Blood Rage Guide (based on official board game rules)

Saw a few comments about the lack of easy handling for beginners, so I tried to mix original rules from the board game with my experience and advices.
Feel free to ask your questions, correct my english and add details !

Source ENG : https://www.fgbradleys.com/rules/rules3/BloodRageRules.pdf
Source VF : https://www.letempledujeu.fr/IMG/pdf/blood_rage.pdf

OBJECTIVE

The goal of the game is to achieve the greatest amount of glory before the world finally comes to its fiery end. You gain glory through victory in battle, through pillaging, accomplishing quests.. The game progresses through three Ages with the same unfolding, as Ragnarök slowly consumes the world. The player with the most glory at the end is the winner.

PRESENTATION OF THE CARDS AND BASIC TERMS OF THE GAME

RAGE : it’s the « money » of the game.
STRENGH (STR) : the power into battle. Can be the power of your figures and/or bonuses added with red cards (see after).

3 types of cards :

- Red cards : these are battle cards, their goal is to add bonuses to your army during battles. The « + X3 in the middle is the bonus of STR added. Don’t forget to read the description below, as it can add powerfull abilities.
- Green cards : these are Quests. The number in blue in the left up corner is the glory earned if you succeed the quest. You also gain a bonus according to the description at the bottom of the quest.
-Black cards : these are amelioration for your clan. Playing them cost RAGE, it’s the cost in red on the left up corner of the card.
It can be three types :
*Amelioration of basic troops : adding aptitudes or strenght to basic troops. Playing an amelioration of this type allow you to invade freely for this one time with the figure concerned by the amelioration (see later for the concept of invasion).
*Amelioration of Monster : adding a Monster to your amry. Playing an amelioration of this type allow you to invade freely for this one time with the Monster concerned (see later for the concept of invasion). You can only possess 2 Monster at a time.
* Amelioration of Clan : it adds special features to your clan and it’s the skeleton of your strategy.

PHASES OF PLAY 1/2

Blood Rage is played over a series of three rounds, known as Ages. Each Age is divided into six phases:
1. GODS’ GIFTS
2. ACTION
3. DISCARD
4. QUEST
5. RAGNARÖK
6. RELEASE VALHALLA

***** Gods’ Gifts Phase *****

During this phase, players build a hand of cards in a process called drafting. These cards will provide them with upgrades for troops and clan, monsters to join the fight, quests for glory, and the raw power to win battles. Drafting works like this: Each player inspects the eight cards dealt to them and selects one to keep. When it’s done (be carefull, there’s a timer), everyone passes the rest of their cards to the player on their left. Now each player looks at the cards they’ve been passed, selects one to keep, and continue picking and passing cards until each player has six new. Not all the cards are distributed at the beginning and when a player has 2 cards in hand to pass at the following player, it stops instead. So, it may occur that you won’t see the cards you expected. Every age of every game is different.

***** Action Phase *****
This is the main part of the game, where invading and pillaging takes place, battles are fought, and blood is spilled. All players begin the Action phase with the amount of Rage indicated by the Rage stat on their clan sheet. If this is the first Age, you’ve 6 Rage. In subsequent Ages, if you have improved your clan’s Rage stat, you will begin the Action phase with more Rage. On your turn, you must choose a single action to perform. If that action carries a cost in Rage (it usually does), you must pay that cost and then take your action. If you do not have enough Rage to fully pay for a particular action, you cannot take that action. Once your action is complete, your turn ends. The player to your left will then take their turn, performing a single action and paying any Rage cost associated with it. Players continue taking turns in order.
A player who is down to zero Rage cannot perform any action on their turn, not even an action that costs zero Rage. All that player can do is react to other players’ actions, such as participating in a battle started by another player. Players have five options to choose from when performing an action. Players can take the same action several times throughout an Action phase, always taking a single action per turn.

• INVADE: Place a figure from your reserve onto an empty village on the map.
• MARCH: Move the figures from one province to empty villages in a different province.
• UPGRADE: Place a card from your hand on your clan sheet to improve your abilities.
• QUEST: Commit to a quest by placing a Quest card from your hand face down onto your clan sheet. • PILLAGE: Attack a province and plunder its bounty for your clan.

You can also choose to pass your turn (click on the age banner in top left corner of the screen and click on pass your turn). This action will end your action phase and you instantly loose any Rage left.

INVADE
Choose a village where you want to invade, select the figure in your reserve and pay Rage equal to that figure’s STR. If the chosen figure is a Ship, it must be placed in any fjord. You cannot use this action to place a figure directly in Yggdrasil; to put your troops in Yggdrasil you’ll have to March them there. Also note that invading with your Leader does not cost any Rage.

