Saga: Vikings vs Anglo-Saxons Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Winning the Game
• Core Concepts
  • Action Tiles
  • Areas
  • Initiative
  • Control
  • Units
  • Leaders
• Gameplay: Round
  • Choosing Action Tiles Phase
  • Resolving Actions Phase
    • Common Actions
    • Anglo-Saxon Actions
    • Viking Actions
    • Bonus Actions
• Combat Phase
  • Casualties
  • Retreat
• End of Round Phase
• Leader's Abilities

Components

• 1 Game board
• 4 Action tiles
• 1 Initiative tile
• 1 Round marker
• 1 Stronghold marker
• 5 Destination markers
• 15 Coin markers
• 5 Strongholds
• 12 Anglo-Saxon Warriors
• 4 Anglo-Saxon Leaders
• 12 Viking Warriors
• 4 Viking Leaders
• This rulebook and 2 player aids

Layout note: the source lists "this rulebook and 2 player aids" as components. The player aids are separate printed sheets and are not part of this rulebook.

Setup

Choose one player to be Vikings (grey) and the other to be Anglo-Saxons (blue).

1. Place the board in the middle of the table.
2. Place the Stronghold marker in the indicated space on the Round track.
3. Place the Round marker in the rightmost space on the Round track.
4. Place 1 Anglo-Saxon Warrior, and 1 Stronghold in Mercia.
5. Place all Destination markers face down and shuffle them together. Reveal 1 random Destination tile, and place 2 Viking Warriors in the area matching its sigil.
6. Reveal another random Destination, and place 1 Stronghold and 1 Anglo-Saxon Warrior in the area matching its sigil.
7. Place 1 Anglo-Saxon Warrior in each remaining area in England without any Anglo-Saxon or Viking Warriors.
8. The Anglo-Saxon player randomly chooses 1 Leader and places it next to the board. Place the remaining three Leaders, the remaining Warriors, the Strongholds, and 3 Coins in their supply.
9. Place 1 Viking Warrior in each area in Scandinavia.
10. The Viking player randomly chooses 1 Leader and places it next to the board. Place the remaining three Leaders in Scandinavia, one in each area.
11. The Viking player places the remaining Viking Warriors and 2 Coins in their supply.
12. Place the remaining Coins in the general supply next to the board.
13. Place the Initiative tile with the Viking side face up on the board.
14. Place the Action tiles next to the board, between both players.

Winning the Game

The Victory Conditions are different for each player.

You win if, in the End of Round Phase, one of your Victory Conditions is met. If both players meet their condition, the Anglo-Saxon player wins.

Anglo-Saxon player's Victory Conditions

1. The Round marker on the Round track is in the same space as, or to the left of, the Stronghold marker.
2. There are no Viking Units in England.

Viking player's Victory Conditions

1. You control five areas in England.
2. You have 8 Coins.
3. There are no Anglo-Saxon Units in England.

Core Concepts

Action Tiles

Action tiles are divided into two sections: Anglo-Saxon (blue) and Viking (gray).

Action tiles are read in three parts, numbered on the illustration:

1. Bonus Action (if any)
2. Actions
3. Initiative

Coastal areas are marked with a Drakkar icon. Each Coastal area has a sigil that corresponds to one of the Destination markers. Viking Units may move to these areas from Scandinavia.

Inland areas are marked with the Crown icon. The Viking player gains one Coin for each Inland area they control in the End of Round Phase.

Designer note: Action tiles are double-sided. Both sides are mechanically the same, but they have different orientations. During setup, choose the orientation that suits you best.

Areas

The areas in England, Scandinavia, and the Drakkar have no limit on the number of Units that may be placed there. However, there can only be 1 Stronghold in each area in England.

England consists of seven areas marked with a dotted circle.

Scandinavia consists of three areas marked with a dashed circle.

Destination space: a space for one of the Destination markers.

Drakkar: an area where the Viking Units are placed when they return from England to Scandinavia. These Units will automatically return to Scandinavia in the End of Round Phase.

