I have several rugby board games, but have always been looking for one that captured the speed and excitement of an actual match, and that I could play with my son (now 8).
Between the Posts simulates a match, but is not fun to play as a game. Crash Tackle is a fantastic rugby game, but a little too in depth for family play - and a fair amount of downtime as you wait for your opponent to move all 15 of his players before you get to move again (always assuming you can remember which players you have actually moved). Trytime is just a "build a team" game, and World Cup Rugby just has you rolling a pair of dice to generate a result.
The "Rugby Addicts Boardgame" though, steps into the void ... a rugby match that is relatively simple, and fun to play.
It is similar to Crash tackle in that it simulates a match, and every player is on the pitch (although it's a little crowded and actually more fun with 10 a side) - but it is much simpler and quicker to play.
2 dice are used, a normal blue d6 to generate a number of actions a player can do that turn (e.g move any player(s) a square, pass, gather, kick etc), plus a red d10 with numbers 0-5 which is used for moving players one zone (the large dark / light green 3x3 squares) to enable players to move around quicker. This means you aren't waiting for you opponent to move all 15 players before its your turn again, but the red die still means enough players move about to make it feel like rugby.
On your turn you can run, pass, kick and tackle using the roll of the blue die - plus additional moves if you have made a pass depending on the number on the shirt of the player who ends up with the ball (these are NOT the same as usual shirt numbers, and just range from 1 to 5). Playing with just 10 aside allows you to handicap one player by removing the higher number shirts from their team, which is a nice option. After using the roll of the blue die and any bonus moves, you can then move players according to the red die roll, when any player (other than the one with the ball) can move to any square either in the zone they are currently in, or one of the zones adjacent to their current zone.
The board is huge, with 2 pairs of plastic posts to slot into the board. The box also comes with 6 teams (the 6 nations) of cardboard players which are folded and placed into the 15 black and white bases to also add to the impressive look of the game. Finally a small ball sits nicely into the base of the ball carrier ... although less nicely rolls about when the ball is loose on the pitch!
One of the more gimmicky items included is a small bent piece of plastic used for kicks at goal. Whilst this makes use of the physical posts, it quickly becomes tiresome and loses it's appeal (although my son would probably disagree) - and I've posted an alternative dice based kicking method instead.
My original problem with the game was that the rules were only provided on a DVD and as such couldn't quickly be checked while playing - but they have recently released a pdf file with the rules which helps a lot, although it still misses a few rules (like the short kicks, and 22m dropout). The basic rules allow you to get playing quickly, and there are rules for kicking, rucks, lineouts, scrums and sidesteps (amongst others) that can be added once familiar with the game.
If you are a serious gamer, and/or a serious rugby fan, I would recommend Crash Tackle. If however you are a rugby fan willing to overlook a few rules tweaks for playability sakes (e.g scrums!), and looking for a quick playing and fun rugby match - then I would recommend this.
See if you can manage to keep all 15 England players on the pitch for an entire half to start with ... that might help!!
Kahmate looks neat - although we're screwed with the exchange rate at the moment with the pound being worth about half a plastic button, let alone anything worthwhile. Wonder if we can talk ShireGames or someone to import a load into the UK like they did with Crash Tackle ... I know Nick frequents this site.
Posted Tue Feb 17, 2009 11:38 am
