PART 3: THE ADVANCED GAME
How TACTICA was meant to be played!
The advanced game (or as we like to call it, “the real game”) includes a few changes to the beginner rules and a few exciting additions (including an entirely new phase (the Barracks Phase) at the beginning of each turn.
ADVANCED PRESS CARD
The Press card becomes far more effective in the advanced game. In the beginning game, the COMBAT PHASE description for PRESS reads as follows:
COMBAT PHASE: In the basic game, troop cards gain +1 OFF when attacking an adjacent enemy troop card. Press card returned to BARRACKS in RESOLUTION.
In the advanced game, the above text changes to this:
COMBAT PHASE: In the advanced game, troop cards gain a bonus to OFF equal to 1 + training level (e.g. 2x training on Foot = +3 OFF). This card DOES apply to ranged troops, which may offset negatives against adjacent melee troops. This card also applies to ranged troops, which may more than offset negatives against adjacent melee troops.
Press card returned to BARRACKS in RESOLUTION.
ADVANCED SAVED CARD
The SAVED card also becomes far more effective in the advanced game. In the beginning game, the COMBAT PHASE description for SAVED reads as follows:
COMBAT PHASE: May be played only on melee troops, which gains +1 DEF for each adjacent melee troop card.
Example: Champion is adjacent to 1 untrained Foot (1), one 1x trained foot (1), and two 2x trained Foot (2). Champion enjoys a +4 DEF
If Champion survives combat, swap the positions of Champion and one “defending” Foot.
If Champion is captured, one defending trained Foot is also captured.
Saved card sent to RESUPPLY in RESOLUTION.
In the advanced game, the above text changes to this:
COMBAT PHASE: May be played only on Champion or Foot troops (melee troops only):
If FOOT: Foot card gains +1 DEF for each level of training possessed by adjacent friendly Foot card.
Example: Foot is adjacent to 1 untrained Foot (0), one 1x trained foot (1), and two 2x trained Foot (4). This Foot card enjoys a +5 DEF
If this Foot survives combat, swap positions of this card and one “defending” foot card..
If this foot is captured, one defending trained troop is also captured.
If CHAMPION: Champion card games +1 DEF for each adjacent foot card, plus an additional +1 DEF for every level of training on adjacent foot cards.
Example: A champion is adjacent to one untrained foot card (1), one 1x trained foot card (2), and one 2x trained foot card (3 each). The Champion enjoys a full +9 DEF for this combat phase.
If this Champion survives combat, swap the positions of this card with one “defending” foot card.
If this Champion is still captured, one defending Foot is also captured.
Saved card sent to RESUPPLY in RESOLUTION.
ADVANCED ENGINEER CARD
The ENGINEER card now becomes more versatile in the advanced game. In the beginning game, the COMBAT PHASE description for ENGINEER reads as follows:
COMBAT PHASE: A single battleground feature (landmark card, wall card)can be removed from the battle (and the war!). Target card goes to its owner’s LOST pile. Any bonuses and/or penalties immediately vanish with respect to combat resolution.
Engineer card sent to RESUPPLY in RESOLUTION.
In the advanced game, the above text changes to this:
COMBAT PHASE: A single battleground feature (landmark card, wall card, or spire card can be removed from the battle (and the war!). The targeted feather card goes to its owner’s LOST pile. Any bonuses and/or penalties immediately vanish with respect to combat resolution.
NOTE: The engineer can remove only the top “exposed” summon card from a spire.
Engineer card sent to RESUPPLY in RESOLUTION.
BARRACKS PHASE and DECREES
The Barracks phase is an advanced-only phase that occurs at the very beginning of each turn (so right after the previous turn’s RESOLUTION phase and immediately before the next turn’s RECRUITMENT phase. The Barracks phase is when a player may determine if they still have certain combinations of cards before having the chance to resupply their hand from the troop and tactics piles. Card combinations are called “Decrees”.
If a player has one of the following decrees, they must show their hand to their opponent before the recruitment phase begins and announce which decree they are enacting. Each decree will then have a requirement of discarding, etc, which must also be done before the recruitment phase begins
TACTICA!
Requirement: 6 unique cards.
