Game: Alhambra: The Treasure Chamber

Thread: Re: Alhambra (The Treasure Chamber) - A Detailed Review

wonderpup — 2008-04-05T22:00:02+00:00

Neil Thomson wrote:

Components – This Mini-Expansion offers 16 Master Builder Cards. Each card bears the illustration of a man holding a triangle. This is the Master Builder and I am sure the triangle has significance regarding his profession, but I am unaware of it (feel free to fill me in).

The triangle is actually a "square", a perfect right angle to measure work with. It has may uses amongst carpenters and masons. Its symbolism is very deep - the Freemasons use it as a central theme and icon - and when we say someone is "on the square" it means they are reliable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_square for more...

Great review! Alhambra is quickly becoming one of my favourite games.

Thread: Re: Alhambra (The Treasure Chamber) - A Detailed Review

Kaks — 2008-03-27T16:49:30+00:00

Lightstorm wrote:
Points for bazaars are only awarded in the last round of scoring."
This is true, I just saw the rules and scoring the bazaars is only done at the end of the game.
Excellent expansion by the way!

Thread: Re: Alhambra (The Treasure Chamber) - A Detailed Review

Neil Thomson — 2008-03-22T22:59:15+00:00

Lightstorm wrote:
Neil Thomson wrote:

During each Scoring Round, the points for each Bazaar must be calculated.

I am confused: the English rulebook states "Points for bazaars are only awarded in the last round of scoring." (The bold text is directly from the rulebook). Your (excellent) review states something different. Which is it?

I suspect you are being polite and I am in error, but I am currently on holidays and can't access my copy of the game to verify.

I'll get back to you in a couple of days...provided no-one else can confirm the correct ruling in the meantime.

Neil

Thread: Re: Alhambra (The Treasure Chamber) - A Detailed Review

Lightstorm — 2008-03-22T18:07:15+00:00

Neil Thomson wrote:

During each Scoring Round, the points for each Bazaar must be calculated.

I am confused: the English rulebook states "Points for bazaars are only awarded in the last round of scoring." (The bold text is directly from the rulebook). Your (excellent) review states something different. Which is it?

Thread: Re: Alhambra (The Treasure Chamber) - A Detailed Review

tritone — 2008-01-15T06:43:15+00:00

Concerning "The Invaders...

I also appreciate that this Mini-Expansion reinforces the importance of acquiring walls. There is no doubt that non-walled tiles are highly desirable in most cases (base game especially) as they offer players greater options for expanding their Alhambra. Thanks to ‘The Invaders’, walls must now get the respect they deserve.

I might add... it also reinforces the importance of acquiring walls in all 4 directions. I don't own this set (just acquired the City Gates myself) but this "piece" alone sounds exciting. I almost always neglect one whole side of my city to get one longest wall... this should put a stop to that.

I think it also (cleverly) adds more Theme to the game, since a city's walls should be more about protection than aethestics.

Thread: Alhambra (The Treasure Chamber) - A Detailed Review

Neil Thomson — 2008-01-15T04:45:46+00:00

This review continues my series of detailed reviews that attempt to be part review, part resource for anyone not totally familiar with the game. For this reason I expect readers to skip to the sections that are of most interest.

Summary

Game Type - Board Game (Tile)
Play Time: 80-90 minutes
Number of Players: 2-6
Mechanics – Set Collection, Tile Laying, Resource Management
Difficulty – Pick-up & Play (Can be learnt in under 15 minutes)
Components - Excellent

]]>
Image Courtesy of myadestes

This is the fourth in a series of reviews that will analyse each of the 4 Alhambra expansions. I will outline each expansion on its own merits and then comment on how well it interacts with other expansions in the Alhambra Family.

As each Boxed Expansion for Alhambra includes 4 mini-expansions, I will refer to a box as an Expansion Set and each of the 4 additions within each box as Mini-Expansions. This will hopefully avoid confusion as I discuss each in turn.

At the end of this review is a series of links to help find my other Alhambra Reviews.

#13 – The Treasure Chamber

Components - As the namesake of this Expansion Set, The Treasure Chamber offers 3 separate high quality components. First is the Treasure Chamber mini-board. It is slightly shorter and narrower than the Reserve Boards from the base game, and the artwork depicts a set of stairs that lead to 3 separate Treasure Chambers. Each Chamber contains the number 8 and in the bottom left hand corner is a small score chart. I will explain the score chart and 8 values later.

Next are the treasure chests. There are 42 chests in all (7 of each colour used in Alhambra) and these are made from wood and are a good size.

Finally this expansion provides a cloth bag in which treasure chests can be drawn from.

