FIEF France

Fief: France 1429 is a game of dynastic
ambition in which players assume the roles of nobles in the 15th century
kingdom of France. Each player strives to become the most powerful
ruling force in the kingdom by gaining control of Fief and Bishopric
territories. In turn, they acquire Royal and Ecclesiastical (church)
titles which give their families influence to elect the next Pope and
King. Players strengthen their positions by negotiating marriage
alliances between their families, setting the stage for love, treachery
and deception!

Fief is a classic French-language game and is being
re-introduced by Academy Games in English with updated rules, new units,
a new and larger consolidated map, and more. This edition also includes
additional components, which enhances game play.

The game board represents a portion of the Kingdom of France in the
Middle Ages. Villages have square outlines that are connected by roads
that allow Lord and Troop movement. The villages are grouped into eight
colored background areas that represent individual Fiefs, which are
domains given to Lords to preside over. Fiefs have different colored
backgrounds and Bishoprics have heavy bordered outlines that include
several different Fiefs. Each village also belongs to one of five church
Bishoprics; each Bishopric is outlined with a heavy border line and is
numbered between 1-5 along the edge of the board inside a Bishop’s
Mitre.

Each player controls up to four family members, comprised of male and
female nobles. These family members will rise in power by gaining Royal
and Ecclesiastic Titles.

In Fief: France 1429, a player may attempt to gain control of
all the villages in a Fief to gain the Royal Title of Baron, Earl or
Duke. For each Fief a player controls, he gains 1 VP. These Titled Lords
may now take part in the election for the next King. They may even be a
candidate to become King, thus bringing 1 VP and more power to the
family! Other members of your family may follow the calling of the
Church to gain the Ecclesiastical Titles of Bishop and then Cardinal.
These titles allow you to Tithe Bishoprics, taking the Church’s (i.e.
“your”) fair share of income from other Fief Lords! The highest goal
your clerical family member can attain is to be elected Pope, bringing 1
VP and special privileges to your family!

You win the game as soon as you have 3 VPs. This is easier said than
done and you may need to form alliances with other players through
diplomacy and marriage to obtain your goal. When one of your family
members marries a noble of another family, the two of you become allied.
You now win the game together with 4 VPs and cannot win alone, unless
your marriage is annulled by the Pope or your spouse is “mysteriously”
murdered or dies of some other foul means!

In addition to being wary of your fellow players, you may draw event
cards that can quickly change your destiny. Bounty Event cards are
beneficial to the Player and include “Good Harvest”, “Good Weather” and
“Added Taxes” cards. But some cards are Disaster Cards that can randomly
effect all players in specific Bishoprics. These include “The Plague”,
“Heavy Rain”, “Famine”, and “Peasant Uprisings”!

Income can be increased by players imposing church tithes on their
opponent’s villages or taxing their own Fiefs. Players may purchase new
Fief titles, improve their village incomes with mills, and fortify their
cities.

Players will also need to protect their land and castles. Men at Arms
and Knights can be purchased, as well as Siege Engines. If you feel
that other players are not running their Fiefs as well as you can, you
may try to invade their territories! But you must risk one of your
family members to lead the troops into possible battle, where they might
be killed or taken prisoner. If two opposing armies are in the same
village square, a Battle may be initiated. The players assess the size
and strength of their armies, which determine the number of Battle Dice
each may roll. Each “f” rolled is a hit. Men at Arms are defeated with
one hit, while Knights require three hits to be removed from the battle.