“There is only one true battle. The battle between good and evil.”
Princess Kelly, The Enchantress.
Overview
Contents: 1 Battle-board, 1 Divider, 1 Board connector, 4 Set of pegs, 8 Brick walls, 6 Gates, 6 Long gates, 10 Perimeter stone walls and 2 armies. Each army consists of 1 Gatekeepers, 2 Crusaders and 2 Archers. 1 Die with 6 sides numbered 1-4 (1-2-2-3-3-4) and 1 deck of 34 playing cards.
Objective: To kill all of your opponent’s character pieces.
Set up: Place the battle-board face down and insert the four peg sets with points down. Lift the board slightly and allow the peg sets to go all the way through and then flip the board over. Now install the perimeter stone walls as shown below.
Place the divider across the middle of the board by putting it in the space between the side stone walls on both sides of the board so it stands up on its own. The two players should not be able to see their opponents’ side of the board. Both players now set up their side of the board starting with the placement of their army (2 Crusaders, 2 archers and 1 Gatekeeper) on their starting portals as identified by the 5 circles on their side of the board.
Next, they each use their 10 game pieces to construct a defensive maze on their side of the board. The pieces may be placed individually or in one of many combinations. See the combinations page for examples
Put the board on a level playing surface in between the two opponents and place the divider across the middle of the board by putting it in the space between the side stone walls on both sides of the board so it stands up on its own. The two players should not be able to see their opponents’ side of the board.
Both players now set up their side of the board starting with the placement of their army on their starting portals as identified by the 5 circles on their side of the board. Next, they each use the 10 game pieces to construct a maze on their side of the board. The pieces may be placed individually or in one of many combinations. See the combinations for examples but not all possible combinations are shown.
Combinations
This section will show you examples of how pieces can be placed on the board along with some basic combinations. There are more possible combinations than shown in these examples. There are only a few restrictions to game piece placement and those are explained in the rules section. How the movable pieces interact with player pieces is explained in the game play section.
Brick Walls
Brick walls are set over two posts and are fixed pieces on the game board. They may be set individually or connected to as many of the other walls as desired and in any orientation as long as they are placed over two posts.
Gates
Gates are set over one post and can pivot during game play. They can be set individually or in pairs. When set as a pair they can be set at 90 degrees or in a straight line at the beginning of the game. They can also be set at the ends of walls, and this limits the range of motion to 180 degrees. Gates are the only piece that may be set across a castle entrance.
Long Gates
Long gates are set over one post and can pivot during game play. They may be set individually, in pairs or in combination with a gate. All three of these combinations can pivot. It may also be combined with a wall and when that is done the piece can no longer pivot and acts like a wall.
Single board boarder setup
Rules
- The winner of the game is the last person to have character pieces on the board.
- At no point, either during set up or during game play, can any of the castle entrances be blocked off by a wall or long gate. A gate may block a castle entrance. If a gate is blocking a castle entrance no other game piece may be on the same post.
3. Character pieces can move forward, backward and sideways.
4. Character pieces may never move or shoot an arrow diagonally or occupy the same square more than once during a single turn.
5.The number indicated by the dice roll is the number of spaces you must move on your turn. A dice roll can apply to the movement of any character piece or pieces but if used by one of your archer’s arrows the full dice roll is used.
The roll may be split over as many character pieces as you would like but all moves awarded must be used. EXAMPLE: A roll of a 3 can be used by one character piece moving 3 spaces, 3 pieces each moving 1 space or 2 pieces, 1 piece moving 1 space and another piece moving 2 spaces. If a player only has one piece remaining it must move all 3 spaces.
6.Killing an opponent: An opponent can be killed by either a ground attack, the shooting of an arrow or the playing of a card.
A Ground attack: All character pieces can do a ground attack. A character piece can only kill an opponent’s character piece through movement with an exact roll of the dice. If the opposing player’s piece is 2 spaces away and a 3 is rolled a kill is not allowed by spitting this roll over 2 of your pieces.
Shooting of an arrow: Only an archer can shoot an arrow. An Archer can shoot in any of the four movable directions. The arrow will travel the entire roll of the dice and cannot be split. If you roll a three and your arrow travels three spaces without hitting any obstacles or character piece your turn is over. If you roll a three and your arrow travels 2 spaces and hits a wall or gate it stops there, and your turn is over. If you roll a three and your arrow first hits an opponent’s character piece at 1,2 or 3 spaces away, the character piece is killed. Your archer does not move, and your turn is over. If one of your archers is in your castles Keep, they may shoot out of either entrance on your turn.
Playing a card: If a card allows you to climb or scale an obstacle and an opponent’s character piece is on the other side, they are killed by a surprise attack and the dice roll portion is forfeited.
7. One gate may not move another gate unless they are on the same post.
8. At no time may two character pieces occupy the same space other than to kill an opponent.
9. The Keep is a one space connection of the two castle entrances. It can be used by its owner or allies as a shortcut between the entrances or as an area of refuge. Only one character piece can be in the castles Keep at any one time. If a character piece is in the keep when an opponent’s piece enters that castle the player piece is killed. This is the only time an exact roll is not needed for a ground attack. An archer may not shoot into an opponent’s castle.
