[AA1] Saxon Shore : The game of Dark Ages Britain.

By David Kershaw and Paul Harrington.

 

1. Aim and description.

 

Saxon Shore simulates the warfare and politics of Britain after the Roman withdrawal in the fifth century AD. This was a time where the local Britons were beleaguered by waves of settlers from Ireland, Scotland, Scandinavia, and the European mainland. These settlers fought the Britons and one another in an attempt to establish permanent kingdoms. It was a time of economic breakdown, when the Roman coinage was replaced with a system of barter, and also a time of spiritual confusion, with the Christian church coming to dominance in an age of superstition and violence.

 

In Saxon Shore, two to five players struggle to become the dominant kingdom of the British Isles. A player can win by fulfilling one of several victory conditions:

1. Eliminate all other players.

2. Build four cities.

3. Control eight provinces producing resources.

4. Control any ten provinces.

 

Key to the game is the mapboard. The mapboard is divided into 36 land regions called “provinces”, and 3 sea zones. Each province is given an individual name and a population rating of 1 to 3 (for example, the province named Kent has a population rating of 3). Thirteen of the provinces produce resources, indicated on the map. Most provinces produce no resources, twelve produce one resource, and one (Kent) produces two. Resources are created each game turn in a provinces producing a resource for the owner of the province to use as they see fit. There are five kinds of resources:

1. Wheat.

2. Wool.

3. Iron.

4. Gold.

5. Slaves.

 

Slaves are not produced by any province, but may be obtained by raiding any province.

 

There are also seven wild provinces. These have no population rating and cannot be occupied.

 

2. Gameplay.

 

In gameplay, a player uses resources to raise and move troops and/or improve their province(s) in order to fulfil a victory condition

 

2.1. Game terminology and definitions.

 

Province. When the term is used without further definition, it refers to one of the 36 non-wild provinces.

Friendly province. A province owned by a player, as indicated by the presence of the player’s castle token in it.

Non-friendly province. Any province not owned by the player. There are two types of non-friendly provinces: neutral provinces and enemy provinces.

Neutral province. Any province which is not owned by any player. Mercenaries in neutral provinces are always considered unhired, but regulars will fight for the neutral province against raids or invasions, and improvements, morale, and ravage couters in the neutral province will all affect the neutral province’s carrying capacity and ability to resist raids and invasions. When a neutral province is called upon to perform some action, any player who is uninvolved will perform the neutral province’s actions for it.

Troops. There are four kinds of troops: Kings, Regulars, Peasants, and Mercenaries.

Units. Any unit that can move, that is, troops and boats.

Morale. When the game calls for morale to be increased in a province, remove the low morale counter in the province, or, if there is no morale counter, place a high morale counter. When the game calls for morale to be decreased, remove the high morale counter in the province, or, if there is no morale counter, place a low morale counter.

Nearest friendly province. This is calculated by counting the number of provinces with normal borders between the troops and a friendly province. If there is no land route, then the shortest route, counting sea zones as provinces, is used. If two or more friendly provinces are an equal distance away, the player chooses which one to move to.

Carrying capacity. Each province has a carrying capacity, which is equal to the province’s population rating modified as follows:

-1 per ravage marker in the province.

+1 if there is a roads marker in the province.

+1 if there is a city in the province.

+1 if there is a monastery in the province.

 

2.2. The order of gameplay is very important, and is as follows (NB: a die is always six sided):

 

1. Random events.

                    1.1. Each player rolls a die to determine whether the king dies.

                    1.2. Each player rolls a die to determine whether any of their mercenaries desert.

                    1.3. Each player (in game-order) draws a random event card.

                    1.4. A single random province improvement roll is performed.

2. Resources.

                    2.1. Each player gains resources for any provinces they own that produce resources.

                    2.2. Players who have traded resources in a city roll a die to see what resources they gain.

                    2.3. Players may trade resources among themselves.

                    2.4. Players may place resources in cities for trade.

                    2.5. Each player (in game-order) pays resources for improvements to their provinces.

                    2.6. Each player (in game-order) pays resources to raise troops.

3. Conversion. Each player (in game-order) may convert to Christianity or Paganism.

4. Population recovery. 50 % of ravage markers are removed.

5. Each player (in game-order) moves their troops.

6. All raids and invasions are resolved.

7. Stages 5 and 6 are repeated.

8. Turn end.

                    8.1. All peasants and boats are removed from the map.

                    8.2. Each player (in game-order) moves their troops to the nearest friendly province.

                    8.3. The game-order changes.

 

