Spring and Autumn: Story of China
Spring and Autumn: Story of China Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Object of the Game
- Game Components
- Game Set Up
- Game Turn Overview
- Commodities
- Areas and Sea Spaces
- Palaces
- World Events
- Combat
- Dishonor
- Treaties
- Philosophies
- Area Reduction
- Kingdom Tokens
- Barbarians and the Great Wall
- Revolts
- Plagues
- Dragons
- Games with Less than 5 Players
- Epic Game
- Safety Game
- AI Players and Solitaire Play
- Closing Note
- Buildings Reference
- Barbarian Tokens Reference
- Kingdom Tokens Reference
- Dragon Reference
Introduction
Spring and Autumn: Story of China is a 4X civilization game in which you take control of one of the pre-eminent states of feudal China to explore the land, expand your borders, research powerful advancements, build your economy, and bring honor to yourself. Your goal is to establish the first true dynasty in China.
Spring and Autumn: Story of China uses a system similar to Hellenica: Story of Greece. Can you guide your civilization during these turbulent times? Will your vision of Chinese civilization be remembered for all time, or will you merely be a stepping stone for another...?
Object of the Game
The game is over at the end of any turn when a player has completed 3 or more public objectives. Players then count the number of public and private objectives they have completed. The player scoring the most total objectives wins the game and becomes the next emperor of China. But beware, the player with the most dishonor when the game ends is not honorable enough to ascend to the throne.
Game Components
- Rulebook & Reference Sheets
- Game Board
- 5 Double-Sided Player Boards
- Buildings in 6 types (extras provided)
- 10 Archers, 10 Cavalry, 3 Heroes, 10 Infantry, and 10 Junks in 5 colors (extras provided)
- Ownership Tokens in 5 colors (extras provided)
- Commerce, Honor, and Knowledge Tokens (extras provided)
- 9 Specialty Dice
- Action Cubes in 6 colors (extras provided)
- 48 Dishonor Tokens
- 46 Objective Cards
- 52 World Event Cards
- 25 Treaty Minicards
- 30 Philosophy Minicards
- 36 Kingdom Tokens
- 18 Barbarian Tokens
- Most Honorable Token (extras provided)
- 32 AI Cards
- Chaos Markers (extras provided)
Game Set Up
General Setup
- Place the game board in the center of the table and place a chaos marker on turn 1 of the turn track.
- Place another chaos marker on the dragon track space corresponding to the number of players in the game +1. Example: In a 5 player game, place the marker on the 6 space.
- Remove the dragons erupt card from the world events deck and split the remaining cards into two approximately equal piles. Shuffle the dragons erupt card into the first pile. Shuffle the second pile and place it on top of the first pile to form a single deck. Then place the entire deck face down next to the dragon track.
- Shuffle the public objective cards and place them face-down on the game board. Reveal the top card and place it face-up next to the board near the deck.
- Shuffle the private objective cards and deal 5 to each player. Players replace any duplicates from the undealt cards. Return the rest of the private objective cards to the game box face-down as they will not be used this game session.
- Place all dice, buildings, honor, knowledge, commerce tokens, and dishonor tokens near the board in a common pool so that all players can reach them.
- Shuffle and randomly draw one barbarian token to place face-down on each of the 5 barbarian tribe locations. Place the remaining tokens near the game board for easy access.
- Shuffle and randomly place one kingdom token on each of the 4 areas that contains 3 settlements. Then place an additional 2 tokens on the Zhou area. The remaining kingdom tokens can be returned to the box.
- Shuffle all non-starter philosophy cards (starter cards are marked in the lower right corner of the cards) and place them face-down to form a market deck. Reveal the top 4 cards and place them face-up next to the deck.
Player-specific Setup
- Each player randomly selects a player board and takes the matching ownership markers, units (10 infantry, 10 cavalry, 10 archers, 10 junks, 3 heroes), tokens, treaty cards, and action cubes for their faction. Players should sit near their home area location as shown in the setup diagram.
- Each player places one of their colored action cubes on the first train, research, honor, and supply spaces on their player board and one natural wood colored action cube on the first build space. Place the remaining action cubes near the player board to form a pool of their own cubes.
- Randomly determine the starting player using whatever is your preferred technique. Place the most honorable token in front of that player.
- Shuffle the 5 starting philosophy cards (marked in the lower right corner of the card) and randomly place one face-up next to each player board. Place any remaining start cards in the box as they will not be used this game.
- Each player places an academy, market, and shrine on any settlements on their home area. All settlements within an area are identical for game play purposes. Place a palace anywhere on the home area (do not place on a settlement).
- Each player places one infantry and one junk on their home area (do not place on a settlement).
You are now ready to begin the game!
Game Turn Overview
A game turn of Spring and Autumn follows this sequence:
- Most Honorable Phase
- Action Phase
- Upkeep Phase
- Completed Turn
Most Honorable Phase
During the most honorable phase, the following occurs:
All players publicly announce the amount of honor in their stockpile. The player with the most honor places the most honorable token in front of them and chooses which side will be face-up.
During the action phase, the most honorable player takes the first action each round, with play proceeding in the direction indicated by the face-up side of the most honorable token.
Should there be any ties during the determination of most honorable player, the current most honorable player selects the winner from any of the tied players.
Action Phase
During the action phase, players will take actions in turn order in rounds. There are typically many rounds in each action phase. Each round is made up of all players taking a single action. Players continue taking a single action, round after round, until all players have passed.
The possible actions a player may take are as follows:
- Build buildings or move your palace
- Train units
- Research an advancement
- Honor your ancestors
- Supply an Area for movement or create commerce
- Exchange commerce to take bonus actions
- Pass
Taking an action is a central theme of Spring and Autumn: Story of China. The build, train, research, honor, and supply actions all require a player to remove an action cube from their player board and place it on a building to power the action. If the player has no action cube on the proper section of their player board, or does not have the matching building available, that action may not be taken.
The exchange action spends commerce tokens from the player's stockpile instead of an action cube.
The pass action occurs when a player chooses to take no more actions or has no other options for actions to take.
The rest of this section will explain each of the actions in more detail.
Build
Buildings are improvements made to a settlement that allow a player to perform actions in that area.
To take a build action, the player must remove one action cube from the build section on their player board. If the player does not have an action cube in their build section, they may not take a build action.
The player selects an area they own to activate and a type of building to build (See buildings reference).
Buildings must be placed on a settlement or mine in the activated area. Players may only place buildings on mines if they have researched the mining advancement.
A building is always in one of three states:
- Active if it has no action cube on it.
- Under Construction if it has a natural wood action cube on it.
- Exhausted if it has a colored action cube on it.
Buildings may replace an existing active or under construction building, but not an exhausted one. Return the replaced building back to the pool.
Upon placing a shrine under construction, the player must choose one of the face-up philosophies in the market and place it face-down near their player board. Slide all philosophy cards in the market as far right as possible and immediately reveal a new philosophy card to place in the left-most spot.
