Kingmaker

Some thoughts / by Percy Hastings

The rule booklet for Kingmaker gives some very basic hints about
the strategy and tactics which can be used in the game. All the
points covered in the booklet notes will become apparent after
only a small number of games, but the ideas which I am present
ing seem to me to be less obvious. I have played some thirty
games of Kingmaker, most of these being three-player games, which
seems to be the minimum necessary to give a challenging and
interesting game. Because of this experience with three-player
games some of my ideas may be of only minor importance or may
need adaptation. Anyway, here they are, for better or worse.

Very often the three-player game tends to stagnate with crowned Yorkist
and Lancastrian kings being held by two parties, with the third party
having no royal pieces whatsoever. Having no royal pieces at this stage
of the game is a terrifying position to be in, since the capture of
royal pieces from rivals can be made almost impossible by threats of the
type "If you attack me, then I kill my royal pieces". This threat if
carried out, will of course, bring instant defeat for the faction making
the threat, but nevertheless, I have known this threat to be executed at
least twice. The state of shock brought about by seeing a game abruptly
brought to an end in this manner is enough to remind one to be more
careful in future. The player who actually carries out this diabolical
threat goes into future games with a powerful reputation for complete
ruthlessness. Knowing that this player has a complete disregard for
chivalry, the same threat now becomes much more persuasive.

Given a situation where a faction controls no royal pieces at this stage
of the game, just how does a faction go about obtaining one and getting
back into the game? Well, there seems to be no sure way, but I employ
two tactics, neither of which has a high success rate.

Firstly, there is the 'Beaufort Approach', in which plan Beaufort is
crowned as the last surviving Lancastrian. If Beaufort is in the crown
pack, there is little problem; just keep the game going and hope you
draw him. If Beaufort is held in concealment by a player there is no way
to bring him into your alliance, but if Beaufort is in play as an
ordinary noble, then there is hope. The idea now is to kill off Beaufort
in the hope that you will eventually pull him out of the crown pack.
Just marching up and engaging in battle with Beaufort is unlikely to be
productive because Beaufort will invariably be stacked with the main
army and royal pieces of the enemy and the 'kill the royal pieces'
threat will be invited. Because suicide attacks by expendable minor
nobles never invite the threat, Beaufort must be killed off by suicide
attack. Now you must wait for Beaufort to find his way to you through
the crown pack; not of course a certain occur ence, but a hoped for
possibility. If all goes well and on some future turn you draw out
Beaufort, do not bring him into play - that would be to invite disaster.
Instead, keep him hidden and direct your energies to killing off the
Lancastrians, or sit back and try to make the others fight one another
to exhaustion. Only bring out Beaufort if otherwise the game would
finish. (Personally I prefer always to keep Beaufort hidden and attempt
to destroy all the Lancastrians; that way I am assured of some chance of
havinq a royal piece at the end of the game).

The second tactic I mentioned is a sort of mercenary approach. I came
across this tactic at the end of an extremely exacting and well balanced
game. All three factions were weak and equal with approximately 160
troops each. I was without royal pieces however. The numerical equality
made it impossible for the Yorkist faction to attack the Lancastrian,
(or vica versa), but if either faction could form an alliance with me,
then an attack on the rival would be possible, at odds of 2:1. Both
opposing factions control led more than one royal piece, so I offered my
services to the faction which would reward me by transferring a royal
piece to me. The offer was refused, but one day in the future, a similar
offer may be accepted.

Stalemates tend occur towards the end of every game. Most often this
takes the form of one faction running away to Wales where they get the
protection of the 200 extra troops of Chamberlain of the County Palatine
of Chester. This usually makes the faction invincible in Wales, and the
nobles refuse to leave, adopting a "come and get me" attitude. Nobody
dare march into Wales for fear of a clobbering, so stalemate develops.
The stalemate is usually broken by calls to raids and revolts which
splits up the Chamberlain faction, or by suicide attacks which kill off
the Chamberlain with a lucky draw of the card. Similar stalemate occurs
when a faction hides under the protection of the Constable of the Tower
of London. To my mind, this "Tower of London" card is the most powerful
of the lot. Possession of the card early in the game often delivers
Henry into the clutches of the Constable's faction and the card gives
control of the North-South traffic through London which protects the
king from nobles using the roads when he is called to Embassy at
Rochester /Rye. The additional 200 troops provided by the card round
London are very useful at any stage in the game.

In only one game have I had a permanent stalemate. This arose because a
faction controlled the last surviving royal piece but had no bishops for
a coronation. All the bishops were held concealed by opposing factions
who refused to bring them into play. Possession of castles and towns on
the road between York and London, I do not rate very highly; alternative
routes are usually available. Clifford's Castle at Conisboro is useful
to hold because now there is no way for opponents to prevent the
movement of troops southwards from York to London or Norwich. Generally
York is worth holding since it stops the rapid transit of the northern
nobles to central England. York is also useful as a screen to hide
behind when strong enemy factions look likely to make a trip up the
highway to your detriment. In this case a move to the Helmsley square
and denial of movement through York will stall the attack, but friendly
escape southward is not barred.

Plagues have never been any problem to troops because the players
generally avoid going into towns, using Royal Castles if protection is
needed, but plagues sometimes wipe out the royal pieces in their
starting positions.

I enjoy Kingmaker immensely but I have two major grumbles. One concerns
the rules and the other the map. In many instances the rules are
unclear, the one that causes us the most confusion is concerned with
nobles being in or out of towns. At what point in time must a player
decide whether his piece is inside or outside a given town? Presumably
during the player's own turn but although this can be deduced from the
rule book it is not certain. Another example: when a captured noble is
ransomed, what type of ransom is a player allowed to transfer? We cope
with the rules quite well, but the map causes endless confusion. Where
is "Cheviots"? Where is "Wales"? Where is "Devon and Cornwall"? Which
squares are north of the river Tees? Movement near London is unclear
because the town itself lies at the intersection of three squares and on
an estuary. Such problems of rules and map we have solved by using our
own conventions and definitions, but problems have occurred when players
who have developed their own different conventions and definitions are
met with for the first time. I suppose the Arbitration rule could settle
these disputes and I believe that a reprint of the rules may have
cleared up some of these problems.