Object



The object of a game of Empires and Generals is to become the greatest empire.



In a quick game, you can do this by gaining 3 Cultural Health or by causing others to lose 3 Cultural Health.



If you are the first to gain 3 Cultural Health or are the last to survive after all other players have lost 3 Cultural Health, then you are the winner.

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Game Preparation

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1) Print off the cards



Each card is formatted to fit onto a 3x5 index card, but you can stretch and fit each .jpg if you want to use "Playing Card" size or 5x7 index cards.



2) Familiarize yourself with the rules.



3) Build your deck.



You will find that each deck has it's own unique playing styles, just like each real life empire. Chose one and start building yours.



4) Determine players



Anywhere from 2-20 Players can play but 2-4 is recommended.



5) Prepare your deck



Separate all Resource Cards from Playing Cards. The Resource Cards make up The "Supply Pile". Shuffle the Resource Cards and place them down.



Shuffle the remaining Playing Cards and place next to the supply pile. This is your "Draw Pile".



The Supply Pile and Draw Pile are usually both needed to play a successful game.



6) Be honest



The player on your left is responsible for your decks honesty. Shuffle each of your decks thoroughly.



Have the player to the left of you cut each deck. "Stacking" your deck is cheating.



7) Prepare your Reference Cards



You will have an assortment  of Non-Playing Reference Cards that will help you during game play. The only one needing to be shown is the Cultural Health Card.



The Cultural Health Card is placed to your left with a card on top of it to keep track of your points. Place the top or bottom edge of the card on the Starting Health line to determine your beginning number of zero (0) Cultural Health.



8) Be friendly



Make sure there is enough room in front of you and to each side.



Keeping snacks, children or small animals on the playing table is discouraged.

Although Empires and Generals is designed to simulate actual warfare with historical figures, the players should be friendly towards one another. This is just a game. The results do not carry over into real life. The most important things are to have fun and gain wisdom.

 

Your Decks



There are three types of cards that you will need to play the game. Playing Cards, Resource Cards and  Reference Cards.



Playing Cards and Resource Cards are arranged in their own piles.

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The Playing Cards are arranged in the Draw Pile and the Resource Cards are arranged in the Supply Pile.



Playing Cards (Draw Pile) -



Minimum number of Playing Cards: 25 (35 Suggested)
Maximum number of Playing Cards: None (50 Suggested)



Resource Card (Supply Pile) -

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Minimum number of Cards in Supply Pile: None (10 Suggested)

Maximum number of Cards in Supply Pile: None (25 Suggested)

A balanced deck may include:



6 Non-Playing Cards:

Title Card
Instructions
Game Phase Chart
Play Map
Attack Resolution Card
Cultural Health Chart



29 Playing Cards (Draw Pile)

5 General Playing Cards
9 Soldier Playing Cards
5 Kingdom Playing Cards
5 Strategy Playing Cards
5 Tactics Playing Cards



20 Resource Cards (Supply Pile)

15 Specialty Resources
3 Resource Traders
2 Act of God Cards



It does not matter what "Empires" your deck is comprised of. You may "Mix and Match".



Card Limits

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In both decks, no more than:

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Common: Five of the same in your decks.
 

Uncommon: Three of the same in your decks.
 

Rare: One of the same in your decks.

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Ultra Rare: Only one total in either of your decks, and when an Ultra Rare card comes into play during a game, that card  may not be played during the remainder of the game by anyone.

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You can tell a card is common because it has no marking to show it uncommon, rare or ultra rare.

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Identification Number

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There may be cards that have a different picture on it but that bear the same Identification number. This is normal. We do have continual upgrades to the artwork as the game progresses.

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The card Identification number tells us information about the card.

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For example: The Huns: Horseman Platoon is EGFETHS4 this tells us that

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EG = Empieres and Generals Basic Game
FE = Family Edition
TH = The Huns
S = Soldier

4 = The fourth soldier card created in the empire

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Horseman platoon is a common card so you may have 5 of them in your deck.

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There may be instances where the name will be the same but the Identification number will be different

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For example: The Huns: Hun Warrior has three different cards. EGFETHS1a, EGFETHS1b, and EGFETHS1c. These are different identification numbers

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In effect you could have 15 "Hun Warriors" in your deck, but it would be limited to five of EGFETHS1a, five of EGFETHS1b and five of EGFETHS1c.



