Objective:

The objective of the Melee Event is eliminate Squires until no one from the opposing team is left standing. The event for 2 to 6 players can take from 10 to 40 minutes.

Setup

1. Sort out the deck into three piles: number cards, Squires (J), and Actions (Aces). Discard the remaining face cards.
2. Keep the Squires and Actions in their separate pile.
3. Arrange the sorted piles on the table, and if available, place them on the Hastiludium Melee Mat for organized play.
4. Assign each player 3 twelve-sided dice (3d12) to use as “Melee Dice” and one six-sided die (1d6) per Squire to track Hit Points (HP).

Gameplay

1. Players begin by drawing their Action Cards (Aces) and five Strategy Cards (number cards) into their hand.
2. Players simultaneously prepare for the combat phase by organizing their Action and Strategy Cards.
3. Once both players are ready, they reveal their cards to proceed with combat.
4. After combat, discard any used Strategy Cards and redraw Action Cards to ensure all Aces are back in hand.
5. The gameplay cycle continues with each combat phase. The game concludes when all Squires (J) from one player are defeated.

Combat Phase

• Each player selects three Action Cards (Aces) to set their chosen actions—Attack, Defend, Feint, or Shove—and arranges them in the intended order.
• Players then assign Strategy Cards to these actions. The values on the Strategy Cards determine the actions’ power and speed, with the option to combine two cards for a summed value of up to 10.
• The players place their first set of Action and Strategy Cards face down.
• When both players signal readiness, they reveal their cards to compare actions and determine the outcomes.
• Actions are resolved by rolling the appropriate number of Melee Dice based on the card comparisons.
• This process is repeated for all three chosen actions.
• Squires are allocated 4 HP each. Damage is tracked using a d6 die, with a Squire card being rotated 90 degrees at 2 HP to indicate a “tired” state, and turned face down at 0 HP to signify elimination.
• At the end of the combat phase, players gather all Action Cards back into their hands and discard the rest.

Rolling the Dice

Roll your Melee Dice and compare the result of each die to your Strategy Card(s). Any result that is equal to or lower than the value on your card(s) is considered a success.

Critical Success: Achieving a result of 1 on any of your Melee Dice is deemed a critical success, which counts as two successes.

Re-roll: If you obtain a “re-roll,” you may select one of your rolled dice to roll again. You may choose to re-roll a die that was a success in an attempt to achieve a critical success; however, if you do so, the original success is no longer valid.

Action Cards

• ♠ Attack: Inflict 1 point of damage to your opponent per success when you win the action roll.
• ♥ Defend: Successes become “protection points” for healing or shielding against the next attack before the next turn.
• ♦ Outflank: Deal 1 point of damage per success when you win the action roll.
• ♣ Knockdown: If you win the action roll with 3 successes, you may eliminate an opponent’s Squire.

Action roll & resolution

The 2 types of resolutions are:

• Standard roll (Std): If the actions are in equal conditions both players get to roll and use all their success. The quickest action (lower strategy card) is resolved first.
• Penalized roll (P): Some actions are less effective against others, in that case those actions remove 1d12 from their pool when they win initiative, or remove 2d12 roll when they loose it. The quickest action (lower strategy card) is resolved first.

Optional Rules

1. Game Duration: To customize the length of the game, vary the number of Squires per player. Each Squire typically lasts about 10 minutes before being eliminated. Therefore, a game can be set up to last anywhere from 10 minutes (with one Squire per player) to 40 minutes (with four Squires per player), or even longer if you choose to add more Squires.

2. Multiplayer: In the multiplayer version of the game, divide players into two teams, ensuring that each team has an equal number of Squires. If you have an odd number of players, distribute the Squires such that one player may control more Squires to balance the teams. For example, in a three-player game, one player could manage four Squires while the other two players control two Squires each.

3. Trinkets Points System:

   Trinkets is a meta-currency that you can use to power abilities. When you roll an 11 (“feather”) you get one trinket and with a 12 (“raven”) you get two trinkets. These points can be used for powerful moves:

   • Rewind (4 trinkets): Spend four trinkets to re-roll any number of dice from your current roll.
   • Raven’s Foresight (5 trinkets): For five trinkets, change your current action card for another and re-roll your dice.
   • Mischief of the Flock (6 trinkets): Use six trinkets to take away one success from an opponent’s last roll and re-roll all your dice.