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The Commanders Guide is issued exclusively to officers holding the rank of Commander within the R.A.I.S.E Armed Forces. As one of the top three ranks in Strategic Command, you are entrusted with directing entire conflict zones and executing the campaigns set forth by your General.

Contained within are the complete operational doctrines, advanced battlefield mechanics, and protocols necessary to coordinate all subordinate assets under your authority. This guide is designed to refine your ability to manage resources, control tempo, and maintain operational superiority in every theater of war.

We fight not because we believe we can destroy the Machines, but because surrender is not an option. For as long as one human stands, R.A.I.S.E will stand.

WE WILL FIND A WAY.

Of Men and Machines is a turn-based strategy card game focused on resource management and territorial control. Two or more players alternate between attacking and defending across a series of rounds to build defenses, launch attacks, and gain control over the playfield by any means necessary.

Of Men and Machines is currently in closed beta with games hosted by Nyxell on Tabletop Simulator. The documents provided with this copy of The Commanders Guide refers to all information relative to Beta version 5.1 (v0510).

Capitalized or Red text refers to a term or game mechanic that is defined elsewhere in the document. Keywords can also be found in the Glossary.

60 to 64 cards. Minimum 2 Decks.

The R.A.I.S.E and MACHINES Faction Decks.

Each Faction comes with 2 Unit Decks.

• 1 Soldier Deck (30 cards)
  • A standard Soldier Deck contains 30 cards.
• 1 Specialist Deck (30 to 34 cards)
  • A standard Specialist Deck contains 30 cards.
  • A Titan Faction Specialist Deck contains 34 cards.

Expansion Factions may have their own Added Decks on top of the core Unit decks. Factions with several decks cannot be played unless all decks are present.

60 cards for 2 players. +15 for each additional player.

A selection of cards used to create the Power Deck.

This deck contains a variety of neutral cards that are used by all players during a match. The Power Deck will be constructed by all participating players before starting, with the maximum card cap increasing by +15 per player when 3 or more players are present.

Minimum 1 per player.

The R.A.I.S.E and MACHINES Captain Cards.

Captains are required for 2 of the 4 win conditions of standard play. Each Faction comes with their own Captain Cards.

1 per player.

A selection of Commander Cards.

Commanders offer passives to their owners, and are selected during setup. Eight Starting Commanders are included in the Complete Edition, while some Faction Captains are included with Expansion Packs. Each player may only have 1 Commander at a time.

A game mat included in the Complete Edition.

Game mats keep card positions organized during play, as well as including coordinates to easily locate cells on the Playfield. They also provide allocated spots for each card deck, token, or other tool used during play.

Game mats may also come with a variety of Playfield layouts, background themes, and additional seats for more players.

A variety of tracking tokens included in the Complete Edition.

Tokens are used to track numerical values or Statuses applied to the Playfield or other cards.

A game coin included in the Complete edition.

Some setup steps or cards may require a coin toss. Coin faces can also be used to indicate who is currently the Lead Player in 2 player games.

A set of D6 dice used to track statuses or other effects, included in the Complete Edition.

Status effects with long durations can be tracked using a set of dice or other counting tool.

Players choose which faction they wish to play, and if there are alliances or not.

• If Factions are provided by a host, or are put into a pool to choose, flip a coin (2 Players) or roll a D6 (3+ Players)
  • The player who wins the coin toss, or rolls the highest number chooses first, and will be the first attacking player.
    • The first attacking player is unable to perform any Combat Actions on their first turn.
    • If the chosen player does not wish to be the first player, relinquish first player rule to the next player clockwise.
      • The next player to be given first player rule cannot pass it.
  • All other players will choose their Faction clockwise from the first player.
• Choose between playing Alliance or Free For All.
  • Alliance: Split players into even teams. Each team will operate as 1 Alliance. Each Alliance is eliminated individually until 1 Alliance reaches a win condition.
  • Free For All: All players will operate as their own individual Factions. Each player is eliminated individually until 1 player reaches a win condition.

A playfield must be decided before the match can begin, and where players will sit accordingly.

• If a game mat is used during the match, lay it onto a flat surface for play.
• If no game mat is present, refer to a visual guide on where to sit and place cards.
  (See Starter Templates)
• Each Playfield contains colored regions referred to as Colored Seats. This is where players will sit and play cards from. Cards are oriented facing their owners (bottom pointed at you). Players are not required to match their faction color to the seat color.

