Objective: Each player (2-6 players) defends his home country by keeping at least one of his castles in it. Points are gained on a player's turn for all his castles on the game mat. Points may also be gained by attacking opponent pieces during his turn. After any player reaches 120 points, the round is completed so that all players receive equal opportunity for the game; then, the player with the most points is the winner.

But beware! If a player does not have at least one castle in his home country at the end of any of his turns, he failed to defend his home country and is taken out of the game.

Extensions Pack: There are extensions available that may be included with game play. These extensions may be purchased wherever the game is sold (purchase here).

Important: All players must agree whether to use any extension(s) or not for the game before setting up.

Game Mat: The game mat is separated into seven different color countries. The land is divided into small triangle spaces. Each triangular land space is bordered by three other spaces (one at each side).

Mountain Ranges: Place three of the smallest mountain ranges on the game mat so that each is completely within the middle country.

Important: Mountain ranges must have spaces between them (they may not even touch corners).

The remaining six mountain ranges should be placed "between" the other countries so that part of the mountain range covers at least two spaces in both of the countries it shares.

Mountain range placement is permanent for the game. The player who suggested game play sets the mountains keeping it as fair as they may (it will never be perfectly balanced for various strategies); however, they must follow the rules above for placing mountain ranges. The mountain ranges must be placed before the players draw their point tokens.

Point Tokens: There are six different colored point tokens in a black bag. Each token color represents a country on the game mat. There is no token for the middle black country nor the islands. After mountain ranges have been set up, each player draws one token from the black bag without looking. The color drawn is the player's home country for the game. When all players have their color, they sit around the game mat so that each faces his home country.

Points Track: A path numbered from 1 to 120 encircles the game mat to keep track of points. Each player's token moves along the track as he earns points.

Note: All the players may agree to start the game with points already (like at the 30 points space on the track for example); this enables for shorter game time which may be especially applicable for players that are playing the game for the first time.

Plunder Point Markers: A two-player game uses the "football-shaped" plunder markers around the points track. A three-player game uses the "triangle-shaped" markers around the points track. A four-player game uses the "diamond-shaped" markers. A five-player game uses the "pentagon-shaped" markers. Finally, a six-player game uses the "hexagon-shaped" markers. These markers indicate how many points opponents may gain with each successful attack against a player's pieces (explained later).

Progress Point Flags: Each player receives 7 progress flags of his own color. Progress flags go in the top slot of black castles. At the end of a player's turn, he will gain progress points for his castles. The amount of progress points gained for a castle depends on which country it is in. The player's flagged castles inside his home country are worth the least amount of progress points, whereas his flagged castles inside the country directly across the board are worth the most amount of progress points. There are mini maps on the game mat for reference to determine how much each progress flagged castle is worth; the amount of points depends on which country the flagged castle is relative to each player's home country. Islands are considered part of the middle country.

Note: Progress flags are worth the least number of points in a 2-3 player game, whereas their value is higher with more players.

Take a moment to see how many points each player may get for progress flagged castles in each country. Verify that each player understands how many points each country is worth specifically for the individual player.

Dice: There are two dice cups and a set of dice for each player color. Each set has a 8d and 12d. There are dice keys on the game mat for reference to know which dice are used for different pieces.

The 8d will be used for armies and camps; the 12d will be used for cavalry and walls; finally, castles will use all the dice taking the one with the highest value (explained later). All players roll a 12d to see who will go first. In case of a tie, players roll again until there is a winner.

Pieces: Each player receives the pieces of his color (5 camps, 6 walls, 7 cavalry, 8 progress flags, and 9 armies).

There are also 18 black castle pieces. The first player sets a black castle on an empty land space in his home country; the player then sets one of his 7 progress flags in the castle to show it is his castle. The other players (in clockwise order) place their starting castle in a similar manner until each player has placed his starting castle on the game mat.

Important: Castles and camps may touch mountain ranges; however, they may not touch another castle and/or camp; they must have land spaces between them; they may not even touch corners.

After the starting castles have been placed on the game mat, the last player sets one of his camps on the game mat. The other players (in counterclockwise order) place their starting camp in a similar manner until each player has placed his starting camp on the game mat.

