Capture Flag Rules

WARLORDS II "CAPTURE THE FLAG" RULES (version 0.5.1 beta!)

TERMINOLOGY:
1. Principal Game Elements:
  1. The Flag (standards of White/Black)
  2. The Bearer (White/Black heroes)
  3. Helpers (all other heroes)
  4. Bases (all capitals)
  5. Resources (any other city)
2. Additional Terminology:
  1. The Sides ("South", led by White, and "North", led by Black)
  2. The Players: White, Orange, Green, etc. - the countries in the game; also refers to the people playing those countries.
  3. The Teams: groups of allied players; each Team plays a Side
  4. Team Captain: the person playing White/Black, who controls the Bearers for his Team
  5. Team Actions: something a Team has to decide as a group
  6. Dropping: When an item is dropped on the ground as a bag.
  7. Planting: When a standard is planted and can be vectored to.
  8. Owners: When discussing a Flag, this is the Team to whom the flag belongs.
  9. Thieves: When discussing a Flag, this is the team which is trying to capture/steal the flag.
HOW TO WIN:
1. Capture the other Side's Flag, and return it to any Base on your own Side. (Or eliminate all the other Side's players from the game, as per usual Warlords.)
THE FLAG:
1. Is kept by the Bearer(s).
2. Only the Bearer(s) on a given Side can carry that side's Flag, though they may choose to plant it and then go somewhere else.
3. One Side's flag MAY be picked up and moved by ANY Thief (Bearer or Helper on the OTHER Side), at ANY time. Relays are allowed.
4. Note - if a Side's Flag is stolen, only Bearers of that Flag can reclaim and carry it!
5. Unless stolen by a Thief, the Flag must be "Planted" at the end of every turn, for all the world to see. Therefore, unless stolen, the Flag may not end a turn in a city, temple, ruin, but it may fly atop a tower.
6. When planted as a standard, armies MAY be vectored to a Flag.
7. If a Flag is stolen by a Thief, the Thief must drop the Flag at the end of each turn, and announce where the Flag is. A *stolen* Flag *may* end in cities, temples, ruins, or towers, but not in the water!
8. If a Bearer loses his Team's Flag over water, his Team forfeits.
9. If a Thief loses a stolen Flag over water, his Team forfeits.
10. The positions of BOTH Flags must be announced to ALL Players at the beginning and end of every turn; if the Flag is dropped as a bag, players should indicate which bag it is (in case there might be more than one). Each turn-change message should include info in the Flanagan Format:
  - The turn 14 game file was sent to black at 12:32 est 4/1/96.
  - The Black Flag was still planted sothwest of Midgard.
  - The White Flag was moved and dropped northeast of Arkulsludge
  1. If everyone uses this in their email every turn, no one should forget to plant/drop the Flag at their turn's end.
  2. If someone DOES forget, and it's caught right away, use the Elamurian Compromise: REDO the turn.
  3. If it isn't caught right away, then on the offending player's NEXT turn, implement the Goransson Penalty: force the player to move BACK to the NEAREST SQUARE on which the Flag can be planted (leaving a tower if in the tower), PLANT THE FLAG PROPERLY, and LEAVE IT PLANTED FOR A FULL TURN. (Teammates of the offending player may not intervene to move the Flag to safety for one turn.)
BEARER(S):
1. Are any White/Black heroes.
2. Are the only heroes allowed to carry their Side's Flag.
3. The Flag must be Planted at the end of each turn.
4. Bearers may not deliberately drop a flag in water so that it disappears; this forfeits the game.
5. Bearers ARE NOT allowed to use speed items at any time.
6. Bearers ARE allowed to use flight items at any time.
HELPER(S):
1. Are any other heroes in the game, besides the Bearer(s)
2. Cannot carry their own Side's Flag.
3. Are (only) allowed to carry the other Side's Flag, but must drop the flag at the end of each turn, and therefore cannot end a turn over water while carrying the oppostion's Flag. Note that it's not possible to *plant* another side's flag; the game simply doesn't have that feature. Nor would you want to - they might vector units in to attack you!)
4. Are allowed to start/finish their turn anywhere, unless carrying the other side's Flag.
5. Helpers MAY NOT use speed items at any time.
6. Helpers MAY use flight items at any time.
BASES:
1. Are the capital cities of each of the players.
2. Must be kept so there is somewhere to return the enemy Flag to!
3. If all bases are lost and the enemy Flag captured, at least one base must be recaptured, and the flag held in that base, in order to claim victory.
4. A captured flag can be returned by ANY player on a Side to ANY of that Side's Bases, though they may have to capture the Base to allow the Flag to get in.
RESOURCES:
1. Are the other cities in the game.
2. Exist only to deliver money or units to a player, and shelter to the Bearer and the Helpers of a Side.
3. Players on the same Team can exchange Resources as desired to further the cause of that Team.
VARIATIONS:
1. If razing is enabled, it may make more sense for players to return a captured Flag to a designated Home Temple, rather than to a potentially-razed Base.

Initial Idea by : Mike Heeter
Idea might have died except for: Elam T. Birnbaum
Fine tuned and developed by : Mike Heeter, Bob Newell, Bob Heeter, Magnus Gšransson, Elam T. Birnbaum, Jim Panagos, Jim Flanagan
Rules Written by : Bob Heeter

Special thanks to SSG

If you have questions or comments on these rules, especially if you have played a game of capture the flag, please send a short email to

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If you have questions or comments about the Battle Flag scenario, please contact Jim Flanagan.

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