Stonemaier Games presents

DESI G N E D BY J AM E Y S T E G M AI E R
A RT A N D WO R L D BU I L D I N G BY J AK U B R O Z AL S K I
Scythe (2-5 players, 115 minutes) is a board game set in an alternate-history 1920s.
It is a time of farming and war, broken hearts and rusted gears, innovation and valor.

BACKSTORY

The ashes from the first Great War still darken the snow in 1920s Europa. The capitalistic city-state known simply as The Factory,
which fueled the war with heavily armored mechs, has closed its doors, drawing the attention of several nearby countries.
With characters from five factions converging onto a small but highly desired swath of land, who will gain fame and
fortune by establishing their empire as the leader of Eastern Europa?

OBJECT OF THE GAME

In Scythe (pronounced sahythit sounds like sigh

and the soft th in smooth), each player represents a
character attempting to make their faction the richest and
most powerful in Eastern Europa. Players explore and
conquer territory, enlist new recruits, produce resources
and workers, build structures, and deploy monstrous mechs.
A game of Scythe typically begins with players building up
their infrastructure, then exploring the world, then engaging
each other in combat.
The game progresses as players place stars (achievements)
on the board, and it ends when a player places their 6th star
on the Triumph Track. You can earn stars for accomplishing
any of the following:
Complete all 6 upgrades
Deploy all 4 mechs
Build all 4 structures
Enlist all 4 recruits
 ave all 8 workers on
H
the board

 eveal 1 completed
R
objective card
Win combat (x2)
Have 18 popularity
Have 16 power

GOAL

The goal is to have the greatest fortune at the end of the game.
A typical winning fortune is around $75. You can accumulate
coins during the game, but you will earn most of them during
end-game scoring in the following three categories:
Every star token placed
Every territory controlled
Every 2 resources controlled
The amount of coins you earn depends on your level on the
Popularity Track. The higher your popularity, the more coins
you will earn. Youll also get a few bonus coins based on where
you built structures.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

COMPONENTS
IMPORTANT CONCEPTS
TYPES OF UNITS
SETUP
GAMEPLAY
TOP-ROW ACTIONS
BOTTOM-ROW ACTIONS
FACTION ABILITIES
COMBAT
ENCOUNTERS
THE FACTORY
OBJECTIVES
ALLIANCES, BRIBES, & TRADING
PLACING STARS
GAME END AND SCORING
CHARACTERS
HIGHLIGHTED RULES

GLOBAL COMPONENTS
2 3
4
5
69
10
11 13
14 20
21
22 23
24
25
26
26
27
28 29
30
31

1 rulebook

30 combat cards (yellow)

30 x

1 box

20 objective cards (beige)

20 x
1 game board
20 encounter cards (green)

20 x
80 wooden resource tokens

(20 each of food, metal, wood, and oil)

12 Factory cards (purple)

20 x

12 x

80 cardboard coins

2 Power Dials

2x
8 multiplier tokens

5 riverwalk cards
FRONT
CHARACTER

pick up and drop off any deploy mechs

number of workers
build structures

All units can move any number resource tokens.

By default, units can move 1 territory and cant move across rivers or onto lakes.
Whenever on your turn your character/mechs force an opponents worker(s) to retreat
(through movement or combat), you lose per retreating worker.
In combat, attacker wins ties. Loser gains if they revealed >0 power.
HOW TO WIN: Have the most coins, including end-game coins gained from Popularity Track.
TERRITORIES: You control a territory (hex) if you have at least one unit or structure there.

RESOURCES: Resources remain on the board. Spend resources from territories you control.

YOUR TURN: Choose 1 of 4 sections on player mat (different than previous turn). Take either
the top-row action, the bottom-row action, or both (starting with the top action). First pay
the full cost of the action (red boxes), then gain the benefit (green boxes).

QUICK-START SUGGESTIONS

FIRST TURN: Take one of the top-row actions that no one else has tried.

11 encounter tokens

11 x

BACK

ENEMY FACTION
RIVERWALK ACCESS TO
HOME AREAS

COMBAT AND AGGRESSIVE MOVEMENT

Only characters and mechs may move onto territories controlled by enemy units.
Whenever on your turn your character/mechs force an opponents worker(s) to retreat
(through movement or combat), you lose per retreating worker. Your character and
mechs may move into territories with an opponents worker(s) even if you have 0 .
Combat happens after a player has completed their Move action if their character and/or
mechs are on a territory with an opponents character and/or mechs.
The two players each determine how much to spend on their power dial. They may
also secretly add up to 1 per character/mech they control in combat.
Reveal each players total power (power dial plus combat cards). Attacker wins ties.
Winner gains the territory, all resources on it, and a combat victory .
Loser retreat units to their home base and gains if they revealed >0 power.

5 quick start cards

SECOND TURN: Work towards taking both a top- and bottom-row action on the same turn.
THIRD TURN: Use your faction ability (if possible).
FOURTH TURN: Look at your objective cards and pick one to pursue.
FIFTH TURN: Pick 1 of the 10 different ways to place a star and focus on accomplishing it.
Focus on being good at 6 specific things so you can place your 6 stars before anyone else.

6 structure bonus tiles

6x

FPO

produce resources and workers

engage in combat

have encounters

FRONT
WORKERS

engage in combat
gain a Factory card at the Factory

MECHS

BACK

12 plastic bags

FOLD HERE--DONT CUT

HORIZONTALLY!

FAC TION CO M PO NENT S

NORDIC

FACTION

SAXONY

BLU E

PRIMARY COLOR

POLANIA

BL ACK

CRIMEA

W H ITE

RUSVIET

Y E LLO W

RED

1 Faction Mat

1 Player Mat

*randomly selected
*randomly selected

1 action token
1 popularity token
1 power token
3
6 star tokens

6x

6x

6x

6x

6x

4x

4x

4x

4x

4x

4 structure tokens

4 recruit tokens

4 mech miniatures

4x

4x

4x

4x

4x

1 character miniature

8 workers

8x

8x

8x

8x

8x

6 technology cubes

6x

6x

6x

6x

6x

See all icons on the icon reference guide.

IMPORTA NT CO NCEPT S
TERRITORY

A territory is a hex on the

board labeled with one of
the following terrain types:

FARM

FOREST

LAKE

MOUNTAIN

TUNDRA

VILLAGE

FACTORY

HOME BASE

You have a home base that serves as a starting point and a place to retreat after losing
combat.
ITS NOT A TERRITORY: A home base is not a territory, so by default you cannot move units or

build structures onto any home base, including your own.

EXPANSION FACTIONS: There are two home bases on the game board without corresponding
pieces. These are placeholders for expansion factions.

CONTROL

You control a territory if you have at least one unit there (a character, worker, or mech) OR
if you have a structure there with no enemy characters, workers, or mechs. Only one player
at a time can control a territory.
4

RESOURCES

Resources (wood, food, metal, and oil) remain on the board at all times. You may only spend resources from territories
you currently control.
SPEND RESOURCES FROM ANY TERRITORY YOU CONTROL: Regardless of the location of the thing youre spending resources on, you can

spend resources you control anywhere on the board. For example, you can spend 3 metal tokens you control on one
territory to deploy a mech on a different territory.
SUPPLY: When you spend a resource, remove it from the board and place it in the general supply at the side of the board.
When you produce or trade for a resource (details later in the rules), move it from the supply to the board. There are no
limits to the number of resource tokens in the gameuse multiplier tokens as needed.
WORKERS ARENT RESOURCES. Resources are wood, food, metal, and oil. Workers are not resources.

