Kingdom Combat
Full Comprehensive Manual
Table of Contents
OBJECTIVE
In Kingdom Combat, your objective is to build up your kingdom and hire a diverse group of units to march across the battlefield and destroy your opponent's fortress, while the whole time defending yours.
Last fortress standing wins!
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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
Let's start by learning a few basic terms before learning how to read the cards and how to use them.
Starting Gold: This gold is used to hire units from your deck and place them in your fortress before the game starts. These units start the game active. Unused starting gold is lost before the game starts.
Gold Per Turn: How much gold a structure produces at the beginning of each of your turns.
Card Type: The sub-type of the card.
Faction: When building a deck, you choose what faction you will play as. Each card belongs to a certain faction. You build your deck from cards of that faction. Different factions cannot be in the same deck. The Mercenaries faction is the exception to this rule. Mercenary cards may be added to any other faction deck.
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Hit Points (HP): How much damage a structure can take before it is destroyed. Damage done to structures is permanent and should be marked with counters or dice.
Cost: How much gold it costs to play a card from your hand.
Effect: Other effects or abilities a card has while it is in play are here.
Fortress
Your fortress starts the game in play with your hired starting garrison in your fortress zone. The game ends when a fortress takes enough damage to be destroyed and there is only 1 fortress left standing.
Structures
Structures come into play in your structures zone. This is where most of your gold is produced each turn. Gold is your resource used to play cards from your hand or pay other card costs.
ACTION CARDS
There are 3 different types of action cards:
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Dirty Trick: Dirty Tricks can be played during any player's turn and at any time. They are meant to surprise your opponent and make changes to the game outcome.
Event: Events can only be played on your turn but not during the combat stage. They are usually something larger that can effect the entire turn or board.
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When a Dirty Trick or Event is played, you pay its cost, follow the effect on the card, and then place it into your discard pile. If multiple cards are played at the same time, they resolve in a last played, first out. For example, if player 1 plays an event card and then player 2 responds to player 1 by playing a dirty trick, the dirty trick effect will happen and then the event card effect will happen.
Ability: Abilities are played onto any unit in play and affect the unit they are attached to. They can only be played on your turn before or after your combat stage. When a unit with an ability is put into the discard pile, so is the ability.
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Equipment: Equipment is played ONLY on units you control and affect the unit they are attached to. They can only be played on your turn before or after your combat stage. Units can only have 1 of each type of equipment. When a unit with equipment is is put into your discard pile, so is the equipment.
UNITS
Your army is made up of units. Use them to protect your structures and destroy your opponent's units, structures, and fortress to win the game!
Attack: The amount of damage this unit does in combat when attacking on your turn.
Defense: The amount of damage this unit does in combat when it is defending. If it is not your turn, you are defending.
Armor: The amount of damage this unit can take during one turn before it loses 1 HP.
Cost: How much gold it costs to put that unit into play. Units come into play exhausted at your fortress.
Type: the sub-type of the unit.
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Effect: If the unit has any other effects while in play, they are listed here.
Hit Points (HP): All units have 1 HP. If a unit has more than 1 HP it will be shown here. Hit points is a multiplier of ther unit's armor. When a unit takes damage equal to or greater than its armor in 1 turn, one HP is lost. If a unit takes double its armor in damage, 2 HP are lost. And so on. Loss of HP is permanent. If a unit is reduced to 0 HP, it is destroyed and put into your discard pile.
Skill: Units can have various skills and will have the symbol here indicating what those are. Reminder text of what those skills do will also be in the effect box in parentheses. Below is a list of those skills and a description of them.
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
Units can be active or exhausted while on the playfield. Depending on if they are active or exhausted, they can perform certain actions. All your units become active at the beginning of your turn. Turning a card vertically indicates it is active and ready for action.
Active units may do any of the following actions:
- Attack units or structures up to 1 zone away
(unless it is mounted).
- Move between structures or zones.
- Use effects that require the unit to exhaust.
- Retreat during combat.
