Successors (Fourth Edition)
Successors (Fourth Edition) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- 2. Inventory
- 3. Core Concepts
- 4. Other Terms and Concepts
- 5. Setup
- 6. Sequence of Play
- 7. End Game & Victory
- 8. Movement
- 9. Reaction Step
- 10. Avoid Battle
- 11. Land Interception
- 12. Land Battle
- 13. Sieges and Subjugation
- 14. Independent Armies
- 15. Legitimacy
- 16. Prestige
- 17. Champions & Successors
- 18. Royal Family Members
- 19. Optional Rules
- 19.1 Prestige for Defeating Independent Armies (Recommended)
- 19.2 Major General's Special Abilities
- 19.3 Land Interception Options
- 19.4 Interceptions and Avoid Battles by Independent Armies
- 19.5 Avoiding Battle Direction Modifier
- 19.6 Attrition Above the Forage Limit
- 19.7 Dispersed Fleets
- 19.8 Capital City Building
- 19.9 Cavalry Variant
- 19.10 Elephants and Sieges
- 19.11 Faster Funeral Cart Construction
- 19.12 Illegitimate Son
- 20. Card Clarifications
- 21. Index
2. Inventory
A complete game of Successors contains:
- Game board
- 12 plastic General miniatures with 13 General cards: Antipatros / Polyperchon, Antigonos, Kassandros, Krateros, Demetrios, Eumenes, Leonnatos, Lysimachos, Perdikkas, Ptolemaios, Peithon, Seleukos
- 404 game counters, comprising:
- 1 Turn marker, 1 First Player marker, 1 Usurper marker
- 13 Generals, 20 Minor Generals
- 240 Control markers (40 in each color)
- 36 Combat units: 6 Elephants, 20 Macedonian Phalanx, 8 Royal Macedonian Phalanx, 1 Silver Shields, 1 Helepolis
- 36 Mercenary units: 7 Thracian Mercenaries, 7 Cappadocian Mercenaries, 7 Cretan Archers, 7 Greek Mercenaries, 8 Mercenaries
- 5 Independent Armies: 23,000 Greeks, Illyrian Migration, Greek Army, Scythian, Cappadocia
- 8 Fleets: Aigyptos (strength 1), Athenai (strength 2), Makedonia (strength 1), Rhodos (strength 2), Phoenike (strength 1), Karia (strength 1), Kypros (strength 1), Kilikia (strength 2)
- 6 Alexander's Heirs & Family markers: Philippos (4L), Alexandros (5L), Olympias (0L), a Prestige Points marker, and Victory Points markers (1 in each color)
- 37 Other markers, including Alexander's Tomb, Alexander's Funeral Cart, 3 Looted markers, 4 Siege markers, Legitimacy markers (1 in each color), and a set of Legitimacy-effect markers (values 3L, 2L, 8L, -3L, -2L, 1L) covering Strategos of Europe, Under Condemnation, Guardian of the Tomb, 5 Champion markers, Funeral in Pella, and Persian Popular Support
- 59 TYCHE cards: 31 Event Cards, 16 Bonus Cards, 9 Surprise Cards
- 20 plastic rings in 5 player colors
- 2 plastic d6 dice
- 5 player aid charts
Please note that this components list isn't complete and may change due to ongoing Kickstarter campaign.
3. Core Concepts
3.1 Generals
Each player begins the game with a scenario-dependent number of Major Generals and 4 Minor Generals.
3.1.1 Major General. Major Generals will be your greatest assets. They are represented with their own miniatures, and usually carry better Ratings than Minor Generals. Major Generals can be eliminated during battle (12.4), and once eliminated they are removed from the game permanently. A player is not eliminated from play if they lose all their Major Generals (they may continue to play with only their Minor Generals).
When you have more than one Major General in the same space (having one inside a Major City and the other outside does not count as the same space, 4.16, 12.1.2), you must designate the most Senior General (4.26) as the Commanding General (others will be Subordinate, 4.29). Place the Subordinate Major General(s) on the Commanding General's card. If you later split the Army, place the Major General back on the map with his CUs.
When a Major General is Dispersed, place him onto the Dispersed Box (4.6).
Each General card shows an Initiative Rating, a Battle Rating, and (for some Generals) bonus/penalty Prestige Points, as well as any Special Ability:
- Initiative Rating – This number is used to determine success when Intercepting and Avoiding Battle. It also determines the General's Movement Points (MPs) each Segment. Lower numbers are generally better.
- Battle Rating – This number is used in Battles. The higher the Battle Rating, the better your General is at mitigating bad luck.
- Prestige Points – bonus/penalty Prestige Points adjust a General's Prestige in certain situations (16.1). Not all Generals have PPs.
3.1.2 Minor General. Each player may only ever have 4 Minor Generals. Minor Generals are represented with counters. Minor Generals may be placed, removed or repositioned (even into or out of a Besieged Major City) on the map at any time during one of your turns during the Strategy Phase. Use Minor Generals to divide your Armies while they move during your turn or during your opponent's turn (when Intercepting, for example, Section 11). If a Major General is eliminated in combat and you do not have a subordinate to take Command, you may either reposition one of your Minor Generals (only if it is your turn), or place one of your Minor Generals from your supply to mark ownership of the remaining Army (3.3.1). Minor Generals can never be eliminated and ignore Leader Loss checks. If a Minor General is Dispersed or is left on the map without CUs, remove it immediately, returning it to its owner's supply. Minor Generals have an Initiative Rating of 4 and a Battle Rating of 2.
Generally, Minor Generals are used to indicate ownership of CUs that you wish to move without a Major General. In this way, you can effectively control 1 Army per Major General, plus 4 more (via Minor Generals). Minor Generals have many other tactical uses as well.
3.2 Political Control markers (PCs)
These Political Control markers show which player controls a space. They may not be placed on Transit points (4.27). If a player controls majority of a Province's spaces (ignore transit points), including the Province's Major City (if there is one), that player also controls the Province. The green markers are Independent Political Control markers (5.4).
3.3 Combat Units (CUs)
Combat Units represent a player's military forces. The large number in the lower left is the number of CUs represented by the counter. The small number in the lower right (parentheses) is the Combat Strength of the counter. Players may 'make change' with CU counters of the same type throughout play as needed. The number of CUs provided are not an exhaustive limit: players may use substitutes if they run out of counters. The number and type of CUs in play on the board is public knowledge and any player may examine any stack at any time.
Any number of CUs with a General is an Army (4.2). CUs without Generals cannot move (Section 8), Avoid Battle (Section 10), Intercept (Section 11), and if attacked they do not receive any Battle Rating benefits (12.3).
In general, Macedonian CUs are less vulnerable than others.
3.3.1 Indicating Ownership of CUs. CUs have no faction markings on them, so there are two ways to indicate ownership of your CUs:
a) CUs stacked under one of your Generals or on a Major General's card indicate that they are in that General's Army and belong to you. b) CUs on a space with one of your Political Control markers (3.2) belong to you. In the case of a Besieged Major City, the CUs must be stacked below your PC (4.16).
If at any time a player is unable to indicate ownership of some of his CUs, immediately place those CUs on the Dispersed Box (and mark them with one of your PCs to avoid confusion, 4.6).
3.3.2 Elephants. Elephants are generally treated like other CUs, except they have a variable Combat Strength. When determining Battle Strength in a Land Battle (12.2), roll a die for each Elephant CU: the Combat Strength of each Elephant CU is its die roll minus 2 (minimum zero, Elephants cannot have a negative Combat Strength).
EXAMPLE: A player has 3 Elephant CUs in a Land Battle. They roll 3 times: 3, 5, 1. Thus, the Strengths of the CUs would be 1, 3 and 0 respectively, making the total Battle Strength 4 (before adding any Local Troops).
DESIGNER NOTE: The effectiveness of an elephant varied greatly and was very much dependent on the skill of the controller, the training of the soldiers on the ground supporting the elephant, the enemy troops' familiarity with elephants, and the temperament of the elephant itself.
3.3.3 The Silver Shields.
3.3.3.1 The Silver Shields are a single counter representing two Macedonian CUs, each with a Combat Strength of 3. This CU may not split up, nor may it be reinforced (to increase its strength). When 1 Silver Shields CU is lost, flip the counter to the '1 (3)' side. When both CUs are lost, the unit is removed from the game.
3.3.3.2 The first player to play the Silver Shield card as an Event (6.6.3.A) receives the unit. After the unit is in play, the card becomes a Surprise card (4.31.1) which steals ownership of the Silver Shields. When the Silver Shields are 'stolen' via Surprise card play in the middle of Battle, reduce their size by 1 CU before continuing with the Battle (this may eliminate the unit).
DESIGNER NOTE: This combat unit represents the elite guard of the late Alexander. They were the finest fighting unit in the world at that time, but were not strongly attached to any one faction or successor.
3.3.4 *Royal Army (RA) CUs.
3.3.4.1 There are only 8 Royal Army CUs at the start of the game and no more can be added during play (even if some are lost).
3.3.4.2 RA CUs are considered Macedonian CUs, but they will not fight against an enemy General who has more Prestige (16.1) than their own Commander. When fighting a Land Battle against an Army with more Prestige, the RA CUs are set aside and do not count their Combat Strength toward their player's Battle Strength total. If their Commanding General loses against a General with more Prestige, they will defect to the opposing army (your opponent gains control of them before any losses are suffered).
3.3.4.3 If an Army contains only RA CUs when it enters into a Land Battle against enemy CUs with more Prestige (usually due to being Intercepted), the Land Battle does not occur and the RA CUs immediately defect to the enemy Faction (even if only CUs), Dispersing their previous General(s).
3.3.4.4 Overrun. When Overrunning enemy CUs (8.3.6), RA CUs do not take Prestige or Legitimacy into account and will not defect.
3.3.4.5 Sieging. If a player conducts a Siege against an opponent with less Legitimacy (Section 15), all RA CUs inside the Major City will defect to the Besieging Army after the first Siege Point is placed (14.2.2). Legitimacy has no other effect on RA CUs in a Siege.
3.3.4.6 Disbanding. When you activate one of your Armies, you may eliminate any RA CUs in that Army before moving. You may not do this if the RA CU has already moved by any means during this Segment.
3.4 Fleets
Fleets help protect your Naval Movement and hinder your opponent's. They are not Combat Units. Your Fleet Strength is indicated by the stack of Fleet Tokens (called Fleets) you have in front of you. In addition, they help when Besieging Port Major Cities, and the player with the Largest combined Fleet gains Victory Points (7.4).
Fleets are "available" if you control them and they are not Dispersed. Fleets belong to specific Provinces (or the Major City of Athenai). Once you gain control of the appropriate Province, control of its Fleet immediately passes to you (if the Fleet is Dispersed, it remains so).
Exception: The Kilikia pirate fleet is put into play by an Event (you do not get it for controlling Kilikia).
3.4.1 Upgrading Fleets. You may discard a value 4 card during your Tyche Segment (6.6.3.C) to flip a non-Dispersed Fleet you control to its upgraded (stronger) side. When a Fleet is defeated in a Naval Battle (8.6) or ownership changes, it flips back to its non-upgraded (weaker) side.
4. Other Terms and Concepts
4.1 Adjacent. Two spaces that are connected by a Land, Mountain or Strait path. Provinces are Adjacent if they share a border and are connected by a Land or Mountain or Strait Path.
4.2 Army. One or more CUs plus a General. Independent Armies are also Armies (Section 14).
4.3 Attrition. When Attrition is suffered (usually from losing a Battle or from an Event), roll a die and cross-reference against the number of CUs in the stack on the Attrition Table. The result indicates the number of CUs that must be lost. The owner may choose which CUs to lose, but if there is an 'e', then the first CU lost must be an Elephant if one is present.
4.3.1 Armies also suffer Attrition when passing through Independently controlled Strongholds, but they use the '2' column (8.3.11).
4.4 Besieged. A major city becomes Besieged if an enemy Army ends its movement on that space (being present is enough, the Army does not have to begin a Siege). An Army needs 3 CUs to Besiege a Major City (13.1).
