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Swords & Sails
The year is 1000 C.E., the middle of the medieval period. The European continent is constantly at war as competing political factions try to control Europe through military might and political intrigue.
In Swords & Sails, players control one of these factions in a bid to conquer Europe. Build armies and fleets, build more cities, make and break alliances, spy on your opponents, and go to war to conquer all of Europe.
Players have up to five armies and fleets to move and attack with on a large 38×28 inch map of Europe which accurately depicts Europe in 1000 C.E. Each army can contain six types of combat units: Knights, Heavy Cavalry, Light Cavalry, Heavy Infantry, Light Infantry or Peasant troops. Fleets can contain warships, Raider ships, or Transports for moving your armies. Every season you can build more units into your armies or fleets to have a better chance of capturing more territories. More cities can also be built to increase income without the need to capture territory. Combat occurs between armies by using a unique combat system that gives a feel of your troops lining up on the battle field and facing off. The system uses 2d6 to determine outcomes.
Will the Byzantine Empire rise again and give rebirth to the glory and ancestors of Ancient Rome? Can the upstart Kievan Rus Empire bring a new golden age of Slavic Culture and power? Or will the Fatimid Caliphate push further into Europe and create an even greater Muslim Empire?
| Ages | 10+ |
|---|---|
| Players | 2 Players, 3 Players, 4 Players, 5 Players, 6 Players |
| Play Time | 90m – 240m |
| Designer | Jason R. Williams |
| Mechanics | Area Majority / Influence, Area Movement, Secret Unit Deployment, Simultaneous Action Selection |
| Theme | Fighting, Negotiation, Medieval |
| Publisher | VRGames |
Andy Pain
I've played this twice now - once a 2 player learning game and once with 4 players. In both games we played the short game and France won easily within 4 to 6 turns. It seems heavily luck dependent with lots of dice rolling - if one player has an unlucky first turn with high dice rolling they WILL NOT WIN and as the first turn moves are pre-programmed you can effectively lose without making a single decision in the game. Since writing this the designer has generously taken the trouble to contact me with ways of mitigating the impact of such bad die rolls (don't automatically pay to ignore up to half casualities) so I need to play some more to see if this opinion changes
Barry Kendall
Interesting period of history. Looking forward to hearing more (for instance, can this be played with just two?).
jrwilliams
This game contains over 750 components and is fun with only 2 players all the way up to 7 Players. The mechanics are fairly simple while still giving the players a huge array of option to do almost anything you could think of which may of or could of happened in history.