Build") (from left to right: a Temple, an Agora, and a Citadel in each row); and
   • 6 of their Pillars in the lower-right area of their Player board ("Settle").

9. Select a first player, and give that player the First Player marker.

10. Shuffle the City-state tiles, then randomly draw a number of tiles equal to the number of players plus 1 and place them in a row, with their sides corresponding to the chosen side of the Game board face up. In case any of the drawn City-states have starting spaces in the same Region, keep drawing until you get City-states that have starting spaces in different Regions. Then shuffle the Starting Resource tiles, and place 1 at random below each drawn City-state tile.

11. In reverse turn order (starting with the player to the right of the player with the First Player marker and proceeding anticlockwise), each player selects a City-state tile and the Starting Resource tile below it, placing the City-state tile in the upper-right section of their Player board. Remove all unused City-state tiles and Starting Resource tiles (including the ones drawn but not selected by any player) from the game. If any player selected Memphis as their City-state, place the 4 Kingdom of Egypt Action cards face up next to the Game board; otherwise remove them from the game.

12. In reverse turn order, each player places 1 Hoplite, their 1 remaining Worker, their 1 remaining Pillar, their Starting City tile, and their Starting Resource tile face up on the starting Land space indicated on their City-state tile, as well as their 1 remaining Ship on an adjacent Sea space.

13. Each player places one of their Player markers on each of the "0" steps of the Military, Mercenary, Navigation, Civilisation, Olympian, and Titan tracks, then, in turn order, and .

Finishing the Game Board Setup

15. Each player shuffles their 10 Starting Action cards, places them in a face-down deck to the left side of their Player board, and draws the following number of cards into their hand: first player: 5 cards; second player: 6 cards; third player: 6 cards; fourth player: 7 cards.

16. Each player places one of their Player markers on the "Ascend" section of the Rondel (the action selection wheel at the bottom left corner of the Game board), leaving their remaining 7 Player markers next to their Player board.

17. When playing with fewer than 4 players, not all Regions of the Game board will be in play and they will need to be 'blocked'. To block a Region, place a Forbidden Domain card in the Region's card space. For a 3-player game, block 1 Region, or for a 2-player game block 2 Regions, selecting from the Regions that do not contain any player's Starting City.

    Do this in the following order of preference:

    • Mediterranean: Lybie → Iberia → Aigyptos → Anatole
    • Aegean: Iona → Makedonia → Peloponnesos → Lydia

    In a 4-player game, no Regions are blocked. Remove any unused Forbidden Domain cards from the game.

18. Sort Prophecy cards by Eras (I, II, and III) using the numbers on their backs and shuffle each set separately. For each Region (except blocked Regions, if any), place one card from each Era face down in its card space in the following order: Era III on the bottom, Era II in the middle, and Era I on top. Then flip the top Prophecy card (Era I) in each Region face up. Remove the unused Prophecy cards, unseen, from the game.

19. Separate the Population tiles by type based on the icons on their backs (Helmet, Cornucopia, and Eagle). Shuffle each type and, in each Land space that does not contain a Starting City (except those in blocked Regions, if any), place a face-down Population tile of the corresponding type, as indicated by the symbols in the Land spaces. Remove any unused Population tiles from the game.

20. Shuffle the Resource tiles and place one at random face down on each Land space that does not yet have a Resource tile (except those in blocked Regions, if any).

General Rules

Game Objective

The objective of the game is to become the most glorious City-state of them all!

You can gain Glory in the game by Controlling Cities and Regions, Building Monuments and Fulfilling Prophecies (see page 13 for details). The game end triggers when players have collectively reached the end of a number of Region tracks equal to the number of players, when a player Controls 6 Cities, or when 3 Era III Prophecy cards have been removed from the Game board.

THE PLAYER WITH THE MOST GLORY WINS THE GAME.

The Golden Rule

Should a card or tile effect contradict the general game rules, always prioritise and adhere to the specific instructions of that card or tile.

City-state Abilities

Each City-state tile has a unique ability described on it. You may use the ability of your City-state tile whenever it applies during the game.

Gaining Strategy Tiles

You may gain Strategy tiles during the game, typically as bonuses for emptying rows in the Deploy, Build, and Settle sections of your player board. When you gain one, place it on an empty row of your Player board. If you do not have sufficient empty space when you would gain a Strategy tile, gain nothing instead. You cannot rearrange your tiles on your Player board at any time.

After gaining a Strategy tile, flip the next tile in its stack (if any) face up. Strategy tiles on your Player board grant you ongoing abilities (see Appendix 2 for details).

Forbidden Domains

When playing with fewer than 4 players, 1 or 2 Regions will be blocked during setup. These are Forbidden Domains, as indicated by the Forbidden Domain cards placed in them, and with the exception of the Region tracks (all of which are used at all player counts) they are not used during the game. Forbidden Domains do not contain Prophecy cards, Population tiles, or Resource tiles, and Land spaces of Forbidden Domains as well as any Ports corresponding to them cannot be moved into or interacted with in any way.

Power

Power is a fundamental concept in the game, representing your influence in various parts of the Game board. Each of your Units, Buildings, Pillars, and Cities contributes a certain amount of Power, as detailed below:

• Each of your Workers, Agoras, Temples, Pillars, and Cities contributes 1 Power to your total on the Land space they occupy.
• Each of your Ships provides 1 Power on the Sea space they occupy and also to one adjacent Land space of your choice (they cannot extend your Power to adjacent Sea spaces).
  • If occupying a Port, a Ship instead provides 2 Power to the corresponding Land space.
• Each of your Hoplites contributes 2 Power to your total on the Land space they occupy.
• Each of your Citadels provides 3 Power on the Land space they occupy.

Your overall Power in a Region is the sum of the Power granted by your Units, Buildings, Pillars, and Cities in that Region.

When Power is assigned to a certain Land space of your choice, that choice only applies during the turn in which that choice is made. In later turns, you may change that choice, whenever Power is counted.

Each Action card has a Power indicated in the middle of the card. Power is used primarily to advance on the Rondel during your Advance Turn (see page 8).

The Power of the card can also be used for Tactical Card Support during Sieges (see page 8) and in Skirmish Mode (see Appendix 4).

Control

• You Control a space if you have more Power in the space than any other player and your Power exceeds the sum of any Population tiles in the space.
• You Control a Region if you have more Power in the Region than any other player and your Power exceeds the sum of any Population tiles in the Region. Any Population tiles still in the Region must be face-up in order to evaluate this; consequently, no one controls a Region if there still are any face-down Population tiles in it.
• You Control a City if you have your Player marker on it, or if it is your Starting City and no other player's marker is on it.
• In case of ties for Power, the tied player whose Player marker has progressed furthest on the corresponding Region track Controls the space/Region. Where more than one Player marker is on the same track step, markers higher in a stack are considered ahead of any markers underneath them. In case the Player markers of the tied players are on the '0' step of the Region's track, the tie is undecided, and no one is considered to be Controlling the space/Region.

Progressing on Tracks

You can progress on the Region tracks primarily during the Status Check (see page 8), and the Ascend action (see page 12). Certain cards and tiles may also give you track progression opportunities.

Whenever you progress on a track, place your Player marker on top of any other Player marker on the same step, and gain the reward indicated above that step of the track on the Track tile (see below).

Track Rewards and Abilities

• Take a Character/Monument card from the Procurement Area into your hand for free. Then flip the top card of the deck you took the top card from face up.
• If there is still a Common City tile on this step, you may gain it for free (see right for details).

Civilisation Track

• From now on, your Replenish Size is 5/6/7.
• From now on, you may, optionally, move your marker 1 additional/1 fewer (to a minimum of 1) space when advancing on the Rondel during an Advance Turn (see page 8).

Navigation Track

• From now on, during your turn, you have 2/3/4 Movements before or after each of your Procure/Deploy/Build/Settle actions.

Military Track

• From now on, each of your Pillars/Hoplites/Workers/Ships contributes 1 extra Power. (A Ship in a Sea space contributes 1 extra Power to both its Sea space and an adjacent Land space. A Ship in a Port contributes 1 extra Power to its corresponding Land space only.)

Mercenary Track

• By spending an extra Iron (in addition to any cost for progressing on this track), or for no additional cost (on step 4, where no Iron cost is indicated), you may take one of your Hoplites from beside the board next to the Mercenary track, and place it in any Land space containing one of your Cities. Note that this is not considered a 'Deploy' action. This must be done immediately after progressing to the corresponding step, otherwise the opportunity is lost.

Olympian/Titan Track

• Draw 2 cards from the Demigod/Olympian/Titan deck, keep one, placing it face up in any empty Mythology card slot above your Player board, and discard the other face down to the bottom of its deck. If you have no free slot, you may choose to discard any of your Mythology cards to free up a slot. Alternatively, you may draw no Mythology cards and Energise one of your existing Mythology cards for free instead.

Exploring Land Spaces

When any pieces are moved or otherwise placed in a Land space with any face-down Resource and/or Population tiles, those spaces are explored. Reveal those tiles by flipping them face up. This typically happens during Movement of Land Units (see page 9), but can also occur as a result of certain card effects.

Gaining Cities

Each player starts the game with their own Starting City. Further City tiles can be gained in different ways during the course of the game, as detailed below.

Limit: There may be only 1 City tile in each Land space.

• Evaluating Regions: When a player first progresses to step 3 of a Region track, after the track reward is awarded (see left), the player who has the most Power in that Region gains the Common City tile on this step and must immediately place it in the Region, in a Land space that does not yet contain a City, then place one of their Player markers on it. In case of ties for Power, the tied player whose Player marker has progressed furthest on the Region's track gains the tile (where more than one Player marker is on the same track step, markers higher in a stack are considered ahead of any markers underneath them). If that player is not able to place the City tile in the Region (including if the Region is a Forbidden Domain), they must instead place it in a suitable space in a different Region. If that player cannot place the City in any Region (or in case of a tie for Power where all tied Players are on the '0' step of the Region's track), the Common City tile on step 3 of the track is not awarded to any player and instead is placed on the space below the "Build" section of the Rondel.
• Reaching the end of a track: When you progress to step 5 of a Region track, if there is still a Common City tile there you gain it for free as the track reward (see left). Place it in any Land space that does not yet contain a City, then place one of your Player markers on it. In the rare case that you cannot place a Common City tile you have gained from progressing to step 5 of a track, set it aside next to your Player board, and you may place it at any time when you can during your turn.
• Building Cities: Common City tiles can also be gained through the 'Build' action (see page 10 for details).
• Siege: You may gain Control of a City from another player via a Siege (see page 8).

