
- BGG rating
- 6.7
The Men Who Would Be Kings: The Last Samurai Rebellion
- 2022

2016
Rules assistance for The Men Who Would Be Kings: Colonial Wargaming Rules
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
For 2 players

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Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
The Men Who Would Be Kings: Colonial Wargaming Rules is a board game released in 2016 for 2 players and ages 12 and up. It was designed by Daniel Mersey and its main mechanics are Dice Rolling, Simulation, and Line of Sight.
The Men Who Would Be Kings is a set of rules designed for fighting historical or Hollywood colonial battles in the mid- to late-Nineteenth Century, from the Indian Mutiny to the Boxer Rebellion. Large scale colonial clashes tended to be one-sided affairs, but there are countless reports of brief, frantic skirmishes in every colonial war--where either side could be victorious--and these are the battles that The Men Who Would Be Kings seeks to recreate. Although focusing on the British colonial wars against the Zulus, Maoris, and others, these rules will also permit players to explore the empires of France, Germany, and other nations, as well as allowing for battles between rival native factions. Gameplay is very simple, and is driven by the quality of the officers leading your units, in the true spirit of Victorian derring-do and adventure, where larger than life characters such as the (real) Fred Burnaby and the (fictional) Harry Flashman led their troops to glory and medals, or to a horrible end at the point of a spear tip.
The Men Who Would Be Kings: Colonial Wargaming Rules supports 2 players according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The catalogue lists The Men Who Would Be Kings: Colonial Wargaming Rules for ages 12 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
The Men Who Would Be Kings: Colonial Wargaming Rules has a complexity rating of 2.2 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
The Men Who Would Be Kings: Colonial Wargaming Rules belongs to these categories: Wargame, Miniatures, and Post-Napoleonic. Its main mechanics are Dice Rolling, Simulation, and Line of Sight. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of The Men Who Would Be Kings: Colonial Wargaming Rules are: Daniel Mersey. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists The Men Who Would Be Kings: Colonial Wargaming Rules as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.