Bretwalda is an area control game set in Anglo-Saxon England, where the player seeks to become the most powerful Kingdom and thus the Bretwalda, literally "wide ruler", or ruler of all England.
The game is gorgeous and the art style is very evocative of the period.
I've seen this style of game referred to as "Dudes on a Map"; in that case, there sure are a lot of "Dudes"!
Still more "Dudes, and some custom dice. Once again, the style is very evocative.
Markers and tokens; once again, very nicely done and evocative of the era.
Season (essentially event) cards
Player boards
Player's aid sheets
Ruler cards; different rulers have different special abilities.
Custom dice trays for the game; I went pretty all in on this one! Overall, the mechanics of the game are relatively simple, but with a LT of decisions to make!
If the manufacturer, Phalanx Games, seems familiar, they are also the manufacturer for Coalitions and its supplements.
Custom card holders, metal coins, Bishop "Dudes", and 1st player marker.
The Kickstarter for this game launched while my wife and I were watching "The Last Kingdom", based on Bernard Cornwell's "Saxon Stories", a series of 13 books. Like Coalitions, Bretwalda took a long time to materialize. My pledge was finalized in July of 2022, with an anticipated delivery date of May 2023; it was finally received in June 2026. A long wait for sure, but it looks to be well worth it. I am eager to get this game on the table as well.
Also like Coalitions, there were a lot of available add-ons. I got almost all of them! :-)
Ancient artefacts to spice up game play.
Some small terrain expansions.
Some not so small terrain expansions...
Abbeys, granaries, ports, and Mead halls, plus other upgraded markers and the like.
The Danes a re a constant force in all versions of this game, but with this expansion they are more menacing than ever!
Black Dudes, black Ravens... the Danes!
Vanished Kingdoms expansion
Lesser kingdoms to ally with or conquer... with still more Dudes! :-)
Hnefatafl, or Viking Chess, is an asymmetric game where one side tries to kill the king, and the other to help him escape.
Still more Dudes (!), this time for regular (Saxon themed) chess; I think they made the most of the most of the cost creating those injection molds!
Reviews and files for Bretwalda can also be found on Boardgame Geek. Another one for a solo play and then a FTF game to follow!
Took some time to come to fruition but my it does look worth it, really looks very well done the playing pieces remind me a bit of the Lewis Chessmen.
ReplyDeleteExactly; once again, I think they were perhaps overly ambitious with all of the add-ons for the proposed timeline.
DeleteAnother attractive set of games there Peter. I remember the term Bretwalda from Britannia, which is another fun game to play.
ReplyDeleteI'm very much looking forward to playing it! :-)
DeleteBretwalda looks really interesting Peter. I love the Bernard Cornwell books on the period (which inspired me to branch out to get Dux Brittaniarum rules and two armies, which I am still painting for their first game 3 years later!). Bretwalda might be the thing to get me back into the period. Best wishes, Jason
ReplyDeleteAfter I finish (hah!) the AWI project in 2027, the next thing is likely Normans, Saxons, and Vikings... a little later than Bretwalda, but it's not like there were any major innovations in warfare during the intervening 200 years or so, aside from the expanded use of mounted troops by the Normans.
DeleteAnother very nice looking game
ReplyDeleteThe artwork is pretty stunning!
DeleteLooks like a cool game with lots of nice figures - our mate Julian would paint those all up - just saying......!!
ReplyDelete