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Chief EGG Head
United States
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Played Liberté the other night. This old Martin Wallace classic was recently reprinted and if you are a fan I'd really consider giving it a whirl.
I bought the original when it first came out and I remember enjoying it at the time but it was pushed to the back of the shelf as I was distracted by new bright and shiny games. Recently at EGG (our local board game convention) it was happily brought out and has inspired a bit of a renaissance of the game.
For a brief summary: Liberte is a card driven area control game. Each player starts with a hand of 7 cards which have different personalities of the revolution on them representing the 3 differing factions: the Moderates (blue), the Royalists (white) and the Radicals (red). The cards allow you to place 1-3 faction blocks on the board in the various provinces. Faction blocks stacks can be 3 tall. You may also keep cards played in your display to use later to break ties. You may instead draw a new card. I'd recommend the Dagger Variant allowing you to draw or play 2 single block cards at once. There are some special card which do things like remove blocks from the board or allow dispatching of opposing leaders in other players' displays.
There are 4 rounds or elections where the player with the most blocks and second most blocks in the leading faction will score points. The player with the most blocks in the next leading faction will also score points. Each province is evaluated for faction control by the color and number of blocks ties broken by cards in display. There is also a "Battle Box" where players can place tokens and resolve the battle using tokens or in the case of ties, cards in display. The player with the most points wins after the 4th election.
The really neat part of the game is the 2 other "Sudden Death" winning conditions. If the Radicals control 17 votes at the end of an election the player with the most red influence equal to blocks, including blocks on cards in their display and hand wins. If the Royalist control at least 7 of the special provinces the player with the most white influence wins.
Julie, Andrew, Doug, Cary and I sat down to play with Andrew being new to the game. I had a lot of blue cards in hand and started going for points. Unfortunately Doug and Cary and to a lesser extent Andrew were backing the Royalist who won the first election. So after the first round I think Julie and I were in last place while Doug and Cary battled for first.
During the second election the Radicals started making big moves. Julie, Andrew, and I started pushing the red agenda. Red got close to taking control of the leadership but not enough to force a sudden death. Cary and Doug extended their lead in VP.
The third election got really interesting. Doug was playing white and blue. Cary was waffling on colors. The three Radicals Julie, Andrew and I pushed for a red win again. Andrew had the choice in Paris to use both red blocks for votes or only one. Cary gave him a compelling argument not to use both while I tried to convince him this was his best chance to win the game. Andrew followed Cary's advice. It would have been down to cards in hand if the Radicals had gotten to 17 votes and would have been pretty close between Andrew, Julie and I. Andrew had more blocks and a few red cards in hand and I had a handful of red. Julie had use most of her red cards and only had her display left. So after the third round Doug and Cary continued to lead followed by Julie and then Andrew and I was still in last.
The last round and I decided to switch allegiances after drawing a few good white cards. Julie started pushing for the moderates and Cary was readying to make a Radical assault or play for a VP win along with Doug. I quietly took Royalist control of 3 provinces. Doug had control of 2 from the previous round and 1 tie. I was poised to play a 3 block white card for the win but alas, Doug beat me to it breaking his tie and claiming the 7th province needed and defeated me 16 to 14.
Liberte is really a great game of making and breaking allegiances. I could see where some people won't enjoy the chaotic and tactical nature of the game. I find it plays relatively quickly and enjoy the challenge of having to change plans on the spot. I really love the special win options which can allow a nice come from behind surprise win.
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