Kingdom Combat CCG
Full Comprehensive Manual

OBJECTIVE

In Kingdom Combat, you are a Faction Leader. Your goal is to destroy your opponent’s Fortress while protecting your own. The first player to reduce the enemy Fortress hit points to 0 wins!

Kingdom Combat can be played by 2 or more players. Each player needs to have their own deck of at least 30 cards and a fortress.

CARD BASICS

Fortress

How to Win the Game

The game begins and ends with the Fortress:

The Setup: Your Fortress is your base of operations. It starts the game already in play within your Fortress Zone, protected by the Starting Garrison you hired.
The Goal: Protect your home while sieging your enemies. A player is eliminated when their Fortress takes enough damage to lose all its HP and is destroyed.
The Victor: The last player with a Fortress still standing is the winner!

Structures

Structures & Gold

Think of Structures as your kingdom's engine. They are your primary way to grow your power and fund your army.

Placement: Whenever you play a Structure card, it goes into your Structures Zone.
Income: This zone is your main source of wealth. At the start of every turn, your structures "produce" gold.
Gold as a Resource: Gold is the currency you use for everything. You need it to:
- Deploy new cards from your hand.
- Pay for special unit abilities or card effects.

Key Strategy: The more structures you build and protect, the more gold you'll have to play bigger and better cards each turn!

To make these terms as clear as possible for new players, here is a quick breakdown of the "Economy" and "Identity" of your cards:

The Gold System

Starting Gold: Your "hiring budget" before the game begins. Use this to pick units from your deck to start as your Garrison.
- Note: These units start Active at your Fortress. Any leftover gold from this budget vanishes once the game starts—so spend as much as you can!
Gold Per Turn: This is your "income." At the start of every turn, your Fortress and Structures generate this much gold for you to spend on new cards.

Card Identification

Faction: The "team" the card belongs to. When building your deck, you are restricted to the one or two factions you chose for your Fortress.
Card Type: The specific category or "job" of the card (for example, a Unit might have the sub-type Knight or Archer).

Here is a simple breakdown of how to track health and costs during the game:

Health and Costs

Hit Points (HP): This represents a structure's "life."
- Unlike units (which heal minor damage at the end of the turn), damage to structures is permanent.
- Use dice or counters to track how much HP a structure has lost. When it hits 0 HP, it is destroyed.
Cost: The "price tag" of a card.
- You must pay this amount in gold to play a card from your hand or to use a special ability listed on a card.
Effect: The special powers of a card.
- This is the text on the card that explains what it does while it is on the playfield.

ACTION CARDS

There are 4 different types of action cards:

Dirty Tricks (Instant & Flexible)

When: Play them at any time, on any player's turn.
Purpose: These are designed to surprise your opponent or shift the momentum of a battle as it's happening.
Vibe: A "gotcha" moment that can change the outcome of a move instantly.

Events (Strategic & Restricted)

When: Play them only during your own turn.
Restriction: They cannot be played during the Combat Stage.
Purpose: These are powerful cards that usually impact the entire board or set the tone for your whole turn.
Vibe: A big tactical maneuver used to build your advantage before the fighting starts.

Playing Events & Dirty Tricks

Whenever you play an Event or a Dirty Trick, follow these three steps in order:

Pay: Spend the required cost.
Resolve: Carry out the instructions written on the card.
Discard: Place the card into your discard pile once the effect is finished.

Understanding the "Stack" (Last In, First Out)

If players play multiple cards in response to one another, they resolve in reverse order. The last card played is always the first one to take effect.

Example of Play:

Step 1: Player A plays an Event card.
Step 2: Player B reacts by playing a Dirty Trick.

The Result: Because Player B was the last to play, their Dirty Trick happens first. Once that is finished, Player A’s Event card happens second.

Pro Tip: Think of it like a physical stack of cards—you always have to peel the top card off the pile before you can get to the one underneath it.

Abilities (Flexible Attachments)

Target: You can play these on any unit currently on the board (yours or your opponent's).
Timing: Only on your turn, either before or after the Combat Stage.
Effect: They stay attached to that specific unit and modify how it behaves.
Removal: If the unit leaves the board and goes to the discard pile, the Ability card goes with it.

Equipment (Personal Gear)

Target: You can only play these on units you control.
Timing: Only on your turn, either before or after the Combat Stage.
Limit: A unit can only have one of each type of equipment (e.g., one Sword, one Shield).
Removal: If your unit is defeated and goes to the discard pile, the Equipment is also discarded.

