Components
- 1 standard 52-card deck
- 6 Resolve cubes or markers
Objective
In 1647, hostile forces descend upon Kerrera and press toward Gylen Castle. Two Attackers must break the MacDougall defenders across four simultaneous Fronts, expose Gylen, and seize the Brooch of Lorn before the end of Day III. The lone MacDougall Defender must hold long enough for the siege to fail.
Prepare the Deck
Remove all four Aces, K♥, Q♥, J♦, 9♦, and 2♠–6♠. Set the Aces aside: A♥ and A♦ are Attackers, A♠ is the MacDougall Defender, and A♣ is the Brooch of Lorn. The other 39 cards form the Battle Deck.
- Hearts 2–J: 10 Hit cards
- Diamonds 2–8, 10, Q, K: 10 Hit cards
- Spades 7–K: 7 Defend/Rally cards
- Clubs 2–K: 12 Exhaustion cards
Aces are never played in battle.
The Four Fronts
- Shore Landing: 1 Resolve
- Kerrera Outlands: 1 Resolve
- Outer Court: 2 Resolve
- Forework: 2 Resolve
Place A♣ beyond the Forework as the Inner House objective. All four Fronts are fought simultaneously.
Card Effects
The highest-ranking uncancelled card at a Front determines the result, regardless of who played it.
- ♥ Hearts: Hit, remove 1 Resolve.
- ♦ Diamonds: Hit, remove 1 Resolve.
- ♠ Spades: Defend/Rally. If Resolve remains, nothing is removed. If the Front is Broken, restore exactly 1 Resolve.
- ♣ Clubs: Exhaustion, no effect.
If two or more cards share the highest rank, all cards of that rank cancel; check the next-highest rank. Continue until one highest card remains. If every card cancels, nothing happens.
The Siege
The siege lasts at most 3 Days. Each Day has Morning Mist, High Sun, and Gloaming. Resolve damage persists between phases and Days unless a Broken Front is rallied.
Beginning a Day
Shuffle all 39 Battle Cards. Deal face-down personal draw piles: 12 to each Attacker and 15 to the Defender. Each Attacker draws 5 accessible cards; the Defender draws 6.
Fighting a Phase
While Gylen is not exposed, each Attacker secretly commits 1 card to each of the four Fronts. The Defender commits 1 to each Front plus 1 additional card to any one Front. Reveal each Front, cancel ties, apply the winning suit, and adjust Resolve. Resolve all four Fronts before checking for exposure.
At a Broken Front, a Heart, Diamond, or Club has no further effect; a winning Spade restores exactly 1 Resolve. A Front already holding Resolve cannot gain more.
Refill Hands
After Morning Mist and High Sun, Attackers draw back toward 5 cards and the Defender toward 6, drawing only as many as remain.
Exposing Gylen
If all four Fronts are Broken simultaneously after resolving a phase, Gylen becomes permanently Exposed. Starting with the next phase, ignore all outer Fronts and Resolve. Every remaining phase assaults the Inner House.
If Gylen is exposed after Gloaming, the first Inner House assault occurs during the next Morning Mist, if another Day remains.
Assaulting the Inner House
Each Attacker secretly chooses 1 card; the Defender chooses 2. Reveal all four together and determine the highest card using the normal tie-cancellation rule.
- ♥ or ♦: the Brooch is seized and the Attackers win immediately.
- ♠: the Brooch is defended; continue to the next phase.
- ♣: the assault is exhausted; continue to the next phase.
Who played the winning card does not matter. After an unsuccessful assault, refill hands normally. There is no return to the outer Fronts.
End of a Day
After Gloaming, collect all 39 Battle Cards. If another Day remains, shuffle, redeal 12/12/15, draw new accessible hands, and begin the next Morning Mist. Outer Resolve does not reset. If Gylen is already exposed, begin directly with an Inner House assault.
Winning the Siege
The Attackers win immediately when a Heart or Diamond controls an Inner House assault. The MacDougall Defender wins if the Brooch has not been seized by the end of Gloaming on Day III.
Historical Inspiration
Gylen Castle on Kerrera was captured and burned by Covenanting forces in 1647. The game’s three-day siege and Shore Landing/Kerrera Outlands are abstractions; the Outer Court and Forework reflect documented castle features. The Brooch of Lorn was a real MacDougall heirloom looted when Gylen fell and returned to the clan in 1824. History records the fall; the game asks what might have happened if the MacDougalls had held a little longer.
