Sammu-ramat Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Historical Introduction
• Components
• Game Setup
• Players and Game Background
• The Goal of the Game - How To Win
  • Win condition
  • Lose condition
• Month Structure (Sequence of play)
• New Month Phase
  • 1. Spread and Event
  • 2. Enemies Attack
  • 3. Apply the Challenge card Monthly Effect
  • 4a. Draw 1 Ashur Card
  • 4b. Collect Taxes
• Action Phase
  • 5a. Place Consult Disk
  • 5b. Character Special Action and Persistent Ability
  • 5c. Move
  • 5d. Attack
  • 5e. Play Ashur Card
  • 5f. Barter
  • 5g. Pick Up Technology marker
  • 5h. Free Actions
• Resolve Phase
  • 6a. Empire Board Check
  • 6b. Sammu-ramat Check
  • 6c. Ishtar Gate Check
  • 7. Win & Lose Check
• Example of a Gameplay - Month 1
• Map Anatomy
• Campaign
  • End of each Challenge card scoring
  • Save sheet
  • Levels of excellence after a Campaign
• Solo mode
• Appendix
  • Effect markers and the Effect Bag
  • Oracle Baileet
  • Technologies
  • Card Anatomies
  • Character Backstories
• Glossary

Historical Introduction

• The events on the cards and rulebook are based on the complete Assyrian Empire history and not just the few years Queen Sammu-ramat was active.
• All Challenge cards are made up situations that could have happened but not all of them have a historical basis.
• The map is somewhat adjusted to fit the game mechanics. One of the adjustments made is that the Area referred to as Canaan on the map consisted of several state formations during 820 BC - Israel, Judah, Moab, and Edom.

Wars with neighbouring Areas and a long bitter civil war forced the Assyrian Empire into an imbalance. The civil war was caused by a revolt, led by Shamshi-Adad's brother Ashur-danin-pal, and had already broken out by 826 BC. The rebellious brother, according to Shamshi-Adad's own inscriptions, succeeded in bringing to his side 27 important cities. The rebellion lasted until 820 BC, weakening the Assyrian empire and its ruler. It is this time of political uncertainty that Queen Sammu-ramat came to power.

Components

• Map board
• Empire board
• 25 Save sheets
• 100 Ashur cards
• 63 Event cards
• 20 Challenge cards
• 5 Player aid (Actions and icons)
• 15 Character cards
• 5 Marker aid card (Technology and Effect markers)
• 15 Character standees
• Punchouts: 5 Consult disks; Goods: 48 Textile, 22 Iron, 22 Copper, 22 Lapiz Lazuli, 22 Gold; 22 Technology markers (2 each); Effect markers: 5 Raid, 10 Public Unrest, 5 Health, 5 Karu, 5 Assassination, 10 Plague, 5 Diplomacy, 5 Religion
• Empire tokens: 20 Military, 15 Diviner, 15 Supply, 15 Medicine, 10 Ishtar Gate
• Tokens: 25 Enemies
• 1 Bag

Game Setup

Example: 3 player setup of the "Rebellion in Egypt" Challenge card.

Map Glossary: Area (large circle); Locations (smaller circles within an Area); CAPITAL (a Location with its name capitalized); Settlements (non-Capital circles).

Area icons: Assyria, Urartu, Phrygia, Medes, Babylonia, Elam, Canaan, Cyprus, Egypt, Kush.

A. Place the map in the center of the table.

B. Place the Empire board with all Empire tokens placed on their tracks.

C. Draw or choose a Challenge card. The front tells us the Win Conditions of this play session. In this example: We chose the "Rebellion in Egypt" Challenge card.

D. Setup the Empire tokens in the Areas as listed on the back of the Challenge card.

• Supply and Medicine tokens are placed by the Area name.
• Ishtar Gate is placed on the Ishtar icon in the Capital.
• Military and Diviner tokens: the first of each is placed in the Capital, any additional is placed in a Location of your choice in the Area.
• Note: Each Challenge card has an unique setup.

E. Enemies are placed in the Locations listed on the Challenge card. If there is only an Area icon place the Enemies in the Location in the Area furthest (steps) from Kalhu. In this example: 2 in Gordium, 2 in Bastam, 2 in Anshan, 2 in Meroe and 2 in Kition.

F. Put Effect markers into the bag as listed on the Challenge Card. In this example 1 Diplomacy and 2 Raid. (Advisors are not in play yet.)

G. For each Ishtar Gate, find the Character Cards with the Area as its Home and place them in a display, Public side up. Place their Standees in their Home Area unless written otherwise. Add 3 Goods of the indicated type on each Character card (except Sammu-ramat). You may add 1 or 2 starting Goods for each Advisor if you want to make the game easier. In this example: We got Ishtar Gates in Assyria, Canaan and Medes. Sammu-ramat, Besime, Younan, Dinah, Wardiya, Deioces and Ithobaal cards and Standees will be in play from start. Wardiya starts in Jerusalem in this Challenge.

H. Each Player chooses one Character card, not Sammu-ramat (unless you play solo), to be their Personal Advisor and puts it in front of them, Personal side up. In this example: Besime, Wardiya and Deioces are chosen as Personal Advisors.

I. Shuffle and deal 3 Ashur cards to each Player. Each Player also takes: 1 Consult token, 1 Marker Aid card, 1 Player Aid card.

J. Put any additional Effect markers listed on the Challenge Card in their listed Locations. In this example: Put 1 Public Unrest in Men-nefer and Gordium.

K. Place 1 Technology marker in each of the following Locations: Sardes, Tushpa, Ecbatana, Susa, Napata, and Salamis. They should all be of different types.

L. Shuffle and place a number of Event cards along the left side of the map: 8 if 2 Players, 6 if 3-4 Players, 5 if 5 Players. If this is your first game, do not include the 3 Oracle Baileet Event cards.

Players and Game Background

This game is set in the Near East 9th century BC, with the Players representing Queen Sammu-ramat and her Advisors. You take actions using Advisors surrounding the royal court and their Vassal Areas. You try to keep the Empire strong and protected against internal unrest, external threats, natural disasters, and much more.

For beginner players, it is suggested that you try out the Plutorial first to get to know the basics of the game. At the end of this rulebook there is an Appendix with explainations of the different tokens and the cards' anatomies. There's also Character backstories and a glossary of the Capitalized words and terms in the game.

The Assyrian royals had not only native scholars as their Advisors but also experts from other states. Each scholar was valued for their specific skills. The presence of these foreign experts at the royal court demonstrates the court's cosmopolitan nature.

The Goal of the Game - How To Win

Sammu-ramat is a cooperative game. As Sammu-ramat's Advisors, your mission is to help her face one of the challenges that she encountered during her reign. This is presented to you as a Challenge, found on a Challenge card that you draw during setup. You can also play a Campaign mode where you play 5 Challenges in a row where the end state of a Challenge is the starting state of the new Challenge. All Players win or lose together. Apart from completing the Challenge, Players need to make sure that the Empire is stable and that Queen Sammu-ramat is safe.

Win condition

• Succeed with the Challenge from the Challenge card.

Lose condition

You lose the game if any of the following is true during stage 7 in the Resolve phase.

• If there are 0 Medicine tokens on the map = No stopping of diseases in the empire leads to famine and death among your people.
• If there are 0 Supplies tokens on the map = Assyria's economy breaks down.
• If there are 0 Diviner tokens on the map = Religious power over the people is lost.
• If there are 0 Military tokens on the map = Assyria is conquered.
• If there is no Ishtar gate in Assyria = Assyria is conquered.
• There are 3 Assassination markers on Sammu-ramat = Sammu-ramat is assassinated.

