Welcome to part two of our coverage of the King’s Landing campaign for A Song of Ice and Fire: Tabletop Miniatures Game. You can find part one here.
WARNING: There will be spoilers for the first season of House of the Dragon and possibly the second season. I will try to avoid major plot points but smaller details to explain who the characters are will be mentioned.
The Greens
During a great tourney that was held for the anniversary of Viserys’s marriage to Alicent, the queen wore a green gown matching the colours of House Hightower, while Princess Rhaenyra dressed in the red and black of House Targaryen. Note was taken, and thereafter it became the custom to refer to “greens” and “blacks” when talking of the queen’s party and the party of the princess, respectively.
Something to note here is that The Greens are not as forthcoming as The Blacks and thus are not the face of this side of the succession crisis. They have done everything to symbolise Aegon II as the true heir by giving him the Conqueror’s Crown, the sword of Aegon the Conqueror Blackfyre, and having his sigil be a golden dragon of royalty. The sigil is a facade, a lie, a manipulation, and shows exactly what The Greens are all about.
Aegon II Targaryen – Lord of the Seven Kingdoms
Lore – Aegon strongly resembled his father, Viserys I Targaryen, in appearance and just like him he did not look like a warrior. He wore the iron-and-ruby crown of Aegon I Targaryen and carried Blackfyre, his namesake’s Valyrian steel sword. The enmity between Queen Alicent and Princess Rhaenyra was passed on to their children, Aegon and his brothers did not get along with their Velaryon nephews and resented the three boys for having stolen their “birthright,” the Iron Throne itself.
Aegon was convinced that Rhaenyra’s three Velaryon sons were fathered by Ser Harwin Strong and stated such to his brother Aemond. The six boys attended the same feasts, balls, and revels, and sometimes trained together under the same master-at-arms and studied under the same maesters. But this closeness only grew the tensions between the children causing increased conflict that plateaued at a confrontation when the Velaryon brothers were referred as “Strong Boys” sparking a fight.
There is still a lot of stories to explore with Aegon, but this would spoil way too much of the Dance of the Dragons, but it plays out far differently than what most people would expect.
Model Design – Why does it look like a prized pony dolled up way too much? Well, that is Aegon. He is a figurehead but one with little control and influenced by so many other forces. He wields the Blackfyre sword, the Conqueror’s crown, and what looks to be a large tapestry cloaking him. Truly decorated to look like the heir to the Iron Throne and to convince the masses of his right to rule. An incredible model that is way over the top but on purpose to reflect the story of his ascension.
Rules Design – I love the idea that Aegon’s combat stats reflect a very novice swordsman but with Blackfyre it can still pack a punch. Blackfyre has some similarities with Lady Forlorn and Dark Sister which sets up a universal design of Valyrian Steel. There are some other abilities that force a Routed condition or a chunky rule involving Aegon’s dragon. But we cannot see them in full to understand what they do.
Motivation Design – The Motivation is one of the worst I have seen. One Gold for one VP is poor in comparison to other Motivations when you target a character and kill them for some VPs. 1VP is way too low and should be increased to at the very least 2, however the other places where you gain VP in this way you need to be engaged whereas this is just when they die, so Aegon can be safe and still score from the Motivation. We do not get to see the rule change for when Aegon is killed.
Alicent Hightower – Dowager Queen
Lore – Alicent Hightower is known for being a clever and graceful individual who has an affinity for the Westerosi ways with a dedication to the Faith of the Seven and to Oldtown. Alicent was pushed into the eye of Viserys by her father Otto Hightower, and it took Viserys ignoring all other advice to decide to marry her. Originally, Queen Alicent had a good relationship with her stepdaughter, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. But when Alicent gave birth to a son, Prince Aegon, a daughter, Princess Helaena, and another son, Prince Aemond, in rapid succession, and Rhaenyra remained Viserys’s heir, those feelings started to change. Both women wanted to be the first lady of the realm, but there could only be one.
Throughout the Dance of the Dragons, Alicent remained a powerful figure at court and was responsible as one of the few who pushed the King into the direction of ruthless war in defence of their family.
Model Design – I am not too sure on the model for Alicent since she comes off quite young and unadorned. This is the Queen, the power of the Red Keep, and whilst she is young when marrying Viserys she should match the look in terms of age with Rhaenyra. I like the Hightower iconography of Alicent, which does reflect that she did not become Targaryen even though she married in like other non-Targaryen spouses who blended into the family rather than holding onto the one they were born into.
