Everything you could ever want to know about:
“Thurn and Taxis: For Power and Glory”In this review you will find the answers to the following burning questions about this upcoming game. Feel free to skip ahead to the questions that interest you.
1. What the heck does Thurn and Taxis mean?
2. What are the Thurn and Taxis Games like?
3. How does this game differ from the original?
4. Is this a stand-alone game or is it an expansion?
5. What are the bits like?
6. If I have the original is this worth buying?
7. Can I play this online?
8. Sum it all up for me.Please note: My experience with this game is through several plays on BSW and through general press releases and other information available on the ‘geek. Since the American edition has yet to be released, what components will be included in the game is not yet able to be confirmed.
1. What the heck does Thurn and Taxis mean?This was my first question when I heard about these games. It is the weirdest title I have ever heard. Is this German for some reasonable English title? No, sorry. Thurn and Taxis is the name for the German postal service in the 15th century, it was named after the German family that started the service. In this game you are establishing a postal service in 15th century Germany. I promise, this game is more fun then the theme implies. It would be hard for it not to be.
2. What are the Thurn and Taxis Games like?(I will not go into detail of the rules of the game but rather give you a general idea of the kind of game it is. Complete rules for the Thurn and Taxis game can be found here:
http://www.brettspielwelt.de/Hilfe/Anleitungen/ThurnUndTaxis... )
Thurn and Taxis has often been compared to the Ticket to Ride games. It is a relevant comparison for many reasons, Thurn and Taxis is a light, quick game that is easy to learn and is about making connections. The game play of the two games is quite a bit different. The most noticeable difference being that there is less player interaction in Thurn and Taxis then in Ticket to Ride. For example, it is not possible to block other players out of cities in Thurn and Taxis, which is an important part of the Ticket to Ride games. This lack of interaction can be a positive for those who like their games more friendly, or a negative for those who like their games with a little more tension. Not to say that there is no interaction, but it is more subtle. For this reason, I find Thurn and Taxis to be an excellent couples game, it is competitive without being confrontational. But that preference of course depends on different couples. Not that I don’t enjoy playing Ticket to Ride with my wife but occasionally it can get ugly.
3. How does this game differ from the original?“Thurn and Taxis: For Power and Glory” differs from the original game, “Thurn and Taxis” by adding a few elements to the game and a new board. The same game system is used for both games. The two most major changes with the expansion are the board itself and the “horses” variant. This board may be played using the original rules or with the “horses” variant, making it almost like two games in one.
(Note: This rest of this section assumes the reader knows the rules of the original game)
The “horses” variant replaces the use of the carriages and the Cartwright special ability in the original game. In this variant there is no longer the element of climbing the carriage ladder to get bigger and bigger carriages worth more points. Instead you are forced to pay for your routes using your city cards which now have a number of horseshoes on them. There are three of each city card in the deck, each one has 1,2 or 3 horseshoes pictured on the side. In this variant instead of playing a city to your route you may play the city cards as horses to your horseshoes pile. You start each route with a coach with 2 horseshoes and need as many horseshoes in your pile to complete the route. For example, if you are going to lay a route with five cities, you will need to have at least 5 horseshoes to claim the route. You will either need to play one city card with three horseshoes onto your coach (added to your always starting two) or play two city cards so that the total of your horseshoes is five or more. After scoring the route any extra horseshoes you played on your coach are discarded and you have to start again.
The effect of being able to play city cards as horseshoes, allows you much greater flexibility. It is impossible that you would have to discard a route because you can always just play a city card as horseshoes onto your coach. This allows for much longer routes. In fact in this game there are bonus tiles for finishing eight-city routes which are not uncommon. It also forces you to balance decisions between laying large routes and laying shorter routes to use more stations.
The map for “For Power and Glory” is a more challenging map to get stations on. The cities in general have fewer outlets and the large grey section is divided into separate sections of the board. I am guessing it was designed to be more challenging due to the more forgiving nature of the “horses” variant. However, the effect when played with the original rules, lends to much more difficult decisions then with the original board. This board requires careful card selection, judicious card sweeping, and a higher frequency of discarding routes. This could be a plus for those who thought the original needed a little more tension or a minus for those who liked the original Thurn and Taxis because it was so light.