3. Random events.

 

3.1. Each player (in game-order) rolls a single die. On a roll of 5 or 6, the king dies and is replaced by a new king in any friendly province. A die is rolled to determine the quality of this new king:

Die roll:

Result:

1 to 4

Normal king

5

+1 king

6

Roll again: 1 to 4 is a +1 king, 5 or 6 is a +2 king.

 

3.2. Each player (in game-order) rolls a single die for each mercenary that they own. On a roll of 5 or 6, that mercenary deserts and is removed from the board.

 

3.3. Each player (in game-order) draws a random event card and applies the results.

 

3.4. A province is selected on the random province table:

 

Random Province Table:

Roll 2 dice.

roll

1

2

3

4

5

6

1

Strathclyde

Orkney

Bernicia

Hereford

Norfolk

Thanet

2

Godowin

Cumbria

Diera

Gwent

Suffolk

Kent

3

Rheged

Gwynedd

Elmet

Hwicce

Essex

Surrey

4

Ulster

Wrekin

Mercia

Somerset

Oxford

Sussex

5

Leinster

Caerdigion

Lindsey

Devon

Middlesex

Wight

6

Munster

Dyfed

Lincoln

Cornwall

Berkshire

Wessex

 

If the province belongs to a player, then a mercenary is placed there, available for hire. If the province is neutral, roll on the following table for what happens:

Die roll:

Result:

1

A mercenary is placed.

2

A regular is placed.

3

Morale is increased.

4

A road is placed.

5

A wall is placed.

6

The province converts to Christianity: A monastery is placed, and morale is increased to high.

 

If the province cannot apply the result from the table (e.g. the roll says that a wall is to be placed and the province already has a wall), then there is no effect.

 

4. Resources.

 

Unspent resources are retained from turn to turn.

 

4.1. Each player gains resources for any provinces they own that produce resources. For each such province, the player gains the appropriate resource token (two for Kent).

 

4.2. Players who have traded resources in a city roll a die to see what resources they gain. Roll a single die, and apply the following modifiers. The traded resource is lost:

-1 for first trade in that city.

+1 if the city is in a province containing a road.

+1 if the city is in a province containing a monastery.

+1 if the player is currently Christian.

 

Die roll:

Result:

2 or less

Nothing is gained (a failed trade).

3

Player gains a random resource.

4 or 5

Player gains a resource of their choice.

6

Player gains two random resources.

7 or greater

Player gains two resources of choice.

 

Note that an unmodified roll of 1 is always a failed trade.

 

4.3. Players may trade resources among themselves. Players may exchange resource tokens in any combination that they want. Any agreements made about future trades are non-binding.

 

4.4. Players may place resources in cities for trade. One resource may be placed per city.

 

4.5. Each player (in game-order) spends resources for improvements to their provinces. A player may not pay for improvements to other players provinces.

 

·        A single resource may be spent to increase morale. Only one increase per province is permitted.

·        Ravage markers can be removed at the cost of one resource spent each.

·        A road may be built by spending one wheat, and one of any resource.

·        A wall may be built by spending one wheat, and one of any resource.

·        A city may be built by spending one wheat, one iron, one wool, and one gold.

·        Christians only may build a monastery by spending one gold AND one wool or iron AND one wheat or slave. When a monastery is built, morale in the province is increased.

 

4.6. Each player (in game-order) spends resources to raise troops. Three kinds of troops can be raised: mercenaries, regulars, and peasants. Players may also raise boats.

 

4.6.1. Mercenaries can be hired at any time that a player’s troops are in the same province as a mercenary (even if the province does not belong to the player), as long as the mercenary is currently unhired. To hire a mercenary the player must spend one resource of any kind. The mercenary is then considered hired by that player until such a time as the mercenary deserts through a random roll or event.

 

4.6.2. Regulars can be raised by spending one iron and one of any resource. A regular counter is then placed in any one of the provinces currently owned by the player. A player cannot raise a regular if the number of regulars that he or she has on the map is currently equal to or greater than the number of provinces that he or she owns.

