Windup War Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Overview
• Goal
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • The Windup
  • The War
  • Action Cards
• Casualties & Elimination
• Moving Targets
• Illegal & Broken Actions
• Forfeit
• Ending the War
• Examples
• Strategy Tips
• Playing with More Players

Contents

• 180 cards (6 Unit cards, 1 Life card, 22 Action cards and 1 Kickstarter Edition Win Tally card per faction) (see Figure 1)
• 6 Faction boxes
• This rulebook

Overview

In Windup War you will "wind-up" your toy army with different actions. Some actions deal damage to other players, some defend you from attacks, and others have special functions. The game is played over a series of Rounds with each Round consisting of winding-up five actions...and then watching your units carry-out your commands!

Goal

Outlast all your opponents OR Score three points (four points in a two or three-player game)

Setup

1. Have players sit so all players can easily determine who is on their right and left. The player immediately on your left is considered one space to your left, while the player immediately on your right is considered one space to your right, and so on.

2. Give each player one faction box. Each faction box contains one complete toy faction of 30 cards. All cards that share the same back (e.g. Tin-Fantry, Dino-Soldiers, etc.) are considered part of the same faction. You may only use the cards in your faction during the game.

3. Instruct all players to empty their faction box and assemble their army for combat (see Figure 2):

   a. Place your Life card in front of you vertically (i.e. pointing toward the center of the table).

   b. Select three of your Unit cards to be your army this game. Place the units you did not select back into your faction box, out-of-play.

   c. Assemble the three units you selected into a Combat order. This is the order your units will be activated during the battle. Choose which unit will be first, which will be second, and which will be third.

   d. Activate your first unit by placing it on your Life card vertically so it covers all the hearts except for the number it is allowed. Each unit is allowed the number of hearts shown on its red ribbon. (For example the Helicopter is allowed three hearts, so it covers two hearts on the Life card.)

   e. Place your second and third units horizontally below your active unit as shown in Figure 2. These units are not available now, but will become available later if your active unit is destroyed.

   f. Place your Win Tally card back in your faction box. Use it after the game to record a win for your faction.

   g. Take the rest of your cards (the 22 Action cards) into your hand. Now you are ready to FIGHT!

Figure 2: Combat Order — Life card with hearts allowed; Active Unit on the Life card; Second Unit and Third Unit horizontally below.

Gameplay

Each Round consists of two phases: The Windup and The War.

The Windup

Place any five Action cards from your hand face-down (so your opponents can't see them) vertically in a row to the right of your Active unit (see Figure 3). This is your Windup order—the order you'd like your Action cards to take effect.

Place the first action you would like to take effect in the first space to the right of your active unit.

Then, place the second action you'd like to take effect in the second space from your Active unit and so on until you've placed all five Action cards in a row, with the card furthest from your unit being the action it will take last.

Note: It is important for all players to line-up their Action cards as shown in Figure 3 so all players will be able to see the order they will occur, but keep them face-down (hidden from other players) until "The War."

The War

1. The War begins when all players have placed their five Action cards and you announce "Ready...Aim...Card 1!"

2. Then all players flip the first card in their Windup order face-up.

3. Look around the table at the actions that have been shown and resolve the actions as if they had happened simultaneously (see Example 2 at the end of the rulebook).

4. After Card 1 actions have been resolved for all players, announce, "Ready...Aim...Card 2!" and repeat steps 2-3 above for Card 2 (and so on for Cards 3-5).

5. After all five Action cards have been resolved, finish the Round by moving all the Action cards in your Windup order to your Discard pile (a space on the left side of your Active unit).

   Note: Cards sent to your Discard pile will remain there until a future Round in which you play a Reload card to return them to your hand.

6. Begin a new Round by winding-up five new actions! Continue play until there is one champion or all players are eliminated.

Action Cards

There are six different colors of Action cards in your deck: Black, Purple, Pink, Orange, Green, and Blue. Units can only take actions the same color as the ribbons on their Unit card, but all units can play Black actions.

Example 1: The Helicopter (as seen in Figure 4) can play Pink, Green and Black actions because it has a Pink and Green ribbon.

Your Action cards affect the other players according to where they sit in relation to you at the table. Action card explanations are listed below (card colors in parentheses):

Attack 1 to the Left (Black, Pink, Green) / Right (Green, Blue): Deal one damage to the player one space to your left / right.

Attack 2 to the Left (Green) / Right (Green): Deal one damage to the player two spaces to your left / right.

Double Attack Right (Pink): Deal two damage to the player one space to your right.

Flame Left (Orange) / Right (Orange): Deal one damage to the player one space to your left / right AND deal one damage to the player two spaces to your left / right.

Alpha Strike (Orange): Deal one damage to all players within three spaces of you (including you!).

Attack 1 to the Right and Left (Pink): Deal one damage to the player one space to your right AND deal one damage to the player one space to your left.

Full Reload (Black): Immediately return all revealed Action cards in your Windup order (including your Reload card) and Discard pile back to your hand (see Figure 5).

