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Peter
Canada
Port Coquitlam
British Columbia
Makers of Battlefields of Olympus
MoFo Max Payne Yo
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EDIT: Final PDF can be found here: Bluffing Variant v1.4
Hi all,
I would greatly appreciate your feedback on a bluffing variant I put together for Battlefields of Olympus. A rough draft of the bluffing rules have been uploaded to BGG. I've also included them here in this thread (see below).
Thanks in advance.
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Battlefields of Olympus - Bluffing Variant (v1.4)
OVERVIEW
In this variant, the game is played over 3 rounds. During each round, 4 Land cards are placed face up between the players and are fought over by placing face-down Warrior cards on either side. Action cards are used to change the results of battle.
SETUP
• Separate out Action, Land and Ares cards.
• Divide up the Action cards by type into two piles and give each player a pile. Action cards remain face down in front of each player.
• Divide up the Warrior cards by type into two piles and give each player a pile. Return the 4 extra Warrior cards to the box.
• Shuffle the Land and Ares cards together to form a face down Fate deck.
• Each player shuffles their Warrior cards and places them face down in front of them.
• Players decide who will go first. The starting player holds the Battlefields of Olympus box top.
RULES OF PLAY
• The game is divided into 3 rounds.
• Each round is broken up into 3 phases: Round Setup, Battle, and Resolving Victory.
• If either player reaches 16 victory points on Land cards (not counting Ares cards) or 3 rounds have been played, the game ends.
• Begin another round, alternating starting player. Hand the start player box top to opponent.
Phase 1: Round Setup
• At the start of each round, draw 4 face-up cards from the Fate deck and place them next to each other (starting with the closest card to the draw deck). If an Ares card is drawn, place it in a face-up pile next to the land cards and draw another card from the Fate deck.
• Players draw 4 top cards from their Warrior deck. If a player has won 3 Land cards with the same color symbol at the top left of the card, they may draw 1 additional Warrior card.
• Players then select any 4 face-down Action cards from their Fate deck.
• If a player has more than 4 of either Action or Warrior cards, they must discard down to 4 of each. Exception: If a player has won 3 Land cards with the same color symbol, they may hold 5 Warrior cards instead of 4.
• Beginning with the starting player, each player may alternately place one face-down Warrior card directly inline with the land they wish to conquer, on their side. Any subsequent Warrior being placed on the same land should go on top of any previous Warrior cards forming a stack. Warrior cards do not have to be played and not all Land cards must have a Warrior card. If a player passes, they may not add more Warrior cards during this round.
• The Rally Action card may be played at any time during the Warrior card placement phase to discard Warrior cards from hand to the player’s Warrior discard pile and draw the same number of new Warrior cards from the draw pile. If there are no more Warrior cards in the draw pile, reshuffle the discard pile to form a new face-down deck.
• The Scout Action card may be played at any time during the Warrior card placement phase. Any newly placed Warrior cards go face-down on top of any revealed Warrior card(s).
• The Raid Action card may be played at any time during the Warrior card placement phase to withdraw all Warrior cards from one Land card on player's side. Withdrawn Warrior cards may be used again during this phase.
Phase 2: Battle
• Beginning with the starting player and alternating, each player may either:
o Play a valid Action card; or
o Reveal a played Warrior card starting with the top of any face-down stack on the player’s side; or
o Pass when there are no Actions to play or topmost Warrior cards to reveal.
If an Action card is played:
Ambush - Forces opponent to withdraw the topmost Warrior card on their side of one Land card. The Warrior card must not be a revealed one. Can cancel played Ambush. Opponent can interrupt Action with a Cancel or Defeat Action.
Scout - Forces opponent to reveal all Warrior cards on their side of one Land card (retaining any Warrior card stack order).
Skirmish - Allows player to move one revealed Warrior card from one Land card to another Land card (placing it on top of any stack). Opponent can interrupt Action with a Cancel or Defeat Action.
Elite - Is a win between any two tying Warrior cards and defeats Skirmish. Can cancel played Elite.
Flank - Is a win between any two Warrior cards and defeats Elite and Skirmish. Can cancel played Flank.
Surround - Defeats Elite, Skirmish, Ambush and Flank. Can cancel played Surround.
Raid - Player withdraws all Warrior cards on their side of one Land card.
• If there are no Action cards to play or topmost Warrior cards to reveal, compare the cards on both side of the land. Remove and discard any tying or losing Warrior cards to each player’s discard piles. Also discard any played Action cards.
• If there are still face-down Warrior cards, continue to take turns either revealing Warrior cards or playing valid Actions until all cards have been resolved.
