General Overview

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 "resource squares." For every resource square 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. Once all players have chosen cards, each player casts a die to see who plays first. The first player chooses a site for their capital, places their starting units on it, and takes a gold piece from the bank. The remaining players follow suit in clockwise order. A player's capital must be placed on one of their resource squares. The first player's turn begins once everyone has placed their capital and starting units on the board and taken a gold piece from the bank.

Moves

Each kingdom is allowed a certain number of moves per turn. If a player moves multiple units into the same square simultaneously, either from the same square or from different squares, it counts as a single move. Once a player has used their maximum number of moves, 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.

Note: Kingdoms with more moves tend to benefit from a more aggressive playing style, while those with fewer moves tend to benefit from a more defensive playing style.

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 move. 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 move, and roll 1 die in combat

-Cavalry travel up to 2 squares per move, and roll 2 dice in combat

-Generals travel up to 3 squares per move, 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.

When there are multiple units involved in an attack, the result is decided by a series of one-to-one battles. The defending player chooses which unit battles which. If an attacker's unit wins a battle, the attacking player may either choose to withdraw the unit to the square it came from or leave it in combat. Combat ends once one of the players has no units remaining in the square. The attacker's units take the square only when all defenders are destroyed.

Example: Three Cavalry attack one General and one Infantry on one of the defender's resource squares. The defender chooses his General to defend against one of the attacking Cavalry. The General rolls higher than the Cavalry and wins. The defender again chooses his General to fight another one of the Cavalry but loses. The attacker decides to keep the successful Cavalry in combat. The defender now must play his Infantry unit against one of the Cavalry. It defeats one, and then must fight the other. The last Cavalry defeats the Infantry, moves into the square, and salts the enemy land.

Strong Lands

When combat occurs on a square containing one of the resources shown on a player's card, each of that player's units rolls one additional die. When combat occurs on a square containing two of the resources shown on a player's card (their resource square) each of the player's units roll two additional dice. Bonus dice from strong lands and defensive structures are applied according to the square being attacked.

Claiming Resource Squares (Color Markers)

To claim a resource square a player simply moves a unit into 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 resource squares.

Salting the Land (Black Markers)

When a player moves a unit into a square containing an opponent's color marker, the color marker is replaced by a black 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 receive a gold piece, but not another unit.

Using Gold Pieces

Gold pieces represent the number of resource squares 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. A player's gold pieces may only be used once per turn, and once used, are set aside until the following turn when they can be used again.

Example: At the beginning of a turn, Xonavia has 4 gold pieces. For their first move the player chooses to upgrade one unit to cavalry, which uses 2 gold pieces. On their second move they claim another resource square. They now have a total of 5 gold pieces, with 3 still available to be used. For their third turn the player builds a tower, using the remaining gold pieces. Xonavia will begin the next turn with 5 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.

-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 a move. 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 in combat before defending units have been chosen.

-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. 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 once per battle - if a successful attacking unit remains in combat, gold must be spent on the power again versus the next defender.

Taking The Capital

A player may defeat their opponent by moving a unit into the opponent's capital square. The attacking unit can only take the capital after any defending units or structures have been removed.

-Multi-player Game

When one player defeats another in a game with more than two players, the attacker receives three new infantry units where the defeated player's capital was and all of the defeated player's pieces are removed from the board.

Example Turn

Talaq begins a turn with 5 gold pieces.

For the first move, two units move onto an enemy resource square, 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 move, one unit moves into one of their unclaimed resource squares. The player places a color marker and new infantry unit on the square, and takes one gold piece from the bank.

For the final move, the player upgrades one tower to a castle, using all six gold pieces.

Talaq will begin the next turn with six gold pieces.