 

4.6.3. Peasants are raised by spending a single resource of any kind and nominating a province owned by the player from which to raise peasants. The number of peasants placed in the province is equal to the carrying capacity of the province. Each province may only be nominated once per game turn.

 

4.6.4. Boats are raised either by removing a peasant counter and replacing it with a boat counter, or by spending a resource of any kind to place two boat counters in any one province, or one boat in two provinces. Note that Devon has a North and South coast when placing boats.

 

5. Conversion.

 

In game order, players may convert from Paganism to Christianity, or vice versa. Upon conversion all provinces owned by a player have a low morale marker placed on them. Any high morale markers are removed. Exception: If a player converts from Paganism to Christianity, any provinces that he or she owns which have a monastery do not gain a low morale marker, but instead go to high morale.

 

6. Ravage marker removal.

 

Roll a die for each province containing one or more ravage markers. On a roll of 4, 5, or 6, one ravage marker is removed.

 

7. Movement.

 

Each player, in game-order, may move as many of their own units as they want. Only kings, troops and boat are classed as units.

 

Each unit has two movement points. Non-boat units may move from province to province. Boat units count sea-zones as provinces for the purpose of movement, but cannot move from province to province unless those provinces share a coastline. There are several restrictions to movement:

 

·        Non-boat units may not move into wild provinces (provinces which have no population rating printed on the map: The Weald, The Fens, Powys, The Pennines, Cheviot, Caledonia, and Connaught). Boat units cannot end their movement in a wild province.

·        If a non-boat unit moves from a province containing a road, then that move costs no movement points. Thus a unit may move through several adjacent provinces containing roads without spending a movement point.

·        The borders between some provinces are marked with Forests, Marshes, or Mountains. Non-boat units cannot move between these provinces.

·        If a unit moves into a non-friendly province with a carrying capacity greater than zero, it must stop movement.

·        A boat may carry two units. If the boat and units start in the same province, then their movement is as a boats, and they have two movement points. If the boat and/or either of the units it carries moved one of their movement points to get to the same province, the combined units only have one movement point left.

 

8. Combat.

 

Each player, in game order, states whether his or her troops in each non-friendly province are going to RAID or INVADE. If they wish to invade, the player must spend one resource of any kind.

 

Provinces with a carrying capacity of zero cannot be raided.

 

Raids are resolved, in game order, before invasions are resolved.

 

Boats play no part in raids or invasions.

 

8.1. Raids.

 

If two or more players are raiding the same province, then raids are carried out in player-order.

 

The attacker calculates his or her raid strength as follows:

Each peasant = 1

Each regular = 2

Each mercenary = 2

King = 2

+1 King = 3

+2 King = 4

 

The defender calculates his or her raid strength in the same way, but adds the carrying capacity of the province, and the following bonuses:

+1 for a road in the province.

+3 for a wall in the province.

 

Each player adds the roll of a single die to their raid strength, and the highest raid strength wins, with the following results:

 

·        Defender wins. Roll a die for each attacking troop:

King: Eliminated on a roll of 1.

Regular eliminated on a roll of 1 or 2.

Peasant eliminated on a roll of 1, 2, 3, or 4.

Mercenary eliminated on a roll of 1; reverts to neutrality on a roll of 2, 3, or 4.

 

All surviving attacking units must return to the nearest friendly province free of enemy units. If there is no such province, all are eliminated.

 

·        Draw. No effect. Raiders remain in province.

 

·        Attacker wins. The province has one improvement destroyed, or, if there are no improvements, a ravage marker is placed. Improvements are destroyed in the following order:

1. Monastery. Raider gains one gold.

2. Wall. Raider gains one grain.

3. Road. Raider gains one grain.

4. City. Raider gains the resource currently being traded at city (if any), and one resource of any kind.

 

Upon placing a ravage marker, the raider gains a slave token or, if the province is a resource producing province, the type of resource the province produces (either iron or wheat in Kent, not both).

 

Successful raiders remain in the province. There are no losses among defending troops.

 

8.2. Invasions.

 

If two or more players are invading the same province, then their armies must fight each other in a battle beforehand. They fight in game order, with the first player fighting the next players in game order. If the first player is eliminated, then the player that eliminated him or her fights each remaining player in game order, until there is only one army left, or all are eliminated.

