Warband: Against the Darkness Rulebook

Table of Contents

Object of the Game
Game Components
Preparing to Play
- Two Redress Decks
Playing the Game
Phase 1: Upgrading the Action Track
- Warband Roster Notes
Phase 2: Taking Three Actions
Gameplay Tips
Transferring Captainship
Playing Redress Cards
End Game Scoring
Race Abilities

Object of the Game

As a player, you control the warband armies of one of the great fantasy races of the Five Realms. Although the great races are currently working together in mutual defence, old habits and rivalries are hard to break. It's important that your kind emerges victorious from the war with more battle prestige and honour than your temporary and untrustworthy comrades. The player who collects the most Victory Points of one-upmanship for their race by the conclusion of the final battle against the Darkness – gained by advancing your soldiers in the collective warband, earning gold for your army captains, reconnoitring the combat fronts with your scouts, and defeating enemies on the battlefields – has achieved the greatest leadership glory and is declared the winner.

Game Components

The Warband Game Board

The game board is divided into two parts:

The map shows the Five Realms (Kholdrum, Shenaru, Ela'Vethera, Lorendale, and Zhoni) where scouts are sent to recon as well as the four border battlefield spaces (Threll's Gap, Guardians of Vethera, Lonespire Peak, and The Branches) where Enemy cards will be fought and defeated.
The warband roster shows the current composition of the united army, divided into both light and heavy platoons of infantry, cavalry, and archery, along with the honour guard platoon and war heroes space. Each platoon (excluding war heroes) has a banner for a meeple to indicate the platoon captain. Finally, there are also spaces for injured units at the Medica and a countdown track to the war's conclusion.

74 Cards

24 Enemy cards (worth 2, 3, or 4 Victory Points or VP)
20 Intel cards (4 for each of the five realms)
30 Redress cards
- 20 in the standard deck (10 in this preview edition)
- 10 in the interactive deck

106 Wooden Unit Cubes

20 of each colour (black, blue, red, white, yellow) for up to 5 players
6 brown mercenary unit cubes

38 Wooden Captain Meeples

7 of each colour (black, blue, red, white, yellow) for up to 5 players
3 brown mercenary captain meeples

98 Cardboard Die-Cut Pieces

10 player races boards
- Dragonfolk
- Dwarves
- Elementals
- Elves
- Giants
- Halflings
- Minotaurs
- Rockmen
- Rodentia
- Wolfaen
5 race action tracks
numerous gold coins
- 1 gold value (golden)
- 3 gold value (blue)
- 5 gold value (red)
round tracker token

Scoring Sheet

Preparing to Play

Place the game board in the centre of the table and the round tracker token on the round countdown track on the space determined by the number of players: space 8 for two players, 7 for three players, 6 for four players, or 5 for five players. Place one mercenary captain meeple and two mercenary unit cubes (brown colour) on each of the three light platoons (infantry, cavalry, archery) on the warband roster. Give one action track, one player aid, and three gold to each player, with the remaining gold coins placed near the game board in the supply.

Remove the three starting Enemy cards from the deck (green backgrounds, worth 2 VP each) and randomly place them face up on the map's three leftmost battlefield spaces – Threll's Gap, Guardians of Vethera, and Lonespire Peak – leaving only The Branches unoccupied. Separate and shuffle the three card decks (Enemy, Intel, and Redress) and place them face down next to the game board.

Each player chooses, either randomly or purposefully, one of the 10 available fantasy races to play, taking the associated race board and all the game tokens (seven captain meeples and 20 unit cubes) of a chosen player colour. Players place 12 of their unit cubes on their action tracks, covering the 12 Tax, Train, Scout, and Fight spaces for column Ranks 2, 3, and 4. Only the Rank 1: Novice column remains uncovered on the action track.

Randomly determine the starting player, who places one of his or her unit cubes on the map in Kholdrum as a scout. As appropriate for the number of participants, the second player places one scout cube in Shenaru, the third player in Ela'Vethera, the fourth player in Lorendale, and the fifth player in Zhoni. The remaining seven unit cubes for each player are placed "in reserve" next to the respective race board.

Two Redress Decks

Players have the choice of two separate Redress card decks that are tailored to different styles of play: friendlier or nastier. The effects of the standard deck (brown title header) primarily target the card's player in a beneficial way without directly interfering with other players. The more aggressive interactive deck (white title header) features card effects that may target opponents negatively as well as providing benefits to the holding player. Players should collectively decide before the game begins whether they want to play with just the 20-card standard deck (two copies of 10 unique cards) or combine 10 cards of each deck into a single large Redress deck. See Playing Redress Cards for more information.

