Techno Witches
Techno Witches Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 4 flyers
- 5 tails (star-tails)
- 20 curves
- 8 castles (numbered 1 to 8)
- 1 Wolkenschreck (the old wizard on his broom)
- 4 markers, in the colors of the flyers
- 4 witch houses
- 1 cat, Quaddatsch
- 4 spellbooks
Before playing for the first time, carefully remove all pieces from their frames, and assemble the flyers and Wolkenschreck as shown on the frame.
Flight School (Introductory Game)
Setup for Flight School
Each player takes a spellbook, the flyer that matches its color, and a tail. The 20 curves are spread out face up as a general supply at the edge of the table. The remaining components are not needed for Flight School.
Castle No. 1 ("Featherstroke") and Castle No. 2 ("Skyprick") are placed at a distance of at least two spellbooks laid side by side (see the illustration below). Castles 3 and 4 ("Cloudstitch" and "Weatherpoint") are placed to the right of those, at about the same distance shown in the illustration. The remaining castles, numbers 5 through 8 ("Sunstaff," "Cometspear," "Starpole," and "Whirltower"), are distributed however you like near castles 1 through 4. (The lines drawn between castles 1 through 4 in our illustration are not a boundary of the playing field.) The positions of the individual castles need not match our illustration exactly.
To the left of castles 1 and 2, place as many witch houses as there are players. The individual witch houses should be spaced roughly evenly apart from one another.
Our illustration (bottom left) shows the setup for a "Flight School" with two players (recognizable by the fact that only two witch houses are placed on the left). Each player starts from a different witch house.
The cat Quaddatsch is placed to the right of castles 3 and 4.
Getting into Starting Position
The player to the right of the oldest player places a tail at a witch house of their choice, so that the tail's rounded back touches the house. The flyer of their own color is attached to the smooth front of the tail. The other players follow counterclockwise. Each must choose a different witch house as their starting point.
Whoever is the last to bring their flyer into starting position makes the first actual move — after that, play continues clockwise.
A Turn
When it is a player's turn, they can either take a curve from the supply and place it at their spellbook, or they must "take off" with all the curves already placed at their spellbook.
1. Either Place a Curve at the Spellbook…
The player takes a curve from the general supply and places it at their spellbook so that it points either right or left. The first curve placed at the spellbook goes in position 1, the next in position 2, and so on.
Caution 1: A curve must be taken and placed at the spellbook immediately — you may not try it out beforehand to see how it will affect the flight later.
Caution 2: Each curve must later be flown exactly as it was "programmed" in the spellbook.
Tip: Deciding whether to place a curve so it points right or left is made a little easier if you turn your spellbook to face the direction the flyer should fly. This helps especially when flying "upside down."
A player may only ever place one curve at the spellbook per turn. If five curves are already lying at their spellbook, they must fly — whether they want to or not.
2. …Or Take Off
Once a player has at least one curve placed at their spellbook, they may — instead of placing another curve at the spellbook — take off.
To carry out a flight, you hold the tail firmly and remove the flyer sitting in front of it (1). Now the curve from position 1 of the spellbook is taken and attached to the tail (2). If the curve pointed left at the book, it must now be attached to the tail so that it also points left. Then, if there is another curve at position 2 of the spellbook, that next curve is taken and attached to the previously placed curve piece. Here, too, the rule applies: the curve must point in the same direction it did at the spellbook. A maximum of five curves (no more can be "pre-programmed" at the spellbook) can be laid down this way in one turn. All curves at the spellbook must always be placed — you cannot "save up" curves once they've been placed at the book! Once the last curve from the book has been placed and a more or less long flight path has taken shape, you set your flyer back onto the tip (see Example 5 below) of the piece placed last, remove all the curves placed during this turn, and finally reattach the tail behind the flyer.
Example: Violet places a right curve (1) on their first turn and a left curve (2) on their second turn — meaning they want to first fly a tight right curve, then a gentle left curve. To take off: (1) the flyer is removed from the tail; (2) the first curve from the spellbook is attached to the tail; (3) the flyer is set at the tip of that curve; (4) the second curve from the spellbook is attached to the end of the first; (5) the flyer completes the flight at the tip of the second curve, and the tail is reattached behind it.