The Blueprint Picture shows this number as "Reference ID"



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Determine Type of Game

 

Determine Game Cards based upon what everyone agrees upon:



Open Game: Every card is legal. This is an Official Tournament Play Type.



Edition Play:  Only one Edition represented (i.e. Family Edition only). This is an Official Tournament Play Type.



Epoch Game: Only one Era represented (i.e. Antiquity - Family Edition, Expanded Edition, etc...) This is an Official Tournament Play Type. Theme Expansions are valid in an Epoch Game.



House Rules: Whatever you agree upon (i.e. Only this or that).



You may use any of the decks within the given limits of the Game you are playing in.



 

There are no illegal Cards in Empires and Generals: The Historical Game.



Determine Game Length



Quick:

Achieve Three points to win the game against all opponents.
Lose Three points to lose against all opponents.



Normal:

Achieve Five points to win the game against all opponents.
Lose Five points to lose against all opponents.

Normal is the official Tournament Play Type.



Epic:

Achieve Eight points to win the game against all opponents.
Lose Eight points to lose against all opponents.

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Game Variations 



Blitzkrieg Version:



3 Point Quick Game with minimum card rules. 25 Playing Cards, 10 Resource Cards.



Southpole Version:



50 point game, 400 Card minimum. You may "Recycle" your discard pile as many times as needed. Both your Draw Pile and your Supply Pile must be depleted fully with no cards remaining to recycle. When you recycle, you separate and shuffle Discard Pile and have the other player cut the cards when you separate them back into Draw Pile and Supply Pile. Note: This may take several months and a lot of room to play.



Slaughterhouse Variation:

Start all Cultural Health Cards at the top line of the Game Play Line. You may not win by gaining Health but must win by defeating all of your opponents. You may play Slaughterhouse version with any of the three Game Types.



Architect Variation:



Start all Cultural Health Cards at the bottom of the Game Play Line. You may not lose by sitting at the lowest point on the Cultural Health Line, but must win by gaining Cultural Health. You may play the Architect Variation with any of the three Game types.

 

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Draw beginning Cards

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Draw seven cards from either Draw Pile and Supply Pile (You can draw X amount from Draw Pile and Y amount from Supply Pile as long as X+Y=7).

 

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Turn Mechanics

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The game is divided into turns.



Each turn is divided into phases.



Someone must go first. This is randomly decided. If no decision can be made, flip a coin, or use the rock, paper, scissors technique.



A turn begins with one persons declaration of play. A Player may choose to Pass or Play.



If they Pass, it is immediately the next persons turn.



Play always moves clockwise to the left.



Play or Pass



If Player Plays, move to Draw Phase.



If Player Passes, move to next player to start with their Draw Phase.



Player declares whether they will Play (take a turn) or Pass (not take a turn).

If player draws a card, it is assumed that they have begun their turn and not passed.

You cannot Pass if you draw a card. (You have already begun your turn with the Draw Phase.)

Player may not Pass twice in a row.

If player Passes a turn, no part of any phase may be accomplished.

You may not split or pick any part of the turn and then pass.



Playing the Phases



When you declare your turn, (or draw to declare without saying) it is now your turn. You control what happens with your hand and your decks.



A Turn Phase Chart has been provided in the reference cards to be a handy guide.



The Phases are:



Draw Phase - Draw 1 Card per turn
Harvest Phase - Gather Resources from Supply Line
Kingdom Phase - Kingdom and Strategy Card playing and activation
Army Phase - Soldiers, Generals and other units playing, movement and activation
Attack Phase - Unit attack
Resolve Phase - Finish turn



You may play and only use parts of your phases. You do not have to use all Phases of your turn, but you may not go out of order of the Turn Phase Chart.



Turn Phases Detail



Draw Phase



Draw one card, including on your first turn, unless otherwise stated on cards.



Harvest Phase



1) Play any resource cards that you may have, placing them in the Resource Area.



