The Brigade
The Brigade Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Contents
- 28x City Blocks and 4x University Block Tiles
- 4x Firehouse Block Tiles
- 4x Action Tracker Cards
- 4x Brigade Meeples
- 4x Water Wagon Meeples
- 4x Fire Warden Cards (Side 1 - Basic Play, Side 2 - Advanced Play)
- 4x Firehouse Boards (Side 1 - Basic Play, Side 2 - Advanced Play)
- 16x Crew Cards
- 30x Event Cards (6 Starter Event Cards)
- Water Tokens (40)
- Flame Tokens (32)
- Renown Tokens (16x4)
- Loyalty Tokens (10x4)
- Upgrade Trackers (4x3)
Player Set Up - Basic
Each player chooses a Warden and gathers the components of their chosen colour as indicated by the border colour on the card:
- 1 Firehouse Board
- 1 Brigade Meeple
- 1 Water Wagon Meeple
- 16 Renown Tokens
- 1 Fire Warden Card
- 1 Action Tracker Card
- 10 Loyalty Tokens
- 3 Upgrade Trackers
The players place their Firehouse Board on Side 1 in front of them. These boards track the level of their Brigade's resources and can be improved once every turn. They place their Fire Warden Card next to their Firehouse Board.
The players place an Upgrade Tracker on the first circle of the Crew Members, Water Wagon Capacity and Leadership tracks of their board.
Finally they take four Water Tokens and place two on the bucket icons on their Fire Warden Card, and two on the bucket icons marked 1 and 2 on the Water on the Wagon section of the Firehouse Board.
Note: Advanced Play
When playing Advanced Rules, use Side 2 of the Warden Card and Side 2 of the Firehouse Board.
In this variant of the game players gain a unique action for their Warden and a bonus game effect from their Player Board.
On the advanced side all the Warden Cards are colourless so players are dealt their boards and Wardens randomly and pick their game pieces based on the colour of their Firehouse Board.
Like regular actions, Wardens special actions cost one action to use. The Warden action can only be used once per turn.
Board Setup
The game takes place in the town of Tinderbox represented by 36 Block tiles.
To set up the Brigade board, place the four Pyromancer University tiles in the center of the table, and randomly arrange the square town Block tiles around it, forming a 6 x 6 grid, with the corners missing.
Align all the tiles in the same direction with the non-burnt side up as shown.
The top of the tiles will be called North for the sake of managing the spread of fires from Event Cards.
In the 4 corners of the board the players place the Firehouse Block tile of their colour.
These are the starting positions and home bases for each player's Brigade and Water Wagon Meeples.
Shuffle and place the Event and Crew Card decks face down where everyone can easily reach them.
Finally place the Fire and Water Tokens within easy reach of all players.
Block Tile Anatomy
The Blocks in the town of Tinderbox are represented by the tiles that make up the game board. Each Block has a Flame Track, Block Affiliation, Name and Value.
The Flame Track represents the intensity of the blaze, starting on the left at intensity I. When a Block first catches alight, place the Flame Token on the first space of its Flame Track. As the Block attracts more fire from Event Card effects, increase the intensity by moving the Flame Token one space to the right.
The Pyromancer University Blocks burn in an identical way but the track moves vertically.
They are also worth 5 points, more than any other Block.
Destruction of a Block
When the intensity advances past the last numbered space on the Flame Track, the Block is destroyed. At the end of that phase (Event or Action), remove all player tokens from the tile and flip it to the burnt side. Return any Brigade or Wagon Meeples caught on a destroyed Block to that player's Firehouse tile. Once a Flame Token on a tile has moved to the (black) destroyed space, it cannot be moved back - the tile cannot be saved. A destroyed Block will never reignite, ignore any fire effects that target it.
Crew Card Anatomy
Crew Cards can be added to a player's Brigade using the Recruit action. The amount of Crew they can have depends on how much they have upgraded the Crew Members track on their Firehouse board.
All Crew cards have a Name, an Affiliation, how much water they can carry and a unique Crew Ability.
The ability on a Crew Card only becomes active when a player has the Loyalty of at least one Block with the same affiliation as the Crew Member. When a Crew Member is recruited they come with water, which can be used by the recruiting player immediately.