10. The Gatekeeper is immune to gate movements by an opponent trying to move it. It cannot be moved by the playing of an opponent’s card or the movement of an opponent’s player piece but can be moved freely on its turn.
Game Play
Players roll the dice to see who goes first. The person with the highest number deals three cards to each player and goes first. A player’s turn consists of two phases. The card phase and the dice phase. First the card phase. In this phase you draw a card then play a card and the action on the card is carried out. If you do not want to play a card, you must discard a card. The card phase has ended, and the dice phase begins. Roll the dice and move your character piece or pieces as described in the rules. Once all moves are completed the player’s turn has ended and the next player takes their turn.
Battle Cards
- Scale a brick wall. When next to a brick wall you may move to the other side of the wall. If an opponent’s player piece occupies that space it is killed and removed from the board. You receive one point, and the dice portion of your turn is forfeited.
- Climb a gate. When next to a gate you may move to the other side without moving the gate. If an opponent’s player piece occupies that space it is killed and removed from the board. You receive one point, and the dice portion of your turn is forfeited.
- Move a brick wall. Move any brick wall to any other open position on the board. You may not block any entrance to any castle.
- Move a gate. Move any one gate to any other open position on the board. You may not block any entrance to any castle. Combinations may be broken up as long as only one piece is moved, and the other is returned to its original position.
- Rotate 90 Degrees. Rotate any gate or gate combination 90 degrees. All affected player pieces move with the gate.
- Rotate 180 Degrees. Rotate any gate or gate combination 180 degrees. All affected player pieces move with the gate.
- When playing a 4-player game using two Beginnings battle decks is recommended.
BATTLEGATES
Two board game play
For 2,3 or 4 players
Battlegates “The Beginning” includes everything you need to play a one battle-board 2 player game. This is a great way to learn the game and some basic strategies.
Battlegates “The Beginning” also allows you to play multi battle-board games. Battle-boards are designed to be placed together to allow for a larger playing area. End to end, side by side or side to end.
2 Player Misery Run
END to END
Set Up: Remove stone wall boarder pieces 1,2 and 3 from each board and place the two boards together. When placed end to end a new feature is created known as Misery Run. This is the row of spaces marked by the blue water feature. Any character pieces in Misery Run at the end of any player’s turn dies. If an opponent moves your character piece into Misery Run by rotating a gate your player piece dies and they forfeit the dice portion of their turn.
If you move one of your own character pieces into Misery Run and they are still there at the end of your turn they have committed suicide. The player piece is removed from the game. The divider for this set up is placed down the middle of Misery Run. Each player uses all 20 game pieces that came with their set to set up their half of the playing field. Each player uses 2 armies.
Each player still has only one castle with two entrances, and the game is played with the same rules as in the one battle-board game.
“Suicide before surrender.” Prince Kurt The Younger.
2 or 4 Player Battle Alley
Side by Side
Set Up: Remove stone wall boarder pieces 5 and 9 from each board and place the two boards together. Install the remaining boarder pieces as shown above. This creates a new row of spaces called Battle Alley. It is marked by a stone pattern.
“Open ground is easily traveled by all, so beware.”
Prince Joshua the Bold.
Walls can never be placed across Battle Alley either during set up or by playing a card. Gates may not be placed across Battle Alley during setup but may swing across Battle Alley during game play or by card playing. At no time during the game can a gate impede player movement in either direction by being connected to a wall that would not let the gate travel freely across Battle Alley. If it does, it is removed from the board for the duration of the game at the time this occurs and the player who caused that action continues their turn.
“This is a highway to hell.” Prince Kurt The Younger.
2 Player 4 castles. In this version one person controls castles 1 and 3 and their opponent controls castles 2 and 4. Each player sets up two castles, each castle with its own-colored player pieces and with 10 game pieces. 4 walls, 3 gates and 3 long gates on one half of one board. Each castle gets one turn per round and shares a four card hand. Play order goes from castle 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 and repeats until the game is over. When one castle is out of player pieces that castle no longer takes a turn. When a player has no pieces left for either castle, play ends
4 Player 4 Castles Allies. In this version one person controls each castle. Castles 1 and 3 are allies and castles 2 and 4 are allies. Each castle sets up 1 gatekeeper, 2 Archers and 2 Crusaders of one color and 10 game pieces. 4 walls, 3 gates and 3 long gates on one half of one board. Each castle gets one turn per round. Each team shares a four-card hand and both teams draw from the same deck. Play order goes from castle 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 and repeats until the game is over. When one castle is out of character pieces that castle no longer takes a turn. Play ends when one team has no character pieces left on the board.
4 Player 4 Castles Individually. In this version one person controls one castle. Each castle sets up 1 gatekeeper, 2 Archers and 2 Crusaders of one color and 10 game pieces. 4 walls, 3 gates and 3 long gates on one half of one board. Each castle gets one turn per round and its own set of cards. Play order goes from castle 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 and repeats until the game is over. When one castle is out of character pieces that castle no longer takes a turn, and their remaining cards are placed in the discard pile. Play ends when only one player has character pieces left on the board.
“It is always an advantage to hold the high ground.”
Empress Sharon, The Wise