Dracula Rules Q&A
You can find most answers to your Rules Questions here for:
Forest of the Impaled: Dracula’s Final Stand
Don’t see your question? Send us an email or comment below and we’ll add it!
Q: Groups: Does the HQ rating determine how many troops that can be in a group, rather than the number of groups that a HQ can control?
A: Yes. It controls the maximum number of troops in a Group. There is no limit to the number of Groups the HQ can control, as long as they don’t surpass the Max Army size of 12 Troops.
Q: Maximum Army Size: Must armies, an army being all of the troops under the command of one HQ, move one at a time since their HQ’s are activated one at a time?
A: Yes, the Armies move under the control of their HQ, as they move one at a time. So you can’t move several Armies at once with different HQs to combine into 1 big attack.
Q: Moving: Is the number of MP’s for HQ’s unlimited? If not, what is an HQ’s maximum MP’s? Page 2
A: No. Maximum MPs for HQs is 3.
Q: Recruiting: If optional rule for Radu to change sides is used, can he still recruit in Moldavia and is he prevented from recruiting in the Muslim controlled home area? Page 3
A: No, this only applies to the regular game. IF using the optional scenario where Radu remains loyal to Dracula, his home areas and recruiting will be in Wallachia and Transylvania.
Q: Impalements: Does placing Impalements occur doing movement and does it not use any MP’s? Page 4
A: Yes, it takes place while Dracula is moving. No it does not cost any MPs.
Q: Impalements: Can Dracula use a troop from the Muslim dead pool?
A: Yes!!! 🙂
Q: Searching: Is a die roll made for each group in the area where a battle occurs? This is implied in the example, but not explicitly in the rules. Page 5
A: Yes. Each Inactive Group rolls to search at the beginning of each Round.
Q: Fire and Surprise Fire: If the number of active troops firing exceeds the number of enemy active troops, they may fire at enemy inactive troops. Does the word “may” imply that the excess active firing troops may instead fire at the enemy active troops causing two troops to fire on the same group?
A: Yes, absolutely. There is no requirement to Surprise Fire but it is usually to your benefit. So, in the example at the bottom of page 4, Dracula doesn’t have to Surprise Fire at all. All 11 Troops could fire at the 4 Active Muslim defenders. In this case, the 8 Inactive defending Troops wouldn’t participate at all.
This should be more than enough firepower to destroy the 4 Active defenders. The problem is that any excess hits you get would be wasted.
The same applies in the example. If the 4 Troops firing at the 2 Inactive defenders score 4 hits, they only kill those 2 defenders. The other 2 hits are wasted.
Q: Retreat: Do units only retreat one area? Page 6
A: Yes.
Q: Storm: When are Storms done, at the same time as battles are done or when Sieges are done?
A: Storming is an attack. So they are done as Combat when battles are done: Step 4. Sieges are done at the end of the turn after all HQs have gone: Step 6. – See top of page 2. Looks like the step numbers got a little jumbled. We’ll get this corrected.
Q: Storm: Can multiple Storms be done against the same castle during the same turn or battle segment?
A: Yes!! It is done in combat at the attackers discretion. So let’s say I Storm your Castle at Valcea. I fight for 6 rounds and only have 2 Troops left so I give up and stop. You still control the Castle. The next Muslim HQ that moves, could bring his army into the area and attempt to Storm Valcea also. So you can have multiple attempts in the same game turn.
Q: Storm and Siege: Is an HQ required to be the area in order for a Storm or Siege be attempted?
A: You must have an HQ there to Storm because this is an attack. An HQ is not required to Siege. So you can leave troops behind and keep marching north. -as long as you leave behind more Troops to Siege than the defender has in the Castle.
Q: Inactive groups that were fired at Activate and Fire.
If the defenders have no HQ do the surviving troops, which start the battle automatically inactive, get to Activate and Fire or do they immediately retreat? On page 5
A: “Any survivors that were Fired Upon may THEN return Fire.”
Q: “Attacking Active Troops may Surprise Fire at any defending Troops individually”. Does this mean I can roll my attacking dice one at a time instead of all at once?
A: This is just referring to the fact that the defenders are in Groups of 1. You don’t trigger a return fire from the whole ‘group’ by firing at 1 of them -because you are firing at them individually.
Q: Castles and defending. Do defenders, in a castle, without an HQ, retreat per the rule on page 5 which says “All defenders must the Retreat, No further rounds”?
A: No. This doesn’t apply to them. Defenders in Castles don’t need HQs to stay hunkered down and defend.
Q: Set up I noticed that there are extra pieces left over when gathering the troops foe each side. Are these in case we lose pieces or do they form a starter dead pool for each side?
A: We tried to provide a few extra Troop pieces in case you loose some. So no, these aren’t intended to be used as a starter dead pool.
Q: I’m still a bit confused about the organization of “Troops” and “Groups” in battle. At the beginning of a battle before doing the search rolls, are each sides troops arranged so that each group has the maximum allowed troops?