4.5 Champion. All players begin the game with Champion status. This status is worth 3 Legitimacy Points. If a Champion player attacks (17.2) another Champion player who is not the Usurper (4.32), the attacker loses Champion status and become a Successor (4.30).
4.6 Dispersed Box. When Major Generals and CUs are Dispersed (removed from the board but not eliminated), put them here. You can mark the pieces which belong to you with one of your PCs. Dispersed Minor Generals are instead returned to their owner's supply.
4.7 Enemy. Any Army, General, CU or PC that is Independent or controlled by another player. A space containing an Enemy PC is an 'Enemy Controlled Space.' A Province that is controlled by an Enemy is an 'Enemy Controlled Province.'
4.8 Faction. All cards, Generals, CUs, PCs, and other markers belonging to a single player are all part of a single faction. In these rules, 'Faction' and 'player' are generally interchangeable.
4.9 Forage Limit. During the Forage Segment (6.6.5), a player must lose a single CU (owner's choice) from each of their Armies in excess of their space's Forage Limit. The Forage Limit for Transit Points is 3 CUs; the Forage Limit for all other spaces is 8 CUs.
4.10 Friendly. Any of your own Generals, CUs, PCs or other markers. A space containing one of your own control markers is a 'Friendly Controlled Space.' A Province that you control is a 'Friendly Controlled Province.'
4.11 Funeral Cart. Alexander's body begins the game on the Funeral Cart. It remains there until it is buried (15.4.2) or removed from play (15.4.5). The location of Alexander's body (either the Funeral Cart or Tomb after burial) is considered Sacred Ground (4.25).
4.12 Heirs. Philippos, Herakles, and Alexandros (Royal Family Members) are Heirs.
4.13 Independent. Independent Armies and PCs are considered enemies to all players and friendly to each other. Provinces can be Independently controlled (4.22). Independently controlled Strongholds require 3 Siege Points to capture (13.3.2).
4.14 Local Troop Points (LTP). Troop points earned for control of the space or the province where a Land Battle is taking place (12.2).
4.15 Legitimacy (L). Legitimacy determines how Royal Army CUs may act (3.1.4.2). They may also provide bonus troops (6.4.1) and can be used to achieve victory (7.1). There are many ways to gain L, and a player's L can never be below 0. See Section 15 for full rules.
4.16 Major City. A space with a Major City has two zones: inside the City and outside the City. A player may keep up to 2 of their CUs in a Major City they control, as well as any number of Generals and Active Royal Family Members (19.2). Pieces inside the City are not in the same group as pieces outside the City and vice versa. Pieces inside the City do not stop or slow movement and a player moving into the space cannot engage them in a Land Battle. Major Cities are more defensible and can only be captured in a Siege (Section 14). CUs inside a Major City cannot be Overrun (8.3.6). In order to control a Province, a player must control the Major City in that Province (4.22). When there are Enemy CUs present outside a Major City, the city is Besieged (4.4).
4.17 Minor City. Most spaces on the board are Minor Cities. Player controlled Minor Cities are generally easy to capture (6.6.2). Independently controlled Minor Cities are more difficult, requiring Subjugation (Section 14).
4.18 Movement Points (MPs). When a General or Army is activated, it gains MPs. It uses these MPs to move around the board, remove PCs and perform Sieges/Subjugations. Armies are usually only activated during the Tyche and Movement Segments of a turn (6.6.3, 6.6.4).
4.19 Path. Spaces are connected by paths, which pieces use to move between spaces. Sea and Trans-Mediterranean paths are usually crossed by Naval Movement (8.4), while Land, Mountain and Strait paths are crossed by Land Movement (Section 8). The path types are: Land, Mountain or Strait, Sea, and Trans-Mediterranean.
4.20 Port. Any space accessible by one or more sea paths.
4.21 Prestige Points (PPs). Bonus or penalty PPs modify the General's Prestige (16.1).
4.22 Province. A Province is a group of spaces surrounded by a border. Each Province has a name. If you control more than half the spaces in the Province (not counting Transit Points), including the Major City (if there is one), then you control the Province.
For ease of reference, each Province on the map shows 2 numbers: the number on the left is the Victory Point value, and the number on the right is the number of spaces a player needs to control to gain control of the Province (as long as one of those is the Major City, if any). Each Province has its own Province card.
4.23 Region. A group of Provinces that all belong to the same major area. The Regions (and the Provinces which comprise them) in this game are:
- Africa: Libya and Aigyptos
- Europe: Hellas, Makedonia, Thrake, Illyria, Skythia, Epeiros and Thessalia.
- Asia: All other non-island Provinces.
- Island provinces: Krete, Rhodos and Kypros do not belong to any Region.
Regions are indicated on the Province cards (green for Europe, yellow for Asia, red for Africa, blue for Islands).
4.24 Royal Family Members. Royal Family Members are important pieces that provide Legitimacy to their controller. Three are males and called Heirs (4.12), and three are females. See (Section 18) for full rules.
4.25 Sacred Ground. The space containing Alexander's body (either the Funeral Cart or Tomb, 15.4). Defending Generals gain 4 Prestige Points while defending in this space (16.2).
4.26 Seniority. The Seniority chart determines a General's Seniority. The higher a General is on the chart, the more Senior he is. This is generally used as a tie breaker. From Most Senior to Least Senior, the chart lists: Perdikkas, Antipatros, Krateros, Ptolemaios, Leonnatos, Peithon, Lysimachos, Polyperchon, Antigonos, Seleukos, Demetrios, Eumenes, Kassandros, and finally All Minor Generals.
4.27 Spaces. There are 4 kinds of space: Minor Cities, Major Cities, Strongholds, and Transit Points. Spaces are connected by paths, which pieces use to move between spaces. Control of a space is indicated by a PC. Transit Points may never be controlled (they may never have PCs).
4.28 Stronghold. While Independently controlled, these spaces require 3 Siege Points to capture (14.3.2) and Armies entering it suffer Attrition (4.3.1). While a player controls a Stronghold, it is treated as if it were a Minor City (4.17).
4.29 Subordination. Subordinate Generals may move along with their Armies for no cost. When two friendly Major Generals are in the same Army, the most Senior General assumes Command. Major Generals always have greater Seniority than Minor Generals. Minor Generals have equal Seniority to each other.
4.30 Successor. A player who has lost their Champion status by attacking a non-Usurper Champion (4.5).
4.31 Tyche cards. (Tyche was the Greek Goddess of Fortune and Chance; pronounced Tie-key)
There are three types of cards: Event, Bonus and Surprise. During the Tyche Segment of the Strategy Phase (6.6.3), cards are generally played either to use their Operation Points (OPs) or their Event text. Cards that are labelled 'REMOVE FROM GAME AFTER RESOLVING EVENT' are removed from the game after their event is triggered (but not if the card is only used for OPs). When a card is discarded, it is placed into the discard pile.
4.31.1 Surprise. Surprise cards may be played at any time during the Strategy Phase (even during an opponent's turn). If two players wish to play a Surprise card at the same time, the player earlier in Turn Order resolves first. A player may also choose to discard a Surprise card at any time without resolving its effect(s). After playing or discarding a Surprise card, the player immediately draws a card from the Tyche deck (exception: card #58 Ahura Mazda & Ahriman).
4.31.2 Bonus. If you play a Bonus card during your Tyche Segment (6.6.3), you may use the OPs and then resolve the event, in that order. You are not required to do both. Note that if the Bonus card is also labelled 'MUST BE PLAYED', then you must activate the Event at a minimum. (6.6.3.4)
4.31.3 Unrest. Cards #17, 18 and 19 are Bonus cards titled 'Unrest.' When played, their Event text must be activated. Roll two dice and consult the Unrest Table. Place an Independent PC in any space in the indicated Province that does not have CUs or an Independent PC (if more than one Province is listed, choose one). These PCs may replace player PCs. If '7' was rolled, place an Independent PC in Armenia and roll again.
If the indicated Province has no eligible spaces (all either have Independent PCs or CUs), place an Independent PC in an adjacent Province instead. If there are no eligible spaces in all adjacent Provinces, no PC is placed.
Independent PCs are placed into Major Cities and Strongholds on their '3' side. Elsewhere, they are placed on their '1' side.
4.32 Usurper. During the Label the Usurper Phase each Turn (6.3), the player with the most Victory Points becomes the Usurper. Everyone may attack this player without losing their Champion status (4.5).
4.33 Victory Points (VPs). VPs are tracked dynamically. Adjust your total as you gain or lose them. It is possible to gain more than 29 VPs, but Immediate Victory will likely occur first (7.1).
5. Setup
5.1 Place the board on the table.
5.2 Set the Tyche Cards aside in a single deck.
5.3 ROYAL FAMILY. Place each in the following Major City (Province listed in parentheses):
- Place the Funeral Cart and Alexandros in Babylon (Babylonia).
- Place Herakles in Damaskos (Koile Syria).
- Place Kleopatra in Sardeis (Lydia), Inactive.
- Place Olympias in Molossia (Epeiros), Inactive.
- Place Thessalonike in Pella (Makedonia), Inactive.
- Place Philippos in his holding box.
5.4 GENERALS. Setup of Generals depends on the number of players.
5.4.1 Starting Generals' locations and forces
- Perdikkas – In Babylonia: 6 PCs. In Babylon: 4 Royal Army CUs, 2 Elephant CUs, Perdikkas.
- Antipatros – In Macedonia: 5 PCs. In Pella: 2 Loyal Macedonian CUs, 2 Royal Army CUs, Antipatros.
- Krateros – In Kilikia: 2 PCs, 2 Loyal Macedonian CUs, 2 Royal Army CUs, Krateros. Krateros and his CUs may be placed in either space.
- Ptolemaios – In Egypt: 5 PCs. In Memphis: 2 Loyal Macedonian CUs, 2 Mercenary CUs, Ptolemaios.
- Leonnatus – In Mikra Phrygia: 2 PCs, 2 Loyal Macedonian CUs, 2 Mercenary CUs, Leonnatus. Leonnatus and his CUs may be placed in either space.
- Peithon – In Media: 6 PCs. In Ekbatana: 2 Loyal Macedonian CUs, 2 Mercenary CUs, Peithon.
- Lysimachos – In Thrake: 5 PCs, 2 Loyal Macedonian CUs, 2 Mercenary CUs, Lysimachos and his CUs must all be placed in the same space.
- Antigonos – In Phrygia: 4 PCs. In Kelainai: 2 Loyal Macedonian CUs, 2 Mercenary CUs, Antigonos.
Eumenes Starting Forces: Place PCs in every space in Kappadokia except Komana (Komana will retain its '1' strength Independent PC and Independent Army). PCs placed in this fashion replace the Independent PCs that were there. Eumenes starts in any friendly space in Kappadokia along with 2 Loyal Macedonian CUs and 2 Mercenary CUs.
Seleukos Starting Forces: Place PCs in both spaces in Koile Syria. Seleukos starts in Damaskos with 2 Loyal Macedonian CUs and 2 Mercenary CUs.
5.4.2 Two-player game. Shuffle the 8 starting Major Generals (these cards have a purple horizontal bar across the top of the card) and deal 4 Generals to each player. Each player (starting with the player who was dealt Perdikkas, then alternating) places their four Generals and their starting CUs and PCs on the map as specified in 5.9.1. Place the Eumenes, Seleukos, Demetrios and Kassander General cards near the board.
5.4.3 Three-player game. Shuffle all 8 starting Generals (these cards have a purple horizontal bar across the top of the card) plus Eumenes during Setup and deal 3 to each of the players. Each player (starting with the player who was dealt Perdikkas, then proceeding clockwise) places their three Generals and their starting CUs and PCs on the map as specified in 5.9.1. Place the Seleukos, Demetrios and Kassandros General cards near the board.
5.4.4 Four-player game. Shuffle the 8 starting Major Generals (these cards have a purple horizontal bar across the top of the card) and deal 2 to each player. Each player (starting with the player who was dealt Perdikkas, then proceeding clockwise) places their two Generals and their starting CUs and PCs on the map as specified in 5.9.1. Place the Eumenes, Seleukos, Demetrios and Kassandros General cards near the board.