All 42 Treasure Chests are placed in the tile bag at the start of play and 4 Chests are drawn at random and placed in each of the 3 Treasure Chambers.

]]>
Image Courtesy of gahroni

Impact – The Treasure Chamber offers the players a new option each turn – the acquisition of Treasure Chests. To purchase Chests, at least 8 money must be paid, hence the 8 value in each Chamber on the board. This cost can be paid with any combination of money cards and more than 8 can be paid too, however no change is given. Master Builders from Mini-Expansion #2 in this Set can also be used to pay.

The goal in acquiring Treasure Chests is to have more than anyone else in order to score points during scoring rounds. The scoring track outlines points for all 3 rounds and like the scoring for buildings, only the player with the most Chests will score points in Round 1, whereas the top 3 Chest owners will score points in Round 3. Round 1 offers 7 points to the leader, whilst the same lofty position will earn 22 points in Round 3. That’s some decent scoring eh?

The colour of the Treasure Chests has no bearing on scoring, instead they influence selection and placement. Once a player pays the required amount, they can take any 4 Treasure Chests from a single Chamber. However each Chest must be placed on a tile of a matching colour within a player’s Alhambra. If a player cannot place one or more of the Chests in their Alhambra, they are passed to the next player and added to tiles in their Alhambra if they are able. The Chests pass to all players in this fashion and if no player can find a place for a Chest, it is returned to the cloth bag.

Once the placement of Treasure Chests is complete, 4 new Chests must be drawn at random to refill the empty Chamber.

If there are not enough Chests in the cloth bag to refill a Chamber to 4, the Chamber remains empty and no Chests are drawn.

Paying exactly 8 to acquire a set of Chests does not earn a player an extra action.

If a tile containing a Chest is removed (redesigned) the Chest is returned to the cloth bag.

Chests cannot be placed on Worker’s Huts from Expansion Set #1.

Chests cannot be placed on tiles on a player’s Reserve Board. They can be added to newly placed tile into a player’s Alhambra on the current turn.

Allocating points in the case of a tie is the same for Treasure Chests as it is for scoring building tiles.

Strategy – It goes without saying that all player’s are aiming to be in the lead for the number of Chests before each scoring round is reached. A maximum of 43 points can be earned should a player have the lead in all 3 scoring rounds and that could and should be a game winning strategy if it occurs.

However you have to ask yourself the question, ‘What cost am I prepared to pay to achieve this?’ Let me make my case -

When buying Treasure Chests, each player should try to ensure that they can place all 4 within their Alhambra (have the tiles to accommodate them). This ensures that no other player gets to feed on any crumbs that could give them an advantage later.

Let’s assume all players are able to achieve this. That then means that the players are all acquiring Chests in sets of 4. Hence, it can be very difficult to gain an outright lead on Treasure Chests. If you are forced to share the points with other players regularly, then using an entire turn to purchase Treasure Chests, with no chance of earning a bonus action, suddenly becomes less enticing.

The number of players you play with will also have a bearing on the above examples. Fewer players will mean less competition for Treasure Chests and a greater likelihood that the players can be patient enough to acquire the tiles needed before buying a set that allows all 4 to be added to their Alhambra. Large number of players will increase the competition for Treasure Chests, potentially forcing the players into impulse buys. This creates a greater likelihood of players taking a set of Chests where all 4 cannot be placed in their own Alhambra. Therefore the chance of allowing other players to get a free Chest is increased!

The inclusion of The Treasure Chamber also reinforces the need for all players to have a good understanding of their opponent’s positions. If you are preceded by a player that has not pursued a strong Treasure Chest strategy, you may well be happy with placing 3 Chests and allowing 1 to go to them.

Perhaps the greatest implication of all for this Mini-Expansion though is the result of placing Chests within a player’s Alhambra. Once placed they effectively lock a tile in its current position, as removing it through a redesign will see the Chest return to the cloth bag and be lost to the player. This is in no way desirable. So the implication is that an Alhambra with too many Treasure Chests will be very inflexible indeed!

Interaction with other Expansion Sets – This Mini-Expansion allows for a raft of interactions with or implications for other Expansion Sets, making it very appealing indeed.

Diamonds from Expansion Set #2 can be used in paying the 8 cost, as any currency can be used. The same goes for Change Coins from Expansion Set #3.

The implications come in the guise of not being able to easily redesign an Alhambra without losing valuable Treasure Chests. If you are playing with Worker’s Huts and/or Bazaars, which demand crucial redesigning at times, then things can get tricky indeed.

