Kingmaker boardgame

[Finarvyn]

Kingmaker is one of my favorite games of all time because it has a mix of military and political strategy.

As far as I know, there were two main versions of the game (both of which I own):
1. The 1974 flatbox edition. Mine has the brand name "Ariel" on it, but it lists "Philmar Limited" in London as its publisher.
2A. The 1976 bookcase edition by Avalon Hill. Mine has a black box with shields and knights on the cover. The pictures are pretty much the same ones on the Philmar edition.
2B. The 1983 revised bookcase editon, also by Avalon Hill. Changes are minimal and mostly cosmetic. My revised box (when I had it) had a knight kneeling before a king on the cover. The revised edition had a larger gameboard. Otherwise, not too many changes that I can recall.
2C. Avalon Hill also had some articles in the General magazine, as well as a "variant deck" of cards which could be bought extra for the game.

A few general observations:
I. Kingmaker is a game that seems to interest lots of different types of people, not just traditional wargamers. This is because there are so many strategies other than battles that can occur throughout a game.
II. Our group always thought that the rules were poorly written in that there always appeared to be holes or exceptions. Our group found them on a regular basis, which led to countless arguments and seldom led to an actual "winner" at the end. Sadly, I'm pretty sure I no longer have my list of how we ruled on such things -- I'll bet they would make lively discussion!

[Finarvyn]

Magazine articles about Kingmaker:

From the General (Vol 14, No 2: Jul-Aug 1977)

Playing Your Hand in Kingmaker (by Richard Berg)

In Praise of Kingmaker (by Charles Vasey)

Kingmaker by Mail (by Don Turnbull)

Postal Kingmaker Mechanics (by Will McCullam)

Design Analysis: Kingmaker Rules Explanations (by Mick Uhl)

More Kingmaker Surprises: New Event Cards for Kingmaker (by Mick Uhl)

From the General (issues not known as I tore them out of the magazine and can find no issue number )

The Crowning Accomplishment: Advanced Strategy in Kingmaker (by Mike LaBeau)

The Bloody King: It's All in the Cards

The King's Castle: House Rules for Kingmaker

From Little Wars (TSR magazine, Vol 1, No 4, Feb/Winter 1977)

Naval Action Rules in Kingmaker (by Larry Smith)

[coffee]

I've only just read the rules recently, after finding an old copy that I don't actually remember receiving.

Back in the day, this was one of the games we'd pull out every so often. I never owned a copy then, and didn't really understand it. I don't think I've actually played an entire game; I always showed up late (from working second shift) and would hang out. A couple of times younger members of the group had to go home, so I'd get pulled in to take their position.

One time, Parliament was summoned and I was the guy giving out the offices. Bidding broke out on a couple, which quickly turned into genuine cash -- I think I made about 3.50 in bribes that night. (I was a poor student, so I could use the money...)

I'd love to actually play Kingmaker sometime.

[korgoth]

I have never gotten to play a full game, but I have been involved in a couple games. It seems to be a very cool game.

I do notice that there is a tendency to try to hide the king on a ship instead of in the city of London itself, out of some desire to keep him from getting the plague. Very strange! That might be one that would deserve a house rule to keep from getting out of hand.

[dwayanu]

Here's a link to an old (and unfortunately solitaire-only) computer version:

www.the-underdogs.info/game.php?id=590

[kenmeister]

I'm a big Avalon Hill game collector, so I'll keep an eye out for Kingmaker. I'd love to discuss more AH games.

Here's my Avalon Hill / 3M game collection, not including Diplomacy which I also have:

[bat]

I really love Kingmaker. I fondly recall playing countless hours in college and I have a pristine copy as well as a well played copy of the 1983 bookcase version. The way the game was always different and chaotic made it a ton of fun to play.

[Finarvyn]

Part of what we always found interesting is that the rules seemed to have just enough semi-loopholes that we would somehow find something to argue about almost every time.

I love the blend of political and "character" type interaction.

[kenmeister]

So I've been reading up on KingMaker, and apparently the variant cards are a must because they fix a lot of the game's problems. So Fin, did you ever have them?

[Finarvyn]

Oh, yes. I bought them as soon as they came out. (A friend had a subscription to The General and always kept me on top of new Avalon Hill products.)

There is a website where you can buy reprinted cards and general Avalon Hill components, if you don't have them.

[kenmeister]

Okay, I've got a current high bid on a copy. Fingers crossed!

Of course, this means that one Avalon Hill title will not fit with the others on that top shelf

[coffee]

Hey, if you rotate it 90 degrees, you can stick it on top of the D&D hardbacks. At least, it looks that way from the photo.

Good luck on your bid!

