Introduction

Beastlord, a game of wizardry and warfare, was designed by Michael Matheny, developed by Stephen Peek and published by Yaquinto in 1979, revised edition in 1980. Beastlord is a game of strategic combat for control of a valley in a distant time and a far away place. The game is played by two to four players, each controlling a different race. There are four races: Elf, Goblin, Men and the Beast Lord, all fighting for the Valley of Cym Bel Eanon. For me, Beastlord can be thought of as a prototype of computer games like Heroes of Might and Magic or Warlords, because many of the principles of modern computer games can be found here, such as hidden move-ment, magic and various items to use or capture.

Components

1 14"x11" thick box with a terrible painting of the Beastlord on the cover.
1 28"x21.5" strategic map of the valley.
1 28"x21.5" tactical generic map for the battle (advanced game).
4 counter set-up sheets.
4 screens to hide the counter set-up sheets.
1 2 War Council objective cards.
1 32 page rules and scenario booklet.

Counters

Generic Counters 2 2 Spell Markers Elf Unit Counters
1 Elven Lord
1 Elven Lord Spell Point Total Marker
1 4-strength Hero
1 3-strength Hero
1 2-strength Hero 2 0 6-strength Warriors
2 0 5-strength Warriors
3 5-missile factor Archers
7 4-missile factor Archers
1 7 3-missile factor Archers
7 2-missile factor Archers
2 1-missile factor Archers
5 Hamlets
1 Town
1 Religious Shrine
1 White Hart
6 Magic Loot
1 5 Monetary Loot
1 Princess
1 Princess Spell Point Total Marker
1 Royal Family
10 Civilians
1 Magic User
1 Magic User's Spell Point Total Marker
5 Magic Swords
3 Magic Bows
2 Spies
8 Standards
20 BMCs

Goblin Unit Counters
1 Chieftain
1 Chieftain Spell Point Total Marker
1 3-Strength Hero
1 2-Strength Hero
1 1-Strength Hero
1 0 9-Strength Warrior Hobgoblins
1 4 7-Strength Warrior Hobgoblins
2 0 5-Strength Warriors
2 2 3-Strength Warriors
1 2-missile factor Archer
4 1-missile factor Archers
5 0-missile factor Archers
5 Nests
1 Lair
10 Fortifications
2 Religious Shrines
1 Royal Harem
10 Breeders
5 Monetary Loot
1 Spy
4 Standards
1 Shaman
1 Shaman Spell Point Total Marker
4 Magic Swords
3 Magic loot
20 BMCs

Men Units Counter
1 King
2 3-strength Heroes
2 1-strength Heroes
10 Knights
20 Sergeants
30 Warriors
2 0-missile factor Archers
3 1-missile factor Archers
2 2-missile factor Archers
2 3-missile factor Archers
1 4-missile factor Archer
5 Hamlets
1 Town
4 Castles
10 Fortifications
3 Magic Loot
2 Magic Swords
1 Royal family
1 Princess
10 Civilians
2 Spies
10 Monetary Loot
4 Standards
1 Bishop
5 Engineers
2 Priests
1 Icon
1 Religious Relic
2 Magic Users
2 Magic User's Spell Point Total Marker
7 Pigs
5 Horses
20 BMCs

Beast Lord Unit Counters
1 Beast Lord
1 Beast Lord Spell Point Total Marker
1 4-strength Captain
1 Captain Spell Point Total Marker
1 3-strength Captain
10 Warrior Wolves
2 Warrior Giants
5 Warrior Water Trolls
10 Warrior Hill Trolls
20 Warrior Gargoyles
10 Warrior Zombies
2 Warrior Ogres
10 Warrior Wyvern
1 Warrior Water Serpent
2 Warrior Basiliks
2 Warrior Centipedes
3 Warrior Great Lizards
1 Dark Castle
5 Lairs
1 Essence
4 Magic Loot
8 Monetary Loot
1 Standard
3 Spies
5 Breeders
1 Great Dragon
1 Great Sword
20 BMCs

Player’s Value

Beastlord is a strategic fantasy game for up to four players. Each player takes the destiny of a race. One counter represents between one beast and 200 goblins. Each turns is six hours and a hex represents one mile. There is only one scenario, lasting four days.

This game can be seen in five original points.

First originality. At the beginning of the game, each player draws a War Council Objective Card to determine his victory condition. Each card gives a prize for capture or destruction of each of the units in the game. Even your units have a prize, so it can be possible to win by avoiding all combat.

Second originality. Deployment and movement are hidden on the counter set-up sheet, so you can only see BMCs (Board Movement Counters), which can represent a lot of troops (there are no stacking limits on the strategic map) or nothing (with dummy BMCs).

Third originality. Combat or ambushes are very easy to resolve. Put all your fighting units in a first line, loot and magical items in a second. Then add all the units of the first line and roll dice. The result is the number of counters the enemy must remove, his choice. All combat is simultaneous and lasts until death or withdrawal. With the optional rules, you have a tactical module giving a lot of new rules to permit you to spend a lot of time on a special map, to have the same result.

Fourth originality. There is a lot of magic. Each player has magic users which can use magic to throw spells on Board Movement and combat. The spells need spell points to be used, and spell points can be regenerated by rest. The magic is not overwhelming as in role playing games, but specialized for war-games.

For instance, you can enhance the movement of your BMC, teleport them, slow the enemy BMC, or send a storm to wound them. During combat, 14 spells can be used to help friends or hinder foe.

Fifth originality. This is a strategic game with towns, hamlets and castles to siege, shrines and temples to loot, and magical items or Royal families to capture/use.

All in all, Beastlord is a fun and easy game, flowing fluently and making a good evening for four people.

Collector’s Value

Beastlord is a typical Yaquinto design, showing the high level attained by their Fantasy and SF products. The topic is original and the design good. So for me the collector’s value is good. The second edition corrects bugs from the first one. Boone quotes low, high and average prices of 3/15/7.80 at auction and 3/30/ 13.40 for sale.

Support Material

There is one large but quite negative review of Beastlord in The Phoenix 24 (Sept./Oct. 1980), based on the first edition of the game; and two short reviews, one in Ares 1and another in Space Gamer 30.

Other games of this type

Multi-player fantasy games are few and far between: Dragon Pass (Red Moon White Bear); Sword & Sorcery; and Zargos Lords.

Other games by this designer

Asteroid Pirates; Beachhead; Commando Actions; Demon’s Run; and Hero (all Yaquinto); Circus Maximus (Battleline/ AH); and Gladiator (AH).