The King in the North (El Rey en el Norte)

The King in the North is a game for 2 players that represents the first Civil War, called Carlist War, that took place between 1833 and 1839, between the Carlists, supporters of the Infante Carlos María Isidro de Borbón and an absolutist regime, and the Isabelinos, defenders of Isabel II and the regent María Cristina de Borbón, whose government was originally moderate absolutist and ended up becoming liberal to obtain greater popular support. Although the war took place in several regions of Spain (Basque Country, Navarre, Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia), in this game only the one that took place in the North is represented.

It is a block war game with cards for each faction and is played on a beautifully assembled board. With mechanisms similar to the famous game Sekigahara or Granada, those who know or have played these games, it will be very easy to assimilate the rules and start playing comfortably in a short time. The blocks of each player will only be visible to himself, until the battles take place. This generates a very interesting "fog of war" effect. Not only will you have to have a good selection of blocks before entering combat, but it is also very important to be able to deploy them. There is no point in having a huge army if you don't have the ability to deploy it in combat. These two dynamics create a controllable chaos effect that favors strategy and bluffing.

Each player has a deck of cards and they are vital for movement and combat, as well as for winning the initiative. The dual fog of war, created by hidden blocks and cards in hand, makes each turn very tense and creates exciting situations. You can never be quite sure whether that stack of blocks waiting in one location will be weak or powerful, or whether your opponent will be able to maximize the deployment of his units to slow down your advance.

It should be added that it includes many new features and changes in rules and mechanics that make it a step more complex in difficulty to adapt it well to the new theme, but on the other hand, it gives more tension and excitement to the games, with important decisions to be made at each turn. It will delight strategy lovers.


If you already know other similar games and this type of mechanics, you will find notable differences in The King in the North:

1. The map has more cities and a larger road network, with 3 types of roads: royal roads, secondary roads and trails (the latter especially useful for the Carlists and their guerrilla warfare).

2. The naval factor: the liberals have blocks of (Anglo-Spanish) fleets.

3. There are factions, 5 per side, plus leaders, and there are more blocks of special troops (carabinieri, customs, partisans, guerrillas, elite troops such as hussars, requetés). There are also blocks for infantry, cavalry and artillery.

4. Sieges are harder, so the use of artillery becomes almost indispensable.

5. There are cities, fortified cities and towns with fortified houses. These add a very important defensive element and provide unexpected results to enemy advances. They also give victory points.

6. There are special cards and event cards in each deck that provide benefits to both players.

7. Loyalty cards in Sekigahara and The King in the North do not work in the same way. Non-loyal troops become deserters and flee from battles!

8. If the liberal player captures the block of Don Carlos (Carlos V) there is an immediate Victory. Protect it at all costs!

9. The table of movement limitations by number of blocks in the stacks is different. Simpler and easier to handle.

10. There are also possibilities of withdrawals in certain cases.

11. The scoring system is totally different, and there are immediate victory conditions for each side.



CONTENTS:

1 double-sided 86*60cm game board

4 sticker sheets for blocks, barrels, markers and discs

165 wooden blocks

154 cards (Tactics and Strategy)

9 wooden barrels

3 wooden discs

5 wooden markers

20 small wooden cubes

2 silk-screened cloth bags

1 control sheet

2 help sheets

1 set of rules

1 game book