The Factions of Tinderbox
The Commons — What they lack in resources they make up with ingenuity. That, quick fingers and fast running.
The Council Quarters — Despite (or maybe due to) increasing corruption within the halls of power, the Town Council's productivity is soaring and public approval has skyrocketed.
The Merchant Markets — The Mercantile Guild of Tinderbox have the best firefighters money can buy, and none of the ones that can't be bought.
The Nobles Rise — Let it not be said that the aristocracy of Tinderbox won't hitch up their skirts and help (as long as they don't have to lift those skirts above their ankle.)
Events
There are 3 types of Event Cards:
Wind Gust: A wind gust is indicated by a direction written on the Event Card. All Blocks that are currently on fire, spread flames to their neighboring Blocks in the direction indicated. Work from one side of the board to the other to spread all the flames. Start on the side of the board indicated by the wind gust arrows as shown in the example (wind is going East, start on East side). Once all the fires have spread, if a Block is destroyed, flip that tile upside down.
Special Event: All players immediately follow the instructions on the Card. If a player is unable to follow the instructions, they ignore the effect granted by the Event.
Firestorm Event: The magically charged firestorm above Tinderbox rains down fireballs on the Blocks as indicated by the marked circles on the grid. The Pyromancer University is marked for ease of use in the middle of the Event Card. Be sure to align the top of the card (North) with the top of the grid of tiles when determining where the fireballs land.
Tip: Fire can quickly become out of control. Sometimes it is a good idea to position your Wagon or Brigade in strategic places so the fires don't spread.
Another Tip: The Uni and the blocks closer to the Uni are more affected by the fire.
The Aim of the Game
Earn the Loyalty of enough Blocks on the board and you will win the right to become Fire Chief and gain control of all the Brigades in Tinderbox. There are 4 different ways to win the game:
Become the Fire Chief - Loyalty of a Faction: If a player has a Loyalty Marker on 5 blocks of the same affiliation (or 3 of the Pyromancer University blocks) they have enough influence to be declared Fire Chief and immediately win the game.
Become the Fire Chief - Loyalty of the Citizens: If a player has a Loyalty Marker on at least 1 of each of the 5 different affiliations of block tiles, including a Pyromancer's University tile, they have the Loyalty of the people and, as the hero of the town, are voted the new Fire Chief and immediately win.
Evacuation: If 8 blocks in total are destroyed (or any 3 Pyromancer University Blocks) the town is evacuated - nice work "fire fighters". When this happens finish the round to the first player, the players add up the value of all the Blocks with their Loyalty Tokens on them. The player with the highest score is the winner.
All's Good in Yonder Hood If the Fire Wardens are successful and all the fires have been doused, the game will end immediately. Players add up the value of the Blocks claimed with their Loyalty Tokens and the player with the highest score wins. (If this happens, make sure you tell us!)
Tie Breaker: The player who last did a heroic deed (not in the game) wins, all other players must bathe in the glory of the new Fire Chief as the town possibly burns to the ground.
The First Turn
The most recent player to set something on fire goes first and play will proceed clockwise.
Place a Flame Token at level 2 intensity on the Flame Track of all four Pyromancer University Blocks.
Search the Event deck for the starter Event Cards. These are identified by the yellow corners. To start the game the first player draws and resolves three of these Event Cards. Then shuffles the rest into the Event deck. (see "Events")
Once these Starter Event Cards are resolved the first player will start their turn with an Action Phase.
Player's Turn
The Player Turn is divided into 2 parts, the Event Phase and the Action Phase.
1. EVENT PHASE At the start of each player's turn they draw an Event Card and resolve the effect. Event Cards control where fires appear and spread. Some Special Event Cards provide a bonus to the players.
2. ACTION PHASE The player then performs their Action Phase, taking the amount of actions indicated by the Leadership Track of their Firehouse Board. A player can take the same action multiple times except for "Upgrade".
(More detailed descriptions further below) Available actions include:
- Move Brigade - move Brigade Meeple up to 3 spaces in any direction including diagonal. This represents your entire Crew.
- Move Water Wagon - move Wagon Meeple to any unoccupied space on the board or to your Brigade.
- Extinguish Fire - Use Water Tokens to reduce a fire's intensity with your Brigade.
