Raiders of the North Sea (Expansion Content) - RFY / WFY
Review copy provided by the publisher
Raiders of the North Sea is one of the most popular worker-placement games in the hobby. Released in 2015 by designer Shem Phillips and co-published by Renegade Game Studios and Garphill Games, it was a breath of fresh air in the genre of tabletop games and it continues to be popular today.
Possibly part of the reason why it’s retained its status, and why it’s better than it was five years ago, is the release of additional content in the last two years—two expansions and, most recently, a collector’s box.
Each expansion brings new mechanics and opportunities to the game and the collector’s box gives you one place to store it all. So, whether you’re familiar with the game, love it, or haven’t even heard of it, let’s see if all of these goodies are right for you or wrong for you.
Overview
Theme
Here at Quackalope, we love flavor text, so we’re so grateful that Shem Phillips games give us a taste of the worker-placement world that we’re in.
The theme (with credit to the talented Mihajlo Dimitrievski for the arresting illustrations) and the core mechanics are strong, but the expansions follow in the same design as the base game. So, if you’re looking for narrative immersion and a deep dive into the lore of the North Sea lands, then you won’t find it here. What you will find is more of what was established in Raiders of the North Sea. It gives small glimpses of the story behind the game, but it’s not going to answer your burning questions about the Viking warriors that you control.
Accessibility
Fields of Fame and Hall of Heroes increase the complexity of Raiders of the North Sea, but the design of the additional components and mechanics work within the boundaries of the original worker-placement game.
The Collector’s Box is purely an organizational and luxury purchase, but it might be justifiable for players who value space and ease-of-use, as it functions better than the cardboard inserts of the expansions and the open space of the original box.
Gameplay
Fields of Fame allows for a fifth player to join the battle, bringing another glory-seeking Viking into conflict with the others at the table. And with the introduction of the Township board, players have three new raid spaces to compete for, as well as space to manage the Jarl deck and the Fame track.
In terms of what new mechanics are introduced, the fights with the Jarls and the wounds suffered in those battles are the two biggest tweaks to the original gameplay. Jarl Tokens are now mixed in with the regular plunder so every board space has a chance to hold these encounters.
Players will have three options—fight, subdue, or flee. Fighting results in the highest number of wounds divided among the Hired Crew, but that choice also rewards players with a healthy increase in Fame (another track that awards victory points at the end of the game) and an immediate bonus. Subduing still invites punishment with wounds, but it’s less harrowing and the Jarls are then added to the player’s board immediately, with most giving some endgame victory point bump based on certain parameters. And then fleeing is exactly what it sounds like—optioning to avoid a fight and not suffer any wounds, at the expense of a card and either one fame or one victory point.
Hall of Heroes also enables a fifth player to join (though, when combined with Fields of Fame, six players can play!). It introduces the Mead Hall board, which acts as a new location in the Village for drafting Townsfolk. More significantly than the Gatehouse, however, the cards drafted also provide bonuses of silver and mead to incentivize players. Also, the Mead Hall is where players will go to complete quests, which are placed on empty raid spots after the battle and the looted plunder.
What’s going to change, though? The Mead and the Quests are what you need to focus on. Mead is an additional resource that empowers raiding crews with temporary Strength bonuses. So players might be able to secure higher victory point totals than previously due to the one-time buff. And the Quests now offer more ways for players to score points. In addition to spending Plunder to complete Offerings, players can now burn Townsfolk cards to meet the Strength requirements of these quests, which give Plunder rewards and gradually increasing victory point rewards. Reputation tiles also offer bonuses once sets of Quests are obtained.
Add both expansions together and Raiders of the North Sea becomes significantly denser and more interesting. Just know that games will take longer and you might have more decision fatigue if the usual worker-placement gameplay was more your speed.
Modes of Play
In Fields of Fame, players get 30 more Townsfolk cards, 15 Jarl cards, and the ability to change how the game plays with Wounds and Valkyrie dice.
In Hall of Heroes, players get 30 more Townsfolk cards, the valuable Mead resource, and the combination of Quests and Reputation titles.
Play with one of the expansions. Play with both. Take a break from them and just play with the base game. It’s whatever you want, but the gameplay and variability are altered enough to make these expansions feel like a new game.
Innovation
Wounds and Jarls make trickier raiding decisions. Mead can help remedy that problem if both expansions are used together. And then Quests make for additional choices of how to allocate cards and resources. All of that feeds into the extra tracks for victory points.
But we’ve talked about the two expansions a lot, but some of the innovation is specific to the Collector’s Box, which contains a plastic insert that can store Raiders of the North Sea, as well as both Fields of Fame and Hall of Heroes.
It’s worth mentioning because Raiders of the North Sea, and most Shem Phillips games, come packed tightly into the smaller box. While it’s great for shelf space, it could be a baggie overload for some players. The insert has a space for everyone—small inset spots for all of the components, a middle tray for the titles, and spacious slots for the cards, which can now be sleeved with the themed artwork from Mihajlo Dimitrievski.
Packing everything away into one box can be a big space saver and also a gameplay enhancer when it’s easier to unload and reload. Be aware that if you’re familiar with the size of the North Sea and West Kingdom games, this will be a bigger box, so know that upfront. You may have to reorganize your gaming shelves.
Pricing
It depends where you buy your games from. If you go to a big online seller like Amazon, then you may be able to find them for less than $30 apiece, but if you’re going to the shops at Renegade Game Studios or Garphill Games (which we recommend), then the prices might be a little higher. Also, keep in mind that your FLGS could have copies of the expansions or could order them from the distributors.
Considering that the base game can retail at $50 to $60, these are reasonable prices if you already have Raiders of the North Sea and enjoy the worker-placement game.
If you haven’t played the original game but think you might be interested in the expansions as well, they add a lot of content to the game. Still, it might be wise to try the core gameplay first before pulling the trigger on expansions and a collector’s box.