 

Invasions use the battle matrix, which looks like this:

1

2

3

4

5

6

1

2

3

4

5

6

 

Each troop has a combat strength as follows:

Peasant = 1

Mercenary = 3

Regular = 3

King = 3

+1 King = 4

+2 King = 5

 

In addition, the owner of the province gains a number of militia equal to the provinces carrying capacity. The combat strength of the militia is 1 if the province has a low morale marker, 2 if the province has no morale marker, and 3 if the province has a high morale marker.

 

In a battle, the attackers are placed in the upper row of the battle matrix, each troop being placed in the box that corresponds to their combat strength. The defenders are likewise placed in the lower row of the battle matrix. A +1 king may move a single troop up one box (e.g., a peasant from box 1 to box 2), a +2 king may move a single troop up two places, or two troops up one place each.

 

The attacker then rolls a die for each of his or her troops in the battle matrix. If the die is equal to or less than the box number the troop is in, then the attacker records this as a “hit”. The defender then does the same for his or her troops.

 

The defender then removes a number of his or her troops equal to the number of hits that the attacker recorded. The defender may remove any troops. The attacker then does the same, removing a number of troops equal to the number of hits that the defender recorded.

 

If both sides still have troops remaining, the whole procedure is repeated until one side has no troops left. The other is then considered the winner. If neither side has any troops left, then the defender is considered the winner.

 

If the defender wins, then there is no further effect other than to remove all militia.

 

If the attacker wins, then they have the option to destroy an improvement or ravage the area, as in a raid. The attacker also places their castle token in the province to indicate the provinces new owner. The province automatically has a low morale marker placed on it; unless its former owner was a Pagan, its new owner is a Christian and it contains a monastery, in which case it has a high morale marker placed on it.

 

Victorious troops remain in the province.

 

9. End of turn.

 

9.1. All peasants and boats are removed from the map.

 

9.2. In game order, all troops in non-friendly provinces are moved to the nearest friendly province.

 

9.3. The game order is changed. Order is retained, but the player who went first in this turn goes last in the next turn.

 

10. Game set-up.

 

The players determine a game order for the first turn, and each chooses a different colour.

 

In game order, each player picks a province and places a castle token of their colour in it to indicate ownership. They also place a king (not a +1 or +2 king) of their colour in it, and take one gold resource token. Each player is considered Pagan, except a player starting in Ulster, Leinster, or Munster, who is considered Christian.

 

A number of mercenaries equal to the number of players are placed on the map. Each mercenary is placed according to a roll on the random province table.

 

Play proceeds in the order given in section 2.1.

 

11. Random events.

 

(NB: these random events can be transcribed onto cards which are drawn by players)

 

Roll two dice. The first die is the first number and the second die is the second number of a two digit number (e.g. you roll a 4 on the first die and a 2 on the second die, the resultant number is 42). If any result would leave a player with no provinces, disregard it.

 

11. If Christian you gain Mounted knights. Place a Mounted Knight troop in a province that you own. Mounted Knights are regulars with a combat strength of 4 and a raid strength of 4. A mounted Knight counts as two troops for boat transportation.

11. If pagan you gain Beserkers. Place a beserker troop in a province that you own. Beserkers are regulars which have TWO rolls in battle, and count as a strength of 4 in raids.

12. You gain a Mountain path, Woodland trail, or Marsh way. Choose one and make a note of it. Your troops may use this ability once to move through the relevant province border that you would not normally be able to. If you have two of one type, you may pass through the relevant wild province (e.g. if you have two marsh ways, you may expend them both to move units through the Fens).

13. as 12.

14. as 12.

15. as 12.

16. Missionary activity. Roll one die to select a column on the random province table. All Christian provinces named increase in morale, all pagan areas named decrease in morale.

21. Good Omens. Roll one die to select a column on the random province table. All provinces named increase in morale.

22. Dragons sighted! Roll one die to select a column on the random province table. All provinces named decrease in morale.

23. Plague. Select a province on the random province table. This province, and all provinces adjacent to it with normal borders suffer plague: Place a ravage counter, reduce morale, any units are eliminated on a roll of 5 or 6.

