The Siege of Hexfall
A cooperative Heroes-vs-the-game board game
1. Game Overview
Players: 2–4
Play Time: 30–45 minutes
Recommended Age: 10+
The Siege of Hexfall is a fully cooperative board game in which players play the role of Heroes defending the land of Hexfall from an ever-growing monster invasion. Monsters emerge from arcane portals and relentlessly advance toward Villages and Heroes. Players must coordinate movement, manage risk, and make sacrifices to seal Portals and defeat the Monster Boss.
There is no Monster player. All monster actions are controlled by the game rules.
In order to balance out the difficulty when playing with fewer than 4 players, keep all the Heroes in play even if it means one or more players play two Heroes.
2. Objective
Heroes Win If:
- All Portals are sealed AND
- The Monster Boss is defeated
Heroes Lose If:
- Two Villages are destroyed OR
- All Heroes are defeated
3. Components
3.1 Board Components
- 19 Modular hex tiles:
- 3 Portal tiles
- 3 Village tiles
- 3 Ruin tiles
- 10 Plain tiles
3.2 Structures
- 3 Portal towers
- 3 Village buildings
- 3 Ruin structures
3.3 Heroes
- Warrior miniature (Yellow Meeple)
- Ranger miniature (Blue Meeple)
- Mage miniature (White Meeple)
- Barbarian miniature (Red Meeple)
3.4 Monsters
- 8 Monster Grunts (Small Black Meeples)
- 4 Monster Brutes (Medium Black Meeples)
- 1 Monster Boss (Large Black Meeple)
3.5 Tokens & Markers
- 12 Health tokens (Hearts)
- 32 Small health rings
- 8 Large health rings
- 3 Portal Shards
3.6 Die
- 1 six-sided die (d6)
4. Setup
- Assemble the board using the 19 hex tiles in a hex-flower pattern.
- Place 1 Portal tile on three outer edge hexes.
- Place 1 Village tile adjacent to each Portal tile.
- Place 1 Ruin tile on three remaining inner hexes.
- Place the matching structure on each special tile.
- Place one Portal Shard with each of the Ruins.
- Each player selects one Hero and places their miniature on any Village tile.
- Place 1 Monster Grunts on each Portal tile.
See Section 11 for alternate methods for setting up the game.
5. Heroes
5.1 Hero Stats
| Hero | Attack | Defense | Health | Ability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warrior | 3 | 2 | 12 | Shield Wall |
| Ranger | 2 | 1 | 10 | Ranged Shot |
| Mage | 2 | 1 | 8 | Arcane Seal |
| Barbarian | 4 | 0 | 14 | Rage |
Heroes begin the game at full Health.
5.2 Hero Abilities
Shield Wall (Warrior): Once per round, reduce incoming damage by 1.
Ranged Shot (Ranger): The Ranger may attack a Monster on an adjacent tile without moving.
Arcane Seal (Mage): The Mage is more effective at sealing portals, succeeding on a roll of 4-6 and only takes 2 damage on a failed seal. With a Portal Shard the Mage can seal a Portal using an Action.
Mage’s Last Stand (Mage):If the Mage dies during the game the following happens:
- Final Seal: Seal one open Portal anywhere on the board.
Rage (Barbarian): When the Barbarian takes damage, place 1 Rage marker on their base (maximum 2). Each Rage marker grants +1 Attack. At the end of the Barbarian’s turn, remove 1 Rage marker.
6. Round Structure
- Monster Phase
- Hero Phase
- End of Round
7. Monster Phase (Game Controlled)
Current Difficulty: Normal
| Monster | Attack | Defense | Health |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grunt | -2 | 2 | 2 |
| Brute | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Boss | 2 | 4 | 8 |
There are four steps per monster phase as described below. It is recommended that one player resolve all monster actions, one step at a time with other players helping track or making suggestions as appropriate.
Step 1 – Spawn
- If no Portals are sealed, each open Portal spawns 1 Grunt.
- If one Portal is sealed, each remaining open Portal spawns 1 Brute instead.
- If two portals are sealed the Boss spawns at the remaining portal or the nearest ruin to the portal that was most recently sealed. Only the Boss spawns this turn but future rounds brutes will continue spawning at open portals.
