Rank & File

You are the King of a fallen realm, and your army is whoever stayed: millers, poachers, a deserter or two. Every recruit is a Pawn. Capes raise them into Rooks, Knights, Bishops and, once, a Queen. They die for good. If the King dies, the run ends.

A turn

Every unit on the field acts in order of Speed, yours and theirs interleaved — the bar at the top shows who is next. Click a blue tile to move (forests cost 2 and give +2 DEF), then attack a red enemy, use your ability (Q), or wait. Clicking an enemy out of reach walks to it and attacks in one go. Undo takes back a move until you act. Items are a free action, once per turn. Before round one you can arrange the band on the gold tiles.

Nothing is hidden

Hover any enemy to see its movement range and exactly what it will do on its turn. Press T to shade every tile an enemy could strike before you act again. Damage previews are exact; there are no dice.

Sword, shield, magic

damage = ATK + weapon (+25% if the weapon suits the class) − DEF for steel (swords, lances, axes, daggers, bows), or − RES for arcane (staves, tomes). Minimum 1. Armoured units have high DEF and low RES; casters the reverse. A Rook laughs at swords and dies to a tome. Shields raise DEF, wards raise RES. Distances are king-moves: diagonals count as one.

Class	Ability (SP)	Edge (your band only)	Suited weapons	Soft spot
Pawn	Brace — half damage until your next turn (2)	+2 ATK beside another Pawn	Sword	Everything
Rook	Fortify — +5 DEF, adjacent enemies must hit you (3)	A blow along a row or column shoves the foe back	Axe (ignores half DEF)	Magic (RES 2)
Knight	Charge — leap 2–3 tiles, hit all adjacent foes at 75% attack power, throw the survivors back (3)	+2 ATK striking 3+ tiles from where its turn began	Lance (reach 2)	Low HP
Bishop	Heal — 12 HP to an ally within 3 (2)	+2 ATK against a foe on a diagonal	Staff (+50% heal), Tome	Steel (DEF 3)
Queen	Royal Decree — +3 ATK to all allies, this round and the next (4)	—	Dagger (hits twice), Tome	Being the only one
King	Inspire — allies within 2 heal 20% and gain +2 ATK until the end of next round (3)	—	Bow (range 2–3), Sword	Dying

Pushes. A shoved or thrown foe that hits a wall, the edge of the field or another unit takes 2, and so does the unit it hits. Pushed into water or lava, it is gone. Bosses stand firm. Every preview shows the edge and where the push lands.

Criticals. There are no dice: a critical is earned. A blow that meets a class edge (or an Executioner's mark) glints gold in the close-up; one that also fells its foe is a Critical — the stage darkens and the blow lands at full stretch.

Growing

Units level from hits and kills: +HP, alternating +ATK / +DEF, +SPD every third level. At levels 3, 6 and 9 they choose a talent. Every recruit has an origin with a small stat lean. At camps you can rest, train one unit, or confide — sit with someone by the fire for +3 max HP and a little of their story.

Banners

A banner is a rule the whole band fights under for the rest of the run. You raise one at the start, one after each boss, one of two after an elite; markets sell one and some events offer cursed ones. Three schools: the Shield Wall (hold ground), the Grey Cloaks (hunt and burn), the Rising Rank (promotion itself). The King carries them as pennants on his standard. Two or three that fit each other are a playstyle.

Capes

A cape promotes a Pawn into a class, within chess limits: one Queen, two Rooks, two Bishops, two Knights. When a promoted unit dies its cape drops where it fell; end a unit's turn on it to recover it. If you rout the enemy, every cape still on the field is recovered. If the King escapes through an exit, they are lost.

Enemies

Packs start dormant and wake when you come within 3 tiles, or when you hit one. From Act II some battles are Hold battles: every foe starts awake, reinforcements land on the marked tiles, and you win by surviving to the end of round 6. Waking one pack at a time is safe but slow: win by the par round shown in the bar and you may take two of the spoils instead of one. Escaping with the King keeps full gold, plus a little for every kill, but leaves any capes on the ground. Elites carry a modifier (Armored, Swift, Brutal, Vampiric). Each boss has a signature move; its forecast is on the board. Progress is saved at the start of every turn: close the page and Continue picks up that turn. Once per battle, Reset rewinds to the start of your previous unit's turn.