sails to the Skeleton Seas, and finds inspiration as she goes.
Age of Conan - The Strategy Board Game
Adventure, intrigue and warfare in the Hyborian Age
With a host of miniatures, a huge board and innovative mechanics, the game recreates the 'age undreamed of' invented by R. E. Howard. Age of Conan is currently in production, and is expected to be released in early Summer 2008.
A big-box boardgame for 2-to-4 players, Age of Conan puts players in the throne rooms of some of the most important kingdoms of the Hyborian Age. Aquilonia, Turan, Stygia and Hyperborea strive for supremacy, and are willing to use any weapon available - be it intrigue, open warfare, or even sorcery. All the while, Conan, the black-haired Cimmerian, creates his legend-making adventures in every corner of the Hyborian world, never giving his allegiance to any kingdom for more than a brief stint.
Iconic Fate and Combat dice, a Strategy deck and individual Kingdom decks bring to life the colourful universe of Conan the Barbarian, made of sorcerous spells, violent battles and diverse characters, in a game that can be won by the most ruthless player, or maybe by the one that best manages the double-edged personality that is Conan.
Will Conan wear the Crown of your Kingdom, or tread the throne under his sandalled feet?
Age of Conan - The Strategy Board Game will be published by Nexus Editrice, and is designed by the same team that created the best-selling boardgame War of the Ring (Marco Maggi, Francesco Nepitello and Roberto Di Meglio).
The "player" nations and Conan
Aquilonia, Turan, Stygia, Hyperborea are the four kingdoms available as player nations in the game. These kingdoms were chosen over others due to their relevance in the stories, but also to ensure that each player would have a distinct set of capabilities and possible strategies at his disposal. Each kingdom has its own deck of cards (Kingdom Decks) filled with characters, special army units, magical artifacts, events and more. The composition of each deck recreates the peculiarities of a given kingdom, simulating for example its availability of good officers, or powerful sorcerers, or of elite military units.
Conan the Barbarian
In the game, Conan is present as a "force of nature" that the players try to drive in their chosen direction, but can never completely govern. The control of the hero changes from player to player in the course of the game, as the barbarian moves from adventure to adventure, accumulating Treasure, killing Monsters and conquering Women. Controlling Conan, albeit briefly, will sometime let a player hire him to fight in battles and sieges, or even to meddle in intrigue. In the long run, the way each player handles the barbarian will shape his attitude towards the various player nations, and will be an important condition to win. But again, be wary, as Conan can be a great help to a kingdom, but also a major threat.
Game mechanics
Inspired initially by the best-selling War of the Ring game, Age of Conan has grown much during development, to adapt to a different setting and different mode of play. Age of Conan portrays a slow attrition of multiple forces striving to increase their power and influence, where the adventures of an individual hero can make the difference. The core mechanic is still based on a modified Action dice system, adapted to work with a single pool of 'Fate' dice available to all players. Also worth mentioning here is the all-new "campaign system" - where the military subjugation of an indipendent kingdom depends on a series of linked battles, so that an extended effort is needed to overcome the many neutral powers of the Hyborian Age.
Art and components
The stunning cover art was created by the conceptual artist J.P. Targete. His work highlights the richness of Howard's setting, from the characterization of Conan himself, to the background dominated by exotic buildings and vast armies. Fabio Maiorana is in charge of the graphic design, and is producing a worthy sequel to the beautiful designs he made for games like the Wings of War series and Micro Mutants.
Military and diplomatic units will be represented by high-quality plastic miniatures, as well as Conan the Barbarian himself, and buildings representing forts and palaces are featured. The big gameboard, seven decks of cards, Adventure tiles, iconic Fate and Combat dice complete this luxurious edition.