Philmar/Ariel (1973, 3.75 sterling)
Designed by Andrew McNeil

Players 2 or more
Playing Time 4 hours or more
Period Medieval
Scale Noble
Turn abstract
Map area
Unit bands of fighting men

Components

1 20"x12 1/2" long box
1 19"x24" mounted mapboard
39 die-cut counters
1 12 page rulebook
80 card Contingency Deck
72 card Noble Deck

Counter Manifest
24 round (1 blank)
8 square
7 octagonal (4 yellow, 3 white)

Noble Deck Manifest
23 nobles
12 offices
10 towns
8 titles
8 mercenaries
4 ships
4 bishops
2 archbishops
1 castle

Contingency Deck Manifest
17 Plague
10 Storms at Sea
10 Peasant Revolt
10 Writs
10 Free Move
6 Embassy
5 French Raid
5 Scots Raid
4 Parliament
2 Piracy
1 Revolt in Wales

Philmar says:

“An exciting game, for any number of players, recreating the political and military struggle in England, known as The War of the Roses.”

The reviewers say:

[A] lively multiplayer game based loosely on the Wars of the Roses ... Emphatically not for those seeking a test of skill, the game becomes riotous with half a dozen players ... nobles get whizzed home to look after local rebellions, plagues lay waste to armies, pretenders to the throne cower in Calais, and sittings of Parliament dish out high offices to powerful factions.” Nicholas Palmer in The Comprehensive Guide to Board Wargaming (1977).

“[O]ften a bloody and brutal power struggle between factions of essentially self-interested nobles ... as they attempt, through military, political and diplomatic power, to control one of the seven members of the Houses of York or Lancaster and get him or her crowned king (or queen) while eliminating all other rivals ... Rules demand medieval mentality to play and survive. Mounted multi-colored map of England in 15th Century; brightly colored heraldic counters and noble cards.” Richard Berg in S&T 50.

“Kingmaker’s system is unique. The main thrust comes from two sets of cards. One set is used to move the action along and supply random events ... This same set of cards is also used to decide the outcome of the rare battles that occur. The other set of cards represents the lords and barons, as well as their titles and offices, which are distributed randomly through out the game ... Kingmaker may be the finest diplomacy-oriented simulation available ... The rules of the original Philmar edition were somewhat opaque, but while the Avalon Hill map corrects several mistakes in the Philmar version, it is much smaller and definitely inferior to the original. Those who have it should, after making the necessary corrections, use the bigger map.” Jon Freeman in The Complete Book of Wargames (1980).

Comments:

Kingmaker became renowned through its Avalon Hill incarnations. The first AH edition of the game was released in 1976 and it went on to win the Charles Roberts Award for Best Strategic Game. A second AH edition followed in 1981.

Collector’s Notes:

Kingmaker players will definitely want to stick with the AH edition for rules, cards, and counters — but the original glossy, one-piece mapboard is awfully nice. An interesting curio for fans of this enduring classic (if you can find a copy)! Boone lists low, high and average prices of 8/44/ 20.82 at auction and 18/100/50.43 for sale.

Other games by this designer

The Simulacrum Database, which is freely available in almost any format, including dBase III and dBase IV, to anyone who asks, showed the following other games by Mr. McNeil: Galactic War, Knights at War, The Wild West and World War II from Usborne Publishing (Battlegame Books, 1976).

Capsule Profiles Games That Begin with "K"

Kriegspiel
Kamikaze
KampfPanzer
Kingmaker
Knights of Camelot
King of the Mountain
Khyber Rifles