Playing the Game

A game of Warband lasts for 5, 6, 7, or 8 rounds as determined by the number of players (5, 4, 3, or 2 respectively). Each game round begins with the starting player and proceeds clockwise until all players have taken a turn. During each individual turn, a player first upgrades his or her own action track once (Phase 1) and then takes three actions in any order from the action track (Phase 2). A player's turn ends immediately after taking three actions and then play passes to the next player.

Each participant may also play any number of Redress cards at the times as indicated on the cards. This is usually sometime during the player's own turn but may also be during an opponent's turn (see Playing Redress Cards for more information).

After each player has taken a turn in the current round, the round is over and a new round begins. The token on the countdown track is then moved one space to the right to the next lower number unless it is already on the final space 1. In this case, the game is over and players add up their Victory Points on the score pad to determine the winner.

Phase 1: Upgrading the Action Track

Each player's action track reflects their race's diversity of warfare options and overall tactical effectiveness of those options. When gameplay begins, a total of 12 unit cubes are located on the action track of each player, covering and locking all four actions (Tax, Train, Scout, Fight) of the Rank 2: Capable, Rank 3: Skilled, and Rank 4: Elite columns. Only the Rank 1: Novice column is uncovered and available. The more powerful covered and locked action track Ranks are unavailable to a player until they are permanently upgraded and unlocked, representing how the player's race gains battlefield wisdom and influence throughout the game.

At the beginning of each turn, the player selects any one of the four actions to upgrade and removes its leftmost cube (the lowest locked and covered Rank), placing the cube in the unit reserve area next to his or her race board. The player can now use this new reserve unit cube during a later Train or Scout action.

Example: Mark is the starting player. At the beginning of his first turn, he upgrades his Tax action by removing the cube in the Rank 2: Capable column of the Tax row and placing it in his reserve area. This upgrade permanently increases the effectiveness of his Tax action – now gaining three gold instead of just two – as he proceeds to Phase 2. After Mark finishes taking his three actions his turn is over and Oliver's turn begins. Oliver upgrades his Train action instead, moving the cube in the Rank 2 column of the Train row to his own reserve area. From now on – or until he perhaps upgrades his Train action again in a later round – Oliver can promote two unit cubes instead of just one when taking a Train action in Phase 2.

Warband Roster Notes

Medica. During a Fight action, injured reserve units may be sent to the Medica where they remain until gold is paid to heal and reclaim them.
Captaincy Banner. The race with the most number of units in each platoon places a captain meeple here.
Platoons. Unit cubes are assigned to the seven platoons in the warband: light infantry, cavalry, and archery, as well as their three heavy versions, plus the honour guard.
Round Countdown Track. When all players have taken their turns and the tracker token is on space 1, the war is over.
Honour Guard. Heavy platoon units can be promoted to the honour guard where they stand with their warband leaders and generals.
War Heroes. One of the honour guard units is hailed as a war hero during each Fight action, bringing battlefield glory to his or her entire race.
Promotions. Using a Train action to promote a unit up through the warband platoons (along the brown arrows) costs one gold.
Reassignments. Laterally reassigning a unit between platoons (following the grey arrows) during a Train action does not cost any gold.

Phase 2: Taking Three Actions

Each turn, a player takes any three actions in any order from the four action choices detailed herein – Tax, Train, Scout, Fight – and resolves them at their highest unlocked Ranks (ie. greatest Rank not currently covered by a unit cube). If a player cannot meet the requirements to perform an action – for example, the warband does not have sufficient units for the Fight action or the player lacks the gold for the Scout action – it cannot be selected. A player may take any action multiple times in a single turn as desired, provided the combined number of actions equals exactly three.

At the beginning of the game, only Rank 1: Novice actions are unlocked for player use. One additional higher Rank of choice is progressively unlocked at the beginning of each round. As higher Ranks are unlocked, the race's game actions become more powerful:

Tax – More gold is earned.
Train – Multiple units are moved within the warband platoons.
Scout – Placing scouts on the map requires less gold and multiple units can be placed with a single action.
Fight – Fewer platoon units are required to Fight and some captains can be bypassed when paying wages.

The player's gold coins and unassigned unit cubes are kept in a "reserve area" next to the race board until needed. Each warband race has a unique ability that gives it an advantage over the other races in specific situations (see Race Abilities).

Tax Action

Rank 1 = 2 gold
Rank 2 = 3 gold
Rank 3 = 5 gold
Rank 4 = 8 gold

The player takes gold from supply as indicated by the Tax Rank. Gold is needed to pay the warband captains' wages when taking the Fight action (Step 2) and to send out scout units when taking the Scout action. Consequently, upgrading the Tax action gives the player the most flexibility over a balanced game strategy.

Even though Warband provides an ample number of cardboard gold tokens in three denominations, it is possible to exhaust the supply. Gold availability in the game is unlimited, however, and players can keep track of their gold on paper should the need arise.

