Rumble Nation Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components
Setup
Game Board
Gameplay
- I. Deployment Phase
  - 1. Placing Troops
  - 2. Using Tactic Cards
- II. War Phase
End of Game
Card Effects
Often Forgotten Rules
Credits
Designer's Comments

Components

1 game board
11 Large Castle tokens (2–12)
11 Small Castle tokens (1–6)
4 Sword tokens (1, 2, 3, 4)
72 Troop cubes (18 red, 18 blue, 18 yellow, 18 green)
30 Reinforcement cubes (white)
12 Tactic cards
3 dice
4 player markers
Rulebook

Setup

Place the game board in the center of the table.
Randomly place one Large Castle token in each circle on the game board.
Shuffle all the Tactic cards. Place them face up next to the game board, according to the number of players: 2 players — 3 cards; 3 players — 4 cards; 4 players — 5 cards. These are the cards for the entire game. Put the rest of the cards back in the box; they are not needed in this game.
Place the Small Castle tokens, Sword tokens, and Reinforcement cubes next to the game board. In a 2-player game, put all Small Castle tokens and the tokens with 3 and 4 swords back in the box. In a 3-player game, put the token with 4 swords back in the box; it is not needed.
Choose a color and take all the Troop cubes and the player marker of your color. This is your supply. Put the markers of unused players and their Troop cubes back in the box; they are not needed.
The player who was last in a castle starts the game, or simply determine turn order by rolling dice.

Game Board

The game board is divided into 11 provinces.
Provinces connected by a thick line are considered adjacent to each other, even when they are separated by sea.

Gameplay

The game is divided into 2 phases. In the first phase, the Deployment Phase, you take turns clockwise, placing troops in preparation for the war that will determine the winner in the second phase, the War Phase.

I. Deployment Phase

On your turn you must either (1) Place Troops or (2) Use a Tactic Card.

1. Placing Troops

Roll 3 dice. You may reroll all the dice once per turn.
Divide the dice into two groups so that one group has 2 dice and the other has 1 die.
Place troops in the province whose Large Castle token number equals the sum of the group of two dice.
When deploying at Shuri Castle, you may place troops around the island.
The number of troops you place is determined by the number shown on the single die: a roll of 1 or 2 places 1 troop cube, a roll of 3 or 4 places 2 troop cubes, and a roll of 5 or 6 places 3 troop cubes. You must place all your troops even if you do not have enough cubes left in your supply to place the full amount (this can happen on your last turn) — in that case, place all your remaining cubes.
You may place troops in provinces where there are no troops belonging to you or to other players.
Keep the troops in each province grouped by color, separate from other players' troops.

Example: Ani rolled 3, 4, and 5. She split the dice into 3+5 and 4. She places 2 troops in the province with Castle token 8 (3+5). She already has troops in this province, so she places the 2 new troops next to them.

2. Using Tactic Cards

You cannot use a Tactic card after rolling the dice.
You may use a Tactic card only once per game.
When using a Tactic card, choose any available card and place it in front of you. Immediately carry out the action written on the card. If you cannot carry out the action, you may not choose that card. Example: if all your troops are placed in a territory surrounded by sea, you cannot use the "Over the Mountain" card.
Once a player has placed all of their troop cubes on the game board, Tactic cards can no longer be used. All remaining players must then take action (1), placing troops, on their remaining turns.

After you have placed all your troop cubes on the board, take the Sword token with the highest number of swords still available. You then skip your turn until all players have placed all their troop cubes. Once all troop cubes have been placed, proceed to Phase II: the War Phase.

II. War Phase

Resolve war in every province that contains troop cubes, performing steps (1), (2), and (3). Begin resolution with the province with the lowest Large Castle token, and continue in ascending order.

If there is a province without any troop cubes, set its Large Castle token aside. No one takes the Large or Small Castle token from that province.

1. Determining the Provincial Winner

Count the troop cubes of each player's color present in the province, including Reinforcement cubes. (You receive Reinforcement cubes after the first battle in a province has been resolved.) The total is that player's strength in the province.
The player with the greatest strength becomes the winner of the province, and the player with the second-greatest strength takes second place.
In case of a tie, the player with the higher-numbered Sword token wins.

2. Claiming Castle Tokens

The winner takes the Large Castle token of the warring province and places it in front of themselves. In a 3- or 4-player game, the player who placed second takes the Small Castle token, whose value equals half the value of that province's Large Castle token (rounded down).
If only one player has troop cubes in that province, that player takes the Large Castle token, and no one takes the Small Castle token.

3. Sending Reinforcements

If you took a Large Castle token, take and place Reinforcement cubes.
The winner of a province at war places Reinforcement cubes in neighboring territories that still have a Large Castle token and that also contain their own troop cubes. Place 2 Reinforcement cubes in a 3- or 4-player game, and 1 Reinforcement cube in a 2-player game, in each such territory.
Place Reinforcement cubes next to the troop cubes of your own color, so as not to mix them up with other players' cubes.
If you run out of Reinforcement cubes, use cubes from provinces where the war has already been resolved — that is, provinces that no longer have a Large Castle token.

After you have carried out steps (1), (2), and (3) for every province, the War Phase (Phase 2) ends.

