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Avalon Hill Kingmaker
The copy on the left (1988) has the advantage of a mounted board but suffers from tear apart cards leaving perforated edges. It had only 19 blank Event Cards. The one on the right (1976) is my original playing copy with two Event decks with the expanded deck added. The 23 blank event cards are used in conjunction with the Vacillating Nobles from the expansion.
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Mapboard-Terrain is affected by the size of the "squares". The smaller
the "square" the rougher the terrain. France, Ireland and if you do not have
a ship, Scotland are available for refuge with a Refuge card, of course.
80 Crown card deck 90 Event card deck 126 counters Rules
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Sequence of Play
36 cards are dealt out. All Nobles held must be placed face up. Any offices
that can not be placed with a Noble are put into the Chancery to be assigned
during the next Parliament. The first player is determined by who holds
firstly;
Chancellor
Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of York
Bishop of Durham
Bishop of Carlisle
Bishop of Lincoln
Bishop of Norwich
Most troops
Play then procedes from the first player and thence to the left. Each player performs the 6 Phases of their turn in this sequence;
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Chance Phase-Event card is drawn and resolved
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Movement Phase-You may move some, all or none of your units
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Combat Phase-Battles and sieges are resolved
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Parliament Phase-May be summoned (Writ needed) by the Sole King or Chancellor if there is no Sole King (Parliament card also needed).
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Coronation Phase-Royal Heir first in line
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Crown Deck Phase-Top card drawn from the Crown deck
The Event Deck supplies good dynamics, but play often bogs due to over caution. Very colorful board and components. The idea behind the game is to capture the King or other highly ranked royalty, get that person crowned, if necessary, while eliminating all the rivals to the point where you have the only possible King.
Lancaster |
York |
| King Henry VI | Richard, Duke of York |
| Magaret of Anjou | Edmund, Earl of Rutland |
| Edward, Prince of Wales | Edward, Earl of March |
| George, Duke of Clarence | |
| Beaufort, Duke of Somerset | Richard, Duke of Gloucester |
The game starts with Henry VI as sole King. Persons lower on the table within their own house may not be crowned until all above them have been eliminated. You must have a first in line plus two Bishops or an Archbishop with your intended Sovereign within a Cathedral. The Beauforts are a Lancastran bastard line. If all of the Lancaster line has been demised, only then do they assume the line.
Crown Deck
9 Titled Nobles-Nobles are the backbone of your faction. Only titled nobles may hold office. Each gets a certain number of votes to be used when Parliament is convened, forces to employ when battle ensues, summons to answer when peasants revolt and castles to which to flee.
Noble/Title |
Forces | Lords | Commons | Summoned | Castles |
| Percy, Earl of Northumberland | 100 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
| Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk | 50 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
5 |
| Neville, Earl of Warwick | 50 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
| Beaufort, Duke of Somerset | 30 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
| Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury | 30 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel | 30 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
| Pole, Duke of Suffolk | 30 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
| Courntenay, Earl of Devonshire | 30 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
| Stafford, Duke of Buckingham | 30 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 Titled Plantagenet Nobles-Assigned to the faction with the first in line of their respective house.
14 Untitled Nobles-Better than nothing.
Noble |
Forces | Lords | Summoned | Castles |
| Stanley | 50 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
| Grey | 20 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| Roos | 20 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| Holland | 20 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
| Audley | 10 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Berkeley | 10 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Clifford | 10 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Cromwell | 10 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Greystoke | 10 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Hastings | 10 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Herbert | 10 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Howard | 10 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Scrope | 10 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| Bouchier | 10 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
8 Titles-To be assigned to untitled nobles allowing them to hold office.
Title |
Forces | Commons | Summoned |
| Earl of Westmorland | 40 |
1 |
1 |
| Earl of Essex | 20 |
1 |
1 |
| Earl of Kent | 30 |
1 |
2 |
| Duke of Exeter | 20 |
1 |
1 |
| Earl of Richmond | 40 |
1 |
0 |
| Earl of Wiltshire | 30 |
1 |
0 |
| Earl of Salisbury | 30 |
1 |
0 |
| Earl of Worcester | 30 |
1 |
0 |
6 Bisophrics-4 Bishops 2 Archbishops
Bishophric |
Conditional | Lords | Commons | Summoned | Notes |
| Archbishop of Canterbury | 0 |
7 |
3 |
1 |
|
| Archbishop of York | 30 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
Conditional forces in north of river Trent |
| Bishop of Durham | 30 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
Conditional forces in north of river Trent |
| Bishop of Carlisle | 30 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
Conditional forces in north of river Trent |
| Bishop of Lincoln | 0 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
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| Bishop of Norwich | 0 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
10 Towns-Assigned when the town is captured. Or captured when played.
1 Royal Castle
5 Ships-When things get too hot these are very handy for foreign reposes.
2 King's Pardons-Each saves a captured Noble about to be executed.
9 Mercenaries-To beef up the ranks
14 Offices-Each confers troops and some other benefits depending on the office in question. The forces go with the Office. The conditional are forces that are available as long as the territorial conditions are met.