Note: The number of Cities you can Control is not limited; if you gain a City but do not have enough Player markers available, use a suitable substitute to indicate your Control.

Spending Resources

There are five Resources in the game: Wine, Marble, Gold, Iron, and Wood.

Whenever you need to spend a Resource, discard an Action card showing the corresponding Resource from your hand and/or deplete a matching Resource tile in the same space as one of your Pillars by moving your Pillar onto it, provided that there is no Pillar already there. The Resource indicated on an Action card played at the start of an Advance Turn cannot be used. A card showing 2 Resources may be discarded in order to use spend one or both of its Resources; you may use each at different times during the same turn (but cannot spend one and save the other for a future turn).

Trading: To acquire a specific Resource, you can exchange a Resource you possess in a 2:1 ratio (that is, 2 of the same Resource for 1 of another type).

Resources acquired from Trading must be spent immediately. You cannot use a Resource you gained from Trading in a subsequent Trade.

• Resource tile: Each Resource tile can be occupied by 1 Pillar at a time.

Gameplay Overview

Starting with the player holding the First Player marker, players take turns in clockwise order. The game continues until the end of the game is triggered (see page 13).

On your turn, you must perform a Status Check, then either: A) an Advance Turn, or B) a Replenish Turn.

Additionally, at any time during your turn, you may perform any number of Free Actions, which can be: A) Invoking a Mythology card, B) Placing a Siege tile, or C) Fulfilling a Prophecy. In addition, on another player's turn you may Invoke one Mythology card.

Status Check

This is where you'll assess your progress toward different area-based objectives and claim the rewards you've earned.

At the beginning of your turn, if your Siege tile is on the Game board, resolve a Siege as follows:

A. Siege: You may boost your Power for the Siege with Tactical Card Support (see below). If, after Tactical Card Support, you Control the space containing your Siege tile and it also contains a Pillar belonging to, and/or a City that is Controlled by, another player (except if it is their only City), you win the Siege and may either: remove the other player's Pillar (returning it to their Player board, and optionally replacing it with one of your own); or remove the other player's marker (if any) from the City, and place your own Player marker on it (or, in the case of your own Starting City, leave it without a marker). In any case, remove your Siege tile. Then skip the remaining steps of the Status Check.

Tactical Card Support

Starting with the player initiating the Siege, each participating player may place face down 1 card from their hand for each Hoplite and each Citadel they have in the space. Reveal all placed cards simultaneously; their Power is added to the corresponding player's overall Power in the space, then all such cards are discarded. After resolving the Siege, if the losing player used any cards for Tactical Card Support, they redraw the same number of cards into their hand.

Otherwise, perform the following:

B. Domination: For each Region, if you Control a Land space where another player has a Pillar, Building, or City, you may progress on the Region's track.

C. Consolidation: For each Land space icon, if you control at least 3 Land spaces with the same icon printed on them, you may progress 1 step on one of the two tracks with the corresponding icon.

You may progress at most once on each Region track during a Status Check, and never beyond step 4.

Advance Turn

Play an Action card from your hand, placing it on your discard pile.

Advance your Player marker clockwise on the Rondel exactly as many spaces as the Power of the card you just played (or, if you have progressed to step 1 or 3 of the Civilisation track, optionally 1 more or fewer, respectively; see track rewards on page 7). Any other players already having markers in the space you move to may each immediately draw one Action card from their draw pile.

Then, you may perform the following optional actions up to once each, in any order:

A. Use the ability of the card you played for this Advance Turn (if it has one).

B. Movement: If your Player marker is now on the Procure, Deploy, Build, or Settle section of the Rondel, you may move your Units (as detailed on page 9).

C. Rondel action: Perform the action of the section of the Rondel where your marker now is.

Before, after, and in between these actions, you may perform any number of Free Actions.

Free Actions

To perform a Free Action, you may:

A) Use the ability of a Mythology card by Invoking it, B) Place a Siege tile, or C) Fulfil a Prophecy.

You may perform any number of Free Actions during your turn, and you may Invoke at most one Mythology card during another player's turn, and only before, between, or after any of their main actions or steps: (Advance Turn: (a) playing a card and advancing on the Rondel, (b) using the card's ability, (c) Movement, and (d) Rondel action; or Replenish Turn: (a) replenishing hand, (b) replenishing Pillars, and (c) Energising Mythology cards).

If multiple players wish to Invoke a Mythology card at the same time, they may do so starting with the active player, then going in clockwise order.

A. Invoke a Mythology card: You may Invoke an Energised Mythology card placed above your Player board by using its ability and turning it sideways. Unless otherwise specified, a Mythology card can be used at any time, even on another player's turn.

While a Mythology card is turned sideways, it is 'Invoked'. In its normal (upright) state, it is 'Energised'.

B. Place your Siege tile: If it is not already on the Game board, you may place your Siege tile in a space you Control that contains at least one of your Land Units and a Pillar belonging to, or a City that is Controlled by, another player (except if it is their only City).

C. Fulfil a Prophecy: To Fulfil a Prophecy, you must have accomplished the quest indicated on it within its Region (see description of Prophecy card icons in Appendix 1). Take the Prophecy card, and store it face up below your Player board. Immediately flip the next Prophecy card (if any) in that Region face up. You may only Fulfil a Prophecy at the end of your turn, and may Fulfil at most 1 Prophecy per turn.

Replenish Turn

1. Replenish your hand: You may discard any cards from your hand, and draw back to your Replenish Size (which is 5 by default, but is increased by 1 for every 2 steps on the Civilisation track).
   • Drawing cards: Whenever you would need to draw an Action card from your deck but your draw pile is depleted, shuffle your discarded cards (including any recently played or discarded cards) to form a new draw pile.
2. Replenish Pillars: Remove all of your Pillars from Resource tiles (keep them in the same spaces, just placed beside the Resource tiles instead of on top of them).
3. You may Energise any number of your Invoked Mythology cards by spending the amount of Wine indicated on them to turn them upright.

Before, after, and in between these actions, you may perform any number of Free Actions.

Movement

Either before or after you perform a Procure, Deploy, Build, or Settle Rondel action (whether you chose to take that action or not), you may perform up to as many Movements according to your position on the Navigation track (as indicated by the arrows: 2 Movement from the start of the game, increasing to 3 or 4 Movement if you have progressed to at least step 2 or step 4 on the track respectively; certain cards and tiles may also grant additional movements). To perform a Movement, move one of your Units to an adjacent space or Port, subject to the following rules:

• Ships may only move between Sea spaces or between Sea spaces and Ports.
  • On the Mediterranean side of the game board, the Black Sea and Fortunate Isles spaces are considered adjacent for the purposes of Movement, as indicated by the whirlwind symbols in those spaces.
• Land Units may move between adjacent Land spaces and/or Sea spaces containing your Ships, provided they end their movements in Land spaces. It costs:
  • 0 Movement to move a Land Unit to an adjacent Sea space containing one of your Ships (whether from a Land space or a Sea space containing another of your Ships); and
  • 1 Movement to move a Land Unit to an adjacent Land space (whether from another Land space or a Sea space containing one of your Ships).
  • That is, your Land Units may use your Ships as steps between Land spaces for free, but cannot stop moving on Ships.
• Land spaces connected by bridges depicted on the Game board are considered adjacent for the purposes of Land Unit Movement.
• Moving a Ship from a Sea space to an adjacent Port, or from a Port to an adjacent Sea space requires 1 Movement.
• Port occupancy: Each Port can be occupied by 1 Ship at a time.
• You may move the same Unit multiple times in a turn.

Reminder: When you move one of your Land Units into a Land space, that space is considered explored: reveal any face-down Resource and Population tiles in it by flipping them face up.

Example: The red player, having 2 Movements, first moves their Ship (which costs 1 Movement), then moves their Hoplite from Trinakria via the Ship (costing 0 Movement) and on to Kyrene (costing another 1 Movement). Kyrene is now explored, so they also reveal the tiles there.

Rondel Actions

Procure

The Procure action allows you to gain new, more powerful Action cards (either Monument cards or Character cards) from the Procurement Area (on the left side of the Game board).

When you perform this action, you may Procure one or more face-up cards from the Procurement Area by spending the specific Resource(s) depicted on the card(s) to be Procured. Where a card has a "/" between two Resources, choose only one of those Resources to pay.

• Exile: For each Character card you Procure, you may optionally Exile a card from your hand or discard pile by removing it from the game.
• Procuring a Monument: The top 3 slots of the Procurement Area contain Monument cards. To acquire a Monument, you must spend 1 Wood or 1 Marble in addition to the specific Resources depicted on the Monument card.

Once you have paid the Resource costs and stopped Procuring cards, take the Procured card(s) into your hand, and reveal the new top cards of any Procurement decks you Procured cards from (if there are no cards left in a deck, take a face-down card of the same type from one of the other stacks).

Example: The green player performs their Procure action, choosing to Procure 2 cards. To Procure the Oracle (a Character card), the green player discards a Merchant card from their hand to spend its Gold Resource, and then exiles the same Merchant card. To Procure the Theatre (a Monument card), the green player spends an Iron by depleting the Resource with their Pillar in Massalia, Trades 2 Wood for a Wine, and spends another Marble card from their hand (for the additional Monument cost). Then the green player takes the Procured Oracle and Theatre cards into their hand, and reveals 2 new Action cards from the respective decks.

Deploy

The Deploy action allows you to place Units on the Game board, thereby increasing your strategic choices for Settling, Building, and Movement.

When you perform this action, place one or more of your Units from your Player board onto the Game board by spending the Resources shown on your Player board below the Units you are Deploying.

You may Deploy a Hoplite to any space where you have a City or Citadel. You may Deploy a Worker to any space where you have a City or Agora. You may Deploy a Ship to a Sea space adjacent to, or Port corresponding to, a space where you have a City or Temple.

Note: Your Player board acts as a reminder, since each type of Unit shares a column with the type of Building that may be used to Deploy it.

