Vikings: Raid & Conquer

Vikings: Raid & Conquer Rulebook

Table of Contents

Game Description

Players: 2 to 5 Ages: 13 and Up Play Time: 1 hr

Your goal is to become the next Viking legend. Play as one of the five main characters from the show: Ragnar, Lagertha, Rollo, Floki, or Bjorn. Go on raids, attack each other, and collect treasure!

This is season 1, episode 1 of your Viking adventure. What happens next...is up to you.

What Is Deck Building?

Deck-building games use the building of your own deck as a main focus of play. During each round of Raid & Conquer, you will draw and play five cards from your deck. These cards will let you add new cards to your deck and bring yourself closer to victory. At the end of the round, you will discard all of your played cards. When your deck runs out of cards, you will shuffle your discard pile to get your deck back. In doing this, you'll design your deck as you go, building it to suit your strategy.

Along with adding cards to your deck, you can remove unwanted cards so you will draw your powerful cards more often. In Raid & Conquer, you will do this by sacrificing and burying cards.

Components

60 Viking cards (Vikings with red borders, Events with blue borders)
15 Warrior cards (orange border)
15 Hacksilver cards (grey border)
25 Longboat cards (light blue border)
21 Raid cards (Level 1-2 with green borders, Level 3-5 with purple borders)
44 Treasure cards (gold border)
40 Coin cards (white border)
5 Player Reference cards
5 Character shields (Ragnar, Lagertha, Rollo, Floki, and Bjorn)
6 Action clips (5 for Character shields, 1 for board)
1 First Player marker (Raven / Earl Medallion)
1 Quick Raid card
1 Game tray
1 Card Layout Board
1 Rule Book

Card Limits: In Raid & Conquer, your actions are limited by cards. If you wish to draw a card from an empty pile, for example, do not use a replacement - you simply cannot take the card.

Set Up

(Note: the printed steps skip from 5 to 7; there is no step 6 in the source.)

Place Piles

Place the piles of the Warrior, Hacksilver, and Longboat cards face-up. This is the Village Row.
Place the pile of Treasure cards face-up.

Set Up Decks

Shuffle the Viking deck and place it face-down. Draw five cards and place them face-up in a row beside the deck. This is the Viking Row.
Add cards to the Raid deck based on the number of players, as shown below. Place unselected Raid cards in the box. A Raid card's Level only affects setup, not play.
Place 5 Raid cards in the Raid Row as shown in the Raid Legend below. Shuffle the remaining Raid Deck and place it face down.

Set Up Board and Players

Place an Action clip on the raven below the Warrior pile on the game board. The ravens mark the 4 rounds of the Winter season.
Determine the first player in the Viking way: the player with the longest hair, including beard, goes first. Give the First Player Marker, with the raven facing up, to the first player.
Each player: take 8 Coin cards and 2 Longboat cards, shuffle them into your personal deck, and draw 5 cards.
Each player: choose a Character shield, an Action clip and Player reference card.

Public and Private Information: All face-up piles, including discard piles, are public information and may be searched at any time. Hands and decks are private information.

Raid Legend

Raid Cards per Player for Raid Deck:

2 Players: Levels 1 and 2 only
3 Players: add Level 3
4 Players: add Level 4
5 Players: add Level 5

Raid Row 5 Card Start:

2 Players: Three Level 1 / Two Level 2
3 Players: Two Level 1 / Two Level 2 / One Level 3
4 Players: One Level 1 / Two Level 2 / One Level 3 / One Level 4
5 Players: One Level 1 / One Level 2 / One Level 3 / One Level 4 / One Level 5

How to Win

To win at Raid & Conquer, you must have the most Legend points at the end of the game. The game ends during End of Round phase when any player has collected 5 Raid cards (p.11).

You will accumulate Legend points from Treasure cards and Raid cards, which you'll collect by raiding and attacking other players. You can also acquire Raid cards by burying your cards.

Basic Concepts

The Character Shield

Your Character shield shows the actions you can choose during play: Defend, Attack (character name), Raid Party, and Lone Raid. The shield also shows the character's Base Attack and Base Defense (printed on the shield; Ragnar's, for example, are 2 and 5) and has an Action Bar around its edge on which the Action clip is placed.