In addition during Enemies Attack, if Sammu-ramat is in a Location when you lose control of it = Sammu-ramat is assassinated.

Drought and overpopulation is believed to have contributed to the Assyrian empire's fall, 200 years after the time of Sammu-ramat.

Month Structure (Sequence of play)

Each round simulates 1 Month in the reign of Sammu-ramat. Each Month has 3 Phases divided up into 7 Stages.

New Month Phase

1. Spread and Event. If this is the 1st Month (and the 1st game of a Campaign) proceed to Action Phase.
2. Enemies Attack
3. Apply the Challenge Card Monthly Effect
4. a) Draw Ashur Cards (Discard down to 5 cards). b) Collect taxes. Gain 2 Goods from each Area (max 6 Goods in total)

Action Phase 5. Place Consult disks and decide the starting Player for the Month. Each Player performs all their actions (5b-5h in any order) with their Consulted Character before the next Player, in clockwise order, does their actions.

Resolve Phase 6. Check: a) Empire Board b) Sammu-ramat c) Ishtar Gate 7. Check: Win & Lose

New Month Phase

1. Spread and Event

Public Unrest and Plague spread. If there is a Plague or Public Unrest marker in a Capital, place 1 additional in each Settlement in the same Area.

• If all Locations in an Area have a Plague marker when it is supposed to spread, remove them all instead. Plague is also removed by getting 3 Medicine into the Location or into the Capital of an Area where there is Plague, it removes all the Plague markers in the Area.
• If all Locations in an Area have a Public Unrest marker when it is supposed to spread, it remains in the Location. Public Unrest is removed by getting 3 Defense into the Location. If you get 3 Defense in the Capital of an Area where there is Public Unrest, remove all the Public Unrest markers in the Area.
• Effect markers do not spread between Areas. Except if both Public Unrest and Plague is to be added to the same Location (see next section or the Appendix section "Effect markers").

(Example: Plague spreads from the Egyptian Capital to its Settlements.)

Flip the next face-down Event card. Any Empire tokens added or removed by an Event are applied to the Area shown with an icon on the card. Resolve the Banner icons first which can be adding/removing Empire tokens and/or adding Effect markers into play or to the bag. Then resolve the Event text. If Goods are removed from, or added to Advisors, Players choose the distribution together.

In addition:

• If an Event with the Assyrian icon is revealed and it causes you to pay Empire tokens, you may choose to apply the banner's full effect on one other Vassal Area instead.
• For each Empire token that can not be removed from the map, add 1 corresponding negative (red) Effect marker to the bag (see the Player aid card or the Appendix section "Effect markers").

Example: There is a Smuggler Event in Phrygia with multiple effects.

First effect: You lose 2 Supplies in Phrygia. There is only 1 Supply in Phrygia, so you move that Supply back to the Empire board. Since you could not move a 2nd Supply to the Empire board you have to put a Public Unrest marker into the bag.

Second effect: Draw 1 token from the bag. In this example, it is a Public Unrest marker. It takes effect in the Area shown on the Event card, i.e. Phrygia. Luckily (or by planning), the Capital is occupied with 3 Defense, counting 2 Military tokens, and Wardiya who has 1 Defense as her Special Ability. This discards the Public Unrest marker (as explained in the Appendix).

Third effect: The Queen's Road to or from Phrygia cannot be used this Month.

Note: Now that Phrygia has lost its Supplies, the Players needs to get 1 Supply back (before Stage 6c "Ishtar Gate Check" in the Resolve Phase) or they will lose the Ishtar Gate in Phrygia as well as access to any Phrygia Advisor (Public or Personal).

• Do not add Empire tokens or green Effects to the Area if Enemies are in the Capital.
• Enemies and Effect markers are limited to the components included in the game.
• Certain Events moves Characters. These Characters may not Carry any Empire tokens.
• Certain Events make Characters pay Goods to the general supply. If you cannot pay the Goods using your Personal Advisor, you need to pay with the help of any Public Advisor(s) or vice versa. If you are still are unable to pay you need to pay one Empire token per unpaid Good from the effected Advisor's Home Area, if not enough Empire tokens, put a corresponding Effect marker into the bag for each unpaid Empire token.
• Plague and Public Unrest markers can not be in the same Location. Instead the Public Unrest marker(s) will move to the next Area following to the "Enemies Attack Stage" mini-map on the main map. Discarding any excess Public Unrest markers after moving.

Example: With 3 Public Unrest markers in Canaan and a Plague is added in the Capital, the Public Unrest markers are moved to Cyprus and since Cyprus only has 2 Locations discarding 1 Public Unrest.

2. Enemies Attack

Skip to Stage 5 if this is the first Month, and the first game of a Campaign.

Enemy: A red token. Each Enemy has 1 Strength. (1 Enemy = 1 Strength, 3 Enemies = 3 Strength.)

Enemy Resolving Order Resolve any Attack/Movement in order, 1-12. This means starting with Enemies in Assyria then in Damascus, Phrygia, Sardes, Urartu, Medes, Babylonia, Elam, Canaan, Cyprus, Egypt, and Kush (see the image on the map's mini-map; it shows the resolve order, not any movement directions). Within the Areas, you always move the Enemies that are closest to Kalhu first.

Enemy Movement Each Enemy will try to move 1 Step along a Route (dashed lines) to an Adjacent Location. Enemies cannot move along the Queen's Road. The Enemies will prioritize moving into and Attack in an Adjacent Location where you have Military (first) or Characters (second), but ONLY if the total Strength of the Enemies in a Location is higher than the Defense in the Adjacent Location it Attacks. If it has no option to win an Attack the Enemies will move to the Location that is the fewest number of Steps from Kalhu and towards the closest Capital as a second tiebreaker. If the Enemies have an equal or lower Strength than all Adjacent Locations, and the only option is to Step to a Location that is further away from Kalhu, it will not move.

Example A: Each Enemy moves 1 Step towards Kalhu. You resolve any Enemy movement in Canaan before Cyprus and Egypt. Note that Enemy "1" moves to Jerusalem instead of to Damascus even though both are 2 steps away from Kalhu. This is due to the second tiebreaker, prioritizing a Capital.

Resolve Enemy Attacks caused by their Movement Each Enemy on the map counts as 1 Strength. Each Military of yours counts as 1 Strength. Some Character cards that offer "Defense" counts as 1 Military when Defending, (not when you are Attacking). In addition, some Technologies, Effect markers, and Abilities modify these numbers. During Enemies Attack, compare the Enemies Attacking Strength with your Defending Strength. Each Enemy removes itself and one defending Military. Enemies are returned to the general supply, your Military to the Empire board. Note that if an Enemy remain in a Location after an Attack it kills any Character in the Location. Any Characters removed this way are considered dead and can not come into play again during this Challenge or Campaign. If Enemies move into a Location with Diviners, the Diviners are returned to the Empire board (resolve any Attack first).

