In the icy north, an army of barbaric wildlings gather to descend upon the continent of Westeros. The ancient order of the Night's Watch protects the massive Wall that defends against these (and even more insidious) dangers. Yet the strength of the Night's Watch will fail without the support of the great Houses.

In A Game of Thrones: the Board Game there are two events during the Westeros Phase which cause the wildlings to attack. They are:

• The Wildling Threat token reaches "12" on the Wildling track.
• A "Wildling Attack" Westeros card is drawn and resolved.

The Wildling Threat

In all three Westeros decks (I, II, and III), some cards are marked with a Wildling icon. For each such Westeros card, the Wildling Threat token is advanced one space on the Wildlings track (in this way, it's possible for the Wildling Threat token to advance up to three times during a single Westeros Phase).

A wildling attack is resolved over the following steps:

1. Determine Wildling Strength

   Check the current position of the Wildling Threat token. The number printed on its position on the Wildlings track is the strength of the wildling attack.

2. Bid Power

   Each player hides his available power behind his player screen, and then secretly bids a number of Power tokens (from his available power) in a closed fist.

3. Calculate Night's Watch Strength

   Once all players have made their secret bid, bids are simultaneously revealed. Add together the total power bid by all players to determine the strength of the Night's Watch.

4. Determine Outcome

   If the strength of the Night's Watch equals or exceeds the wildling strength, the wildling attack has been defeated.

   If the wildling strength exceeds the strength of the Night's Watch, the wildlings are victorious. Players now resolve the "Consequences of a Wildling Attack".

5. Adjust Wildlings Track

   If the Night's Watch are victorious, immediately reset the Wildling Threat token to "0" on the Wildlings track. If the wildlings are victorious, however, the Wildling Threat token is only moved back two positions (to a minimum of "0").

6. Discard Power

   All Power tokens bid by players, regardless of victory or defeat, are discarded to the Power Pool.

Consequences of a Wildling Attack

After the outcome of a wildling attack has been determined (during step 4 above), players face the ramifications of success or failure, as follows:

1. Reveal Wildling Card

   Draw the top card of the Wildling deck to determine the reward or penalty players will receive.

2. Resolve Wildling Card

   If the Night's Watch successfully defeated the wildlings, the player who bid the highest amount of Power receives the reward indicated under "Night's Watch Victory" on the Wildling card.

   If the wildlings are victorious, the player who bid the least amount of Power suffers a severe penalty while the other players suffer a lesser penalty. Both the severe and lesser penalties are described on the Wildling card under "Wildling Victory".

3. Bury Wildling Card

   Place the used Wildling card facedown on the bottom of the Wildling deck.

As elsewhere in A Game of Thrones: The Board Game, the outcome of ties in bidding are decided by the holder of the Iron Throne token. For example, if the lowest bid is tied between two players, the holder of the Iron Throne token decides which of these two players is the lowest bidder.

The wildling attack is now over and the game proceeds.

Note: In rare circumstances, it's possible for the wildlings to attack twice during one Westeros Phase. This would occur if enough Wildling icons were drawn to make the Wildling token reach the "12" position on the Wildling track, and the Westeros card "Wildlings Attack" was revealed.

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