Keepers in Iron turn — Tabletop Companion

Birdsong

Encamp (optional)

Once per clearing, you may replace a Keeper warrior in that clearing with one of your waystation buildings. If you have no warriors or waystations anywhere on the map, instead place one waystation and one warrior together in any clearing on the map edge.

Hint A waystation is both a crafting site and a recovery anchor — a relic must be in a clearing with a waystation for you to recover it. Establishing waystations in clearings adjacent to forest relic spaces early pays dividends for the rest of the game.

Decamp (optional)

Once per clearing, you may replace one of your waystation buildings in that clearing with a Keeper warrior.

Hint If an opponent is threatening a waystation clearing, Decamp lets you convert that building into a warrior before the attack lands — preserving the waystation for later use rather than losing it outright.

Recruit

Any number of times, spend a card matching a waystation's clearing suit to place two warriors at that waystation.

Hint Cards spent on recruiting cannot go into your Retinue during Evening. In the early game, lean toward saving cards for Gather Retinue rather than recruiting heavily — a large Retinue yields more actions per turn than a large warrior pool.

Daylight

Craft (optional)

Activate your waystation buildings to craft cards from your hand. Each waystation can craft a card whose suit matches the clearing the waystation occupies.

Hint Waystations double as crafting infrastructure. If you have waystations in clearings of multiple suits, you have access to a wider range of craftable cards — a nice secondary benefit on top of their recovery role.

Act with Your Retinue

Process your three Retinue columns from left to right. For each card in a column, you may take that column's action in any order within the column before moving to the next one.

Left column — Move: Move warriors from a clearing matching the card's suit into an adjacent clearing.
Middle column — Battle then Delve: Battle in a clearing matching the card's suit if able, then delve a relic. To delve, choose a clearing you rule matching the card's suit, flip a relic in a forest adjacent to that clearing face-up (if not already), then move it into that clearing.
Right column — Move or Recover: Either move from a matching clearing, or recover a relic. To recover, remove a relic from a waystation clearing whose suit matches the card's suit, score victory points equal to the relic's value, and score 2 bonus points if you have now recovered one of each relic type.

After using a Retinue card for a Delve or Recover action: count the clearings of the matching suit that you currently rule. If that number is less than the recovered or delved relic's point value, discard the Retinue card you just used.

Hint You must process columns in order — left, then middle, then right. You cannot save a left-column Move to use after a right-column Recovery. Plan your warrior positioning before Daylight begins, since your Moves must happen before your Recoveries.
Hint Before you attempt a Delve or Recover, count how many clearings of the relic's suit you currently rule. If it equals or exceeds the relic's value, you keep the card. If not, you lose the card. Only risk the loss when the points genuinely justify the sacrifice.
Hint The middle column's action is Battle then Delve in that order. Use the battle step to clear enemies from the clearing before delving — ruling the clearing after the battle may be the difference between keeping and losing your Retinue card.

Evening

Live Off the Land

Remove one Keeper warrior from each clearing where you currently have four or more warriors.

Hint Stacking more than three warriors in a single clearing means Evening will trim one automatically. Before Evening arrives, use Decamp or your Move actions to spread excess warriors into adjacent clearings rather than losing them to this step.

Gather Retinue

Add cards from your hand to your Retinue, placing them into any open slots across your three columns. Your Retinue can hold a maximum of ten cards total.

Hint A fuller Retinue means more actions per Daylight. In the first few rounds, prioritize placing cards into the Retinue over holding them in hand — each extra card you add now compounds your action count for every subsequent turn.
Hint You need all three column types working together: Moves reposition warriors, Battle-then-Delve pulls relics from forests, and Move-or-Recover scores points. A Retinue stacked entirely in one column leaves the others starved.

Draw and Discard

Draw 1 card, plus 1 additional card for each waystation building you currently have on the map. Then discard down to a maximum of 5 cards.

Hint Each waystation on the board adds a card to your Evening draw. Maintaining all three waystations means you draw four cards per Evening — a substantial hand advantage that keeps your Retinue full and your Recruit options open.