Description

Step into the age of longships and battle-axes with Age of Viking Conquest, a strategic conquest simulation immersing players in the turbulent era of Viking incursions across Europe. Your ultimate objective is to rise above all rival powers and establish unrivaled supremacy throughout Northern Europe. Choose your banner — Sweden, Norway, or Denmark — and build an empire by expanding your reach across land and water. Launch your fearsome drakkars and carve your legacy into history!

Features

• Relive the golden age of Norse warfare by commanding one of the mightiest Viking kingdoms standing at the threshold of reshaping Europe's political landscape, demonstrating your worth as both a military juggernaut and a defining cultural force of the period.
  
• Unleash your nation's full military and economic potential as you navigate ships, cavalry, and foot soldiers across the breadth of Europe.
  
• Complement raw power with cunning strategy, deploying shadowy techniques including espionage networks and subversive operations.
  
• Clash with rival Northern Kingdoms while simultaneously challenging the great Continental powers for dominance.
  
• Take command of one of three iconic Viking realms: Norway, Sweden, or Denmark.
  
• Test your mettle against intelligent AI opponents or face off against fellow human rivals all vying for control of Europe.
  

More about the game
Victory is achieved either by accumulating the highest number of Victory Points (VPs) or by surpassing a predetermined VP milestone, depending on the chosen scenario and custom settings selected from the main menu. Achieving this requires seizing territories across the world map while crushing opposing forces in combat.
The game world encompasses approximately 130 regions available for conquest. Each region carries its own income and VP values, which are randomized in the Standard scenario and remain hidden until captured or uncovered through espionage. Regions not under the control of a Major Power are typically governed and defended by independent Minor countries.
Every Major country is managed either by a human player, the computer, or designated as neutral — in which case it operates similarly to a Minor country.
Hotseat multiplayer is fully supported, with an optional 4-minute time cap per player to keep sessions moving.
Each game turn corresponds to one of the four seasons. Winter stands apart as a uniquely challenging season, introducing restricted movement, brutal weather conditions, and severely limited available actions.
The game continues until scenario victory conditions are fulfilled or until all three Viking powers have embraced Christianity. Beginning in 700 AD, play extends through just past 1100 AD, though it may conclude earlier should the player be eliminated or convert to Christianity.
Three distinct scenarios are available, each launching from a pivotal historical moment: 700 AD (the dawn of the Viking Age), 850 AD (the height of Viking expansion), and 1000 AD (the twilight era of major Viking and Northmen conquests).
Each turn is structured around core phases, including:
- Build Phase (suspended during winter for most actions) encompassing: Warrior & Ship Construction, Fortification, Raids, Discoveries, Trade, Espionage, and Mercenary Sales (available in Winter exclusively).
- Movement Phase covering both land and naval operations.
- Combat Phase resolving all military engagements.
The mechanics of each phase are deliberately accessible and intuitive, detailed as follows:
- Army and Navy Construction (unavailable in winter): Recruit new warriors and commission new vessels, but only within your castle territories.
- Fortification: Reinforce army units with defensive fortifications, excluding castles which are inherently fortified.
- Mercenary Sales (winter exclusive): Profit by dispatching idle warriors into the service of neighboring powers in exchange for gold. After completing a year abroad, surviving mercenaries return home and rejoin your available forces. While serving elsewhere, they bolster the defensive strength of the regions they occupy.
- Espionage (unavailable in winter): Gather intelligence on the approximate — though not always reliable — military strength and income of a Minor country or Major-controlled region, along with its VP value.
- Trade (unavailable in winter): Invest gold to establish trading posts in foreign territories, generating a steady stream of supplemental income until those posts are destroyed or the regions fall under your control.
- Raids (unavailable in winter): Dispatch fleets — no warriors required, as the ship crews are more than capable — to plunder enemy coastlines for substantial gold rewards. Be mindful of diminishing returns as regions become exhausted from repeated looting, and stay alert for retaliatory strikes.
- Movement Phase (every turn): March warriors into neighboring regions one step at a time. Ships, whether sailing solo or transporting troops, may travel between ports covering up to three regions per turn, and can execute amphibious landings on enemy-held shores. A total of up to 6 movement groups are available, with one additional group granted per castle owned.
- Combat Phase (every turn): Battles unfold over up to 6 rounds, each beginning with naval combat (when fleets are present) before transitioning to land engagements. Combat resolution is simultaneous, with Viking forces enjoying a modest tactical edge when launching assaults from the sea.
- Prepare to resist the aggressive expansion of the Franks, Byzantines, and Arabs, who will not hesitate to strike back fiercely if you encroach upon their territories.
- Above all, respect the power of nature — from devastating ocean tempests to the paralyzing grip of a northern winter!