Hibernia is a simple wargame with strong European-style mechanics that depicts warfare between four kingdoms of Ireland. It depends more on clever play and thoughtful look-ahead than pure aggression, creating a nuanced game.
Components
The game utilizes a 7” x 10” board, one rules sheet, one color-coded dice, 56 player pieces (wooden cubes) in four colors, and a wooden pawn (start player marker). The box is 3.5” x 10” and is a good fit for the components.
Theme
The game is set in Iron Age Ireland, in a period when the island was divided into four warring kingdoms. Ireland has not been used as the setting for many games to date. Thus, it offers visibility on the shelves due to its originality and uniqueness.
Game Mechanics
The board is a map of Ireland, divided into twenty territories in four different colors. Each turn, the player rolls two color-coded dice and is then able to attack or reinforce territories corresponding to the colors depicted.
Combat is simple but strategic: a player attacks with one piece for each adjacent territory he controls, making board position central to the game. Combat itself is one-for-one destruction. Pieces lost in combat are moved to a holding area, and must be retrieved by sacrificing die rolls, creating another tactical decision in the game.
The scoring system is the most unique element of Hibernia. Each space on the scoring track matches one of the four colors depicted on the board territories and the dice. For each territory a player controls at the end of his turn, he may advance one space of the corresponding color on the scoring track, thus requiring a player to seek out certain colors of territories as he advances in the game. The combinations of colors needed to score points changes, become progressively more challenging as a player moves up the scoring track. This keeps the assets needed for victory dynamic, and tends to keep the game in close contention.
Production Quality
In response to consumer feedback about our last game, Cambria, we have improved the production values substantially for Hibernia. The game bits are all professionally made and finished wooden game pieces. The board is folding, allowing us to use a more compact box. The box is sturdier, better looking, and a better fit for the components.
For more information, including rules translations, visit
BoardGameGeek.
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