Each player gets a starting amount of territory based on where they sit.

• Players will automatically claim cells on the playfield matching their seat color as their territory. Any claimed territory outside of the colored seats requires a Faction Token to signal ownership.
• In Alliance, choose 1 of your Alliance's Faction Tokens to represent your entire Alliance.
• In Free For All, each player uses their respective Faction Tokens.

Each player gets to pick a commander that represents them during battle.

• The first player chosen in step 0 chooses their Commander Card first from the available pool.
• All other players will choose their Commander Card clockwise from the first player.
• Commanders must match your faction, or be to be eligible for you to select.

Players will shuffle one another's decks, The first attacking player will also shuffle the power deck.

• Hand your Faction decks to the player across from you, and receive their Faction decks.
• Shuffle each deck thoroughly, then split each deck in half and stack.
  • Ensure that you do not mix decks together, only stack their respective halves together.
• Return each deck back to their owner, and wait until you have received yours.
• The first attacking player must also shuffle the Power Deck, then split the deck and restack.
• Place each deck face-down in their respective zones on the game mat.
  • If no game mat is present, ensure that all decks are outside of the designated Playfield and place where they are easily accessible.

• In order to reduce the match's startup time, you may select a starting layout for your selected Playfield. All players will draw the cards shown on the layout and place them accordingly.
  (See Starter Templates)
• Place your Captain card onto your seat color's Star Cell. If multiple star cells are present, you may choose to place your captain on any available one.
• Play begins with the first player chosen in step 0. Then play alternates clockwise.
  • On the first turn of the game, skip immediately to the Attacker Phase.
  • In Alliance, play alternates clockwise per faction, as well as per player within that faction. (Faction A, Player A -> Faction B, Player A -> Faction A, Player B -> Faction B, Player B.)

A neutral Unit Card.

Unit cards are the main fighting force of all Factions. During standard play these cards are Deployed to the Playfield, and may Move, Attack, be Discarded, and be Destroyed when active.

Unit cards are split into two card types:

• Soldier card.
• Specialist card.

Both cards are split into their own respective decks and can be referred to individually as Soldiers and Specialists. Units encompasses both types.

Reading The Card

1. Card Name

This is the card's name. Each card has a unique name based off who they are and what they do.

2. Card Type

This is the card's type, represented by both a title and icon. Cards are often referred to as their type rather than by name using their respective icons.

3. Card Image

The image of the card. Some cards may display portraits of their Unit, or may display an icon.

4. Card Sigils

Unit cards can hold up to 3 Sigils at a time. Sigils are referenced by Icons only.

5. Faction

The Faction this card has pledged allegiance to. Faction Unit Cards can only be Deployed from the hand, Retreated to the discard pile, or Reserved to the Reserve Deck of players who both own the card, and match the Faction. Neutral Cards (Also referred to as Cards) can be used by any Faction.

It is possible for some mismatching factions to hold temporary control of other Faction Unit Cards while on the playfield. Once they are removed from the playfield, temporary ownership is lost.

6. Card Description

The card's description text. Can either be cosmetic or used to define the conditions for using a card and the effects that it provides upon activation.

7. Level

The cost tier of a card. All cards cost Turn Points (Also referred to as Attacking Turn Points, or Defending Turn Points) to be put into play from a player's hand relative to their Level. Level 5 Unit Cards are exclusive to the Titan Faction.

8. Durability

The durability tier of a card. Represents the maximum amount of Health a card has, and the maximum amount of Armor a card can have at once.

9. Damage

The damage tier of a card. Represents the amount of Direct Damage or Indirect Damage a card deals when performing a damaging action.

10. Trade

The value tier of a card. Represents the amount of Turn Points given when Scrapped, or the cost of Retreat.

11. Speed

Represents the maximum amount of actions you may perform with a card in a turn. Once a card has used all of its actions, it may not be used again for the remainder of the turn.

12. Range

Represents the maximum distance in cells a card can attack from.

A neutral Utility Card.

Utility Cards are non-placeable cards that offer instant use or persistent abilities and effects upon being Activated. These cards do not go onto the Playfield, and are placed either directly into a discard pile or off to the side when used.

