Castle Panic: Engines of War Rules

This expansion requires Castle Panic. These rules follow the Second Edition expansion and include accessibility notes where they help explain information that is normally conveyed visually.

OBJECTIVE

The objective is the same as Castle Panic: defeat the Monster army and finish with at least 1 of the 6 regular Towers standing. The Keep is useful, but it is not a Tower and does not satisfy the victory condition.

WHAT THIS EXPANSION ADDS

Engines of War adds a Resource deck, the Engineer, Field Equipment, a central Keep that can hold a Ballista and Catapult, new Monsters, Monster Encampments, and Monster Siege Engines.

RESOURCE DECK

There are 16 Resource cards: 4 Brick, 4 Mortar, 4 Rope, and 4 Wood.

Resource cards count toward hand size. They can be discarded, traded, and played during the same phases as Castle cards unless a specific effect says otherwise.

During Draw Up, a player may draw cards one at a time from the Castle deck or Resource deck. During Discard and Draw, a discarded Castle or Resource card may be replaced from either deck. When using this expansion with The Wizard's Tower, Wizard cards can also be discarded and drawn according to that expansion's rules.

If the Resource deck is exhausted when a Resource card must be drawn, reshuffle the Resource discard pile, remove 2 Resource cards from the game at random, and use the remaining cards as the new deck.

When an instruction simply says to draw or discard cards, the Resource deck is included unless that instruction names a particular deck. Scavenge does not retrieve Resource cards.

ORDER OF PLAY CHANGES

The normal 6 phases remain in the same order.

Phase 1 - Draw Up: Draw one card at a time from either the Castle deck or Resource deck until reaching hand size.

Phase 2 - Discard and Draw: A discarded Castle, Resource, or Wizard card may be replaced from any available deck.

Phase 3 - Trade Cards: Castle, Resource, and Wizard cards may be traded, subject to the normal trade limit and any Monster effects.

Phase 4 - Play Cards: Players may play Castle, Resource, and Wizard cards and may work on the Engineer's current task.

Phase 5 - Move Monsters: Resolve the special movement rules for Siege Engines and new Monsters.

Phase 6 - Draw 2 New Monsters: Resolve Encampments, Siege Engines, Harbingers, and the new Monster effects as they are drawn.

SETUP CHANGES

Place Walls and Towers as required by the core game and any other expansion being used.

Place the Keep in the exact center of the Castle.

Place the Engineer tile and Task tile beside the board. Keep the Pit, Spring Trap, Barricade, Ballista, and Catapult tokens nearby until they are built.

Remove the original Brick and Mortar cards from the Castle deck. Shuffle the new Brick, Mortar, Rope, and Wood cards to create the Resource deck.

Set aside 6 Orcs from the Monster supply as the crews for Siege Engines. Set aside the Breathtaker and Shaman Monster tokens, but put their Harbinger tokens into the Monster draw pile. Add the other Engines of War Monster tokens as directed by the official setup for the combination of expansions you are using.

When playing Castle Panic plus Engines of War only, begin with 3 Goblins, 2 Orcs, and 1 Troll, placing 1 starting Monster in each Archer-ring arc. Players choose which of those Monsters starts in each arc.

For Castle Panic plus Engines of War only, each player's starting hand includes 1 Resource card. With 1 player, start with 5 Castle cards plus 1 Resource; with 2 players, 5 Castle plus 1 Resource each; with 3, 4, or 5 players, 4 Castle plus 1 Resource each; and with 6 players, 3 Castle plus 1 Resource each. The normal maximum hand sizes for those player counts are therefore 6, 6, 5, 5, 5, and 4 respectively.

ACCESSIBILITY NOTE - SETUP

Keep the Engineer and Task tile in a consistent location beside the board. If the Task tile's visual notch is difficult to identify, announce the currently assigned task aloud or mark its name with a tactile label. Keep the 6 Siege Engine crew Orcs in a separate labeled container until needed.