Feelings – The Treasure Chamber is a well thought out and well presented Mini-Expansion. It changes the nature of the play in meaningful ways, allows for player interaction and requires the need for strategic planning. This is all achieved whilst still maintaining a small amount of randomness or luck (the colours that are drawn for each Chamber). This is important as it holds true to the very nature of Alhambra.

Rating – :star::star::star::star::nostar:

#14 - The Master Builders

Components – This Mini-Expansion offers 16 Master Builder Cards. Each card bears the illustration of a man holding a triangle. This is the Master Builder and I am sure the triangle has significance regarding his profession, but I am unaware of it (feel free to fill me in).

Each card bears the number 3 and there are 4 of each in the colours of the money seen in the base game (green, blue, orange and yellow).

Each player is given 2 Master Builder Cards at random during set-up. Then 3 more random cards are placed in money piles 3 and 5 before the piles are joined to form the money draw deck. If you are playing with 6 people, only 1 card is placed in the 5th pile.

The 2 cards given to each player have no bearing on the normal way players are given their starting income. They are in addition to that.

]]>
Image Courtesy of gahroni

Impact – Master Builder Cards can be used in one of two ways. They can either be used as 3 money in the currency (colour) depicted on the card, or they can be discarded to earn a bonus Redesign action, in addition to any other actions and bonus actions that may have already been used.

When used as money, Master Builder Cards are subject to all uses and restrictions of money cards as outlined in the base game and other Expansion Sets.

Master Builder Cards within the deck, enter play like any other money card. They are also taken in the same way so it is possible to pick up multiple money cards with one of them being a Master Builder Card.

Strategy – Master Builder Cards are handy to say the least. Awarding a bonus Redesign action is handy enough, but their value of 3 also makes them extremely valuable as they can make it easier to pay the exact amount for building tiles in order to earn a bonus action.

In other words it would take a substantial decision elsewhere to justify not taking a Master Builder card that is available.

Interaction with other Expansion Sets – As mentioned above, when used as money, Master Builder Cards are subject to all rules regarding money. Therefore they can be used towards the purchase of Camps and Characters from Expansion Set #2 and Treasure Chests from this Expansion Set.

However they are even more valuable for their bonus Redesign ability. The importance of this ability grows with each additional Expansion Set that is in play as the need to Redesign grows with the addition of new tiles and options.

Feelings – This is a very simple inclusion and its usefulness varies based on the number of expansions in play. It is useful enough when only this Expansion Set is used as it allows a player to Redesign, even if they use their entire turn to purchase Treasure Chests. But The Master Builders become vital when 2, 3 or all 4 Expansion Sets are in play at once.

For this reason my rating should really be variable based on the game in question. As I can’t do that here I will give it a solid 3.5

Rating – :star::star::star::halfstar::nostar:

#15 – The Invaders

Components – This Mini-Expansion offers two different types of cards for a total of 10 in all. First there are the 4 Invasion Cards. Each of these cards highlights a direction of attack (North, East, South or West) and a series of numbers are printed at the bottom in 3 small boxes.

Then there are the 6 Scout Cards. These come in each of the colours (1 per colour) used for building tiles in Alhambra. Each card depicts a Scout inside a circle of a specific colour. Above the Scout is a picture of the building tile that matches the colour of the card.

At the start of play the Invasion Cards and Scout Cards must be separated and shuffled to form 2 separate decks. The top two Scout cards are then drawn and turned face-up on the playing surface for all players to see.

]]>
Image Courtesy of gahroni

Impact – The components may be few for this Mini-Expansion but the implications for all players are serious indeed as the player’s can now come under attack by marauding Invaders. Successful attacks on a player’s Alhambra will cost a player points!

Invaders attack in each of the 3 Scoring Rounds (thus 1 is not used in each game, which adds a nice unknown element). When a Scoring Round is triggered, the top Invasion Card is revealed. The direction on the Invasion Card indicates the direction of the attack. Every tile at the edge of a player's Alhambra, that is exposed on that side (by exposed I mean does not feature a wall), will suffer an attack.

For every tile attacked in this fashion, a player will lose 1 point in the 1st Scoring Round and 2 points in the 2nd Scoring Round. In the 3rd Scoring Round, each exposed tile will result in 3 lost points and the adjacent 2 directions will lose another 1 point per tile. :cry:

For example if the 3rd attack comes from the West, 3 points will be lost per tile on that side and a further 1 point will be lost for every exposed tile with a North and South facing.