EXAMPLE OF RESOURCE CONTROL: In this image, the Nordic

faction controls each of the territories on which

it has one of its units or structures (blue pieces,
including the character miniature with the blue
base). It can spend any of the resources on those
territories. It cannot spend the metal tokens on the
territory on the bottom left because it does not have a
unit or structure there.

TYPE S O F U NIT S
Each of the three units in the gamecharacters, mechs, and
workersshare two key similarities:
 hey can move around the board (by default, not over
T
rivers or onto lakes).
They can move any number of resource tokens.
Each type of unit also has some unique traits that arent
shared by the other units. These concepts will be explained
in detail later in the rules. This list corresponds with the
above graphic from left to right.

Characters can engage

in combat, can have
encounters, and can gain
a Factory card if they
end their movement
on the Factory. You are
represented on the board
by your character, who has
been sent on a mission
by your factions leader to
lay claim to the uncharted
lands surrounding the
defunct Factory.

PLASTIC

Mechs can engage in

combat and can pick up
and drop off any number
of workers when moving.
Mechs are built for war
(and for discouraging other
factions from engaging in
war with them), and theyre
big enough that they can
carry around people within
their iron shells.

Workers can produce,

build mechs, and build
structures. These are the
people of the land who have
decided to join your cause
and build an empire for you.

WOOD

A visual cue in Scythe is that tokens not involved in combat are made out of wood
(workers, resources, and structures) and tokens involved in combat are made out of plastic
(characters and mechs).

SET U P
BOARD SETUP
ENCOUNTER TOKENS (GREEN COMPASS): Place
1 encounter token on each territory
marked with an encounter symbol
(green and gold hexagonal compass) on the board.

RESOURCES AND COINS: Place the resource tokens (wood, oil, food,

and metal) and coins in a supply area next to the board.

COMBAT CARDS (YELLOW): Shuffle

the combat cards and put

them on the board. If a
combat card would need to
be drawn from an empty
deck, first shuffle the
discard pile to create a new
deck. If there is no discard
pile, no cards are drawn.
FACTORY CARDS (PURPLE): Shuffle
the Factory cards and
randomly select X cards
face-down, where X is the
number of players plus 1.
Place those cards on the
board face-down and return
the rest of the Factory cards
to the box without looking
at them.

ENCOUNTER CARDS (GREEN) :

OBJECTIVE CARDS (BEIGE): Shuffle
Shuffle the encounter
the objective cards and put
cards and put them on
them on the board.
the board.
STRUCTURE BONUS TILE: Randomly select one of the structure
bonus tiles and place it face-up at the bottom of the
Popularity Track.

FACTION SELECTION:

Randomly shuffle the Faction Mats and Player Mats then

deal 1 of each to each player. Each player should sit near
the home base for their faction with their Faction Mat and
Player Mat positioned in front of them; the seating order
should be Polania, Nordic, Rusviet, Crimea, Saxony.

STARTING CARDS AND TRACK POSITIONS:

Both the Faction Mat and Player Mat indicate your starting cards and track positions in the
boxes on far right of each mat.

FACTION MAT
COMBAT CARDS: Draw the

POWER TOKEN: Place your

) on the
power token (
indicated level of the Power
Track (on game board).
Power is the commodity you
will spend in combat.

indicated number of
combat cards. The number
of combat cards you have
is public information,
but content of those
cards is kept secret from
opponents.

PLAYER MAT
POPULARITY TOKEN: Place your popularity token (heart) on the

indicated level of the Popularity Track (on game board).

COINS: Gain the indicated

OBJECTIVE CARDS: Draw the

indicated number of
objective cards (beige
back). The content of
those cards is kept secret
from opponents. After all
players have drawn their
objective cards, return the
deck to the box.

amount of coins and place

them on your Faction Mat.
While the number of coins
you have during the game
is not hidden information,
you are never required
to reveal their total value
to other players. We
recommend stacking your
coins to obfuscate the total
value.

CHARACTER
Place your character (miniature with the person & animal)
on your factions home base.

WORKERS
Place 1 worker meeple on each of the territories connected
to your home base by land (a total of 2 workers).

SET U P
continued

PLAYER MAT

Your Player Mat is where youll be choosing actions during the game.

TECHNOLOGY CUBES: Put 6 technology cubes on your

Player Mat on the green boxes that have a black

square in the bottom right corner (very small).

EXAMPLE

WORKERS: Your remaining 6

workers (meeples) go on
the red rectangles above the
Produce action.

STRUCTURE TOKENS: Your 4

structure tokens (wooden
buildings) go on top of the
boxes to the left of their
corresponding icons.
Each player has the same 4
structures.
ACTION TOKEN: Place your

1 action token next to

the Player Mat.
RECRUIT TOKENS: Your 4 recruit

tokens (cylinders) go on
the circular spaces on the
bottom row of the Player
Mat

STARTING PLAYER:

If you have the Player Mat with the lowest number next
to the thematic label, you will take the first turn. Play
proceeds clockwise from there.
DESIGNERS NOTE: The higher-numbered Player Mats offer
slightly more lucrative starting track positions than the
others, as those players are more likely to have 1 fewer
turns by the end of the game than the player who goes first

FACTION MAT

Your Faction Mat is where you keep your mechs, stars, and coins. Each Faction Mat also shows a special ability in the
upper right corner.
STARS: Place your 6 star tokens at the upper

left near the faction emblem.

Do not put tokens on top

of the Recruit One-Time
Bonuses (bottom left
corner)youll gain these
benefits when enlisting
recruits during the game.

MECHS: Place your 4 mech

miniatures on top of the 4

mech/character abilities.

QUICK-START CARD

We dont recommend that you try to teach every little

rule to new players. Instead, give each player a quickstart card. This card contains key information about
units on one side, and the other side covers broad
concepts and gives players something specific to do for
their first five turns.
The first game of Scythe isnt about devising a
masterful plan or understanding every little rule. Just
jump in and start pushing buttons to see how things
work, referring to the rules when necessary.
FRONT

RIVERWALKCHARACTER
CARD

MECHS

gain a Factory card at the Factory

including end-game coins gained

from Popularity Track.

FIRST TURN: Take one of the top-row

actions that no one else has tried.

TERRITORIES: You control a territory

SECOND TURN: Work towards taking

(hex) if you have at least one unit or

structure there.

both a top- and bottom-row action

on the same turn.

RESOURCES: Resources remain on

THIRD TURN: Use your faction ability (if

possible).

the board. Spend resources from

territories you control.

FOURTH TURN: Look at your objective

YOUR TURN: Choose 1 of 4 sections on

player mat (different than previous
turn). Take either the top-row
action, the bottom-row action, or
both (starting with the top action).
First pay the full cost of the action
(red boxes), then gain the benefit
(green boxes).

cards and pick one to pursue.