A: Players can arrange them how they want but it is usually best to have bigger groups. The maximum won’t always be possible –if you end up with left over troops.
Q: For example if the Muslims had 5 Troops, would they required to be arranged into three Groups, two containing two Troops each and the other containing one Troop?
A: Yes, exactly.
Q: Dracula has eight Troops forming two Groups of four Troops each. The Muslims have five Troops forming three Groups, two Groups containing two Troops each and the last containing only one Troop. Say the result of the Search rolls is that both Dracula’s Groups are Active and only the Muslim Group with one Troop is active. I know that Dracula must use at least the number of Troops as the Muslims have Active to fire on them. Must then Dracula use one Group of four Troops to fire on the only Active Muslim Group containing one Troop?
The second Dracula Group could then fire on the Inactive Muslim troops. Or could Dracula use only one Troop to fire on the Active Muslim Group of one Troop leaving the rest of Dracula’s seven Troops, to fire on the Muslim Inactive Troops?
In short, are Groups only considered when determining how many groups an HQ can control and when searching, of must Troops remain togehter also when firing?
A: The short answer is: Yes, groups are used for searching. Once you are active and can fire, you are free to choose who to fire at but you must declare this first. Groups are also important in terms of tracking the defender’s Inactive Groups.
For the long answer, check out our Blog.
Q: When I roll to search with 4 groups and 4 dice do I have to nominate which die for which group? E.g. 3 of my groups have 2 troops and one has 1. Depending on my nominations I could have different numbers of troops able to fire depending on my dice results.
A: Yes exactly. It does matter so you should designate which group you are rolling for if it makes a difference.
Q: Is it the case that enemies cannot co-exist in one area (apart from castles)? I.e. at the end of the turn on side must be destroyed or retreated, otherwise battle must continue.
A: Yes, true. The battle should continue until 1 side either retreats out or is destroyed. You can’t sit there in battle over several turns. -Not counting Castle sieges.
Q: When recruiting, there must be units available to recruit? I.e. I can’t take them from impalements?
A: Yes, there must be pieces in the dead pile to recruit from. No, you can’t take down impalements to recruit.
Q: I also noticed the ink scratches on the fabric map when moving pieces or due to finger nails. Can you recommend a fixer that is safe to use?
A: Lol… Who are you playing with, the Wolfman? 🙂 There are scratch marks in the artwork of the map texture that makes it look like it has been clawed.
You can leave wear slight marks with your fingernails and sliding pieces. They usually aren’t too noticeable. I very lightly rubbed the map with a damp washcloth and they came off. Be careful though. The ink can smudge and stain a little.
I sprayed a sample piece with clear Satin finish coat. It does seem to protect the map and make it more resistant to ‘claw marks’. I just used a regular can of Krylon.
Q: Can multiple HQ’s attempt to alter turn order and move now at the same time. Say Dracula tried to do so, can then the Sultan attempt to do so, and can then another Arab HQ try to do so?
A: Yes! All of them can, as long as they haven’t tried yet this turn.
If that is allowed, then what happens if all are successful? Does the last get to go and the other two have their chits go back into the cup, or do they all get to go, and if so in what order?
A: I’m not clear on exactly what you are asking here… If they are all successful, then the turn ends up being whatever they altered it to. ?? Maybe an example would clear this up.
Let’s say the Sultan gets pulled first. Dracula wants to move first. Dracula rolls to jump ahead and is successful. Current Order: Dracula, Sultan.
Now the Sultan rolls to jump ahead. Success. Current Order: Sultan, Dracula.
Next, the black crest rolls to jump ahead. Success. Current Order: Black, Sultan, Dracula.
Next, Triple crest rolls to jump ahead. Success but he wants to move before Dracula. Current Order: Black, Sultan, Triple, Dracula.
Continue until everybody that wants to roll does. By the way, this is a bad strategy. You usually would never want to do this. It is best to save your Alter Roll until you need it.
Q: If two HQs successfully alter turn order to move now and both get to take a turn, assuming that is allowed, and the last takes their move, can then a HQ other than those two make an attempt to alter turn order and move now?
A: Yes, but this wouldn’t be a good strategy. Why waste your Alter Roll before you even know what the draw is? You may get lucky and get picked to move next anyways. Then you can use your Alter to ‘undo’ someone else’s jump ahead of you.
Q: If an Muslim army consisting of two groups moves into an area that has four impalements, how many dice are rolled to determine the impalement result? If four dice are rolled and if the dice result is two successes and two failures, how many of the Muslim groups are effected?
A: Two. The 2 failed groups must immediately move back to where they came from. The 2 successful groups must remain and fight.
Q: If say Radu with six troops enters an area that contains both impalements and Christian troops with a HQ, can Radu do the following? For the impalement check Radu organizes his groups to only contain 2 troops each (to minimize the impalement result), and then for the battle reorganize his groups to contain three troops each? My thought is that this is not allowed and that all times each group must contain as many troops as is allowed and possible.