Thankfully Scouts can be used to learn about impending attacks and help minimize their effectiveness. If at any time a player is able to pay the exact amount for a building tile in the Marketplace and that tile matches the colour of a face-up Scout, the player is allowed to secretly look at the top most Invasion Card. The card will inform the player as to the direction of the attack and allow them to prepare accordingly.

The Scout Card used is then discarded from play. When both Scout Cards have been used, no other players can learn of the impending attack before it occurs. After the next Scoring Round and attack, two new Scout cards are drawn and placed face-up. In this way there are always 2 chances to learn of each attack in the game.

It should be noted that the Fountain Tile can be attacked by the Invaders and cost a player points should it be on the outer edge of a player's Alhambra.

Strategy – Obviously it is desirable to learn about every attack if possible and this may see players purchasing tiles that would not have been important otherwise.

Once a player knows the direction of an attack, they have 2 possible courses of action. They can seek to acquire building tiles with walls on that side to protect them from point losses. They can also chose to expand their Alhambra in other directions in order to minimise the exposure of new tiles to the impending attack.

Once an attack has passed all players have the knowledge that this direction of attack is not possible again. This also allows the players to potentially build in such a way as to minimize further risk in the future.

The 3rd attack is a real danger as a total of 3 directions will feature in the attack. The obvious tactic is to enclose your Alhambra with as many walls as possible (which is desirable for scoring your longest wall anyway). Perfection is not always possible however and sometimes it is good enough to ensure you lose less points than your opponents.

Interaction with other Expansion Sets – The Invaders Mini-Expansion lends a new importance to the City Walls Mini-Expansion from Expansion Set #3. The ability to acquire additional walls and add them to tiles that don’t have a wall on a specific side is vital, especially before the 3rd attack.

Likewise, the Workers Hut’s from Expansion Set #1 can also feature walls and be of use in defence.

Feelings – This is an incredibly exciting Mini-Expansion and helps to keep the players extremely nervous at all times. You almost feel sick in your stomach when the last Scout is taken and you haven’t managed to acquire one. The fear of the unknown is certainly a very human trait!

I appreciate the fact that the mechanic of attacks was not randomized through the use of dice and the card draw system is rather elegant.

I also appreciate that this Mini-Expansion reinforces the importance of acquiring walls. There is no doubt that non-walled tiles are highly desirable in most cases (base game especially) as they offer players greater options for expanding their Alhambra. Thanks to ‘The Invaders’, walls must now get the respect they deserve.

On first glance the Invasion Cards look confusing with all their numbers and I recall getting worried that this could make the game heavier than it needs to be. Thankfully it is all rather easy to understand and after 1 play you will be able to interpret the numbers on the Invasion Cards with ease.

Rating – :star::star::star::star::star:

#16 – The Bazaars

Components – This Mini-Expansion consists of 8 new building tiles. Each tile features an illustration of a Bazaar and 2 important features.

The first feature is a currency symbol in the top right hand corner. This symbol will always match one of the 4 currencies found in the base game.

The 2nd feature is a set of 3 rectangular coloured boxes found along the bottom of the tile. Their purpose will be outlined in a moment.

All 8 tiles are added to the building tiles in the cloth bag from the original game.

]]>
Image Courtesy of gahroni

Impact – This Mini-Expansion offers the players an additional action each turn, the chance to acquire and place Bazaars into their Alhambra. When a Bazaar is drawn from the tile bag it is not placed in the Marketplace but beside it (preferably next to the currency displayed on the Bazaar tile). Another tile is drawn to fill the Marketplace Board.

Once drawn it is now another purchasing option. The cost of the Bazaar is equal to the value of the tile currently in the matching currency location on the Marketplace Board. If a player can pay the exact amount using the correct money, the Bazaar can be purchased.

Once purchased it can be placed in a player’s Alhambra and all regular rules for building must be followed. This can make Bazaars somewhat tricky to place as they feature no walls of any kind.

Bazaars can earn important points in each scoring phase based on the tiles that are built around them (think Cloisters from Carcassonne). However, the 3 coloured boxed at the bottom of each Bazaar denote the colour of tiles that must be acquired and built around a Bazaar to affect scoring. Other tiles of different colours can still be placed around a Bazaar but they’ll have no bearing on scoring.

During each Scoring Round, the points for each Bazaar must be calculated. This is done by multiplying the total number of important tiles (colour denoted by the Bazaar tile) by the number of required colours present (3 being the maximum).

An example. A Bazaar features the colours; blue, brown and green. A player manages to surround the Bazaar with 2 blue, 1 brown, 3 green and 1 red tiles. The score for the Bazaar would then be (2+1+3)= 6. Then 6 x 3 = 18 points. The red tile has no bearing on the scoring of the Bazaar at all.

