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Vikings also other elements of card drafting beyond Fyrd and Leader cards. You’ll have three cards in your hands and those are either going allow you to move or grant your special powers that may change the course of the game, and so very often do so to your joy or utter despair. So, is 878 Vikings for me? Another minor complaint is around the card art – I’ve already said that the art is lovely but I would have liked to see more unique examples of it. Event cards with the same function and title have the same art. Again, this is a very minor criticism and arguably it may be a design choice to keep consistency across cards that have the same effects.
Alfred was succeeded by his son Edward the Elder (899-924 AD) and grandson Æthelstan (924-939 AD). Both these rulers were in many ways even more important in the history of England than Alfred himself. Cnut was a strong and effective king. He introduced some Danish customs to England, but England also influenced Denmark. For instance, Cnut appointed several Englishmen as bishops in Denmark, and even today most of the ordinary Danish words of church organisation are English in origin. Reinforcements: The player gains new units and recovers units that have fled. At the end of the phase, the player chooses a Movement Card from their hand to play. The country was newly converted to Christianity and newly unified under Harald Bluetooth. It was becoming a major power. After Edgar's death, his successor Edward I reigned briefly. He was murdered in 978 AD at Corfe (Dorset), possibly by the followers of his young half-brother Æthelred, and possibly by his stepmother.
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Your objective is to conquer 14 cities by the game's end, which happens after seven turns unless if you play the Treaty of Wedmore card which ends the game either from turn five, six or seven with a different goal. In that case, if you’re viking you’ll have to be in possession of nine or more cities and if you don’t make it, you lose buddy. In a battle, there comes a further asymmetric nature to play. The custom dice for the game give the Vikings (on average) one more hit result than the English. This represents the brutal nature of the warriors from Northern Europe. English units also have a higher chance to flee the battle. The one saving grace for the English are the Fyrd. The Fyrd is the word (Don’t you know about the Fyrd?) for English peasant units. They have the worst potential in battle and often flee or soak up Viking hits before doing damage. In an attempt at reconciliation with the English he had conquered, Cnut married Emma, the widow of Æthelred. She was the daughter of the duke of Normandy, himself the descendant of Vikings or Northmen (Normans).
Cards in a player’s hand could also be event cards, which provide significant bonuses and additional tactics. The movement card played determines how many of a player’s armies can move and how far they can move. I have read this game described as Risk+ but I think I would prefer the term COIN-lite. I understand the Risk+ comment but this is so much more than Risk. If someone can handle the rules-complexity of Risk and enjoys the direct conflict in that ‘game’ then 878: Vikings can provide a much more rewarding experience in a much shorter time with marginally more rules. I think that non-gamers suggesting a game of risk is pretty much apocryphal these days, but if you ever find yourselves in that situation, say no, go out and buy this (or any of Academy Games’ Birth of America series – 1812, 1775 or 1754) and insist that they try this instead. However 878: Vikings is probably easier to get hold of due to the recent reprinting. Every round you’ll be drawing reinforcements. If you’re English, the map will tell you which cities spawn new troops, and that will make vikings target target them rest assured. But if you’re a viking the only way you’ll get more troops is by drawing previously mentioned viking leader cards. This creates an interesting dynamic where the English have troops scattered all over the territory and no leaders (till Alfred the Great comes into play by round five) while vikings will come in waves of unstoppable vicious hordes.Who’s not drawn to Vikings these days? Vikings are everywhere in pop culture! I can bet if you’re reading this you’ve probably recently watched Thor Ragnarok in the cinema or been following Vikings on TV? Or let’s say you read Bernard Cornwell’s Last Kingdom or was devastated when Minnesota Vikings didn’t make it to Super Bowl LII? Nah, I know! You jumped into God of War when they ditched Greek for Norse Mythology right? Victory conditions in 878: Vikings are also asymmetrical. The English win if, at the end of any round, the Vikings hold no territory. The Vikings win if they hold 14 territories at the end of the round. In addition, a treaty game end can occur if a player has played both their treaty cards by round 5. In that case, the Vikings win if they control more than 9 territories. The historic map and high-quality dice deliver a top-notch experience. However, the unit miniatures, while appropriate, are pretty small. Game Experience:
The game begins with the English faction player(s) setting up the unsuspecting forces of England by placing plastic army figures throughout the map. Cities and towns have garrisons of units, but much of the countryside shires are barren of military force. The Viking player(s) will populate their first army led by the leader(s) represented through cards. Units are placed directly on the card if they are part of the leader’s army. A leader and his army battle the Housecarl (blue), Thegn (green), and Fyrd (yellow). This game is in the portfolio of famed educational/historical publisher Academy Games. It’s actually a young sibling to other board games such as 1754 Conquest, 1775 Rebellion and 1812 Invasion of Canada, all three part of the Birth of America trilogy. Under Alfred's auspices, the Welshman Asser prepared a 'Life of Alfred', after the model of Einhard's 'Life of Charlemagne'. Like Charlemagne, Alfred was deeply interested in promoting literacy and learning, and he sponsored (and perhaps even took part in) the translation of various Latin works into English.However, the Viking Leaders do have a major weakness that you should always try to exploit. During battle, the first Hit the Vikings take from the first English roll must be a Berserker, which are the best units in the game. The Vikings want to lose as few Berserkers as possible, so generally only one dies in each battle. The largest Viking armies have 8 Berserkers and the smallest have only 4. The number of Berserkers in the army is usually the number of battles that army can effectively fight, so I think of the Berserkers as the Viking army’s Hit Points. You want to find ways to eliminate Berserkers without losing too many units or cities. It’s not often that historical war games can grab the attention of a wider audience. 878: Vikings would be the game to do it. The rules are not heavy and the experience as a whole is thoroughly enjoyable due primarily to the asymmetry. Players who don’t know if war games are for them will be rewarded with 878: Vikings, if for any reason, just to see what a really well-done dice rolling combat game is like.
Apart from changing non-attractive wooden cubes for faction personalised plastic miniatures this game has perfected mechanics present on the above mentioned games. This probably contributed to it snatching 2017's Golden Geek Best War Game award. War game hun? This game is definitely on the light side and will most likely appeal to people that enjoyed Memoir 44’. Later traditions saw Ragnar Hairy-Breeks and his son Ívarr the Boneless as the two main Viking leaders, responsible not only for killing Ælla, King of Northumbria in 867 AD but also Edmund, King of the East Angles in 869 AD, and for destroying Dumbarton, the fortress of the British kings of Strathclyde. The game does of course have its improvement opportunities. Cards can be sometimes confusing on its powers and require consulting rule books a lot more often than should. Since there are no objectives apart from game winning conditions, replay-ability can be compromised after a while considering you’ll always be trying to do the same very thing and there are just so many possible macro strategies to do so. Chances are you also tried at least one Viking related Board Game like Blood Rage, Champions of Midgard or Raiders of the Norse Sea. Am I getting there or have I just been hitting water? I am guilty as charged of almost all of those sins mate. But I tell you what, even if being a viking aficionado is not why you’re here, 878 Vikings - Invasions of England may have something for yourself. What’s 878 Vikings all About?The most significant criticism I have is that the game feels quite different with just two players. This is a shame because that is the only version my son has played. There is an added level of ‘je ne sais quoi’ with the full complement of four players. Conclusion In 865 AD they forced the East Angles to help supply an army, which in 866 AD captured York and in 867 AD took over the southern part of the kingdom of Northumbria.
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