[Finarvyn]

Aug 22, 2009 18:13:37 GMT -6 kenmeister said:

Of course, this means that one Avalon Hill title will not fit with the others on that top shelf

Perhaps, but I note that the second row has a Fellowship of the Ring and a Talisman game. As neither are 3E or Avalon Hill titles, one or both could be moved. :-)

[kenmeister]

Aug 22, 2009 19:44:37 GMT -6 coffee said:

Hey, if you rotate it 90 degrees, you can stick it on top of the D&D hardbacks. At least, it looks that way from the photo.

Good luck on your bid!

As it turns out, the AD&D hardbacks are just a little too tall to slide in an AH title on top of them.

[kenmeister]

Aug 22, 2009 20:22:32 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

Aug 22, 2009 18:13:37 GMT -6 kenmeister said:

Of course, this means that one Avalon Hill title will not fit with the others on that top shelf

Perhaps, but I note that the second row has a Fellowship of the Ring and a Talisman game. As neither are 3E or Avalon Hill titles, one or both could be moved. :-)

Looks like one of them will indeed have to move, because I just won the Kingmaker auction! Session report will be forthcoming once it is played, but it does have to get in line behind Dragonhunt and Circus Maximus.

[coffee]

Congratulations! I wish you much enjoyment of your game.

[bat]

Yes, congatulations, Kenmeister, I hope you enjoy the game.
I bought the variant cards ages ago, but somehow we just play as is. Certainly more chaotic, but it also allows for many interesting twists and turns as the game plays out.

[Otto Harkaman]

I really enjoy playing the old Avalon Hill Kingmaker DOS game using DOSBox.
www.mobygames.com/game/dos/kingmaker

There is a nice Vassal module for playing the boardgame on the Vassalengine server but I've never taken the plunge to play any game on it. I need to at some point
www.vassalengine.org/wiki/Module:Kingmaker

Also you can conduct battles, in the DOS Kingmaker, like its a miniature battles game but I haven't done this either

[kenmeister]

Aug 19, 2009 9:03:05 GMT -6 kenmeister said:

I'm a big Avalon Hill game collector, so I'll keep an eye out for Kingmaker. I'd love to discuss more AH games.

Here's my Avalon Hill / 3M game collection, not including Diplomacy which I also have:

Oh wow, what a memory! Gone are Magic Realm, Civilization, Advanced Civilization, Titan, Luftwaffe, Arab-Israeli Wars, and Starship Troopers. I sold them. But it's nice to see them again, like old friends

[Finarvyn]

I used to own most of those games as well, but my wife is into role playing instead of wargames so I got rid of a lot of that stuff years ago. Makes me want to visit Noble Knight to reacquire some old memories.

[statemachine]

Flash forward two years...

Kingmaker was a great favorite in Detroit wargaming crowd during the 1970's. Some intrepid fellow of ours got the British version into the US, and we played it incessantly for a quite awhile. I will, with great modesty (), take credit for a tactic that in the current era is sadly current IRL - that of the suicide attack - if there were no cards left in the deck, you could launch an attack on somebody - if it worked, great!, if not, you surrendered your noble to the deck... and got to draw the very same noble.

Then, AH picked it up and added some very good rules, like calling Parliament and such. The AH version was superb, and held a great vogue for sometime. But, over time... Our gaming crowd were quite good, and sophisticated, so our gameplay ended up with very static games. Players stuck to safe power areas, and only ventured out because of random events. A typical game turned into several hours of nothing, followed by an enormously intense end-game because we all wanted to go home...

[owlorbs]

I'm also a Kingmaker fan with all three editions. The Ariel edition (besides being graphically attractive) has a nice play for VP ending that prevents stalemates or over long games. It doesn't hurt to employ some of the optional rules to help prevent static situations. The later AH variant cards go a long way to spice up the game but should be added in by groups of 7 to keep the combat odds all the same. Plague in Calais, gales at sea, royal death, and refuge are some nice cards to add. You can even easily modify the Ariel edition by simply changing Plague in Canterbury to Canterbury/Calais and the Storms at Sea could each have the name of a ship to be sunk (as per the later Gales at Sea variant). Note that there are small differences between the AH 1st and 2nd edition maps, in 2e:
* Preston is a port.
* There is a single sea space surrounding Penzance.
* The London estuary is its own sea space, so ships must travel through it to and from London.

At any rate, there is such a wealth of variants and optional rules that deciding how you're going to play is a game in itself!

[Finarvyn]

Nice to see some Kingmaker love here. I haven't played it in years, but it was always one of my all-time favorites and I'd love to see Hasbro release a new version with plastic ships and noble pieces. Seems like there have been so many cool advances in game pieces (Axis & Allies, Imperial Assault, etc.) where someone could "do it right" and make a really awesome Kingmaker edition.