Place the natural wood action cube from the build area of the player board on the just placed building to show that it is under construction.
Buildings are not limited by the number of pieces supplied with the game. In the unlikely event that you run out during a game, use any suitable proxy.
Building types are explained in detail in the following sections of these rules.
Moving a Palace
If a player's palace is not exhausted, a player may use a build action to move their palace instead of placing a building. The player moves their palace to any area they own and places the build cube from their player board on top of the palace. Note: Palaces are not placed on settlements or mine locations.
Train
To train military units, the player must remove one action cube from the train section of their player board. If the player does not have an action cube in their train section, they may not take a train action.
The player selects an area they own to activate and what type of unit they are training: junks, infantry, cavalry, archers, or hero.
If training a hero, the player must have an academy on the area. If so, the player receives one hero and places it on the area. Exhaust 1 active academy on the area by placing the action cube from the train section on top of it.
If training another type of unit, the player counts the number of active barracks on the area. For each active barracks, the player places 1 unit of that type from their pool on the area. Exhaust 1 active barracks on the area by placing the action cube from the train section on top no matter how many units were placed.
If the player does not have an active barracks or academy, then the player may not train that type of unit in that area.
Players may not have more than 3 heroes or 10 of any other unit type at any time.
Units are explained in detail later in these rules.
Train Example: Helen decides she wants to train infantry units in Qi. She has 2 Barracks on the area and places 2 infantry on the area. She then places the train action cube from her player board on top of one of the barracks on Qi, ending her action for the round. If Helen was to do another train action in Qi on a later round, she would only place 1 infantry on the area as there is now only 1 active barracks remaining there.
Honor
To honor your ancestors, the player must remove one action cube from the honor section on their player board. If the player does not have an action cube in their honor section, they may not take an honor action.
The player decides which area to activate and counts the number of active shrines on it. For each active shrine the player receives 1 honor from the pool to add to their stockpile. Exhaust 1 active shrine on the area by placing the action cube from the honor area on top of the shrine regardless of how much honor was produced.
If a player does not have an active shrine on the area, the player may not take an honor action in that area.
Honor tokens represent the respect that a particular player has earned with the people, other players, and the universe through civic activity.
Honor Example: Sean performs an honor action in Chu. He has 2 shrines on the area and places 2 honor on the stockpile of his player board (not shown). He then exhausts 1 shrine by placing the honor action cube from his player board on top of 1 of his shrines. It does not matter which shrine Sean exhausts since the honor action activates all active shrines on the area. If Sean were to do another honor action in Chu on a later round, he would only receive 1 honor to place on his stockpile as there is now only 1 active shrine remaining on the area.
Research
To research new advancements, the player must remove one action cube from the research section of their player board. If the player does not have an action cube in their research section, they may not take a research action.
The player selects an area they own to activate and counts the number of active academies on the area. For each active academy the player receives 1 knowledge from the pool and adds it to their stockpile. Exhaust 1 active academy on the area by placing the action cube from the research section on the academy regardless of how many knowledge tokens the area produced.
If a player does not have an active academy on the area, the player may not take a research action in that area.
Knowledge tokens represent the accumulated knowledge and wisdom possessed by a faction.
Convert Commerce to Knowledge
During a research action, the active player may convert commerce from their stockpile into knowledge. For each commerce the player chooses to return to the pool they receive a knowledge token. Knowledge gained from converting commerce must be spent immediately. Converting commerce into knowledge is a free part of the research action and may not be done at any other time.
Spending Knowledge
After placing the knowledge tokens on their stockpile, the player may choose to spend knowledge to receive exactly 1 advancement. A player may only spend knowledge to receive an advancement during a research action.
Advancements are shown on the player board and are separated into categories representing various fields of discovery; Construction, Government, Trades, Naval, and Military. Each category is further separated into levels shown as separated columns on the player boards. Advancements in the left column are level 1 advancements. Advancements in the right column are level 2 advancements.
To research a level 1 advancement, a player must pay 1 knowledge from their stockpile to the pool. Level 2 advancements cost 3 knowledge from a player's stockpile. This cost is shown by the number in the knowledge box next to the name of each advancement on the player board.
A player may research any level 1 advancement during a research action. In order to research a level 2 advancement in a category, a player must already possess any level 1 advancement in the same category. In order to research a second level 2 advancement in the same category, the player must possess a second level 1 advancement in the same category.
A player marks advancements they own by placing an action cube from their pool on their player board covering the knowledge box next to the advancement.
Research Example: Ravi performs a research action and it produces 2 knowledge. He had 1 knowledge in his stockpile already for a total of 3 knowledge. After receiving the knowledge and placing them on his stockpile, Ravi may optionally spend the knowledge to research an advancement as the second part of the research action. He decides he wants to research a military advancement. Given his player board below, Ravi knows he can research Discipline or Iron Weapons. He decides to research Discipline for a cost of 1 knowledge. He could also have received Iron Weapons for the same cost.
Note that Ravi could not have researched Control. Although he has enough knowledge to research the advancement, he cannot do so now because he needs a second level 1 military advancement to allow for a second level 2 military advancement. After researching Discipline, Control is now available on a future research action.
Supply
To supply, the player must remove one action cube from a supply section of their player board. If the player does not have an action cube in their supply section, they may not take a supply action.
The player selects an active market they own and exhausts it by placing the action cube on top of it. Activating the market allows the player to either supply commerce or move units.
Supply Commerce
If the player decides to supply commerce, they take 1 commerce token from the pool and place it on the stockpile on their Player Board.
Commerce tokens represent the wealth of a faction accumulated via trade routes and mercantilism which can be exchanged for knowledge or additional actions.
Move Units
If the player decides to move units, they activate any single land area and optionally may activate one sea space adjacent to the selected land area.
First, the player may move any and all of their junks in the supplied area and sea space to adjacent sea spaces (exception: Heroes may move with them). After all sea movement, resolve all sea combat before moving any land units.
Second, the player may move their land units from the supplied area to any adjacent areas (exception: Sea Transport - see below). Then resolve all land combat.
Units may not move twice during a single supply action. Land units may not end their move on sea spaces (exception: Heroes). Once a junk has moved to a sea space, it may not move into land areas. Crossing rivers does not hinder land movement, but may impact combat (see Combat below).
If a player moves all units out of an area that they own, they retain ownership of it.
Supply Limits
Most units have a supply limit. Supply limit is the maximum number of times a unit may be supplied to move in a single turn of the game.
- Infantry and archers have a Supply Limit of 1
- Cavalry and heroes have a Supply Limit of 2
- Junks have no Supply Limit
When units reach their supply limit, flip the counter over to show that it is exhausted and no longer eligible to move for the rest of this turn.
Supply Limit Example: Hendrix has an archer and 2 cavalry on Song that she supplies for movement. She moves all of the units one space to Xu (A). On the next round of this turn, she uses another market to supply Xu to move the units again. The archer may not move since its supply limit is 1 and it was already moved once this turn. She moves the 2 cavalry a second time matching their supply limit for the turn (B). Even if she had another market available, Hendrix could not move any of these units this turn.
