Objective of the Game

Welcome, aspiring Viking Chieftains! In Blood Rage, you're not just fighting for glory; you're fighting for a glorious death! As Ragnarök consumes the world, your goal is to lead your clan to the most renown before the final cataclysm. You'll pillage provinces, upgrade your warriors, complete epic quests, and even embrace a glorious demise for your figures, all to earn more Glory than your rivals. When the dust settles and the Third Age concludes, the clan with the most Glory will be hailed as the true champions of Valhalla!

Setup

Alright, gather 'round, Vikings! Let's get this epic saga started:

1. Each player picks a clan and places their clan sheet in front of them.
2. Grab your leader figure, 8 warrior figures, and your ship figure. Attach the plastic bases of your clan's color to them. Keep these figures in your reserve, near your clan sheet.
3. Take your clan's extra 2 small and 2 large bases.
4. Place all monster figures next to the board.
5. Put your glory marker on the 0 space of the Glory track on the board.
6. Place one of your clan tokens on the first spot of each of the 3 clan stats on your clan sheet: Rage, Axes, and Horns. Everyone starts with 6 Rage, 3 Axes, and 4 Horns. Place your last clan token on the 6 spot of the Rage track.
7. Place the Valhalla sheet and the Age track sheet next to the board.
8. Place the pillage token with the green border on the Yggdrasil province at the center of the board, reward side up. Shuffle the other 8 pillage tokens and place them randomly, faceup, one on each of the other 8 provinces surrounding Yggdrasil.
9. Shuffle the 8 Ragnarök tokens and place 1 on each of the 3 Ragnarök spots on the Age track, text side faceup. Place the Doom token on the province written on the Ragnarök token on the First Age track.
10. Depending on the number of players, randomly take the specified number of Ragnarök tokens and place them, destroyed side faceup, on their corresponding provinces:
    • 5 player game: no provinces destroyed.
    • 4 player game: 1 province destroyed.
    • 3 player game: 2 provinces destroyed.
    • 2 player game: 3 provinces destroyed.
    Return remaining Ragnarök tokens to the box. A province with a destroyed Ragnarök token is out of the game; no figures can be placed there.
11. Separate the cards by their backs into 3 decks: 1, 2, and 3. Adjust cards based on player count:
    • 5 player game: add the 5+ cards.
    • 4 player game: do not remove any cards.
    • 3 player game: remove all 4+ cards.
    • 2 player game: remove all 3+ and 4+ cards.
12. Place the Saga token on the first spot of the First Age on the Story track (Gods’ Gifts – Age 1).
13. Give the first player token to the player born furthest to the north. They start the game in the First Age. This token passes left at the end of each age.

A quick note on the board: It's got 9 provinces. Yggdrasil is in the center, surrounded by 8 outer provinces divided into 3 regions: Manheim, Alfheim, and Jotunheim. Provinces sharing a border are adjacent. Each province has 3 to 5 villages, each holding one figure. Yggdrasil has no village limit! There are also 4 fjords between pairs of outer provinces, supporting the two connected provinces. Fjords can hold any number of ship figures.

The Game Turn

The game unfolds across 3 glorious Ages, each with 6 distinct phases. We'll move the Saga token along the Age track as we complete each phase. Once the Third Age's final phase is done, it's game over!

1. God's Gifts

This is where you draft your battle plans! If it's the Second or Third Age and you have a leftover card from the previous age, place it facedown on your clan sheet. Then:

• Take the card deck matching the current Age and deal 8 cards to each player. Discard the 2 leftover cards (4 in a 2-player game) without looking.
• Everyone secretly picks 1 card to keep, placing it facedown on their clan sheet. Then, pass the rest of your cards to the player on your left.
• Repeat this "pick one, pass left" process until each player has 6 new cards on their clan sheet. Discard the final 2 cards you're left with.
• In a 2-player game, you select 2 cards to keep each time and pass the rest. This is done two more times until you have 6 cards.

You should now have 6 cards in hand (plus any saved from a previous Age). Keep these secret!

2. Action Phase

Time to get to work! The player with the first player token goes first, then play proceeds clockwise. On your turn, you must choose a single action to perform. If an action costs Rage, pay it by moving your token on your Rage track. You can take the same action multiple times, but only one per turn.

Important: If you don't have enough Rage, you can't take that action. If you hit 0 Rage, you can't perform any action, even free ones! All you can do is react to others. If you can't or don't want to take an action, you can pass, but you lose all remaining Rage and can't take further actions.

The Action phase ends immediately when either all players are at 0 Rage, or all un-destroyed provinces have been successfully pillaged.

Available Actions:

