GOAL. Fully surround and hold three of the four flags at once, and keep them through your
opponent's turn. A flag is yours only while you surround it — nothing is ever captured for good.
Components
- A 7 × 8 hex board: 52 territory hexes + 4 fixed flags.
- 52 hex tiles, each marked with a card (2–A, four suits).
- A matching 52‑card deck.
- Units in two colors — Blue (you) and Red (your opponent).
- One die.
The Flags
One flag sits fixed at the middle of each edge and never moves. To capture one you must hold every hex connected to it, each with 2+ units:
- North & South — 4 neighbor hexes (hold all 4).
- West & East — 3 neighbor hexes (hold all 3).
Card Values (units)
2–10 = faceJ = 11Q = 12K = 13A = 14
Setup
- Shuffle the 52 hex tiles and place them at random to fill the board around the flags.
- A hex's suit is only identity — it tells you which card points to which hex. Suits don't mark sides.
- The board starts empty of units. You build entirely from the cards you play.
- It's you vs one opponent. Your hand stays secret — your opponent never sees your cards.
- Both players roll a die; the higher roll goes first. Then you alternate turns.
- Deal 5 cards to each player.
- Playing a match? Alternate who goes first each game to keep the first‑move edge even.
Combat & the Bleed
- To enter an enemy hex you must arrive with more units than the defender; you then hold it with the difference. Equal is not enough.
- Every move‑step leaves 1 unit behind — the bleed. Long marches wear you thin, so massing units near a target beats charging across the map.
On Your Turn
- Play exactly 2 cards, one at a time. Each card points to its hex:
- Empty hex → place that card's number of units there (a forced claim).
- Your hex → distribute those units across any hexes you already hold (reinforce).
- Opponent's hex → no placement; discard the card.
- Roll the die and move that many steps. Each step moves any number of units from one hex to an adjacent hex, leaving at least 1 behind. Split steps among stacks as you like; you need not use them all.
- Draw back up to 5 cards. When the deck runs out, shuffle the discards into a new one.
Capturing a Flag
You hold a flag only while you fully surround it — holding every connected hex with at least 2 units each
(4 hexes for North/South, 3 for West/East). It's a live state, never permanent — the moment your opponent
captures one of those hexes or knocks it below 2 units, the surround breaks and the flag is no longer yours.
WINNING. Hold 3 of the 4 flags at once, and still hold them after your opponent's next turn —
they get one full turn to break a surround. If they can't, you win. If they break one in time, play continues.