Sea Transport
Moving land units may use junks as transports to traverse sea spaces. It is easiest to think of junks at sea as "bridges" across which the land units march.
To sea transport land units, the player first supplies the area containing the land units. The land units may then move through any number of adjacent sea spaces containing the player's junks, but must end their movement on a land area adjacent to the final sea space (Exception: Heroes may remain at sea with a junk).
Junks do not need to be supplied in order to sea transport. Junks may sea transport in the same round that they move and/or fight in combat.
Each junk may sea transport an unlimited number of land units per supply action.
A player may not use junks owned by other players for sea transport.
Sea Transport Example: Yizhi wants to attack Wu. Yizhi exhausts a Market and supplies the units on Chu for movement. Using sea transport, she could move them both to Wu (A), but that area is well defended. Luckily, Yizhi had extended her control of the sea spaces along the river, which gives her the option of striking at many areas along the river. She decides to attack the undefended area, Song (B). She uses every junk she has on the river to complete this movement and enters Song.
Interdiction and Combat
When junks move into a sea space containing another player's units sea combat occurs after all sea movement is complete before the player moves land units. When land units move into an area containing another player's units, or across a river segment containing another player's junks, land combat occurs after all land movement is complete. Combat is explained later in these rules.
Triggering World Events
Moving units introduces chaos into the world. After all movement and combat for the supply action is completed, reveal the top world events card to check if a world event occurs (See World Events for more information).
Exchange
As an action, a player may spend 3 commerce from their stockpile back to the pool to take a Train, Build, Research, Honor, or Supply Action. If the player does not have 3 commerce on their stockpile, they may not take an exchange action.
The player decides which action to take as well as any other decisions related to that action (e.g. area to activate, type of unit to train, building to build, etc.). The player processes through the action using the normal rules for that action with one exception: The player does not spend an action cube from their player board nor do they exhaust any building to take the action. Newly built buildings still are placed under construction until the end of the turn. Mark the building with an unused natural-wood action cube.
Pass
A player must pass if they have no available actions to take this turn. Sometimes, a player may choose to pass even though they have available actions.
When a player passes, all remaining action cubes in the action area are discarded from their player board. If the player discarded 1 action cube, they receive 1 commerce token and place it on their stockpile. If the player discarded 2 or more action cubes, the player receives 2 commerce tokens on their stockpile.
A player who passes may take no further actions this turn. The player may continue to bid on world events and participate in combat initiated by other players. The player may also still trigger face-up philosophies that are next to their player board following any requirements on the philosophy.
Upkeep Phase
During the Upkeep Phase, the following occurs in order:
Dragons Abilities Trigger
If there are dragons on the map, their special abilities trigger at the beginning of the upkeep phase. Refer to the dragons quick reference on the back page of this rulebook for specific information on each dragon's special ability.
Player Conquest
Players who solely occupy an area conquer those areas. Place an ownership marker belonging to the new owner on the area, replacing any ownership marker. Any buildings under construction on the conquered area are destroyed, as are palaces. If present, randomly destroy one active or exhausted building on the area. If the conquered area was the location of a player's palace, that player immediately places the palace in a new location and activates it (See Palaces for more information).
Barbarians Pillage
If one or more barbarian counters solely occupy an area remove any ownership markers, kingdom tokens, and all buildings under construction on the area. If present, randomly destroy one active or exhausted building on the area.
Treaty Cards Trigger
Players with other players' treaty cards in their play area receive benefits during upkeep as shown on the cards. After all players receive their benefits, players may break any of their own treaties that they wish. Return both players' treaties to the owning players with no penalty.
Retrieve Tokens and Action Cubes
Players remove their action cubes from buildings. Buildings are considered active for next turn.
Refresh Philosophy Cards
All face-down philosophy cards that were selected by players this turn are flipped over to their face-up side. They may not be activated until next turn.
Players discard all honor tokens on philosophy cards they have in front of them. Dishonor tokens on philosophy cards are moved to the players' stockpile. All philosophy cards are available to be used again next turn.
Refresh Philosophy Market
The two right most philosophy cards in the philosophy market are placed in a face-up discard pile next to the main deck. Slide the remaining two cards to the right and deal two new philosophy cards to fill the two open spots on the left. If the deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile to create a new philosophy deck.
Victory Check
Review all face-up public objectives. Any players that satisfies the conditions on the card at that moment in time place one of their ownership markers on the public objective card. There can be multiple players' markers on a single card.
If one or more players individually satisfy 3+ public objective cards, the game end is triggered. Otherwise, reveal the top card from the public objective deck and continue with the Replenish Player Boards step.
Each player reveals all of their dishonor tokens. The player or players with the most dishonor points shown on their dishonor tokens is/are eliminated.
All other players count the objectives they have completed at that moment including all public objectives and the private objectives they hold in their hand. The player with the most completed objectives wins the game.
If multiple players are tied, the tie is broken as follows: most public objectives, least dishonor, most buildings, most advancements, most honor, most knowledge, and then most commerce. If still tied, share the victory.
Replenish Player Boards
For each active market a player has on areas they own, place one action cube on a supply space on their player board.
Place one action cube on each action space for train, build, research, and honor on your player board (be sure to place natural wood-colored action cubes on the build spaces and colored action cubes on the other spaces).
If you have researched any advancements that allow you to take additional actions place an action cube on the locked action space for the appropriate type. Advancements allowing for an extra action cube have an unlock icon next to them on the player board.
Next Turn
If the game has not ended, advance the turn marker to the next space on the turn order track and begin the most honorable phase of the next turn.
Commodities
All honor, knowledge, and commerce tokens are called commodities and are stored in each player's stockpile on the top edge of their player board. All commodities are public knowledge and should be displayed in a way that is easy to see for all players. Commodities are not counter limited. In the unlikely event you run out during a game, use any suitable proxy. Commodities may not be traded.
Areas and Sea Spaces
Areas refer to the Land spaces separated by dashed lines on the Map. There are various types of areas and sea spaces in the game.
Home Areas
Home areas are the starting location for each player. The name of the faction is printed on the area in the faction's color.
Valleys
Valley areas have a Green background and one or more settlements, which look like villages on the map. Players may place one building on each settlement. Control of valleys is one possible public objective in the game.
Mountains
Mountain areas have a Beige background and one mine. They may also have one or more settlements. Players may place one building on each settlement and mine (once a player has researched the mining advancement). Control of mountains is one possible public objective in the game. Mountains have no impact on movement or combat.
Seas
There are three seas on the map. Seas, for game purposes, are identical to the river segments in the game. Collectively, seas and river segments are called sea spaces. Units in these locations may be supplied when an adjacent land area is supplied for movement.
Rivers and River Segments
There are two rivers and many river segments in the game. The two rivers are the Yellow and Yangtze. Each river is divided into river segments, separated by rapids. Junks occupy a single river segment. Collectively, seas and river segments are called sea spaces. Units in these locations may be supplied when an adjacent land area is supplied for movement.
