Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony)

Frequently Asked Questions

Adversaries

• Does cascading Blight contribute to the loss condition of Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony)?
  Yes, as long as the original Ravage Action in a land caused 8+ damage.
  Tags: Ravage, Blight, Victory and Defeat, Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony), 0 more...
• For Habsburg Level 1 (Migratory Herders), does it check all Build Cards, or just those in the normal Build Space?
  The intent is that it only checks cards in the Build Space printed on the Invader Board, but that isn't explicitly spelled out for space reasons (and because it doesn't matter 99% of the time). If you play it as written (also checking Build Cards in other places), that's totally fine.

  Situations where it makes a difference include are playing double-Adversary with England Lvl 3+ (the High Immigration step has Build Cards) and the Event Card "Farmers Seek the Dahan for Aid" (which can turn a Ravage Card into a Build Card).
  Tags: Build Step, Build Cards, Combining Adversaries, Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony), 2 more...
• For Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony) Level 4, when "Destroy Town" effects turn to Damage, does that Damage have to respect restrictions on which Towns could have been destroyed?
  Yes. For instance, if you Push a Durable Town into a land affected by Melt Earth Into Quicksand that also has several other Towns, the resulting "2 Damage to Town only" may only be done to the Pushed Town, because that's the only one the Destroy could have affected.

  If you had "Destroy 2 Towns with (Strife)", the 4 Damage could only be done to 2 Towns with Strife. Etc. Basically, consider Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony) Level 4's text to read "2 Damage to those Towns" instead of just "2 Damage to Towns". (This wording will be updated in a future printing.)

  This does include "number of Towns", which is relevant for cases like Drought, which can't spread out its "6 Damage to Towns" among 6 different Towns then wipe them all out with "1 Damage to Town/City".
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Durable, Damage, Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony), Melt Earth Into Quicksand, 2 more...
• When Towns are Durable (have extra Health) due to Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony) Level 4+: If Invaders blight a land during Ravage, does their Towns' extra Health wear off immediately?
  Yes, it drops to normal at the same time as the Blight is added / the Dahan are damaged. If any such Towns have already taken 2+ Damage, they will be destroyed immediately, before Dahan counterattack.
  Tags: Damage, Health, Durable, Ravage, 2 more...
• With Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony) Level 5 (Wave of Immigration), do you do the effect before or after the Explore on that turn?
  After completely resolving the Explore Card above it, including an "After Exploring" Escalations. If you're resolving another Explore Card that turn, e.g., because you're playing the Surges of Colonization scenario, resolve the effects of the Reminder Card before revealing the next Explore Card.

  Formally, Reminder Cards resolve once you're done resolving the Invader Card above them. (Or, in unusual cases like this FAQ, if they end up atop the Invader Deck.)
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Invader deck, Ordering, Reminder Cards, Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony), 2 more...
• What does "in board/land order" mean for Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony) Level 1?
  It specifies exactly what order lands Gather Towns in: any relevant lands on Board A resolves first (starting with the lowest-numbered land matching a Build card and going up), then Board B, etc. On the thematic boards, go in "reading order" of left to right, top to bottom: NW, NE, W, E, SW, and finally SE.

  You go by order of lands to Gather in to. As usual, they can come from any adjacent land, including on another board.

  The primary motivation for this rule is speed of play – if it's not in a deterministic order, it usually doesn't matter much, but occasionally it really does, and searching for those cases and choosing the precise ordering of lands can slow the whole process down.

  If you want to handle all boards simultaneously for further speed, you can, so long as you avoid Gathering Towns that an earlier land might Gather.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Ordering, Thematic map, Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony)
• Is the "6 or more damage to the land" check of Kingdom of Sweden's Level 1 Heavy Mining affected by modifiers to the land's health? (e.g., All Things Weaken, the Resilience Aspect for Vital Strength of the Earth)
  Yes. So they would need, e.g., 5 Damage to add Blight if the land has only 1 Health due to "All Things Weaken," but 14 Damage to add 2 Blight in a land with Vital Strength of the Earth {Resilience}'s Sacred Site.

