Alhambra Expansion 5
The Might of the Sultan

Review

This is an attempt to explain clearly the contents of the fifth expansion to the SdJ winning Alhambra game. I will go through the components and the rules and give a few thoughts on the impact it will have on the base game. I will assume that the reader already knows how to play the base game.

So that you can put what I write into perspective, I am a big fan of Alhambra, and have all the expansions so far. One of the things I like about the way the expansions have been handled is that they can be added singly or together to tweak the gameplay each time you sit down to play, to give a subtly different experience each time.

Overview

As with the other expansions, there are four mini expansions within the one box. Each of these can be added to the base game separately, altogether, or combined with any of the other mini expansions. Four mini expansions in this set are New Score Cards (which change the points value for the six building types); The Art of the Moors (which award points for having several buildings of the same price); The Power of the Sultan (which help you gain the one crucial tile you need if it appears on someone else’s turn); and The Caravanserai (which gives a new flexible way of generating small amounts of money).

Components (or What’s in the box)

The box is the same size as all the other Alhambra expansions. Inside is a zip-lock bag with (in my case) 35 small brown wooden cubes in it (I think there should be 36); a cellophane wrapped group of playing card sized items; one six-sided die with symbols of the six building types on each face instead of numbers; and five cards with tiles/counters to be punched out. The card stock is of standard Alhambra quality (i.e. good, thick and durable). The only minor quibbles I have are firstly that the wooden cubes are small and rather fiddly, but in mitigation I should say that if they were any bigger they would be too big to be used for their intended purpose. Secondly, the new score cards are rather small as well, but having said that they are usable, and I really am nit-picking.



Mini-Expansion 1
New Score Cards
Components
18 score cards, each with a different sequence of the six building types.
1 points indicator with slots for holding three of the 18 score cards.



Setup
The 18 score cards are shuffled face down, and three are picked at random and placed face up in the three slots in the points indicator. The remaining cards are not used. Note that the two score cards in the base game are still used to trigger the points scoring rounds.

Gameplay
The new score cards randomise the building types so that the points values are altered from those in the basic game. So for example, in the first scoring round instead of the majority holder of Pavilions being awarded 1 point; Seraglios 2; Arcades 3; Chambers 4; Gardens 5 and Towers 6, the points available could be changed to the majority holder of Arcades receiving 1 point; Pavilions 2; Seraglios 3; Towers 4; Gardens 5 and Chambers 6.



The second point to note is that the order will be different for each of the scoring rounds. So for example Arcades might be the least valuable during the first scoring round, but the most valuable in the second scoring round, and the third best in the final scoring round. Being able to work out which building types are the ones to focus on suddenly becomes a lot more difficult.

Implications
The first point to consider is that the building tiles in the basic game are not equally distributed across the six building types. For example there are 11 Towers but only 7 Pavilions. This means that it is easier to gain supremacy in pavilions with only 3 or 4 tiles. Potentially some of the previously low scoring tiles are going to become very sought after and valuable.

This expansion won’t affect the basic gameplay, by which I mean that the process of buying tiles and incorporating them into your Alhambra will remain unaffected. However, it will have a major impact on which tiles will become the most sought after, and will also favour those who are better able to assess the scoring changes between the rounds.

I haven’t found this yet, but it also seems possible that this will allow for quite large changes in fortune. Previously if you had a very good second scoring round, you could be pretty sure of having a good final scoring round as well. With this expansion in play this is no longer assured.

Conclusion
I like this expansion a lot. It’s consistent with the overall feel and gameplay of the original, and provides some interesting new things to think about as an expansion should. However it’s implications are limited to changing the weightings for the different building types, and does not affect the construction of the Alhambra.

Rating 4 out of 5.


Mini-Expansion 2
The Power of the Sultan

Components
8 Sultan cards
8 marker pieces
1 building die with the symbols of the 6 building types
6 overview cards (not strictly necessary as part of the expansion, but useful assistance for the players when decision making).



Setup
Once the money cards from the basic game have been divided into five stacks, three Sultan cards are shuffled into the first stack, two into the second and three into the third. The marker pieces and die are laid out next to the market place ready for use.



Gameplay
When a Sultan card is turned over, it is laid next to the marketplace, and further money cards are turned over until there are four showing. The die is rolled, and a marker piece placed on the appropriate symbol on the card. Several Sultan cards can be open at one time.



