Board Game Blood Rage

An exciting battle strategy about Vikings with territory control mechanics.

Viking battles on the eve of Ragnarok

In this game, you control powerful viking clans seeking glory before the world finally perishes. While Ragnarok devours the lands of Midgard, the Vikings go about their usual business of raiding and pillaging, slaying their enemies and dying themselves in legendary battles. Life is fleeting, but glory is eternal!

There are many ways to gain fame. Vikings can raid and pillage lands for rewards, destroy their rivals in battle, obey the orders of the gods, and themselves die heroically to enter Valhalla.

At the beginning of each era, players receive cards that represent the gifts of the gods. Thanks to these gifts, you can choose a wide variety of strategies, resort to cunning tactics that will help you win battles and punish offenders. Develop your clan, give Vikings unique properties and attract legendary creatures from Norse mythology to your ranks!

Gameplay

The game lasts 3 rounds, which are called epochs. Each epoch consists of 6 phases:

1. Phase of gifts of the gods

During this phase, players draw cards into their hand. This is called a draft. Take the deck of the current era and deal 8 cards to each player. Players keep 1 card for themselves and pass the remaining cards to their neighbors on the left. This continues until each player has drawn 6 cards (the last 2 cards are discarded, not passed on). 

2. Action phase

This is the main phase of the game where Vikings attack and pillage, spill blood and earn glory points. Each player begins the action phase with the amount of fury listed on their clan`s fury track. The action phase is started by the player with the first player`s token, and then the players go clockwise. During his turn, the player performs 1 action. Rage is usually expended to perform an action. If a player runs out of rage, they pass until the end of the phase.

Possible actions:

• RAID. Place a figure from your reserve in an unoccupied village on the map.
• HIKE. Move figurines from one province to unoccupied villages in another province.
• IMPROVEMENTS. Place a card from your hand into the appropriate cell on your clan board to improve it.
• COMMANDS OF THE GODS. Take up the command of the gods by placing this card of the valleys on your clan tablet.
• ROBBERY. Attack the province and get trophies for your clan.

To raid a province with at least one of your minifigures or your brawler in a nearby fjord, follow 3 consecutive steps:

1. A call to battle. Players can move their figures from neighboring provinces to join the battle.
2. Playing cards. Battle participants play cards to add power and/or apply special effects.
3. The end of the battle. The player with the highest total strength wins the battle and gains glory points according to the current value of their clan`s axes stat. In the event of a tie, all participants in the battle lose. The winner of the battle must discard all cards they played. The losers return the cards they played to their hand. All defeated players destroy all their figures that participated in the battle (including their figures in the nearby fjord). The destroyed figurines are placed on the Valhalla tablet.

If the player who started the looting wins the battle, then he succeeds in looting the province. He gains the reward indicated on the loot token - 5 fame points, increases one or all of the clan`s characteristics (in Yggdrasil). If the player who started the loot loses the battle, he does not loot the province. Then no one gets a reward for robbery.

3. Reset phase

Each player can keep only 1 card for the next era. 

4. Gods Orders Phase

Each player opens all the order cards of the gods laid out on his tablet. If you have fulfilled the requirement of your Order of the Gods card, you gain the number of glory points indicated on the card and increase any stat of your clan by 1.

Most of these cards require you to accumulate the most power in any province of a given region. Add up the powers of all your figures in that province (and the neighboring fjord) and compare the total to the sum of the powers of every other clan in the same province. If your sum is the largest, you are fulfilling the order of the gods.

5. Ragnarok phase

Take the current era`s Ragnarok token and place it "destroyed" side up in the province indicated on it. This province is considered destroyed until the end of the game. All figures in this province and in the nearby fjord die and end up in Valhalla. Each such figure brings as much glory as is indicated on the Ragnarok cell from which you just took the Ragnarok Token.

6. Valhalla phase

All figurines placed on the Valhalla board are returned to their clan reserves. All figures on the playing field remain in place.

End of the game

After the Valhalla phase of the third era comes the end of the world, and therefore the end of the game. Players gain additional fame if they manage to increase their clan`s stats to legendary level. At the end of the game (and only then), for each characteristic of your clan whose token lies on the 4th or 5th division, you gain +10 fame points. For each characteristic of your clan whose token lies on the last division, you gain +20 fame points. 

The player whose clan has earned the most glory points is declared the winner.