Viscounts of the West Kingdom - Playthrough & Review

[@BeforeYouPlay]

What are your thoughts on Viscounts of the West Kingdom?

[@sebastianhermosillo828]

My favorite of the trilogy!

[@arrnorn6142]

I liked it! Paladins is my favorite in the trilogy, but the other two share a close 2nd.

[@MrFrancisChio]

A very close second to Paladin for me. Mainly because I play games more at 2p, which paladin excel better in that player count. But it’s really great if you prefer more player interaction but still want to remain the depth like paladin. Love this game still and hope to play it at a higher player count! 👍🏻

[@rollingwithrob6579]

Viscounts for me with Paladins a close 2nd. My biggest gripe is that I have people who are willing to play Viscounts but not Paladins citing difficulty. Architects and Raiders are par for the course here in New Zealand but still very enjoyable plays with the right people

[@MrKeller13]

This is my least favorite in the series as of right now. I’ve played 3 games and the person who focused most on the castle won by a landslide each time. I really like the game still but I haven’t played it enough to like it more. And it seems like you MUST participate in the castle to have a chance of winning. Which knocks it down a little for me because i don’t want to be forced to go a certain direction in a game. So for me it’s Architects Paladins Viscounts

[@lynnbowers4722]

I have to commend you on your editing. I never planned on watching this whole video in one sitting but because it moved at such a snappy pace, I did. Thanks for taking the time to edit out the slow, thinking parts.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi Lynn, thank you for the compliment (and noticing haha). That is exactly what we want to achieve out of our videos. =)

[@stephenerdel5441]

This is a great observation. Now that you mention it, I can't think of a different board game channel with better editing than Before You Play.

[@bradleyhayward7122]

Your playthroughs are the gold standard. Although you keep draining my bank account! I bought all 3 of the West Kingdom titles because you made them look so fun!

[@coomie85]

This series was one of the most engaging playthroughs I’ve ever seen! You two smashed it out the park, and it was really interesting all the way through! Loved it!

[@nathanresendez4034]

I read Discounts of the West Kingdom and still clicked the video lol

[@BeforeYouPlay]

LOL it'll be the 4th in the series 😝

[@kauisurfer13]

That’s what you get for winning the trilogy for a future game 😂

[@davidko9289]

That was an epic end to an epic saga. The tension between moving the kingdom towards prosperity or poverty was clever.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Yeah it came down to 1 card!! We did the math and the outcome would be the same, but Monique would have had 1 less tome.

[@davidko9289]

@@BeforeYouPlay Slightly closer, then. I wonder, on average, how many major/minor victories are worth it to get an additional mid-game tome.

[@EdgarMolas]

I just want to mention that I love your teach! Man, it's direct and follows a sequence that makes really easy to understand the games! I got here from watch it played and i think you guys are providing what i used to like best from them, awesome teach + enterteining playthroughs (don't tell Rodney! ;) ) Thanks so much for offering such quality content!!

[@DMBuc2k1]

All three games in the trilogy are great, but I love how snappy and smooth Viscounts moves once you get the mechanics. Great job explaining it through out and the review at the end!

[@sgntcompton]

I watch a lot of game videos and you two are always spot on with rules and explanations. If I am interested in a game I always hope that you two have a video on it. I also appreciate how there is no fat in your videos, they are always clear and concise. I can tell that you are just generally good people and can’t wait for more content.

[@johngoodwin9606]

My copy of Viscounts arrived today and your video ( I watched all of it ) is an excellent trainer for me. Tomorrow I'll play Paladins for the 25th time (all solo), and can start playing Viscount. I require playing a game 25 time before buying the next in a series. I really like how all the mechanisms of previous games are applied in Viscounts with the addition of some deck-building. Brilliant game design and art. Keep up the great work.

[@kingma1513]

You guys have a really nice manner and the play through is engaging to watch. Great work and thanks for posting. I am going to play this with my son tomorrow.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thanks Luke, we really appreciate your comment! Hope you two have a blast!!

[@JEV03]

I’ve had these games on my tabletopia bookmarks for a while now so it was great to watch these... and Viscounts is definitely the one I had the strongest “I really want to play this” reaction with! Love that virtue track and the castle cascade!

