Getting started
In order to fight a battle in Age of Tyrants, there are several things you’ll need. Unsurprisingly these include the Age of Tyrants rulebook, some ordinary six-sided dice (d6’s as we call them), a tape measure or ruler, an army each and a playing area.
We will offer a range of accessories and support products like faction themed dice, counters and templates, easy reference cards , model buildings, and 4×4 gaming mats for the playing area. These mats cater for a typical sized battle between two medium companies, which works out at 25 bases a side. A company consists of a fixed core of four platoons (four bases per platoon, so that’s 16), up to four more platoons of the players choice (so for a medium company that’s two more platoons for a total of 24) and a captain to lead the company, which is an armoured transport base separate from any platoon. Any more than this number per side, and you should probably add a second mat (or if you’re using your own playing area, increase the size proportionate to the number of bases you’re adding).
Playing the Game
So you and your opponent have a playing area with terrain, dice, counters, ruler or tape measure, rulebook and an army each. Excellent, you’re ready to go. One of you takes the role of defender and sets out all the terrain, and the other player is the attacker, they get to choose a side of the table to start from once all the terrain is down. The attacker places all their bases within 12 inches of their table edge, and once they’re done, the defender does the same. That’s called deployment.
After deployment, you each role a die, and whoever scores highest can elect to give an order or they can make the other player give an order. Orders tell the bases how to move, attack, repair damage etc., and there are numerous different orders you can give. Orders are usually given to four bases, though in some cases it may be fewer due to circumstances. An order is given by a leader, and again, it usual for that leader to be in charge of the particular bases receiving the order (lieutenants are in charge of platoons, and captains are in charge of companies, so they have more choice over who the give orders to). When the order is complete, bases have counters placed next to them to show they’ve had a go, and play passes to the other player to give an order.
Don’t worry about the detail of this, the rulebook contains the full method for all of this stuff, along with diagrams, examples and reference charts.
Combat orders combine the talents of different bases against a target, and the target’s player can also give an out of sequence order to other bases for a counter attack against a target on the attacker’s side. Dice are rolled to determine a result, and the loser may be forced back, take damage (called suppression), or be destroyed outright.
Once all bases have activation counters next to them, the turn ends, you remove the activation counters, and roll a die again to see who goes first. Continue like this until in the standard scenario, one player destroys more than 50% of their opponent’s bases to win. There are a few other scenarios with their own deployment rules and victory conditions in the advanced rules section of the rulebook, and each of our expansions is set to contain new scenarios too, for when you get used to the basic one.