Initiative

There are two types of initiative: one for Choosing Action Tiles, and one for Resolving Actions.

The player whose side is face up on the Initiative tile (blue for the Anglo-Saxon player, grey for the Viking player) is the first player to choose an Action tile.

The player who chooses the Action tile with the Sword and Axe symbols will resolve their Actions first.

Control

You control an area if you have more Units there than your opponent. Strongholds are not Units and do not count towards the control of an area.

Units

There are two types of Units: Warriors and Leaders.

Each Unit has a Strength of 1, except for some Leaders, whose Strength may be related to their Ability.

Leaders

Leaders are Units with an Ability printed on their back. At the start of the game, one of your four Leaders is unavailable (the one set aside during setup).

Any time your Leader is removed, they are permanently removed from the game. The first time that happens, place the set aside Leader in your supply. If you lose another Leader, you do not receive a replacement.

A detailed explanation of all Leaders' Abilities can be found on the Player aid and the last page of this rulebook.

Gameplay: Round

Each Round is divided into four Phases: Choosing Action Tiles, Resolving Actions, Combat, and the End of Round Phase.

When players end one Phase, they move on to the next one. When all four Phases have been resolved, the Round ends.

Choosing Action Tiles Phase

At the beginning of the game, the Viking player chooses a tile first.

The player whose side is face up on the Initiative tile chooses one Action tile and pulls it towards themselves. Then, the other player chooses two Action tiles and pulls them towards themselves. The first player takes the last tile.

If a player chooses a tile with the Sword and Axe icon, they must immediately flip the Initiative tile to their side, or leave it as it is, if it is already on their side.

Example: Victoria (Viking player) must choose the first Action tile in the game. She decides to take the "1" tile [movement + scout]. Then it is Adam's (Anglo-Saxon player) turn to choose two Action tiles. He takes "2" [build / income] and "3" [fyrd + income]. That leaves Victoria with the last tile, "4" [movement + recruitment]. Based on the tiles chosen, Adam will be the first player to resolve his Actions (he took the "2" tile – with the Sword icon), but it will be Victoria who will choose the first Action tile next Round (she took the "4" tile – with the Initiative icon).

Resolving Actions Phase

If the Action tile you choose has the Sword and Axe icon, resolve all your Actions first.

The Anglo-Saxon player resolves their Actions first.

The Viking player resolves their Actions first.

You always resolve both Action tiles, one after the other.

When resolving your Actions, choose one of the selected Action tiles and resolve Bonus action (if any), and as many Actions from that tile as you like. You do not have to resolve a Bonus action or an Action if you do not want to.

You can resolve the second Action tile only after you have resolved the Actions from the first tile.

You can resolve Actions from a tile in any order, but you have to fully resolve one before resolving the other. The only exception to this is the Anglo-Saxon tile, where Actions are separated by "/". When you resolve this tile, you must choose one of the Actions, and ignore the other.

When you resolve a tile, move it to the middle of the table to indicate that you have already resolved it. If you resolved your Action tiles first, your opponent resolves their Actions after you. If you resolved your Actions second, proceed to the next Phase, Combat.

Common Actions

Recruitment

To Recruit means to take Units from your supply and place them on the board.

The Anglo-Saxon player Recruits only in areas with Strongholds and can place one Unit with each Stronghold.

The Viking player can Recruit only in the three areas of Scandinavia, and when Recruiting, they must place their Units so that at the end of Recruitment, all three areas have an equal number of Units, if possible.

Leaders: When they are recruited, they are always placed with the printed side facing the player who controls them; in other words, their Ability is hidden from the opponent.

Movement

Movement allows you to move as many of your Units as you want from one area to an adjacent area. If the opponent's Units are in the area you are moving from, you can move only Units in excess of the number of your opponent's Units. The remaining Units in the area are said to be Engaged.

In addition, Viking Units can move between adjacent areas in Scandinavia, from Scandinavia to England, and can also be placed in the Drakkar (see Viking Actions and Combat Phase).

