That seems like an unnecessary variant. In my opinion, the game is usually dominated by a military strategy. In a military layout, the lower numbers could easily be padded with useful cards (Gladiator, Velites).

On the other hand, I am supportive of variants for the Mercator.

I forgot one other small rule change we made- we give the second player one more vp at the start of the game.

Mike Fitzgerald

Thanks Mike.

You may also just want to say that the second player wins all ties.

Why there are an even number of VP chips, I don't know, but I would either remove one from the game, or have the second player win all ties.

What are the designer rule changes that are mentioned?
Also, we can't get this game to be intense, one player is always in the lead and then wins...

To allow each player to play first (and second and third); with nine turns Caesar would always be the first one, etc.
It's releevant not only for the pure "initaitive" value, but for the "Election" tiebraker too.

Hrmm.... Prior to this last weekend, I might've agreed. First turn, the red player takes two legions as his supplies and kills the blue player, moving back to a 'military' space and dumps two more weapons into the bag. The blue player then crosses the Med to hammer me, the black player. Before my first turn, Red's got two governors and twice as many weapons as the rest of us, and I've got zero governors and my guy is on the run already... And looking back at it, I can't see how every single game in the future doesn't start out that way... It's silly to not kill blue if you're red (and a very low-risk option too, I might add).

Anyone agree/disagree with Derk?
I'd love to try it but if there's an obvious best play that debilitates one player...not so good.

This and Caylus were my most played board games of last year. Amazing as both came out late and were competing with each other.

This was best described as "A knife fight in a telephone booth".

I'm not sure about the absolute certainty Derk's play. There are a number of key spots in the beginning. Black most definately has a disadvantage from being worked, but has the potential to make more money to break the ties in the senate. From my plays I feel that much of this comes out in the wash.

I could be wrong though. Certainly wouldn't be the first time that I've missed the elephant in the room.

Regardless, I've had a blast playing it.

I agree with Alan on the number of turns.

I took Caesar in the first game and we finished at the end of the 2nd Elegio (I won by being Consul twice). The 3rd player was shafted with one turn left (he might have won it).

But this forces players to work around this early Caesar 'advantage' ie: Bash Caesar!!

I like this one quite a bit too. So much so I made a homemade version till I can get it (for a reasonable price) over here. I used bandaids with red nail polish for wound markers, poker chips for shame markers and old western bank thiefs for the character cards. Definitely will try the using the police. Definitely requires the right crowd. My mom absolutely thought this game is the worst ever. Remember that's a mom's point of view, definitely not mine. My two little kids love it though. Usually Daddy gets shot out of the game quickly even with 3 shame markers to boot.

How did I miss this one?! Damn, gems to be uncovered every day!!!

Alan, are you able to tell us the rest of the rules for KILLER? Is there a penalty for pointing at someone with his/her finger pointing up? Are you "dead" after a certain number of hits? I like having this type of game in my head for spontaneous gaming opportunities with "non-gamers"?

I will join the chorus singing the praises of this game! I've had a blast playing it with different groups. I bought some great-looking guns at the local dollar store, and that just added to the experience.

Hey Kevin, how's life in Australia?

I don't remember all the rules. Sorry. It was a few years ago and I just carried the overall idea of the game around in my head rather than the specifics.

Alan

Never played it, but it sounds like my kind of game. (in a loopin' louie kind of way)

If you like this, you should give Shazamm a try. It has a higher learning curve, and requires that both players have about the same level of experience, but is one of the best 2-player games once you know the cards well.

Thanks Mark. I'd never heard of SHAZAMM. It looks like almost the same game.

I got this for my nephew as a birthday present when it first came out. He and his father really enjoy playing it -- yet surprisingly I've never had the chance to play it with him. It's on our "to do list" of games to play together. I can't speak to the decision making or strategy, but can say he's fond of the game.

Well, the dueling aspect is the same, but the way the duels are fought is different.

Players have a pool of 50 mana, and blind bid an amount. Whoever bids higher pushed the flame one space towards their opponent. If the flame hits the other player, the round is reset and both players get their 50 mana back.

The meat of the game is the card play. The cards are all useful in different situations, and learning when to play offensively, when to play defensively, and when to play certain cards takes a couple of games.

You can give it a try at the french site:

http://www.boiteajeux.net/

I need to make a little more effort to get this one to the table. I've played it all of once, and that's no where near enough times to truly understand the game.

I have owned this for a while now, and I have been eager to play it. Now I am more eager!

One trick-taking game I loved from 2005 would have to be "Trump, Tricks, Game!" Have you had a chance to try that one?

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/15261

Thanks Ogdred. I'd missed this one. Looks interesting.

I found Mu to be way too complicated for my tastes. Is this game at that level, or somewhere between Mu and Spades?

Robert, I'd say CONTROL NUT falls between MUE and SPADES. But to play it well, you need to play a bunch of games and learn how to maximize your bids and use the Control Cards well.

