Condottiere (1995)

This game has a large deck of oblong cards and a fairly simple map of provinces in Renaissance Italy. The object of the game is to acquire four connected provinces. Game play is fairly simple as players use numbered cards to get the highest bid for a given territory. Unlike standard auctions, in which only the highest bidder loses their bid to the "bank", in Condottiere, every player loses their bid. Players are, in effect, bidding the number of troops they are willing to lose to win the territory. However, several special effect cards shake the contests up and keep the players guessing. The newer version (FFG) has a much smaller box, standard sized-cards, slightly tweaked rules, new card abilities and a lower price.

Contents (FFG 3rd edition):

• 1 Game board
• 110 Battle cards
  • 10 1-strength Mercenary cards
  • 8 2-strength Mercenary cards
  • 8 3-strength Mercenary cards
  • 8 4-strength Mercenary cards
  • 8 5-strength Mercenary cards
  • 8 6-strength Mercenary cards
  • 8 10-strength Mercenary cards
  • 3 Winter cards
  • 3 Spring cards
  • 6 Bishop cards
  • 12 Courtesan cards
  • 6 Drummer cards
  • 3 Heroine cards
  • 16 Scarecrow cards
  • 3 Surrender cards
• 1 Condottiere token
• 1 Favor of the Pope token
• 36 control markers (6 different colors)
• 1 Rulebook

Awards

• 1995 Golden Ace, (Game of the Year, France) Winner
• 1995 Spiel des Jahres Recommendation.
• 1995 A la carte 10th Place, Fairplay Magazine prize for card games
• 1994 Concours International de Créateurs de Jeux de Société Winner.

Online Play

• GameTable Online (real-time)

Microbadges