- Join-in during combat if units are together in the battlefield
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If a unit does any of these actions it is exhausted and cannot do another action until it is active again. Any new hired units come into play exhausted at your fortress. When you do any action with a unit, you exhaust it. Exhaust a unit by turning the card horizontally. This indicates the unit cannot do any other actions till your next turn. Exhausted units cannot retreat during combat.
GAME ZONES
Here is how the table is setup before the game begins. Each player starts with a deck, discard pile, and their Fortress in play with their starting garrison. A player's starting garrison are units that are in your deck that you hire with your starting gold. Those units start the game in play active at your Fortress.
Each card type comes into play in different zones.
Fortress: This is where your fortress is placed at the start of the game with your starting garrison. This is also where new hired units comes into play. Units come into play exhausted.
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Structures: Structures come into play in your structures zone. Structures are lined up next to each other as they are brought into play. Units moving into the Structures Zone must move into a structure, if one is present, or to a spot where a unit has been left outside of a structure.
Battlefield: No one owns or controls this zone. Units from both players can occupy this space. A player cannot attack an opponent's structure from the battlefield unless there are no opposing units in the battlefield. Units cannot pass through the battlefield if an opponent has a unit here.
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Deck: Each player has a deck made of cards from the same faction as your fortress and cards from the Mercenaries faction.
Discard Pile: When a card in play is destroyed or after an action card is played, it is placed face up in your discard pile.
Homelands: Your homelands consist of your structure zone and fortress zone on your side of the battlefield.
STARTING THE GAME
Each player puts their fortress in the Fortress Zone. Then each player goes through their deck and hires their starting garrison. You each spend your fortress’ starting gold on any number of unit in your deck that's total cost equals up to the total of your starting gold. You cannot hire units that have a zero cost. Place these units in your fortress face down. These units begin the game active. If you do not spend all of your starting gold, any left over gold is lost at the start of the game.
After all players have chosen their starting units and shuffled their deck, each player draws 7 cards and flips their starting garrison over.
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Mulligan Rules
After you draw your starting hand of 7 cards you have the choice to mulligan if you do not like your starting hand. That means you may shuffle the cards from your hand back into your deck and draw a new hand of 7 cards. You can do this once without penalty.
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If you decide to mulligan a second time, at the start of the game your fortress will produce 1 less gold on your first turn. For each additional time you mulligan, you lose another gold on your first turn. You can only mulligan a number of times equal to the gold your fortress produces. Once it produces zero gold, you are stuck with the hand you have.
After the play field is set up and everyone is done deciding if they wish to mulligan, flip a coin or roll a die to see who goes first. The player that goes first does not get to draw a card on their first turn.
STAGES OF A TURN
Beginning Stage:
1. Lose all gold - Any gold left over from your previous turn is lost. Your gold total is now zero.
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2. Activate All Cards - Make all your units active.
3.Gain Gold - Gain gold from all your structures and other sources in play. This is the amont of gold you will have to play cards until the start of your next turn.
4. Draw a Card - Draw 1 card from your deck. The player that goes first will not draw a card on their first turn.
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Pre-combat Stage:
You can play any number of event, dirty trick, ability, unit, equipment, or structure cards during this stage. You can use any unit effects or structure effects. You can move units to other zones that are not occupied by your opponent. Your opponent can also use any unit effects, structure effects, or play any dirty tricks.
Combat Stage:
1. Choose All Attackers and Their Targets - You choose which active units you control that will attack other units or structures up to 1 zone away. Move those units into combat and exhaust them. All attacking units must be chosen before moving to the next stage.
2. Choose to Defend or Retreat - Your opponent has the choice to stay and defend or retreat if their unit is active. If the unit retreats, it moves back 1 zone, is removed from combat, and is exhausted. If the defending unit is already exhausted it cannot retreat and must stay and defend.
3. Deal Combat Damage - Damage is dealt by all attacking and defending units. Any units or structures that receive enough damage is destroyed and placed into their owner’s discard pile.
During any of these steps any player may use any unit effects, structure effects, or play any dirty tricks.