Resource Card Effect - When a resource sits in your Supply Line, if it has effects listed: The Effect may read: "Gain one stone". This is what you are adding to your "cash pool" every turn. If your total for that Harvest Phase is 8 Stone, 3 Water, having a total of 11, then you may spend those resources that turn. You may spend the common 11 points or selected points that are equal or less than 8 Stone and 3 Water. If you do not "spend" the resources this turn they are not carried over, rather, if no new resource cards are added you still gain 8 stone and 3 water the next turn.



Resource Card Ability - During your Harvest Phase you may also choose to use the ability associated with the Resource Card. Usually this causes you to discard the card to gain more resources. If you have Liaoning Mine that has a continuous harvest of 1 Stone and need to discard it for the extra Stone that turn, then you gain 3 Stone for that card on that Harvest Phase. The card that has the ability used is discarded that Harvest Phase. You must use the 3 stone the turn that you discard the resource. They are not transferable to the next turn.



Kingdom Phase



1) Play any Kingdom and Strategy Cards available.



2) You may discard any Kingdom and Strategy Cards at this time.



3) When Kingdom and Strategy Cards come into play, their effect is in play as well. Determine any changes to be made to the game when the card is played. You may also use any abilities that they have at this time. You do not need to wait until the next turn to activate abilities for Kingdom and Strategy Cards.



Army Phase



There are typically two types of cards that you may play during the Army Phase. Generals and Soldiers. There are other types of cards that can be played at this time. Typically, they are sentient animals or humans, but in later editions they may be machines or other beings. You will always be able to tell an entity that is able to be played because he will have a Strength and Life arrow icons at the top right of his card. Sometimes buildings or fortresses are Soldiers. Normally, these are listed as a sub-type of Soldier and they may not move into the Battlefield.



Soldiers and most other units -



1) Play any Soldier card into Warcamp. Soldiers cannot be played directly into the Battlefield from your hand due to the fatigue from traveling from your hand to the field of play, This is called "Pull".



2) Pull affects abilities as well as attack. A newly placed soldier may not use his ability until the next turn. The effect, however, is not affected by Pull. Many effects take place the instant that they are played.



3) If you have enough resources, you may also Soldiers Abilities that do not have Pull at this time.



4) You may Discard any Soldiers at this time.



5) You may move any soldiers to or from Battlefield to Warcamp. Cards in Battlefield do not have to attack, they can remain dormant. Once the turn moves on past the Army Phase, you may not move units.



Generals -



1) Play any General cards into either Warcamp or Battlefield area. Generals do not suffer Pull, unless noted.



2) You may use newly played Generals Effects at this time.



3) You may also use any of the Generals Abilities at this time.



4) If needed, you may discard a General at this time to play another General.



5) You may only have one General in play at one time unless otherwise stated.



Attack Phase



1) You must have a General in play to place a unit in Battlefield, unless otherwise stated.



2) Choose one available Soldier card or General Card or unit in Battlefield to attack with. The unit must be a single card or a group of cards banded or equipped together. You may attack with only one unit per turn.



3) Present your unit to attack. Push the attacking card forward a bit towards your opponent that you have chosen to attack to show the attack. State your attack.



4) Defender may choose who blocks/counter-attacks the attack, unless stated otherwise.



5) Defending player pushes forward defending unit.



6) Use the Attack Resolution Card to determine outcome of attack.



Note: A Counter Attack is the Defenders Strength against the Attackers Life. A Counter Attack happens automatically when the Defending Player chooses the Blocker to Defend.



Resolve Phase



1) Finish any effects that are noted on cards.



2) Remove Act of God Cards if you have used them.

3) Discard hand to down to seven cards unless stated otherwise.



The turn ends when that person declares their turn is finished at the end of Resolve Phase. When one players Resolve Phase ends it is immediately the next persons turn.



Rotation



Rotation moves clockwise to the left.



Repeat



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Victory Declaration



You are declared Victorious may ways.​



A) Warlord Victory: Your opponents have run out of Cultural Health (CH)

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B) Sissy Victory: Your opponents forfeit or resign

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C) Chancellor Victory: You achieve the proper amount of CH to achieve a victory based upon type of game decided.

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Once a winner is declared, the game is ended.*

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*D) Epic Campaigner Victory: It has been known, on occasion, that when a Chancellor Victory is achieved, other players will continue play to try to achieve a secondary Warlord Victory. The Epic Campaigner Victory results in determining the second place. They realized that they have lost the primary victory, yet are determined to paint the field red with the blood of their enemies. At this time, the REAL WINNER may eat the last slice of pizza, Drink the last Mountain Dew and claim his right to go first in the next game.