UNITS

Units are the heart of your army. You use them to defend your own structures and crush your opponent’s forces, buildings, and Fortress to win the game.

The Basics of Deployment

Arrival: Units are played at your Fortress.
State: They enter the board Exhausted (they cannot act immediately).
Cost: The amount of Gold required to put the unit into play.

Combat Stats

Attack: The damage this unit deals when it is your turn and you are on the offensive.
Defense: The damage this unit deals when it is the opponent's turn and you are protecting your board.
Armor: Think of this as a "Damage Threshold." It is the amount of damage a unit can soak up in a single turn before it actually loses health.

Health & Hit Points (HP)

HP represents how many "lives" a unit has. Every unit has at least 1 HP.

1 HP: Most units. There is no special icon for this.
Multi-HP: If a unit has more than 1 HP, it will be clearly marked on the card.
Taking Damage: Damage is compared to Armor.
- If damage equals your Armor, you lose 1 HP.
- If damage is double your Armor, you lose 2 HP, and so on.
Permanent Loss: Unlike some games where health resets, HP loss in Kingdom Combat is permanent. At 0 HP, the unit is destroyed and sent to the discard pile.

Example Scenario: If your unit has 3 Armor and 2 HP, and it takes 6 damage in one turn, it loses both HP and is immediately destroyed. If it only took 3 damage, it would survive but remain at 1 HP for the rest of the game.

Card Details

Type: The specific category or "sub-type" of the unit (e.g., Archer, Knight).
Effect: Any unique special rules the unit has while on the board.
Skill: Icons representing common abilities. You can find the "Reminder Text" explaining these skills in parentheses inside the Effect box.

Skills

Mounted: Mounted units can move up to 2 zones per turn or attack up to 2 zones away. You cannot move through a zone with an opposing unit.

Ranged: Ranged units can exhaust and deal damage to a unit up to 1 zone away. The number next to the arrow is how much damage is done when the unit uses it's range ability. The range ability can be used during any player's turn at ANY time.

Charge: Attacking units with Charge deal damage first in combat. It will deal damage before a defending unit can deal its damage. If the attacking unit deals enough damage to destroy the defending unit, the defending unit is destroyed before it has a chance to defend and no damage is done to the attacking unit by the defending unit that was destroyed.

Deflect: A unit with Deflect prevents all damage from range attacks.

Etherial: A unit with Etherial prevents 1 damage from EACH source that deals damage to this unit.

Dual Wield: A unit with Dual Wield may use up to 2 weapon equipment cards.

Alert: A unit with Alert cannot be targeted by your opponent's dirty tricks. You can still play dirty tricks and target this unit.

USING YOUR UNITS

Active

Exhausted

In Kingdom Combat, units exist in one of two states: Active or Exhausted. Mastering how to manage these states is the key to controlling the battlefield.

The Two States

Active (Vertical): The unit is standing tall and ready for action.
Exhausted (Horizontal): The unit has spent its energy and is "tapped out" until your next turn.

How it Works

Deployment: All units enter the playfield at your Fortress in the Exhausted state.
The Refresh: At the very beginning of your turn, turn all your exhausted cards vertically to make them Active.
Taking Action: Once a unit performs an action, you must Exhaust it (turn it sideways). It cannot do anything else until your next turn.

What can an Active Unit do?

If a unit is vertical, you may choose one of the following actions. Performing any of these will exhaust the unit:

Attack: Strike units or structures up to 1 zone away (unless the unit is Mounted, which may have different rules).
Move: Travel between different structures or zones.
Activate Effects: Use special card abilities that specifically require you to "exhaust" the unit.
Combat Support: * Join-In: Enter an ongoing battle already happening on the battlefield.
- Retreat: Withdraw from a combat encounter (Note: Exhausted units cannot retreat).

GAME ZONES

The Basic Setup

Each player must have these three areas ready:

The Deck: Your main pile of cards, shuffled and face-down.
The Discard Pile: Where your used Events and defeated units go.
The Fortress: Your primary structure, which starts the game already in play.

The Starting Garrison

Before the game starts, you get to "hire" your first defenders.

Choose Units: Pick specific units from your deck to be your Starting Garrison.
Spend Gold: You must pay for these units using your Starting Gold.
Deploy: Place these units at your Fortress.
Status: Unlike units played later, your Starting Garrison begins the game Active (Vertical) and ready for action!

