Paladins of the West Kingdom Review

INTRODUCTION

If expectation is the Mother of disappointment, then who is the Father? Setting that rather philosophical thought experiment aside, the fact remains that expectation is a fickle mistress which has a tendency to strike mercilessly at the person whom it possesses. Such was the case for yours truly as I found myself unwrapping the plastic of Paladins of the West Kingdom (hence Paladins), the 1 – 4 player board game designed by Shem Phillips & SJ MacDonald and published by Garphill Games. The authors previous design Architects of the West Kingdom is a game I have enjoyed immensely playing in solitaire, so I had high expectations when sitting down for my first solo play of this highly anticipated sequel to the West series of board games.

COMPONENTS

I am fairly certain that I am not the first, nor will I be the last, to bring attention to the rather substantially sized elephant standing dead centre in the middle of the room: the box size. Now, it is worth mentioning that some people would probably describe me as thorough, pedantic or perhaps even a bit “square”. And I would not oppose their point of view, in fact I use a Dymo label maker in addition to sorting board game components in various zip lock plastic bags which should provide you with some context as to my fondness of organising and structure. And yet, even I struggle at organising everything inside this box. Trying to get all the components, and there is a lot of them, back into the box quickly escalates into something resembling the pattern recognition portions of intelligence quotient tests. And if you are a devoted member of the Church of Sleeves as I happen to be then this Tetris-like exercise becomes even more challenging. Garphill Games have stuck by this particular box size for quite some time and they are not about to make any drastic changes to the formula, whether this is a good thing or not is for you to decide.

Setting all that aside, the actual components that are included in Paladins are of high quality throughout. The cards have a nice feel to them, presenting the wonderful art by Mihajlo “The Mico” Dimitrievski in vibrant colours and with clear iconography. The various wooden pieces like markers and worker meeples are also of similar high quality, although I must confess that I am not that fond of the Monk token design but that is more of a personal preference on my part. As for the rulebook, Garphill Games have always been good at presenting the rules for their games in a clear and concise fashion and Paladins is no exception. Granted, there are a fair number of pages to digest compared to their previous output but that is somewhat expected seeing that this is a much more complex game. The solo rules are presented at the end of the rulebook, which includes both set up and explaining the various actions the artificial opponent can perform throughout the course of the game.

OVERVIEW

The year is 900 AD. These are dark and tumultuous times for the medieval kingdom known as West Francia. Although the main capitol is enjoying prosperity and growth as a result of the dedicated work by the royal Architects, the villages in the fringes of the kingdom face eminent danger from invading forces such as the savage Vikings or the Byzantines from the far east. The urgency of the situation does not go unnoticed by the King who decides to dispatch his most noble and elite knights to aid the villagers: The Paladins. You take on the role of an individual of noble stature who, with the aid of the Paladins and townsfolk, will repel the attacks from the Outsiders, build fortifications in order to protect the borders and spread faith in the hearts and minds of the King’s loyal subjects.

*Deciding on which Paladin card to play versus return to the draw deck is equally agonising as delicious. Photo: Fredrik Schulz*

A game of Paladins lasts seven rounds, during which players will utilize the special abilities of the elite knights whilst also recruiting workers from the villages in an effort to repel the threat from the invading forces. Every player has an identical deck of 12 Paladin cards that are shuffled during set up, each card depicts an individual knight that provides you with two workers of various colours and also a special ability that is unique to that particular Paladin. One knight may reward you with additional coins when undertaking certain actions, other members of this elite guard provide you with a valuable resource discount etcetera. In addition to these perks, every Paladin also provides you with certain temporary stat amplifiers for the current round which will force you to take both tactical and strategical considerations when choosing which card to play. There are three different type of attributes that effect gameplay: Faith (black), Influence (blue) and Strength (red). The attributes create a symbiotic relationship with one another, which is illustrated on the right side of the player board. These action locations focus primarily on scoring and increasing the various attributes.

