Hammer of the Scots brings the rebellion of the Braveheart, William Wallace, to life. As the English player, you seek to pacify Scotland by controlling all the important noble lords. The Scottish player also seeks the allegiance of nobles to support a difficult struggle for freedom. Hammer of the Scots will give you many hours of entertainment and insight into this fascinating period in history.
Highlights
Map board: Full-color (22" x 25") mapboard of Scotland and Northern England with heraldry of the important noble families.
Wooden Blocks (24mm): 56 Hardwood counters including leaders, nobles, archers, knights, and infantry.
25 Event Cards
Detailed Game Rules
Two Scenarios: A campaign game plus two scenarios: Braveheart and The Bruce.
Playable History: The rulebook is 8 pages. Games last from 2-4 hours.
- fascinating fog of war and bluffing element
- strong thematic integration with block mechanics
- block war and feudal conflict
- Britain during William Wallace's rebellion
- fog of war with hidden information
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- block-based area interaction — each side uses blocks with information only on one side; strength reveals through rotation
- fog of war — players must deduce enemy strength and intentions from limited information
- hand of action cards — five cards provide different actions; strategic positioning of blocks matters
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- The passing mechanism. When a player passes around, each time it's their turn again, they receive a coin.
- The real joy of this game comes down to building up a long series of buildings, then placing that residence and activating them all and getting all their resources.
- The main goal of this game is, as I said, to be putting on the best show you can in your coliseum.
- You only ever score your best show. If the points you get from your current show doesn't exceed your previous maximum point show, you don't score any more points.
- The tucked card symbol will only add its strength to a played card. It cannot be played on its own.
- Deep Madness has my favorite theme of all.