Description

In ancient legend the mythic Tuatha dé Danann arrived on the shores of Ireland and there they met the mighty Fomor, they of chaos and nature. And there ensued at Mag Tuireadh a terrible battle for control of the lands and their treasures...

The Fomorian War is a card game for 3 or 4 players lasting about 30 minutes. Players secretly choose Tuatha deities to help them in battle as part of a clan as they fight for control of the lands and treasures of Ireland. They can also appeal to the Fomor for help of an underhanded sort or use the power of sacred items. Winning a battle for their clan gains Victory Points.

The game continues for a series of rounds or until all the lands and their treasures are held by one clan. The player with the most Victory Points is then declared the winner.

Needed to play - The deck of 54 cards and 2 eurocubes per player. Players may elect to keep score with pen and paper.

Play:

Each round of the game is played in the same order of phases.

Phase 1 - Battle Area. Depending on their chosen detiy, a player will choose which two cards in the Circle of Cards which will be the Battle Sites. The two cards chosen must show different Clan Holding Icons in the lower left. The cards must be adjacent to each other.

Phase 2 - Choose Tuatha Ally. The current start player will shuffle the Tuatha Deck and discard two cards face down to the center of the Circle of Cards, and then choose one of the remaining cards from the deck, keeping it secret from the other players. They will then pass the rest of the deck the player to their left to choose a card from those that remain. The deck will be passed this way until each player has chosen a card. Any remaining cards are discarded to the center.

Phase 3 - Reveal Warrior Cards. Each player, beginning with the current start player, will now play one or more Warrior Cards in front of them, face up for all other players to see. These Warrior Cards will add Battle Point Values, for their clans, to the respective Battle Site cards and their initial Battle Point Values.

Players of the same clan are trying to beat the combined Battle Point Value of the other clan.

Phase 4 - Reveal Tuatha Allies. Now each player will, in turn, reveal their hidden Tuatha Ally. The current start player will call out the numbers in order (from 1 to 7) and the player possessing that numbered card will reveal it and the power of that card may be used by the player. Tuatha allies are resolved in order.

Phase 5 - Resolve Battle. After the Tuatha, and Sacred Item and Fomor powers have been resolved, total the Battle Point Values for each clan and compare. The winner is the clan with the most Battle Points. The losing clan’s Battle Site card is flipped over to the other side to show the winning clan’s alignment icon. In the case of a tie, no Battle Site cards are flipped and no Victory Points are awarded in Phase 6.

Phase 6 - Victory Points. All players of the winning clan receive Victory Points as stated by the chart at the bottom the winning Battle Site card. Track Victory Points on the Score Card.

Phase 7 - Discard and Draw new Warrior Cards or add Cattle Herd.
Discard all used Warrior Cards to the discard pile.

Phase 8 - New Start Player. The player to the left of the current start player is now the new start player.

Game End:

The game ends in one of two ways:
A. After 8 rounds if playing with 4 players, or 9 rounds if playing with 3 players.
B. If all of the cards in the Circle show the same Clan Holding icon.

At this point the player with the most Victory Points is the winner. In the event of a tie the player with the most Cattle Herd Cards played is the winner.