*By allocating workers, players are able to take actions that require one type of attribute in order to advance another. Photo: Fredrik Schulz*

Take for example the Attack action, used for striking a blow at the invading Outsiders in order to reap powerful one-time rewards. The left side of the title is coloured in red; that indicates that the player must take into consideration their level of Strength when performing the Attack action. The right side is coloured in blue; this means that the reward for completing said action will result in an increase of the Influence attribute. The higher you are able to climb each track, the more potent the action becomes in regards to which Outsider to attack, to which region one can deploy their monks or how many wall segments one is able to erect in order to protect the province. It may seem daunting at a quick glance, but these color-coded reminders of sorts are a great aid in guiding your actions for the given round as to what long-term goals you want and need to achieve. Having difficulty converting i.e. recruiting higher tiers of Outsiders which requires Faith? Then take the Absolve action which rewards you with an increase in Faith, alternatively you can decide to build Garrisons throughout the countryside if your Strength is greater than your Influence. In order to be successful, you will have to strike a balance between the three different attributes, race too high up one track and you will find yourself struggling to undertake other actions.

*For such a small box, it is quite impressive the amount of table space Paladins of the West Kingdom occupies. Photo: Fredrik Schulz*

Unlike Architects of the West Kingdom, where one would deploy their worker meeples on a central game board in order to take various actions, in Paladins the majority of the different action spots are designated to the individual player board. This design choice bares certain resemblance to the classic bag-building game Orléans by Reiner Stockhausen, where players would draft tokens representing various types of workers needed to activate actions on their own player board. The same idea of positioning specific types of worker tokens holds true for Paladins. Each action has a certain prerequisite in terms of which type of worker that needs to be allocated in order to activate the location, some slots can accommodate any type while others require a particular colour of worker meeple. The exception to this rule is the purple Criminals, which act as a wild type of worker. Anytime a player, or the artificial opponent in the solo mode, would acquire a Criminal they have to draw a Suspicion card. These cards grant you with a monetary reward but be careful, if the Tax supply every runs out for whatever reason an Inquisition will occur which could potentially lead to you collecting a debt card which left unpaid could lead to negative victory points at the end of the game.

What makes Paladins such an interesting game is not the knight cards per se, nor is it the procedure of allocating your workers to various locations. It is the combination of the two mechanisms. At the start of each round a set number of Tavern cards will be revealed. These cards represent villagers, people that you can hire as your workforce for the current round in order to take the various actions previously described. Each card depicts four workers, albeit in various configurations in terms of roles i.e. colours. Players will then draw the top three cards from their Paladin deck, and this is where the game design borders on ingenuity. Based on these three Paladin cards, players will choose one to play or rather activate during the current round, one card will be returned face-down on top of the Paladin deck meaning that you will draw that particular card in the following round and the final card is placed at the very bottom of the deck. What may seem like an easy decision quickly turns into almost mind-melting proportions. Not only is it the case that you need to consider which type of workers that best suits your current strategies, but also which type of attribute boosts you can take advantage of provided by the Paladin card. On top of this you need to assess the available Tavern cards which also dictates which kind of workers you have at your disposal for the current round, if one is prone to analysis paralysis then Paladins could best be described as a highly effective trigger for this rather crippling cognitive state.

*Will you use military strength or religious diplomacy when facing the Outsider threat? Photo: Fredrik Schulz*

Once you overcome this Herculean decision then it is time to send your workers to the various locations on both your individual player board as well as the main board. Speaking of, the main board is divided into two distinct sections. On the left side is where one finds the market row of Townsfolks cards, by paying a certain amount of coins players can recruit these prolific characters into their crew which grants a permanent, ongoing effect for the remainder of the game. Alternatively, you have the option to discard the selected card from the market which grants you an instant, one-time reward. The left side of the main board is also the place where the King’s Order and Favour cards are stored. These cards act as a timer, at the start of each round a new card will be flipped face up a total of seven times before the game ends. The first three cards are called the King’s Orders, these offer end of game bonuses if players are able to meet the requirements of the cards like having constructed five wall sections or converted five Outsiders to join your cause et cetera. The cards with the green seal are called King’s Favour, they act as additional worker placement locations that can only be used once per round so players need to choose wisely whether to allocate a worker or not.

