Kingmaker

[OliversArmy]

Having played the War of the Roses Campaign and dabbled in WoR with skirmish I had an idea. Tucked away in my wargames room I have an old copy of the board game "Kingmaker". I re-read the rules and my idea formulated. I am wondering if anyone else out there has tried this.

Play the game of Kingmaker as per the rules. However when factions join battle the engagement is fought out using Pike and Shot campaigns WoR skirmish. All I have to do is convert the troop numbers/classifications on the Kingmaker Cards to units in WoR Skirmish. The after battle reports give an excellent break down of both sides loses which can then be reflected back to the board game. Even siege assaults could be done using the defend/attack option.

Hopefully I will have time this coming weekend to develop this further. Any ideas or suggestions will be very welcome!

[Warlord156]

I did a similar campaign some years ago with my local wargames club, with each player taking the part of a Lord from the game. Worked really well, with plenty of back-stabbing and many open battles. Although I am not so keen on using pike & shot to fight medieval battles (plenty of other programs for that time period), I think it is a good idea, and should work well. I wish you good luck with it.

[OliversArmy]

I did a similar campaign some years ago with my local wargames club, with each player taking the part of a Lord from the game. Worked really well, with plenty of back-stabbing and many open battles. Although I am not so keen on using pike & shot to fight medieval battles (plenty of other programs for that time period), I think it is a good idea, and should work well. I wish you good luck with it.

I agree medieval battles are well represented in other programs, how do you feel about the Total War series?

A company I believe was called Ariel made a board game in the 1970's called "English Civil War". It was a strategic game with a simple tactical aspect. Pike and shot would be ideal for that! Sadly my copy of the game vanished over time. Not sure you can still get it now!

[Doyley50]

I have never played Kingmaker, although I do have the English Civil War boardgame you mention. I had been considering trying something similar to your plans to use Kingmaker, but then Pike and Shot Campaign came along and the idea went on the back burner. Good luck with your ideas.

[Warlord156]

The English civil war 'mod' - For King or Country - for Total war. The battles were very good, but the campaign was terrible. The enemy never left their starting positions, and the only aggressive move they made was a Scottish army attacking Newcastle, which was easily repulsed. Otherwise I find the total war series of games very predictable and easy to defeat.

The game 'Unhappy King Charles' might be of interest to you. This could easily be used to run a campaign alongside pike & shot, I toyed with the idea myself a while ago. I believe that it is still available, but don't quote me on that......

[Old_Warrior]

Ariel made the original Kingmaker, then Avalon Hill picked it up. Its a shame it is has not been reprinted. Along with the expansion card set and rules it was a lot of fun to play.

I now remember their English Civil War game although I can't remember ever owning it.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/5438 ... -civil-war

The Kingmaker computer game .... my good friend, Joe Amoral, worked on the graphics for that one. I enjoyed playing that one too!

Who will ever forget the "Burgundian Crossbowmen Go Home" event card!

An English Civil War campaign with three players per side would be fun. One per side to handle the campaign in Scotland.

Also wanted to mention - I used to own this game:

http://www.gmtgames.com/p-502-unhappy-king-charles.aspx

Nice activation system. The typical CDG format of most board games on that scale. Lovely map.

[OliversArmy]

I have never played the computer version of Kingmaker, sounds good.
Unhappy king Charles looks interesting and I can see myself getting that if its still in print.

[Old_Warrior]

I found the Kingmaker download site here:

http://www.old-games.com/download/5355/kingmaker

For use on "modern pcs" use the Easy Setup link. There is a small fee for the use of the download site. I have not tested the game on my XP64 system but apparently it does work.

While not as challenging as a human opponent all of the original game is there. I forget if the expansion deck was included in the computer game.

[OliversArmy]

Thanks Old-Warrior, I will try it out!