Train Action

Rank 1 = 1 unit
Rank 2 = 2 units
Rank 3 = 3 units
Rank 4 = 4 units

Transferring unit cubes from the reserve area to the warband roster and moving them up through the platoon structure is how players meet specific combat requirements (Fight, Step 1), gain captainship wage income (Step 2), and achieve war hero status and the associated Victory Points (Step 8). By upgrading the Train action track beyond Rank 1: Novice, players can more efficiently move multiple unit cubes in a single Train action instead of taking several Train actions to achieve the same results.

The player moves unit cubes in the warband a total number of platoon spaces up to the Train Rank. For example, a player who has attained Rank 3: Skilled can move up to three unit cubes to a combined maximum of three times total (one cube three times, three cubes a single time each, one cube twice and a second cube once). A player always has the option to move fewer units than made available by the highest attained Train Rank if desired.

Transferring one unit from a player's reserve to any of the three light platoons (infantry, cavalry, archery) counts as one move. Promoting a unit in a light platoon to the associated heavy platoon (for example, archery to heavy archery) – following the brown arrows on the warband roster – also counts as one move, as does promoting a unit from any of the three heavy platoons to the honour guard. Finally, laterally reassigning a unit between any of the three light or three heavy platoons (such as moving a unit from infantry to archery, or from heavy cavalry to heavy infantry) – following the grey arrows on the warband roster – is also one move.

Units may not be downgraded from the honour guard to a heavy platoon, from a heavy platoon to a light platoon, or from a light platoon to a player's reserve. Additionally, units in the honour guard cannot be promoted with a Train action to the war heroes space, since this acclaim is only awarded during a Fight action (see Step 8: Salute War Heroes).

Laterally reassigning a unit or transferring a unit from reserve to any of the light platoons does not cost any gold, but promoting a unit from a light to a heavy platoon costs one gold per unit as does promoting a unit from a heavy platoon to the honour guard. A player that has no gold cannot promote a unit.

After every Train action is completed, platoon captaincy may change. See Transferring Captainship for details.

Example: At the beginning of his turn Oliver had upgraded his Train action track to Rank 2: Capable.

For his first of his three actions, Oliver takes the Train action and transfers two unit cubes (the maximum allowed for Rank 2 Train) from his reserve pile next to his race board to light platoons: one unit to infantry and one unit to cavalry. Oliver gains captaincy for both the Infantry and Cavalry platoons.

For his second action, Oliver takes the Tax action at Rank 1: Novice to gain two gold.

For his third and final action, Oliver takes the Train action a second time, moving the unit cube in the infantry platoon first to the heavy infantry platoon (at the cost of one gold) and then to the honour guard platoon (at the cost of a second gold). Captaincy remains unchanged until the end of the second Train action, at which point Oliver loses captaincy over the infantry platoon, but gains it over the honour guard.

With his three actions complete and Phase 2 finished, play passes to the next player.

Scout Action

Rank 1 = 5 gold to send 1 scout
Rank 2 = 4/9 gold to send 1/2 scouts
Rank 3 = 3/7/12 gold to send 1/2/3 scouts
Rank 4 = 2/5/9/14 gold to send 1/2/3/4 scouts

The player sends a number of units currently in reserve to the game board map – the maximum number is equal to the player's Scout Rank – by paying the amount of gold indicated above. These reserve units now support the warband as scout units. Each scout is placed in any one of the five realms (Kholdrum, Shenaru, Ela'Vethera, Lorendale, and Zhoni) but no more than a single scout can be placed in any one realm during a single Scout action. The player may place more than one scout in a single realm by taking multiple subsequent Scout actions during the same turn, though.

As the battle for the Five Realms nears its frantic conclusion, embedding a scout near the front lines of the armies of Darkness becomes more difficult to achieve and consequently more costly. The total gold cost of completing a Scout action increases by one gold in the second last round of the game or three gold in the final round. For example, placing three scouts with a Rank 4: Elite action normally costs the player nine gold, but it increases to 10 gold if done in the second last round of the game or 12 gold in the final round.

The Benefits of Scouts

Sending scout units to the game board map provides you with multiple benefits both during the game (in conjunction with the Fight action) and when scoring at the end of the game.

Scouts in the realms adjacent to battlefield spaces help you avoid sending reserve units to the Medica when you Fight 3 VP and 4 VP Enemy cards (Fight Step 5).

By paying one gold/unit, these adjacent scouts can also save your platoon units from casualties during any player's Fight action so you can retain them on the warband roster (Fight Step 6).

Having the most number of scout units in any of the realms gains you 3 VP or 4 VP at the end of the game.

You gain VP for matching your Intel cards with the realm locations of your scout units at the game's end (cards x scouts = VP). You can earn up to 12 VP per region this way.