FIFTH TURN: Pick 1 of the 10 different

ways to place a star and focus on

accomplishing it.

Focus on being good at 6 specific

things so you can place your 6 stars
before anyone else.

FRONT
WORKERS

The riverwalk cardsone per playerare a reminder

as to which factions have the ability to cross into each
home territory if they unlock the Riverwalk mech
produce resources and workers
engage in combat
engage in combat
ability, as
each Riverwalk ability
is slightly different.
deploy mechs
have encounters
pick up and drop off any
This ability
is explained on page
15.
number of workers

QUICK-START SUGGESTIONS

HOW TO WIN: Have the most coins,

build structures

All units can move any number resource tokens.

By default, units can move 1 territory and cant move across rivers or onto lakes.
Whenever on your turn your character/mechs force an opponents worker(s) to retreat
(through movement or combat), you lose per retreating worker.
In combat, attacker wins ties. Loser gains if they revealed >0 power.
HOW TO WIN: Have the most coins, including end-game coins gained from Popularity Track.
TERRITORIES: You control a territory (hex) if you have at least one unit or structure there.

RESOURCES: Resources remain on the board. Spend resources from territories you control.

YOUR TURN: Choose 1 of 4 sections on player mat (different than previous turn). Take either
the top-row action, the bottom-row action, or both (starting with the top action). First pay
the full cost of the action (red boxes), then gain the benefit (green boxes).

QUICK-START SUGGESTIONS

FIRST TURN: Take one of the top-row actions that no one else has tried.

FPO

ENEMY FACTION
RIVERWALK ACCESS TO
HOME AREAS

COMBAT AND AGGRESSIVE MOVEMENT

Only characters and mechs may move onto territories controlled by enemy units.
Whenever on your turn your character/mechs force an opponents worker(s) to retreat
(through movement or combat), you lose per retreating worker. Your character and
mechs may move into territories with an opponents worker(s) even if you have 0 .
Combat happens after a player has completed their Move action if their character and/or
mechs are on a territory with an opponents character and/or mechs.
The two players each determine how much to spend on their power dial. They may

FOLD HERE--DONT C
HORIZONTALLY!

G A M EPL AY
Scythe uses an ongoing action-selection mechanism (no rounds or phases). Players take
turns one after another until a player places their 6th star on the board, immediately
ending the game.
Your turn consists of placing your action token on one of
the four sections of your Player Mat, then doing one of the
following:
1. Take just the top action
2. Take just the bottom action
3. Take both the top and bottom actions, starting with the
top action. You can use resources gained from the top
action to take the bottom action.
The section of the Player Mat you choose for your turn must
be different than the section you chose for your previous
turn. Move your action token from its previous position to
a different section on your Player Mat.

10

The costs (red boxes) and benefits (green boxes) on your

Player Mat are shown by the number of empty spaces
before the action is taken. When taking an action, first pay
the cost, then gain as much of the benefit as youd like.
After youve completed your turn (or as youre finalizing
your decision on a bottom-row action), the next person in
clockwise order takes their turn.

BOLSTER ACTION
(with structure zbelow it)

UPGRADE ACTION
(with recruit bonus on
the right)

TOP-R O W A CT IO NS
The top-row actions appear in a different order on each Player Mat, though each action is identical. Each top-row action
has a structure associated with itwell discuss how structures work in the Build section.

MOVE

Do one of the following:

MOVING INTO OPPONENT-CONTROLLED TERRITORIES:

CONTROLLED BY WORKERS

If your character and/or mech move into a territory

controlled by an opponents workers (and no other
units), their movement ends and they cannot move
again this turn. After youve completed your Move
action, each of the opponents workers on that
territory immediately retreats to their factions home
base.You lose 1 popularity for each of their workers
you forced to retreattheyre not happy with you for
forcing them off their land (in the case that you cannot
reduce your popularity any further, the workers are
still forced to retreat).

MOVE: Move up to 2 different units

you control (character, worker, or

mech) from one territory to one
adjacent territory.
GAIN COIN(S): Gain $1.

Here are some important notes about how movement works:

RESOURCES AND WORKERS: Units may pick up and drop off any
number of resource tokens during a Move action.
MECHS: Mechs can also carry any number of workers in
addition to resource tokens. They can pick up and drop
off any number of workers during a Move action (this
doesnt count as movement for the workers. So you
could move some workers on a mech, and then one of
those workers could move on its own). You could also
use part of your Move action to move a worker onto
a territory with a mech, then move the mech while
carrying the worker.

RIVER
TUNNEL

LAKE

RIVERS AND LAKES: By default, units may not move across rivers

or onto lakes. This rule is broken by some character/mech

abilities (see Mech action).
RIVER: A river is a body of water on the border between
two land territories.
LAKE: A lake is a body of water comprised of an entire

territory hex. It extends from the hex to any adjacent

shoreline. Thus, in the example shown here, if a player
has a special lake-movement ability, they could move
from any of the surrounding territories onto the lake.
TUNNELS: With the Move action, a unit may move from a tun-

nel (red icon on the board), to any other tunnel. This is the
same as moving from one territory to another.

Your workers cannot move by themselves into

territories controlled by opponent workers.
CONTROLLED BY A STRUCTURE

Any unit can move into a territory controlled by a

structure. The player who controls that unit also now
controls the territory.

CONTROLLED BY CHARACTERS AND/OR MECHS

If your character and/or mech move into a territory

controlled by an opponents character and/or mechs,
their movement ends and they cannot move again this
turn. After youve completed all Move actions, if any
of your characters or mechs share a territory with an
opponents character or mech, combat happens (see
Combat section).
Your workers cannot move by themselves into
territories controlled by opponent characters and/or
mechs.
HOME BASE: By default, you may not use the Move action

to move any unit from the board into any home base
(including yours).
ENCOUNTERS: If you move a character into a territory with an

encounter token, their movement ends and they cannot

move again this turn. After any combats that occur this
turn, if your character is still in such a territory, discard the
encounter token and have the encounter (see upcoming
Encounter section).
NO LIMIT: There is no limit to the number of same-faction

units that can be on a territory.

11

TOP-R O W A CT IO NS
continued

BOLSTER

Pay the cost ($1) and gain one of the following:

POWER: Increase your power by 2 on the Power Track. Power is the resource you will spend in
combat.
COMBAT CARD(S): Draw 1 combat card. Combat cards are used to augment the power you spend

in combat (you may spend up to 1 combat card per character/mech in combat). If a combat
card would need to be drawn from an empty deck, first shuffle the discard pile to create a
new deck. If there is no discard pile, no cards are drawn.

TRADE

Pay the cost ($1) and gain one of the following:

RESOURCES: Gain any 2 resource tokens (any combination of oil, metal, food, and/or wood)
and place them on a territory you control with a worker on it.

12

POPULARITY: Increase your popularity by 1 on the Popularity Track. Popularity is a resource

used in Encounters, and it determines your scoring position at the end of the game.