- Refill - If you are on a loyal Block or your Firehouse, you can fill all buckets of your Brigade and Wagon that are on that space.
- Recruit - Draw 2 Crew Cards from the deck, choose 1 and add it to your Crew or replace a Crew Member
- Transfer - Move any Water Tokens between the Wagon and Brigade
- Upgrade - Advance a tracker 1 space on your Firehouse Board, may only use once per turn.
Once the player has completed their actions, play passes to the next player.
Some people may lose track of actions taken in their turn. There is an Action Tracker card to help remind players. Place Renown tokens on the card to track each action that is performed in a turn.
Tip: The Upgrade action becomes increasingly stronger as the game goes on, and can only be performed once per turn. It is a good idea to take advantage of this.
Another Tip: Getting your Brigade and Wagon on the same tile, then using your refill action will save actions to use later. Catching two water sprites in one bucket as they say.
Placing Water Wagons and Brigades
Water Wagon and Brigade Meeples render the Block that they are on immune to any increases in the Fire Track from Event Cards. No matter how fire might get added to a Block, the presence of a Water Wagon or Brigade (with or without water) allows the citizens of Tinderbox to keep the flames under control or stop them from starting.
Wagons are magically enhanced and can move anywhere on the board to any unoccupied space. This will help when a player really needs to keep that final building alive for one more turn.
Wagons although magic, can not put out fires on their own. If a player's Wagon Meeple is on the same Block as their Brigade, they may use its water (from the Water on the Wagon section of the Firehouse Board) to help extinguish fires.
Renown and Loyalty
The aim of the game is to win the Loyalty of Blocks by extinguishing fires. Each time a Brigade puts out a fire they get Renown Tokens equal to the intensity of the fire they extinguished. They can place Renown Tokens on the tile they are on OR any of the adjacent Blocks, not diagonal (see image). They are allowed to divide the Renown Tokens across the available Blocks in any way they wish.
If a player has placed Renown Tokens equal to the value of the Block they win the Loyalty of that Block. They immediately remove all Renown Tokens (including other players Tokens) and place a Loyalty Marker on the Block.
As well as adding the value of a Loyal Block to a player's score if the game ends in an Evacuation (see "The Aim of the Game"), a player can use the Refill action on any Blocks that have their Loyalty Marker.
Note: if the fire is not completely doused by the extinguish action, the player gains NO Renown.
Worked Example
The White Player already has a few Renown Tokens in the area (2 on Thing on a Stick! and 1 on Verna's Pumpkin Patch) and has just performed a successful Extinguish action on the Grandma Yentl's Coop tile.
They fully extinguished the intensity 3 fire using 3 water tokens and may now spread 3 of their Renown Tokens on the Grandma Yentl's Coop tile or any adjacent tiles.
They place 1 of their 3 Renown Tokens on the Verna's Pumpkin Patch Block and the remaining 2 onto Thing on a Stick!
Verna's Pumpkin Patch now has an additional 1 Renown from the White Player but the total still does not match the Value of the Block (3). However, more Renown can be added later, as long as no other player claims its Loyalty in the meantime.
Thing on a Stick! gains 2 Renown, for a total of 4, which matches the Value of the tile. The White Player removes all Renown Tokens from the Block and replaces them with their Loyalty Marker.
Stealing Blocks
Any player may take the Loyalty of a block from another player by placing Renown Tokens equal to the Value of the Block +1. They add their Loyalty Marker as usual. Subsequent players may take it from them at the base Block Value +1 as well (it doesn't accumulate). In the event of an Evacuation, a Block only ever scores a player the Value written on the tile at the end of the game. (see "The Aim of the Game")
Actions
Move Brigade
The Brigade Meeple represents a player's Warden and all their recruited Crew Members. In the Move Brigade action it can move up to three spaces in any direction, including diagonally. It may not move onto or through a Block that is occupied by another player's Brigade. Moving through a destroyed Block costs one extra movement. A player may not end their turn on a destroyed Block.
A Brigade cannot be seen to be ignoring a fire and must end their movement if they move onto a Block that is on fire. They may move from that Block as usual with the next Move Brigade action.