Barbarians
Barbarian tribes are the squares located just outside of China. Arrows from those tribes represent possible invasion paths if that barbarian tribe is activated by a world event. Once a player has researched the Great Wall advancement, they may use a build action to place a wall segment on a border to block an invasion path.
Palace Areas
Palace areas are areas that contain a player's palace. At the beginning of the game, this will be all home areas. During the course of the game, the location of a player's palace may change.
Palaces
Palaces are the center of each player's faction. Palace areas are immune to revolts and many of the other world events in the game.
Players may move their palace to a new area using the build action (see build action in the action section for more information).
Palaces act as a "magic" building that can be any other building type. However, they do not match any other buildings. Thus, a player may train a single unit at a palace as if it were a barracks, earn a single honor like a shrine, or earn a single knowledge like an academy, or perform a supply action like a market. To use a palace as a building, simply take the action as normal and place the action cube on the palace, exhausting it. When attacked, a palace acts as a fortification, even if exhausted, but not when under construction (when the palace is being moved).
If a player's palace is ever conquered, that player immediately places their palace on any area they own. Additionally, they activate the palace for free before anything else occurs. This does not count as an action. Note: this free activation does not happen when a player uses a build action to move their palace.
World Events
After a player moves units during a movement action and resolves all combat, the following occurs:
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Reveal the top card of the world events deck and place it in the world events discard pile, face up.
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Move the chaos marker down a number of spaces on the dragon track as indicated by the chaos number shown in the upper right corner of the card.
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If the chaos marker does not enter the fireball space on the dragon track then no world event is triggered and play continues with the next player's action.
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If the chaos marker enters the fireball space the revealed world event card occurs. Place the chaos marker on the space corresponding to the number of players in the game (including AI players) and continue moving the marker down any number of uncounted spaces remaining from the world events card's chaos number.
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The card is read aloud to all players. Each card describes what the winning bidder receives as their reward should they win the world event.
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Players publicly announce the amount of honor they have on their stockpile.
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Players secretly place the amount of honor they wish to bid on the world event in one fist and stretch it out over the table.
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Once all players have their bid ready, all players simultaneously open their hands to reveal their bid.
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The player with the highest bid wins the world event and places it face up next to their player board. In case of a tie, the player with the most honorable token chooses between the tied bidders. The number of world events a player has won is public knowledge.
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The winning bidder discards their spent honor to the pool and places the world event card near their player board in case this is an objective towards victory. All other players return their honor to their stockpile.
World Events Example: Samuel moves some units and must flip over a World Events card. The card flip reveals the Barbarian Raid world event, which has a chaos number of 3. The players move the chaos marker down 3 spaces, but only 2 remain before the bottom of the dragon track. The players move the marker 2 spaces, then reset the cube to the location showing the number of players in the game (5 in this case), and continue moving the marker down a 3rd and final time.
Next the players will bid on the Barbarian Raid world event. After the winning bid is determined and the world event occurs, the chaos marker will move further down the dragon track a number of spaces equal to the winning bid.
Dragons Erupt
The Dragons Erupt card is a special world event that represents unexpected events happening in China. If the Dragons Erupt card is revealed flip another world events card. That world event occurs (including nothing happening if it is a Silence card). Ignore the chaos number on the flipped world events card. Do not move the chaos marker from its current location on the dragon track (except for the amount of honor bid by the winning player as normal).
After completing the world event triggered by the Dragons Erupt card all world events cards in the discard pile and any remaining in the world events deck are reshuffled to reform the world events deck.
Dragons Erupt Example: What if Samuel had instead revealed the dragons erupt card after his move? In this case, he would have immediately revealed another world events card.
Samuel reveals the Korean Support card. The players ignore the card's chaos number of 4. The chaos marker stays exactly where it is.
Next the players bid on the Korean Support world event. After the winning bid is determined and the world event occurs, the chaos marker will move further down the dragon track a number of spaces equal to the winning bid, possibly triggering another world event.
World Event Choices
If a player is impacted by a world event and has multiple selections that match the criteria of the card (e.g. the player has more than one area adjacent to a disaster), the affected player may choose between the matching selections.
Play Resumes
Play then resumes with the next player's action.
Combat
Combat consists of one or more combat rounds during which both players will roll dice to determine a winner. The active player is always the attacker.
Land Combat
For each Combat Round first archers attack, then all other units attack in melee.
Archery Fire
If the player has one or more archers in the combat, roll one purple die. If the roll shows an arrow, they choose any one enemy unit to destroy and immediately return it to the player's pool. If both players have archers in the combat, die rolls and eliminations occur simultaneously.
If the die roll shows a number, set this die aside for use during melee combat.
Melee Combat
- If the player has one or more infantry in the battle, take 1 Green die from the pool. If the player has the iron weapons advancement, take a second Green die.
- If the player has one or more cavalry take a Red die from the pool. If the player has the tactics advancement, take a second Red die.
- If the player has both infantry and cavalry in the battle, take one additional Green die for having combined arms.
- If the attacker crossed a river during movement containing the defending player's junks, the defending player may choose to use the junks in combat. If not, ignore them. If so, take one Blue die. If the defending player has the combat junks advancement then take a second Blue die. Note: Junks on a land area do not impact land combat and are destroyed if there are alone with enemy land units.
- If the player has one or more heroes in the battle, they take one Yellow hero die.
- Both players roll all of the dice they took from the pool.
- Only the highest number each player rolled on Purple, Blue, Green, or Red dice counts. That number is their combat strength for that combat round. Ignore all other Purple, Blue, Green, and Red dice.
- Apply any effects of the Yellow die rolled by the players to their final combat strength.
- Two plus signs: Add 2 to the player's Combat Strength.
- Blank: No impact.
- One plus sign: Add 1 to the player's Combat Strength.
- Minus sign: Their Hero is killed and returned to the pool.
- The player with the higher combat strength chooses one enemy unit to destroy and returns it to the other player's pool (including junks involved in land combat).
- In the case of a tie, both players remove one enemy unit simultaneously.
Repeat? Both archery fire and melee combat are repeated until one side is eliminated or withdraws (see withdrawal below).
Heroes alone on land fight by rolling a Yellow die only and adding the results to a base combat strength of 0. Heroes at sea without junks are eliminated.
Sea Combat
Sea combat is identical to land combat except replace steps 1-4 with this single step, then perform combat as normal.
- If the player has one or more junks in the battle, take 1 Blue die from the pool. If the player has the combat junks advancement, take a second Blue die.
Withdrawals
After each round of combat, players may withdraw, starting with the attacker.
If the attacker withdraws, units return to the location from which they attacked, including using sea transport.
If the defender withdraws from land combat, the units must retreat to one adjacent area containing an ownership token or units owned by the defender. The defender may use sea transport to withdraw land units. If no friendly area is available, they may retreat to a neutral area that contains no barbarian or kingdom tokens. If there are no friendly or legal neutral areas available, then the defender may not withdraw.
