Fantasy Flight Games

Return to Westeros

Published 11 April 2016 | A Game of Thrones Board Game

Return to Westeros

Explore the Variants of A Game of Thrones: The Board Game

A deep red blush had appeared in the east by the time they all assembled at the gate. The stars are going out, Jon thought. When next they reappeared, they would be shining down upon a world forever changed.
–George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons

This April, many of you will reenter the world of Westeros, experiencing the intrigues, betrayals, and epic battles of the game of thrones. As you sail across the Narrow Sea to set foot in King’s Landing once more, we want to take a moment to draw your attention to A Game of Thrones: The Board Game.

From the first edition of the game in 2003 to the fully updated and remastered second edition, countless players have used this game to journey to Westeros and play a part in the power struggles and intrigues that define the realm. During a game of A Game of Thrones: The Board Game, you and your friends each take control of one of the Great Houses of Westeros: Baratheon, Stark, Lannister, Greyjoy, Martell, or Tyrell. You must lead your House to greatness by conquering castles and strongholds, but to accomplish your goals, you must make deals with your friends… and inevitably betray them for your own gain.

Last year, we shone a spotlight on A Game of Thrones: The Board Game and highlighted how you dispatch orders to your armies and jockey for position on the game’s influence tracks. Today, we want to follow a different road and explore the variants that you can use while playing the game of thrones!

Tides of Battle

Tyrion wondered whether this was the last sunrise he would ever see… and whether wondering was a mark of cowardice. Did his brother Jaime ever contemplate death before a battle?
–George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

The first way to dramatically alter your experience in A Game of Thrones: The Board Game is actually included in the Core Set—the Tides of Battle cards. By using this optional rule, you make your battles for Westeros both more unpredictable and significantly more deadly.

Under normal circumstances at the beginning of a battle, both players choose a House card from their hand. These House cards represent the great lords and ladies of the House, and their leadership on the field of battle. Not only do these cards boost your combat strength, they also provide unique special abilities or the power to kill your opponent’s units.

When you choose to use the Tides of Battle module, both players draw a card from the Tides of Battle deck after choosing and revealing their House cards. These cards not only affect your combat strength, they can also introduce extra danger, including the skull icon, which inflicts casualties on your opponent whether you win or lose! With the Tides of Battle deck, you can never predict the outcome of a battle, making your negotiations and the support of the other Great Houses even more important than before.

Expand Your Intrigues

“When Aegon the Dragon stepped ashore in Westeros, the kings of Vale and Rock and Reach did not rush to hand him their crowns. If you mean to sit his Iron Throne, you must win it as he did, with steel and dragonfire.”
–George R.R. Martin, A Storm of Swords

You can also change the experience of A Game of Thrones: The Board Game with two expansions for the game: A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons. Both of these expansions are available through our in-house manufacturing and each advances the game to a later point in the storyline of A Song of Ice and Fire.

A Feast for Crows allows you to enter the story at the fourth book in the saga to engage in a special, four-player scenario. Here, you can play as House Stark, House Lannister, House Baratheon, or an entirely new entry to the game, House Arryn. Each of these Houses includes new House cards with new abilities to reflect the characters left alive at that point in the story. What’s more, the addition of neutral and House-specific Objective cards invite you to score points in additional ways. Though the Houses’ objectives can vary widely, you’ll need to understand your own goals and your opponents’ if you want to achieve victory.

Finally, you can advance the game to the fifth book in A Song of Ice and Fire with A Dance with Dragons. This expert-level, six-player scenario creates a tactical situation reminiscent of the most recent book in George R.R. Martin’s epic series. Every House is still involved in the game of thrones, but their major players have drastically changed, as reflected by new decks of House cards. In addition, new setup instructions ensure that combat is possible from the very first turn of the game and every alliance you can broker is more important than ever.

Claim the Iron Throne

Immerse yourself in the intrigues, power struggles, and massive battles of Westeros with A Game of Thrones: The Board Game! If you want even more of A Song of Ice and Fire at your game night, you can also take a look at A Game of Thrones: The Card Game. Will you be the one to unite a war-torn realm? Make your choice when you play the game of thrones for yourself.

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A Game of Thrones: The Board Game Second Edition and its expansion are © 2003, 2011 & 2012 Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc. Licensed by George R.R. Martin. The names, descriptions, and depictions applied to this game are derived from works copyrighted by George R.R. Martin, and may not be used or reused without his permission. A Game of Thrones: The Board Game, its expansion title and Fantasy Flight Supply are trademarks of Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved to their respective owners.

Conquer Westeros

Published 8 April 2015 | A Game of Thrones Board Game

Conquer Westeros

Spotlight on A Game of Thrones: The Board Game

The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros are divided and the War of the Five Kings is ready to explode. The north has declared for Robb Stark, the Iron Islands rise in rebellion under Balon Greyjoy, and in Sunspear, the leaders of House Martell plot revenge for past wrongs. Meanwhile, the heart of Westeros is in turmoil as Lannister, Baratheon, and Tyrell struggle for power in King’s Landing.