Crashing
If a player cannot lay out all their curves, or place their flyer, while taking off, because an obstacle is in the way (a castle, a witch house, the edge of the table (!), or another player's flyer or tail), the flyer loses its magic and the flight ends immediately in a crash. Only the curves already on the table, at whose tip the flyer can be placed without a problem, remain. All other curves are forfeited and go back to the general supply. The player's turn ends there.
Caution: Even the slightest "touch" of an obstacle causes a crash.
Hovering in Place
Sometimes the flyer isn't even able to fly the very first curve. In this special case, the player has the exceptional option of casting a "Hover" — they simply sit out that turn, but keep all the curves at their spellbook.
Collecting the Cat (End of Game)
To win the introductory game "Flight School," it is enough to touch the cat during a flight with your flyer, a curve, or the tail.
Once you've played "Flight School," you're ready for the first great adventure: the "Bumblebee Flight."
Bumblebee Flight (Adventure for Advanced Players)
The witches race each other across the night sky. Whoever is first to return to a witch house wins this fast-paced adventure.
Setup
The oldest player sets out the castles and witch houses on the table just as in "Flight School." This time, the cat Quaddatsch only watches from the box. Each player needs a marker of their color. All witch houses are placed (regardless of how many players are taking part!!!) roughly as shown in the illustration below. The players' flyers are brought into starting position again just as in Flight School. The oldest player begins.
Goal
To win this adventure, a player must fly through the gap between Castle 3 ("Cloudstitch") and Castle 4 ("Weatherpoint"). After that, they must fly left or right around one of the two castles and back to the witch houses.
Whoever lands again at a witch house first after flying through the gap wins. However, the house a player must land on is always chosen by the other players — whichever ones haven't reached the line yet.
Backward Flight
Advanced fliers can perform maneuvers not only forward, but backward as well. If a player says "backward" while attaching a curve, that curve is placed on the lower side of the spellbook and is later carried out as a backward flight maneuver.
Example: Green places a right curve (1) on their first turn and a left curve (2) on their second turn. On their third turn, Green then attaches a backward maneuver (3) at the lower side.
A player can only place one curve on the lower side of their spellbook. As soon as they do — even if it's the only curve placed at their spellbook in total — they must take off the next time it's their turn. The flyer then first flies, as usual, all the curves placed at the front of the spellbook. Immediately afterward, you hold the flyer, set the tail aside, and now place the backward curve from the lower side of the spellbook behind the flyer. The tail comes to the end of the curve, the curve is put into the supply, and the flyer is set in front of the tail again. The flyer has thus flown backward.
Final Approach and Victory
As soon as a player crosses, on the way back, the "imagined line" that runs through Castles 1 and 2 (see illustration on the left), those players who have not yet reached this line decide where the player must land.
To do this, they must jointly agree, by the end of their turn, on a house without a marker on it, on which the player's marker is placed.
If they cannot agree, the player in question chooses the house themselves.
To win, a player must fly backward (!) and touch, with the attached curve or the tail, the house on which their marker lies.
Whoever manages this first wins this adventure.
Crashing While Landing Backward
A crash can also occur during a backward landing approach, if the curve or tail cannot be placed because of another flyer or tail.
Quaddatsch – The Chase for the Cat (Adventure for Experienced Fliers)
The cat Quaddatsch, favorite of every witch and wizard, has run off again. Since Quaddatsch magically brings good luck, all the players try to catch it quickly and fly around with it on their flyers for as long as possible.
Setup
Castle 1 ("Featherstroke") is placed in the middle of the table. The remaining castles are distributed around it in a circle, so that about two spellbooks laid side by side would fit between each of them. The witch houses are not used.
The cat is placed so that it touches Castle 1 at its edge. Each player brings their flyer into starting position at a different castle. Castles are chosen the same way as in the "Flight School" adventure, except that no player may start at Castle 1. Each player also takes the marker of their color and places it in front of them.
Goal
Players try to catch Quaddatsch and fly around with it for as long as possible. The player who reaches 5 points first wins this adventure.
Catching the Cat Quaddatsch
Quaddatsch is caught as soon as a player touches it with an attached curve, their flyer, or their tail. The player then places Quaddatsch on or at the hat of their witch or wizard and finishes their flight normally. Quaddatsch can be caught during both forward and backward flight.
