How to play

Goal: assemble the coalition and defeat the Italian army. In the standard setup there is an 80% chance of one traitor and a concealed 20% chance that every commander is loyal; loyal players are not told whether a traitor exists. One spy is always present. If you secretly receive the traitor role, your objective is Ethiopian defeat. Menelik and Taitu cannot be traitors.

1. Draw up to two. Recycle the discard pile when needed. With only one card available, draw one; with both piles empty, draw none and continue your turn. Reveal only Assassins. Each triggers immediately and permanently leaves play after resolution. Your Healer or an imperial Veto can stop it; otherwise roll d6 incapacitated own turns.
2. Exchange. Swap one card face down with the next commander. Both outgoing cards are locked before receipt. Receipt does not activate a card. Empty-hand exchanges are skipped.
3. Act. Play one ordinary action or pass. Click “What happens next?” to resolve each proposed order. Reactions do not use the ordinary action.

Turn order

The coalition portraits show play order. A new game shuffles all seven commanders and chooses the first commander from that order. The order stays fixed for that game; disgraced commanders are skipped. Exchanges go to the next commander still in command.

Routes and readiness

Each commander has four contingents, each 25% of the commander’s army, and a three-stage approach. One Advance moves one contingent one stage; Withdraw moves one contingent back one stage, then draws one compulsory card to regroup. A contingent must actually move back. An Assassin drawn while regrouping resolves normally; the ordinary action remains spent and there is no second exchange. Imperial Dignity cancels both the withdrawal and its draw. Ready means stage 3. Menelik chooses his route on Advance; in this prototype his reserve uses one route at a time. Initially unready contingents are at stage 2. A held Supply Train Raid halves Advance to 0.5 stage; raids do not stack and can be passed away.

Personality pairs

Pair two priest cards, two monk cards, two shifta cards, two Askari mutineer cards, or two balabbat cards. Play two identical cards together as one action to reduce a chosen Italian army’s strength by 3 (minimum 2). Different personalities cannot be combined. A single personality card cannot be played by itself.

Restricted cards

The spy, Menelik and Taitu can play Spy (d6 ≥4 privately reveals a role). Only the traitor can play Defection (one own contingent defects; a chosen Italian army gains 5 strength). Only Menelik or Taitu can play Imperial Dignity. Menelik and Taitu may cancel another commander’s chosen action, but Menelik cannot veto his own chosen action and Taitu cannot veto her own chosen action. Menelik may still veto his own involuntary Mutiny or assassination attempt, and Taitu may still veto her own. A spent action stays spent if vetoed. Matching personality pairs reduce a chosen Italian sector by 3 strength, minimum 2. Support takes a random card from a chosen commander.

Expose the traitor

After a successful Spy investigation identifies the traitor, the investigator may choose “Expose the traitor” on a later turn instead of playing a card. This spends one ordinary action and no card. The traitor’s identity becomes public and certain; other roles and hands remain private. Exposure does not remove him from command. Menelik or Taitu must still use Disgrace to remove him. Incapacitated or disgraced commanders cannot expose anyone.

Disgrace

Four Disgrace cards may be played only by Menelik or Taitu, against any other commander still in command, including the other imperial leader. Roll d6: 4–6 succeeds; 1–3 fails. Success strips the target of command permanently. The target’s cards are discarded face down, and turns and exchanges skip the target; the disgraced commander cannot play reactions or use Imperial Dignity. Surviving contingents remain in place and still count toward coalition readiness and battle strength. Loyalty stays hidden, so a mistaken accusation can remove a loyal commander. On failure the target retains command. The card and ordinary action are spent either way. Only the other imperial leader may Veto the attempt, including when Menelik defends himself or Taitu defends herself. A disgraced human may observe the rest of the game. NPC Menelik and Taitu prioritize Disgrace against an active traitor identified through a private investigation or public exposure. Computer investigators may use an ordinary action to expose a confirmed traitor. Computer investigators share a record of suspicious conduct and prioritize eligible commanders implicated by previous withdrawals, defections, or attacks on Italy below 80% coalition readiness.

Mutiny and concealed defections

Four Mutiny cards circulate in the deck. After exchanging, before choosing an ordinary action, a commander who is not incapacitated rolls once per Mutiny held. Each roll has a 1-in-6 chance to trigger. On the first 1, one Mutiny is spent and replaces the ordinary action: one of that commander’s contingents defects, adding 5 strength to a randomly chosen Italian army. An Imperial Dignity can cancel the defection; the card and action remain spent. Only one Mutiny can trigger per action phase. If none triggers, the cards stay in hand and the ordinary action remains available. Mutiny cannot be played voluntarily, but can be exchanged. Its public announcement, veto opportunity, and result match a traitor’s Defection; the cause stays private.

Assassination and secrecy

Incapacitation blocks ordinary actions but allows draws, exchanges, Healers and observation. An incapacitated imperial commander cannot use Veto. The turn of a new wound does not reduce the recovery counter. Computer hands are not shown. Your role is private unless exposed as the traitor; all roles are revealed after battle. Multiplayer keeps hidden information on the server; single-player hides it in the interface.

Battle and clock

Any Attack on Italy immediately triggers the decisive battle. An Attack on an Ethiopian commander removes one of that commander's contingents. At the end of each complete round, in-game hours advance and one randomly selected Italian army advances toward its opposing Ethiopian route. Only armies below approach position 3 are eligible. Red diamonds move from Start through numbered positions 1–3; at 3 the army is “In position” and stops advancing. These are schematic approach positions, not historical marching locations. An advancing army may gain 1 strength on a roll of 1–2. Ellena remains in reserve. Once all three armies are in position, no further movement or movement reinforcement occurs, but the clock continues. The game announces that an Italian attack is now possible. Starting after the next commander’s turn, roll d6 after every commander’s turn: on 1, the Italians launch the final battle immediately; on 2–6, the Italian armies hold position. There is no attack roll on the turn that first puts all three armies in position. Ellena’s reserve is excluded from this condition. At 72 hours, Italy forces battle. This is a scenario clock, not settled historical chronology.

Battle strength sums each army's strength weighted by its contingent positions: ready = full contribution, incomplete = up to 20%, lost = zero. Incapacitated commands contribute 70%. Italian reserve adds 8. When battle begins, the preparation screen gives way to the battlefield. Choose any commander still in command to cast Ethiopia’s d6, then press the cast button. The choice does not change the odds. Italy’s d6 is rolled at the same time; each side multiplies strength by 0.8 + 0.07 × roll. Ethiopia wins with at least 50% readiness and strength ≥ Italy. These numbers are balancing assumptions, not historical troop counts.

Deck and implementation limits

Agreed card ratios are retained: Assassin 4, Healer 6, Attack/Advance/Shuffle/Support/Withdraw/Raid 4 each, Prophecy 3, Veto 5, personalities 20 (five sets of four). Spy 4, Defection 4, Mutiny 4, and Disgrace 4 are additions (78 cards total). Starting hands exclude Assassins; those four enter the draw deck afterward. Ordinary discards recycle; Assassins never do. Computer play and multiplayer use the same rules.