Historical Conquest: Rules Card
VIDEO: historicalconquest.com/rules.html
Each box includes this Rule card, a Layout card and 50 assorted playing cards.
SET-UP: From the playing cards, separate Land cards into their own pile; the remaining cards make up
your Deck. Shuffle the Land pile and place face down at the far lower right of your playing surface, then
shuffle the Deck and place that face down to the left of the Land pile (see Layout card for example). All
space to the left of the deck is used for your Battlefield, as well as the space above the Land pile where
Event, Technology, Knowledge, Document and other cards which apply throughout your Battlefield will
be placed facing up. Above the Land pile, you may discard used cards face up.
OBJECTIVE: Increase the Morale of your civilization while defending your Lands and attacking your
opponents' Lands. There are 2 WAYS TO WIN: 1) Happiest civilization: the first player to accumulate
3000 morale points wins! 2) World domination: take all of your opponent’s lands. Starter and Booster
packs may be mixed together and there is no limit to Deck size. Count Morale points using a separate
sheet of paper; all players start the game at 0 points.
BEGIN: The first two rounds are "world peace": no players may interact by attack or by other cards (e.g.Events). When it is your turn, take one Land card and place it face up on the bottom of your Battlefield,
just to the left of your Deck. This card represents the land where your civilization will begin. The
continent is listed at the bottom center of each land card. Draw five cards from the top of your Deck
being careful not to reveal these to your opponents. You may only look at the cards in your hand and the
cards already played on each player's Battlefield.
Look at the cards in your hand; the Layout card may help. The card category is listed in the upper right
corner of the card. There are many types of Character cards, including: Leaders, Explorers, Army,
Activists, Philosophers, Conquerors, and so on. Character cards are always played above the Land they
occupy; they have Strength points listed in the lower right corner. There are also Event, Technology,
Knowledge, and other card categories which apply generally throughout your battlefield or the playing
world. These are played into their own pile above the Deck. Read each card's ability plate to recognize
any special abilities or points awarded. Location, Event or Organization cards which have an immediate
(not lasting) effect may be placed directly into the discard pile after their use.
You may play up to three cards from your hand, per turn. Start by placing at least one Character card
above the Land card. Subsequent Character cards added to this Land will be laid above each other,
forming a column above the Land, with each card visible (see Layout card for example). You must have at
least one Character card protecting each land. When choosing which cards to play first, consider that
Army and Conqueror cards have larger Strength points (or other special abilities) helpful to protect your
Lands, while other cards (e.g.- Musicians, Inventors, Activists, Technologies, Events, etc) can boost your
civilization's Morale. A maximum of 4 Character cards (limit one Army) may be placed above each land.
Explorers are especially useful Character cards. When you play an Explorer you may also take the top
Land card from its pile and place the Explorer above the discovered land in your Battlefield. Typically,
Characters are limited to traveling between lands within the same continent. However, an Explorer can
escort one Character (including an Army) between continents. Also, Explorers facilitate battles between
Lands on different continents.
A land is unoccupied if it has no Character cards above it. After the first two rounds, any opponent
(during their turn) may capture your unoccupied land using a Character already in the same continent, or
by sending an Explorer to discover it from a different continent. Your opponent takes your Land card to
their Battlefield and places their Character card above it.
You may discard Character cards from your hand or Battlefield at any point during your turn. Land cards
added to your Battlefield do not count as one of your three 'played' cards. Your turn ends by replenishing
your hand with new cards from your deck. Your hand is limited to 5 cards, unless a card is played with
the ability to alter that limit.
ATTACK: Beginning in the third round, you may attack after playing your three cards. When you attack,
choose an opponent’s Land within the same continent as one of your Lands and inform your opponent
which Land you're attacking. Count the Strength points listed at the bottom right corner of the Lands'
Characters: Attack points are on the left and Defense points are on the right. The attacker should add the
Attack points of each Character in your attacking land while the defender adds the defense points of the
characters in the defending land. If the attacker's points are greater than the defenders' points, then the
defender loses this battle and must discard a Character card of their choice and lose 100 Morale points.
If the defender's points are greater than the attacker's points, then the attacker has lost the battle and
loses 100 Morale points. You may attack up to twice during your turn. If your opponent's Land is
unoccupied after your attacks, then (before ending your turn) you may move the Land card to your
Battlefield and put an available Character card above it as described earlier.
SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES: It is possible that two opponents will have the same Land card in their
Battlefields. This describes a divided land. When one of the players attacks (i.e.- civil war) and removes
all Characters from the other's duplicate Land, then the extra land is moved to its owner's discard pile.
The conqueror's Land is no longer divided; that Land is still limited to four Character cards.
Players who want to avoid losing their captured cards to an opponent’s deck may request that their
captured cards be turned sideways or listed on the sheet where Morale is counted. Also, that captured
card should only be discarded into its owner's discard pile.