A GAME OF THRONES: THE BOARD GAME (2nd ed.

) – illustrated tutorial & cheat sheet Unofficial guide by Ien Cheng (ghopper21 on
BGG). Artwork © FFG, used with permission.

Your role One of the great houses from the Game of Thrones vying for control of Westeros
Stark Greyjoy Lannister Tyrell Martell Baratheon

Your goal Be first to control 7 strongholds and/or castles through combat – and cunning
… or have the most strongholds/castles/tokens after 10 rounds, with the number of
total land areas controlled, then supply limits then Iron Throne track being tiebreakers.

Orders Each round, all houses secretly place at the same time one order for each area with their units
March (or sail) Defend area, Support battles Consolidate power Raid 1 adjacent area, i.e.
into adjacent i.e. add to in all adjacent i.e. get 1 power cancel enemy support, raid,
areas. Only one defense areas token plus 1 extra for or power order. If raiding
combat per order strength each crown in area power order, you get – and
enemy loses – 1 power token

You can place special orders up to the number of stars you have on the raven influence track
Extra attack Extra defense Extra support Muster in a Can cancel
strength strength strength stronghold/castle enemy defense
area, or gain power order as well
token(s) as normal
NOTE: - Units from the same area can march their separate ways. If a move results in combat then first the non-combat move(s) is resolved, THEN the combat move.
- Land raid orders cannot raid sea. Sea raid orders CAN raid land. Regular raid orders can raid special orders.

Combat In any given battle, higher combat strength wins, with ties broken by position on the sword
influence track. Combat strength is determined by
1. UNITS IN AREA 2. ANY SUPPORT? 3. HOUSE CARD (you choose*) 4. TIDES OF BATTLE CARD (random**) 5. VALYRIAN STEEL BLADE?

Footman +1 Owner of supporting Character strength The unpredictability of war. Attacker then
on land units must declare  defender draws a card. They add up to 3
which side (if any) to strength – often 0, rarely 3!
support. They also can add swords,
Knight +2 fortifications, and even
Ships can support Either redraw Tides of
on land (rarely) a skull icon "
adjacent sea or land Battle card (before they
areas. that destroys one enemy are revealed)
Ship +1 unit even in defeat.
Land units can only Or get +1 strength after all
at sea combat info revealed
support land areas.
Siege engine +4 when The holder of blade can use
attacking area with stronghold it only once per round.
or castle; otherwise 0
 
Order strength + or - In victory, each sword icon destroys one In defeat, each fortification House characters often have unique
enemy unit (chosen by defeated player) icon negates one sword icon text abilities instead of icons.

Retreating Mustering new units Adjusting supply limits [*] REUSING HOUSE CARDS
when defeated in combat when triggered by Westeros cards when triggered by Westeros cards After using a card, discard it.
Some units may be destroyed by sword or Strongholds provide When all are discarded, recover
skull icons (see above). Any defeated 2 mustering points all except the last one you used.
units that are not destroyed are routed: You can inspect enemy’s house
Castles provide
 Defender must retreat to a single 1 mustering point cards before either chooses.
adjacent controlled or empty area but not
to where the attack began from. Destroy [**] USE TIDES OF BATTLE?
units if needed to make move legal. A new footman costs 1 point
 Attacker must retreat to the area where it Decide together before the game
marched from. whether to play with Tides of
 They are inactive (turned on their sides, Your position on the supply track  limits the number Battle cards. You can also lower
A new knight costs 2 points
with zero combat strength) for the rest of and size of armies you can have at any time. An army unpredictability, e.g. by removing
(1 to upgrade from footman)
the round. is 2 or more units in the same area. Each numbered flag the +3 and half of the +2 cards.
 If there is nowhere for them to retreat, represents one army with that number of units (or less).
A new ship costs 1 points If you play with Tides of Battle
they are destroyed. Solitary units forage and do not count against limits. cards, always have the attacker
(muster to adjacent sea or port)
 Routed units cannot be chosen as reshuffle the entire deck after a
casualties and they cannot move. The number of supply icons you control
A new seige engine costs 2 pts battle to ensure randomness.
determines your new position on the supply
Siege engines can never retreat – they are (1 to upgrade from footman) track when supply adjustment is triggered.
always destroyed in defeat (and cannot be
chosen as targets of sword or skull icons). Note: At no point in time is a player allowed to make an intentional action that would cause him to exceed
his supply limit. If exceeding happens because of readjustment immediately destroy the extra units.
Ship transport Ports Rivers and islands Garrisons
to move land units across sea areas for using special tactics with ships i.e. special features of land areas for extra defense at home
Ports are separate areas in
Rivers can’t be
between sea and land areas
crossed…
that can hold up to three ships
(and no land units).