Open Sultan cards can be bought like any building. The price is 7 units of whichever currency is indicated on the card, with an extra turn available for exact payment. Once purchased the card is placed down in front of the player. If the building type is not the one desired, the player may choose to re-roll the building die, and can then choose the building type rolled or the building type on the other side of the die, and can then move the marker piece to either of these symbols.



The Sultan card can then be used at any time to immediately buy a building tile at any price and incorporate it into the player’s Alhambra or reserve board. This includes another player’s turn or at the end of the game. Once used, the Sultan card is then removed from the game.

Implications
The main application of this expansion is to make sure you can get the one crucial tile needed for building your Alhambra, or to deny that tile to another player. It is basically a more powerful version of the Vizier’s favour from expansion 1 (it takes priority over the Vizier’s favour), and is probably of greater use in games with more players, when the likelihood of the tile you want appearing just after your turn and being bought by another player is greater.

Conclusion
I’m a little ambivalent about the use of a die. I’m not someone who is completely opposed to the use of dice in board games, as in general dice are simply a different way of introducing randomness into a game to the use of cards or tiles – with a dice the outcome is not affected by previous outcomes, whereas with cards or tiles it (usually) is – and on the whole players with better risk management skills will do better in the long term. It’s just that Alhambra has always avoided using dice in the past.

On the whole I feel that this expansion is more useful with 4 or more players, and by allowing tiles to be bought out of sequence will introduce more chaos to the market.

Rating 3.5 out of 5


Mini-Expansion 3
The Caravanserai

Components
8 caravanserai cards
8 marker pieces

Setup
The eight cards are laid out and the marker pieces are placed next to them.



Gameplay
A caravanserai card is acquired during a player’s turn in the same way as a building tile, but cannot be bought until a player has tiles of at least four different building types included in their Alhambra (tiles in the reserve board don’t count towards this condition). The price must be paid in one single currency of any type, and the amount will vary depending on the number of basic building types included in the Alhambra: with four different types of tile the cost is 8; with five different types the cost is 4; and with all six different types the cost is 2. Paying the exact amount will give an extra turn.



The player buying a caravanserai card places the card in front of them (they can have a maximum of 2) and places a marker piece on the “0”. As the first action of a player’s turn, the marker may, if the player wishes, be moved one place up the card. This will usually increase the currency value by 1, but may change the currency type.



A player must go from 0 -> 1G -> 2G in his/her first two turns, as there are no choices before that point.

When the 2G node has been reached, the player may choose as their next turn to move the marker 2G -> 3G or 2G -> 2B. If the former, they will not be able to get blue currency from that card again until the money is spent and the marker moved back to zero. If the latter, they will not be able to move the marker again - again until the money is spent and the marker moved back to zero.

In other words, the 2B, 3Y, 4O and 5G are termination points for the marker, and since the marker cannot be moved backwards, become final currency decisions for that use of the card.

The maximum the card can be worth is 5, and only one marker may be moved each turn even if two cards are owned. Once the money provided by the card is used the marker piece is returned to zero, and the card may be recharged and used again.

Implications
The Caravanserai cards introduce a tricky strategic decision to the gameplay. In order to get the most benefit from the card, it needs to be owned for a large number of game turns – after all the card can only be charged 1 point per turn. However the card cannot be purchased until your Alhambra is diversified across the building types, which is often something you don’t want to do too early. Certainly I have found that I usually want to have a presence in most building types by the end of the game when points are available for third place, but in the early rounds a strong presence in a few building types is preferable.

The main benefit of these cards is to help you make exact payment for building tiles by providing small amounts of change. The decision about when and whether to go for these cards is finely balanced, and will vary significantly depending on the number of players. In a three player game, an individual will have more turns with which to charge up the caravanserai card than in a six player game.

Conclusion
The more I get into the nuances of this expansion the more I like it. The effect is not as game changing as some of the expansions, but the extra decision making involved is intriguing. The only reason it doesn’t get a higher mark is that it doesn’t bring major implications to gameplay,

Rating 4 out of 5


Mini-Expansion 4
The Art of the Moors

Components
20 hexagonal culture counters
20 marker pieces
10 docking strips
6 overview cards (not strictly necessary as part of the expansion, but useful assistance for the players when decision making).

