The Táin

The Táin is a card driven wargame game for two players based on the Táin Bó Cúailnge or The Cattle Raid of Cooley. This is an epic story of early Irish Literature. It tells of a war against Ulster by the Connacht queen Medb and her husband Ailill, who intend to steal the bull Donn Cuailnge, opposed only by the Ulster hero Cuchulain.

Can Cuchulain hold off an entire army single-handedly or will Medb’s warriors win the day?

The Object of the Game
Cuchulain must slay three of Queen Meb’s chosen champions to win. If he dies before he does this Queen Medb wins.

Turn Order
Cuchulain begins with 6 Battle Cards in hand, Queen Medb with 5 Battle Cards. The game is played in alternating turns, beginning with Queen Medb. A turn consists of two phases: Support and Combat.

On a player’s turn they will first Support

1. Draw back to 5 or 6 Battle Cards in hand depending upon the player. Shuffle the discard deck if necessary to create a new Draw Deck. If a player has more than their starting number of cards in hand, they do not draw new ones. Players always draw cards to replenish their hand at the start of their turn.

2. The player may then choose to:

Play one Battle Card from hand as an Event, either discarding the card or removing (in this case the card will state it is to be removed)
or
Discard one or more Battle Cards from hand for action points, marking the Action Points (AP) on the respective track.
or
Play one Battle Card from hand as an Attack or Defense Stat Boost. The card is placed horizontally to the right of Cuchulain or Medb’s Champion, aligning with their base Attack and Defense values. In subsequent turns, additional cards may also boost these stats. Overlap each card so that the values can be read horizontally.
or
Play one Battle Card from hand to Heal, discarding the card. This option may only be chosen by Cuchulain

3. Then, if the player chooses to, they may Combat as the Attacker

4. When the Combat phase has ended, discard all cards played the Combat Lines to their respective discard decks.