STRATEGY TIP: While producing with workers will provide the bulk of most players resources, trading has some

benefits over producing that should not be underestimated. For example, trading for a desired resource
is sometimes preferable to moving a worker to a territory that provides that resource. The action that you
would have spent on movement can now be used for something more productive. Trading also allows players
to access resources that arent available in their homeland.

PRODUCE

Pay the cost (depends on what is shown on all exposed red rectangles before taking the Produce action), choose up to X different territories you control as shown on the exposed green
boxes, and all workers on those territories may produce.
On the territories you selected for production, each worker may produce 1 token. The
resource goes on the territory where it was produced. If you produce a worker (Villages
produce workers), after paying the Produce cost, pick up the worker on the far left of the
Produce action on your Player Mat and place it on the Village.

TERRAIN TYPE
MOUNTAIN

WHAT IT PRODUCES
METAL
EXAMPLE: If you

FARM

FOOD

TUNDRA

OIL

FOREST

WOOD

VILLAGE

WORKER

choose to produce
on two territories
(a farm with 1
worker and a
mountain with
2 workers), you
would produce 1
food on the farm
and 1 or 2 metal
on the mountain.

LAKE
FACTORY

P AYMENT IS REQUIRED: As is the case with any action, you must be able to pay the full cost to take

the Produce action. If you dont have the coins, popularity, and/or power, you must take
other actions instead.
N O LIMITS: Any number of resource tokens or workers can be on a territory. There are no

limits to the number of resource tokens in the game. If necessary, place multiplier tokens
on resources on the board.
W ORKERS ARE PERMANENT: Once you have a worker on the board, you cannot return it to your

Player Mat.
It is possiblealbeit very rarethat a player may find themselves in a position where they cant take any actions (if they
last took a Move action and have no coins, resources, power, or popularity). If that happens, the player must take a dead
turn where they choose another section of the Player Mat and not take any of the actions. We recommend being thrifty
with coins early in the game to prevent this from happening.

13

BOT TOM-R O W A CT IO NS
The bottom-row actions are in the same order on all Player Mats, but the costs and benefits vary. A few notes about bottomrow actions are as follows:
OVERLAPPING TURNS: Usually when a player starts to take the
bottom action (which isnt interactive but may take a few
seconds to figure out), the next player can start to take their
turn.
COINS: Most of the bottom actions give you at least one coin

when you pay to take that action. We recommend that players

take the coins before implementing the main focus of the
action so they dont forget to gain those coins. A player may
choose not to take the coins (i.e., if coins interfere with their
objective).

UPGRADE:
14

Upgrading improves the efficiency of the infrastructure in

your growing empire. The resource used to upgrade is oil.
To upgrade, pay the cost, pick up a technology cube from
any green box on your Player Mat and place it on any empty
red box with bracketed borders Red boxes with solid black
borders are off limits for upgradesvv.

EXAMPLE: You decide that you want to be able to

move 3 units per Move action instead of 2, and

you want to decrease the cost of enlisting a
recruit by 1 food. By taking the Upgrade action,
you can pick up a technology cube from the
Move benefit and move it to the cost of the
Enlist action.

COMPLETING ACTIONS: Eventually you may complete a bottom-

row action (e.g., with the Upgrade action, at some point you
may have nothing more to upgrade). After that point you may
continue to pay the cost of the action to gain the coins (and
the recruit bonus, if applicable).
RECRUITS: Each of the bottom actions has a Recruit Ongoing
Bonus (green circle). If it is exposed, it rewards a player when
they or adjacent opponents take this action. See the Enlist
section for details.

DEPLOY:

You can deploy mechs (miniatures) to protect your workers,

expand your empire, and add new abilities to your character
and other mechs. The resource used to deploy mechs is metal.
To deploy a mech, pay the cost, choose any mech on your
Faction Mat, and place that mech on a territory you control
with a worker on it. You cant deploy mechs on lakes (see the
mech ability about moving onto lakes in the following section).
From now on, your character and all mechs (NOT your
workers) gain the ability on the Faction Mat that was under the
mech token. These abilities vary from faction to faction.

SAXONY
15

RIVERWALK: Your character and mechs can move across rivers

SPEED: Your characters and mechs may move one additional

onto forests and mountains.

territory per movement. If any of those units move into a

territory containing an opponents character and/or mech,
their movement ends and they cannot move again this turn.
Moving from one tunnel to another still counts as 1 move,
so with this ability you could move an additional territory
before or after moving through a tunnel. Your mechs can
pick up and drop off resources and workers in the middle
of a Move action when they have the Speed ability.

UNDERPASS: Your character and mechs can move between any

mountain you control and any tunnel (i.e., move from a
mountain to a tunnel or from a tunnel to a mountain you
control).
DISARM: Before you engage in combat on a tunnel, the

combatting opponent loses 2 power. This loss of power

is reflected on the Power Track. You may do this once per
combat, not once per unit.

RUSVIET

RIVERWALK: Your character and mechs can move across rivers

onto farms and villages.

TOWNSHIP : Your character and mechs can move from any

village you control to the Factory or vice versa (i.e., from

your village to the Factory or from the Factory to your
village).

PEOPLES ARMY: In combat where you have at least 1 worker,

you may play one additional combat card. You still need a
character or mech to participate in combat. So if you have 2
mechs and 3 workers in combat, you may play up to 3 total
combat cards (1 for each of the mechs and 1 because you
have at least 1 worker).
SPEED: Your characters and mechs may move one additional

16

territory per movement.

NORDIC

RIVERWALK: Your character and mechs can move across rivers

onto forests and mountains.

SEAWORTHY: Your character and mechs can move to and
from lakes and retreat onto adjacent lakes. This allows
for lake hexes to be treated the same as other territories
for movement. If a mech moves workers onto a lake or
if a character or mech moves resources onto a lake, you
may not leave those workers or resources on the lake after
moving off of it, nor may a worker move off of the lake
without the assistance of the mech. Lakes are territories, so

if two factions have a lake-movement ability, its possible

for combat to happen on a lake. The retreat option is in
addition to the regular retreat options. You cannot build a
structure or deploy a mech on a lake.
ARTILLERY: Before you engage in combat, you may pay 1 power

to force the combatting opponent to lose 2 power. This loss

of power is reflected on the Power Track. You may do this
once per combat, not once per unit.
SPEED: Your characters and mechs may move one additional

territory per movement.

CRIMEA

RIVERWALK: Your character and mechs can move across rivers

onto farms and tundra.

WAYFARE: Your character and mechs may move from a
territory or home base to any inactive factions home base
or your own (you can jump all the way across the board by
using this ability). An inactive faction is any faction not
currently in the game, including the expansion factions.
Normally players may not move into any home base, but
this is an exception to that rule.

SCOUT: Before you engage in combat, steal one of the

opponents combat cards at random and add it to your
hand. You may do this once per combat, not once per unit.
SPEED: Your characters and mechs may move one additional

territory per movement.

17

POLANIA

RIVERWALK : Your character and mechs can move across rivers

onto forests and mountains.
SUBMERGE: Your character and mechs may move to and from

lakes and move from any lake to another (similar to tunnel

movement, but with lakes). If a mech moves workers onto a
lake or if a character or mech moves resources onto a lake,
you may not leave those workers or resources on the lake
after moving off of it, nor may a worker move off of the lake
without the assistance of the mech.