Remember: Castles and camps may touch mountain ranges; however, they may not touch another castle and/or camp; they must have land spaces between them; they may not even touch corners.

After the starting camps have been placed on the game mat, the first player sets two of his cavalry and two of his armies on empty spaces within his home country. Then he sets two of his walls in his home country also. Each wall is placed on a border of one of his home country land spaces.

Important: Walls are placed on the border of any land space. But only one wall per land space at a time; a land space cannot have more than one wall on any of its three borders at a time. Also, walls may touch corners with other walls, mountains, camps, and castles, but never touch these pieces side-by-side.

Finally, the other players (again in clockwise order) place their two starting cavalry, two starting armies, and two starting walls in similar manner until each player has placed all his starting pieces on the game mat.

Hint: Set cavalry, armies, and walls on the mat to protect your starting castle well.

Order: Turns move clockwise around the game mat starting with the first player.

Actions: On a player's turn, he receives two actions, choosing one out of four possibilities: Camps, Castle, Move, or Attack. For example, he may Move for his first action and then Attack for his second action. Or he may Move for his first action and then Move again for his second action. Any combination is fine so long as the first action is completed before the second. As will be explained later, actions must be declared properly before rolling the dice (if applicable)

Camps Action: When the player chooses to make camps, he says, "Camps!" out loud for all the players to hear. Then, if desired, he may disassemble any of his own camps on the game mat (he is not required to disassemble any of his camps if he does not want to). Following disassembly (removing them from the game mat), he may then set his camp(s) on the game mat; each camp replaces either a cavalry or army piece already on the mat. However, remember the rules explained earlier for placing these pieces on the mat that they may not touch other camps or castles even at the corners. The player may place as many or as few of his camps that he has available for the action.

Castle Action: When the player chooses to build a castle, he says, "Castle!" out loud for all the players to hear. Then he replaces ONE of his camps already on the game mat with a castle and sets one of his progress flags in it.

Note: He may only build a castle if he has a spare progress flag to place in it.

Only one caste may be built for this action. In other words, a maximum of two castles may be built per turn if the player uses both of his actions to do so.

Move Action: When the player chooses to move, he says, "Move!" out loud for all the players to hear. Then he rolls his set of dice (6d, 8d, and 12d) to determine how many total spaces he may move his pieces. He may move his ships (if playing with the Durdain Armadas™ game extension), armies, or cavalry first; it does not matter; however, all those pieces (like armies for example) must move before moving another group of pieces (like cavalry). As an example, remember the cavalry use the 12d; this means his cavalry pieces may move up to a combined total of the number of spaces rolled on the 12d; armies use the 8d; this means his armies may move up to a combined total of the number of spaces rolled on the 8d. As the player moves each piece from one space to another, he counts upwards out loud for all the players to hear.

Important: With every verbal count, a piece is considered to have moved! He may move the piece back into a space it was in before; however, that is considered another move count! He is not allowed to count backwards. After moving all of the pieces in a group, the related dice is put back in the cup as a reminder that all the pieces of that group have already moved for this action.

The player's movable pieces enter the game mat from one of his camps or castles (with his flag) into an empty space adjacent to that camp or castle. It is one move count for a piece to enter the game mat.

Movable pieces may build or deconstruct walls of their own color along any side of the space they occupy. Building or deconstructing a wall is considered one move count.

Remember, only one wall per land space at a time; and walls may touch corners with other walls, mountains, camps, and castles, but never touch these pieces side-by-side.

When moving, a piece may cross over his own color walls only. Otherwise, pieces may not enter, or "hop" spaces already occupied.

Attack Action: Only movable pieces may attack. Castles, camps, and walls do NOT attack. When the player chooses to attack, he says, "Attack!" out loud for all the players to hear. He may attack with as many of his pieces that are in position to do so. Each attacking piece must be next to the opponent piece it is attacking. The player indicates which of his pieces he is using in the attack and which opponent piece is being attacked. If multiple pieces are in position to attack a single defending opponent piece, the player may indicate he is attacking with multiple pieces and which pieces specifically.

Both players roll their set of dice. Remember, the 8d is for armies and camps; and the 12d is for cavalry and walls; finally, defending castles get the highest value of the dice set rolled.

