Renegade Game Studios has announced plans to produce English language versions of Garphill Games’ complete series of Viking games, adding Shipwrights of the North Sea, Explorers of the North Sea, and The North Sea Runesaga to its previously-announced Raiders of the North Sea.  All four titles were designed by Shem Phillips, and are expected to release before the end of the year.

The North Sea Saga series begins, historically speaking, with Shipwrights of the North Sea.  Set around the year 900, this game has players building fleets of Viking ships, collecting resources and hiring craftsmen to build ships and buildings.  The first player to successfully build their fourth ship ends the game, but victory goes to the player with the most points.

This game includes 10 game boards, 128 cards, 136 tokens, and comes with the Townsfolk Expansion, which adds a Townsfolk board and 5 shields.  Intended for 2 to 5 players, ages 12 and up, this game takes about an hour to play.  MSRP is $50.00.

Moving forward in time, Raiders of the North Sea has players launching raids and terrorizing the European coast.  Renegade announced a deal to publish this Kennerspiel des Jahres nominated game earlier this year (see “Renegade to Launch ‘Raiders of the North Sea’”).

This title can be played by 2 to 4 players, ages 12 and up, in about an hour to an hour and a half.  MSRP is $50.00.

The trilogy of games climaxes later in the Viking Age with Explorers of the North Sea.  This time the players are ship captains competing to discover new islands and establish settlements, with a bit of raiding along the way.

Explorers of the North Sea comes with 48 hex tiles, 2 starting boards, 41 tokens, 4 longships, 12 enemy ships, 28 Vikings, 20 outposts, 11 cards, and a score pad.  This game supports 1 to 4 players, ages 12 and up, and plays in about 45 minutes.  MSRP is $50.00.

Players can link all three games together into a campaign by adding The North Sea Runesaga expansion.  Over all three games, two to four players compete to gather Runestones.  The player who can has the most Runestones after the third game is complete becomes the Chieftain of the Vikings.

This expansion requires at least one of the base games to play, and requires all three to use everything included.  The North Sea Runesaga adds 4 clan boards, 21 runestores, 2 runestone boards, 16 Shipwrights cards, and 22 Raiders cards.  2 to 4 can play the full campaign, which takes 3 to 4 hours to complete.  MSRP for the expansion is $25.00.