Move Water Wagon
Move the Water Wagon to any tile on the board that is not destroyed, and that is not occupied by another player's Brigade or Wagon. The Water Wagon may share the same Block as its player's Brigade. It doesn't suffer any movement penalties for destroyed Blocks and may move through burning Blocks unhindered. The Water Wagon gains an additional ability when fully upgraded - See Upgrade.
Extinguish Fire
A player can fight fire on the Block that their Brigade Meeple currently occupies. A Wagon cannot attempt to extinguish a fire on its own, it can only help the Brigade if it shares the same Block. To extinguish a fire simply remove any number of Water Tokens from the Brigade and the Wagon (if present) and reduce the intensity of that Block's Fire Track by one for each water token spent.
If the intensity is reduced to zero all the flames are extinguished and the player gets a Renown Token for each level of intensity reduced during the action (see "Renown and Loyalty"). A player can use any amount of available water to reduce the intensity but if it's not enough to put the fire out they do not receive any Renown.
Refill
A player can refill all Water Tokens for the Warden, the Crew and/or the Wagon if their Meeple is on a Block that is Loyal to that player (see "Renown and Loyalty") or on the player's Firehouse Block.
If both the Brigade and Water Wagon share the same tile you can refill them both as a single action. Keep in mind the Wagon will only refill to the level of the Water Wagon Capacity Track on the player's Firehouse Board.
Recruit
The Recruit Action allows a player to draw the top two cards from the Crew deck, choose one, and add it to their Brigade. The other drawn card goes into the Crew discard pile. A player may choose not to recruit either Crew Member, in which case they are both placed in the discard pile and they will have spent their Recruit Action.
A player may replace an existing Crew Member with their the Recruit Action but they may only have the total amount of Crew indicated by the Crew Members Track on their Firehouse Tracker Board (max. 3 Crew). This may also happen as a result of an Event.
Transfer
Move any number of Water Tokens between the Wagon and the Brigade if they share the same Block.
Upgrade
Advance a Tracker Token one space on the Firehouse Board. This will not always increase the value of that track, some tracks take 2 or 3 Upgrade Actions before the value improves. This action may only be performed once per turn. There are three areas on the Firehouse Board to Upgrade. If a player completely upgrades any track to the blue circle, they immediatly receive a bonus.
Crew members: is the amount of Crew a player can have (0-3) Note: Recruiting a Crew Member is a separate action. Players do not gain a Crew Member automatically by upgrading this - it is only how many Crew Members a player can support. Blue Bonus: Take a free Recruit action.
Water Wagon Capacity: How many water tokens the wagon can carry (2-6) Note: When upgrading the Wagon, players do not gain extra water until the next Refill Action involving the Wagon - it only increases how much a Wagon can carry in total. Blue Bonus: Once per turn if you take a Move Brigade Action, you can also move your Wagon for free.
Leadership: How many actions a player can take per turn (4-6) Note: When a player upgrades to the next tier they gain that extra action in that same turn. Blue Bonus: Gain 2 bonus actions this turn.
Crew Abilities
All Crew Members have a Crew Ability detailed in the text box at the bottom of their Crew Card. These passive effects come into play as soon as a player has a Loyalty Token on a Block with the same affiliation as the Crew Member. In the case of a Crew Member with an action that is triggered by gaining the Loyalty of a Block, the effect activates in the turn a player has gained the Loyalty of the first block of the required type.
Unless written, Crew Abilities that reduce the intensity on a block do not generate Renown, even if they reduce the intensity to zero. Abilities that Extinguish generate Renown.
Some Crew Abilities allow a player to take special actions, unless it specifies that the action is free the player must still spend one of their available actions to perform it.
Card Text
Special Event Cards
- Upgrade Wagon Capacity
- Upgrade Crew Members
- Upgrade Leadership
- Free Recruit Action
- All players place 1 renown
- Refill all Brigades
Fire Warden Abilities
- Gloria Ignis — Send the Wagon: Move your Wagon to an unoccupied Block that is at one intensity and extinguish the fire.
- Blitz Haben — Polymorph: Swap the intensity of two non-University Blocks that are adjacent to each other.
- Frith Goldmane — With the People: Remove one Renown from the board. Recruit a Crew Member from another player's Crew for free.
- Glint Dampshot — Artificers: Remove one Renown from the board. You may take one additional Upgrade Action this turn.
- Bernhardt Blaze — Allegiances: Until your next turn Event Cards do not effect Blocks that are Loyal to you.