A minor element added to the game is the four “free cities.” They are cities not in any colored region. More than one free city cannot be scored in a turn and you get a one point bonus for being the first one to claim them before anyone else. These cities are on the edges of the board. This element adds very little to the game except that these cities are generally avoided which results in a clogging of the face up cards of free cities, in turn resulting in players being forced to sweep.
4. Is this a stand-alone game or is it an expansion?Ahhh, interesting question. This game is officially listed an expansion BUT with a few simple additions could be playable without the original game. Looking at the components pictured here at the geek. It appears that the only components required that would be required would be; 20 colored markers of 4 different colors, some way to keep track of which carriage people have (such as pen and paper, and this is only necessary when not using the “horses” variant) and knowledge of the full rules (available online).
Where would I get 20 markers in 4 different colors? Are you kidding me? If you are reading this website just go look in your closet. Just thinking through mine I thought of cubes from Railroad Tycoon, Euphrat and Tigris, or El Grande, heck even trains from Ticket to Ride.
Why would one go through the work to do that? Well having played both games, it seems hardly necessary to own both. If you do not own Thurn and Taxis but are familiar with the game, you may be better served just purchasing the “expansion” and making it work. In stead of spending 60$ on both games, you can get the same experience for spending 25$ on just “Power and Glory,” which seems to have more replayability to it than the original.
For the very few components missing, shouldn’t they have just made this a stand-alone game? YES, thank you for asking. The only reason I see why they wouldn’t is that it would make the original game almost completely obsolete and it encourages us suckers to buy both games.
5. What are the bits like?Since I haven’t seen ‘em I can’t tell you. Pictures are available of the box contents here at the geek and it looks like more of the same from the original game; A beautiful board, nice counters and crappily stupid small cards. If I had three wishes from a magic lamp, the first would be for world peace, the second would be to forever ban companies from ever making ridiculously small unplayable cards and the third would be for three more wishes.
6. If I have the original is this worth buying?Only if you really love the original game and play it often. The expansion does have some nice twists and adds a lot of new strategy to the game, but the bottom line is it really is still the same game. As I said before it just seems unnecessary to own both. I see Thurn and Taxis as filling two roles in my game collection. It is a very enjoyable light game for two and it isn’t a bad “gateway” game. If you are looking for another nice couples game try something different instead ( I recommend houjix’s list:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/8691 ) and with the additions and the challenges in “For Power and Glory” it has actually made it less of a gateway game. Thurn and Taxis never really shined with four anyways. BUT, if you really like the original game and wouldn’t mind it “kicked up a notch,” then go for it.
7. Can I play this online?YES! In fact, because of the “lack of interaction” in this game, it actually makes for a really fantastic online board game. If you have yet to be initiated, you have to go try out “Brettspielwelt”
http://www.brettspielwelt.de/ It’s a free service that offers around 50 games online. This is a great way to try out games to see if you like them. I will probably only play the expansion online due to the reasons listed above.
8. Sum it all up for me.Wow, I’m tired from all this typing! Was this too much information? Here are the last 1700 words in a nutshell:
This game is a fine expansion that adds strategy and a little depth while still using the same basic system. In my opinion, if you have the original you are probably better off passing on this in lieu of a different game unless you LOVE the original game. If you do not have the original you may consider purchasing this “expansion” and improvising the missing pieces as an affordable, enjoyable game that is an improvement on the original. Or if you don’t want to pony up any dough at all, play this game online, you won’t miss much, as although this game is a lot of fun, no one has ever claimed it was very social. Plus you won’t have to shuffle those INFERNAL MINI CARDS!!!
I hope this was useful to you folks, I think I may have to go take a nap now
Ryan Sturm
(Waldorf on BSW)
Posted Fri Apr 6,2007 10:42 pm