Anglo-Saxon Actions

Movement

Move your Units. You cannot move Units that are Engaged and you cannot move Units to the Drakkar or to Scandinavia.

Example: On her turn, Victoria moved her forces to Essex and Kent. Seeing this, Adam decides to leave Essex to the Vikings' forces and strengthen his position in the Kent Stronghold in an attempt to protect it. He moves his Units that are not Engaged to Kent – he must leave 2 Units in Essex, and moves the rest to Kent.

Fyrd

In each area with your Stronghold, you may pay any number of Coins to the general supply to remove the same number of Viking Warriors (not Leaders) to the Viking player's supply. You do not have to control those areas or have any Units in them to perform a Fyrd Action.

Example: On her turn, Victoria moved her forces to Northumbria and Mercia. Luckily for Adam, each of these two areas contains a Stronghold. He pays 3 Coins to remove 2 Warriors in Northumbria and 1 Warrior in Mercia (they go to Victoria's supply). He cannot pay an additional Coin to remove the Leader – only Warriors can be removed by Fyrd.

Build

Spend 1 Coin and place 1 Stronghold in an area that you control. Each time you place a Stronghold, move the Stronghold marker on the Round track one space to the right.

Reminder: There can only be 1 Stronghold in each area of England.

Example: Adam wants to build the Stronghold to strengthen his economy and move closer to winning the game. He decides that a Stronghold in Northumbria could be well protected, as there is only one area adjacent to it, and it could be a good place to generate Coins. He ensures that he has more Units in Northumbria than the Vikings, spends 1 Coin, and places the Stronghold in the area. Next, he moves the Stronghold marker on the Round track one space to the right.

Income

For each of your Strongholds, you can either:

• Take 1 Coin from the general supply, OR
• Spend 1 Coin and Recruit 1 Unit in that Stronghold's area.

Example: Adam has 2 Strongholds and 3 Coins. He could take 2 Coins from the supply, but he fears he will need a lot of troops to defend his coastline from the Vikings. However, he does not want to spend all his Coins on Units just yet, as he might need them later in the game. He decides to take 1 Coin from the first Stronghold and then uses this Coin to Recruit one Unit in the other Stronghold. Adam may now choose either a Warrior or a Leader, both of whom are available in his supply. He decides to Recruit a Leader who has additional Strength in areas with a Stronghold.

Tribute

In a single area containing at least one of your Units and Viking Units, give 1 Coin to the Viking player and place all Viking Units from that area in the Drakkar.

Remember, this is not a movement, therefore Viking Units that are Engaged in Combat must also be placed in the Drakkar.

Designer note: With this Action, you may force enemy Units out of your areas, but at the potentially high cost of giving the Viking player Coins. If you are not careful enough, they might win by having 8 Coins at the end of the Round.

Example: Units belonging to both Adam and Victoria are present in East Anglia. The numbers are even, but Adam wants to free his Units to send them to a different area. He decides to pay Victoria 1 Coin, forcing her to place all of her Units in the Drakkar.

Viking Actions

Movement

Move your Units from one area to an adjacent area, or from Scandinavia to England. You cannot move Units that are Engaged. To move Units from Scandinavia to England, you need to have a Destination marker in a Destination space. You can move from such an area to the area in England that has the same sigil as the Destination marker.

If you want to move Units from an area without a Destination marker, you must reveal one random face-down Destination marker, place it in the Destination space of the area you chose for movement. You must then move at least 1 of your Units to the area in England with the same sigil.

If you want to move Units from an area with a face-up Destination marker, but you want to change the Destination, draw a new random Destination marker, replace the one already on that area, and then move to England. You must move at least 1 of your Units to the area in England with the same sigil.

Example: In the previous Round, Victoria used the Scout Action to set the Destination to Northumbria (the Destination marker is face down, so Adam doesn't know its destination). Now, with her Units ready, Victoria reveals the Destination marker. She may move any number of her Units from the northernmost area in Scandinavia to Northumbria and decides to move all of them.

