A Game of Thrones: The Board Game review

The winter is coming… Yes, almost everybody knows what’s this saying is about. Today we are going to take a look at «A Game of Thrones»! «Fantasy Flight Games» (FFG) published this masterpiece.

It was developed by the team of very talented and gifted people – Christian T. Petersen, Tomasz Jedruszek and Henning Ludvigsen.

Christian Petersen founded the «Fantasy Flight Games». Also, he is one of the game designers.

Tomasz Marek Jedruszek was born in June 17, 1977, Poland. He is an artist and he also an architect.

Henning Ludvigsen was born in 1975, Holmestrand, Norway. He’s working on creating arts for board games (Fantasy Flight Games).

A Game oh Thrones Gameplay Lannisters vs Baratheon

Inside the Box

Here we can see a huge list of game’s content, rules and other useful information. But don’t be afraid because it’s worth it!

  • The Rulebook;
  • One Game Board;
  • One hundred thirty eight Colored Plastic Units consisting of:
    • Sixty Footmen (ten per House);
    • Thirty Knights (five per House);
    • Thirty six Ships (six per House);
    • Twelve Siege Engines (two per House);
  • Eighty one Large Cards consisting of:
    • Forty two House Cards (seven per House);
    • Thirty Westeros Cards;
    • Nine Wildling Cards;
  • Twenty four Small Tides of Battle Cards;
  • Two Reference Sheets;
  • Six House-specific Player Screens;
  • Two hundred sixty six Cardboard Tokens consisting of:
    • Ninety Order Tokens (fifteen per House)
    • One hundred twenty Power Tokens (twenty per House)
    • Eighteen Influence Tokens (three per House)
    • Six Supply Tokens (one per House)
    • Fourteen Neutral Force Tokens
    • Six Victory Point Tokens (1 per House)
    • Six Garrison Tokens (1 per House)
    • One Iron Throne Token
    • One Valyrian Steel Blade Token
    • One Messenger Raven Token
    • One Game Round Marker
    • One Wildling Threat Token
    • One King’s Court Overlay

A Game of Thrones - Cards

Gameplay

The second edition of «A Game of Thrones» proposes us to choose one of the great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. You can use of the Iron Throne diplomacy and warfare to take control of the Iron Throne. This game is based on the best-selling «A Song of Ice and Fire» fantasy novels by George R.R. Martin. «A Game of Thrones» is a legendary board game! You’ll have to use more than warfare might to win. Also, you will must plan your strategy and play your cards in clever way. It’s up to you what you will choose to take over the whole Westeros!

A Game of Thrones - Gameplay

Rules

To play in «A Game of Thrones» it is necessary to have 3 to 6 players. Now we are going to take a look in to the course of rounds, phases and etc. Also, you can see a lot of tutorials and instructions on youtube to make a good game experience!

The Westeros Phase

During this phase, players draw and resolve three Westeros cards, one from each Westeros deck. Note: Skip this phase during the first game round, proceed instead directly to the Planning Phase.

The Planning Phase

During this phase, players are issuing orders to areas on the game board. The Planning Phase consists of the following steps:

1. Assign Orders

In this step each player places one Order token facedown. You can choose 1 out of 5 order tokens like March Orders, Defense Orders, Support Orders, Raid Orders, Consolidate Power Orders.

2. Reveal Orders

All orders assigned to the game board are now simultaneously revealed.

3. Use Messenger Raven

The player holding the Messenger Raven token may perform one of the following actions: Replace an Order Token: Swap one of his Order tokens on the game board for one of his unused Order tokens. Look at the Top Wildling Card: He looks at the top card of the Wildling deck.

A Game of Thrones - Baratheon Forces

The Action Phase

During the Action Phase, players resolve all orders that were assigned to the game board during the Planning Phase. The Action Phase is resolved by performing the following steps:

  1. Resolve Raid Orders
  2. Resolve March Orders (and resulting combat)
  3. Resolve Consolidate Power Orders
  4. Clean Up

Winning the Game

A game ends in one of two ways:

  1. The game reaches the end of the 10th game round.
  2. Immediately after a player controls his seventh area containing a Castle or Stronghold. Each player must record the number of areas he controls.

