2020 BGG rank #374

The King Is Dead: Second Edition

2–4 players 30–45 min Ages 14+ 2.2/5 complexity 7.1/10 rating

About this game

The King is dead. The kingdom is divided. Three factions — the Scottish, the Welsh, and the English — vie for control and, across the sea, foreign invaders prepare to take advantage of the chaos. Players must marshal their limited resources to influence this power struggle, while ensuring that the faction that rises to dominate the realm favors them above all other claimants to the throne. The King is Dead: Second Edition refreshes the accessible yet strikingly deep game with updated graphic design, gorgeous new artwork, and a brand-new asymmetric game mode for advanced play.

What it feels like

Hand Management Variable Set-up Area Majority / Influence Campaign / Battle Card Driven Communication Limits Memory Stock Holding Map Reduction Medieval Wargame Political

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Setup

1. Place the board in the center of the table. 2. TWO-PLAYER ONLY: Return two followers of each faction to the box before setup. 3. Place two Scottish followers in Moray, two Welsh followers in Gwynedd, and two English followers in Essex (the home regions). 4. Place all remaining followers in the cloth bag. Randomly give each player two followers to place face up in front of them — this is their starting court. 5. Randomly draw followers from the bag and place them in each region so there are four followers per region total (including the two already in each home region). 6. Place all remaining followers into the supply. Return the cloth bag to the box. 7. Give each player one negotiation disc. 8. Place all control discs in the supply. 9. Place all three instability discs in France (off the board). 10. Deal each player the standard set of eight action cards: Scottish Support, Welsh Support, English Support, Negotiate, Manoeuvre, Outmanoeuvre, and two copies of Assemble. Do NOT use cunning action cards in the standard game. 11. Shuffle the eight region cards and deal one face up next to each numbered space (1–8) around the board. 12. Place the victory card near the board where all players can see it. 13. ADVANCED GAME (optional, experienced players only): Remove each player's three faction Support cards and return them to the box. Shuffle the cunning action cards and secretly deal each player three. Return unused cunning cards to the box without looking at them. 14. The player who most recently visited a castle is the start player. Play proceeds clockwise.

Turn flow

Beginning with the start player and moving clockwise, each player either takes an action or passes on their turn. TAKING AN ACTION: Play one card from your hand, resolve its full effect (or as much as possible — partial actions apply), then immediately summon one follower to your court by taking any follower from any region on the board (not the supply). Place the played card face up in your personal discard pile. PASSING: Forfeit your turn for this round. When play returns to you, you may act or pass again. POWER STRUGGLE TRIGGER: If ALL players pass consecutively in sequence, a power struggle is immediately resolved before play continues. POWER STRUGGLE RESOLUTION: 1. Find the face-up region card in the lowest-numbered space — that is the contested region. 2. Check which faction has the most followers there. Place that faction's control disc in the region. Return all followers in the region to the supply. 3. If there is a tie between factions, or no faction followers are present, place an instability disc there instead and return all followers to the supply. If this is the third instability disc placed, the game ends immediately with a French invasion. 4. Flip the contested region's card face down. Resume normal play. CARD LIMIT: Each player has exactly eight action cards for the entire game. Once played, a card cannot be used again.