Welcome to the Nations Game!

Are you ready to embark on an exciting journey of strategy and conquest? Well, you’ve come to the right place! Here, I will guide you through the important rules of the game, so you can jump right in and start conquering nations!

Getting Started

Before diving into the world of Nations, there are a few key things you need to know.

• Choose Your Nation: First and foremost, you must choose a nation to represent. Will you lead the mighty Romans, the fierce Vikings, or the cunning Egyptians? The choice is yours!
• Understanding Turns: In the game, each turn represents a specific amount of time. It can be a day, a week, or even a month. You will need to plan your actions carefully and strategize your way to victory.
• Resources: Resources are essential for building your nation and supporting your armies. There are four main resources: food, wood, stone, and gold. Each resource is valuable in its own way, so make sure to manage them wisely!

Gameplay

Now that you have a basic understanding of the game, let’s dive into the gameplay mechanics.

• Conquering Nations: Your goal is to conquer as many nations as possible and expand your empire. You can do this by assembling armies, engaging in battles, and capturing enemy territories.
• Building Structures: You will also need to build various structures to improve your nation’s economy and military capabilities. Construct farms, mines, barracks, and more to strengthen your foothold.
• Diplomacy: Diplomacy plays a crucial role in the game. Forge alliances with other players, negotiate trade deals, or declare war on your rivals. Your choices and diplomatic skills can greatly impact your success.

Victory

The ultimate goal of the Nations Game is to establish a dominant nation and achieve victory. You can achieve this by conquering all the other nations, earning the highest score, or fulfilling specific victory conditions.

Final Words

Now that you’re familiar with the rules, it’s time to dive into the Nations Game and show off your strategic prowess. Good luck, and may your nation prosper and conquer!

• Score Board
• 5 Two-sided Player Boards
• Rulebook
• Progress Board
• 13 workers
• 5 player discs
• Book
• Scoring pad
• Progress Cards
• Event Cards
• Player order cards
• Player aid tile
• Solo Event tiles
• Food, Stone, Gold, VP tokens
• War, Roumd, Architect, Used tokens
• 6 side die

Setup

Each player gets a Player Board. When you play for the first time, use the A-sides. If you’re playing with B-sides, choose the Player boards after setting up the Scoring and Progress Board.

Shuffle the Event Card decks for each age separately. Put aside the Event Card decks for ages II-IV for now. For your first game, don’t use Advanced and Expert cards.

I have got to complete a full circle of the Heritage Track to get the 50-Book tokens. Right next to the Scoring Board, I should place the shuffled Event Card deck for age I.

As for the Architects, they should be placed right next to the Scoring Board. We call this the “Architect Supply”. The Scoring Board and the Progress Board are located in the middle of the table, side by side.

I need to shuffle the Progress Card decks for each age separately and set aside the decks for ages II-IV for now. In my first game, I should leave out the Advanced and Expert cards. The shuffled Progress Card deck for age I goes next to the Progress Board.

I should keep the resource markers within easy reach of all players. This is known as the Resource Supply.

Now, let’s set up the Scoring Board.

Okay, here’s what we gotta do:

First things first, we gotta figure out who’s going first. We’ll do this randomly. Once that’s all sorted, the first player puts their disk on number 1 of the Heritage Track.

Next, every other player takes turns putting their disks on the Heritage Track as well. The last player in line puts their disk on the highest number.

Now, here’s the important part: each player also puts a disk on the corresponding number of the Player Order Track. This helps us keep track of who’s who.

Alright, that’s step 1. Onto step 2!

Step 2 is pretty simple. We just need to put the white round marker on the “A” space of Age I, also known as Antiquity. Easy peasy!

Now, step 3 is all about picking our difficulty level. Each player gets to choose which level they want to play. Just put your player disk of your color on the level you want. If it’s your first game, I recommend starting on Prince.

And finally, step 4! Step 4 is all about the Military Strength Track. Each player puts one disk of their color on value 0 of the track. Throughout the game, we’ll be measuring each player’s Military Strength on this track. Oh, and just so you know, anything above 40 counts as 40.

And that’s it! We’re all set up and ready to play. So get your game face on and let’s have some fun!

