Leaders - The Crimson Emperor
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The FroGames Sheet
Choose the Sniper and the opposing Leader falls three spaces away. Take the Shaman and turn their strongest champion into a frog. Every game asks you to rewrite everything.
WHAT IT IS ABOUT
New champions, new strategies, no two games alike
Leaders - The Vermilion Emperor is the first expansion of the base game Leaders, designed by Hugo Frénoy and illustrated by Xavier Gueniffey Durin. It will be released in 2026 by Studio H and will arrive in Italy thanks to GateOnGames. It brings four new champions with asymmetrical abilities and a fifth alternative Leader to the board.
At the table, choose between Tactician, Will-o'-the-Wisp, Sniper, and Shaman during the recruitment draft. Each one bends the rules differently: the Sniper captures the opposing Leader from afar, the Shaman turns a champion into a harmless frog, the Tactician repositions your allies, the Will-o'-the-Wisp teleports. The expansion also includes the Strategist Mode: before the game, randomly exclude 4 champions from the deck to break routines and force you to adapt each opening.
What they say abroad
"Four new characters with unique abilities join the tournament!"
Four new characters with unique abilities join the tournament!
— Studio H
This is a first reading based on publisher materials. The sheet will be updated after the first games and international reviews. What we can say: the idea of progressive drafting combined with asymmetric powers promises high variability and an interesting learning curve.
— FroGames
Leaders - The Vermilion Emperor
FrogScore · FroGames editorial rating · first reading: based on rules and official presentation, updated with first gamesThe Emperor's Champions
Four Abilities That Rewrite the Rules
Sniper
If the opposing Leader is in a straight line three or more spaces away, they are automatically captured at the start of your turn. No need for adjacent allies, no blocking obstacles.
Shaman
Transforms a visible non-Leader champion in a straight line into a Frog until the end of the opponent's turn. The Frog cannot move normally or participate in a capture: it neutralizes a threat for one round.
Tactician
If one of your allies is already adjacent to the opposing Leader, they can move a non-Leader ally one space (who sacrifices their action that turn). Tactical repositioning under pressure.
Will-o'-the-Wisp
Teleports to any empty space on the board. However, it can never participate in the final capture of the opposing Leader: it is a disruptive and mobile piece, not a concluding one.
🎲How to playThe rules in four steps▼
How to play
The flow of each turn
Two quick phases. Action and Recruitment. All in less than a minute per player.
For each of your champions: move one adjacent square or activate their special ability. You can activate all your champions or just some. Order matters.
If you have fewer than four champions, choose one of the three available in the draft and place it in an empty square on your side of the board. Now you have an additional ability.
Do you have two champions adjacent to the opposing Leader? You win. Is the opposing Leader completely surrounded (even by their own allies)? You win. Otherwise, pass the turn.
Before the game: remove the Frog, shuffle all 20 champions, draw 4 at random and discard them from the game. Now the meta changes: you must adapt your strategy to the available champions.
⏱️Your first gameThe chronicle, moment by moment▼
A game in five moments
What happens at the table
Not the rules. The experience.
The draft begins with a trap
Choose from three available champions. You pick the Sniper because they seem strong, but the opponent drafts the Tactician and realizes your Leader will be under fire. The mind game starts from the first turn.
The Shaman turns everything into a frog
The opponent's most threatening champion becomes a frog for one turn: loses mobility, loses attack, becomes useless. The opponent curses, you laugh, but you know in two turns they'll do it to you too.
The Sniper changes the board's geometry
Keep the opposing Leader three straight squares away and you automatically win. Now every move becomes a choreography to avoid lines of fire. The board feels smaller.
The Will-o'-the-Wisp appears where it shouldn't
The opponent left a gap because they thought your champion was on the other side. The Will-o'-the-Wisp teleports, places an impossible threat, forcing a reaction. It doesn't capture, but it breaks the plan.