Rules Design – Ways of the Court is an auto-fail for any Morale test which is incredibly powerful and should always be considered as such. There has never been anything in the main game or Tactics that allows someone to auto-fail, likely because it is such a powerful asset to utilise. Further to this, Alicent has another rule to prevent the loss of resources when spending them, another powerful effect. To finish it off she can provide an aura of preventing models from taking tests. She is a great boost to the overall force and is looking like an auto-include to every Green force out there.
Motivation Design – Wow, a Motivation that is strong and also works to amplify Aegon’s Motivation. You bring both and when you score Aegon’s you then score Alicent’s; the only problem is that it is now two Gold for 2VPs which is again, very low. It is probably better to use Alicent’s Motivation instead of Aegon’s due to how less limiting it is.
Otto Hightower – Hand of the King
Lore – Otto Hightower is considered a man of great learning in his time; he is haughty, blunt, and domineering with a methodical, and ambitious mind. Otto has a grand rivalry with Daemon Targaryen since Otto is one for the norms and Daemon is one for branching out and defying the rules. Otto has had many a hand in shaping the kingdom from being Hand during multiple important moments, often shifting it to work in his favour.
The whole civil war might as well be traced to Otto since his ideology and meddling caused the animosity between Alicent and Rhaenyra that was passed onto their children. I am not against believing he has done a lot more to bring down the Targaryen’s due to ambition from himself or pushed on by those back in Oldtown. He is often considered a mix of Tywin Lannister and Petyr Baelish, and he certainly has the villainy of both.
Model Design – As Hand of the King and someone who has manipulated so many from behind the scenes for so long, this model needed to portray this. I don’t know if the model is a good one for Otto; it reminds me of older NCUs CMON have made which are static and have very little going on. A good example is Petyr Baelish in Neutral Heroes 1 in comparison to the new Petyr in this campaign. Whilst the pose is not giving much for this character, the detailing is quite good but doesn’t scream anything specific to Otto, this could be anyone.
Rules Design – We can’t see much of Otto’s rules to discover what he can do in the game, but he does have an okay combat statistic, and it looks like he has a way of meddling conditions and actions.
Motivation Design – Otto’s Motivation is incredible and truly sets up the difference in power between himself and Aegon’s Motivation for the same cost of 1 Gold, but buying Otto is cheaper than Aegon. 1 Gold for 1VP with Aegon or 1 Gold for 4VP with Otto, it is an obvious choice. However, Otto’s pick must be a hero which should make it harder to deal with but not impossible and is a better choice than Aegon.
Aemond Targaryen – Aemond One-Eye
Lore – Aemond when he was younger was half the size of Aegon but was noted as being twice as fierce. He lost his right eye during a fight with Lucerys Velaryon after Aemond claimed Vaghaar all at the age of ten, he was quoted saying I lost an eye, but gained a dragon. He then used a sapphire as a glass eye in the hole, and often wore an eye patch over it. Aemond was bold, wild, willful, hot-tempered, and unforgiving, and grew to be a proficient and dangerous swordsman.
During the Dance of the Dragons, the previous Lord of Storm’s End, Boremund Baratheon, had been a supporter of Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, the Greens feared that Lord Borros Baratheon, the new lord, might side with Rhaenyra as well. Aemond was sent to Storm’s End to convince Lord Borros to support Aegon by promising to marry one of his daughters. During this visit, Lucerys Velaryon arrived to receive Borros’ support which was rejected in favour of Aemond. After some provoking from Aemond, a small clash happened between the two children’s dragons resulting in the first major death of the conflict that flung the crisis into a fully-fledged war.
Model Design – The model is a fantastic design that perfectly represents the reckless overextending duelist that he becomes throughout the Dance of the Dragons. It almost gives Euron Greyjoy vibes as well which works well since they have the similar nature of a twisted villain. The dragon iconography layered onto his armour and cloak is the best I have seen from the Targaryen models so far. The sword looks brilliant and like no sword we have had so far, almost giving cutlass vibes. I like the difference between this model and Daemon where they are both doubling but in very different styles. A great model for a fan favourite character of this era.