5.4.5 Five-player game. Shuffle the 8 Generals (these cards have a purple horizontal bar across the top of the card) plus Eumenes and Seleucus during Setup and deal 2 to each player. Players select 1 dealt General and discard the other. The discarded Generals are then shuffled and dealt to the players. Each player (starting with the player who was dealt Perdikkas, then proceeding clockwise) places their two Generals and their starting CUs and PCs on the map as specified in 5.9.1 and below.
5.4 INDEPENDENT MARKERS. Place an Independent PC on its '1' side in each circle area marked with a shield. Place an Independent PC on its '3' side in each square and hexagon marked with a shield.
5.5 Give each player Political Control markers of one color as well as the corresponding Faction card.
5.6 Give each player a Champion Marker. All players begin the game with Champion status (4.5).
5.8 INDEPENDENT ARMIES. Place the five Independent Armies (square counters) in their respective boxes on the map. Leosthenes starts in Lamia and Ariarathes starts in Komana, while the other three start in their holding boxes.
5.9 Place the Game Turn marker on the first space of the Turn Track. Place all other markers in their respective holding boxes on the board. Each player now marks their L (see 15.2) and VP (see 7.4) totals on the Record Track.
6. Sequence of Play
Each Game Turn consists of the following phases:
- 6.1 Turn Events
- 6.2 Turn Order
- 6.3 Label the Usurper
- 6.4 Reinforcement
- 6.5 Tyche Cards
- 6.6 Strategy
- 6.7 Isolation
- 6.8 End
6.1 Turn Events Phase
Depending on which Game Turn is beginning, certain effects occur:
6.1.1 Game Turn 1. The Funeral Cart may not be moved and Alexander's body may not be buried. Skip the Reinforcements Phase. Immediate Victory is not allowed (7.1).
6.1.2 Game Turn 2. The Funeral Cart may now be moved and Alexander's body may be buried (16.4). Immediate Victory can now be achieved (7.1).
6.1.3 Game Turn 3. Antipatros is eliminated (he dies) at the start of this Game Turn. Place the Polyperchon marker on his card to indicate this. Antipatros is not Polyperchon, even though they have the same stats (except Seniority). If Antipatros died before Game Turn 3, then he comes back as Polyperchon now and the owning player places him on any friendly controlled space.
DESIGNER NOTE: On his death bed, Antipatros announced that Polyperchon would replace him (much to the chagrin of his son, Kassandros).
General Demetrios arrives. Demetrios is given to the player who controls/controlled Antigonos, even if Antigonos has been eliminated. Deploy Demetrios during the Reinforcement Phase following normal rules (6.4).
DESIGNER NOTE: Demetrios is the son of Antigonos.
6.1.4 Game Turn 4. If Alexander's body has not been buried in a Major City yet, remove the Funeral Cart from the game (16.4.5). The body has been lost to history.
Herakles comes of age and is old enough by Macedonian custom to become king. The player who controls him must compare their total of VPs + L to each other player's. If they have the highest (if tied with another player, they must win the tie breaker, 7.3), then they declare Heracles to be the new King and win the game as Regent (7.2.1). If the controlling player does not have the highest total, they assassinate Heracles instead, removing him from the board, and the game continues.
- If Herakles is uncontrolled when he comes of age, he is declared King and the game ends immediately. The player with the highest total of VPs + L wins (for tie breakers, see 7.3).
6.1.5 Game Turn 5. Alexandros comes of age and is old enough by Macedonian custom to become king. The player who controls him must compare their total of VPs + L to each other player's. If they have the highest (if tied with another player, they must win the tie breaker, 7.3), then they declare Alexander IV to be the new King and win the game as Regent (7.2.2). If the controlling player does not have the highest total, they assassinate Alexander IV instead, removing him from the board, and the game continues.
- If Alexander IV is uncontrolled when he comes of age, he is declared King and the game ends immediately. The player with the highest total of VPs + LPs wins (for tie breakers, see 7.3).
6.2 Turn Order Phase
The player with the fewest Victory Points (resolve ties with a die roll) chooses which player will go first. As a reminder, they receive the First Player marker.
After the first player, play passes clockwise. This will be the established Turn Order for the remainder of the Game Turn.
6.3 Label the Usurper Phase
DESIGNER NOTE: When one of Alexander's generals became too powerful, he was seen as a threat to the others and declared a Usurper.
6.3.1 The player with the most Victory Points is designated as the Usurper for the rest of the Game Turn. If there is a tie for highest VP, the tied player with the most Senior General (4.26) becomes the Usurper. The Usurper takes the Usurper Card.
6.3.2 Players may freely attack any General, Army or CU(s) and may Siege any Major City belonging to the Usurper without losing their Champion status (4.5).
6.3.3 Being the Usurper does not affect Legitimacy (Section 16). It is possible (albeit difficult) to retain Champion status while being the Usurper.
6.4 Reinforcement Phase
6.4.1 Each player receives all their CUs, Major Generals and Fleets from the Dispersed Box (if any) as well as 2 Mercenary CUs.
In addition, some players may receive bonus units:
- If a player controls Makedonia, they receive 1 Loyal Macedonian CU.
- The player who has the most Legitimacy Points (ignoring Prestige Points) receives 1 Loyal Macedonian CU. Break ties by highest Seniority (compare each player's most Senior General, 4.26).
- The player with the most Victory Points receives 2 Mercenary CUs. If there is a tie, all tied players receive 1 Mercenary CU instead.
6.4.2 In turn order, players place their collected pieces. Each may be played in either:
a) A friendly controlled space that does not contain an enemy Army, CU or General; or b) Any space containing a friendly General. The General must have been on the map at the start of the Reinforcement Phase.
6.4.3 Restrictions:
- There is no limit to the number of CUs that may be placed on a friendly controlled Major City or with a friendly Major General (even one being deployed at the same time).
- Otherwise, no more than two CUs may be placed in any other eligible space.
- Minor Generals may be placed (but not repositioned) into friendly controlled spaces, but the restriction in 6.4.2.b must still be obeyed for further CU deployment.
- You may never place CUs into a Besieged Major City. However, if you are the one performing the Siege, you may place CUs into your Besieging Army.
If a player is unable to bring in all their Reinforcements, usually due to not having enough eligible spaces, remaining Reinforcements may be placed in an uncontrolled or Independently controlled space in any Province that is not controlled by another player: up to two CUs per Province. A General must be placed with them or they will be Dispersed (3.3.1).
6.5 Distribute Tyche Cards Phase
6.5.1 Shuffle all Tyche cards (including the discards, but not those removed from play) into a new deck.
6.5.2 Five-player game. Deal four Tyche cards to each player each Game Turn. There are only four Strategy Rounds.
6.5.3 Four-player game. Deal five Tyche cards to each player.
6.5.3 Three-player game. Deal five Tyche cards to each player and then deal 5 Tyche cards facedown to the table. Each time the third player completes their Strategy Round, flip over 1 card. Resolve any Unrest, Unrest Spreads, Plans of Their Own or any of the Independent Armies events. Ignore any other events. Determine randomly who resolves the event.
6.5.3 Two-player game. Deal five Tyche cards to each player and then deal 10 Tyche cards facedown to the table. Each time the second player completes their Strategy Round, flip over 2 cards. Resolve any Unrest, Unrest Spreads, Plans of Their Own or any of the Independent Armies events. Ignore any other events. Determine randomly who resolves each event.
6.6 Strategy Phase
- The Strategy Phase is comprised of five Strategy Rounds (four in a 5-player game).
- Each round, in Turn Order, players complete four Segments in order.
- Each player completes all four Segments before play passes to the next player.
- After the last player completes their last Segment, a new Strategy Round begins.
- After all Strategy Rounds have been completed, the Strategy Phase is over and play proceeds to the Isolation Phase (6.7).
6.6.1 Strategy Segments: (Explained in greater detail below)
a) SURRENDER: Gain control of certain spaces on the board. b) TYCHE: Player must play 1 non-surprise Tyche card. c) MOVEMENT: Player may either Move or Raise 1 Mercenary. d) FORAGE: Player removes 1 CU from each Army which exceeds the Forage Limit of its space.
6.6.2 Surrender Segment. Perform the following three steps in order:
- For each enemy controlled non-Independent Minor City where you have at least 1 CU, you may choose to remove the PC. If you do, you may then choose to place one of your own PCs there. Note that these are optional actions and do not apply to Independently controlled Minor Cities (they must be Subjugated, Section 14).
- You may place one of your PCs on any uncontrolled Major City, Minor City and Stronghold space(s) where you have at least 1 CU.
- You may conduct one Siege or Subjugation attempt (Section 14) against each enemy Major City or Independently controlled space where you have an Army with at least 3 CUs. If the Siege/Subjugation succeeds and you accumulate enough Siege Points, you may remove the enemy PC and replace it with one of your own immediately. Note that this occurs as part of the Surrender Segment, so it does not cost MPs (8.2).
EXAMPLE: The Yellow player has a Minor General and 1 CU in Halikarnassos and his Major General Antigonos with 3 CU in Sagalassos. Yellow places a PC in Halikarnassos without besieging it. (Although it is a Major City, it had no other PC.) In Sagalassos, Antigonos is allowed to make 1 subjugation attempt (example continued in Section 13).
6.6.3 Tyche Segment. You must play a non-Surprise Tyche card from your hand. If you have only Surprise Tyche cards in your hand you must first play or discard one and draw a new card from the Tyche deck, until you have at least one non-Surprise Tyche card that you can play from your hand. Then perform one of the following 3 options:
A) Activate the Event. Resolve the Event printed on the card. If the card is labelled 'MUST BE PLAYED', then you must choose this option. After resolving the event, if the card is labelled 'REMOVE FROM GAME', it is removed from the game. Otherwise, the played card is discarded.
EXAMPLE: The Yellow player plays the Tyche card Kilikia Pirates as an event and gains control of the Kilika fleet (with strength of 1).
B) Use Operation Points (OPs). You may spend your card's OPs on one (and only one) of the following actions:
6.6.3.1 Forced March. Choose a friendly Army. That Army activates, gains Movement Points equal to the OP of your card, and may spend them now (Section 8).
In this way, an Army may receive multiple activations during a single Strategy Round: during the Tyche Segment and during the Movement Segment.
EXAMPLE: Yellow plays Kilikia Pirates for 3 OPs and moves his Minor General and Mercenary CUs from Halikarnassos to join Antigonos in Salagassos.
6.6.3.2 Place PCs. You may place as many of your own PCs as the OP value of your card. Each PC may be placed in an uncontrolled space within 2 MPs of another friendly PC (the PC(s) must have been on the map at the start of this Tyche Segment). The placement space may not contain enemy CUs. You may use Sea Paths to count spaces, but not Trans-Mediterranean paths. When counting spaces, you may not pass through a space with Enemy Armies, CUs or PCs.
EXAMPLE: The Yellow player plays the Kilikia Pirates card, but instead of applying the event, uses its 3 OPs to place their PCs in Sardeis, Miletos and Ephesos. Note that it is not allowed to place PC in Lesbos, as it is 3 MPs away from closest cities with Yellow PCs or CUs - Halikarnassos or Kelainai.
6.6.3.3 Train Troops. If you are not currently Training Troops, select a Troop type (see below) and add your OP to the Training Track. Otherwise add the OP of your card toward the Troop you are currently Training (it can take multiple Turns and Tyche cards to train a Troop).
When the Training Track reaches its target number, the selected Troop is immediately deployed as a Reinforcement (6.4) and the Training Track is reset. If there is excess OP, a new Troop is selected and the excess OP is applied to the new Troop.
There are 2 Troop Types:
- Mercenary: Costs 3 OP before deploying. Gain a Mercenary CU.
- Phalangite: Costs 7 OP before deploying. Gain a Loyal Macedonian CU.
