Soulshards Tactics is a tactical battle game for 2 players. Each player chooses warriors to control over a sequence of turns where they attempt to decimate the enemy force or quickly eliminate their commander.

The Battlefield
The game takes place on an 8x8 grid that control where warriors begin and how they move. Pieces to represent each warrior are added to the battlefield at the beginning of the game and removed as they are defeated during the game.

The Warriors
Each warrior has a card that displays their characteristics. Each has a Soul cost, name, Might, movement, and effect.

Name: What the warrior is called.

• A warrior’s name may contain CMDR. This indicates the card qualifies as a commander.
• Each card has 2 sides. One side has injured in the name. Each warrior begins the game uninjured, but may become injured during the game. When they do, turn their card over and use the injured version instead.

Soul cost: How many of your 26 Souls you must pay to add the card to your army at the beginning of the game. Might: How effective the warrior is in combat. Movement: How the warrior moves on the battlefield. Effect: The special functions the warrior has during the game.

Winning
There are two ways to win the game: To win the game, you must defeat all of your opponent’s commanders. If all of your opponent’s remaining warriors are commanders, then any attack against them causes injury.

Setup
To begin the game, place the battlefield in the center of the table. Then randomly determine which player will go first. In turn order, each player builds their army by purchasing warriors and terrain.

Each player begins with 26 Souls. During their turn, the player purchases a warrior or terrain 3 times by paying their Soul cost and placing them onto the battlefield. Terrain each cost 1 Soul.

• Warriors can be placed on the battlefield anywhere in the closest to the player. Warriors that cost only 1 Soul can also be placed in the row past that. Terrain can be placed anywhere in the closest 4 rows.
• The player can choose to stop early. If they do, they do not get any further turns to purchase and track their remaining Souls for during the game.
• The first commander each player chooses does not cost any Souls. Each player must choose a commander before they spend their last Soul, use the last space in the row closest to them, or pass. Each player cannot have more than 1 copy of each commander.

Gameplay
Once all warriors are on the battlefield, players take turns using actions to control their warriors. The same player that placed warriors first also takes the first turn during gameplay.

On your turn, you may use up to 3 actions. Each turn, you may spend 1 Soul to gain 1 additional action. If you use no actions during your turn, gain 1 Soul.

Each action can be used to move 1 warrior or attack with 1 warrior. Once you are done using actions, your turn ends.

If a warrior suffers an injury, they become injured. Flip over their card to see how they change. If they were already injured, they are defeated, and their figure is removed from the board.

Moving
When you use a move action, choose one of your warriors and change its position on the battlefield. Check the card for that warrior to determine the direction and number of spaces it can move.

When moving multiple spaces, the spaces must be in a straight line. The space the figure will end in must be unoccupied or you cannot choose to move that way. Other warriors block the path unless the moving warrior moving has flight or jump.

Terrain
There are special terrains that can be added to the battlefield. These may affect how warriors move.

• Fire: Warriors who pass through this space or are in it have -1 Might until the turn ends.
• Stone: Warriors cannot enter or pass through this space unless their move has flight or jump.
• Portal: When your warrior enters a space with a portal you created, you may have them appear in another space that contains a portal you created. If you do, they cannot use any remaining spaces of movement.
• Water: Warriors cannot enter or pass through this space unless their move has flight or swim.
• Wind: Warriors cannot enter or pass through this space if their move has flight.

Effects
Each warrior has a special effect that makes them unique. Effects will occur even if it is not your turn. If an effect specifies a number of spaces away, you must be able to count each space from adjacent to the warrior to under the target. When counting diagonally, each second diagonal space counts as 1 additional space.

• After Moving: Many effects occur after the warrior moves. These occur each time after you use them with a move action, even if they do not move any spaces, and after any time they are moved by another warrior’s effect.
• Passive: Some effects are always active.
• Reactive: Some effects specify specific conditions that cause them to occur.

Attack
When you use an attack action, choose one of your warriors who has not attacked already during the turn and choose an enemy warrior adjacent to them. Reduce the enemy’s Might by your warrior’s Might until the end of this turn. Then, if their Might is 0, they are injured. If you injure a warrior by using you action to attack, you cannot use the attack action again this turn.