Another minor complaint is around the card art – I’ve already said that the art is lovely but I would have liked to see more unique examples of it. Event cards with the same function and title have the same art. Again, this is a very minor criticism and arguably it may be a design choice to keep consistency across cards that have the same effects.

Having been introduced into board gaming by means of Risk and Axis and Allies, I must say this is very familiar territory for me. I don’t remember, however, experimenting something that plays like this. In 878 Vikings you can actually move your teammate’s units as you will, which at first looked like something that could never work but somehow it does, perfectly. Cnut was a strong and effective king. He introduced some Danish customs to England, but England also influenced Denmark. For instance, Cnut appointed several Englishmen as bishops in Denmark, and even today most of the ordinary Danish words of church organisation are English in origin. Alfred was succeeded by his son Edward the Elder (899-924 AD) and grandson Æthelstan (924-939 AD). Both these rulers were in many ways even more important in the history of England than Alfred himself. Final Score: 4 Stars – Historical accuracy only enhances the fun whether players are defending England or raiding its northeast coast.They wove a new national history, which emphasised (or invented) many links between the Scottish and Pictish dynasties. They also promoted the idea that St Columba, the founder of the monastery of Iona, was the apostle of all those in the north. In general, the Viking players are directing armies led by leaders throughout a campaign of English terror on the map while the English players are trying to muster troops into sizable defense forces to take on the dreaded horde. Once a player’s turn begins, they proceed through five simple phases:

Every round you’ll be drawing reinforcements. If you’re English, the map will tell you which cities spawn new troops, and that will make vikings target target them rest assured. But if you’re a viking the only way you’ll get more troops is by drawing previously mentioned viking leader cards. This creates an interesting dynamic where the English have troops scattered all over the territory and no leaders (till Alfred the Great comes into play by round five) while vikings will come in waves of unstoppable vicious hordes. It’s the end of the 9th century and vikings got tired of just raiding English shores. This time around they will be coming to settle and make a life this side of the North Sea! So if you play England you’ll be one of two factions - Thegn or HouseCarl, trying to protect England from Norseman and Berserkers coming from the shores. Harold II successfully beat off the invasion by Harald Hardrada of Norway, defeating him at Stamford Bridge near York in September 1066. Even when he and his troops arrived, exhausted, at Hastings three weeks later to face William's Norman invaders, he nearly prevailed. If players have a group of four, that’s the best way to play 878: Vikings as each player will individually get a faction to play. With less than four, the game plays the same, but some fun negotiating and team moments will be lost. Gameplay Overview: In a battle, there comes a further asymmetric nature to play. The custom dice for the game give the Vikings (on average) one more hit result than the English. This represents the brutal nature of the warriors from Northern Europe. English units also have a higher chance to flee the battle. The one saving grace for the English are the Fyrd. The Fyrd is the word (Don’t you know about the Fyrd?) for English peasant units. They have the worst potential in battle and often flee or soak up Viking hits before doing damage.

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Over the next few decades, many monasteries in the north were destroyed, and with them any records they might have kept of the raids. We know no historical details of the raids in Scotland, although they must have been extensive.