Where Cards Go

It is important to remember that each card type enters the game in a specific zone.

Units always start at your Fortress.
Structures are placed in their own designated zones.
Events and Dirty Tricks are played to the center "stack" and then moved to the Discard Pile.

To make the game layout easier to learn, think of the table as being divided into your protected territory and the shared combat zone.

1. Your Homelands (Your Side of the Board)

Your "Homelands" is the collective name for your private territory. It consists of two specific areas:

The Fortress Zone: This is your command center.
- Place your Fortress and Starting Garrison here at the beginning of the game.
- Any new units you hire always arrive here.
- Reminder: New units arrive Exhausted (turned sideways).
The Structures Zone: This is where you build your base.
- When you play a Structure, line it up next to your others.
- When units move into this zone, they must "enter" a structure if one is available. If all structures are full, they occupy the space where a previous unit was stationed.

2. The Battlefield (The Shared Zone)

The Battlefield is "No Man's Land"—a neutral space in the middle of the table.

Neutral Ground: Both players can have units here at the same time.
The "Blocker" Rule: You cannot move your units past the Battlefield if an opponent has a unit stationed there.
The "Clear the Way" Rule: You are not allowed to attack an opponent’s Structures from the Battlefield until you have defeated all opposing units currently in the Battlefield.

3. Card Management

The Deck: Your deck is your resource pile. It can only contain cards from your Fortress’s faction and Mercenarycards.
The Discard Pile: This is your face-up "graveyard." Cards go here when:
- A unit or structure is destroyed.
- An Event or Dirty Trick finishes its effect.

STARTING THE GAME

To get your game of Kingdom Combat started, follow these steps in order. Setting up correctly ensures a fair fight!

1. Build Your Starting Garrison

Before drawing any cards, you must hire your first defenders:

Budget: Check your Fortress card for its "Starting Gold" amount.
Hire: Search your deck for units to "buy." Their combined cost must be equal to or less than your Starting Gold.
Restriction: You cannot hire units that cost 0 Gold for your starting garrison.
Deploy: Place these units face-down at your Fortress. They begin the game Active.
Note: Any unspent starting gold is lost; it does not carry over to Turn 1.

2. Drawing Your Hand

Once your garrison is set, shuffle your deck thoroughly.

Each player draws 7 cards.
Once everyone has their hand, flip your starting garrison units face-up.

3. The Mulligan (Optional)

If you don't like your starting hand, you can trade it in for a new one.

First Mulligan: Shuffle your 7 cards back into your deck and draw 7 new ones. This is Free.
Second Mulligan: You may do it again, but your Fortress will produce 1 less Gold on your first turn.
Additional Mulligans: Each extra mulligan costs you another -1 Gold on your first turn.
The Limit: You cannot mulligan more times than your Fortress’s total gold production. If your gold reaches 0, you must keep that hand.

4. Determining the First Player

Once all hands are finalized, use a coin flip or die roll to see who starts.

The First Player Rule: The person who goes first does not draw a card on their very first turn.

STAGES OF A TURN

To make the flow of the game easier to track, here is the breakdown of a single turn in Kingdom Combat.

1. Beginning Stage (The Reset)

Reset Gold: Clear any unspent gold from your last turn. You always start at 0.
Ready Up: Turn all your exhausted cards vertically to make them Active.
Collect Income: Gain new gold from your Fortress, structures, and other card effects.
Draw: Take 1 card from your deck. (Remember: The very first player skip this on Turn 1).

2. Pre-Combat Stage (The Build-Up)

This is your main time to prepare. You can:

Play Cards: Units, Structures, Abilities, Equipment, Events, and Dirty Tricks.
Move: Shift units to zones that aren't occupied by the enemy.
Activate: Use any special effects on your cards.
Note: Your opponent can play Dirty Tricks or card effects during this time to disrupt you!

3. Combat Stage (The Clash)

Combat happens in three distinct steps:

Declare Attacks: Choose your active units and their targets (must be within 1 zone). Move them into the fight and Exhaust them. You must pick all attackers now.
Defend or Retreat: Your opponent chooses what to do with their Active units.
- Stay: They stay and fight.
- Retreat: They move back 1 zone and become Exhausted. (Exhausted units cannot retreat!)
Resolve Damage: All units involved deal their damage simultaneously. Destroyed cards go to the discard pile.

