Blood Rage

Overview

Blood Rage is a Viking-themed area control game where players lead their clans through three Ages as Ragnarok destroys the world. Players draft cards, invade provinces, upgrade their clans, complete quests for the gods, and battle for glory. The player with the most Glory at the end of the Third Age wins. Dying gloriously — even in Ragnarok — earns glory, making this more than a simple conquest game.

Components

1 Game Board (map of provinces around Yggdrasil)
1 Age Track sheet
1 Valhalla sheet
4 Clan Sheets (Bear, Wolf, Serpent, Raven)
102 Cards (3 decks of 34 — one per Age):
- Battle cards (red) — add STR in battles
- Quest cards (green) — grant glory if fulfilled
- Upgrade cards (black) — upgrade troops, recruit monsters, improve clan
40 Warrior figures (10 per clan)
4 Leader figures (1 per clan)
4 Ship figures (1 per clan)
9 Monster figures
44 Small plastic bases (11 per clan)
8 Large plastic bases (2 per clan)
4 Glory markers (1 per clan)
16 Clan tokens (4 per clan)
8 Ragnarok tokens
9 Pillage tokens
1 Saga token
1 Doom token
1 First Player token

Setup

Prepare Your Clan: Choose a clan sheet. Take Leader + 8 Warriors (with colored bases) and 1 Ship (with colored sail). Place Glory marker on “0.” Place Clan tokens on starting stats: 6 Rage, 3 Axes, 4 Horns. Place a token on the “6” spot of your Rage Track.
Prepare the Board: Place Yggdrasil Pillage token (green border) on center. Shuffle 8 other Pillage tokens randomly on outer provinces, reward-side up. Place Ragnarok tokens on the three Age Track Ragnarok spots (text side up). Place Doom token on the province indicated by the First Age Ragnarok token.
Pre-destroy provinces by player count:
- 4 players: 1 province destroyed
- 3 players: 2 provinces destroyed
- 2 players: 3 provinces destroyed
Prepare Cards: Separate into three decks by card back (1, 2, 3). Remove cards based on player count:
- 4 players: no cards removed
- 3 players: remove all 4+ cards
- 2 players: remove all 3+ and 4+ cards Shuffle each deck and place on Age Track.
Place Monster figures near the board. Place Saga token on “Gods’ Gifts — Age 1.” First player: born furthest north.

Turn Structure

The game is played over 3 Ages, each with 6 phases in order:

1. Gods’ Gifts Phase (Card Drafting)

Deal 8 cards to each player from the current Age deck.
Drafting: Select 1 card to keep (facedown on clan sheet), pass remaining cards left. Repeat until 6 cards are kept. Discard the final 2 cards.
2-player variant: Select 2 cards per pick instead of 1.
On Ages 2-3, first place any leftover card from previous Age facedown before drafting.

2. Action Phase

Set Rage to your current Rage stat.
Starting with First Player, take turns performing 1 action each, paying Rage cost.
0 Rage = no actions (not even free ones). You may only react to others’ battles.
Passing: voluntarily lose all remaining Rage; take no further actions.
Phase ends when all players have 0 Rage OR all non-destroyed provinces are pillaged.

3. Discard Phase

Discard hand down to 1 card (carry over to next Age).
In Third Age: discard all cards.

4. Quest Phase

Reveal all committed Quest cards. Gain rewards for fulfilled quests (Glory + 1 stat increase). Failed quests: no penalty.
Most quests: have the most STR in any one province of a specified region (ties = failure).

5. Ragnarok Phase

Take Ragnarok token from current Age slot, place on its province (destroyed side up).
All figures in that province and its supporting fjord are destroyed and go to Valhalla.
Each figure destroyed gains its owner Glory: 2 in Age 1, 3 in Age 2, 4 in Age 3.
Move Doom token to next Age’s doomed province.

6. Release Valhalla Phase

Return all figures from Valhalla to their owners’ reserves.
Flip all Pillage tokens back to reward side. Pass First Player token left.

