Kingmaker (board game)

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Kingmaker
Cover of the original British version of Kingmaker
Designer	Andrew McNeil
Publisher	PhilMar Ltd. Avalon Hill
Players	2–8
Age range	pre-teen to adult
Setup time	few minutes
Playing time	few hours
Random chance	medium
Skills required	diplomacy, alliances and double-dealing

BoardGameGeek entry (more...)

Kingmaker is a board game created by Andrew McNeil. It was first produced in Britain 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.

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

1 Game components
2 Play
3 Look and feel
4 Computer Game
5 External links

[edit] Game components

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

A noble, some already titled, such as Neville, Beaufort, or Percy. Most others, like Bourchier or Clifford, are untitled initially.
A title to bestow on an untitled noble, such as Earl of Essex or Duke of Exeter. Many titles provide troops or town affiliations.
An office of government to assign to a titled noble, such as Marshal of England, Warden of the Cinque Ports, or Chancellor of England. Offices provide troops, castles, towns -- even transport ships in some cases.
An ecclesiastical office, Archbishop of York or Bishop of Lincoln for example. Some have troops, castles, or towns under their control.
Mercenaries, such as Burgundian crossbowmen, Scots archers, or Saxon foot soldiers.
Major (walled) cities such as London, Coventry, or Nottingham.
Ships, allowing transport quickly by sea and to/from off-shore destinations like Ireland, Calais, the Isle of Man, etc.

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.

[edit] Play

Kingmaker involves strategy and conflict conducted on different levels.

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 you move your nobles to the same space as one or more enemy nobles, you can attack them. A ratio of your strength versus your opponent is tallied (attacker's strength must be greater than defender), an event card drawn, and the ratio printed on the card determines if victory is achieved. If the opposing force is defeated, all enemy nobles 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 your nobles besieged, with potential loss of all defenders.

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, each noble uses their 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) 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.

The real contest is often a contest of diplomacy. One strong player can be brought down by two or more weaker ones working together, and threats, promises and agreements can be easier ways to get results than by using brute force. Players can trade many types of cards, and agree on future spoils of war or honours awarded. But 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.

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 the like. 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 or your nobles. The plague also can negatively affect those who linger in the protection of large towns and cities.

When nobles die, they eventually re-enter the game as 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 people, such as Henry VI, Richard, Duke of York, and Margaret of Anjou. Death by combat, execution or plague slowly reduces their number. The player who ultimately controls the eldest member of either the York or Lancaster branches of the Plantagenet family wins. This is to say, one branch is completely wiped out, and you control the eldest 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 many cases, key royal heirs will be shuttled around the board, captured, recaptured, and then executed for strategic reasons. The period depicted in the game was quite violent.

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 if need be without the wheels coming off. Additionally, would be players who wander in after a game has started can be accommodated simply by "dealing them in" a hand of cards, a feature of the game system not often appreciated by the casual rules peruser. This, along with the fact that no player need be eliminated before the game ends, makes Kingmaker an attractive choice for an evening's play. More players lessen the odds of any one player gaining sufficient power to act alone.

[edit] Look and feel

The game components are striking, full of feudal images of heraldry and parchment, and the places, people and terms all use actual 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. The only historical difficulty is in some of the place-names, where non-British players may be unsure of the pronunciation.

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. The relationship could be viewed as the Royal Heir running the faction they travel with rather than the reverse. 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 was 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 (qv. Beaufort Family for details), and some titles are removed from the nobles that historically held them. Also, the troop strengths are modified for different nobles for game balance.

Kingmaker won the Origins Award for Best Professional Game of 1975.

[edit] Computer Game

There 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 5 computer controlled factions. The major change from the board game is the addition of a battle interface where the player can control their 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 for those willing to put up with VGA graphics.