A player may not retreat across a river containing another player's junks.
Attacking junks must retreat to the sea space from which they moved. Defender's junks must retreat to one adjacent sea space that is not enemy occupied.
Fortifications
If fortifications are present during a land combat, they provide some advantages. Remember that a palace acts as a fortification.
- The defender rolls 1 extra Green combat die
- The defender receives a +1 to their final Combat Strength
- Neither side receives a bonus Green die for Combined Arms.
Dishonor after Combat
After each combat is completed, any player that either withdrew from the combat, or lost all of their units in the combat, receives one random dishonor token from the pool and places it face-down in their stockpile.
Land Combat Example: Camila (Purple) attacks Scott (Red) expecting an easy victory by bringing in infantry, cavalry, and a hero. Scott is defending with a cavalry and an archer. Scott takes a Purple archer die and rolls an arrow. Scott chooses to remove the infantry.
Camila was expecting to roll a Yellow die, a Red die, two Green dice (because her infantry has iron weapons), and a third Green die for having both infantry and cavalry. Instead, she will only be rolling 1 Yellow die and 1 Red die because she lost the infantry prior to the melee combat.
Scott has cavalry and takes a Red die. He does not receive the second Red die as he does not possess tactics. Note that the Purple archer die is not rerolled and remains in play (zero strength). Camila rolls a 4 and a + on her 2 dice. Scott rolls a 5 on his die. The Combat Strength for each side is 5. Camila chooses to kill Scott's cavalry and Scott kills Camila's cavalry.
Faced with a hero fighting alone against an archer, Camila wisely withdraws. So much for an easy victory. Camila receives one dishonor token for losing the battle.
Dishonor
Dishonor tokens are earned for a variety of reasons in the game. Most often, this is due to combat, breaking a treaty, or a world event. Dishonor tokens received by a player are kept face-down in the stockpile section of their player board. The number of dishonor tokens a player has is public knowledge.
Players may never show the values on their dishonor tokens to other players, but may claim that they are any value they wish or not disclose it at all. Players may inspect the values of their own dishonor tokens at any time.
If a player needs to take a dishonor token and none remain in the pool, the player must take a random token from another player of their choice.
During victory determination at the end of the game, the player(s) with the highest total points shown on their dishonor tokens is eliminated from the game.
Treaties
During a player's action, players with units and/or ownership tokens adjacent to each other may exchange one treaty. The treaty offered does not have to match the one being offered by the other player. If the players agree, each player takes the other player's treaty and places it face-up next to their playerboard. Treaties provide the benefit shown on the card during each upkeep phase. Players may have multiple treaties in play, but only one treaty at a time is allowed with each other player.
Breaking a Treaty
Players may freely break treaties during the Upkeep phase (after treaties have provided their benefit). Doing so is at no penalty to either player. Simply return both treaties to their respective owners. The players are free to swap new treaties during a subsequent action phase.
Treaties are broken at the end of an action if a player moves units into an area containing a player's ownership tokens or units with whom they have a treaty. Both players return their respective treaties. Additionally, the active player breaking the treaty receives the dishonor penalty shown in the lower right corner of the treaty being returned to them (from one to three random dishonor tokens). The other player receives no dishonor penalty.
Philosophies
As a player earns philosophy cards by building shrines, that player can use them to gain advantages during the game as printed on the philosophy card.
To use a philosophy, the player must place one honor token from their stockpile, or one random dishonor token from the pool, on a face-up philosophy card that does not already contain an honor or dishonor token.
Each face-up philosophy card may only be used once per turn. Face-down philosophy cards may not be used. Each philosophy card states when it may be used. If no phase is given, the philosophy may be used at any time.
Philosophies are fully resolved in the order used before the next philosophy card is resolved. Should there be near-simultaneous philosophies used, the player with the most honorable token determines the order of resolution.
Area Reduction
From time to time, world events will cause area reduction. Players on the area being reduced must choose and destroy a total of 2 units and/or buildings of theirs from the area. If all units and buildings on an area are destroyed then remove any ownership token on the area. It becomes neutral immediately. If the area is a player's home area then it reverts to that owner's control instead of becoming neutral. Half-reduction causes a player to lose 1 unit or building.
Kingdom Tokens
During setup, each area containing 3 settlements receives one face-down kingdom token to represent the will of the local warlord (Note that Zhou receives 3 kingdom tokens as emperor's center of power).
When a player moves units into an area containing a kingdom token, reveal only the topmost token. The symbol shown on the token determines what happens next (see kingdom token reference at the end of these rules).
If a kingdom token is discarded and another kingdom token is on the area, reveal the next token and determine the outcome. Continue until either the player has no units on the area or their are no more kingdom tokens remaining on the area.
Barbarians and the Great Wall
Certain world events will cause barbarians to invade China. The player that wins a barbarian raid world event selects a barbarian tribe and rolls a die. Move the barbarian token to the area following the invasion path of the arrow indicated by the die roll. Then draw a random barbarian token from the barbarian pool and place it on the newly vacated barbarian tribe space.
Barbarians do not move beyond the first area they enter. Barbarians invading an area already containing barbarians are simply added on top of any barbarian tokens already there. Keep barbarian counters face-down unless combat occurs.
Barbarian Combat
Whenever barbarians enter an area containing units belonging to a player or a player moves units into an area containing barbarians, barbarian combat occurs. If an area has both barbarians and kingdom tokens, players fight barbarians first.
- If all barbarian tokens are face-down, reveal only the top token to show its combat values (Buildings alone do not cause barbarian tokens to be revealed). Barbarians do not roll dice for combat. Instead, the attack value of the barbarian is shown on the blood symbol on the token. The defense value of the barbarian is shown on the shield symbol on the token.
- Players roll combat dice as per the normal combat rules, including doing archer fire. An arrow die roll during archer fire removes the face-up barbarian token before melee combat.
- During melee combat, if the player's combat value exceeds the barbarian's attack value, the player ignores the barbarian attack. Otherwise, randomly determine and remove one of the player's units.
- During melee combat, if the player's combat value equals or exceeds the barbarian's defense value, remove the barbarian token and return it to the barbarian pool.
- If there are no more barbarians on the area, or the player withdraws from combat normally, then combat ends. Otherwise, conduct another round of barbarian combat beginning at step 1 above until only barbarians or player's units are on the area. Barbarians never withdraw from combat.
All rules for dishonor due to withdrawal or combat loss apply to barbarian combat as well (see barbarian token reference at the end of these rules).
When a barbarian counter is removed from the map (combat, world event, etc.) the player that removed the barbarian counter places it in their play area to signify that they destroyed the barbarians. This may be important for accomplishing objectives.
Great Wall
Once a player has researched the Great Wall advancement, the player may build Great Wall segments using the build action to control the barbarians. Players with the Great Wall advancement may, in lieu of placing a fortification on a settlement during a build action, place a fortification as a Great Wall segment at the tip of invasion path arrow. Great Wall segments may not be built if enemy units are present on the area. Place a build cube on the Great Wall segment as normal.
