General Overview (Printable Version)*
The object of Caledea is to lead your kingdom to victory over your opponents by taking their capital, removing all of their units from the board, or completing a fortified city. There are nine kingdoms to choose from, each with a unique playing style. Every square on the board contains two (and only two) resources that correspond to the resources shown at the top of the player’s card. Squares that have both of the resources shown on a player’s card are referred to as their “outposts.” For every outpost a player claims they receive a new unit on that square and a gold piece. As a player accumulates gold pieces they will be able to upgrade units, build defensive structures, and use their powers.
Note: The edges of the board connect so that when a unit moves off one side it continues onto the opposite side. Playing on a single board is recommended for faster, more focused games, and for beginning players. For truly epic games, two or more boards may be joined together.
Beginning the Game
-Capital
Players begin by taking a card representing the kingdom of their choice, and one gold piece from the bank. Once all players have chosen cards, each player casts a die and the winner of the roll has the option of placing their capital first or last. A player’s capital must be placed on one of their outposts. On the square they have chosen, players place their capital along with a tower and the starting units indicated on their card (one unit begins as a cavalry). The remaining players follow in clockwise order. The first player’s turn begins once everyone has placed their capital and starting units on the board.
Actions
Each kingdom is allowed a certain number of actions per turn. Moving or upgrading a unit counts as one action. If a player moves multiple units together it counts as a single action. Units must move as a group for the whole move, however, which means the group can only move as far as its slowest member. e.g. A group with a general and an infantry can only move one square per turn. Once a player has used their maximum number of actions their turn is over.
Units always travel at right angles — to go diagonally a unit must travel two spaces. Units cannot jump over an opponent’s units or defensive structures. Each unit may only move once per turn, and may not move and be upgraded on the same turn.
Units
Units come in three ranks: Infantry, Cavalry, and General. The pieces are turned so that the face showing on the top indicates the unit’s rank. All units start out as Infantry and can be upgraded to Cavalry and from Cavalry to General. Upgrading a unit counts as one action. Upgrading an Infantry unit to a General requires two moves, but may be done during a single turn. There is no limit to the number of units that a player can place on one square.
-Infantry travel 1 square per action, and roll 1 die in combat
-Cavalry travel up to 2 squares per action, and roll 2 dice in combat
-Generals travel up to 3 squares per action, and roll 3 dice in combat. Each player is allowed to have only one General on the board at a time.
Combat
Players attack their opponents by moving their units into squares occupied by enemy units. A roll of the dice decides the result. Each unit rolls a certain number of dice depending on their rank – the highest number shown is the unit’s score (the other dice are ignored, not added). The unit with the highest score wins and the losing unit is removed from the board. In the case of a tie, the next highest die determines the winner in combat. If a unit has no remaining dice to match up to its opponent, that unit automatically loses. In the case of a complete tie, both sides simply re-roll. For example:
Red rolls 66555 and Green rolls 6661.
Red Green
65555 = 6661
66555 = 6661
66555 < 6661
Green wins.
When multiple units are involved in an attack, the result is decided by a series of one-to-one rounds. For each round both players choose one of their units to fight with the attacker choosing first. Combat continues in this manner until one of the players has no units remaining in the square.
Strong Lands
When combat occurs on a square containing one of the resources shown on a player’s card, each of that player’s unit gains one additional die in combat. When combat occurs on a square containing two of the resources shown on a player’s card (their outpost) each of the player’s units gains two additional dice in combat. Bonus dice from strong lands and defensive structures are applied according to the square being attacked.
Claiming Resource Squares (Color Markers)
To claim an outpost a unit ends its movementinto the square and places their color marker on it. The player takes one gold piece from the bank and places a new infantry unit on the square. This new unit may move or be upgraded immediately. Players may only claim their own outposts.
Salting the Land (Black Markers)
When a unit ends its movement into a square containing an opponent’s color marker, a black marker is placed over the color marker. The player whose square has been salted must return one gold piece to the bank. If a player reclaims a square that has been salted they flip the marker back to the color side, receive a gold piece, but not another unit.
Using Gold Pieces
Gold pieces represent the number of outposts a player has claimed. The shaded box on a player’s card indicates how many gold pieces are required in order to upgrade units, build defensive structures, or use their power. When a player uses their gold the pieces are not returned to the bank, but are set aside until the following turn when they can be used again.