The highest roll wins the battle. In the case of a tie, the players roll again until there is a winner.

When the defender wins, the piece(s) that attacked is/are returned to its owner and that is the end of the battle. However, when the attacker wins, the defeated piece is returned to its owner AND the attacker receives plunder points. The amount of plunder points received depends on where the defender's token is on the points track. For example: In a four-player game (the "diamond-shaped" markers), if the defender's Point Token is past plunder point marker with the number 7, then the successful attacker receives 7 plunder points.

Also, if the attacker wins, he MUST move at least one of the attacking pieces into the defeated space (with exception of defeated walls and castles).

Note: If multiple pieces are attacking, each piece receives its appropriate die roll value for a cumulative attack value total in the battle. Only one of the pieces that attacked moves into the defeated space if successful; however, if the attack fails, ALL the attacking pieces are taken off the board.

In the case where the defeated piece is a castle, no attacking piece moves in, no plunder points are awarded, and the castle is not removed; instead, the defending opponent's flag is returned to its owner and replaced with the attacking player's own (if he has any; otherwise, the castle is left without a flag). When these vacant castles are attacked on a player's turn, no dice roll necessary for the battle; instead the player may simply put one of his own progress flags in that castle.

Important: If a captured castle is the opponent's last castle in their home country, the attacking player says, "Beware [color]!" (this is kind of like saying "check" in chess).

Important: The attack action is not limited to one battle; the player may choose to continue attacking again and again so long as he has any movable piece(s) in position to do so as part of the overall action. However, the player may choose to end the attack action at any time (he does not have to attack with every piece in position to do so if he does not want to).

Beware: As mentioned earlier, if opponents have called out, "Beware [color]!", this means the opponent(s) has/have no progress flags left in the player's home country. The player has been warned; if the player does not fix this issue by the end of his following turn, then he has failed to defend his home country, and he is taken out of the game; all of his colored pieces (including the point token) are taken off the game mat. As a reward, the player, who called out, "Beware [color]!" earlier, may claim the now vacant castles by putting their own progress flags inside.

Note: If the player is in this "beware" state at the very end of the game, then he does NOT have another turn to defend his home country and his points are not counted at the end (it is as if he was taken out of the game already).

Otherwise, if the player regains at least one castle in his own home country at the end of his turn, then he remains in the game and receives progress points.

Progress Points: Remember, the player receives progress points at the end of his turn for each of his castles on the game mat. Each castle with one of his progress flags is worth a certain amount of progress points relative to his home country (see progress maps). Castles within his home country are worth the least number of points; castles within the countries on either side are worth more; castles within the middle country and islands are worth even more points; castles within the next two border countries are worth more still; and lastly, castles within the country directly opposite the player's home country are worth the most points. After the player moves his token appropriately on the points track, his turn is over.

Recap: On his turn, the player chooses and completes one of four possible actions (Camps, Castle, Move, or Attack). Then he chooses and completes a second action out of the same four possibilities. He may collect plunder points for any successful attacks. Lastly, he collects progress points for his flagged castles. If a player defeats an opponent's last castle in their home country, he says, "Beware [color]!".

Important: At the end of his own turn, if the player does not have at least one progress flagged castle within his home country, he is out of the game. All of his pieces are taken off the game mat including his point token; and the opponent who took him out of the game may claim his castles.

Winning: After any player reaches at least 120 points, the round is completed so that all remaining players receive equal opportunity. However, if any player is in the "beware" state at the very end of the game, he does NOT have a chance to redeem himself and his points are not counted (as if he was out of the game already). The last player remaining always ends the game; and the player with the most points at the very end is the winner.

Important: Enjoy playing the game as much as we did creating it!

The Durdain Armadas™ game extension: This extension makes use of the sea and island spaces on the game mat. Three ships are added to each colored piece set.

Ships travel by sea spaces. Other movable pieces (like cavalries and armies) may board and disembark to/from a land/island space which borders the occupied sea space (this counts as one move count for the army/cavalry). Ships use the 6d for moving and attacking regardless if they have passengers (army/cavalry) or not.

Ships enter the game mat with one move count from one of the player's castles or camps which borders an empty sea space.

