Questions Needing Answers
This document refers to the Avalon Hill version of the Elric board game.
2.1: Is the province furthest east in Dorel directly connected to the most southerly province in Pikarayd?
Units may move from any province to another as long as they both share a borderline. Provinces that are separated by a mountain range do not share a borderline. Since there is a shared borderline between the provinces that you mention, units may freely cross between the two provinces. In addition, units may move from the Dorel province just to the west to either Pikarayd's most southerly province or Argimiliar's province with K'iirleem. Mountains impair movement of units, but hills have not have any effect on gameplay whatsoever. That includes the Dead Hills of Dorel. They may look and sound daunting, but they are just hills.
2.26: What is the significance of the alignment listing for each nation?
There is no significance to gameplay whatsoever. I assume that it is included for game "flavor" or to allow you to design Law vs. Chaos scenarios.
3.5: Are Magnum Colim and the Battle Barge placed on Melnibone at the start of the game?
Yes, all Melnibonean counters except for Elric are placed on Melnibone at the start of the game(unless the scenario states otherwise). Since personalities and nations already on the board may not be mustered, Melnibone will have to fall before these two units can be mustered.
4.91: If a player satisfies condition A does he win immmediately or must he hold Imryrr at the end of the game? What if he satisfies condition B?
As per 4.91, "Each scenario lists a Specific Objective and is a 10 turn game." Therefore, every game lasts a maximum of 10 turns. The only ways to end the game earlier are:
a) The world ends due to the balance shifting towards Law.Therefore, the game continues until 10 turns pass or one of the above occur. At that point, the Victory Conditions are checked.
b) The World ends due to the balance shifting towards Chaos.
c) Any other end game conditions specified in the scenario.
8.1: Do magicians from a player's starting country begin with spells? How many? Assuming they do, can they draw new ones to replace spells discarded (at the start of the game) due to conflicting alignment?
Yes, the player's starting magicians begin with their full complement of spells. Have magicians draw their starting spells one at a time. If spell is drawn that conflicts with one already held, the player has two choices:
a) As per 8.1, transfer either conflicting spell to a non-magician personality in the same stack. This spell may be held for Muster purposes only (and therefore does not cause a conflict, as per 8.5). The Pan Tangians cannot do this for the simple fact that all of their personalities are magicians.8.35: Does Elric count when checking magicians in the stack who have conflicting alignments?
b) Discard either conflicting spell. The discarded spell is not replaced.
Elric is the big exception to spell alignment conflicts. He may hold spells of any alignment, and he never causes a conflict with opposing spells he may be stacked with.
9.83: When a personality makes a Heroic Escape when defending in a walled city, does he remain in the city?
As it states in 9.83, "the personality will appear in the nearest undisputed or friendly province." Presumably, the hero snuck through the siege during the night and avoided the enemy forces long enough to get to safety. If the city is also a port, I would personally allow the personality to appear stacked with any friendly fleet that may be in the sea area adjacent to the city.
9.93: When a neutral nation is attacked, who decides which of its units are placed on the map? Who decides which units take losses? Who makes this decision when Imryrr is attacked? Do the city defense strengths printed on the board include the 5 or 3 point for a walled capital or city? What if the forces of a nation total less than the printed number?
As stated in 9.93, "If a player attacks a neutral city or capital, the city will muster to defend itself. Its defense value is printed on the board next to it. The player to the attacker's right will roll for the defending neutrals." Units are placed on the board so that the defense value of the province matches the printed defense value. The player to the attacker's right decides which units take losses. Personalities of a neutral nation are not allowed to make Heroic Escapes. The printed city defense strengths include the FIVE or THREE point defense value. However, several printing errors need to be noted:
a) Nadsokor's printed combat strength adds a defense value of FIVE, as if it were a walled capital. However, as stated in 6.571, "The cities of all civilized nations, except Nadsokor, are walled." The printed value should be 6, the total of all the Nadsokor forces. Unwalled cities provide no protection in combat.10.1: When a player musters a neutral nation, must he be in control of the capital, i.e. have attacked and defeated the neutral nation's forces?
b) There is a "traitor" Pan Tang army dressed up in Tarkesh colors. The green on white army with two swords was supposed to be black on white and should be given to the Pan Tang forces. Doing so will correct Tarkesh's printed combat value. In the Chaosium version of the game, this unit is correctly colored and is definitely Pan Tangian.
c) Even if you give Pan Tang the extra army, Pan Tang's printed combat value is not correct. It should be 21.
d) Imrryr's defense strength is 25 when the Melniboneans are active but neutral in the scenario (this is according to A. Merritt in his variants document and I have not confirmed this).
This is correct. Rule 6.522 is incorrect and should be ignored.
10.31: When Mordaga's Castle is found, do the Flame Bringers receive the spell that is initially placed in that area?
Only if they are the ones who found it.
10.32: When Kaneloon is found, do the Kelmain Host receive the spell that is initially placed in that area?
Only if they are the ones who found it.
13.1: How many game turns does the Solitaire Game last? The scenario says that the combat strength of Dragons is doubled in this scenario, but this makes no sense as the Dragons are Army/Fleet Eaters and have no strength. In fact the entire scenario is unplayable as the Dragons are not a combat force in the game, only a spell.
This scenario is full of exceptions to the normal rules, with very little explanation of what those exceptions are. The dragons have a combat strength of (5). For this scenario, treat the dragons as units with combat strength 5 and double that to 10 while they are on Melnibone (as per 13.1D). Do not treat the dragons as Army/Fleet Eaters.
In Elric, spells are not just spells. They can be gods (Arkyn, Arioch), monsters (Chaos Butterfly, Dragons), artifacts (Runestaff, Dead God's Book), elemental lords (Straasha, Grome), beast lords (Meerclar, Roofdrak), events (Elric Nightmare, Four-Who-Are-One), or just plain spells (Teleport, Invulnerability).
Spell Counters: If a magician begins the game with Quaolnargn, does it attack him?
Quaolnargn can only be used if the spell has been found. Therefore, if a magician gets the spell in his initial spell draw, return Quaolnargn to the spell container and draw a replacement.