Bluffing

Coup: Reformation, an expansion for the original version of Coup: City State from La Mame Games, adds new cards to the game and rules for factions and team play that increases tension in the early stages for four or more players and (thanks to 15 additional character cards) allows Coup to be better played with up to ten players.

With Coup: Reformation, each player must declare himself either Catholic (Loyalist in the second edition) or Protestant (Resistance) and can target only members of the other faction. Conversion is possible, however, for yourself or for another player by paying a charitable donation to the Almshouse (Treasury). Like all factions, once you have eliminated or converted the other group, you just descend into in-fighting, so there's still only one winner and no second place.

Coup: Reformation adds a new fluid team dynamic to Coup as players jostle with their allegiance to take advantage or seek protection in the early stages of the game.

In Vineta, 2 to 6 players take on the roles of angry Norse Gods, seeking to sink the city of Vineta beneath a succession of pounding waves.

However, each player is secretly assigned one of nine city districts to protect. Likewise, each player secretly protects one color of houses.

By use of cards, players send waves against districts, joining together to sink them and moving houses in and out of threatened districts. At the end of each round, the district that has the most waves played against it -- along with any houses in that district -- are removed.

After eight rounds of play, only one district (and any houses it contains) will remain. Players score for houses claimed during the game, and bonuses are given to whoever was secretly protecting the remaining district and its remaining houses -- if any.

Awards

Won the 2004 Concours International de Créateurs de Jeux de Société (as Waka-Waka Island)

Strike of the Eagle is the first game in the Fog of War series of block games to be published by Academy Games.

The year is 1920. World War I has ended, but the battle for Europe has just begun. The Soviet leaders, Lenin and Trotsky, plan to spread the workers’ revolution by blasting through Poland in order to support the growing communist movements in Germany, France and Britain. Only the armies of Poland stand in the way of the Bolshevik tide. Therefore, these armies to invade the Soviet Republics.

Strike of the Eagle is an operational level block game that allows the player to experience the tension of the Polish-Soviet War of 1920. This mobile war featured a return of sweeping cavalry attacks combined with new weaponry innovations such as planes, tanks and armored cars.

The heart of the Fog of War series lies in players placing secret orders on the map to bluff, mislead and outplay their opponents! The composition of each player’s wooden block armies remain hidden from their opponent until they are engaged in battle. Combat is resolved without dice, maximizing skillful play! Action cards are pivotal to the game in that they allow players to either modify how many orders they may issue, add army reinforcements or modify a battle’s resolution.

Strike of the Eagle includes several scenarios for 2-4 players. Some are short games that can be played in an hour, up to the full campaign that can last several hours.

Strike of the Eagle is based on The Eagle and The Star. This english edition has been totally reworked from the ground up with an expanded mounted map, new cards, streamlined rules, new army and leader blocks, new scenario setup rules and additional scenarios.

Did you see a ghost? Or are you fibbing? In Fibber, kids wear special glasses that can hold "nose" pieces and play picture cards in order, and then tell everyone what they're playing. If you don't have the next card in order, you must play a different card - but don't get caught fibbing or your nose will grow! When the silver nose piece is played the game ends and shortest nose wins the game!

You are head of a family in an Italian city-state, a city run by a weak and corrupt court. You need to manipulate, bluff and bribe your way to power. Your object is to destroy the influence of all the other families, forcing them into exile. Only one family will survive...

In Coup, you want to be the last player with influence in the game, with influence being represented by face-down character cards in your playing area.

Each player starts the game with two coins and two influence – i.e., two face-down character cards; the fifteen card deck consists of three copies of five different characters, each with a unique set of powers:

Duke: Take three coins from the treasury. Block someone from taking foreign aid.
Assassin: Pay three coins and try to assassinate another player's character.
Contessa: Block an assassination attempt against yourself.
Captain: Take two coins from another player, or block someone from stealing coins from you.
Ambassador: Draw two character cards from the Court (the deck), choose which (if any) to exchange with your face-down characters, then return two. Block someone from stealing coins from you.

On your turn, you can take any of the actions listed above, regardless of which characters you actually have in front of you, or you can take one of three other actions:

Income: Take one coin from the treasury.
Foreign aid: Take two coins from the treasury.
Coup: Pay seven coins and launch a coup against an opponent, forcing that player to lose an influence. (If you have ten coins or more, you must take this action.)

When you take one of the character actions – whether actively on your turn, or defensively in response to someone else's action – that character's action automatically succeeds unless an opponent challenges you. In this case, if you can't (or don't) reveal the appropriate character, you lose an influence, turning one of your characters face-up. Face-up characters cannot be used, and if both of your characters are face-up, you're out of the game.

If you do have the character in question and choose to reveal it, the opponent loses an influence, then you shuffle that character into the deck and draw a new one, perhaps getting the same character again and perhaps not.

The last player to still have influence – that is, a face-down character – wins the game!

A new & optional character called the Inquisitor has been added (currently, the only English edition with the Inquisitor included is the Kickstarter Version from Indie Boards & Cards. Copies in stores may not be the Kickstarter versions and may only be the base game). The Inquisitor character cards may be used to replace the Ambassador cards.

Inquisitor: Draw one character card from the Court deck and choose whether or not to exchange it with one of your face-down characters. OR Force an opponent to show you one of their character cards (their choice which). If you wish it, you may then force them to draw a new card from the Court deck. They then shuffle the old card into the Court deck. Block someone from stealing coins from you.

Copyright La Mame Games 2012. This game is not authorized for posting on Steam.