Northgard is one of the longest-running strategies that does not belong to any of the famous brands. Thanks to this, the independent studio managed to attract attention, thanks to which the game continues to receive new updates and all kinds of expansions. Now it has even received the board game Northgard: The Unknown Land, which we will cover in detail in the following paragraphs.
- Number of players: 15
- Game time: 60-90 minutes
- Price: 1700 crowns (Thlam Games)
- Age: 12+
In Northgard: The Unknown Land you will discover a new world
A group of Scandinavian tribes headed for a new island where they want to settle. Of course, they do not have very friendly relations with each other, so for a long seven years they will have a life-and-death struggle. You have to fight against seven factions. You are offered a wolf, a raven, a goat, a deer, a bear, a viper and a she-wolf. Each of the groups has a different three faction cards that have different effects. The wolf card is built more offensively, while the goat card is built more. However, out of the three cards, you get only one at the start, along with six “regular” ones, the same for all participants.
Subsequently, while playing Northgard: Lands of the Unknown, each year (at the start of each round) you draw one development card, with which you have the opportunity to determine the shape of your deck. Almost all actions you perform through them. If it doesn’t suit you, you have the option to exchange individual pieces with Runestones, representing one of the three raw materials available here. In addition to them, there is also wood, necessary for the construction of buildings, and apples, necessary for more efficient recruitment, strengthening fighters before the battle, and, above all, for survival next year. So you can get through this without them, but if you don’t pay them at the end of this period, you’ll run into a negative Unrest card that can make your life quite unpleasant.
But back to the cards themselves and the actions associated with them. You can start recruiting the soldiers you have placed in your territory. This activity can be improved with development cards, as well as a recruiting building. If, for example, you draw a card with an archer that gives you one warrior for each food source, and you also have a recruiting center available, you can count on an army that the enemy will fear. However, you should expect to eat more food afterwards. Luckily, food is relatively easy to get. All you have to do is build a granary and relieve hungry bellies. Buildings require 1 or 3 wood to build, depending on the complexity of the building itself. From them you can get both raw materials and advantages for combat or victory points.
One of the actions that can be done, in addition to those already mentioned, is also a survey. In Northgard: Lands of the Unknown, this works in the same way as adding map tiles to Carcassonne. You take new pieces from the top of the column on which the card pieces are located. You can’t see the shape, so it all depends on the occasion and the quality of the shuffle. However, once you pull out a tile, you can attach it to one of the tiles and thus expand the game world. The concept of boundaries is used here, so with the help of a new piece you can close a certain area or, on the contrary, expand it and thus increase the value of this place. However, you only get points for closed spaces. Therefore, it does not always make sense to expand it without restrictions. Each year you gain fame points for controlled positions, which act as victory points.
Northerners are not afraid to fight
Among other things, the game also has a turn card. One of the reasons for transitioning between territories in Northgard: Lands Unknown is often simply the desire for new territories. But if someone is standing at the destination, a fight is automatically expected. Various factors determine its outcome. The main one is how many people you send into enemy territory, which makes sense. Another thing, of course, is how well your warriors are fed. You can influence this aspect yourself by giving them a few more apples before the fight. However, the same can be done by the defender, who may still have an advantage in the form of owning buildings capable of defending or simply eliminating opponents. The last element that forms the collision is the cube. Both opponents roll with him, after which they work with the result, which is included in the overall result.
I have to say for myself that I don’t like the combat in Northgard: The Unknown Land, or at least the fact that the dice is only rolled once. In fact, it would make more sense for me to make rolls for each warrior, making collisions a clear determinant of a player’s strength as well as the flow of the game. However, perhaps in this regard, my militancy and some craving for more vigorous formats are manifested. On dice in Northgard: The Unknown Land, an ax can drop to boost your people’s strength, or a skull can take a real toll on your sap. Whoever has more axes in the final wins. The loser must retreat to some of the adjacent territories.
After a few games, you have the opportunity to add new opponents to the game world. In addition to human juices, monsters can also appear in Northgard: The Unknown Land. All you have to do is lay out the printed piece next to the other one and you are ready to have some fun. This symbol will create a monster in that location. Sometimes it will be a relatively easy to kill wolf, sometimes it will be a bear or undead, thirsting for the blood of those who decide to enter its territory. Monsters serve as a balancing element, and fighting them is not interesting. However, if you defeat them, you can expect to receive victory points.
Is Northgard: The Uncharted Land a successful adaptation?
I would say yes. The creators of Northgard: The Unknown Land managed to create a very worthy adaptation of the popular strategy, which in many ways follows in the footsteps of the now very popular video game. In practice, this means that we have to slowly explore the surroundings, the construction of structures necessary for life, the collection of raw materials, as well as military operations. You can fight both against mere mortals from other clans, and against monsters that roam the world and pursue all life.
The map format that Northgard: The Unknown Land is based on is not bad at all, you get used to it very quickly, but sometimes it feels a little binding, and I would consider the path of thoroughbred actions to be the best solution. Dice-based combat introduces randomness to gameplay that can be countered to some extent with proper preparation. Undoubtedly, the price for which you can purchase a title is very pleasant. I would personally recommend the entire game to those of you looking for a fair strategy game that isn’t that hard to get into. For myself, however, I could imagine somewhat better developed rules, in which I sometimes lacked a clear definition of certain factors.
Source :Indian TV