DESIGNER NOTE: Known as pantodapoi, non-Macedonian phalangites are non-Greek personnel trained and equipped in the Macedonian style using the 12 to 15 foot sarissa. Often of mixed Macedonian and Asian ancestry, pantodapoi proved effective in supplementing Macedonian personnel in the phalanxes of the Successors, especially for those rulers who were constrained in recruiting native Macedonians for their service.
EXAMPLE: The Blue player has just lost Perdikkas in a land battle near Heliopolis. Now he discards the Traitor Tyche card and takes the Eumenes General Card. Kappadokia Province card is randomly drawn. Komana is occupied by Independent Army, and there is Yellow Minor General and 3 Mercenary CUs in Dana. Blue decides to place the Eumenes miniature in Melitene with 2 Mercenary CUs placed on Eumenes General card. Independent PCs from Melitene, Mazaka, Zela and Amaseja are removed and replaced by Blue PCs.
EXAMPLE: Alternatively, the Yellow player decides to use 3 OPs to train some troops and chooses a Phalangite unit. The player puts the chosen unit on space 3 of the Faction card, indicating that only 4 more OPs are required (total of 7).
6.6.3.4 Bonus Tyche Cards. If you play a Bonus card, you may use the OPs and then resolve the event, in that order. You are not required to do both and may instead play the card normally as above. If the Bonus card is also labelled 'MUST BE PLAYED', then you must Activate the Event at least.
EXAMPLE: The Black player plays the Philippos Breaks From Guardian card, uses its 3 OPs, and then applies the card's event placing the Philippos miniature in Pella, with Antipatros' Army.
Any player who has permanently lost at least one of their Major Generals may hire either of the Generals set aside during setup. To do so, play a 4-OPs card during the Tyche Segment (non-surprise, as usual) and choose the Discard action (6.6.3.C). Then choose one of the available reinforcement Generals and deploy him with 2 Mercenary CUs (following Reinforcement rules and restrictions, 6.4) in any space within a randomly chosen Province not controlled by any other player (shuffle and draw one Province card that does not belong to any other player) that does not contain enemy CUs or an Independent Army. All other spaces within that province which do not contain enemy CUs or an Independent Army are immediately converted into that player's control (remove all enemy PCs if necessary).
C) Discard. You may discard your Tyche card if you do not wish to resolve the Event or use the OPs. If the discarded card had '4' OP, you may upgrade a Fleet you control that is not Dispersed (3.4.1).
6.6.4 Movement Segment. During this Segment, you may move all your Generals. See (Section 8) for Movement. You may also decide to forfeit your entire Movement Segment to instead gain a Mercenary CU and deploy it as if it were a Reinforcement (6.4). You must make this decision before rolling for movement (8.1).
6.6.5 Forage Segment. During this Segment, each of your Armies which is in excess of their space's Forage Limit must lose a single CU (owner's choice). The Forage Limit of Transit Points is 3 CUs; all other spaces have a Forage Limit of 8 CUs. Only consider your own CUs during this segment (i.e. if there is a Siege, don't count the enemy CUs).
EXAMPLE: Antigonos and his large Army (4 Loyal Macedonian CUs, 12 Mercenary CUs and 2 Elephant CUs) end their movement in Kelainai (Phrygia). They must now lose 1 CU, and the chosen unit is a Mercenary CU.
6.7 Isolation Phase
All players (in Turn Order) must remove all their non-Major City PCs that are Isolated.
A PC is isolated if the player cannot trace a continuous path of spaces from the PC to either a Friendly CU or a friendly controlled Major City (Besieged or not). A General without CUs is not enough to prevent isolation. You may trace over any path.
The path can only trace through:
- Friendly controlled spaces, even if there are enemy CUs
- Uncontrolled spaces that don't have enemy CUs
- Enemy controlled spaces with at least 1 friendly CU.
Independent PCs can never be isolated.
EXAMPLE: The Independent Army of 23,000 Greek Colonists (lead by Filon) is heading west. It reached Rhagai in Media and already placed an Independent PC there. The blue PC in Hekatompylos is isolated, since it cannot trace a path to the Major City of Ekbatana (Rhagai in Media and Kadousioi in Hyrkania are occupied by Independent PCs).
6.8 End Phase
Move the Game Turn marker one space to the right and begin a new Game Turn. If this was the last Game Turn, instead the game ends and the winner is determined (7.3).
7. End Game & Victory
7.1 Immediate Victory
There are two situations which can result in Immediate Victory:
A) Any player accumulates 18 Legitimacy Points (15.2) B) Any player accumulates a number of Victory Points (7.4) depending on the number of players:
- 5-player game: 20 VPs,
- 4-player game: 23 VPs,
- 3-player game: 26 VPs,
- 2-player game: 29 VPs.
If any player achieves either of these conditions, the game is over immediately and that player wins.
IMPORTANT: No one may win an Immediate Victory on Game Turn One (6.1.1).
7.2 Regency Victory
7.2.1 At the start of Game Turn 4, Heracles comes of age (6.1.4). The player who controls Heracles wins the game if they also have the highest combined total of L + VPs (if tied for highest, they must win the tie breaker, 7.3). Otherwise, Heracles is assassinated (18.7) and the game continues.
7.2.2 At the start of Game Turn 5, Alexander IV comes of age (6.1.5). The player who controls Alexander IV wins the game if they also have the highest combined total of L + VPs (if tied for highest, they must win the tie breaker, 7.3). Otherwise, Alexander IV is assassinated (18.7) and the game continues.
If Heracles or Alexander IV come of age and no one controls him, the game ends immediately and the player with the highest total of L + VPs wins (tie breakers below).
7.3 Game End Victory
If no one has won the game by the end of Game Turn 5, then the player with the highest VP total wins (L are not counted in this situation).
If there is a tie, use the following tie breakers in order:
- Makedonia's controller.
- Highest number of Macedonian CUs (Loyal, Royal Army and Silver Shields). Include any in the Dispersed Box.
- The player who has the General with highest Seniority.
7.4 Victory Points
You can gain VPs in the following ways:
- PROVINCES - When you control a Province (4.22), you gain the VPs for the province (marked on the board).
- LARGEST FLEET - The player with the Largest Fleet (do not count the Pontic Fleet) receives 3 VPs. To be eligible, a player must have a minimum of 3 Fleet Points. Dispersed Fleets count. If there is a tie, no player gets the VPs.
- HELLESPONT - The player who controls all five spaces bordering the Hellespont (indicated with blue background on the map) receives 2 VPs.
- LORD OF ASIA - If a player controls all three of these Provinces, they receive 4 VPs: Babylonia, Phrygia and Syria.
8. Movement
Movement generally occurs via Forced March during the Tyche Segment (6.6.3) and during the Movement Segment (6.6.4). It can also be triggered by an event (6.6.3.A).
8.1 Determining Movement Points (MPs)
- When moving via Forced March, MPs are determined by the played Tyche Card's OP value (6.6.3.1).
- When moving due to an event, the text will indicate the number of MPs.
- When moving during the Movement Segment, you must determine available Movement Points by rolling on the Movement Allowance Card. You only roll once: it will apply to all of your Generals. Each General's MPs are determined by their initiative vs the die roll.
MOVEMENT ALLOWANCE TABLE — cross-reference the General's Initiative Rating against the die roll (1–6):
| General's Initiative Rating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
8.2 Movement Costs
The cost to enter a space depends on the path being used.
- Land path costs . . . . . . . . . 1 MP
- Mountain or Strait* path . . . . 2 MPs
- Sea path . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 MP (see Naval Movement, 8.4)
- Trans-Mediterranean path . . . . 2 MPs (see Naval Movement, 8.4)
*Crossing a Strait is not a Naval Movement.
Other Movement Costs:
- Remove an Enemy PC (8.3.9) . . 2 MPs
- Siege or Subjugate (8.3.10) . . . 2 MPs
8.3 Land Movement
8.3.1 When a General moves, he may bring along any CUs and any subordinate Generals (4.29). Along the way, he may pick up friendly CUs and drop off friendly CUs for no additional movement cost. Dropping off CUs in non-friendly spaces will require leaving behind a General to mark ownership (3.1.1). Only one General may be activated at a time, and each must finish his activation before another General can be activated (except as below, 8.3.2). CUs and Generals that are moved during a Segment may not be moved again during the same Segment.
EXAMPLE: Yellow rolls 2 for movement. Antigonos (in Salagassos) has 3 MPs and the Minor General in Halikarnassos has 2 MPs. First, the Minor General moves from Halikarnassos to Salagassos. Second, Antigonos leaves 1 Mercenary CU with the said Minor General, and moves the rest of his forces to Aspenendos and using the mountain path to the transit point nearby.
8.3.2 When a General/Army picks up a General with more Seniority, the more senior General immediately takes Command. If you change Commanders, you must immediately begin using the new Commander's MPs as a replacement (so if your Army has now used all its MP, or more, it must stop). Any CUs that were already moving may continue to move with the new Commander. Changing Commanders ends the old commanding General's activation and begins the new one's.
EXAMPLE: Yellow controls both Antigonos and Krateros who are situated in adjacent spaces: Tarsos and Issos. The die roll for movement is a 3, which allows Antigonos to move 4 spaces, but allows Krateros to move only 2 spaces. The player moves Antigonos one space and picks up Krateros (who outranks him and takes command of the Army). Since Krateros can only move two MPs, the Army must stop after moving one more space. It can move only to Chalybon or Myriandos. The Transit Point requires 2 MPs via mountain path and it's too far away for Krateros.
8.3.3 A Major General may move without CUs. When doing so, he may not move into a space with enemy CUs (unless granted Friendly Passage, 8.3.8) and may not stop in a space containing an enemy Major General without CUs (but he may pass through). If an enemy Army moves onto a space with a lone Major General (except if the Major General is safely within a friendly Major City), he is Dispersed (3.1.1).
8.3.4 Each time the active General/Army enters a space via Land Movement, it triggers a Reaction Step (Section 9) which is performed by the other players. Enemy Armies in the space may attempt to Avoid Battle or attempt to Intercept the active Army.
8.3.5 If an Army enters a space occupied by enemy CUs, it must stop and prepare for a Land Battle. Exceptions: You do not need to stop if you Overrun the enemy (8.3.6), or if friendly passage is granted (8.3.8) or if there are no enemy CUs present (either outside a Major city or in the space otherwise) after the Reaction Step (Section 9). PCs do not stop or slow movement. Fighting a Land Battle ends an Army's activation for the current Segment, and no part of the Army will be able to remove PCs or Siege/Subjugate for the remainder of the Segment.
8.3.6 Overrun
- When your Army enters a space containing enemy CUs, if your own Army's CUs outnumber them by 5:1 (only compare # of CUs, not Combat Strength), you instantly defeat those CUs and they suffer Battle Losses (13.5). Note that this occurs after the Reaction Step (Section 9), so the enemy CUs may either Avoid Battle (Section 10) or gain reinforcements via Land Interception (Section 11) before checking for an Overrun. CUs inside a Major City cannot be Overrun.
- Royal Army CUs will not defect when Overrunning an opponent (3.1.4.4).
- If an opponent grants Friendly Passage and you are capable of Overrunning them, you are not required to.
Note: 5:1 means you need 5 CUs to Overrun each 1 enemy CU. So 5 Overruns 1, 10 Overruns 2, 15 Overruns 3, etc. Note that an Overrun is not considered a Battle, so Surprise Tyche Cards which refer to Battles may not be used.
EXAMPLE: 10 Mercenary CUs overrun 2 Silver Shields CUs, although the combat strength ratio is only 1.5:1.
8.3.7 Movement and Major Cities. CUs inside Major Cities do not stop enemy movement and cannot be Overrun (8.3.6). Your General can move friendly CUs and Active Royal Family Members into and out of a friendly Major City in his space for free during his activation. CUs and generals may never move inside an Independent Major City. All pieces inside a Major City must leave immediately if it becomes Independent.
Note this is different from CUs moving in and out of the Major City when an enemy Army enters the space (Reaction Step, Section 9), where a General is not required.
