How To Play: AuZtralia

So you want to win at AuZtralia, eh? Well, you’re in the right spot. I roped in my usual crew, wrestled with Cthulhu, and even lost a sheep or two just to bring you this guide. Here, you’ll find an outline of the game rules and the very best strategies to send those Old Ones packing.

Overview

What’s in the box

• 1 game board
• 4 player boards
• 4 player screens
• 40 starting farm cubes (10 per player)
• 60 railway track pieces (15 per player)
• 32 port tokens (8 per player)
• 12 personality cards
• 17 Old One tiles
• 80 resource cubes (coal, iron, gold, phosphates)
• 40 army units (10 per player: 3 infantry, 3 artillery, 2 armoured trains, 2 airships)
• 36 Old One figures (various types)
• 4 score markers
• 24 time markers
• 4 time tracks
• 1 Cthulhu Awakens marker
• 4 player reference cards
• 1 rulebook

How To Play AuZtralia: Rules Summary

Setup

1. Pick a map side and lay out the board. Half my friends already got lost trying to find New Zealand, so make sure you have the right map!

2. Each player grabs a player board, cubes, and some starting resources. (No, you can’t eat the coal.)

3. Shuffle the personality and event cards. Place them in their spots, along with the fearsome Old One tiles and tokens.

4. Place resources, rail tokens, and armies near the board. It’s like setting up a Lego Death Star, but with less rage.

5. Everyone puts their port on a yellow hex and places their time marker at zero on the track.

Gameplay

1. On your turn, spend time to take actions. Time is everything—run out, and you’ll wake up Cthulhu’s grumpy cousins early.

2. Build rails, farm resources, recruit people, or thump monsters with your army. Each action costs time, so don’t dawdle.

3. When you cross the Old One marker on the time track, the monsters wake up and start messing with everyone. This is not ideal.

4. Combat involves dice and a bit of screaming (from me, mostly). Roll to hit, reduce the bad guy’s health, and pray your army survives.

5. Keep track of your sanity and supplies. Run out, and your guys just stop listening. Or worse, go mad.

Winning

1. Once everyone’s out of time, or the Great Old Ones eat us all, the game ends.

2. Count up your points: farms saved, monsters stomped, resources, and those shiny gold tokens. If you did worse than the monsters, you lose. Yes, the game wins if you all do poorly—rude, right?

3. The player with the most points, and who prevented the most ancient evil mayhem, wins. Bragging rights are not included in the box.

Special Rules & Conditions

1. Some events bring madness, plagues, or angry sheep. Always read the cards and adapt—my group learned the hard way that ignoring event cards is a bad life choice.

2. Don’t trust every personality card—some are double agents! I once hired a guy who turned out to be Cthulhu’s pen pal.

3. If a player can’t go on, their farms and units still get attacked. The Old Ones never forget. Or forgive.

So there you go! That’s How To Play auztralia, with all the basics you’ll need to survive. Good luck! You’ll need it.

Best AuZtralia Strategies

Mastering Resource Management in AuZtralia

Plan Every Move

In AuZtralia, you never want to run out of stuff right when you need it. Therefore, paying attention to resources is the key. How To Play auztralia starts with smart planning.

1. Track your coal and iron from the first turn.
2. Always build more farms than you think you need.
3. Remember, gold is for emergencies, not for showing off.

React to the Board

After you spot a juicy area, do not rush in. Instead, check your goods. Then, adapt your plan fast if an unexpected Old One pops up.

1. Switch to a new route if your iron runs low.
2. Sell extra resources to buy needed tools.

Balance Growth and Defense

Building stuff is fun, but losing it hurts. So, upgrade wisely. Next, always keep a little for defense in case Cthulhu gets cheeky.

1. Split your spending between building and army power.
2. Save a stash for emergency repairs.

Surviving the Cthulhu Clock in AuZtralia

Watch the Clock

In AuZtralia, Cthulhu’s minions do not wait forever. When the Old Ones wake, chaos starts. Watch the time—every wasted moment means more trouble. How To Play auztralia is all about timing.

Act Before They Rise

Strike before you hear those dreadful footsteps. Here’s what I do:

1. Scout the board early. Spying their location saves your neck later.
2. Expand fast. Delay, and the Old Ones stomp on your plans.
3. Attack weak enemies before they grow stronger.

React to Surprises

Things go wrong—often! Adjust fast. Change your plans when the Old Ones wake sooner than you like.

Keep Resources Ready

Save some resources for late-game battles. You don’t want to be caught unprepared when Cthulhu knocks.

Track and Attack: Mastering Railway and Combat Balance in AuZtralia

When learning How To Play auztralia, you might feel torn between building epic railways and crushing monsters. My group once lost because we forgot the obvious: the more tracks you lay, the easier it is to reach tasty loot and unlucky enemies. But, if you focus only on rails, Cthulhu munches your sheep. Here’s how to win:

Expand Your Railways Wisely

1. Build towards resource hotspots early.
2. Branch lines to reach multiple targets fast.
3. Consider terrain and enemy positions—never lay useless tracks!

Balance with Combat Actions

1. Time your attacks with resource gathering—don’t overextend.
2. Upgrade your army when rails put you near big threats.
3. Pair rails and attacks so you swoop in, smack a monster, and escape if things go bad.

Adapt to the Board

1. Switch plans if Cthulhu pops up close to your rails.
2. Use your rails for quick reinforcements to weak spots.

My group now mixes rail building with monster-busting every game. Try this, and you might not get eaten!

Victory Down Under: Wrap-Up and Wombat Wisdom

Well, that’s the end of my AuZtralia strategy guide, mate! If you follow these tips, you might just survive longer than my friend Martin, who tried to negotiate with a Shoggoth using beef jerky (it did not go well). Remember, resource management is key, Cthulhu doesn’t wait for you, and railways are your best mate—unless you build them straight into a monster’s lair… like I did once. Now you know How To Play auztralia, so grab your hat and get back to the outback. Good luck, and may your sheep never turn evil!

Want to know what we think of AuZtralia? Read our detailed review of AuZtralia here