War Chest – A Guide to the Game

Welcome to the thrilling world of War Chest! In this guide, I’ll walk you through the rules of the game, ensuring you’re ready to jump into battle and conquer your opponents.

The Objective

The main goal of War Chest is to emerge victorious by either capturing the enemy’s crown or eliminating all of their units from the board. It’s a game of strategy, cunning, and careful planning.

Setup

To begin, each player will select their army. There are four different armies to choose from, each with its own unique set of units. These units possess distinct abilities and movements, so be sure to select the army that suits your play style.

Once the armies have been chosen, the players will place their units on the board. Each player starts with a set of four unit coins and a reserve of six unit coins. The reserve is placed face down in front of the player, and the four units are placed on the board in predetermined starting spaces.

Gameplay

War Chest is played in turns, with each player alternating between taking actions. On your turn, you can perform up to three actions, which can include activating a unit, refreshing a unit, drawing a unit coin from your reserve, or playing a tactic card.

Each unit has a specific ability and movement pattern, which you can utilize to outmaneuver your opponent and gain control of key areas on the board. It’s crucial to consider the strengths and weaknesses of your units when planning your moves.

Strategic placement of your units, careful management of your reserve, and effective use of tactic cards are essential elements of success in War Chest. Adapt your strategy as the game progresses, and be prepared to counter your opponent’s moves.

Tactic Cards

Tactic cards provide an extra layer of strategy in War Chest. These cards have various effects that can impact the game in significant ways. From disrupting your opponent’s plans to enhancing your own units, tactic cards can turn the tide of the battle.

To use a tactic card, you must first spend a unit coin with the matching symbol. Once played, the tactic card takes effect immediately, granting you an advantage over your adversary.

The Game of War Chest

War Chest is an exhilarating game that combines skill, tactics, and a dash of luck. Each playthrough offers a unique experience, full of surprising twists and strategic decisions. So gather your army, devise your plan, and claim victory on the battlefield!

Let’s get started! First, you’ll need to place the board right in the middle of your play area. If it’s just the two of us playing, we each get to pick a faction. Don’t forget to grab your faction’s matching bag, 1 Royal Coin, and 6 Control Markers.

Now, take your faction’s Royal Coin and put it in your bag. Make sure to place one of your Control Markers on each of those two starting locations that match your bag. All the other spots on the board are neutral when we begin the game.

Hey there! So you’re ready to play your first game, huh? Awesome! Let me give you a quick tip—I suggest using the Unit Cards you see in this picture instead of picking random ones. Trust me, it’ll make things a lot easier. Now, let’s get started!

If this isn’t your first rodeo and you’ve played before, don’t worry—I got you covered. Here’s what you need to do:

Player A, you kick things off by grabbing the Initiative Marker. Remember, this is only for non-newbies. For the newbies, stick with the Unit Cards I mentioned earlier. Ready? Let’s do this!

Alright, here’s what we’re gonna do. First, let’s shuffle all those Unit Cards – the ones with cool characters on them. Then, we’ll deal four of those face-up in front of each person playing the game. Those four cards will be the units we get to use.

Next, we give each player some Unit Coins. You get coins that match your four Unit Cards. By the way, we’re also putting two Unit Coins of each type, plus a special Royal Coin, into a bag. The rest of the coins can just chill in piles next to the matching unit cards. That’s our supply. Any extra coins go back in the box – no need for them right now.

Now, let’s flip this thing called the Initiative Marker. It’s like a little token that helps us decide who goes first. The person whose faction matches the side of the marker we see gets to take initiative (and the marker, of course). And guess what? We’re all set to begin!

Hey, listen up: If you’re playing with just two people, we don’t need all those fancy outer areas of the board. Those darker hexes – they’re not gonna be used. So, let’s just ignore ’em, okay? They’ll be colored red in the example, just so you know.

Hey there! Let me show you how to set up the game. First, you’ll need to gather all the Royal Coins, bags, and Control Markers from the box. Make sure to put aside the ones you won’t be using if you’re playing with less than four players.

Goal of the Game

So the game keeps going until either one player or one team manages to place all of their Control Markers on the locations. These locations can be identified on the board thanks to the green knotwork symbols.

The winner of the game is the player or team that successfully places all of their Control Markers on the locations.

How to Play

A game of War Chest consists of multiple rounds, and each round is divided into two phases:

1. Draw Coins

At the beginning of each round, every player draws 3 coins from their bag and adds them to their hand, keeping them hidden from their opponent. If at any point you need to draw coins but your bag is empty, you can replenish it by taking the coins from your discard pile.