Step 5: Now, let’s talk about the black War Marker. It has a special place on the game board – you can put it in this slot right here. If you decide to buy a War during a round, you’ll need to place the Progress Card representing the War in this slot. And don’t forget, when you do that, you have to move the War Marker on the Military board. Cool, right?

Step 6: Alright, now it’s time to set up each player’s Stability Track. You’re gonna take one player disk, and it should be the same color as your player. Put it on the 0 value of the Stability Track. Throughout the game, your Stability will be measured on this track. Just keep in mind that if your Stability goes over 15, it will count as 15. And if it goes below -3, well, you’ll put it on -? but it still counts as its real value. Make sense?

Step 7: Finally, let’s add some Architects to the game board. The number of Architects you place depends on how many players are playing. Look at the squares reserved for the Architects – you can put up to three of them on there. Oh, and remember, there might be more Architects added later on, depending on the Event Card for the round. So keep an eye out for that!

Player Board Setup: Check! Now we’re ready to dive into the game and start building our civilizations. Let the journey begin!

Game Play

When playing the game, we go through several phases in a specific order. Let’s take a look:

I. Maintenance Phase

1. Round Marker
2. Progress Cards
3. Growth
4. New Events
5. Architects

II. Action Phase

Now it’s time to take actions! Here are the options:

A. Buy Progress Card

B. Deploy

C. Hire Architect

D. Special action

III. Resolution Phase

1. Production
2. Player order
3. War
4. Events
5. Famine
6. Score if end of age

I. Maintenance Phase

During the maintenance phase, we follow these steps:

1. Round Marker

I move the round marker to the next space on the Round Track. In the first round of the game, it stays on space A.

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2. Progress Cards

Let’s start by getting rid of any remaining Progress Cards in rows 1 and 2 of the Progress Board. Then, we’ll move all the cards that are left in row 3 to row 1. To distinguish the old cards, we’ll place them as far left as possible on row 1.

Next, we’ll draw new Progress Cards from the Progress Card deck that corresponds to the current age. We’ll fill all the empty spaces on the Progress Board based on the number of players in the game. If there are 1 or 2 players, we’ll use 4 columns. For 3 players, we’ll use 5 columns. If there are 4 players, we’ll use 6 columns. And if there are 5 players, we’ll use 7 columns.

In the first round of the game, each used space will be filled once, and no cards are cleared.

Keep in mind that cards from previous ages will not be automatically removed. So, for example, in the first round of the Medieval age, there might still be some cards from the Antiquity age on row 1 (unless all the cards in row 3 were purchased in the previous round).

3. Let’s Experience Some Growth

So here’s the thing: every single nation gets to make a decision. And they have two options – population growth or bonus resources. Let me break it down for you.

If a nation chooses to grow its population, they simply need to select a Worker from their Population Track. That Worker then joins their Resource Area, and voila – population growth! But here’s the catch – for every Worker taken from the Population Track, the nation’s Stability takes a hit, dropping by 3. Surely, it’s a tough choice to make. Alternatively, they can also choose to pay 3 Food during Production in the Resolution Phase, rather than sacrificing Stability.

Now, let’s turn our attention to those nations who opt for bonus resources. They get to choose between three options: Food, Stone, or Gold. And get this – they get as much of that chosen resource as their difficulty level. For instance, a nation playing at the Prince level will receive 3 of the selected resource. But wait, there’s one important rule – you can’t mix and match. It’s an all-or-nothing deal. You choose one resource and take as much of it as your difficulty level allows.

4. Let’s Talk About New Events

When something new is happening, it’s a thrilling experience for me. I get a burst of excitement and curiosity as I wonder what will unfold. New events offer a fresh start, a chance to begin anew. I feel like a detective, eagerly uncovering clues that lead to new discoveries.

But hey, you know what? It’s not just me who feels this way. New events give you the same opportunity to experience something different and exciting. It’s like opening a brand new book and diving into a world you’ve never explored before. And trust me, it’s worth it.

So, why are new events so important? Well, for starters, they break the monotony of everyday life. We all have our routines and comfort zones, but stepping out of them every now and then can be incredibly refreshing. It’s like taking a deep breath of fresh air and feeling rejuvenated.