Character Shields are not cards, and are not effected by cards or abilities.

The Cards

The focus of Raid & Conquer is its cards. Cards have three main parts: their statistics, abilities, and cost. Each card may have some combination of four statistics: Power, Influence, Defense, and Silver. Often, you will be prompted to count up a total statistic, adding up that statistic on all of your played cards, face-up and in front of you.

POWER This represents a character's attack and defense strength. Power is used during the Action Phase to defeat Raid cards, Attack Character, or Defend.
INFLUENCE This represents political sway over the other characters. The character with a Longboat and the most Influence is Earl for that round.
DEFENSE On Character Shields and Viking cards, this represents defense against attacks by other players. On Raid cards, this represents defense against raiding.
SILVER This represents purchasing power. Players add up this total during their turn to buy cards.

Cards can also have Persistent abilities and Conditional abilities. You'll find more details on these in the glossary (p. 12).

Some abilities will note when it applies, and whether it requires you to Sacrifice or Bury a card (p. 12), removing it from your personal deck.

Each ability on a played card can only be used once. Some card abilities are separated by OR, meaning you may only use one of them.

Finally, most cards have a cost in Silver to buy.

LEGEND POINTS Raid cards and Treasure cards give Legend points. Whoever has the most Legend points at the end of the game is the winner!
GAINING, TAKING AND DRAWING CARDS Whenever you gain a card, put it in your discard pile. Whenever you take a card, put it into play in front of you. If you ever need to draw a card but your personal deck is empty, shuffle your discard pile to replenish your personal deck.

Card Examples

Kalf (Viking card)

Cost 4. Border: Viking cards have red or orange borders. 1 Power (adds to total Power during Action Phase). 1 Silver (adds to total Silver during Main Phase). 1 Influence (adds to total Influence during Action Phase). Abilities: ATTACK CHARACTER (when attacking a character, Kalf has the Power of 3); LEADERSHIP (Influence bonus during Raid Party phase, see p.12); BETRAY (relevant when Kalf is in your discard pile, see p.12).

You do not have to choose which abilities you use for Kalf. All of his abilities are active when relevant.

Odin's Witness (Event card)

Cost 4. Border: Event cards have blue borders. The number on the card represents the number of copies of this card, if there are multiples in the Vikings deck. Abilities: +1 CARD (draw a card; this is an option for when you don't want to sacrifice any cards in your hand) OR SACRIFICE a card: +2 CARDS (sacrificing a card is the requirement needed to draw two cards, see p.12) OR SHIPBUILD (when choosing Shipbuild, it is always the only ability that can be used, see p.12).

Odin's Witness has 3 abilities, but only one may be used on your turn, during the Main Phase.

Warriors (Viking card)

Cost 1. Border: Warriors are also Vikings. Vikings have either red or orange borders. 1 Power (adds to total Power during Action Phase). Abilities: SACRIFICE WARRIORS: +1 Silver (turn the Warriors card face down; add one Silver to your purchasing power on your turn during the Main Phase) OR SACRIFICE WARRIORS: GAIN 1 HACKSILVER (turn the Warriors card face down; gain a Hacksilver and put it in your discard pile during the Main Phase).

You may keep the Warriors card in play to use its 1 Power during the Action Phase. Or you may sacrifice it for one of two abilities.

If you Sacrifice Warriors, it is out of play but remains face down, in front of you until the End Of Round Phase. At that time, put it back in the Warrior pile in the Village.

Game Summary

Each game is played over a series of rounds, usually ten to fifteen.

The first four rounds are the Winter Season. During the Winter Season, you will prepare for battle by accumulating the Vikings and Longboats you'll need to seize victory, building your deck as you see fit.

The fifth round and beyond are the Spring Season. During the Spring Season, you raid, attack and defend, gaining Treasure and aquiring Raid cards.

Each round is broken up into phases. Complete a phase for all players before moving to the next phase.

Winter Season (First 4 Rounds)

Draw Phase
Main Phase - Turns
End of Round Phase

Spring Season (5th Round & Beyond)

Draw Phase
Secret Plan Phase
Main Phase - Turns
Action Phase - Actions
- I. Defend
- II. Attack
- III. Raid Party
- IV. Lone Raid
End of Round Phase

(Numbering as printed; the Winter list omits the Secret Plan and Action phases.)

