As the great MC Hammer once said, "Yield, Gaming time!"
This is a prototype version of the game and may not represent the final quality or look of the game.
From the makers of Hidden Leaders and Almost Innocent there now comes new area control game, set in the same world as the previous games, with the same artistic style from Satoshi Matsuura but a whole new game style.
Yield operates in a straightforward manner. A group of 2-5 players will select a faction from five options and one of the two sides of their chosen faction player boards. Each player will gather their three (or four for a specific faction) army tokens, power dials, six action cards, fortress tokens, and ten battle cards (from which they must discard three from). The remaining battle cards should be positioned next to the main board (on the right side according to the player count) near the score tracker. Neutral fortresses are then placed on the spaces marked with roman numerals.
Players will distribute twelve power between their three armies (or four for the yellow player if they chose side A), rotating the dials to any numbers above one, to a total of twelve between them. Players will keep each individual army's assigned number secret. Players will then add one of their fortress tokens to one of the neutral fortress spaces, placing their token on the top. Players will then take turns adding their army tokens to the board either on the space with their starting fortress or one space next to it. Finally, assign one player to be the starting faction. You are now ready to play.
Play now follows three rounds, each of which consists of four steps.
The first step is where players will all play one of their six action cards from their hand. All players have the same six cards and will play four each round. The cards are all played face down, and when all players have played one card, the cards are revealed to show the intentions of each player. The starting player will then carry out their action first, followed by the next player, until all players have done this. This continues until all players have played and carried out four actions. If you ever do not want to take an action, or need more battle cards, you can choose not to reveal the action card, and instead draw five new battle cards, add them to your hand, then discard two.
The main actions available are to move your armies, conquer neutral or other players' fortresses if they are left unguarded, and build new fortresses. You can also initiate a battle with an added battle score of six, which we will explain later; or conduct a ritual when you can copy any other card either in your hand or already played, gain the first player marker, but you must remove the bottom fortress token from one fortress than you control.
At the end of the game, the player with the most points from fortresses wins. Each fortress is worth the number of tokens there, including neutral and other players' tokens. Whoever has the top token scores all the points. So you want to be adding tokens, not removing them.
After the action card phase concludes, players will proceed to start battles. Battles will occur across the map whenever two or more opposing armies are currently adjacent to each other. A scenario of two (or more) armies facing one can arise if two armies surround a single one, but only the armies neighbouring an opposing army will engage in combat. In a situation where one army is adjacent to an enemy's army and has another army next to itself, but not adjacent to the opposing army, the two armies cannot team up against the single army.
Battles work by players revealing the current battle strength of the armies engaged in battle, and then using a fortress token to mark this on the score tracker. The player with the lowest battle score then takes the initiative and decides if they want to fight or yield. If they yield, they will lose the difference in their current battle score and the enemy's by removing that from their battle dial. If this brings them to zero, they are destroyed. If they still have health left, they are defeated but not destroyed.
If the player with the initiative does not want to yield, they can play a battle card to raise their battle score. The battle card must match the colour of the area in which they are fighting. If a player has more than one army involved, and these armies cover more than one terrain, that player can then play cards from more than one colour in this battle. This is a significant advantage. Players keep playing cards, rotating the initiative as they overtake each other's battle score by playing cards, until one player yields. The only other way a battle can end is if a tie occurs, and the player who has received the initiative decides to call a draw. This is rare. The battle cards can also be played on their reverse side as a wild card.
An defeated army can be pushed back one space by the winning army. They can then advance one space with one army if they choose, potentially moving onto a now unprotected fortress. If you cannot push an opposing army as they are backed into a corner, then this is another way an army can be destroyed. Defeated armies stay on the map, but destroyed armies are removed.
Play then moves to the next phase, the conquer phase, where players can add fortress tokens of their color onto any fortress space they don't currently own, that they are on with one of their armies. This generally is the result of a winning battle. For each fortress conquered this way, the player who does this can draw two new battle tokens.
Play then moves to the final phase where any destroyed army can now come back onto the map, onto any fortress owned by that player. They will reappear with half of their previous health, rounded down. One player will then draw one card from the battle deck, reveal it to all players, and all players will then add that amount to their overall battle score, distributed amongst all their battle dials. In round two, two cards are drawn like this. After round three, the game ends.
So far, so normal. But where is the twist? Alright, calm down, I was getting to it.
This game has five different factions, and each one has its own unique asymmetric power. In fact, each one has two of its own. You can choose side A or B. Let's take a closer look at these now, and this is where the game comes alive!
These powers can give you an extra army, allow you to move your fortresses as well as your armies, or even gain units for your armies instead of losing them when you lose a battle! A pretty hard power to combat when you are up against it, I found!
Pavyr lets you gain extra battle cards for being in bigger fights, and Vyma has a great power that lets you play face down battle cards as neutral threes, rather than neutral ones. A bit advantage.
But this is side A, check out some of the side B's!
Pavyr now gains units from his total Fortresses, a huge swing in most fights!
And Vyma now gains additional movement when carrying out the Ritual action. Movement is very powerful in this game.
And check these out!
Keralon now adds plus two for all face-up battle cards when their champion is in the fight!
Lemron can now place power tokens on any space where they have armies present, rather than just existing fortress spaces. This is huge.
But most bonkers of all, Basil now wins the entire game, no matter what round it is, no matter what player count it is, simply by destroying one army! Will you dare fight Basil?
These variable powers bring not only incredible variety to the game, but also bucket loads of fun! I have loved exploring the variations of fighting with and against each of these, in multiple player counts and combinations. It makes every game feel different, and adds huge character to the game.
Often a game will come down to one final battle for one powerful fortress. You need to plan ahead and make sure you have the right armies in the right place, with the right battle cards in hand. There can be some luck to this, but also a lot of planning, and when it pays off, it feels great.
Games are surprisingly fast. Two-player games can be done in under 30 minutes. And I have had a four-player game last under forty too. Obviously, this depends on the players at the table, but ultimately, you play four cards each round, the actions are often pretty fast, and you won't have battles every round. Making the battle conquer and recovery round sometimes instant.
I predict this game will be a huge success at both Kickstarter and retail levels, and would encourage anyone who enjoys a competitive, fast, fun-filled area-control game to check this one out.
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