EXAMPLE: Kassandros and his army marches from Athenai to Lamia, but decides to leave 1 Mercenary CU as garrison in Athenai.
8.3.8 Friendly Passage
8.3.8.1 You may enter and pass through a space containing another player's Unbesieged CUs without battling if Friendly Passage is granted. Players may discuss the granting of Friendly Passage at any time, but the moving player must confirm this when they enter the space. If the opponent confirms Friendly Passage, then you may continue moving. If they do not confirm, then you must stop and prepare for a Land Battle after the Reaction Step (you may also Overrun if you are able, 8.3.6). A lone Major General caught in this fashion is Dispersed (4.6, you do not need to make a Leader Loss check if you were previously promised Friendly Passage but then the player refuses to confirm it). You may also decide to initiate a Land Battle or Overrun against CUs belonging to the player who granted you Friendly Passage, but you must then fully resolve the Reaction Step before any Battle begins.
EXAMPLE: Leonnatos intends to join his forces with Antipatros in Lamia and crush the Greek rebellion. He asks White, who controls Thrake, for Friendly Passage in Chersonesos and receives it. He spends 2 MPs (crossing the Strait) moving his Army from Abydos to Chersonesos.
8.3.8.2 This does not allow enemy Armies to exist on the same space for any longer than the time it takes to pass through. If two Enemy Armies are in the same space at the end of one Army's activation (in either the Tyche or Movement Segments), a Land Battle is fought regardless of any promised Passage (the moving player's Army is the one considered to have entered the space when defining the attacker (13.1) and checking Champion status, (4.5)).
8.3.8.3 Independent Armies may neither grant nor receive Friendly Passage.
8.3.9 Removing Control Markers During Movement. An Army with at least 3 CUs can remove a non-Independent enemy PC from a Minor City space by spending 2 MPs. This can only be done if there are no enemy CUs in the space. The Army cannot have fought a Land Battle in the current Segment.
EXAMPLE: Kassandros moves from Lamia to Larisa and spends 2 MP to remove the Black PC from Larisa.
8.3.10 Initiating Sieges and Subjugations. An Army with at least 3 CUs can spend 2 MPs to attempt a Siege against an enemy Major City (14.2) or attempt to Subjugate an Independently controlled space (14.3). The Army cannot have fought a Land Battle in the current Segment.
EXAMPLE: Same as in the example above, but no PC is removed from Larisa. Instead, Kassandros' Army reaches Pella. Black decided to hide the remaining 2 Royal Macedonian Units, along with Olympias and Alexandros, inside the Major City. Kassandros spends his remaining 2 MPs and makes a Siege attempt against Pella.
8.3.11 Moving Through Independently Controlled Strongholds. When your Army moves through an Independently controlled Stronghold without stopping (via Land Movement), you must suffer Attrition using the '2' column of the Attrition Table (instead of Army size, 4.3). This is only when passing through: stopping movement on the space causes no Attrition.
EXAMPLE: Peithon's Army starts in Ekbatana. After spending 2 MPs he moves south to Kossaioi, occupied by an Independent PC. Since he decides to move further to Sousa, he must suffer Attrition.
8.4 Naval Movement
8.4.1 Moving over a Sea Path or Trans-Mediterranean Path is a Naval Movement. Players are restricted to only 1 Naval Movement per Segment, regardless of how many Generals they have. A maximum of 8 CUs and any number of controlled Royal Family Members may be brought along.
8.4.2 The General making the Naval Movement may move by land before or after the Naval Movement, not both. During the Naval Move, they may move over as many Sea and/or Trans-Mediterranean Paths as they can afford (with MPs).
8.4.3 Terms
- Embarkation Port: The port where the Naval Move originated.
- Debarkation Port: The final port where the Naval Move landed. The Army landing here may be targeted for Land Interception (Section 11).
8.4.4 When making a Naval Movement, the moving player first declares which of their Fleets (if any) will come along as Escort. The player may only choose Fleets they have in front of them (not Dispersed). Fleets are not a prerequisite for Naval Movement: a player may always attempt Naval Movement even if they control no Fleets.
8.4.5 The activated General may pick up and drop off friendly CUs for no additional cost during the move. A General making a Naval Movement does not have to stop when they move into a space containing enemy CUs along the way, but must stop if there are enemy CUs at their Debarkation Port. The General may drop off CUs during his Naval Movement only if there are no enemy CUs in the space, unless there are friendly CUs already there, in which case they join them.
EXAMPLE: Ptolemaios' Army is in Pelousion, and enemy armies are in Giza and besieging Tyros. White feels that confronting Antigonos in Giza on land might be too risky and decides to use a naval move to reach Tyros. He spends 1 MP to move towards Giza, and another 2 MPs to move through Ake and debark in Tyros. Antigonos' Army is too far to Intercept Ptolemaios on land.
8.4.6 A General inside a Port Besieged Major City may move out of the space via Naval Movement. This is susceptible to Naval Interception (8.5) as usual. The inverse is also true: a General with 1 or 2 CUs (as long as the 2 CU limit for Major Cities is obeyed) may move directly into a Port Besieged Major City if that is its Debarking space (8.4.8).
EXAMPLE: Same as in the example above, but instead of moving Ptolemaios, White decides to move his Minor General and 1 CU out from Tyros and join Ptolemaios' Army in Pelousion.
8.4.7 An Army making a Naval Movement may Overrun only in their Debarking space (and if they have the correct CU ratio, see 8.3.6).
8.4.8 Independent Armies cannot use Naval Movement (but may cross Strait paths).
EXAMPLE: The Scythians (lead by Seuthes) can move to Astakos from Byzantion by crossing the Strait.
8.5 Naval Interception
8.5.1 Naval Interception before your General reaches the Debarkation Port. A player may only attempt a Naval Interception if they have a PC within 2 spaces (via Sea paths, not Trans-Mediterranean paths) of one of the spaces the active General is moving into during its Naval Move.
8.5.2 To Intercept, the opponent declares their intention and the number of Fleets they are using. A Naval Battle is immediately resolved before the active player's turn continues. If more than one player wants to declare an Interception, resolve them in Turn Order. Once all desired Naval Interception attempts (and the subsequent Battles) are resolved, the active player continues their move (unless they lost any of the Naval Battles, 9.3).
8.5.3 Naval Interception is automatic once declared (no dice rolls). Successful Interception immediately causes a Naval Battle, which may affect Champion status (4.5). Only Naval Battles which actually occur affect Champion status.
EXAMPLE: 2 players declare a Naval Interception. Red is earlier in the Turn Order, so Red fights the Naval Battle first (possibly losing Champion status). Red wins, so the active player's turn ends (9.3). Thus, Blue's Naval Interception never occurs, so Blue's Champion status is not affected.
8.6 Naval Battle
Naval Battles only occur when an opponent declares a Naval Interception during the active General's Naval Movement (8.5).
8.6.1 Battle Rolls. Each player rolls two dice and cross-references the result against their total Fleet Strength on the Battle Table. This is the player's Battle Score (if the active player does not have any Fleets, their Battle Score is zero). The player with the higher Battle Score wins.
8.6.2 Drawn Battle. If the Battle Scores were the same, then the active player's Fleet has slipped by the enemy's without losses. Neither player loses Fleets.
8.6.3 Losses. The player who had the lower Battle Score Disperses all the Fleets they sent (if they were Upgraded, flip them to the weaker side, 3.4.1). If the active player lost, then their CUs suffer Attrition (4.3), then any surviving CUs, Generals and Royal Family Members immediately return to the Embarkation Port and end their activation.
8.6.4 Additional Battles. If the active player won the Naval Battle or the result was a Draw, they see if any other players would like to declare a Naval Interception (8.5.2). If the active player wins or draws all Naval Battles, they lose no Fleets and successfully land at their Debarkation Port. If the active player loses a Naval Battle, they suffer Losses as above and any additional Naval Interceptions are cancelled.
EXAMPLE: As in the example above, but assuming that Red loses and the active player won. Now Blue would have a chance to fight against the active player.
9. Reaction Step
9.1 After a General or Army (including Independent) moves or debarks into a space, your opponent takes the following Reactions in this order:
- Mandatory: If the active Army has entered a non-besieged, enemy Major City space, the Controlling player must declare which of their own CUs, Generals and Active Royal Family Members (if there are any) are inside the City and which are outside. Any that were outside may now be moved inside, and vice-versa (each Major City can only hold a maximum of 2 CUs, but any number of Generals and Active Royal Family Members). A player may do this every time an enemy Army enters the space as long as the Major City is not Besieged (4.4). If there are no enemy CUs left outside a Major City after this step, a Land Battle does not occur (8.3.4).
- Optional: Your opponent may attempt to Avoid Battle with their Army in that space.
- Optional: Your opponents may attempt to Intercept your Army by Land from adjacent spaces.
9.2 All Land Interception attempts must be declared at once before executing any of them.
10. Avoid Battle
10.1 During the Reaction Step, enemy Generals, and their CUs and Royal Family Members, may attempt to Avoid Battle when the active player moves an Army into their space.
10.2 To Avoid Battle, roll a die. If your result is greater than your Commanding General's Initiative Rating, your General/Army gains 2 MPs to spend moving immediately (see restrictions below, 10.5). Failure means you must remain in the space and a Land Battle will occur (or Overrun, 8.3.6).
Note: A Major General without CUs who fails to Avoid Battle must roll a die: On a 5-6 the General is eliminated. On a 1-4 the General is Dispersed (4.6).
10.3 If a General/Army manages to Avoid Battle and there are no enemy CUs left in the space at the end of the Reaction Step (Section 9), the active player may continue their turn.
Note: The active Army could chase after the enemies which Avoided Battle. If they move onto their space again, then the enemy may attempt to Avoid Battle again.
10.4 Failure. If an Army attempts to Avoid Battle and fails, they will not receive Local Troops during the impending Land Battle (12.2).
10.5 Avoid Battle Restrictions
- You may not split your Army when Avoiding Battle, nor pick up CUs, other Generals or Royal Family Members along the way.
- Independent Armies may not Avoid Battle.
- A General/Army successfully Avoiding Battle may not: a. Cross a Mountain, Strait, Sea or Trans-Mediterranean path, b. Enter a space containing an enemy CU, c. Move to the space that the active Army came from,
- An Army successfully Avoiding Battle may only enter an enemy controlled space if it contains at least 1 friendly CU not under Siege.
- If an Army Intercepts into a space, it may not then Avoid Battle (e.g. you cannot 'reinforce' your existing Army by Intercepting another of your Armies into the space and then Avoid Battle out of it).
11. Land Interception
11.1 During the Reaction Step, enemy Armies can attempt to Intercept the active General/Army. Any enemy Army that is adjacent to the space that the active General just entered may attempt this. Only one Land Interception may be attempted from each space per Reaction Step, no matter how many Generals there are.
11.2 In Turn Order, any player who can Intercept (11.8) declares whether they wish to do so. They also declare which of their General(s) and CUs will attempt to Intercept. Armies may be split, but ownership must still be marked to maintain any CUs left behind (3.1.1). Each player may attempt to Intercept with multiple Armies (from multiple spaces), but must declare each attempt before resolving any (9.1).
11.3 In Turn Order, for each declared Land Interception, roll the die. If the result is greater than your Intercepting General's Initiative Rating, the Land Interception is successful: you must move that declared Army into the active General's space.
11.4 Only 1 Faction may successfully resolve a Land Interception per Reaction Step. If multiple players declared Land Interception attempts, the first one to succeed cancels the attempts from the other players. However, the successful player must still roll for all attempts they declared (and potentially converge several Intercepting Armies).
11.5 Overruns (8.3.6) occur after the Reaction Step, so if the active Army is large enough after Land Interception (and after any pending Avoid Battle attempts, Section 12), they may Overrun the Interceptors and continue moving.
11.6 When moving into a Major City space, Land Interceptions occur outside the City. Thus, any Land Battles will be fought before the moving Army would have the chance to move CUs and Generals into the City (or take other MP actions).