4. Post-Combat Stage (The Reinforcement)

If you have gold left, you get a second chance to act:

You can play more units, equipment, or structures.
You can move units that are still Active into unoccupied zones.
This is a great time to shore up defenses after a big fight.

5. End of Turn (The Clean-Up)

Heal Minor Damage: If a unit took damage but didn't lose an HP, that "partial" damage is removed.
Clear Effects: Any card abilities that say "until end of turn" stop working now.
Pass the Turn: Let your opponent know you are finished.

COMBAT BASICS

To make the Combat Stage easier to follow, think of it as a three-step process: Declare, Respond, and Resolve.

1. Declare Attacks

Choose Attackers: Select any of your Active (vertical) units.
Pick Targets: Each unit can attack a target (a unit or structure) up to 1 zone away.
Commit: You must declare all attackers at once. Once you commit, move them toward their targets and Exhaustthem (turn them sideways).

2. The Defender's Choice

Your opponent looks at their units being attacked and chooses one of two options:

Option A: Stand and Fight. The unit stays put and deals damage back.
Option B: Retreat. If the unit is Active, it can flee to avoid damage. It moves back 1 zone, becomes Exhausted, and takes zero damage from that attack.

Important Restrictions:

Exhausted units cannot retreat; they must stay and fight.
Fortress units cannot retreat; they must defend their home.
You cannot retreat further back than your Fortress.

3. Resolve Damage

If the defender stays (or is forced to stay), both units strike at the same time:

Attacker deals: Damage equal to its Attack value.
Defender deals: Damage equal to its Defense value.

How Armor & HP Work:

Damage is applied to a unit’s Armor first.
If damage equals or exceeds the Armor value, the unit loses 1 HP.
0 HP = Destroyed. The unit is sent to the discard pile.
Healing: Damage "lingers" during the turn, but is fully cleared at the End of Turn (unless a unit actually lost an HP, which is permanent).

In this example, the attacker is doing 4 damage to the defender's 2 armor which is enough damage to destroy the defender. The defender is only doing 2 damage to the attacker's 4 armor so it

will survive as long as 2 more points of damage are not done to it before the end of the turn.

Here is a simpler way to handle combat when structures and high-health units are involved.

Defending a Structure

When an enemy attacks your building, your units act as a "human shield."

If a Unit Defends: The unit takes the hit first.
- The unit absorbs damage up to its Armor value.
- Any overflow damage (the leftover amount) hits the structure.
If No One Defends: If a structure is undefended, the attacker deals its full Attack damage directly to the structure’s HP.
Destruction: Once a structure reaches 0 HP, it is destroyed and sent to the discard pile.

Units with Multiple HP

Think of Armor as the "cost" to remove one life point (HP) from a unit.

The Math: For every "set" of damage equal to its Armor, the unit loses 1 HP.
The "One-Turn" Rule: All damage dealt to a unit in a single turn is added together to see how much HP is lost.
Permanent Loss: Unlike regular damage which clears at the end of the turn, lost HP never comes back.

Example in Action: You have a Veteran Knight with 2 Armor and 3 HP.

If he takes 2 damage: He loses 1 HP. (Remaining: 2 HP)

If he takes 4 damage: He loses 2 HP. (Remaining: 1 HP)

If he takes 6 damage: He loses all 3 HP and is destroyed.

ADVANCED COMBAT

Fighting in the Battlefield and using Teamwork are essential strategies. Here is how those mechanics work:

Battlefield Combat

The Battlefield is a neutral zone, so combat here is a direct unit-versus-unit duel.

Targeting: You declare your attack directly against an enemy unit standing in the Battlefield.
Retreating: If your unit wants to retreat from the Battlefield, it must have a safe place to go. You can only retreat into your own Structure Zone or an actual Structure if you have one that is not occupied by an opponent.
Trapped: If your Structure Zone is occupied by an opponent's unit, or if you have no room to move back into a structure that is not occupied by an opponent, your unit cannot retreat and must stay and fight.

Joining Units (Teamwork)

You don’t have to fight alone! If you have multiple Active units in the same location, they can "stack" to act as a single, powerful force.

Combined Stats: When units join together, you add all their Attack, Defense, and Armor values into one total number.
How to Stack: You choose the order of the units in the stack.
Taking Damage: Damage is dealt to the units in the order you stacked them. The first unit takes the damage until its Armor/HP is depleted, then any leftover damage carries over to the next unit in line.