I had the pleasure of playing this with the designer. I'm not a huge trick-taking game fan (although I tend to win at them a lot, go figure) but this is an enjoyable one. It can be a little tough to wrap your head around the scoring, since as Alan mentioned, its the stars that matter. This along with the control cards can turn a modest number of tricks taken into a big score.

I'll state first that I am the web designer for Jolly Roger Games (along with artist Jacob Walker - who did the art for Dynasties). Does this make me biased? No. Why? Cause I don't like any of JRG's games. EXCEPT this one.

I freakin love this game. Al did a great job. It reminds me of a lite Wallenstein. I always search for GOOD 2 player games, and have only come up with a couple. Settlers Card game and the 2 player card/board game based on Star Farers of Catan. They are both good, but Dynasties is now my favorite. Alan is right about it flying under the radar.

Can't say enough about this game. One thing I have found that should be changed though, is how many control markers you start with. You should lower that number, other wise you never have to worry about running out.

The only 2 player game I like better right now is Navia Drapt.

It came onto my radar, but at £16 ($28 or so?) it is too much for a speculative buy here in the UK. One for The Gathering.

Thanks for your glowing review of Al's game; you made his day yesterday. Mr. Newman finally read your post, and appreciated the plug

I enjoyed this game quite a bit. The rondelle was the most impressive design aspect I saw last year (probably followed by Neuland's turn-order mechanism). My first game of Antike only had 2 or 3 skirmishes so it's not always necessarily going to be a "war" game. The fact that you keep the VP cards, as you mentioned, sort of makes it a civilization-race game.

For some reason, the last couple of years have seen an explosion of games that have clever methods of limiting when or what type of turns you take. Jenseits von Theban has a "timer" that is almost identical to Neuland's (and the two games were released just about concurrently). And the rondele in Antike reminds me quite a bit of the increasing cost of actions in Kaivai.

I love the rondell!

Perhaps it is just the map, but to me this feels like a much cleaner Successors.

Vanished?

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/3182

Have you tried Gemblo? It's like Blokus, but the spatial sensibility (both in terms of placement and the shape of pieces) is really different and challenging. And it has the virtue of playing well with 3.

Is this game better than Ingenuis(Kosmos/Fantasy Flight)?
Curious.

a thumbs up for Rumis. Was a hit, together with Blokus, with teens and young adults at a camp last year. plays much, much faster than ingenious. both are good, but rumis gives you a slight sharper edge over ingenious. in the sense that Rumis allows you to have a tighter control of where your pieces should be placed, although sometimes, an evil move from your opponent can totally block you out of play. ingenious is slow death. rumis is gullotine!

I only own a few games, and while my more complicated strategy games tend to collect dust, I can easily get people to at least try this game. It's fun, even when you are getting beat. I always laugh when I remember beating my friend in one move on the "stairs" level

A friend and I just posted 12 new Rumis maps under the Rumis page. Feel free to let us know what you think.

It was a train game, and I doubt he's into those.

A very enjoyable expansion and even more so, since a friend of mine acquired the expansions for Christmas. It seems a little tough on the bank account that you don't get the "snow" board with the Eastern Front expansion and it adds up in $$$ to make everything come together.

Though, I am sure you have heard this before in the many ways people think future games about trains should be released.

However, DoW makes wonderful products and there is nothing wrong with sharing. Not everyone needs private ownership of every game and subsequent expansions. After all, the idea of gaming is to bring people together, form community and share resources. And yes, it is cheaper then CCGs and Minatures.

I am not trying to starve you Alan or make DoW go bust but my calling/career in life is to help people come together, learn from each other and share resources.

All that said, M44 and this expansion is wonderful. I like how the game(s) lend themselves to creating your own battles and situations, reading up on the history, looking at maps and then attempting to make a balanced but realistic conflict come to life on a board. You might say that it allows us non-designers to be a designer for just a moment.

Yeah, Memoir, an interesting case indeed.

Whilst it's way off of being my favourite wargame, I think it's a good game on its terms and has lots to offer - esp to the beginner wargamer. I enjoy it once in a while but prefer something deeper on the whole.

It has to be said though, that the Eastern front edition is more interesting than the original. There's more going on and the scens I've played have been better.

Another thing about the rules is that if you've ever played micro tanks (which I have lot sof times) you can easily throw in a variant or two to make the game a bit deeper. Warning! If you do that, don't do too much tinkering, just a little. Too much would ruin the thing the game does well, which is simplicity and quickness. I've added rules for a few tanks (Tigers and Fireflies etc). The written rules don't really show the majesty of such vehicles. Also, it's cool to throw in a few SP Anti-tank guns. A couple of Jagdtigers hanging around in a wood can really make things interesting.

