Message:
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/291572/oath
Had the good fortune of playing with a dude who knew the game well enough.
It's a Ledder game which are always an interesting take on the mechanics.
The game was very beautiful with the nice wooden units, cloth map, metal coins, and great art.
One player is the Chancellor and has additional responsibilities. That apparently is the person who won the game last.
I was an Exile in the Deep Woods and completely confused by the events at hand. But, as fate would have it, I collected the Banner of Dark Secrets and something that protects the Banner from being taken.
I took the Banner as a minor bonus of allowing me to search the World Deck of Cards cheaper. But, to no benefit as I was limited in what cards I could play.
However, it turns out, by chance, I found the "Vision" card that allowed the hold of the Banner of Dark Secrets to win the game. Further, by chance, the protector for the Banner of Dark Secrets was left in the square I occupied (Deep Woods).
I little coin and secret manipulation (the currency of the game) and I was sitting on a nice warband. In for a farthing, in for a pound.
I grabbed the people's banner from the Chancellor tweaking him and held on. To win, I needed to hold the banner at the BEGINNING of my turn, so each other player got a chance to pound on my stalwart.
The player to my right choose to go after his own potential victory. Figuring that the other two players would stop me, he grabbed another area and declared he would be the winner if at the BEGINNING of his turn, he held the most territories. (He had that Vision card.) Smart play.
The next player had gotten mired in a hunt for relics and was too far to offer support.
So, the Chancellor marshalled his troops and came to deliver a butt whupping. As chance would have it, should he defeat my little band, he would have the same number of territories as the player to my right. Thus, stopping us both.
But, I had been cautious and had as much resources as I could to defend. The roll fell and ... against the odds, the Chancellor had just enough to defeat the Usurper (me). Usurper? I had never considered myself a Usurper .... why if I was then I would flip this banner over. The Chancellor (acting as the rules arbiter) concluded it SHOULD be flipped over and I would receive one MORE defense die. The die is cast .... and the battle falls the other way. The Usurper has won!!!!!
The game is mine. The Chancellor had been benevolent to us and the luck of the deck had fallen to me. I would look great in my new Regal robes. Attend me you proles.
The game is then tweaked with the forces that I used to win the game and some cards retired to the vault. The next game would have my forces as Chancellor with fresh Usurpers in tow.
I can't say I entirely understood it, but three of us marveled at what had come to pass. With just the right thrust of the dagger to the right kidney, each of us could have won.
Perhaps one order of complexity too high, it was a fun game nonetheless. To crush Iron Squires and Iron Sarge would be a joy (but not a given). Iron Roho would play for second which has a role here and could flip the win to his favor.
The game is made better by experienced players.
Hopefully, we get another chance in the future.
Yours,
IronConrad
14-Aug-2025