  The same applies for the Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony)'s extra loss condition (which would need 7 Damage in a 1-Health land to count Blight and 16 Damage in such a Sacred Site to count Blight).
  Tags: Damage, Resilience Aspect (Vital Strength of the Earth), Kingdom of Sweden, Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony), 3 more...
• For Durable Invaders from Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony) Level 4, what exactly counts as a ‘Destroy all’ effect?
  Only “Destroy everything” or “Destroy all (piece) (in a land or lands)”, like “Destroy all Explorer/Town.” Effects limiting the destruction by something the piece has or did (e.g., “is damaged”, “was just moved”, “has Strife”) are not considered “destroy all” and are converted to Damage like all other destroy effects.

  This is most relevant for Ocean's Hungry Grasp, which has “After Invaders/Dahan are moved into the Ocean, Destroy them”; since this limits what gets destroy to “pieces that moved”, it's not a “destroy all”.
  Tags: Durable, Destroy, Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony), Ocean In Play (Ocean's Hungry Grasp), 4 more...
• How many Actions is the Habsburg Livestock Colony Escalation?
  One Action per board with 4 or fewer Blight followed by one additional Action per board with 2 or fewer Blight, for a maximum of 2 Actions per board.

  If you are able to move or destroy the first added Town with a triggered Action, it is possible to choose that land again for the second added Town.
  Tags: Actions, Stage II escalation, Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony)
• Does a Build have to happen for Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony) Level 1 to Gather Towns?
  No, there is always a Build Step, so the Level 1 "Migratory Herders" effect still Gathers Towns into every matching land, even if a Build Action didn't happen there because there were no Invaders present or because the Build Action was explicitly skipped.
  Tags: Build Step, Skipping Actions, Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony)
• How does "Invaders skip all actions" in a particular land interact with a Stage II Escalation affecting that land?
  If the Stage II Escalation is an Invader Action (i.e., Ravage, Build, or Explore), it's skipped. Otherwise, it is an Adversary Action and not affected.

  Specifically:

  • Directly skipped (Invader Actions): Kingdom of England, Habsburg Mining Expedition
  • Indirectly skipped (triggered by Invader Actions): Kingdom of Sweden
  • Unskippable: Kingdom of Brandenburg Prussia, Kingdom of France (Plantation Colony), Tsardom of Russia, Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony), Kingdom of Scotland.

  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Skipping Actions, Stage II escalation, A Year of Perfect Stillness (Vital Strength of the Earth), Paralyzing Fright, 9 more...
• How does Farmers Seek the Dahan For Aid affect Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony) Level 1?
  It doesn't — it changes the next Ravage Card to a Build Card, but doesn't affect the Invader Steps.

  Likewise if the Build is entirely skipped by Immigration Slows, there is still a Build Step and Habsburg Lvl 1 still happens.
  Tags: Build Step, Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony), Farmers Seek the Dahan for Aid, Immigration Slows, 1 more...

Definitions

• When you "Remove 3 Health worth of Invaders," can you Remove 3 damaged Towns?
  No, the Health of an Invader doesn't change when it takes Damage. Damaged Towns still count for 2 Health each.

  A few effects (e.g., Kingdom of England Level 5, or some Event/Fear cards) modify Health, which does affect how many Invaders you can Remove. But Damage does not reduce Health. (Health is simply the total amount of Damage it takes to destroy something.)
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Damage, Health, Seek Safety, Belief Takes Root, 16 more...

Effect Rules

• If an Invader or Dahan is in a land where it has a Health bonus, takes Damage equal to its normal Health, and then gets moved into a land where it has no Health bonus, where is it actually destroyed? (E.g., for *Vengeance of the Dead*)
  The Invader/Dahan is destroyed in the destination land.

  There's no “in between” state where it loses its Health bonus for being out of the first land, but hasn’t yet arrived in the second land; it’s either in the first land and has a Health bonus or in the second land and doesn’t have a Health bonus.

  Moving a damaged piece into a land where it has a Health penalty works similarly.
  Tags: Health, Damage, Triggered Actions, Durable, 16 more...
• When do you resolve a Reminder Card in the Invader Deck when accelerating multiple cards out of the deck (e.g., during the Despicable Theft scenario)?
  If a Reminder Card is revealed in the middle of accelerating the deck, set it aside and then resolve it after the action that caused the acceleration (and any actions it triggered).