Card Layout: each player has a Discard Pile and a Deck (Vikings card back), plus a Raid Pile and a Bury Pile.

Round Breakdown

1. Draw Phase (Winter & Spring)

Each player draws 5 cards. If you run out of cards, shuffle your discard pile back into your deck and continue drawing.

2. Secret Plan Phase (Spring Only)

Every player, secretly slip your Action clip over one action on your Character shield and place it face-down. When everyone has chosen an action, the phase ends.

You will execute your chosen action later, during the Action Phase.

Ex: "Ragnar has many cards with Power in his hand, and wishes to loot a card from Floki, so he chooses Floki on his Character shield."

The Attack action is not listed on the Shield. Instead, the names of the other characters are listed. When you select a name, you will attack that character during the Action Phase.

Card Strategy: The Coin card is the weakest card in the game, and you start with eight of them. Over the course of a game then, you'll often want to add better cards to your personal deck while getting rid of your Coin cards. Longboats and Coins have 1 Silver, so at the start of the game, each player will have 5 Silver during each of the first two rounds.

3. Main Phase (Winter & Spring)

Do not reveal your Character shield during this phase.

In this phase, players take turns clockwise, starting with the first player.

On your turn, you must place your cards in front of you face-up. You may play cards or buy cards in any order. You may buy cards from the Viking and Village rows.

If you play a card with a persistent ability (p. 12), the ability remains in effect until the card is discarded. If the card has the SHIPBUILD or BURY conditional ability, or a conditional ability beginning with "You may..." (p. 12), you may use the ability once at any time during your turn of the Main Phase.

Ex: "Ragnar plays all the cards from his hand. These cards give 6 Power and 3 Silver."

Buying Cards

You may buy any number of cards from the Viking row and Village row. However, the total cost of all cards you buy cannot exceed the total Silver shown on your played cards.

When you buy a card, place it in your discard pile. If you bought a card from the Viking row, replace it by drawing a card from the Viking deck.

Ex: "Ragnar needs a Longboat for later in the game, so he buys one. It costs 3 Silver, so Ragnar can't buy anything else. If he wanted to buy a more expensive card, he could have sacrificed the Warriors card for another Silver to buy Kalf." (3 Silver = Longboat, OR 4 Silver = Kalf.)

4. Action Phase (Spring Only)

First, everyone flips their Character shield, revealing their selected action. Then, resolve the actions in the following order:

(I) Defend (Defense, Power)
(II) Attack (Power)
(III) Raid Party (Influence, Power)
(IV) Lone Raid (Power)

Resolve an action for every player who chose it, then move to the next action. If multiple players chose a given action, resolve their actions in clockwise order, starting with the first player.

(I) Defend - No Longboat Required

By revealing Defend, your total Defense increases if anyone targets you with Attack this round:

Raid Party, Lone Raid, or Attack: Your total Defense will be your Base Defense of 5.
Defend: Your total Defense will be your Base Defense of 5 plus your total Power.

During your turn, you may also bury one card and/or acquire one card.

Bury: By revealing Defend, you may bury one Coin, Hacksilver, or Treasure card. When you bury a card this way, place it in your Bury pile, sideways below your personal deck.

Acquire: By revealing Defend, you may acquire one card from the Raid row. To acquire a Raid card, you must spend buried card's silver equal in number to the Raid card's Defense.

Ex: "Ragnar spends 5 silver from his buried cards, and aquires a Raid card with a defense of 5."

When you acquire a Raid card, place it in your Raid pile, sideways below your discard pile. You also gain a Treasure card. Return coin and hacksilver cards you spent to their respective piles. Treasure cards you spend are added to your Raid pile.

(II) Attack - No Longboat Required

By revealing the name of a character on your Character shield, you may attack that character's player. You are the attacker, and the selected character is the defender.

Attacker, add up your total Power.

Defender, determine your total Defense based on which action you chose:

Raid Party, Lone Raid, or Attack: Your total Defense will be your Base Defense of 5 only.
Defend: Your total Defense will be your Base Defense of 5 plus your total Power from all your cards.