11.7 Withdrawal
11.7.1 After your Army has been Intercepted, you may avoid the impending Land Battle by Withdrawal. To do so, withdraw your Army to the space it just came from (including over a Mountain, Strait, Sea or Trans-Mediterranean path) and lose all remaining MPs. There is no Reaction Step when you Withdraw like this (so a Withdrawing Army may not be Intercepted).
11.7.2 If the current space was reached by Naval Movement, the Army must Withdraw back to the Port it originally Embarked from (this may be multiple spaces away).
11.7.3 Independent Armies and Generals moving alone (without CUs) cannot Withdraw in this manner.
11.8 Interception Restrictions. You may only Intercept into:
- a Friendly Space,
- an uncontrolled Space, or
- a space that contains at least 1 friendly CU not under Siege.
EXAMPLE: Blue's minor general moves four spaces around red's minor general. Red cannot intercept into the starting space or the enemy controlled space. Red can intercept into any of the three remaining marked spaces.
May Not Intercept:
- Armies inside Besieged Major Cities may not Intercept. This includes during the Reaction Step when the Besieging Army moves out of the space (but on its next move and Reaction Step the previously Besieged Army may act normally).
- Independent Armies may not Intercept.
- You may not Intercept into a space containing one or more non-moving enemy CUs (e.g. Enemy CUs from any player were in the space before the active General moved there).
- You may not Intercept across a Mountain Pass, Strait, Sea or Trans-Mediterranean path.
- Land Interceptions only occur against the active General's/Army's movement. You may not Intercept after an Army Avoids Battle or Withdraws, nor may you Intercept an Interception (there is no Reaction Step after these occurrences).
12. Land Battle
12.1 Determine Attacker and Defender
12.1.1 The active Army is the Attacker. When the Land Battle occurs due to the active Army moving into a space with enemy CUs, those CUs are the Defender. If there is a Land Interception, the Intercepting Army is the Defender.
12.1.2 When you are involved in a Land Battle that occurs in a space where you have a friendly Besieged City, you may choose to add CUs from the City to your Battle Strength (4.16, 12.2), and you may have any General from the City join. However, if you lose, then those pieces will suffer Losses (12.5).
EXAMPLE: Ptolemaios' Army (2 Loyal Macedonians, 4 Mercenaries) debarks in Tyros trying to relieve the siege by Yellow's Army (3 Mercenaries). White decides that CUs from the City (2 Mercenaries) should join the battle.
12.2 Determine Battle Strength
Each player determines their Battle Strength by adding the Combat Strengths of their participating CUs (3.1) to their Local Troops bonus:
- One Local Troop if the Land Battle is occurring in a friendly controlled space, and
- Two Local Troops if the Land Battle is occurring in a friendly controlled Province (4.22).
These Local Troop bonuses are cumulative (so battling in a friendly space in a friendly Province adds 3 to your Battle Strength). An Army which failed its Avoid Battle roll in this space does not receive any Local Troops bonus.
Example: Continuing the above example. White receives 1 Local Troop for controlling Tyros. Neither player receives Local Troops for controlling the Phoenike province.
Elephants have a variable strength (3.3.2).
12.3 Determine Battle Score
Each player rolls two dice and cross references the total roll with their Battle Strength on the Battle Table. This is their Battle Score. The player with the higher Battle Score wins. If both players have the same Battle Score, the result is a Draw (12.6).
If a player's Battle Strength is zero, their Battle Score is automatically zero.
EXAMPLE: The attacker has a Battle Strength of eight versus the defender's five. The attacker rolls a 7 on the "8" column = battle score of "4." The defender rolls a 12 on the "5" column = battle score of "7." The defender wins.
12.3.1 Each General has a Battle Rating. This is the minimum value that you can roll in a Land Battle per die. If you roll less than your Commanding General's Battle Rating, treat his Battle Rating as the die result instead.
EXAMPLE: Your Commanding General has a Battle Rating of 4. [1] If you roll a 1 and a 5, the 1 becomes a 4, giving you a total result of 9. [2] If you roll a 1 and a 3, both dice change to 4's, giving you a total result of 8. [3] If you roll a 4 and a 5, neither die changes, so your total result is 9.
12.4 Leader Loss
12.4.1 If your modified Battle Table dice roll is exactly 9, your Leader may be lost. Roll a die now. If you won the Land Battle, or if the result was a Draw, your Commanding General is eliminated on a 6. If you lost the Land Battle, your Commanding General is eliminated on a 5 or 6.
12.4.2 If you lose your Commanding General, the most Senior Subordinate Major General (4.26) becomes the Commanding General. If you have no other Major Generals in the Army, you may either reposition one of your Minor Generals (if it is your turn) or place one of your Minor Generals from your supply. If you are unable to provide a Minor General, the Army is leaderless and will be Dispersed if not in a friendly space (3.1.1).
DESIGNER NOTE: Many Generals died in combat during the Successor wars. Usually, the better the general, the more likely he was to be in the middle of combat.
12.5 Battle Losses
12.5.1 The Loser suffers the following penalties:
- All Mercenary and Elephant CUs are eliminated.
- All Macedonian CUs suffer Attrition (4.3). Survivors are Dispersed.
- All Major Generals are Dispersed (4.6). This only applies to Major Generals who survived their Leader Loss rolls (if applicable, 12.4).
- All Minor Generals are returned to their player's supply.
- All Royal Family Members are either Captured or become Inactive (Section 18).
12.5.2 The winning Army loses 1 CU of their choice. Ignore this if their Battle Score was at least twice the Loser's Battle Score.
Note: If your Battle Score was at least 1 and your opponent's was 0, you do not lose a CU.
12.5.2 An Independent Army which loses is removed from play. See (14.7) for more details on combat against Independent Armies.
12.6 Drawn Battles
If both combatants had the same Battle Score, each side loses 1 CU of their own choice. Then the Attacker must Retreat back to the space they moved from (including over a Mountain, Strait, Sea or Trans-Mediterranean path) and end their activation (there is no Reaction Step when you Retreat like this, so a Retreating Army may not be Intercepted).
If an Independent Army was the Attacker, it must Retreat to the space it came from OR to its holding box (after which it becomes Inactive), and does not remove a PC this Segment (see Section 14.7).
12.7 After Battle
Fighting a Land Battle ends an Army's activation for the current Segment. No part of the Army will be able to remove PCs or Siege/Subjugate for the remainder of the Segment.
13. Sieges and Subjugation
13.1 During a General's activation, if his Army contains at least 3 CUs, he may spend 2 MPs to perform a Siege against an enemy Major City or a Subjugation against an Independently controlled Minor City or Stronghold. During the Surrender Segment of a player's turn, each of their Armies with at least 3 CUs has the option to conduct a single Siege/Subjugation for no MP cost (6.6.2).
13.2 Besieging Major Cities
13.2.1 Enemy controlled Major Cities can only be captured by Siege. Roll a die and consult the Siege Table.
Siege Roll Die Modifiers:
- +?/-? For the City's individual siege modifier (see map)
- -1 When Besieging a Port Major City if you have no available Fleets
The bold number on the left of the slash is the number of Siege Points gained. Place the appropriate number of Siege Points next to the Major City to track the progress. The number on the right of the slash is the number of CUs the Besieging Army must immediately lose (owner's choice).
EXAMPLE: Demetrios and his Army makes a siege attempt against Pella holding 2 CUs. A 3 is rolled. A result of '1/1' in the Siege Table means the Besieging Army places 1 Siege Point, but loses 1 CU.
13.2.2 The number of Siege Points required to capture the City is determined by the number of enemy CUs inside the Major City:
- 3 Siege Points are required if 2 CUs are inside, or if the City is Independently controlled
- 2 Siege Points are required if 1 CU is inside
- 1 Siege Point is required if there are no CUs inside (the Major City just has a player PC).
- Note: After placing the first Siege Point, if your General has more Legitimacy (4.15) than the player who owns the city (if that player has a General inside, take his PPs into account), any Royal Army CUs in the City will immediately defect to your Army (3.1.4.5). Defecting takes place before checking if there are enough Siege Points to capture.
13.2.3 A Major City without a PC has no defenders. No one may Besiege it; instead, any player may enter it freely. If a player has at least 1 CU in a space with an uncontrolled Major City during their Surrender Segment, they may then place their own PC there (6.6.2).
13.2.4 Siege Success + Capture. Once you have accumulated the necessary number of Siege Points, remove all Siege Points and the enemy PC from the map. Any enemy CUs, Generals and Royal Family Members inside the city suffer Losses (12.5). If the Siege is completed during the Surrender Segment, you may place your own PC on the Major City (6.6.2). If the Siege is completed during the Tyche or Movement Segment, you must wait until your next Surrender Segment to place a PC (assuming your Army is still present).
13.2.5 Lifting a Siege. If the Besieging Army (all the CUs) leaves the space or is eliminated, the Siege is lifted and all accumulated Siege Points are removed. This includes if the Besieging Army is defeated by a third-party player's Army: the Victorious Army does not 'inherit' the accumulated Siege Points and must start over if they wish to lay Siege.
EXAMPLE: Yellow with Demetrios is besieging Pella, against 2 black CUs inside. They already accumulated 1 Siege Point. White decides to use Lisymachos and his army from Chersonesos to attack Demetrios. Having won the battle, Yellow's Army is dispersed, and the siege is lifted.
13.2.6 Movement In/Out of Besieged Cities.
- An Army inside a non-Port Besieged Major City may not leave the space, but they may leave the City to initiate or participate in a Land Battle (12.1.2).
- An Army inside a Port Besieged Major City may move out of the space via Naval Movement. This is susceptible to Naval Interception as usual. The inverse is also true: an Army with 1 or 2 CUs may move directly into a friendly Port Besieged Major City (8.4).
- A Major City may never have more than 2 CUs inside at any time.
13.3 Subjugating Independent Spaces
13.3.1 Independently controlled Minor Cities and Strongholds can only be captured through Subjugation. Roll a die and consult the Siege Table. The bold number on the left of the slash is the number of Siege Points gained. Place this many Siege Points next to the Major City to track the progress. The number on the right of the slash is the number of CUs the Subjugating Army must immediately lose (controller's choice).
Example (continued from page 14): Antigonos makes subjugation attempt against Salagassos. A result of 1/1 means the Subjugating Army places 1 Siege Point, but loses 1 CU.
13.3.2 The number of Siege Points required to remove the Independent PC is determined by the space:
- 3 Siege Points are required against an Independently controlled Stronghold,
- 1 Siege Point is required against an Independently controlled Minor City.
13.4 Siege/Subjugation Restrictions
- A Siege or Subjugation can only ever be attempted if the Army has 3 or more CUs.
- At most, one Siege/Subjugation attempt may be made in each space during the Surrender Segment.
- At most, two Siege/Subjugation attempts may be made in each space during a Tyche or Movement Segment.
- If two Siege/Subjugation attempts are made in the space during the same Segment, the same General must make both attempts.
It is possible that a single space may be subjected to 5 attempts in the course of a single player's turn during a Strategy Round (1 in the Surrender Segment, 2 in the Tyche Segment, and 2 in the Movement Segment).
EXAMPLE: Blue has an Army with 6 CUs. During the Movement Phase, it spends 4 MPs to make two Siege attempts. Blue then activates another Army and moves it into that space. Blue cannot make another Siege attempt with this Army because they already made the 2 Siege attempts for the turn in this location.
14. Independent Armies
14.1 Independent Armies are represented as square counters. They are enemies to all players and friendly to each other and Independent PCs. Independent Armies only move when activated by the event on a Tyche Card. Some Independent Armies start the game in their Holding Boxes. When an Independent Army in a Holding Box is activated, it must spend its first Movement Point (MP) to move onto the board, then it may move normally. Independent Armies may never capture or control Royal Family Members or the Funeral Cart.
Each Independent Army has an Initiative Rating, a Battle Rating, and a Combat Strength.