  For Despicable Theft in particular, all Thieves in one Coastal land escape as a single action, so if multiple numbered Thieves escape from that land, accelerate the deck from all of them before resolving the revealed Reminder Card.
  Tags: Reminder Cards, Accelerate, Ordering, Despicable Theft, 1 more...
• Are “Destroy” Powers “Damage dealing” Powers when used against Durable Invaders (e.g., for Flame's Fury)?
  Yes.

  For example, Asphyxiating Smoke deals 2 Damage to 1 Durable Town, so that can be increased to 3 Damage to 1 Durable Town by Flame’s Fury.
  Tags: Durable, Badlands, Damage, Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony), 7 more...
• When Blight is added to a land with Vitality, does it destroy Presence?
  Not if there's enough Vitality to prevent all of the Blight from being added.

  Sufficient Vitality will also prevent extra effects of Blight being added, including those from Mining Rush (The Kingdom of Sweden Level 5), Irreparable Damage (The Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony) Additional Loss Condition), Runoff and Bilgewater (The Kingdom of Scotland Level 5), Fragile Sands (Varied Terrains), and All Things Weaken (Blight Card).
  Tags: Blight, Vitality, Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony), Kingdom of Sweden, 7 more...

Event Cards

• If Invaders do extra damage in a land where all Invaders have Strife, what happens?
  Changed answer (as of Jagged Earth): The damage boost does not apply. (JE, p. 7) Per-land damage boosts only apply if the Invaders manage to muster up at least 1 Damage prior to Defend, so empty lands which manage to Ravage, lands where all Invaders are Strifed, or lands full of Explorers that are affected by Mesmerized Tranquility don't get per-land damage boosts. This is a change from pre-Jagged Earth, as noted on the JE rules p. 7.
  

  If you wish to play with the old rule, you can, but the game will be harder.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Strife, Damage, Changed rulings, Destroy the Unnatural!, 9 more...
• When War Touches the Island’s Shores does Damage in a land where Rising Heat of Stone and Sand has exactly 2 Presence, can you take advantage of the Health penalty from Blistering Heat to Destroy Invaders?
  Yes. There is no point at which Rising Heat's Presence has already been destroyed by the Blight, but Invaders haven't yet been checked for taking enough Damage to destroy them.

  This also applies to Far-Off Wars Touch the Island against Durable Invaders.
  Tags: Blight, Timing, Health, Durable, 5 more...

Invader Actions

• What happens when multiple Invader Cards are in the same space on the Invader Board? (e.g., due to Explorers are Reluctant)
  In the corresponding step of the Invader Phase, resolve each card one at a time, starting with the oldest card – the one closest to the Invader Board. When Invader Cards advance at the end of the Invader Phase, the cards move together. [B&C p. 14, JE p. 11]

  Each card separately determines where it creates Invader Actions. If a land matches multiple cards, it can thus get an Invader Action from each one! Clarifications for specific actions:

  • Ravage: Defend applies separately to each Ravage. Only add Blight if a single Ravage deals 2+ Damage to the land. In the uncommon case that a Ravage created by the first card adds or moves Invaders, it can change which lands Ravage due to the second card.
  • Build: Towns/Cities added by the first Build Card affect what is built in that land by the second Build Card.
  • Explore: Pieces added by the first Explore Card can be sources for the second Explore Card, though this only matters if something makes an Explore Action add Towns/Cities or allows Explorers to be sources.

  Anything effect that checks which lands match the Invader Cards in a particular space (e.g., the Hard-Working Settlers Event) or the terrains showing on those cards (e.g., the Fortification Event), checks all of those cards. (It generally won't matter how many times those lands match or those terrains appear, just if they do.)
  Tags: Invader deck, Matches, Tsardom of Russia, Surges of Colonization, 6 more...

Play Options

• When combining the two Habsburg Adversaries, when does Migratory Herders (Livestock Colony Level 1) Gather check which lands match the Salt Deposits card (Mining Expedition Level 4)?
  Migratory Herders checks which lands match (i.e., non-Mining lands) after the Build Step is over. Builds in the non-Mining Lands might turn them into Mining Lands before Towns are Gathered, reducing the number of lands where Migratory Herders does anything. The list of lands that will be Gathered into is fixed at this point, before any Gathers happen.

  However, which lands can be gathered from, the lands that don't match (i.e., Mining lands) is checked when actually Gathering the Town, so it's possible to Gather a Town into a non-Mining land to turn that land into a Mining land, and then Gather that Town into the next non-Mining land.