Once the Great Wall segment is completed during upkeep, that invasion path is permanently blocked. Reroll any die rolls that would cause the barbarians to invade using that route. Should all invasion routes for a barbarian tribe be blocked by Great Walls, that barbarian tribe may no longer be selected to raid. Great Walls under construction are destroyed by barbarian raids that use that invasion path.
Revolts
Revolts occur via world events and represents the rising up of the people to throw off oppressive or unpopular leadership (i.e. you). A Revolt may not occur in an area containing a palace.
The player undergoing the revolt counts the number of units on the area and subtracts the number of buildings on the area. They then roll the Yellow die and adds the number of plus signs rolled (or subtracts a minus sign).
If the result is 0 or higher, the revolt fails and nothing happens. If the result is negative then the Revolt succeeds. The owning player must remove a number of units from the area equal to the negative number.
If the revolt succeeds and there are no units on the area after the revolt then the area reverts to neutral (or its original owner if a starting home area), but retains its buildings for a future conqueror.
Plagues
Plagues occur via world events and represent major disease outbreaks among the people of China. A plague may not occur in an area containing a palace.
Plague Kills
The player who owns the area struck by the plague suffers half-reduction on the area (See Area Reduction earlier in these rules). Then mark the area with a commerce token to show that it is immune to further effects of this plague.
Plague Spreads
For each adjacent area that does not contain a commerce token, knowledge token or a palace, roll a Blue die. On a roll of 1-4, the area is not affected by the plague (do not place a commerce token on the area). On a roll of 5 or 6, the plague spreads to that area. Place a knowledge token from the pool on the area to mark the area as infected. Continue rolling for all areas adjacent to the current infected area.
Once this is completed, if there are any knowledge tokens on any areas on the board, the player who won the world event selects one of them and replaces the knowledge token with a commerce token from the pool. The plague strikes this area. Apply the Plague Kills and Plague Spreads steps to that area.
Sea spaces are never affected by a plague, but junks on adjacent sea spaces may be taken as losses during a plague if the owning player so chooses.
Plague Ends
Continue with these steps until there are no more knowledge tokens on the map. When done, remove all commerce tokens and return them to the pool.
Dragons
Dragons represent the spirit of dragons that were alive and well during this ancient period of China's history. Dragons add unique elements to Spring and Autumn: Story of China and can change the game situation quickly.
Placement
Dragons are placed on the map when triggered by the drawing of a world events card. The winner of the world events bid places the dragon on an area using the rules shown on the world events card. Only one dragon may occupy an area. Dragons have no impact on movement or combat in their area unless otherwise stated (see dragon reference on the back page of these rules).
Duels
Dragons cannot be harmed by any units other than heroes. If the active player has not passed at the end of their action and has a hero on an area containing a dragon, the player may choose have the hero duel the dragon. When dueling a dragon, the player rolls the Yellow die once for each hero on the area.
- If the player rolls + or ++ then the dragon is destroyed and removed from the game.
- If the player rolls a blank, then neither side is victorious this round and both the hero and the dragon remain on the area.
- If the player rolls a -, then the hero is vanquished back to the player's pool.
Upkeep in Areas with Dragons
Dragons possess special abilities that activate during the upkeep phase (see dragon reference on the back page of these rules). Other than as listed for their special abilities, dragons have no impact on the upkeep phase.
Games with Less than 5 Players
Players are free to select any faction they wish. For each faction not selected, add three kingdom tokens to each home area and one kingdom token to all areas adjacent to unselected home areas (unless they already have kingdom tokens). Then play the game normally.
STOP: Play your first game with these rules.
Epic Game
For experienced players looking for a longer, more epic feel to their game, play until a player has completed 4, or even 5, public objectives. This forces players to think about longer term strategy. This rule increases playing time, so please do not use this rule for your first game.
Safety Game
If you want a safety margin for beginning players, apply this rule. A palace has an intrinsic garrison of 1 infantry, 1 cavalry, and 1 archer that may never move from the palace area. The three units represented by the palace may be destroyed individually during combat. However, unless destroyed entirely in combat, the units regenerate fully at the end of each combat.
AI Players and Solitaire Play
For a richer experience with fewer players, including solitaire play, Spring and Autumn: Story of China uses a system by which less than 5 players can still enjoy the full grandeur of the game. The game includes an AI deck of cards to play the factions not selected by humans.
The player(s) decide which faction they wish to play. Any number of the unselected factions can be played by the game system using these AI rules.
AI Setup
Follow all set up rules as normal except as noted here. AI players start with one junk, two infantry, and no buildings on their home area other than a palace (use the AI side of a palace token showing an infantry, cavalry, and archer unit).
AI players use only the top section of a player board. One player is designated as the bookkeeper and places the AI player boards and shuffled AI cards near their player board. They will track the AI players' commodities, advancements, and supply. Information tracked on the AI player boards is public knowledge.
Place a cube of each AI player's color on the 1 space of the advancements and supply rows. Place one honor token on each AI player board. The grudge space should be left empty.
The AI section of the player board includes a grudge space for each faction. Whenever another player (human or AI) attempts to harm an AI player, place an action cube of that player's color on the grudge space of the AI player, replacing any cube that is already there. Harm is defined as moving onto an area containing units or ownership markers belonging to the AI player or using a harmful philosophy or world event on the AI player.
An AI player is considered a player for purposes of setting up and resetting the dragon track (e.g. if there are 2 human players and 3 AI players, the dragon track begins on the 6 space and is reset to the 5 space each time a world event occurs).
Private Objectives
Deal 4 private cards, plus 1 card for each AI player in the game, face-up near the game board. Replace any duplicates. These are the private objective cards shared by all AI players and are not available for the human players to complete.
Most Honorable Phase
If an AI player is most honorable, flip the Most Honorable token into the air to randomly set the turn order. When breaking ties for most honorable player, AI players will always select themselves and then randomly (excluding their grudge).
Action Phase - Round 1: Production
During the first round of each turn, reveal the top AI card for the AI player. The AI player immediately produces all of the benefits listed in the production section of the card (bottom of the card). The AI card applies to only that AI player. Reveal a card for each AI player individually to determine what benefits each AI player will receive.
The production section of AI cards are split into two columns labeled "2-3" and "4+". If the current game turn is turn 2 or 3, then AI players receive the benefits listed in the leftmost column; Otherwise, they receive the benefits listed in the rightmost column.
Special: All AI players begin the game with their turn 1 benefits. No card is revealed on the first round of turn 1 to determine AI players' production.
The AI deck is shuffled each time it is depleted. The benefits that the AI player may receive are as follows:
- +X advancements: Add X advancements to that AI player by moving the cube in the advancements row on the AI player board.
- +X honor: Add X honor tokens to that AI player's stockpile.
- +X knowledge: Add X knowledge tokens to the AI player's stockpile.
- +X commerce: Add X commerce tokens to the AI player's stockpile.
- +X philosophies: Claim X philosophies from the market as if the AI player had just built X shrines. See AI and Philosophies below for more information.
