Triumph & Treachery - A Guide

Triumph & Treachery

We'll be playing a game of Triumph & Treachery on Sunday for our Tainted Blood of the Innocent games. However I realise that a lot of the players involved will not of had the chance to play a game of T&T and perhaps have no idea what it is - so in light of this I've created a mini guide so that everybody can prepare for the gaming madness that will surely ensue.

Brief Introduction

Triumph & Treachery was released in November 2013 and was a limited print run, so if you see any copies lying around in stores pick them up! The ruleset allows players to play large multiplayer games in an easy and accessible format and minimizes a lot of the issues that come with having multiple armies on the tabletop. The whole premise of the game is to create fragile alliances with other players whilst betraying others, whilst wrangling deals and messing with your opponents battle plan - in short it really fits the Triumph & Treachery title.

Turn System

T&T uses a unique turn system compared instead of the 'I go - you go' method that you'll all be accustomed too. Instead each player is assigned a specific turn card, these are five cards that are identical on the back but have five different weapons on the front, where each player is assigned a weapon. At the beginning of each turn the cards are shuffled and placed face down, creating an order of play which is unbeknownst to the players and once everybody is ready the top card is flipped up revealing a weapon and allowing that player to go first. This creates a situation where nobody knows the order of play, and nobody can truly pre-plan their battle plans as there's a sense of unknowing.

Order of Play

T&T turn phases are exactly the same as a normal game of Warhammer, Movement, Magic, Shooting and finally Combat. However instead of having free reign to do what you like to who ever you like, you may only select one enemy army in each phase, all other forces become neutral and cannot be affected.

So for example; my player card has just been flipped over and it's now my turn. I decide to choose James' Dark Elves as my enemy in the Movement phase which means that I can only charge his units that turn. But in the Magic phase I decide to target Henry, which means that between the two of us we work out power and dispel dice as usual and I can only cast spells on my own units and Henry's enemy units.

Active, Neutrals & Enemies

These are terminology given to certain units, Active units are your own, Enemy units belong to the enemy that you've declared in each independent phase and Neutral units are everybody elses models that cannot be effected in any way.

Paychests and £$€¥

Show me the monies! So instead of Victory Points being used there's a system called Paychest. Simply put each player gains coins every time they wipe out a unit and the amount of coinage they gain depends on the total pointage of the unit. Effectively the player with the largest Paychest at the end of the game is the winner. Players can decide to use this paychest however to bribe other players, so there's nothing stopping you from paying a gold coin too somebody to ensure they don't charge you this turn - but in true T&T spirit you don't have to stand by any deals you make, chuckle, chuckle...

Grassing Him Up

There's no rule in the book saying that underhand dealings and general nonsense isn't permitted. So feel free to shout at who has the largest Paychest and feel free to mess up your opponents plans by throwing a curve ball at the last moment, it's all silly fun at the end of the day.

Action Cards

So you'll have noticed that only two players get involved in each of the current players phases which leaves the other players waiting in the lurch. So to combat the encroaching boredom and agitation that may occur each player draws action cards that can be used at any time, either in your turn or during some body elses.

For example; I'm about to charge a horde of Bestigor into the flank of Gareth's Orc Boys, however Ben sees that this could be detrimental to his plan if the Bestigor break through and plays an action card which means I must select another player to be my opponent for the movement phase. Which means the Bestigor can't charge the Orcs this turn and I'll have to choose another player to be my enemy scuppering my plans.