NOTE: Unless a revealed Warrior card on top of a stack loses or ties in battle, any revealed or unrevealed Warrior cards below it in a stack do not influence battle and cannot be accessed.
NOTE: Withdrawn Warrior cards go to hand and may be used in subsequent rounds. Cancelled Action cards are immediately discarded. Defeating Action cards can be cancelled or defeated by other Action cards.
Phase 3: Resolving Victory
• Compare the win conditions on both sides of the Land cards.
• Players may take any Land cards they have won during Battle. This may include any Land cards underneath that have remained behind from previous rounds.
• If the Land card has no Warrior cards, or the two sides tie, the Land card remains.
• If a player has won more Battles (up to 4) than their opponent during the round, they may take the stack of face-up Ares cards (if there are any). Each Ares card is worth 1 victory point.
• Discard all played Warrior and Action cards to their respective player discard piles.
SCORING:
Total the value found on the right side of each Land card you have won. Add a 2 point bonus for every 3 of a kind. Add 1 victory point bonus for every Ares card.
WINNING THE GAME:
The game ends when either:
• All 3 rounds have been played; or
• A player has reached 16 Land card points.
The player with the most points wins. In case of a point tie, the player with the most Land cards wins.
EDITS: Added a few rule clarification notes, added more Action card details, and changed the order of drawing Action and Warrior cards.
EDITS: Added ability to play Scout Action card during Warrior placement phase.
EDITS: Added ability to play the Raid Action card during the Warrior placement phase.
EDITS: Rally can now be used at any time during the Warrior card placement phase.
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Nicolai Broen Thorning
Denmark
Ebeltoft
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We have played this variant twice this weekend and enjoy it. There are a few questions that arise though.
1) If you pass in phase 1 with warriors in hand (never done this though) do you discard this or consider them withdrawn and carry them over to the next round?
2) Rally action - is it played before taking turns placing warriors - that is how we play it! (or at least prior to putting down the next one)
3) Whose turn is it?
ex. Player A plays Skirmish - Player B plays Surround - Player A cannot retaliate
Is it now A or B? Our take is that it is in fact B's turn, given that you can interrupt the action of another player only with when Skirmish is played - correct?
4) If you have playable action cards in hand - MUST you play them? Even if you would rather wait, say you have more than 1 warrior card in a stack and want to resolve the first "battle".
5) If you have leftover action cards in your hand can you carry them over to the next round? We have played you cannot - but want to be certain!
Thank you.
It is a great variant and adds a great deal of strategy to the game - what action cards to take, spending a rally action will leave you with only 3 cards left. When to take the raid action and so on.
Highly recommended! 
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Peter
Canada
Port Coquitlam
British Columbia
Makers of Battlefields of Olympus
MoFo Max Payne Yo
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Taibi wrote: We have played this variant twice this weekend and enjoy it. There are a few questions that arise though.
1) If you pass in phase 1 with warriors in hand (never done this though) do you discard this or consider them withdrawn and carry them over to the next round?
You keep them in hand to the next round. After drawing 4 Warrior cards in the next round, you need to discard down to a maximum of 4 Warrior cards in hand. Maximum of 5 with the Mercenary ability.
Taibi wrote: 2) Rally action - is it played before taking turns placing warriors - that is how we play it! (or at least prior to putting down the next one)
The way you're playing it is correct. Before the placing phase.
Taibi wrote: 3) Whose turn is it?
ex. Player A plays Skirmish - Player B plays Surround - Player A cannot retaliate
Is it now A or B? Our take is that it is in fact B's turn, given that you can interrupt the action of another player only with when Skirmish is played - correct?
This is correct. I should have mentioned that this feature remains true in this variant. Also note, the Ambush card effects can now be interrupted with a cancel or defeating action card.
Taibi wrote: 4) If you have playable action cards in hand - MUST you play them? Even if you would rather wait, say you have more than 1 warrior card in a stack and want to resolve the first "battle".
You can save them for later. Note that when the top Warrior card is removed, any related action cards are also removed.
Taibi wrote: 5) If you have leftover action cards in your hand can you carry them over to the next round? We have played you cannot - but want to be certain!
My intent was that you could carry over any unplayed Action cards to the next round. However, you must still draw 4 new Actions, and then discard down to 4 before the drawing of Warrior cards begins.
Taibi wrote: Thank you. It is a great variant and adds a great deal of strategy to the game - what action cards to take, spending a rally action will leave you with only 3 cards left. When to take the raid action and so on. Highly recommended!
I'm glad you like it and thanks for playing this version. Your feedback is valuable.
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Nicolai Broen Thorning
Denmark
Ebeltoft
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Excellent, thank you for the response.
