Raiders of the North Sea

Overview

A worker-placement game set during the Viking Age. Players assemble crews, gather provisions, and raid settlements to earn Victory Points. The core mechanic is simple: each turn, place one worker to take an action, then pick up a different worker for a second action. You always start and end your turn with exactly one worker. The game ends when one Fortress remains, all Valkyrie are removed, or all Offerings are made.

Components

Component	Quantity
Game board	1
Townsfolk cards	71
Ship cards (4 colors)	4
Offering tiles	16
Score markers (4 colors, 3 per color)	12
Black workers	7
Grey workers	11
White workers	12
Valkyrie tokens	18
Provisions tokens	32
Silver tokens	32
Gold tokens	18
Iron tokens	18
Livestock tokens	26
Coins (1, 3, 6 VP)	20
Averaging dice	2
Black bag	1

Setup

1. Place board centrally. Shuffle Townsfolk cards into a draw pile.
2. Shuffle Offering tiles; reveal top 3 beside the Long House.
3. Place Valkyrie and all Plunder (Gold, Iron, Livestock) in the bag; randomly draw and place required amounts on each raiding space.
4. Place remaining Valkyrie and Plunder as Main Supply.
5. Players choose Longship boards and matching markers.
6. Starting player gets a black worker; other players get their starting worker per turn order. Deal Townsfolk cards per setup rules.

Turn Structure

Every turn follows two steps:

1. Place your worker on an empty worker space and take that action.
2. Pick up a different worker from another space and take that action.

You always begin and end your turn with exactly 1 worker.

Actions

Town Actions (place workers in the village)

• Gate House: Draw Townsfolk cards
• Long House: Hire crew (pay Silver cost, add to your crew area)
• Armoury: Collect Provisions
• Treasury: Collect Silver
• Barracks: Collect Provisions + Silver

Raiding Actions (place workers at settlements)

Settlements have increasing difficulty: Harbours, Outposts, Monasteries, Fortresses.

To raid: place a worker on the raiding space, meet requirements (crew members, provisions, specific worker colors), then collect the Plunder and Valkyrie shown. Roll dice for bonus VP at Monasteries and Fortresses.

Offerings

Spend collected Plunder and/or Silver at the Long House to make Offerings for VP.

Crew Abilities

Hired crew members have special abilities that trigger when hired or provide ongoing effects during raids.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

VP are earned from:

• Raiding settlements
• Collected Plunder
• Making Offerings to the Chieftain
• Valkyrie collected
• Coins earned
• Hired crew with VP values
• Harbour tile bonuses (awarded to top 3 players meeting conditions)

The game ends immediately when one of these occurs:

• Only 1 Fortress raiding space remains
• All Valkyrie tokens have been removed from the supply
• All Offering tiles have been claimed

Final scoring. The player with the most VP wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Worker colors matter: some spaces require specific colors (Black, Grey, or White).
• Black workers are rarer and more powerful; Grey workers are mid-tier.
• When raiding, spent crew members go to a discard area, not back to supply.
• Provisions are consumed during raids.
• Valkyrie are collected during raids and score VP at game end.

Player Reference

Settlement Type	Difficulty	Requirements
Harbour	Low	Few crew, basic provisions
Outpost	Medium	More crew, provisions, specific worker colors
Monastery	High	Strong crew, dice rolled for bonus
Fortress	Highest	Maximum crew, provisions, best rewards

Core Rule	Detail
Place worker	Take action at that space
Pick up worker	Take action at that space
Always hold 1 worker	Start and end turn with exactly 1