Example: Victoria wants to shake things up a little. She wants to attack a different area to put pressure on Adam. She wants to move Units from the central area in Scandinavia. There is no Destination marker there, so she randomly draws a Destination marker. Fortunately for her, the destination is Essex, an area where Adam has 1 Warrior, and she already has 1 Warrior of her own. She moves both Warriors from Scandinavia, and now she has control of Essex.

Scout

Inspect all Destination markers, secretly choose one, and place it face down in any of the three Destination spaces. If there is already a marker there, remove it and put it face down with the rest of the Destination markers. Then shuffle all the Destination markers that are not on the board.

Example: Victoria has the forces to launch the invasion, but she wants to ensure that she targets a Stronghold for a quick raid. She sees that Adam has just built a Stronghold in Northumbria. She decides to move there, so she secretly chooses the Northumbria Destination marker, places it face down, and puts it in the northernmost area in Scandinavia, as this is the area from which she wants to launch the invasion.

Designer note: This Action, while powerful, forces you to return Units from England back to Scandinavia. This may result in having no Units in England at the end of a Round, causing you to lose the game, so you have to be cautious when performing this Action.

Recruitment

When performing this Action, you can:

• Spend 1 Coin to Recruit 1 Unit, OR
• Spend 2 Coins to Recruit 3 Units.

Example: Victoria decides to Recruit some Units to prepare a full-scale invasion. She has no Units in the northern area, in the central area she has 1 Warrior, and in the southern area she has 1 Warrior and 1 Leader. She has 1 Leader and 2 Warriors in the supply. She pays 2 Coins to Recruit 3 Units. The first Unit must be placed in the northernmost area (as this area has the fewest Units in Scandinavia), so she places a Warrior there. The next Unit can be placed in either the central or the northernmost area, so she places the Leader in the central one. The final Warrior must go to the northernmost area.

Pillage

Remove any number of Strongholds from areas you control. Take 2 Coins from the general supply for each Stronghold you removed. Then, you must place in the Drakkar all of your non-Engaged Units from areas where you have just removed a Stronghold.

Each time a Stronghold is removed, move the Stronghold marker on the Round track one space to the left.

Example: The invasion is going mostly according to plan – Victoria controls Northumbria and Essex, each containing a Stronghold. She has not managed to take control of Mercia, which also contains a Stronghold. She wants to gain Coins from both places she controls, so she removes Strongholds from both areas under her control with a Pillage Action. She gains 2 Coins for each removed Stronghold (4 Coins in total). She must then place all Units from these areas (that are not Engaged) in the Drakkar.

Bonus Actions

Some Action tiles feature gold Bonus Action icons. If there is a Bonus Action icon on the tile, you can resolve it, but you have to resolve it before resolving any standard Actions from that tile.

Anglo-Saxon Bonuses

• Move 1 of your Units OR take 1 Coin from the general supply.
• Take 1 Coin from the general supply.

Layout note: in the source, the coin-only Bonus icon is printed in the right-hand column above the "Viking Bonuses" heading, with no label of its own. It is transcribed here as the second Anglo-Saxon Bonus because it sits in the Anglo-Saxon column; the source does not state this explicitly.

Viking Bonuses

• Recruit 1 Warrior in Scandinavia.
• Move your Units. You cannot move Units that are Engaged.

Combat Phase

Combats are resolved after both players have completed their Actions. Combats occur in all areas with Units from opposing sides present. If more than one Combat occurs, the Viking player decides the order in which they are resolved. Each Combat must be fully resolved before the next one can begin.

If there are Leaders in the Combat, players may choose to reveal their Abilities and use them. Starting with the Vikings, each player may reveal one of their Leaders present in the Combat. To do so, place the Leader on the board so that the Ability is visible to both players (you may lay the Leader meeple down with the Ability face up). Players alternate revealing their Leaders, one at a time. They continue until both players choose to pass or there are no more Leaders to reveal. After the current Combat ends, place your Leaders upright, with the printed side facing you.