A capture no one saw coming
The Tactician moves an ally one square, freeing the line for the Sniper, the Leader falls. Or the Shaman disables key defense and the capture comes from two sides. Combos exist, but you build them in the game.
🐸What to know beforehandThree honest things, from friends▼
What to know beforehand
Three things you need to know
Requires the base game
This is an expansion. You cannot play it without the base Leaders game. The board, movement rules, victory conditions: everything comes from the main game. Here you'll only find new champions and the new Leader.
Vertical learning curve on powers
Abilities are simple to understand but difficult to master. The Sniper seems obvious, but understanding when to draft them and how to position them requires practice. The Shaman is a nightmare to use well: transform the wrong champion and you waste the turn.
Strategist Mode is mandatory for frequent players
Without random exclusion, the meta becomes stale: the strong champions are always the same, openings repeat. With Strategist Mode, each game changes its pool and forces adaptation. After 10 games, you can't do without it.
🏆Victory and defeatWhat the ending rewards▼
How it ends
How to win
Two immediate victory conditions. One requires position, the other isolation.
Victory
- Classic capture: you have two of your champions adjacent to the opposing Leader
- Sniper capture: the opposing Leader is in a straight line 3+ squares away from the Sniper at the start of your turn
- Complete encirclement: the opposing Leader is surrounded by champions (yours or theirs, it doesn't matter) in all adjacent squares
Defeat
- Your Leader is captured by two adjacent opposing champions
- Your Leader is captured by the opposing Sniper from a distance
- Your Leader ends up completely surrounded and cannot move
Four new champions, infinite combinations. The Vermilion Emperor doesn't add content: it rewrites the game.
💬Frequently asked questionsQuick answers before checkout▼
Frequently asked questions
FAQ about Leaders - The Vermilion Emperor
Do I really need the base game to play?
Yes, it's mandatory. This is a pure expansion: no board, no basic rules, no Leader from the original game (apart from the Vermilion Emperor). You must have the base Leaders game to use it.
Isn't the Sniper too strong?
On paper it seems broken: captures from a distance, no allies required. In practice, the opposing player knows you have it and keeps their Leader out of long straight lines. It becomes spatial control, not a spam ability. And the Will-o'-the-Wisp or the Tactician can break your lines.
What truly changes compared to the base game?
Variability. In the base game, after 20 matches you start recognizing strong openings and dominant champions. Here, the draft includes more extreme powers (teleportation, transformation, long-range capture) and Strategist Mode shifts the meta every time. It's an expansion for those who have already squeezed the most out of the base game.
Is Strategist Mode mandatory?
No, but highly recommended after the first 10 games. Excluding 4 random champions breaks routines and forces you to adapt your strategy and draft. Without it, the game risks becoming flat. With it, each game requires a different approach.
Is this edition in Italian?
Yes, the edition distributed by GateOnGames includes cards, rulebook, and components entirely in Italian. The champion names are translated: Tactician, Will-o'-the-Wisp, Sniper, Shaman.
What mechanics does Leaders - The Vermilion Emperor use?
Hexagonal grid movement, progressive open drafting (choose 1 champion from 3 available each turn), asymmetric powers (each champion has a unique ability), variable setup with Strategist Mode. It's an abstract game with a strong tactical component and emergent combos.
The people behind the game
Who invented it, who designed it, who publishes it — and what else they've done.
Leaders - The Vermilion Emperor is the first tactical expansion for Leaders, an abstract competitive game for 2 players designed by Hugo Frénoy and published by Studio H. It introduces four new champions with asymmetric abilities (Sniper, Shaman, Tactician, Will-o'-the-Wisp) and a fifth alternative Leader. Duration 10-30 minutes, recommended age 10+, mechanics of grid movement, progressive drafting, and unique powers. The expansion includes Strategist Mode which randomly excludes 4 champions before the game to increase replayability and variability. Italian edition distributed by GateOnGames. Available on FroGames.it.
Leaders - The Crimson Emperor
Frequently Asked Questions
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