After that, shuffle the coins in your bag and continue drawing until you have 3 coins in your hand.

Not Enough Coins?

In very rare cases, you may find yourself in a situation where you only have a couple of coins left in your hand and discard pile. If this happens, you should draw the coins that you do have.

During the Use Coins phase of this round, things are a bit different. Instead of the usual three actions, you won’t be performing any actions. Once you’ve played your final coin, your opponent will take over and continue to play coins and take actions until they have no coins left in their hand.

Now, let’s talk about using coins. There are three different types of actions that you can take using the coins you draw from your bag.

Starting with the player who has the Initiative Marker, you and your opponent will take turns performing actions using the coins in your hands, one at a time, until both of your hands are empty. Each coin can only be used to perform one action.

Hey there! Let’s talk about an important aspect of the game. Don’t worry, I’ll explain it in a way that’s easy to understand.

First things first, each player needs to set aside a separate area for their discard pile. This is where you’ll refill your bag when you need more coins, instead of taking them from the supply.

Now, let’s get into the actions. There are nine different actions in the game, and they can be grouped into three classes:

Placement Actions:

Discard a Coin Facedown Actions:

Discard a Coin Face-up Actions:

The Royal Coin

The Royal Coin is a special coin that doesn’t have a matching unit. It can only be used to perform facedown actions or the tactic on the Royal Guard unit. So, keep that in mind!

What to do with Coins

I have some actions that I can take with coins in this game. First, I can deploy a coin to the board and create a unit of that type. Here’s how:

1. I choose a coin from my hand and put it face-up in an empty spot that I control.
2. I can’t deploy a unit if all the spots I control are already occupied.
3. I can’t do any other actions, like bolstering, moving, attacking, controlling, or using tactics, until I deploy a unit.
4. I can only have one unit of each type on the board at a time. So if I already have a unit of the same type, I can’t deploy another one.
5. If my unit gets taken out after an attack, I can deploy a new unit of that type later on.

Another action I can take is bolstering. This makes the unit on the board stronger and harder to remove after an attack. Here’s how it works:

I place a coin to bolster the matching unit that’s already on the board. This makes it more difficult for my opponent to remove the unit.

These are the ways I can interact with the coins in this game. Understanding these actions will help me make smart moves and strategize effectively!

When playing the game, there are a few important steps to remember. First, take a coin from your hand and place it face-up on top of the matching unit on the board. This helps to build up the unit and create a strong stack.

You can bolster a unit as many times as you want, with no limit to how high the stack can become. It’s important to keep in mind that all the coins in the stack belong to the unit. So, if the unit is moved, you must move the entire stack.

Now let’s talk about the discard actions. These are when you discard a coin facedown. These actions are crucial in the game and play a significant role. Knowing when to recruit a new coin and when to maintain your bag at a consistent level is a key decision point. This will help you maintain your options and maneuvering abilities throughout the game.

Claim the Initiative

If you want to go first in the next round, you can discard any coin facedown into your discard pile and take the Initiative Marker from your opponent.

• Select a coin from your hand and place it facedown in your discard pile without showing it to your opponent.
• Take the Initiative Marker and put it in front of you.
• You can only perform this action if you don’t already have the Initiative Marker or if you didn’t have it earlier in the current round. The Initiative Marker can only change hands once per round.

Recruit New Coins

If you want to add a new coin to your supply, you can discard any coin facedown into your discard pile.

• Choose a coin from your hand and place it facedown in your discard pile without showing it to your opponent.
• To start, I’ll take one coin from my supply and show it to my opponent. Then, I’ll place it face-up in my discard pile.
• Later on, this coin will be shuffled back into my bag.
• It’s important to note that the coin I use to recruit a Unit Coin doesn’t have to match the one I spent.

Pass

If I choose to pass, I can discard any coin face-down into my discard pile. Once I pass, I don’t have to pass with any subsequent coins. I can still use any remaining coins as usual.

Discard a Coin Face-up Actions

The actions that involve discarding a coin face-up are called maneuvers. Maneuvers are a crucial part of the game, as they allow you to move your units at the right time and in the right way.

Move

If I want to move a unit on the board, I can discard a coin face-up into my discard pile. The unit that matches that coin will then be moved accordingly.

• Pick a coin from your hand and place it face-up in your discard pile.
• Slide the corresponding game piece one space on the board, into a nearby empty spot.

