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[werothegreat]

So, this game doesn't have a FAQ, and that makes me sad.  When you put a race into decline, can you stack your new race tokens on top of the declined ones?

[popsofctown]

No.  You'd have to conquer and attack your own declined race to take over that territory.  So if you have a declined Elf sitting on a crystal mine, you'd have to attack your own elf and kill it to conquer it as wizards and get the extra coin income from it.

I think when you decline you have the option to entirely abandon territories to make that easier.

[popsofctown]

I haven't played Smallworld super recently, so other answers can trump mine, I'm just the quickest response here

[Drab Emordnilap]

Races are always separate -- you can conquer your decline race with your active race, but they don't share or benefit each other directly.

Also, I'm pretty sure the only time you can abandon territories is at the start of a conquering turn, when picking up tokens.

[KingZog3]

You may only abandon when redistributing units.

The only the that is ambiguous in the rules is how you attack. I think it's supposed to be in a line, like you move a large stack of units, but it could also be that units can't move more than 1 area per turn.

[Jimmmmm]

You may only abandon when redistributing units.

The only the that is ambiguous in the rules is how you attack. I think it's supposed to be in a line, like you move a large stack of units, but it could also be that units can't move more than 1 area per turn.

You can also abandon before you attack right? I'm pretty sure you can attack into any region that is adjacent to region you control.

[KingZog3]

You may only abandon when redistributing units.

The only the that is ambiguous in the rules is how you attack. I think it's supposed to be in a line, like you move a large stack of units, but it could also be that units can't move more than 1 area per turn.

You can also abandon before you attack right? I'm pretty sure you can attack into any region that is adjacent to region you control.

I don't think so. At least not in the original SmallWorld. Maybe in another version of the game it changed.

[Jimmmmm]

You may only abandon when redistributing units.

The only the that is ambiguous in the rules is how you attack. I think it's supposed to be in a line, like you move a large stack of units, but it could also be that units can't move more than 1 area per turn.

You can also abandon before you attack right? I'm pretty sure you can attack into any region that is adjacent to region you control.

I don't think so. At least not in the original SmallWorld. Maybe in another version of the game it changed.

For the first or second? I've always played that you can you abandon before you attack, which can be pretty important for your strategy if you're Skeletons or Orcs/Pillaging. I thought there was something in the rulebook about that, but I can't check at the moment.

[KingZog3]

You may only abandon when redistributing units.

The only the that is ambiguous in the rules is how you attack. I think it's supposed to be in a line, like you move a large stack of units, but it could also be that units can't move more than 1 area per turn.

You can also abandon before you attack right? I'm pretty sure you can attack into any region that is adjacent to region you control.

I don't think so. At least not in the original SmallWorld. Maybe in another version of the game it changed.

For the first or second? I've always played that you can you abandon before you attack, which can be pretty important for your strategy if you're Skeletons or Orcs/Pillaging. I thought there was something in the rulebook about that, but I can't check at the moment.

For SmallWorld 1 I'm sure it's just on redistributing. I could be wrong, but I'm almost 100% sure.

[qmech]

In the version I have played the rules are like this.  You cannot abandon territories when redistributing, but can abandon as many territories as you like at the start of a (normal) turn.  And you can attack any region that touches one of yours; they don't have to touch each other, or even be on the same connected component of your pieces if they've previously become separated.

[Drab Emordnilap]

In the version I have played the rules are like this.  You cannot abandon territories when redistributing, but can abandon as many territories as you like at the start of a (normal) turn.  And you can attack any region that touches one of yours; they don't have to touch each other, or even be on the same connected component of your pieces if they've previously become separated.

This matches the rules as I have always known them. You cannot abandon territories when redistributing, and you can when picking up units at the start of a conquering turn.

[Jimmmmm]

To conquer a Region, a player must have available to deploy: 2 Race tokens + 1 additional Race token for each [other marker/token] already present in the Region.

...

Each of the newly conquered Regions must be adjacent to (i.e. sharing a border with) a Region already occupied by his active Race tokens, unless permitted otherwise by his Race and Special Power combo.

...

Once a player's conquests for the turn have ended, he may freely redeploy the Race tokens he has on the board, moving them from one Region to any other Region occupied by his race (not necessarily just an adjacent or contiguous Region), provided that at least one Race token remains in each Region under his control.

...

Only those Race tokens that were taken back in hand may be used to conquer new Regions. If a player wishes to free up some more Race tokens, he may opt to entirely empty up some - or all - Regions, leaving no Tokens there; but in this case, these now abandoned Regions will no longer be considered his, nor bring him any Victory coins.

tl;dr You can conquer any region adjacent to a region already controlled by your active race as long as you have enough tokens in your hand ie available to deploy.

You cannot abandon a region when redeploying your troops at the end of your turn, but you may before making conquests at the start of your turn.