Attacker, if your total Power equals or exceeds the defender's total Defense, you succeed. Otherwise, you fail and gain nothing.

If you succeed, gain a Treasure card from the Treasure pile, and choose one of the following options:

Loot: Gain a card of your choice from the defender's discard pile.
Plunder: Gain the top card from the defender's personal deck.
Pillage: Gain a card from the defender's Raid pile and place it in your Raid pile. To select pillage, your total Power must equal or exceed the defender's total Defense plus the chosen Raid card's Defense.

(Example: Ragnar's Base Defense 5 plus a pillaged Raid card with Defense 7 = 12.)

If you loot or plunder and the defender's discard pile contains any cards with the Betray ability, you must select any one card with Betray from their discard pile.

If multiple players attack the same defender, only the player with the most Power succeeds. If the attackers targeting the same defender are tied in Power, none of them attack this round.

(III) Raid Party - Longboat Required

It's raiding season! The weapons are sharpened and the Longboats are stocked for the treacherous journey. But first, Vikings need a leader. They need an Earl.

Determine the Earl

To be eligible to become Earl, you must have done both of the following:

Played a Longboat card during your turn.
Chose the Raid Party action during the Secret Plan Phase.

From among those eligible, the player with the most Influence becomes Earl, taking the First Player marker and flipping it to its Earl side.

If there is a tie, the tied player with the most Power becomes Earl. If there is still a tie, there is no Earl for the round and the Raiders will go on a Chaotic Raid (see below); do not move the First Player marker.

The Earl is determined anew during each round! A player holding the First Player marker won't necessarily be the Earl, but the elected Earl always gets the First Player marker.

Join Raid Party

Earl, you may invite other players to join the Raid Party, or you may raid alone. You may only invite players who chose the Raid Party or Defend action.

Invited players who chose the Raid Party action must join, while invited players who chose the Defend action may refuse to join.

Every player in the Raid Party is called a Raider. The Raid Party can hold Raiders up to the total number of Longboat cards played by the Raiders during this round, including sharing of Longboats at the Earls discretion.

Because of this rule, a Raider doesn't necessarily need to have played a Longboat card, as long as the other Raiders played enough extra Longboat cards to make up the deficit.

Begin Raid

Earl, add up the total Power of your Raid Party: your total Power and the Raiders' total Power. Then, choose one Raid card in the Raid row to raid.

If the Raid Party's total Power equals or exceeds the Raid card's Defense, the raid succeeds: Earl, place the defeated Raid card in your Raid pile. Place a new Raid card in the open Raid row space by drawing from the Raid deck. All Raiders, gain a Treasure card and discard it.

Chaotic Raid

A Chaotic Raid happens when there is an unbreakable tie in determining Earl. Because there is no Earl, no one will get credit for the conquest. In a Chaotic Raid, the Raid Party consists of everyone who chose Raid Party. Unlike in a regular Raid Party, a Raid Party on a Chaotic Raid may not invite players who chose Defend, and they cannot share Longboat cards. Add up the Raid Party's total Power, and compare it to the Defense values of the Raid cards in the Raid row.

If your total Power equals meets or exceeds the Defense of any card in the Raid row, the raid succeeds: Every Raider gains a Treasure card from the Treasure pile. Remove the Raid card with the highest Defense that the Raid Party's total Power exceeds or equals, and put it on the bottom of the Raid deck. Replace this Raid card by drawing a card from the Raid deck.

Failed Raid

When a Raid card cannot be defeated, remove the card with the highest Defense from the Raid row, and put it on the bottom of the Raid deck. Replace it by drawing a new Raid card.

(IV) Lone Raid - Longboat Required

To hell with politics-let your axe do the talking!

Determine the Lone Raider

To be eligible to become the Lone Raider, you must have done both of the following:

Played a Longboat card during your turn
Chose the Lone Raid action during the Secret Plan Phase

Of those eligible, the player with the most Power becomes the Lone Raider. If there is a tie, then the tied player with the most Influence becomes the Lone Raider. If there's still a tie, no one becomes the Lone Raider this round.