CAMARADERIE: You do not lose popularity when forcing an

opponents workers to retreat after winning combat as the

aggressor. This applies any time on your turn when your
character or mechs force an opponents workers to retreat
after combat.
SPEED: Your characters and mechs may move one additional

territory per movement.

BUILD:

You can build structures (structure tokens) to enhance your actions, control territories,
and get end-game bonuses. The resource used to build structures is wood.
To build a structure, pay the cost, pick up any structure from your Player Mat, and place it
on a territory you control with a worker on it.
LIMIT 1 PER TERRITORY: Only 1 structure can be built on each territory. So if youre the first

player to build a structure on a specific territory, neither you nor any opponent may
build another structure there.
STRUCTURE CONTROL: Opponents cant use your structure abilities. You always get the abilities

from your structures even if you dont control the territories theyre on.
TERRITORY CONTROL: A territory with one of your structures on it is under your control. If

an opponents unit is on a territory with your structure, that territory is under their
control. A structure gives you control of a territory unless an opponent unit is there.
PERMANENCE: Structures cannot be destroyed or moved.
PLACES YOU CANT BUILD: Your home base isnt a territory, so you cant build there. You also

cant build structures on lakes.

ONGOING BONUS: The benefit revealed by removing a structure from your Player Mat is what

you will gain from now on when taking the top-row action.
18

MONUMENT: Whenever you take

the Bolster action, gain 1

popularity.

MILL: Whenever you take the

Produce action, you may
produce on the territory
where the Mill is located (if
you have a worker there).

ARMORY: Whenever you take

MINE: The Mine acts as a
tunnel that only you can use. the Trade action, gain 1
power.
You may move units to and
from your Mine as if it is a
tunnel (even if an opponent
controls the territory the
Mine is on). Unlike the other
structures, this is an ongoing
ability associated with all
unit movement.

END-GAME BONUS: At the end of the game, players will gain coins for achieving the

goals shown on the structure bonus tile that was randomly selected during
setup. You gain this bonus even if you dont control the territories the structures
are on. This bonus represents how property values have strengthened your
expanding empire.

For example, the structure

bonus for the game below
is for the number of lakes
adjacent to your structures.
If you had the two structures
positioned as shown below,
you would gain coins for
4 lakes (a total of $6). You
gain those coins even if
you do not control the
territories your structures
are on.

The 6 structure bonus tiles are as follows:

19
Number of tunnels
adjacent to your structures.
Only count each tunnel
once. Mines dont count,
and rivers do not break
adjacency.

Number of lakes adjacent to

your structures. Only count
each lake once.

Number of encounters
adjacent to your structures.
Only count each encounter
once. These count whether
or not the encounter
tokens are still therethey
probably wont be; rivers do
not break adjacency.

Number of tunnels with

your structures on them.
A Mine does not count as a
tunnel for this purpose.

Number of your structures

in a row (any continuous
straight line is fine; only
count the longest row of
structures you have; rivers
do not break continuity).

Number of farms or tundra

with your structures on
them (this is the one terrain
type that is present exactly
once in each factions home
area).

ENLIST

You can enlist new recruits (cylindrical tokens) to join your

forces. The resource used to enlist recruits is food.
ONE-TIME BONUS: To enlist a recruit, pay the cost, pick up a
recruit token from any section of your Player Mat, place
it on any open Recruit One-Time Bonus space on your
Faction Mat, and immediately gain the depicted bonus.
This represents what your new recruit is immediately
contributing to your forces.
ONGOING BONUS: In addition to the one-time bonus, each

20

recruit gives you a Recruit Ongoing Bonus related to the

action from which you selected the recruit token (the bonus
in the circle). This represents a skill the recruit is helping
out your force with from now on.
For the rest of the game, whenever you or the player to your
immediate left or right takes the bottom-row action next to
the bonus, you gain the bonus. This does not apply to the
top-row actions or a similar action on a Factory card (see
Factory section).
If more than one player would gain an ongoing bonus, they
gain it in a clockwise order, starting with the player who
took the action. As noted in Game End and Scoring, it is
possible that one of those players will place their 6th star
as the result of the ongoing bonus, immediately ending the
game and preventing any other players from gaining the
bonus.
Players must clearly announce theyre taking the actions
that correspond to recruit bonuses. If a player misses a
bonus they should have gained, they can still take it as long
as they havent taken a turn since they missed it.
T WO-PLAYER RULES: In a 2-player game, your opponent
counts as both the player on your left and the player
on your right, so you get the ongoing bonus only once
whenever your opponent takes the related action.

FAC TIO N A B IL IT IES

Each faction has a special ability indicated at the upper right of the Faction Mat.
RUSVIET (RELENTLESS): You may choose the same section on your Player Mat as the previous

turn(s).
The Rusviets push their people hard, day after day, to achieve their ultimate goal. While
other factions let their infrastructure take a break from turn to turn, the Rusviet faction
may choose the same section of their Player Mat as the previous turn(s). This ability
also applies to a Factory card if you have one (see Factory section).
CRIMEA (COERCION): Once per turn, you may spend 1 combat card as if it were 1 resource.

The Crimean faction has a longstanding tradition of selling information to the highest
bidder. They may spend 1 combat card per turn as if it were a resource to pay for
something (1 combat card = any 1 resource, regardless of the number on the combat
card). Combat cards are still worth nothing at the end of the game.
NORDIC (SWIM): Your workers may move across rivers.

Nordic workers are accomplished swimmers who refuse to complain even when wading
through the coldest of waters. They may move across rivers onto any type of terrain
(except lakes). This ability applies only to workers, not characters and mechs.
POLANIA (MEANDER): Pick up to 2 options per encounter card.

Thanks to Annas charismatic bear companion, Wojtek, the pair tend to stretch short
encounters into longer adventures. Instead of picking just 1 option per encounter card,
the Polish faction may choose up to 2 different options per encounter card in any order.
The benefit from the first selected option may be used to pay the cost for the second
selected option. Only one encounter card is drawn.
SAXONY (DOMINATE): There is no limit to the number of stars you can place from completing
objectives or winning combat.

Saxonys methodical approach to conquering the eastern lands surrounding the Factory
is all about asserting force and completing specific missions. While there is no limit
for completing objectives for Saxony, you still only have two total objectives you can
complete (and sometimes they may contradict each other).

DESIGNERS NOTE: One of the subtle benefits of some of these faction abilities is that they
help to teach and remind players of the global rules of Scythe...by breaking those rules.
For example, when you read that the Rusviet faction can choose the same section of their
Player Mat on subsequent turns, you also learn that under normal circumstances, you
cant choose the same section twice in a row. In a game with lots of rules to remember, I
found that these subtle reminders really help.

21

CO M B AT
Combat happens at the end of a players Move action (after all units have moved but before
the player takes a bottom-row action) if that players character and/or mechs share a
territory with an opponents character and/or mech. Its possible for this to happen on
multiple territories; in that case, the active player (the attacker) chooses the order in
which these combats occur.
Combat happens only between the two players whose units share a territory. Other players
may try to influence the combating players by bribing them with coins (see Alliances,
Bribes, and Trading section).

