Bastide Tactics

The Bramble has woken at the head of the valley and walks downriver as thorned beasts. Three wardens ride out from the Bastide, the last walled town, to hold the villages one field at a time, all the way up to the Heart that feeds it.

Hold a valley with three wardens on an 8x8 grid. Every foe shows where it will strike: push it off target, then take 1 of 3 upgrades per win.

Pick three wardens and march down the valley through four regions: three battles and a boss in each of the first three, then the Hollow. Before each battle you choose between two fields, each with a bonus goal and a reward for meeting it. A battle lasts four turns on an 8x8 board. Tap a warden to select it: blue tiles show where it can walk, then its action lights the tiles it can aim at. On a phone the first tap on a lit tile shows what will happen and the second tap acts; with a mouse, point to preview and click to act. Red tiles show where each foe will strike when you end the turn, and the number on a foe is its place in the attack order. Foes keep their aim when they are moved, so pushing, pulling, freezing or swapping them makes their strikes miss or land on each other. Anything knocked into rock, a hut or another unit takes 1 damage, and so does what it hits. Every hut destroyed costs 1 Hearth; the run ends when the Hearth is empty or all three wardens are down. A battle won with every hut standing restores 1 Hearth. Burrows mark where new foes surface; stand on one to block it for 1 damage. Boss battles end when the boss falls. After every win you take 1 of 3 upgrades, and bosses and some bonus goals add a keystone that changes a rule for the rest of the run. Renown from every run opens five more wardens, eight more keystones and two more regions. The run is saved after every move. Winning a run unlocks hard mode; the daily run gives everyone the same squad and valley. Keys: 1 to 3 select a warden, arrows move the cursor, Enter acts, F aims, Z undoes a move, E ends the turn.