Example A: Start with the 1 Enemy in Tushpa (closest to Kalhu). It will stay due to not having more Strength than the Defense in Ancyra or Nineveh. Then the 2 Enemies in Bastam move into Tushpa. Example B: Next Month's "Enemies Attack". Since the Enemies in Tushpa now have 3 Strength, Ancyra is now a target for an Attack since it only has 1 Strength, but not Nineveh since it has 3 Strength. As a result the Enemy moves into Ancyra and Attacks. The Enemies return one of their tokens to the General supply and return your Military from Ancyra to the Military track on the Empire board. Example C: According to the Enemy Attack resolving order, Medes resolves before Babylonia. During Enemies Attack, the 3 Enemies in Ecbatana are not stronger than your Military in Arbela. Instead they move to Opis where you have 1 Military, Removing 1 Enemy and your 1 Military in the Attack. Example D: Same Enemies Attack Stage. After Medes resolved you now resolve Babylonia. The 2 Enemies in Opis do not move to Ashur, although it is closer to Kalhu. Enemy priorities is to Attack any adjacent Military (first) or Character (second) of yours. So it takes one step towards Babylon. Dinah has 1 Defense but that is not enough to protect against the 2 Enemies. Dinah is killed, remove her standee and her card from the game. Discard any components on the card to the General supply. Note that Dinah does not remove any Enemies since she has no Attack, only Defense. Example E: According to the Enemy Attack resolving order, Phrygia resolves before Urartu. The 2 Enemies in Ancyra move to Tushpa. They do not move to Damascus, although Tushpa and Damascus both are 2 Steps from Kalhu, since they prioritize moving towards a Capital. In Tushpa, there are already 2 Enemies, and after this movement there are 4 Enemies in Tushpa. Example F: Same month. In Tushpa there are now 4 Enemies. They are strong enough to move to Nineveh and Attack it. Note that the 2 Enemies that started this Enemy Attack stage in Ancyra are now able to move again, due to the Enemy resolving order. In Nineveh, they Attack your 2 Military returning them to the Empire board as well as 2 of the Enemies to the General supply.

Losing a Capital If Enemies take control over a Capital, you suffer several negative effects.

• Return all Supply and Medicine tokens from that Area to the Empire board.
• Remove the Ishtar Gate, if the Area had one.
• Return Diviners in Capital to the Empire board.
• The Advisor that has this Capital's Area as its Home Area is set aside, regardless of it being a Personal or Public Advisor. It is not available for the Players anymore. It will become available again if you have an Ishtar Gate in that Area. Any Goods or Technology markers stay on that Advisor.

Example: During an Enemy Attack, Babylonia has slipped your attention and 2 Enemies will Attack the Capital. You only have 1 Defending Military, which is removed along with 1 of the Attackers. The other Attacker will remain in the Capital, causing you to lose the Ishtar Gate in Babylonia. Return all Empire tokens in Babylonia except the Diviner in Opis. Put the Advisor standee, her card, and anything on the card to the side. She is out of the game until you place an Ishtar Gate in Babylonia again. If Lilith was in the Capital, she would have been killed and would not be able to return later in the game.

3. Apply the Challenge card Monthly Effect

On the Challenge card you will find a list of effects that trigger in this Stage. The effects usually differ depending on which Month it is. Resolve it immediately.

Some of these Monthly effects tell you to draw a token from the bag. Red Effect tokens drawn are applied to the Area shown on the Event card you flipped the PREVIOUS Month.

Some of these effects add Enemies to certain Areas or Locations. These are added to the Location furthest away from Kalhu. If you have Military present in that Location, this counts as an Attack, which resolves immediately, following the rules above "Resolve Enemy Attacks caused by their Movement". This means that any Enemies that are being placed need to have more Strength than the Defense. If it has less or equal power, it will not be added to the Location.

Example: You have 2 Military in Godin Tepe in the Medes Area. The Challenge Monthly Effect adds 2 Enemies to Medes. Godin Tepe is furthest away from Kalhu, so the Enemies will be placed there. Since your 2 Military in Godin Tepe have the same Strength as the incoming Enemies, they cancel the Attack in that Location and no Enemies are placed.

4a. Draw 1 Ashur Card

Each Player draws 1 Ashur card from the Ashur card pile. If a Player has more than 5 cards after drawing, discard down to 5 cards of your choice.

4b. Collect Taxes

Collect 2 Goods per Area where you have an Ishtar Gate, according to that Area's Goods icon. You may only collect a maximum of 6 Goods all together each Month. If you are able to collect more, you need to choose which 6 Goods to receive. Divide the Goods between your Advisors as you like, including Public Advisors and Sammu-ramat. Any Goods placed on Sammu-ramat may be picked up as a free action by a Consulted Advisor Colocated with Sammu-ramat. Otherwise Goods stay on an Advisor's card until spent or Traded.

Example: With Ishtar Gates in Phrygia, Cyprus, Urartu and Assyria you collect 4 iron, 2 copper and 2 textiles. However you may not collect more than 6 Goods in total. You choose to place 2 iron on Sammu-ramat, 1 textile and 1 copper on Dinah and 1 iron and 1 textile on Besime and discard the rest.

Action Phase

5a. Place Consult Disk

Consult disks simulate how Sammu-ramat Consults her Advisors in order to rule Assyria.

The Action phase starts with all Players selecting which Characters they will act with during this Month. Each Player can Consult their Personal Advisor, OR 1 Public Advisor, OR Sammu-ramat herself. Place your Consult disk on the chosen Character card. Each Character can only be Consulted by 1 Player each Month. The Consult disks are returned at the end of the Month.

When the Characters to Consult this Month have been chosen, you select together who will act first this Month. This player performs all their actions with their chosen Character, then continuing clockwise around the table, Players perform all their actions with their single chosen Character before the turn goes to the next Player. The available actions are: Character Special Action (5b), Move (5c), Attack (5d), Play Ashur Card (5e), Barter (5f), and Pick Up Technology marker (5g). You can take any combination of your available Actions, including several of the same or even fewer than you are allowed. In addition, each Player may perform up to 5 free actions (5h) each Month any time during their turn.

Which Character you select affects what you can do in several ways:

• The Character standee's current Location tells you where your Actions will take effect including where Empire tokens are placed.
• The Goods and Technologies on the Character card are the resources you have available for your actions.
• The Character's Special Action on the Character card.
• The Character's Persistent Ability on the Character card, that will affect your actions.
• The number of Actions you get to take, according to the table below:

Number of Players	Number of Months	Personal Advisor actions	Public Advisor actions	Sammu-ramat actions
1	7	2	2	2
2	8	3	3	2
3	6	2	3	2
4	6	2	2	1
5	5	2	1	1

5b. Character Special Action and Persistent Ability

Follow the Action description on the Character card. Any text with the action icon next to it costs 1 action to perform. In addition, any text next to the Persistent Ability icon is a Persistent Ability that is always active.

Example: Dinah is a bodyguard. As you see on her card (Public side), she always counts as 1 Defense and if she is Colocated with Sammu-ramat she will cancel any Assassination attempt. This persistent ability is always active even if she is not Consulted.

5c. Move

Move the Consulted Character 1 Step. Note that some Characters Persistent Abilities or Technologies allow it to Move extra Steps for 1 Action. You Move between Locations following the Routes or the Queen's Road on the map. You may not Move into Locations where there are Enemies. In such a case, instead take the Attack action, described below.

The Queen's Road is marked in yellow. When you move along the Queen's Road, you can move to any Location on it in 1 Step as long as this movement does not pass a Location where there is any Enemy, Plague, and/or Public Unrest. You may end the movement in Locations with only Effect markers if you have the abilities allowing it. To Attack Enemies in these Locations you must end your movement in an Adjacent Location and then use the Attack Action. Enemies do not use the Queen's Road. Your Military cannot use the Queen's Road by themselves, they must be Carried by a Character.

The Neo-Assyrian Empire built a highway system connecting all parts of the empire. These roads, called hul sharri, "the king's road", might have grown out of the military roads used for campaigning. These state communication roads in the Empire allowed the Assyrian king and his officials to send and receive messages across the empire quickly and reliably.

