Thousands of years ago, during the Assyrian, Persian, and Greek civilizations, a mighty tribe thrived—one feared by great empires. Hailing from the northern Black Sea coast, these people raided and ravaged the cities of the powerful, undeterred by fortifications or defenses. They were known as the Scythians.

About the Board Game “Raiders of Scythia”

Each of you becomes a chieftain of such a tribe, striving to outshine the others by recruiting seasoned warriors, acquiring top-notch horses, and efficiently provisioning small armies. Every warrior in your crew has unique stats and abilities, which you’ll use to raid cities with minimal losses, hauling off rich loot and racking up victory points.

Gameplay

At the game’s start, you receive 1 hero card, 1 crew card, 1 worker in your color, 3 silver, and 1 provision. Workers drive all actions in the game.

On your turn, you:

1. Place a worker of your color on an empty slot and perform its action.
2. Take a worker from an occupied slot and perform its action.

Thus, you perform two actions per turn.

In the village, you stock up on resources and gather crew for future raids by visiting buildings:

• At the Stables, buy a horse with silver and gear.
• At the Barracks, hire a new crew member with silver or heal wounds using kumis.
• At the Mint, gain silver.
• At the Farm, acquire provisions or a wagon.
• At the Chieftain’s Tent, trade livestock for provisions and kumis, or complete a quest by spending silver and trophies.
• In the Center, play a card from your hand, use an eagle’s or hero’s ability.
• At the Communal Tent, gather kumis and crew.
• At the Bazaar, trade unwanted hand cards for silver, wagons, and gear for expeditions.

For a RAID, you’ll need:

1. A worker of the right color.
2. The required number of crew members.
3. The required provisions and wagons.

You pick your raid target and place a worker in the matching slot.

During a RAID, calculate your crew’s total strength (kumis boosts it!), factor in crew and animal modifiers, roll dice, and determine the outcome.

Post-raid, you might score varying amounts of trophies, victory points, and wounds. Wound tokens go on crew cards, and they can die if you don’t heal them!

The game continues until only 2 trophy slots or 2 quest tokens remain on the board. Then play a final round and tally victory points by adding:

• Points from the VP track;
• Points from your crew;
• Points from animals in your crew;
• Rewards from completed quests;
• Points from trophies.

In solo mode, you’ll face off against a virtual rival—an unnamed Scythian chieftain—and aim to outscore them in victory points.