Scoring Points
Every time a player has Quaddatsch on their hat at the end of a completed flight, they score a point. When they score their first point, they place their marker at position 1 of their spellbook; on the next point, the marker moves to position 2, then position 3, and so on. A player also scores the point immediately after the flight in which they caught the cat.
A player does not score the point if their flight ends in a crash, or if they don't fly at all (that is, if they only place a curve at their spellbook).
Stealing the Cat from Someone
Opposing flyers may be rammed — meaning if you touch another player's flyer or their tail with an attached curve or your own flyer during a forward flight, you have successfully rammed them.
Ramming fails if, in doing so, you would also touch a castle or another obstacle at the same time — in that case, a crash occurs instead as usual. In the illustration on the right, Green fails, because if the curve marked with an X were placed, their flyer would touch not only the red flyer but also the castle behind it.
You cannot ram an opposing flyer during a backward flight.
A flyer touched by another loses all curves placed at its spellbook and must return to starting position at a castle on the circle line, chosen by the player who rammed it. This may not be a castle where another flyer is already in starting position.
If you ram a player who is carrying the cat, you take the cat away from them. If you can then finish your turn without crashing, you score a point for possessing the cat. If instead you crash on the rest of your flight, you now have the cat, but you don't score a point for it this turn — you only score a point at the next flight you complete successfully while carrying the cat.
The Circle Line
If the player carrying Quaddatsch touches, during their flight, a line between two castles that forms the circle with a curve, their flyer, or their tail, they must immediately return Quaddatsch to Castle 1 in the middle — just as at the start of the game. They still complete the rest of their flight normally, but they no longer score a point for it.
It is always the line running through the brightly lit windows of the castles that is relevant.
Victory!
The player who is first to score their fifth point wins this adventure.
Hunt for Wolkenschreck (Adventure for "Old Hands")
Wolkenschreck, this modern stuff means nothing to him. He still flies on his good old broom exactly as always, and plays tricks by simply vanishing castles into thin air. Whoever manages to ram him first wins this adventure — but Wolkenschreck is not easy to catch.
Setup
Castles and witch houses are set up as in the "Bumblebee Flight" adventure. The oldest player brings Wolkenschreck into starting position at Castle 4 ("Weatherpoint"), so that his broom points directly at Castle 2 ("Skyprick"). The players then bring their flyers into starting position at the witch houses as usual.
Goal
The first player to manage to ram Wolkenschreck's broom wins.
Wolkenschreck Uses the Players' Curves
Every time a player flies, they then set aside the first three curves they used, in the same order in which they placed them at their spellbook (starting at position 1, then continuing up to a backward curve if there is one).
If a player only placed one or two curves, only those are set aside.
Before the next player takes their turn, the curves set aside are used to make Wolkenschreck fly. Each individual curve is placed so that it always points toward the castle with the smallest number (among those still on the playing field). Should the situation ever be ambiguous (for example, when a curve already points directly at a castle and yet another curve still needs to be attached), the player from whose flight the curves came decides.
Example: (1) Red flies toward Wolkenschreck but cannot reach him. (2) Wolkenschreck always uses the curves to turn himself toward the smallest-numbered castle.
Example: (1) Green flies a backward maneuver. (2) Wolkenschreck then flies that curve forward and catches Castle Weatherpoint as well as the red flyer.
If Wolkenschreck's broom or an attached curve touches a player's flyer or tail, that player starts over at a house or a castle. To determine where, that player picks out four locations, of which their left-hand neighbor chooses one as the new starting point. They may not start at a location where a flyer is already in starting position.
If several flyers are touched by Wolkenschreck one after another, they are likewise returned to starting position in the corresponding order, once Wolkenschreck has finished his flight.
Wolkenschreck Makes Castles Disappear
If Wolkenschreck touches a castle with his broom or with an attached curve, he magics it away — back into the box, to be precise.
Victory! Who Rams Wolkenschreck?
Victory belongs to whichever player manages to ram Wolkenschreck first. This must happen during forward flight, and only counts if, in touching him, the player does not simultaneously touch another obstacle (such as a castle).
In this adventure, players may not ram each other — here, as usual, the flyer refuses to continue and a crash occurs instead.
Wolkenschreck's Victory
If none of the players manage to catch Wolkenschreck, he wins the adventure himself, as soon as he has rammed and thereby vanished the last castle.