Only building tiles from the original game can be used to influence the scoring of a Bazaar and walls do not stop a tile from adding to the scoring of a Bazaar. This means that other Bazaars and Worker’s Huts cannot influence the scoring of a Bazaar.

Any number of Bazaars can be in play next to the Marketplace at any one time.

Bazaars are not given to the player with the most money in a given currency at the end of the game.

A Bazaar cannot be purchased if there is no tile on the corresponding space on the Marketplace board as no value is available.

A total of 8 tiles can surround a Bazaar. A single tile can influence several Bazaars if placed adjacent to each one.

Strategy – Each Bazaar is able to generate up to 24 points, making them far too valuable to ignore. When looking to purchase a Bazaar though, the player should assess the flow of play carefully.

By looking at the colours needed by the Bazaar and then looking at the tiles in play (their own, those of other players and those in the marketplace) a player can assess the likelihood of acquiring a good number of those coloured tiles and how many are left, yet to be drawn.

Without a doubt acquiring Bazaars as early as possible is the best strategy. It affords you the time to purchase as many of those tiles as possible and it also means that there are more likely to be more of those tiles still available.

Each game is very different but at this point I think 2 Bazaars is the optimal number to have for any one player. Acquiring Bazaar tiles that feature similar colours and positioning them in such a way that other building tiles can influence both Bazaars will help secure maximum points for the least effort. Of course that is easier said than done! :D

Interaction with other Expansion Sets – Bazaar’s can be purchased using Diamonds from Expansion Set #2 or with the help of Change Coins from Expansion Set #3.

As mentioned above, Worker’s Huts and other Bazaars do not count as tiles of the needed colour to help influence scoring.

If a Bazaar is built over the Street Trader Tile from Expansion Set #3, a Citizen Piece cannot be added to the Bazaar. However a Citizen can be switched using the general supply.

Because Bazaars must follow the rules for regular building, they can be hard to place if you have walls all over the place. Therefore the City Walls Mini-Expansion from Expansion Set #3 can be useful as they can add a wall to a Bazaar to enable a successful placement.

Feelings – This is another great addition to the Alhambra Family as it is fairly easy to implement and understand, yet it can have a major impact on the strategy required and scoring of player's Alhambras.

Rating – :star::star::star::star::star:

The Final Word

I'm a little surprised to see this Expansion Set take the top spot but I'm not unhappy about it. The quality and heft of the components within this box are second to none and all 4 Mini-Expansions influence the game in meaningful ways.

I also have suspicions that the Characters from Expansion Set #2 may prove to be a little unbalanced, but only the fullness of time will reveal the truth of that matter.

This review has been longer than the others as there is more intricacy in explaining the Mini-Expansions found here. However that intricacy is harder to explain than it is to implement. So don’t be frightened by The Treasure Chambers at all.

Overall, The Treasure Chamber is a great way to end off the expansions to what is now a truly great Game System.

Overall Rating - 17.5 :star:'s out of 20 :star:'s

Links

:d10-1: [url=http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/281531]Alhambra

:d10-2: [url=http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/9687]Expansion Set #1 - The Vizier's Favour

:d10-3: [url=http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/272816]Expansion Set #2 - The City Gates

:d10-4: [url=http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/16494]Expansion Set #3 - The Thief's Turn

:d10-5: [url=http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/300591]Alhambra - The Dice Game

Thread: Alhambra Exp #4 - First Play, First Thoughts

Neil Thomson — 2008-01-07T05:16:55+00:00

I have found a few Alhambra nuts in the past year and that suits me well as I love the game too.

I wish I had logged the first plays of the other expansions too, but I didn't. How would this expansion stack up?

]]>
Image Courtesy of myadestes

The antagonists were -

Heather
Patty
Neil (Me)

Early Game

I was really slow to start as I couldn't pick up the right currencies to pay the exact amount for buildings. By contrast Heather and Patty seemed to be buying buildings at will. Heather was definitely after purple and green buildings and took early leads in both of those. Patty managed to pick up the only blue and red buildings on offer and in doing so had carved out her own niche. That left me with white and brown buildings and things were looking ok.

By the time the 1st scoring phase arrived I was crying in the streets of my Alhambra and begging for mercy. Both Heather and Patty had muscled in on my brown and white buildings and I was left in 2nd place on most occasions. Heather had taken advantage of having the largest Alhambra (meaning she had the room to place them) and won the lead on Treasure Chests taken from the vault, earning her another 7 points.

Both Heather and Patty had managed to use a Scout to peek at the Invaders, which came from the South. Thankfully I didn't fare too badly and only lost 2 points.