THE ENGINEER

The Engineer builds one task at a time during players' Play Cards phases.

To start a task, select the equipment being built. Players then commit the exact Resource cards needed for that equipment. Once at least 1 Resource has been committed, the task cannot simply be changed; it must be completed or canceled.

Any player may contribute Resources on their turn, and a player may contribute more than 1 Resource. Committed Resources remain with the Engineer until the task is completed or canceled.

When the required Resources have all been committed, discard the Resources and put the completed equipment into play immediately. A new task may be assigned on the same turn.

A task may be canceled. If it is, discard every Resource already committed to it. The Engineer can then be assigned a new task.

Only as many pieces of equipment can exist as there are physical tokens. Equipment is built one piece at a time.

FIELD EQUIPMENT - GENERAL RULES

Field Equipment may be placed in any non-Forest space that does not contain a Monster. It may share a space with a Tower.

Only 1 Field Equipment token may occupy a space at a time.

If a Monster enters a space containing Field Equipment and a Tower, resolve the Field Equipment before the Monster attacks the Tower.

Field Equipment is destroyed by a Boulder or fire and does not stop the Boulder or fireball.

All Field Equipment is one-use. After it triggers, discard the token; it must be built again before it can be used again.

Pits and Barricades count as Castle structures for Monster abilities that refer to Castle structures. Spring Traps do not.

BARRICADE

Cost: 1 Brick and 1 Rope.

When Monsters attempt to enter a Barricade's space, they remain in the space they came from. One Monster that hit the Barricade takes 1 point of damage. Discard the Barricade after it triggers.

If several Monsters reach it together, all are stopped for that movement, but only 1 Monster takes the damage.

Flying Monsters are stopped by Barricades.

A Monster moved directly to the Forest by a player effect such as Drive Him Back! does not trigger Field Equipment merely because it passes to the Forest.

PIT

Cost: 1 Wood and 1 Mortar.

When a Monster enters a space containing a Pit, 1 Monster in that space takes 1 point of damage. Discard the Pit.

Flying Monsters are not affected by Pits.

SPRING TRAP

Cost: 1 Wood and 1 Rope.

When a Monster enters a space containing the Spring Trap, move 1 affected Monster back to the Forest. The Spring Trap causes no damage and is then discarded.

Flying Monsters are not affected by Spring Traps.

THE KEEP AND CASTLE EQUIPMENT

The Keep begins in the center of the Castle. The Keep can hold 1 Ballista and 1 Catapult at the same time.

A Ballista or Catapult may be built on the Keep only when the Keep is not burning. Both weapons face the same color. The Keep may be rotated once per player's turn, before or after firing equipment.

If the Keep is destroyed, any Ballista and Catapult on it are also destroyed. If fire hits a Keep that has a Ballista or Catapult, remove 1 of those weapons, players' choice, instead of adding that Flame token. If no weapon remains, fire affects the Keep normally.

The Keep is destroyed by 3 Flame tokens. A Boulder destroys the Keep and stops there as it would at a Tower.

If the Keep has been destroyed, the Engineer can rebuild it by committing 1 Brick, 1 Mortar, 1 Rope, and 1 Wood.

Walls can also be rebuilt through the Engineer using the Resource cost shown on the Engineer/Task reference. A rebuilt Wall functions exactly like a normal Castle Panic Wall.

ACCESSIBILITY NOTE - KEEP DIRECTION

Because the Keep's facing is normally shown by orientation, announce the color it faces whenever it is rotated. A tactile arrow or removable marker on the Keep can also indicate the current color.

FIRING THE BALLISTA OR CATAPULT

Each weapon may be fired once on each player's turn.

The Keep must face the color of the target. The weapon can target either arc of that color. Neither weapon can target a Monster in the Castle ring.

To fire, discard 2 cards that together match the target Monster's ring and color. A single card that matches both ring and color can provide both characteristics, but a second card must still be discarded. That second card may be any Castle, Wizard, or Resource card. The discarded cards are ammunition for this attack and do not also resolve their printed effects.

