
- BGG rating
- 10.0
Warring Kingdom: Eastern Men
- 2–4 players
- 60 min
- 2014

2014
Rules assistance for Warring Kingdom
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
For 2 players

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Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Warring Kingdom is a board game released in 2014 for 2–4 players, 45 minutes per game, and ages 13 and up. It was designed by Harry Gao and its main mechanics are Hand Management, Dice Rolling, and Deck, Bag, and Pool Building.
After the death of King Thorne, chaos spread as the lords of the realm battled each other for the supremacy over the land. Warring Kingdom is an ancient themed card game in which players seek to amass a formidable army and crash his peers. The players must visit the slave traders and traveling merchants to create his own city, while plotting to overrun his neighbor's. There are four merchants to choose from, each one with diverse goods of his specialty: 1) Civilians 2) Soldiers 3) Weapons 4) Items Each player has a playing area of 2 rows of 5 cards. The castle is located behind the last row, in the center. Players can deploy up to 10 units into these spaces. Each turn, a player goes through the following phases: 1. Act 2. Deploy 3. Attack 4. Pay 5. Buy 6. Discard and Draw In these phases, a player 1) can choose one action allowance and can execute any one card with an action on it, 2) can choose to deploy a unit onto his board to improve defense and/or economy, 3) can choose to attack another player to cripple their board or even to win the game by destroying their castle, 4) must pay the upkeep cost of all cards currently on his board, 5) can use the remaining income for the turn to visit a traveling merchant and buy more advanced units, items or weapons, and finally 6) must discard his entire hand and draw a new one. The combat stage of the game occurs when a player attacks, and the two players at war will have 5 fronts lined up, with a dice driven mechanic to determine which units will attack. While wars are often unpredictable, a poorly equipped militia would never stand up to an elite force! The constant threat of attack means every player must balance their military needs with their economic ones, fielding an army that's large enough to fend off attackers, yet small enough to avoid draining the economy.
Warring Kingdom supports 2–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Warring Kingdom is 45 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Warring Kingdom for ages 13 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Warring Kingdom has a complexity rating of 3.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-weight game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Warring Kingdom belongs to these categories: Card Game, Fantasy, and Dice. Its main mechanics are Hand Management, Dice Rolling, and Deck, Bag, and Pool Building. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Warring Kingdom are: Harry Gao. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Warring Kingdom as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.