Only one player may be the Lone Raider. Players who chose Lone Raid but did not become the Lone Raider do not perform another action this round.

If the Earl of the Raid Party chooses to raid alone, the Lone Raider may still raid.

Raid

Lone Raider, add up your total Power, then choose a Raid card in the Raid row to raid.

If your Power equals or exceeds the Raid card's Defense, the raid succeeds: Place the defeated Raid card in your Raid pile. Place a new Raid card in the open Raid row space by drawing from the Raid deck. Finally, gain a Treasure from the Treasure pile.

Failed Raid

When a Raid card cannot be defeated, remove the card with the highest Defense from the Raid row, and put it on the bottom of the Raid deck. Replace it by drawing a new Raid card.

Ex: "Ragnar reveals his shield and adds the 6 power from his cards to his 2 base power for a total of 8 power on his Lone Raid."

5. End of Round Phase (Winter & Spring)

If any player has 5 Raid cards in their Raid pile, the game ends (p.11). Otherwise, complete the following steps:

Each player, put your face up cards into your discard pile.

Return all sacrificed Coin, Warrior, Hacksilver, Longboat, and Treasure cards to their respective piles. Place sacrificed Viking cards and Event cards on the bottom of the Viking deck.

If the First Player marker is on its raven side, give it to the next clockwise player. If the marker is on its Earl side, it remains with its current player.

Winter Season only: Move the Action clip on the game board to the next round (raven). After round 4 you've entered the Spring Season, remove the Action clip from the game board!

Then, begin the new round, starting with the Draw Phase.

End of Game

When any player has 5 Raid cards in their Raid pile during the End of Round Phase, the game ends.

When the game ends, every player counts up their Legend points collected from Treasure cards and Raid cards in their personal deck, discard pile, Raid pile, and Bury pile.

The player with the most Legend points wins. If there is a tie, the winner is the tied player with the most Legend points from Raid cards. If it is still a tie, then the winner is the tied player who was Earl most recently.

If you are the player with the most Legend points, you are the most legendary Viking of all time. You win! You are now most beloved by your people and most feared by the rest of the known world. The stories of your bravery and ambition will be told for generations. The Valkyries will take you to Odin's Great Hall. A TV show will be made about you. Your life and conquests will be spoken of for as long as men have tongues to speak.

Ability Glossary

There are two types of card abilities: persistent abilities and conditional abilities.

A card's persistent abilities are always active while that card is in play.

A card's conditional abilities only activate in a particular circumstances or if you fulfill a particular condition, such as sacrificing a card.

Persistant Abilities

BATTLE FRENZY: +1 Power to each other Viking you control.
LEADERSHIP: +1 Influence to each other Viking you control.
BATTLE SHIP: +1 Power to each other Longboat you control.
COMMAND SHIP: +1 Influence to each other Longboat you control.

Conditional Abilities

SHIPBUILD: Sacrifice this card to take a Longboat card from the Longboat pile and put it into play.
BETRAY: If 'Betray' is in your discard pile and the attacking player is attempting to loot or plunder, the attacking player may only take a card with Betray.
BURY: During the Main phase (p. 7), when you bury a card, turn it sideways. you can use the silver of the buried card before burying it. At the end of the Main phase move all buried cards to the bury pile. Buried cards can only be used to acquire Raid cards (p. 8). Only Coin, Hacksilver, and Treasure cards may be buried.

Other conditional abilities are given by card text beginning with "You may..."

Sacrifice

Some conditional abilities require you to sacrifice a card. When you sacrifice a card, flip it face-down. If you sacrificed it to activate another card's ability, place the sacrificed card under the activated card.

If you play a Warriors card, you may sacrifice it to gain 1 Silver or gain 1 Hacksilver card from the Hacksilver pile.

If you sacrifice a card during the Main Phase, you cannot use its text and then sacrifice it. Also, the activated card that prompted the sacrifice cannot have any other abilities used on it this round. Examples of this type of card are Ritual Sacrifice and Thor's Might.

Ex: "Ragnar uses the 2 Silver on his Hacksilver card to help buy a Longboat card. After that, he wants to use the ability of Priests of Uppsala, which requires a sacrifice, but he can't sacrifice the Hacksilver card that he used for Silver."

