Glen More II: Chronicles is a continuation of Glen More, significantly expanding the gameplay compared to the original game.
In Glen More II: Chronicles, each player represents a Scottish clan leader from the early Middle Ages to the 19th century, a leader looking to expand his territory and wealth. Your clan's success depends on your ability to make the right decision at the right time, be it by creating a new pasture for your livestock, growing barley for whiskey production, selling your goods in various markets or taking control of special monuments such as lakes and castles.
The game is played over four rounds, represented by four piles of tiles. Each round is followed by a scoring phase in which players compare the number of whiskey barrels, Scots in the hometown castle, landmark cards, and people against the player with the fewest items in each category and score victory points (VPs) based on these differences. After four rounds, additional VPs are awarded for gold coins and some landmarks, while VP penalties are scored based on territory size, comparing each player's territory to the smallest in the game.
The basic mechanics of Glen More II: Chronicles and Glen More work in the same way: the last player in line takes the tile from the timeline, advancing as far as desired. After paying the cost, they place this tile in their territory, the tile activating and all adjacent tiles activating, triggering the production of resources, movement points, VPs, etc. Then the player who is last on the line takes his turn.
Improvements over the original Glen More include larger tiles, better materials, new artwork, each player's ability to control the end of the game, and balancing the tile adjustments. The game consists of one-third of the known systems, one-third of the new mechanics and one-third of the improvements to Glen More.
The title "Chronicles" - a set of eight expansions to the basic version of the game - are the main part of these new mechanisms. Each chronicle adds a new gameplay element to the base game. For example: The Chronicle of the Highland Boat Race tells the story of a boat race in which the winner must first reach his hometown castle after the boat has passed along the river through all other players' territories. The Hammer of the Scots Chronicle adds a neutral "Englishman" element to the timing track that players try to control to gain an extra turn - if they can afford it, that means they are paid via the market mechanism. All Chronicles are freely combinable, though designer Matthias Cramer suggests players only use one or two unless they want a "monster game".
Another major change to the game is the opportunity to invest in famous Scottish people of the time who are represented by a new type of "person". People not only have their own points, but also trigger one-time or continuous effects on the clan's tactical board. This adds a new layer of decision making, especially as the ongoing effects allow players to focus on their personal winning strategy using the clan board.
Box Contents:
- 1 "saucepan"
- 1 Clan board
- 40 Scots (10 of each color)
- 40 clan markers (10 of each color)
- 40 Coins
- 1 die d6 (1-1-1-2-2-3)
- 8 Chronicles
- 70 Victory Points:
20x 1VP 15x 3VP 15x 5VP 15x 10VP 5 x 50VP - 90 Resource Markers:
20x Barley 20x Wood 20x Stone 15x Sheep 15x Cattle - 11 Landscape Cards
- 25 Barrels of Whiskey
- 4 "Home Territory" tiles:
the Starting Village (left)
Home Castle (right). - 5 S-Tiles (starting tiles)
14 A-Stack Tiles
17 B-Stack Tiles
17 C-Stack Tiles
17 D-Stack Tiles - 1 David Hume tile
