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Raiders of the North Sea: Fields of Fame
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Description
In Raiders of the North Sea: Fields of Fame, enemy jarls have joined forces to help defend against the onslaught of raids on their settlements. But despite their threats, there is fame awaiting those who seek to kill or subdue them. Encountering a jarl is sure to bring injury, but now is no time for the faint-hearted. Onwards to the battlefield!
Fields of Fame brings a new dynamic into the game with the addition of Jarl tokens being mixed in with the Plunder and Valkyrie. When taking a set of Plunder with 1 or more Jarls, the raiding player must reveal from the draw pile, which Jarls they are encountering. They have the option to kill (for Fame and other rewards), subdue (to recruit them) or to flee. Killing and subduing will bring wounds to a players crew, but fleeing will lose them Fame or Victory Points. Players can also gain Fame by raiding with overpowered crews. When a crew's strength is above the highest tier for scoring Victory Points, players move up with the Fame Track, which scores additional Victory Points at the game's end.
In addition to including components for an extra player, Fields of Fame also includes the new township board, enemy jarl tokens and cards, fame, damage and a variety of new townsfolk.
Key Features:
- Components for an extra player
- Township Board with 3 new raids
- Jarls bring new strategies and more ways to score Victory Points
- Crew Members can take wounds in battle, weakening players' crews
- Players collect Fame in battle, worth Victory Points at the game's end
Raiders of the North Sea is an amazing game with its ‘play a worker take a worker’ mechanism. I love the base game so much I could not wait to get the expansions. The first one I am reviewing is Fields of Fame which adds Jarl’s (big bosses), wounds and a new map. There’s a lot more as well so continue reading to see why you need this expansion if you like the base game. I have also written a detailed how to play as well so please refer to that if you want to know how to play with the expansion.
What’s In The Box
Fields of Fame includes Jarl’s which are new characters you will encounter during your raids (by raiding an area with a Jarl token). They are really strong and will put up a fight if you decide to kill them or subdue them (get them in your team). You can run away but that incurs a penalty that you might want to avoid.
Wounds are dealt to your crew when you kill or subdue a Jarl and these reduce your crew’s strength. You have two options with the wounds, you could try to heal them in town or use wounded crew members with the Valkyrie tokens (solving both problems).
The expansion also includes components to play with a fifth player but I would not recommend that. My preferred play count remains at 2 or 3 for Raiders of the North Sea.
Also included are more townsfolk cards which get shuffled into the deck and a new board which is added to the side and provides more areas to raid. A new track is included for Fame. This is a measure of how well you do against the Jarl’s and also if you defeat an Outpost, Monastery, Township or Fortress with more strength than is needed.
The expansion also includes variants for a draft at the beginning of the game which gives a speed boost (highly recommended) and also new dice to replace the strength dice for the attacks which now include Valkyrie tokens (not recommended).
Does The Expansion Make The Gameplay Longer Or Harder
Fields of Fame certainly adds a small layer of complexity to the base game as you now have to consider your crews strength and how much silver you are carrying when you raid anywhere with a Jarl token. You also have to decide if you want to kill or subdue (never flee) the Jarl. There is no right or wrong answer it is just a decision of how you want your crew to evolve over time.
Talking of time this expansion doesn’t really add much time to the play length which is brilliant.
Is It An Essential Expansion
That’s always a difficult question to answer. If you love the base game and have played it so many times you have lost count, I would say yes Fields of Fame is essential. However, If you have only just started on your journey with Raiders of the North Sea and are still finding your sea legs I would say hold off until you have played it some more as it does add another layer of complexity.
For me I will always play with it because I have played the base game enough times and I enjoy the variety this expansion brings plus the amazing combination of making a Viking take wounds and then immediately showing them the door to Valhalla.
I also really like the drafting option as it gives the game a speed boost at the beginning. I am on the fence about the Valkyrie dice as this adds an element of push your luck that may be too much for some players.
This is a great expansion that adds just enough to the game without fundamentally changing the feel and flow, I love the board and new pieces, the extra decisions that are needed when raiding and the opportunity to score fame points by having an overly strong crew.
Now set sail for the north I feel some more raiding is needed.
You have conquered the north with ease but this has caused enemies to join forces to defeat you. I have written this how to play to help you learn how to play the expansion Fields of Fame and to become victorious.