Finally, each of your scouts (and war heroes) can convert up to three gold into one VP when scoring at the end of the game.

Example: These two Ela'Vethera scouts will protect the white player when defeating enemies at the adjacent Guardians of Vethera or Lonespire Peak. The white player will never need to send units to the Medica when defeating 3 VP or 4 VP Enemy cards and each scout can protect against one platoon unit casualty by paying one gold/unit saved.

Example: The blue and black players are tied for the most number of scouts in Lorendale. If this was the end of the game, neither player would have scout control over this realm and consequently no VP would be awarded.

Example: This lone blue scout in Zhoni can perform many important functions during the game: it protects the blue player's units from injury and casualties when defeating adjacent Enemy cards at The Branches; it can award 4 VP for scout control over Zhoni at the game's end; it is worth VP when paired with Zhoni Intel cards; and, like all scouts and war heroes, it can convert 3 gold into 1 VP.

Example: If at the end of the game the yellow player was holding four Kholdrum Intel cards, she would receive the maximum allowable 12 VP (3 scouts x 4 Intel cards = 12 VP).

Example: The red player has more scouts in Shenaru than any other player. If this was the end of the game, the red player would receive 3 VP for scout control over this realm.

Fight Action

Rank 1 = standard rules with no bonus
Rank 2 = -1 unit requirement and -1 captain wages
Rank 3 = -2 units requirement and -2 captain wages
Rank 4 = -3 units requirement and -3 captain wages

Marching to battle against the ancient armies of Darkness lies at the heart of Warband and occurs when a player performs the Fight action. Leading a combat charge against the enemy brings the race prestigious battlefield glory, both directly (Victory Points earned from defeating an Enemy card) and indirectly (Victory Points earned when pairing valuable intelligence gained through Intel cards with the realm locations of scouts on the map). See End Game Scoring for details.

Upgrading the Fight action provides two distinct benefits that makes meeting combat requirements easier so the race can Fight more often. First, Ranks 2/3/4 allows the player to reduce the total platoon units required to select the Fight action by 1/2/3 units (see Step 1: Check Warband Strength), which means the race can enter combat with a smaller warband. Second, Ranks 2/3/4 allows the player to bypass paying wages to 1/2/3 captains (see Step 2: Pay Captains' Wages), which allows the race to Fight with less gold in reserve.

After platoon captains receive their wages, the collective warband – which includes the platoon units of all player races and mercenaries and not just the player's own – engages in combat at three of the four border battlefields (Threll's Gap, Guardians of Vethera, Lonespire Peak, and The Branches) simultaneously, achieving victory at one of them and defeating the army on the field (ie. the face-up Enemy card at the selected battlefield location). The price of victory is steep, though, and unit casualties within the warband is a near certainty. Additional reserve units may also take serious injuries and end up in the Medica if scouts were not earlier sent to recon the battlefield. Meanwhile, the undefeated enemy armies on the other two hostile fronts raid and pillage the lands for resources and riches to fortify their horde until they confront the warband on the battlefield once again.

A player selecting the Fight action follows the 10 steps outlined below, in the specific order listed.

Fight Action Summary

Step 1: Check Warband Strength Ensure the warband has sufficient units to match the combined Enemy card platoon unit requirements, reducing requirements as appropriate for the Fight Rank.

Step 2: Pay Captains' Wages Pay one gold to each platoon captain. Fight Rank of 2, 3, or 4 allows the player to bypass paying the wages of 1, 2, or 3 captains of choice.

Step 3: Defeat Enemy Defeat and claim one Enemy card, including any gold on the card.

Step 4: Draw Intel Cards Draw the top two cards of the Intel deck, keep one, and place the other at the bottom of the deck.

Step 5: Send Units to Medica Move 1/2 injured units from reserve (or warband platoons) to the Medica when defeating an Enemy card worth 3/4 VP. Each scout unit located in either of the two realms adjacent to the Enemy card's battlefield space will prevent one unit from moving to the Medica.

Step 6: Assign Casualties The warband suffers two unit casualties as indicated on the defeated Enemy card. Units of the platoon captain's race are selected first, then other race units, chosen in a specific order: light platoon units before heavy platoon units before honour guard units. Each scout unit located in either of the two realms adjacent to the Enemy card's battlefield space can save one unit of the same player race from casualty at the cost of one gold each. For every saved unit, an alternate casualty target is chosen.

Step 7: Draw Redress Cards If any player race received one or two casualties, that player draws one Redress card.

Step 8: Salute War Heroes The player who controls the current captain of the honour guard sends one of his or her honour guard units to the war hero space.

Step 9: Raid and Pillage Place one gold on each of the two undefeated Enemy cards still remaining on the game board map.