• Invade:
  • Choose a single figure from your reserve and pay Rage equal to its STR (Strength).
  • Place that figure into any empty village in any outer province. Ships must be placed in a fjord.
  • You can't invade Yggdrasil directly.
  • Invading with your leader costs no Rage!
  • You can't invade if the number of your figures on the board (Valhalla doesn't count) is equal to your current Horns stat.
• March:
  • Pay 1 Rage.
  • Choose one province (not a fjord) and move any number of your figures from that province to empty villages in another single province.
  • The destination province doesn't have to be adjacent.
  • You can't move figures from two different provinces, nor to two different provinces in one action.
  • This is usually how you get figures into Yggdrasil, which has no village limit.
• Upgrade:
  • Your clan sheet has slots for 8 upgrades: one for warriors, leader, ship, two for monsters, and three for your clan.
  • Choose an Upgrade card from your hand and pay Rage equal to its STR.
  • Place the card in the appropriate slot on your clan sheet. If there's already a card there, discard the old one.
  • The new Upgrade card is now in permanent effect. Leaders and ships always keep their base abilities even when upgraded.
  • If you have two upgrades in different slots that grant the same benefit, both take effect.
  • Troop Upgrades: If you upgrade a leader, warrior, or ship, and have the corresponding figure in your reserve, you may immediately Invade with it for free (before the next player's turn).
  • Monster Upgrades: When you play a monster upgrade, take the corresponding figure, attach your clan's base, and place it in your reserve. It's now yours! You may immediately Invade with it for free. Your monster acts like any other figure, can die, go to Valhalla, and earns Glory.
  • You can only have 2 monsters at a time. If you replace a monster upgrade, the old monster figure goes back to the box.
• Quest:
  • Take a Quest card from your hand and commit to it by placing it facedown on your clan sheet.
  • This costs no Rage, and there's no limit to how many quests you can commit to (unless you're at 0 Rage).
  • You can commit to two quests of the same type. You can inspect your quests anytime.
  • Try to fulfill these quests by the next Quest phase for rewards. No penalty for failing!
• Pillage:
  • Choose a province that has at least one of your figures (or in a supporting fjord) and has not yet been successfully pillaged this phase (its Pillage token is reward side up).
  • This costs no Rage.
  • A Pillage action has 3 steps:
  1. Call to Battle: Starting with the player to your left and going clockwise, each player (including you) may move one of their figures from an adjacent province into an empty village in the province you're pillaging. This is free (ships can't move). Any number of figures can join a battle in Yggdrasil. Once all villages are occupied or no one else wants to join, the battle begins.
     • If there are no enemy figures, you automatically pillage, gain the reward, and flip the token to its pillaged side. No Glory for winning battles here.
     • Otherwise, a battle ensues! All figures in the province and its supporting fjord must participate.
  2. Play Cards: Each player in battle chooses 1 card from their hand and holds it facedown (unless they have no cards). Everyone reveals simultaneously.
     • If you reveal a red Battle card, its +STR bonus is added to your figures' total STR, and any special abilities take effect.
     • Black Upgrade or green Quest cards add nothing to STR and have no effect in battle.
     • Each clan adds their figures' STR and any Battle card +STR bonus for their total STR in battle. Even if a card destroys all your figures, your clan is still in the battle if your Battle card has STR.
  3. Resolution:
     • The player with the highest STR total wins. On a tie, all participating players lose.
     • The winner discards their played card. Losers return their played cards to hand.
     • All losing players destroy all their figures in the battle (including those in fjords), placing them on the Valhalla sheet.
     • If the pillaging player wins, they pillage the province, gain its reward (see reference sheet), and flip the token to its pillaged side.
     • If the pillager doesn't win, the province isn't pillaged. Anyone can try again later in the phase.
     • Finally, the battle winner (pillager or not) gains Glory equal to their current Axes stat.

3. Discard

Time to tidy up! All players must discard any cards remaining in their hands, keeping only a single card to use in the next age. In the Third Age, you discard all cards, emptying your hand completely.

4. Quest

Reveal all quests you committed to! If you've met a quest's demands, you gain the Glory indicated on the card and can raise any one of your clan stats by 1 step. If you fail, you get nothing, but lose nothing. Discard all revealed quests, successful or not.

Most quests involve having the most STR in a given province. Add your figures' STR in that province (including supporting fjord) and compare it to other clans' totals. If your total is greater, you succeed. If you tie, you fail.

5. Ragnarök

The world is ending, one province at a time! Take the token from the current Ragnarök slot and place it on its corresponding province, destroyed side up. That province is gone forever. All figures in that province and its supporting fjord die and go to Valhalla. Each such figure earns its clan Glory as indicated on the Age track (2 Glory in First Age, 3 in Second, 4 in Third).

Next, move the Doom token to the province indicated by the next age's Ragnarök token.

6. Release Valhalla

A glorious return! All figures on the Valhalla sheet are returned to their owners' reserves. Any figures still on the board remain there.

End of an Age

A new dawn (or doom!) approaches:

• Flip all Pillage tokens on the board back to their reward side. They stay on the same provinces.
• Pass the first player token to the player on the left.
• Move the Saga token to the first phase of the next age on the Age track.

End of Game and Scoring

Once the Release Valhalla phase of the Third Age is completed, the world has truly ended, and so has the game!

• For each of your clan stats (Rage, Axes, Horns) that has been increased to the 4th or 5th step, gain +10 Glory.
• For each of your clan stats that has been increased to the last step, gain +20 Glory.

The player whose clan has the most Glory is the ultimate winner and will feast in Valhalla!

Tips for Winning

To truly earn your place in Valhalla, keep these strategies in mind:

1. Don't Fear Death, Embrace It! Your figures going to Valhalla isn't always a bad thing. In the Ragnarök phase, figures destroyed in the doomed province earn you a significant amount of Glory, increasing with each Age. Sometimes, sacrificing a figure for a big Glory payout is the smart move!
2. Master the Draft: The God's Gifts phase is crucial. Pay attention to what cards your opponents are passing and what they might be collecting. Prioritize cards that synergize with your clan's strengths, your current quests, or that directly counter your opponents' strategies (especially powerful Battle cards!).
3. Stat Management is Key: Your Rage, Axes, and Horns stats are vital. Increasing your Rage allows for more actions. Higher Axes means more Glory from battle wins. More Horns lets you have more figures on the board. Don't forget the end-game Glory bonuses for high stats! Pillage rewards are often the best way to boost these.