Saturday, April 4, 2015

All the King's Men

In my opinion, the 1970's were the golden age of board games.  Just prior to home video games taking over, these games were plentiful and provided great escapism for a child.  After all my years of going to sales, I still see some I've never heard of, like this Parker Brothers game "All The King's Men" from 1979.  


Similar to chess, only 3 piece types are used on each side: 1 King, 4 Knights and 7 Archers.  Movements are dictated by the space the piece resides on.



I never played chess when I was a kid, but the graphics and realistic figures of this game would have hooked me.  I loved anything medieval-themed.







7 comments:

  1. If that's a complete set, how much do you want for it, plus shipping to 66207?

    If you ever come across the Thunder Road game from Milton Bradley, let me know! I've been on the lookout for a complete game for a long time.

    mwschmeer at thegeemail dot comm

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    1. Thanks, mwschmeer, it is a complete set and I'd normally be happy to oblige, but my sons have taken a shine to the game. However, there are quite a few on eBay right now for reasonable prices. I've never heard of Thunder Road, but looking at it on eBay now, it looks pretty cool. I'll definitely watch for it.

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  2. Great-looking game (and game pieces) that I spotted in the wild a while back:

    https://2warpstoneptune.wordpress.com/2014/09/02/a-portrait-of-young-geeks-playing-dd-1986/

    Are any artist/design credits listed in the instructions, by any chance? I'm wondering if the Medieval theme was a result of the success of D&D.

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    1. >Great-looking game (and game pieces) that I spotted in the wild a while back
      Wow, great eye spotting that game! I didn't know it started life as "The Ninny's Chess". That's a little insulting!
      >I'm wondering if the Medieval theme was a result of the success of D&D.
      I'm sure it was. It seems like everyone was jumping on the wagon in the late '70's and early '80's. I have another Medieval game I'll be posting at some point that dates from 1967. It was possibly my first garage sale find. I won't reveal what it was for now. Don't want to spoil the post!

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    2. Oh, and no, unfortunately, there aren't any artist credits in the instructions. But they did offer an address to answer any questions you had about the game... I wonder if they would still answer... :)

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  3. I think I know the game of which you speak. Does it start with an 'S' and end with an 'e'? That one's on my list!

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    1. No, actually it starts with an 'F' and ends with an 'l'. THERE WILL BE NO FURTHER CLUES!

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