Hi folks!

Beta 7 is now online!

http://sdrv.ms/1exfEvJ

Changes include:

Beta 7

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- Added new Hyperborea Event card: Walls of Ice.
- Added new Hyperborea Instant card: Command Weather.
- Added new Hyperborea Character card: Kyllikki the White Witch.
- Added new Hyperborea Elite Unit card: Frost Giants.
- Added new Hyperborea Elite Unit card: White Hand Assassins.

Beta 6
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- Rephrased text in section 6.2 (Alliances that pay off).
- Added new Aquilonia Character card: Publius.
- Added new Aquilonia Character card: Kalanthes.
- Added new Aquilonia Elite Unit card: Nemedian Adventurers.
- Added new Aquilonia Instant card: The Phoenix on the Sword.
- Added new Hyperborea Event card: Greater Summoning.
- Added new Stygia Character card: Akivasha.
- Added new Stygia Elite Unit card: Kushite Spearmen.
- Added new Stygia Instant card: Scrolls of Skelos.
- Added new Turan Character card: Necromancer Eremius.
- Added new Turan Elite Unit card: Prophets of Erlik.
- Added new Turan Character card: Wazir.
- Added new Turan Event card: Fate Weavers of Shahpur.
- Added new Instant kingdom cards counting as adventure tokens:
* Aquilonia: Wealth of the Noble Families + Concubines of the King
* Hyperborea: Pact with Dark Powers + Sapphires of Alghamar
* Stygia: Slave Women + Children of Set
* Turan: Gold Mines of Khorosun + Turanian Harem
- Added optional rule for intrigue contests: Subterfuge (section 6.3).
- Added optional rule for mercenaries: Shifting Alliances (section 5.4).
- Added section 5.5 about kingdom cards and mercenaries.
- Adjusted requirements and cost for "Zenobia" mercenary.
- Added new Mercenary Card: "Nabonidus the Red Priest".
- Added PDF files with all new cards.

Beta 5
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- Added new optional rule for Alliances (section 6.2).

Beta 4
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- Added new optional rule about making multiple actions each turn (section 4.2).
- Changed the text about Sea Moves slightly. Instead of having to end up in a friendly coastal province it is now possible to end up in a neutral or enemy province as well. Otherwise, the new island provinces would be unreachable.
- Adjusted sorcery cost for "Book of Thoth" card.
- Adjusted sorcery cost for "Hypnotic Suggestion" card.
- Added clarification text to objective rewards "Border Wars", "Hyborian Empire" and "Taming the Wildlands" that if there is no space in any province indicated on the card, the extra army unit should be placed in the home province.

Beta 3
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- Clarified the setup of Mercenary Cards.
- Slightly rephrased the "Trade Routes" Objective Reward card.
- Renamed "Nemedian Mercenaries" to "Nemedian Adventurers" to better correspond with the Conan RPG book "Free Companies".
- Added new Mercenary Card: "Khitan Engineers".
- Added new Mercenary Card: "Asshuri".
- Added new Hyperborea Instant Card: "Ritual Sacrifices".
- Added new Provinces for Seafaring rules: Baracha Isles, Isle of the Black Ones, Southern Isles, Isles of Pearl and Xapur the Fortified.
- Renamed "Yah-Chieng" to "Li-Hun" after I realized that Yah-Chieng is the God Emperor of Khitai, which would not've been that balanced

Beta 2
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- Combined all expansion documents into one large document.

Beta 1
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- Initial release.

Hey!

Great work! I downloaded the expansion the very same day you posted it, but it wasn't until today that I really took a look at it! I'm impressed - especially by the artwork!

I think I'll include the mercenary option in my next game and perhaps the objective rewards too.

Now you just have to develop an expansion that include other types of units as well

That's great! Let me know how the game Went and any questions you had about the cards and the rules.

New units ey? Hmm, what kind of units could that be?

Well, I don't really have a feel with how fragile the game balance is, but I thought about either a new type of army unit or new type of 'emissary' unit (or both) that add another dimension to the battles or intrigues:

Example of army units could be siege engines (that influence campaigns and sieges), cavalry that influence battles or something like that.

Example of new emissary/intrigue units could be spies (they could grant rerolls in battles, give a sneak peek at an opponents kingdom cards etc), saboteurs (ie. sabotage an army to keep them immobile for a turn, force a discard of a card etc.) or stuff like that.

Remember that these ideas are not thought through but are just brainstorming. I'm just a sucker for new minis in an expansion

On another note: I like the idea of sorcery tokens being magic in a battle - but (in the spirit of the theme) they should also be able to force an opponent to reroll... You know, sorcery spoling the opponents tactics. You think it would be all too altering for the game balance?

I found that being able to use sorcery to force an opponent to re-roll was too powerful. I had that effect on the Sorcerous Nation Objective Reward card, but ended up removing it.

All those things, Siege Engines, Spies, saboteurs etc. exist as Kingdom Cards.

Yeah, but as I said: I'm a sucker for new figures. I'd like to see some new minis on the table along with a new expansion

I'll post in here when I have tried out your unofficial expansion.

I have been thinking about adding Khitai as a fifth kingdom to the game, but so far I haven't been able to see the benefit of that (other than one more player being able to play the game). Turan will become quite squeezed in.. And in terms of what Khitai would have, they would be like Stygia I think, but with an Asian flavour instead of Egyptian. But the idea has not entirely been abandoned. Eagerly awaiting to see what the designers will have for us when we get a chance to try the unpublished official expansion.

Beta 3 is out! See the first post in this thread for the link and a list of what's new.

Hey.

Just a small update.