To restore order to Westeros, one House must throw down all challengers and claim the Iron Throne. In A Game of Thrones: The Board Game, you take command of one of these six Great Houses of Westeros. You’ll muster armies and lead them on the road to war, but you must never neglect the political arena. To claim the Westerosi strongholds and achieve victory, you’ll need to decide when to forge new alliances… and when to break your promises.

Today, we turn a spotlight onto the battles and trickery of A Game of Thrones: The Board Game – the only game that matters!

Lead Your House

"They are your people, and they love you well,” Magister Illyrio said amiably. "In holdfasts all across the realm, men lift secret toasts to your health while women sew dragon banners and hide them against the day of your return from across the water.”
–George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

At the onset of the War of the Five Kings, many of the Houses are separated by land or sea. Stannis Baratheon plans his coup from the island citadel of Dragonstone, House Stark holds the vast northern reaches of Westeros, while House Tyrell rests comfortably in the bountiful lands of the Reach. Though the Great Houses begin the game separated by distance, you will quickly come within striking distance as you lead your armies across Westeros with fire and sword.

Every turn, you and your opponents assign orders to your armies in the field. You may raid the land to sabotage your enemies’ plans, send your armies on the march, fortify your defenses, support your temporary allies, or consolidate your power in regions firmly under your control. All orders are assigned secretly so you’re never certain of your opponent’s true intentions. Can you really trust the Dornishmen to honor your arrangement? Is House Baratheon planning to steal the Eyrie as soon as your armies are called elsewhere? You must start outwitting your opponents well before the first armies are moved on the board.

Order tokens from left to right: raid, consolidate power, support, defense, march

To achieve victory, you must conquer seven strongholds or castles, but with up to six players and only twenty of these crucial locations on the board, your quest for victory will necessarily involve a clash of kings. But even as you play the game of thrones, you must be mindful of the threat stirring beyond the Wall. The wildlings grow in strength as the game goes on and will attack unpredictably. When this happens, all Houses must band together and support the Night’s Watch or the consequences will be grievous for all of Westeros.

Bloody Battles, Courtly Intrigues

"I will not treat with Renly," Stannis answered in a tone that brooked no argument. "Not while he calls himself a king."
–George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings

Your armies in A Game of Thrones: The Board Game are your tools for conquering the realm and claiming the Iron Throne. After all, your intrigue and political machinations won’t benefit you if you don’t have the forces to make good on your threats. You’ll lead armies of infantry and knights into battle, construct siege engines to surpass the walls of a stronghold, and command fleets in the oceans that surround Westeros.

Your armies are crucial to achieving victory, but the characters of A Song of Ice and Fire provide the leadership your armies need. Every combat is resolved without dice or any form of chance as each player selects a single character from his House to lead his forces in the field. The chosen House card and its abilities, combined with the strength of the units in the battle, determines the ultimate victor in every battle. Of course, these characters have countless potent effects. You may strike from the sea with Victarion Greyjoy, disrupt your opponent’s plans with Cersei Lannister, or force your opponent to retreat as you choose with Robb Stark.

Few battles take place between two Houses in isolation. Other armies wait nearby, ready to lend their aid to one side or the other. You may issue the support order to an army at the beginning of a round, allowing it to partake in any conflicts that occur in adjacent regions. Gaining the support of a nearby army can turn a seemingly inevitable defeat into victory, but help is never free. You may help Baratheon capture King's Landing… but only in exchange for the castle of Storm's End. By positioning your armies to support another player in battle, you can demand regions, castles, or favors in return for your help.

Not every battle is waged on the bloody fields of Westeros, however. Some conflicts take place in the courts of King’s Landing as lords, ladies, knights, and courtiers jockey for position and power at the Red Keep. Throughout the game, the Great Houses struggle to achieve dominance in three arenas of power: the Iron Throne, the realm’s fiefdoms, and the king’s court.

The three influence tracks from top to bottom: the Iron Throne, the fiefdoms, and the king's court.

If you devote yourself to gaining power over the Iron Throne, you can use your influence to shape the fate of Westeros as you see fit by deciding the outcome of non-combat ties. Alternatively, you can exercise your influence to bring the smallfolk and the fiefdoms to your side. With these new recruits swelling your army, you are much more powerful in battle, potentially overwhelming opponents who lack the support of the fiefdoms. The final area where you can demonstrate your power is at the king’s court. Here, more influence means access to the secrets and spies of Westeros. You may issue special orders to bolster your armies, or even change an order after all players have revealed their plans. Wherever you exercise your influence in A Game of Thrones: The Board Game, the power struggles of King’s Landing are as deadly as any pitched battle.

