ButtonLords

Release Date: February 2000
Set Size: 8 Buttons
Publisher: Green Knight Publishing
Designers: James Ernest
Artist: Lissanne Lake https://www.facebook.com/LissanneLakeart/
New Rules: Auxiliary Dice

Eight characters from Arthurian legend are represented in this medium-sized expansion from Green Knight Publishing. A new die type, Auxiliary Dice, provides for a few more options. ButtonLords was nominated for the Origins Award for Best Abstract Board game of 2000.

Design Notes[edit | edit source]

Pendragon insisted on a mechanic to simulate fighting on horseback, and the Auxiliary Die was born. Actually, the concept grew out of the development track that led to the Reserve Dice in the Sailor Moon expansion. Auxiliary Dice are slightly different from Reserve Dice, as they are always available to their owners, as well as any opponent foolish enough to go around without one.

Ironically, the ButtonLords were printed along with the BRAWL Button Men, resulting in two buttons named Morgan being produced at the same time.^[1]

With ButtonLords you can fight head-to-head with the two buttons in a pack, or against other ButtonLords in other packs, or any other Butten Men characters! Have Mordred beat up Sailor Moon™! Have Morgan le Fay go up against Legends of the Five Rings™ Crane and Crab clan warriors! Send in Merlin to clean up the vampires!^[2]

According to Peter Corless, CEO of Green Knight Publishing:

I was trying to broaden Pendragon's horizons, and James Ernest, who I had liked for some of his Cheapass Games, came up with the idea of all the gaming companies having their own Button Men games. I *liked* the idea, so I went in for a few sets. The idea was that, even if you didn't play, you might collect them for the art. People wear buttons anyway. But the idea didn't take hold, and we ended up with a good few boxes of them. The Pendragon buttonmen were underwhelming in both power and selling power. We hardly sold any. It just didn't sell as well as I hoped and the fad came and went in a year.
I published the game for Green Knight, but James was the brains behind all the designs. The playtesting wasn't all-too-intensive. James had assured me he had crunched the numbers and they looked balanced to him.