SELECT POWER

Simultaneously and secretly select a number on your Power

Dial (align the number with the icon at the top right). That is
the amount of power you will spend, so you cannot choose a
number higher than the amount of power you currently have
on the Power Track. The track goes up to 16 but you can only
spend up to 7 power on your Power Dial.
ADD COMBAT CARD(S) (OPTIONAL): By default, for each of your units

involved in combat (character and/or mechs), you may tuck

1 combat card from your hand inside the combat wheel. You
may do this even if you select 0 power on your Power Dial.
22

The number of combat cards you have in hand is public

information, but during combat you may conceal whether or
not youve used any of those cards. The combat deck contains
the following cards.

POWER

QUANTITY

12

4
DESIGNERS NOTE: You might be surprised by how few combats happen in
a game of Scythe, especially given the universal presence of mechs in
Jakubs art. However, if you look at all of the illustrations, youll notice
that very few of the mechs are actually fighting. In that way, Scythe is
just as much about the threat of combat as it is actual combat. If your
neighbor has built up a big pool of power and combat cards, youre less
likely to attack them. Similarly, you might position workers on key
territories to dissuade more aggressive players from attacking you there
due to the loss of popularity if they win. It is this tension that exemplifies
the core theme of Scythe: The intersection of farming and war.

REVEAL

At the same time, both players reveal their Power Dials and combat cards. The value provided by any combat cards
provides an additional bonus to the power you spend from the Power Track as indicated on your Power Dial.
The player with the highest total power wins the combat (ties go to the attacking player). Both players then pay the amount
of power they selected on their Power Dials, and they discard any combat cards they used face-up (you dont adjust the
Power Track for combat cardstheyre just a temporary boost).
WINNER: The winner gains (or maintains) control of the

territory and all resource tokens on it. The winner also

places 1 star token in the area on the upper left corner
of the board (see Placing Stars section) if they havent
already placed 2 stars for combat victories. If the winner
was the attacker, they lose 1 popularity for each worker they
forced to retreat by initiating and winning combat. Also,
if there was an encounter token on the territory and the
winner has a character there, they now gain the encounter.
LOSER: The loser must retreat all of their units (mechs,

characters, and workers) from the combat territory to

their home base. All resources those units were carrying
remain on the territory and are now under the control of
the winner. If the loser revealed at least 1 power on the dial
or through combat cards, they gain 1 combat card as they
retreat.
LIMITED STARS AND GAME END: Each player can gain a maximum
of 2 stars for winning combat (with the exception of the
Saxon player, who can gain unlimited combat victory stars),
but they may still engage in combat after theyve achieved
those 2 stars. If your 6th star is placed but you still have a
combat remaining on your turn, the game ends and any
units you moved to initiate that combat will move back to
the territory from whence they came.

EXAMPLE: John takes a Move action, first moving

his character onto an unoccupied farm, then
moving a mech carrying 2 workers onto a
territory controlled by Sandra. Sandra has her
character, a mech, a worker, and 3 food tokens
on that territory.

John has 10 power and Sandra has 4 (this is

shown on the Power Track on the board). John
turns his dial to select 7 power. He has one
combat unit (the mech), so he can add 1 combat
card from hand, but he chooses not to do so.
Sandra decides to spend 4 power on her Power
Dial. She has both her character and a mech on
the territory, so she can spend up to 2 combat
cards if she wants to. She chooses to just play a
3-power card and tucks it into her Power Dial.
When theyve both finalized their decisions, they
reveal their Power Dials at the same time. Sandra
groansshe tied Johns total power (7 to 7), but
attackers win ties!
So John takes over the territory and the 3 food,
and Sandras units retreat back to her home
base. John loses 1 popularity because of Sandras
retreating worker. John also places a combat
victory star on the board.
Sarahs only compensation is that she gets to
draw a combat card since she revealed at least 1
power on the dial or through combat cards.

STRATEGY TIP: Just because an opponent has a lot more power than you doesnt necessarily mean theyll

win combat against you. They dont know how much power you will spend or the amount of power
your combat cards will add (combat cards arent worth anything at the end of the game, so spend them
early and often). The puzzle of combat is outwitting your opponent, especially when they think theyre
going to win.

23

ENCO U NT ER S
As your character treks across Eastern Europa, they will
encounter a number of local people and situations. Each of
them will present you with a few choices to determine how
you want to interact with the people. The choice you make
will often impact the peoples view of you, represented in
the game by your popularity.
When you move your character onto a territory with an
encounter token on it, their movement ends and they
cannot move again this turn. When your Move action
is completely over and youve resolved all combats (but
before you take a bottom-row action, if applicable), discard
the encounter token and draw an encounter card.
Show the art to the other players and read the thematic text (the text in all caps) out loud.
Then read through the various costs and benefits on the options and choose one (you must
choose one and pay the cost if applicable, though you may gain as much of the benefit as
youd like). After you make your selection, discard the encounter card to the bottom of the
encounter deck.
REQUIRED COST AND OPTIONAL BENEFIT: If you dont have popularity or coins to pay for certain

options, those options arent available. You may gain as much of the benefit as you like.
24

BENEFIT LOCATION: Any resources, structures, mechs, or workers you gain from the encounter
card go on the same territory as your character (i.e., where the encounter took place).
ISOLATED COST AND BENEFIT: If an encounter card instructs you to gain something or perform an
action, you do not pay any additional costs or gain additional benefits beyond those on the
encounter card, nor do you trigger any ongoing recruit Recruit Ongoing Bonuses.
COMBAT: If a character moves onto a territory with an encounter token and an opponents

mech, thus initiating combat, the encounter only happens after the character wins combat.
Otherwise the encounter token remains on the territory.
NUMBER: The number in the upper right corner is just for referencing the card for questions

posted on places like BoardGameGeek or stonemaiergames.com.

DESIGNERS NOTE: We made a specific design decision with the beautifully illustrated
encounter cards: Rather than tell the players what theyre seeing through a label or
flavor text, well let you use your eyes to see the scene youve stumbled upon. Theres
often a lot happening in these scenes (its usually not just one specific thing thats
happening), and the three options explain the various ways in which you can act.
Encounter cards are shown to all players when theyre drawn, so your gaming group
can integrate as much or as little of the story into the way they play Scythe as they like.
Were giving you the same visual freedom youd experience if you stumbled upon these
scenes in real life rather than restricting you to the limitations of flavor textafter all, a
picture is worth a thousand words.

THE FA CT O R Y
The Factory is the centerpiece of the Scythe board. It is a place of technological innovation
and untapped power. Unlike most other territories, the Factory does not produce any
resources. At the end of the game, the Factory is worth a total of 3 territories (instead of
just 1) to the player who controls it.
When your Move action is completely over (after winning combat if necessary), if your
character is on the Factory for the first time this game, look through the Factory cards on
the board. You must choose one card and return the rest to the board.
Thus, the first player to look at those cards will see cards equal to the number of players
+1, per setup; each subsequent player to visit the Factory with their character will see one
fewer cardits good to get there first.