• Strategy tile bonus: Whenever you empty a row in the Deploy section of your Player board by having Deployed all of your Units from there, take a face-up Helmet Strategy tile (as depicted in the Deploy section of your Player board) from the spaces on the left side of the Game board.

Example: The blue player Deploys a Worker to Ituke (in the Land space with their Agora), discarding Action cards depicting Gold and Wine, and also Deploys a Ship to the Sea space adjacent to Leptis Magna where the blue player has a City, discarding an Action card with a Wood Resource from their hand and depleting an Iron Resource in Leptis Magna by placing their Pillar on it.

Build

The Build action allows you to construct one or more Buildings and/or Cities on the Game board.

• Build a Building: Take one Building from your Player board and place it onto the Game board (by spending the Resources shown below that Building on your Player board). You may Build each Building on a Land space where you have at least one Worker, provided you have no other Building in that Land space, there is no other Building of the same type in that Land space. If you do not have any Buildings of any type on your Player board, you may instead move one of your Buildings already placed on the Game board to the space where you chose to Build by spending the Resources shown below that Building type's space in the top row of the Build section of your Player board.

Note: You don't need to Control a Land space to Build a Building or a City, or have a City in a space to Build a Building there.

• Special abilities of Buildings:
  • A Citadel provides 3 Power for all game purposes within its Land space. You may Deploy your Hoplites in its space.
  • An Agora provides a discount of 1 Resource of the type on its Land space for each track progress made through your Ascend actions (see page 12). You may Deploy your Workers in its space.
  • A Temple allows you to have one more Mythology card above your Player board. By default, you may have 1 Mythology card above your Player board, plus 1 additional card per Temple you have Built, for a maximum of 3 Mythology cards. You may Deploy your Ships on Sea spaces adjacent to, or Ports corresponding to, a space containing one of your Temples.
    • Strategy tile bonus: Whenever you empty a row in the Build section of your Player board by having Built all of your Buildings from there, take a face-up Eagle Strategy tile (as depicted in the Build section of your Player board) from the spaces on the left side of the Game board.
• Build a City: You may spend 1 Wine, 1 Marble, 1 Gold, and 1 Iron to build a City, by taking an available Common City tile next to the "Build" section of the Rondel, and placing it on a Land space containing at least one of your Workers and no other City. To indicate that you Control this City, place one of your Player markers on it.

Example: The blue player performs their Build action. To Build a Citadel in Attika, the blue player discards 2 Action cards from their hand containing Wood and Marble Resources.

Settle

The Settle action allows you to remove Population tiles and place Pillars on the Game board. When you perform this action, you may Settle one or more Land spaces you Control (i.e. you have more Power in the space than any other player and your Power exceeds the sum of any Population tiles in the space).

• When you Settle a space, you must remove any Population tiles from that space. For each tile removed, take the reward shown on it (see the box, right) and then discard it, unless it shows a Wild Resource icon in which case place it next to your Player board.

Immediately after you Settle a space, if there is no Pillar already there, you may place one of your Pillars from the "Settle" area of your Player board on that space. If you do not have any available Pillars on your Player board, you may instead move one of your Pillars already placed on the Game board to the new space.

• Strategy tile bonus: Whenever you empty a row in the Settle section of your Player board by having placed all of your Pillars from there to the Game board, take a face-up Cornucopia Strategy tile (as depicted in the Settle section of your Player board) from the spaces on the left side of the Game board.

Example: The green player performs their Settle action. They Settle Naxos, where their overall Power is 6 (1 Hoplite, 1 Worker, 1 Ship in a Port, and 1 Ship in an adjacent Sea space), whereas the power of the Population tile is 5.

They remove the Population tile, which shows a Barbarian camp, therefore the green player advances on the Region's track and gains the corresponding reward. The green player then places a Pillar from their Player board onto Naxos.

Population Tile Rewards

• Place this Population tile next to your Player board. When spending Resources, you may discard this tile in place of spending a single Resource of any type.
• Draw 2 cards from the Demigod/Titan/Olympian deck, keep one, placing it face up in any empty Mythology card slot above your Player board, and discard the other face down to the bottom of its deck. If you have no free slot, you may choose to discard any of your Mythology cards to free up a slot. Alternatively, you may draw no Mythology cards and Energise one of your existing Mythology cards for free instead.
• Take a Character/Monument card from the Procurement Area into your hand for free at the end of your action during which you gained this card. When taking a Character card, you may also optionally Exile a card from your hand or discard pile by removing it from the game. Then flip the top card of the deck you took from face up.
• For defeating a Barbarian camp, progress on the corresponding Region track.

Ascend

The Ascend action allows you to progress on the Region tracks by spending Resources, and potentially gain powerful upgrades including Cities, Mythology cards, and Action cards, as well as passive abilities.

In order to progress to the next step on a track, spend the type of Resource indicated on the corresponding Track tile and as many Resources as the number on the step you are progressing to, or Exile 3 Character cards from your hand. In case of the Titan Track, you may spend any type of Resource, but all must be of the same type during the same Ascend action.

You may progress on multiple tracks, and multiple steps on each track, during an Ascend action.

After you have finished, gain the track rewards of any steps you progressed to during this Ascend action (see page 7 for track rewards). If you progressed more than 1 step on the same track, gain rewards for all such steps.

Reminder: an Agora provides a discount of 1 Resource of the type on its Land space for each track step of your Ascend action. This discount applies whether or not the Resource tile in the space has been depleted by a Pillar. You can use Agoras to progress on the Titan track; just remember that Resources used to progress on the Titan track during a given Ascend action must still be of the same type as each other.

After an Ascend Rondel action, either:

A. Replenish your hand, or

B. Replenish Pillars and optionally Energise any number of your Invoked Mythology cards by spending the amount of Wine indicated on them to turn them upright.

(This does not apply to other means of track progression opportunities, such as respective card or tile abilities.)

Example: The yellow player performs their Ascend action. At the beginning of their turn, the yellow player has markers on step 1 on the Military Track and the Civilisation track, step 2 on the Titan track, and step 0 on the Olympian track, Navigation track and Mercenary track.

To progress to step 2 on the Military track, they discard an Action card containing an Iron Resource from their hand, and deplete an Iron Resource by placing their Pillar on it.

To progress to step 3 on the Titan track, they discard an Action card with a double Gold Resource from their hand, and Trade 2 Marble cards from their hand for 1 Gold. Given that the yellow player has reached a step on the Titan track containing a Common City tile, the Region associated with the Titan track is now evaluated (see Gaining Cities on page 7).

Finally, to progress to step 2 on the Navigation track requires 3 Wood (1 Wood to progress to step 1, plus a further 2 to progress to step 2). Since they have an Agora on a space containing a Wood Resource tile, they can use the Agora discount once for each step, and discard an Action card with a Wood Resource for the third. They also have a Pillar on the same space as the Agora, but since it is already on top of the Resource tile (having been used to deplete the Resource tile during a previous turn), they cannot deplete it again until the Pillar has been replenished.

At the end of their turn, they gain a Character card from the Procurement Area as the reward for progressing to step 2 on the Navigation track during this turn.

Game End

The game end is triggered when:

A. A player, at any time during their turn, Controls 6 Cities; or

B. When players have collectively reached the end of a number of Region tracks equal to the number of players (being any of the Military, Mercenary, Civilisation, Navigation, Titan, or Olympian tracks); or

C. When 3 Era III Prophecy cards have been removed from the Game board (whether by being Fulfilled or otherwise).

Once the game end has been triggered, finish the current round, and then play one more final round, so that each player has had an equal number of turns. (For example, if the player with the First Player marker triggered the end of the game this way, all other players will have one more turn to complete the current round, and then all players, including the first player, will have one final turn.)

The player accumulating the most Glory emerges victorious!

To determine the winner, tally up the Glory you've earned throughout the game from Fulfilled Prophecy cards and Monument cards.

• 1 Glory, 2 Glory, 3 Glory (as indicated on Prophecy and Monument cards)

Then, award Glory based on Control at the end of the game:

Earn 3 Glory for each City you Control. Earn 3 Glory for each Region you Control (see below).

Regions are evaluated starting with the top left one and going in clockwise order.

Before determining Control over a Region:

Starting with the player with the First Player marker and continuing in clockwise order, each player may take one of their Ships from an adjacent Sea space and place it in one of the Region's Land spaces, to indicate to which Land space that Ship is contributing 1 Power. Ships in Ports are unaffected and remain where they are, contributing 2 Power to their corresponding Land space as normal.

Reminder: When players are tied for Power within a Region, the tied player whose marker has progressed furthest on that Region's track (or highest in a stack where markers share the same track step) Controls the Region.

If players are tied for the highest total Glory, the player who has progressed the most across all Region tracks combined is declared the winner.

If still tied, the tied players rejoice in a shared victory!

Appendix 1 — Prophecy Cards

Prophecy card icons indicate the quest that must be accomplished within its Region in order to Fulfil that card:

• Have at least the indicated number of Pillars in the Region.
• Have a Citadel/Agora/Temple in the Region.
• Have at least the indicated number of Buildings of any type in the Region.
• Have at least the indicated number of Workers/Hoplites in the Region.
• Have at least the indicated number of Ships at Ports corresponding to the Region.
• Have a Pillar in a Land space in this Region where you don't have a City.
• Have at least the indicated number of Cities in the Region.
• Have at least the indicated number of Monument/Character cards in your deck. You may search your draw and discard piles for such cards. If you do, shuffle your draw pile.
• Have at least the indicated number of Mythology cards Energised.
• Exile a Monument or Character card from your hand or discard pile by removing it from the game.
• Have at least the indicated number of Olympian/Titan cards.
• Control all 3 Land spaces within the Region.
• Control at least 1 Land space in the Region that contains a City belonging to another player.
• Have at least the indicated number of Strategy tiles.

Appendix 2 — Strategy Tiles

For description of components, refer to pages 2 and 3.

