CLAIM REINFORCEMENTS: MERCENARIES



OBJECTIVE OF CLAIM REINFORCEMENT MERCENARIES: Capture the majority of three or more factions to win the game 

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 – 4 players 

CONTENTS: 58 cards 

TYPE OF GAME: Trick Taking Card Game 

AUDIENCE: Ages 10+ 


INTRODUCTION OF CLAIM REINFORCEMENTS: MERCENARIES 

Claim and Claim 2 are trick taking card games for 2 – 4 players.  Claim Reinforcements: Mercenaries is one of many expansions that allow players to customize their game deck.     

The Mercenaries expansion includes four new factions: Heroes, Elves, Orcs, and Cyclops.  There are also bonus cards included in this pack.  These cards are used as modifier tokens for cards that have their rank adjusted by special powers.      

CONTENTS 

There are 18 heroes included in this box.  At the beginning of the game, five of the Hero faction cards will get shuffled into the deck.  Each Hero has its own special ability.  The Elves and Orcs are a very interesting set of factions.  There are 7 Elves, 7 Orcs, and 8 cards that are half Elf and half Orc.  The Cyclops faction consists of 10 cards ranked 0 – 9. 

The 8 +1 bonus cards are used as modifier tokens for the Unicorns and any other faction that changes its rank during the game. 

FACTIONS 

CYCLOPS 

The Cyclops faction scores differently at the end of the game.  The player with the smallest number of Cyclops cards at the end of the game wins a point.  If each player has the same amount of Cyclops cards, the player with the lowest ranking one wins the point for that faction. 

ELVES & ORCS 

The Elves and Orcs can be used to replace the Knights & Dwarves or the Giants and Gnomes. These two factions have their own separate cards  The cards that only have an Elf or an Orc on them have no special powers.  The hybrid cards that have both an Elf and an Orc do have a special ability. 

During either phase, the player must announce which suit they are playing their Elf/Orc card as.  If the card is captured during Phase 2, it remains that faction for scoring purposes. 

HEROES 

There are 18 different Heroes included in the deck.  Each Hero has its own special power.  To set up the deck using Heroes, put the deck together with the desired factions (not including any Heroes).  Shuffle the deck thoroughly and discard the top five cards from the deck.  These are removed from the game.  Now shuffle all of the Heroes separately and then draw five of them.  Shuffle the five Heroes into the deck. 

When a Hero leads the trick, the other player may play any faction.  There is no lead faction for the trick.  The highest ranking card or a card affected by a special power wins.   

SINGING BARD 

The person who plays Singing Bard automatically leads the next trick no matter the outcome of the trick it is played to. 

CENTAUR ARCHER 

When played second to the trick, the Centaur Archer beats any card that is ranked 5 or 6. 

BUG LORD 

If the Bug Lord is played during Phase 2, add +1 to its rank for each faction card that player has captured. 

JESTER 

If the Jester is played second to the trick, it swaps places with an opponent’s card.  The trick resolves as if the opponent played the Jester. 

WITCH 

When a player leads the trick with the Witch, it can only be beaten by cards with an even numbered rank that is higher than 5. 

MINOTAUR 

If the Minotaur is the last card in a player’s hand at the end of Phase 1 or Phase 2, they automatically win the final trick.   

STONE GOLEM 

The Stone Golem crushes any card that is ranked 1 – 4 in the trick.  The crushed card is discarded from the game. 

NECROMANCER 

A player can swap the Necromancer card from their hand with a card that is about to be discarded. 

LIFE STEALER 

After being played second to the trick.  Life Stealer takes on the abilities of the faction that is led.  When it is captured during Phase 2, it does not count as any faction. 

GARGOYLE 

The Gargoyle card counts as two of any chosen faction when captured during Phase 2.  

WEREWOLF 

The Werewolf can count as any other faction when played to the trick, but its rank must become 5.  It does not get any special powers related to the chosen faction. 

DINOSAUR 

When beaten during Phase 2, Dinosaur returns to the player’s hand. 

VAMPIRE QUEEN 

Cards played against Vampire Queen in the trick lose all of their powers. 

TREANT 

Treant becomes any faction that the player has collected at least two cards of during Phase 2. 

KRAKEN 

If the player wins a trick with Kraken during Phase 2, they take one card from their opponent’s hand.  The trick-winner then gives one card of their choice back to their opponent. 

DEATH 

During Phase 2, when Death is played to the trick, all of the cards in the trick are discarded from the game.  Whoever would have won the trick leads next.   

UNDEFEATED WARRIOR 

This card has no special power, but it has a high rank number. 

Mark Ball
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