14.2 Independent Army Activation
14.2.1 When an Independent Army activates, it gains 3 MPs. Whenever it ends its move in a non-Major City space with a player PC (not an Independent PC), it removes the PC (unless it has drawn in a Land Battle this Segment, 14.7). If an Independent Army is activated while it is on a non-Major city space, it may sacrifice all 3 of its MP to instead place an Independent PC on that space (removing any previous PC). When doing so, place a '3' Independent PC on Strongholds and a '1' Independent PC on Minor Cities.
14.2.2 Independent Armies may not use Naval Movement (but they may cross Strait paths). Although Independent Armies must be moved separately, they may end their activations in the same space as other Independent Armies. Independent Armies always remain as separate counters, though, and may not combine (there is no counter provided for this).
14.3 Movement Restrictions:
- LEOSTHENES: May only enter Thessalia or Hellas (but not Kyklades).
- FILON: Each time this Army moves, it must end in a space that is further west than the space it started its move in. When it enters Hellas, remove it from the game.
- ARIARATHES: Must remain in Kappadokia.
- SEUTHES & GLAUKIAS: No restrictions.
14.4 Independent Army Overruns
While moving, Independent Armies must normally stop when they enter a space containing enemy CUs (not counting CUs inside Major Cities). However, Independent CUs will Overrun enemy CUs if they outnumber them with at least a 5:1 ratio (8.3.6).
14.5 Interceptions and Avoiding Battle
You may attempt Land Interception (Section 11) against Independent Armies, and if one moves into your space, you may Avoid Battle (Section 10). Independent Armies may not attempt Interceptions, Withdraw, Avoid Battle, or move inside Major Cities, so if you move into one of their spaces, you must Battle.
14.6 Independent Armies and Major Cities
Independent Armies may enter and pass through Major City spaces. Independent Armies cannot remove PCs on Major Cities and may not perform a Siege. They may never move inside Independently controlled Major Cities. Their presence in the Major City space still changes the status of that City to Besieged (thus restricting movement and reinforcements, 13.2.6, 6.4.3).
14.7 Combat Against Independent Armies
Combat against Independent Armies is the same as player combat (Section 13). Add 1 if the Land Battle is occurring in an Independently controlled space, and add another 2 if the Land Battle is occurring in an Independently controlled Province (if there are Independent PCs on more than half the spaces, including the Major City (if there is one), 4.22). If more than one Independent Army is participating in Battle, use only the highest Intrinsic General's Battle Rating, but add all the Combat Strengths together. Independent Armies never lose strength due to Battle and never suffer Leader Losses (12.4).
DEFEAT: When an Independent Army loses a Land Battle, it is removed from play. The player Army checks for Leader Loss if it rolled a modified '9' (12.4) and loses 1 CU as usual (unless its Battle Score is twice that of the Independent Army, 12.5.2). Exception: defeated Seuthes and Glaukias are placed into their holding boxes rather than being removed from play.
VICTORY: When an Independent Army wins a Land Battle, the player's Army suffers Losses as usual (12.4, 12.5). The Independent Army remains in the space and removes any non-Independent PC in that space.
DRAW: If the Independent Army was the Attacker, it must Retreat (move) back to the space it came from (which may be its Holding Box). An Independent Army which Retreats in this fashion cannot be Intercepted and may not remove a PC this Segment. The player Army loses 1 CU as usual. If the player Army was the Attacker, also apply the Draw conditions as usual (12.6).
15. Legitimacy
DESIGNER NOTE: Legitimacy is the perception of the ruling elite and the Army as to how well a faction represents and supports traditional Macedonian political and social values. The Macedonian generals strove to acquire legitimacy, either through guardianship of the heirs or through marriage to a relative of Alexander the Great.
15.1 L serve 4 purposes:
- They are used to achieve victory (Section 7).
- They provide protection from Tyche card #54, Mutiny.
- They are used to determine whether Royal Army CUs will fight in a Land Battle, and whether they will defect (3.1.4.3).
- The player with the most L receives bonus Reinforcements (6.4.1).
15.2 Legitimacy comes from the following sources:
- ROYAL FAMILY MEMBERS: The six Royal Family miniatures provide Legitimacy to the player who controls them. If you control more than one Heir (Philippos, Herakles or Alexandros), you may only count the Legitimacy of one of them (your choice). However, you may count all the Legitimacy from any active female Royal Family Members you control.
- STRATEGOS OF EUROPE: The player who controls the Province of Makedonia receives 2 LPs (use the marker as a reminder).
- GENERALS: Generals Perdikkas and Leonnatos are worth 1 L to their controlling player.
- ALEXANDER'S TOMB: See (15.4) for a full explanation.
- CHAMPION OF THE RIGHTFUL HEIR: Champion status is worth 3 L (see Section 17).
- Various Tyche cards
Legitimacy is dynamic. When a source is gained or lost, the player's total changes immediately. Legitimacy may never fall below 0.
15.3
Legitimacy applies to your Faction as a whole, and all your pieces are considered to have Legitimacy equal to your total as a player. Although L apply to all your pieces, each of your Generals may also gain a bonus or penalty to his Prestige (which by default equals his faction's Legitimacy) in certain situations if he has Prestige Points (Section 16).
Note: The General Eumenes has -2 PPs, so his Prestige is always lower than the Legitimacy of his faction when resolving the above situations.
15.4 Alexander's Body and Burial
DESIGNER NOTE: Alexander's body is not worth any Legitimacy until it is buried. Perdikkas ordered a luxurious funeral cart to be built to carry it to Macedon where it was to be buried with the other Temenid Kings.
15.4.1 Alexander's body is carried by the Funeral Cart (4.11). It may not be moved on Game Turn 1. Starting on Game Turn 2, it may be moved by any player who controls it with one of their Armies.
If your Army is defeated in a Land Battle, the victorious Army gains control of the Funeral Cart. You must have a General or friendly PC in the same space as the Funeral Cart in order to maintain control over it.
15.4.2 A player can earn Legitimacy by creating an honorable final resting place for Alexander. You must control the Funeral Cart and escort it to any Major City (including Babylon) to bury it. You do not need to control the City to perform the burial. You may bury the body during any of your own Segments or during the End Phase (6.8). Burial occurs after combat, so the Army escorting the Funeral Cart must win any battle in its space first.
15.4.3 When you bury the body, replace the Funeral Cart miniature with the Tomb miniature (marking the City as Alexander's Tomb). If you bury the body at Pella, you receive 10 L. These L can never be lost.
15.4.4 The player who controls the Major City with Alexander's Tomb gets 2L (this can change hands if control of the City changes). The Funeral Cart may not be moved after burial is declared (it has been converted into the Tomb).
The space which contains Alexander's body (either the Funeral Cart or the Tomb) is considered Sacred Ground (4.25) and grants bonus +4 Prestige Points to defending Generals (16.2).
15.4.5 If Alexander's body has not been buried by the start of Game Turn 4, remove the Funeral Cart from play (6.1.4). The body has been stolen and is lost to history.
16. Prestige
Don't be confused by Legitimacy and Prestige. Legitimacy applies to all your pieces and is important for victory (except on the last turn). Prestige applies to only the space where the general with the prestige is located. Prestige does not count in any way towards victory.
16.1 A General's Prestige by default equals his faction's Legitimacy. However bonus/penalty Prestige Points modify the Prestige value of Major and Minor Generals for the purposes of resolving the Mutiny Tyche Card (#54), or for determining if Royal Army CUs will fight/defect (3.1.4.3, 3.1.4.5). The General in question must be the Commanding General in the Army.
Note: The General Eumenes has -2 PPs, so his Prestige is always lower than the Legitimacy of his faction when resolving the above situations.
16.2 The space which holds Alexander's Body (either on the Funeral Cart or his Tomb) is considered Sacred Ground (4.25). Any General on this space gains +4 Prestige Points when defending in a Land Battle. In order to receive this bonus, that General's Faction must either control the Funeral Cart or have a PC if it is the Tomb.
17. Champions & Successors
DESIGNER NOTE: Champions, in this game, are defenders of the Macedonian Empire and "champion" of the rightful heir.
17.1 Players begin the game as Champions. Being a Champion is worth 3 L (as indicated by the Champion tokens).
17.2 Champions may attack Successors or the Usurper (6.3) without penalty. However, if a Champion player attacks another Champion player who is not the Usurper, the attacker loses their Champion status immediately. Note that the change in L could cause any Royal Army CUs to defect (3.3.4.3).
For this purpose, an 'attack' is defined as: fighting a Land Battle as Attacker, Overrunning (8.3.6), performing a Siege against their Major City (just moving into the space is not considered an attack), dispersing or eliminating a non-active player's General, or declaring a Naval Interception. Land Interceptions are not an attack since the Interceptor enters Battle as the Defender (12.1.1).
If you attempt an attack, but no combat occurs because the other player either Avoids Battle or somehow cancels the action, then no 'attack' occurs and Champion status is unaffected.
Removing PCs and capturing Royal Family Members are not attacks.
17.3 When a player loses Champion status, they flip their marker over and become a Successor. They immediately lose the 3L that they had from Champion status.
17.4 A Successor becomes a Champion again if their Victory Point total ever drops to 0.
18. Royal Family Members
18.1 Royal Family Members that you control provide Legitimacy Points to your Faction. You control a Royal Family Member if it is active and it is on a space with one of your PCs or Generals. If more than one player is in a Major City space (i.e. during a Siege), the Royal Family Member's control depends on whether they are inside or outside the city (outside = Besieger control, inside = City controller's control).
18.2 Herakles, Philippos and Alexandros are Heirs and are always active. If you control more than one Heir, you can only count the L from one of them.
18.3 Olympias, Kleopatra and Thessalonike are females and can only become controlled when you activate them via a Tyche card. You may count all the L from all active females you control.
18.4 Inactive Royals
18.4.1 Olympias, Kleopatra and Thessalonike start the game inactive. While inactive, they do not provide L and may not be moved or controlled (except by specific Events). Each has a Tyche card which activates them. Inactive Royals in Major City spaces are always considered to be outside the City.
18.4.2 Once activated, they may then be moved (18.6). Replace the marker with the miniature.
18.4.3 When captured by an enemy, they immediately return to inactive status. Replace the miniature with marker, and place the miniature in its holding box.
18.5 Marriage of Kleopatra or Thessalonike
18.5.1 To gain control of Kleopatra or Thessalonike, you must have a General from your faction marry them. These are the conditions needed for the Marriage to take place:
- You must play the correct Tyche Card (either #31 or #32).
- The prospective bride may not be controlled by another player.
- You must have an Army in her space.
Note: If the potential bride is in the same space as an enemy army, then the marriage cannot take place until after the battle (not siege) is resolved.
18.5.2 You must marry the prospective bride during the same Game Turn that you play the Tyche card. Place the card in front of you after activating the Event as a reminder. If the marriage has not occurred by the end of the Game Turn, the marriage contract breaks. Either way, don't forget to shuffle the Tyche card back into the deck for the next Game Turn.
18.5.3 If you achieve all three conditions (18.5.1), the marriage occurs. Replace the bride's marker with her miniature. You control them until they are captured or killed and they provide you L for as long as you control them. If captured, she immediately becomes Inactive (18.4) and the marriage ends.
EXAMPLE: After capturing Pella with Kassandros, Yellow plays Tyche card #32 and Kassandros marries with Thessalonike. Her marker is replaced with her miniature, which is placed on Kassandros General card.
18.6 Moving
Active Royal Family Members can only be carried by an Army. They can be picked up and dropped off during movement. They are not CUs and are not subject to any rules pertaining to CUs. When a Royal Family Member is moved by one Army, it cannot be moved with a second Army of the same Faction during the same Segment (6.6.1).
18.6.1 Active Royal Family Members can be captured in the following ways:
- If their Army is defeated, the victorious Army captures them.
- If they are in a Major City which is successfully Captured in a Siege, the Besieging Army captures them.
In addition, Heirs and the Funeral Cart can be captured (controlled) if they are in a space with no CUs and no Generals (except when inside a controlled Major City). The first General to enter their space takes control of the Heir. A player can also take control by placing one of their own PCs in the space. Remember that when a female is captured, she immediately becomes Inactive (and thus uncontrolled, 18.3).
