Cities and Rivers
Last week we considered the addition of the Tactics deck, and how they shift the focus of A Storm of Swords. This week we'll consider the most fundamental and important change between the basic game and this new expansion: the map.
This is a snippet of the new board included in A Storm of Swords, specifically the area surrounding Riverrun and Harrenhal. This region serves as a focal point for much of the conflict both in the novels and in the base A Game of Thrones board game. In addition to being roughly in the center of the map, this area is relatively rich in resources, and its rivers form several choke points that must be controlled.
In A Storm of Swords, there are a number of key differences in how the map is arranged. Perhaps most obviously, the cities and strongholds are much more important focus points than they were in A Game of Thrones, with the looks to match. Each city or stronghold now has at least one other resource in its space, and each one is worth one or more Claim, which is the new resource required to win the game. Other than that, each city or stronghold behaves just like a normal space - it is adjacent to each space that borders it, it can hold armies, be Raided, armies in that space can use the Support order, and so on.
The other key difference lies in the rivers. As in A Game of Thrones, rivers form impassable barriers which means that regions on either side of them are considered non-adjacent. While there are a few bridges across these rivers, fords are something new. They work like bridges… except when they don't.
The ever-changing weather is an important consideration in any war, and it certainly plays an important role in the novels. In A Storm of Swords, the weather shifts gradually as the Westeros decks dictate. When the weather is clear, the fords are open and they link regions. When the weather is stormy, the fords are closed and regions that were previously adjacent suddenly aren't anymore. Poor planning and ill luck can leave your armies separated by a raging river, cut off from support and with nowhere to retreat.
Best be careful.
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