| Board | Minions each | Ruins | Deploy rows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8×8 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| 9×9 to 10×10 | 4 | 6 | 2 |
| 11×11 to 12×12 | 5 | 8 | 3 |
Play 1 card in ONE mode → set aside as waiting card → take the old one.
MOVE. One piece, exactly as shown. Jumps. Escort : another piece may then step 1.
ATTACK. One attacker; follow the card. Adjacent attacks step 1 first. No MOVE.
RALLY. Return a slain Minion to your back row instead. Never resets the Vigil.
No ATTACK on turn 1.
No piece is ever landed on.
Adjacent = 8 surrounding squares. Range = king-steps. Blocked = off board, Ruin, or occupied. Step = one unblocked king-step; never a jump. LoS = a straight row, column, or diagonal; blocked by Ruins and pieces.
Push moves the target away, pull toward, as far as possible; 0 squares moved crushes for 1 damage. A blocked push still deals damage, plus 1 crush. If the target dies, no push is made.
Ending an effect on the enemy Relic, or a dropped one, picks it up: move, step, push/pull's end, swap. Hidden Relics reveal on pickup.
A carrier keeps it however it moves, carries only one, never its own, attacks normally.
Push/pull drops the Relic where the carrier stood, unless merely crushed; a slain carrier drops it where it died.
Guard a revealed Relic by standing on it; targeting a carrier ignores Ruins for LoS.
Each full round with no HP lost and no Relic picked up or dropped lowers the die by 1; anything else resets it to 6. HP loss counts, even your own; a reveal does not. At 0 score +1 for a carrier in the enemy half, −1 for one in your own; higher wins, then less Hero damage, then more Minions, then a draw.
Win: slay the enemy Hero, or end a turn in your own back row carrying theirs.