Movement of Empire Tokens A Character may bring up to 2 Empire tokens (Military, Supplies, Diviner, or Medicine) when they take a Step. Some Character's Abilities may modify how the movement of the Empire tokens work. The following rules apply when moving Empire tokens:

• Military and/or Diviners are not considered an Army in this case, count one by one.
• A Character that Moves more than 1 Step in 1 Action may not pick up or Attack in between Steps.
• Medicine and Supplies are stored in the Area circle. They can be picked up or dropped off in any Location in the Area. They may not be dropped off in a Location if there are Enemies in the Area's Capital.
• Note that Sardes and Damascus are not part of any Area. So any Empire token left there at the end of a player's action phase is returned to the Empire board.
• Military and Diviner tokens are stored in Location circles and are picked up in the Location where they are. They may be dropped off in a Location even if there are Enemies in the Area's Capital.

Example: The player has Consulted Besime and has two actions. The first action is move 1 Step Carrying 2 Military, along the Route between Ashur and Opis, to strengthen the Defense in Opis. The second Action is to take 1 Step along the Queen's Road all the way down to Susa in Elam. This time Carrying 1 Medicine and 1 Supply that she picked up in Babylonia at the start of her second Step action.

5d. Attack

Attack a Location where there are Enemies. The Consulted Character needs to be in a Location Adjacent to the Location where there are Enemies you want to Attack. Move 1 Army into that Enemy Location, the Character may follow along with the Attack, or stay. Any modifications (Ability, Technology, and potentially other sources) is applied if the Character follows along, if the Character stays the modifications do not count and the Military cannot use the Queen's Road by themselves.

Immediately resolve the Attack: Remove 1 Military and 1 Enemy for each Attacking Military of yours.

NOTE: Some Abilities may move Military by themselves. If any Military enters a Location with an Enemy, resolve it as an Attack. Some Abilities also have "1 Attack" which removes 1 Enemy.

Example: You Consult Sammu-ramat and as her first action you play a card that gains you 2 Diviners in Kalhu without paying any cost (Goods and Effect markers) due to her Special Ability. With your second Action, you use her other Special Ability "For each of 1 or 2 Armies, Move or Attack taking 1-2 Steps". You move 1 Diviner from Kalhu taking 2 steps to Jerusalem and with 2 Military in Damascus you choose to Attack Tyre, removing your 2 Military and the 2 Enemies there.

5e. Play Ashur Card

Play 1 Ashur card from your hand and pay its costs from the Consulted Character. The Cost is on the banner in the top right corner of the Ashur card. If the Character cannot pay for the card, you cannot play the card. When played, the card takes effect where the Character standee is located. Any Supply or Medicine added is placed in the slots by the Area name. Any Military or Diviner token is placed in the Location the standee is in. Discard the card after you have played it. The effects of the Ashur cards are explained in more detail in the Appendix.

Note: Some Character abilities have the benefit of playing cards without a cost. This includes Goods and any Effect marker being put into the bag.

Example: You have an Ashur card in hand that gives you 3 Supplies in Phrygia but only 1 Supply if played in any other Area. So you Consult Dinah, and as her first action, you take 1 Step to Phrygia. As your second Action, you pay 2 textiles to play the card, and place 3 Supplies in Phrygia.

5f. Barter

Exchange any 2 Goods to gain 1 Supply token or 1 Supply token to gain 2 Area specific Goods corresponding to the Area Goods icon where the Consulted Character standee is currently located. Can be done in any Location in the Area.

5g. Pick Up Technology marker

As an action, if a Character standee is in a Location with a Technology marker, they may pick it up and place it on that Character card. The Technology is in effect immediately.

5h. Free Actions

During each Month, in addition to the standard actions (5b-5g) a Player may do up to 5 free actions with the Consulted Character. The standard and free actions can be done in any order and the same free action can be done multiple times (maximum of 5).

Trade:

• Trade 1 Good, 1 to 1 between two Colocated Characters (one needs to be your Consulted Character).
• Trade 1 Ashur card, 1 to 1 between two Colocated Consulted Characters. (You may not just give Goods or Ashur cards between players, your two Consulted Characters needs to be Colocated to be able to Trade cards).

Market Trade:

• At a Market Location (except Damascus). You can Trade any 1 Goods for 1 of the Area's specific Good (seen next to its name).
• In Damascus. You can Trade any 1 Goods for any other 1 Good.

Provision:

• If Colocated with Sammu-ramat, collect any number of Goods from her card.

An Empire gets Goods through military force, diplomacy (exchange of gifts) or trade. The trade was based on barter, rather than money.

Resolve Phase

6a. Empire Board Check

Check the Empire board thresholds.

• If any of the thresholds are not met, return Empire tokens of your choice from the map to the Empire board until all thresholds are met. Check this one by one in the order Diviners-Supplies-Military. Only Empire tokens are considered, not any Character or other abilities.
• The thresholds as seen on the Empire board are:
  • To have 11-15 Diviners, you need at least 6 Medicine.
  • To have 11-15 Supplies, you need at least 6 Diviners.
  • To have 11-15 Military, you need at least 6 Supplies.
  • To have 16-20 Military, you need at least 11 Supplies.

Example: You have 13 Military, 4 Supplies, 6 Diviners, and 4 Medicine placed on the map (taken away from the Empire board). In order to have 11 or more Military on the map, you need at least 6 Supplies on the map. So you have to return 3 Military from the map to the Empire board.

Check the Empire board Effect markers:

• For each empire track with an Empire token on 2, add a corresponding red Effect marker into the bag.
• For each empire track with an Empire token on 1, draw and resolve 1 marker from the bag. The marker's effect is applied to the Area shown on the current Event card.

6b. Sammu-ramat Check

If Sammu-ramat is in a Location outside of Assyria, where you have no Military (Character's Defense Ability counts, as well as the Sword and the Shield Technologies) then place 1 Assassination marker on Sammu-ramat's card. If this is the 3rd Assassination marker on her card, find a way to heal her otherwise she is killed during stage 7 in the Resolve phase and you lose the game.

Example: Sammu-ramat has moved to Tushpa and is now without any Colocated Military or Character with Defense or Shield. Therefore she is being subject to an Assassination attempt.

6c. Ishtar Gate Check

Place an Ishtar Gate on all Areas that have at least 1 Military and 1 Diviner token in the Capital, and 1 Supply and 1 Medicine token in its Area. Move 1 Supply and 1 Medicine token in the Area to their indicated slots by the Area name. Then place an Ishtar gate on its slot in the Area and on top of it 1 Military and 1 Diviner taken from the Capital. The Empire tokens are still moveable from their slots, however, during the next Ishtar Check, you will lose the Ishtar Gate if any of them are missing. Note: You do not count special abilities on Characters during Ishtar Gate Check.

All Areas that have an Ishtar Gate are your Vassal Areas. Any Area (including Assyria) that does not fulfill the requirements for an Ishtar Gate will be lost. Remove the Ishtar Gate and move any token on top of it back to the Capital. If you have no Ishtar Gate in Assyria you will lose the game during stage 7 in the Resolve phase.

If an Area has Public Unrest and/or Plague, you are not able to place an Ishtar Gate there. Example: If you already had an Ishtar Gate in the Area and Plague or Public Unrest has appeared during this Month, you need to remove the Effect marker first, and then get at least 1 Medicine (for Plague) or 1 Supply (for Public unrest) back into the Area during the same Month to prevent you from losing the Ishtar Gate during Ishtar Gate Check.

Gaining and Losing Advisors Make sure that each Area with an Ishtar Gate have their Character(s) in play. If you gained an Ishtar gate add the new Advisor card and their starting Goods (standard of 3) to the Public Advisor display, then place its standee in their Home Capital. If you have lost an Ishtar gate, lose the Advisor that has that Area as its Home. This includes Players' Personal Advisors. Any lost Advisor this way keeps their Goods and Technologies. If they return to play (when their Home Area gains an Ishtar gate again) they return with what they had. Any Advisor and its Goods and Technologies are activated as soon as the Ishtar Gate is placed, i.e. before the Win or Lose check. In the rare case of you ever having less Characters in play than Players, all players cannot Consult. However, the Ashur cards in the hand of a non Consulting player may in this case be used by any player that has Consulted.

