Playgridia
Crownfall
Crownfall is a free, browser-played war game of marshals — territory conquest one border at a time. A territory does not hold a number, it holds a HOST of three arms: Spearline, Outriders and Hammers, each of which beats one of the others. A clash is ONE exchange: both sides roll a die (1-6) and add it to the Might they built — rolled at the assault, in full view. Win by holding the crowns, by claiming three posted decrees, or by being the last marshal standing. Five real-geography boards: Heartland, Europe, North America, Asia, and Anatolia & the Mediterranean. 2–4 players, against bots or friends.
Heartland
Rules
- 2–4 marshals; the map is dealt at setup, so everybody starts with the same amount of ground
- Your turn is three beats: MUSTER → CLASH → MARCH, and then it passes
- A territory holds a HOST, not a number: Spearline, Outriders and Hammers, counted separately
- The arms beat each other in a ring — Spearline stops Outriders, Outriders ride down Hammers, Hammers smash Spearline. Winning that matchup is worth +2 Might
- Spearline attacks at 1 and defends at 2; Outriders and Hammers attack at 2 and defend at 1
- MUSTER: your Levy is always Spearline — 2 + territories ÷ 4, minimum 3. Every region adds its OWN arm: hold its seat for one, hold the region in full for three
- Holding a region IN FULL also unlocks its EDICT, which you may call once per turn
- CLASH: every assault is a single exchange. Both sides roll ONE DIE (1-6), add it to their Might, and Might is compared once. If the ground did not fall, you may attack again
- TWO WAYS TO COMMIT: ONE CLASH resolves a single exchange (the bar’s percentage is exactly its odds); TO THE END sends wave after wave until the ground falls or a single defender is left holding the door
- THE DICE ARE ROLLED AT THE ASSAULT, in full view. Nothing is pre-rolled, pre-picked or hidden
- The widest swing two dice can produce is 5: if your Might leads by 6 or more, that clash is already won. All the dice decide is by how much
- Hold a region IN FULL and claim the Call the Banners Edict, and your next assault rolls TWO DICE and keeps the higher
- Ground counts: a keep is +3 to the defender, four or more armies are DUG IN for another, and crossing a sea lane costs the attacker 2. Hammers CANCEL the ground bonus — that is what they are for
- Survivors of a winning charge ride in; a charge that is thrown back comes home. A territory may never be left empty
- MARCH: one move between two of your own territories, and the turn ends by itself. A column of pure Outriders crosses two steps
- THE FERMAN TRACK: three decrees stand posted at all times, public and shared. The first marshal to satisfy one claims it — claim three and the match is yours
- Three ways to win: hold the crowns at the START of your turn, claim three decrees, or be the last marshal standing. At the round cap the match is scored — 1 per territory, 3 per crown, 4 per decree, 2 per region seat
One turn, three beats
- Pick a board and a banner in the room — the banner is colour only, the rules are the same for everyone
- MUSTER: tap your own ground — you pick which arm lands there and how many, right on that spot, and confirm
- The 📜 button breaks the muster down line by line: your Levy, plus every region you hold in full
- CLASH: tap your own stack, then a rival neighbour. The assault bar writes out both Mights and what they are made of
- Set the CHARGE arm by arm — you decide who rides, not just how many
- YOU PICK THE CARD. Tap one of the three in the dock and the odds recompute for it, then attack
- MARCH: one move between two of your own territories, and your turn ends by itself
The three arms
- Spearline (att 1 / def 2) is the wall — cheap, it arrives every turn, and it counts double toward digging in
- Outriders (att 2 / def 1) are the only arm that can march two steps in a column of their own
- Hammers (att 2 / def 1) cancel the defender’s ground bonus, which is the only answer to a keep
- The matchup ring is worth +2 Might, so what your host is MADE OF is a position you built and can be beaten for
- Your leading arm decides the matchup ring — check which arm leads THEIR force before you attack
The War Dice
- THE DICE ARE ROLLED AT THE ASSAULT — one each, nothing pre-rolled, pre-picked or hidden
- A die is 1-6 and both sides roll the same one: that is exactly what "fair" means here
- You add your die to your Might. The assault bar prints both Mights BEFORE the dice, so you commit on real numbers
- The battle report always shows the same three things: the Might before the roll, the die, and the total — "9 + 5 = 14". You can check the arithmetic with your eyes
- The widest swing two dice can produce is 5. If your Might leads by 6 or more the clash is already won — the die only says by how much
- The wider the margin, the more fall; in a very narrow win the winner pays a casualty too
- THE REWARD FOR HOLDING A WHOLE REGION: the Call the Banners Edict lets your next assault roll two dice and keep the higher
Winning, and the five boards
- CROWNS: hold the map’s crown target at the START of your turn — you must survive a full round holding them
- DECREES: three stand posted on the Ferman track at all times. Claim three and you win outright
- CONQUEST: the last marshal standing. At the round cap the leader is scored out instead
- Heartland — 18 territories, the realm the story happens in; fits a phone whole, no panning
- Europe — 30 territories, islands, a spine of mountains and two passes
- North America — 28 territories, a mountain wall in the west and grassland in the middle that cannot be defended
- Asia — 34 territories, one impassable wall with only two gates: the longest war on the shelf
- Anatolia & the Mediterranean — 30 territories where the sea makes the rules and every crossing costs Might
A die rolled at every assault
Crownfall is a free browser strategy game about taking a map one border at a time. Every battle is settled by a single six-sided die — both sides roll one, at the exact moment of the assault, in full view. Nothing is pre-rolled, pre-picked or hidden: you see the die, and you see the result.
But the heart of the game is not the die, it is the Might you build BEFORE it. A territory does not hold a number, it holds a HOST of three arms that beat each other in a ring; a keep and a dug-in line add to the defender, and Hammers cancel that ground outright. The assault bar prints both Mights before the dice, and the widest swing two dice can produce is 5: if your lead is 6 or more, the clash cannot be lost. All the die decides is by how much you win — and the army is yours to build.
An army you built, not a number you stacked
A territory in Crownfall does not hold seven armies. It holds a host of three arms — Spearline, Outriders and Hammers — and they beat each other in a ring. Spearline stops horses, Outriders ride down siege crews, Hammers smash a shield wall. Winning that matchup is worth as much as a good card.
So the composition of your host is a position, not a total. Spearline is the wall and it arrives every turn; Outriders are the only troops that can cross two steps in one march; Hammers exist to cancel the ground a defender is standing on. Deciding who rides in a charge is the game.
Objectives that everybody can see
Three decrees stand posted on the Ferman track at all times. They are public and they are shared: the first marshal to satisfy one claims it, and claiming three ends the match. A secret mission card cannot make a map legible, cannot be raced and cannot be followed by a spectator — and in a four-seat game, three turns out of four belong to somebody else.
Crownfall runs in the browser with no download and no account: open a room, add bots or send a friend the link, pick one of five real-geography boards and play. 2–4 players, on a phone or a desktop.
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