Moytura

From Bitewing Games:

The battle of Moytura has begun. As a leader of the Tuatha Dé Danann, spread your influence across the land to succeed in your quest to become High Ruler of Ireland, invoking the powerful deities of the Tuatha Dé Danann to aid you in your cause with their command of water, travel, war, and creation — but the road will not be easy for in your path to legend stand the sinister Fomorians and other mythical beings hungry for battle, not to mention a rival clan with ambitions of their own. Steel yourself and prepare for a legendary struggle. Rewrite the myths of Ireland, chieftain, and take your place as the true High King!

In Moytura, you and your opponent command competing factions of the Tuatha Dé Danann, but you are not the only ones struggling for control of ancient Ireland. Three enemy clans act together as a third opponent faction that competes with the players and scores points. Points are gained by having the most influence across Ancient Ireland at the end of each era. Within each of the eleven regions, the faction with the most or second most units across all the spaces of a region will score the indicated points. After two eras, the faction with the most points wins.

Each round, the two players and the enemy faction each take a turn. On their turn, a player selects a deity tile (possibly spending worship tokens to reach it), then performs that deity’s actions. When used, a deity tile resets to the most expensive position in the track. Deity tiles let players expand their influence and battle enemies according to the deity’s unique abilities On the enemy faction’s turn, an activation card is revealed from the deck that expands one of the three clans. Some activation cards are stronger than others, and players must carefully track which clans are most likely to attack and where. Only the player who cleverly outmaneuvers their opponent while carefully keeping the enemy faction in check will be able to secure the victory.

Moytura features seven map set-ups for any combination of clans. The game also includes three special enemy clans that replace 1-3 of the standard Fomorian clans. These special clans introduce more challenging foes with asymmetric abilities: the Ellén Trechends (three-headed beasts) expand in all directions, the Oilliphéist (sea serpents) expand rapidly along the coast, and the Banshees invade targeted regions instead of spreading out from their largest group.

You can also enjoy a solo / cooperative variant if you prefer playing that way! Thanks to the intuitive enemy faction system built into the main game, Moytura lends itself easily to these optional variants.