Step 2 – Target Priority
- Closest Hero
- Closest Village
Monsters will always target a Hero first unless there is a village closer. If a Village and a Hero are the same distance from the monster will target the Hero. If two players are an equal distance from the monster than the player may choose who the monster will target.
Step 3 – Move
Grunts and Brutes move 1 tile toward their target. The Boss moves up to two tiles toward its target. If there are multiple paths to the target, the players decide which route the monsters will take.
Step 4 – Attack
- Monsters attack if on the same tile as their target.
- Resolve Monster attacks in the following order: Grunts → Brutes → Boss.
- If multiple Monsters and multiple Heroes are on the same tile, each Monster attacks once. Heroes may choose how to assign Monster attacks among Heroes on that tile.
- The Boss moves up to 2 tiles per Monster Phase and attacks all Heroes on its tile.
- Villages take 1 damage per attacking grunt, 2 damage from attacking brutes, and 3 damage from the attacking Boss. Monsters do not roll for attacks but automatically deal damage to villages.
8. Hero Phase
Heroes may act in any order. Each Hero takes one turn per round.
- Move – Move up to 2 adjacent tiles. Movement may be taken at the start or end of a player’s turn, or split before and after an action, provided the total movement is limited to two adjacent tiles.
-
Action – Choose one:
- Attack (see section 8.1)
- Loot a Ruin (see section 8.3)
- Seal a Portal (see section 8.2)
- End Turn
8.1 Attack
- Attacker rolls 1 die and adds their Attack value.
- Defender subtracts their Defense value.
- Remaining value is dealt as damage (minimum 0).
- Remove Health rings accordingly.
8.2 Sealing a Portal
Any Hero standing on a Portal tile may attempt to seal it instead of attacking.
| Hero | Success Roll |
|---|---|
| Mage | 4–6 |
| Other Heroes | 6 |
While holding a Portal Shard, a Hero seals a Portal on a roll of 4–6. If a sealing attempt fails while holding a Portal Shard, the Hero only takes 2 damage. If a Hero fails an attempt and does not have a Portal Shard they take 5 damage. A Hero may hold only one Portal Shard at a time. If they gain another, they must immediately give one to a Hero on the same tile or discard it. Once a Portal Shard is used to successfully seal a Portal, it is removed from the game.
When a Portal is sealed, each player gains 5 Helath Points up to their maximum.
8.3 Loot a Ruin
Ruins contain Portal Shards that aid in sealing Portals and grant power-ups. A Hero may Loot a Ruin by moving to a Ruin tile and using their action to pick up a Portal Shard. Each Ruin may be looted only once. Doing so will grant the Hero one of the following power-ups, determined by rolling the die:
- 1 - Strength: +2 Attack
- 2 - Shield: +2 Defense
- 3 - Vitality: +3 Health each round (Only up to maximum HP)
- 4 - Endurance: Extra action every round
- 5 - Speed: +1 movement every round
- 6 - Luck: Reroll any die once every round
When a Hero is defeated, any Portal Shard they carried is dropped onto their tile. As an action, a Hero may pick up a Portal Shard dropped by a fallen companion and roll for a power-up as described above.
9. Villages
- Each Village has 3 Health as represented by the red heart health markers on the Village tile.
- Remove Village health markers as the Villages take damage.
- After a Village loses all 3 Health, remove the structure from the board.
- If two of the Villages are destroyed, the Heroes lose.
10. Hero Defeat
- When a Hero’s Health reaches 0, they are defeated and removed from play. If the Mage dies, activate Mage's Last Stand (see section 5.2)
- The remaining Heroes may continue as long as at least one Hero remains.
11. Difficulty Adjustments (Optional)
When setting up the game, turn all the hex tiles upside down, mix them up, and form a rough draft of a map you want. Then flip them over and connect them.
See the Map Configurations page from the side bar for some ideas on how to arrange your map.
12. Design Notes
- Cooperative strategy
- Tactical positioning
- Risk vs. reward decisions
- Physical clarity through 3D components
13. End of Game
If the Heroes seal all Portals and defeat the Boss, Hexfall is saved.
If two Villages fall or the Heroes are defeated, Hexfall is overrun by the Monsters.
Thank you for playing The Siege of Hexfall.
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