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Post-Combat Stage:
Again you can play any number of event, dirty trick, ability, unit, equipment, or structure cards during this stage. You can use any unit effects or structure effects. You can move units to other zones that are not occupied by your opponent. Your opponent can also use any unit effects, structure effects, or play any dirty tricks.
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End of Turn:
Your turn ends when you decide there are no more cards to play, units or structures effects to use, or units to move. Any left over damage on units that
did not cause them to lose a HP is now removed. All effects that last "till end of turn" or "this turn" now end. It is now your opponent's turn.
COMBAT BASICS
During your combat stage, choose which of your active units will attack. All attacks must be declared before proceeding. Each unit can attack a unit or structure up to 1 zone away. Attacking units attack simultaneously as they move into the zone or structure being attacked, and exhaust.
If the unit being attacked is active, the defending unit has the option to stay and defend or exhaust and retreat back one zone. Units that retreat take no damage from the unit that attacked it. If the defending unit is already exhausted, it has to stay and defend. You cannot retreat further back than your fortress. Any unit in a fortress must stay and defend.
Attacking units deals damage equal to it’s attack to the defending unit’s armor. Defending units deal damage equal to its defense to the attacking unit’s armor. If a unit takes an amount of damage equal to or greater than its armor in 1 turn, it loses 1 HP. A unit with 0 HP is destroyed and put into your discard pile. Damage done to units remains till the end of the turn. At the end of the turn, all damage is removed from all units.
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.
DEFENDING A STRUCTURE
When a structure is being attacked and a defending unit stays to defend the structure, damage is dealt to the defending unit first. Any damage beyond the defending unit's armor is done to the structure. If a unit is attacking a structure that is not being defended, it deals damage equal to its attack to that structure's HP. A structure with 0 HP is destroyed and placed into your discard pile.
UNITS WITH MULTIPLE HP
When a unit with more than 1 HP is dealt damage, it loses 1 HP for each multiple of it’s armor that it takes in 1 turn. (example: If a unit with 2 armor takes 4 damage in 1 turn, it loses 2 HP in that turn.) Loss of HP is permanent until that unit leaves play.
ADVANCED COMBAT
BATTLEFIELD COMBAT
When declaring combat in the Battlefield Zone, you directly attack a unit in the battlefield. If a unit retreats from the battlefield, it must have a structure or a Structure Zone to retreat into that is not occupied by an opponent. If there is nowhere to retreat to, you must stay and fight.
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JOINING UNITS
Active units that are in the same place can join together to attack or defend during combat. Joining units adds those unit's attack, defense, and armor together and they work as one unit. Damage is taken by units in the order they are placed in combat.
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.
At the end of combat, all surviving units that joined together during the turn are separated treated separately again if they are not in a structure.
DECK BUILDING
Your deck must have at least 30 cards, excluding your fortress. You can use any of the cards from the same faction as the fortress you have chosen. Mercenaries is the only faction that may be played alone or mixed with any other faction.
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.
DECK BUILDING TIPS
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Here are some basic tips for building your first deck and getting started playing Kingdom Combat:
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- Keep your deck as close to 30 cards as you can. Smaller decks play more consistently.
- Units are crucial to dealing damage to your opponents and protecting your kingdom. 1/3 to 1/2 your deck should be units to make sure you have a thriving army to command.
- Make sure you can afford to pay for your cards. Keep gold costs in mind and how hard it will be to make enough gold to pay for the cards included in your deck.
- 1/4 of your deck should be structures. If you can't make gold, you can't play cards.
- Try to pick a theme or common card type and build around that strategy.
- Don't be afraid to switch out cards in your deck between games and try new things. You might surprise yourself with how some cards end up interacting with each other.
THE FINAL RULES
HAVE FUN!
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Kingdom Combat was made to be and expandable social game. I encourage you to make up new ways to play, new multiplayer variants, make it fun for everyone! Feel free to email us suggestions for new game modes you have created! We want to hear your stories and suggestions.
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One last final reminder that sometimes cards may break the rules. If that happens, do what the card says.
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THANK YOU!