Hadrian's Wall

To begin, each player takes two player sheets (representing their province and wall), a path board, a player card, and a pen. Resource tokens (wood, stone, food, gold, workers, soldiers, servants, and citizens) and barbarian cards are placed in a central supply within easy reach of all players. Players choose a difficulty level for the barbarian attacks, with the green difficulty recommended for first-time players. The player cards are shuffled to form individual player decks, and the barbarian cards are shuffled to form a central draw pile.

The primary objective of Hadrian's Wall is to earn the most Victory Points (VP) by the end of the game. Players achieve this by strategically utilizing their resources to build and upgrade their defenses, develop their province's infrastructure, and manage their population. Success hinges on making optimal choices to maximize VP while mitigating the threats posed by barbarian invasions.

Each game year begins with players simultaneously revealing the top fate card from the barbarian deck, which grants all players immediate resources as depicted on the card. Then, each player draws two player cards from their personal deck, chooses one to play for its end-game scoring objective (placing it above their player sheets), and discards the other for its immediate resource bonus. Players then simultaneously spend their accumulated resources to mark off actions on their player sheets, such as building sections of Hadrian's Wall, constructing various buildings, training units, or developing citizen tracks. Actions can trigger further bonuses, creating powerful combinations. Any unused resources are lost at the end of the year.

At the end of the game, after six years, players calculate their total Victory Points. VPs are awarded for progress on the Renown, Piety, Valor, and Discipline attribute tracks, with higher levels yielding more points. Additional VPs are gained from constructed buildings and landmarks, as indicated on the player sheets and chosen player cards. Players also score VPs for successfully defending against barbarian attacks. Finally, any accumulated Disdain points (from failed defenses) are subtracted from the total VP score.

The game concludes at the end of the sixth year. After all actions for the final year have been resolved and barbarian attacks defended, players proceed to the final scoring phase. Each player tallies their VPs from their attribute tracks, completed buildings, constructed landmarks, and successful defenses. Disdain points are then subtracted from their total. The player with the highest final VP total is declared the winner. In case of a tie, the tied player with the fewest Disdain points wins; if still tied, the player with the most Renown wins.