From: mike1@nospam.visi.com (Michael. Schneider  )
Subject: Strategic Titan FAQ

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STRATEGIC TITAN FAQ 1.0
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0. About this document

   This FAQ has not been produced or endorsed by the The
Avalon Hill Gaming Company (AH), nor has it been submitted
for such. It was written at the author's whim and will be
revised whenever the fancy strikes him. Revisement is likely
as playtesting continues, rule "bugs" are encountered and
cool ideas intuited. This FAQ is *primarily* posted in the
internet newsgroup rec.games.board. Gaming web sites are
free to include this FAQ at their site, provided I am
credited and a link to my email address (see at end) is
listed.

0.0 Table of Contents:

      1. What is "Titan"?
      2. What is "Strategic Titan"? 
      3. Differences from "Official" Titan (OT)
      4. Legion Movement
      5. Towers
      6. Legion Markers
      7. Mulligans
      8. Resurrected By the Gods
      9. Options

1. What is "Titan"?

   1.1   "Titan" is a board game by AH. It is an abstract
elimination game, the object of which is to destroy the
forces belonging to other players. The game is very popular
for its entertaining fantasy theme, asthetics, and creative
original approach to recruitment of new fighting units. This
FAQ presumes you already know how to play "official rules"
Titan. An official Titan FAQ exists elsewhere on the
internet; a search for "Avalon Hill Titan FAQ" should easily
find it.

2. What is "Strategic Titan"?

   2.1 Strategic Titan is a variant style of play which
reduces the very high luck element of dice-rolling inherent
in Titan and (hopefully) the lengthy amount of time often
required to play it (Titan's two major flaws), and makes
planning of future turn movement possible - and necessary.
Strategic Titan does not require anything beyond the basic
board game from AH. Subsequent FAQs will address "Super
Titan" (made by Daniel U. Thibault, selinur@IO.com) and
other suppliments.

3. Differences from "Official" Titan (OT)

   3.1 In OT, each player rolls a die to determine how many
spaces any of his legions must move. In OT, each player
starts with twelve legion markers, with him gaining more by
eliminating another player. In OT, at certain times, legions
containing Titans may teleport, and do certain things after
teleporting. In OT, a player may in certain situations
re-roll a die (a "mulligan") if it is unsatisfactory. These
proceedures and set conditions are changed in ST.
   3.2 All rules of OT are considered to be in effect, so long
as they are not countered here.
   3.3 Optional rules are featured at the end of the FAQ.

4. Legion Movement

   4.1 Each player chooses his movement number at the time he
would normally roll a die in OT to determine it. It must be
a number from one to six.
   4.2 A player's movement number may NOT be the SAME number
as either of his last TWO turns'.
   4.21 Movement numbers are to be recorded to ensure this,
and are public knowledge.
   4.22 The movement number is considered "recorded" when the
player moves a legion and takes his hand off it. He
announces the movement number at that time (prior utterances
are irrelevent "table talk"). See Mulligans, 7.21, 7.22.
   4.3 EVERY legion that the player has, except his Titan's
(see 4.7), that is ABLE to move that number of spaces MUST
move. (Re-read! Major change from OT!)
   4.4 A legion does NOT have to move and attack an enemy
legion IF it would "stop short" in doing so, and that attack
is its only legal move...
   4.41 ...but it MAY.
   4.5 If a splitting legion excercizes the option to not
"stop short" attack, it will recombine with any other split
which has legally not moved for the same or other reasons
(major change!).
   4.6 A legion DOES have to attack an enemy legion if it is
EXACTLY the movement number of spaces away, and that attack
is its only legal move.
   4.7 A legion containing a Titan does NOT have to move for
ANY reason, even if it is the only legion a player has left.
If the player chooses not to move his only remaining legion
(the Titan), that turn's movement number is recorded as
"pass" (a player may pass in successive turns, counter to
4.2).
   4.71 If asked why a legion on the board is not moving, a
player must reveal that it contains a Titan (or move it). He
need not venture any information if not specifically asked
about that particular legion (the other players must be
attentive).
   4.8 Excepting the first turn, if a player has one or more
legions in the CENTER, he may not select a one as his
movement number, UNLESS he has arranged it so that his
legion(s) in the center cannot move (e.g., the pertinent
stacks will be blocked by others stacks of his, or one which
does not move contains his Titan).
   4.9 See 5.4.