Will get some more plays in over the next few days and let you know more, if anything.
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Peter
Canada
Port Coquitlam
British Columbia
Makers of Battlefields of Olympus
MoFo Max Payne Yo
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I uncovered a couple of minor glitches during a game I played today. Here are some rule clarifications:
1) You can only use the Skirmish action to move the topmost revealed Warrior card from one Land card to another.
2) Unless a revealed Warrior card on top of a stack loses or ties in battle, any revealed or unrevealed Warrior cards below it in the stack cannot be used for the remainder of the round.
3) Only the top revealed Warrior cards on either side of a Land card are considered active and in battle. Any revealed Warrior cards underneath do not count.
4) All played Warrior cards are discarded at the end of a round (revealed and unrevealed).
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Nicolai Broen Thorning
Denmark
Ebeltoft
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We have been playing the way you clarified... no games since last, but hopefully this weekend.
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Peter
Canada
Port Coquitlam
British Columbia
Makers of Battlefields of Olympus
MoFo Max Payne Yo
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I keep flip-flopping on one rule. At the beginning of a round, instead of selecting Actions first (as is the case with the current draft), should players be allowed to draw the top 4 Warrior cards before selecting Actions?
Here's my reasoning. If a player draws 4 crappy Warrior cards, he has the option of selecting a Rally Action to redraw Warriors. Also, players might have an idea what Action to bring to battle knowing the composition of their troops in advance.
The way it is now, where you must draw Actions before Warrior cards, you can only base your Action card choices on what 4 Land cards are face up, and what Actions have already been played on previous rounds. You don't know what Warrior cards you will draw so you don't know if you will need a Rally.
I think drawing Warriors first better fits the theme, but drawing Actions first adds a great deal of angst and pressing your luck.
Thoughts?
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Nicolai Broen Thorning
Denmark
Ebeltoft
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JohnnySchmaser wrote: I keep flip-flopping on one rule. ...should players be allowed to draw the top 4 Warrior cards before selecting Actions?
Thoughts?
Yes! To be honest we have played it everytime like your suggestion. We draw warrior cards first, then action cards. It allows us to utilize the Rally action if necessary, as you describe.
The draw-back is that it leaves you with one less action card than the other player - unless of course both have crappy cards and therefore use Rally too.
Initially I like it the way we do now - it doesn't completely screw you over with the cards you draw, you get a second chance, though your second draw might be crappy too...
I think we will try to play the intended way tomorrow... then see what it changes...
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Peter
Canada
Port Coquitlam
British Columbia
Makers of Battlefields of Olympus
MoFo Max Payne Yo
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That would be great, thanks.
Have you found any card combinations particularly useful or useless?
Please note, I've updated the rules at the top of this thread.
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Peter
Canada
Port Coquitlam
British Columbia
Makers of Battlefields of Olympus
MoFo Max Payne Yo
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I've revised the document in the files section to reflect the changes here.
Bluffing Variant v1.1
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Peter
Canada
Port Coquitlam
British Columbia
Makers of Battlefields of Olympus
MoFo Max Payne Yo
-
Another thing to try...
Players may choose to play the Scout Action card during the Warrior card placement phase. Any newly placed Warrior cards would go face-down on top of any revealed Warrior card(s).
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Peter
Canada
Port Coquitlam
British Columbia
Makers of Battlefields of Olympus
MoFo Max Payne Yo
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I've also decided to move the ability to play the Raid Action card to include the Warrior card placement phase. Withdrawn Warrior cards can still be used during this phase.
I will be uploading a final draft of the rules shortly. Once they are accepted as correct, they will be converted to PDF format.
Thanks for the help!
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Nicolai Broen Thorning
Denmark
Ebeltoft
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Hehe... not much help these last few days!
We have had a boardgame (cardgame) meltdown - 100 games in 50 days is a bit too many...
We'll give it a go Wednesday then...
Thank YOU for constantly evolving the gameplay.
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Peter
Canada
Port Coquitlam
British Columbia
Makers of Battlefields of Olympus
MoFo Max Payne Yo
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Latest update: Bluffing Variant v1.3
For editing assistance, a big thank you goes out to Ken Roberts and Steve Kimball.
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Peter
Canada
Port Coquitlam
British Columbia
Makers of Battlefields of Olympus
MoFo Max Payne Yo
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Final PDF can be found here: Bluffing Variant v1.4
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Nicolai Broen Thorning
Denmark
Ebeltoft
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Great, thank you.
We have a gaming weekend scheduled this weekend. We will see if we can convert more people to the cause...
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Makers of Battlefields of Olympus