Example: During Ishtar check, you have met the requirements for an Ishtar Gate in Canaan. Place an Ishtar Gate in Jerusalem, a Military and a Diviner taken from Jerusalem on top of it, and a Supply and a Medicine taken from the Area, by the Area name. Find Ithobaal's standee and place it in Jerusalem and put his card in the Public Advisor display with his starting Goods.

7. Win & Lose Check

If the Win Conditions are met, you have completed the Challenge card and have won the Challenge. If any of the lose conditions are met, you have lost the game.

Example of a Gameplay - Month 1

This is an example of a 3-player game's first turn. The Challenge card is "Religious Supremacy". The 3 players have chosen the Personal Advisors "Younan" (Blue Player), "Wardiya" (Purple Player), and "Marsyas" (Pink Player). Each of the Players starts with 3 Ashur cards and 2 Player aid cards.

Each Month (round) is divided into 7 Stages. During Stage 1 in this example there are no tokens on the map that can spread. Next, an Event card is flipped and resolved. It is the "Phrygia Attacks" Event. It removes 1 of your Military in Phrygia and adds 2 Enemies in Phrygia, in Elmali, since it is the Location in Phrygia the furthest away from Kalhu.

During Month 1, Stage 2-4 are not carried out. So after the Event, Stage 5 "Action Phase" is performed. Players discuss what to do and choose together where to place their Consult disks and who will start to act. Consult disks can be placed on any Character card except other Players' Personal Advisor or a Character that already has a Consult disk on its card. Each player, in player order, performs their actions with the Character where their Consult disk is.

The number of actions each Player may take depend on the number of players and which Character that has the Consult disk (see the table on the Player Aid cards). In 3 player games, a disk on Sammu-ramat or a Personal Advisor gives 2 Actions and on a Public Advisor 3 actions (5a).

In this example Blue player Consults Sammu-ramat to perform 2 actions, starting with one of her Special Actions "Play a card without paying its cost". Blue Player plays the card "Mobile engineering unit". This card also has an Area bonus if played in Assyria. Since Sammu-ramat currently is in Assyria the bonus takes effect, adding a total of 3 Military in Sammu-ramat's Location Kalhu. Next the Blue Player performs the other Special Action Sammu-ramat has, "For each of 1 or 2 Armies; Move or Attack taking 1-2 steps." Any number of Military and/or Diviners may count as 1 Army. The Blue Player Moves 2 Military 1 Step from Kalhu to Nineveh and 2 Military 2 Steps from Kalhu to Opis.

Next the Pink player Consults the Public Advisor Besime and does 3 Actions with her. Using the first action to do her Special Action "Discard 1 card and pay 3 Goods to place 2 Military in Besime's current Location". Their second action is to send the 2 Military to Attack the 2 Enemies in Elmali. Discarding both the attackers and the defenders as a result. The third action is then to Move Besime 1 Step from Gordium along the Queens Road (yellow line) all the way to Opis as 1 Step joining the 2 Military there for the next Month.

It is now the Purple Player's turn who chooses to Consult Wardiya, their Personal Advisor, giving them 2 actions. The first Action is to Pick up a Technology marker, a "Sun", in her current Location (Napata) placing it on Wardiya's Character card. The "Sun" adds an ability to Wardiya: "Do 1 additional action with a Colocated Public Character" when Consulted. The Second action is Wardiya's Special Action to take 2 Steps with one Move action, moving her to Men-Nefer. There she uses her new Technology to perform an additional action with Amunet which is now Colocated with Wardiya. Purple Player choose to do Amunet's Special Action, "Discarding 1 card and 2 Goods to place 2 Diviners in her Location". After this Purple player performs one free Market Trade action with Wardiya to Trade 2 Textiles for 1 Gold at the Market in Men-Nefer and then one more free Trade of 1 Textile for 1 Gold with Amunet.

Map Anatomy

• A. Areas, the large transparent circles.
• B. Slots for the Empire tokens needed to make an Area a Vassal Area. One Military and Diviner token is placed on top of the Ishtar Gate; they are considered to be in the Capital.
• C. The Area's name, Icon and Area Goods.
• D. Capital, a Location in an Area with its name CAPITALIZED.
• E. Market, in this Location you may Market Trade the Area Goods.
• F. Settlement, a non-Capital circle in an Area.
• G. Locations, any of the smaller circles within an Area (Capital or Settlements).
• H. Routes, which you use when taking Steps with Characters, Military, and Diviners.
• I. The Queen's Road, you may take 1 Step to any Location along this Road as long as there are no Enemies or red Effect markers along the way.

Campaign

In a Campaign you play 5 Challenges cards in a sequence from A to E. The letter is shown in the top left corner of the Challenge card. For your first game in a Campaign, shuffle the "A" cards and draw one to play. Before the new Month Phase of the last Month in your game, you may draw the next Challenge card. It should be 1 letter increment, i.e. if you are playing a "A" Challenge, draw a "B" Challenge. A campaign can not proceed after an "E" card. If you lose a Challenge, you continue the Campaign with the next Challenge card, with the exception if Sammu-ramat is killed or if you lose the Ishtar gate in Assyria, you have lost the Campaign.

Setup from Challenge cards B-E in a Campaign:

Advisors

• If you have lost your Personal Advisor select a new one from the available Advisors.
• If you won the previous Challenge, one of your Characters may pay any 4 Goods to gain one Technology marker still in the general supply to add to their Character card.
• Any Goods stay on the Characters cards from one Challenge to the next.

Cards

• The Event and Ashur decks are not shuffled.
• Each Player draws 3 Ashur cards and discards down to their hand limit (5 in 2-5 players or 7 in solo).
• Place new Event cards face down on the Event frames along the left side of the board.
• Expert 1-3 Player variant: Place 1 less Event card during Challenge B-C and 2 less Event cards during Challenge D-E.

Boards

• The end state of the previous Challenge is the starting state of the new Challenge. Ignore the setup part on the back of the Challenge card.
• During the first Month of each new Challenge card in a Campaign, do not ignore Stages 2-4 as you did during the first Challenge card. The Monthly effect for Month 1 is available on the back of the Challenge card, noted by the Campaign Icon there. In this case, place Enemies in the Areas indicated as normal. It might be blocked if you have equal or more Defense there.

If you subtract a Player between Challenges, make their Advisor Public, Technologies and Goods stay. Then divide that player's Ashur cards between the remaining Players. If you add a player, they pick a Public Advisor to become their Personal and draw 3 Ashur cards. After each Challenge, sum your points according to the table below, and add them to any previous score on the save sheet. After 5 Challenges you have your final score.

Hundreds of letters, queries and reports show scholars advising the Assyrian royal family on matters ominous, astrological and medical, often with direct impact on political affairs. The state sector comprised an extensive number of officials to whom the king's duties of state were delegated. By the 7th century BC, the royal entourage included scholars, craftsmen, and singers from Babylonia, Anatolia, Egypt, and Iran. In addition to the scholars, provincial governors had responsibility for the conduct of civilian affairs and military duties in their provinces.