garrison that provides extra
Land units can move from one land area to another
land area that is connected only by sea via ship
transport – as long as you have ships in each of
the connecting sea areas.
Ship transport can be used for march orders and
retreats, not for support.
All you need is one ship in each sea area – even a
routed ship – to transport one or more land units.
Ports interact with adjacent sea and land areas Each house starts with a
… unless there is
according to special rules: a bridge.
defensive combat strength in
 Ships in port can always “go out” – i.e. march its home area.
into, support, or raid the sea area.
Islands function If you are ever defeated in
 Ships in the sea area can only “go in” – i.e. your home area, your garrison
as a single land
march into a port – if you control the land area. is destroyed. You can never
unit within the
white lines. get it back!
 You can raid but not directly attack a port.
 Instead, when you take over the land area
next to a port, you can destroy or convert (into Independent houses
your own ship) any enemy ship in that port.
To take over an independent area, attack with enough
 You can consolidate power in a controlled port strength to at least match that house’s printed strength.
if you also control the sea area (i.e. free trade).
Don’t use house cards or Tides of Battle cards. Can’t
Ports must get order tokens like any other area. use blade. Support for the independent house not
allowed.

Influence At unpredictable moments, you must bid for position on the three Maintaining control
In land areas you vacate
tracks influence tracks using your power tokens to gain When you vacate a land area, you can
political, military, and logistical power in the realm. leave behind a power token (if you have
one), allowing you to maintain control.
The throne track determines turn order When influence bidding is triggered by a Westeros card, everyone You never get the token back. If an enemy
i.e. higher goes first. Top bidder also gets must bid on the throne, blade, and raven tracks, in order. marches in, the token is discarded.
the throne token which means you When attacking with all units, you must decide
break all power token ties, i.e. when To bid, hold zero or more power tokens in a closed hand, then all
whether to leave a token behind before combat.
bidding for influence and Wildling attacks. reveal at once. Discard any tokens you bid and reorder houses on
the relevant track based on who bid the most.

The blade track determines combat ties,

Fighting off the Wildlings
when attacks are triggered by Westeros cards
i.e. higher wins. Top bidder also gets the
blade token which you can use once To beat the Wildlings, players must collectively
per round for +1 combat strength or to contribute enough power tokens to at least match
redraw your Tides of Battle card before the current number on the Wildling track .
they are revealed.

The raven track determines available
special orders, i.e. one per star each
round. Top bidder also gets the raven
token which you can use once per
round to swap in an unused order token
when orders are revealed, or to peek at the
top Wildling card and optionally bury it at
the bottom of the deck.
they are unavailable for the rest of the current game round.
Players should announce the number of power tokens they have
before secretly bidding.
Ties for the throne track are broken by the existing holder of the
throne token, not the new one about to be crowned. Ties for the
other tracks are broken by the new throne token holder.
Once used, the blade and raven tokens are flipped over to indicate
 The Wildling track is reset to 0
Bid with closed fists, then all reveal. Then the group
draws the top Wildling card to see what happens.
If the Wildlings are beaten (enough tokens):
 The highest contributor gets the printed benefit
If the Wildlings are not beaten (not enough tokens):

Game The game last up to 10 rounds. Here’s what happens each round:  First, the lowest bidder suffers an extra painful
consequence, as printed on the card.
rounds 1. DRAW WESTEROS CARDS: 2. PLACE ORDER TOKENS
 Everyone else also suffers a bad consequence.
 The Wildling track is moved back by 2 spaces
This step is skipped on the first round. At the same time, all players secretly place (i.e. face down) one
order token for each area that has at least one of their units. As with influence track bidding, when fighting
The top card from the 3 Westeros decks (I,
Wildlings players should announce the number of
II, III) is drawn and resolved, in order.. 3. RESOLVE ORDER TOKENS power tokens they have before secretly bidding.
Immediately resolve Winter Is Coming card.  All players reveal their orders, i.e. turn them face up.
After each Westeros card is  As a special move, the raven token holder either replaces an Setting up
revealed, the Wildling track is order or peeks-at-and-optionally-buries the top Wildling card.  Players choose or randomly pick houses
advanced one spot for each card
 Then resolve all raid orders…  Follow setup instructions inside player screens
that has a Wildling icon.

 … then all march orders…  Every player starts with 5 power tokens
These cards trigger key events, including
mustering, supply limit adjustment, bidding  … and finally all consolidate power orders.  Place independent house tokens based on
for influence, and Wildling attacks. Resolve 1 token per player in throne track turn order and then cycle number of players (see player number indicator
Whenever the Wildling track reaches the through again as needed. Players can ignore their own orders. on the lower right of those tokens).
highest position (12), a Wildling attack Keep track of who’s winning with the victory track. Keep track of  Shuffle the Westeros, Wildling, and (if used) Tides
automatically happens! game rounds with the hourglass token on the game round track. of Battle decks

Further  IfWhile land areas connected by ship are considered adjacent for purposes of marching and retreating, they are not considered adjacent for any other purpose (raid or support).
a player chooses not to, or cannot, leave a Power token behind when vacating an enemy player's home area, control of that home area immediately reverts back to its original House.
notes  Ship units in a Port may support a combat in the adjacent sea area but may not support a combat in any adjacent land area (not even in its connected land area).