Actions

Invade (Cost: Figure’s STR in Rage; Leader is free)

Place a figure from your reserve into any empty village in any outer province. Ships go to fjords only. Cannot invade directly into Yggdrasil. Cannot exceed your Horns stat limit for figures on the board.

March (Cost: 1 Rage)

Move any number of your figures from ONE province to empty villages in ONE other province (any distance). Ships cannot march. Generally the only way to reach Yggdrasil (no village limit there).

Upgrade (Cost: Card’s STR in Rage)

Place an Upgrade card from hand onto appropriate clan sheet slot. Replaces existing card in that slot if occupied. Types:

Troop Upgrades (Warrior/Leader/Ship): If the corresponding figure is in your reserve, you may immediately Invade for free.
Monster Upgrades: Take the Monster figure, attach your clan base, place in reserve. May immediately Invade for free. Max 2 Monsters at a time.
Clan Upgrades: Various ongoing effects (3 slots available).

Quest (Cost: 0 Rage, but cannot act at 0 Rage)

Place a Quest card facedown on your clan sheet. No limit on committed quests. May commit to duplicate quest types.

Pillage (Cost: 0 Rage, but cannot act at 0 Rage)

Choose an un-pillaged province with at least one of your figures (or in supporting fjord). Resolved in 3 steps:

Call to Battle: Starting left, each player may move ONE figure from an adjacent province into an empty village of the pillaged province (free, even at 0 Rage). Ships cannot move.
Play Cards: All players with figures in the battle simultaneously reveal one card. Battle cards add +STR; other cards add nothing.
Resolution: Highest total STR wins. Ties: ALL participants lose.
- Winner: discards played cards. Gains Battle Glory = current Axes stat.
- Losers: return played cards to hand. All their figures in the battle go to Valhalla.
- If pillaging player wins: gain Pillage Reward and flip token.
- If pillaging player loses: province NOT pillaged; can be attempted again later.

Pillage Rewards

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Glory Sources:

Winning battles (= current Axes stat per battle won)
Pillage rewards (+5 Glory for glory provinces)
Completed quests (5-10+ Glory each, plus stat increase)
Ragnarok destruction (2/3/4 Glory per figure by Age)
Various card abilities (e.g., Loki cards reward losing)
End-game stat bonuses:
- Each stat at 4th or 5th step: +10 Glory
- Each stat at final (6th) step: +20 Glory

Game End: After the Release Valhalla phase of the Third Age.

Winner: Player with the most Glory.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

Ties in battle: ALL participating players lose the battle. Nobody wins.
0 Rage: Cannot take ANY action, not even free ones (Quest, Pillage). Can only react to others’ battles (Call to Battle move, playing cards in battle).
Passing: Immediately lose all remaining Rage. Irreversible.
Ships cannot move — not by March, not by Call to Battle. They support from their fjord.
Yggdrasil: Adjacent to all provinces. No villages, so no figure limit. Cannot be directly invaded.
Fjords: Support two provinces each. Effects on a province also affect its supporting fjord. No figure limit for ships.
Monster replacement: If you discard a Monster’s card to place a new one, the old Monster figure returns to the game box (permanently).
Battle card timing: Cards with STR on a white disc can be played AFTER cards are revealed but before determining winner. Pillaging player gets first chance.
Losing cards returned: Losing players take their played cards back to hand; winners must discard theirs.
Figures on board limit: Your Horns stat is the maximum number of your figures on the board at any time (Valhalla doesn’t count).
Province destruction: Destroyed provinces are permanently out of the game. No figures can be placed there.

Player Reference

Figure STR (base): | Figure | STR | Invade Cost | |——–|—–|————-| | Warrior | 1 | 1 Rage | | Ship | 2 | 2 Rage | | Leader | 3 | Free |

Ragnarok Glory per Figure: | Age | Glory | |—–|——-| | 1st | 2 | | 2nd | 3 | | 3rd | 4 |

Phase Checklist:

Gods’ Gifts (draft cards)
Action (take turns spending Rage)
Discard (keep 1 card; 0 in Age 3)
Quest (reveal and score quests)
Ragnarok (destroy province, figures to Valhalla)
Release Valhalla (return figures, reset pillage tokens, pass First Player)