Setup · 1. Faction & board
Setting up - part 1
1. Pick a Scenario (Brave New World for a first game).
Pick a Scenario from the Mission Book to play. Each Scenario sets the map, the starting conditions and the victory condition for that game. For your very first game we recommend the Brave New World Scenario, which is built as a gentle tutorial introduction to the rules.
Choose a Scenario
2-3. Choose your Faction, then a Main Hero from it.
Choose your Faction from those available. Then choose one of your Faction's Heroes as your Main Hero. Each Faction has at least one double-sided Hero Board, each side depicting a different Hero.
Faction & Hero
4. Take your Faction's components.
Take the following components belonging to your Faction: 1 double-sided Hero Board; 2 Hero models; 7 Town Building Tiles; 1 Town Board; 7 double-sided unit cards; 3 Hero-specific Specialty cards; 1 Hero-specific Ability card; 20 Faction Cubes; 1 Build Token; 1 Population Token; 1 Spell Book Token; 3 Movement Tokens.
Faction components
5. Place a Faction Cube on the Level Tracker - your Hero is Level I.
Place one of your Faction Cubes on the first space of the Level Tracker on your Hero Board - the space marked 1 - to show that your Main Hero starts the game at Level I. As your Hero gains Experience in Combat during the game, this cube moves up the tracker to mark each new Level reached.
Set Level I
6. Set up Map Tiles and Scenario components per the Mission Book.
Set up the Map Tiles and the other Scenario-specific components exactly as shown in the Mission Book for your player count. The Mission Book diagram tells you how the tiles are arranged; place your Starting Tile, rotate it freely and put your Hero model on the field that holds your Town.
Lay out the map
7. Place your Town Board and the Buildings already built in the Scenario.
Place the Town Board of your chosen Faction in front of you and set the Town Building Tiles next to it. Check which Buildings are already built in the Scenario, and place the respective Building Tiles on the Town Board. Resolve any immediate effects from already built Buildings at the end of setup.
Town Board
8. Set starting income and place the Population, Build and Spell Book Tokens.
Set your starting income as indicated by the Scenario by placing your Faction Cubes on the income trackers on your Town Board. Place the Population, Build and Spell Book Tokens in their respective slots on the Town Board.
Income & tokens
9-10. Group Resource Tokens, take starting Resources, separate the rest.
Group the Resource Tokens into separate piles within reach of all players. Take the starting Resources determined by the Scenario and place them next to your Town Board - this is your Resource pool. Separate the remaining Tokens into their respective piles.
Resources & tokens
optional: setup diagram, PDF p.12-13
Setup · 2. Decks & final steps
Setting up - part 2
11. Sort Statistic cards (Attack/Defense/Power/Knowledge) and take per your Hero Board.
Sort the Statistic cards into four piles: Attack, Defense, Power and Knowledge. Refer to the Statistics on your Hero Board and take the corresponding number of cards from each pile.
Statistic cards
12. Might Hero adds 1 Magic Arrow; Magic Hero adds 2.
If your Main Hero is a Hero of Might, add 1 copy of the Magic Arrow Spell to your Deck; if they are a Hero of Magic, add 2 of these Spells.
Magic Arrows
13-14. Add the Ability and Level I Specialty; shuffle - this is your Deck of Might & Magic.
Add your Hero's Ability and Level I Specialty cards to your Starting Deck. Shuffle the Starting Deck and place it face down next to your Hero Board. This Deck is your Main Hero's Deck of Might & Magic.
Build the starting Deck
15-16. Form Ability/Artifact/Spell Decks and flip a top card into 3 Discard Piles.
Sort the Ability, Artifact and Spell cards into 3 face-down Decks (including any unused Magic Arrow Spells) and shuffle them. From each of these 3 Decks, take the top card and place it face up next to its Deck, creating 3 separate Discard Piles.
Shared decks
17. Choose Difficulty and take the Starting Bonus(es).
Choose the Scenario's Difficulty level and take the Starting Bonus or Bonuses that go with it. Lower difficulties hand you extra starting bonuses to make the game easier, while the hardest level gives none, so this choice sets how much of a head start you begin with. See the Difficulty section for exactly what each level grants.
Difficulty
18. Sort Neutral Units into 4 tier Decks and shuffle.
Sort all the Neutral Unit cards into four separate Decks by their tier - Bronze, Silver, Gold and Azure - then shuffle each Deck on its own and place it face down, leaving room beside it for a Discard Pile. These Decks supply the Neutral Units your Heroes fight when they enter Fields on the Map.
Neutral Units
19. Place the Combat Board and take your Scenario starting units.
Place the Combat Board within reach of the players. Check the Scenario for which starting units you receive and place them into a pile near your Town Board, separate from the rest of your Faction's units.
Combat Board & units
20-21. Place the Round Tracker (Black Cube on 1) and shuffle the Astrologers cards.
Place the Round Tracker next to the game map and place a Black Cube on the 1 space. Shuffle the Astrologers Proclaim cards and place them face down next to the Round Tracker.
Round Tracker & Astrologers
22. Orient your Starting Tile and place your Hero model on its center Field.
Orientate your Starting Tile to your liking. Choose which Hero model represents your Main Hero in this game and place the chosen model on the center Field of your Starting Tile.
Starting Tile
23. Choose a starting player - they never change during the game.
Finally, choose a starting player. As a fun method the rules suggest the player who can name 5 Neutral units from Heroes of Might and Magic III the fastest goes first, or you can simply roll an Attack Die and let the highest result start. Whoever is chosen, the starting player stays the same for the entire game.
Starting player
Expansion-specific setup steps.
Fortress - shuffle the Event cards. Naval Battles - group Stack Tokens and Far/Near Creature Bank Tokens into piles, and place Creature Bank unit cards near the Neutral Unit Decks. Conflux - place Summoned Elemental unit cards face up near the Neutral Unit Decks. Stronghold - shuffle 10 Spell Scroll cards into the Artifact Deck. Inferno - place the Empowered Statistic cards face up. Naval Battles - place the Empowered Ability cards face up next to the Ability Deck. Stretch Goals 2 - shuffle Pandora's Box cards. Battlefield - shuffle Morale cards. Rampart - place the War Machine cards face up.
Expansion steps
optional: setup diagram, PDF p.13-14