THE HAZARD OF THE DRAW
New Options and Events for KINGMAKER
by Tim Williams
from THE GENERAL, 20, #4, pp 41-43.


     We play quite a few wargames here in the rural vales of Northwest Arkansas. Considering that our only other source of evening entertainment is to sit out on the patio and watch the automatic backyard security light come on, this is not difficult to understand. And of all the 200 or so choices we have available to us now, we return more often to KINGMAKER than to any of the others. KINGMAKER probably embodies more than any other wargame the spirit of its age; for excitement, color, and pure enjoyment, it has no peer among board games.
     It doesn't take many such knavery-sessions around the spectacular heraldic map of England to find that KINGMAKER lends itself more easily than most games to variation and expansion. The game's admittedly unhistorical approach allows players to toy with various additions and deletions within the game's framework without throwing a monkeywrench into the game system or creating an absurdly ahistorical situation. The variants that follow will add even more unpredictability to your KINGMAKER outings while adding little if anything to the game's complexity.

New Optional Rules
1. SMASHING PREDICTABILITY
     A. The Events Deck: The variant rules provided in The GENERAL (Vol. 14, No. 2) suggest that each time an "Embassy" event card is drawn, the Crown deck should be reshuffled. A very good idea, which should also be extended to the Events deck. I am fervently opposed to "card counting" as a method of strategy. This will discourage the practice of skulking around inside nearby castles while waiting for the larger cities' "Plague" cards to pass, and then flying into those fastnesses for what are often very long periods of relative safety.
     B. Initial Placement of Royal Heirs: Personally, I get extremely weary of seeing the faction lucky enough to be initially dealt the Constable of the Tower and/or the Archbishop of York walk away with the senior heirs on the first turn of every game. The fixed initial placement of these all-important pieces probably contributes more to game stereotyping than any other factor, and the Lancastrian heirs are much too close together, in any event. Players wishing to eliminate this situation may use the following placement system. After the initial set-up of the factions' nobles, roll one die for each heir and consult the following table:

Random Heir Placement Table
Heir Die Range = Location
King Henry VI 1-3 = London, 4-5 = Windsor, 6 = Bristol
Margaret of Anjou 1-2 = Coventry, 3-4 = Newark, 5-6 = Conway
Edward of Lancaster 1-2 = Kenilworth, 3-4 = Lancaster, 5-6 = Bamburgh
Richard of York 1-3 = York, 4-5 = Fotheringhay, 6 = Shrewsbury
Edward of March 1-2 = Harlech, 3-4 = Plymouth, 5-6 = Carisbrooke
Edmund of Rutland 1-2 = Ireland, 3-4 = Baumaris, 5-6 = Dover
George of Clarence 1-2 = Cardigan, 3-4 = Norwich, 5-6 = Newcastle (town)
Richard of Gloucester 1-2 = Calais, 3-4 = Carlisle, 5-6 = Swansea