But that’s not all. New events also give us a chance to learn and grow. When we try new things, we step out of our comfort zones and challenge ourselves. We push our limits and discover new strengths we never knew we had. It’s a journey of self-discovery and personal growth.

Moreover, new events provide us with opportunities to connect with others. Whether it’s attending a social gathering or joining a new club, we have the chance to meet new people and make new friends. It’s an opportunity to expand our social circle and create meaningful connections.

And let’s not forget the simple joy that new events bring. The thrill of anticipation, the excitement of the unknown, and the satisfaction of trying something different – all these emotions make our lives richer and more vibrant.

So, if you’re feeling stuck or in need of a change, why not embrace new events? Step out of your comfort zone, try something different, and let the magic unfold. You never know what amazing experiences are waiting for you just around the corner.

When you’re playing this game, one of the things you need to do is draw an Event Card. You’ll take that card and put it face up on the Score Board where it belongs. The Event Card has events on it, and those events will get resolved later on in the game during the Resolution Phase.

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5. Architects

So, here’s what you need to do with the architects: First, take any remaining architects from the architects space on the Score Board and put them back in the architect supply. This way, the architects space will be empty. Then, depending on how many players there are, you’ll need to add a certain number of new architects to that empty space. You can find out how many architects to add by looking at the Event Card. It’ll tell you right at the top. Now, if you already placed architects based on the number of players during setup, you only need to add the architects based on the Event Card for the first round of play. Simple, right?

II. Action Phase

Alright, now we’re getting into the real meat of the game. This is the action phase, and it’s the most important part of each round. Here’s how it works: Every player takes turns, one at a time, to take an action. You keep going in player order until every player has passed. Once a player passes, they can’t take any more actions for the rest of the round. So, make sure you use your actions wisely!

A. Buy a Progress Card

To get a Progress Card, follow these steps:

1. Grab the card from the Progress Board.

2. Pay the Gold amount listed on the left side of the row where the card was.

3. Use the card right away.

Remember, you can’t save the Progress Cards you buy. When you purchase a card, you have to do one of the following things, depending on the card’s type:

– If it’s a Buildings/Military, Advisors, Colonies, or Wonders card, put it in a space on your Player Board that has the same border color.

– If it’s a Battles or Golden Ages card, remove it from the game after you’ve used its effect.

– If it’s a Wars card, put it in the “War” slot on the Scoring Board.

Hey there! When I place a card on my Player Board, I need to keep in mind the number of spaces I have for each type of card. It’s like having limited storage, you know? If I don’t have any free spaces for a particular type of card, I have to remove an old card to make room for the new one. That means saying goodbye to the old and making space for the new!

Oh, and here’s an important tip: any cards I remove, even the pre-printed ones on the Player Board, can never be used again. It’s like they’re gone for good, you know?

Now, let’s talk about the cards I buy. These cards only affect me; they don’t mess with anyone else. But if a card can affect others, it’ll clearly say so. Cool, right?

Some cards give me special actions that I can use as many times as I want. It’s like having a superpower in the game! But there are other cards that I can only use a limited number of times per round. They’ll let me know about it, though, so I don’t get too carried away.

Now let’s dive into the exciting world of building!

When you need to make room for new Buildings or Military, you can replace existing ones. This means that you can have up to five different Buildings at the same time. But what happens to the Workers who were working on the old Building? Well, they are undeployed and moved back to your Resource Area.

During the Resolution Phase, each Worker that you have deployed on a Building will produce the amount of resources that is indicated at the top of the card. And if there are any Stability adjustments that need to be made, they are done right away.

It’s important to note that Buildings without Workers don’t have any effect. So make sure your Workers are deployed and working hard!

Military

Hey there! Let’s talk about the exciting world of military strategy in this game. It’s a whole new ballgame with lots of interesting mechanics. So, get ready to dive in!

In this game, you can replace your old military and buildings with new ones. Imagine having three military cards at once! Whenever you replace an old military or building, the workers on the old one are moved back to your Resource Area. It’s like a reshuffling of forces.