The girls had outplayed me quite convincingly and in desperation I had overpaid for one too many buildings. However I had picked up 2 Bazaars (multiplier tiles for end game scoring) and was looking for a longer term strategy. Heather was the early leader and Patty was 2nd but had potential.

Having said all that, like any game of Alhambra, the score didn't really matter at this early stage.

Middle Game

Heather really lost her way in this main portion of the game as she kept buying Garden (green) tiles. This really wasted her valuable resources early on and with Patty also having a Garden tile I decided my future was elsewhere as no points would be awarded for 3rd.

Heather and I tried to outplay each other in the race for the most treasure chests and that was a battle I won right at the death before before Patty pulled the 2nd scoring card. She was very unlucky as her intention had been to acquire treasure chests too and that would have secured her the lead.

At the end of the 2nd scoring I had jumped into the lead on 55 points. All my 2nd placings from the 1st round helped here combined with the 14 points from the Treasure Chests. I had also secured the most white buildings.

Heather had a clear lead in green buildings but she had to share the points for purple with both Patty and me. Her dominance in green but little else had hurt her and she dropped to 3rd with 32 points.

Patty had gone about her work quietly and secured the lead in blue and red as well as sharing purple.

End Game

The game was a frantic affair as Heather and Patty sought to build upon and acquire new Bazaars. I felt pretty happy with my 2 and didn't see the time to develop a 3rd. We all finished with 2 Bazaars for the game and I don't really think a 3rd would have been viable.

I managed to sneak into the lead on purple tiles with 4, only for Patty to acquire the last tile and tie for the lead right at the death.

Heather and I continued our duel for the most treasure chests but out of nowhere Patty came storming from the rear and won that battle by 1 chest (two were left in the bag and could not be accessed). Heather had paid the price for having too many green tiles and I just hadn't built a big enough Alhambra to accommodate any more chests.

Reflecting now I can see that Patty had benefited several times by the race that Heather and I had engaged in. Several times we had both bought chests that saw us keep 3 and the 4rth go to Patty. This put Patty in a position to win the chests in the 3rd scoring phase and those valuable 21 points for doing so. I also see the added value of going after red and blue tiles as these were the coloured chests we were throwing her way. Diabolical! :surprise:

In a tight game I struggled in the final few turns as my money options, combined with the design of my Alhambra meant I couldn't add any new tiles and was forced to buy 2 tiles and place them in my Reserve in a desperate bid to trigger the end game. Patty and Heather both did well in the final stages and picked up a number of tiles that cut me to ribbons. Instead of earning valuable points for outright leads, I was forced to share in 2 colours.

Patty rounded out the win with a decent wall (18) compared to Heather's 12 and my lousy 10.

Final Scores

Patty 142
Neil 133
Heather 112

Group Feelings - Very intense but we all loved it.

Expansion Thoughts

The Treasure Chamber - This was a really interesting addition that we all liked. It really rewarded players who acquired different coloured buildings but of course doing so may mean never acquiring 1st place in the scoring phases. So it was a nice trade-off.

Paying 8 currency is a big ask so timing is crucial. Waiting for a moment when the marketplace has poor options and the money cards aren't great either seemed to be the key.

Being able to buy treasure chests that you can totally accommodate (leaving nothing for your opponent's) or at the very least go back to the bag was also key.

This expansion feels like a strong addition.

]]>
Image Courtesy of gaharoni

Master Builders - This expansion didn't feel anywhere near as strong. We may have been lucky but redesigning only occurred once in this game (and to be honest we have only ever redesigned once or twice in any of our games).

So these cards acted only as extra currency. However we did discuss the potential of these cards when used with other expansions that add new tiles. Then redesigning is likely to be more of a necessity.

]]>
Image Courtesy of gaharoni

The Invaders - This is a pretty cool inclusion and it certainly added a little extra excitement to the game. I sure as hell felt left out and exposed as I never accessed a Scout to see where the threat was coming from.

It certainly changes the game from the point of view that players can no longer build a wide open (wall free) Alhambra in the early stages as it will result in the loss of many points. Some wall tiles are now desirable.

The benefit of paying exact for a particular building to access a Scout is a nice touch but not 'mission critical' as other players can make an educated guess regarding the direction of the Invaders by watching the actions of those that used a Scout.

On a disappointing note, the penalty for the Invaders in the final round was not as severe as we had hoped. Because each player is looking to build the longest wall, we all had pretty enclosed Alhambra's anyway and the greatest loss of points was only 5. It also helped that we had a 50-50 guess on which direction they would come from.