If all the spots around a piece are already taken, it cannot move.

Control

You have the option to discard any coin, placing it face-up in your discard pile, in order to have the associated game piece control the space it occupies.

• Pick a coin from your hand and place it face-up in your discard pile.
• If the associated game piece occupies a neutral space, place one of your Control Markers on that space.
• If the associated game piece occupies a space controlled by your opponent, take their Control Marker, replace it with one of your Control Markers, and return their marker to them.
• You can’t control a location that you already control. Each location can only have one control marker.
• If you place your last control marker on the board, you win.

Attack

If you want, you can discard a face-up coin from your hand to make the matching unit attack an adjacent enemy unit.

• Choose a coin from your hand and put it face-up in your discard pile. The unit that matches this coin will be the attacker.
• Choose an enemy unit that is next to the attacker. This unit will be the target.
• Remove one coin from the target and put it back in the box, even if it’s the only coin in the stack (note: the coin will go in the box, not back in the supply or discard pile).

Deploying Units in a Strategic Card Game

Let me explain how deploying units in a strategic card game like The Battle works. When you play this game, you have a deck of cards with different units, each with its own abilities and strengths. Your goal is to strategically deploy these units to gain an advantage over your opponent and eventually defeat them.

Deploying a unit means bringing it from your hand onto the game board. Once a unit is deployed, it becomes an active participant in the battle. But here’s the catch – you can only deploy a unit if you have enough resources to do so.

Your resources, represented by coins, determine what units you can deploy. Each unit has a cost associated with it, which tells you how many coins you need to spend in order to deploy that unit. You start each turn with a certain number of coins, which you can use to deploy units and activate their abilities.

Here’s an example to help you understand better: let’s say I have a unit card called “Swordsman” in my hand. This card has a cost of 2 coins. If I have 2 or more coins available, I can deploy the Swordsman onto the game board. Once deployed, the Swordsman can attack the opponent’s units or defend my own units.

But what happens if I don’t have enough coins to deploy a unit? Well, in that case, I can’t deploy it. I can only deploy units that I have enough resources for. So, it’s important to manage your resources wisely and make strategic decisions about which units to deploy in each turn.

Another important aspect to consider is that once a unit is deployed, it stays on the game board until it’s destroyed. This means that if the unit doesn’t receive any support, it can be destroyed by the opponent’s attacks. However, you can always re-deploy another unit of the same type using a different coin if the previous one is destroyed.

So, in summary, deploying units in a strategic card game requires careful resource management and tactical decision-making. You need to consider the cost of each unit, the available resources, and the potential benefits of deploying a particular unit. By making smart choices, you can gain an advantage over your opponent and increase your chances of winning the game.

The Tactic

Hey there! Let me explain how tactics work in this game. Some units have their own special tactics, which are mentioned on their cards. For instance, Cavalry has a tactic that lets it move and then attack.

If you want a unit to perform its tactic, you can discard a face-up coin into your discard pile. Here’s how you do it:

• Pick a coin from your hand and place it face-up into your discard pile.
• Follow the instructions given on the unit card of the matching unit.

Attributes and Restrictions

In addition to tactics, some units also have special attributes (depicted by ) and/or restrictions (depicted by ).

So, here’s the deal. Attributes and restrictions are like rules that units follow. They don’t work like tactics, but instead they give you extra info about what the unit can or can’t do in certain situations.

Let’s take a look at an example. The Footman, for instance, can have two units deployed – that’s an attribute. On the other hand, the Archer can only attack using its tactic and can’t attack units next to it – that’s a restriction.

Now, when you discard coins, they stay face-up so everyone can see them until they get shuffled back into the bag. Knowing which coins your opponent has discarded is a pretty important thing to consider strategically in War Chest. It can give you a real edge.

Once It’s Over

The game ends when one player or team has put all their control markers on the locations. They’re the winners!

Setting It Up Like a Pro

If you’re an experienced player, I suggest you try drafting Unit Cards instead of having them dealt randomly. To set it up, deal 8 unit cards face up in the middle of the play area.

To determine who drafts first, flip the Initiative Marker. The player with the highest number chooses and takes a Unit Card. Then, the other player takes two Unit Cards. After that, the first player takes two more, and so on, until the first player is left with the last card.

The player who chose second gets the Initiative Coin, which they use to start the game. This variation allows players to create armies with unique strategies based on how the units interact with each other.