Chariots of mire and horse drawn wishes - CIRCVS SVRVEY

1. Board Game: Neue Spiele im alten Rom [Average Rating:6.74 Overall Rank:2397]

Robert Grainger

(Grainger)

United Kingdom
Unspecified
Unspecified

Circus Maximus in this compendium is a quick, fun, but abstract chariot racing game. No player elimination, as it's so quick - it's just one lap, and the first player to get all of his/her chariots to the finish line is the winner (bizarrely, you park on the Spina, the central barrier in the Circus). A nice little filler game to go between "main courses", and my favourite in the compendium.

1 comment [Hide]

Posted Wed Mar 17, 2004 7:40 pm

Robert Grainger

(Grainger)

United Kingdom
Unspecified
Unspecified

Oops. Just realised this game is also in item 9 ("Rome"). Still, this is an alternative way to pick it up, if you can still find the New Games compendium. Just think of all that Roman goodness!

Posted Wed Mar 17, 2004 7:42 pm
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2. Board Game: Ave Caesar [Average Rating:6.67 Overall Rank:595]

Josh Adelson

(MisterCranky)

United States
State College
Pennsylvania

Hello, can you run as fast as me? I hope not, because if you catch me I will thrash you!

This space available for rent.

I don't give a damn about the reported statistics, so you can fill those in as you desire.

3 comments [Hide]

Posted Tue Mar 16, 2004 11:14 pm

Morgan Dontanville

(sisteray)

United States
Brooklyn
New York

Plate of Shrimp.

Here we are folks, the dream we all dream of.

Yes, but how is it?

Posted Tue Mar 16, 2004 11:17 pm
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Josh Adelson

(MisterCranky)

United States
State College
Pennsylvania

Hello, can you run as fast as me? I hope not, because if you catch me I will thrash you!

This space available for rent.

What do you mean how is it? It's the best game on this list, so far.....

Posted Thu Mar 18, 2004 5:03 am
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Tim Benjamin

(RaffertyA)

United States
Los Alamos
New Mexico

Fun but too simple. It's a card driven racing game that could be placed in any era or venue (Ausgebremst).

Posted Sun Mar 21, 2004 5:09 pm
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3. Board Game: Circus Maximus [Average Rating:6.65 Overall Rank:864]

Morgan Dontanville

(sisteray)

United States
Brooklyn
New York

Plate of Shrimp.

Here we are folks, the dream we all dream of.

Number of Ratings: 294
Average Rating: 6.44
Bayesian Average Rating: 6.39
Overall Rank: 669
Standard Deviation: 1.58
Median: 0.00

9 comments [Hide]

Posted Tue Mar 16, 2004 11:09 pm

Nate Sandall

(Cavedog_pdx)

United States
Portland
Oregon

My friend had this one when we were kids. There is player elimination as chariots get wrecked or horses get rammed or what have you, but I think it's pretty good. I haven't tried it with a large group, but running 2 chariots each with 3 or 4 players would be pretty fun and allow you to bang each other around quite a bit before people get knocked out. There's also a campaign version that allows you to develop a driver and team more over a series of races complete with betting, bribery and sabotage.

Basically players allocate four points into four categories giving each one a 0,1 or 2. The four categories are Driver Skill, Endurance, Chariot, and Speed. Driver skill is important for whip combat with other drivers and keeping your chariot under control during a difficult manouver. Endurance is important for spurts of speed, taking corners faster than you should, and keeping your horses running fast through to the end of the race. Chariot is how well armed your chariot is and affects how much damage you will do when you ram another chariot or horse team. And speed is just how fast your horses are and how many hits they can take from a ramming chariot before you're really in bad shape.

If everyone picks a fast chariot, the game can get pretty boring though unless the slower heavier chariots manage to catch them early on. If everyone is pretty well armed, the game is a hoot! Be sure to avoid running over flipped chariots but be sure to run over another driver if he survived getting dragged by his horse team and is running for the safety of the wall.

Posted Wed Mar 17, 2004 12:00 am
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Show 4 more comments...

Linda Baldwin

(Carmilla)

United States
White Plains
New York

I always have a great time with this one. The rules suffer from AvalonHill-itis (they read like a law book), but the basic principles aren't hard to grasp, and can be explained to newbies with minimal grief.

What makes this work for us is that you can win by speed or by violence. It's great to play with people who get in a funk if they feel they're not winning; they can make everybody else's life miserable by beating the !#$#@! out of them (instead of whining and grousing.)

I wouldn't recommend it to those who want to analyze each move to death. Studying the charts is an exercise in frustration. This game is best played fast and furious: make your move, toss the dice, cheer and/or groan at the results, and move it along.