Step 10: Draw New Enemy Draw the top card from the Enemy deck and place it face up in the border battlefield space that was empty at the beginning of this Fight action.

Fight Step 1: Check Warband Strength

The Fight action cannot be chosen unless the warband has sufficient specific units to march against the enemy. The combined unit cubes of all player races and mercenaries currently on the warband roster game board must meet or exceed the combined platoon requirements indicated on the three face-up Enemy cards on the four border battlefield spaces (noting that one of the four spaces is always empty). The type of platoon unit required (infantry, cavalry, archery, or heavy) for each Enemy card is indicated by the large middle icon; the number inside the VP star on the card indicates the number of those platoon units. If not enough units are on the warband roster, or if the units are not in the correct platoons that match the Enemy card requirements, the Fight action cannot be undertaken by the player. Otherwise, the combat proceeds to the next step.

The highest attained Fight Rank of the player that selects this Fight action reduces the total platoon units required by -1, -2, or -3 units, with no reduction available at Rank 1: Novice. The player can decide which of the platoon unit Enemy card requirements to reduce up to the Fight Rank.

Each unit in the three heavy platoons (heavy infantry, heavy cavalry, heavy archery) can either meet the Enemy cards' heavy requirements (represented by the shield icons) or light platoon requirements (represented by the crossed swords, gauntleted mace, or bow icons) but not both at the same time. Honour guard units, war heroes, scouts units on the Five Realms game board map, units in the Medica, and units still in reserve do not count towards any Enemy card requirements.

Warband Strength Example #1 – Current Player Race Has Fight Rank 1. The warband meets the Enemy card requirements: 2 Cavalry – two red units in light cavalry; 3 Archery – one blue unit and two brown mercenary units in light archery; 4 Infantry – one yellow and one black unit in light infantry plus two yellow units in heavy infantry.

Warband Strength Example #2 – Current Player Race Has Fight Rank 4. The warband meets the Enemy card requirements: Fight Rank 4 reduces platoon requirements by three (one cavalry and two heavy). 3 Infantry – one yellow and one black unit in light infantry plus one yellow unit in heavy infantry; 3 Cavalry – two red units in light cavalry (reduced from three total); 4 Heavy – one yellow in heavy infantry and one white in heavy cavalry (reduced from four total).

Fight Step 2: Pay Captains' Wages

The player must pay one gold to each and every current platoon captain on the warband roster that belongs to opponent races, to a maximum of seven captains. The player does not pay for his or her own captains. Wages for mercenary captains (brown meeples) are paid to the general gold supply.

With a Fight Rank 2: Capable, the player bypasses paying the gold wage of any one captain of choice. At Rank 3: Skilled, the wages of any two captains of choice are bypassed, increasing to any three captains of choice at Rank 4: Elite.

Fight Step 3: Defeat Enemy

The player selects any one of the three face-up Enemy cards on the game board map to defeat, removes it from the map, and places it next to his or her action track. Any gold on the Enemy card belongs to the player. The other two Enemy cards remain on the battlefields. At the end of the Fight action, the defeated Enemy card is turned face down and kept hidden from the other players. At the end of the game, the player is awarded the Victory Points indicated for all face-down Enemy cards in his or her possession.

Fight Step 4: Draw Intel Cards

The player draws the top two cards of the Intel deck and places one of the two cards at the bottom of the deck (player's choice). The player places the other card face down next to his or her action track, keeping it hidden from the other players. The player's choice of card typically aligns with where the player's scout units are currently located – or will likely be located in the future – on the Five Realms map, since Victory Points are earned by matching Intel cards with scout locations (see End Game Scoring). If only one Intel card remains in the draw deck, the player receives that card; if the Intel draw deck is empty, no Intel card is awarded to the player.

Fight Step 5: Send Units to Medica

If the defeated Enemy card is worth 3 Victory Points, the player must move one of his or her units from reserve to the Medica (indicating that a unit was injured during the battle). If the Enemy card is worth 4 Victory Points, two reserve units are sent to the Medica. No units are sent to the Medica when defeating a 2 VP Enemy card. If the player does not currently have any units in reserve, he or she must instead send units from the warband platoons or war heroes space to the Medica whenever possible (player's choice which of his or her platoon units to send).

Each of the player's scout units currently located in either or both of the two realms adjacent to the border battlefield from which the Enemy card was taken prevents one reserve unit from receiving injury and moving to the Medica. For example, if the player had one scout unit in Lorendale and defeated a 4 Victory Point Enemy card at The Branches, only one reserve unit is sent to the Medica instead of two. If the Enemy had been worth 3 Victory Points instead, the scout would have prevented the single reserve unit from moving to the Medica. Similarly, if the player had a total of two or more scouts located in Kholdrum and Shenaru, no reserve units would ever be sent to the Medica when defeating Enemy cards at Threll's Gap, regardless of the Victory Point values of the Enemy cards (since two scouts can always protect the one or two reserve units that could have possibly been injured).