Overall I'd rate the strength of this Expansion as medium but I think it would have a greater impact on games with a higher number of players as competition for wall tiles in the end game would be greater.

]]>
Image Courtesy of gaharoni

The Bazaars - These were great fun and really dominated my play from the start. Trying to acquire certain coloured tiles to act as multipliers was engaging and to be honest it may have dominated my purchasing decisions a little too strongly and cost me the win.

Being able to acquire 2 Bazaars with like colours would be ideal I think if they could be built in such a way that numerous tiles could surround both Bazaars.

I am intrigued as to how this expansion would play when combined with the Worker Huts from the Vizier's Favour (Exp #1).

This was equally as strong as the Treasure Chamber and the 2 combined to make building multiple coloured tiles an absolute must.

]]>
Image Courtesy of gaharoni

Overall - A very good addition to the Alhambra Family.

Thread: Re: Alhambra - Markets

the1jugg — 2007-08-26T07:43:22+00:00

khaox wrote:

So... if he don't get points for walls and for bazaars... he get's worse and worse with every expansion

No, it seems to me like hes getting about the same. He is getting more tiles in round 3 than ever before.

the same cant be said for us. Our scores are about 40 pts higher on average when we play with certain modules.

Image

myadestes — 2007-05-15T02:51:49+00:00

box front

Image

Masa — 2007-03-18T17:45:31+00:00

All components together

Image

itiswon — 2007-02-28T00:25:32+00:00

treasure chamber

Image

hoojii — 2007-01-29T21:13:43+00:00

Invader front & back of card

Image

hoojii — 2007-01-29T21:10:35+00:00

Look at all that treasure

Thread: Re: Alhambra - The Treasure Chamber

Bernd — 2007-01-15T08:51:02+00:00

jacksonmead wrote:
Or is it correct that you can only have one treasure chest in a building ever?

That is correct.
All the best from germany
Bernd

Thread: Alhambra - The Treasure Chamber

jacksonmead — 2007-01-15T04:08:58+00:00

For some reason, the English translation of the rules for The Treasure Chamber variant includes the sentence:

Only 1 chest can be put in a building at any one time.

This "at any one time" seems like a weird addition given the German wording. Are they trying to say with the English rules that you can have more than one treasure chest in a building, only you can't put more than one there in the same turn? Or is it correct that you can only have one treasure chest in a building ever?

Thread: Re: Alhambra - Markets

khaox — 2007-01-05T13:49:35+00:00

Thanks for help

Bernd wrote:
it is placed next to the building market, not on the building market.
so it's my mistake :) and it explain most of my problems :)

Bernd wrote:
The tiles for the imaginary third player are drawn from the bag. If there is a bazaar drawn it counts to the amount for the third player and stays with him. And after the second scoring the two thirds to be drawn are calculated from all tiles (building tiles and bazaars).

So... if he don't get points for walls and for bazaars... he get's worse and worse with every expansion

Thread: Re: Alhambra - Markets

Bernd — 2007-01-04T15:09:06+00:00

khaox wrote:
Maybe silly, but i'm not sure...

1. I have:
standard tile on blue with cost=9
market on yellow tile marked blue --> due to standard rules cost=9
market on green tile marked yellow ... and now...

- is it allowed to have such chain?
- market cost=9 due to first standard building on accessed by chain?

2. What should I do when there is closed loop, for example market on green marked green or two markets pointing each other, so they can't reach standard building cost

3. How markets interact with 2-players version?
- Is artificial player given markets? (He don't build so probably he isn't)
- After 2nd counting, are markets counted to tiles count (U have to give 1/3 of unused tiles to him, counting markets with markets-only-for-humans normaly brings him most of standard tiles)

Hello,
at first, we have no markets in this module (I don't want to be fussy on this point, but it will help the further explanation).
We have new tiles, the bazaars,
a game board mainly in grey color, the building market
and we have our standard building tiles (like for example the Tower or Garden).
If a bazaar was taken from the bag, it is placed next to the building market, not on the building market.
Let's say this is bazaar marked with a blue coin (in the upper right corner of the bazaar) and let's also say that on the gameboard showing the building market, the slot marked with a blue coin is filled with a building which costs 9. So in this case you have to pay at least 9 of the blue money. If you pay the exact amount you gain an extra go.

So there coould not be, what you called a chain (see 1.) or a closed loop. (see 2.)

Last but not least your third point.
The tiles for the imaginary third player are drawn from the bag. If there is a bazaar drawn it counts to the amount for the third player and stays with him. And after the second scoring the two thirds to be drawn are calculated from all tiles (building tiles and bazaars).