Once you pass, you cannot reveal any more Leaders in that Combat.

The unrevealed Leaders must still take part in the Combat, and have a Strength of 1 (the same as Warriors).

Designer note: The reason why you might not want to reveal a Leader is because their Ability won't impact the Combat, or you just want to keep his Ability a secret for the time being.

A detailed explanation of all Leader Abilities can be found on the Player aid and the last page of this rulebook.

Both players add up their Strength points, and the player with the higher Strength is the winner.

In case of a tie, the Anglo-Saxon player is the winner.

Example: There are three Combats that must be resolved. Victoria, as the Viking player, may choose the order in which they are resolved. She chooses to resolve the Combat in Northumbria first. As it ends in a draw, she Retreats her Warrior to the Drakkar. Next, she resolves the Combat in Mercia. She decides to reveal her Leader, as she intends to Pillage the Stronghold after winning the Combat. However, Adam also reveals his Leader, whose ability allows him to move one of his Units from an adjacent area, so he moves his Warrior from Wessex. Both players have a Strength of 2, resulting in a draw, and each must remove one of their Units; they both remove 1 Warrior. Since the Combat is a draw, Victoria must Retreat her Leader and then hide his Ability. Lastly, she resolves the Combat in Essex. She reveals one of her Leaders, whose Ability provides 2 swords in an area with a Stronghold. Adam may now reveal his Leader, and he chooses to do so. This Leader allows Adam to immediately place one of Victoria's Units in the Drakkar; he chooses to move the revealed Leader. Next, Victoria may reveal her next Leader, but she decides not to. Both players then tally their Strength: Victoria has 4, Adam has 3, so Victoria wins. Victoria must remove 1 of her Units so she removes 1 Warrior, and Adam must remove 2 of his Units and Retreat the last one. He chooses to remove 2 Warriors and Retreat his Leader.

Casualties

Both players must remove 1 of their Units for every 2 Strength points the opponent has.

Any Warriors removed are returned to their owner's supply, except for Leaders, who are permanently removed from the game. Then, the loser must Retreat.

Retreat

When you Retreat after Combat, all your retreating Units from that Combat must Retreat to a single area, and you must abide by the following restrictions:

Anglo-Saxon player

You cannot Retreat to an area with a Viking Unit. If you cannot Retreat, your Units are removed.

Viking player

You cannot Retreat to an area with an Anglo-Saxon Unit or with a Stronghold. You must Retreat to an area with your Unit. If this is not possible, you must Retreat to a non-controlled area, or if the Combat took place in a Coastal area, you can Retreat to the Drakkar. If you cannot Retreat, your Units are removed.

End of Round Phase

After the players have taken their Actions and resolved all possible Combats, you proceed to the End of Round Phase. Resolve it as follows:

1. Check if any of the Victory Conditions have been met.
2. Move the Round marker one space to the left.
3. If the Viking player controls any Inland areas, they gain 1 Coin for each such area.
4. The Viking player moves all their Units from the Drakkar to Scandinavia (remember to place them equally across all three areas, if possible).
5. Adjust the Action tiles on the table so that they are all in a straight line.
6. Start a new Round.

Leader's Abilities

The Leader's Abilities are printed on the last page of this rulebook and are reproduced below.

Anglo-Saxon Leader's Abilities

• In an area with a Stronghold, this Leader has 2 Strength points.
• Move 1 of your non-Engaged Units from an area adjacent to this Combat to this Leader's area.
• The Anglo-Saxon player chooses a Viking Unit (it may be Engaged) and places it in the Drakkar.
• In an area without a Stronghold, this Leader has 3 Strength points.

Viking Leader's Abilities

• In an area with a Stronghold, this Leader has 2 Strength points.
• Move 1 Unit from any area in Scandinavia to the Coastal area with this Leader.
• Remove this Leader and up to 2 Anglo-Saxon Units of your choice from this area.
• If you win Combat with this Leader revealed, perform Pillage in that area.