Category:Reign of Iron (Variant)

The weary King rests behind his walls, and his Vassals struggle for power and influence amongst themselves. When some dare to rise up and threaten the King's rule, the others must ask themselves: Should I defend the King or seize the Crown before someone else does?

Reign of Iron is a variant for 5 players where the King is a powerful neutral faction and can be controlled or conquered by the players.

The King has no Action Cards or marks and does not exhaust his cities. His faction is comprised only of control markers, Champions, Unit Cards, and Garrison tokens.

When a Vassal enacts the Warfare Policy Card, he commands the King's Champions on behalf of the King. The King summons more Champions and musters more units whenever those Policy Cards are enacted.

Shifting Loyalties
Each player has a Loyalty Card with 2 sides. When his Vassal side is face-up, the player may command the King's forces and is safe from attack by the King. But if his Traitor side is face-up, he must challenge the King and his Vassals to win.

Players may flip over their Loyalty Card whenever the Diplomacy Policy Card is enacted.

How to Win
The King is victorious and all Traitors lose when either of the following conditions are met:
 * There are no Capital Cities ruled by a Traitor after there has been at least 1 Traitor in the game
 * The final year comes to an end and the King still rules Ostburg

Victorious King
If the Kingdom prevails, the Vassal who has more marks than any other Vassal wins the game. If 2 more more Vassals have the most marks, they all win.

Defeated King
But if the final year ends and the King does not rule Ostburg, the King is defeated. If this happens, all Vassals lose and the Traitor whose cities have more strength than any other Traitor wins the game. If 2 more more Traitors have the most strength, they all win.

Policy Cards
This variant uses a slightly different set of Policy Cards to enable players to control the King. There are replacements for: Warfare, Summons, Muster, and Diplomacy

The Market and High Court Policy Cards from the original rules are still used here without change.