Reading The Card

1. Card Name

This is the card's name. Each card has a unique name based off who they are and what they do.

2. Card Type

This is the card's type, represented by both a title and icon. Cards are often referred to as their type rather than by name using their respective icons.

3. Card Image

The image of the card. Some cards may display portraits, or an icon.

4. Card Description

The card's description text. Can either be cosmetic or used to define the conditions for using a card and the effects that it provides upon activation.

5. Level

The cost tier of a card. All cards cost Turn Points (Also referred to as Attacking Turn Points, or Defending Turn Points) to be put into play from a player's hand relative to their Level.

6. Level

The Faction this card has pledged allegiance to. Faction Utility Cards can only be Activated from the hand, or Reserved to the Reserve Deck of players who both own the card, and match the Faction. Neutral Cards (Also referred to as Cards) can be used by any Faction.

A neutral Structure Card.

Structure Cards are static cards that are Constructed to the Playfield to provide either passive or active abilities based on set conditions regarding the state of the Playfield itself (usually referring to the cells adjacent to the card).

Structure Cards, like Units and Captains, can be destroyed by being attacked.

Reading The Card

1. Card Name

This is the card's name. Each card has a unique name based off who they are and what they do.

2. Card Type

This is the card's type, represented by both a title and icon. Cards are often referred to as their type rather than by name using their respective icons.

3. Card Image

The image of the card. Some cards may display portraits of their Unit, or may display an icon.

4. Card Description

The card's description text. Can either be cosmetic or used to define the conditions for using a card and the effects that it provides upon activation.

5. Level

The cost tier of a card. All cards cost Turn Points (Also referred to as Attacking Turn Points, or Defending Turn Points) to be put into play from a player's hand relative to their Level.

6. Durability

The durability tier of a card. Represents the maximum amount of Health a card has, and the maximum amount of Armor a card can have at once.

7. Faction

The Faction this card has pledged allegiance to. Faction Structure Cards can only be Constructed from the hand Reserved to the Reserve Deck of players who both own the card, and match the Faction. Neutral Cards (Also referred to as Cards) can be used by any Faction.

A neutral Captain Card.

Captains are the core of a faction's presence on the playfield. They are responsible for controlling Colored Control Points in standard play, and contribute to a player's total life pool.

Captains also abide to the Speed & Range limitations of Unit cards. However, captains always cost 0 Turn points to play, and do not take damage from Indirect Damage sources.

Reading The Card

1. Card Name

This is the card's name. Each card has a unique name based off who they are and what they do.

2. Card Type

This is the card's type, represented by both a title and icon. Cards are often referred to as their type rather than by name using their respective icons.

3. Card Image

The image of the card. Some cards may display portraits of their Unit, or may display an icon.

4. Faction

The Faction this card has pledged allegiance to. Each faction comes with their own captains.

5. Card Description

The card's description text. For Captains, this is their faction's slogan / ethos, and is cosmetic only.

6. Durability

The durability tier of a card. Represents the maximum amount of Health a card has, and the maximum amount of Armor a card can have at once.

7. Damage

The damage tier of a card. Represents the amount of Direct Damage or Indirect Damage a card deals when performing a damaging action.

8. Speed

Represents the maximum amount of actions you may perform with a card in a turn. Once a card has used all of its actions, it may not be used again for the remainder of the turn.

9. Range

Represents the maximum distance in cells a card can attack from.

A Neutral Commander Card

Commander Cards are non-combatant cards chosen at the start of a match. Each commander offers a unique passive ability to the entirety of your Faction for the duration of the match.

Reading The Card

1. Card Name

This is the card's name. Each card has a unique name based off who they are and what they do.

2. Card Type

This is the card's type, represented by both a title and icon. Cards are often referred to as their type rather than by name using their respective icons.

3. Card Image

The card's description text. For Commanders, this is the passive effect that is given to the entire faction.

4. Faction

The Faction this card has pledged allegiance to. You can only use Commanders that match your faction, or are cards.

In standard play, Of Men and Machines has four total ways a player can win a match, known as win conditions. You only need to meet the criteria of one win condition to beat your opponent.

In 3+ player Free For All, or 3+ Alliance matches, the objective is to be the last player or alliance standing. Reaching a win condition against any opponent will eliminate them from play for as long as that win condition is eligible, but the match will continue if there are still eligible players or alliances.