  Tags: Combining Adversaries, Matches, Timing, Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony), 1 more...

Scenarios

• In the Great River Scenario, if a Town with a Health bonus and 2 Damage taken moves off the island due to Relentless Migration Eastwards, is it Destroyed or does it remain on the Scenario Card?
  It remains on the Scenario Card. The Scenario checks if it successfully exited the island, not what state it would be in after the move if it ended up in a place where it didn’t have a Health bonus.
  Tags: Durable, The Great River, Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony)

Setup

• What counts as the end of Setup for “During Play” Adversary/Scenario effects? And how are they different from “After Setup” effects?
  During Play effects do not affect Setup, but do affect normal gameplay. Setup normally ends with the initial Explore, with normal gameplay starting with the first Spirit Phase, but some Adversaries and Scenarios have Setup instructions that happen after the initial Explore and before the game starts.

  There is no difference between During Play and After Setup effects that happen more than once. With Jagged Earth turning "after" into a key word for Triggered Actions, if "after Setup" were interpreted as strictly as possible, it would make the associated effect happen exactly once, between Setup and Spirits choosing Growth Options on the first turn. With the exception of Guard the Isle's Heart, which explicitly adds an extra step to Setup, "after Setup" effects from Jagged Earth and earlier should be interpreted as "During Play."
  Tags: Guard the Isle's Heart, Kingdom of France, Varied Terrains, Despicable Theft, 3 more...

Spirits and Innate Powers

• If an effect changes the Health of all pieces that meet a particular condition, does that affect pieces in The Endless Dark?
  Yes, so long as it checks the traits of the piece itself (e.g., what type it is, how much Strife it has) rather than the traits of the land it’s in (e.g., if Blight is present, if at least 3+ Invaders are present).
  Tags: Health, Breath of Darkness Down Your Spine, The Endless Dark (Breath of Darkness Down Your Spine), Kingdom of England, 9 more...
• What happens if 1 or more Invaders/Dahan moved into the Ocean aren't successfully destroyed by the Ocean in Play special rule?
  Push them to non-Ocean lands (as part of the same action). If the Push also fails somehow (perhaps due to Isolate), the pieces will be left in an illegal state and cleaned up to the nearest land after all triggered actions complete – human pieces cannot remain in the Ocean between "action trees" (a primary action and all other actions following from it). Regardless, Ocean's Hungry Grasp does not get Energy for them.

  This isn't formally specified on Ocean's panel because it's virtually never relevant with just the core game, and spelling it out would both take up a lot of space and needlessly increase complexity / confusion-potential for players who only have the base game. However, it becomes very relevant when playing vs. The Habsburg Monarchy Lvl 4+ (Jagged Earth), which blunts "Destroy Town" effects; see this FAQ if you need details.

  The fact that the Push is part of the triggered action means that it can trigger further actions – e.g., Melt Earth Into Quicksand or Call to Guard in the land Pushed to – which cleaning up illegally placed pieces does not do.

  As a very specific edge-case, if the Ocean is also a normal land due to Weave Together the Fabric of Place, humans can hang out there without trouble (until end of turn when the effect expires).
  Tags: Illegally placed pieces, Triggered Actions, Push, Durable, 5 more...
• When Rising Heat of Stone and Sand has exactly two Presence in a land with a Durable Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony) Town that has taken one Damage, what happens with Blight is added to the land?
  The Town is destroyed.

  To lay out the steps in detail:

  1. Heat has two Presence. The Town has 1 Damage and 3 Health.
  2. Blight is added. The Town has 1 Damage and 1 Health.
  3. Destroy one Presence (Blight was added) and the Town (it took Damage equal to or greater than its Health).
     Tags: Blight, Timing, Blistering Heat (Rising Heat of Stone and Sand), Rising Heat of Stone and Sand, 1 more...
• What happens if Fractured Days Split the Sky uses Visions of a Shifting Future on the Invader deck, and there is a reminder card right below the top card?
  Set aside the reminder card, look at the top Invader Card, and shuffle the top two Invader Cards (one of which was previously below the reminder card). Then put the cards back on top of the deck, with the reminder card below the top card.

  If you instead choose to put the top Invader Card on the bottom of the deck, resolve the reminder card before moving on with the rest of the Slow Power Phase.

