Browse Terms

Units and spires In Play are active unless otherwise stated. Active units and spires act as described in the rulebook and are able to take all actions or movements they would normally be allowed to take. Units that are not active are Inactive. See also: Inactive

Two hexes are adjacent to each other if they share a side. Units, spires, and landmarks in adjacent hexes are considered adjacent to each other. Hex groups sharing an edge are considered adjacent even if they exist on different planes of the Play Area.

Talent timing text: may be used once per Turn per Unit, even if Unit flips sides. Triggers around that Unit’s Movement rather than Movement phase at large.

Special Landmark Unit with unique back and black border, brought into play only when instructed. Not considered a Landmark Minion for game effects, but can be attacked/damaged and retaliates when attacked.

Faction units and spires can attack in order to deal Damage to opponents. An attack is a specific type of Damage that occurs as a stage of your Turn during the Onslaught Phase. Damage dealt in other ways, such as by Retaliation or through talents, is not considered to be an attack. Talents that refer to attacks do not apply to Damage dealt in other ways. If a Talent is triggered “when attacking,” its effect occurs simultaneously with the Damage being dealt, and before Retaliation. If a Talent triggers “after attacking,” it occurs after resolving the attack and Retaliation if it is not defeated. See also: Damage, Retaliation, Target

The amount of Damage a Unit deals when attacking and retaliating. The [Attack_Stat] icon indicates a Unit’s base Attack stat, and each Attack Upgrade on the Unit increases its Attack stat by 1. Units with a 0 Attack stat or no Attack stat cannot Attack. See also: Hero – Hero Attacks, Minion – Minion Attacks, Target

Orange chip with [ATTACK_UPGRADE] icon. Increases the Attack Stat of units and the number of Attack dice rolled by spires. Units with no Attack Stat icon cannot gain Attack Upgrades. See also: Hero – Hero Upgrades, Spire – Spire Upgrades

Opposing units may Target your Fortress Gate with attacks. The gate always retaliates when attacked, dealing 1 Damage with unlimited Range even if defeated. If you have a Deployment Stack on your gate when attacked, you may direct the Attack Damage to the topmost Unit in the stack instead. Units on the gate are Inactive and cannot use talents, but they retaliate to the first Adjacent Opposing Unit that attacks them this way each Turn equal to their Attack Stat. Damage cannot be dealt to the gate or units on it by other means except attacks or talents that specifically deal Damage to the gate. Gate Health starts at 10 and is tracked; at 0 it is defeated. At end of your Attack stage, if one of your units is Adjacent to an Opposing gate and did not Attack, the gate retaliates on it as if it attacked it.

Your opponents’ Spires Fire, or Attack, on your Turn during the Onslaught Phase as opposed to their own. When Spires Fire, the player to your left checks if you, as the current player, have any units within Range of any of their spires. If you do, their applicable spires will Attack. For each attacking Spire, they must choose a Target if there are multiple possible units in Range, roll Spire Attack dice equal to their Spire’s Attack Stat, and deal the rolled result in Damage to the targeted Unit. Then, the next Opposing player in Turn order does the same until all Opposing players have had a chance to fire their spires. Units do not retaliate against spires. Spires cannot Attack landmarks, spires, Fortress gates, or units belonging to players that are not currently taking their Turn.

Your units Attack as a specific stage of your Turn during the Onslaught Phase. Your minions must Attack if they are able to, while you may choose whether or not your heroes Attack. Units can Attack Adjacent Opposing units, spires, and Fortress gates. Adjacent landmarks with Health chips under them can also be attacked even if they are not Landmark minions. If any of your units have multiple possible targets, you can choose which Target they Attack. Your units perform their attacks in the order of your choosing. Each Unit may only Attack once per Turn. When one of your units attacks another Unit, Damage equal to your Unit’s Attack Stat is dealt to its Target, then it retaliates if able. When a Unit attacks a Spire, an Attack of 1 or more Damage will remove a single Attack or Range Upgrade from the bottom of the Spire (fortification on bottom requires at least 2 Damage). When attacking a Fortress Gate, the gate’s Health tracker is reduced by the amount of Damage dealt. Units with a 0 Attack Stat or no Attack Stat do not Attack unless a Talent says otherwise. See also: Fortress – Fortress Gate – Attacking and Defending a Fortress Gate, Retaliation

Refers to the chip organizer where Faction units and spires are kept when not In Play, as well as the area beside the chip organizer. Units in your chip organizer are available to be selected for Deployment in the Prep Phase by paying their CP Cost. Spires in your chip organizer can be constructed during the Build Phase, or using a Limited Build Option in the Onslaught Phase, by paying their Source Cost. Units and spires beside the chip organizer include mercs purchased from the Market or heroes which have previously been selected and then returned to the Fortress. Units here may be selected at no CP Cost, and spires here can be constructed at no Source Cost. These chips are considered to be in your barracks for the purposes of all game effects. See also: Command Points (CP), Select

Any side of a Spire or Unit that does not have the Promoted indicator [Promotion_Star]. Mercs only have a basic side, while most Faction spires and units have a basic side and a Promoted Side. Spires: basic spires cannot be Promoted after construction. Units: selected on basic side; minions flip to Promoted only if specified; heroes can Level Up to Promoted. See also: Level Up, Promoted

Talent timing text: may be used once per Turn per Unit, even if Unit flips sides. Triggers around that Unit’s Movement rather than Movement phase at large.

