Multiverse War About Page and the Team

Combat starts when one player moves into (or shoots at) a hex with an enemy presence (occupied by enemy unit, building or settlement). Following the battle initiative rules, first one unit hits, then the other retaliates.

In a battle, the attacker always has the initiative (rolls dice first), unless he is being countered by the defender.

Once the attacker rolled dice to resolve his attack, defender rolls his dice.

Siege weapons retaliate ONLY against other siege weapons and against Guard Towers or Fortresses.

ONLY ranged infantry and ranged heroes retaliate against other ranged attacks if in range.

Explore our combat dice and cards section for detailed information.

Relevant links:

Unit Countering

Unit Actions

Fog of war concept: line of sight (LOS)

***A hex is in the LOS if you can draw a straight line from the center of your unit’s hex to the center of the hex your unit is looking to without crossing higher terrain.***

All units and buildings have a LOS of 2 hexes (identify units or buildings 2 hexes away).

When you identify an enemy unit he turns it face up for all players to see. Once he is out of your LOS he flips the unit back towards him so only he can see it.

If the ranged attacker is not revealed by the defender’s units or is not in LOS, the defender will not retaliate (the attacker must still show the unit he uses to attack).

Enemy unit in a forest can be identified only by moving your unit to the adjacent hex (with the exception of Tribal Scout).

A unit cannot see over higher terrain (Except Scouts, they can see through or in the forest).

Terrain height from lowest to highest: grassland, forest, hill, mountain. You cannot see across hills even if you are standing on a hill.

See the below table for terrain height.

0

1

2

3

Example for LOS:

As a red player, even though the enemy target is in your LOS, YOU CANNOT SHOOT AT THAT ENEMY UNIT if it’s not identified by a friendly (your or your ally’s) unit.

In this example the red player can shoot at the blue horseman since he is revealed by the red Tribal Scout or Pikeman.

Also, your Archer cannot shoot at the blue Archer in the forest because the hill between them breaks your Archer’s line of sight (LOS).

Combat strength

Biggest difference between the recruit and veteran rules is that in veteran ruleset all units have combat strength.

Combat strength is shown as the number of dice rolled.

Terrain, abilities, shooting distance and combat cards all affect combat strength.

Combat strength for attack and defence of each unit type is shown on the quick reference sheet.

Bear in mind all dice have 2 , 2 , 1 , and 1 . So even though sometimes ranged units get to roll more dice, they still have lower chance to hit than melee units.

Ranged units combat strength is affected by the distance as well as terrain elevation.

Terrain plays a big part in determining combat strength (see the table).

See terrain bonuses for more information

Morale & Flanking

Battlefield is the hex in which the combat takes place (in melee combat it is always the defender’s hex).

For each adjacent ally unit, you gain +1

For each adjacent ally unit, you lose -1

Players get +1 for each +2 in combat and -1 for each -2 .

Ranged units do not benefit from support bonuses when attacking or defending.
They do GIVE adjacency morale bonus to friendly units.

Siege weapons DO NOT give or receive morale bonuses

Example for Unit Morale

If the blue player here decided to attack the red Horseman with Pikeman,

Pikeman will have -2 (from Horseman and Archer) but +1 from his Scout. His dice roll is not affected by the morale as he is at -1 only

Blue archer gives no defence bonus to the blue Pikeman because he is not in adjacent hex.

In this case, no unit will get the SURROUNDED status and lose combat strength.

The red horseman would have been surrounded, if not for his two allied units.

Relevant links:

Combat & Dice

Units General Info

Buildings Interaction

Units in a building cannot be attacked but if a building is destroyed all units inside die.

If there is a military unit in a building, that unit will fight and retaliate following the usual combat rules and battle initiative (examples below).

Examples:

Melee Attacks

Heavy Swordsman attacks Guard Towers:
The permanent garisson (ranged infantry unit) will shoot first. If the Swordsman stays alive (considering the Archer’s strength at close range), then the Swordsman will attack the Guards Tower.
Pikeman attacks Barracks which have a Bowman as temporary garisson:
Same as above: Bowman counters the Pikeman and shoots first.
Berzerker attacks Academy with no guarisson:
Berzerker rolls the dice according to the dice table rules. and defender does not respond.
Horseman attacks Guard Towers with Bowman as temporary garisson:
Horseman hits first, as he counters both the permanent and temporary garissoned unit. After that the defender rolls, following the dice roll table rules.

Ranged Attacks

Bowman attacks Guard Towers with Bowman as temporary garisson:
Attacker rolls dice first but then, the defender rolls dice both for the Guard Towers permanent garisson and for the temporary garisson.
A Catapult attacks Barracks Bowman as temporary garisson from 3 hexes:
Attacked rolls the dice and there is no defense, as the Bowman has only 2 range.

