Raiders of the North Sea
is set in the central years of the Viking Age. As Viking warriors,
players seek to impress the Chieftain by raiding unsuspecting
settlements. To do so, players need to assemble a crew, collect
provisions, and journey north to plunder gold, iron and livestock. Glory
can be found in battle, even at the hands of the Valkyrie, so gather
your warriors because it’s raiding season!
To impress the Chieftain, you need victory points (VPs), with those
being acquired primarily by raiding settlements, taking plunder, and
making offerings to the Chieftain. How you use your plunder is also
vital to your success. Players take turns in clockwise order, and on a
turn you place a worker and resolve its action, then pick up a different
worker and resolve its action. Broadly speaking, those actions fall in
one of two categories:
- Work: Having a good crew and enough provisions
are vital to successful raiding, so before making any raids, players
need to do some work to prepare their crew and collect supplies. This is
all done in the village at the bottom of the game board, with eight
buildings offering various actions. You must first place your worker in
an available building where no other worker is present, then pick up a
different worker from a different building.
- Raid: Once players have hired enough crew and
collected provisions, you may choose to raid on your turn. To raid a
settlement — whether a harbor, outpost, monastery or fortress — you need
to meet three requirements: Having a large enough crew, having enough
provisions (along with gold for monasteries and fortresses, and having a
worker of the right color. Raiding offers various ways of scoring, such
as military strength, plunder, and Valkyries, which is how grey and
white workers enter the game.
The game ends when only one fortress raid remains, all Valkyrie have
been removed, or all offerings have been made, then players tally their
scores.