[@Skycroft1000]

I will say the Tome Saga keeps things interesting to the end, so that's good design there!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

It does, and it gives you a reason to take certain strategies. It's so cool that they tied the games together with it!

[@gbank44]

There is no better way to spend 2 hours than watching some fresh Before You Play! You guys are killing it.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi Mike, thank you so much for following along with us. We know a lot of these videos eat up your valuable time! 😃

[@Hakucho64]

Small correction at 7:15: if you play a criminal, you gain a corruption for each skull icon you have in play, not for each criminal you have in play (some criminals have more than one skull icon).

[@MrKeller13]

Maaaan.....this had to be uploaded while I’m at work. Now gotta wait until 5am to watch. Can’t wait!!!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Haha hope you get to check it out!

[@kevinmcgaire6412]

43:53 regarding whether the card you bought gets shuffled in or left in the discard pile. When hiring Townsfolk, players must pay the required Silver, then place the card into their discard pile. They must also immediately resolve the effects printed on the top-right of the card The rules states the order goes, first discard it, then do the effect (aka it would go into your draw pile)

[@tpa3437]

To their defense I dont find the rules that clear in that regard, and this is included in a rule clarification file on BGG so we're not alone..

[@kevinmcgaire8684]

Rules seem pretty clear. pay - discard - resolve. But you definitely have to reference to rules to get all these nuances in your first few plays

[@bsademax5135]

Ooh, intriguing tease of more West Kingdom content next week! Great video, guys! You're quickly becoming my favorite board game KZbinrs!

[@TheWisestofGuys]

This is an amazing playthough and well deserving of all the views and likes

[@shinjial]

Lol this has been worth it so far just for Naveen calling the Collision "smash". This has been a tense game, I'm curious to how it will end. I'm at the point where Naveen got two tomes (from the manuscripts and the shields).

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Lol "smash" just came so naturally!

[@Alex-mm5lo]

Love all your "teach and playthrough" ! Go on ! :) Always a pleasure to watch your videos !

[@makedonka11]

update: entire series has come. tomorrow we embark on our journey. :D my first game of architects against my sister i lost 35 - 36. and what is sad i was 100% sure i was gonna win.

[@zhivik]

This was great (again)! An epic end to the saga :) I like it how you actually need to win games in order to win the entire saga - it would feel unfair otherwise. Viscounts appears very interesting and I love all the inventive mechanics they have put it. I feel glad I went all in and completed my West Kingdoms collection, now I can play the saga as well. Looking forward to your concluding video.

[@ankab7158]

I really like this game. I played solo, 3p and i dont mind to play 4. It Goes smooth. No too many downtimes. Different ways to gain points and till the end you do not know who won. Nice deck building and worker placement. Smart timer. It is up to you how fast you want to go. I really like it. Close to my favourite Palladins (but only 2p or solo). My only regret is That I cant do everything: build, collect manuscripts, send worker to castle. 😁 Need to choose. I am looking forward to the sum up. Great video.

[@seanmorgan2257]

congratulations on the win, that was an excellent tome saga playthrough. thank you

[@MyklSkeleton]

Had to watch the last one to see how it turned out. Congrats Monique! I really thought Naveen (sorry if I got the spelling wrong) might pull it off about half way through but alas he got too distracted by the tomes. Another great video!

[@starbuster0121]

You guys are Awesome. Thank you for the content.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thank you for your support! 😀

[@shinjial]

1:30:15 movement did require a coin, since every board piece first goes down towards the castle and then up towards the outskirts.

[@Puzzu]

Yep I noticed that too, coin should have been spent for that move

[@warever37]

What are you talking about?! She clearly didn't have to pay an extra coin. She moved forward, then up following the arrows. What's wrong with that?

[@shinjial]

@@warever37 yep, you’re right. I overlooked the arrows in close proximity to the castle.

[@mariepdn9850]

I love the series you have just made !!! It is always so lovely to watch you play together. I have bought the Architects and Palladins, and about to buy the Viscounts !!! See you soon for your final thought about this series !

[@henribcosta]

I was excited for this! For sure a nice content! :)

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thanks for the support Henrique!

