Blood Rage Quick Reference Rules Guide

This basic guide acts as a quick reference, or a basic outline of rules, for people that have read the full instructions for the Blood Rage board game.

The Phase Board (shows the three ages and their phases) along with the Clan Sheets (with each possible Action and associated costs at the bottom) making remembering the basic game mechanics a lot easier. For the full rules reference, and the official FAQ, please scroll to the bottom of this page and look under Resources.

Contents

1. Blood Rage Rules
2. Official FAQ v1.1
3. Resources

Blood Rage Rules

The Objective

• Have the most Glory after 3 Ages

Quick Setup

1. Place each pillage token on a random province - except Yggdrasil, which receives the triple stat reward token.
   
   
2. Draw Ragnarok targets and destroy the provinces on the Game Board according to player number
   • 4 Players = 1 Destroyed
   • 3 Players = 2 Destroyed
   • 2 Players = 3 Destroyed
3. Distribute 3 Ragnarok Tokens on each Age of the Phase Board
   
   
4. Set each player’s Clan Sheet markers to starting positions
   
5. Determine first player, play is in a clockwise direction.
   Click here to randomly pick the first player colour

How to Play

1. God’s Gifts (Card Drafting)
   1. Distribute 8 cards from the current Age to each player
   2. Draft cards
      1. Take 1 card, pass the remaining on
      2. Do this until you have selected 6, with 2 left over to be discarded by each player
2. Take single actions in a clockwise direction until either every player runs out of rage, or all undestroyed provinces are pillaged
   • Choose one action: Invade, March, Upgrade, Quest, Pillage. Look at the bottom of your Player board for details of each action.
   • Passing a turn moves your rage to zero immediately
3. Discard down to one card in your hand to carry over to the next age
4. Quest phase - receive rewards for any completed and previously committed quests
5. Ragnarok occurs, destroying all units in the area and producing Glory based on the Age.
6. All units are released from Valhalla, returning to player reserves
7. The next Age begins, set Clan Sheet markers, then return to Step 1

Important Reminders

• Recommended beginner cards to draft are:
  • 2 Battle cards (Red border)
  • 2 Quest cards (Green border)
  • 2 Upgrade cards (Black border)
• Pillage
  • If you have no battle cards during a pillage, you must still play a card if you have any card in hand. If you win, you must discard the played card.
  • Battle card simultaneous play order is prioritised in the following way:
    • Cancel, Discard, Everything else (CDE)
    • Then, clockwise order from the Pillager
  • You must be the Pillager and win to receive the province reward.
  • Glory gained for winning a battle is calculated after gaining an Axe's province reward.
  • Draw - if the highest combat scores cause a draw, no one wins, and all involved players lose.
• Invade
  • Yggdrasil, the centre province, cannot be invaded normally, it must be Marched into.
• March
  • Units can march from only one province to another single province.
  • You can select one or more units in one province to march from.

Official FAQ v1.1

The below is the contents from the Blood Rage Official FAQ v1.1 (June 2016) for easy viewing on the web.

General Rules

Is the board cleared after each Age?

No, all figures remain on the board. All Pillage Tokens are flipped to their “unpillaged” side.

What does the * symbol on the Strength stat of some Upgrade cards mean?

The * means that you should check the card's text for special rule regarding its Strength or Rage cost.

If a player is down to Zero Rage, then gains some Rage later in the round, can they continue playing normally?

Yes. If the player has any Rage, they can continue playing normally on their turn.

When there is a Call to Battle, can I move another unit in after I have passed?

Yes. Players can always bring units into a battle, until nobody else wants to, or all Villages are occupied.

If I make a Call to Battle, but there is no nearby opponent, can I pillage the province and get its reward?

On your turn, you can pillage the province without starting a battle. It is worth noticing, however, that without a battle you do not receive Battle Glory.

Is it possible to pillage an already pillaged province?

