Get To Playing Hammer of the Scots

How Blocks Work

This guide covers just enough to start playing. Have the game in front of you and follow along!

Hammer of the Scots is a block wargame. Your forces are wooden blocks that stand upright facing you, so your opponent cannot see a unit's type or strength until it fights. These three short animations show the core gameplay flow.

Hidden Strength

A block stands so only its owner sees the strength on the top edge. The enemy just sees a blank back. When the block is committed to battle it is stood face-up for both players to see.

Taking a Hit

When a block takes a hit in combat it is rotated down one step to show one less strength. If the edge it rotates to still shows strength pips, it stays in the fight, just weaker; if no pips remain, the block is reduced to zero and eliminated.

Moving Into Battle

Blocks move between connected areas. When blocks of both sides end up in the same area, a battle begins and both sides reveal and fight.

That Is the Core

Hidden strength, losing a step on a hit, and moving blocks to force battles are the heart of this style of wargame. The rest of Hammer of the Scots is the year-by-year card play and the fight to control the Scottish nobles. Keep the rulebook handy for the full sequence of play.