[@brendanmahony3002]

1:09 Monique promotes worker to center, but does not shift workers right and left.

[@adamjefri699]

Been waiting for this !

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hope you enjoy it Adam!!

[@boardtoplay]

Fantastic series, really enjoyed this one! Good job you two!

[@wandiwillie4437]

Queen Monique of the West Kingdom! I look forward to the concluding video to this series.

[@Axolotecojo]

This game has been a friking grind to learn, played about 30 plus games and this games drive me nuts with his rulebook, I really wanted to love this game, but I do not know if it is me, but I have struggled to learn to play, sometimes I think the rulebook have explanations of the iconography of the cards, I learned Scythe, dune imperum , viticulture, concordia, mind mgmt, terraforming mars, in the halls of the mountain king, and I had not had so many problems to understand how to play a game until this game.....I still do not give up but everytime I see the manual makes me want to throw everything away jajajajaja

[@yemendel]

Yayyy the saga continues (or completes)!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Haha, it took us a little longer than we anticipated, but so glad that we did it!

[@Vantagegamessg]

Really good content creators. Like it alot

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thanks Roland!

You made me bought it. Thanks.

[@alicia1465]

This game looks really nice, but the length does concern me, especially as my husband and I are slow players. I liked Naveen’s idea of less debts and deeds for a two-player game, though house rules always worry me with balance. Maybe an expansion will shorten the game length.

[@SFuruli]

You should do a playthrough of the North Sea trilogy as well, using the Runesaga. :)

[@Boardgametherapist]

Haven’t played Paladins. This one is my favorite thus far out of all their games I’ve played.

[@stevegeorge7773]

Good series. You needed something to do the crowning of "............" of the West Kingdom! Be very interested in your views about the series. It is different to the coop mode.

[@MrKeller13]

So after reading the rules real quick I think that the card that Naveen hired that caused him to shuffle his discard in to his deck, that card would be in the discard already. The rules state you hire the card and put it in your discard and immediately take the benefit. But you guys also taught me that you gain the silver value of destroyed cards. So I feel like we are even now 😉. Great gameplay as always.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi Jacob, that makes so much more sense to me (Naveen) you spend the coins to hire but if you cannot shuffle it back into your deck then you may never see the card you hired.

[@tpa3437]

I like Shem Phillips games, but I have a little frustration with the rules, it seems like a lot of rules or precisions on the rules that SHOULD be in the rulebooks are not. Or like they are in the rulebook but only in a scoring exemple or something like that (Paladins..). And if you are the type that wants to get the rules right it gets annoying to always check online, and to see that a lot of people are also searching for the same things that should be in the rulebooks..

[@jonathannevers]

In the instructions it shows the extra deeds and debts below the poverty and prosperity cards, and I thought I read that you are supposed to take starting deeds and debts from the top stack (timer) but noticed you had them in a separate pile and took from the non timer stack.

[@jonathannevers]

Did I read wrong?

[@tammyhall6611]

i have really enjoyed this epic saga!!

[@bobbyjustbobby1]

this game has no spoilers....it's a game...it varies per play significantly.

[@Alithia451]

Hi guys, you have become my fave boardgame channel! Is there anything on KS right now that I should check out?

[@lucianocasanova1903]

I love your videos so much 😭❤️

[@NemoMangelk]

Spoilers I was wondering why it has been so long between videos, and now I realise it must have been because Naveen must have been getting stitched up in the burn ward. Because, Monique scorched him in this series.

[@erikjordheim6201]

Wow! This looks really interesting. I am interested to know what the other tomes were that you didn't use as I wonder if putting these out as an end of game point incentive might help new players focus their play/strategy. I have seen the deeds flipped, the criminal tome, the 5 buildings and the manuscripts. What are the last two?

[@jasondunham5780]

Since one of Naveen's initial deeds flipped, does he get to use his active tome and gain a resource?

[@s2slamuel]

At the 1hr mark, when she triggers the castle action I believe she should have knocked off one of his workers. She triggered her stack of 3 again but forgot to bump him off. (Unless I’m playing/read wrong)

[@Hakucho64]

No, you first deal with all your own groups of three. Then when you're finished that, you do the check for groups of four. So they played it correctly.