No, unless you have an ability that says otherwise.

Can I pillage a Province with the Doom Token?

Yes, the Doom Token is just a reminder that the province will be destroyed at the end of that Age.

Can Fjords be destroyed in Ragnarok?

No, Ragnarok only destroys Provinces. However, when Ragnarok destroys a Province, all Ships in its supporting Fjord are also destroyed (giving Glory to its clan).

If I have fully improved one of my stats, do I gain 20 or 30 (10+20) Glory?

You gain 20 Glory for fully improving one of your stats.

Upgrades and Battle Cards

Do Leaders still invade for free after being upgraded?

Yes, Leaders always invade for free.

When I play a figure Upgrade, do I still have to pay to Invade with it?

No, when you play a Troop (Warrior, Leader, Ship) or Monster Upgrade card, you may immediately invade with that figure without extra payment.

In a battle, do all the cards have to be shown at the same time?

Yes, all players must reveal a card at the same time. However, they may subsequently play Heimdall's Gaze or Heimdall's Eye to increase their STR.

What happens when Thor's Primacy (cancel all text effects) is played against Heimdall's Watch (discard all cards)?

Thor's Primacy is resolved before Heimdall's Watch, cancelling its effect. After these cards, resolve everything else. If there are multiple cards in the same category, start the resolution from the pillager and work clockwise.

If I play an Upgrade card to replace Frigga's Charm, do I still get its discount?

Yes, Frigga's Charm is still in effect at the time that the new Upgrade is played.

What happens when I invade with a Ship and have Frigga's Succor (when you invade, you can invade with an additional Warrior)?

In this case, you may invade one of the adjacent Provinces with a Warrior.

If I have Frigga's Succor (when you invade, you can invade with an additional Warrior) and invade Yggdrasil with the Dark Elf (This monster can invade Yggdrasil), can I also place a Warrior there?

Yes, as card abilities prevail over the general rules.

With Frigga's Domain (pay 1 Rage to invade with any one of your figures from Valhalla) do you still pay the regular invade cost on top of the 1 cost for the card?

No. Whenever you use this card's ability you only have to pay 1 Rage.

May Yggdrasil be invaded if I lose a battle using Loki's Blessing (allows warrior to invade without cost the province where the battle was lost)?

Yes, Loki's Blessing allows you put a Warrior in Yggdrasil.

If Loki's Poison (if you lose, take the winning player's revealed cards into your hand) is played against an opponent that played Tyr's Prowess (if you win a battle, you may keep any of your revealed cards paying 1 Rage each), can Tyr's Prowess counteract Loki's Poison effect?

No, the player with Loki's Poison takes the revealed cards. Tyr's Prowess can only prevent cards from being discarded as part of the normal battle rules, and not counteract the special ability of Loki's Poison.

Can I spend my last Rage with Tyr's Prowess (if you win a battle, you may keep any of your revealed cards paying 1 Rage each), before it can be stolen by the player who played Loki's Trickery (steal 1 Rage from the winner)?

No, the Loki's Trickery Battle card takes place before Rage can be spent with the Tyr's Prowess Upgrade.

If a player's last figure is destroyed by Odin's Smite (destroys a warrior from opponent's forces before comparing STR), does that player still participate in the battle using only the STR of the card that was played?

Yes. If a card's special effect causes a player to lose all the figures they had in the battle before comparing STR, that does not mean that clan is out of the battle.

Can I use Frigga's Protection (pay 1 Rage to prevent a figure of yours from being destroyed) more than once per Battle?

Yes, as long as you pay 1 Rage per figure.

With Frigga's Grace (if you pillage, raise another stat by 1) can you raise the same Stat that you raised from pillaging?

No, it allows you to raise a different stat from the pillaging reward. However, if the pillaging reward is 5 Glory or All Stats, then you can raise any stat you choose.

Does Tyr's Challenge (pay 2 rage to repillage) allow a player to gain the pillage token reward more than once in the same age?

