Game Objective

Prepare for an epic adventure in the distant land of Ethnos! Here, a new era is about to begin, and the Six Kingdoms are clamoring for a leader who can unite the twelve scattered Tribes and restore glory. Your main objective is simple yet challenging: accumulate more **Glory** (victory points) than your rivals! To do this, you will need to control the kingdoms on the board and recruit as many **Allies** as possible. You will recruit members of the various tribes, represented by **cards**, and play them in **Warbands** to dominate the Kingdoms. But beware, your **Allies** are somewhat unstable! Any card you don't use when forming a **Warband** will be discarded, creating opportunities for your opponents. Furthermore, the choice of **Leader** for each **Warband** is crucial, as only **Leaders** can use their special abilities to help you. The player who accumulates the most **Glory** over three **Eras** will be crowned the next Lord of Ethnos and win the game!

Preparation (Setup)

Let's set up the table and prepare the ground for your rise in Ethnos!

1. Start by placing the **Main Board** in the center of the table. It shows the Land of Ethnos, divided into 6 Kingdoms.
2. Shuffle the **Glory Tokens** face down, then randomly place one on each Glory space on the board, face up (there will be three tokens per Kingdom). Then, within each Kingdom, organize the three tokens in ascending order, with the smallest in space "I" and the largest in space "III".
   • 2 or 3 Player Games: Remove tokens with the "4+" symbol before shuffling and place only two tokens in each Kingdom.
3. Each player chooses a color and takes the corresponding **Control Markers** (26 per color). Place one of your markers on the "0" space of the **Glory Track** (on the edge of the board). This will be your **Score Marker**.
4. Shuffle all **Setup Cards** and reveal six of them. These cards will determine which of the six **Tribes** will be used in the game. Take the **Tribe Decks** of these six **Tribes** and shuffle them together to form the **Ally Deck**. All unused cards and decks can be returned to the box.
   • 2 or 3 Player Games: Reveal only five **Setup Cards**, thus using only five **Tribes**.
5. Depending on the **Tribes** in play, you may need to prepare some additional components:
   • If the **Sea Folk** are in play, place the **Sea Folk Board** next to the main board with the side indicating the number of players facing up. Each player places one of their **Control Markers** on the "0" space of the **Sea Folk Board**.
   • If the **Trolls** are in play, place all six **Troll Tokens** next to the main board.
   • If the **Giants** are in play, place the **Giant Token** next to the main board with the side indicating the number of players facing up.
   • If the **Orcs** are in play, give each player an **Orc Horde Board**.

Done! You are ready for the start of the First Era!

The Game Turn

Ethnos is played in **Eras**, and in each **Era**, players take turns, starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise.

Starting a New Era

At the beginning of each **Era**, follow these steps:

1. Each player draws one card from the **Ally Deck** and adds it to their hand.
2. Reveal a number of cards from the **Ally Deck** equal to double the number of players in the game and place them in rows next to the main board (e.g., 4 cards for 2 players, 6 for 3, 8 for 4, etc.).
3. Divide the remaining **Ally Deck** into two equally sized piles. Shuffle the three **Dragon Cards** into one of the piles and then place it under the other pile to recreate the **Ally Deck**, ensuring that the **Dragon Cards** are in the bottom half of the deck.
4. Determine the **Starting Player**:
   • For the first **Era**, choose a player randomly.
   • In the **Second** and **Third Eras**, the player with the lowest **Glory** (on the **Glory Track**) will be the starting player.
   • In case of a tie, the tied player closest to the player who drew the third **Dragon Card** in the previous **Era** (clockwise) will be the starting player.

Playing through an Era

During your turn, you must choose one of these actions:

• Recruit an Ally
• or
• Play a Warband of Allies

Recruiting Allies

When you choose to **Recruit an Ally**, you draw a card and add it to your hand. You have two options:

• Draw any of the face-up **Ally Cards** on the table. If you do this, do not replace it with a new card from the deck.
• Or draw the top card from the **Ally Deck**.

Hand limit: If you already have 10 **Ally Cards** in your hand, you cannot choose this action. Instead, you must **Play a Warband of Allies**. Dragon Cards: If you draw a **Dragon Card** from the **Ally Deck**, reveal it immediately and place it next to the main board. Then, draw another card from the deck. The first two **Dragon Cards** have no effect, but when the third **Dragon Card** is drawn, the **Era** ends immediately!

Playing a Warband of Allies

A **Warband of Allies** is a group of cards you play from your hand. It must consist of 1 to 10 cards, and all cards in the **Warband** must belong to the same **Tribe** (have the same name and art) or belong to the same **Kingdom** (have the same color). When you play a **Warband of Allies**, follow these steps:

1. Place the cards you want to include in the **Warband** in front of you – remember, they must be of the same color or **Tribe**.
2. Choose one card from the **Warband** to be the **Leader** and place it on top of the **Warband**.
3. If your **Warband** is large enough, place a **Control Marker** in the **Kingdom** that matches the color of the **Leader** card. You can only place a **Control Marker** if there are fewer **Control Markers** of your color in that **Kingdom** than the number of cards in the **Warband** you just played (e.g., 1 card for the first marker, 2 for the second, and so on).
   • 2 Player Games: To place a **Control Marker**, your **Warband** needs to have a number of cards greater than the total number of **Control Markers** already present in that **Kingdom** (yours and your opponent's).
4. You may use the ability described on your **Leader** card. The abilities of the other cards in the **Warband** have no effect, except in the case of **Skeletons**. (See the "The Tribes of Ethnos" section for details on abilities).
5. If any cards remain in your hand after playing the **Warband**, you must discard all of them, face up, next to the main board. These cards will be available for subsequent players to pick up if they choose to **Recruit Allies** on their turns.