Fortresses Combat

Fortresses DO NOT defend against melee attacks if the enemy unit starts its turn in a hex adjacent to the Fortress.

Fortresses have a passive special ability which enables them to shoot at any enemy which engages our ally unit if the last hex they are attacking from is in the Fortress range.

Each shot costs 1 but we can opt not to shoot

Examples:

Enemy Bowmen and a Horseman attack our Legionnaire:

1. We choose to shoot at the Horseman, as the hex he is attacking from is in our range.

2. We cannot fire at the enemy Bowman as he is shooting from the hex out of our Castra Range.

3. We cannot fire at this Bowman, even though it is in our range.
It is because that Bowman is in a forest so, following the line of sight rules, we cannot see it.

Enemy Bowmen and a Horseman attack our Legionnaire:

1. We shoot at the Horseman, as soon as he entered our line of sight (2 hex range).
Only then the Horseman attacks in melee combat and our Legionnaire defends. Resolve the battle according to the dice combat table.

2. We shoot at this Bowman, after he shoots at us, as he is within our range and line of sight.

3. We cannot fire at this Bowman, even though it is in our range.
It is because that Bowman is in a forest so, following the line of sight rules, we cannot see it.

Relevant links:

Combat and Dice

Buildings General Info

Unit Formations

By default, all players cannot make unit formations at the start of the game.

The only way to put two military units on the same hex is by building a Fortress/Castra/Castle or Ring Fortress. Each time you build one, your maximum formations available is increased by one.

If attacking in a formation, you roll for each unit separately, announcing the unit for each roll.

Formations Combat

Unit striking priority in formations:

Ranged attackers always shoot first
Horseman charges in
Unit countering rules take place (see examples bellow)
If the above rules are not trigerred, choose which unit hits first

Damage taking priority in formations:

Melee must be hit first if you don’t counter ranged infantry in formation
Unit countering rules take place (see examples bellow)
If one unit has more , you have to hit that unit first if the above rules do not trigger
If both enemy units have 1 and no unit countering is in effect, you can choose your target

Battle Examples

2 Horsemen formation:

Both Horsemen charge in. The first one can hit the ranged unit because there is no anti cavalry unit to counter him and both units have same health (meaning you can pick your target).

If the Bowman had less than Swordsman, you would have to hit the Swordsman first.

Horseman and Swordsman formation:

Horseman charges first but he cannot hit the Bowman because the Pikeman intercepts him so he engages the Pikeman. Pikeman strikes first as he counters the Horseman, then Horseman strikes back.

Only then the Bowman shoots, as he counters the Swordsman, and the Swordsman joins the fight as last.

Swordsman and Bowman formation:

First the Bowman shoots, then the Swordsman strikes as neither Horseman or Pikeman counter him.

Then the Horseman strikes at the Swordsman (since Bowmen shoots from distance) and Pikeman strikes as last.

Archers formation:

Both attacking Archers shoot first, only then the defending Archers can strike back.

Since both units are the same, both attacker and defender can choose who to attack if both units have the same health.

Swordsman and Pikeman:

Defending Bowmen counter both Pikeman and Swordsman so they shoot at the attackers as they aproach them (shooting distance is 1 hex).

Only then the attackers can strike the Bowmen. Swordsman strikes first as he has battle initiative over Pikeman.

In case of combat with buildings, same rules apply but the building must be damaged first.

Relevant links:

Combat and Dice

Unit Countering

Buildings Interaction

Unit Countering - Rock, Paper, Scissors

In combat, the attacker always has battle initiative (rolls dice first), unless he is being countered by the defender.

Examples:

If a Heavy Swordsman attacks an Archer, that Archer will shoot first. If the Swordsman stays alive (considering the Archer’s strength at close range), then the Swordsman will strike back.

If a Horseman is attacking a ranged unit he will always hit first because he counters all ranged units.

If a Pikeman attacks a Heavy Swordsman, the defender will have the battle initiative and inflict damage first

If a building attacks a Siege Unit, Siege Unit will shoot first.

Buildings have a combination of unit countering rules with building-specific additions.

Relevant links:

Combat and Dice

Buildings Interaction

Combat & Dice

Dice represent the unit combat strength in every battle, higher the strength - higher the number of dice we roll.

While sometimes frustrating when we get a really bad spell, in the board game we found that dice are the best way to represent the chaos of battle.

We certainly did not want Multiverse War to be a game of luck so, the way we reduced the luck factor was through:

A game of many small battles, where in long term decisions matter more than battles
Using the unit countering system
Adding various terrain modifiers, which reflect unit's strength and weaknesses on specific terrain
Adding combat cards which give more control and higher player impact in crucial battles

Dice Rolls

In dice-dependant combat, each unit class has its own icon on a die, 1 is required for a successful attack.