Yes, with Tyr's Challenge you can pillage an already pillaged province, as long as you pay 2 Rage every time.

Quests

If I play two identical Quest cards, can I fulfill both and reap all benefits?

Yes, you reap benefits of all completed Quests you play. For example, if you have the most STR in a single Manheim province, and two Manheim! Quests, then you completed them both.

Monsters

Does the Valkyrie (gain 2 Glory per enemy figure destroyed) get Glory for destroyed enemy units if she is destroyed in the course of a battle?

Yes, with the Valkyrie you get Glory for all figures destroyed from the Call to Battle to the battle's Resolution, even if she is destroyed at any point during the battle.

Is the Volur Witch (may retreat to Yggdrasil if defeated) destroyed if she loses a battle in Yggdrasil?

Yes, as it's impossible for her to retreat to Yggdrasil.

Gods of Asgard

If a battle takes place in Loki's province (in his province, players who lose battles gain Battle Glory), and there is a tie in STR, do all players in the battle gain Battle Glory?

Yes, since all players lost the battle.

If Loki is in a province and the card Thor's Hammer (extra Glory for the winner of the battle) is played, who receives this Glory?

In this situation, the winner receives Glory from the Card and the loser(s) from the Battle.

Mystics of Midgard

Can I retreat my Mystic if someone plays Odin's Tide (each player destroys all but one of his figures in this battle), but I have Frigga's Chosen upgrade (your Mystic may retreat to an adjacent province instead of being destroyed)?

Yes, you can retreat your Mystic instead of destroying it.

Can I use Frigga's Sacrifice (you may destroy two of your figures to raise one of your stats by one) on my Frigga's Chosen Mystics, retreating them instead of destroying them?

No, the Mystic must be actually destroyed in order to use Frigga's Sacrifice.

How should we deal with this loop: Player A attempts to pillage with a Frigga's Chosen Mystic. He loses to Player B but retreats to an adjacent province and gains some Glory through Loki's Backstab (steal 2 Glory from winner). Next turn he attempts to pillage again, with Player B moving to the province and the same thing happening over and over, with both players gaining Glory every time.

This is an unforeseen special case that requires a special rule: The player with a Frigga's Chosen Mystic in a battle cannot play Loki's Backstab. We apologize for this problematic rules interaction.

Promo Monsters

Does the Mystic Troll count as a Mystic?

No, it is a regular Monster.

What happens if Fenrir (Ragnarok destroys his province instead of the doomed one) causes the destruction of a Province that should be destroyed in a future Age?

In this case, take the destroyed province's Ragnarok token from the Age Track and place it on the board, then draw a new random Ragnarok token to replace it on the Age Track.

If a Wolfman (only monsters count their STR in a battle) is in battle with non-Monster figures, do their battle cards STR count?

Yes, even if a player has no STR on the board, they can still play Battle Cards to add more STR.

Do Leader Upgrades affect the Mountain Giant (counts as a leader)?

Yes, since the Mountain Giant counts as a Leader, it benefits from Leader Upgrades as well (and invades for free). Just like the Sea Serpent benefits from all Ship Upgrades.

If I have a Mystic Troll (your figures may invade that province for free) and Frigga's Domain (pay 1 Rage to invade from Valhalla), can I invade that province with units from Valhalla for free?

No, to use Frigga's Domain ability, the player must pay 1 Rage.

Resources

• Blood Rage Official Rulebook Final Version
  Official Blood Rage rule book from CMON.
• Blood Rage Official FAQ v1.1 (June 2016)
  The official CMON FAQ (more of an addendum to the original rule book) that clarifies a few points.
• Blood Rage Preview Rulebook
  A preview version of the rulebook. Here for historic reasons only, please use the Final Version above for actual gameplay. An examples of a minor difference is that the preview only references 6 monster figures, instead of the 9 monster figures in the final version.