[@jonathancarre6932]

At about 1hr10m when the first blue worker moved to the third level of the castle, do the other two workers not move left and right? Or is that only on the first level?

[@huhhhh963]

Viscounts is interesting and gameplay-wise its great but I think I’m not digging the round board. Being a visual player, the round board was throwing me off. I agree that it was pretty long and for some reason, seems a bit repetitive. Still looking forward to trying this though. Awesome coverage and series guys! Cheers!

[@JohnBystrom]

Shouldn’t Naveen also bump to the sides in the second level of the castle at 1:32:54? Anyhow, thanks for a great playthrough! 😃 I would really like to try the tomesaga myself.

[@Hakucho64]

No, the sideways thing only happens in the first tier. That's why the little arrows are only on that tier.

[@arrnorn6142]

Good job! Love your videos. Are you on the west coast?

[@lawofgravity1979]

Pretty sure they’ve mentioned being in the LA area

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Yes we are in an LA suburb.

[@maurodalbianco2493]

My favorite of the trilogy

[@BeforeYouPlay]

It's really good! We will be putting out a wrap up video soon.

[@terrytoriq]

Awesome series. I love it so much. Congrats Monique

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thanks!! There is an app from Garphill games it's on IOS pretty sure Android as well.

[@bsademax5135]

The official Garphill Games companion app; it offers a score calculator for each of the West Kingdom games, as well as each of the North Sea games, Circadians, and Raiders of Scythia.

[@terrytoriq]

@@BeforeYouPlay Thanks. I will check it out.

[@cherylhoward9177]

At 34:30 ish Naveen cheats with his movement, isn’t he supposed to follow the arrows? Moving his Viscount up the down path as far as I could see. At 1:30 ish Monique does the same thing.

[@Junpei7]

He did not cheat.. he correctly followed the direction that the arrows point at that time stamp.

[@kevinmcgaire6412]

34:00 Could you have put the journeyman at the very end and the labourer in the middle when you were able to shuffle your board?

[@Hakucho64]

Nope. You can only rearrange what's there, you can't move cards to unoccupied slots.

[@kevinmcgaire6412]

@@Hakucho64 Where does it say that in the rule? I just see "Rearrange cards on your Player Board in any order (this is always optional)" nothing about unoccupied

[@headovmetal]

Great video! Any chance you can do a cooperative version?

[@MrFrancisChio]

So far the 2 player games we played, we both feel the manuscript is stronger than the castle strat. But maybe we will need more game plays, but so far manuscripts won more for our side. Would like to know anyone prefer which strat?

[@XTCyan]

My experience is that manuscripts are better for longer games since you can potentially get more sets, while castle is capped at around 40 points once all your workers have been placed. If uncontested, the cleric bonuses as well as the manuscripts that give additional points are also pretty big boons. Which is why the castle player needs to control the pace of the game. This is made easier by the fact that the castle provides the best way to get virtue with the +2 virtue space. If you keep colliding at the +3 deeds space you can run out the deed pile pretty quickly. Building the building that gives +1 virtue on collisions will help with this, so is thinning your deck to ensure you keep getting virtue from reshuffles. Alternatively I suppose you could spam criminals and try to run out the debt pile quickly, which would be easier since getting corruption is easier than getting virtue. But at the same time you risk losing points from unflipped debts and ceding the 12pt bonus to an opponent... I haven't actually tried this so I'm not sure how well it'd work. So yeah, the idea is to end the game before the manuscript player ramps up. My preferred path is actually buildings but that's a whole other story...

[@jchangaus]

That was a bit intense. Sorry Monique, I'm always #TeamNaveen.

[@carlwadley1175]

Poor Naveen, I’ve watched so many of your videos and I’ve not seen you win one yet :(

[@sairam71]

Damn. Monique is dangerous at this game. Gg!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

She's too good!!

[@mridulsaboo2945]

At 46:39, why didn’t you move your corruption marker after placing Bertha, since you had a criminal symbol already on your board?

[@mridulsaboo2945]

And you didn’t pick a silver from your tome, yet again 😅

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Oh it's because Bertha isn't a criminal. You only move your corruption marker when placing a criminal. haha yeah, kept forgetting to pick up the silver!