Posted Wed Jun 23, 2004 8:35 pm
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Nate Sandall

(Cavedog_pdx)

United States
Portland
Oregon

Linda - I couldn't have said it any better! Thanks!

Posted Wed Jun 23, 2004 10:22 pm
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Christopher Brice

(chrisinengland)

United Kingdom
Swindon
Wiltshire

My favorite tactic is to whip the other guys horses when his chariot is in a corner to make it go so fast that it flips!! angry

Posted Thu Oct 7, 2004 11:32 am
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()

Absolute favorite. Played at a con where each person had a light *and* heavy chariot, and we had a gamemaster to facilitate the rules. HIGHLY recommended -- if someoone knows the rules!

Posted Tue Sep 5, 2006 8:42 pm
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4. Board Game: Circus Imperium [Average Rating:6.61 Overall Rank:1950]

Morgan Dontanville

(sisteray)

United States
Brooklyn
New York

Plate of Shrimp.

Here we are folks, the dream we all dream of.

Number of Ratings: 48
Average Rating: 6.67
Bayesian Average Rating: 6.38
Overall Rank: 676
Standard Deviation: 1.34
Median: 7.00

1 comment [Hide]

Posted Tue Mar 16, 2004 11:09 pm

Bryan Johnson

(SwedeLad)

United States
North Andover
Massachusetts

My group used to LOVE this game back in the days before the German invasion. Now we are all helpless SpielFreaks and cannot turn back. We pulled this game out recently and realized its not as great as we once thought. The instruction book is quite amusing however, and worth reading for the humor value alone.

Posted Thu Mar 18, 2004 8:36 am
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5. Board Game: Hippodrome [Average Rating:6.58 Unranked]

Matthew Thrift

(mbthrift)

United States
Goldsboro
North Carolina

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Raleigh, NC Temple

A low completixy chariot game. It is more focused on the racing than combat, but still has whip attacks and ramming.

2 comments [Hide]

Posted Wed Sep 6, 2006 2:39 pm

Lem Tohver

(litebrite)

Canada
Hamilton
Ontario

We started playing this game at my club just recently. If is very easy to learn (basicly 5 pgs of rules). As stated, it does not have very detailed combat, but IMHO, just right. We were able to play a race every hour with 6 people. You do need regular playing cards to play (each player requires a set (Ace to 10) for turn priority/MP determination. We are developing a campaign game for this. You do have to mount the counters. I feel this game is well worth the investment.

Posted Wed Dec 27, 2006 2:16 pm
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Lem Tohver

(litebrite)

Canada
Hamilton
Ontario

We started playing this game at my club just recently. If is very easy to learn (basicly 5 pgs of rules). As stated, it does not have very detailed combat, but IMHO, just right. We were able to play a race every hour with 6 people. You do need regular playing cards to play (each player requires a set (Ace to 10) for turn priority/MP determination. We are developing a campaign game for this. You do have to mount the counters. I feel this game is well worth the investment

Posted Wed Dec 27, 2006 2:28 pm
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6. Board Game: Ben Hur [Average Rating:6.49 Overall Rank:4031]

Morgan Dontanville

(sisteray)

United States
Brooklyn
New York

Plate of Shrimp.

Here we are folks, the dream we all dream of.

Number of Ratings: 11
Average Rating: 6.73
Bayesian Average Rating: N/A
Overall Rank: N/A
Standard Deviation: 2.05
Median: 7.00

1 comment [Hide]

Posted Tue Mar 16, 2004 11:09 pm

Eddy Bee

(Eddy Bee)

United States
Marin County
California

I really like this game, but my group is pretty much split - some love it, others hate it. The components are top notch (except for the rather cheap cards): it has big heavy wooden chariot pieces, a thick vinyl board, and wooden movement sticks. The sticks are one of the most innovative and effective movement mechanisms I've seen in a racing game.

The clashes (whipping and ramming) between the chariots is abstracted, which makes the game very quick and easy to play.

All 6 chariots really need to be in the race, otherwise people tend to steer clear of each other. Yes, eliminations are possible, but in my experience they are more often due to driver error rather than malicious intent - although that happens too.

Of course, finding this game at a reasonable price is the tricky part.

Posted Wed Apr 14, 2004 1:34 am
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7. Board Game: Rome [Average Rating:6.33 Overall Rank:1846]

Morgan Dontanville

(sisteray)

United States
Brooklyn
New York

Plate of Shrimp.

Here we are folks, the dream we all dream of.

