Warning: Game Contains Saxon Violence
THE LAST KINGDOM BOARD GAME
Designer: John D Clair | Publisher: Gamelyn Games
Based on the novels by Bernard Cornwell, Netflix’s historical saga The Last Kingdom covered nothing less epic than the formation of the fragile nation of England in the late ninth century, in the face of Danish onslaught and occupation. It’s a ripe setting for a strategy game (the upcoming Bretwalda also covers the same era) and if you’re put off at all by the fact that it’s a licenced product – stills and publicity shots from the show festoon the box and cards – you should really take note of its designer: John D.
Clair, the brilliant brain behind Mystic Vale, Dead Reckoning and Cubitos.
Clair has rather smartly identified a key element of the source show: at its heart is protagonist Uhtred of Bebbanburg (Alexander Dreymon), a dispossessed Northumbrian lord torn between his Saxon heritage and his adopted Danish culture. In Uhtred, Cornwell (and subsequently the showrunners) personified the wider clash of kingdoms that would become England, between Danes and Saxons. Taking his cue from Peer Sylvester’s The King Is Dead (appropriately credited in Clair’s designer’s note), he’s built The Last Kingdom Board Game around the slippery concept of ever-shifting allegiances.
While each player takes the role of a character from the show – Uhtred, King Alfred, Brida, Aethelflaed, etc. – each with unique abilities and cards, their side in this conflict is not necessarily set (though King Alfred, naturally, is barred from ever turning Dane). As battle after battle rages across the board, you can change your allegiance to better claim victory points. With game play revolving around each player using a limited hand of cards, which must be used prudently if you’re not to run out of options too early, the similarity to The King Is Dead is obvious.
However, The Last Kingdom Board Game has another big influence (also namechecked by Clair): Blood Rage.
From Eric M. Lang’s Ragnarok-ing Viking game, he has taken the drafting mechanism and area-majority battle aspects. Through various card plays, you can move and shift Dane and Saxon troops (the latter faction split into Northumbrians, Mercians and West Saxons) across borders, both onto and off the board itself. The aim is to weigh their numbers to achieve your desired result – whether obvious (giving your aligned side greater strength) or crafty (for example, carefully building up your ‘enemy’ before suddenly turning coat).
Once every player has passed, a battle occurs in a previously selected kingdom – there are five in total – and points are scored. The game plays out over two rounds, meaning there will be at least 10 battles in all, giving players plenty of opportunities to try out different stratagems. You’re not entirely dependent on your small hand of cards, either: Clair has also smartly woven in an action point system, meaning you can ‘buy’ extra actions from an ever-shifting open market at the top of the board, ideal for when you want to save a card or don’t want to pass.
By its very nature, this is a highly interactive game, so markedly more brutal than most Euros. While it doesn’t have a baked-in negotiating mechanism, it’s easy for players to gang up on others, such as when all but one align with the same side. As such, players who prefer gentler games may become frustrated. Also, to be frank, the game doesn’t look great, with quite an ugly board and relatively crudely sculpted minis. Plus, TV stills always look worse than thoughtful original illustrations. But Clair has doubtlessly constructed an elegant and thematically rich game that perhaps one day will get the makeover it deserves.
DAN JOLIN
WHAT’S IN THE BOX?
◗ Game board
◗ Draw bag
◗ 5 Player screens
◗ 7 Action plaques
◗ 73 Victory point tokens
◗ 40 Action tokens
◗ 65 Army tokens
◗ 5 Allegiance markers
◗ 13 Allegiance rings
◗ 5 Peace tokens
◗ 2 Strength markers
◗ Momentum marker (2P only)
◗ Locked marker (2P only)
◗ 10 Leader mats
◗ 20 Leader cards
◗ 18 Character miniatures
◗ 40 Affinity markers
◗ 35 Round 1 cards
◗ 35 Round 2 cards
WE SAY
A cut above most licenced film/TV games from a great designer whose appreciation for the source material is matched by his own good taste in games.
TRY THIS IF YOU LIKED THE KING IS DEAD...
The Last Kingdom feels like a beefed-up bigger-box version of Peer Sylvester’s own tabletop battle for medieval England.