MARCH
When you order your troops to March, you must pay 1 Rage. Choose one province (you cannot choose a fjord) and move any number of your figures from that province to empty villages in another single province. The destination province doesn’t have to be adjacent, it can be anywhere on the board. You cannot move figures from two different provinces in the same action, nor move your figures to two different provinces. You can only March from one province A to one province B.

UPGRADE
Each clan sheet has slots for up to eight upgrades: one each for your Warriors, Leader and Ship, two for Monsters, and three for your Clan. When you Upgrade, you must choose an Upgrade card from your hand and pay Rage equal to that card’s STR. Then place the card in the appropriate slot on your clan sheet. If there is more than one potential slot, you choose which one to use. If there is already a card in that slot, discard the old card and replace it with the new one. This new Upgrade card is now in permanent effect, granting you any benefits listed on it; from higher Strength for your troops to special abilities. If your clan has two Upgrades in different slots that give you the same type of benefit, both cards take effect independently. One does not cancel the other.
TROOP UPGRADES : When you play a Leader, Warrior, or Ship upgrade, if you have the corresponding figure in your reserve, you may immediately (before the next player’s turn) Invade with it without spending any extra Rage.
MONSTER UPGRADES : Monsters are unique figures that can dramatically change the course of the game. Each has a powerful and unique special ability. You may immediately Invade with it without spending any extra Rage. Your Monster can die and be sent to Valhalla like any other figure, returning to your reserve in the next Release Valhalla phase. It can gain Glory for you during the Ragnarök phase just like any other figure. You can only have 2 Monsters as part of your clan at a time. If you discard a Monster’s card in order to place a new Monster in its Upgrade slot, the old Monster figure disapear.

QUEST
Take a Quest card from your hand and commit to it by placing it on your clan sheet. It costs no Rage to commit to a Quest. There is no limit to the number of Quests you can commit to during each Age, and you may commit to two Quests of the same type (each giving its reward independently). You may inspect your own Quests at any time. During this Action phase, you should try to fulfill the demands of the Quests you commit to, reaping the rewards listed on them during the next Quest phase (see after). However, there’s no penalty for failing a Quest.

PHASES OF PLAY 2/2

***** Action Phase *****

PILLAGE
If you successfully Pillage a province, you will gain a reward, either by improving one of your clan stats, or by gaining more glory. But first you will need to defeat in battle any other clans occupying that province. To Pillage, choose a province that has at least one of your figures in it (or in a supporting fjord) and has not yet been successfully pillaged this age. It costs no Rage to Pillage, but remember that you can’t take any action if you’re down to zero Rage. A Pillaging action is resolved by following 3 steps in order:
1. Call to Battle: Players may move adjacent figures to join the battle.
2. Play Cards: Players in the battle reveal cards to add STR and/or special effects.
3. Resolution: Highest STR determines the winner. Losers are destroyed, winner gets rewards.
CALL TO BATTLE : Once you have declared your intent to Pillage that province, the other players have a chance to join the battle. Starting with the player to your left and going around in clockwise order, each player (including you) may, if they wish, move one of their figures from an adjacent province into an empty village in the province you are pillaging. Moving a figure in this way does not cost Rage, and even players with zero Rage can do it. (Note that Ships cannot be moved.) Once all villages in that province are occupied, or when no one else wishes to join in, the battle begins. If at this point there are no enemy figures in the province or its supporting fjord, no battle takes place and you automatically Pillage the province, gaining its reward. Note that in this case you don’t gain any Glory for winning battles. Otherwise, a battle will take place, and all figures in the province being pillaged, or its supporting fjord, must participate in it.
PLAY CARDS : Each player participating in the battle must choose one card from their hand and hold it face down in front of them (unless they have no cards left in their hand; in that case they don’t have to put a card in). Then they all reveal their chosen card simultaneously. If you reveal a Battle card, its +STR bonus will be added to the total STR of your figures in the battle. Also, any special abilities listed on the card takes effect at this point. If, however, you reveal an Upgrade or Quest card, it adds nothing to your Strength in battle and has no effect. Each clan adds together the STR of each of its involved figures, and adds the +STR bonus offered by their played Battle card (if any). This is their clan’s total STR in that battle.
RESOLUTION : The player with the highest STR total wins the battle! In case of a tie, all participating players lose the battle. The winner of the battle (if any) must discard all cards he played. The losers of the battle take all of their played cards back into their hands. All losing players must destroy all of their figures that were in the battle (including those that were supporting from fjords), placing them on the Valhalla. If the player who initiated the Pillage wins the battle, they have successfully pillaged the province and gain the Pillage Reward. If the pillaging player does not win the battle, the province is not pillaged and nobody gets the Pillage Reward. Any player (including the pillager) can try again later in the phase to pillage the province. Finally, the winner of the battle gains Battle Glory, whether he’s the pillaging player or not. The number of Glory points they get is equal to their current Axes stat, as indicated on their clan sheet.