End of each Challenge card scoring

Points
Won the Challenge card	5
Each unflipped Event card when Win Condition met	3
Each Ishtar Gate on the map	2
Each Technology marker on Character card in play	1
Each Medicine token on the map	1
Each Military token on the map	1
Each Green Effect marker on the map or on a card	1
Each Enemy token on the map	-1
Each Red Effect marker on the map or on a card	-1

Save sheet

Apart from being a score sheet, the save sheet can be used to mark where all components are if you need to put the game back in its box in between Challenges. Keep all Character cards used in the game separate in the box (for example in separate bags) along with their Goods, Technologies and Ashur cards.

Levels of excellence after a Campaign

• If you score 0-60 points you are a disappointing footnote in history.
• If you score 61-80 points you are just one of many mediocre and forgettable leaders in history.
• If you score 81-95 points you are a remembered as a strong and respected leader in history.
• If you score 96-110 points this era in history is going to be named after you.
• If you score 111+ points, you are seen as one of the best rulers of any Empire ever in history.

Solo mode

In the Solo mode, you take the role of Queen Sammu-ramat herself. Setup and Gameplay works as normal with these modifications:

Setup

• Take the Sammu-ramat card in front of you and flip it to the Solo side. You will play as Sammu-ramat.
• You have 7 Months to meet the Win Condition on a Challenge card. (Place 7 Event cards on the left side of the board during setup).
• You start the game with 5 Ashur cards and your hand-limit is 7 Ashur cards.

Gameplay

• During Stage 4 in the New Month Phase, you draw 2 cards instead of 1.
• You have 3 Consult tokens to use on any 3 available Characters each Month. You may not Consult the same Character more than once each Month.
• Each Public Advisor and Sammu-ramat has 2 actions each per Month (6 actions in total).
• In a Solo game, any Event card or Monthly effects affecting a "Personal Advisor" affects only Sammu-ramat. Any Event card affecting "Public Advisors" or "all Advisors" affects all Advisors except Sammu-ramat.

Appendix

Effect markers and the Effect Bag

The bag simulates how one turn can affect later turns. During the game, you will add or draw markers from the bag. If you are to draw from the bag and it is empty or if the general supply is empty when you are supposed to add to the bag, nothing happens. Red markers = negative effects. Green markers = positive effects. Any Effect marker drawn from the bag or placed by Events takes effect immediately and is discarded when resolved, even if they had no effect.

Most Red markers take effect in a specific Capital. Which one is determined by the Event you flipped this Month (or the previous Event if drawn because of a Challenge Monthly Effect).

Green markers can either be used to cancel a red effect on the map, or the marker can be placed on the map or Sammu-ramat card to cancel the next red marker from being placed there. When canceling a red marker, both markers are returned to the general supply.

Assassination (Corresponds to Diviners) Place the marker on Sammu-ramat's card. If Sammu-ramat has 3 Assassination markers on her card during stage 7 in the Resolve phase you lose the game. An Assassination token is removed by certain Characters or a Religion marker.

Public Unrest (Corresponds to Supplies) Place the marker in the Capital of the Area.

• If you have at least 3 Defense, counting Advisor Abilities, Technology markers, and Military (including the one on top of the Ishtar Gate) in the Capital or if there is already Public Unrest in the Area, the Public Unrest will not be added, discard it instead.
• If placed, remove all Supplies tokens from the Area as rebellion spreads among the people. As long as there is a Public Unrest marker in an Area, Events can not add any Supplies tokens to the Area. However, you can still Carry or play Ashur cards to gain Supplies into the Area.
• All Characters that has no Defense has to move 1 or 2 Steps following a Route of your choice. The Steps must be away from the Capital with Public Unrest, the Characters may not Carry during these Steps. If they are unable to move to a Location without Plague or Public Unrest, they are killed. Military tokens and Characters with Defense does not move.
• All Characters that has no Defense, may not Step into a Location where there is a Public Unrest marker. This includes movement along the Queen's Road.
• When there is a Public Unrest marker in an Area, each Enemy in that Area counts as 2 Strength. If the Enemy leaves the Area it is back to 1 Strength each.
• To Remove a Public Unrest marker from a Location you need to get at least 3 Defense into that Location, counting Advisors Abilities, Technologies, and Military tokens. If you remove the Public Unrest from a Capital, also remove all Public Unrest in that Area.

Spread: The Public Unrest spreads during the New Month phase. If there is a Public Unrest marker in the Capital, place Public Unrest in all other Locations in the same Area. If Public Unrest is in all Locations, no new ones are added, they stay in the Locations until removed.

Public Unrest and Plague can not be in the same Location. Instead the Public Unrest marker(s) will move to the next Area following to the "Enemies Attack Stage" mini-map on the main board. Discarding any excess Public Unrest markers after moving.

Plague (Corresponds to Medicine) Place the marker in the Capital of the Area.

• If you have at least 3 Medicine in an Area, counting Advisor Abilities, Technology markers and Medicine tokens, or if there is already Plague in the Area, the Plague will not be added, discard it instead.
• Remove all Medicine tokens from the Area since diseases spreads among the people. As long as there is a Plague marker in any Location in an Area, Events can not add Medicine tokens to that Area. However, you can still Carry Medicine there or play Ashur cards to gain Medicine into the Area.
• All Characters except those with Medicine Abilities and/or Medicine Technology markers has to move your choice of 1 or 2 Steps following a Route of your choice. The Steps must be away from the Capital with Plague, the Characters may not Carry during these Steps. If they are unable to move to a Location without Plague or Public Unrest, they are killed.
• Your Military, Enemies, and Characters (except Advisors with Medicine Abilities and Technology markers), may not Step into or out from a Location where there is a Plague marker. This includes movement along the Queen's Road.
• To remove a Plague marker you need to get at least 3 in Medicine into the Location, counting Advisor Abilities, Technology markers, and Medicine tokens in the Area. If you remove the Plague from a Capital, also remove all Plague in that Area.

Spread: The Plague spreads during the New Month phase. At that moment: if there is a Plague Token in the Capital, place Plague markers in all Locations in the Area. Or if there are Plague markers in all Locations in the Area, remove them all instead.

Raid (Corresponds to Military) Place the marker in the Capital of the Area.

• All Enemies currently in the Area (where the Raid is placed) move 1 Step towards the Capital where the Raid is placed. Enemies already in the Capital does not move.
• All Enemies in a Location Adjacent to a Location in the raided Area (when the Raid is placed) move 1 Step towards the Capital where the Raid is placed.
• The Enemies ignore any Defense in the Location they enter. They will Attack any Military there first and if there are Enemies left, they Attack any Character there second.
• If the Capital with the Raid marker has no Characters or Military and no Enemies were moved, return any Supply and/or Medicine in the Area to the Empire board and discard the Raid marker.
• Your Military Attack and the sword Technology still applies.
• Resolve any Attacks. Then discard the Raid marker.

Example: A Raid in Canaan is shown on an Event card. Place the Raid marker in the Capital. There are 2 Enemies in Tyre that moves 1 step into the Capital Jerusalem. In Jerusalem you have 1 Military and Wardiya, which are both killed by the Enemies. Since Wardiya's Defense has no effect during a Raid, 1 Enemy survives. Your Military's Attack value kills 1 Enemy. Then the Enemy in Heliopolis moves 1 step to Tyre since it is adjacent to the Raided Area. The Enemy in Kition does not move since its Location is not Adjacent to Canaan.

Diplomacy (Corresponds to Military) Can be used to do one of the following, discard after it has taken affect:

• Place it in any Capital to cancel the next Raid marker from being placed there.
• Place it in any Location. This cancels the next Enemy Attack into that Location.