Hero cards can provide the needed ring. Any Color cards can provide the needed color. A colored Boiling Oil card supplies both its color and the Swordsman ring. Change Range and Change Color can modify an ammunition card as allowed by those cards; when used this way, the modifying card does not also count as the separate second ammunition card.

Castle Equipment can damage Flying Monsters and Mega Boss Monsters.

If using Master Slayer scoring, a Monster slain by the Ballista or Catapult is kept as a Trophy by the player who fired the weapon.

BALLISTA

Cost: 2 Rope and 1 Wood.

Choose a Monster in a legal target space. It takes 2 points of damage. Then choose 1 Monster in every space behind that target in the same arc; each chosen Monster takes 1 point of damage. This line can continue into the Forest. Damage never changes arcs.

The Ballista cannot target an empty space just to hit Monsters behind it.

CATAPULT

Cost: 2 Wood and 1 Rope.

Choose a non-Forest, non-Castle target space in a color faced by the Keep. Distribute 3 points of damage among the Monsters in that space in any combination.

When attacking a Siege Engine, excess Catapult damage can continue to the crew beneath it after the Engine is destroyed.

MONSTERS - ENGINES OF WAR

BREATHTAKER

Breathtaker is a Mega Boss Monster in the Second Edition. Its Harbinger is drawn first; discard the Harbinger and place Breathtaker in the Forest using a die roll.

While Breathtaker is in play, players may not trade cards.

Breathtaker is not affected by Giant Boulders. With The Wizard's Tower, it is also unaffected by Flaming Boulders and the Trebuchet.

SHAMAN

Shaman is a Mega Boss Monster in the Second Edition. Its Harbinger brings it into play.

After Monster movement, all damaged Monsters in the same color as the Shaman, including the Shaman, recover 1 point of health. Resolve movement damage, structure collisions, and fire damage before healing.

The Shaman heals damaged Monsters only; it does not return slain Monsters. It does not heal Siege Engines or Encampments. If the Shaman is moved by a Monster effect, healing occurs; if moved by the players or if it does not move, healing does not occur. It does not heal while in the Castle ring.

GOBLIN SABOTEUR

The Goblin Saboteur can be attacked normally. If players slay it directly, its special effect does not occur.

If it takes damage by destroying a Castle structure, including a Pit or Barricade, it destroys that structure and is immediately slain. Then banish cards from the top of every deck in play equal to the Saboteur's health when it died. If a draw pile is empty, use that deck's discard pile as directed by the official rule.

MONSTER EFFECT TOKENS

EQUALIZER

Count the Monsters currently on the board. If there are 5 or fewer, continue drawing and resolving Monster tokens until there are at least 6 Monsters on the board. When determining the count, the 2 Orc crew under a Siege Engine count as Monsters, but the Siege Engine itself does not. Encampments do not count. Tokens that are effects, Heralds, Encampments, the Goblin King, or Support tokens are resolved or returned as directed rather than counted as ordinary Monsters.

ROLL AND MOVE

Roll the die and move every Monster on the board 1 space according to the result: 1 or 2 means clockwise, 3 or 4 means forward, and 5 or 6 means counter-clockwise. If a Siege Engine is moved by this Monster effect, follow the Siege Engine's own special movement rules as required.

ENCAMPMENTS

When drawn, an Encampment is placed in the Forest by a die roll. Encampments remain in place and their effects last while their tokens remain on the board.

Encampments cannot be moved by players or Monster effects. Boulders do not damage them. They can be attacked by effects that reach the Forest. If an Encampment is burning, it takes 1 damage per Flame token at the end of Phase 5. It cannot be healed by the Healer or Shaman.

Encampments do not have to be destroyed to win the game.

BARRACKS: The next Monster placed, and then the first Monster drawn on each later turn, is placed in the same Forest space as the Barracks instead of using the normal placement roll.