Note: Cards not yet revealed (i.e. played after the Reload card), remain in the Windup order, and will take effect and then go to the Discard pile at the end of the Round as normal.

Block All Attacks (Black, Purple, Green): You take no damage from cards played at the same time as your Block card (even from Alpha Strikes and Bombs).

Retaliate Attacks (Purple): Deal one damage to every player who deals damage to you at the same time this card is played.

Block & Retaliate All Attacks (Orange): You take no damage AND deal one damage to any player who attacks you at the same time this card is played.

Set Bomb (Blue): No effect when it is played.

Detonate Bomb (Blue): If the Set Bomb card is in your Discard pile when Detonate Bomb is played, deal two damage to all players within three spaces of you (not including you). Otherwise, this card has no effect.

Charge! (Black, Purple): The Charge card is how you score points! When you play a Charge card, look to see if any other player has played a Charge at the same time as you:

If no other Charge card is played at the same time as yours, your charge is a success! Immediately move any one card from your Discard pile to the center of the table face-down (showing your faction). The card you move to the center of the table counts as one point for you!

Note: The card you move to the center of the table remains there until the end of the game. Note: If you have no cards in your Discard pile, you do not get to score a point!

If one or more other players also plays a Charge card at the same time yours is played, the played cards cancel one another out and no players score a point.

Casualties & Elimination

1. During the war, if you take damage, lose one heart per damage you receive (i.e. move your Active unit so it covers one additional heart for each damage you are dealt (see Figure 6).

   Your unit is destroyed whenever all of its hearts have been lost.

   Note: If your unit takes more damage than it has hearts to lose, it loses all its remaining hearts and is destroyed. Damage does not "pass on" to your next unit.

2. Before the next Action card is revealed, remove your destroyed unit from your Life card and place it out-of-play.

   Note: Since actions are simultaneous, a unit that takes enough damage to be destroyed completes its action before being removed from play.

3. Activate the next unit in your Combat order by turning it vertically and placing it on your Life card so only the number of hearts permitted for your new unit is showing.

   Note: You are not allowed to change your Combat or Windup order, even if your unit is destroyed in the middle of a Round!

4. When your third unit is destroyed, you are eliminated from the game!

   Note: It is possible to deal damage to yourself! For example, in a two-player game if you attack two spaces to the right, you will attack past your opponent and hit yourself!

Moving Targets

As players are eliminated the number of spaces between players will change. Be careful to count each player's distance to the right and left when planning and resolving actions (see Figure 7).

Illegal & Broken Actions

If you play an Action card in your Windup order that your active Unit is not allowed to take (e.g. your Helicopter is active, but you have programmed a purple action), it is an illegal action.

When this occurs, there are two possible outcomes:

1. If you are attacked at the same time the illegal action is played, the illegal action counts as a Block All Attacks card (only).

2. If you are NOT attacked, the illegal action "breaks." Turn the card 180 degrees so the bouncing gear side is pointing toward the center of the table, and place it under your Heart card where it must remain until the end of the game (see Figure 8).

Note: Do not take the regular action of any illegal action.

Forfeit

At the end of any Round when you have 3 or more Broken cards under your Heart card, you must forfeit the game!

Ending the War

The game ends whenever there is only one player left in the game, or whenever any player scores their third point (or fourth point in a two or three-player game). This player is declared champion!

Note: In the case of all remaining players being eliminated or forfeiting simultaneously there is no champion, so rally your forces and play again!

Examples

Example 2: All players reveal and resolve actions simultaneously. In Figure 9, for instance, players are resolving Card 1. Eugene plays "Attack 2 to the Right" which deals one damage to Zach. Katie plays "Attack 1 to the Right and Left", which deals one damage to Eugene and Zach. Zach plays "Double Attack Right", which would deal two damage to Jess, except Jess plays "Block All Attacks", which prevents her from receiving any damage. Eugene will cover one more heart with his Unit card to account for the one damage he received and Zach, likewise, will cover two more hearts with his Unit card.

Figure 10 shows players resolving Card 2. Eugene plays a Block card and takes no damage. Katie plays a Reload card and returns her Attack 1 to the Left and Right back to her hand. Zach plays Attack 1 to the Left and deals one damage to Katie (who will lose one heart), and Jess also plays Attack 1 to the Left and deals the finishing blow to Zach's Tank. Zach's next unit will have to take over on Card 3.

Strategy Tips

• It is usually best to play your Reload card toward the end of your Windup order.
• If your unit begins a Round with only one or two hearts, you might want to program actions your NEXT unit may legally play toward the end of your Windup order.
• You might consider programming an illegal action on purpose when you run out of Block cards to provide yourself another opportunity to block damage, but don't try this risky move too often!
• Charging is a great way to win the game, but be careful which cards you move from your Discard pile to the center of the table to count as points when you charge successfully. You cannot get these cards back for future use!

Playing with More Players

Although the game is rated as playable for only 2-6 players, you may add more faction decks to play with more than 6. Theoretically there is no limit to the number of players that could play. We have tested it up to 8. Give each player one faction and expect 3-5 minutes of game time per player.