Required rolls per unit classes:

To land a critical strike, you must roll at least . Critical strike adds +1 damage.

If a unit or hero ability has the number of dice indicated already, always roll that many dice.

If it is not indicated, you follow the usual dice modifying rules from the quick reference table.

If your unit counters the enemy unit in battle:
3 x hit roll = critical strike with that unit.

In Counter Rolls, unit has the usual roll resolution + counter bonus:

Examples of counter rolls:

If a Horseman attacks the Pikeman, Pikeman rolls first. If he rolls , he does critical strike ( his damage + ).

If a building attacks a Siege Unit, Siege Unit rolls first. It would have to roll to land a critical strike.

Relevant links:

Terrain Bonuses

Abilities

Roll Probabilities:

Combat Cards

Starting Setup

Each player gains 1 bluff card,“Empty Words” - it returns to player's hand after being played
All other cards are shuffled and placed as a deck face down
5 cards are drawn and placed in front, that is the trade row
Each time a player buys a card, new one is drawn from the Combat cards deck
A player can play maximum 3 combat cards per turn

Any player can acquire cards during the Build Phase. Players playing last that turn have priority.

Most of combat cards are played before the dice rolls.

Some, like in the below example, are played when a player announces the attack.

During your turn
During opponent's turn
At any time

For one battle
During your or opponent's turn
For one whole turn (until next turn)

All Cards

Terrain Bonuses

Terrain plays the crucial role in Multiverse War so,choose your battles carefully.

As you have seen, the terrain affects the line of sight of every unit (General Info).

See bellow the affect terrain also has on combat strength of all military units.

Attack dice rolls

Battle Location

Melee

Cavalry

Ranged

Siege

Defense dice rolls

Battle Location

Melee

Cavalry

Ranged

Siege

Equal to

terrain

you will be

firing at

Important exceptions to this table:

When one unit counters the other (hits first), look at both tables and always roll the higher die.
Only ranged units retaliate to ranged attacks.
Use defense dice table when defending in hand to hand combat
Siege weapons retaliate only to siege weapon and buildings attacks

Special rules for ranged units:

The above table values are for ranged combat at the 2 hex range
Attacks from 1 range get
Attacks from 3 range get
All range units gain when attacking from a hill

Relevant links:

Fog of war concept: line of sight (LOS)

0

0

1

2

3

Example for LOS:

Combat strength

Biggest difference between the recruit and veteran rules is that in veteran ruleset all units have combat strength.

Morale & Flanking

Example for Unit Morale

Relevant links:

Buildings Interaction

Units in a building cannot be attacked but if a building is destroyed all units inside die.

If there is a military unit in a building, that unit will fight and retaliate following the usual combat rules and battle initiative (examples below).

Examples:

Melee Attacks

Ranged Attacks

Fortresses Combat

Fortresses DO NOT defend against melee attacks if the enemy unit starts its turn in a hex adjacent to the Fortress.

Fortresses have a passive special ability which enables them to shoot at any enemy which engages our ally unit if the last hex they are attacking from is in the Fortress range.

Each shot costs 1 but we can opt not to shoot

Examples:

Relevant links:

Unit Formations

By default, all players cannot make unit formations at the start of the game.

The only way to put two military units on the same hex is by building a Fortress/Castra/Castle or Ring Fortress. Each time you build one, your maximum formations available is increased by one.

If attacking in a formation, you roll for each unit separately, announcing the unit for each roll.

Formations Combat

Unit striking priority in formations:

Damage taking priority in formations:

Battle Examples

2 Horsemen formation:

Horseman and Swordsman formation:

Swordsman and Bowman formation:

Archers formation:

Swordsman and Pikeman:

In case of combat with buildings, same rules apply but the building must be damaged first.

Relevant links:

Unit Countering - Rock, Paper, Scissors

In combat, the attacker always has battle initiative (rolls dice first), unless he is being countered by the defender.

Examples:

Relevant links:

Combat & Dice

Dice represent the unit combat strength in every battle, higher the strength - higher the number of dice we roll.

Dice Rolls

In dice-dependant combat, each unit class has its own icon on a die, 1 is required for a successful attack.

Required rolls per unit classes:

In Counter Rolls, unit has the usual roll resolution + counter bonus:

Examples of counter rolls:

Relevant links:

Roll Probabilities:

Combat Cards

Starting Setup

Most of combat cards are played before the dice rolls.

All Cards

Terrain Bonuses

Terrain plays the crucial role in Multiverse War so,choose your battles carefully.

As you have seen, the terrain affects the line of sight of every unit (General Info).

See bellow the affect terrain also has on combat strength of all military units.

Attack dice rolls

Defense dice rolls

Important exceptions to this table:

Special rules for ranged units:

Barracks

Main infantry recruitement building for all factions.

Questions, ideas or proposals?

Contact us