A Few Newbie Questions

[dsegel4]

I've been playing for less than a week. This is not my usual type of game but I am starting to get the hang of it (I think). It's been quite addictive.

A couple of things I'm puzzled about (probably b/c I don't play these types of games).

Why does the opponent get to move forward and I can't?

B/c you don't actually see the count of the teeth on the scale I'm not able to tell how many are added after the attack. Are you hitting just the space in front of you (or other directions if card warrants it) or if there is a card 2 rows from you do you hit it or if there is nothing in the column are you are hitting the opponent directly? Huge strategy decision here.

What is the purpose of the stationary cards such as the boulders or trees? And I guess those are just randomly dealt?

And how do the wooden statues effect the game play?

That's all for now :) .

[Nazemec]

Originally posted by dsegel4:

Why does the opponent get to move forward and I can't?

Their back row is just here to show you their move on their next turn. It is actually an advantage for you, as you can prepare for what they'll throw at you (and they can't).

Originally posted by dsegel4:

B/c you don't actually see the count of the teeth on the scale I'm not able to tell how many are added after the attack.

The exact number of teeth is irrelevant. What matters is the difference of points between both players.
But the number added is always equal to the damage dealt to the player. So if your creatures deal a total of 5 damage to your opponent during a turn, 5 teeth will be added to the scale.

Originally posted by dsegel4:

Are you hitting just the space in front of you (or other directions if card warrants it) or if there is a card 2 rows from you do you hit it or if there is nothing in the column are you are hitting the opponent directly? Huge strategy decision here.

Except for two sigils, cards always attack only in front of them. If there's nothing in the first space in front of them, they attack directly the opponent instead. If there is something, they attack that thing. If they kill the creature with excess damage and there's another creature behind, that back row creature takes the extra damage. No damage is dealt to the opponent if a creature battles another, even if there is excess damage.

The two sigils that differ from this logic are "bifurcated strike" and "trifurcated strike". "Bifurcated" creatures only attack colomns adjacent to their own (so left and right, but not in front of them), and "trifurcated" ones attack all these three spaces (left, right and middle). Attacks proceed as normal on each column, from left to right.
And let's not forget the "flying" sigil, which lets creatures attack directly even if there's something in front of them (unless the thing in the first spot has the sigil that can defend against flying, in which case it is treated as a normal fight).

Originally posted by dsegel4:

What is the purpose of the stationary cards such as the boulders or trees? And I guess those are just randomly dealt?

Obstacles. Good because they can take some hits instead of you. Bad because they clutter your board and reduce your options.

Originally posted by dsegel4:

And how do the wooden statues effect the game play?

Totems give creatures of a tribe a sigil. If you have a totem with a wolf head and a flying sigil, then all your canines (wolf, coyote, and so on - any creature with the canine symbol in their background) will earn flight. Some combinations can be very powerful.

[dsegel4]

@Nazemec
OMG, thank you so much! This is incredibly helpful!