A player can heal and reclaim injured units in the Medica at any time during his or her own turn at the cost of two gold per unit. Healed units are immediately returned to the player's reserve. Players lose 2 Victory Points for each unhealed unit that remains in the Medica at the game's end.

Reading an Enemy Card

Victory Points. The number in the star icon indicates the number of Victory Points awarded for defeating this Enemy card. This number also equals the platoon unit requirement number when checking warband strength during a Fight action (Step 1).
Platoon Requirement. When paired with the number in the VP star icon, this symbol represents the type of platoon units required when checking warband strength during a Fight action (Step 1) – infantry, cavalry, archery, or heavy.
Scouts. The number of cubes here indicates how many reserve units may be injured and sent to the Medica during a Fight action (Step 5). This is always one unit for a 3 VP Enemy card or two units for a 4 VP Enemy card. One or two scouts located in realms adjacent to this Enemy card's border battlefield space can prevent the one or two reserve units from being sent to the Medica.
Casualties. The icon pair indicates which of the three light platoon types – infantry, cavalry, or archery – will be assigned two unit casualties (Step 6).

Fight Step 6: Assign Casualties

The defeated Enemy card indicates which platoon type (infantry, cavalry, archery) will suffer two casualties. These casualty units are immediately returned to the respective players' reserve areas (mercenary casualties are removed from the game). Each scout unit currently located in either or both of the two realms adjacent to the border battlefield from which the Enemy card was taken can optionally save one (and only one) specific platoon unit of the same player race from casualty at the cost of one gold each. When a scout saves a specific unit, an alternate unit becomes the casualty instead. A player makes the decision whether or not his or her scout will save its fellow platoon unit immediately when the unit is chosen as a casualty target as outlined below.

Two casualty targets are chosen in order according to the chart below, starting at Level 1 and proceeding to Level 6. Do not proceed to the next level of the chart to determine the next casualty targets unless there are no available targets at the current level (either because there are no units available in the platoon indicated or because the units located there have been saved by scouts). If two units have not been selected as casualties by the end of Level 6, no further unit casualties are assigned.

Level 1: Units located in the indicated light platoon that belong to the same race as the current light platoon captain.
Level 2: Units located in the indicated light platoon that belong to a race selected by the current light platoon captain.
Level 3: Units located in the indicated heavy platoon that belong to the same race as the current heavy platoon captain.
Level 4: Units located in the indicated heavy platoon that belong to a race selected by the current heavy platoon captain.
Level 5: Units located in the honour guard that belong to the same race as the current honour guard captain.
Level 6: Units located in the honour guard that belong to a race selected by the current honour guard captain.

Platoon captaincy may change from one race to another after assigning casualties. See Transferring Captainship for details.

Assigning Casualties Example (defeated Enemy card indicates two cavalry casualties):

Level 1: If red player has no scouts in adjacent realms to protect units, red player suffers two red light cavalry casualties.

Level 1: If red player has one scout in an adjacent realm, it would have no effect to pay 1 gold to protect one red unit, because two other red units would be targets instead.

Level 2: If red player instead has two scouts in adjacent realms and pays 2 gold to protect both of those red units, the first casualty would be the remaining unprotected red unit. Since the red player is captain, she selects whether yellow player or blue player is the next target for the second casualty.

Level 2: If blue player is selected as the target but he has one scout in an adjacent realm and pays 1 gold to protect his blue unit, the remaining yellow player automatically becomes the next casualty target.

Level 3: If yellow player also has two scouts in adjacent realms and pays 2 gold to protect both yellow units, the next casualty target is the blue player's heavy cavalry unit because he is the heavy cavalry captain.

Level 4: If blue player has a second additional scout in an adjacent realm and pays 1 gold to protect that heavy cavalry unit too, as captain, he selects whether black player or red player is the next target for the remaining second casualty.

Level 4: If red player only had two scouts in adjacent realms as indicated earlier, blue player would likely select her as the next target. Consequently, red player's heavy cavalry unit would be the second and final casualty. In hindsight, perhaps red player might not have wanted to protect both light cavalry red units since she has lost the more advanced heavy cavalry unit.

Fight Step 7: Draw Redress Cards

Redress cards are reparations awarded to players who lose platoon units to casualties during combat. Beginning with the current active player and proceeding clockwise, each player who controls a race that received one or two casualties during this Fight action draws one (and only one) card from the top of the Redress deck and places it face down next to his or her action track (keeping it hidden from the other players).

