Kingmaker (board game)

Kingmaker is a board game created by Andrew McNeil. It was first produced in the UK by PhilMar Ltd. in 1974. The second edition was produced by Avalon Hill in the United States in 1975. This version was somewhat different from the original, as it refined the rules and required less knowledge about England to play. TM Games also released an edition in 1983 that was essentially a re-issue of the Avalon Hill version, as did Gibsons Games the same year.

Kingmaker
Cover of the original British version of Kingmaker
Designer(s)Andrew McNeil
Publisher(s)PhilMar Ltd.
Avalon Hill
TM Games
Players2–7
Setup time10 minutes
Playing time2-6 hours
Age rangeteen to adult
Skill(s) requireddiplomacy, alliances and double-dealing

The game is set in the time of the English Wars of the Roses (1455–1487). Two to seven can play. Each player builds and controls a faction of nobles that, through battle, diplomacy and politics, attempts to eliminate other players’ factions, and gain control of one or more members of the two rival royal families, the House of Lancaster and the House of York.

Game components

The board is a map of 15th century Kingdom of England and nearby lands, with walled cities, towns, castles, and roads. Players begin with a number of cards initially. Players also receive resource cards each turn, which add to the player's faction. There are several different kinds of resource cards:

Round cardboard pieces with heraldic emblems represent the nobles' current position on the map. The royal heirs are represented by octagonal or square pieces displaying either the red rose (Lancastrian faction) or white rose (Yorkist faction) and their Christian name (Richard, Henry, Margaret, etc.). Each player gets a set of markers with different colors and a feudal badge to denote cities & castles under their control. Square pieces are used for the few ships in the game.

A second set of smaller cards make up the random event deck. Each player draws from this deck at the beginning of their turn. Any player, noble, or royal heir might be affected by a random event card, depending on the conditions it specifies. The effect is not limited to the drawing player. These smaller cards are also used for resolving combat.

Play

Although the Avalon Hill printing of this game puts a limit on the number of players that may take part, no such limit was mentioned in the original Ariel (UK) printing and the game can accommodate more than the suggested maximum. The recommended maximum number of players in the revised edition published by TM Games was 7.

Kingmaker involves strategy and conflict conducted on different levels.

Combat

The Wars of the Roses involved fighting between factions of nobles. In Kingmaker, each noble has a limited combat strength which is augmented by titles, offices, mercenaries, and certain other cards held in the player's hand. If the player moves nobles to the same space as one or more enemy nobles, they can attack them. A ratio of the strength of the two forces of nobles is tallied, an event card drawn, and the ratio printed on the card determines if victory is achieved. If the force is defeated, all nobles in that force are captured and may be executed or ransomed. Most of the named places on the map have fortifications with significant additional defensive combat strength, but using these can get the player's nobles besieged, with potential loss of all defenders.

Politics

Politics is another key aspect of Kingmaker. Parliament existed in 15th century England, and can be summoned under specific circumstances in the game. Unfilled offices and titles are assigned in Parliament, which can result in quite of lot of power changing hands. In Parliament, in the Avalon Hill version, each noble uses his acquired voting strength in the House of Lords and the House of Commons to decide how to assign the spoils. A majority vote is required in both Houses to assign any title or office. Nobles who are weak in combat strength can still be strong in either Lords or Commons votes, and vice versa. Those who control the senior members of the York and Lancaster families or the crowned King (or Queen Regent) gain significant additional voting power as well. Parliaments are not convened often, and much deal-making amongst players can ensue. Erstwhile enemies on the battlefield may come together to distribute valuable offices and titles to bolster their position. In the original version the person calling the Parliament has a more or less free hand in distributing the titles and offices as they choose, since there is no democracy and no voting.

Diplomacy

The real contest is often a contest of diplomacy. One strong player can be brought down by several weaker players working together, and threats, promises and agreements can be easier ways to get the desired results than by using brute force. Players can trade many types of cards, and agree on future spoils of war or honours awarded. However, no agreement made in the game is binding; supposed allies can change sides at will. The winner is often the player who manages to double-cross the other players just before they double-cross him.

Random events

Besides untrustworthy rival players, the random events deck will often disrupt a player's long-term plans. Certain powerful nobles, officeholders, and even bishops can be called to deal with peasant revolts, incursions by the Scots, piracy and other such random events. Those controlling the King may find themselves dragged to diplomatic meetings in remote (and vulnerable) seaside towns. Combat also has risks, either with bad weather or the chance death of one of the player's nobles. The plague also can negatively affect those who linger in the protection of walled towns and cities.