Only another ship can attack an adjacent ship (cavalry and armies do not attack ships). If a ship is defeated by another ship in battle (remember, ships use the 6d both with or without passengers), then that defeated ship AND passengers (if any) are removed from the game mat and the attacking ship moves into the space.

Ships may also attack castles and walls that border their sea space just as normal. However, in order to attack a camp or movable piece (army/cavalry), the ship must contain passengers; this is so that the attacking ship has a movable piece that can move into the attacked space if defeated.

Multiple ships can attack if they are in position to do so and can follow the rules above.

Island spaces are just like any land space. Walls or camps/castles can be built on an island space. Castles on an island space receive progress points equal to the middle country.

The Durdain Dragons™ game extension: This extension makes use of the mountain spaces and dragon markers around the points track. There is one queen dragon; after setting up the mountains, the queen dragon is placed in one of the middle country mountain ranges. There are also two dragons for each colored piece set. Finally, there are nine dragon nest pieces; during set up, each nest piece should be placed on a dragon marker around the points track.

Dragon nests may enter the game mat at the end of a turn. If the player's point token went past a dragon nest piece, he replace the queen dragon with the nest piece; then he places the queen dragon in any other empty mountain range of his choosing. This is repeated for as many dragon nest pieces his token went past during his turn.

The extension adds another possible action to the original four possibilities called the Dragon Action. This action allows a player to claim a dragon and/or move one of his dragons from any mountain range to another open mountain range.

When a player chooses the Dragon Action, he says, "Dragon!" out loud for all other players to hear. Then, if he has a movable piece (army/cavalry) next to a mountain range with a dragon nest, he may replace that dragon nest piece with one of his own dragons (the dragon nest piece is taken off the game mat). Additionally, either of his dragons in a mountain range can fly to any open mountain range during this action.

Dragons use the total of all three dice for moving and attacking. Important: During the move action, dragons always move first! Dragons move the cumulative value of all three dice (6d+8d+12d). Dragons can occupy sea spaces. Dragons can also enter or leave mountain ranges to/from any open adjacent space. However, remember that dragons may only fly from mountain range to mountain range during the specially added dragon action.

During the attack action, a dragon's battle strength is the cumulative value of all three dice (6d+8d+12d). Important: Dragons may NOT attack from mountain ranges. Just like other movable pieces, the dragon moves into defeated spaces. If playing with the Durdain Armadas™ game extension, dragons can also attack ships. If playing with the Durdain Kingsmen™ game extension, dragons do NOT receive any kingsmen battle bonus.

The Durdain Kingsmen™ game extension: This extension adds four kingsmen pieces to each colored piece set.

Kingsmen are movable pieces (like cavalries and armies) and may move just like them; kingsmen also come out of castles or camps with one move count; and they may even board and disembark to/from ships if playing with the Durdain Armadas™ game extension.

During the move action, the player may choose whether to move the normal pieces associated with each dice or the kingsmen. For example: a player chooses to use the 6d to move his kingsmen instead of his ships; then he chooses to use the 12d to move his cavalry as normal (instead of the kingsmen); finally, he chooses to use the 8d to move his kingsmen instead of his armies.

During the attack action, kingsmen receive the highest value of all three dice rolled in battle (just like castles). However each kingsmen on the game mat has potential to offer +1 bonus to any die roll if he is in the same country as at least one of his pieces in battle. Example: Tyler is attacking Matt. Tyler is attacking with two cavalry that are both in the blue country (Tyler only has one kingsmen in the blue country; Tyler will get to add 1 to his cumulative dice roll for blue). He is also attacking with 1 army that is in the neighbor red country (Tyler has two kingsmen in the red country; Tyler will get to add 2 to his cumulative dice roll for red), He is attacking one of Matt's kingsmen which is in the blue country (all four of Matt's kingsmen are in the blue country; Matt will get to add 4 to his cumulative dice roll value for blue). The dice are rolled! Tyler rolled 12d=Three and 8d=Five; so, he has an attack value of Fourteen (3x2 cavalry, 5x1 army, 1 blue bonus, 2 red bonus). Matt rolled 10d=Eight; so he has a defense value of Twelve (8x1 kingsmen, 4 blue bonus). Tyler defeated Matt 14 > 12.