When a Unit occupies a Hex that a Minion would need to move onto to make Progress with its full Movement, the moving Minion is blocked. Heroes cannot block Friendly minions and must be displaced if they do. Opposing units and Friendly minions can block your minions; the Minion makes as much Progress as possible and may need to Defeat a blocker to continue. See also: Displace, Movement

The different choices you are able to make during your Turn in the Build Phase: Construct a Spire, Upgrade a Spire, Earthscape (and optionally construct), Advance Your Fortress, plus other build options granted by relics/events/advancements. See also: Earthscape, Fortress – Fortress Advancement, Influence, Limited Build Option, Spire – Spire Construction, Spire – Spire Upgrades

[Command_Stat] The amount of CP you must pay to Select a Unit from your Barracks for Deployment. Units beside your Barracks do not cost CP to Select, nor does your Starting Hero. See also: Select

At the start of a Turn in which only one Faction has units In Play, that Faction’s heroes go into campfire mode for the remainder of the Wave. When a Hero is in campfire mode, it is Inactive. In a 2v2 or co-op game, it triggers if all Faction units left In Play are Friendly to each other. Not the same as end of Wave. See also: Inactive

The Isle placed in the middle during setup, also Isle #1. Contains only 1 Source Well (center Source Well).

When a Hex is cleared, any chips on it are removed. Faction minions and spires return to their Barracks. Faction and Merc heroes are removed from the game as if defeated. Merc minions, Merc spires, and Equipment go to Market discard, and landmarks go to Landmark discard.

For a Faction Unit, closeness is measured by counting the number of hexes matching the Unit’s Terrain Allowance between the Unit and its Mark using the shortest route possible. Count through Faction units but not through spires or landmarks. For any other purpose, count hexes between things using the shortest route and ignoring Terrain type. See also: Leading Minion, Movement

Granted and used during the Prep Phase to Select units from your Barracks for Deployment. Each Faction is designated an equal amount of CP determined by the current Wave. CP can only be used during the Prep Phase and does not carry over if unused.

All units you deploy and all spires you construct are under your control. Some effects may give control of additional chips. When you gain control over a chip not your Faction’s color, place an unused chip of your Faction’s color on the bottom as a reminder. Controlled Landmark minions are considered Faction minions for game effects. Defeat of controlled units/spires resolves normally; Faction-specific chips return to their original Faction. See also: Defeat

Damage can be applied to units, spires, Fortress gates, and landmarks with Health. Units/landmarks/gates lose Health equal to damage. Spires lose their bottom upgrade if dealt at least 1 damage, or bottom fortification if dealt at least 2 damage. Damage dealt is determined after factoring in talents/advancements that modify damage.

Units can Target Adjacent Opposing spires. Dealing 1+ Damage removes 1 Attack or Range Upgrade from bottom (max 1 upgrade removed per single Attack regardless of Damage). If bottom is fortification, must deal at least 2 Damage from a single Attack/Talent to remove it. Spires do not retaliate.

When a Unit or Fortress Gate loses its last Health, or a Spire loses its last upgrade, it is defeated. Defeated units do not retaliate, but defeated Fortress gates do. Defeats resolve in order: (1) “when defeated” talents, (2) Clear defeated Unit/Spire (gate remains), (3) gain rewards/Pillage as applicable, (4) Hero may Level Up if responsible. Grouped-Unit defeat clears only top Unit and reveals next as Active. Removing last Health from a non-Unit Landmark is not a defeat. See also: Reward, Pillage, End of the Game

A Unit deploys when it moves off of your Fortress Gate Hex. Units become Active as they deploy. Units must deploy at their earliest opportunity if they can make any amount of Progress by deploying. Heroes are not obligated to deploy onto hexes that do not connect to their Mark using Terrain Allowance. See also: Active, Inactive, Movement

Created during the Prep Phase from all selected units for the Wave and placed on your Fortress Gate. Units in the stack are Inactive outside the Movement stage, when they move out to deploy if able, or optionally if your Fortress Gate is attacked. Talents may add/return units to the stack (placed on bottom if stack exists). See also: Hero – Hero Selection and Deployment, Minion – Minion Selection and Deployment, Select

When a Unit is displaced by another Unit moving onto its Hex, the displaced Unit is placed onto the Hex the moving Unit moved off of (swap), ignoring Terrain restrictions. If that Hex is invalid (Opposing gate, Occupied, etc.), the displaced Unit moves to an Adjacent Hex of the current player’s choosing, adhering to Terrain if possible. Heroes can be displaced into their own Fortress Gate, which counts as Returning to the Fortress. Your minions may displace Friendly heroes during Movement and must if needed to make Progress. See also: Blocked, Movement, Returning to the Fortress

Small Hex groups purchasable during the Market Phase for 2 Source and placed as a Build Option. Can extend the Play Area Adjacent to existing Hex groups (must line up an edge with a Hex Group containing one of your spires), or alter by placing on top of existing Hex groups (even plane, not on Occupied hexes). After placing, you may immediately construct a Spire on one of its Source wells (pay cost and have Influence; Influence determined by bottommost Hex). See also: Influence, Market, Spire - Spire Construction

Game ends immediately upon Defeat of a Faction’s Fortress Gate if only one Fortress Gate remains. In 3-4 players, play continues after a gate hits 0 if more than one gate remains undefeated. If not ended earlier, game ends after Wave 4 and winner is determined by Fortress Power, then tiebreakers: gate Health, remaining Source, spires In Play, then shared victory if still tied. See also: Defeat, Fortress - Fortress Gate