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Hellas FAQ
FAQ for Hellas Info taken from FAQs in file area and various forum threads, consolidated into a Wiki page so that people can more easily find all the info in one place and update it. Table of Contents Initial Map CreationQ: During Voyage, "A new water area may not be created." Is that also true during Initial Map Creation? VoyageYou must always have at least one ship next to the place for the new tile (since you will turn the ship into a Greek on the new tile), even if you play the Poseidon card permitting a successful voyage with equal numbers of ships and you both have zero ships next to a place. (Rio Grande) Map tile A in the example on page 4 unfortunately confuses some people. It is legal in the sense of the rules about land and water and hexsides, but it is not a legal Voyage play due to the lack of an adjacent ship. Note that if the drawn tile is unplayable, you place it face down under the tile stack and do NOT draw again; the voyage was unsuccessful. Q: Is water flowing under a bridge considered the same body of water for the purposes of not violating the rule against new bodies of water during voyages? Q: Must I voyage if I do not like the tile I drew? AttackNote that normally all the attacking Greeks must come from adjacent tiles, in both land and water attacks. Exceptions: the Ares card that permits sending Greeks from a non-adjacent tile, and water attacks can go through the start "dolphin" tile. A land attack normally involves cities that are connected by land to the attacked city, with a direct connection (i.e. the two cities are connected by land through a shared edge with land). An adjacent city connected by land to the attacked city, but through a route that goes through other tiles does not attack by land. If you declare an attack, and then due to card play by the opponent realize that you can't make a successful attack anywhere, you can choose not to attack a city, but your turn is finished (i.e. you still did an "Attack" type of turn). (Rio Grande) Ships are not needed during attacks over water. This is implied (perhaps counter-intuitively) by the rules. Burst of StrengthIf a player starts a "burst of strength" turn with a temple majority he may take 4 actions, otherwise he has 3. The action choices are: place a new greek or ship or take a God card. RegroupingAfter "Burst of strength" you can rearrange your ships and Greeks among all your cities, as long as each city has at least 1 Greek, and no more than 3 Greeks and 3 ships. After a successful "Voyage" or "Attack", you can move ships and Greeks from other cities to the new city, again, respecting the numeric limits everywhere. God CardsRemember that the starting player may not play a God card in his first game turn after the initial map creation. It's easy to overlook this rule! Q: Can I play a card before declaring my turn option? Q: If during a "Burst of strength" I play the Zeus card which allows me to swap cities, and by doing so I gain temple majority, do I get a fourth action this turn? Q: Since there are limits to the number of God cards I may hold, can I discard without playing and executing to make room for new, possibly better cards? Q: Since I may not discard without executing, can I play a card that would have no effect by executing it? Q: What does it mean that "A player may not use a God card drawn on this turn?" (p. 7) The following sections describe the individual cards. Each card is preceded by its number of copies in the deck and the symbol @ to indicate if it is playable during the opponent's turn. Ares Cards(2 @) After a successful attack by your opponent, move all Greeks and ships from the besieged city to one of your other cities! If you exceed the limits in your other city, the excess Greeks or ships go to your supply. (Rio Grande) (4 @) Attack as though you had one additional Greek! (3) Attack one non-adjacent opponent's city with Greeks! Greeks in neighboring cities may join in the attack. The only rule hindering movement through occupied cities is the adjacency clause. This card drops the "adjacent" term from the following rule for attacking over land: "He ... may attack from all his cities that have direct routes over adjacent connected land segments to the attacked city." (p. 4) Therefore, attacks over land can be non-adjacent with this card provided there are connected land segments. Several such cards could be used to permit several non-adjacent cities to send attacking Greeks. It is best to play this card first before designating a battle tile. Otherwise, if it is canceled, it creates a situation where a battle is committed without sufficient greeks to win. It is best to play this card before playing the "swap ships for greeks" card. Otherwise, if the ships were swapped so that there are more than 3 greeks on the tile, then an "attack from one non-adjacent" is played but canceled by the "void" card and there are no adjacent tiles to attack; it leaves a situation where there are more than 3 greeks on a tile at the end of the current attack phase. If this occurs, for the sake of consistency, the greeks on