Zeppelin Attack! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Overview
• Game Setup
• Turn Sequence
  • Phase 1: Actions
  • Phase 2: Buying Cards
  • Phase 3: Discard and Draw Up
  • Reshuffle (as needed)
• Game End & Scoring
  • Game End
  • Scoring
• Zeppelin Attack Rules Summary

Game Overview

Zeppelin Attack is a deck building game, in which you play one of the evil masterminds from the Spirit of The Century universe. Your deck represents your armada of specialized Zeppelins, armaments, defensive measures, and operatives. Your Armada is a group of Zeppelin cards face-up on the table in front of you, and these give you the ability to play Attack, Defense, and Operative cards. You begin the game with a small, weakly armed force. Running operations brings you the resources (Fate cards) to hire mercenaries to expand your armada, and successfully attack enemy Zeppelins—both of which give you Victory points. The player with the most Victory points at the end of the game wins.

Players: 2–4

Game Length: 45–60 minutes

Ages: 12 and up

Game Materials:

• 1 card deck of 112 cards:
  • 4 Start decks of 13 cards each
  • 6 Mercenary Operations Zeppelins
  • 6 Mercenary Attack Zeppelins
  • 8 Mercenary Attack cards
  • 6 Mercenary Defense cards
  • 8 Mercenary Operative cards
  • 26 Fate cards
• 1 rule book

Game Setup

Sort the Mercenary cards into their 5 decks: Each deck is made up of all of the Mercenary cards of a type (1 deck of Attack cards, 1 of Defense cards, 1 of Operative cards, 1 of Attack Zeppelins, and 1 of Operations Zeppelins). Shuffle each of these decks separately and place each deck face-up in a row on the middle of the table.

Give each player a 13-card Start deck at random: (Der Blitzmann, Gorilla Khan, Jacqueline Frost, or Walking Mind) Every card belonging to one of the Start decks is marked with the name and image of the evil mastermind they belong to. Each player takes their Flagship card out of their deck and places it face-up on the table in front of them to form the start of their Armada (the Flagship and Zeppelin cards face-up in the play area of each player). Each player takes the special Experimental Zeppelin card out of their Start decks and places it face-up beside the Mercenary decks.

Give each player starting Fate cards: One Minor Mission (3-point) Fate card and one Major Plot (4-point) Fate card. Each player shuffles together their start cards and Fate cards, places this as their draw deck on the table in front of them, and draws a hand of 5 cards. Shuffle the rest of the Fate cards and place the deck face-down on the table, next to the Mercenary decks.

Randomly determine a start player.

Individual Player Starting Setup diagram: each player's play area has space in front of them for their Zeppelins (Flagship plus any Zeppelins added to their Armada). The shared table area shows the Fate Deck and Fate Discard Pile, and the five face-up Mercenary decks — Attack Zeppelins, Operations Zeppelins, Operative Cards, Defense Cards, and Attack Cards — grouped together as "Mercenary Cards (5 types)."

A second diagram shows an individual player's own area: their Player's Hand (cards held), Flagship (placed face-up to start their Armada, illustrated with The Ice Storm), Player Discard Pile, Player Deck (their draw deck), and their Experimental Zeppelins — illustrated with The Chimpanzee (Gorilla Khan), The Leviathan (Jaqueline Frost), and The Pineal (Walking Mind) — alongside example Defense Cards (Flurry of Activity) and Attack Cards (Insanity Ray).

Turn Sequence

Card anatomy diagram: a Flagship card shows its Zeppelin Type and which Mercenary or Start Deck it belongs to along the top, its Attack Payload Capacity, Defense Payload Capacity, and Operative Payload Capacity icons down the left side, and its Special Text Effect in the text box. A Mercenary Zeppelin card additionally shows its Cost (in Fate Points) in the top-left corner and its Victory Point Value in the top-right corner, alongside its own Payload Capacity icons.

Phase 1: Actions

The active player may take as many of each of the following types of actions as she can, or wishes to, in any order during this phase:

Launch a Zeppelin: If the player has one or more Zeppelin cards in her hand, she may add them to her Armada, face-up beside her Flagship, at any point during this phase. The Zeppelin cards are played face-up on the table beside the player's Flagship card. The newly launched Zeppelins immediately become available to play Action cards on (see Play an Action card on a Zeppelin). Launched Zeppelins will remain in a player's Armada until a card effect makes them Retreat (be moved to that player's discard pile).

Play an Action card on a Zeppelin or Flagship: A player may use an Action card's effects by playing it, face-up, onto her Flagship card, or one of her Zeppelins cards.

Each Zeppelin or Flagship may be used to play only 1 Action card per turn. The active player places the Action card on top of one of her Zeppelin cards or Flagship, and leaves it there until the Discard and Draw Up phase of the turn.