Number of Ratings: 86
Average Rating: 6.71
Bayesian Average Rating: 6.51
Overall Rank: 547
Standard Deviation: 1.07
Median: 0.00

3 comments [Hide]

Posted Tue Mar 16, 2004 11:16 pm

Ogdred Weary

(gashlycrumb)

United States
San Francisco
California

I am tempted by this one as well, and it seems to be a good price for 3 games.

Posted Wed Mar 17, 2004 12:10 am
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Josh Adelson

(MisterCranky)

United States
State College
Pennsylvania

Hello, can you run as fast as me? I hope not, because if you catch me I will thrash you!

This space available for rent.

And if any of the games were ones that you would play more than twice, it would be even more tempting. Alas....

Posted Thu Mar 18, 2004 5:05 am
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Kevin Kenz

(Lunga)

United States
Kalamazoo
Michigan

Don't waste your money on this...

Posted Wed Apr 14, 2004 1:04 am
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8. Board Game: Circus Minimus [Average Rating:6.25 Overall Rank:2758]

Morgan Dontanville

(sisteray)

United States
Brooklyn
New York

Plate of Shrimp.

Here we are folks, the dream we all dream of.

Number of Ratings: 37
Average Rating: 6.12
Bayesian Average Rating: 6.03
Overall Rank: 1030
Standard Deviation: 1.52
Median: 6.00

0 comments

Posted Tue Mar 16, 2004 11:09 pm

9. Board Game: Arena Maximus [Average Rating:6.01 Overall Rank:2155]

Morgan Dontanville

(sisteray)

United States
Brooklyn
New York

Plate of Shrimp.

Here we are folks, the dream we all dream of.

Number of Ratings: 32
Average Rating: 7.22
Bayesian Average Rating: 6.59
Overall Rank: 480
Standard Deviation: 0.92
Median: 0.00

4 comments [Hide]

Posted Tue Mar 16, 2004 11:09 pm

Kevin Kenz

(Lunga)

United States
Kalamazoo
Michigan

This one gets my vote. You will enjoy the game, not get bogged down in rules, and be able to play 2-3 games in an evening no problem. I have AH Circus Maximus, which sits unplayed since no one wants to devote the time to re-learn. Just too much work for what should be easier and more enjoyable. (Others will disagree I'm sure!)
This one has a fantasy theme to it, with the ability to use some spells, etc. You can play with or without them.

But it is a race game at heart, and it is fun. You can play different chariots for variations, the tiles make each race different, and it moves right along. You can't go wrong in my book. Plus, it's not very expensive.

Hope this helps

Posted Wed Apr 14, 2004 12:57 am
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Morgan Dontanville

(sisteray)

United States
Brooklyn
New York

Plate of Shrimp.

Here we are folks, the dream we all dream of.

Thanks Kevin,

I just got the opportunity to play this and was compelled to play it again a few days later.

This is a great little game. For the price you can't go wrong.

Posted Wed Apr 14, 2004 1:02 am
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Kevin Kenz

(Lunga)

United States
Kalamazoo
Michigan

Oh, sorry- there can be players eliminated. If the chariot is wrecked twice (takes max damage per side of chariot token). Has not happend yet, but can if players are ganging up on someone, or just plain rotten luck! But as I say, has not happned yet, though there has been some close calls.
Perhaps others who have played can add what their experiences have been.

Posted Wed Apr 14, 2004 1:02 am
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()

A good "beer and pretzels" second place to Circus Maximus. Easy rules (skip the optional Magic rules) but lacks the hand-to-hand combat of Circus Maximus.

Posted Tue Sep 5, 2006 8:44 pm
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10. Board Game: Ben Hurt [Average Rating:5.58 Overall Rank:5784]

Morgan Dontanville

(sisteray)

United States
Brooklyn
New York

Plate of Shrimp.

Here we are folks, the dream we all dream of.

Number of Ratings: 110
Average Rating: 5.64
Bayesian Average Rating: 5.70
Overall Rank: 1293
Standard Deviation: 1.39
Median: 6.00

2 comments [Hide]

Posted Tue Mar 16, 2004 11:09 pm

Michael Van Biesbrouck

(mlvanbie)

United States
Mountain View
California

Cheap if you buy the PDF print-and-play version. May be hard to get a preprinted version.

Can make a really good light entertainment -- lots of fun and silliness. Once the game got going I think that we maintained a constant high level of fun throughout gameplay (it didn't start to drag). Bribing players to play cards was getting very popular. Individual races don't need to be hugely long and saving state between plays wouldn't be hard if you wanted to do a long series of games.

Players can't be eliminated.