The Gnomes waited and choose their moment carefully. It was a time of relative peace in the Mountain Kingdom of the Trolls. Sure, they had the normal political maneuverings that were common amongst their kind, but they hadn't tasted war for generations. They had grown complacent in their home, too sure that peace would reign forever. They were wrong!
Fall of the Mountain King is a unique game of action selection and area control. Over the course of three attacks, the Gnomes wage war on the Mountain. You take on the role of respected Troll leaders, rising up and rallying troops to the defence of your ancestral home. Throughout the the game, you recruit great Champions to your side, each with a powerful skill. You also compete to win favour with the seven different Clans. Defeating Gnome invaders or even falling in defence of the Mountain can earn you Honour (victory points).
The Mountain is made up of Domains each belonging to one of the Clans; Fire, Ice, Moon, Granite, Moss, Hammer, and Mud. Throughout the game, you fight for control of Caverns in the different Domains and to earn Honour and Votes from the various Clan leaders. A new set of Champions is introduced each round. The more influence you dedicate to the Champion, the more likely they will come to your aid.
We’ll introduce some of the individual Champions in a future article.
Rounds begin with players drafting and building their Ancestry. This patchwork tableau informs the actions you can make throughout the game and the strategy you may want to follow. Drafting continues until everyone has added three cards to their tableau. Symbols include Hammers, which allow you to advance units around the board, Shields, which allow you to bolster units in dominated Caverns, Influence, which allows you to vie for the services of great Champions, and Gnomes, which can give you special actions. The symbols you cover in your Ancestry determine the type of action you can perform on your turn and the number of symbols you cover determines how powerfully you can do it.
We’ll be taking a closer look at the Ancestry and how each Action works in a future article.
At the end of the round, the Gnomes make another push into the Mountain! The attacks come at random gates, but with some clever planning, you can sneak a peek at their battle plan. Brave Trolls will stand up to the Gnomes, and earn Honour if they fall in battle. The available Champions are awarded to the players with the most influence on them and the round is scored.
We’ll take a deeper dive into scoring in a future article.
Fall of the Mountain King is a strategic game with accessible rules. Build your Ancestry, execute your battle plan, and win the loyalty of Clans and Champions. The Gnomes started this war. You have to show them how a king will finish it!
Fall of the Mountain King is coming to Kickstarter on June 1.