War & Sheep
War & Sheep Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 board with 36 spaces
- 21 action cards
- 38 discs, as follows:
- 12 sheep markers in two different colours (6 each for both players)
- 2 crazy-sheep markers (one for each player)
- 24 green grass markers, of which:
- 3 hide a lush pasture (5 points)
- 8 hide an ordinary small pasture (3 points)
- 11 hide a withered pasture (1 point)
- 2 hide a wolf that is hungry for sheep
Object of the Game
Graze as much grass as possible, taking care that not all of your sheep end up in the wolves' bellies.
Setup
Each player receives their crazy-sheep marker and sets it aside. [Translator's note: the source text never describes how the crazy-sheep marker is used during play, so no rule for it is given here.] Place the 12 regular sheep markers and the grass markers on the board according to one of the layouts shown in the rulebook's diagrams (the grass markers are placed at random).
[Layout diagrams are not reproduced in this text.]
Shuffle the 21 action cards and place them face down beside the board. This is the draw pile.
Decide which player will start the game (the younger player starts).
Gameplay
Players act on their own turn. On a turn, the player whose turn it is must carry out two actions, choosing from the following:
- Scouting
- Camouflaging a sheep
- Moving a sheep
- Moving a wolf
- Playing an action card
Note: The same action may be chosen twice. For example, a player may move the same sheep twice, or move two different sheep once each. There is only one exception: camouflaging a sheep. A player may choose this action only once per turn.
The Possible Actions
Scouting
When a player begins a scouting action, they announce it aloud, then point to one or two (the player decides) grass markers they wish to examine. Once the player has declared the number of grass markers to scout and has indicated which ones they are, they may not change their mind. A grass marker may be selected for scouting only if the player has a sheep next to it (including diagonally). When two grass markers are scouted, both must be next to the same sheep.
The player looks at the underside of the grass marker so that the other player cannot see it, then proceeds as follows:
- If the underside shows a pasture of any kind, the player returns the grass marker to its place without revealing what it hides.
- If there is a wolf under the grass marker, the player may choose whether to return the marker to the board with the wolf's picture face up or face down.
Camouflaging a Sheep
The player turns one of their sheep over. The sheep remains camouflaged until its owner moves it. A camouflaged sheep cannot be found by a wolf, and so cannot be eaten.
A player may have only one sheep camouflaged at a time. A camouflaged sheep may not move, nor may it scout a grass marker. If it attempts to do so, the sheep marker must be turned back over immediately, and from then on it is no longer camouflaged. (Turning it back over does not count toward the two actions per turn.) Therefore, turning a camouflaged sheep back over and then moving it counts as only one action.
If a player already has a camouflaged sheep and selects the camouflage action for another of their sheep, the originally camouflaged sheep emerges from its hiding place and becomes visible again.
Moving a Sheep
Players may move only their own sheep (unless an action card states otherwise). Sheep always move horizontally or vertically, like a rook in chess, never diagonally. Once a sheep starts moving, it does not stop until it is blocked by an obstacle (any other sheep, a wolf, or the edge of the board) or until it reaches a green grass marker.
If something blocks the sheep, the sheep stops on the space in front of the obstacle. When a sheep steps onto a green grass marker, it occupies the marker's space. The grass marker is then turned over by the player, who looks at what it hides, and shows it to the other player. Then one of four things can happen:
- Lush pasture (5 grass): If the marker hides a lush pasture, the sheep grazes the grass immediately, and the grass marker (face down) is placed in front of the sheep's owner. Because a lush pasture is very rich, heavy food, the sheep that grazed it must also be removed from the board so that it may nap in peace. This grass marker is worth 5 points to the player at the end of the game.
- Ordinary small pasture: Upon revealing an ordinary small pasture, the sheep grazes the grass immediately, and the grass marker is placed face down in front of the sheep's owner, removed from the board. This grass marker is worth 3 points at the end of the game.
- Withered pasture: On reaching a withered pasture, the sheep grazes the grass immediately, so the grass marker is placed by the player face down in front of them. It is worth 1 point at the end of the game. However, since this grass has already partly fermented, it has a special effect: the player draws one action card from the draw pile, which the player may use later to do strange things. Important: if the player draws the "Boo!" card, they must play it immediately, and this does not count as a separate action!
