Overview

Lancaster is a strategy game set in 1413 England under King Henry V. Players are aspiring noble families seeking to become the most powerful Lord by developing their knighthood, deploying knights to English counties, their own castle, and conflicts with France, and influencing Parliament. The game is played over 5 rounds, each consisting of 3 phases. The player with the most power points at the end wins.

Components

• 1 game board (England map with 9 counties, France conflict area, Parliament)
• Player boards (castles) for each player
• Knights in 5 player colours (multiple strength levels: 1, 2, 3, 4)
• Squires (general supply tokens)
• Nobleman tiles
• Extension tiles (for castles)
• Conflict cards
• Law cards (Parliament)
• Voting tiles (Yes/No) per player
• Voting markers
• Gold coins
• Power point track
• Start player marker
• King’s Favor tiles
• Game order markers

Setup

1. Randomly determine a start player and give them the start player marker.
2. Set up the game board with nobleman tiles in counties, conflict cards, and law cards.
3. Each player receives their castle board, knights, voting tiles, and starting resources.
4. Players take turns in clockwise direction.

Turn Structure

The game is played over 5 rounds. Each round has 3 phases:

Phase 1: Place Knights

Players take turns placing one knight from their court onto a knight’s space. This continues until all players have placed all their knights.

Three placement locations:

1. County: Place on an empty or occupied space. Knight must meet or exceed the minimum strength requirement. Squires may be added (each adds +1 strength, not counting toward minimum). An occupied space’s knight can be expelled if the new knight’s total strength (knight + squires) exceeds the occupant’s total strength. Expelled knights return to their owner’s court; accompanying squires return to general supply. A player can never expel their own knight.

2. Castle: Place on an empty space in your own castle. Each space holds one knight.

3. Conflict: Place on the topmost empty space of a conflict card. Each player may occupy only one space per conflict. A player already in a conflict may reinforce by stacking knights. The first 6 knights placed in conflicts earn the “King’s Favor” – the player selects a favor tile from the display and receives its reward immediately.

Phase 2: Parliament

Three new laws are voted on, one at a time.

• All players vote simultaneously and secretly using Yes/No voting tiles.
• Players may additionally commit voting markers to enforce their decision.
• Reveal all votes; tally for and against. Each tile and each marker counts as 1 vote.
• Majority wins; ties approve the law.
• Approved: Remove the oldest current law, slide remaining laws right, place the new law in the rightmost position.
• Rejected: Remove the rejected law from the game; existing laws remain unchanged.
• After all three votes, implement the 3 applicable laws from left to right. Players gain rewards based on each law’s conditions.
• Used voting markers return to general supply.

Phase 3: Rewards

Evaluated in order: Counties, then Castles, then Conflicts.

Counties (A through I): Each player with a knight in a county chooses one of three options:

• Take one nobleman tile from that county
• Take the other shown reward of that county
• Pay 3 gold to take BOTH (nobleman tile first, then other reward)

Knight returns to court; squires return to general supply.

Special – Surrey (County I): The player also determines the new start player (can be any player, including themselves).

Castles: In player order, each player scores their complete castle:

• Rewards for knights placed in the castle
• Rewards for existing extension tiles
• Company at table: 1 voting marker per nobleman present (including the Lord). No voting markers awarded in round 5.

Conflicts: Resolved one at a time (lower row first, then upper row):

1. Determine winner: Total all knights’ strength. If combined strength >= France’s strength, England wins. Otherwise, France wins.
2. Player ranking: Rank players by total strength contributed. Ties broken by who entered later (lower position = higher rank).

• England wins: Power points distributed by rank (highest rank gets highest score, etc.). Conflict card removed; knights return to court.
• France wins: Highest power point score is NOT awarded. Second score goes to rank 1, lowest to rank 2. Knights remain; conflict card moves to lower row for a second battle.
• England wins second battle: Same as first battle rules.
• France wins second battle: Power points awarded as in first French victory. Knights are captured; players may ransom them (1 gold per strength level) or lose them to the reserve.

Actions

• Place Knights: Deploy to counties, castle, or conflicts
• Vote in Parliament: Use voting tiles and markers to approve/reject laws
• Collect Rewards: Nobleman tiles, gold, squires, power points, extension tiles, knight upgrades
• Build Castle Extensions: Via rewards and laws
• Recruit Knights: From reserve to court via rewards/laws
• Upgrade Knights: Increase strength level via rewards

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Final Scoring (after round 5):

• 8 power points for highest total knighthood strength (4 for runner-up). Tie-breaker: more squires.
• 8 power points for most extension tiles in castle (4 for runner-up). Tie-breaker: more gold.
• Power points for all players with more than 1 nobleman tile at their company at table (scaled by count).

The player with the most power points wins. Ties are shared victories.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• 2-player game: Each player has an ally with a small castle. Allies’ knights can be deployed to counties, conflicts, and the ally’s castle. Allies do not vote, receive power points, gold, or squires. Allies are not considered during final scoring. Only 8 power points (not 4 for runner-up) are awarded in final scoring categories.
• Knights and squires must be placed at the same time; later reinforcements to counties are NOT allowed.
• Knights may only be stacked at conflicts (not counties or castles).
• No squires are used in conflicts.
• If no player occupies rank 2 or 3 in a conflict, nobody gains those corresponding power points.
• If no knight is placed in Surrey, the current start player retains the marker.
• Knights in the reserve do not count as part of a player’s knighthood.

Player Reference

Phase Order Each Round:

1. Place Knights (all players, one at a time)
2. Parliament (vote on 3 new laws)
3. Rewards (Counties A-I, then Castles, then Conflicts)

Prepare Next Round:

• Reveal 2 new conflict cards (upper row)
• Flip all face-down King’s Favor tiles face-up
• Reveal 3 new law cards

Conflict Power Points (England wins):

Rank	Points Awarded
1st	Highest score on card
2nd	Middle score on card
3rd	Lowest score on card

Conflict Power Points (France wins):

Rank	Points Awarded
1st	Middle score on card
2nd	Lowest score on card
3rd	Nothing

Final Scoring Bonuses:

Category	1st Place	2nd Place	Tie-breaker
Knighthood Strength	8 PP	4 PP	Most squires
Castle Extensions	8 PP	4 PP	Most gold
Nobleman Tiles	Scaled by count	–	–