The game is for 2 to 5 players, best with 5. It covers the time of the 100 Years War, but it is not a military game, but rather an historically based strategy card game played on a mapboard. Each player in the game has something to do each time one of the five participants acts during a turn. There are up to 15 turns in a game, although there can be a winner sooner. The two major powers are the Angevin Empire (going firstand with the most cards in hand) and France (playing last in a turn and with the second largest playing hand). The other players represent Flanders, Savoy, and Toulouse. As Toulouse is out of play near the end of the game because of the Cathar Crusade against it, its otherwise favorable board position is balanced.
Essentially all the players act, in turn, to further their aims and thwart those of their adversaries, even as they must trade cards with them to be able to act efficiently.
Any of the five countris can win. If none manages a victory by the end of play, France wins automatically.