Area Control / Area Influence

From the designer of Glen More comes a new title published by Queen Games: Lancaster.

In 1413, the new king of England, Henry V of Lancaster, has ambitious plans: The unification of England and the conquest of the French crown! Each player takes the role of an ambitious aristocratic family. Who will be the best supporter of this young king, and the most powerful Lord of his time?

In Lancaster the players want to proceed from simply being a Lord to the most powerful ally of the king. They may achieve this by developing their own knighthood as well as by clever deployment of individual knights in the counties of England, at their own castle, and to conflicts with France. In parliament, they try to push laws from which they will benefit themselves most. The player with the most power points at the end of the game is the winner.

Every turn, players send their knights to the different locations:
• Counties, where they compete with knights from other players for rewards and the favor of the nobles.
• The castle, to receive income or new knights.
• Into conflict with France, where all players combine their power and try to gain power points.

In the counties the strength of the knights is important as you can remove the knight of another player by placing a knight of your own with higher strength in the same location.

China is an abstracted game of political influence in China. Players use cards to place pieces (Houses or Emissaries) into the nine regions on the board. When all house spaces in a region are filled (or at the end of the game), players score for majorities of houses in that region. At game end, players then score for having majorities of emissaries in two adjacent regions. Players also score for having four or more houses in an uninterrupted sequence along one of the roads on the board.

This fascinating game of domination combines multiple tactical possibilities with simple-to-learn rules and a short playing time!

Even today in China, the unmistakable evidence of a fascinating story is everywhere. Hundreds of years ago, the country teetered on the brink of a change in power. Regional rulers fought continuously with each other with only one goal in mind: to become the new Emperor. They erected imposing houses and sent their emissaries to the regional courts.

China is based on the award-winning game Web of Power by master game designer Michael Schacht. China differs from Web of Power in that there is no "half-time" scoring of regions as there is in the earlier game; there are four face-up cards to draw from instead of just two; and all adjacent regions have Emissary scoring opportunities, whereas in Web of Power, some adjacent regions did not.
A special variant with fortifications is included.

Aside from these differences, the two games are essentially the same.

Online Play

http://www.boardgames-online.net (turn-based)

implemented bonus maps: Web of Power, Hellenia, Skandinavia, America, AD 850, Life on Mars, Big in Japan

Re-implements:

Web of Power

Expanded by:

China - Das Duell (Two-player variant)
China Erweiterung
China: Grenzstreitigkeiten
China Einflusskarten
China: The Embassies

Game description from the publisher:

Blood Bowl: Team Manager - The Card Game is a bone-breaking, breathtaking standalone card game of violence and outright cheating for two to four players. Chaos, Dwarf, Wood Elf, Human, Orc, and Skaven teams compete against each other over the course of a brutal season. Customize your team by drafting Star Players, hiring staff, upgrading facilities, and cheating like mad. Lead your gang of misfits and miscreants to glory over your rivals all to become Spike! Magazine's Manager of the Year!

Once a manager has chosen one of the six teams, he has five weeks to groom them into the best in the league, culminating with the Blood Bowl tournament. He does this by competing at highlights, collecting payouts, upgrading his personnel, and drafting Star Players.

Managers begin the season with a starting team deck full of basic scrub players. These players are none too bright and have limited talents, but a clever manager can play to their strengths by carefully positioning them to excel on the pitch.

Is your team ready to compete against other teams in head-to-head highlights? Highlights are the randomly determined matchups over which players compete. The more highlights a team wins, the more it improves and the more fans it accumulates.

The season culminates with the Blood Bowl tournament. After the Blood Bowl, the season ends. Players then tally up their total fans and the manager with the most fans wins the game.

Nexus Ops is a light-medium science fiction war game. The game boasts a hexagonal board that is set up differently every time, as well as (in the Avalon Hill edition) cool "glow" miniatures and lots of combat. Players control competing futuristic corporations that battle each other for control of the moon's Rubium Ore. By winning battles and fulfilling Secret Missions, you can obtain victory points.

Units are composed of various alien races and have stats similar to those used in the Axis & Allies series. Combat is also similar. Players who lose battles are compensated with Energize cards which grant them special powers later. Players can also obtain Energize cards by controlling the Monolith, a raised structure in the center of the grid. The first person to reach the required number of victory points wins the game.

In the Celestial Empire of the Ming Dynasty the leading families vie with one another for political power and influence over the Imperial government. They do not compete by brazen force of arms, but within the confines of Confucian philosophy. Subtle influence is wielded, gifts are given and received, setting up a network of relationships that will lead one family to dominate the government under a benign Emperor. Players of Confucius participate in this discreet and delicate struggle for power. As well as influencing the three principal ministries of government, leadership of the great exploration and trading fleets will bring renown to the one who heads them, and glory attends the general leading invasions of foreign lands.