Fief France 1429 boardgame at the BAD Gamers

RPG night at the BAD Gamers last Tuesday, with Ben running the latest installment of the D&D campaign

That left six of us to play a board game, or two. Luckily, Mark had brought along his very blinged-out Kickstarter copy of Fief: France 1429 

Fief is a game of dynastic ambitions, where the players take on the roles of nobles in 15th-century France. The goal is to become the most powerful player by taking control of the Fief and Bishopric territories across France.

To do this they get royal and church titles which then give them the required influence to elect the Pope and King. In supporting this goal, the players can improve their situation through marriage alliances.

All of this plotting, scheming, and negotiating, creates a game of intrigue, alliance, loyalty, love, backstabbing, and betrayal. 

The Academy Games version is a reprint of a 1980s game, and gave us a great narrative of diplomatic marriages, plotting for political and religious-based power, dealing with outbreaks of the Black Death, and our version of Joan D’Arc attacking the King of France and his best mate, the Pope, to stop them winning the game.

Sadly the attack failed and the two leaders, who were cowering in a castle, became the winners of the game (or, Pete and Mark won).

A good game with a degree of crunchiness in the rules and a large dose of 1980’s style randomness which added to the narrative, if not the actual gameplay.

Mark’s Kickstarter Edition of Fief: France 1429 included the Fief: France 1429 Expansions Pack and some rather nice 3-D buildings and metal coins as ‘add-ons.’ These certainly added to the fun of the game by bringing the game board to life in a way that the cardboard equivalents wouldn’t have. Apparently they can still be purchased directly from Academy Games.