Karu (Corresponds to Supplies) Can be used to do one of the following, discard after it has taken affect:

• Remove 1 Public Unrest marker from any Location. If the marker was in a Capital, remove any other Public Unrest in the same Area.
• Place in a Location to cancel the next Public Unrest marker from being placed there.
• Place it in an Area. This Area loses no Supplies from an Event, the next time this would occur.
• Place it on any Route where you have at least 1 Military token in at least one of the Locations it connects. The specific Goods from both these Areas are now available through Market Trade from any of the Markets in these Areas. A Karu marker is removed when an Enemy Steps over it or if there is no Military of yours in any of the Locations it connects. Karu can not be placed on the Queen's Road.

Religion (Corresponds to Diviners) Can be used to do one of the following, discard after it has taken affect:

• Remove 1 Assassination marker from Sammu-ramat.
• Place it on Sammu-ramat to cancel the next Assassination marker placed on her.
• Place it on an Event card that is not flipped yet. This Event card's effects are canceled when it flips. The only information on the Event card is its Area icon, which may be used by other effects (from Challenge cards).

Diviners studied and practiced communicating with the divine, through certain rituals.

Health (Corresponds to Medicine) Can be used to do one of the following, discard after it has taken affect:

• Remove 1 Plague marker from any Location. If placed in a Capital, remove any other Plague in the same Area.
• Place it in an Area. This Area loses no Medicine from an Event, the next time this would occur.
• Place it in any Location to cancel the next Plague marker placed there.

Oracle Baileet

Oracle Baileet is a non-player controlled Character. Her Character card has 2 sides: side A is used for her Challenge card and side B is used when she enters play via an Event.

If you want a more difficult experience when playing any other Challenge card you can shuffle in 1-3 of the Baileet Event cards into the Event pile.

If you play the "Oracle Baileet" Challenge card, do not include the Baileet Event cards. The Challenge card's Monthly effects refers to unused Event cards this means the Event pile, not the Event cards placed along the map board.

Baileet walks/jumps around the board converting your Diviners into Enemies. Baileet converts any 1 Diviner of yours into 2 Enemies then resolve any Attack if in that Location immediately. Baileet alone has no Attack and does not affect movement along the Queen's road nor does she remove any Empire tokens (other than Diviners) by entering a Capital herself.

If the Oracle is killed, she can come back in a new Event or Challenge card later in a single Challenge or Campaign. If she is already in play when a new Baileet Event is flipped or Baileet Challenge card starts, move her to the new Area and place any Enemies as indicated by the new card, then move her again if any Monthly effect instructs you to do so.

• Katuzili's ability may peek at the topmost card of the event pile as one of his peeks.
• Place a Religion marker in a Capital to cancel 1 conversion by Baileet in that Area, Baileet still moves there, discard the marker after canceling.
• A Religion marker can not be placed on the event pile.

Technologies

Play a Technology Card or use an Action to pick up a Technology marker on the map and place it on that Character's card, it takes effect immediately.

• Shield: +1 Defense
• Military Wagon: +2 Carry Military tokens
• Supply Wagon: +2 Carry Supplies tokens
• Diviner Wagon: +2 Carry Diviner tokens
• Medicine Wagon: +2 Carry Medicine tokens
• Mule: +1 Step during Move action
• Wheel (If picked up, you may draw 1 immediately): When Consulting this Advisor, draw an Ashur card
• Sun: +1 Action with Colocated Public Character (you may activate an already Consulted Advisor). Performing a Free action with the Public Character costs an action
• Amphora: As an Action: Change one Empire token into another Empire token in the same Area
• Vial: Removes a Plague when entering that Location
• Sword: Remove 1 Enemy at the start of an Attack

Card Anatomies

Ashur Cards - There are 4 types of Ashur cards:

• Area cards: Area cards have a cost and an instant effect. The effect is applied to where the standee of the Consulted Character is. Any Military or Diviner token is placed in the Location. Any Supply or Medicine added is placed in the slots by the Area name. If played in the Area indicated on the card you gain more Empire tokens. (Card parts: Title, Fluff, Gain, Cost.)
• Bag cards: The cost of these cards is to put Effect marker(s) into the bag (negative or positive depending on the card). They also cost Goods. The effect of the cards varies. The effect is applied to where the standee of the Consulted Character is. Any Military or Diviner token is placed in the Location. Any Supply or Medicine added is placed in the slots by the Area name. (Card parts: Title, Fluff, Gain, Goods, Cost.)
• Goods: These cards give you Goods when played, they have no cost. (Card parts: Title, Fluff, Gain.)
• Technology: Playing a Technology card grants you a Technology marker which is added to the Consulted Character's card. The Technology marker gives that Character a bonus ability for the rest of the game and is active right away when placed. Technology can not be Traded. Technology Abilities are applied in addition to other Special Abilities. (Card parts: Title, Fluff, Gain, Cost.)

Challenge Cards These cards are the core of the game. The front of the card has the Win Condition(s) you need to fulfill to win the game. The back tells you how to set up the Challenge. On the front you also find the Monthly effects for month 2-8. If you play a campaign, on the back of the card you find the first Month's Monthly effect on the bottom as indicated by the icon. All conditions stating having Empire tokens in Areas means that each Area needs to have at least the amount stated. All conditions are checked at the end of each Month.

Card parts: Challenge letter, Challenge Name, General Fluff, Challenge Fluff, Empire token Setup, Win Condition, Enemies Setup, Bag Setup, Challenge Additional Setup, Monthly Effect (2-8), Challenge Monthly Effect (1).

Event Cards At the start of each Month you flip an Event card. It will resolve in the Area indicated at the top of the banner (A). It has an immediate banner effect (B) that resolves first. After that there is an additional event effect (C) written in the text box. These effects can both be immediate or a Month long effect. Event cards do not stay active over multiple Months and they do not add or combine with other Event cards. At the bottom of the text box there is fluff text (D).

Character Cards These cards are doublesided with a Personal and Public side. The color of the background (A) and the banner (B) is an indicator for this. You find the Character's Home Area in the banner (C) and starting Goods type of that Character under the banner (D). At the center of the card you find the Character's title (E) and name (F). In the main textbox you find fluff (G) with no gameplay value. Below it you have the Character's Persistent Ability (H) that is always active. Each Character has a Special Action at the bottom of the card (I), these are different between the Public and the Personal side. By the Character name (J) there is an icon as a reminder of its Persistent Ability. Any Empire token icon there does not count towards establishing an Ishtar gate.

Character Backstories

Amenirdis (High priestess) - Amenirdis knows that as a priestess she will gain her own house, wealth, and most importantly the freedom she longs for. Her mother, the Queen of Kush, appointed her to power as high priestess and now she can dedicate herself to the god Amun. Being born in a powerful kingdom that was driven by women, Amenirdis admires Queen Sammu-ramat and her achievements.

Amunet (Priestess) - Amunet grew up with the whispers of family members long gone in her ears. If they really did tell her the future or if she was simply blessed with good intuition and a clear intellect was a subject of debate in her village, located south of Men-nefer. But either way, the elders soon sought her counsel on both matters of the good of the village and how to settle difficult conflicts. Her reputation soon got the attention of the priest in the temple of the Egyptian goddess Hathor. Amunet is now after a number of years of training, the high priestess and first servant to Hathor, the goddess of the sky, women, fertility, and love.

Apollonios (Doctor) - Seeing most events in life in a positive light can give you the strength to continue your quest for knowledge. With a smile, Apollonios has endured the many threats of occupation of his home island, Cyprus. He knows that it has strategic importance due to its valuable geographical position in the wars around the Mediterranean, but does not care about the political power struggles. All he wants is the chance to travel and gain knowledge in medicine. He has made a name for himself as a healer, respected, not only for his sharp eye and skillful hands, but for his fearlessness, steadfastness, and integrity.

