The Art of War TCG

The Art of War

Battlefield Map Setup:

The Battlefield Map is 7 Cards wide, and 4 Cards deep. The closest 7 Card Positions is called the Terrain, while the 7 Positions beyond the Terrain is the Battleline. Depending on what Race you are using, the Terrain has different effects. For instance, the 7 Positions of the Terrain Lavaworld of the Demons deal Attack to all Mortals, while Immortals like the Demons, do not suffer Attack from being Stationed in them. You can have as many of each Card in a 60 Card Deck.

Battleline:

Statistics:

Every Unit has Statistics: Cost(C) Initiative(I), Stamina(S), Technique(T) and Leadership(L).
Every Will Card has these Statistics: Attack(A), Defence(D), Power(P), Morale(M).

Cost(C): Cost refers to the amount of Resource required in Producing the Unit or Construction.

Initiative(I): Initiative refers to the "Speed" and "Movement" of the Unit, the amount of Positions he can Move on the Battlefield, and the determination of whether he goes first in a Battle, as well as for determining the results of Sweeping Advance, Flanking and Outflanking.

Stamina(S): Stamina is used to determine both the Attack and Defence Value of a Battle. If a Unit's Stamina is lowered by Damage from an Attack, from then on, all Attacks and Defences made by the Unit is modified by the lowered Stamina Value. Should the Stamina reaches 0, the Unit is Destroyed.

Technique(T): Technique only comes into play for certain triggers.

Leadership(L): Leadership is used when making Morale Tests, as well as used for Spell-Casting.

Battle:

Whenever you Attack or Defend, the Unit with the higher Initiative Draws from the Will Deck first, a Deck of 30 Cards, that is taken in replication from Runewars Fate Deck. For instance, there are 4 sections to a Will Card, and you add the Value of the Attack section to the Stamina of the Attacker first, then you do the same with the Defender, except he is adding his Stamina to the Defence Value, and with the combined Defence Value subtracting from the Attack Value, and if it is lowered below the Threshold, which refers to the amount of Damage it can sustain from the protection of the Defence section of the Will Card, the Stamina is reduced by the remaining Damage carried over, and if it exceeds the Stamina Value of the Defender, the Defender dies. Counters are needed to track the amount of remaining Stamina on the respective Units. Then it comes to the Defending Unit's Turn to Attack, and the same procedure follows, for Defenders to Attack back to Destroy their Attackers.

For instance: A Human Swordsman has a Statistic of I2, S3, T1, L2. As a Special Rule, the Swordsman has an Ability called Iron Sword, which allows him to cut through the Armour Value of Armoured Units, by an Armour-Piercing Value of -1, as well as a Shield. He faces a Dwarven Shieldwall, with Statistic of I1, S4, T0, L4. The Dwarven Shieldwall has a Special Rule called Shieldwall, which allows him to ingnore Flanking and Outflanking Attacks from both sides against him. If he uses Shieldwall, he may not Attack. Both sides Draw a Will Card, and the Swordsman Draws 2, plus his Stamina of 3, equalling a 5, while the Shieldwall Draws a Will of 3, plus 4 Stamina, equating 7 overall Defence. The Attack has been successfully thwarted. Then next the Swordsman Defends, Drawing a Will Card of 2, plus a Stamina of 3, equalling 5. Should the Dwarven Shieldwall Draw a Will of at least 2, adding it to his Stamina of 4, equalling 6, and the Human Swordsman Draws a Will of 2 too, adding it to his Stamina of 3, equalling 5, the difference between 6 and 5, causes a reduction in the Human Swordsman Stamina by 1, and so from then on, he Attacks and Interacts on a reduced Stamina of 1.

Smithy is a Construction that can produce Advanced Weaponry for Humans, for instance, the Swordsman doesn't begin with a Shield, and wield an Iron Sword, that can be improved to a Steel Sword, with the correct Gold Value. The Steel Sword has an AP of 1, and on top of that, has a +1 modifier to his Attack Draws. The Shied has a Defence Value of 1, which affects both your Attack and Defence, by adding to your Stamina when you are Attacking or Defending, that can be used to Guard an Attack from an Attacker, or Attack a Defender.

The Human Swordsman has a Sword that has an AP of 1. When the Swordsmanship Level 1 Training is Trained, the Swordsman can become Equipped with a Shield. When Swordsmanship Level 2 Training is Trained, the Swordsman gain Parry, which allows you to Attack again, after successfully Defending.

Dwarven Ironguard has an Armour Value of 3, which affects the Will Card you Drew, adding it to the Will Value you Drew for Defending against an Attack. Shieldwalls not only prevents Flanking Attacks, covering the side of your own more vulnerable Units, he can choose to lower his Stamina temporarily by 1, and prevent all Ranged Attacks against him, and those Friendly Units behind him. Shieldwall is a Shield with an Armour Value of 4, except that it may not Attack when using his Ability. Tinkering with the Research Aux-Motors, allows a specific Friendly Unit that has been previously Geared with any sort of Advanced Armour, like Exo-Armour or Gyro-Armour, to Move faster by 1 Initiative.