Victory by Control occurs when a player captures all of an opponents Colored Control Points, and holds them for 1 full round.

R.A.I.S.E occupies all opponent Colored Control Points on the Playfield.

Victory By Elimination occurs when a player deals enough damage to their opponent's total life pool. A player's life pool is the sum of all of their captain's face Health values.

The Machines have dealt 10 damage to the R.A.I.S.E Captain, which is their total life pool value.

Victory by Attrition occurs when an opponent is unable to reshuffle cards back into their Soldier or Specialist decks.

When a Unit Deck is empty, the discard pile is emptied, and all cards are shuffled back into their respective decks. However, cards in the destroyed pile are not. Over time, players will have less and less cards to reshuffle back in, until there are none remaining.

The Machines are unable to reshuffle any cards back into their Unit decks.

Victory by Domination occurs when an opponent cannot spawn any new Unit Cards, and has no Units on the Playfield.

Unit Cards can only be deployed to eligible spawn cells, or if a card or ability states a card may be deployed with their activation.

The Machines occupy all of R.A.I.S.E's Frontspawn cells, and R.A.I.S.E has no Units on the Playfield.

Each round of gameplay is divided into attacking and defending turns played simultaneously. At the end of the turn, play alternates clockwise. In 2 player matches, one player is attacking, while the other is defending.

Turn orientation works differently in 3+ player matches. One player is attacking, the player counterclockwise from them (or the previous attacker) is defending, and all other players are Sleeping. Sleeping players ignore all phases, and act as spectators. If a condition is met that would allow a sleeping player to act, they temporarily wake up as a defending player, perform their actions, and return to being asleep immediately afterwards.

Players will progress through a linear series of phases during their turn. When a phase ends, players will advance to the next phase in the turn, until they reach the end of the turn, at which point play alternates.

1. Defender Phase

The Defender Phase gives the defending player a chance to fortify themselves in preparation of the upcoming battle. Once a defender has run out of , their turn ends immediately. Attacking or sleeping players remain on standby until the end of this phase.

At the start of the Defender Phase:

• Draw as many as needed to reach a hand size of 6 cards.

Afterwards:

• Resolve any effects that occur during the start of your turn.
• Resolve any effects that occur during the Defender Phase.
• Gain +3
• You may only perform the following actions. Their cost to perform is 1 , unless stated otherwise:
  • Activate
  • Construct
  • Reserve
  • Fortify
• Remain in this phase until you end it willingly, or run out of
• Afterwards, move the Attacker Phase.

2. Attacker Phase

The Attacker Phase is where an attacker plays their turn. Once an attacker has run out of , their turn ends immediately. Defending and sleeping players will remain on standby until an eligible condition allows them to act.

At the start of the Main Phase:

• Draw 1 , 2 , and 3 , then add them to your hand.
• Draw the top card from your Reserve, then add it into your hand.

• Resolve any effects that occur during the start of your turn.
• Resolve any card effects that occur during the Attacker Phase.
• When attacking:
  • Gain +5
  • You may Activate any eligible cards, or play any eligible Actions with cards on the playfield.
    • Their cost to perform is 1 , unless stated otherwise.
• Remain in this phase until you end it willingly, or run out of
• Afterwards, move to the End Phase.

Countermeasure Subphase

The Countermeasure Subphase occurs when a defending or sleeping player has an ability that may be played while within the Attacker Phase. Each action performed in this phase is called a Countermeasure, and each player may only perform 1 Countermeasure per subphase, with the exception of the attacking player, who cannot play during this subphase.

In 3+ player games, its possible for multiple players to have eligible Countermeasures at the same time, often being triggered as a result of a previous Countermeasure. This is known as a Countermeasure Battle. All Countermeasures are resolved First In, Last Out.

Once all Countermeasures have been resolved, The Attacker Phase resumes.

3. End Phase

The End Phase is where attackers announce the end of their turn, and relinquish the turn order clockwise. Players have one final chance to send cards to their Reserve before the next turn begins.

• Resolve any Status effects that occur during the end of your turn.
• Resolve any card effects that occur during the End Phase.
• You may Reserve any in your hand.
  • You cannot send any cards to your Reserve if it has 6 or more cards.

When attacking:

• Discard all remaining cards in your hand until your hand size is 0.

