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The purpose of this article is to study the evolution of the balance of powers between the nations living north of England's border. The four colors are represented in this area during the whole game. Each of them can score a large number of victory points to score and if the domination of Scoland does not necessarily make you win the game, it can drasticly make a color plunge or on the contrary give it a comfortable advantage. The territories are mainly highlands, which helps the defenders but slows down the population increase. Fights occur less frequently than in the English plains but are therefore much more important, one single mistake thus compromising the future of the nation that made it. The first five turns often show the domination of the Romans. If the purple player sends sufficient forces up North, he will not face much trouble to score 9 points for holding Dalriada, Alban and Dunedin. The Pict will have to chose between harsh resistance and a peaceful retreat in front of the powerful legions. After a few losses, he has to manage to keep enough units to make some raids (he gets 3 points for destroying a fort instead of 1 single point for killing a legion) and be strong enough to hold against the Scots. The Roman generally has not got the time to rush South to defend his forts. Thus, he will rather have his legions die in front of the remaining Picts so that he gets reinforcements in the Channel the turn after. The Pict may prefer submission, especially on turn 5 (after having scored victory points on turn 4), to prevent the Roman from finishing him. The Caledonian does not have this escape if the Roman becomes too agressive. The Romano-British has got a last chance to destroy the Pict by bringing Arthur in Scotland. However, this option, known as McArthur, gives the Romano-British no chance to score many points and removes all influence to the Purple in England. In addition, the Blue player might be tempted to fight the Scots with the Angles to save the remaining Picts, thus leaving the Saxon a large part of England, especially if the Roman scored many points. The arrival of the Scots and their settling the turn before Fergus comes is quite a touchy issue. Two main options happen : Negociate and keep a balance of power, or settle in the highlands during turn 6 then rush in the plains after the Angle major invasion of turn 7. First piece of advice : avoid being to much agressive and dominating. It is better to leave the Pict with 2 or 3 territories with only 3-4 armies, than trying to bring him out of the board and thus probably having to face excessive reprisal from the blue player. Once Scotland has become peaceful again, the best is to fight against the brigante and the Angle to settle in the plains. Scoring a few points is not the major purpose of this strategy. It also makes the Scot increase his population faster. Holding Galloway is a sign of success of this strategy. And if the major invasion did not succeed, the best is to wait and stand against the Norsemen who often changes the balance of powers in the North.  The last part of the invasions in Scotland is played by the Norsemen. Although this seems to concern mainly the Caledonians, who have been waiting for them for a few centuries (Chaman prophecy ?), it is wise to be prepared for a large red wave in the North provided his first fights end well. This strategy is often used by the red : although he loses a few half points for not flaging the southern territories, he has a chance to keep the areas in which he settles, till the end the game. In addition to scoring 1 point for each of these territories, he removes important points to the three other colours which can make the final decision in a close game. The only method to counter the Norsemen invaders is harsh defense. It is compulsory to have 2 units in each territory in order to kill as many invaders as possible. The Norsemen rarely increases population and thus, each loss in a fight might never be brought again into play. After three invasions, the face Scotland
will have drasticly changed. Stand and hold for the green
and the blue, strong invasion for the red and the purple.
Few strategies are possible and worthy, since the victory conditions
of each nation and the highlands tend to make the game more static
than in England. Fights hardly end in the annihilation of a nation
and are more likely to be long weakening wars between nations, a third being
left alone and getting most benefit of it. At the end of turn 14, the dice are rolled and the remaining fights on turn 15 and 16 will generally not change the positions. And the one who has succeeded in holding the major part of Scotland will have a great chance to hold the final victory. François Sommaire Translation : Nicolas d'Halluin |