Hope that helps and all the best from germany
Bernd

Thread: Alhambra - Markets

khaox — 2007-01-04T09:04:44+00:00

Maybe silly, but i'm not sure...

1. I have:
standard tile on blue with cost=9
market on yellow tile marked blue --> due to standard rules cost=9
market on green tile marked yellow ... and now...

- is it allowed to have such chain?
- market cost=9 due to first standard building on accessed by chain?

2. What should I do when there is closed loop, for example market on green marked green or two markets pointing each other, so they can't reach standard building cost

3. How markets interact with 2-players version?
- Is artificial player given markets? (He don't build so probably he isn't)
- After 2nd counting, are markets counted to tiles count (U have to give 1/3 of unused tiles to him, counting markets with markets-only-for-humans normaly brings him most of standard tiles)

Image

gaharoni — 2006-11-23T20:10:36+00:00

The Baazars

Image

gaharoni — 2006-11-23T20:03:40+00:00

The Invaders

Image

gaharoni — 2006-11-23T20:03:36+00:00

The Master Builders

Image

gaharoni — 2006-11-23T20:03:30+00:00

A full treasure chamber

Image

gaharoni — 2006-11-23T20:01:57+00:00

English version from Queen Games - Back

Thread: Re: Looks like English version is in the pipeline

JeffyJeff — 2006-11-04T03:43:56+00:00

for what it's worth, they are now available at your favorite retailer

Thread: Re: Looks like English version is in the pipeline

Apocryphile — 2006-10-17T19:43:12+00:00

Must be an extremely looooooooooooooooooooooooong pipeline! I guess the Alhambra expansions are in the bottom-most shipping container of the stack still sitting on the docks awaiting processing by U.S. Customs?! :snore:

Thread: Looks like English version is in the pipeline

JeffyJeff — 2006-09-30T22:07:29+00:00

http://riograndegames.com/allgames.html has removed the release date, and changed the font color to RED indicating it's a recent reprint, so it does indeed appear to be "in the pipeline".

Thread: Re: English translation?

hotc — 2006-05-04T11:22:24+00:00

hotc wrote:

I just uploaded it again, in case it fell into the bit bucket the first time.

Walter.

It did, but it's up now.

Walter.

Thread: Re: English translation?

hotc — 2006-05-03T02:04:47+00:00

keel wrote:
Apparently, Geek has not uploaded your translation file. Can I also get a copy from you?
Dave
keel131@comcast.net

I just uploaded it again, in case it fell into the bit bucket the first time. Your copy is on the way.

Walter.

Thread: Re: English translation?

keel — 2006-05-01T05:02:12+00:00

Apparently, Geek has not uploaded your translation file. Can I also get a copy from you?
Dave
keel131@comcast.net

Thread: Re: English translation?

hotc — 2006-04-29T00:22:29+00:00

Ludocrazy wrote:
I ordered my copy without checking to make sure there's a translation.

Are you planning to upload it to the Geek?

June

Now that the file upload mechanism is working, I have done so. Hopefully it will be available shortly. I have sent a copy to everyone who asked for it, and if it doesn't turn up right away will be happy to do so upon request.

Walter.

Thread: Re: English translation?

Ludocrazy — 2006-04-26T23:09:12+00:00

I ordered my copy without checking to make sure there's a translation.

Are you planning to upload it to the Geek?

June

Thread: Re: English translation?

hotc — 2006-04-25T20:16:29+00:00

hotc wrote:
Ask and you shall receive.

See files upload. It might be a tad rough, but should be a major step up from Babelfish.

Walter.

Well, actually, since file upload is offline, I'll be glad to send a PDF of the translation to anyone who wants it. But it's ready to go.

Walter.

Thread: Re: English translation?

hotc — 2006-04-25T05:05:51+00:00

Ask and you shall receive.

See files upload. It might be a tad rough, but should be a major step up from Babelfish.

Walter.

Thread: Re: English translation?

GeoMan — 2006-04-24T23:16:19+00:00

hotc wrote:
I have one on order from Adam Spielt but it hasn't arrived. If you scan the pages and send them to me, I'll do a translation and post it.

Walter.

No need to scan them! The German rules are here:

http://www.queen-games.de/PDFHelp/55_3.pdf

Thread: Re: English translation?

hotc — 2006-04-24T21:46:23+00:00

I have one on order from Adam Spielt but it hasn't arrived. If you scan the pages and send them to me, I'll do a translation and post it.

Walter.

Thread: English translation?

GeoMan — 2006-04-20T19:32:15+00:00

Anyone? :cry: