Rules
Welcome to the expanded rules page for Reign Absolute: Umbrous Edition.
Object of the Game
Locate and defeat all enemy Liege Units.
Gameplay Overview
In order to defeat opponent Liege Units you will have to utilise a combination of memory and bluffing, along with the unique Units and abilities of the Faction you are playing.
The game starts with players alternately placing their chosen Faction’s Units to form a grid-base Battlefield.
Players will then take alternating Turns to perform an Action with one of their Units, before drawing from the Reinforcement Deck.
Key Concepts & Mechanics
There is no diagonal utilisation in this game; adjacent refers to only top, bottom, left & right edges.
There is no player hand, all cards are either deployed as Combat Reinforcements or resolved within the current player’s Turn, and cannot be saved for future Turns.
All card effects and Unit abilities must be resolved, regardless if the outcome is already a foregone conclusion, i.e. you need to draw cards from abilities and Combat Reinforcements even if the outcome is already known.
Rules on cards and Faction specific rules take precedence over the base rules.
You can look at your own Units, and their Combat Reinforcements, at any time. You cannot look at enemy Units or their Combat Reinforcements; however, you can count the number of Combat Reinforcements under an enemy Unit.
The Battlefield is as large as the surface you are playing on.
Setup
Start with each player selecting a Faction. The player now takes the Faction’s Faction Deck and shuffles them facedown. Certain Factions have specific Setup requirements; take note of any of these on Faction Rule & Unit cards.
Shuffle facedown all Reinforcements to form the Reinforcement Deck. The 1st Player is randomly determined, by each player drawing a Reinforcement Card and noting the random number value on the bottom right of the Reinforcement Card. The player with the highest value becomes the 1st Player. Discard these drawn cards faceup next to the Reinforcement Deck to form the Reinforcement Discard pile.
Starting with the 1st Player and then proceeding a clockwise direction, players alternatingly place a single Unit facedown in the play area to form a grid-base Battlefield until all Units are placed; players may look at their Unit card before they place them in the play area, but they cannot peak ahead to the Units that will be placed in subsequent placement rounds.
The 1st Player’s first Unit must be placed in the middle of the play area to start forming the Battlefield. The first Unit for the other players must be placed adjacent to an enemy Unit that is already on the Battlefield. All subsequent placements must be adjacent to a Unit from the player’s own Faction. If no valid position is available, the Unit may be placed adjacent to any placed Unit.
After all Units are placed and any Faction specific post-Setup tasks are resolved, then the 1st Player now takes a Turn.
Turn
Players take Turns proceeding in a clockwise direction. Each player’s Turn is broken up into two Phases; the first is the Action Phase followed by the Reinforcement Phase.
Action Phase
The player may do ONE Action. The available Actions are: Move, Attack or Doom.
Some Factions have additional Actions available to them. A player may elect to take no Action and just proceed to the Reinforcement Phase.
Move Action
A Move Action is the movement of a single Unit, along with all Combat Reinforcements under it, to an empty adjacent space in the play area. Units cannot move diagonally. Units cannot move on top of friendly Units. The player does not have to reveal the front face of the Unit that is being moved, nor any of its Combat Reinforcements. A Unit may move away from other Units; effectively creating a gap in the Battlefield.
Attack Action
The Attack Action is similar to a Move Action, with the difference being the Unit moves into an adjacent enemy occupied space resulting in combat. A Unit cannot attack diagonally. The attacking Unit along with its Combat Reinforcements are placed faceup on top of the enemy Unit.
The defending player then reveals the Unit that is being attacked, along with all of that Unit’s Combat Reinforcements.
Any Unit abilities are resolved at the appropriate stage of Combat as described on the Unit’s ability text. Unit abilities and Combat Reinforcements may result in Reinforcements being drawn from the Reinforcement Deck. Any Turn Reinforcements are ignored and discarded immediately. All Combat Reinforcements are immediately resolved in the current combat.
Any Combat Reinforcement effects are resolved and each Unit’s overall strength is determined by adding the Unit’s base Strength to any Combat Reinforcement modifiers. The Unit with the lowest total Strength is defeated. If the Strength values are equal both Units are defeated. Defeated Units are discarded faceup to each player’s Unit Discard pile. All Combat Reinforcements from all Units involved in the Combat are also discarded. Combat Reinforcements are discarded to the Reinforcement Discard pile.
If the attacking Unit is victorious, it moves into the space that it was attacking. If the defending Unit is victorious, it remains in the space it was defending.
Attack Example
The Empire Archers are attacking the Elves Enchantress. The Archers, base Strength of 4 with +4 Attack bonus, has a +3 Attack Combat Reinforcement and +6 Defence Combat Reinforcement, the +6 Defence Combat Reinforcement is ignored as the Archers are attacking; the Archers have a total attacking Strength of 11. The Enchantress, base Strength of 4, has a +2 Strength Combat Reinforcement and +2 Defence Combat Reinforcement; making a total defending Strength of 8.
However, the Enchantress has an ability of drawing 2 Reinforcements at the start of combat. She draws an “Another Turn” Turn Reinforcement, which is ignored and discarded because it is a Turn Reinforcement. The second card she draws is a “Draw 2” Combat Reinforcement, which immediately allows her to draw 2 more Reinforcements.
This time she draws a +4 Defence Combat Reinforcement and a “Cancel” Combat Reinforcement. The “Cancel” Combat Reinforcement voids all of the Archers’ Combat Reinforcements, dropping their total attacking Strength to 8. With the additional +4 Defence Combat Reinforcement, the Enchantress’ total defending Strength is now 12. The Archers are defeated and are discarded. All of the Combat Reinforcements of both Units are discarded.
Doom Action
The Doom Action is a devastating final solution to wipe the remaining opponent Units from the Battlefield.
Basically all players, including the current player, must discard a Unit of their choice along with any Combat Reinforcements under that Unit. The process begins with the player to the left of the player that called . Progressing clockwise, each player must discard a Unit of their choice, along with all of that Unit’s Combat Reinforcements.
If the Unit discarded is the Liege, then that player is eradicated from the game, and the player who called Doom immediately receives the bonus for eradicating another player (see Victory section).
Continuing clockwise, with each player discarding a Unit until it gets to the player who called Doom who must also discard a Unit like all other players.
If a player chooses the Doom Action, then they must skip the Reinforcement Phase, i.e. a player that calls Doom will not draw any Reinforcements at the end of their Turn.
Doom Example
Player A has 3 Units and Player B has 2 Units. For their turn Player A does the Doom Action. Player B must discard a Unit, leaving them with only 1 Unit; their Liege. Player A now discards a Unit, leaving them with 2 Units. For their turn Player B does an Attack Action. Their Liege defeats a Unit of Player A. Both players now have 1 Unit each.
For their turn Player A does the Doom Action again. This time Player B must discard their Liege Unit, eradicating them from the game. Player A is victorious.
Reinforcement Phase
The player draws one Reinforcement from the Reinforcement Deck. There are two types of Reinforcements; Combat Reinforcements & Turn Reinforcements.
If the Reinforcement Deck has been depleted, shuffle the Reinforcement Discard pile facedown to form a new Reinforcement Deck.
Combat Reinforcements provide a benefit for Units during combat. Immediately after being drawn, Combat Reinforcements are placed facedown under a Unit to provide a bonus for that Unit. A Unit can have multiple Combat Reinforcements placed under it. They are not revealed to other players at the placement stage; only when that Unit is involved in combat.
Turn Reinforcements provide the player with a more immediate tactical advantage. Turn Reinforcements are revealed and resolved immediately; they are not placed under Unit cards. Turn Reinforcements may be ignored and discarded; they cannot be stored for later use.
Once all drawn Reinforcements are either resolved or deployed, the player’s Turn ends and the next clockwise player starts their Turn.
Victory
A player wins when they have the only remaining Liege Unit in play.
If a player’s Liege Unit is defeated in combat, or through a Doom Action, that player is eradicated from the game.
If a player is eradicated, all of their Units are removed from the play area, and all their Combat Reinforcements are discarded to the Reinforcement Discard pile. The player that eradicates another player from the game, even if through a defensive encounter, immediately takes a Unit of their choice from their Unit Discard pile and places it adjacent to one of their Units on the Battlefield.
FAQ
When the Azuma Shogun is defending in Combat, does the Azuma Player need to reveal all adjacent Swordsmen Units?
When the Shogun is defending, the Azuma Player may reveal as many adjacent Swordsmen Units as they wish to gain the defensive bonus from her ability. For each Swordsmen Unit that is revealed, the Shogun gains +3 Defence. Swordsmen Units that are not revealed do not contribute their bonus to the Shogun. After the Combat has concluded, return all Swordsmen Units facedown.