that tile should be reduced to three. (2) Attack two cities, one after another! Since there is a specified number "two", it can be interpreted that two and only two cities can be attacked in one turn, even if another of this card is played in the same turn. (3) Before an attack, swap as many ships for Greeks as you want in one of your cities! The Greeks created from ships must be used in the attack! (Rio Grande) (2) In an attack over the water, you need just equal power to win (as in an attack over land)! Poseidon Cards(2) A flood reduces the number of Greeks to 2 in all cities in which 3 Greeks stand (both yours and your enemy's)! WARNING!!! The following are some really nasty, legalistic interpretations of this card. Since no rule hinders when, during a player's turn option, a flood card may be played; it may be played in the middle of regrouping, during a burst of strength turn option. Therefore, a player can start by regrouping his Greeks to less than three per city, then play the flood card and then finish regrouping with a city having three Greeks. Arguably, a flood card can be played when a Greek is not in any city but moving between cities, each with two Greeks, during Regrouping. However, the game functions with Greeks having the states: on a particular map tile or in the supply box. Regrouping each Greek requires 2 states (in city A or city B) and the state of "moving between cities" is unnecessary. Since it is unnecessary and not explicitly in the rules, the argument is weak and should be considered false. Additionally, during an attack turn option, a player can move some Greeks to a tile for battle, play a flood card, then move more Greeks before combat. A city with legally 4 or more Greeks, for example where ships converted to Greeks before attacking, is still a city "in which 3 Greeks stand". So, don't try to cheat with this scheme. Furthermore, on a battle tile, where both sides have Greeks, evaluate and reduce each side separately, if flooded. The Flood Card has several loopholes. Players may want to agree that one may not be played in the middle of other actions like regrouping or combat. (4) After a successful voyage, you may attempt another voyage! (2) After a successful voyage, you may place any two additional figures (Greeks or ships) in the new city from your supply! (3 @) All ships in your attacked city defend like Greeks. (2) Instead of the first drawn landscape tile, draw a new one! Place the first drawn tile under the stack. (3) Your voyage is successful when you have at least as many of your ships in adjacent cities. Zeus Cards(2) Draw a God card from your opponent (he must show the card backs)! If you now have more than 7 cards or more than 3 of one kind, discard the card drawn. There is a rule that "a player may not use a God card drawn on this turn." (p. 7) meaning a God card cannot be used on the turn it is drawn. However, the context suggests this only applies to God cards drawn from one of the decks. Therefore, a card drawn from an opponent using this Zeus card can be used immediately. (2) If your opponent has more than 3 God cards in his hand, he must discard down to 3 God cards. He chooses which cards to discard! (2) Swap a city of your choice with your opponent! The players move their Greeks and ships to the new city. Playing this card during a Burst of strength to get a temple majority will not give an extra action. (Rio Grande) (2) Take two turns, one after another: first Burst of strength, then Voyage or Attack! Since turn options are called before cards are played, if this card is voided, the player must continue to execute the "burst of strength" turn option. A god card drawn in the burst of strength turn can be used in the voyage or attack turn. (3 @) The God card just played by your opponent is voided! Discard both cards. The player whose card was voided could play "Use a God card without discarding it!" to retain his voided card (and even play it again immediately). Use or play is the sequence: place, read, pause, execute and discard. (p. 6-7) The "void" card cancels its execution. The "use without discarding" card cancels its discard. So the card is kept. The retained card can be used again immediately if desired. (Rules Example 3) Of course this card lets you keep your own card you just played, not an opponent's card they just played. (2) With Burst of strength you execute two additional actions! MiscellaneousShipsShips from both players can never occupy the same city. This will never occur if all rules are followed. Game LengthSome players have complained that the game takes too long, e.g. 90 minutes or more. This is due to their playing style of not voyaging. A player needs 10 cities to win, and the map starts with 8. If no one voyages, the game will literally last forever. But it is in your interest to voyage to get temples. It is perfectly possible to play the game in 15-30 minutes. See discussion: Useful LinksHELLAS Cards V2.doc: Labels that can be applied to the cards with English text. This at least corrects the "Attack as though you had one additional Greek" card. |
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