Setup
The counters are sorted into piles by their values shown on the reverse sides and laid out in stacks. The marker pieces and docking strips are laid out too. Each player is given an overview card.

Gameplay
A player who owns two or more buildings with the same price (in the Alhambra or in the reserve) and does not already have a culture counter of that value, may take one at the end of their move along with a docking strip.

In this example a player has just acquired two value 8 building tiles. the player takes a docking strip and a value 8 culture counter and sets them out as shown. The marker is placed on the largest number which has 2 small squares next to it (in this case 2).

Each new culture counter is attached to the docking strip with the 0 value pointing to the strip. The player now marks the number of buildings they have of that price by placing a marker piece on the corner of the hexagon with the corresponding number of squares, and the highest number of available victory points. Note that although the marker may be on 3 victory points, the number of points being scored is still zero at this time.

The player may then choose to develop the artwork as their turn. The hexagon is rotated one point anti-clockwise as shown. The player will now score 2 victory points at all subsequent scoring rounds. However, as the marker is now at the top, the hexagon may not be rotated again until furthervalu 8 tiles are added.

When newly purchased buildings are acquired, the marker piece is adjusted at the end of the turn without constituting a move. A player may have more than one culture counter, but only one culture counter of a given value. So for example, a player with two 7 value buildings and two nine value buildings would have one docking strip with two culture counters against it (7 and 9 value), and one empty docking space which could be used in the future.

The player then added tiles to their Alhambra or reserve board, so that s/he now has 2 of value 7 and 2 of value 12 or 13 (12 and 13 are taken together for this purpose). The player automatically takes the relevant culture token and places it in a spare docking point. If there are no spare slots, a new docking strip is taken.

In order to convert these into victory points the player may now utilise a new option of play – to develop the culture counters by rotating them. With this option all of the player’s culture counters are turned anti-clockwise one position, unless the marker piece is already at the top position in which case the counter may not be turned any further, although further rotations may become possible in the future if building tiles of the right value are added.

If a building tile is added with a value for which the player already has a culture token, the player does not take a new token. Instead the marker piece is moved around to indicate the number of tiles of that value. In this example a price 8 building tile has been added bringing the total to three, so the marker piece on the value 8 culture token is moved to the corner marked by three small squares.

The players receive additional victory points for the culture counters at each scoring round. The points scored are indicated by the number pointing towards the docking strip on each culture counter.

When a player decides to develop their Art of the Moors, all culture tokens are rotated one point. In this case the player will now score 5+2+4 = 11 points at all subsequent scoring rounds.

However, if the marker piece is already at the top, this indicates that the maximum number of points available has already been claimed. If the player decides to develop their Art of the Moorish, only those culture tokens which have spare turns remaining are rotated. In this example only the 12/13 token is rotated, giving the player a score of 5+2+6 = 13.

Implications
There is real meat in this expansion. The number of victory points available are significant, and almost certainly it won’t be possible to win with this expansion in play without taking advantage of it in some way.

First of all, the value of the tiles going into your Alhambra become important, rather than simply the building type. This is a new feature for Alhambra, and brings a new layer of choice to the selecting of tiles and the construction of the Alhambra.

Secondly, to score big points required sacrificing a large number of turns – something not to be done lightly. Is it better to rotate the culture tokens early and get the points available for multiple scoring rounds, or to conserve the turns and wait until there are several culture tokens which can all be rotated at the same time?

Conclusion
This is my favourite of the four mini-expansions in this set. Using as it does the price of the building tiles brings a new dimension to Alhambra construction. Also, everyone receives the appropriate culture tile and docking strip automatically when they qualify for it, so there isn’t any way you can opt out from the decisions involved. I like this and think it’s the best part of the expansion box.

Rating 5 out of 5


Overall Conclusion
16.5 out of 20





I rate this very expansion very highly and would recommend it to anyone looking at ways of tweaking the basic set. In terms of comparing this set of expansions to the others, I personally rate it above set #1 The Vizier’s Favour, and set #3 The Thief’s Turn, and it doesn’t lose out in comparison to #2 The City Gates and #4 The Treasure Chamber, which to my mind have been the best two so far.

I hope you have enjoyed this, my first ever review, and it has given you some idea about whether this is something you might want to buy. I don’t regret the purchase I made.

Last edited on 2009-01-07 03:56:08 CST (Total Number of Edits: 6)