Expand the Story

"To go north, you must journey south. To reach the west, you must go east. To go forward, you must go back. To touch the light, you must pass beneath the shadow."
–George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons

The core set of A Game of Thrones: The Board Game simulates the state of Westeros in the first two books of A Song of Ice and Fire, at the beginning of the War of the Five Kings. You can advance the game further in the story, however, with the addition of two expansions, A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, both available through our in-house manufacturing.

A Feast for Crows is a four-player scenario for A Game of Thrones: The Board Game, and it introduces House Arryn to the struggle for the Iron Throne. This expansion offers an alternative setup, providing a tactical situation reminiscent of the fourth book in George R.R. Martin’s series. Violence is imminent between the Great Houses of Westeros, and in addition to a new House and an alternative setup, the A Feast for Crows scenario also offers a new path to victory. Every Houses must strengthen the defenses around its ancestral seat of power, while simuntaneously sallying forth to complete objectives before the other players.

You can advance still further in the series with A Dance with Dragons, an expert-level six-player scenario for A Game of Thrones: The Board Game. As in A Feast for Crows, an alternate setup presents the Houses as they stand at the beginning of the fifth book in A Song of Ice and Fire. The game of thrones has raged for some time, and many characters have died since the beginning of the series, while more have risen or fallen in importance. To reflect this, A Dance with Dragons includes forty-two alternate House cards, which present previously unseen characters like Ramsay Bolton and Quentyn Martell.

Claim the Iron Throne

"So long as Tommen sits the Iron Throne, the realm sees him as the true king. Hide him under the Rock and he becomes just another claimant to the throne, no different than Stannis."
–George R.R. Martin, A Feast for Crows

The Great Houses struggle for dominance and their battles will shake all of Westeros. Do you have the power to destroy your enemies and rise to the Iron Throne? Call your banners, muster your armies, and march on King’s Landing in A Game of Thrones: The Board Game!

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A Feast For Crows

Published 29 May 2013 | A Game of Thrones Board Game

A Feast For Crows

A New Print on Demand Scenario for A Game of Thrones Is On Sale

"The choice is yours, brother. Live a thrall or die a king. Do you dare to fly? Unless you take the leap, you’ll never know."
–George R.R. Martin, A Feast for Crows

All the houses of Westeros cherish hope in their secret hearts of claiming the Iron Throne for themselves. But the challenge is about to become greater than ever, with the addition of a new house and Objective cards. In A Feast for Crows, the newest Print on Demand expansion for A Game of Thrones: The Board Game Second Edition, all tactics and dreams of the future become subject to the will to conquer—and the fate of the draw.

Now available on our webstore, A Feast for Crows is a four-player scenario expansion that introduces a brand-new house to the armed marches and backstabbing of Westeros: namely, House Arryn. Led by the hoary Bronze Yohn Royce, and featuring iconic characters such as Littlefinger in their House deck, House Arryn focuses on gathering power tokens, and using them to quickly establish a definitive military and diplomatic advantage. From their home among the perilous peaks and precipices of The Eyrie, House Arryn is ready to join the Starks, Lannisters, and Baratheons in the dangers of throne-hunting.

An alternative setup has been crafted in order to produce a tactical situation reminiscent of the fourth book of George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series, and with this new setup, deadly conflict is possible on the first turn of the game. With a well balanced four-player game and an advanced unit setup, the game proceeds faster than ever. But a new setup and quicker playtime are not the only additions that are brought to the table in the A Feast for Crows expansion.

The new scenario also features game-changing Objective cards that must shape player’s thoughts and plans for their house’s strategy. These new Objective cards are the only way to gain victory points in A Feast for Crows, making them the most important cards in the game. Each house holds an open Special Objective, which allows them to repeatedly gain points for each round that they control important bastions and central regions of Westeros.

Other neutral Objective cards are drawn and replaced as they are scored, as while as swapped and traded between players through the events in a replacement Westeros deck. The goals of these Objective cards vary widely, but an innovative ranking system maintains balance by scaling the amount of victory points different houses can gain for fulfilling these objectives.

What Is Print on Demand?

Print on Demand is an exciting process that allows Fantasy Flight Games to produce professionally finished cards on a made-to-order basis, which opens up new opportunities for expanding existing games.

This process (not to be confused with Print and Play) results in smaller print runs of professionally manufactured products, allowing publishers to provide fans with content that would otherwise not be commercially viable. If you’re a retailer interested in carrying our Print on Demand products, visit our Professional Zone website to learn more.

Head to our webstore to order your copy, and prepare to see Westeros in a whole new way!

Note: Due to variations in the printing process, cards from Print on Demand expansions will be subtly different in appearance and texture from base game cards. Orders for this expansion through our webstore cannot be combined with other Print on Demand products, but may be combined with non-Print on Demand items.

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