• Archery Mastery: Each of your Hoplites may contribute at most 1 Power to any adjacent Land space (instead of their own).
• Architects of Prosperity: Progress on the Civilisation or Navigation track with a discount of 3 Resources whenever you perform a Build Rondel action. (Does not apply to other means of Building, ie. card abilities.)
• Council of Elders: Whenever another player advances their marker to the section of the Rondel where your marker is, you may draw 2 cards (instead of 1).
• Divine Ascent: Progress on the Olympian or Titan track with a discount of 3 Resources whenever you perform a Settle Rondel action. (Does not apply to other means of Settling, ie. card abilities.)
• Fortifications: Each of your Buildings contributes 1 extra Power.
• Guild (Carpenter's Guild / Blacksmith's Guild / Coiner's Guild / Vintner's Guild / Sculptor's Guild): Doubles your productions from Pillars for the indicated Resource. When producing 2 Resources with a Pillar, you may use each at different times during the same turn (but cannot spend one and save the other for a future turn).
• Heroic Epic: Your Cities each contribute 2 extra Power.
• Library: Once per turn, when you progress on a track on which your Player marker is at least 1 step behind of all of the other Player markers, draw 2 Action cards.
• Lighthouse: Once per turn, for each Ship you have in a Port, gain the Resource corresponding to the Port's Land space.
• Naval Dominance: Your Ships may move an additional space with each Movement action.
• Olympic Games: Progress on the Mercenary or Military track with a discount of 3 Resources whenever you perform a Deploy Rondel action. (Does not apply to other means of Deploying Units, such as card abilities.)
• Phalanx Formation: If there are 3 or more of your Land Units in a Region, they collectively contribute 2 extra Power.
• Polis Expansion: Whenever you perform a Replenish Turn, and you have a Ship in a Port, progress on the track of the Region corresponding to that Port.
• Siege Weapons: If you have at least 2 Land Units on a Land space containing another player's Building, you gain 2 extra Power in that space.
• Strategic Initiative: Instead of breaking ties using the normal rules, you win all ties you are involved in.
• Tactical Manoeuvre: You may move all of your Units from one space to an adjacent Land space with 1 Movement.

Appendix 3 — Lexicon

For description of components, refer to pages 2 and 3.

• Attack: To initiate a Skirmish (in Skirmish Mode) or a Siege by placing a Skirmish or Siege tile.
• Building: A player piece, being a Citadel, Agora, or Temple.
• Energise: To make a Mythology card ready for use, typically by spending Wine. See pages 8 and 9 for details.
• Exile: To remove a component entirely from the game.
• Forbidden Domain: A Region that is blocked in a game with fewer than 4 players. With the exception of its Region track, a Forbidden Domain is not part of the game and can never be interacted with.
• Glory: A measure of a player's achievement and progress towards victory.
• Invoke: To activate the ability of an Energised Mythology card during gameplay. See page 8 for details.
• Land Unit: The collective term for Hoplites and Workers (and Heroes in the Legendary Heroes gameplay mode).
• Pillar: A player piece that allows the owning player to use the Resource of the Land space it is located in.
• Power: See page 6 for details.
• Region track: The track associated with a Region (see page 7 for track rewards).
• Rondel: A circular track on the game board used for action selection during an Advance Turn. See page 8 for the structure of an Advance Turn.
• Rondel action: An action performed as part of a player's Advance Turn as a result of advancing their marker to the corresponding section of the Rondel.
• Sea Movement: Any Movement of a Ship between Sea spaces or between a Sea space and a Port.
• Siege: The act of attacking another player's City or Pillar (see page 8 for details).
• Skirmish: The act of attacking another player in Skirmish Mode.
  • Tactical Card Support: A rule allowing players to use cards from their hand to influence the outcome of a Siege, or of a Skirmish in Skirmish Mode.
    • Trade/Trading: Exchanging Resources as detailed in the section "Spending Resources" on page 7.
      • Unit: A player piece, being a Hoplite, Worker, or Ship. Hoplites and Workers are Land Units, while Ships are Sea Units.

Appendix 4 — Gameplay Modes

Gameplay modes like Barbarian Hordes, Symmachia, Atlantis, Skirmish Mode, and Legendary Heroes are additional to the Standard Game and can be combined for a customised experience.

Standard Game

This is the basic ruleset for the multiplayer game as described on pages 6-13 of this rulebook.

Tutorial Game

This is the same as the Standard Game, except the end of the game is triggered when (and only when) a player Controls 4 Cities.

Short Game

This is the same as the Standard Game, except the end of the game is triggered when 2 Era III Prophecy cards have been removed, or when a player Controls 5 Cities (the Region track trigger still applies and is unchanged).

Barbarian Hordes

• Setup: Shuffle the Barbarian tiles and place them in a face-down stack in the designated spot above the Rondel.

• Advance turn: When the player with the First Player marker advances on the Rondel and crosses the designated line between "Ascend" and "Procure", the Barbarians activate. Skip this step during the first turn.

  Perform the following steps immediately (before the player with the First Player marker performs any of their optional actions this turn):

  1. Any player whose Power in a Land space is lower than the sum of the Barbarian tiles' Power (including Barbarian Ships in Port) must remove one of their pieces (a Building, Pillar, or City, in that order of priority, except if it is their only City) from that Land space, if they have any there. Players return removed Buildings or Pillars to a corresponding slot on their Player boards (if no corresponding slots are available, they place the removed Building/Pillar beside their Player board initially, and move it to the first available slot of the corresponding type that becomes empty later in the game); removed Cities are removed from the game.
  2. Move each Barbarian tile 1 space towards the closest Land space containing a player's Building, City, or Pillar. Cavalry (a) has 2 Movements, Infantry (b) 1 Land space Movement, and Ships (c) first move to a Sea space then to a Port corresponding to such Land space. If tied, move towards the closest Land space with a Building/City/Pillar with the least Power by any player, then to the least Power by all players. If still tied, move towards the tied player closest to the left of the active player (and if still tied, that player chooses).
  3. Place a Barbarian tile from the spot above the Rondel face up in each space containing a face-up Barbarian camp (except those in Regions corresponding to players' City-state tiles). If there are not enough Barbarian tiles to place in each such space, place as many as possible, in order of the numbers on the face-up Prophecy cards in the Regions, from lowest to highest, and then to Regions without a Prophecy card in a random order.

• Settle action: When performing a Settle action, treat any Barbarian tiles like Population tiles (i.e., you must exceed the combined power of any Population and Barbarian tiles in the space you are Settling). As the reward for removing a Barbarian tile through a Settle action, draw 2 Action cards. Return any removed Barbarian tiles to the spot above the Rondel.

Extra Components

• Barbarian tiles (12)

Symmachia

A 4-player team game, where 2 players on each side are Allied. Allied players (partners) may Deploy Units while considering their partner's Cities as if they were their own. Allied players' scores are added up at the end of the game, and the team with the most overall Glory wins the game.

Atlantis

Atlantis is a special City that only exists in the sea; when playing with Atlantis, its space is considered to be both a Sea space and a Land space. You may take Control of Atlantis by Settling its space with at least 10 Power (see below). Atlantis is also considered a Wild Resource tile that you can deplete if you have a Pillar in its space (see Spending Resources on page 7).

• Setup: Place the Atlantis tile on the Fortunate Isles Sea space of the Game board. When playing with 2 players on the Mediterranean side of the Game board, instead place the Atlantis tile on the Sea space directly to the east of the Fortunate Isles.
• Settle action: When performing a Settle action, you may Settle the space containing the Atlantis tile if you Control that space, and your Power is at least 10. When you do so, place one of your Player markers on the Atlantis tile (replacing the one that was on it, if any); you may also place a Pillar there as normal.

Extra Component

• Atlantis tile (1)

Skirmish Mode

This gameplay mode, recommended for those who prefer direct confrontation, allows players to directly attack and remove each other's Units, Buildings, and Pillars from the Game board.

During step 8 of setup: Each player takes the Skirmish tile in their colour.

During a Status Check:

• If you win a Siege and your Skirmish tile is also on the Game board, remove the Skirmish tile without resolving a Skirmish, and then skip the remaining steps of your Status Check as normal.

• If there is no Siege, or you lose a Siege, and your Skirmish tile is on the Game board, you must resolve a Skirmish, as follows:

  You may attempt to remove one of another player's Units, Buildings, or Pillars from the space containing your Skirmish tile. Declare which piece you wish to remove. You may boost your Power for the Skirmish with Tactical Card Support (which works in the same way as for Sieges; see page 8). To determine the result of the Skirmish, compare your Power (after Tactical Card Support) in the chosen space to that of the player whose piece you wish to remove; the player with the higher Power wins the Skirmish (in case of a tie, you, as the attacker, win).

  If you win the Skirmish, the piece you declared is removed: the other player returns it to an available spot with the matching icon on their Player board and draws 2 cards. If multiple spots are available, they decide where to place it (if no corresponding spots are available, they place it beside their Player board initially, and move it to the first available spot of the corresponding type that becomes empty later in the game). If the other player wins the Skirmish, remove one of your Units (if any) from the space in the same way instead.

  After resolving the Skirmish, remove your Skirmish tile and then skip the remainder of your Status Check.

• If there is no Siege or Skirmish, perform the Domination and Consolidation steps as normal.

During your turn after your Status Check, you may, as a Free Action, place your Skirmish tile in a space containing one of your Hoplites. You may place both your Skirmish tile and your Siege tile in the same turn, but you cannot place both in the same space.

Extra Components

• Skirmish tiles (4)

Example: The red player has initiated a Skirmish in Thraki by having placed their Skirmish tile there in their previous turn. The green player has responded during their turn by moving a Hoplite into that space, and a Ship nearby.

It is now the red player's turn again, and during their Status Check, the Skirmish is resolved as follows. First, the red player declares that they wish to remove the green player's Citadel.

Then, the players calculate their base Power in the space. The red player has 11 Power in the space:

• 6 Power due to their 2 Hoplites (due to having reached the step of the Military track granting 1 extra Power to each of their Hoplites);
• 2 Power due to their Ship in a corresponding Port;
• 1 Power due to their Ship in an adjacent Sea space; and
• 2 Power due to their Pillar (having reached the step of the Military track granting 1 extra Power to each of their Pillars).

The green player has 8 Power in the space:

• 3 Power due to their Citadel;
• 3 Power due to their 1 Hoplite (due to having reached the step of the Military track granting 1 extra Power to each of their Hoplites);
• 1 Power due to their Worker; and
• 1 Power due to their Ship in an adjacent Sea space.