Each Action card has a type (Attack, Defense, or Operative) and a payload size number, each of which may limit where it can be played.

Action cards can only be played on a Zeppelin or Flagship which has the capacity for that specific type of card. (That is, Operative cards can only be played on a Zeppelin or Flagship with an Operative capacity, Defense cards only on a Zeppelin or Flagship with a Defense capacity, and Attack cards only on a Zeppelin or Flagship with an Attack capacity).

Zeppelins can be used to play an Action card whose payload size number exceeds the Zeppelin's relevant capacity number, but Zeppelins which are "overloaded" in this way will "retreat" (be moved to the player's discard pile) during the Discard and Draw Up phase of the turn.

A Flagship cannot be used to play an Action card whose payload size number exceeds the Flagship's relevant capacity number (e.g. a Flagship with an Attack capacity of 2 could not be used to play an Attack card with a payload size of 3).

Each of the 3 Action card types is enacted differently.

Attack Cards: When an Attack card is played, the active player must choose to attack a specific Zeppelin or Flagship belonging to another player. When a player attacks a rival player, that rival player is referred to as the "target."

The attacker places her Attack card face-up on her own attacking Zeppelin, announces what type of attack it is (Cold, Psionic, Electric, or Explosive), and indicates the Zeppelin or Flagship she is attacking in the target's Armada, e.g. "Der Dynamo is launching an Explosive attack against The Winter Light."

If a Flagship is targeted: The target player immediately draws 1 card to her hand.

The target player then has an opportunity to play a Defense card on the defending Zeppelin or Flagship to block the attack, if she has a Defense card in her hand which blocks the specific type of attack being made (Cold, Psionic, Electric, or Explosive). If the target player plays a Defense card matching the type of the attack, the attack is blocked automatically. If the target player does not play a Defense card, the attack succeeds. The capacity numbers of the Attack and Defense cards do not influence the success or failure of the attack. Defense cards that do not match the suit of the attack cannot be played in defense.

Card anatomy diagram, illustrated with the Mercenary Attack Card Cryo Suspensor: it shows its Purchase Cost, Payload Value, and Attack Type icon(s) down the left side, its Victory Points in the top-right corner, and its Attack Effect and General Effect text in its text box. A second example, the Start Deck Defense Card Ice Field (belonging to Jaqueline Frost), shows its Payload Value and Defense Type icon(s) down the left side, its Start Deck Icon in the top-right corner, and its Defense Effect and General Effect text in its text box.

If the attack is blocked by a Defense card: The target player first enacts the Defense effects of the Defense card (marked with the Defense Effect icon); any effects which impact the attacker or all players must occur. She may then enact the General effects (marked with the General Effect icon) of the Defense card.

The played Defense card is then discarded. If the played Defense card's payload size number exceeded the Defense capacity number of the targeted Zeppelin, then the targeted Zeppelin immediately retreats, and is placed in the target player's discard pile.

The attacker then enacts the General effects (the General Effect icon) of her Attack card, ignoring the Attack effects (the Attack Effect icon).

Example: It is Der Blitzmann's turn. He plays an Attack card (Lightning Projector) on his Attack Zeppelin (Den Kondensator). He chooses to attack one of Jacqueline Frost's Zeppelins. Der Blitzmann announces, "Den Kondensator is launching an Electric Attack against The Winter Light." Jacqueline Frost has an Electric Defense card (Ghost Projector) in her hand, and plays it on The Winter Light, so the attack has been blocked. The Defense effect on this card dictates that Der Blitzmann must discard 1 Fate card from his hand, but he informs Jacqueline Frost that he has no Fate cards to discard. Then, the General effect on Jaqueline Frost's Defense card lets her draw 2 cards from her deck and discard any 1 card from her hand. Jacqueline Frost discards the played Defense card. Because Der Blitzmann's attack was blocked, the Attack effect on his Attack card is not enacted; he enacts the General effect on his Attack card.

If the attack succeeds: the targeted Zeppelin retreats, and is placed in the target player's discard pile (Flagships do not retreat when they are successfully attacked).

The attacker then collects 1 Battle point; she takes the top card from any Mercenary deck and tucks it face-down underneath her Flagship card. Each card tucked under the Flagship is considered a "Battle point," and counts as 1 victory point each at the end of the game.

The attacker enacts the Attack effects (the Attack Effect icon) of her Attack card; any effects that impact the target or other players must occur. She then enacts the General effects (the General Effect icon).