FACTORY CARDS

Each Factory card is the equivalent of a fifth section of your Player Mat (place it next to
your Player Mat).
USING FACTORY ACTIONS: The Factory card is treated as any other section on your Player Mat. On

your turn, you may place your action token on the Factory card and take one or both actions
(starting with the top-row action if you choose to take both).
S EPARATE FROM PLAYER MAT BONUSES: Even if the Factory card action does something similar to
another action on your Player Mat, theyre completely independent of one another. So
you get neither get Recruit Ongoing Bonuses, Structure bonuses, nor coins from similar
actions on your Player Mat.
MOVE: All Factory cards have a bottom-row Move action. Its a little different than a standard

Move action, because it it says, Move one unit up to two times within the same Move
action.

C ONSISTENT WITH OTHER RULES: All other rules for movement still apply, especially those
that say that the entire Move action ends if your character moves onto a territory
with an encounter token or a character/mech moves onto a territory occupied by an
opponents character/mech.

M INE: If you have a Mine, you may move through the Mine with this Move action.

S PEED: If youve unlocked the Speed mech ability, a mech and character may move up to

4 territories with this Move action.

ONE-CARD LIMIT: You may have at most one Factory card (the one you choose the first time your

character goes to the Factory).

PERMANENT SELECTION: Your selection is permanentyou may not switch the card for another
Factory card on subsequent visits.

STRATEGY TIP: Dont underestimate the power of being able to move every turn. Without a

Factory card, you can only move once every other turn, but once you get that card, you
become much more nimble and responsive than players without that capability.

25

O B J ECT IVES
Each player starts the game with 2 objective cards that are kept secret
from the other players. You may only reveal a completed objective card on
your turn (any time during your turn). If you do, place 1 star token on the
upper left corner of the board, and discard the card along with your other
objective card (you can only achieve 1 objective star, unless youre the
Saxon player, who can achieve up to 2 objective stars).
Note: You may wait to reveal your completed objective if you wish, but you
must meet the entire objective requirements at the time you reveal it.

DESIGNERS NOTE: It may seem a little odd that each player has 2 objective cards but
may only complete one of them. There are a few reasons for this. The first is that the
alternative would be to have each player draw 2 cards at the beginning of the game and
keep 1. However, I prefer not to ask players to make decisions before the game begins,
as it makes the game more welcoming to new players and gives experienced players
more freedom depending on how the game starts to play out. The second is that it
gives players the flexibility to change strategies mid-game. Maybe you were pursuing
one strategy, but that strategy didnt end up working out. No problemyou still have
another objective card to use.

26

ALLIANC E S, BR IB ES, A ND T R A D ING

Players may make informal agreements (e.g., I wont attack you this turn if you dont attack me next turn). The only
tangible items that may be exchanged are coins.
You cant negotiate out of a combat that has already begunthat is, if a player moves their character and/or mechs onto
a territory you control with your character and/or mechs, at the end of their Move action, the two of you must engage in
combat (you cant pay them off at that point, though you could try to influence the outcome). Agreements made between
players are not enforceable.

PL AC ING STA R S
Stars represent achievementswhen you show your faction that youve maxed out a certain
aspect of empire building, you are rewarded with a star. Stars are worth coins at the end of
the game.
Here are the ways to place stars, as shown at the Triumph Track:
Complete all 6 upgrades
Deploy all 4 mechs
Build all 4 structures
Enlist all 4 recruits

 ave all 8 workers on the

H
board
 eveal 1 completed
R
objective card

Win combat
Win combat
Have 18 popularity
Have 16 power

When you achieve one of these goals, place a star on the Triumph Track. You cannot lose a
star after youve placed it. For example, if you place a star for reaching 18 popularity and
you later drop below 18, the star remains on the track.
By default, each player may complete each of these goals exactly one time. Having a star on
a goal does not prevent other players from placing their stars on the same goal.

27

STRATEGY TIP: You cant place more than 6 stars, so its

generally better to focus on completing 6 specific goals
than trying to do a little of everything.

GAME END A ND SCO R ING

The game immediately ends when a player places their 6th star token, even if they have other things they could do that
turn or other things would happen afterwards.

EDGE CASES

If the star comes from taking a bottom-row action, gain

both the primary benefit and the coins before placing the
star.
If you have units (character, mechs, or workers) remaining
on a territory with an opponents units (from a Move
action), you must undo that portion of your Move action.

DESIGNERS NOTE: Scythe incentivizes players (by making

the stars worth coins) to end the game if possible by not

granting additional turns to opponents, even if that
means they take one fewer turn overall than the player
who placed the final star.

If you place a star for total popularity or total power as

a recruit bonus on an opponents turn, that placement
happens after the opponent takes the action (i.e., build
a structure) in clockwise order and only if that opponent
didnt place their 6th star by taking that action.

SAMPLE SCORING ROUND

28

The first time you play Scythe, we recommend that you run
a sample scoring round during the game so players have
a feel for the actual end-game scoring in advance. After
any player places their first star, pause the game to let
players calculate their current score. This is just for sake
of examplethis scoring does not actually happen until the
end of the game.

END-GAME SCORING

Accumulate your final fortunecoins you had before

the game end was triggered plus end-game coinsto
determine the winner. You should have a mound of coins
in front of you before announcing the total to the other
players.
To determine how many coins you earn for each of the three
scoring categories, look at your level on the Popularity
Track and pick up coins for that category (do this on your
ownthere is no need for a banker).

EXAMPLE: If you have 10 popularity, you will earn

$4 for every star you placed, $3 for each territory
you control, and $2 for every 2 resource tokens
you control. If you have 18 popularity, you score
within the 13-17 popularity level.

VARIANT

COINS OBFUSCATION: Because of the various end-game

scoring categories and their connection to popularity,
its difficult for players to determine who is in the lead
(this is intentional). However, it is possible for a player
to interrupt the game to calculate the final score for each
player as they plan out their next few moves. Thats not
fun for anyone. The Coins Obfuscation variant says that if
a player delays the game (while the game is being played,
not during end-game scoring) for more than 10 seconds by
trying to calculate the final score, they lose 2 popularity.

SCORING CATEGORIES

COINS IN HAND: The coins you accumulated during the game

count for end-game scoring.

EVERY STAR TOKEN PLACED: Gain coins for every star token you
placed during the game.
EVERY TERRITORY CONTROLLED: Gain coins for every territory you
control (including lakes). Home bases arent territories. You
control each territory where you have a worker, mech, or
character, or where you have a structure (but no enemy units).
FACTORY: At the end of the game, the Factory is worth 3
territories to the player who controls it.
EVERY 2 RESOURCES CONTROLLED: Gain coins for every 2 resource
tokens you control (e.g., if you control 12 resource tokens
and have 10 popularity, youll gain a total of 13 coins).
Workers are not resources. You also control all resources
on territories where you have a character, worker, mech, or
a structure not occupied by an opponents unit.
STRUCTURE BONUS TILE: Gain coins based on the number of
structure bonuses you achieved. You gain this bonus even if
you dont control the territories your structure(s) are on.

