Welcome to Lancaster!

Hey there! In Lancaster, it’s all about becoming the most powerful ally of the new king of England, Henry V of Lancaster. In this game, you’ll take on the role of an aristocratic family aiming to strengthen your ties to the king by growing your knighthood and passing laws that benefit you. Exciting, right?

Let’s Get Set Up!

First things first! We need to set up the game board. Place it in the middle of your playing area. And don’t forget the supply boards! These go on both ends of the game board, making it easy for everyone to reach the supplies. Now, gather around the board and make sure everyone has a comfortable spot.

When you play this game, each player gets to choose a color that represents them. You will need a marker, 7 knights, a castle board, 6 extension tiles, a screen, and two voting tiles that match your color. Place your board in front of you and put your screen to the side. Now we’re ready to start.

How to Play

To decide who goes first, we’ll randomly pick a start player. They get the start player marker. Then, we’ll take turns going clockwise around the group. The game has five rounds, and each round has three phases.

Phase 1

Now it’s time to talk about what happens during this phase. This is when we place our knights on the board. When it’s my turn, I’ll pick one of my knights from the court and move them to a knight’s space. Then, it’ll be the next player’s turn to do the same. We’ll keep going until everyone has placed all their knights. If someone doesn’t have any knights to place, they can just skip their turn.

There are three places where we can put our knights: the county, the castle, or the conflict. To put a knight in the county, they need to have enough strength for that space. If we want to put a knight in the castle, we have to make sure the spot is empty because each space can only have one knight. And if we want to get into a conflict, we just pick a conflict and put our knight there.

Phase 2

When I place the last knight, the parliament gathers. You and I have to vote on three new laws, one after another. We start in the bottom left corner and continue to the right. We both vote at the same time, secretly, by putting a voting tile in front of ourselves, face down. These voting tiles are mixed up and then counted. The law will either be approved or declined.

Phase 3

Once we finish Phase 2, it’s time to evaluate the counties, castles, and conflicts. We look at all the counties and give out the rewards in a certain order, from A to I. You can choose to collect a nobleman, take another reward, or get both, but you have to pay three gold for that. Starting with the first player, we score our castles by going clockwise around the group. We receive rewards for knights, extensions, or company at the table.

Let’s keep the game going until we’ve played five rounds.

THE GAME ENDS

After five rounds, the game comes to a close. It’s time to tally up our points. The player with the highest strength receives eight points, and the runner-up gets four. The player with the most extension tiles also earns eight power points, while the runner-up earns four. If you have more than one nobleman with you, you’ll receive additional power points.

Nobleman	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Points	0	1	3	6	10	15	21	28	36

Hey there! So, guess what? Once all the points are added up, they reveal the winner. And who’s that, you may ask? Well, it’s the player who’s managed to gather the most power points. And there you have it, the game’s victor – pretty cool, right?

Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Ellie, and I call beautiful Northeast Tennessee my home. Animals? Love ’em all, big or small. And fantasy fiction novels? They’re my jam. But you know what truly makes my heart sing? The great outdoors. Oh, and I’ve got an amazing husband who adores me just as much as our two furry babies. Life’s pretty sweet when you’re part of such an incredible community.

Lancaster game rules – how to play lancaster