You cannot sacrifice to activate a card's ability if you cannot fully resolve that ability.

Ex: "Ragnar is unable to sacrifice a card to Ritual Sacrifice to search for a viking if there are no vikings in his deck or discard. If he does search and finds no vikings, the card is not sacrificed, and you shuffle your deck. Ritual Sacrifice, however still counts as being activated."

At the End of Round phase return all sacrificed Coin, Warrior, Hacksilver, Longboat, and Treasure cards to their respective piles. Place sacrificed Viking cards and Event cards on the bottom of the Viking deck.

Variants

Win Conditions

Conquer Game (Standard): This is the Standard way to win the game with a player collecting 5 Raid cards.

Lighting Game: For a fast game, end the game when someone collects 3 Raid cards, instead of 5. We recommend this variant for new players. It is a good way to get a feel for the game and leaves you with enough time to start a new one, but with a new strategy in mind to crush your opponents.

Epic Game: Want to really find out which Viking the Gods truly favor? Play the Epic Game. The game ends only when the Raid deck and Raid row are empty!

Player Options

Multiplayer (Standard, 3-5 Players): Every Viking for themselves! Set up with the Raid cards appropriate to the number of players, as shown in Setup (p. 3).

Two Player: Head-to-head combat, the only way to victory! No alliances. Only put Level 1 and 2 Raid cards in the Raid deck.

Teams (2v2): This type of game is very strategic, using all Levels of Raid cards. Set up the game as normal, but include the Level 5 cards in the Raid deck.

Cooperative: In cooperative play, the players must join forces to fight against the game itself. The kingdoms of England and France have formed an alliance and now march toward your homeland. Your way of life is under threat of complete annihilation! Join forces to fend off the foreign hordes.

For rules on team and co-operative game instructions, Hints and FAQs visit the publisher's website at vikingscardgame.com

Strategy

Choose Defend: You don't have a Longboat / You want to bury a card and attempt to acquire a Raid card from the Raid Row / You think somebody is going to attack you and have a valuable card to protect / Your Influence and Power is low.
Choose Attack: You don't have a Longboat / You have Power of five or greater / Your Influence is low / You want to loot another players discard pile OR you want to pillage a Raid card / You want to gain a Treasure card.
Choose Raid Party: You have a Longboat / You want to become Earl and attempt to go for a large Raid card with the optional help of Raiders and Defenders / Your Influence is high / You want to gain a Treasure card.
Choose Lone Raid: You have a Longboat / Your Power is equal to or higher than a card's Defense in the Raid Row / You want to Raid by yourself / You think you have a higher Power than any other player / You want to gain a Treasure card.

Hints

Players who wish to frequently Raid Party will want to have Longboats and buy cards that increase their Influence.
Players who wish to frequently Lone Raid will want to have Longboats and buy cards that increase their Power.
Players must have a Longboat in order to become Earl or go on Lone Raid.
Attack a character when they have 4 Raid cards to prevent them from winning.
Sacrifice Coins when you have the chance, to make room for stronger cards.
A player's Character shield (Power 2 and Defense 5) is not effected by cards or abilities.
Always add your Power 2 on your Character shield to your total Power during the Action Phase.

Sample Round

Draw Phase: Draw 5 new cards from your deck and look at them.
Secret Plan Phase: Choose your action based on the cards in your hand. This player has a high total Power in his hand, and has chosen Lone Raid on his Character Shield.
Main Phase: Play all the cards in your hand. Add the silver from your cards together to 'buy' new cards. This player has 3 silver, and chose to buy a new Longboat with a cost of 3 silver. Note: The Warriors card could also have been sacrificed for an additional silver if needed for a more expensive card.
Action Phase: All players reveal the action they chose during the Secret Plan Phase. This player is doing a Lone Raid. He will need to add up his total Power to meet or beat the defense of a Raid Card. After defeating the Raid Card, this player gains one Treasure card. (8 Power = Jarl Borg, Level 3 Raid card, plus a Treasure card.)
End of Round Phase: All the cards are placed into this player's discard pile. Because this player's deck is empty, he shuffles his discard pile to become his deck again.