Example: Der Blitzmann plays a new Attack card (Maxim Cannon) onto another of his Attack Zeppelins. He opts to attack The Winter Light again, announcing, "Der Dynamo makes an Explosive Attack against The Winter Light." Jacqueline Frost does not have an Explosive Defense card in her hand, so the attack succeeds. The Winter Light retreats, and is moved to Jacqueline Frost's discard pile. Der Blitzmann chooses a Mercenary card from the top of one of the Mercenary decks and tucks it under his Flagship card as a Battle point. Der Blitzmann then enacts the Attack effect on the Maxim Cannon, draws 1 card, and discards 1 card. The Maxim Cannon card has no General effect.

Defense Cards: Defense cards are usually played on other players' turns, in response to an attack (see If the Attack is Blocked for a description of how Defense cards are played during combat). However, they can also be played by the active player during her own turn. When played this way, the active player only enacts the General effects (indicated by the General Effect icon) of the card, ignoring all Defense effects (indicated by the Defense Effect icon). Defense cards played during the active player's turn remain on the Zeppelin or Flagship until the Discard and Draw Up phase.

Example: During his turn, Der Blitzmann plays a Defense card (Conductive Counter Measures) onto his Flagship. Because he is playing the Defense card on his own turn, rather than in defense, the Defense effect is not enacted; however he still enacts the General effect and draws 1 card.

Card anatomy diagram: a Mercenary Operative Card shows its Purchase Cost and Payload Value down the left side, its Victory Points in the top-right corner, and its General Effect text in its text box. A Fate Card shows its Fate Point Value in both top corners and its Fate Effect text in the center.

Operative Cards: Operative cards only have General effects (indicated by the General Effect icon). Operative card effects allow the active player to acquire Fate cards.

Some Operative cards cause players to draw several Fate cards and acquire only the highest or lowest of the drawn cards.

Fate card drawing is always public; all players can see all Fate cards revealed and drawn.

Operative cards may cause players to add acquired Fate cards to their hand, to the top of their draw deck, or to their discard pile, as specified in the effect text.

Example: Der Blitzmann plays an Operative card (Resourceful No. 2) on one of his Operative Zeppelins (The Helios), and the General effect on the card causes him to draw 3 Fate cards and add the lowest to his hand. He draws a 5, a 4, and a 3 Fate card—so he takes the 3 and discards the others. The 3-point Fate card (Mack Silver Discovers the Hollow Earth) has a Fate effect, which is enacted immediately—causing all players to draw a card. The Operative card's payload size number was 2, which exceeded the Helios' Operative capacity of 1, so The Helios will have to retreat during the Discard and Draw Up phase.

Fate Cards: These are the currency of the game, which are used to purchase new cards during the Buying Cards phase.

Fate cards may be acquired as a result of effects during the turn, primarily the play of Operative cards. All Fate cards provide a number of Fate points ranging from 2–5, as indicated by the value in the upper left of the card.

Some Fate cards also have Fate effects; these text effects are detailed on the cards. Fate effects are enacted immediately whenever that Fate card is acquired by a player.

Sometimes a player has a choice between 2 or more Fate cards of equal point value, which may have different text effects; in these cases the player may choose whichever card she prefers.

Sometimes a player may draw more than 1 card with a Fate effect at the same time; in these cases she may choose the order in which the Fate effects occur.

If a Fate effect causes player(s) to acquire additional Fate card(s) with Fate effects, then the Fate effects on the newly acquired cards are not enacted.

If the Fate card deck is exhausted, shuffle the Fate card discard pile and turn it face-down to become the new Fate deck. The Fate discard pile is kept face-up beside the Fate deck.

Phase 2: Buying Cards

In the Buying Cards phase, the active player may spend Fate cards to buy cards from the Mercenary decks, or her Experimental Zeppelin card; each of the Experimental Zeppelin cards may only be bought by the player named on them.

New Action cards may not be played during the Buying Cards phase, but Action cards played during the Action phase may have ongoing effects which get enacted in the Buying Cards phase (e.g., discounts on buying cards).

The active player may buy as many cards as she can afford. The active player may divide her total pool of Fate points from all spent Fate cards and discounts to be spent among multiple card purchases, but cannot get change back for unspent Fate points.

The player returns spent Fate cards from her hand to the Fate discard pile; thus Fate cards are not acquired permanently, but are kept only until they are spent. Spent Fate cards are always returned to the supply.

Bought Airship and Action cards are placed in the active player's hand, unless an active card effect specifies otherwise (Action and Zeppelin cards cannot be played during the Buying Cards phase, and so cannot be played on the turn in which they are bought).

Purging Cards: Whenever an Action card (Attack, Defense, or Operative) is bought, the active player may choose to "purge" an Action card from their hand or discard pile by placing that card underneath her Flagship card. Zeppelins cannot be purged, and buying a Zeppelin does not allow a player to purge a card. Each purged card will count as 1 Battle point at game end. Purging cards reduces the size of your deck, and makes it easier to draw high-value mercenary cards. However, be careful not to totally remove a vital ability from your deck (e.g. don't purge all your Operative cards so that you have no way to get Fate cards).