2. IRELAND
     A. Refuge: When using the Refuge rules first expounded in The GENERAL (Vol. 14, No. 2), it is my belief that Ireland should be exempted from the various restrictions thereof. There was no local authority in Ireland (such as there was in Scotland or on the Continent) to prevent nobles from galloping freely about the countryside. The only fear a faction should have in Ireland is the possibility of a confrontation with the Lieutenant on his home ground.
     B. Dublin: One of the worst problems in the game associated with being in Ireland is that there is no place to hide. This is a needless abstraction, as there were plenty of fortified locations in medieval Ireland. To remedy this deficiency, add Dublin, a major city with a permanent garrison of 300 which is also a port. This does not affect the port capabilities of the rest of Ireland. If Edmund of Rutland sets up in Ireland, he is placed in Dublin. Parliament may not be called in Dublin.
      C. Irish Reinforcements: The blank Crown card provided in every game can be used to represent the mustering of additional Irish Kern troops for use in England. This card is very similar to a mercenary card and has a strength of 50 troops. Like the French Mercenary card, it is not shuffled into the crown deck until after the initial deal. Whenever this card is eventually drawn, the player drawing it sets the card aside and draws again. From the moment the Irish card is drawn, these troops are considered available in Ireland. Use of these troops is restricted to the faction which includes the Lieutenant of Ireland, and only the Lieutenant himself may possess the card. He must be sent to Ireland in person to get them, and sufficient shipping must be available to transport the Irish. It is very important to note that these troops have no combat strength in Ireland, being considered part of the Lieutenant's extra complement of 200 troops in that area. These troops will remain in play as long as the Lieutenant does and will only be returned to the Crown Deck under either of two circumstances: A) the Lieutenant is killed, or B) the "Revolt in Ireland" event occurs. In the latter case, the Irish card is returned to the Crown Deck as soon as the Lieutenant is placed in Ireland. If the Irish troops were "available" but not yet picked up, the card is returned to the Crown Deck and the troops are no longer available. If for some reason the Lieutenant is unable to respond to the Revolt, and has the Irish card, the Irish are not removed. Once discarded, the Irish may become available once again in a subsequent chance phase.

New Event Cards
     The best (and mechanically safest) means of broadening KINGMAKER's horizons is through the introduction of new event cards. The blank cards provided in both the game itself and the variant deck available from Avalon Hill encourage players to "roll their own." The non-historical premise of the game allows a certain amount of flexibility in this; but while Turkish Invasions of Ireland and Embassies from Venus are intriguing ideas, neither falls into the realm of historical credibility. Any new events added should be relevant to late 15th Century England (or to Western European society at the broadest). Any or all of the 17 following suggested events may be used; none depends upon another for its application. The suggested number of each card to be inserted into the Events Deck is listed in parentheses.
     The first two cards are functional cards to be added to the others of their particular type already present in the deck:

PLAGUE IN DUBLIN (1): This card is only necessary if the above optional rules adding that city are used.

MERCENARIES GO HOME--SAXONS (1): I still haven't figured out why one of these wasn't Included in the game originally. Surely Saxons got just as bored chasing around the English country side as did any of their peers from Burgundy, Flanders or Scotland. If the other "Go Home" cards are used, so too should this one.

     Considering the importance of religion in medieval times, it is a little odd that religious offices have no more responsibilities in the game than they do (coronations, answering revolts, extra troop strength). The following four cards abstractly represent the importance of religious matters in English society of the day:

RELIGIOUS DIET (1): A Meeting of the English clergy is convened. All extant religious offices normally able to respond must immediately be placed at the appointed location. Roll one die to determine the site of the Diet: 1-2 = Salisbury, 3-4 = Wells, 5-6 = St. David's. No combat is allowed in the square of the location for one full turn after the diet is convened.

HERESY (1): The first phantoms of the coming Reformation begin to manifest themselves. All extant religious offices normally able to respond must immediately be moved to their home dioceses. If a rival faction controls the office's home town, the noble holding the office need only be placed in the open outside the town.

PAPAL DIET (1): The Pope convenes a general diet of the European clergy. All extant religious offices must be moved to the Continent. No ships are necessary to get to the diet, but will be necessary to get back. Even religious offices normally unable to respond to a call must go, and if besieged, the besiegers must allow them to leave. (The rationale here is that the besiegers would not wish to risk excommunication by interfering with Papal business.) No refuge card need be played for bishops to remain on the Continent.

EXCOMMUNICATION (1): The faction drawing the card has ran afoul of His Eminence, and is declared Excommunicate and Damned. All religious offices and town cards held by that faction are removed and returned to the Crown Deck. As long as the faction remains Excommunicate, any religious offices or town cards normally gained through combat are immediately returned to the Crown Deck. No noble of that faction may enter a city or town containing a cathedral or be considered "in town" in the squares containing Salisbury, Wells, or St. David's. Excommunication is considered lifted as soon as a new religious office or town card is drawn by the Excommunicate faction during the Chance Phase.