18.6.2 Independent Armies may never capture, control or move any Royal Family Members. Royal Family Members may never be inside an Independently controlled Major City, and if they are inside a Major City which comes under Independent control, they are immediately moved outside.
18.7 Death
There are 2 ways that a Royal Family Member can die:
- Drink the Hemlock Tyche card.
- Herakles and Alexandros may be assassinated when they come of age (6.1.4, 6.1.5).
When a Royal Family Member dies, remove their marker from the game. They no longer provide L for any player.
19. Optional Rules
19.1 Prestige for Defeating Independent Armies (Recommended)
When an Army commanded by a Major General defeats an Independent Army, that General receives +1 Prestige Point for the rest of the game (or until he is eliminated).
DESIGNER'S NOTE: This rule is optional because it makes calculating individual Army Prestige more difficult. This is only recommended for experienced players.
19.2 Major General's Special Abilities
Each Major General has a special ability, as indicated on his General Card. A General's special ability can only be used when he is a commanding General.
19.3 Land Interception Options
You may choose one or both of these options:
19.3.1 If Intercepting into a Transit Space, subtract 1 from the die roll.
19.3.2 When a player successfully performs a Land Interception, instead of following the normal rules, he may declare that he wishes to become the Attacker. The player who owns the active Army may then choose to either accept the Land Battle or Avoid Battle (he may not Withdraw, 11.7). When the Intercepting player becomes the Attacker and a Land Battle occurs, Champion status must be considered as usual (18.2).
19.4 Interceptions and Avoid Battles by Independent Armies
Any non-active player may discard a Surprise card to attempt a Land Interception or to Avoid Battle with an Independent Army. Each card discarded allows one attempt. When discarding a card in this fashion, draw a new Tyche card to replace it. If more than one player wants to discard a card to affect a single Army, the player earliest in Turn Order has priority.
Independent Armies are assumed to have an Initiative Rating of 4.
19.5 Avoiding Battle Direction Modifier
When Avoiding Battle (Section 12), if the first space you move into is a Transit Point, you must apply a -1 modifier to the die roll. This may effectively cut off a Transit Point as a legal route to Avoid Battle depending on die roll.
EXAMPLE: Blue moves into Black's space. Black attempts to Avoid Battle. They have two options for paths to take if successful: one starts in a Transit Point, the other in a friendly controlled Minor City. Black rolls the die and gets a 4. The Army's Commanding General has an Initiative of 3. The player is successful in Avoiding, but must spend their first MP to move to the Minor City. They are unable to choose the Transit Point as their first space moved into because it would apply a -1 modifier to the die roll, which would make it a 3, which would not be higher than the General's Initiative, so the attempt would fail.
19.6 Attrition Above the Forage Limit
During the Forage Segment, if a player's Army is above the Forage Limit of its space, it suffers Attrition (instead of just removing a single CU). Treat any '-' result as '1'.
19.7 Dispersed Fleets
Fleets no longer return to a player automatically during the Reinforcement Phase (6.4.1). Instead, when a player chooses the Discard action during the Tyche phase (6.6.3.C), they may retrieve one of their Fleets from the Dispersed Box (on its non-upgraded side).
19.8 Capital City Building
Historical examples: Seleukeia, Lizymacheia, Kassandreia (built on Potidaia ruins), Antiochia (near the destroyed Antigonia), Ptolemais (although Ptolemy ruled from Aleksandria…)
A capital city may be built on a minor city space (not a major city or transit point!).
To capture a capital city requires 2 siege points. Only 1 CU can be inside a capital city.
If the CU which is building moves from that space or is attacked before the capital is completed, the construction is interrupted and the whole sequence must begin from the first segment.
Each player can build a capital once per game only.
19.9 Cavalry Variant
Central Macedonia was good horse rearing country, and cavalry forces were a part of Macedonian armies from the earliest times. Phillip II (and subsequently, Alexander III) developed the necessary combined arms tactics to supplement their foot troops and significantly improved the effectiveness of Macedonian cavalry forces.
The following rule changes introduce Elite Cavalry CUs:
19.9.1 – SETUP. At start, all Generals are awarded one (1) Elite Cavalry CU (in addition to the starting forces listed on their cards).
19.9.2 – REINFORCEMENTS. Rule 6.4.1 for Reinforcements is modified so that a player may elect to receive one (1) Elite Cavalry CU instead of his normal allotment of two (2) Mercenary CUs. This substitution cannot be used for CUs earned due to Tyche Card play or by any other means unless specifically listed in these rules.
A player that controls the province of Armenia receives one (1) free Elite Cavalry CU during the Reinforcements phase.
A player that controls BOTH the provinces of Thessalia AND Trakia receives one (1) free Elite Cavalry CU during the Reinforcements phase.
The player that controls the most unlooted treasure cities (Babylon, Susa, Ekbatana) receives one (1) free Elite Cavalry CU during the Reinforcements phase. If there is a tie for most unlooted treasure cities controlled, then nobody receives this bonus CU.
19.9.3 – TYCHE CARDS.
Thracian Mercenaries (Card #7) grants one (1) Mercenary CU and one (1) Elite Cavalry CU instead of the normal two (2) Mercenary CUs.
Persian Popular Support (Card #26) grants one (1) initial Elite Cavalry CU instead of one (1) Mercenary CU (this does not affect the Mercenary CUs received from this card during future Reinforcement phases).
When Olympias (Card #36) is activated in Epirus, then her army is granted one (1) Elite Cavalry CU (in addition to the normal allotment of four (4) Mercenary CUs).
If Eumenes (Card #61) or Seleucus (Card #62) enter the game via normal Tyche Card play, then they do NOT receive the bonus Elite Cavalry CUs listed in Rule 19.9.1.
19.9.4 – SUBJUGATION. If an army contains any Elite Cavalry CUs, then Rule 9.3 for Movement is modified so that it may only cost 1 MP for such an army to engage in Subjugation (instead of the normal 2 MP cost). This replaces the MP costs listed in Rule 15.1.1 (for Subjugation only). An Army that uses this MP bonus and incurs casualties during the Subjugation attempt (per the Siege Table results and Rule 15.1.2) must remove one (1) Elite Cavalry CU when satisfying loss requirements. Sieges against Major Cities receive no bonuses for the presence of Elite Cavalry CUs.
19.9.5 – INTERCEPTION. If an army containing any Elite Cavalry CUs attempts to Intercept a moving army with no Elite Cavalry CUs in it, then die roll listed in Rule 10.2 receives a +1 modifier. Independent armies are always considered to include Elite Cavalry CUs and negate this DRM when intercept attempts are made against them.
19.9.6 – AVOID BATTLE. If an army containing any Elite Cavalry CUs attempts to Avoid Battle against an army that contains no Elite Cavalry CUs, then the die roll listed in Rule 11.1 receives a +1 modifier. Independent armies are always considered to include Elite Cavalry CUs and negate this DRM when attempts to avoid battle with them are made.
19.9.7 – BATTLE TABLE MODIFIERS. If an army containing any Elite Cavalry CUs is involved in a battle against an army that contains no Elite Cavalry CUs AND no effective (non-zero Combat Value) Elephant CUs, then that army enjoys a one column shift to the right bonus when rolling on the Battle Table as listed in Rule 12.5. Independent armies are always considered to contain Elite Cavalry CUs and negate this potential bonus column shift.
19.9.8 – COMBAT RESULTS. After being defeated in combat, an army removes all of its Elite Cavalry CUs (along with the normal removal of all Mercenary and Elephant CUs as in 12.5.1). If an army containing no Elite Cavalry CUs is defeated by an army that does contain Elite Cavalry CUs, then that losing army must suffer a one column shift to the right when rolling on the Attrition Table to determine the fate of Macedonian CUs as listed in Rule 12.7 and 12.8.
19.10 Elephants and Sieges
Elephant CUs can never be inside a major city. They can still be in a space with a major city. So elephants can besiege, but can't be besieged.
19.11 Faster Funeral Cart Construction
A player controlling Alexander's body may discard a 4-OPs card to have the Funeral Cart constructed immediately, before waiting until the end of Turn 1. Once the Funeral Cart is built, it can be moved (the restriction of 15.4.1 no longer applies).
19.12 Illegitimate Son
Herakles starts the game in Halikarnassos (Karia), not in Damaskos.
Herakles is considered an Heir only if both Philippos and Alexandros are eliminated. He still gives 2 Legitimacy Points to the player who controls him, if the player has no other Heir in their control (he is still a Royal Family Member).
Rule 6.1.4 about Herakles coming of age does not apply.
Historical Note: Herakles for most of his life was an ordinary boy living in Pergamon. Only after his uncle Philippos and step-brother Alexandros were killed, he was regarded as Alexander's heir by Polyperchon.
20. Card Clarifications
1. Drink the Hemlock - You may not use this Event to remove a Royal Family Member from outside one of your Besieged Cities. This includes Inactive females, since they are always outside Cities (18.3).
11. Pontic Fleet - This does not count towards Largest Fleet VPs (7.4).
15. Condemnation - You can re-target the currently condemned General. The General temporarily regains 3 Ls (which can trigger Immediate Victory, 7.1) and then becomes condemned again (losing the 3 Ls again). If the card is ever Discarded or played for any reason (even OPs), any condemned General loses condemned status (thus regaining 3 Ls).
24. Desertions - You can use this on an Army Besieging you. It cannot be used against CUs under Siege.
58. Ahura Mazda & Ahriman - Whoever plays this gets to keep the stolen card but does not draw another from the deck (normally, surprise cards are replaced immediately, but not in this case). No one may play or discard a card until the targeted player draws a card from the deck.
59. Repercussions of Defeat - Since Independent control markers cannot be isolated, they are never removed by Repercussions of Defeat.
4th edition rules written by Eric Engstrom
21. Index
| Topic | Rule |
|---|---|
| Adjacent | 4.1 |
| Africa | 4.23 |
| Alexander's Body and Burial | 15.4 |
| Army | 3.1, 4.2 |
| Asia | 4.23 |
| Attrition | 4.3 |
| Avoid Battle | 10 |
| Battles — Land Battle | 12 |
| Battles — Naval Battle | 8.6 |
| Besieged | 4.4 |
| Bonus Card | 4.31.3 |
| Champion Status | 4.5, 17 |
| Combat Units (CUs) | 3.3 |
| Commanding General | 4.29, 3.1.1, 8.3.2 |
| Disperse | 4.6 |
| Elephants | 3.3.2 |
| Europe | 4.23 |
| Fleets | 3.4 |
| Forage Segment | 6.6.5 |
| Friendly Passage | 8.3.8 |
| Force March | 6.6.3.1 |
| Funeral Cart | 4.11, 15.4 |
| Generals | 3.1 |
| Independent Pieces | 14 |
| Interceptions — Land Interception | 11 |
| Interceptions — Naval Interception | 8.5 |
| Isolation Phase | 6.7 |
| Leader Loss Checks | 12.4 |
| Legitimacy | 15 |
| Local Troops | 12.2 |
| Major Cities | 4.16 |
| Movement | 8 |
| Naval Movement | 8.4 |
| Overrun | 8.3.6 |
| Paths | 4.19 |
| Political Control markers (PCs) | 3.2 |
| Prestige | 16 |
| Reinforcement Phase | 6.4 |
| Retreat | 12.6, 14.7 |
| Royal Army CUs | 3.3.4 |
| Royal Family Members | 18 |
| Sacred Ground | 4.25, 16.2 |
| Seniority | 4.26 |
| Siege/Subjugation | 14 |
| Silver Shields | 3.3.3 |
| Spaces | 4.27 |
| Strategy Phase | 6.6 |
| Subordinate Generals | 4.29, 3.1.1, 8.3.2 |
| Surprise Cards | 4.31.1 |
| Surrender Segment | 6.6.2 |
| Successor Status | 4.30, 17 |
| Turn Order | 6.2 |
| Tyche Cards | 4.31 |
| Usurper | 6.3 |
| Victory | 7 |
| Withdrawal | 11.7 |
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