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My latest project: a card-based game of the Wars of the Roses

For the past couple of years, I've hinted about various writing and gaming ideas, but none has really gotten anywhere.  The biggest obstacle was a lack of free time, both to contemplate and execute.

This obstacle has largely been removed, and I've felt my creative impulses stirring for the first time since Walls of Men.  It's a wonderful feeling.

(A renewed push to get in shape may also have contributed to this new energy.)

My inspiration is Avalon Hill's old game of the Wars of the Roses, Kingmaker.  I have played this game many times over the years, most recently with the family.  It's not too heavy on the wargame side, and the cards offer a nice period feel, but it does have some severe limitations.

The first is the time needed to set it up and take it down.  It has lots of small counters that require precise placement at pre-ordained positions and while there are markings on the board, the heraldry is so close that it's easy to mix them up.  The board has a neat archaic look, but it's a bit drab and heard to read.  Basically, you'll need at least 15 minutes to set it up and to put it away, and that's a lot of up-front time to commit to something.

The game itself can move very slowly, in part because it uses traditional wargame-style movement, and in part because the cards constantly stir things up, which is kind of cool from a chaos of war perspective, but often the reversals of fortune seem random rather than historical.

Put simply, the game tries to do too much, and it has too much randomness thrown into it, which makes a "quick game" essentially impossible.  It also tends towards stalemate as random event cards drag armies who were about to make decisive contact to the far corners of the realm.  It is a rare game that ends quickly and decisively.

The core concepts for my game are therefore quick setup and cleanup, fast play and the possibility for a follow-up game in the same session, perhaps with the players changing factions.

Yes, that's another issue with Kingmaker.  The conceit is that the actual claimants are mere pawns in the hands of the Great Houses, and while and interesting take, it's not very realistic.  Everyone is essentially chasing after the same tokens, and this creates bottlenecks and stand-offs where no one can achieve decisive superiority.

For my system, there will be five defined factions, each with special rules and their own objectives.  What is more, there will be complimentary objectives, allowing for joint wins.

All of this is based on military wargames I developed more than a decade ago, and the benefits of that experience mean that I'm actually starting with a tested, robust core system that only needs slight modification (mostly a new map) to run properly.

Quick games also make for better playtesting.  The chief obstacle on this is actual production: getting the custom cards and map produced and packaged for sale.

I also need a title, and right now I'm tempted to use the "Conqueror" brand because I anticipate producing more games using this system.

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