During the Tactical Card Support, the red player may play up to 2 cards from their hand, as they have 2 Hoplites in the space. The green player may also play up to 2 cards due to their Hoplite and their Citadel in the space. Both players choose to play their maximum permitted of 2 cards. The red player plays two Power-3 cards, thereby boosting their Power by 6, for a total of 17 Power. The green player plays a Power-3 and a Power-4 card, thereby boosting their Power by 7, for a total of 15 Power.

The red player wins the Skirmish, and removes the green player's Citadel from the space, returning it to their player board. The red player skips the rest of their Status Check, and continues their turn with an Advance Turn.

Legendary Heroes

In this gameplay mode, players will embark on a heroic journey with a legendary and mythical figure on their side. Unleash the power of these Heroes and shape the destiny of ancient Greece!

• Setup: During step 10 of setup, also shuffle the Hero tiles and turn a number equal to the number of players plus one face up. During step 11, each player, starting with the player to the right of the player with the First Player marker and going anticlockwise, either selects one of the Hero tiles, places it to the right of their Player board, and places the corresponding Hero Unit on it, or selects a City-state and Starting Resource tile pair as normal. Then, starting with the first player and going clockwise, each player makes a selection of the type they did not choose previously.
• Characteristics: Each Hero Unit contributes a base Power and has a special ability as indicated on their Hero tile. Unless otherwise stated on their Hero tile, a Hero Unit acts as a Land Unit for all game purposes. Unless otherwise stated on the Hero tile, their Power remains the same during the game.
• Deployment: Players may Deploy their Hero Unit to a Land space containing one of their Cities by spending 2 Gold.
• Removal: If your Hero Unit is removed from the Game board, place it back on your Hero tile. You may only remove another player's Hero Unit if that player has no other Units in the same space.

When playing with Odysseus, the following special rules apply:

During setup, place a random Odysseus token face down in each Region in play (i.e. don't place any in blocked Regions). Remove any unused Odysseus tokens from the game. During the game, when any player explores a Land space, reveal that Region's Odysseus token by flipping it face up, if it isn't already. A face-up Odysseus token depicts a challenge for the Odysseus player to achieve in the corresponding Region. When you, as the Odysseus player, accomplish a challenge of (fulfil the condition depicted on) a face-up Odysseus token, remove the token from the Game board and place it on the Odysseus Hero tile. Each token on Odysseus's Hero tile increases his Power by 1, in addition to its base Power of 1; that is, Odysseus's Power is equal to the number of Odysseus tokens on his tile plus 1.

Odysseus token challenges:

• Place a Building in the corresponding Region
• Place a Pillar in the corresponding Region
• Use the ability of a Mythology card to affect the corresponding Region
• Fulfil a Prophecy in the corresponding Region
• Win a Siege or Skirmish in the corresponding Region
• Place a City in the corresponding Region

Extra Components

• Hero tiles (10)
• Hero Unit standees (10)
• Standee bases (4)
• Odysseus tokens (6)

Basic Strategy Tips

1. Each turn begins with a Status Check, where you check your progress towards area-based objectives (Domination / Consolidation / Siege). Deciding which free track progressions you go for through Domination or Consolidation should be a crucial part of your strategy.
2. Choosing Your City-state: Select a City-state not only for its special ability but also for its strategic starting position. Consider proximity to other City-states to plan your expansion and defensive strategies effectively. Choose actions to take advantage of your City-state ability.
3. Mythology Cards: Mythology Cards can have a profound impact on the game, so use them wisely. Save powerful cards for critical moments. Timing and anticipating your opponents' moves is essential to maximising their impact. With some exceptions, Mythology cards can be played even on another player's turn.
4. Ascend: Make use of your Agoras to help with track progression.
5. Glory Acquisition: Focus on earning Glory through Controlling Cities and Regions, fulfilling Prophecies, and acquiring Monuments. Building a City during the Build action is one of the most straightforward ways to gain Glory during the game, but you can also gain Cities from the Region tracks; just remember to make early advancements into a Region where you are hoping to gain a City from step 3 of that Region's track.
6. Deckbuilding: When building your deck, don't just focus on the actions a card provides; pay close attention to the type of Resource each card offers. Also be mindful of the Resource you are removing when Exiling a card. Balancing your deck with a variety of Resources ensures that you have the flexibility needed for both track progression and construction.
7. Strategy tiles: These are powerful assets that provide special abilities and bonuses, and they can be a game-changer when used effectively. You can gain these tiles mainly by emptying rows in the Deploy, Build, and Settle sections of your Player board.
8. Sieging Opponents: When planning a Siege, position your forces strategically and aim for areas where opponents are vulnerable or overstretched. Evaluate the strength of your opponents' defences and look for opportunities where you can overwhelm them. Take calculated risks: sometimes a bold Siege can turn the tide of the game, especially when it disrupts an opponent's plans or captures a key Land space. Combining the Siege action with Mythology cards or special abilities from your City-state and Strategy tiles can significantly increase your chances of success.

Special Gameplay Mode: The Siege of Destiny

Immerse yourself in the legendary conflict of the Trojan War, as the mighty Greek and Trojan forces clash for a decade. Experience the epic battles, cunning strategies, and the iconic heroes and heroines that shaped the outcome of this monumental conflict.

"Rage—Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus' son, Achilles, murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses, hurling down to the house of Death so many sturdy souls, great fighters' souls, but made their bodies carrion, feasts for the dogs and birds, and the will of Zeus was moving towards its end. Begin, Muse, when the two first broke and clashed, Agamemnon lord of men and brilliant Achilles."

(Homer: Iliad, Book 1, translated by Robert Fagles)

Extra Components (marked with 'Siege of Destiny')

• 6 Action cards
  • 5 new Character cards
  • 1 new Monument card
• 9 Time markers

Co-op

This is a team/alliance game so players must split into two groups, with one group forming the Trojan Alliance (being Troia and, with 4 or 5* players, Miletos), and the other forming the Achaean League.

*components for a 5th player are included in the Epic Expansion, sold separately.

Setup

Set up the game as normal and using the Legendary Heroes and Skirmish Mode gameplay modes, with the following differences:

1. In step 1, select the Aegean side of the Game board.

2. In step 3, add the Trojan Horse Monument card to the rest of the Monument cards before shuffling them.

3. In step 10, use the following City-state tiles instead of drawing them randomly:

   • Troia
   • Athenai (Aegean side)
   • Sparta (Aegean side)
   • Argos
   • Miletos (when playing with 4 or 5 players only; do not use with 2 or 3 players)

   Instead of dealing Hero tiles randomly alongside the City-state tiles, assign them to players as described in the next step.

4. In step 11, when selecting City-states, one player must select Troia.

   • When playing with 2 or 3 players, the player selecting Troia must play alone, with the other player(s) in opposition as the Achaean League (Athenai, Sparta, and/or Argos).
   • When playing with 4 or 5 players, the player selecting Troia must be allied with one other player, who must select Miletos; together they will form the Trojan Alliance. The other players will form the Achaean League (being Athenai, Sparta, and/or Argos).

   Each player takes a Hero Unit and Hero tile corresponding to the City-state they have selected, as follows:

   • Troia: Hektor
   • Athenai: Achilleús
   • Sparta: Herakles
   • Argos: Atalanta
   • Miletos: Hippolyta

5. In step 15, each player takes a Siege of Destiny Character card corresponding to the City-state they have selected, as follows, and shuffles it with their 10 Starting Action cards to form their starting deck:

   • Troia: Helen
   • Athenai: Ajax
   • Sparta: Menelaos
   • Argos: Agamemnon
   • Miletos: Kassandra

   In addition, each player takes an Olympian corresponding to the City-state they have selected from the Olympian deck, as follows, and places it Invoked (i.e., turned sideways) next to their Player board (not above it, i.e., it does not take up a Mythology card slot, and counts as an extra Mythology card):

Rules

The Siege of Destiny is played using the Legendary Heroes and Skirmish Mode gameplay modes, with the following additional rules:

• Time markers:
  • Whenever the Troia player completes a Rondel circle, i.e., when they advance on the Rondel and cross the designated line between "Ascend" and "Procure", they remove a Time marker from the stack on the Rondel.
  • At any time during your turn, you may Exile Prophecy cards and/or Monument cards collectively forming at least 3 Glory to either remove a Time marker from the Rondel (as the Trojan Alliance), or to add a Time marker to the Rondel (as the Achaean League, to a maximum of 6 or 9, when playing with 2/4 or 3/5 players respectively).
• Allied players may not attack each other through a Skirmish or by laying Siege. Allied players may Deploy Units while considering their allies' Cities as if they were their own.

Victory conditions

Ignore the normal end-game triggers and victory conditions. Instead, players may win the game as follows:

The Achaean League (Sparta/Athenai/Argos) instantly wins if they take Control of the Troia player's Starting City.

The Trojan Alliance (Troia/Miletos) instantly wins if the last Time marker is removed from the Rondel.

Solo Mode

Prologue: Dawn of Freedom

Amidst the walls of a rival city-state, a shadowy figure emerges, driven by greed and an insatiable thirst for power.

The Tyrant, a master manipulator, seeks to spread fear and corruption across the land. His influence reaches far, his cunning strategies threatening the very fabric of our way of life. The Tyrant, a puppet of distant empires, has ensnared your homeland in chains. Lead a daring revolt, outsmart the manipulator, and let the fight for liberty echo through the pages of history.

Extra Components

• 1 General Solo Player aid
• 9 City-state Solo Player aids
• 5 Improved Action Reminder tiles

To try a different solo mode, visit: apeiron.games/pillars/soloadventures

Setup

In the Solo Mode, you will be playing against the Tyrant. Set up and play as for a normal 2-player Standard Game (Solo Mode is not compatible with other gameplay modes), with the following changes:

• At the start of setup, remove the following cards from the game: the Spy and Diplomat Character cards, the Theatre Monument card, and the Hestia (Olympian) Mythology card.

• In step 8, remove all Siege tiles from the game (they are not used in the Solo Mode). Choose a colour for the Tyrant, and in addition to placing Units and Buildings on his Player board as normal, place the Improved Action Reminder tiles under their corresponding pieces as follows:

  Top Worker	Top Hoplite	Top Temple	Top Agora	Top Citadel
  Improved Build	Improved Settle	Improved Procure	Improved Ascend	Improved Deploy

• In step 9, give the First Player marker to the Tyrant.

• In step 10, draw only 2 City-state and Resource tile pairs.