Rules Design – Aemond is designed around being a fantastic combatant and a sort of opposite or match for Daemon Targaryen. He is likely to take on anyone and beat them, but he might not be able to defend himself as he is not rocking a fantastic defence. Hit and run tactics will benefit you a lot with Aemond and fits perfectly with how Vaghaar’s mere presence would have people flee so a direct confrontation is rare. Shame there is no rule for Vaghaar’s presence like other dragonriders, but this could be in a future model.
Orwyle – Archmaester
Lore – Orwyle is an Archmaester of the Citadel who became Grand Maester, serving during the reigns of Kings Viserys I and Aegon II Targaryen. Maesters are supposed to serve the ruler of the hold they are assigned too no matter the relationships they may have gained. Something very interesting about the story of the Dance of the Dragons, is that it is written by in universe authors resulting in biassed writing. Orwell’s account was written just before he was executed and as such was done as favourably towards Orwyle as possible, which is noted by several people who added to the accounts.
Pushing this aside, he is known for helping to keep Viserys as healthy as possible, even being able to recover some of his vigour he had previously lost during his illness. But he did have conflicting reports on his allegiance which Orwyle states was unbiased but was only ever stated as such by Orwyle where other reports never mention him counselling against the actions of The Greens.
There are several moments throughout the history of Westeros where Maesters have never been unbiased and for sure have some plans and desires of their own as popularised by the theories of plots involving the Maesters. Orwyle represents a prime example of the Maesters manipulating in the working of the kingdoms. Think of him not as Orwyle, but as a representation of the Citadel.
Model Design – Most Maester models have been quite bland but there isn’t much you can do with modestly clothed individuals. Despite this I do believe Orwyle has done very well despite the little room for creativity.
Rules Design – Orwyle can remove debuffing conditions tokens, heal a character of all their wounds, and allow friendly characters to re-roll their tests. He is a great support piece that can keep your force at the top of their game for longer throughout the fight. This represents the advice, medical expertise, and reliability that all Maesters have to their holds. A perfect set of rules that could potentially be very powerful in the game.
Criston Cole – Kingsquard
Lore – Criston Cole was an exceptionally skilled warrior, particularly with his morningstar. He was born to a steward of Lord Dondarrion at Blackhaven and was able to rise through recognition from winning a tourney celebrating Viserys rise to the Iron Throne. During this he was able to best Daemon Targaryen in the melee where he disarmed Dark Sister using his morningstar. This caught the attention of some higher court members who have a distaste for the Rogue Prince.
Criston Cole joined The Greens during the Dance of the Dragons after Criston slipped into Rhaenyra’s bedchamber to confess his love, offering to abscond with her to one of the Free Cities where he would pledge his sword to some merchant prince. Rhaenyra refused him, however, saying a Targaryen was meant to be more than the wife of a sellsword, and that if he could forget his Kingsguard vows, he could forget marriage vows. Criston went from being her staunchest defender to her bitterest foe.
This ultimately led to the moment where Criston Cole got his namesake not used in this game. When King Viserys I Targaryen died, Cole worked with Queen Alicent to raise Aegon to take the Iron Throne, and he was the one who placed the crown of Aegon the Conqueror on the young king’s head. Due to this action, and those who believed Aegon was manipulated by Cole, he was henceforth known as Kingmaker.
Jamie Lannister reads about Criston Cole in the Book of Brothers when contemplating honour. Cole is renowned for abandoning oaths, and Jaime did not wish to be remembered in the same fashion.
Model Design – This is how you do a Kingsguard model. When you are restricted with a base design shared across multiple characters, equipment and pose is the most important aspect to make them stand out and have the most character. In this instance, Criston sports his morningstar with great momentum. I love this design for the Kingmaker and would love a future one for his role in the Dance going forward.
Rules Design – Probably the most covered up character rules wise, which is a shame. I hope to see a decent combat statistic and we can see there is a unique Aftermath ability here which could be important to how he plays. But we have little to go off here.
Arryk Cargyll – Kingsguard
Lore – Arryk Cargyll is the twin brother of Erryk Cargyll who find themselves on different sides of the war. Arryk was a Kingsguard member for Viserys I Targaryen during his reign and was the one to discover the interaction between Daemon Targaryen and Rhaenyra that resulted in Daemon’s exile. Arryk sided with Aegon when Viserys died and personally led him to the throne room of the Red Keep after the coronation although not many of the Kingsguard joined him due to them being torn in two during this conflict.