Now, here’s the cool part: each worker you deploy on a military card increases its military strength. That strength is indicated on the top of the card, so you can easily keep track of it. But wait, there’s more! Some military cards have an upkeep cost. You have two options: adjust the cost immediately or pay it during the Resolution Phase. It’s all about maintaining stability and managing your resources.

But military strength is not the only thing that matters. Each military card also has a raid value. This raid value comes into play during battles. As long as a card has at least one deployed worker, you can use its raid value to strategize your battles. It’s like having a secret weapon up your sleeve!

Just keep in mind that multiple workers on a card don’t increase its raid value. It’s all about that initial deployment. And remember, a military card without any workers is just decoration. So make sure to put those workers to good use!

Colony

When it comes to buying a Colony, there’s an important factor to consider – Military Strength. Let me explain what this means.

A Colony has a Military Strength requirement. That means, in order to purchase a Colony, your Military Strength must meet or exceed this requirement.

But here’s the good news – once you’ve bought a Colony, the Military Strength requirement no longer matters. You can let your Military Strength fall below the requirement without any negative effects on your acquired Colony.

So, in a nutshell, the Military Strength requirement is only a concern when you’re in the process of buying a Colony. Once it’s yours, you can relax and breathe easy.

Now, let’s talk about war.

Hey there! Did you know that in this game, you can buy a War as an action? Cool, right? But here’s the catch: only one War can be bought each round, and once it’s bought, no other nation can buy another one. The War you buy gets placed on the War space of the Score Board, with the War marker on the same Military Strength as your nation.

Now, here’s where things get interesting. During the Resolution Phase, any nation with less Military Strength than the War will suffer a defeat. Yikes! So it’s essential to keep an eye on your Military Strength and make sure it’s at least on par with the War you bought. Don’t want any surprises, right?

Here’s the thing: the War marker doesn’t move with you. So even if you increase your Military Strength, the War marker stays right where it is. But if you decrease your Military Strength, well, let’s just say the War might come back to haunt you. So be careful!

Let the Battle Begin!

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When you purchase a Battle, you’ll receive an instant reward of either Books, Food, or Stone. It’s up to you to decide which type of reward you prefer, but remember that you can only choose one. The amount of reward you receive is determined by the Raid value of your strongest military card that has at least one Worker on it. Keep in mind that having more than one Worker deployed on a raiding Military does not increase your Raid value.

In order to purchase a Battle, it is mandatory to have at least one Worker deployed on a Military.

Wonder

Hey there! Did you know that when you buy Wonders from the Progress Board, you get to place them on the “Wonder under construction” space on your Player Board? Pretty neat, right? Here’s the thing though – you can only build on one Wonder at a time. So, if you decide to buy a new Wonder while you’re already working on another one, the old Wonder gets removed and you lose all the Architects that were on it.

Here’s the exciting part! When a Wonder is finally ready, meaning its last section is completed, it activates its special effects. How cool is that? And that’s not all – during the Resolution Phase, if the Wonder has the ability to produce resources, it will start producing them. It’s like a little factory inside your Wonder!

But wait, there’s more!

When you acquire a purchased Advisor, you will need to place it on your Player Board in the designated slot for Advisors. It’s important to note that you can only have one Advisor at a time, unless you possess a Progress Card that allows for additional Advisors.

When you purchase a Golden Age, you have a choice. You can either gain the resources printed on the card or receive 1 Victory Point (VP). However, you can only choose one option.

If you decide to gain 1 VP, you must pay the required amount of resources. This can be a combination of Stone, Gold, Food, or Books.

If you have a Golden Age bonus, it can enhance either the resource gain or reduce the resource cost for a VP. The magnitude of the bonus depends on its number. Multiple bonuses can be stacked, but the cost of a VP cannot go below 0.

B. Deploying a Worker

When it comes to Buildings and Military in the game, they won’t do anything without Workers. To get a Worker on a Building or Military, you have to place it on the card and pay the deployment cost in Stone. Just remember, you have to take the Worker from your Resource Area, but if you want, you can take it off another Building or Military right before you take this action.

If you want to maximize the effect of a Building or Military, you can place multiple Workers on it. This will multiply the card’s effect. However, keep in mind that you can only deploy one Worker per turn. So choose wisely!