• In step 11, choose one of these pairs for yourself, and remove the other from the game. Then, draw a City-state tile and a Resource tile at random for the Tyrant; alternatively, you may select which City-state you wish the Tyrant to play, still drawing the Starting Resource tile at random. In any case, the starting space on the Tyrant's City-state tile must be in a different Region to yours, as in the multiplayer game. Find the Solo Player aid corresponding to the Tyrant's City-state and place it next to the Tyrant's Player board and the general Solo Player aid.

Athenai (Aegean)

When selecting Athenai (Aegean) for the Tyrant, add the 'Strategic Initiative' Strategy tile to his City-state tile.

Ephesos

When selecting Ephesos for the Tyrant, place the lower/second Temple in his starting Land space.

Tarsos

When selecting Tarsos for the Tyrant, add the 'Phalanx Formation' Strategy tile to his City-state tile.

• In step 12, place the Tyrant's Ship in the lowest-numbered Sea space adjacent to his starting Land space.
• In step 13, if the Tyrant's track reward is a Character card, select the one from the Procurement Area with the highest Power (in case of ties for Power, the tied card in the uppermost slot) and place it face down on the right of his Player board. If the Tyrant's track reward is a Demigod, draw the top card from the deck and place it face down in the leftmost Mythology card slot.

Korinthos

When selecting Korinthos for the Tyrant, move the Tyrant's other markers to step 1 on all other tracks, without the Tyrant gaining any rewards from those steps.

• In step 15, the Tyrant does not draw any cards; instead, modify his starting deck by removing some of his Starting Action cards and replacing them with extra Starting Action cards in unused player colours, according to the Tyrant's City-state as per the table below. This forms the Tyrant's Basic deck; shuffle it and place it to the left of his Player board. Draw 6 Starting Action cards from your deck for yourself (the second player) as normal.

City-state	Starting Action cards to remove from Tyrant's Basic deck	Starting Action cards to add to Tyrant's Basic deck
Sparta	1 Sailor (Power 1), 1 Explorer (Power 2)	2 Blacksmith (Power 1, Power 2)
Athenai	1 Sailor (Power 1), 1 Farmer (Power 2)	1 Merchant (Power 1), 1 Blacksmith (Power 2)
Korinthos / Kyrene	1 Explorer (Power 1), 1 Blacksmith (Power 2)	2 Merchant (Power 1, Power 2)
Thebai / Emporion	1 Sailor (Power 1), 1 Merchant (Power 2)	2 Merchant (Power 1, Power 2)
Miletos / Syrakusai	1 Blacksmith (Power 1), 1 Sailor (Power 2)	2 Explorer (Power 1, Power 2)
Rhodos / Taras	1 Farmer (Power 1), 1 Explorer (Power 2)	1 Merchant (Power 1), 1 Blacksmith (Power 2)
Phokaia / Massalia	1 Farmer (Power 1), 1 Explorer (Power 2)	2 Blacksmith (Power 1, Power 2)
Larissa / Tarsos	1 Sailor (Power 1), 1 Explorer (Power 2)	2 Farmer (Power 1, Power 2)
Pella / Ephesos	1 Sailor (Power 1), 1 Farmer (Power 2)	1 Merchant (Power 1), 1 Explorer (Power 2)

• At the end of step 19, place the unused Population tile in a face-down stack; return only the unused tiles to the box.
• After step 20, take an unused Resource tile or Starting Resource tile of each type and a 6th of any type (which is used face down). Place these tiles, in the same clockwise order as the Resources corresponding to the Track tiles placed on the Game board, on the spaces of the Resource wheel on the general Solo Player aid. Use the face-down tile to represent the Wild/Titan track.
• Take an unused Population tile of each type and place them on the spaces of the Land Type wheel on the general Solo Player aid so that the Tyrant's most-preferred Land icon is placed next to its most-preferred Resource but not Wild (see below). If its most-preferred Resource shares a Land icon with Wild, use the next most-preferred Resource instead. Place the remaining Population tiles in the order shown below clockwise around the Land Type wheel.

Example: Sparta prefers Helmet and Iron then Gold. Place the Helmet tile on the Land icon space that corresponds with the Iron Resource tile on the outer Resource wheel, unless that would also align with the Wild Resource. As it would align with Wild and Iron here, instead place the Helmet on the space corresponding with Gold, and then place Eagle and Cornucopia on the other spaces in clockwise order.

Preferred Resources and Land Icons by City-state:

City-state	Preferred Resources	Preferred Land Icon
Sparta	Iron > Gold	Helmet > Eagle > Cornucopia
Athenai	Gold > Iron	Cornucopia > Eagle > Helmet
Korinthos / Kyrene	Gold > Wood	Cornucopia > Eagle > Helmet
Thebai / Emporion	Gold > Iron	Eagle > Helmet > Cornucopia
Miletos / Syrakusai	Marble > Wine	Eagle > Cornucopia > Helmet
Rhodos / Taras	Iron > Gold	Cornucopia > Helmet > Eagle
Phokaia / Massalia	Iron > Wood	Cornucopia > Eagle > Helmet
Larissa / Tarsos	Wine > Gold	Helmet > Cornucopia > Eagle
Pella / Ephesos	Marble > Gold	Eagle > Helmet > Cornucopia

General Rules

Solo Player aids

Each City-state has a corresponding Solo Player aid with details of how the Tyrant will perform his actions when he is playing with that City-state. For the complete rules during a game, refer to the Solo Player aid of the Tyrant's selected City-state (on which the Tyrant's unique abilities and effects when he is playing as that City-state are indicated in red-outlined boxes) alongside this rulebook and the general Solo Player aid.

Orders of preference for Tyrant choices

Some of the Tyrant rules include orders of preference for determining the choices the Tyrant will make when there is more than one possible option to select from. Where applicable, these are shown in [ ], and may have multiple steps separated by > symbols. Evaluate each step from left to right until only a single option remains, with each successive step considering only options that best meet the criteria from any previous steps. That remaining single option is the choice that the Tyrant will make.

How the Tyrant uses Action cards

The Tyrant does not have a hand of Action cards. Instead, he uses two separate face-down decks, as follows:

1. The Basic deck, which is used to determine what the Tyrant does on his turns. It contains the Tyrant's 10 Starting cards and is placed to the left of his Player board.
2. The Resource deck, which is used primarily when the Tyrant needs to spend Resources (see page 24). It starts empty and contains Character and Monument cards gained by the Tyrant during the game, and is placed to the right of his Player board.

Each deck has its own face-up discard pile. The discard piles are only reshuffled and returned to the corresponding face-down decks when the Tyrant takes a Replenish Turn (not simply when a deck itself is empty).

Whenever the Tyrant would draw an Action card, he instead takes the top card from the Basic discard pile and places it face-down on the bottom of the Basic deck. If the Basic discard pile is empty, he does nothing instead.

When the Tyrant gains a Character or Monument card, unless otherwise specified, the card is added to the bottom of the Resource deck.

How the Tyrant uses the Resource and Land Type wheels

Whenever the Tyrant needs to choose between Regions or tracks, check the card played to start his Advance turn, called the Active card. The Active card shows a Resource type; starting from that point on the Resource wheel, continue clockwise until a valid decision is made. The Resource corresponds to its associated track (with the face-down tile in the Resource wheel representing the Wild/Titan track) and the Region in which that track is placed.

Similarly, whenever the Tyrant needs to choose between Land spaces, check the Resource shown on the Active card. Starting from the Land icon next to that Resource, continue clockwise around the Land Type wheel until a valid decision is made.

How the Tyrant uses Mythology cards

The Tyrant does not use the abilities on any Mythology cards he gains. Instead, whenever the Tyrant gains a Mythology card, place the top card from the corresponding deck (e.g. Demigod/Titan/Olympian card deck), without revealing it, in a face-down stack in the leftmost Mythology card slot above his Player board. This stack may contain any number of cards, and each card is worth Glory at the end of the game.

How the Tyrant spends Resources

Whenever the Tyrant would spend Resources, the Resource type is ignored; only the number of Resources required is considered.

First, determine the number of Resources the Tyrant requires to perform his action.

• If the Tyrant is able to spend all of the Resources required, he does so in the following order of priority: i. Discard cards from the Resource deck; each card discarded counts as 2 Resources. The Tyrant prefers not to overpay: if an odd number of Resources are required and the Resource deck is his only way to spend Resources, he will overpay by 1 Resource; otherwise he will first spend a single Resource by depleting a Resource tile or discarding a card from the Basic deck as described below. ii. Deplete Resource tiles with the Tyrant's Pillars; each Pillar moved onto a Resource tile counts as 1 Resource. Determine the Pillar using the Resource and Land Type wheels. iii. Discard cards from the Basic deck; each card discarded counts as 1 Resource.
• If the Tyrant is not able to spend enough Resources to meet the requirement, first spend as many Resources as possible, then the Tyrant immediately completes the action, paying no further Resources. The Ascend action works slightly differently (see page 31).

In any case, the Tyrant will perform his actions; it is important to note that lack of Resources does not stop the Tyrant from doing so.

How the Tyrant Builds Cities

If the Tyrant is instructed to Build a City, do so as follows:

1. Spend 4 of his Resources (unless he has gained the City for free).
2. Place the City in the Land space where the Tyrant has the most Power that does not contain a City. Ties are broken using the Resource and Land Type wheels. The Tyrant does not need a Worker in the chosen Land space and does not Relocate any Units.

If the Tyrant is unable to build a City on the board for any reason, he takes the City tile and places it above his Player board for end game scoring. If he attempts to build a City and no tiles remain in the supply he may use one of these reserved tiles.

How the Tyrant claims Prophecy cards

The Tyrant will claim face-up Prophecy cards using certain criteria during a Replenish Turn and certain Rondel actions, depending on the Active card. He does not need to meet any of the requirements on Prophecy cards he claims.

City-state abilities

The Tyrant makes use of the standard City-state abilities as normal, unless stated otherwise. Where applicable, adaptations for the Tyrant's selected City-state are shown on the corresponding Solo Player aid.

Strategy tile abilities

Certain City-states (such as Athenai (Aegean) and Tarsos) receive a Strategy tile during setup, which are used as normal. Other than those, the Tyrant does not gain any Strategy tiles during the game.