Death

When nobles die, they eventually re-enter the game when a new head of a noble family assumes their place. This is not true of the royal heirs, who are limited to a few specific historical characters, such as Henry VI, Richard, Duke of York, and Margaret of Anjou. These can be taken under control by a player's nobles, and moved about, traded, captured, or executed by them. Death by combat, execution, or plague slowly reduces their number. The player who ultimately controls the only remaining member of either the York or Lancaster branches of the Plantagenet family wins. In other words, this is when one branch of the family is completely wiped out, and the player controls the only member of the other branch. Often, this person will be the crowned King or Queen of England, but even if not "officially" crowned, they are literally the last one standing. In the original game they had to be crowned to win. One noble, Beaufort, becomes a Lancastrian heir should all members of that branch die; this helps balance the game as there are fewer Lancastrian heirs than Yorkist ones.

Weak vs. strong

One of the attractions of Kingmaker is that a player who is dealt a weak hand at the start of the game is not necessarily doomed to lose. Weaker players can withdraw from the main areas of the map to their own areas of relative better defense, and slowly build power from their additional resource card each turn, while the stronger players suffer more results of random events and losses in combat. A combination of patience, luck, timing, and exploiting rivalries can reverse the roles of strong and weak.

One variation not mentioned in the Avalon Hill version is that a late arriving player can be "dealt in" simply by dealing resource cards face up from the draw pile until a noble is found, at which time the new player has a noble and a hand of cards and may begin play.

Look and feel

The game components are striking, full of feudal images of heraldry and parchment, and the places, people and terms all use real mediaeval English. This is done without detracting from playability; in fact, the colorful and striking heraldic emblems are used just as they were designed, making identification easier than reading names. There can be some difficulty with some of the names of places and families, where non-British players (especially) may be unsure of the pronunciation. There have also been shifts in spelling and pronunciation since the 15th century. The Scrope family, for example, is referenced in Shakespeare's Henry V with the spelling 'Scroop,' which is likely the correct pronunciation for the era.

The game makes no attempt at reproducing the historical chain of events which occurred in the Wars of the Roses; the players are free to do as they see fit, which is likely to be quite different each time Kingmaker is played. The role of the royal heirs in the game, as mere pawns in the Machiavellian plots of the noble families, reflects the roles of some but not all of the real heirs. Actual holdings of land and titles of different nobles has been broken down and simplified in many cases. However, reflecting the common view of that time, where few really cared which royal house had the more "rightful" claim, there is as much fighting within the houses as between them. Loyalty might change as the wind blows and a ruthless climb to power was often rewarded by betrayal and a cataclysmic downfall. This is faithfully reproduced in Kingmaker.

Some details are changed from historical fact to improve playability. Henry Tudor is not present in the game (see Beaufort Family for details), and the Beaufort noble piece becomes the Heir to the Lancastrian claim only if all Lancastrian heirs are killed. Some titles are removed from the nobles that historically held them. For game balance, the troop strengths are modified for different nobles, and the strongest noble (Percy) is forced to start the game in the far north, a long way from the main action, even though in real life the family held additional castles further south. However, all castles, towns, cities and other locations are given their correct names with one exception: the castle known as Masham in the game is actually Castle Bolton, owned by Lord Scrope of Masham (and owned by his descendants to this day). In the very first version of the game, there was also a typo: the board displayed "Ravenser" instead of "Ravenscar" in East Yorkshire.

In Simon Foxall's book "Mapping England" [1] there is a map/board described as a "Historical Version by the Black Prussian"; this appears to be a modification of the Avalon Hill version which increases the degree of historical accuracy in the nobles included, their strengths and the places shown.

Computer Game

Kingmaker is a computer version of the game, produced by Avalon Hill in 1994, which reproduces the look and play of the board game almost exactly, allowing the player to compete with up to five computer controlled factions. The major change from the board game is the addition of a battle interface where the player can control his or her army in combat, but it is very simplistic and the option to resolve battles by the original method remains. The game is no longer produced but can be found for download.

Reception

Kingmaker won the Charles S. Roberts Award for Best Professional Game of 1975.[2] Greg Stafford said "A game's quality is measured by two things: fun and replayability. Kingmaker ranks way high in both. It is not perfect, but its strengths more than make up for its weaknesses. The game is fun because it's a multi-player political wargame that is largely abstract, thus lacking a lot of the fussy detail required of a true historical simulation."[3]

New Edition for 2020

It's been announced that games designer Alan Paull has been engaged by Gibsons Games to develop a new edition due for release in 2020 [4] and is currently in prototype playtesting at events around England. [5]

References
  1. Foxall, S. "Mapping England" (2008), Black Dog Publishing Ltd, London
  2. "Charles S. Roberts Award Winners (1975)". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2007-11-05. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
  3. Stafford, Greg (2007). "Kingmaker". In Lowder, James (ed.). Hobby Games: The 100 Best. Green Ronin Publishing. pp. 164–167. ISBN 978-1-932442-96-0.
  4. Alan Paull announces new Kingmaker edition on Board Game Geek
  5. Playtesting in Reading 21 March 2020
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