Example of Joining Units

Imagine you join a Scout (1 Armor) and a Knight (3 Armor) to defend:

Total Armor: Your combined defense has 4 Armor.
Order: You put the Knight in front.
Result: The enemy must deal 3 damage just to get past the Knight before they can even touch the Scout.

In this example, the attacker is attacking 3 defending units that have joined together to defend. The attacker will do 4 damage to the joined together defenders and destroy the first 2 defending units. The defenders that joined together will do a total of 6 damage to the attacker and destroy it.

After a battle is over, any team-up naturally dissolves. Here is the simplest way to remember it:

Separating After Combat

Once the Combat Stage ends, your units stop acting as a single "stack" and return to being individuals.

The Rule: If your units joined together to attack or defend, they separate immediately after the fight is resolved.
The Exception: If the units are currently inside a Structure, they can stay together.
The Result: If they are out in the open (like in the Battlefield or a Structure Zone), they are treated as separate units again for the rest of the turn.

Summary:

During Combat: Combined Stats (Attack, Defense, Armor).
After Combat: Individual Stats.

DECK BUILDING

Building a powerful Kingdom Combat deck is straightforward once you know the fundamentals. Follow these four steps to get battle-ready:

1. Select Your Factions

Decide whether you want to specialize in a single faction or mix the strengths of two factions. Your choice here dictates the cards available for the rest of your build.

2. Designate Your Fortress

Pick one Fortress card from each of your chosen factions. This serves as your base of operations and is the most critical card in your setup.

Single Faction

With only one fortress, you can only use cards from that one faction to create your deck.

<-- Ignore this line.

Dual Faction

With up to 2 fortresses, you can use cards from both these factions to create your deck. When combining fortresses you ignore the bottom line of the top fortress and replace it with the bottom line of the bottom fortress to get your final fortress stats. Depending on how they are stacked will decide your fortress' total stats.

<-- Use these lines as your bottom stats.

<-- Use this line as your top stats.

3. Construct Your Deck

Select a minimum of 30 cards from your chosen factions to form your main deck. Note that your Fortress cards are kept separate and do not count toward this 30-card minimum deck size.

4. Prepare for Battle

Set your Garrison: Choose your starting garrison.
Shuffle: Give your deck a thorough mix.
Engage: Find an opponent and begin the skirmish!

There are different colored borders on the cards that restrict how many of the same named card you can have in your deck.

Gold

Up to 1 per deck

Silver

Up to 2 per deck

Black

Up to 4 per deck

Green

Not in your deck

Green border cards are token unit cards and are not to be put into a deck. Token units are treated the same as any other unit when in play.

Building your first Kingdom Combat deck is all about balance. Use these five tips to create a deck that is reliable, powerful, and fun to play:

1. Lean and Mean (The 30-Card Rule)

While 30 cards is the minimum, it’s also usually the best number. A smaller deck makes it much more likely that you’ll draw your strongest cards when you actually need them.

2. Balance Your Units and Structures

Your deck needs a healthy mix of "Economy" and "Military":

The Army (1/2 to 1/3 of your deck): Units are your only way to attack and defend. If you don't have enough, you'll be left defenseless.
The Economy (1/4 of your deck): Structures are your primary source of Gold. If you don't have enough structures, you won't be able to afford your expensive units.

3. Mind Your Budget (The Gold Curve)

Before adding a powerful card, ask yourself: "Can I actually afford this?" If your deck is full of high-cost cards but you have low-income structures, you’ll spend most of the game with a hand you can't play.

4. Find a Strategy

Don't just pick "good" cards—pick cards that work together. Look for a theme (like focusing on Ranged units) or a faction keyword and build your strategy around that. Synergy is often stronger than raw power.

5. Experiment and Adapt

Your deck isn't set in stone. If a card feels useless during a game, swap it out! Some of the best strategies are discovered by accident when trying out a new card interaction.

THE FINAL RULES

HAVE FUN!

Kingdom Combat was designed as an expandable, social experience. We encourage you to get creative—invent new ways to play, design multiplayer variants, and tailor the game to be fun for your entire group!

We would love to hear your stories and ideas. If you’ve created a new game mode, please email us your suggestions! Your feedback helps shape the future of the kingdom.

One Final Rule

In the heat of battle, you may find a card that seems to contradict these instructions. Remember the golden rule of Kingdom Combat: If a card’s text contradicts the rulebook, the card always wins.

Kingdom Combat CCG Full Comprehensive Manual

Table of Contents