A game of conquest for 3 to 6 players. You win by arms, by temples or by diplomacy.
Each player takes on a lord with a power of their own. Every turn, you collect your income, recruit units, move your troops and build. There are three ways to win. A player who attacks with no diplomacy left becomes a tyrant, and everyone else can then attack them for free.
A four-lord game, running in the browser.
There are three ways to win: military, religious or diplomatic. The first player to reach their threshold wins straight away.
Hold enough territories.
Your lord claims neutral territories. To take other players’ territories, you attack with elite units, and every assault costs diplomacy. An enemy building has to be pacified before it comes under your control.
Hold enough temples.
A temple costs 7 gold and takes up a slot. It brings in nothing by itself, but it lets you recruit certain units, and whoever destroys it loses diplomacy.
Reach 12 diplomacy.
Diplomacy comes mostly from special units. An embassy in your capital strengthens the effect of some cards. Other cards ask you to deter the other players from attacking you.
These thresholds are still changing: we adjust them after each playtest.
You receive 1 gold per territory and 1 more per city, plus what some special units bring in. Your units’ pay is then taken off.
Five cards are laid face up, the same for every player. You may buy one and discard one, in whichever order you like.
You move your pieces, claim a neutral territory, attack, pacify and use your units’ powers.
Your capital has three slots, other territories two. You can build camps, forts, ports, cities, temples and the embassy. A territory cannot hold the same building twice, except camps, and a building can be replaced by another.
You play on a randomly drawn map or on a historical one. There are four terrains (plains, forest, mountains, marsh), and an elite unit’s strength depends on the terrain.
A random map has one or two more islands than there are players, and two capitals are always at least three spaces apart. The historical map shows the English Channel.
The sea is divided into zones. Each zone borders four territories at most.
You cannot walk across the sea: you have to set out from a port, except for a few units that do without one.
Five cards are on show, and every player buys from the same market. Each turn, you may buy one and discard one. Elite units fight, and their strength depends on the terrain. Special units do not fight: they convert a temple, carry a message to a foreign court, scout the map or raze a building. To recruit a card, you need the building it asks for, then you pay its upkeep at each collection. Because the market is shared, a discard can also deprive an opponent of the card they were waiting for. You can look through the deck and the discard pile during the game.
A few cards from the deck. The border gives the type (yellow: special, red: elite) and the number in the green frame, the movement speed. Bottom left, the upkeep; bottom right, the building required; top right, the number of copies.
Your lord is a piece apart. It is the only one that can claim a neutral territory, and its power often shapes your whole game. If it loses a fight, you give up one more territory.
Each of his elite units in an assault gives him +1, whether or not he leads it.
All his territories: +1 defence. His cities cost 6 gold.
Once per game, in peacetime, with 5 diplomacy or less: 1 gold for 1 diplomacy point.
Her first city costs 4 gold.
Her temples cost 6 gold and give +1 defence.
All his elite units move one tile further.
His forts and ports cost 1 gold less.
Her ports cost 2 gold and have +2 defence.
Once per game, he can buy 3 cards from the market.
All her special units move one tile further.
Diplomacy is a victory condition, and you also spend it on war. Each assault costs 1 point, plus 1 for each enemy special unit destroyed. An envoy sent to a foreign capital earns its master 2 points and the player who receives it 1. An ambassador posted with a rival seals a non-aggression pact, and the other player pays dearly if they break it. A slanderer makes its target lose diplomacy.
A player who launches an assault with no diplomacy left becomes a Tyrant.
A Tyrant never gains diplomacy again. They can now only win by arms or by temples.
Attacking a Tyrant or destroying their temples costs nothing. Every turn, one of their territories revolts, and they can never take it back.
The game opens straight in your browser, free and without an account. We record each game anonymously (length, number of rounds, lords, victory type) to balance the game.
An online game can stay paused for 48 hours and resume with the same code. The game is in English and French. During other players’ turns, seven mini-games (solitaire, minesweeper, sliding puzzle…) help pass the time.
Fields of Fire is still a prototype, and your feedback helps us tune it. You can write to us here, or report a bug during a game with the insect-shaped button.