Understanding the numbers

 

During attack, after the effects and abilities have been determined, the battle is decided based upon numbers. Each Unit has a Strength and a Life.



Unit cards use both Strength and Life. You Attack with the number of your strength and defend with the number of your life. When being attacked, You counter-attack/block with your strength as well. The "Attacker" is the one initiating the battle. The "Defender" is the one who is being attacked.



Looking at the Card normally, the number on the left is Strength, the number on the right is Life.



For Example - If each card is a 5/6 then neither card wins. A strength of 5 cannot beat a life of 6.

If the attacker has a 7/8 Chariot and the defender has a 5/6 Lancer: The Lancer does not kill the Chariot (5 vs 8) and the Chariot kills the Lancer (7 vs 6). Lancer is discarded, Chariot falls back to his spot in the Battlefield.



In the case of a tie, the Defender always wins.



When an Attacker presents a unit to attack, he encounters units in the Battlefield first. The Defender may present units first from the Battlefield or choose to let the attack bypass the Battlefield and move on to the Warcamp.

So, if the Defender has five units in the Battlefield but they all have less Life than the units Strength that is Attacking, the Defender may choose to just run from the Attacker and let it move to his own Warcamp where he may have a unit with a Life greater than the Strength of the Attacker. He runs the risk of losing a Cultural Health by doing this and it may be wise to Defend with a weak unit. The weak unit will die, but at least he would not have the chance to lose a Cultural Health with a defeat in his own Warcamp.



Battle Outcome - There are fourteen possible outcomes in any battle:

(Please see Attack Resolution Card for a quicker breakdown of this list)



​Owners Attacker Vs. Opponents Warcamp​



1) No Blocker Presented: Lose One Cultural Health (-1 CH)



2) Defender Withdrawal, Removal, Dodge, etc:

Defender is taken away from the attack. -1 CH



3) Successful Attack: Attacker kills Defender but Defender does NOT kill attacker -
Discard Defender. -1 CH



4) Double Death: Attacker kills Defender AND Defender kills attacker -

Discard Attacker and Defender. No Cultural Health Lost.



5) Counter Attack: Attacker does NOT kill Defender and Defender kills Attacker -

Discard Attacker, No Cultural Health Lost.



6) Attacker Withdrawal, Removal, Dodge Entice, etc: Defender is taken away from the attack -
No Cultural Health Lost.



7) Double Block: Attacker does NOT kill Defender and Defender does NOT kill Attacker -
No Cultural Health Lost.



​Owners Attacker Vs. Opponents Battlefield​



Rule of thumb: It is typically not possible to take away Cultural Health if a Battle is in
the Battlefield.



1) No Blocker Presented - Redirect to Warcamp



2) Defender Withdrawal, Removal, Dodge, etc - Redirect to Warcamp



3) Successful Attack (Attacker kills Defender but Defender does NOT kill attacker) -
Discard Defender.



4) Double Death (Attacker kills Defender AND Defender kills attacker) -
Discard Attacker and Defender.



5) Counter Attack (Attacker does NOT kill Defender and Defender kills Attacker) -
Discard Attacker.



6) Attacker Withdrawal, Removal, Dodge, etc - Defender is taken away from the attack.



7) Double Block (Attacker does NOT kill Defender and Defender does NOT kill Attacker) - Both units remain in battlefield.

Distributing Point Damage and Attack Detail.



A) All transferred points are transferred to the opponents total Cultural Health.

The opponent subtracts the amount transferred from his Cultural Health.



B) CH is the total number of life that you have before you are defeated as a player.

If you reach zero CH, you lose the game regardless of the any battles outcome.



Summary



You should have all the information you need to enjoy a great game of Empires and Generals.

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If you still have questions, you can find a link at the top to go to the forums and ask your question there. You can also view an entire game between myself and AJ in the Videos area.

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If you have purchased any of the expansions, you will be able to view the rules for them also at the top on the link called "Version 1.1"



I appreciate all of my valued players!



Have fun!



GAME ON!