If you change your mind or want to rearrange your Workers, that’s okay. You can undeploy a Worker from a Building or Military at any time during your turn. It’s not counted as an action, so you can do it right before you pass or buy a War, for example. You can even undeploy multiple Workers at once. Once you undeploy them, the Workers will stay on their cards until you decide to do something else with them.

When I deploy a Worker to a Building or Military, I can see how it affects them right away. Buildings produce resources and boost my Stability, while Military increases my Military Strength. However, Military also consumes some of my resources and may decrease my Stability.

It’s important to note that Workers can only be deployed on Buildings and Military. If I undeploy a Worker from a card, I lose its benefits immediately. I cannot deploy Workers on Colonies, Wonders, or Advisors.

C. Hire Architect

When building a Wonder, it’s important to construct it in sections one at a time. Each section is placed on the leftmost available spot on the Wonder under construction. To do this, I need to take an Architect from the Score Board and pay the cost in Stone for that section.

If there are no Architects available, or if I don’t have a Wonder under construction, or if I don’t have enough Stone to pay for the next section, then I can’t choose this action at the moment.

Once the last section of the Wonder is built, the Wonder is complete. I must immediately move it to a Wonder space on my Player Board. If there’s already a completed Wonder occupying that space, the new Wonder will be placed on top of it, destroying the old one. Any Architects used for the construction are returned to the Architect Supply.

So, here’s the thing: some cards let you use extra Architects. Yeah, that’s right, you can have more of those handy builder folks to help you out. All you gotta do is grab some Architects from the supply and place them on your player board when you buy one of these super special cards. And guess what? You can also take extra Architects from the supply when you use certain effects from an event. How cool is that?

D. Special Action

Now, listen up, ’cause this is important. If you’ve got progress cards on your player board that have special actions, you can actually use one of them as an action. Yeah, it’s like getting a bonus action for free! Pretty neat, huh? So make sure you take advantage of those special actions when you can.

When we use a special action on a Progress Card, we need to keep track of it by placing a marker on the card. It’s important to remember that some special actions on Progress Cards can only be used a certain number of times.

III. Resolution Phase

During the Resolution Phase, we need to follow these steps:

1. Production

All of us produce things at the same time. We calculate production and consumption for each resource in a specific order, which is shown on the player aid cards. The resources we calculate are Gold, Food, Stone, and Books. To calculate, we look at our Player Board and see how much production and consumption is happening for each resource. We multiply production and consumption by the number of Workers we have on Buildings and in the Military.

After calculating, we take or pay the appropriate amount of each resource and put them in our resource area.

If we have more than 50 Books, we need to take a 50 Books tile and start counting from 0 again.

If we have negative Stability (in revolt), we lose 1 Book for each negative point we have and also lose 1 VP, regardless of how many negative points we have.

If you don’t have enough Stone, Gold, or Food, you’ll lose 1 Book for each one that’s missing. Plus, you’ll also lose 1 Victory Point (VP) for each of them. And here’s an important rule: if your total number of Books is at 0 and you should lose more, it remains at 0. In this case, you’ll lose 1 VP and one other resource of your choice for each Book that should have been lost.

Let me give you an example to make it clearer. Imagine that you need to pay 5 stones, but you only have 2. In this situation, you’ll lose those 2 stones, 1 VP, and 3 books. It’s a tough penalty, isn’t it?

2. Deciding the Order of Players

So here’s the deal: we need to figure out who goes first in the next round. We do this by looking at everyone’s Military Strength, and the player with the highest Military Strength gets to go first. If there’s a tie, we break it by looking at their Stability. If there’s still a tie, we just keep the same order as the previous round.

After we’ve figured out the order, we need to update the player order track on the Score Board. We also need to give out new player order cards.

3. War

If a nation’s Military Strength matches or exceeds the War Strength, they’re good to go. But if a nation’s Military Strength is lower than the War Strength, they suffer a defeat. The War card tells you how much resources each defeated nation has to pay at the bottom.

When a country gets defeated in a war, their resource loss can be reduced if they have a Stability higher than 0. This means they might not lose any resources at all, even if they lose the war. However, all defeated countries will lose 1 VP, regardless of their resource loss. Stability doesn’t help to mitigate VP loss. After that, remove the War card and put the War marker back in its original spot.

