Every rule on one page, with the numbers. It matches the Rules panel in every game. The other Academy topics explain how to use each rule. The links take you there.
Goal#
- Take every enemy city. Rural provinces don't count.
- A player left with no province and no stack is out. The team plays on.
- A team surrenders once every player still in has left the game or surrendered.
- In a free-for-all, losing your last city knocks you out too, and your armies and land turn neutral. See Free-for-all.
Turn order#
Everyone gives orders at the same time. Then the turn resolves:
- All stacks move one province per step, at the same time.
- Battles happen where stacks meet.
- Supply is checked.
- Income is paid.
- Builds appear last, only in cities held at the start and the end of the turn.
Armies that swap places fight on the border between them. See Moving at the same time.
Units#
| Unit | Cost | Attack | Defense | Move | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infantry | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| Armor | 6 | 3.5 | 2 | 2 | Weaker attacking into forest, mountain and urban |
| Artillery | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Support: +2 per gun to a battle next door |
| Air | 8 | – | – | – | Strike: +3 per plane to a battle up to 3 provinces away |
- Support adds to a battle in a neighboring province without moving in, attacking or defending. See Artillery.
- Air never moves: planes stay in the city where they were built and strike from there, attacking or defending. To defend a province, its own city included, strike that province. Instead of striking, a plane can scout. See Air.
- Armor entering forest spends 2 moves. Entering mountain, or crossing a river, ends a stack's move.
- Losses come off infantry, then artillery, then armor, then air.
Battles#
A side's strength is the sum of its units: attack values for the side moving in, defense values for the side already there. Terrain, rivers, being dug in and supply change those numbers, then artillery and air support are added on top.
The chance of winning is A² ÷ (A² + B²), where A is your strength and B theirs. Because both sides are squared, the stronger side wins more often than its share of the strength alone would give it:
| Your strength : theirs | You win |
|---|---|
| 1 : 1 | 50% |
| 1.25 : 1 | 61% |
| 1.5 : 1 | 69% |
| 2 : 1 | 80% |
| 3 : 1 | 90% |
- Losses: each side loses a share of its units equal to the other side's share of the total strength. The loser takes 1× that share, the winner 0.5×. At 2 : 1 the winner loses 17% and the loser 67%.
- A loser that just moved in falls back to where it came from, if no enemy is there. Otherwise it is destroyed.
- A loser that was standing still falls back to a neighboring province your team owns with no enemy stack. Otherwise it is destroyed.
- Border clashes (armies swapping places): both sides take losses. The loser stays where it was. The winner carries on into its province and fights whatever is still there.
- Three or more sides marching into one province all roll once, in proportion to strength. The winner then fights whoever held it. Strengths 10, 5 and 5 win 67%, 17% and 17%.
- Winners stop in the province they took.
- Planes in a city that falls are destroyed.
See Battles & odds.
Defense bonuses#
Terrain only ever helps the defender:
| Terrain | Defender | Armor attacking into it |
|---|---|---|
| Plains | no bonus | full strength |
| Forest | +25% | ×0.75 |
| Mountain | +50% | ×0.5 |
| Urban | +50% | ×0.5 |
- River: an attacker crossing it has its strength divided by ÷1.25.
- Dug in: defenders in a city get up to +25% (+50% in a capital) after 5 turns held. Starting cities are fully dug in. A captured city starts again from nothing.
- Border clashes ignore terrain, rivers and digging in.
- Supply: a stack is in supply when it connects to a friendly city through provinces your team controls. Out of supply, it fights at half strength, and after 2 turns it loses 1 unit every turn.
See Terrain & rivers and Supply & cutting off.
Leaving a city#
An enemy arriving the same turn you leave takes the city with no fight. Keep one ground unit in it.
Income#
| Province | Pays each turn |
|---|---|
| Rural | 1 |
| City | 3 |
| Capital | 5 |
- A city captured from an enemy pays half. A neutral city you capture pays in full.
- Every city is an objective: it pays +1 more for every 3 turns you hold it, up to +3. The bonus starts again when the city changes hands.
- A build happens at the end of the turn, in a city you held at the start and still hold at the end. If the city falls, you keep the supplies.
See Economy & building.
Fog#
- You always see who owns each province. Only enemy stacks are hidden.
- Enemy stacks next to your stacks show exact counts.
- Enemy stacks next to your provinces show their unit types and a size range.
- Further away, you see no enemy stacks.
- A plane can scout a province in range instead of striking: next turn you see it and its neighbors.
Neutral cities#
Some maps start with cities that belong to no one, each held by a gray garrison. Each map page lists its garrisons.
- A garrison never moves, builds or digs in.
- A neutral city you capture pays full income.
- Neutral cities don't count toward winning.
See Neutral cities.