"Simple Siege"
A Two Player Card Game by Matthew Hartley
Siege of Padua Woodcut by Maximilian I of Habsburg*
In this years exclusive game Matthew Hartley brings us a two player card game of Medieval European sieges that can be played with two standard decks of cards and a few home made tokens...
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Introduction
Simple Siege is a 2 player card-driven representation of a city siege in Medieval Europe.
Equipment
The game requires:
2 decks of regular playing cards
1 set of siege equipment counters
1 counter with sequential numbers up to 10 (a d10 or d12 dice is perfect)
Set Up
Designate one player as the Besieger and the other player as the Besieged.
Both players take one deck of cards, remove the court and joker cards, and shuffle their decks. This deck represents the resources and will of the respective sides.
One of the set aside court and joker cards is shuffled and placed between the players. This is the Fate deck, and represents events such as fire, desertions, dissent, feuding, rats, spoiled supplies and plague, beyond the control of the players.
The nine siege equipment counters are set aside near the Besieger. These counters represent various equipment the Besieger can build to help and Bombard and Assault the city.
The counter is placed near the Besieged player, with a starting value of 5. This represents the initial strength of the City Walls.
Victory
The Besieger wins if either:
It conducts a successful Assault against the city; or
The Besieged play must draw a card from their deck and cannot do so. In this case, the city surrenders to the Besieger.
The Besieged wins if:
The Besieger play must draw a card from their deck and cannot do so. In this case, the Besieger abandons the siege.
Siege Equipment Counters
The nine Siege Equipment counters may be gained by the Besieger completing a Construct Siege Equipment action.
These counters are used to modify Bombard, Assault and a Sally by the Besieged.
The counters are:
|
Mine |
Siege Tower + 2 to Assault |
Ladders +1 to Assault |
| Trebuchet + 2 to Bombard |
Catapult + 2 to Bombard |
Ample Ammunition |
| Camp Defences +1 Vs Sally |
Camp Defences +1 Vs Sally |
Camp Defences |
Each counter my only be purchased once, but if it is destroyed by a Sally, it may be rebuilt for the same initial cost.
Counters have an unlimited use unless they are destroyed.
Game Play
The game is placed in a series of turns made up of three phases.
1. Besiegers action
2. Besieged action
3. Fate
1. Besieger’s Actions
The Besieger MUST choose ONE action each turn from the list below:
| Action | Effect |
| Besiege | Discard the top card from the Besieger’s deck. |
| Construct Siege Equipment | Discard a number of cards from the Besieger’s deck equal to the value of a Siege Equipment counter from the Siege Equipment stack. The Besieger takes the counter from the stack. |
| Plan | Discard the top card from the Besieger’s deck. The Besieger then draws cards equal to the value of the discarded card from the deck. The Besieger looks at the drawn cards and replaces them on the top of the deck in any order. |
| Bombard (Walls) |
Besieger draws the top card from the Besiegers deck. The value of the card is added to any modifiers from Siege Equipment counters previous acquired. The Besieged may choose to draw a card and add the current City Walls value. The values of all drawn cards are revealed simultaneously. If the Besieger’s total exceeds the Besieged score, the City Wall value is reduced by 1. Otherwise there is no effect. All drawn cards are discarded. |
| Bombard (Enemy) | Besieger draws the top card from the Besieger’s deck . The value of the card is added to any modifiers from Siege Equipment counters previous acquired.
The Besieged may choose to draw a card and add the current City Walls value. The values of all drawn cards are revealed simultaneously. If the Besieger’s total exceeds the Besieged score, the Besieged player discards the top 3 cards from their deck. Otherwise there is no effect. All drawn cards are discarded. |
| Assault |
Discard the top card from the Besieger’s deck. Then, Besieger draws 1, 2 or 3 cards from the Besiegers deck. The total values of the cards are added to any modifiers from Siege Equipment counters previous acquired. The Besieged player may choose to draw 1, 2 or 3 cards from their deck and add the current City Walls value. The values of all drawn cards are revealed simultaneously. If the Besieger’s total exceeds the Besieged score, the City falls to assault and the Besieger is the winner. Otherwise there is no effect on the Besieged player and the Besieger discards an additional card from the top of their deck. All drawn cards are discarded. |
| Resupply | Discard the top card from the Besiegers deck. If the card is a Heart, the Besieger draws black suit cards from the top of the discard pile equal to the value of the drawn card. These cards are then shuffled and placed on the bottom of the Besiegers deck. |
2. Besieged Player’s Actions
The Besieged player MUST choose ONE action each turn from the list below:
| Action | Effect |
| Besieged | Discard the top card from the Besieged deck |
| Repair and Strengthen the Walls | Discard 2 cards from the top of the Besieged player’s deck to increase the value of the City Walls by 1. |
| Plan | Discard the top card from the Besieged deck. The Besieged player then draws cards equal to the value of the discarded card from the deck. The Besieged player then looks at the drawn cards and replaces them on the top of the deck in any order. |
| Sally (Siege Equipment) | Besieged player draws the top card from the Besieged deck .
The Besieger may choose to draw a card and add the value of any Camp Defence counters. The values of all drawn cards are revealed simultaneously. If the Besieged total exceeds the Besieger’s score, one Siege Equipment counter of the Besieged players choice is destroyed. Otherwise there is no effect. All drawn cards are discarded. |
| Sally (Enemy) | Besieged draws the top card from the Besieged deck.
The Besieger may choose to draw a card and add the current Camp Defence value. The values of all drawn cards are revealed simultaneously. If the Besieged total exceeds the Besieger’s score, the Besieger player discards the top 3 cards from their deck. Otherwise there is no effect. All drawn cards are discarded. |
| Rationing and Cat, Dog and Rat Soup | Discard the top card from the Besieged deck. If the card is a Heart, the Besieged draws black suit cards from the top of the discard pile equal to the value of the drawn card. These cards are then shuffled and placed on the bottom of the Besieged deck. |
3. Fate
Once the Besieged player’s action has been resolved, 1 card is drawn from the fate deck.
If the card is a red court card, the besieged player discards the top card of their deck.
If the card is a black court card, the besieger discards the top card from their deck.
If the red joker is drawn, the besieged player discards cards from the top of their deck until a red card is discarded.
If the black joker is drawn, the besieger discards cards from the top of their deck until a black card is discarded.
Once 3 fate cards of the same colour have been drawn, all discarded fate cards are reshuffled back into the fate deck.
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Webmaster's Notes
An Orcs in the Webbe Original! This stand alone game was written exclusively for Orcs in the Webbe and was first published on the 1st December 2022 as part of its 2022 Advent Calendar.
* Note that the image has been used without permission and will be removed if requested by the copyright holder.
You can see all the previous stand alone games that have been written exclusively for Orcs in the Webbe by clicking on the maroon tag just below and to the left.
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