Skip to main content

Upkeep Phase

The upkeep phase is divided into four steps, which are done in order. The phases are:

  1. Neutrals
  2. Rout
  3. Recover
  4. Treasure
  5. Ongoing Spells

The Upkeep Phase is the home to many important concepts, such as Routing (how warbands lose), Recovery (how units can avoid being Incapacitated), Treasure (one of the primary objectives of a game), and Events (which can be triggered by picking up Treasure).

Neutrals Step​

This step only occurs if the following criteria are met:

  1. The Event was triggered
  2. Units from that Event are still on the board
  3. It is the turn of the player that triggered the Event

This effectively means that, once an Event is triggered, both players then get to act, then Neutral units act. In the situation where Player 1 triggers the event, this means the effective 'turn order' is now:

  1. Player 1
  2. Player 2
  3. Neutral units

At this point, simply carry out the steps for each unit as described in the Event.

Rout Step​

If a warband has lost enough units, or their opponent has picked up too much Treasure (or a combination of the two), a warband will potentially lose hope and rout, immediately retreating and losing the game. If this happens, the remaining warband wins the game.

To check if a warband has to make a Rout Check during the Rout Step, count up the number of units that warband has lost, as well as the number of Treasure tokens held by their opponent's units. If that totals to 6 or higher, the warband must make a Rout Check. For easy reference, the equation to see if a Rout Check needs to be made is as follows:

Player's Units Lost + Opponent's Treasures Held >= 6

To make a Rout Check, simply find the highest Morale stat of all heroes in the warband that are not incapacitated. Now, make a Morale Check using that stat. If the Morale Check is passed, the warband can continue playing as normal. The warband will need to continue making Morale Checks each turn (assuming they still have less than the required units).

If the Morale Check is failed, the warband routs. All units of the warband are immediately removed from the table. The player no longer takes their turn (including the rest of the current turn). If only one player now remains, that player is the winner.

Voluntarily Routing​

Immediately after a player has made a Rout Check and passed, they may still choose to voluntarily Rout. This allows them to avoid further losses in an already tough (or downright impossible) situation.

Grabbing Treasure after routing​

When a warband routs some units will get one last chance to grab Treasure before retreating. Check for each of the following scenarios and apply the rules as described:

  • If the winner of the scenario has a unit within 5” of a Treasure token and the loser does not, the winning unit automatically picks it up.
  • If the loser has a unit within 5” of a Treasure token and the winner does not, the losing unit makes a Morale check. On a success, they pick it up.
  • If both the winner and loser have units within 5" of a Treasure token, the winner must make a Morale check to pick it up. If the winner fails, the loser makes a Morale check to attempt to pick it up.

The unit picking the Treasure token up must be able to do so (eg. it is not an Animal and does not already have a Treasure token). Losing units that cannot pick up Treasure tokens can still force the winning unit to have to make a Morale Check, instead of being able to pick it up for free.

If multiple units could pick the Treasure token up, the owner of the units chooses which one attempts to pick it up.

Events are not triggered when picking up Treasure tokens in this way, but Plague Checks are.

Recover Step​

During this step any units of the current player's turn recover. Any Stunned units become Dazed, Dazed units become Staggered, and Staggered units are no longer Staggered and function normally.

Stunned units are unable to do anything. They cannot engage, move, shoot, cast, or attack in melee. If an enemy attacks them in melee, they are immediately Incapacitated.

Dazed units are similar to Stunned units, but can move at half their base Move (and cannot Engage). In an enemy attacks them in melee, the enemy has Advantage. If the enemy hits and the Dazed unit fails their Defence Check, they are immediately Incapacitated.

Staggered units can move or engage at half their base speed but otherwise can shoot, cast, or attack in melee. However, they will roll all of these Checks with disadvantage until the end of their current turn. During their opponent's turn, they will no longer have disadvantage.

Treasure Step​

Any unit that is in contact with a Treasure token may pick it up during this Step. If the token has any opposing units within 2" of it, then the unit may not pick up the token. Some units may not be able to pick up Treasure (eg. animals), but can still deny opponents from picking up Treasure in this way.

Units cannot carry multiple Treasure tokens. If a unit is carrying a Treasure token, it may not Run. If a unit is Incapacitated, they will drop their Treasure token. If the unit that caused the Incapacitation was Engaged with the unit at the time, it immediately picks up the Treasure token, ignoring the usual rules for opponents preventing Treasure tokens from being picked up.

The Treasure Step is skipped during the first player's first turn of the game.

Event Tokens​

If there is an Event token under the Treasure token when it is picked up, reveal that Event token. If this triggers an event, resolve it immediately. Roll a d20 and consult the Campaign Sheet as to what the Event will be. Carry out any actions that happen immediately. For the rest of the game, Neutral units will instead act at the start of the triggering player's turn.

Alternatively, if the Event token triggers the Plague, the unit immediately makes a Plague Check.

Ongoing Spells Step​

If any of the current player's Casters have spells that are Ongoing, they make a Morale check. If the check succeeds, the spell remains in effect. If the check fails, the spell ends.