In order to protect the borders and spread faith throughout the land, players can opt to send out Monks and build Garrisons. Like many of the other actions, constructing outposts and sending priests on religious missions to the various regions on the main board requires certain amount of Strength or Faith. When placing these wooden tokens onto the right side of the main board, players can collect instant one-time rewards like gaining additional workers or hiring Townsfolks for free. Another action that players can undertake is interacting with the Outsider cards. Much like the Townsfolk, the Outsider cards can be manipulated in several ways. By utilizing their Strength attribute players can perform an attack which discards the chosen Outsider card from the current “market row” whilst simultaneously providing powerful, one-time use instant bonuses. Alternatively, you can choose to convert these heathens which leads to them joining your motley crew and providing you with end of game scoring opportunities.

THE SOLO MODE

Of all the various solo modes I have had the good fortune to review thus far, Paladins is the most intricate and complex bar none. Like Architects of the West Kingdom, the artificial opponent takes actions based on a deck of cards called Schemes. However, unlike the previous installation of the West saga this time around the artificial opponent has an entire player board where it will allocate workers in order to execute the various actions in a similar fashion to the human player. The solo mode in Paladins is built around two key components, one being the aforementioned Scheme cards. At the start of the artificial opponent’s turn, the top card of the Scheme deck is revealed which tells you which action your virtual adversary is trying to complete. It is however not the case that the solo mode simply allows the artificial opponent to take any action regardless of the game state. Instead, it has to adhere to the overall ruleset that governs the way you as the human player can take actions. This includes the three attributes, if the artificial opponent lacks sufficient levels of a particular attribute that correlates to the current action depicted on the Scheme card, then the AI player can take said action. Instead it will revert to a second set of actions depicted on the left side of the player board.

*The Scheme cards dictate which action the artificial opponent is trying to perform. Photo: Fredrik Schulz*

The other factor of importance in the solo mode is called the Resource track. Much like other solo board game designs, the AI player in Paladins does not collect any actual resources. Instead, every time it would receive either provisions, silver or tax the corresponding marker on the Resource track moves one space to the right. This track is also used for asserting which card the artificial opponent will primarily target when taking certain actions that require it to interact with the various market rows of cards, for instance the Outsiders or Townsfolk. If the target card is unavailable, either literally or it is out of reach as a result of not being able to meet the prerequisite attribute level, the AI player will continue to the next card in line relating to the current position of the Resource track marker. If for whatever reason the AI player is unable to interact with any particular card or location, then it will revert to the second set of actions as previously described. If the artificial opponent receives resources when the marker is situated at the end of the track, the marker loops back to the very left and in doing so the AI receives an increase for it’s currently lowest ranking attribute marker. This exponential growth over time results in a solo mode where the artificial opponent actually develops and becomes more powerful throughout the course of the game. In some ways it reminds me a bit of the solo mode Dávid Turczi designed for the board game Anachrony, in the sense that the AI takes actions based on a flow-chart of sorts. It creates a much more organic feel, as if you are actually competing against a being that takes calculated actions rather than acting merely random based on the flip of a card or the roll of a die.

*The Resource track acts as both a way for the artificial opponent to increase the various attributes, and also helps the player decide which cards the AI is targeting. Photo: Fredrik Schulz*

FINAL THOUGHTS

As someone who has played close to 30 solo sessions of Architects of the West Kingdom, I went into this sequel with high expectations but also a sense of concern whether it would be able to live up to said anticipation. Well I can safely say that for me, not only does Paladins provide a solo experience that is on par with its predecessor, but it manages to exceed my expectations. What designers Shem Phillips and SJ MacDonald of Garphill Games has created is in my mind one of the best solo board game experiences bar none. These authors are going from strength to strength, personally I am really looking forward to their future solitaire output. Here’s looking at you Viscounts of the West Kingdom, cheers.