FORWARD CAMP: Place it at the boundary between the 2 arcs of the color rolled. Monsters that would enter either arc of that color begin in the Archer ring instead of the Forest. The Forward Camp counts as occupying both arcs of that color for targeting.

If Barracks and Forward Camp occupy the same color, their effects combine: the first Monster affected by Barracks is placed in the Archer ring of the Barracks' arc. Later Monsters are placed normally unless another rule changes them. Boulders are still placed by die roll. Monsters that players move back to the Forest still enter the Forest rather than the Archer ring.

SIEGE ENGINES - GENERAL RULES

The Siege Tower, War Wagon, and Battering Ram each enter with 2 Orc crew tokens placed beneath the Engine.

The Engine and crew move together, but attacks normally target the Engine first. Rotate or reduce only the Engine's health while it protects its crew.

Siege Engines can be damaged like Monsters and are affected by player movement cards such as Tar, Rain of Ice, and Drive Him Back! unless a specific Engine rule says otherwise. Monster movement effects can also move them.

Slay effects destroy only the Siege Engine, not its protected crew. A Boulder destroys only the Engine and reveals the Orcs beneath it. If fire destroys the Engine, the crew underneath does not automatically catch fire.

If damage exceeds the Engine's remaining health, the excess carries over to the crew beneath it; players may distribute that excess damage among the crew.

When an Engine reaches 0 health, discard the Engine and leave its 2 crew Monsters in that space as separate Monsters.

Siege Engines are not living Monsters and cannot be healed by the Healer or Shaman.

BATTERING RAM

The Battering Ram takes no damage from destroying Castle structures. It destroys Field Equipment it hits. It can be moved by a Spring Trap. After destroying a Wall, Barricade, or Fortify token, it stops moving for that turn. Inside the Castle it moves clockwise.

WAR WAGON

The War Wagon takes normal damage when it destroys Castle structures and is affected by Pits, Spring Traps, and Barricades.

Outside the Castle, it first moves 1 space forward, then rolls: 1 through 3 moves it 1 arc counter-clockwise; 4 through 6 moves it 1 arc clockwise. If its forward movement sends it into a Spring Trap and back to the Forest, its movement ends and it does not make the extra roll.

If another Monster token moves or rotates the War Wagon, it still performs its forward move and rolled sideways move. This extra movement does not happen when the players move the War Wagon.

Inside the Castle ring, the War Wagon follows standard Castle movement: 1 space clockwise with no additional die roll.

SIEGE TOWER

The Siege Tower is designed to breach a Wall. It takes no damage from Castle structures or Field Equipment when it attacks them.

When the Tower reaches the Wall line, it can allow its Orc crew and other Monsters in that Swordsman space to enter the Castle without taking the normal Wall damage. After the breach, place the Siege Tower across the line between the Swordsman and Castle rings. Monsters may pass through that line, but players cannot build a Wall there while the Siege Tower remains.

Once it is lodged at the breach, the Siege Tower is considered to occupy both the Swordsman and Castle spaces for targeting. It no longer moves and does not have to be destroyed to satisfy the normal victory condition after its crew has left it.

COMBINING WITH OTHER EXPANSIONS - QUICK NOTES

With The Wizard's Tower, Field Equipment can affect variable Monsters even in a normally invulnerable ring; Climbing Troll ignores Barricades; Goblin Cavalry stops when it encounters Field Equipment. Catapult and Ballista attacks can hit Flying Monsters and Mega Boss Monsters.

With The Dark Titan, Support tokens are not redirected by Barracks or Forward Camp. Support tokens are not affected by Field Equipment or the Catapult/Ballista, but they can fight Siege Engines and Encampments.

SOLO PLAY NOTE

The Breathtaker's no-trading ability has no effect in a solitaire game, so the official rulebook recommends leaving Breathtaker out for solo play.

Source

Based on the official Castle Panic Second Edition expansion rulebook published by Fireside Games. If a component or card conflicts with this web summary, use the official component or rulebook text for that edition.