Game Objective

In AuZtralia: Revenge of the Old Ones, Human Players attempt to protect their Ports and expand their railway network while facing the Mythos Creations commanded by the Ancient Player (A.P.). The A.P. has their own victory condition: accumulate more Victory Points (VP) than the humans by the end of the game. The A.P. wins in the event of a tie.

Setup

1. Set up the board, the player boards, player pieces, resources, Character cards, Ancient cards, and military units as usual.
2. Determine who will be the Ancient Player (A.P.).
3. For each human player:
   • Start with increased resources: 6 Gold, 6 Iron, 3 Coal.
   • Receive 2 Infantry and one Character card selected from the display in turn order. After each player picks, refill the display.
4. Conduct Research on the terrain as usual, but instead of placing Ancient tokens, place face-up Awakening Tokens. If a hexagon is indicated by Ancients and possesses more than one research token, flip the Awakening token from Normal to Dangerous (+1), indicating that a higher level Ancient can arrive there.
5. Position each human player's new Port with a Strength value of 4 face-up, in reverse turn order.
6. Do not create a Revelation deck. The illuminated points on the Time Track have no effect.
7. All player discs, including the Ancient's purple disc, start at the space indicated for the number of human players. The Ancient starts at the bottom of the stack.
8. The A.P. shuffles the Mythos deck and draws 3 cards to form their secret starting hand.
9. The A.P. draws a total of 19 Ancient tokens: 9 level 1, 6 level 2, and 4 level 3, dividing them into piles by level. They may examine the tokens but must keep them secret.
10. The active player is the disc on top of the stack, with the lowest number on the Time Track. This also applies to the A.P..

Game Flow

The game follows the standard turn structure of AuZtralia, with the addition of the Ancient's actions and the new Awakening Tokens and Outposts mechanics. Each turn consists of:

1. Active Player's Turn (human or A.P.), who may perform their standard actions.
2. If the A.P. is active, they may choose between four actions: PLACE, REVEAL, MOVE, and SUMMON. Each action moves the purple disc 1 time point (TP). They may repeat any action as many times as they wish, in any order.
3. After all the A.P.'s actions, Combat is resolved normally, including attacks on Ports, Outposts, and Awakening Tokens.
4. If there are Mythos Cards in play, they are resolved according to their specific rules.
5. The A.P.'s purple disc continues to move 1 space on the Time Track every turn, until it reaches point 53 or until a Port is destroyed.

Actions and How to Play

For Human Players

• Awakening Tokens: Empty tokens can be attacked by any unit and are automatically removed, worth 1 VP at the end of the game. If an Ancient is defeated in a hexagon with an Awakening token, the token is removed. In the case of a shared victory, each participating player gains a 1 VP token and the token is discarded.
• Attack on a Port: Ports have their own defense, starting at 4 and dropping to 2. During combat, you may allocate damage cubes to your Port instead of units, except for Airship damage which must be allocated to the Airship. If the Port survives, remove the damage at the end of combat. If the Port receives 2 or more damage, flip the Port token to the strength 2 side. If there are no units when the Port is attacked, the Port attacks as an Infantry with the indicated strength (2 or 4). When attacked, the Port gains 1 or 2 extra sanity as listed on the Port token.
• Outposts: Extra military unit. When buying a military unit, you may pay 2 additional Gold to position an Outpost. It can be bought without other units, but must still use the buy military unit action. The Outpost can be placed in any empty hexagon in your railway network and counts as a lever for Ancient movement. If an Ancient reaches an Outpost, you may respond by sending up to 3 units from your Barracks. The Outpost fights as infantry and can take 2 damage. If an Outpost takes damage that forces a retreat, it is eliminated. At the end of combat, surviving Outposts are repaired and can be rebuilt, granting 2 VP to the A.P. if they are eliminated.
• Characters: When recruiting help, you may move a card in the display to the bottom of the deck and refill it before selecting the card. If the A.P. eliminates a card from the display, refill it immediately.

For the Ancient Player (A.P.)

• PLACE: Randomly choose an Ancient token from the pile you have the most of, always placing level 1 first. The token must be placed face-down on top of an unoccupied Awakening token. You may place lower-level tokens even if there are fewer tokens remaining. Level 1 tokens can be placed in any numbered hexagon, including level 2 and 3. Level 2 tokens can be placed in level 2 or 3 hexagons. Level 3 tokens only in level 3 hexagons. If the Awakening token is Dangerous (+1), you may place an Ancient token of a higher level than indicated.
• REVEAL: Flip an Ancient token face-up. The A.P. may secretly look at any token they have placed face-down at any time.
• MOVE: Draw 4 movement cards and move the revealed Ancients according to standard movement rules. If they reach a Farm, Port, or Outpost, the Ancient stops moving. Finalize all movements before starting combat.
• SUMMON: Draw 3 Mythos cards, choose 1, and return the other two to the bottom of the deck. Mythos cards are not automatically played; they remain in hand.

Mythos cards may cost 0, 1, or 2 TP. The TP cost is paid by moving the purple disc on the Time Track each time a card is played. Mythos cards cannot be played on another player's turn, except for cards with the combat symbol, which can be played in combat even outside the A.P.'s turn.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends when:

• A Port is destroyed, or
• All players reach time point 53.

A.P. Scoring:

• 1 VP per Infantry or Armored unit eliminated.
• 2 VP per Airship, Artillery, Train, or Outpost eliminated.
• 10 VP per Port destroyed.
• 3 VP per Ruined Farm at the end of the game.
• VP equal to the Ancients still present on the map (without doubling).
• Collected Awakening tokens are worth 1 VP each at the end of the game.

Human Players Scoring:

• Standard AuZtralia score plus 1 VP per Awakening Token collected.
• The A.P. wins in the event of a tie.

Tips for Winning

• Protect your Port: Use the Port's defense ability, allocating damage to units instead of the Port whenever possible. If the Port survives, remove the damage at the end of combat.
• Use Outposts strategically: Position them in empty hexagons near your railway network to disrupt the Ancients' advance and respond immediately with units from the Barracks.
• Manage your Awakening Tokens: Remove empty tokens quickly to gain extra VP and prevent the Ancients from using them as cover.