Example: At the beginning of a turn, Talaq has 6 gold pieces. For their first action the player chooses to upgrade one unit to cavalry, which uses 3 gold pieces. On their second action they claim another outpost. They now have a total of 7 gold pieces, with 4 still available to be used. For their third action the player builds a tower, using the remaining gold pieces. Talaq will begin the next turn with 7 gold pieces.
Defensive Structures
-Tower
-Castle
Players can build defensive structures on their capital, and on the four adjacent squares (directly north, south, east and west) around their capital. Defensive structures can be used to impede opponents and provide bonus dice to units defending on their square – these bonus dice are in addition to extra dice received from strong lands. Units defending a square with a tower each roll 1 additional die in combat; units defending a square with a castle each roll 2 additional dice.
Defensive structures are first built as towers, and then can be upgraded to castles. Building/upgrading defensive structures counts as a move. Building a tower and then upgrading it to a castle requires two moves, but may be done during a single turn. There can only be one defensive structure on a square at a time. Players may build defensive structures on squares containing an opponent’s color marker, but not squares that are occupied by an opponent’s units.
Players may attack an opponent’s defensive structure once there are no units defending the square. Units roll the same number of dice versus defensive structures as they do in combat but powers may not be used against defensive structures and land bonuses do not apply. A roll of 5 or higher defeats a tower and a roll of 6 defeats a castle. If the attack succeeds, the structure is removed and the unit moves into the square. If the attack fails the unit must return to the square it came from. Attacking a defensive structure is part of the same action as attacking the units on it. If multiple units are attacking they each get a chance to roll against the defensive structure.
-Fortified City
To create a fortified city a player must build castles on all five possible squares. If a player succeeds in completing a fortified city, they win the game.
Powers
Each player has a power listed at the bottom of their card, which they can use if they have enough gold pieces. Using powers does not count as an action. Powers cannot be used during an opponent’s turn.
-Bombard
This power allows one unit to attack units on an adjacent square without risk of death. If a bombarding unit loses, it remains on the board. If it wins, the enemy unit is removed from the board, but the bombarding unit does not move into or claim the square. Bonus dice from strong lands and defensive structures are applied according to the square being attacked.
-Ambush
This power gives three extra dice to one attacking unit in combat. Ambush must be announced during combat before defending units have been chosen. Ambush may only be applied once per unit per round.
-Transport
This power allows a player to move one of their units to any square on the board that contains another of their units that has not yet moved that turn or any of their claimed outposts (including the capital). If the transported unit attacks on the same turn, it rolls 1 extra die in combat. Units do not accumulate multiple bonus dice by transporting multiple times.
Note: Bonus dice gained from Ambush or Transport only last one round of combat
Taking The Capital
A player may defeat their opponent by moving into the opponent’s capital square, defeating all the enemy units there, then the defensive structure in that square. Once the structure is destroyed, the capital has been taken!
Multi-player Games
If a player loses their capital in a multiplayer (more than 2 player) game, the victorious player claims the capital as though it is a resource square, placing a color marker on it, and receiving one gold piece (but no new units) as long as they hold on to it. The victorious player may also now use/upgrade the defeated player’s leftover defensive structures and build/upgrade new ones on and around the enemy capital to help them hold on to it.
The player who lost their capital loses one gold piece but can now reclaim their capital, remove the enemy color marker, and regain their gold piece. In addition, they may continue to claim lands, get new units, and use their gold pieces to upgrade their units and use powers. However they may not build/upgrade defensive structures until they reclaim their capital. This should allow players who lose their capital in a multi-player game a better chance of staying in until the end.
A player wins a multi-player game by completing a fortified city (including on a captured enemy capital), defeating all enemy units, or by holding on to all enemy capitals while retaining their own capital.
Team Play
When playing team games (2v2, 3v3, etc.) the following rules take effect:
– Allied players’ units may occupy the same square and move through each others’ units and defensive structures
– Allied players gain each others’ defensive structure bonuses
– When a square occupied by both allied players’ units is attacked, either players’ units may defend the square
Example Turn
Talaq begins a turn with 5 gold pieces.
For the first action two units move onto an enemy outpost, which is already claimed with the opponent’s color marker. The opponent’s color marker is replaced with a black marker, and the opponent returns a gold piece to the bank.
For the second action one unit moves into one of Talaq’s unclaimed outposts. The player places a color marker and new infantry unit on the square, and takes one gold piece from the bank.
For the final action, the player upgrades one tower to a castle, using all six gold pieces.
Talaq will begin the next turn with six gold pieces.
*Thanks to 100 HOGS AGREE on BGG for the PDF!
Caledea :The Epic Strategy Game 