If at any time all the Redress cards are drawn from the deck, shuffle the discard pile and reuse those discarded cards as the Redress draw deck. In the unlikely event that both the draw deck and discard pile are empty, no further Redress cards may be drawn until cards are returned to the discard pile (and then shuffled to make a new draw pile as normal).

Fight Step 8: Salute War Heroes

The player who controls the current captain of the honour guard sends one of his or her honour guard units to the war hero space. That unit remains a war hero until the end of the game when it adds to that race's battle glory (ie. each war hero is worth Victory Points). Captaincy of the honour guard may change from one race to another after this step is completed. See Transferring Captainship for details.

Fight Step 9: Raid and Pillage

The two undefeated Enemy cards still remaining on the game board map raid and pillage the nearby lands for resources and riches to fortify their horde. Place one gold on each of these Enemy cards.

Fight Step 10: Draw New Enemy

As the last step, the player draws the top card from the Enemy deck and places it face up in the border battlefield space that was empty at the beginning of the Fight action – not the empty battlefield space that was just recently vacated when the selected Enemy card was defeated.

If the new card drawn results in all three Enemy cards showing the same unit requirement platoon type (all infantry, all cavalry, all archery, or all heavy) – regardless whether the Enemy cards are worth 2, 3, or 4 Victory Points – the three Enemy cards are shuffled together and placed at the bottom of the Enemy card draw deck. Three replacement cards are drawn from the Enemy deck and placed in the same battlefield locations as the replaced cards, starting with the leftmost battlefield and proceeding to the rightmost. Any gold tokens that were on the previous three cards before they were discarded remain on the map in the same battlefield locations and are now placed on the newly drawn cards instead.

If the Enemy draw deck is empty and there are consequently no new Enemy cards remaining to replace the defeated card, no further Fight actions can be performed by any player for the remainder of the game.

Gameplay Tips

Once you are familiar with the Warband rules and perhaps have played a game or two, consider the tips below to enhance your strategic gameplay choices.

Combat is a vital component of Warband. Unless you take the Fight action several times during the game, it is highly unlikely that you can win. By Fighting, you'll not only gain VP for defeating Enemy cards, but also receive valuable Intel cards that pair with your scout units to give even more VP.
Taking two Fight actions in a single turn is a rare opportunity that you shouldn't pass up.
Beware the cost of the Fight action when the roster is filled with opponent platoon captains. Weigh the VP benefits of lost gold (3 gold = 1 VP) vs. defeated Enemy card VP + Intel card with scouts VP.
Take advantage of your race's special ability as often as feasible.
Captaincy generates income for you and reduces your Fight cost, so don't ignore the warband roster.
Don't help your opponents too much by flooding your units onto the warband roster. You may conveniently be setting up the next player's Fight action.
Remain flexible with your strategy so you can take advantage of unexpected tactical openings when you see them.
Don't start sending out scouts until you have a few Intel cards to guide their positioning.
Since Scouting becomes more costly in the final two rounds of the game, don't wait until the very end to send out your scouts either.
"Free" gold has tremendous value, so a 2 VP Enemy card with gold on it may be worth more to you than a 4 VP Enemy card with none.
Redress cards are valuable so don't be afraid to lose units to casualties to gain them.
The special abilities of Redress cards can give you a significant advantage when played at the right time, but sometimes sacrificing the card for +1 gold or +1 unit Train is worthwhile too.
Sometimes it's worth taking two Scout actions to place two units in the same realm compared to just taking a single Scout action to place two units in different realms.
Since no VP are awarded when two or more players are tied for scout control in the realms, position your scout units strategically and be careful you don't leave openings for ties with your opponents.

Transferring Captainship

Each of the seven warband platoons (both light and heavy platoons of infantry, cavalry, and archery, along with the honour guard) will be overseen by one platoon captain (represented by a wooden meeple) whenever there are mercenary or player unit cubes on that specific platoon space. Platoon captaincy may be gained or changed from one race to another (or to the mercenaries) at six different times during the game:

After a Train action is fully completed (but not during a Train action)
After sending platoon units to the Medica during a Fight action
After assigning casualties during a Fight action
After honour guard units are hailed as war heroes during a Fight action
After anyone plays a Redress card that moves units to, from, or within the warband roster
After a player uses a special race ability to move units to, from, or within the warband roster

When any of the above six conditions are met, the race with greatest number of units in each of the seven platoons (including the honour guard) is awarded captainship and either places a meeple in the captain space if currently unoccupied or replaces the current captain's meeple with one of its own. The replaced meeples of former captains are returned to their respective players for future reuse; replaced mercenary meeples are placed aside in case the mercenaries regain captainship during a later game action.

Captaincy is retained by the current race if they are tied with an opponent for the most units. If there is a tie between two or more opponents for the greatest number of units – and the current captain is not one of the tied players – the current captain selects which of the tied opponent races will gain captaincy.

