Starting a battle
1) Set up Terrain
Both players take turns placing terrain pieces on the battlefield, while agreeing on what types of terrain each piece is made up of. Ideally, there should be at least 4 terrain features in each quarter of the battlefield. Terrain features cannot be placed within 3” of a battlefield edge.
2) Determine Attacker
The players roll off. The winner decides which player is the attacker and which player is the defender.
3) Present Search Parties
Starting with the defender, each player must divide their warband into three search parties and present them to their opponent in order: as their first, second and third search party. Each search party consists of one third of a player’s warband, distributed as evenly as possible. For example, a warband of 10 fighters would form two search parties of 3 fighters and one of 4.
3) Determine Scenario
Wyrdcry battles are played according to a scenario, consisting of 3 parts: the deployment map, the victory condition, and the twist. In a standard battle, scenarios are determined by rolling once on each table below.
| D6 | Deployment Map | D6 | Victory Condition | D6 | Twist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ambush | 1 | Wyrdstone Hunt | 1 | Mad Scribbles |
| 2 | Meeting Engagement | 2 | Escape | 2 | The Haunt |
| 3 | Chance Encounter | 3 | Defend the Find | 3 | Cloying Mists |
| 4 | Standoff | 4 | Hidden Vault | 4 | Falling Fish |
| 5 | Pile-in | 5 | Occupy | 5 | Nightfall |
| 6 | The Trap | 6 | Reckoning | 6 | Wyrdcry |
4) Set up Search Parties
The deployment map features two sets of deployment points, numbered 1 to 3, that determines where the search parties are set up on the battlefield. The white deployment points are for the defender, and the black deployment points are for the attacker.
The defender must decide the orientation of the deployment map, and then deploys their first search party at their first deployment point, followed by the attacker. The players then take turns setting up their remaining search parties in their respective deployment points, until all search parties not in reserve has been deployed.
Each time a search party is set up, its fighters must be set up wholly within 3” horizontally of their deployment point, on the battlefield floor or on a platform.
Reserve Search Parties
If a deployment point is labelled ‘RND 2’ or ‘RND 3’, the search party is in reserve and will arrive in the reserve phase of that battle round. For now, place them to one side of the battlefield.
6) The Victory Condition
The victory condition specifies what the players must do to win the battle and how long the battle will last. If the victory condition instructs players to do things before the battle begins, such as placing objective markers or tokens, those things are done in this step.
7) The Twist
Twists are special rules that applies to the battle. If the twist instructs players to do things before the battle begins, those things are done in this step.