Because of the length of the game, it’s not one we’ve played back to back (nor do we anticipate doing so). Thereafter, players get more adept at trying to anticipate the possibilities that may come from different factions during play.

The English can move more individual armies than the Vikings and are initiating fewer attacks at the beginning of the game.Despite my son enjoying the game and asking to play it again, I am a bit disappointed that he has not experienced it with 4 players yet. As you can see, I went all out and moved 3 armies located in three different Shires to converge on the Vikings located in one of my fallen reinforcement cities of Theodford.

It is fairly easy to reach your max, especially if you control Wessex for the first Rounds of the game. This is not a bad idea, but in the end, you are just leaving the rear area vulnerable to a surprise Viking sea movement. Players who don’t know if war games are for them will be rewarded with 878: Vikings, if for any reason, just to see what a really well-done dice rolling combat game is like.

And that is the biggest issue: no Berserker units = no movement = no conquest for 1/2 of the Viking turns that round. I am yet to tear into the expansion content and start adding the mini modules into the game, but the game itself doesn’t need them to be a really good game. I really enjoy that both sides are different in style: one favors the aggressor and the other favors a more defensive mindset. Vikings is an area control game in which 2 - 4 players play as the invading Vikings or the English nobles who are trying to withstand the invasion. The controlling Viking player then can play a Movement card (see previous Action Point for details) and move not only this army with the Leader but any number of allowed armies the appropriate amount of spaces, as shown on the played Movement card.

As I mentioned earlier, the real power in the Leaders is that they can move and attack, and after a victory in a particular Shire, they can move on to engage in more Battle until their Movement points expire.If there aren’t any Viking Control markers on the map at the end of any round, the English immediately win. Just when you think you’ve got good numbers to attack, your units may get scared and run away (flee). After movement, the player draws back up to 3 cards (revealing and shuffling/drawing if the hand contains no movement cards) and their turn ends.