5. Towers

   5.1 Titan legions may not teleport to locations other than
Towers. As in OT, movement number must be a six.
   5.2 Warlocks may not be recruited if a Titan legion's FIRST
move is to teleport (they may be recruited on later
teleports).
   5.3 A record is kept of each Tower a player visits. He may
not stop in the same one twice in a row. He is considered
"visiting" the Tower he is in at the start of the game , and
may not return to it until he has stopped at another (he may
slide through it as many times as he likes, however).


6. Legion Markers

   6.1 Players begin the game with five legion markers.
   6.2 Player do not acquire more than twelve legions,
maximum.
   6.3 For each enemy legion a player attacks and destroys in
COMBAT, he acquires a legion marker, provided his attacking
legion survived.
   6.4 For every TWO enemy legions a player attacks and which
SURRENDUR to him, he acquires a legion marker.
   6.5 Defeated legion markers return to their owners for
re-use.
   6.6 If a legion succesfully defends itself in COMBAT (by
destroying all forces, or by time-out), the defending player
acquires a legion marker.
   6.7 For every TWO successful defenses from attacks in which
the attacking player forfeits by NOT moving his pieces onto
the battleland, the defending player acquires a legion
marker.
   6.8 A player's total number of available legion markers
never diminishes, they only accumulate.

7. Mulligans

   7.1 Mulligans are "luck stabillizers"; each player starts
the game with six . Normally they are used to force re-rolls
of detrimental dice throws in combat, but may also be
forfeited as a penalty for correcting a booboo. A player's
number of mulligans should be recorded, as the number will
rise or fall.
   7.2 A player may use a mulligan to change his movement
number after letting go of that turn's first-moved stack
(the "Oops!" retraction). If he moves N stacks before
"Oops!", he may forfeit N mulligans to relocate them all to
their starting positions. He may mulligan only so long as he
has yet to actually encounter an enemy stack via either
player viewing any creatures of the other.
   7.21 If a player, when announcing his movement number after
taking his hand off the stack, is in error (the number does
not match how many spaces the legion moved via any means),
he must "burn" a mulligan correcting the situation by
stating the correct number or reconsidering his move.
   7.22 After the movement number is recorded, further
movement errors by a player are simple illegalities, and he
suffers no penalties while correcting the moves, as he
wouldn't when correcting a move not in agreement with the
die roll in OT.
   7.23 A player may use a mulligan to retract a split after
the movement number is recorded, but prior to moving the
split legions. The recombined stack may not be used to
attack under any circumstances. If that results in no legal
moves, then the split may not be mulliganed, unless the
player burns enough mulligans to retract his movement number
and start over.
   7.24 A player may use a mulligan to enact a split, if he
forgot to prior to announcing his movement number, provided
that the stack to split has yet to move.
   7.3 A player AQUIRES a mulligan whenever an encounter with
an enemy results in the removal of one of his legion markers
from the board, UNLESS he still has, after the battle, the
most legions on the BOARD of any player, or is tied for the
lead. The mulligan is immediately available for use if there
are more encounters scheduled.
   7.4 A player LOSES a mulligan every time he ACQUIRES a
legion marker, and it is lost immediately when the
acquisition conditions are met, UNLESS he has fewer legions
on the BOARD than anyone else, or is tied for last and has
fewer total legion markers than other players or is tied for
last.
   7.41 A Player LOSES a mulligan every time he passes a
100-point mark, unless he has fewer points than any other
player or is tied for last after the addition.
   7.5 A player may mulligan as many times as he likes, so
long as he has them (e.g., he could continually mulligan a
very important die roll until out of mulligans or until a
satisfactory result is achieved).
   7.6 If a player's Titan legion is attacked, he acquires one
"temporary" mulligan which only his Titan may use during
that combat. If the mulligan is not used in that combat by
the Titan, it is lost.
   7.7 During combat, while one player is rolling dice,
regardless of phase, the player whose creatures are taking
damage may use a mulligan to demand that the player
inflicting damage re-roll the most recent dice throw. (It is
important to roll creatures seperately for this reason.) The
player currently rolling dice must give the other time to
assert a mulligan before rolling his next creature's strike.
(Note: if the player the re-roll is demanded of then tosses
badly, he could use one of his own mulligans to throw again,
and this could continue tit-for-tat.)
   7.8 If the "Alternate Battlelands" are in use, the DEFENDER
rolls a die to determine which battleland is used. If he is
not satisfied, he may mulligan.
   7.9 Should all basic Tower creatures be gone upon entering
a Tower, a player may burn mulligans to recruit the lowest
ranking higher tier creature available: Lion/Troll/Cyclops =
1 mulligan, Ranger/Gorgon = 2, Warbear/Minotaur = 3,
Wyvern/Gryphon/Gaurdian = 4, Unicorn/Behemouth = 5,
Angel/Warlock =  6, higher non-Lords/Archangel = all
mulligans, minimum of 7.