- +X fortifications: If the Protector public objective is in play, first place fortifications under construction on empty invasion paths leading to areas owned by the AI player. Ties are broken randomly. If all invasion routes are filled or Protector is not in play, place fortifications under construction on the AI player's area with the most settlements that does not have a fortification. Ties are broken randomly.
- +1 hero: Place the indicated number of heroes on the palace area of the AI player. If all heroes are already on the map, ignore placing any heroes.
- X Supply: Place the action cube for the AI player on the supply number shown on the card. This is how many times the AI player may supply this turn.
- +X units: Place units on the AI palace area starting at the top of the list. Place one of each listed unit type and continue down the list until you have placed the indicated number of total units. If all units of a listed type are already on the map, then ignore that unit and continue to the next listed unit. If you reach the bottom of the list, return to the top of the list and repeat until all units are placed.
Action Phase - Rounds 2+: Movement
On rounds 2 and beyond of each turn, the AI player may attempt to move units on the map. Follow the steps below to move AI players' units.
A. Will the AI player supply?
If the supply for the active AI player is greater than 0 then roll the hero die. If it shows a + or ++ then reduce the supply by 1 and proceed to step B. Otherwise, the AI player does not move this round (AI players only pass when they have 0 supply).
B. Which area will the AI player supply?
Count the number of the active AI player's movement eligible units on each area. The area with the highest count greater than 0 is supplied for movement.
Movement eligible units are heroes, infantry, cavalry, archers, and the adjacent sea space with the most junks that have not reached their supply limit this turn. In addition, 1 unit must remain on each land area or sea space (AI player's always leave their palace in their palace area as their unit that remains. They move all other units out of their palace area when it is activated).
Ties are broken randomly. If no area has a count higher than 0, then no movement occurs and the AI player receives 1 commerce.
C. Junks move first
Determine the destinations for any junks that are supplied (see determining destination below). Move junks on land first, then move junks at sea that have not yet moved. One junk will always be left behind at sea and the rest will move to a single destination. Move 1 hero with the junks, if possible. Resolve any combat caused by any sea movement using normal combat rules.
D. Land units move second
Determine where any units on the selected area will move. Move all but 1 unit to the same destination. Move 1 hero with the units, if possible. Always move the combination of units that will result in the maximum number of combat dice to be rolled, even if no combat will occur. If different combinations of units would result in the same number of combat dice, then leave behind an infantry, cavalry, and then an archer in that order. Resolve any combat caused by this movement using normal combat rules.
Determining Destination
Reveal a single AI card for all movement by this AI player this round. Only use the movement section at the top of the card.
Junks will only move to sea spaces and land units will only move to land areas (exception heroes). Determine all adjacent areas to which the units could move. Areas reachable using sea transport by the AI player are considered adjacent for moving land units.
Starting with the top-most text in the movement section of the card and proceeding downward, exclude destinations that do not match the text until only one destination remains; that will be the destination. If, at any time, the text would remove all remaining destinations, then ignore that text. If, after applying all text on the card, more than 1 destination remains, determine the destination randomly between those that remain.
The movement section text is as follows:
- Grudge: Target areas containing units or ownership markers belonging to the player with a cube on the AI player's grudge space.
- Fewest friendly units: Areas with the fewest active AI player's units.
- Most settlements & mines: Areas with the most settlements and mines (regardless of the presence of buildings).
- Unclaimed objectives: Areas listed as an objective on a revealed objective card that the AI player does not already control. (e.g. most mountains).
- Enemies or barbarians: Areas containing any number of enemy units, buildings, or barbarians. Players with a treaty with the AI player are not enemies.
AI Movement Example: Jin is being played by the AI and it is their turn to take an action. This is the 2nd round of the turn as Jin received the units shown on Jin during the 1st round. Jin has 2 supply available (not shown).
A. Since Jin has supply available and a + was rolled, the cube on the supply track is moved down by 1 on the AI player board and Jin takes a supply Action.
B. Jin has 2 movement eligible units in Jin (the adjacent junk does not count since 1 unit must remain in a sea space. The land units are eligible to move because the AI palace unit remains in the area) and 1 unit in Wei (one land unit is movement eligible. The other unit and the adjacent junk must remain). Jin will Supply their home area for movement this round as there are the most movement eligible units on that area.
C. The AI card revealed is the The Way of Equilibrium card shown on a previous page. This card will determine movement rules for all of Jin's movement this round. First, normally junks would move, but since one must stay behind, the junk does not move.
D. Next the land units will move using the same AI card. "Grudge" is first, but there are no grudge cubes on Jin (not shown). Next is "Most Settlements/Mines" which eliminates all areas except for Zhou and Song, each with 3. Next, "Least Friendly Unit", but neither Zhou nor Song have friendly units so both are still in consideration. Finally, "Enemies or Barbarians", which also does not remove either area as they both have enemy units. A die roll is made to randomly determine the target between the two and Zhou is the destination.
A Red action cube is placed in the Wu grudge space because of the attack. Next, Jin and Wu will resolve combat in Zhou and finally, a world events card will be revealed per normal rules.
Note that if Qi had a grudge cube on the Jin grudge space, the outcome of this movement would have been very different. Instead, the Jin units would have moved to Song and Zhou would have been spared the attack.
AI Treaties
AI players will freely make treaties with both AI and human players (exception: not their grudge). They will only give and only accept a randomly determined treaty. Once a treaty is broken by either side for any reason, they will never make a treaty with that player again. For "Enemies or barbarians" movement orders, ignore players with whom the AI has a treaty, but the AI players may still attack a treaty player due to other movement orders.
AI World Events
When a world event triggers, all human players bid normally. After all human bids are revealed, roll the Yellow die once for each AI player. On a roll of ++, the AI player bids all of their honor. A +, they bid half of their honor, rounded up. A -, they bid half of their honor, rounded down. A blank, they bid 0 honor. They will never bid more than needed to beat the highest honor another player possesses.
For revolts, treat all AI player's settlements and mines on an area as if they had buildings on them. If a world event causes losses, take all losses from units. If there are no units on the area, ignore the losses (AI players cannot lose buildings).
AI players will always target themselves positively and their grudge negatively. If they have no grudge, they will randomly target another player. They will never hurt themselves or directly help their grudge, unless unavoidable. Once the target player is established, they will determine an eligible target randomly.
AI Combat
Once an AI player has 6 advancements, play as if they possess Combat Junks, Tactics, and Iron Weapons (shown on 6th advancement space on the AI player boards). AI players never withdraw from combat. AI players will destroy the enemy unit that would result in the fewest number of dice being rolled in the next combat round. If there is no difference in the number of dice to be rolled, then destroy the type of units which is the fewest in number for the enemy. If equal numbers, determine randomly. AI players destroy heroes last.
AI players conquer areas using normal rules. After conquest, leave any surviving buildings in place.
