The king in the north

The King in the North is a game for 2 players that represents the first Civil War, called the Carlist War, which 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 a moderate absolutist and ended up becoming a liberal one to obtain greater popular support. Although the war took place in several regions of Spain (Basque Country, Navarra, Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia), in this game only the one that took place in the North is represented. A player will take the Elizabethan side made up of five factions: Royal Guard, Regular Army, Militias, Chapelgorris and Foreign Legion. The other player will lead the Carlist side formed in turn by five factions: Álava, Castilla, Guipúzcoa, Navarra and Vizcaya.

This is a block war game with cards for each faction and played on a beautifully assembled board. With mechanisms similar to the famous game Sekigahara or Granada, those who know or have played these games will find it very easy to assimilate the rules and start playing comfortably in no 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 need to have a good selection of blocks before going into combat, but being able to deploy them is also very important. A huge army is useless if you don't have the ability to deploy it in combat. These two dynamics create a controllable chaos effect that is very conducive to strategy and bluffing.

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

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

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

     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).
     The naval factor: the Liberals have fleet blocks (Anglo-Spanish).
     There are factions, 5 per side, more leaders, and there are more blocks of special troops (carabineers, customs officers, parties, guerrillas, elite troops such as hussars, requetés). There are also blocks for infantry, cavalry, and artillery.
     The sieges are tougher, so the use of artillery becomes almost essential.
     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.
     There are special cards and event cards in each deck that provide benefits to both players.
     Loyalty cards in Sekigahara and The King in the North do not work the same way. Unloyal troops become deserters and flee from battles!
     If the liberal player captures the block of Don Carlos (Carlos V) there is an immediate Victory. Protect it at all costs!
     The table of movement limitations by number of blocks in the stacks is different. Simpler and easier to handle.
     There are also possibilities of withdrawals in certain cases.
     The scoring system is totally different, and there are immediate victory conditions for each side.


Content

     1 86*60cm double-sided game board
     4 Sheets with stickers for blocks, barrels, markers and discs
     165 wooden blocks
     154 cards (Tactics and Strategy)
     9 wooden barrels
     3 wooden discs
     5 wooden bookmarks
     20 small wooden cubes
     2 screen-printed cloth bags
     1 control sheet
     2 help sheets
     1 regulation
     1 game book

(Those language-dependent components are included in duplicate, such as manuals, help sheets, letters with text, etc.)