24. Epidemic. Roll one die to select a column on the random province table. All provinces named, and those adjacent to them with normal borders suffer plague.

25. Famine. Roll one die to select a column on the random province table. All provinces named are ravaged, and city trade automatically fails, unless the owner can spend a grain.

26. Rebellion. Roll one die to select a column on the random province table. The first province belonging to a player secedes and becomes neutral. The player may choose to play as this province, in which case all their other provinces become neutral. All regulars and mercenaries in neutral provinces desert. King moves to the controlled province(s) if necessary.

31. Fire. Roll one die to select a column on the random province table. The first province with a city in it has the city destroyed by fire unless the owner can immediately spend two resources in repairs.

32. Wildmen. Roll a die to select a wild province (1 = The Weald, 2 = The Fens, 3 = Powys, 4 = Cheviot, 5 = The Pennines, 6 = Connaught). Roll another die to generate the number of wildmen (raid strength of 1) plus a chief (raid strength of 2) that raid one random adjacent province (roll one die and consult number printed on the map).

33. Bumper year. Receive two tokens instead of one for any one resource.

34. Viking raids. Roll a die to select a sea zone (see map). Roll another die to generate the number of Vikings (raid strength of 2) plus a chief (raid strength of 2) that raid one random adjacent province (roll a die and consult number printed on map).

35. Traders. You may swap any one resource token for any one other.

36. Gold horde discovered. Gain one gold resource token.

41. Family ties. Roll two dice to select a province on the random province table. This province offers to join your kingdom. If it belongs to another player, you may accept resources off them to decline the offer, otherwise place a castle of your colour in it. Mercenaries and regulars belonging to another player in it desert, and if their king is present, he moves to the nearest friendly province.

42. Boats. You gain a free boat to place in any friendly province.

43. Saxon relatives. Roll one die: 1 = Wessex, 2 = Sussex, 3 = Middlesex, 4 = Essex, 5 or 6 = re-roll. Place one regular in the province. The owner of the province controls this regular.

44. Sword in the stone! Your king dies and is replaces by ARTHUR, a +2 King.

45. Roman ruin: gain any improvement in a province of choice.

46. Saint founds a monastery in a province determined on the random province table. If this happens in a Pagan player’s province, the morale of the province goes to low, if in a Christian players area, the morale of the province goes to high. No morale change in neutral provinces.

51. Storms. Roll a die to select a sea zone (see map). Any boat attempting to move from a province adjacent to that sea zone, or into that sea zone must roll a die: on a roll of 4, 5, or 6, the boat and any troops in it are destroyed.

52. Assassin! You may choose a king other than your own to assassinate.

53. Bad debts. All your mercenaries desert.

54. Forced march. You may move one group of units an extra movement point this turn.

55. Chainmail armour. All your troops have their combat strength increased by one, and their raid strength increased by one for this turn only.

56. Heresy! You must convert to a different religion during the conversion phase.

61. City founded by the Elders of Zion in a neutral land determined on the random province table.

62. Earthquake! Roll one die to select a column on the random province table. All walls in provinces named are destroyed.

63. Muttering in the ranks. Roll a die for each regular. On a roll of 4, 5, or 6 they desert.

64. Widespread rebellion. Roll one die to select a column on the random province table. Each players province named is attacked by one die of rebels (combat strength of 2) who fight a battle for control of the province. If the rebels succeed, the province reverts to neutrality.

65. The hammer of God. You may destroy any one improvement anywhere, or place one ravage marker.

66. The end times are upon us! Satan Rides! All Christian areas go to low morale.

 

12. Optional rules.

 

12.1. Warrior Monks. Christians may raise one monk per monastery that they own for a cost of two resources each. warrior monks are regulars with a combat strength of 1 against Christians, and 3 against Pagans. Their raid strength is also 1 against Christians, and 3 against Pagans. If the player owning them converts to Paganism, they all automatically desert.

 

12.2. City defences. After the first, or any subsequent, round of a battle, the defender may retreat into a city. The attacker may immediately assault the city, with all troops reduced in combat strength by two (i.e. peasants cannot assault), and continue the battle, or else they may destroy an improvement or ravage the province as in a raid.