Leave your **Warbands of Allies** in front of you, with the **Leader** card on top, so that all players can see how many cards each **Warband** has. All **Warbands of Allies** you play remain in front of you until the end of the **Era**. X = Warband Size: Some **Tribes** refer to "X". This means the total number of cards in that particular **Leader's Warband**.

End of Game and Scoring

The **Era** ends when the third **Dragon Card** is drawn from the **Ally Deck**. When this happens, the **Era** ends immediately, and scoring is performed.

The End of an Era

When the third **Dragon Card** is revealed, follow these steps:

1. Allies Disperse: All players must discard all remaining cards in their hands.
2. Glory for the Kingdoms: Now it's time to see who earned **Glory** for the six **Kingdoms**. Score each of the six **Kingdoms** separately:
   • At the end of the First Era: The player with the most **Control Markers** in the **Kingdom** gains **Glory** points equal to the value of the smallest **Glory Token** in that **Kingdom** (in space "I"). Move your **Score Marker** forward on the **Glory Track**.
   • At the end of the Second Era: The player with the most **Control Markers** in the **Kingdom** gains **Glory** points equal to the value of the middle **Glory Token** in that **Kingdom** (in space "II"). The player with the second most **Control Markers** gains **Glory** points equal to the value of the smallest **Glory Token** in that **Kingdom** (in space "I").
     • 2 Player Games: The player with the second most **Control Markers** does not gain **Glory** points. If only one player has **Control Markers** in a **Kingdom**, that player gains **Glory** points equivalent to the sum of the values of both tokens in that **Kingdom**!
     • 3 Player Games: **Kingdoms** are scored normally (most and second most markers).
   • At the end of the Third Era: The player with the most **Control Markers** in the **Kingdom** gains **Glory** points equal to the value of the largest **Glory Token** (in space "III"). The player with the second most gains **Glory** points equal to the value of the middle **Glory Token** (in space "II"), and the player with the third most gains **Glory** points equal to the value of the smallest **Glory Token** (in space "I").
   Tie-breaking in Kingdoms: If there is a tie for the most **Control Markers** in a **Kingdom**, the **Glory** points earned by the tied players are summed and then divided equally among them (rounded down). **Troll Tokens** can resolve ties (see Troll ability).
3. Glory for Warbands of Allies: Finally, all players score **Glory** for each **Warband** they control. The size of each **Warband** determines the amount of **Glory** to be gained (consult the scoring table on the board, which indicates 1 Glory point for 0 or more cards, but the example indicates that scoring is progressive).
   • Important: If there are **Skeletons** in your **Warbands**, they are discarded before scoring **Glory** for **Warbands of Allies**.

A New Era

After all players have gained their **Glory**, everyone must discard all their **Warbands of Allies**.

• If you have just finished the First or Second Era, the next **Era** begins: temporarily set aside the three **Dragon Cards** and reshuffle all **Ally Cards** to form a new **Ally Deck**. Then, follow the steps for "Starting a New Era".
• The **Control Markers** on the main board, the **Sea Folk Board**, and the players' **Orc Horde Boards** remain for the next **Era**.
• All **Troll** and **Giant Tokens** must be returned to next to the main board.

The End of the Game

The game ends after the Third **Era** is completed (or the Second **Era** in 2 or 3 player games). The player with the most **Glory** points will be the winner! In case of a tie:

1. The winner will be the tied player with the most **Control Markers** on the main board.
2. If the tie persists, the winner will be the one who played the largest **Warband of Allies** during the last **Era**, the second largest, and so on.

Tips for Winning

To become the Lord of Ethnos, you'll need more than luck. Here are some tips to help you dominate the Six Kingdoms:

1. Master the Tribes: Each **Tribe** has a unique ability that can only be activated by the **Leader** of your **Warband**. Understanding how and when to use these abilities is crucial. For example, **Centaurs** allow you to play a second **Warband** immediately, **Elves** help you keep cards in hand, and **Minotaurs** make it easier to place **Control Markers**. Use them to your advantage!
2. Balance is Key: While it's tempting to focus on a single **Kingdom**, remember that **Glory** is distributed across all six. Try to have a presence in multiple **Kingdoms** to secure points in each **Era**. Also, don't forget that larger **Warbands** are worth more **Glory** at the end of the **Era**, so sometimes it's worth playing a large **Warband** even if you don't need a **Control Marker** at that moment.
3. Keep an Eye on Discarded Cards: The face-up cards your opponents discard are a goldmine! They might be exactly what you need to form a powerful **Warband** or complete a specific **Tribe**. Pay attention to what your rivals are playing and discarding to plan your next moves and, who knows, snatch that essential card they let slip away.