8. RESURRECTED BY THE GODS

   8.1 Should a player's Titan be killed in battle, and that
player have 10 mulligans (including one just acquired for
losing the Titan legion), he is RESURRECTED BY THE GODS.
   8.2 After all of his other legions are tallied and cleared
from the board, he places a legion containing a Titan,
Angel, and six basic creatures of ANY assortment he desires
in any Tower on the board, and acquires six new mulligans.
   8.3   If there are not six (or any) basic creatures, see 7.9,
and take what is necessary to fill the legion, free of
charge.
   8.4 This legion is not considered a "starting" legion, and
so starting split rules do not apply. On succeeding turns,
the player does not have to split or even move the legion
(because it contains a Titan) until he so chooses.
   8.5 The player retains all legion markers possessed before
Resurrection.
   8.6 The player retains his points.

9. Starting Options

   9.1 Players start the game with nine basic creatures (three
of each type), and a Titan, Angel and Warlock, each of which
will head one of three initially splitting legion stacks.
   9.11 With the above, other non-starting Warlock counters
are removed from play. Warlocks only become available for
recruitment when they are killed and "recycled". (There are
a limited number of Warlocks; if fewer than six persons
played starting with Warlocks, earlier moving players could
pursue a deliberate strategy of immediate Warlock
recruitment and acquire the limited remainder before others
have an equal chance using the same starting moves.)
   9.2 Players start the game with a Centaur, Lion, Gargoyle,
Cyclops, Ogre and Troll as their six initial creatures.
(This opens up more options on the first turn.)
   9.3 Players start the game with two Titans and no Angel
(DejaNews search for "Double Titan" variant in
rec.games.board newsgroup), or two Titans and an Angel in
three starting splits ("Triple Titan").
   9.4 "Easy-does-it": Players start with fewer legion
markers.
   9.5 "Bloodbath": Players start with more legion markers.


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Feedback regarding Strategic Titan is desired, especially
any notice of "killer" first- or last-moving player
strategies which are not possible to counter unless new
rules are made to deal with them (example: 9.11), or any
other "stagnant" strategies, such a dallying around the same
Tower all game (dealt with in 5.3), hogging the Center
(dealt with in 4.2 and 4.8), and everybody-grabs-a-Warlock
(5.2). Postings to rec.games.board are preferred, although
constructive criticisms may be sent to my email.

Michael J. Schneider   mike1@nospam.visi.com

+--+--+

"Impending doom takes all the fun out of decadent living!" - Yago