 

12.3. Feeble rulers. If a 1 is rolled when generating a new King, that King is considered to be a -1 King, with a combat strength of 1, a raid strength of 1, and must move a single unit of his own side down from one box to the next box in battle.

 

13. Game development notes.

 

The idea of this game has been kicked around for a while, and this version is an evolutionary end product from a very different original game. For example, the original rules had free peasants for every province that you owned, with the result that huge armies rampaged around at will, and were replenished every turn (there was only one movement per turn in the original rules).

 

13.1. Provinces.

 

The game concept was based around the idea that there could be a game where players could either build up a large empire, or concentrate on developing a small efficient kingdom. Often, the players of Diera and Kent concentrate on improving their home provinces, while the other players create large, vulnerable, empires. The army-raising system favours the owners of a highly improved province, since such provinces will raise a large number of peasants for little expenditure. However, to win the game, even the owners of small efficient kingdoms have to eventually move out to challenge the large kingdoms that threaten to engulf them.

 

The map was based on several studies of Dark Ages Britain. Note that Thanet, now part of Kent, was a physical island at the time, used as a raiding base. The province names are largely taken from dark ages tribes, kingdoms, or names for areas. The wild provinces and impassable province borders are based on people’s perceptions of areas at the time. The Weald, for example, was an ancient primary forest, considered haunted and full of strange beasts. It was a major obstacle to movement, taking the Saxons some 200 years to penetrate. The design has tried to reflect the dark ages mind, which was fatalistic and superstitious: the obstacles on the map are real because you know that you die if you go there.

 

In part, the game was meant to represent the establishment and growth of various Germanic kingdoms from small bases on a Britain incapable of co-ordinated action. The fact that all of the provinces begin as neutral is an indication of that inability for co-ordinated action. Players who choose Kent, Wessex, Essex, Suffolk, or Diera as starting locations represent the Germanic invaders. Players who choose Hwicce, Hereford, Cornwall, or anywhere in Wales represent British tribes and/or Romano-British forces. Ulster, as always, is a law unto itself.

 

13.2. Random events.

 

Random events have tried to remain faithful to the dark ages mind. Although they have also been designed with gameplay in mind, they were to a large part based on the Peterborough Chronicles, kept by monks who recorded the important events of the year at the time. A disturbingly large number of the entries for whole years are single lines stating such things as “dragons were sighted across the land this year”. Dragons were real to people. Famine and plague were expected, as were earthquakes and demons. Despite various revisionist histories which attempt to place the dark ages in a more humanist context, the reality of life for most people was unpleasant, fearful, and short. The proliferation of ravage counters (despite 50 % of them being removed each turn) and low morale are an indication of this.

 

13.3. Game structure.

 

The order in which things happen in the game is one of the most important features of it. An awful lot of juggling of the sequence of phases happened in game development. Most of the sequence changes have been deliberately introduced so that players cannot buy themselves out of trouble. For example conversion (with the resulting morale drop) occurs after the players have can spend resources to increase morale. Because the players who go last in a turn have a considerable initiative advantage over the player who goes first, the game-order has to change every turn.

 

13.4. Improvements.

 

The economics of the game are deliberately designed around the barter system. There is not one currency, there are five. The unequal distribution of resources (based on studies of dark ages Britain, with simplifications for gameplay) encourages interaction between players, whether that be by trading or raiding one another! An isolationist player can build cities to provide the resources they need from trade, while the owner of Dyfed (the map’s only gold supply) will be able to get some tremendous deals.

 

Improvements are limited to four types: Roads, Cities, Walls, and Monasteries. Cities and Monasteries are straightforward, but Roads and Walls need some further explanation. Roads were originally two improvements, roads and fields, the former being an infrastructure improvement (like the Romans), and the latter being an agricultural (and therefore population/carrying capacity) improvement. They were combined because the dark ages were not a time when either could be considered a major improvement on its own. Roads were needed to take the surplus agriculture to where it was needed. Thus the combined improvement Roads is an indication of improved agriculture and the means for its distribution. Such an improved province can support more people, and is slightly more efficient at trade and responding to raiders. Walls are really a loose term for a whole series of anti-raiding measures from earthworks such as Offa’s Dyke to the Roman sea defences (the Saxon Shore from which the game gets its name).