- Wolf hiding beneath the grass marker: If a wolf is hiding on the other side of the grass marker, it immediately devours the poor sheep. In that case, the sheep marker must be removed from the board at once, and the wolf remains on the space where it found the sheep, now face up for the rest of the game. Any player may then move it on their turn for one action point.
Sheep behave just like… well, like sheep. Accordingly, when a sheep starts moving in some direction, every sheep standing behind it follows it (just as a locomotive pulls the carriages behind it). An example follows:
[Figure: Starting position. The red player wants to graze the green grass marker at the top of the board with their sheep.]
Result: The sheep occupies the green grass marker's space. But since that marker hid a lush pasture, the sheep is removed from the board at once. The red player collects 5 victory points, and since sheep are sheep (and not, say, rocket scientists or brain surgeons), the yellow sheep ambles happily into the field of view of the hungry wolf…
A hidden (camouflaged) sheep does not follow the sheep next to it; it stays where it is.
Moving a Wolf
A wolf may move only in a straight line (never diagonally) and does not stop until it is blocked by something (a green grass marker, a camouflaged sheep, another wolf, or the edge of the board), or until it runs into an uncamouflaged sheep.
If the wolf is blocked by something, the wolf stops on the space in front of the obstacle.
If the wolf runs into an uncamouflaged sheep, it does not stop in front of the sheep; instead it goes to the sheep and devours it. The sheep marker is removed from the board, and the wolf marker takes its place.
Example: The red player's turn begins. For their first action, they start moving the wolf to the left, and continue moving it until it is blocked by a green grass marker. For their second action, they again choose to move the wolf, this time upward. The wolf sets off and does not stop until it runs into the yellow sheep. It then feasts well, the yellow sheep is removed from the board, and the wolf lies down contentedly in the sheep's place.
Important note: Wolves often wait undiscovered for their unsuspecting prey. A player may move a wolf even if it is still face down, but as soon as it moves, the grass marker must be turned over so that both players can see the wolf (and it remains visible for the rest of the game).
When a player moves a wolf, they may also have one of their own sheep devoured by it. However, if all of a player's sheep are removed from the board, that player automatically loses the game.
If a player scouted an earlier grass marker and found that it hides a wolf, but left the grass marker face down, and then an enemy sheep came within the reach of the face-down wolf, the player may of course move the wolf toward the sheep (the grass marker must be turned over so the wolf is visible), and the wolf may devour the poor sheep.
A wolf may not step onto an unturned grass marker, nor pass through one, since the grass would tickle the wolf's soles, making the wolf laugh… And, as everyone knows, it is rather difficult to sneak up quietly on a dinner-sized sheep while laughing out loud. (Besides, this would also erode the wolves' "terribly evil and frightening" image a little bit.)
Playing an Action Card
Every action card shows a short description of its effect. When a card is played, the action described on it is carried out immediately, and the card is placed face up beside the draw pile, removed from the game.
Note: There are three action cards named "Boo!". Unlike the other action cards, these must be played immediately by the player who draws them (this does not count as an action point), and the player must discard all action cards in their hand. Oh, dear!
End of the Game
The game can end in four ways:
- One player loses all their sheep. That player automatically loses the game, regardless of how much grass their sheep have grazed.
- One player plays the Ceasefire card.
- The last grass marker is removed from the board.
- Four consecutive turns pass in which no sheep is devoured by a wolf and no sheep grazes a face-down grass marker.
The player whose sheep have grazed grass worth more victory points wins (unless one player has lost all their sheep).
If a player has only one sheep left, and that sheep grazes the last grass, which is a 5-point lush pasture, the sheep must be removed from the board under the rules, and since no sheep remains in play for that player, that player automatically loses the game, even though the game would have ended anyway, because the last grass marker has been grazed.
Notes on the Action Cards
- Airlift: May be applied to the opponent's sheep as well. A camouflaged sheep may also be airlifted, and it remains camouflaged after the transport.
- Grilled Sheep: A camouflaged sheep may also be grilled, since a hungry person notices a sheep in any disguise. And grills it. And eats it. Bon appétit. Nyammm!