Banish The Snakes Interview: Kevin McPartland

Banish the Snakes is a solitaire and/or cooperative game that simulates Ireland in the 5th century, while the Roman Empire was collapsing in the west and Ireland was turning to the Christian religion. Players represent Saints- Patrick and others (up to six of you) who set out to convert the pagans on the island. You must work as a team to convert the people of Ireland before the barbarians completely overwhelm Britain- if you fail, the Irish will not be able to save Civilization in the following centuries!

The rules and images shown here are not final

You can find it in P500

1-Who are you and you favourite wargame/s?

My name is Kevin McPartland, and I have been playing wargames since my first issue of
Stratetgy & Tactics magazine arrived in the mail when I was a teenager: issue number 34!
Some of my favorited wargames that come to mind include the old SPI Winter War, Avalon Hill
Kingmaker and Civilization, GMT’s Wilderness War and Commands and Colors: Ancients, and so
many more. Lately my group has been playing more “euro”-type games, like Catan,
Terraforming Mars, and of course the Pandemic games.

2-Why did you decide to do this game?

Banish the Snakes began when I was lamenting the scarcity of board games set in Ireland. My
grandfather was born in County Leitrim in Ireland, and I have an interest in the island’s history.
I was considering a design on the whole sweep of Irish history, inspired by Britannia. But
certain events in Ireland’s history really stood out as especially important and unique. One of
these events was the 5 th -century conversion of Ireland to Christianity.

3-Can you talk about the mechanics?

The conversion of Ireland was completely successful and remarkably peaceful. It was so
complete that Ireland became a bastion of Christianity, eventually re-introducing it to Western
Europe after the collapse of the Roman Empire. It quickly became obvious that the game
needed to be a cooperative game.

Players represent various clerics who took on the task of converting Ireland, Patrick being the
most famous, but historically many others were involved, too. They would eventually earn the
title of “saint”, so that is what they are called in the game. Each saint has different special
abilities to help them in their tasks; players need to work as a team to best take advantage of
their abilities.

Ireland began the 5 th century almost complete pagan: the people, kings, chiefs, and druids
formed an interlocking network of influence and social relationships. It’s the players’ job to
break into this society and change their thinking. Every player’s turn begins by drawing an
event card. Most cards have several events on them, with the previous card determining
exactly which event will take place. This creates a tremendous amount of variability from game
to game.

4-How the different factions work?

There aren’t really different factions, but there are different groups in pagan Ireland
supporting each other. The druids are the religious leaders, with one in each area. They must
be successfully debated before you can build a church in their area. Then there are the political
leaders, with the High King at Tara at the top. Each of the four Provinces has a King; and each
area has a Chief. The leaders are influenced by the leaders above them, and by their druids. At
the bottom of this hierarchy are the people. You must convert all of the people to win the
game.

The players represent different historical characters who later became Saints. They all have
different special abilities; for example, Patrick has a positive modifier when trying to convert
people, and Secundinus has a positive modifier to convert leaders. Palladius can build or
improve one church each turn for free. Other saints begin the game in the deck- historically,
they arrived on the scene later. These include Brigid, Finnian, and Brendan the Navigator. As
the saints do their work, they will inevitably suffer losses of zeal and eventually die; the later
saints should be ready to step up and take their place.

5-Scenarios and/or length of the game?

A typical game will take about an hour and a half to two hours. New players might take a little
longer. There really aren’t any scenarios; however, players can modify the starting situation by
using saints that historically began later in the game, as at-start saints. Or vice-versa. Or mix
some of each. Players might choose to start with the mix of saints that gives them the best
chance of victory, or a mix that will be their greatest challenge. Also, there are three levels of
play: Beginner level, Standard level, and Advanced level.

6-Do you have another game/project in mind?

I do have another game about Irish history with a publisher: The Great Hunger, about Ireland
during the Potato Famine in the mid-nineteenth century. Players represent groups of
struggling poor people who begin the game doing quite well, with this new wonder crop. But
then the blight hits. The player who does best at surviving in Ireland and/or getting people to
America is the winner. The design is complete, but the publisher has not yet begun production
on the game.