An Expansion on Multiplayer Rules

 Team Rules

Team & Free-for-All rules do exist in the rulebook currently (page 24, for those who don't know); however, they arguably...fall somewhat short, one could say.  In this article, we'll attempt to add to & clarify some of those rules in the hopes that more players decide to give the melee a shot, as it can be a fun & often unexplored option for many groups.

Clarifications on Existing Rules:

• Teams share 1 "Flex Point" while constructing their army (i.e. in a 40 point game, one player can choose to bring 19 points, which would allow their ally 21 points to build their army)
• Players should alternate placing Terrain (typically will result in 1 Piece per player)
• Allies share Timing Conflicts for Order Abilities & Tactics Cards (i.e. one team cannot play multiple Orders/Tactics cards on a single trigger)
• Allies share control of Tactics Zones & can utilize Tactics Zone effects on allied units (in which case, the player who owns the unit will complete the free action granted to it, rather than the ally whose NCU claimed the zone)
• If all of a player's combat units are destroyed, that player is eliminated from the game & can no longer play Tactics Cards or activate NCU's

Optional/Alternate Team Rules:

• Instead of each player having access to a Tactics Deck, players can assemble & share a single Deck & hand of cards, composed of 1 copy of each card from their base deck & 1 copy each of their commander cards (for a single team deck of 20 cards)
• Each Round, on each team's first turn, teammates will decide which player takes the first activation; for the remainder of the Round, teammates will alternate activations, if able
  (this rule can help speed up the game by minimizing the number of decisions that need to be made & agreed on each turn)

2-versus-1 Team Rules:

• Follow all other normal team rules from the Rulebook and above
• Players must utilize the Alternate Rule where each team assembles a single Tactics Deck and hand that is shared by teammates
• The solo player will build an army of equal points value to their opponents' combined army list
• The solo player must build an army from a single faction, following normal army building rules, but can bring 2 commanders in that army (that player's Tactics Deck will be composed of 2 copies of each of the Base Deck cards and 1 copy of each of their commander's Tactics Cards for a total of 20 cards)

Game Mode Specific Rules:

• In Clash of Kings, players share the 2 Objective cards selected at the start of the game and either teammate may use either available card when their respective Commander's unit activates
• A player controlling Objective 5 only increases their own hand size and not their ally's (unless playing with the Alternate Rule of a shared team Tactics Deck)
• Mission 4 scores your team Victory Points only while neither teammate has claimed a zone
• Mission 5 awards +1 Victory Point if the Commander of the player who destroyed the enemy unit has been destroyed (even if their teammate's Commander is still alive)
• Mission 9 triggers and places 2 Victory Points on a Combat Unit only once per team

Free-for-All Rules

The following diagrams can be used to help players set up a relatively balanced 3-player free-for-all game.  This is exceptionally useful when an odd number of players inevitably show up to Game Night!  In all Game Modes, Deployment Zones are determined by measuring 10" from the imaginary line that  can be drawn from the center point through the objectives between each player.

Game of Thrones / Honed and Ready / Winds of Winter

This token layout should be used for Game Modes that have 5 Objectives on the field.  Note that each player will have relatively easy access to 5 tokens (unless their opponents have something to say about that!) The 11" spacing provides the maximum space between Objectives while keeping the outermost Objectives untouchable by Outflanking units (e.g. more than 6" from a table edge).

Clash of Kings / Dance with Dragons / Dark Wings, Dark Words

This token layout should be used for Game Modes that have 3 Objectives on the field.  The 18" token spacing provides more typical Objective spacing relative to a 1v1 match & maintains sufficient distance to prevent an outflanked unit from touching any tokens.

Feast for Crows

Corpse Pile Special Rules modification:

"If there are less than 6 Corpse Piles (or 2x the number of players, if more than 3 players) already in play, each time a Infantry Unit is destroyed..."

This token layout should be used for Feast for Crows.  11" spacing from the center point is recommended, since our group finds that the wide spacing in traditional Feast for Crows something we'd like to see reduced in a future update. (Alternatively, you can place the starting Corpse Piles equal distance from the mat edge & the center of the field; for a 60" diameter mat that would be 15" from both the center & the edge)

Here We Stand / Fire and Blood

Quadrant Special Rules modification:

The field is divided into 3 Zones instead of 4, but control of each is worth 2 Victory Points.