I have printed, cut and glued the Mercenary and Objective Reward cards to some cardboard. They look great:

http://www.fotothing.com/photos/0a9/0a974c3675704d167c6fca43c8416604.jpg?ts=1377863224

Unfortunately I printed and made them before the recent beta 3 release - so I'm gonna have to print the new ones as well

If you are releasing any new betas in the near future please post in here before the release

Greetings

FS

EDIT:

I got a few questions:

1. I can't seem to find the optinal rule in the booklet that introduces the new kingdom cards that are not about seafaring? Are they just included without implementing other rules?

2. Do you have a shrewd way to print the new kingdom cards in their correct size? Because I print them noticeably smaller - and then they will stand out in the kingdom card deck. This is not a problem with merc cards or objective rewards as they are separate decks.

Well, I am going to release new updates until I die ;-) Well, I think the next Beta will be my last until we get the official expansion playtest material from the designers of the game. Coming sometime in September.

I can say that in the next Beta, no cards have been changed, only the document. The printed cards you have look great!

1. The new Kingdom Cards that are not about Seafaring can be included without any additional rules.

2. I paste them into an image in Paint.NET that is the exact size of an A4 paper. Then I print using no margins. They turn out to be a teeny bit smaller than the originals, but good enough IMO.

Ok, beta 4 is now out. See the first post with the link and change log. Unfortunately, I had to change a few cards based on yesterday's extensive playtest. But, I have included my own A4 size print sheets for the cards, which should make it easier to print them. Just set the printer to print without margins and it should be fine.

Beta 5 is out! Check the first post for link and change log.

Woa, this goes a little too fast for me!

I'm still on beta 3 and never got to see the change log for beta 4? What issues did you find?

Dammit, I already got both merc cards and objective reward cards made I'm not playtesting until 13th of september... By then I suppose you're on beta 256....

PS. Can you keep the change log in the post announcing a new beta - in stead of erasing the change logs every time a new beta is out?

Sure. But the change log is also included in the zip.

There, I fixed the download link, and the change log to include all changes

Enjoy!

Beta 6 is now online! Check the first post for link and notes. Enjoy!

Hi there.

Just some feedback.

As you know, I downloaded the beta 3 and tried out the rules for objective rewards and mercenaries . (The ones from the beta 3 and 4)

- The objective reward cards were placed on top of the objective cards within reach of any interested party.

- The unhired mercenaries were 'refreshed' every new age, but any hired mercs stayed with their employer to the bitter end.

Overall it was fine. The expansion elements offered a little extra flavor without adding too many extra rules to remember. It was very user friendly and basically 'plug-and-play'. My fellow players (all 3) were newbies at AoC and they caught up with the reward rules and the mercs right away, since their rules are very integrated in the existing mechanics.

Some observations:

- The objective rewards didn't offer any extra motivation for the objective itself. It was still the Empire Point value only that was the primary factor for chasing objectives. So roughly speaking the rewards do not really fulfill their strategic purpose IMO. (But they still fulfill the 'flavor' purpose though).

- The objective rewards were very subtle and made no shift in game balance, which was very good. It was nice to get an extra army unit or so, but I would have liked greater differences in reward types. (Army units, gold, a kingdom card, a strategy card, free redeployment of armies, sorcery token, placement of a raider token - there are many possible fun rewards that wouldn't shift game balance, and that easily could be the effect of a completed objective)

- The mercenary cards were a nice flavor, but it seemed to us that they seldom come into play. A combination of the many criteria before hiring even is possible, the expensive price in gold and then the limited use/effect makes them mostly a theme flavor for the storyline enthusiast (me) more than a useful choice for the strategic gamer (all of my friends). One of the two 'cost' factors (criteria/gold) could easily be 'downgraded' or the merc effect 'upgraded' without making the mercs too powerful IMO.

- It was kinda cool though to get the objective and reward for owning two coastal provinces and then - because of that - being able to hire the Queen of the Black Coast to help me invade the Pictish Wilderness in a single sweep - this right before the age change, so I won the objective for taming the wild I probably could have done it without the pirate queen, but this way made the 'storyline' of the game that much more fun. (And the battle easier).

As stated earlier - overall a fine addition to our favorite game I have kept both the objective reward cards and the merc cards as a standard part of the AoC game now.

- FS

Great feedback

I will take this into consideration about the objective rewards and mercs. Maybe add some additional reward for when objectives are fulfilled, like a strategy card, kingdom card etc.

Got some nice news, beta 7 is now out. Check the first post for link and changes.

What about these objective fulfilment rewards?

Border Wars: draw one strategy card.

Diplomatic Power: Place one emissary in home province and get two gold.

Hyborian Empire: draw one kingdom card.

Merchant Kings: Get three gold.

Military Power: Place two army units in home province.

Sea Power: draw one strategy card.

Sorcerous Nation: Get two sorcery tokens.

Taming the Wildlands: draw one strategy card.

The Power Behind the Thrones: draw one strategy card or one kingdom card.

The Road of Kings: draw one kingdom card.

Trade Routes: get two gold.

War Against the Pirates: get two gold or draw one strategy card.

Hey, Azjerei.

When I try to download the expansion beta 7 Skydrive tells me that the file no longer exists?

What about these objective fulfilment rewards?

Border Wars: draw one strategy card.

Diplomatic Power: Place one emissary in home province and get two gold.

Hyborian Empire: draw one kingdom card.

Merchant Kings: Get three gold.

Military Power: Place two army units in home province.

Sea Power: draw one strategy card.

Sorcerous Nation: Get two sorcery tokens.

Taming the Wildlands: draw one strategy card.

The Power Behind the Thrones: draw one strategy card or one kingdom card.

The Road of Kings: draw one kingdom card.

Trade Routes: get two gold.

War Against the Pirates: get two gold or draw one strategy card.

They seem fine to me. Try 'em out.