For me, Memoir has it's very useful place in the wargaming pantheon. And it's certainly a good springboard. The designer set out to hit a specific target and scored a bullseye. To me that's a great and trumpetable thing. I hate it when folks say things that equate to something like "this is a great game of it's type, but I hate that type so it's rubbish. I rate it 1/10." Stuff and nonsense. I think games should be considered and rated, at least partly, on their intended audience.

Clever how you slipped that in, Alan.

This is the one game on your list that I've played. And, though I expected to dislike it, it was fun. Our guests even requested that we play it again (and we did). A person can get hosed through no fault of their own, but that's OK for this sort of game.

Anybody played both this and Kleine Fische? I'm looking for a comparison. We've got (and had great success with) Kleine Fische. Can tell by the description that Something Fishy is similar but definitely not the same game as KF. Can't tell if it's better or worse than KF or sufficiently different that it's worth having both.

I've played it once so far, and I really like the part about having to take a turn to remove a meeple to score it. It makes one much more careful where you place your meeples in the first place.

Interesting suggestion about two sets. I'm wondering if that is more nessicary with larger groups playing. The current set seems to work fine for three players.

>Just when I think I’ve seen every possible race game or every possible game using a clever movement system (like WINGS OF WAR or WURMELN)

Thanks so much for this quotation. It's a honor, no jokes.

Actually, when I met Heinrich Glumpler at the last Essen show he told me he quoted WoW in the letter he sent to the publishers with the prototype of Techno Witches. He wanted to make clear that my little card game was a direct source of inspiration.

Thanks to both, then. Nice to see you appreciated my little work!

Oo, good choice. I like Fettnapf. Simple, yet fun. You just can't remember numbers when you're constantly reading out numbers...

This has been a big hit with my 8 year old. Great addition/subtraction practice and the memory component gives kids an edge.

Snorta certainly has the ability to make the players look like idiots to outsiders. It's also a lot more fun than you initially might think. Oink!

I hate CCGs, but I really enjoyed this game. Very fun. With the small track you can easily plan solitaire. I need only cards #17, 22, and 27. Alan, I'll check to see if I have extras of either of the car cards you need.

I played Caylus for the first time this weekend. After struggling through the rules, we started to get into it. I mean really get into it.

The sheer number of decisions easily puts it up there with Puerto Rico and Goa.

I've only played it the once, but I've already rated it a 9. Brilliant.

I've read the rules for Il Principe, but an yet to play it through. Too many games, not enough time.

I really find that work get's in the way of my personal life

The first time I played IL PRINCIPE, I thought it might be my #1 for the year. The second game was completely different and less satisfying though. Everyone had decided the best powers were Green and Blue, so no blue cards and only one green card were put up for auction the whole game. I don't know if this will continue to be the way my friends and I play, but if it is, I'd like to try changing the White, Red, and Yellow powers in an attempt to even out all five powers as follows:

White Major Power - Gain 2 Victory Points
White Minor Power - Gain 1 Victory Point
Red Major Power - Draw 2 Cards
Red Minor Power - Draw 2 Cards
Yellow Major Power - Gain 4 Gold
Yellow Minor Power - Gain 3 Gold

Concerning Il principe
Strange thing, in our rounds of this game, everyone decided that, since you are always very short on money, yellow is the best power. Followed by blue. By raising the amount you get for leading in yellow, I think this game would get more uneven. What needs boosting are the advantages of the white power. Wasn't it 2 victory points for the major power and one point for the minor power already in the original rules?

Again concerning Il Principe


In my recent game, I went for yellow. In the game before, I went for blue. I came last both times

I clearly don't appreciate how the game system works. But my belief is that winning a greater number of roles is more important than winning a particular role more of the time.

This one is spooky. Most people are already sure after one play that Caylus is great. Maybe not their favourite game but still very good.
So I wonder what makes Alan R. Moon hesitate to rate Caylus good or bad?

Il principe again - last time


With everyone having a different point of view on what the superior strategy is, maybe, this game is better balanced than we thoght. It won't hurt of course filling out several roles though.

My seven year old enjoyed this game, along with Candyland.
He's moved on to Memoir'44 now.
This game could have been played with apples and carrots instead of F-117's. Totally abstract and very, very disappointing.

I also was looking forward to playing mainline,but having played it the luck element from the share cards is too great for many 18xx enthusiasts.
Some nice ideas on track laying and train development and as a fun game it is OK but not one that i would play with a hard core 18xx crowd.

Unfortunately, with 1825 standard you can't go home again. Having played only a few games of 1829 decades ago, I cannot compare 1825 to it.

I did play a three player game of 1825 with another fan of 1830 and a player new to 18XX games. There was nothing wrong with the game mechanics but we called the game after two hours when we all agreed that the game play was tedious and repetitious. This is a subjective judgement and very much a matter of personal taste.

Numerous 18XX games have been published some of which must offer a more dynamic gaming experience.