 

The game starts with no improvements anywhere, an unrealistic situation. The information about the dark ages available means that in the future the game is open to scenario construction.

 

13.5. Combat.

 

The troop types represent the types of armies raised at the time. The King counter is essentially the King himself plus his immediate family and loyal retainers (Housecarls). Regulars are proven warriors who have had the bonus of decent armour and weaponry. Peasants are members of the tribe who will fight provided they are given a bribe. Peasants rapidly disperse after a battle or two to return to tend to their farms and spend their spoil, and this is represented in the game by the removal of all peasants at the end of the turn. Mercenaries represent minor tribes and groups of warriors who will fight for payment. However, their reliability is always in question. Militia are the locals of a province who will rise up to defend their farms from invaders. How well militia fight is dependant upon their regard for their current ruler (as indicated by province morale). Boats were used extensively for raiding in this period, especially by the Irish, Jutes based on Thanet, and Norse based in Orkney. That boats are removed at the end of each turn is simply a practical game ploy, since there is no mechanism for their removal otherwise.

 

The game presents the players’ units with a decision each turn: to raid or invade, that is the question. The power of a province’s militia can be a major influence in a battle, and it is often a wise policy to raid a province to ruins before invading it. However, you then inherit a ruined province which will be easy prey for other players. Raiding is also an essential source of income, reflecting the essentially nomadic attitude of a lot of the newcomers to Britain: migrating tribes who were used to a life of taking spoils on the march.

 

Battles are lacking in any tactics whatsoever. Tactics departed with the Romans, and victory in dark ages battles went to the side with the most troops, the best equipped troops, and the troops with the most fearless leader. Battles are also to the death. Not a representation of reality, but rather the result where the losers would disperse and the king would be slaughtered (if he was foolish enough to survive) by his disgusted people. Often the winners were in not much better state.

 

Raids are likely to be the most common form of combat in the game. The large number of fortifications (motte and baileys, keeps, round-towers, etc.) that characterise the period are a reflection of this reality of dark ages life. Raiding was unlike combat in that the raiding force has no intention of taking on any opposition. The aim is to grab as much as possible with the fewest casualties. The fact that raids are free while invasions cost a resource reflects the higher motivation that troops needed to be persuaded to go into battle, as well as the cost of occupying a new province. The raid dice rolls represent the attempt of the owner of the province to head off or capture the raiders, and the attempt of the raiders to avoid interception. When the raid fails, the subsequent troop losses are only partially losses in combat; mostly they will be from unhappy raiders deserting and/or dispersing while going home.

 

13.6. Conversion.

 

Religion was in flux at the time. Christianity, although Rome’s official religion, like many other Roman practices, had never really made much of an impact on Britain. In the time when the game starts, only Ireland was receptive to Christianity, while none of the invaders were Christian. The eventual triumph of Christianity is represented in the game in stark power terms: Christians can build monasteries which, while expensive, are a major trading and population improvement that the Pagans cannot match. Thus the game encourages players to convert to Christianity, but Pagans who build up a large empire may feel that the advantage of monasteries is out-weighed by the price of conversion.

 

Christians gain trade and improvement bonuses because of their better organisation. The term “Pagan” refers to a collection of differing belief systems, none of which were widespread beyond a particular tribe. Christians, on the other hand, had access to a much greater pool of experience as represented by the various Christian communities spread around the remains of the Roman Empire. Often these communities were urban-based, hence the bonus that Christians get in trading.

 

13.7. Conclusion.

 

On the whole, the game has attempted to give a flavour of dark ages warfare (a lot of raiding), and demonstrate the economic and spiritual realities of the time. A lot of thought has gone into keeping things simple, especially in the combat system where we intended to give the players a choice each turn between raiding and invading. We hope that the game system is innovative and yet simple enough to meet the fundamental challenge of a game: to remain varied and interesting without bogging the players down.

 

14. Summary of the effects of improvements.

 

Monastery. When built, province morale increases. +1 to carrying capacity. +1 to trade roll of a city in the same province.

Road.   +1 to carrying capacity. +1 to strength against raids. +1 to trade roll of a city in the same province. Troops starting in the road’s province pay no movement points to leave the province.

Wall.    +3 to strength against raids.

City.    +1 to carrying capacity. One resource per turn may be traded in the city.

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 [AA1]