Model Design – As mentioned in Erryk’s section, it is difficult to make a character model out of something that is duplicated amongst seven characters. But, posing and weapon choice is one way to solve this. Giving them sword and shield to distinguish them from the other Kingsguard was a smart choice and giving them two different stances was a smart choice to show whilst twins they have different viewpoints. One is in an aggressive stance, the other a defensive stance. Subtle designs that link to their personal story.
Rules Design – Remarkably Arryk is vastly worse in combat than his twin but there is a reason for this. Whereas Erryk boosts Rhaenyra, Arryk can boost other characters not limited to someone specific. When he doesn’t take any Wounds, he can deal out some damage, or if he dies one model engaged gets to do something, which we would know what that is if it wasn’t covered up. I assume this might be an action though.
Arryk’s rules seem very lacklustre in comparison to his twin who is much better for the same cost. If that final action in death is a free action to anyone then it changes things, but his combat prowess is quite low without too much benefit. It is nice however to see an Aftermath rule on Arryck, and having the twins fight each other could result in a lore accurate outcome which is a cherry on top for rules design here.
Gwayne Hightower – City Watch Commander
Lore – Gwayne Hightower is a knight of House Hightower and an officer of the City Watch of King’s Landing. He is the youngest son of Ser Otto Hightower and one of the brothers of Queen Alicent Hightower. Whilst he has been present at court just as much as the other Hightowers, he hasn’t been as present in the politicking as the rest. He is more of a tool than anything significant, Daemon Targaryen used him during a joust as target practice for his hatred towards Otto, and the Hightowers used him to keep an eye on distrustful people in the City Watch.
A great part of the Dance of Dragons was the fact that nothing was safe from the war, and everything is torn in two which is why it is so memorable in the history of Westeros. Targaryen family in two, the Seven Kingdoms in two, the Kingsguard, and with Gwayne so was the City Watch.
Model Design – I am so happy the Gold Cloaks/City Watch are getting so much love in this campaign since they have long been waiting to join the main game. Gwayne is designed differently from other Gold Cloaks where he is more lowkey or reserved in the details, but still shows some of his dedication in the symbol of the faith as an example. But his reserved pose reflects his task at hand which is to be a commander keeping an eye on those that may have questioning loyalties.
Rules Design – Gwayne’s rules being designed around arresting is quite fun seeing as he is the City Watch. His combat stats are actually pretty good, but that is only if you have silver to spend to try and arrest characters. But Gwayne also gets a boost with a move when a model is captured. I can see this working well with Otto’s Motivation.
Hightower Guard and Oldtown Peacekeeper
Model Design – The Hightower Guard and Oldtown Peacekeeper have a glaring flaw of the Targaryen symbol emblazoned on their armour. This is dumb, it should be the Hightower symbol since they are Hightower troops and not Targaryen forces. I will be removing this symbol from the chest piece and shield, replacing it with the correct sigil. Aside from this they aren’t too bad but look stunning from a troop option standpoint, I love the look and weapon of the Peacekeeper which is a unique look for the game.
Rules Design – The Hightower Guard is very defensive with a good armour value and an ability to boost this. There haven’t been many tough troops out there but when a bunch of your characters are very frail it is important to have a frontline of the guard to delay the loss of your characters.
The Oldtown Peacekeeper has their rules covered up, but you can get the gist that they provide a short range defence against charge bonuses. This is the only place I have seen this and there is a lot of boosting each other in the Greens Faction. The designers have tried to incorporate the defensive abilities of the Halberd Units in the main game over in the base game when there are less models.
Summary
I hope you have learnt something new about the characters in the box set. When making this article there were some characters, I didn’t even know about such as Steffon Darklyn and Gwayne Hightower, so I am glad that the game is highlighting some unique names to make new moments from. The models have also come a long way from the first campaign for ASOIAF CMON has done and it is a world of difference in the detailing the designers have done.
I can’t wait to see the rules in full to further see how the rules developers have created these awesome characters from the history of Westeros. I will be continuing this series with two boxes from the War of the Five Kings then followed by the Neutral Expansions. We have a year until the game reaches our laps but plenty to discuss until then.