When defending:

• If your next turn is an attacking turn, discard all remaining cards in your hand until your hand size is 0.
• If your next turn is not an attacking turn, keep any remaining cards into the next turn.

Lastly, relinquish the turn order clockwise, then repeat.

Cards that are drawn to the hand must be activated into the game to be used. Where they are activated to and how they are activated depends on the type of card.

Activation / Activate is the umbrella term for all card activation types, but is most commonly used for Utility cards.

Utility cards are activated outside of the playfield, directly from a player's hand, only when its conditions are met. If it has no specified conditions, then it is activated once its cost is paid.

To activate a card:

• Pay the card's in Turn Points.
  • Use when attacking, and when defending.
• The card effect is resolved instantly, then discarded, unless stated otherwise.

Unit cards are activated into the Playfield through a process called Deployment. Deployment requires an eligible spawn cell for the card to be brought into play from your hand. Deployed cards abide to Deployment Delay to prevent them from being used until your next attacking turn.

To Deploy a card:

• Pay the card's in
• Select an eligible spawn cell to deploy the card, then place the card on that cell.
  • Eligible spawn cells include the following:
    • An unoccupied Frontspawn cell within friendly Territory.
    • A standard cell marked as eligible by a card's Sigil or description text.
• The newly deployed card must abide to Deployment Delay, unless another card or ability states otherwise.
• If Deployment Delay ends on a Frontspawn cell, select an eligible cell within your territory, then place the card on that cell.
  • This action does not consume any card actions, nor Turn Points.
• If Deployment Delay ends on a regular spawn cell, the card remains there.

Structure cards are activated through a process called Construction. While very similar to Deployment, it only has the spawn requirement of the cell being unoccupied, and anywhere outside of opponent territory. The Constructed card abides to Construction Delay to prevent them from being used on the same turn they are played, but still usable afterwards.

To Construct a card:

• Pay the card's in Turn Points.
  • Use when attacking, and when defending.
• Select any Standard cell outside of opponent territory, then place the card on that cell.
• The newly constructed card must abide to Construction Delay, unless another card or ability states otherwise.
• The card will remain where it is upon ending Construction Delay.

Not every card has a description that outlines what they can do. Instead, those cards use a general set of interactions called Actions. The types of actions you may perform with a card depends on its type. (See Game Cards)

Movement is a critical action that your combatants can perform. It allows them to move across the playfield to take up space, and reach targets that were previously out of range.

Step

Eligible Cards:

A step is a movement action where a card can be moved to any adjacent cell.

To perform a Step:

• Select 1 or on the Playfield.
• Select 1 target cell to move to.
  • The selected cell must be adjacent to your selected card.
• Pay 1 , then move the selected card to the target cell.
  • When moving a pay 0 instead.

Jump

Eligible Cards:

A jump is a movement action where a card can move to any cell that is in the same territory type as it.

To perform a Jump:

• Select 1 or on the Playfield.
• Select 1 target cell to move to.
  • The selected cell must be within the same territory type as your card.
• Pay 1 , then move the selected card to the target cell.
  • When moving a pay 0 instead.

Combat is the bread and butter of Of Men and Machines. Combatants can be used to destroy your opponent's defenses, and make it much harder to stop your attempts at a win condition.

Basic Attack

Eligible Cards:

A Basic Attack is a combat action where a single card deals damage to a target.

To perform a Basic Attack:

• Select 1 or on the Playfield.
• Select 1 target cell to attack.
  • The selected cell cannot be blocked by other opponent cards.
  • Your attacking card must be able to reach the targeted cell based on their Range.
• Pay 1 , then deal to the target cell based on your card's
  • When attacking with a pay 0 instead.
• If combat is a result of using a sigil (such as Strafing Run), resolve damage using sigil damage resolution. Otherwise use basic damage resolution.

Basic Damage Resolution

If a targeted cell contains a card with or , resolve the damage as follows, targeting first:

• 
  • Subtract the targeted card's total by your card's
    • If > , then deal 1 to the targeted card's
    • The attack ends afterwards.
• 
  • Compare the attacked card's by your card's
    • If < , then deal 1 to the targeted card's
    • If > or = , then destroy the targeted card.
      • Gain +1 when destroying a card.
    • The attack ends afterwards.