A: Correct. You organize your army for battle before you move in. Once you are there, it’s too late to reorganize everybody again to fight.
Q: If an area contains impalements, where some are Muslim troop blocks and some are Christian troop blocks and the impalement roll result is to remove some impalements, who decides which to remove? This can be important if one side needs more troops available to recruit.
A: The Muslim player that is removing the impalements gets to pick.
Q: If Radu is on the Muslim side, can he move through mountains?
A: No. “Only Christians”
Q: Is the roll for search done at the beginning of each round of combat, or just before the first round of combat?
A: Step 1 of each Combat Round is Search. So it happens at the beginning of each round.
Q: Is the game balanced if there are only two Muslim players, since there is little problem with coordination between the Muslim HQ’s?
A: Yes, I think so. It seems pretty balanced even as a 2 player game. No coordination is required then. Given this, you would tend to have balance issues with a full 6 Muslim players. This doesn’t seem too bad from our experience. Six different opponents are more unpredictable. Often times a couple of players will do something crazy that you weren’t expecting to have to deal with. This seems to be a factor somehow.
After playing a game, a few questions came up.
1. Can multiple HQ’s attempt to alter turn order and move now at the same time. Say Dracula tried to do so, can then the Sultan attempt to do so, and can then another Arab HQ try to do so?
If that is allowed, then what happens of all are successful? Does the last get to go and the other two have their chits go back into the cup, or do they all get to go, and if so in what order?
2. If two HQs successfully alter turn order to move now and both get to take a turn, assuming that is allowed, and the last takes their move, can then a HQ other than those two make an attempt to alter turn order and move now?
3. If an Muslim army consisting of two groups moves into an area that has four impalements, how many dice are rolled to determine the impalement result? If four dice are rolled and if the dice result is two successes and two failures, how many of the Muslim groups are effected?
4. If say Radu with six troops enters an area that contains both impalements and Christian troops with a HQ, can Radu do the following? For the impalement check Radu organizes his groups to only contain 2 troops each (to minimize the impalement result), and then for the battle reorganize his groups to contain three troops each? My thought is that this is not allowed and that all times each group must contain as many troops as is allowed and possible.
5. If an area contains impalements were some are Muslim troop blocks and some are Christian troop blocks and the the impalement roll result is to remove some impalements, who decides which to remove? This can be important if one side needs more troops available to recruit.
6. If Radu is on the Muslim side, can he move through mountains?
7. Is the roll for search done at the beginning of each round of combat, or just before the first round of combat?
8. Is the game balanced if there are only two Muslim players, since there little problem with coordination between the Muslim HQ’s?
Good questions! Thank you.
I’ve posted them along with the answers on the Q&A Dracula page.
In an earlier question I asked about what happens when 2 Muslim groups enter an area with 4 impalements. The point I am interested in is that since there are more impalments than Muslim groups, how are the dice results applied. If the dice results for the impalements result in 2 pass and 2 failures, do the only 2 Muslim groups move back or do they enter the area?
I don’t think I’ve ever seen more impalements than Muslim Groups. If this does happen, each Muslim Group would check for morale but only once. They should not have to roll multiple times.
When forming groups in an army can you leave your army in 12 groups of 1 troop each or do the rules require you to try to form the max amount that you are allowed based on a HQ’s rating with the exception being if you have leftover units that don’t have enough troops to form the maximum amount allowed in a group. The reason I ask is that on the BGG website someone mentioned that the Muslims leaving their troops in groups of 1 might be a good way to get a lot of their army past the Areas with a lot of impalements easier since you match each Impalement to one Muslim group starting with the largest groups first however if the largest Muslim groups only have one troop in each group, then if there are let’s say 6 impalements and the Muslims Have 1 full army with 12 groups of 1 troop each then when they make morale checks only 6 groups of the army would have to make morale checks and I assume the other 6 groups of 1troop each can just move into the area with the 6 impalements unhindered by the impalements? I’m not sure if this strategy is even a good Idea but can it be done within the confines of the rules? Any insight or opinion on this is appreciated.
Well, strictly according to the rules, yes that is possible.
Leaders ‘can’ group up to their rating. That means they can pick smaller groups if they want. The ‘largest’ groups have to roll for morale first. So it wouldn’t do any good to have 6 groups of 1 and then the rest in groups of 2.
The upside would be that a minimum number of troops would run from the impalements. True. The downside is that your entire army must fight at maximum dispersal. The enemy would be able to pick them off, 1 at a time, in small quantities. If you organize your army into groups of 1 for the impalements, you must keep that same grouping if you are attacked later in the turn.
I don’t think that would be worth the trade off…. Could be worth a try though.
I saw something on the Designer’s table section about Vampires. Is this a rules expansion for Forest of the Impaled or something totally different your working on? My curiosity got the best of me so I thought I’d ask. (The movie Dracula Untold comes to mind when thinking of an expansion (wink/nod)).