Battle of the Gods, A Stonehenge War Game by Dave Pasquantonio and Mike Leonardi
We wanted to design a Stonehenge game for two or more players that could be played quickly and had a different feel than the original five games. So, we came up with this -- a battle of the Stonehenge gods.
Game Rules
Number of players: 2–4
Object of the game: Each god attracts as many followers as they can to Stonehenge; the god who scores the most points by converting followers, organizing them into clans, and eliminating followers of other gods wins the game.
Getting Started
Equipment: You'll need 10 bars, 10 disks, and one figure, all of one color, for each player; the board, using the 30 numbered outer ring spaces; and the full deck of 65 cards, including the five trilithon cards.
Setup: Each player selects a color and places the figure (their "god") and 10 disks and 10 bars (collectively, their "followers") of that color in a pile in front of them, visible to the other players. Shuffle the full deck of 65 cards, and deal each player four cards, which they will use as their hand, hidden from the other players. Place the remaining cards into one face-down draw pile in the center of the board. During game play, place discarded cards face-down in a discard pile next to the draw pile. Decide on a starting player; play proceeds clockwise.
Playing the Game
On your turn, you place followers, eliminate opponents' followers, or discard unwanted cards by taking one action per turn. You try to place as many followers as you can during the game, and also try to form "clans" by placing followers on two or more consecutive spaces -- for example, a player with followers on spaces 9, 10, and 11 has formed a clan of size 3. Larger clans score more points at the end of the game.
Also, note that the game board folds break the board into four sections or "quadrants." As you look at the board, you'll see that one quadrant of the board includes spaces 1-7 and half of 8; the next quadrant contains the other half of space 8 through space 15; and so on. Quadrants are important when you want to eliminate an opponent's follower.
On your turn, take ONE of the following actions.
- Place a follower by playing one number card and placing a follower on the matching empty numbered space on the board.
- Place your god by playing one number card and placing the god on the matching empty numbered space on the board. Unlike followers, the god cannot be destroyed. Also, the god protects all of the followers, including the god, in that clan. Any such followers are protected, while all other followers are unprotected. Example: you have followers on spaces 25, 26, and 28; space 27 is empty. You play a 27 card from your hand and place your god on space 27. For the rest of the game, your followers and god on spaces 25-28 cannot be eliminated from the game and are protected; if you add followers later to increase the size of this clan, such as placing followers on spaces 24 or 29, then those followers are protected as well. The clans may wrap from 30 to 1, so, for example, you can build a clan of size 4 using spaces 29, 30, 1, and 2.
- Play a single trilithon card and place a follower or your god on ANY empty space.
- Eliminate an unprotected opponent follower and claim that space for your own. Play a number card that matches a space on which you have a follower who is part of a clan of any size. You can then eliminate any one unprotected enemy piece on the opposite quadrant of the board and place your follower on that space. The eliminated opponent piece is removed from the game. You can eliminate a stand-alone follower, or you can weaken an unprotected clan by eliminating a follower in that clan. You cannot eliminate an opponent's god. Example: You have a clan on spaces 24 through 27. You play card 26 and can eliminate any one unprotected opponent piece on spaces 8 through 15. You remove an unprotected enemy follower on space 12 and place one of your followers on that space. Note that spaces 8 and 23 have a fold running through them, and are therefore part of two different quadrants. For example, if you have a clan on spaces 7-9 and play an 8 card, you can eliminate any one unprotected opponent follower on spaces 16 through 30; conversely, your unprotected follower on space 8 can be eliminated by an enemy using the same power on spaces 16 through 30, so be warned -- spaces 8 and 23 are powerful, but very vulnerable if not protected!
- Eliminate an unprotected opponent follower by playing a trilithon card AND a number card matching the space of the follower that you wish to eliminate, and remove that follower from the board.
- Discard any or all of your cards.
For all actions except the discard, show your played cards to your opponents, and place them face down on the discard pile. Do not show your discarded cards to your opponents.
After you take one of these actions, draw cards to fill your hand back to four cards. Play then proceeds clockwise to the next player.
Ending the Game
Play proceeds until:
- the draw pile is exhausted
- one player plays their last follower, or
- all of the 30 spaces on the board have been claimed.
You do have to play your god during the game (but there is no good reason not to!)
Each player then takes one final turn -- however, trilithon cards cannot be played in this last round. The game is over when the player who caused one of the above conditions takes their final turn. Now each player counts their points.
Each follower and god on the board, whether single or part of a clan, counts as 1 point.
Each clan counts as follows:
- Size 2: 1 point
- Size 3: 4 points
- Size 4: 9 points
- Size 5: 16 points
- Size 6+: 25 points
The player with the highest score wins the game.
Dave Pasquantonio is a former corporate trainer and current stay-at-home dad in Millis, Mass. Mike Leonardi is a project systems engineer and lives in Mansfield, Mass. Dave and Mike have been friends since seventh grade and between them have several unfinished game designs kicking around.
This rule set is for use with
Stonehenge: An
Anthology Board Game™ from Paizo Publishing.
Stonehenge may be purchased at
paizo.com
or at your favorite local game store. ©
2013
Paizo Publishing, LLC. Titanic Games, its logo, and Anthology Board Game are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC in the U.S.A. and other countries.
All rights reserved. This contribution was made under the Anthology Board Game Library Agreement, whose conditions apply to the material in this document. For more free
Stonehenge
rule sets, visit the Stonehenge
Library at
paizo.com/stonehengelibrary.
Are there errors or omissions in this product information? Got corrections? Let us know at
webmaster@paizo.com.