Set Up
Most of the setup for Fields of Fame is the same as the base game (see here for my how to play Raiders of the North Sea) with the following exceptions.
You place the new board to the bottom right of the main board. Shuffle the 15 Jarl cards and place them on the space at the bottom of the new board. Add the 12 Jarl tokens to the bag before you start to populate the raiding areas. Populate all of the areas including the 3 new areas. Also don’t forget to add the 3 new grey workers to these locations.
Add a score marker for each player to the fame track at the 0 position and give each player a Jarl encounter board. Finally shuffle all of the new townsfolk cards into the main deck.
Jarls
Whenever you raid an area with a Jarl token you must reveal a new Jarl card. At this point a player must decide if they want to kill, subdue or flee the Jarl. If you encounter multiple Jarls you cannot flee the first one and then kill the second. You must always complete it in the order Kill > Subdue > Flee. So, if you subdue the first Jarl you can only subdue or flee the second.
It is important to remember to complete the encounter with the Jarl (s) before any Valkyrie token is activated. Also remember to place the Jarl token on the relevant space on your encounter board after you have finished the encounter.
Encounter – Kill
If you decide to kill the Jarl you have to take wounds equivalent to the Jarl’s strength (5 or 6) plus 1 more. These wounds must be placed on your crew up to the military strength of each one (therefore crew with 0 strength cannot take any wounds). Heroes only take up to their base strength not any strength gained from bonuses.
The good news is wounds do not kill your Fields of Fame crew and instead just weaken them for future raids. A crew member with military strength of 3 but with 2 wounds will only have a strength of 1 until cured.
When you kill a Jarl you take the bonus action in the bottom right of the card and gain 2 fame on the new track. The Jarl card is then discarded.
Encounter – Subdue
Maybe encouraging the Jarl to join your crew is the way to go. If you decide to take this action you must take wounds equivalent to the Jarl’s strength minus 1. Then you have to pay the silver coins (3 or 4) required to hire them for your crew.
They cannot take wounds at this point or be killed by a Valkyrie this turn (why would they be hitting themselves) but they can take wounds and be killed in raids later on in the game.
Encounter – Flee
Your final option when you encounter a Jarl is to run away. When making this decision discard the Jarl card then choose to lose either 1 fame or 1 victory point. If you have neither a point or fame then you lose neither.
Cure Wounds
You can cure some wounds through actions at the town hall or 1 other way……Death. Using an injured crew member to clear a Valkyrie token is a good tactic to use. Once a crew member is removed from your crew they take their wounds with them.
When Will I Be Famous
Another way to gain fame is to exceed (greatly) the strength needed when raiding. If you exceed the maximum strength by 4 you receive 1 fame, by 8 gives you two fame and by 12 gives you 3 fame.
Variants
The instructions recommend a drafting system for the opening cards if playing with more than 4 players, but you can also do this with less than 4. This is also a way of kickstarting the game as you will already have one crew in your Viking ship. The drafting is a simple affair of looking at your initial 5 cards, keeping one for your ship face down at this time, passing 1 card to the player on your left and 1 to the player on your right. After the draft has finished reveal your crew member and then start the game with 4 cards in hand.
This expansion also includes 2 new dice called Valkyrie dice which would replace the normal strength dice if you choose to use them. These now add an element of push your luck as on the 2 side of the dice there is also a Valkyrie marker. When this is rolled you must also lose a crew member at the end of the raid.
Game End & Scoring
Game end scoring is very similar to the base game with the exception you will now score for your fame track as well as any Jarls that remain in your crew.
Conclusion
I hope this has helped you to learn the rules and how the expansion to Raiders of the North Sea Fields of Fame plays. Obviously I would always recommend people use the official rule book to learn the rules in depth but this blog should give you a really good flavour of how the game flows.
I really enjoy the game and if you want to find me on twitter to discuss how brilliant Fields of Fame is please do @boardgamehappy.
Zatu Score
You might like
- Fighting the Jarls is fun and rewarding
- New board looks amazing on the table
- Drafting gives the game a speed boost at the beginning
- Game still plays in about the same time
Might not like
- Im not convinced this game should be played beyond 4 players
- Option of Valkyrie dice might not be for everyone