Henry VI Part I

"I have heard it said, unbidden guests are often welcomest when they are gone." Henry VI Part I (Act 2 Scene 2)

In 1415, the Hundred Years’ War had already been raging for 80 years. France was ruled by Charles VI, widely acknowledged to be mad, and two of his cousins were embroiled in a brutal civil war over who should act as his regent. This was the Armagnac-Burgundian civil war, and the Armagnacs were, by and large, winning.

Hoping to turn the tide, the Burgundians allied with Henry V of England. By 1420, Henry had taken the North of France, and Charles VI had signed the Treaty of Troyes, naming Henry his heir.

In 1422, Henry died. The crown of England (and, according to some, the right to inherit France) passed to Henry VI, aged all of eight months. Three months later, Charles VI also died, leaving behind a nineteen-year-old son - Dauphin Charles Valois, officially disinherited but still intent on claiming his father’s throne.

This is a megagame

Henry VI Part I is a game for just under 30 players. You'll be part of a team of 4-8 prominent members of the English or French nobility, but beware, your objectives may not align all that much with the rest of your team. You will need to negotiate and strategize to get things done, finding useful allies in your team and elsewhere if necessary. The game has simple, board game style rules, but also allows for you to come up with creative solutions to problems - if there isn't a rule for the thing you want to do, we'll make one on the fly. A certain amount of deception and trickery may be necessary, but you'll also need to find trusted allies to secure your place in the halls of power. Unlike many games, there's no single winner. Instead, you'll each measure your own success against your personal goals, and at the end of the game your journey will form part of a wider narrative.

Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends (Act 3, Scene 2)

You'll be assigned a role in the run-up to the game - and you'll have the chance to let us know what sort of role you want. All roles will have a mix of military, political and economic play, but there's definitely room to emphasise one aspect of the game over another.