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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<title>Field of the Cloth of Gold - Laws of Play</title>
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<body>
<main>
<img src="rb-cover.jpg" alt="[Field of the Cloth of Gold]">
<img src="rb-banner.jpg" alt="">
<p>
<img align=left style="margin:0 0 0 -10px" src="rb-i.png" alt="I">n June 1520, at Balinghem, there met the
young and glorious Kings of England and of
France in a grand and splendid celebration of
their mutual friendship and admiration. There
were great feasts and opulent amusements,
conspicuous expressions of deepest and sincerest
piety, and fierce tournaments. Each King outshone the
other in turn, so that the world might be astounded at the
wealth and power of each kingdom. So many tents and
raiments were made of precious cloth of gold, that the
field is so named.
<p>
In this game, two players briefly assume the roles of these
divine majesties. If you are afeared of the weight of the
crown, and all its worries, fear not: this amusement only
requires you revel in the greatness of your kingdom, not
to rule it.
<h2>
Equipment
</h2>
<img align=right src="rb-tiles.jpg" style="margin:0 0 0 12px" alt="[tiles]">
<p>
Enclosed with these Laws of Play shall be also found:
<ul>
<li> a small board, made of fine canvas;
<li> seven tokens of wood, three red and
three blue, and one white (the last,
called "the Dragon");
<li> tiles numbering fifty and four, in
blue (beasts), red (tournaments),
gold (cloth of the same), white (piety),
and green (jewels).
</ul>
<p>
Mark well, the board contains not only
seven oval spaces - six of which are
associated with square tile spaces, and
one the Dragon - but also a Track of
Scoring. This Track is divided five times
into rows. The row a player's token
occupies upon this Track determines both
the tiles they might gain by Secrecy, and
the Points they might gain upon the game's conclusion.
<h2>
Preparation
</h2>
<p>
First, place the board of canvas upon the table, and each
player be given three tokens of their chosen color. Each
player places one of these on the Track of Scoring, at "0".
<p>
Second, place the fearsome Dragon upon the space that
bears its mark.
<p>
Third, reserve the six green jewels. The other tiles should
be shuffled in such a manner as to not reveal them. You
may wish to borrow a small sack or goblet for this
purpose. Call this collection of hidden tiles, the
Darkness. Each player draws two tiles from the Darkness
into their Hand, known only to the player who holds
them. The six jewels are plunged into the Darkness.
Then, the eldest player must draw and place one tile for
each square space on the board.
<p>
Play begins with the youngest player, or the player who
last lost the game.
<h2>
Hands and Courts
</h2>
<p>
Players possess tiles in their Hand, and also their Court:
<ul>
<li>
Tiles in their Hand are known only to them, and
they must conspire to Reveal them, thus placing
them in their Court.
<li>
Tiles in their Court are known to both players, and
these tiles may be Scored.
</ul>
<p>
Players gain new tiles either through Secrecy, or as a Gift:
<ul>
<li> Tiles gained through Secrecy are placed in their Hand.
<li> Tiles gained as a Gift, in their Court.
</ul>
<h2>
Flow of Play
</h2>
<p>
On a player's turn, they must move one of their two
tokens into an empty oval space - that is, a space that
holds no tokens, nor the Dragon. On their first and
second turns, they must move their tokens onto the
board, and thereafter they must choose one token to
move from one space to an empty one.
<p>
After moving the token, the player takes the tile associated
with that space, and presents it as a Gift to their rival.
<p>
Then, the player resolves the action for that space completely.
(Hark ye the chapter below, called The Actions.)
<p>
If the player moved their token from the Dragon's space,
move now the Dragon back to the space bearing its
terrible visage.
<p>
Finally, if any empty oval space on the board has no tile,
a tile is drawn from the Darkness and placed face-up
within the empty tile space. Mark! A new tile is drawn
only when an oval space is empty of both token and tile.
To do otherwise is a foul corruption of this splendid and
winsome entertainment. A pox upon those who dare.
<p>
Then, play passes to the rival player.
<h2>
The Actions
</h2>
<p>
There be seven actions, each tied to an oval space, arranged
as follows.
<p>
First, the Dragon: this moves the Dragon to any empty
oval space, excepting one that the moving player token
has immediately vacated. The tile for the space that now
holds the Dragon is the Gift for the rival player.
<p>
Second, Secrecy: this gains tiles from the Darkness to the
player's Hand. The number of tiles thus gained is
dictated by the row they occupy on the Track of Scoring.
<p>
Third, Gold (Cloth of Gold): Reveal all Gold tiles from
your Hand, placing them in your Court. If your Gold
tiles number greater than your rival's, score 2 Points
upon the Track of Scoring. If the number is equal, or
lesser, then no Points are awarded. Note well that no
tiles are Removed when taking this action.
<p>
Fourth, Blue (Banquets and Feasts): Reveal all Blue
tiles from your Hand, placing them in your Court. If the
Blue tiles in your Court number only one, score 1 Point;
if they number two, score 3 Points; if they number three
or greater, score ye 6 Points. Never can you score more
than 6 Points in a single action. Upon scoring, all Blue
tiles in your Court are Removed from the game.