4. Events

When you’re analyzing an Event Card, it’s important to determine how each event will impact the game. Take a look at the effects of each event, starting from the top and working your way down.

If multiple nations tie for the strongest position, none of them will receive the benefit. It’s a competition where only one can come out on top.

On the other hand, if multiple nations tie for the lowest position, they will all suffer the penalty. This applies to both Military Strength and Stability. Negative Stability puts you in the same boat as the weakest nations.

Keep in mind that certain events can also change the player order. If multiple nations are affected by this type of event, resolve it in player order. When there are choices to be made, they are made in reverse player order. The last player in line goes first.

Finally, some events can impact the number of Workers a nation has. They can increase or decrease the workforce available to each nation.

When you gain workers, you’ll take them from the Population Track on your Player Board. And when you lose workers, you’ll put them back on an empty space on that track. It’s up to you to decide which track to take from or place back to. Just remember, you can only use event effects once.

5. Famine

Every nation has to pay the famine cost in Food shown at the top of the Historical Events card.

6. Scoring at the end of each age

When an age comes to a close, I get points based on how many books each nation has compared to the others. It’s pretty simple – for every nation that has fewer books than me, I earn one victory point (VP).

Let me give you an example to help you understand. At the end of our time in Antiquity, I have 13 books, Yellow has 11, Green has 11, and Red has a mere 4. So here’s how the points shake out: I grab 3 VP because both Yellow and Green have fewer books, they each get 1 VP for being behind me, and poor Red, with the fewest books, gets no VP.

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The End of the Game

When round 8 comes to a close during the Resolution Phase, it’s time to tally up our accumulated Books and award victory points. This is the moment when our efforts throughout the game are rewarded, and we can celebrate the winner.

Final Scoring

When the game reaches its conclusion, we need to record the scores of each nation on the score pad. Here’s how we do it:

A. Game VP

Game VP is the total value of the tokens you have at the end of the game. This includes the tokens you started with and any you gained or lost throughout the game.

B. Colonies #image.jpg

C. Wonders #image.jpg

D. Buildings #image.jpgand Military #image.jpg

E. Resources

Add up the total number. The player with the most VPs wins. If there is a tie, the tie is broken by player order.

When you think about a game like Civilization, it’s fascinating to consider how something as simple as numbers can have such a profound impact on your overall success. The game is all about strategy, and one of the key elements of strategy is being able to interpret and analyze the numbers that are presented to you.

Let’s take a closer look at one particular aspect of the game: resources. Resources are the lifeblood of any civilization, and managing them effectively is crucial for your success. In Civilization, you have various resources that you need to balance, such as stone, gold, food, books, military strength, and stability.

Each of these resources plays a different role in your civilization. Stone, for example, is important for constructing buildings and wonders, while gold is necessary for maintaining your civilization and supporting your troops. Food is required to feed your population and keep them happy, and books are vital for research and technological advancements.

Military strength, on the other hand, determines how well you can defend your civilization and wage war against other nations. Lastly, stability represents the overall well-being and prosperity of your civilization. All of these resources are interconnected and must be managed carefully to ensure a thriving civilization.

So how do you know if you’re managing your resources effectively? It’s all about the numbers. By keeping track of the amounts of each resource you have and how they are being allocated, you can make informed decisions about where to focus your efforts.

For example, let’s say you have 3 stone, 7 gold, 5 food, 6 books, 10 military strength, and 6 stability. These numbers may seem random, but they actually have a significant impact on your overall success in the game. By adding up the values of each resource, you can determine your overall score or victory points (VP). In this case, the total sum is 37, which indicates your current standing in the game.

Understanding the significance of these numbers is crucial for developing a successful strategy. By analyzing your resources and considering how they contribute to your overall goals, you can make more informed decisions about where to allocate your resources.

For example, if your military strength is low, you may want to focus on increasing your military resources to protect your civilization. On the other hand, if your stability is low, you may need to invest in resources that will help stabilize your civilization and ensure its long-term survival.

By considering these factors and making strategic decisions based on the numbers, you can elevate your game and achieve success in Civilization. So, next time you’re playing the game, remember the importance of numbers and how they can make or break your civilization.