The Iron Throne Token

The player whose token is in position “1” of the Iron Throne Influence track holds the Iron Throne token.

The player with this token decides the outcome of all ties that occur in the game. The exceptions are ties in combat and ties in determining the winner of the game.

The Valyrian Steel Blade Token

The player whose token is in position “1” of the Fiefdoms Influence track holds the Valyrian Steel Blade token. The player with the Valyrian Steel Blade token can use it once per round the in combat to grant himself a +1 Combat Strength bonus.

The Messenger Raven Token

The player whose token is in position “1” of the King’s Court Influence track holds the Messenger Raven token.

The player with the Messenger Raven token can perform one of the following actions at the end of every Assign Orders step of the Planning phase:

  1. Replace an Order Token: The holder may swap one of his Order tokens on the game board for one of his unused Order tokens.
  2. Look in the Wildling Deck: The owner looks at the top card of the Wildling deck.

A Game of Thrones - Iron Throne, Valyrian Steel Blade and Messenger Raven Tokens

The Houses of Westeros

During the game the following Houses are the essential players in the war for the Iron Throne. You can choose any of them and make a fight for the Iron Throne!

House Stark

This is the family with great honor and rich history.

House Greyjoy

This bitter clan has it’s time to once more launch its longships on the western coasts of Westeros. Since the game start the own the Valyrian Steel Blade.

House Lannister

The family with rich gold mines has made them worthy rivals in the realm. They own the Messenger Raven since the start of the game.

House Martell

This ancient family has grown powerful under the sun of Dorne.

House Tyrell

This proud family has never sat upon the Iron Throne. They hope to do it soon.

House Baratheon

They have the best opportunity to take on the Westeros. Also, they own the Iron Throne since the game start.

A Game of Thrones - Baratheon Player Screen

Similar Games

So, here we have a list of similar games like «Warrior Knights», «StarCraft: The Board Game» «Runewars» and «Sid Meier’s Civilization: The Board Game» and of course «Risk». All these games have the same order mechanics and diplomacy elements. Especially «Risk» board game. Many people say that it’s much easier to play than «A Game Of Thrones» and mechanics are much more clearer to understand, though both games are so brilliant! We think that you would like to try every of them.

Expansion Packs

A Dance with Dragons

A Game Of Thrones A Dance With Dragons

«A Dance with Dragons» is the first expansion for «A Game of Thrones: The Board Game (2nd edition)». This thrilling scenario shows us the intrigues of the game in the time frame of «A Dance with Dragons».

The expansion includes forty-two alternate House cards and an alternate setup to reflect each House’s position in Westeros.

«A Feast for Crows»

A Game Of Thrones A Feast For Crows

A 4-player only expansion that has a couple things: it makes more balanced 4-player game and shortens it up really good. «A Feast for Crows» makes players complete objectives to gain VP.

F.A.Q.

Q: Does the Siege Engine can make the number of casualties in a battle?

A: No. Siege Engines has to be destroyed after losing the battle.

Q: If a player after victory in the battle would suffer casualties that would destroy all of his soldiers in the battle area, does the loser have to retreat?

A: Yes.

Q: When the “Winter is Coming” Westeros card is resolved, does that card also get back into the deck?

A: Yes.

Q: A player defends an area with a Power token and he loses the battle while also having the Arianne Martell’s House card. Should the Power token be taken away?

A: Yes. An area without any units can’t have an Order token.

A Game of Thrones - Stark Forces

Youtube

Conclusion

To sum up, we have a glorious game where you will not only kill all of your enemies in the battle, but also you will have to use your diplomacy skills. It’s really not standard for the game mechanics! You can buy this legendary game in here – just click it!

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