Sigil Damage Resolution

If a targeted cell contains a card with or , resolve the damage as follows, targeting first:

• 
  • Subtract the targeted card's total by your card's
    • If > , then deal 1 to the targeted card's
    • The attack ends afterwards.
• 
  • Subtract the targeted card's total by your card's
    • If > or = , then destroy the targeted card.
      • Gain +1 when destroying a card.
    • The attack ends afterwards.
• If the attacked card is a , deal 1 instead.

Skirmish Attack

Eligible Cards:

A skirmish attack is a combat action that allows you to pool multiple Units together to deal a large amount of damage to a target.

To perform a Skirmish Attack:

• Select 2 or 3 on the playfield.
• Select 1 target cell to attack.
  • All attacking cards must be able to reach the targeted cell based on their Range.
• Pay 5 , then deal to the target cell based on the sum of each card's
  • In addition, any sigil effects of the attacking cards are combined, and applied to the attack itself.

Skirmish Damage Resolution

If a targeted cell contains a card with or , resolve the damage as follows, targeting first:

• 
  • Subtract the targeted card's total by your skirmishing
    • If > , then deal 1 to the targeted card's
    • The attack ends afterwards.
• 
  • Subtract the targeted card's total by your skirmishing
    • If > or = , then destroy the targeted card.
      • Gain +2 when destroying a card.
    • The attack ends afterwards.
• If the attacked card is a , deal 1 for each Skirmishing card instead.

Counterattack

Eligible Cards:

A Counterattack is a combat action exclusive to defending players. If a Skirmish Attack fails to destroy its target, or the destroyed target has Units adjacent to it, then a Counterattack is eligible to be played.

To perform a Counterattack:

• Pay 1 , then the attacking player must deal enough to destroy N cards from their Skirmishing party. The amount to destroy is based on how many cards were used.
  • Party of 2: Destroy 1 card.
  • Party of 3: Destroy 2 cards.
• If the attacked card, or any cards adjacent to the attacked card have sigils that can be activated during a Counterattack, you may play them.

Utility actions allow cards to perform other actions that provide use beyond the standard combat loop. Some actions can be performed as either an attacker or defender, so the Turn Point icon shown determines when it can be played.

Scrap

Eligible Cards:

Scrapping is a utility action that gives attackers Turn Points, in exchange for destroying a card.

To Scrap a card:

• Select 1 card in your hand with
• Destroy the card, then gain +N based on the card's
  • The amount gained cannot exceed your Turn Point's cap.

Reserve

Eligible Cards:

Reserving is a utility action that allows a player to send a card from their hand into their secondary deck, rather than discarding them at the end of a turn.

To Reserve a card:

• Select 1 of any card in your hand.
• Send that card to the bottom of your Reserve Deck.
  • Reserving does not cost Turn Points.
  • By default, you may only have 6 cards in your Reserve.

Restore

Eligible Cards:

Restoring is a utility action that clears all tokens from a card, at the cost of leaving them unusable for a period of time.

To Restore a card:

• Select 1 or on the Playfield
• Pay 1 , then flip the card face-down, and inflict the Vulnerable Status on the card for 1 turn.

Retreat

Eligible Cards:

Retreating is a utility action that allows a player to remove a Deployed card off the Playfield.

To Retreat a card:

• Select 1 on the Playfield.
• Pay based on the card's , then send the card to your discard pile.

Fortify

Eligible Cards:

Fortifying is a utility action that allows a player to increase the survivability of a card on the playfield.

To Fortify a card:

• Select a on the Playfield.
• Pay 1 , then rotate the card into landscape orientation, if it is not already in that orientation.
• Add 1 to the card for the duration of the turn.

At the end of the turn:

• Rotate the Fortified card back into its default orientation.
• If the card has any , then reduce the card's remaining by -1.

The playfield is a region of space in which the game is played on. Playfields can either be grid based (square cells), or hex based (hexagon cells).

Playfields are comprised of individual segments within a coordinate space called cells. Each cell can be affected by status effects, or have special properties tied to them.

Standard Cell

A standard cell, and its colored variants.

A cell with no special effects. It can be occupied by 1 card on the playfield, and any number of tokens at a time. All cell types inherit the base properties of a standard cell.

Colored cells are used to indicate the seat color of a game mat, as well as the starting territory that a player begins with (See Territory). All cell types can be colored, and by default, this does not change their behavior.