This is how I've always played, but I wouldn't have been sure whether you can abandon at the end of your turn since I've never wanted to (of course there are situations in which you would want to, probably involving Skeletons/Orcs/Pillaging or grabbing some crucial territory while protecting yourself from Sorcerers).

[Kuildeous]

And then there's Gypsies.

It's not often that you want to abandon regions, but it is a viable strategy in many cases. You could even abandon all your regions, in which case you invade from an edge piece as if you were attacking for the first time. That is a great trick to pull on the smug, turtling Halflings.

[werothegreat]

Thanks everyone!  So related - if my active race has the Forest power, you don't receive income if your declined race is sitting on Forests?

[Jimmmmm]

Thanks everyone!  So related - if my active race has the Forest power, you don't receive income if your declined race is sitting on Forests?

That's right. Your two races are independent.

[Witherweaver]

You can abandon territories at the beginning of your turn, when you attack other territories.  If you abandon all your territories, you can enter the map at a valid place (i.e., at the edge for most races/abilities).  You can't abandon at the reinforcement stage at the end.  Okay everyone probably said that already.

You don't receive special or racial abilities for your in-decline race, unless it specifically says so.  Noticeably, the races/abilities that are effective when in decline have something on the back of the race/ability card.  So when you turn them over when you're in decline, you can tell.

Also, if you have a race in decline, and you bring your active race in decline, then your in-decline race tokens stay there, but you no longer get anything for them.  They basically become Lost Tribe tokens. (I replace them with Lost Tribe tokens when I play.) Nevermind.

[werothegreat]

You still receive income from your declined race - you just can't move them around the board.

[Jimmmmm]

Also, if you have a race in decline, and you bring your active race in decline, then your in-decline race tokens stay there, but you no longer get anything for them.  They basically become Lost Tribe tokens. (I replace them with Lost Tribe tokens when I play.)

Hmm, I always thought you remove them from the board.

[GendoIkari]

Also, if you have a race in decline, and you bring your active race in decline, then your in-decline race tokens stay there, but you no longer get anything for them.  They basically become Lost Tribe tokens. (I replace them with Lost Tribe tokens when I play.)

Hmm, I always thought you remove them from the board.

Pretty sure this is right. Your first declined race will be completely removed when your second race goes into decline.

[Witherweaver]

Also, if you have a race in decline, and you bring your active race in decline, then your in-decline race tokens stay there, but you no longer get anything for them.  They basically become Lost Tribe tokens. (I replace them with Lost Tribe tokens when I play.)

Hmm, I always thought you remove them from the board.

Pretty sure this is right. Your first declined race will be completely removed when your second race goes into decline.

Huh, I really thought I read somewhere that they still had to be conquered.  But I guess I was wrong. Oops.

[Drab Emordnilap]

Another thing I've seen people get wrong. Let's say you have race A in decline, and race B active. You spread way out with race B, and you get your entire race B wiped out.

1) you still have to spend a turn going into decline. You don't get to pick a new race just because your active race has no tokens.

2) when you decline race B, race A still goes poof, even though race B has no tokens.

[werothegreat]

I'm also considering getting some of the expansions - which do you recommend?  I was thinking of just getting the ones that add races/powers (Cursed, Grand Dames, Be Not Afraid), and possibly Underground.

[Witherweaver]

Another thing that I think is unclear from the way the rules read is that if you have Flying Sorcerers, you can use the Sorcerer's ability of replacing a single units active race token with one of your own on any (valid) region on the board (not on water).  It's hard to understand from the rule book, because while Flying says you can conquer any non-water region, even if it is not adjacent, the description for Sorcerers says their power only works on adjacent regions.

[Witherweaver]

I'm also considering getting some of the expansions - which do you recommend?  I was thinking of just getting the ones that add races/powers (Cursed, Grand Dames, Be Not Afraid), and possibly Underground.

I have underground; it's pretty cool.  The new powers and abilities seem more powerful than the original, but they're interesting.  It also introduces relics and places of power, which are special items you can uncover that give abilities (similar to racial abilities).  Those items and places can then be conquered by other players, so it becomes another consideration for how you expand.

[werothegreat]

I'm also considering getting some of the expansions - which do you recommend?  I was thinking of just getting the ones that add races/powers (Cursed, Grand Dames, Be Not Afraid), and possibly Underground.

I have underground; it's pretty cool.  The new powers and abilities seem more powerful than the original, but they're interesting.  It also introduces relics and places of power, which are special items you can uncover that give abilities (similar to racial abilities).  Those items and places can then be conquered by other players, so it becomes another consideration for how you expand.

My hesitance with Underground is that it seems more like a variant than an actual expansion.  How much room is there for mixing and matching races/powers from the original and Underground?