     Of all the events currently in use, only the Embassies provide for any independent movement on the part of any of the historically capricious Royal Heirs. The following four cards would inject a greater degree of mobility for certain of these pieces:

ROYAL VISIT (1): The sole King is moved immediately to Ireland. Any nobles stacked with him may accompany. If the optional Dublin rules set forth earlier in this article are in force, the King must go into that city if possible.

ROYAL HUNT (1): The King is seized with the desire to go a'hunting and is immediately moved to the forest square containing half of the small town of Rotherham (one square west of Audley's Tickhill Castle). If there are two Kings in play, roll one die: 1-2 = Lancastrian King goes, 3-6 = Yorkist King goes, 5 = both Kings go, 6 = it rains, and nobody goes. Combat is allowed in the square.

ROYAL HEIR ESCAPES (2): The lowest-ranking Royal Heir by the drawing faction escapes to the nearest neutral town, city or Royal Castle. This may be on an island. The heir will not escape if A) he is already King, or B) he is the senior surviving heir of his house. This event postulates that the less likely the chances are of coronation, the more chance an heir will weary of endless years of following a faction around England.

TREATY WITH FRANCE (1): The sole King is moved immediately to the Continent. As soon as this is done, a treaty with France is in effect. The card is laid aside in plain view to indicate this. As long as the treaty is in effect, Calais as an English city is inviolable by the "French Siege" card, and this card is ignored if subsequently drawn. The city is under English sovereignty -- under control of the faction in possession of the sole King (Calais becomes neutral, if no one controls the King when it is restored to England). The treaty with France lasts until one of the following events occurs: A) the King who signed the treaty dies in any manner, B) A "French Raid" event is drawn, C) a "War in Europe" (see below) event is drawn, or D) a "Scots invasion" (see below) event is drawn. Following any one of these events the treaty is considered broken, and the treaty card is returned to the discard pile. Subsequent treaties are possible. The rest of the new cards suggested here merely represent miscellaneous disasters designed to further aid and/or frustrate even the best-laid plans of potential Warwicks.

MERCENARY STRIFE (1 or 2): Inter-company or inter-national rivalries between different mercenary groups manifest themselves. In any square where a faction maintains a stack with more than one group of mercenaries extant, the weakest card in troop strength is immediately returned to the Crown Deck. If the only two groups available are the same strength, the player may choose which one to lose. Note that the French will always win out in this case, and the Saxons will always lose. The optional Irish troops are not considered mercenaries for the purposes of this rule.

MUTINY (5): One of these cards should be available for each of the "100-class" ships (Le Nicholas, Le Swan, Le Michael, Le Rose, and Le Lucas). When a ship's mutiny card is drawn, it is immediately removed from the board and its card returned to the Crown Deck. If at sea with passengers at the time of the mutiny, the nobles are put ashore immediately at the nearest open port (Scotland, Ireland or the Continent if at all possible). The ships belonging to the Admiral of England and the Warden of the Cinque Ports never mutiny, due to the greater naval authority of these offices.

DEFEATISM RIFE (1): A pall of doom hangs over the drawing faction in spite of all its strength (or due to the lack of it). Roll one die to determine the length of the period of defeatism: 1-2 = one turn, 3-4 = two turns, 5-6 = three turns. During this gloomy period, movement is the only action available to that faction. It may not attack, ambush, besiege (any sieges currently in progress must be lifted), call parliament, or coronate a new King. If attacked, the faction defends normally.

