So I have a new project. Don't worry, I will still be working on Vikings and Valkyries, but I spotted a contest on Board Game Geek for Two-Player print and play games. I figured I would give it a shot, and see what I could put together under a more limited time constraint. Plus, I have never made a board game before, so we will see how this goes. I have a post up on BGG here.

The rules will be posted below, and attached to this document as a PDF with the components. If you found this place from the BGG thread, grab the document attached to get the rules and the print and play components.

Siege of Armagh Rules

Setup the Game

Siege of Armagh is played on a standard 8x8 chess board. This game will also come with a game board that can be printed out. First, players must set up the terrain on the board. First, the river pieces are placed. 8 river pieces are laid down in a straight line across the board on one of the two middle rows by the Viking player. The Irish player then must move three, though may move up to five of the river tokens to the other row. The Viking player can then remove a single river tile.

Next, the Villages must be placed. The Irish player will begin, placing a Village between the third row from their side of the board and the fifth row from their side of the board. The Viking player then places a Village, then the Irish, and so forth until all the Villages are placed.

Finally, the Vikings place their troops along the row on their side of the board. Then, the Irish place their troops along the first two rows on their side of the board. The Irish can hold back any number of troops, and deploy those troops at the Villages on the board.

Playing the Game

The Viking player begins the game. Each turn, the players can move up to two pieces. Pieces move one square at a time in any direction. Pieces may not move off the board or onto a river tile. Irish pieces may move through un-looted Village pieces without consequence. Viking pieces can move into an un-looted Village square, looting that Village. This move counts as a push.

If a piece wishes to move into a square occupied by another piece, it can push that other piece out of the square, straight away from the direction the piece is moving. If the pushed piece is an opponent’s piece, a Stun icon is placed on that piece until the end of the opponent’s next turn. When a piece is Stunned, it may move, but not push. If a piece is pushed off the edge of the board, into a river, into an un-looted Village (if Viking), or into an opposing piece, the pushed piece is destroyed.

When a piece is destroyed, it is simply removed from the game. When a Viking piece would be destroyed, flip it over. If the reverse side shows a Berserker or Chief piece, that piece instead remains where it is, and has a Stun counter placed on it. Berserker and Chief pieces can push with the strength of two pieces. When Irish pieces are destroyed, they are removed to the side, and placed on the Reinforcements tracker. Each turn, move the piece one space down the tracker. When it reaches the end, that piece may be played back onto the board at any un-looted Village as if it was held in reserve.

If a player wishes to push an opponent’s piece into a square occupied by another opposing piece, then that player must push with two pieces at once. This move places a Stun counter on the front piece only. This move counts as one move.

Victory Conditions

Players in Siege of Armagh face off in an attempt to garner two Victory Points. The player who gains two Victory Points first, wins.

The Irish begin the game holding one Victory Point on their side of the board: the Monastery’s Treasure. The Irish side can gain further Victory Points by either defeating 4 of the Viking troops, or by defeating the Viking Chief.

The Vikings can steal the Monastery’s Treasure. They can do this by moving a troop to the Irish side of the board. As long as a Viking troop holds the Treasure, the Vikings count as having that Victory Point. If an Irish piece defeats the piece holding the Monastery’s Treasure, that Irish piece takes the Treasure, restoring the Victory Point to the Irish. If the Viking piece holding the Treasure returns to its side, the Treasure is placed on the Viking side, and is safe there. If the Irish piece returns to the Irish side, the Treasure is placed on the Irish side again, and a Viking piece must return to the Irish side to claim the point. The Vikings can also loot the Villages present on the board. If the Vikings loot all 5 Villages, they gain a Victory Point.

Once one player has 2 Victory Points, that player wins.

And that is it. The icons to play the game can be found in the rules below. These icons are sized for a standard chess board, so your mileage may vary depending on the size of board you have. These are just the first draft rules. Updates will be at the BGG thread, but I will post the final game here as well.

Download Siege of Armagh PDF