The first ever card game that I tried to develop, just over two years ago, was called Card Conquest and was about two to four players facing off, building up their cities and armies, raiding each other and trying to be the first player to collect twenty-five gold pieces. Ultimately, the project became too bloated and was abandoned. I hope to fix that with this new concept.
I would like to thank my friends Jon and Michael for helping me to develop this game concept during a road trip we took earlier this year.
Theme
A pitched battle. Two armies face each other across a field which has long since seen the care of a farmer's hand. A single note sounds through the still air and a great roar follows. A ripple flows through the two massed bodies and they charge towards one another, hoping to carve victory for their king into the chests of their enemies. Who will win? Only you can decide.
Setup and COMPONENTS
Each player starts with a deck of cards and a set of six-sided dice. Cards are played in the field between the two players, with the dice representing their remaining strength. Defeated cards remain where they fall.
Mechanics
Players shuffle their respective army decks and draw five cards. To start, the players may each field three cards, facedown. Both players then flip their cards face up and add dice to them to represent their strength, as per the card.
Each player then takes turns and are able to do the following during their turn:
Each player then takes turns and are able to do the following during their turn:
- Draw cards up to a hand limit of five (always the first action).
- Move and/or attack with the fielded units.
- Field a new unit (consumes a fielded unit's turn).
- Upgrade units (consumes a fielded unit's turn).
- Pass the turn to the next player or surrender.
Unit Types and Upgrades
Currently, four different unit types exist, each with two distinct upgrades available. The four basic units are swordsmen, archers, spearmen and light cavalry. They can be upgraded into legionaries/axemen, longbowmen/crossbowmen, hoplites/pikemen and heavy cavalry/horse archers, respectively.
Upgrades are cards shuffled into the deck that can be played, upgrading all units of that type to its upgraded version automatically. There is a limit of two upgrades per battle, with the ability to swap out upgrades during your turn. If one upgrade path is played, then the other cannot also be used, therefore all upgrade cards also act as their basic unit type if fielded.
Officer units may also be included, but exactly how they work isn't something I've figured out just yet.
Upgrades are cards shuffled into the deck that can be played, upgrading all units of that type to its upgraded version automatically. There is a limit of two upgrades per battle, with the ability to swap out upgrades during your turn. If one upgrade path is played, then the other cannot also be used, therefore all upgrade cards also act as their basic unit type if fielded.
Officer units may also be included, but exactly how they work isn't something I've figured out just yet.
Victory Conditions
One player wins when all of the other player's fielded units have been defeated (regardless of cards in hand) or when the other player calls surrender.
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