How the Tyrant moves: Relocation

Relocation is not Movement, and allows the Tyrant to move Units over any distance on the board. When Relocating Units, always use those that are nearest to the chosen destination space/Port that have not already been Relocated this turn (including Units already on the destination space/Port, which are considered to have been Relocated to the space/Port they are already in). All ties are broken using the Resource and Land Type wheels (or, for Ships, the lowest-numbered corresponding Sea space). When being told to relocate to an unoccupied space of a specific type, and none remain, use the Resource and Land Type wheels to find the next preferred space.

Remember: When relocating Units to a space with any face-down Resource and/or Population tiles, flip those tiles face up (since that space is now explored).

When Relocating considers your "Least Power", consider Cities to contribute 3 Power each.

Example (right): The Tyrant is Relocating his nearest Worker to Attika, and his nearest Ship to the Port corresponding to Attika. He has two Workers that are each 1 space away, in Land spaces containing Gold and Wood Resource tiles; since the Active card shows a Marble Resource, Gold is reached first when moving round the wheel, so he Relocates the Worker from Korinthia. He also has two Ships that are each 1 space away from the Sea space with the Port corresponding to Attika (in Sea spaces 2 and 3); he Relocates the one from Sea space number 2, since that is the lower number.

Track Rewards

When the Tyrant progresses on Region tracks, he gains rewards as stated below. Track rewards not listed here are ignored for the Tyrant (he gains nothing instead).

• Character and Monument card: The Tyrant gains a corresponding card for free [highest power > uppermost].
• Mythology card (including Mythology or Character/Monument card): When there is a choice, the Tyrant gains a Mythology card of the corresponding type.
• Add Hoplite: The Tyrant takes one of his Hoplites from beside the board next to the Mercenary track and places it in his lowest Power space containing a City (tie breaker with the wheel), without spending an extra Resource to do so.
• Additional Power: Applied as normal.
• City: If there is still a Common City tile on this step, he gains it for free and places it in a Land space determined as if he were Building a City (see page 24).

Improved Action Reminder tiles

When the Tyrant Deploys the first Worker or Hoplite, or Builds the first Temple, Agora, or Citadel from his Player board, take the Improved Action Reminder tile that was placed under that piece during setup and place it next to the corresponding section of the Rondel as a reminder that, where possible, the Tyrant will use the improved version of that action (see rules for each of the Rondel Actions on pages 26-31 for details of the improved actions).

Solo Play Combat Rules

Siege is not used in the Solo Mode. Instead combat is resolved immediately when:

• the Tyrant moves Hoplites into a space occupied by you, or;
• when you move Hoplites into a space occupied by the Tyrant and choose to attack.

In either case, the player who moved their Hoplites is the attacker; the other player is the defender. The defender wins ties (unless the attacker has the 'Strategic Initiative' Strategy tile), and the defender's Cities contribute 3 Power for the duration of the combat.

Remember: A City-state may never lose its only City, but may lose its starting City, as per the normal rules.

The Tyrant attacks you

If the Tyrant now has higher Power in the space than you, you may play cards from your hand matching the space's Resource in an attempt to match or exceed the Tyrant's power.

• If the Tyrant wins, the Tyrant gains Control of your City in the space (replacing your marker with one of his as normal). If you have no City in the space, you must move all of your Units from the space to an adjacent space or spaces using normal movement rules.
• If you win, the Tyrant returns all his Land Units from the space to his nearest City and all Ships from the space to his nearest lowest-numbered Sea space.

You attack the Tyrant

If a Population tile remains in the space, add that tile's Power to the Tyrant's. If no Population tile is present, draw one from the stack of unused Helmet tiles and add that Power instead.

You now have the opportunity to play cards (matching the space's Resource) from your hand in order to try and exceed the Tyrant's adjusted Power.

• If you win, you gain Control of the Tyrant's City in the space (replacing the Tyrant's marker with one of yours as normal). If the Tyrant has no City in the space, the Tyrant returns all his Units from the space to his nearest City.
• If the Tyrant wins, you must move all your Units from the space to an adjacent space or spaces using normal movement rules.

Gameplay

Carry out your turns as normal, except you must skip step A of your Status Checks (Siege is not used in the Solo Mode). If you advance your Player marker to the Rondel space containing the Tyrant's marker, take the top card from the Tyrant's Basic discard pile (if any) and place it on the bottom of the Basic deck.

See the Card Ability Appendix on page 31 for clarifications regarding when you use the abilities of certain Action and Mythology cards.

On the Tyrant's turn, perform the following steps, in order:

1. Status Check
2. Reveal a card OR Replenish and skip all remaining steps
3. Advance on the Rondel
4. Perform the Rondel action

1. Status Check

Perform only steps B and C: Domination and Consolidation (Siege is not used in the Solo Mode). Select Region tracks for the Tyrant to progress on during Consolidation as follows: [where Tyrant has progressed furthest (but not to 4th step yet) > clockwise from Tyrant's starting Region].

Then, the Tyrant gains any applicable rewards for steps he progressed to during this Status Check (see track rewards on page 25).

2. Reveal a card/Replenish and end turn

If there is at least one card in the Basic deck, reveal the top card. This card becomes the Active card for the rest of the Tyrant's turn; both the Power and the Resource type shown on the Active card are important. Then, continue with steps 3 and 4 below.

Otherwise, if the Tyrant's Basic deck is empty, he is forced to take a Replenish Turn instead, as follows:

• Place a Hoplite of an unused player colour in the Tyrant's lowest Power space where he has a City (break ties using the wheel as if the top card in the Basic discard pile were the Active card); this Hoplite is considered to be the Tyrant's colour for all purposes.
• Shuffle the Basic discard pile and place it face-down to reform the Basic deck.
• Shuffle any cards in both the Resource deck and discard pile and place them face-down to reform the Resource deck.
• Replenish the Tyrant's Pillars.
• The Tyrant claims the highest-numbered Prophecy card from the Game board.
• Then, the Tyrant's turn ends (skip steps 3 and 4).

3. Advance on the Rondel

Advance the Tyrant's Player marker clockwise on the Rondel exactly as many spaces as the Power of the Active card. If the Tyrant's marker advances to the same space as your marker, you may draw one Action card as normal.

4. Perform the Rondel action

The Tyrant will perform the action corresponding to the space on the Rondel where his marker is. After performing the Rondel action, discard the Active card to the Basic discard pile.

Remember: If the Tyrant is not able to spend enough Resources for his action he spends as many as he is able to, then completes the action (paying no further Resources). See How the Tyrant spends Resources on page 24.

Rondel Actions

Build

The Tyrant will Build Buildings, paying the same number of Resources as a player would (see How the Tyrant spends Resources on page 24). The Buildings the Tyrant will Build are determined by the Resource on the Active card, according to the criteria below. The Tyrant will always Build the cheapest available Building of the selected type; if all Buildings of that type are already on the Game board, he will Build a City instead. Buildings and Cities must be Built in legal Land spaces as per the normal rules but ignoring the requirement to have any Workers there, and with the additional restriction that the Tyrant will never Build in a Land space you Control.

If a Building or City may be Built in more than one possible space, use the Resource and Land Type wheels to determine where to place it.

• IMPROVED ACTION: If the Tyrant has Deployed at least one Worker, he will Build a second Building (or City) using the same criteria, if possible.

After Building each Building or City, the Tyrant will Relocate his nearest Worker to the Land space where it has just been Built, and his nearest Ship to the Port corresponding to the lowest-numbered adjacent Sea space (or if the Port is occupied, to the Sea space itself). See Relocation on page 24.

If the Tyrant Builds in a space with any face-down Resource and/or Population tiles, flip those tiles face up (since that space is now explored).

Summary:

1. Determine which Building/City to Build and where to place it (must be legal placement). Claim 1 Prophecy card, if applicable.
2. IMPROVED ACTION: If the Tyrant has Deployed at least 1 Worker, repeat step 1 (Build Building/City only).
3. Spend Resources.
4. Relocate 1 Worker and 1 Ship to each Built Building/City.

• 1 Agora
• 1 Citadel
• 1 Temple
• Least-Built [Citadel > Temple > Agora]. Claim 1 Prophecy card [lowest-numbered featuring the chosen Building (or the Any Building) type (if none, no Prophecy card)].

Build example: The Tyrant (red) is Sparta and is performing a Build action. The Resource shown on the Active card is Gold, so the Tyrant will Build the Building he has Built the least of, (in this case, any of them as he has Built none), but since Citadels appear first in the criteria (Gold column of the Build row on the Sparta City-state Solo Player aid) that is the chosen Building type. You have a Citadel in Massalia and therefore the Tyrant cannot Build his Citadel there, but all other spaces are legal (according to the normal rules, ignoring the Worker requirement). To determine the space where the Tyrant will Build, first consider the Resource on the Active card: since this is Gold, the Tyrant selects the Region containing the Mercenary track, which is Iberia. Next, consider the Land icon corresponding to that Resource (Gold), which is Eagle.

However, the Eagle space in Iberia is Massalia, where you already have a Citadel, so that's not a legal space. The next Land icon clockwise round the wheel is Cornucopia, and since the Cornucopia space in Iberia, Thartessos, is legal, the Tyrant Builds a Citadel there. He spends 2 Resources by discarding 1 card from the Resource deck and places his first Citadel in that space. Since Thartessos is now explored, its Population and Resource tiles are flipped face up. Finally, the Tyrant Relocates his nearest Worker to the same space, and also Relocates his nearest Ship to the adjacent Port.

Settle

The Tyrant will Settle a Land space that doesn't yet contain a Pillar, Relocating Units to it. The Tyrant chooses a space based on criteria determined by the Active card; use the Resource and Land Type wheels to select which of those possible spaces he will Settle. Relocate Units to the chosen space according to the Land icon in the space (see criteria below); if this would trigger an attack, do not resolve it yet. If, after Relocating Units, the Tyrant does not have sufficient Power in the space to Settle it (according to the normal rules), discard cards one by one from the Resource deck, adding the Power of each card to boost his total Power in the space (but ignoring the Resource type) until he has sufficient Power to Settle the space or runs out of Resource cards. In any case the Tyrant still Settles the space. The Tyrant removes any Population tiles from the space, gains their rewards, and places a Pillar there, as normal. If an attack would've been triggered during the Relocation earlier, resolve that now.