AI Palaces in Combat
An AI player's palace represents a garrison of 1 infantry, 1 cavalry, and 1 archer that may never move from the palace area. If an AI player's palace is ever destroyed, it regenerates during the upkeep phase on the area they own with the most settlements and mines. Ties are broken randomly. The three units represented by the AI palace may be destroyed individually during combat, but unless all three are destroyed in a single combat, the marker regenerates to full health at the end of each combat.
AI and Philosophies
AI players receive the benefit of philosophies and will use them when advantageous to do so if they have one or more honor tokens to spend (they will not take dishonor to use philosophies). When AI players claim a philosophy, they will select one that satisfies a face-up AI player objective card (example: If Variety is face-up, the AI player will select different types of philosophies until they have 3 different colors). If there are multiple matching philosophies, or no objectives specify philosophies as a goal, the AI player will select the philosophy furthest to the left.
AI and the Upkeep Phase
AI players win the game in the same manner as human players, but can only score 5 of the AI private objective cards that were dealt face-up for them.
AI Advancements
Specific advancements are not tracked for AI players. Thus, when determining victory conditions, always assume the AI player has the exact advancements it needs to meet objectives. For example: If the AI player needs all military and naval advancements to satisfy two different objectives, once the AI player has 9 advancements they meet both objectives for victory conditions (since there are 5 military and 4 naval advancements).
AI Rules for Specific Objectives
For Ascendancy, the AI player will build their palace on the Zhou area during production of the turn after they capture it. Place a build cube as normal.
For Urbanite count all 3+ settlement areas controlled by the AI player as if they had buildings on each settlement and/or mine.
For Builder, the AI player satisfies this if they own 8+ settlements or mines.
For Empire, Potential, and/or Prosperity assume each area has one empty settlement/mine on each area and all other settlements and mines are occupied by a building.
For Warmonger, Scholarship, and/or Mercantile, the AI player may score one of these cards for every 5 settlements and/or mines that they control. Thus, if all three of these objectives were in play, the AI player would needs to control 15 settlements and/or mines to satisfy all three objectives, 10 to satify two objectives, and 5 to satisfy any one of them.
Optional: AI Fast Expansion
Once you have determined the movement destination, if the AI player is not moving into combat or kingdom tokens, move only a single unit (junk, archer, then cavalry, than infantry) and then repeat the process using the same AI card. This rule may make the AI player's movement lengthier to process, but can add a deep challenge for experienced players.
Closing Note
Thank you for your support! In a game of this scope, there are bound to be oversights, omissions, or errors. Please forgive me if I fell short of what you deserve as my customer. If an unanswered question arises during game play, make a fair judgment call and get back to the fun of the game. Later, check for an answer online or share your question so everyone can benefit from it. Most importantly, have FUN and make Spring and Autumn your own!
Buildings Reference
- Barracks allow a player to train a number of infantry, cavalry, archers, or junks equal to the number of active barracks on an area using a train action. Only one type may be produced per train action.
- Academies allow a player to produce knowledge equal to the number of active academies on an area using a research action. An academy can produce a single hero using a train action.
- Shrines allow a player to produce honor equal to the number of active shrines on an area using an honor action. When a shrine is first built, players select a philosophy card from the market.
- Fortifications allow the defending player to roll one extra Green die and receive +1 to their final combat strength during combat. It also removes combined arms for both sides. May be placed as a Great Wall.
- Markets allow a player to move units on one land area and an adjacent sea space or to create one commerce. Markets each produce one supply cube during the upkeep phase.
- Palaces are immune to revolts, many world events, and can be activated as if they were a building of any type. Palaces do not match any of the other buildings during an action. Palaces act as a fortification.
Barbarian Tokens Reference
Each barbarian token shows an attack value (blood symbol) and a defense value (shield symbol). Token values (attack/defense):
- Attack 3, defense 6: If the player's combat strength is 6 or greater, discard the barbarian token. If the player's combat strength is 3 or lower, destroy one random player unit.
- Attack 4, defense 5: If the player's combat strength is 5 or greater, discard the barbarian token. If the player's combat strength is 4 or lower, destroy one random player unit.
- Attack 5, defense 4: If the player's combat strength is 4 or greater, discard the barbarian token. If the player's combat strength is 5 or lower, destroy one random player unit.
- Attack 6, defense 3: If the player's combat strength is 3 or greater, discard the barbarian token. If the player's combat strength is 6 or lower, destroy one random player unit.
Remember: If a player withdraws from combat with barbarians or loses all of their units in combat with barbarians, they must take a dishonor token.
Kingdom Tokens Reference
Kingdom tokens (described here by the symbol printed on each token):
- Alliance symbol: The kingdom enters an alliance with the active player immediately. Place an ownership marker on the area and discard all other kingdom tokens on the area.
- Red circle: Take one dishonor, then discard the token.
- Red circle with a hero: Take one dishonor unless the player has a hero on the area, then discard the token.
- Archer with blood drop: Destroy a unit of the active player's choice unless the player has an archer on the area. If the active player has a unit remaining, discard the token. Otherwise, take one dishonor as if you lost a combat.
- Cavalry with blood drop: Destroy a unit of the active player's choice unless the player has a cavalry on the area. If the active player has a unit remaining, discard the token. Otherwise, take one dishonor as if you lost a combat.
- Infantry with blood drop: Destroy a unit of the active player's choice unless the player has an infantry on the area. If the active player has a unit remaining, discard the token. Otherwise, take one dishonor as if you lost a combat.
- Archer with retreat arrow: The active player must retreat all units to where they started and take one dishonor unless the player has an archer on the area. If the active player does not retreat, discard the token.
- Cavalry with retreat arrow: The active player must retreat all units to where they started and take one dishonor unless the player has a cavalry on the area. If the active player does not retreat, discard the token.
- Infantry with retreat arrow: The active player must retreat all units to where they started and take one dishonor unless the player has an infantry on the area. If the active player does not retreat, discard the token.
Dragon Reference
Dragons' special abilities trigger at the beginning of the Upkeep phase. Each creature is unique in its special ability.
- Dilong: Place Dilong on a valley area. During upkeep, the owner of the area with Dilong receives one unit of their choice on the area.
- Fuzanglong: Place Fuzanglong on a mountain land area. During upkeep, the owner of the area with Fuzanglong receives one commerce.
- Qiulong: Place Qiulong on a land area. During upkeep, the owner of the area with Qiulong may look at the top 3 cards of the world events deck, discard all, some, or none, and then return the rest in any order to the top of the deck.
- Shenlong: Place Shenlong on a river or sea. During upkeep, whoever occupies the sea space with Shenlong may destroy one junk on the map.
- Tianlong: Place Tianlong on a land area. At the beginning of any combat in the area with Tianlong, all players without ownership tokens on the area must take one dishonor token.
- Yinglong: Place Yinglong on a barbarian tribe, the Yellow river, or the Yangtze river. If placed on a river, that river may never be selected to flood. If placed on a barbarian tribe, they are pacified (destroyed) permanently. For the rest of the game, no barbarian tokens are placed there and they may never be selected for a barbarian raid.