<p>
Fifth, White (Godliness and Piety): Reveal all White
tiles from your Hand, placing them in your Court. For
each White tile, score 1 point. Upon scoring, all White
tiles in your Court are Removed from the game.
<p>
Sixth, Red (Tournaments): Reveal all Red tiles from
your Hand, placing them in your Court. Then, both
players shalt compete in displays of manly violence: both
at the same time score 1 point for each Red tile in their
own Court. Note well that the rival player does not
Reveal new Red tiles, but only scores for those already
present. Upon scoring, all Red tiles for both players are
Removed from the game. Then, each player (beginning
with the acting player) takes new tiles via Secrecy, as if
they had taken the action of that name.
<p>
Seventh, Purple (Collections): Reveal all tiles from your
Hand, placing them in your Court. A collection of four
tiles, one of each type save jewels, is deemed a Set, and
for each Set, score 2 points. Mark: no tiles are Removed
when taking this action.
<h2>
End of the Contest
</h2>
<p>
If the last tile is drawn from the Darkness, or if one or
both players achieve a Score of 30 Points or more, the
game is ended immediately. Each player shall then score
additional points for Jewels and Gold.
<ul>
<li>
For Jewels, count their number in your Court, and
then for each Jewel, score ye that number of points.
Imagine three Jewels: then each Jewel scores three, a
comely sum of nine.
<li>
For Gold, each tile in your Court scores the points
emblazoned upon your row of the Track of Scoring.
</ul>
<p>
The player with the highest score wins the game. If their
scores be the same, the player with the greater number of
White tiles in their Court is the winner. If these be the
same, the player with the greater number of tiles in their
Court, of all types, wins, and if this does not resolve it, the
two majesties do share victory.
<h2>
Credits
</h2>
<p style="text-align: center">
<img src="rb-credits.jpg" alt="Game Design: Amabel Holland. Layout: Mary Holland.">
<h2>
2023 Edition Notes
</h2>
<p>
I've always been fascinated by the Field of the Cloth of
Gold, and had for some time thought about how I might
make a game of it. In February of 2020, I realized that
June would mark the quincentennial, so if ever there was
a time to do the game, it was then. To release it in June,
we would need to take it from start to finish – design,
playtesting, art, layout – in only two months.
<p>
That probably doesn't seem like a lot of time, but you'd
be surprised what can happen in a couple of months.
When I started the project, I was certain that I was a cis
man named Tom Russell. And that's the name that was
on the box when it was released in June. But by that
time, I already knew the name was a lie.
<p>
The summer of 2020 was a complicated, messy part of
my life. I wouldn't be out as trans until October. I didn't
start using the name Amabel publicly until the following
March. In that period, we released five boxed games with
the old name on it – a name that I knew was wrong.
<p>
I didn't really feel the need to change the name on those
boxes, or indeed any boxes released before the cracking
of my egg. I very much wanted to honor the weird sad
woman who didn't know she was a woman, who thought
"I'm not a tomboy, I'm a tomgirl" wouldn't get old. And I
wanted to honor the messiness of that early transitional
period. Except…
<p>
Except that of all of those five games, I really wish that
Field had the right name on it. It's easily one of my most
popular and successful designs, and one with a much
broader appeal than my angry abrasive political games.
It'd be an easy game to recommend to people I meet who
aren't knee-deep in The Hobby, if not for the fact that it
has the wrong name on it.
<p>
Mary told me, "well, we can just change it then", and I
knew that, but I'm stubborn and lazy, and if I changed
this one, why not those, et cetera. But then, in December
of 2022, our printer sent us a new counter template.
<p>
What happened is that he had identified a potential issue
with the existing template for ¾" counters, and so made
a new template that would avoid it. I would then need to
layout the counters again for all games using ¾". And
one of these was Field. So, okay, might as well change
the name on the box while we're at it.
<p>
Back in 2020, Field was designed for ¾" counters, as
they are larger and more appealing than our standard ⅝"
counters. A halfsheet of ¾" gave us 54 counters arranged
(on the old template) in four blocks of twelve and one
block of six. To prevent colors bleeding from one counter
to the next, each block needed to be of a single color.
And so I assigned each of my four tile types a block of
twelve. This left a block of six, which I gave to gold –
that's why there were eighteen of those tiles.
<p>
That's been a source of complaint over the years. When
folks bounce off the game, invariably it's because of the
endgame scoring, and how often that can decide the
game. Mostly I roll my eyes at that, because, yeah, that's
the game – that's part of the decision space you need to
plan and adapt for. But at the same time, eighteen gold
tiles does make it harder to do that. So, when I was
laying out the counters on the new template, I decided,
on a lark, to try only twelve gold, and added six new
Jewel tiles.
<p>
I liked it a lot! It adds some spice to the game without
detracting from its essential nature. In fact, I think it's
likely I would have thought of something like this if I had
had more than two months, or if I had been the person I
am now.
<p>
The person whose correct name is at last on this box,
and is thanking you for buying it, whether for the first
time or the second.
<p>
Amabel Holland
<br>
January 11, 2023
|