The Action Phase end if all provinces are pillaged (including Yggdrasil) or if all players have zero Rage.

***** Discard Phase *****
Players can only keep a single card (if they have any left) to carry over to the next Age. All players must discard down to one card. In the Third Age players should discard all cards, completely emptying their hands.

***** Quest Phase *****
Each player reveals all Quests they have committed to. If you have fulfilled a Quest’s requirements, you gain the amount of Glory indicated on the card, and may also raise any one of your clan stats one step. If you fail to fulfill a Quest, you get nothing, but you also lose nothing. Discard all revealed Quests, whether successful or not. Most Quests involve having the most Strength in any one of the provinces of a particular region. Add together the STR of each of your figures in that province (including the supporting fjord) and compare your total to the total STR of each other clan in that same province. If your total is greater, you fulfill the Quest. If you tie with an enemy, you fail the Quest.

***** Ragnarok Phase *****
The province listed at the beginning of the age and with villages « golded » is destroyed forever and is out of the game. There can be no more glorious death to a Viking than to be destroyed in Ragnarök. When a province is destroyed this way, all figures in that province, and in its supporting fjord, die and are placed in Valhalla. Each such figure earns its clan some Glory. The amount of Glory granted is indicated on each Age. For each of their figures (including Monsters) destroyed in Ragnarök, the players gain 2 Glory in the First Age, 3 Glory in the Second Age, and 4 Glory in the Third Age.

***** Release Valhalla Phase *****
At the end of each Age, all figures in Valhalla are returned to their respective owners. Any figures on the game board remain there.

***** End of the Game *****
Once the Release Valhalla phase of the Third Age is completed, the world has come to an end, and so has the game. It is now time to see what clan has gained the most glory and earned its place in Valhalla next to Odin’s throne! There is one last bonus to tally, though. Players gain a Glory bonus for increasing each of their clan’s stats to legendary levels. At the end of the game only, for each of your clan stats that has been increased to the 4th or 5th step, gain +10 Glory. For each of your clan stats that has been increased to the last step, gain +20 Glory.

STRATEGIES AND WAYS TO WIN

Some basic strategies are explained in the main menu, so I won’t explained them again. As a complement, here are some general tips :
- Levelling up the clan at his max to aim the +60 bonus.
For that you need to maintain a good presence on the board at each end of age to ensure the maximum of free Pillage since the beginning. You should also pick big red cards to secure your Pillage on Yggdrasil.
- Quest, Quest, Quest. They are a powerful and quiet way of playing, according glory and clan bonuses. Don’t underestimate it !
- For an agressive strategy, be carefull to maximize your Axes early to earn the maximum glory from your battles.

[CptChaos]

Thank you very much for this comprehensive Tutorial. As of Nov 2023 there are no bugs left in the game, thus granting a flawless play.

[Che]

Very good advise Trilodor.... Wish the bugs were handled... The game gets stuck so often it is almost impossible

[JDPUK]

Ahhh, didn't realize that, thanks for the response, appreciate it.

[Trilodar]

Hi JDPUK, there is no difference between clans. It's only esthetics and colors but no specs

[JDPUK]

Thanks for putting this together, is there anything that covers the differences between the various clans in the game?

[Esteban]

Hi, Trilodar. I haven't seen that option. I guess it wasn't there that time I needed it. Now it is there. Thank you for your help.

[Trilodar]

Hi Esteban, thank you for your comment.
I'll immediatly edit the guide by adding this detail. Because actually it's possible : during your turn, click on the age banner (top left of the screen) and you have the option to pass your turn and therefore loose any rage left.
I've done it in both multi and single player, so unless it's a bug appearing from time to time...

[Esteban]

Hi. Thank you for the Guide. I think it will be really useful for the new gamers.

I realized that you don't mention the option of passing during the Action Phase, while the rules of the boardgame version offer that option. I've seen in the on line game that you cannot pass during the Action Phase. Do you think it is on purpose or just a bug?