A Game of Thrones: The Board Game (Second Edition)

The 2011 second-edition base game supports three to six players. Use the permitted Houses, neutral forces and three/four-player King’s Court overlay for the player count. Each round has Westeros, Planning and Action phases; skip Westeros in round one and play at most ten rounds. Use the official v2.0 correction to Lannister’s starting units.

In Westeros, reveal one card from each of three decks, advance wildling threat and resolve decks I, II and III in order. When mustering, a castle provides one point and a stronghold two. Footmen/ships cost one, knights/siege engines two, or one to upgrade a footman to either. Mustering cannot exceed supply.

A Supply event recalculates your track position from supply icons in controlled areas; other specified effects can also adjust it. The track limits army count and each army’s size. Two or more units in an area form an army. Movement, mustering and retreats must obey the current track, including fleets.

In Planning, assign one facedown order to each controlled area containing units, never multiple orders in one area. Reveal simultaneously, then use the Messenger Raven. King’s Court rank limits starred orders. The Raven holder may exchange one of their orders for an unused order or inspect and retain/bury the top wildling card, at most once per round.

In Action, cycle through Iron Throne order resolving raids one at a time, then marches and combats, then Consolidate Power. A normal raid removes an adjacent enemy Support, Raid or Consolidate Power order; a starred raid can also remove Defense. A normal land Consolidate Power order usually gains one power plus printed power icons.

One march may split its units among several adjacent areas but initiate only one attack. Land units cannot enter seas/ports and ships cannot enter land. Your ships in consecutive sea areas transport land units for marching/retreating. Other Houses’ ships cannot transport you, and transport does not create adjacency for support or raids.

Combat begins with support declarations in turn order, then initial strength: footmen/ships one, knights two, siege engines four only when attacking or supporting an attack on a castle/stronghold, otherwise zero. Adjacent support can aid either side but never oppose your own units. A House must assign all its support in that combat to one side.

Both sides must secretly select and simultaneously reveal a House card, adding its strength and resolving abilities. The Blade can add one once per round. Higher final strength wins; ties favor the higher Fiefdoms rank. Played cards enter public discards. After using your last card, retrieve the other six, leaving the just-played card discarded.

Normally only the loser removes units equal to the winner’s swords minus their own fortifications; supporting units take no such casualties. Then retreat: an attacker returns to origin; a defender chooses a legal adjacent or ship-connected area other than the attack’s origin. No legal retreat destroys the force; supply may require destroying retreating units first. Losing siege engines are destroyed in addition to other casualties, never used to satisfy them.

Retreated units are routed: zero strength, unable to move, still counting for supply and destroyed if forced to retreat again. Restore them at round end. Control of seven castle/stronghold areas wins immediately, but determine control after combat fully ends. Otherwise the most such areas after round ten wins; ties use total controlled land areas, then Supply rank, then Iron Throne rank.