Been playing this game for the past few nights. It is based off the boardgame of the same name, based on the 100 years war.
The game is played out on a map of France with cities and provinces. It’s turn based and includes numerous phases…including a basic diplomatic phase, a phase where you can spend gold on either fortifications or additional cards, a combat phase, and 5-6 others. There are 8 historical scenarios and 8 Free Map scenarios. The game is based around control of cities to receive gold and provinces to receive pretender points…the pretender points add up every turn and whichever faction has the most at the end of the game is the winner.
It’s a simple game to play but there are various strategies to use which make the replay value high. You need to use two of your attack cards to be able to attack a city and during war can attack as many cities as you have cards but you also need to keep some cards for defense…so there’s some juggling of when to play what…and every turn the order of play is randomized and going first or last is a huge chance of strategy. You can also put bounties of gold on certain cities so the factions will attack those and also you can pay for an alliance which will keep some factions off of you for the time being…but the factions all “remember” what you do so you need to be careful in choosing who to piss off. As the game gets toward the end, more castles are on the map which give bonuses to defense so you need to juggle when to expand and when to stay back. And, if any faction gets way ahead, the AI players tend to gang up on the leader so you need to be a little coy about expanding and taking over everything lest you will get attacked from everywhere.
I’ve played one of the same free map scenarios 3 times now and all three games were different…in one, France was way ahead by the 3rd turn from some lucky dice rolls and good cards, in the next game, 3 factions were vying for the lead after the 3rd turn…it makes the games that much more enjoyable for replay.
The game uses cards for attack pieces, and there are many non attack cards you can play during various times of the game, mostly in the conquest phase…cards like an ambassador card which gives you 5 different things you can do with a spin of a wheel…a card which you can play on any city and roll a die to try and steel gold from that city…there are other various cards to play during battle which can help turn a loss into a win.
I’m a super jaded gamer from playing games for 30 years and when I find something I think is a very good game I have to let people know. Fun gameplay, lots of scenarios, and excellent replayability…$30 too is a good deal…check it out.
Is there an option to select between the English and French version of the game? I’d like to play this in French for a more authentic “Guerre de Cent Ans” feel.
Yeah, you can choose between French and English on the startup options. I tried playing in French but unless you’re a better Francophone than me it feels a bit jarring, even when you can work out everything that’s going on.
I’ve been playing this game for about 5 months now. It’s hands down the best strategy game I’ve ever played. Not because it’s super hard-core strategy but because its pure FUN and each game is interesting and different.
Yah there is no review score for this game on Metacritic, and in fact if you google it, you’re likely to draw a blank there as well. This game must have had ZERO marketing.
I’m going to give you my best guess on the multiplayer aspect since I have the game but have not tried the MP.
One person choses to ‘host’ and up to 5 other players can join. You can assign AI bots to fill any extra spots if you want bots. This is not PBEM, it takes place on the fly. A full single player game is 45 minutes roughly.
The AI is very strong in this game, so AI or Human, either way you will get a good experience.
Edit: I noticed there are also 2 Co-op mission/games.
Yah, I can’t speak highly enough about this game. The tension and drama of the battles is palpable as you win or lose a key territory.
During some battles, everything is going as planned, then your opponent whips out that ‘Sign from GOD’ card and you suddenly end up losing despite your careful planning. This calls to mind the story of Joan of Arc and how she won major victories because of these ‘Signs from GOD’!
The single most powerful card in deck is ‘Traitor’ card. There is only one in the whole 80 card deck. The artwork on the card shows a shadowed figure opening up the gate of the castle late at night for the enemy army. Every time I see that card I think to myself HUEY!!! The famous traitor Dr. HUEY from the book/movie DUNE. He essentially lowers the house shields so the Harkonnen can capture House Atreides. It’s the same in this game; the traitor card completely nullifies your castle or fortress, and almost always results in losing a very valuable territory and fortification.
For anyone who is interested I noticed the Montjoie.com website is currently down, so I would check the site at a later time and try out the demo if you haven’t already.
I can understand how it might look a bit confusing, but it’s really a simple to learn game. The combat is very basic (each player rolls a six-sided die, attacker plays 2 cards; defender plays one card; the attacker wins if his total is higher than the defending player). If either player has a purple card they can increase attack or defense.
There are a few other nuances to the game, but that is the major gist of the combat. Ooooh, and try not to run out of cards before the round ends, that’s very very bad ;)
It’s $10 bucks at Gamersgate, has the game held up well? Is the AI as good as everyone says, or have you found some oddities? I’m a boardgamer at heart, so that part is fine. But I’d probably be playing it Sp and want to know that the AI is fun.
There used to be a demo of this available; check if you can’t find that (perhaps on the Age0D site).As I recall, the AI was pretty OK - though part of that is because the game is fairly luck dependent. A series of poor cards/rolls can really ruin your position.
I’ve had a hankering to play this again, because it really is one of the best board game conversions ever. Unfortunately I’m on my 2nd PC since I originally had it, and can’t find my backup disks anywhere. Worse, I can’t find anyone still selling it (yes, I would re-purchase it if the price was right). I remember buying it directly from Ageod, but neither they nor Gamersgate still offer it. The developer’s website has a “buy now” link, but that takes me to some store where everything is in French, and even putting the title into the search box leads to a dead end.
I’ve even checked some -ahem - less than legitimate sources, and nothing.
Does anyone have any idea where this can be found, if at all? The best I can come up with is the demo, which is only good for 15 days.
