Gamehelpthewolves

Overview

As the leader of a pack of wolves, you must fight with other packs for control of the land. Complete various actions to expand your territory, hunt prey, gain new pack members, and make dens. The player with the most dominant pack (as determined by VP) wins the game.

Setup

Each player is randomly assigned a wolf pack faction. Each faction is associated with a different terrain (grass, desert, tundra, etc.). Each player is given six two-sided terrain tiles, one of which represents this terrain on both sides.

Before the game starts, players must place their beginning wolves on the board in a "snake draft". Each player places 1 Alpha Wolf and 1 Pack Wolf on a hex.

Objective

Score the most Victory Points by using actions on your turns to:

1. Fight for Control of a Region by increasing your wolf pack's presence there.
2. Hunt Prey scattered around the Regions by surrounding it with your wolves.
3. Increase your pack's strength by improving your attributes.

Turn Overview

All actions start with flipping 1, 2, or 3 of your terrain tiles that match the terrain type of the targeted hex. (Ex. To move onto a grass hex, flip 1 grass tile. To Howl at a wolf on a Tundra hex, flip 2 Tundra tiles.)

You can do the same action twice.

Whenever an action puts a new token of your color on the board, you uncover a space on your player board that earns you a benefit.

• Move: Move wolves according to the attributes Wolf Speed (hex distance) and Pack Spread (# of wolves you can move).
• You must go around the Central Chasm and any Water Sources.
• You cannot end movement on a hex with a token.
• Any hex has a capacity of 2 pieces (wolves, dens, or lairs)
• Build Den: Place a Den on a space occupied or adjacent to an Alpha Wolf.
• You cannot build a Den on a hex with an enemy Pack Wolf.
• Upgrade Den: Replace the Den token with a Lair token. This gains VP, more control over a region, and a "Bonus Terrain Token". The Den marker gets placed on the next open date on the Moonlight Board. Enemy wolves cannot land on the same space as a Lair.
• Only Dens adjacent to a Water Source can be upgraded.
• Only one Lair of your color is allowed on any region board.
• A hex can only contain one Den or Lair
• You can upgrade a Den if an enemy wolf is occupying the hex. This will push the enemy wolf off to any nearest hex of your choice.
• Howl: Howling at a Lone Wolf token converts it to a Pack Wolf of your faction.
• The Lone Wolf token must be within Howl range of an Alpha Wolf.
• Dominate: Swap an enemy Pack Wolf or Den for one of your color within Howl Range of an Alpha Wolf.
• You cannot dominate any Pack Wolf or Den that is in the same hex as another of its faction.

Token Hierarchy

When moving or placing a token, it can go in:

1. An empty hex
2. A hex with a token from your faction
3. A hex with a token from an enemy faction of lower ranking

Lowest			Highest
Den	Pack Wolf	Alpha Wolf	Lair

Hunting

Hunting takes place automatically at the end of an action if wolves of the same color occupy 3 different hexes adjacent to a Prey Token. The player gains 1 Bonus Action Token.

Note: A player cannot claim more than 1 of the same type of Prey.

Attributes

Each time you put a new token on the board, it improves an attribute.

Attribute	Effect
Pack Spread	Number of wolves that can move during the Move action
Wolf Speed	Range in hexes that a wolf can move during the Move action
Howl Range	Range in hexes that an Alpha Wolf can Howl or Dominate

Moonlight Board/Region Scoring

When a Lone Wolf token is Howled at, a Pack Wolf is Dominated, or a Den is upgraded to a Lair, the token is placed on the next unoccupied space on the Moonlight Board. When the token is placed on a space showing a moon phase, all Region Boards that match that moon phase are scored (i.e., the Region Board(s) with a crescent moon will be scored when the crescent moon space on the Moonlight Board is occupied).

There are three of these scoring rounds in a game. Scores are determined by how much Control (tokens of their faction) are on the Region Board. Dens, Pack Wolves, and Alpha Wolves are each worth 1 point. A Lair is worth 3 points. On a tie, the player with the most Alpha Wolves wins.

The top 2 players with the most Control claim one Region Scoring Token from the scored Region Board. Each Region Scoring Token has two numbers on it. The player with the most control uses the higher number on his/her token to score VP. The player with the second most Control uses the lower number on his/her token to score VP.

Final Scoring

The game immediately ends when a piece is placed on the Full Moon phase on the Moonlight board. Add together the VP from Region Scoring Tokens and the highest revealed number in each of the six attribute tracks on your player board.

• Scoring Tokens
• Pack Spread
• Wolf Speed
• Howl Range
• Lairs
• Unique Prey
• Pack Wolves

In case of a tie, the player with the most Region Scoring Tokens wins. If still tied, the player with the most Alpha Wolves on the board wins.

2-Player Variant

Both players compete against each other, but there is a third Wolf Pack. This Wolf Pack does not move and does not play, but can be Dominated.