Morale Test:

The Morale Test comes in, when your side suffers more Damage to Stamina than the other, but does not get Destroyed, and if this happens, you Draw from the Will Deck again, and consult the Morale Value to be added to your Unit's Leadership. If you fail the Morale Test, your Unit becomes Routed, forced to take a Sweeping Advance check, by having both sides Drawing a Will Card and Comparing Initiatives added to the Will Card Value, and if the side that won the Battle Draws a higher Initiative Comparison, the Enemy Unit is Destroyed. Otherwise it becomes Tapped, placed sideways. By becoming Tapped, it cannot Attack and Defend, and cannot play any Abilities this Turn. When it is Attacked, it does not Draw a Will Card, but takes the full brunt of the Enemy's Damage that is committed to the Stamina Value. It also Retreats to a Terrain in a Position exactly behind its original Position in the Battleline. All Units Retreat back 1 Position, except if you are Calvary and Beast, then you Retreat back 2 Positions, or if the Card has the Skirmisher Keyword, which allows you to Move back an additional Position, that doesn't have to be directly behind his previous Position. From that point onwards, it has to Draw from the Will Deck, consulting the Morale Value, if it is lower than or equal to the unmodified Leadership Value of the Unit, in order to Rally back into the Battle.

Flanking and Other Manoeuvres:

You may Flank in this Game, when your Unit has enough Movement through Initiative, to Charge into the Flank of an Opposing Unit. When Charging this way, you gain First Strike, Striking before the Opposing Unit. This is done only when your Unit is on the Opponent's Battleline, and Charges horizontally at it. Outflanking, with those Units that have the Ability, allows you to Flank Charge into the Opposing Unit's Flank, even when Positioned on your side of the Battleline, however, requiring sufficient Initiative Movement to reach the Opposing Unit, from orthogonal and contiguous Positional Movement. The boon of Flanking and Outflanking, is that you gain First Strike, and if you already have First Strike, you gain Double Strike, allowing you to Attack a subsequent time. You also gain +1 to the Attack from the Will Card drawn, for each Initiative used in reaching the Opposing Unit.

Types of Units and Constructions in the Game:

There are several different types of Units and Constructions in the Game:

Units:

Infantry – Infantry Retreats for just one Position.
Calvary – Calvary Retreats for two Positions, if possible.
Beast – Beasts Retreat for two Positions, that don't have to be directly behind their previous Positions, while causing Fear.
Skirmisher – Skirmishers Retreat for one more additional Position, that don't have to be directly behind their previous Positions.
Vehicle – Vehicles do not have a Stamina Value, but has an Armour Level, that only applies for Defence. As for Attack, the Vehicle itself will state what sort of Weapons it has, and the Power Level it has. Vehicles also do not have T or L Values, as those are provided by the Pilots of the Vehicle.

Racial Techs and Themes:

The 6 Races in the Game each have their respective Techs and Themes:

Humankind: Order
Elfkind: Life
Dwarfkind: Earth
Orckind: Disorder
Undead: Unlife
Demonkind: Chaos

The 6 Races in the Game too have their respective Terrain:

Humankind: Holy Grounds
Elfkind: Forest Glades
Dwarfkind: Mountainholds
Orckind: Savagelands
Undead: Hollow Graves
Demonkind: Lavaworld

The Humans for instance, can Construct a Martial Academy in one of its Holy Grounds, and when you Station one of your Units there, it gets to learn Abilities it can later use in Battle.

The Elfkind have a Racial Ability called: Swift Slaying

Essentially, the Elves can use

Turn Order:

Resource Phase:

First Player starts and Draws 7 Cards, while the second Player Draws a further Card when his Turn comes. For the Dwarfkind for instance, they can place a Card down anywhere within their Mountainhold Terrain for its Gold Costs, and if it is a Miner Unit, that doesn't have any Gold Cost, you can place it in one of the Mountain Terrain, in order to Mine Gold. An amount of Gold is Mined every Turn, for a Value up to the maximum number of Stamina, as long as the Miner is Tapped. The Miner has a Statistic of 1I, 3S, T0, L3.

Production Phase:

At this point, you can use the amount of Resources you have, depending on your Race, to Produce any of your Race-specific Units, in one of your Unit-Producing Contructions within your Terrain. Some Races are able to Construct at the Battleline, effectively bringing your Constructions to the frontline. You may Construct your Constructions after Producing your Units, at this point of the Game.

Battle Phase:

As explained above, you may choose to Move each of your Units once. Spells are also Casted here.

Upkeep Phase:

At this point is the Upkeep, where your Technology and Lore are Researched, while your Mercenaries are paid their Upkeep, which is done by paying their Costs again. Mercenaries are only ever bought with Gold, and no other Resource.

Dwarf Technology:

Dwarfs can carve out an Underground Tunnel Network from the Mountainhold Terrain, by having one of their Sculptors Positioned in a Mountainhold Terrain, thus allowing them to travel to any Position in their Terrain, through the Network, regardless of the Units' individual Initiative. This is only possible if their Architects first design the schematics required for the Underground Tunnel Network.

Special Racial Ability of Orcs:

Savagery: Orcs have +1 Stamina when Attacking.
Savage Energy: The collective Stamina of all Orckind within a Range equal to the Leadership of the Orc Shaman, fuels the Power of the Orckind Spells. They can feast on it to Cast Spells like Bloodlust, allowing them to double their Initiative, from 2 to 4, while Attacking twice. Every Spell has an Energy Cost, so you are restricted in how many Spells you can Cast.