Playing Redress Cards

Throughout the game players may have the opportunity to draw Redress cards whenever they suffer unit casualties during Fight actions (see Step 6: Assign Casualties). Participants may play any number of Redress cards at the appropriate time (as indicated below), which is usually sometime during the player's own turn but may instead be during an opponent's turn. Redress cards are placed in a face-up discard pile next to the draw deck after they are played and their abilities used. Any unused Redress cards still held by the players are discarded without benefit once the final round of the game is completed.

Each Redress card gives the player one of three abilities when played:

The player gains one gold. For this benefit, the Redress card can be played at any time during the player's turn.
The player Trains one of his or her reserve or platoon units exactly once, paying the gold cost if promoting the unit as normal (see Train Action). For this benefit, the Redress card can be played at any time during the player's turn.
The player gains the ability written on the Redress card and follows its instructions. For this benefit, the Redress card must be played at the time indicated on the card.

If the ability of a Redress card contradicts, changes, or adds to any game rule, the text of the Redress card takes precedence. Players may ignore Redress card abilities whenever following the instructions proves impossible.

End Game Scoring

Once the last player has taken his or her turn in the final round (every player has acted in the final round and the token on the countdown track is currently on space 1), the game is over and players use the score pad to add up their Victory Points (VP) earned in the seven categories below. The race that has gained the most number of Victory Points – and has thus achieved the greatest leadership glory in the final battle against the Darkness – is declared the winner, with ties broken first by the total number of Enemy cards defeated (number of cards, not amount of VP) followed by the final amount of gold owned.

Enemy Cards. Enemy cards each player defeated during Fight actions are worth 2, 3, or 4 VP each as indicated on the Enemy card.

War Heroes. Players gain 2 VP for each of their units currently in the war heroes space.

Captains. Players gain 1 VP for each of their captains on the warband roster game board at the game's end.

Converted Gold. Scout units and war hero units on the game board can each convert exactly three gold from the players' reserves into 1 VP. Excess unconverted gold is not worth any VP.

Scout Control. The player who has the most number of scout units in each of the five realms at the game's end gains either 3 VP (Shenaru, Ela'Vethera, or Lorendale) or 4 VP (Kholdrum or Zhoni) for each realm. If two or more players are tied for the most number of scout units, no Victory Points are awarded to any player.

Matching Intel. Players are awarded Victory Points for matching Intel cards with the realm location of their scout units at the game's end. For each realm in which a player has scouts, multiply the number of units by the number of matching Intel cards to determine the number of Victory Points. For example, three scout units in Shenaru matched with two Shenaru Intel cards is worth 6 VP (3 x 2 = 6). Intel cards for a realm that does not currently hold any of the player's scout units is not worth any VP. Each player can earn a maximum of 12 VP for each realm, but the combined VP total earned over all five realms can exceed 12 VP.

Medica Units. Players lose 2 VP for each unhealed unit that remains in the Medica at the game's end.

Final Scoring Example: For this example scoring, assume the game ends with the Five Realms map and the warband roster from the earlier examples in this rulebook. The players' Enemy cards, Intel cards, and final gold amounts give the following scores:

Category	Red	Yellow	Black	Blue	White
Enemy Cards	9	11	18	8	11
War Heroes	0	0	2	0	4
Captains	1	1	1	1	1
Converted Gold	2	0	0	3	0
Scout Control	3	4	0	4	3
Matching Intel	6	12	5	4	6
Medica Units	0	-2	-2	0	0
Total	21	26	24	20	25

Race Abilities

Dragonfolk. When Dragonfolk receive a Redress card, they draw two cards, keep one, and discard the other.

Dwarves. Once per action, when Dwarves Train at least one unit from a light to a heavy platoon, they can transfer one unit from their reserve to any light platoon immediately.

Elementals. Elementals are never required to send units to the Medica during Fight actions.

Elves. When Scouting, Elves reduce their total action cost by two gold.

Giants. Whenever the Giants take a Fight action, the warband Fights as though one additional mercenary unit is present in any light or heavy platoon of the Giants' choice.

Halflings. When Taxing, Halflings gain one additional gold.

Minotaurs. Minotaurs can protect any number of their units from casualties for one gold each (with or without adjacent scout units), but cannot protect units in the honour guard.

Rockmen. At the end of any player's Train action, Rockmen take over captainship whenever they have the same number of units as the current captain in any heavy platoon.

Rodentia. At the beginning of their turn, Rodentia can look at the top three cards of the Enemy deck and rearrange them if desired.

Wolfaen. Immediately after an opponent plays a Redress card, Wolfaen can discard any one of their own Redress cards and replace it with the one just played.