Office |
Forces | Conditional | Commons | Summoned | Notes |
| Treasurer | 50 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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| Constable of Dover | 50 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
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| Steward | 50 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
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| Warden of Cinque Ports | 50 |
0 |
5 |
2 |
2 ships |
| Admiral | 50 |
0 |
6 |
4 |
2 ships |
| Chancellor | 50 |
0 |
(20) |
0 |
If there is no sole King, Chancellor may summon Parliament and receives the King's 20 Commons votes |
| Marshal | 100 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
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| Warden of the Marches | 50 |
100 |
2 |
6 |
Conditional forces north of river Tees |
| Chancellor of Cornwall | 50 |
100 |
2 |
1 |
Conditional forces in Devon and Cornwall |
| Chancellor of Lancaster | 50 |
100 |
3 |
1 |
Conditional forces within 3 squares of Conway |
| Chamberlain of Chester | 50 |
200 |
3 |
1 |
Conditional forces in Wales |
| Constable of the Tower | 50 |
200 |
3 |
1 |
Conditional forces within 2 squares of London |
| Lieutenant of Ireland | 50 |
200 |
0 |
1 |
Conditional forces in Ireland |
| Captain of Calais | 50 |
300 |
0 |
1 |
Conditional forces in Calais |
1 Blank
This is the deck which supplies the muscle. If all of your Nobles are eliminated you are helpless to affect the game. You can merely watch as you try to rebuild.
Event Deck
The Event Deck supplies the juice. Most cards are split with one half being an event, the other combat results. Knowledge of this deck provides experienced players a BIG advantage over newbies. Experience allows partial foresight as to how the deck will affect play. Watching what has gone by allows an educated guess as to what is to come. Even knowing what exactly comprises the deck is advantageous.
Plague-Affects cities and towns. Very bad news. I use two decks of Events so that a faction cannot wait for a Plague to pass, each place is plagued only once per deck.
Storms at Sea-Forces ships into port
Raids and Revolts-Nobles and offices named are summoned and must respond
Embassies-Sole King or chancellor in the absence responds
Parliament-An element of summoning parliament
Writ-A writ must be played on an opposing noble for Parliament to be summoned
Free Move-One noble or ship may make an additional move
Mercenaries Go Home-The named force is removed
Expansion Events
Treachery(remove 1 card)-1, (remove 2 cards)-1, (remove 3 cards)-1 The player on the left randomly chooses one, two or three Crown cards from the drawer's hand.
Gales at Sea (use table/4-1)-1, Gales at Sea (bad weather)-1 All ships at sea are destroyed.
Refuge(3 turns)-2, (5 turns)-2, (7 turns)-2 One of these cards must be played before a player may move to Scotland , Ireland or France to hide.
Vacillating Allegiance(10) When drawn in combat a noble may switch sides. During your turn one noble does not move.
Catastrophe(1 round)-1, (2 rounds)-1, (3 rounds)-1 Strength points from offices, titles and bisophrics are not counted.
Royal Death-1 Dice are rolled and the card chart consulted to see who croaks. Used once and discarded.
Optional Parliament
Parliament consists of the House of Lords and House of Commons. Parliament must take place in an unfortified town or city. A Sole King has to merely issue a Writ to one Noble from another faction who must attend. All other Nobles may go voluntarily or not. If there is no Sole King only the Chancellor may summon Parliament but in addition to the Writ a Parliament May be Summoned card must be played. All Offices from previously killed Nobles are placed in the Chancery. They are given to Nobles present at Parliament if a majority of BOTH Houses of Parliament approve the candidacy.
House of Lords
Senior Lancastran 10
Senior Yorkist 10
When added to the Lords votes of the Nobles and Bisophrics there is a maximum total of 82 votes
House of Commons
King (Chancellor if no Sole King) 20
Senior Lancastran 10
Senior Yorkist 10
Each controlled city 4
Each controlled town 3
When added to the Commons votes of Nobles, Offices and Bisophrics there is a maximum total of 156 votes.
Articles in The General
13 #1 Kingmaker Analyzed-Play study
!3 #3 Design analysis and play study
!4 #2 Same as above
17 #2
!7 #5 More analysis some variants plus a much more detailed summoning table
20 #4 The Hazard of the Draw-Some variant rules including random initial placement of the Royals. If you have a color scanner and printer there are a whack of kicking new Event Cards
24 #5 The Bloody King-More variants directed to the article above.
The King's Castle-Still more variants
26 #1 An Assembly of Gentlemen-Exploiting Parliament in KINGMAKER.
26 #4 Variant wherein players take the royal pieces as their personal tokens
29 #2 Kingmaker PC