[@mridulsaboo2945]

@@BeforeYouPlay Oh my bad. I thought that the existing criminal signs on the board mattered as well. 😅

[@jemmes27nyc]

@@mridulsaboo2945 I thought this too! Took me ages to realise it was only when placing - I forgot that part from the teach

What would be cool is you playing 1775 (or 1754) vs two other players e.g. Quackalope and his friend girl.

[@Leosql]

56:31 Oh the look in his eyes. lol

[@ronaldbestshirt9592]

wow i thought Nveen had it but Monique pulled it off again ! Get job!

[@makedonka11]

Or as Jake/Kevin would say: Indeed indeed indeed indeed indeed. 😄

[@avivmetz7544]

What was the name of the scoring app? Also, great video, thanks a lot =).

[@mattmazzullo2194]

It’s called Garphill Games Companion.

[@RolandsBriedis]

Would You play it 2 players + bot, to improve 2 player experience? Because sweet spot is 3 players fo this game.

[@MichaelDoig]

I'm looking for a video as a brand new player, who is wanting to play the game as it is. Without any external factors or tomes - which simply confused us. As a brand new player, does anyone have a recommended playthrough video that plays Viscounts as a standalone?

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi Michael, sorry for the confusion! The Nerd Shelves are doing a livestream playthrough on their channel right now actually, but if you are unable to catch it, it’ll probably be available to watch afterward. Board Gaming Ramblings also have a playthrough =)

[@arrnorn6142]

Will you also do the co-op version of the games?

[@KHam33]

Haha Monique really sold Naveen on that aristocrat. Did you get a commission for that? :D

[@cornichon2580]

Shouldn’t Naveen have 9 tomes? He came into the game with 5, got one for the manuscripts, one for the deeds, one for the red crests, and one for the blue crests. 5+4=9.

[@IvanMallia]

Why are taking silver each time you change tiers in the castle

[@floodkevin4716]

Tomes

[@AlexxPo]

What scoring app do you use?

[@arrnorn6142]

There is an app from Garphill games

[@MrKeller13]

Garphill games scoring app. Has scoring for most of their games on there. Even scores the Bots for the solo as well.

[@distrustfulmonkey2832]

I've never played a game of this where the person that won the castle didn't also win the whole game. Really put me off after the 4th or 5th time.

[@XTCyan]

I'd say give it a couple more plays. It seemed that way at first with my group but lately whoever goes castle has actually been losing. Especially in 4-player games since its much easier to bump workers off. The other 3 players just need to spend 1 turn each bumping you off and it'll set you back 2-3 turns.

[@distrustfulmonkey2832]

@@XTCyan trouble is I play mostly at 2 and literally every game we've ever played has been "do castle, win." I can accept that it can be better with more - and I want to like it so I'll play again - but the 2p experience seems pretty brain-dead sadly.

[@XTCyan]

@@distrustfulmonkey2832 even with two it depends. I've found buildings to be my preferred strategy actually. Castle requires 7-8 turns to complete if you've built the +1 fleur-de-lis building and assuming you have some gold saved up, getting you around 45 points (roughly 5 - 6 points/turn). If you build all the level 2 and level 3 buildings you get 36 points in 6 turns (6 points / turn, once again assuming you've traded for some stones). It's a little lower but buildings provide permanent buffs which are extremely helpful. Manuscripts is slower, requiring 8 turns to get 32 points. However, they scale a lot more since for castle and buildings you're limited by the number of workers and buildings respectively. They get a big boost at the 12-15 turn mark if they manage to claim all the cleric bonuses uncontested. 3 sets + all cleric bonuses = 60 points which comes down to 4-5 points per turn which is pretty competitive still. That also does not include any manuscripts that score you additional points so overall I'd say it works out around the same.

[@doggyaugie]

click here to sign my petition to officially change the names to "blue bags" and "smash" in the 2nd edition

[@dangerousbeans2907]

It’s fun but my 1st impression was the castle was extremely overpowered. I don’t enjoy having my hand forced. That being said I’ve only played it once. It was interesting enough for a follow up play but I’m not gunna buy this one as of right now.