Sword and Sail
Sword and Sail Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Pieces and Assembly
- 1 Set of Instructions
- 1 Game Board
- 16 Action Cards (13 land cards and 3 voyage cards)
- 210 Tokens (30 armies and 12 navies of each color)
Start by printing this document and carefully cutting out all the game pieces. Although not necessary, you may wish to dry-mount and laminate your game pieces before cutting them out if you want a nice looking, durable game. You should have 16 cards and 210 tokens as well as one game board when you are finished cutting.
Game Setup
To setup the game, place the board and all the action cards (shuffled and face down) in the center of the table. Give each player all the tokens of one color. Each player should have 30 armies and 12 navies.
Game Overview
Now take a look at the board. Here you will find 8 empires marked in different colors (Britannia, Scandia, Gallia, Italia, Germania, Hellas, and Africa). The object of the game is to be the first to control an entire empire by having your armies or navies (the small tokens) on every region of an empire. However, this is not as easy as it sounds as other players may be struggling for the same territories as you. Regions are separated by lines and a dot on each region. For instance, Iberia has 4 regions (Tarraconensis, Baltica, Lusitania, and Galacia). By having an army on each of these four regions you would win the game. Armies and navies are placed on the game board by playing action cards as follows.
Game Play Sequence
After deciding who will start first, play goes clockwise. Each player takes three actions on their turn. Actions may include:
- Taking a new action card
- Playing an action card
- Discarding an unwanted action card
- Moving and or attack an opponent
Taking a new action card: If you have less than 3 action cards in your hand, you may wish to pick up a new card, keeping it hidden from other players. This counts as one of your three turn actions.
Playing an action card: At any time you may wish to play an action card from your hand. This will count as one of your three turn actions (for example, picking up a card and playing it on the same turn counts as two actions). There are two types of action cards available. They are:
- Army Cards (Red): These cards show an empire and list its name. When you play this card, you may place 1 new army onto any empty land region within the empire listed on the card.
- Voyage Cards (Blue): These cards say "Voyage" and show a water region. When you play this card, you may exchange 1 of your existing armies in play with a navy (ship) token. Once an army becomes a navy, it has the ability to move over land or water.
Discarding an unwanted action card: If you have a card you do not want to keep, you may place it on the discard pile. This will count as one of your three turn actions.
Moving and/or attack an opponent: You may move any one of your armies to any empty adjacent land square (this counts as one action) or you may move any one of your navies to any adjacent land or water square. For example on your turn you may wish to move one single army or navy up to three spaces; However, this would use up all your action points for that turn. You may not move a single token onto another area with a single token; However, You may move any two of your armies or navies onto another player's one army or navy to overtake that region. However, both you and your opponent will lose an army in doing so (Only one army may be on a region at a time).
Game Notes
- At no time during the game (except during an attack) can more than 1 army exist on a region.
- At no time during the game can a player have more than three cards.
- You may only enter water with a navy.
Winning
To win, be the first to conquer an entire empire (separated on the board by color) by having an army on every region of that empire.