Baileet (Oracle) - The stories Baileet tells have a tendency to echo in both history and the future. The weight of these echoes usually resonates with the listener, sometimes so much that they question the basis of their beliefs. But be careful to question her prophecies, as she may very well turn them towards you. She has the ear of the people, and they could easily be riled up when presented with Baileet's thoughts on you and your plans for the good of the country. Do you want her to speak well of you, or...?

Besime (Chief of the army) - As a young girl Besime was running freely in the fields outside the gates of Kalhu, as a woman she is leading the Assyrian army on the battlefields. With a firm hand and a sharp intellect, Besime rose in the ranks of the army. Catching the eye of the higher-ups in the hierarchy, her advice was soon requested by many. Her days on the battlefield grew fewer as she was needed at the strategic offices to plan the best course of action for her troops. Besime was also one of the military commanders who had aided Queen Sammu-ramat in securing the Assyrian throne and was awarded not only honors and property, but also tax privileges.

Deioces (Mercenary) - Seemingly quiet and reserved, Deioces's first steps in the military went unnoticed. But he put his nose to the grindstone and worked silently but diligently, and soon his achievements started making enough noise for his colleagues and friends to pay careful attention. His reputation for justice increased his influence further. He is now a leader for a group of professional soldiers from disparate tribes of Medes, who are offering their services as mercenaries to various royals. Deioces' cavalry unit had a reputation of quick-strike and retreat, inflicting maximum casualties on the opponent while suffering minimal losses. His unit has caught the eye of Queen Sammu-ramat who needs military resources to protect her empire.

Dinah (Bodyguard/Warrior) - Even though her gender was seen as a weakness when applying to the army, Dinah's mind was set. She was born to be a fighter. After proving herself in the battle of Dur-Papsukka, the high commander was so impressed with Dinah's skills and dedication that she was rewarded as a war hero. She received a sword with lavishly decorated hilts, golden bracelets, and multicolored robes, a highly visible indication of her heroic achievements in battle and royal service. Now Dinah is one of the few professional soldiers that protect the Queen and other nobles and officials. Her employment as bodyguard to queen Sammu-ramat has proven to be a success, as she has warded off every attempt on her so far.

Ithobaal (Merchant) - Making a good deal is the beacon that Ithobaal follows with a passion. As part of a Phoenician sea trader family, he has fine-tuned his ability to negotiate, becoming a premier merchant and business advisor. As a teenager his fearless nature and curious spirit led him to start his own explorations to other empires. He soon got in contact with the royal court in Kalhu and started exporting Phoenician manufactured products such as carved ivory, bottled oils, gum storax, and cloth dyed in "Tyrian purple" to Assyria. Itthobal knows he has been lucky and takes time out of his busy days to thank the god Melqart for his fortunes.

Katuzili (Treasurer) - Katuzili's life journey has been eventful, taking him from Susa, one of the oldest built cities, to now becoming one of the main economic administrators in Kalhu. He is used to the silver tongues of the deceitful, as well as the hidden truth behind the silence of the oppressed. As the treasurer, he has had a long career in dealing with the distribution of funds, and the hindering of those who would tip the scales in their favour. The opportunity to use a wide variety of his skill sets to settle disputes, find the truth, and keep the peace has kept him busy and happy through the years, growing wiser and more patient year by year.

Lilith (Herbalist) - The wisdom that nature possesses can guide you well if you only listen. Lilith has, since a young age, been sought after for her skills taught from her time in the soil, her everlasting patience, thought-through planning ability and trust that things planted will eventually grow. She is now a gardener in the royal gardens in Babylon and has also become an Azu, someone who practices therapeutic medicine, composed of herbal treatments. Her repertoires, just like for other Babylonian healers, are dominated by plants (herbs, trees and bushes, spices, grasses, algae, aromatic plants, and fungi).

Marsyas (Religious leader) - Born and raised in the harsh climate of Phrygia, Marsyas knows what it takes to make it through scorching hot summers and unforgiving cold winters. Just like everyone else in the village, he knew that the Great Mother goddess Cybele was protecting them and that it was her will that controlled the wild nature. Marsyas' parents had hoped he would venture into the handicraft of carving in wood or metal just like many others in Phrygia. However, Marsyas had always been more of a philosopher, a thinker, a storyteller. He is now a priest who leads the cult of the Great Mother and dedicates his own life to her worship. His ability to inspire others to follow him has led him to be invited to different royal courts near and far.

Sammu-ramat (Queen) - In a world where men call the shots, Sammu-ramat finds herself with the cards stacked against her from the start. When her husband, the king, dies, she has to step up to the challenge. Through her wits, diplomatic skills, and fearlessness she quickly proves her worth to the people. Scholars have disputed the meaning of her name, but one of the more descriptive ones is "Thunder of Heaven".

Siranoush (Horse breeder) - To domesticate such a powerful animal like the horse one needs patience, a sense of calm, the ability to be stern when needed but also know when to let go. Siranoush has found her competence in her field come to use in many more situations. Never backing down from hard work and dedication, Siranoush gets up at dawn and to rest only long after sundown. Her neighbours know that she is a solid foundation for the rest of the village to lean on, promises always kept and a helping hand readily available at all times. Siranoush's horses are well known and sought after by the Urartian nobles to be used in transport and military campaigns. Her horses have also caught the interest of the Assyrian royals.

Younan (Cleric Healer) - Trusting your intuition, your knowledge in medicine, and being able to defend yourself if needed, are all talents that make for a successful cleric healer. Younan grew up near Nineveh in a noble military family. He was from a young age trained to join the army. In his first campaigns, he found his real skill, healing. He has improved his skills in the many wars that have followed and helped his fellow brothers in arms through therapeutic medicine, composed of surgical and herbal treatments mixed with different rituals. He is a real hero who heads out in the gruesome battlefield as the dust settles.

Wardiya (Spy) - Stealth could be Wardiya's middle name. She blends into the crowd so well, you would never even notice she was there before it's too late. No matter the security in place, no matter the number of soldiers on the lookout, she somehow sneaks right through and no one's the wiser. Her face is familiar in a comforting way, but there is a glimmer of something behind those eyes that just make you uncomfortable. Somehow you find yourself owing her a favor and completely unable to get out of it. At an early age, she was recruited to the Assyrian extensive espionage service led by the Chief Eunuch. She has been sent to different parts of the Empire to help prevent assassination attempts and rebellion.

Glossary

• Ability: A Character's Special Action and Persistent Ability written on the Character card. Technologies also add abilities to the Character with the Technology marker on its card.
• Adjacent: A Location that is 1 Step away or that can be reached by the Character's Move action along a Route (not using Queen's Road).
• Advisor: Refers to all Characters in the game except Sammu-ramat. There are both Personal Advisors (1 per player) and Public Advisors (available for all to Consult).
• Area: An outlined circled part of the map containing Locations. Namely: Assyria, Canaan, Phrygia, Babylonia, Egypt, Cyprus, Medes, Elam, Urartu, Kush.
• Army: A selection of any number of either Military or Diviners in a Location.
• Attack: Moving Military tokens into a Location where there are Enemy tokens present. Both the Players and the Enemy can Attack. Resolve by removing Military and Enemies, 1:1, Character and Technology Abilities applies. If a Character has to be removed, it is killed and removed from the rest of the game and Campaign.
• Barter: Exchange any 2 Goods to gain 1 Supply token or exchange 1 Supply token to gain 2 Area specific Goods corresponding to the icon of the Area bartered in.
• Character: Refers to all Advisors and Sammu-ramat.
• Campaign: Playing 5 Challenge cards (A-E) in a sequence, where the end state of one is the starting state for the next. See Campaign section in the rules for scoring information.
• Capital: A Location with its name written in ALL CAPS. Only 1 per Area.