Gamehelplancaster

Overview

Have the most points by the end of the 5th Round

Round

A Round consists of 3 phases:

Knights

Parliament

Reward

Knight Phase

In this phase, players take turns placing knights until everyone's knights are placed

This may result in some players finishing early and waiting for everyone else to complete placement

There are three locations Knights may be placed: County, Castle, or Conflict

Counties require a minimum strength to invade, which must be satisfied by the Knight being placed. A knight being placed in a County may be accompanied by one or more Squires. Each Squire provides 1 strength bonus, but this does not count toward the minimum requirement. If the County is already occupied, as long as you exceed the strength of your opponent, you can remove them to invade yourself, the removed Knight goes back to the player's supply whilst the removed Squires (if any) go back to the general supply.

Castle spaces can each hold a single knight with no requirements

Conflicts have no requirements, but the first 6 Knights (not players) can gain a bonus reward for their player. The spaces are filled in order of arrival, however if you wish to add to the same conflict again, you stack your new knight on top of the space your original knight attended.

Parliament Phase

The parliament board shows 6 laws, the top three are the current laws which are in effect, and the low three are the new laws which will be voted on now

For each law, starting on the leftmost, each player secretly chooses to vote For or Against it along with any number of enforcement cubes as they desire which will make their vote stronger

When ready, all players reveal their Vote and Enforcement Cubes at once, with each Vote worth 1 and each Enforcement Cube worth 1 in the same direction

A 50% minimum Vote is required to create a new Law i.e. ties will approve the new Law

Any Enforcement Cubes are discarded to the general supply

If the vote is Against, the new law is discarded to no effect

If the vote is For, the top left current law is discarded, the other two current laws are slid left, and the new law is added to the rightmost space

After all three new laws have been voted on, if a player still holds Enforcement Cubes, these are discarded to the General Supply (So use them, or lose them!)

After which, apply the effects of the three current Laws, which may be a mix of old and new depending on how voting went

Reward Phase

First, the Counties yield rewards from County A to I in order

Whoever occupies a County has a choice, either take the Nobleman of the County, take the Special Reward of the County, or Pay 3 gold to take both. After which, put the knight back in your supply, and any Squires back in the General Supply

County Surry (I) has an additional benefit, that that player can choose the next start player, they can choose themselves, or someone else if preferred (If no one is in Surrey, the Start Player stays the same)

Starting with the new Start Player, each player evaluates their Castle and gains benefits. Each Knight gains them the benefit directly above it, and the same with Extension tile (if any). For each Noble at their Table, including themselves, they gain 1 Voting Cube (i.e. 1 cube + 1 per gained Noble)

After which, each Conflict is resolved. Each Conflict card has a strength shown on the right, if the total value of the Knights of ALL players meet or exceed this, England wins otherwise France wins. Regardless, the players gain points based on their contributions in strength, the more strength, the more points gained. If there's a tie, the tied player who entered latest takes that place and the other player takes the next place. However, what is available to gain changes depending on the Country who won.

If England wins, ALL positions are available and thus there are 3 positions to allocate, after which the players take back their Knights.

If France wins, the 1st place is void, so the player in 1st gains 2nd reward, the player in 2nd gains 3rd reward, and the player in 3rd does NOT get a reward. Furthermore, the card, along with the Knights retaining their order, are all moved down to the lower conflict area

If England wins in the Lower Conflict, the same situation happens as an English initial win

If France wins in the Lower Conflict, the 1st place is void, so the player in 1st gains 2nd reward, the player in 2nd gains 3rd reward, and the player in 3rd does NOT get a reward. Players may buy back their Knights as per their strength value to return them home. Otherwise, Knights not bought back are captured and placed in the Reserve.

Regardless of how long the Conflict takes to resolve or who wins it, the card is then removed.

Round End

After Reward Phase, 2 new Conflict cards are drawn for the Upper Conflicts (any previous Upper Conflicts not attempted are discarded)

All of the King Favour tiles are flipped up and ready to claim again

3 new Laws are added to the lower area of the Laws

Game End

The game ends after the 5th round

8 Points are given to the player with the highest total strength in Knights (Knights stolen by France do NOT count)

4 Points are given to the player with the 2nd highest total strength in Knights

If tied for Knights, the tied player with the most Squires takes the rank

8 Points for the player with the most Extension tiles

4 Points for the player with the 2nd highest total Extension tiles

If tied for Extensions, the tied player with the most gold takes the rank

If in either contest, the tie cannot be broken, add the points for the tied rank(s) together and divide them equally between the tied players

Each player gains points based on how many Nobles they collected

The player with the most points, wins!

Summarised by https://boardgamearena.com/player?id=90078516