- Ester — Mistform: Ester never runs out of Water. Refill for free after any action.
- White Fang — Dusk: Flip White Fang over, then refill his Water and discard all Crew Members. Dawn: Flip White Fang. While this side is face up White Fang cannot make a Refill Action.
- Galeela — Mimic: Place a Token on any Crew Card in play. Galeela gains the Crew Ability on the card, without needing a loyal block. Can only have one Mimic Token in play at a time.
- Aurath Ether — Non-Corporeal: Take a free Move Brigade action, you may move through Crews and Wagons, if you do steal one water from each.
- Cindy Bustion — Pyrocontrol: Add one Renown on each Block effected by the next firestorm Event Card drawn.
Crew Abilities
- Kulari One-Shoe — You can move up to five Blocks each time you take a Move Brigade action.
- Del Uge — Each time you gain the Loyalty of a Common Block reduce the intensity on any other Block by two.
- Selina Blackflow — Each time you place any Renown on a Block that is Loyal to another player, place one extra Renown.
- Nery Cagehand — To steal a Loyal Block from you, a player will need two extra Renown instead of one.
- Morgana Magos — Once per turn you may Move your Wagon without it costing an action.
- Gness Smold — Each time you finish a Move Brigade action on a Block that is on fire, you may increase the intensity by one.
- Chops Murphy — Each time you gain the Loyalty of a Block you may increase the intensity of one adjacent Block by two.
- Pep Overclock — Each time you gain the Loyalty of a Merchant Block make a free Upgrade Action if allowed.
- Mog The Heavy — Your Brigade may finish their move on a Block with a rival Brigade. If so, push them onto an adjacent Block.
- Esme Morrow — If a fireball would land where your Brigade is you may choose to redirect it to any adjacent Block.
- Mal Candor — Each time you gain the Loyalty of a Council Block you may take a Recruit Action for free.
- Lumen — University Blocks need one less water to extinguish, gain the full Renown.
- Walder Ranier — Whenever an opponent refills, they remove one Water Token after refilling.
- Leon Bertrand — Once per turn, your Wagon may make an Extinguish Action on a fire of one intensity on its own. You gain the Renown.
- Brother Ben — Take one extra turn after any turn in which you make the final upgrade on a track of your Firehouse Board.
- Immora — Each time you gain the Loyalty of a Noble Block put one Renown on any other Noble Block.
- Ali Ahmar — Each time you gain Loyalty of a Merchant Block choose one: Refill two Water on your Brigade; Move one of your Renown; Reduce the intensity on an adjacent Block by one.
- Ebenezer — Your Brigade can move normally through destroyed Blocks and Blocks that are on fire.
- Veda Moonbright — If a fireball is going to land where your Brigade or Wagon is, put a Renown Token there instead.
- Zilda Garrett — Each time you gain the Loyalty of a Noble Block you may make another player discard a Crew Member of their choice.
Firehouse Abilities (Side 2 of the Firehouse Boards)
- White — Street Wise: You make take a refill action on any block if you remove 1 of your renown from that block.
- Black — Civic Duty: After a successful extinguish action you may add renown in any direction including diagonally.
- Pink — Fresh Mounts: If you end your movement on a Nobles Rise block, gain a free movement action this turn.
- Orange — Insurance: Each time you gain the loyalty of a block you may place 1 renown on any other Merchant Block.
Special Buildings (Big Building Expansion)
- Khomar MacStomac's Dwarven Distillery — Add two intensity to each non diagonal, adjacent Block.
- Falariel's Frozen Exhibits — On each surrounding Block, reduce intensity by one and any Brigades get a free refill.
- Old Tom Oak — Active player chooses a direction. Intensify three Blocks in that direction by one.
- The Jewelled Avairy — When flipped each player places a Renown on this tile. When a player passes through this Block, they remove their Renown, and take an extra action this turn.
Fire Festival Events
- Arson — Add one intensity to any Block with a Loyalty Token.
- Burning Man Festival — Add one intensity to any Block with a Brigade or Wagon Meeple.
- Dirty Dealings — Each player may add one intensity to any Block without a Brigade or Wagon.
- Karnaj Celebrates — Add one intensity to any Block with a Value of 2.