29

DECLARING THE WINNER

Announce your coin total, and the player with the most
coins wins! The tiebreakers are:
1. Number of workers, mechs, and structures
2. Power
3. Popularity
4. Number of resource tokens controlled
5. Number of territories controlled
6. Number of star tokens placed on board

C H A R A CT ER S
You are represented on the board by your character, who has been sent on a mission to make your factions claim to the
uncharted lands surrounding the defunct Factory. Each character unit is comprised of a person and their animal companion.
Each of the characters appears to be functionally the same as the others, but their unique abilities are actually manifested
in the faction and mech abilities. A full backstory for each character can be found on the Stonemaier Games website, but
here is a short description of each one:
ANNA & WOJTEK (POLANIA REPUBLIC): An expert marksman and a helpful bear, Anna and Wojtek

traveled across the countryside during the first great war, becoming living legends as they
distinguished themselves in battle and showed compassion for even the poorest farmer.
When the Factory shut down and rumors swirled about a growing Rusviet force, Anna and
Wojtek accepted a mission to ensure the unity and independence of Polania by securing
the eastern border and patroling the lands around the Factory.

GUNTER VON DUISBURG WITH NACHT & TAG (SAXONY EMPIRE): In the war, Gunter and his wolves led elite

mech squads across the forests and mountains of Saxony and Europe. His name was both
feared and respected, and his jacket grew heavy with medals of honor. Afterwards, the
Saxon emperor asked Gunter to embark on a new adventure to the east, where he saw an
opportunity to expand their foothold on the unclaimed lands surrounding the Factory.
30
ZEHRA& KAR(CRIMEAN KHANATE): The firstborn daughter of the Khan of the Crimean Tartars, Zehra

is able to see through her eagles eyes, aiding her skills with the bow and arrow. Though
her father was reluctant to adapt the new mech technologies developed by the Factory,
he realized that the world was changing whether or not he liked it, and he didnt want his
country to fall too far behind. So he asked Zehra and Kar to go on an expedition to the north
for the purpose of learning modern technology and ensuring peace for their people.

BJORN& MOX (NORDIC KINGDOM): Bjorn, the descendant of a renowned Viking family, was saved
from perishing in a blizzard by a kindly muskox. After surviving the ordeal, Bjorn took the
creature as his mount and named him Mox. They later embarked on a series of adventures
across the land. They served as ambassadors to other tribes, went on war missions, and
sought to find new oil reserves. The King eventually asked them to go on a mission to the
south to add new villages and farms to their kingdom by diplomacy or by force, as well as to
explore the Factory to give them a technological advantage in future wars.

OLGA ROMANOVA & CHANGA (RUSVIET UNION): When Viktor, Olgas first love, went missing during the

great war, Olga vowed to find him. She joined the Rusviet military intelligence service with
Changa, her Siberian tiger, at her side. With her intelligence and ambition, she quickly
climbed the ranks, and she finally got the chance to search the western lands for her
beloved Viktor with the full strength of the Rusviet military at her back.

HIGHLI G HT ED R U L ES
RESOURCES: All unitscharacters, mechs, & workerscan carry
around resources (any number).
TURNS AND PLAYER MATS: On your turn, you must choose a different

section of your Player Mat than the previous turn. Take either
the top-row action, the bottom-row action, or both (starting
with the top action). First pay the full cost of the action (all
icons on exposed red boxes), then gain the benefit (exposed
green boxes). If you select a specific bottom-row action,
the player to your left may start to take their turn while you
decide exactly which upgrade, mech, structure, or recruit you
will gain. Remember to take the coins from the bottom-row
actions!
MOVE ACTION: You must move different units (not the same unit

multiple times). You may choose only to use part of the

Move action if you only want to move one unit. A mech can
transport workers as part of its movement, then one of those
workers could also move.
PRODUCE ACTION: Produce on 2 different territories. Each worker

on those territories may produce 1 resource token. So if you

have 3 workers on a forest and 2 workers on a farm, a Produce
action generates 3 wood on the forest and 2 food on the farm.
WORKERS: Workers are not resources, but they are produced on

villages just like resources are produced on other terrains.

Just as with any Produce action, first pay the full cost on all
exposed red boxes on the Produce action, then Produce the
worker(s) by pulling it off your Player Mat (left to right). You
may choose not to produce a worker, as it will sometimes
increase the cost of future Produce actions. Workers may
never return to your Player Mat.
TRADE: When taking the Trade action, choose any 2 resource

tokens (the same or different types) and place them on a

territory you control with a worker.
BOLSTER: Gain power on the Power Track or draw combat card(s).

If the combat card deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile to
form a new deck.
BOTTOM-ROW ACTIONS: You may continue to pay to take a bottom-row

action for the coin(s) even after youve achieved a star for that
action. This will continue to trigger Recruit Ongoing Bonuses.
UPGRADE: Pick up a technology cube from any green box on your

Player Mat and place it on any red bracketed box on your

Player Mat.
MECHS: Only mechs may carry around workers (any number of
workers)not characters. Mech abilities apply to all mechs
and your character. Each faction has a slightly different
Riverwalk mech ability. If a mech has the Speed ability, it may
pick up and drop off workers/resources mid-movement.

RIVERWALK: Each faction has a slightly different version of the

Riverwalk ability, allowing them to move across rivers onto

two specific terrain types.
STRUCTURES: Only 1 structure may be on each territory. Structures
cant be built on lakes.
RECRUITS: Gain a Recruit Ongoing Bonus whenever you or the
player to your left or right take the bottom-row action with
that bonus.
COMBAT: Only characters and mechs participate in combat
(moving a character or mech onto a territory containing an
opponents worker(s) is not combat). Ties go to the attacker.
The loser of combat gains a combat card as they retreat if they
revealed any amount of power in combat (on the dial or on
combat cards). Both the winner and loser must pay the power
they selected on the Power Dial.
RETREATING WORKERS (FORCED): You only lose popularity for forcing an
opponents worker to retreat on your turn. That is, if you
are attacked by a mech with workers on it and you win the
combat, you do not lose 1 popularity for forcing each of those
workers to retreat. On your turn, you may force opponent
workers to retreat even if you dont have any popularity to
lose.
ENCOUNTERS: Only characters may have encounters. To choose
an option on the encounter card, you must be able to pay the
cost (if any). All resources, units, or structures gained from
an encounter card go on the territory where the encounter
occurred. Benefits gained from encounters do not trigger
Recruit Ongoing Bonuses.
FACTORY: Only characters may claim Factory cards (1 per player).

Actions taken on Factory cards do not trigger Recruit Ongoing

Bonuses or Structure Bonuses.
OBJECTIVES: You may reveal a completed objective on your turn.

Discard the other objective card (unless youre playing

Saxony).
STAR PLACEMENT: Once a player places a star on the Triumph Track,

it cannot be removed. Having a star on a goal does not prevent

other players from placing their stars on the same goal. If
a player places their 6th star, the game immediately ends.
Nothing else happens other than end-game scoring.
END-GAME SCORING: At the end of the game, remember to include
coins you earned during the game as part of your final coin
total. When scoring for territorial control, you control a
territory and all resources on it if you have a unit there or if
you have a structure there (unless an opponent has units on
that structures territory). Make sure to only score for every
two resource tokens you control, not every resource token.

31

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