Battlefield effect: Opponent cannot play ANY card from their hand during this entire turn. This means no mustering of troops or training cards, no playing tactics cards during any following phase (including counter cards).
NOTE1: Opponent can still enact decrees during the current BARRACKS phase, and they are allowed to discard during RESOLUTION, as these are not technically “playing a card”.
NOTE2: The opponent can muster a summon from a summoning spire, as this is pulling a card from the top of the spire, and not playing a card from their barracks!
NOTE3: if both players enact this decree in the same Barracks phase, then neither player can play cards during the current turn.
PROMOTION
Requirement: 4 unique cards, plus at least 1 friendly troop that participated in capturing an enemy troop card.
Battlefield effect: Player can immediately place a single level of training under the qualifying troop card, wherever it is on the battlefield (ignoring standard “wall-adjacent” rule). Note that 2xTraining is still the maximum for any troop card.
NOTE: This decree can only affect a single troop card, even if several troop cards qualify. The player must choose only one to train.
FOG
Requirement: 1 spy card, 1 negate card, and 1 pair (any, which could include the negate card!)
Battlefield effect: Opponent cannot perform any combat actions during this turn’s COMBAT phase.
MUD
Requirement: 1 spy card, 1 engineer card, and 1 pair (any, which could include the engineer card!)
Battlefield effect: Opponent cannot perform any movement actions during this turn’s MOVEMENT phase.
BETRAYAL!
Requirement: 1 Crown, 1 Spy, 1 Negate, and at least one captured enemy troop.
Battlefield effect: Player may choose one captured enemy troop in their hostage pile and use a muster action to place them as if they were a friendly troop during the MUSTERING phase. The BETRAYER token is placed on this troop to both mark it as a friendly troop and to enrage your opponent. This troop is now yours for the rest of this battle and cannot be rescued by your opponent. If captured, it is not sent to your opponent’s hostage pile but instead is immediately sent to their LOST pile. After the battle ends, the troop card is sent to your opponent’s LOST pile.
SUMMON
Requirement: any pair
Battlefield effect: The first time a SUMMON decree is enacted, the player may immediately place a summon token on the battlefield within 3 hexes of one of their wall cards, but the player MUST choose which side is face-up. This is the base of their future SUMMONING SPIRE. Whether completed or not during this battle, it remains active in subsequent battles and may be placed along with Landmark cards during initial deployment, but the same summon (Ouran or Cthon) that was chosen remains face-up.
The second time a SUMMON decree is enacted by the same player, they place another summon card on top of the first one (Spire is now two cards tall). They may choose either side (Ouran or Cthon), but as with the prior case, which side is now face-up remains so if this spire continues into a different battle.
The third (and final) time a SUMMON decree is enacted, the final summon card is stacked on top of the previous two summon cards. Once again, the player chooses which summon is face-up.
Once all three summon cards are stacked, the summoning spire is now complete!
The player may, as one of their standard mustering actions, take the top summon and place it adjacent to the spire.
NOTE that as summons are revealed, the side that is face-up must be the summon that “appears” on the field.
Only one summon can be on the battlefield at a time. The 2nd summon card can only be mustered after the first summon card is captured.
Once the bottom summon is reached, during the mustering action, it is placed adjacent to the hex the spire used to occupy.
When placing landmark cards and summoning spires, a player cannot block access to the spire (there must be at least one viable route to the spire for an enemy troop card to reach it, although this does not need to be convenient!
Summons have the following common qualities:
Summons are NOT troop cards and cannot be affected by tactics cards.
Summons cannot affect or damage one another in any way. They cannot affect any summoning spire in any way.
Although summons may pass through landmark cards, they are 100% not affected by terrain modifiers (both positive and negative), nor are they subject to the BLOCK feature of RIDGE.
Summons also ignore terrain modifiers (both positive and negative) and features of their targets, including the BLOCK feature of RIDGE.
Summons may pass through wall cards (both friendly and enemy)
Summons may pass through troop cards (both friendly and enemy).
Summons may NOT end movement on a landmark, wall, or troop card.
Summons gain special abilities through sacrifices. (see Ouran and Cthon descriptions below).
Sacrifices are selecting one matching pair of cards in your hand (tactic or troop) and sending them immediately to LOST and the other to RESUPPLY.