  Unless otherwise specified, Reminder Cards mark a position in the deck. They are not Invader Cards.
  Tags: Reminder Cards, Invader deck, Visions of a Shifting Future (Fractured Days Split the Sky), Fractured Days Split the Sky, 1 more...
• When exactly do you have to pay for Finder's rule Responsibilities to the Dead when you move something?
  There are two cases where Finder of Paths Unseen must pay:

  • When it moves a piece in a way that decreases the Health of a damaged Dahan or Invader so it has now taken lethal Damage (one of many ways Finder's action can destroy the Dahan/Invaders with its own action);
  • When it moves an Invader/Dahan in a way that directly triggers their destruction by another action (Finder directly triggering their destruction by moving them).

  The first case can happen by causing a Health penalty (e.g., Pushing a damaged Town/City into a Sacred Site of Rising Heat of Stone and Sand) or removing a Health bonus (e.g., Pushing damaged Dahan out of a land with Infinite Vitality or Gathering a Blight into a land with a damaged Durable Town against Habsburg Monarchy Livestock Colony Level 4).

  The second case most commonly occurs in conjunction with Powers like Melt Earth Into Quicksand and Call to Guard and when teaming up with Ocean's Hungry Grasp to Push Invaders into the Ocean (but not when moving Heart of the Wildfire's Presence, since moving the Invaders/Dahan isn't what triggers Blazing Presence).

  If something prevents the destruction, then Finder does not need to pay. If one triggered action triggers another triggered action that causes destruction (like moving pieces into another Spirit's Bargain of Coursing Paths, which then moves those pieces into another Spirit's Melt Earth Into Quicksand), this does not count as "directly triggering" the destruction.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Triggered Actions, Durable, Health, Responsibilities to the Dead (Finder of Paths Unseen), 8 more...
• When the Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony) Level 2+ would Build a City in an Inland Fathomless Mud Sacred Site, how many Explorers get Built?
  One or two Explorers, your choice.

  If you choose to apply Offer No Firm Foundations first, it switches the Build from a City to an Explorer, so More Rural Than Urban doesn’t apply. On the other hand, if you choose to apply More Rural Than Urban first, it switches the Build from a City to two Towns, which Offer No Firm Foundations then switches to two Explorers.
  Tags: Build, Action Modifiers, Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony), Offer No Firm Foundations (Fathomless Mud of the Swamp), 1 more...
• Can Bringer of Dreams and Nightmares destroy already-damaged pieces by moving them into/out of lands that affect their Health? (Eg: moving a Dahan that has taken 2+ Damage out of a land where it's getting a Health bonus from Promises of Protection.)
  Yes. The Power itself isn't performing any damage or destroy effects, which is what To Dream a Thousand Deaths modifies; it's just changing where a piece is. From that, the game's core rules cause the piece to be destroyed.

  The destruction does still happen within the scope of the action (Power), so triggered actions like Vengeance of the Dead will trigger after the action (Power) is complete.
  Tags: Damage, Health, To Dream a Thousand Deaths (Bringer of Dreams and Nightmares), Infinite Vitality, 3 more...
• What happens if the Durable Towns of Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony) Level 4 are moved into the Ocean? Do they Drown? Does Ocean's Hungry Grasp gain Energy?
  Maybe. Drowning is a special form of Destroy, so it works just like a restricted Destroy effect ("2 Damage to those Towns only" per Town moved into the Ocean). It only grants Energy for Invaders successfully destroyed by that Destroy instruction.

  E.g., After you move a Town into an Ocean, the Town takes 2 Damage. If that’s enough to Destroy it (because the Ocean has Blight or the Town was already Damaged), then it Drowns normally. Otherwise, it follows the usual rules for Invaders/Dahan that fail to drown in the Ocean: you Push it to a non-Ocean land. If the land it goes to has Blight, it will immediately be Destroyed, but Ocean’s Hungry Grasp will not gain Energy.

  If 4 undamaged Towns are pushed into the Ocean with a single Action, that results in “8 Damage to those Towns only”, which you could distribute as you wished. If you used it to immediately Destroy 2 of the Towns, those Towns would be successfully Drowned and grant Energy.
  Tags: Destroy, Durable, Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony), Ocean In Play (Ocean's Hungry Grasp), 2 more...