Control Point Cell

A standard Control Point, and its colored variants.

A cell that can be claimed when not colored, and controlled when colored. Control Points only contribute to Victory By Control if they are colored.

When NOT colored:

• Considered claimed when a or occupies this cell.
• For each standard Control Point you claim, you earn an additional +1 or at the start of your Defender and Attacker phase.

When colored:

• Considered controlled when a or territory marker occupies this cell.
  • Otherwise it is controlled by its seat color.
• For each Control Point of a specific color that you control, you advance Victory By Control against that player. (See Victory By Control)

Star Cell

A standard Star cell

A cell with no special effects. Players will place their on any available star cell during game setup.

Frontspawn Cell

A standard Frontspawn cell.

A cell used to Deploy to the playfield. Frontspawn cells count as eligible spawn cells when they are unoccupied.

Territory is a property a cell may have to represent what player / alliance owns a cell on the playfield. Some cards or rules reference territory and its types directly. Territory is claimed dynamically using faction tokens, and passively using seat colors, with the former taking priority.

The faction tokens of the R.A.I.S.E and MACHINE factions. Each faction has their own token.

Unclaimed Territory

An unclaimed cell

Any cell that has not yet been claimed by a Faction, they have no seat color, and have no faction token on them.

Claimed Territory

A previously unclaimed cell. It has been claimed with a faction token.

Only one Faction Token can be placed on a cell at a time, with the most recently placed Faction Token claiming the cell.

Territory that you, or your allies have claimed is called friendly territory. Territory that is claimed by an opponent is called opponent, or enemy territory. Anything in-between is unoccupied, or neutral territory.

Colored cells will passively be considered territory of the seat owner. When a faction token is placed onto a colored cell, territory is changed as normal, returning to its original owner once the token is removed.

Sigils are icons representing extra Passive or Active Abilities a card has in addition to their standard card abilities. Each Sigil and its behaviors can be found in the Sigil Legend.

Passive sigils are either constantly active, or must wait until a condition is met before activating. A player cannot manually trigger a passive sigil, but the sigil will trigger instantly once its condition is met.

An example Passive Sigil

Active Sigils are triggered abilities that occur when a condition is met, and the player owning the card uses the ability.

An example Active Sigil

Active Sigils will specify what phase they can be used in, as well as any costs or conditions. If a phase is not specified, then that Active Sigil can be used during any phase.

Any Sigils that deal damage are resolved using Sigil Damage Resolution.

Status effects are conditions applied to a card or cell that modifies its stats or behavior for a set duration, or until a condition is met. Each Status and its effects can be found in Status Effects.

Non-token Statuses are any conditions or effects that are applied to an entity that does not use a physical token. These statuses can be applied to multiple targets, by multiple sources, with each application being its own instance of that effect.

If a non-token status is applied to the same entity multiple times, the longer duration takes priority.

Token Statuses are any condition or effects that are applied to an entity using a physical token. They can be applied to multiple targets, by multiple sources, but each application of the effect is identical.

Token Statuses have a colored icon, which is also their physical token.

All applications of a token status share the same timer duration, with the newest timer duration overriding any existing one.

A Position Stalemate occurs when 3 rounds pass without a card on the playfield being destroyed.

On the start of the next turn:

• Each player chooses 3 cards (2 players) or 1 card (3+ players) on the playfield owned by an opponent, and destroys them.
  • Cards destroyed in this manner cannot be prevented from being destroyed by any means.
  • You cannot destroy your opponent's Captain Cards.
• Each player discards their hand, reserve, and sends half of their destroyed pile into their discard, then the discard pile is reshuffled back into its respective decks.
  • If the destroyed pile cannot be split, it is skipped.
• Play then resumes as normal.

A win condition stalemate occurs when 2 or more players have reached a win condition at the same time.

Order Of Significance

Win conditions are sorted in order of significance, a player that holds a win condition of higher significance than an opponent will take priority and win the match. Win conditions are sorted by highest to lowest significance:

1. Victory By Elimination.
2. Victory By Control.
3. Victory By Domination.
4. Victory By Attrition.

Glossary

Sigil Legend

Status Effects

Starter Templates

Unit Cards

Utility Cards

Structure Cards

Captain Cards

Commander Cards

Titan Faction

Economy Faction

Sacrifice Faction

Systemic Faction

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