In the case that all Land spaces indicated by the Active card's criteria already contain Pillars, the Tyrant will choose a space simply to Relocate Units to, and then he will Build a City there instead, if possible.

• Land icon the Tyrant Controls the most of.
• The space you occupy with the lowest Power. Claim 1 Prophecy card [lowest-numbered featuring a Pillar (if none, no Prophecy card)].
• Land icon the Tyrant Controls the most of.
• Space in a Region in which the Tyrant Controls the most other spaces.
• Space in a Region in which the Tyrant Controls the most other spaces. Claim 1 Prophecy card [lowest-numbered featuring a Pillar (if none, no Prophecy card)].
• IMPROVED ACTION: If the Tyrant has Deployed at least one Hoplite, he will Settle a second Land space using the same criteria, if possible. However, if the Tyrant does not have any available Hoplites to Relocate while Settling a second space (remember: each Unit may not be Relocated more than once per turn), it will not perform an Improved Action.

If the Tyrant would Settle but has no Pillar to place because all his Pillars are already on the board, he instead builds a City (max once per action). Follow the rules for Building a City on page 24.

Summary:

1. Determine Land space to Settle.
2. Relocate the closest Units according to the criteria below to the space.
3. Use cards if additional Power is required.
4. Remove Population tiles, gain their rewards, and place a Pillar.
5. Resolve an attack (if applicable).
6. IMPROVED ACTION: If the Tyrant has Deployed at least 1 Hoplite, repeat steps 1-5 (only if at least 1 Hoplite still available to be Relocated).

Criteria for Relocating Land Units to a space being Settled:

• 1 Hoplite and 1 Ship
• Up to 2 Hoplites and 1 Ship
• Up to 3 Hoplites and 1 Ship

In all of these cases the Ship is Relocated to the Port corresponding to the lowest-numbered adjacent Sea space (or the Sea space itself, if the Port is occupied).

Settle example: The Tyrant (red) is Thebai and is performing a Settle action. The Resource shown on the Active card is Wine, so the Tyrant will try and settle in Region in which he Controls the most other spaces (which is Sterea Ellada), and then Claim 1 Prophecy card featuring a Pillar. The Land icon that corresponds to Wine is Cornucopia. However, the Cornucopia space in Sterea Ellada (Euboia) already contains a Pillar, as does the space corresponding to the next Land icon clockwise round the wheel, Eagle (Aitolia), so the last Land icon on the wheel must be considered; this is Helmet, and the Helmet space in that Region, Attika, does not yet contain a Pillar, so the Tyrant Settles that space.

Since it is a Helmet space, the Tyrant Relocates 1 Hoplite to Attika (the Helmet icon specifies up to 2, but since he only has 1 Hoplite on the board, he can only Relocate 1) and 1 Ship into the corresponding Port, then flips the Population and Resource tiles in that space face up, because it is now explored. This gives the Tyrant 4 Power in the Land space, one fewer than is needed to Settle it given the Population tile has 4 Power, so the Tyrant discards a Resource card; this shows 3 Power, which is enough to complete the Settle action. The Tyrant removes the Population tile, gains its reward (progressing on the Region track), and places a Pillar. He then claims the Prophecy card, being the only face-up one on the board featuring a Pillar.

Had all of the spaces in Aitolia contained Pillars, the Tyrant would have Relocated his Units to the first space selected by the wheel, Euboia, and Built a City there instead, as well as claiming the Prophecy card.

Procure

The Tyrant will Procure cards, paying the same number of Resources as a player would (see How the Tyrant spends Resources on page 24). The cards the Tyrant will Procure are determined by the Resource on the Active card, according to the criteria below.

• IMPROVED ACTION: If the Tyrant has built at least one Temple, he Procures 1 additional card, being the first card listed using the same criteria.

Place any cards the Tyrant Procures at the bottom of the Resource deck at the end of his turn; cards gained in this way cannot be used to pay for further actions in the same turn. The Tyrant does not Exile cards.

Summary:

1. Determine cards to Procure according to the Resource on the Active card (see criteria below). Claim 1 Prophecy card, if applicable.
2. IMPROVED ACTION: If the Tyrant has Built at least 1 Temple, repeat step 1 (first card only).
3. Spend Resources. Reminder: Each Monument costs 3 Resources.
4. Add new cards to the bottom of the Resource deck.

• 1 Character card and 1 Monument [bottommost]
• 2 Character cards [highest power > bottommost]
• 1 Monument [uppermost] and 1 Prophecy card [lowest-numbered featuring Monuments (if none, no Prophecy card)]
• 2 Character cards [highest power > uppermost]
• 1 Character card [uppermost] and 1 Prophecy card [lowest-numbered featuring Character cards (if none, no Prophecy card)]

Deploy

The Tyrant will Deploy Units, paying the same number of Resources as a player would (see How the Tyrant spends Resources on page 24). The Units the Tyrant will Deploy are determined by the Resource on the Active card, according to the criteria below. If this results in a City-state Preferred Unit, check the priority chart shown on the City-state Solo Player aid. The Tyrant will always Deploy the cheapest available Unit of the selected type. The Tyrant may only Deploy Units in (or, in the case of Ships, adjacent to) Land spaces containing one of his Cities or Buildings of an appropriate type as per the normal rules. If a Unit may be Deployed in more than one possible space, use the Resource and Land Type wheels to determine where to place it (placing a Ship in the lowest-numbered Sea space adjacent to the Land space selected by the wheels).

• IMPROVED ACTION: If the Tyrant has Built at least one Citadel, he will Deploy a second Unit using the same criteria, if possible.

For each Unit the Tyrant cannot Deploy because all Units of that type are already on the Game board, he instead Builds a City (follow the rules for Building a City on page 24).

After Deploying Units (and/or Building Cities instead), the Tyrant will Relocate Units depending on the Resource shown on the Active card. Ties are broken using the wheels. Relocate the nearest Units of types determined by the Active card.

Summary:

1. Determine which Unit to Deploy and where to place it (must be legal placement). Claim 1 Prophecy card, if applicable.
2. IMPROVED ACTION: If the Tyrant has Built at least 1 Citadel, repeat step 1 (Deploy Unit only).
3. Spend Resources.
4. Relocate Units.

• 1 Ship. Relocate 1 Hoplite and 1 Ship (Sea space) to an unoccupied space that matches the Land icon the Tyrant Controls the most of.
• 1 Hoplite. Relocate all available Hoplites and 1 Ship (Port) to the space in which you Control a City and have the least Power. If no such space exists, choose the space which you occupy with the least Power.
• 1 City-state Preferred Unit. Claim 1 Prophecy card [lowest-numbered featuring the chosen Unit type (if none, no Prophecy card)]. Relocate 1 Hoplite and 1 Ship (Sea space) to an unoccupied space that matches the Land icon the Tyrant Controls the most of.
• 1 City-state Preferred Unit. Claim 1 Prophecy card [lowest-numbered featuring the chosen Unit type (if none, no Prophecy card)]. Relocate up to 3 Hoplites and 1 Ship (Port) to the space which you Control with the least Power.
• 1 Worker. Relocate 1 Hoplite and 1 Ship (Sea space) to an unoccupied space that matches the Land icon the Tyrant Controls the least of.

All ties are broken using the wheels as normal.

Ascend

The Tyrant will progress on as many Region tracks as possible, up to a maximum of one step on each of the 6 tracks. To determine how many tracks he will progress on, first calculate how many Resources he is able to spend (without completing a Replenish), and then progress the Tyrant's markers on one track at a time according to the order of preference described below, keeping count of the number of Resources required until he has either progressed on all 6 tracks or is unable to progress on any more without exceeding the Resources he is able to spend.

Special case: If the Tyrant has fewer Resources than required to progress on any tracks at all, he will progress on exactly one track. The Tyrant then immediately progresses on the first track in his order of preference, paying no Resources.

Order of preference for progressing on tracks: The Tyrant prioritises progressing on tracks where there is a City he can gain by progressing to the next step ahead of tracks where he cannot, using the Resource wheel to determine the relative order of priority in either case.

• IMPROVED ACTION: If the Tyrant has Built at least one Agora, he will progress an additional step on a track where he has progressed the furthest (with ties broken using the Resource wheel), without paying any Resources.

Then, the Tyrant gains any applicable rewards for steps he progressed to during this Ascend action (see track rewards on page 25).

The Tyrant does not Replenish any cards or Pillars after an Ascend action as a player would.

Summary:

1. Calculate available Resources.
2. Determine which tracks the Tyrant will progress on.
3. Spend Resources.
4. IMPROVED ACTION: If the Tyrant has Built at least 1 Agora, progress on his highest track, paying no Resources.
5. Gain rewards, if applicable.

Game End

The game end is triggered as in the normal game.

End game scoring is carried out as normal with the following exceptions:

• The Tyrant's Ships that are in Sea Spaces (not in Ports) contribute 1 Power to every adjacent Land space; he does not need to choose which single space each Ship will contribute Power to as a player would.
• The Tyrant earns Glory for all of his Mythology cards as follows: Demigods are each worth 1 Glory, while Titans and Olympians are each worth 3 Glory.
• Each unbuilt City tile in his play area is worth 2 Glory.

Determine the winner of the game as per the normal rules (including resolving ties).

Card Ability Appendix

The following rules apply whenever you use the corresponding card abilities:

Action cards

• Shieldmaker: You may only use its first ability.
• Olympic Athlete: The Tyrant reveals the top card from his Advanced deck.

Mythology cards

Any Mythology card that moves Units does not trigger combat.

• Sphinx: Discard the top card of the Basic deck whenever the Tyrant moves a Unit to a space containing the Sphinx tile.
• Hyperion/Iapetos: If using these abilities fills the last available space for a Building or Unit of the corresponding type on the Tyrant's Player board, return the corresponding Improved Action Reminder tile from the Rondel with it.
• Okeanos: Prevents the Tyrant from moving his Ships only.
• Gaia: You may swap one of your Mythology cards (including this one) with one of the Tyrant's Mythology cards; the card you take from the Tyrant takes on the same state as the card you gave to the Tyrant had before the swap.
• Gorgon: The Tyrant's selected Unit cannot be moved by any means during this turn.
• Perseus: Remove a random Mythology card from the Tyrant's pile (removing it from the game). You may perform its ability if you wish.