The 3-player layout divides best into 3 Zones for Here We Stand.  To account for 1 less zone in an already slow-scoring game mode though, each Zone should award 2 Victory Points for controlling it at the end of each Round (still starting at the end of Round 2).

The Deployment Zones have been moved slightly closer together to replicate the 12" distance between Deployment Zones in the 1v1 versions of these Game Modes

Adapted to 4' x 4' Mat

The same distances and alignments can be used as described for a round game mat on a square mat, measuring objectives relative to the center of the mat.  Aligning Player A's objective line intersect 10" from that player's deployment edge creates 3 approximately equal sized and spaced zones.

(EDIT:) Use 10" spacing between Objectives instead of 11" for 5 Objective Game Modes on a 4'x4' mat to allow for 4" between the Objective and the Player B/C table edge instead of only 2".

4-player Free-for-All

For those who are extra daring, the above layouts can be used for a 4-player Free-for-All.  The picture on the left should be used for 5-objective game modes & the picture on the right for 3-objective game modes (and also for Feast for Crows, eliminating the center objective).  For Here We Stand and Fire and Blood, players can deploy up to 6" from the objective lines.  Additionally in Here We Stand, despite there being 4 Quadrants, it is still recommended they be worth 2 Victory Points each.

Free-for-All Rules Clarifications:

• (EDIT:) Recommend players limit NCU's to 1 or 2 in their lists
• (EDIT:) In a 3-player Free-for-All, ALL table edges are considered Flank table edges for Outflank, etc.
• Terrain can be placed in Deployment Zones in all Game Modes
• Each player will place 2 Terrain Pieces when utilizing Player's Choice Terrain
• Recommend D3 + 4 Terrain Pieces when utilizing Random Terrain
• Terrain placement order, Deployment Zone selection, & Active Player order are each decided by separate 2D6 roll-offs (ordered from highest to lowest values rolled - re-roll ties) (i.e. players won't choose if they go 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in Round 1; this is determined by the rolled order)
• Each Round, the previous 3rd player becomes 2nd, 2nd becomes 1st, and 1st becomes 3rd
• Simultaneous effects are resolved by the Active Player 1st & then by Inactive Players in turn order (i.e. if all 3 Players use a card or ability while Player 2 is Active, Player 2 will resolve 1st, then Player 3, then Player 1)
• Players can choose to use cards/abilities that would apply during triggers that don't involve their units (though references to friendly units always apply to that player's units only) (i.e. a Lannister Player can play "Hear Me Roar!" during an attack that does not involve the Lannister player's units)
• In Clash of Kings, Objective cards are drafted in reverse turn order and each player will only draft 1 Objective Card (i.e. 3rd player, then 2nd player, then 1st player), but it can be used twice per game (mark this with 2 Order tokens on the Objective card at the start of the game)
• In Dance with Dragons or Feast for Crows, if a unit is engaged with multiple enemies from different opponents, Objectives claimed by a failed Panic check go to the player who triggered the Panic Check; if the Panic Check was self-induced (i.e. by firing into melee), the token is passed to whichever opponent was the Active Player more recently
• In Winds of Winter, each player will play a Mission Card from their hand each Round (starting Round 2) in turn order
• In Fire and Blood, it does not matter who Marked and/or placed extra Victory Points on a unit in order to score them
• In Here We Stand, if a unit is split exactly between multiple zones, the opponent that chooses which zone that unit is in is determined in reverse turn order
• Missions 2 and 3 scores both opponents 1 Victory Point each time an identified zone is claimed
• Mission 4 scores 1 Victory Point to each player who has not claimed any zones yet, each time a player claims a zone
• Mission 8 Condition tokens are expended for Victory Points 1 unit at a time and in reverse turn order (i.e. 3rd player, then 2nd player, then 1st player)
• Mission 9 can be triggered once per player (e.g. - the 1st time each player loses a unit that Round, the enemy who destroyed that unit gets 2 Victory Points placed onto them)
• Mission 10 is scored by claiming the Objectives directly opposite your Deployment Zone (e.g. the tokens that are on the line between your 2 opponents and excluding the center token)
• Mission 11 trigger conditions apply if you have less Victory Points than all opponents (ignoring opponents that have been eliminated)