Example: Der Blitzmann's turn is now in the Buying Cards phase. He has a 3-point Fate card and a 4-point Fate card in his hand. He had also played his Lighting Projector during the Action phase of his turn, giving him a discount of 1 on the first card he buys this turn. The Mercenary Attack card Insanity Ray is available for purchase at a cost of 8 Fate points, and Der Blitzmann uses both his Fate cards and his discount to buy it. He adds the Insanity Ray card to his hand. Because he bought 1 Action card, he may purge 1 card from his hand or discard pile. His discard pile is empty, so he chooses to purge an unused Defense card in his hand, placing it face-down underneath his Flagship card.

Phase 3: Discard and Draw Up

The active player now discards all played Action cards from the Zeppelins and Flagship in her Armada. If any played Action cards had payload size numbers that exceeded the capacity numbers of the Zeppelins they were played on, then those Zeppelins retreat, and are also moved to the player's discard pile.

The active player may choose to discard or keep any cards left in her hand at the end of the turn, completing the phase with a hand of 5 cards total. She may initially discard to below 5 cards, but she must draw her hand back up to 5 cards.

The active player's turn is now over, and the next player to the left becomes the active player.

Reshuffle (as needed)

At any point during the turn, if a player needs to draw cards and her draw deck is exhausted, she shuffles her discard pile and places it face-down as a new draw deck. Player discard piles are placed face-up next to their respective draw decks.

Game End & Scoring

Game End

The game end is triggered when 3 Mercenary decks have been exhausted (buying the Experimental Zeppelins has no impact on game end). Play continues around to the start player, so that the player to the start player's right takes the final turn of the game.

During these final turns, if all the Mercenary decks are exhausted, then players can no longer buy cards, but can continue to take Battle points, representing these by placing Fate cards from the Fate deck underneath their Flagships.

Scoring

Players now tally their scores. Cards with a star icon are worth the number of victory points indicated in the icon.

Battle points (face-down cards tucked underneath the Flagship card) are worth 1 Victory point each.

Players check to see who has the most unspent Fate points left in their decks. The player with the most Fate points gets a bonus of 3 Victory points. If two or more players tie for most Fate, then all the tied players receive 1 VP.

The player with the most Victory point wins. If there is a tie for most Victory points, then the tied player with the most Battle points wins. If there is still a tie, then the tied player with the most Zeppelin cards in her deck wins.

Zeppelin Attack Rules Summary

Phase 1 – Actions: You may take as many of the following actions as you are able to.

Launch a Zeppelin: Add 1 Zeppelin to your Armada (face-up display) from your hand.

Play an Action card onto a Zeppelin or Flagship: Attack, Defense or Operative, 1 Action card per Zeppelin/Flagship each turn—stays on Zeppelin/Flagship till Discard and Draw Up phase.

Attack Card: Active player declares Attack type (Cold, Psionic, Electric, or Explosive) and targets Zeppelin/Flagship. If Flagship is targeted, target player draws card. Target player has opportunity to play Defense card matching Attack type.

If Attack is Blocked by Defense: Enact target Defense card's Defense effect, followed by General effect. Attacker enacts just General effect from Attack card. If Defense card payload size exceeds target Zeppelin Defense capacity, target Zeppelin retreats.

If Attack is not Blocked: Target Zeppelin retreats. Attacker takes top card from 1 Mercenary stack, places it under Flagship card (Battle point). Attacker enacts Attack card Attack effect, followed by General effect.

Operative Card: Enact General text effect to collect Fate cards.

Defense Card: If played on active player's turn, enact General effect.

Phase 2 – Buying Cards: You may spend Fate cards to buy the top cards from Mercenary decks, or your Experimental Zeppelin. Spent Fate cards are discarded. Bought cards go to the player's hand. If Action card is bought, you may purge 1 Action card from hand or discard (Place under Flagship).

Phase 3 – Discard and Draw Up: Remove all played Action cards from Zeppelins/Flagship to your discard pile. If any played Action card's payload sizes exceeded Zeppelin's capacities, those Zeppelins retreat and go to your discard pile. You may discard or keep unplayed cards in your hand, but must discard down to at most 5 cards. If you discard below 5, draw your hand up to 5 cards. Play passes left at the end of this phase.

Anytime: If you need to draw cards, and the draw deck is exhausted, reshuffle the discard pile and place face-down to become the draw deck (Player deck and Fate deck). Fate card text effects are enacted whenever the card is acquired by a player.

Game End & Winning: When three Mercenary decks are exhausted, play back to the Start Player. Player with most Fate points in deck gains bonus 3VP. Battle points are 1VP each. Bought cards worth VP as indicated.