FRENCH TREACHERY (1): This card only affects play if the French Foot Soldiers Mercenary card is currently in play or held off-map by any faction. If the card is held off-map or is in play on the Continent, an island, or Ireland, then the card is immediately returned to the Crown Deck. If at sea, the card is still removed, and any nobles currently taking advantage of the unlimited French naval transport are returned to the Continent. If the French card is in play in England, then the treacherous swine desert the controlling faction and fall to freebooting. The card is set aside and the French are considered to move on the nearest town or city friendly to their former employers. The ex-controlling faction immediately loses control of the affected city or town, which loses its garrison strength and assumes a strength of 100 to represent the French occupation (the inhabitants wouldn't sympathize with the French, needless to say). The French will remain in the same city or town relentlessly sacking the place until either of two events occurs: the city or town is stricken by the plague or the French are destroyed in battle (at which point the French card is returned to the Crown Deck and the location reverts to control of the player). Until such a time as the French plunderers are destroyed, the faction responsible for their presence in England (i.e., the ex-controlling faction may not call parliament, attend parliament (no noble of this faction may be "summoned” nor coronate a new King. While any faction may attempt to destroy the French, the excontrolling faction will naturally have more incentive to do so. As soon as the French are destroyed, all restrictions are lifted and the French Mercenary card may re-enter play normally.

WAR IN EUROPE (1): A general European war involving England erupts. The Marshal of England is immediately placed on the Continent. The Admiral of England is placed on the Continent with two ships. The Captain of Calais is placed in Calais. All mercenary cards currently in play are returned to the Crown Deck, except the French, if sacking an English town or city (see above), and the Irish who are not considered mercenaries for the purposes of this rule. The mercenaries "go home" because they would naturally assume that they could profit far more from a larger-scale European war than from petty dynastic squabbles in England. A War in Europe will immediately cancel an earlier French Treaty result (see above).

SCOTS INVASION (1): The Scots always claimed Berwick, and indeed coveted all of the ancient Pictish territories in Northern England. This event presumes that the Scots take advantage of the turmoil in England to make good their claims and seize these territories. This event affects the Marshal of England and all holders of locations north of the River Tees. The calls are as follows: Marshal to Cheviots; Percy to Cockermouth or Alnwick; Grey to Chillingham; Neville to Raby; Bishop of Carlisle to Carlisle; Bishop of Durham to Durham; Warden of the Northern Marches to Berwick or Bamburgh; possessor of Newcastle to Newcastle (if this town is held by a faction at large, any noble of that faction may respond). If any nobles are unable to respond, do not as yet exist, or are unable to enter the location due to its ownership by a rival faction, the location falls to the Scots. Signify this with any convenient marker. The presence north of Tees of multifaceted nobles will serve to protect every location owned by those nobles (ideally, Percy/Warden/B. Carlisle/B. Durham/Newcastle would serve to defend seven of the nine locations north of Tees). Note that a noble must always respond to the call if able, even if a location originally owned by him is currently controlled by a rival faction. He is placed in the square outside the location, which falls to the fall. Royal Heirs are unaffected by Scots occupation. Locations taken by the Scots remain Scottish until retaken by siege. As long as at least one location north of Tees falls on the first Scots Invasion, subsequent invasions are possible and continue to attack English-held areas north of Tees. In the event that the first invasion fails to take even a single location, the card is removed from play and no further Scots Invasions are possible. It is extremely doubtful that King James would attempt another such fiasco. A Scots Invasion event immediately cancels an earlier French Treaty result (Scotland was at the time France's close ally).

ASSASSINATION (2): Draw another event card. If in play, the noble listed on the bottom line of the "killed" section is immediately removed with all his holdings, the victim of assassins. This is considered a non-political assassination, perpetrated by injured continentals, angry creditors, or possibly an irate husband.

     As an excellent adjunct to an already excellent game, these variants increase KINGMAKER's unpredictability, and consequently its enjoyment. But don't take my word for it, try them out yourself. I think you'll agree at least half the time (that is, the half that the cards are affecting your opponents and not you). So shuffle in the new cards, concentrate your faction, and as your enemies sneer with satisfaction as they close in around you, recall with hope the final words of Lord Hastings: "They smile at me who shortly shall be dead" (Richard III, Act III, Scene IV).

NOTE: I'll eventually incorporate the jpgs of the proposed cards. Right now, they are too large.

Updated 14 Jan 08.

Back to Boris Home

Back to List of KINGMAKER Variant Rules