Age of War is a quick-playing game of
conquest. Fourteen cards are laid out at the start of the game, each
showing one castle and the symbols required to conquer this castle, with
the symbols separated into battle lines. Each castle belongs to a clan,
with some clans having only a single castle and some having up to four
castles.
A player starts his turn by rolling seven dice, the six sides of
which show archery, cavalry, daimyo, and 1-3 infantry. He then selects a
card and uses the symbols rolled to conquer exactly one of the battle
lines on this card (by placing the appropriate dice on that line). If he
can do this, he then rolls the remaining dice, ideally conquering
another line; if he can't conquer a line, he removes one die from play,
then rolls again. His turn ends when either he conquers every line on
the card (in which case he claims it) or he no longer has dice available
to roll.
Each card is worth a number of victory points. You can conquer cards
owned by other players, but you need to conquer an additional daimyo
line in the process. If a player owns all the castles of one clan,
however, those castles are secure and cannot be stolen. What's more,
these castles are now worth more points because you've united the clan
under one ruler (you) and strengthened your hold over Japan.
When the last card is claimed, players tally their points, and whoever has the highest score wins.