End of Game

Add up the numbers on your Castle tokens. The player with the highest total becomes the winner of the game. In case of a tie, the player with the higher-numbered Sword token wins.

Example: a 3-player game. Ani has the token with 3 swords. Vova has the token with 2 swords. Zhenya has the token with 1 sword.

Province #2: Zhenya wins and takes Large Castle token 2, and Vova takes Small Castle token 1. Zhenya places 2 Reinforcement cubes in provinces 5 and 12.

Province #3: Ani and Zhenya have the same number of troops, but Ani's Sword token is higher, so Ani wins and takes Large Castle token 3, while Zhenya takes Small Castle token 1. Ani places 2 Reinforcement cubes in provinces 4 and 5.

Province #4: Ani, Vova, and Zhenya have the same number of troops, but thanks to reinforcements Ani's strength becomes 3. Ani takes Large Castle token 4; Vova's Sword token is higher than Zhenya's, so Vova takes Small Castle token 2. Ani places 2 Reinforcement cubes in province 5.

Province #5: Zhenya had more troops, but thanks to reinforcements Ani equals his strength, and Ani wins because her Sword token is higher than Zhenya's. Ani takes Large Castle token 5, and Zhenya takes Small Castle token 2. Ani does not place reinforcements, since she has no troops in neighboring provinces.

Battles in the remaining regions are resolved the same way.

Card Effects

General rules for Tactic cards

If troop cubes are moved to another province by a Tactic card, group cubes of the same color together and keep them separate from other players' cubes.
When a card asks you to choose a specific number of troop cubes (e.g., 2 cubes), you must carry out the action in full, otherwise you may not use the card.

#1 Scout: Move 1 of your troops to an adjacent province.

#2 Mountain Pass: Move 2 of your troops to an adjacent province by land.

You cannot move troop cubes into a territory separated by sea.

#3 Fleet: Move 2 of your troops to an adjacent province by sea.

#4 Regroup: Move half of your troops (rounded down) to an adjacent province.

You may use this card only if you have a territory with 2 or more troops.

#5 Ninja: Move 1 of your troops to any province where you have troops.

You may move a troop cube to a non-adjacent territory.

#6 Enter Kyo: Move any number of your troops into Kyo from adjacent provinces.

#7 Reinforcement: Place 1 troop from your supply into any territory where you have troops.

#8 Betrayal: Return 1 of an opponent's troops to their supply and replace it with your own troop from your supply.

The returned troop cube can be used as normal.

#9 Escape: Move 1 opponent's troop from a province where you have troops to an adjacent province.

#10 Prisoner: Move 1 opponent's troop from any province to an adjacent province where you have troops.

#11 Feint: Move 1 of your own troops and 2 of an opponent's troops into the same adjacent province.

#12 Retreat: Return 3 of your own troops to your supply (the provinces may be different).

Returned troop cubes can be used as normal.

Often Forgotten Rules

You may reroll all the dice once per turn.
Once a player has placed all their troop cubes on the game board, Tactic cards can no longer be used.
The winner of a province at war places Reinforcement cubes in neighboring territories that still have their own troop cubes and a Large Castle token. Place 2 Reinforcement cubes in a 3- or 4-player game and 1 Reinforcement cube in a 2-player game in each of these territories.

Credits

Game Design: Shinichi Yogi Artwork: Toru Kageyama Copy Editing (English): Board Game Circus

Special Thanks: Saashi, NISHIDA, MAKOTO, NAKAYOSHI, N. Kino, M. Sakai, R. Kurita, T. Miwa, KUROSAWA

Designer's Comments

The castles printed on the map actually existed around the year 1560, when the Battle of Okehazama took place.

Tokuyama Manor (徳山館): known as the castle of the Kakizaki clan (later Matsumae). One of the "Donan Juni Tate" (Twelve Fortresses of Southern Hokkaido). Had ties to the Ainu people.

Yonezawa Castle (米沢城): known as the castle of the Date clan. Came under the control of the Uesugi clan during the Edo period.

Kasugayama Castle (春日山城): known as the castle of the Uesugi clan. One of Japan's five great mountain castles. It was abandoned after the civil war.

Odawara Castle (小田原城): known as the castle of the Hōjō clan. It never fell to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and it withstood attacks from Kenshin Uesugi and Shingen Takeda.

Kiyosu Castle (清洲城): known as the castle of Oda Nobunaga. The Kiyosu Conference was held here after the Honnō-ji Incident.

Inabayama Castle (稲葉山城): the castle of the Saitō clan, until Oda Nobunaga took control of it and renamed it Gifu Castle.

Kyo (京): the Emperor's city. Kyo fell into decline after the Ōnin War, but was restored with the help of its citizens and Hideyoshi Toyotomi.

Yoshida Kōriyama Castle (吉田郡山城): known as the castle of the Mōri clan. Famous for Mōri Motonari's victory over the massive army of the Amago clan.

Okō Castle (岡豊城): known as the castle of the Chōsokabe clan. Chōsokabe Motochika ruled the island of Shikoku, making this castle his military base.

Usuki Castle (臼杵城): the castle was built by the Christian feudal lord Ōtomo Sōrin. There were many Christian sites nearby.

Shuri Castle (首里城): the castle of the Ryukyu Kingdom. It was strongly influenced by Chinese architecture and is listed as a World Heritage Site.