The new "to me" games that I've had the privilege of playing in the past month include...
Hansa Teutonica, Wars of the Roses, Through the Ages, and Dominion: Prosperity (well, this is not new, in a way).
HANSA TEUTONICA
I enjoyed my two plays of this one at That Board Game Thing - enough to order my own copy.
Designer - Andreas Steding
Mechanic - Worker placement.
In some ways it's like a lot of other worker placement games, but it has enough really good choices and balancing acts that it keeps my interest. Looking forward to the expansion. It actually plays in a relatively short time (about an hour) when everyone knows the game. The main idea is to connect to cities through a road network, and either take a privilege offered by the city (in the case of 6 of the cities), or take an empty office in the city if one is available and you qualify. The privileges/rewards of connecting to the cities grant numerous benefits, depending on the city connected to - a) more actions per turn, b) qualification/privilegiums to serve in higher office positions in towns, c) the ability to pick up your pieces and move them to another spot on the board (I call it "flying"), d) Money bags (an increased number of workers to place), and e) town keys, which is an end game bonus (actually a multiplier for all the offices they hold in their longest chain of cities), f) special bonus points at the end of the game.
The game lasts until someone has scored 20 points and then there is an end-game scoring. There are lots of other things going on (special pieces that give bonuses for traveling down certain roads, merchants who score more than traders, but are more difficult to get on the board, the ability to displace other players from roads, or to force them to displace you from a road (you get a bonus when they do, so it becomes a strategy to get in someone else's way).
Eleven pages of rules - but lots of illustrations make it easy to learn. And wonderful bits. I give it an 8 currently.
WARS OF THE ROSES
Played this one at our latest Marathon Game Day, with Chuck & Jill, and Scott Brooks.
Designer - Peter Hawes
Mechanic - Secret pre-planning ("Blind" Worker Placement), War Game light
This one was really fun. Chuck taught it to Scott and me. We played the 4-player which allows for two teams: Lancaster & York. Scott and I were York and Jill & Chuck, Lancaster.
This is a game with huge (and beautiful playing bits). And...you play on a map of England! Each turn you plan your moves behind your castle walls (huge castle walls that shield your plan from your opponents). A planning board lies behind the individual castle walls on which you secretly move your Lords; plan your bribes of other people's nobles, bishops, and ship captains; plan your troop & attack movements; and move your ships. Once all are through with their plans, the huge Castle Wall shields are removed. First, bribes are carried out (you can bribe other player's "personalities" to switch loyalties unless their current Lord bribes them to stay). After bribes are resolved and paid for, nobles, ships, and troops are moved as per the planning boards and battles are resolved. (All of this takes but a moment or two - generally less than a minute to resolve). There is hardly ever any down-time.
Next, victory points are awarded for holding majorities of the towns, castles, ports, and cathedral cities in each of the 6 areas of England/Wales. Finally, an election is quickly resolved to see which King (Lancaster or York) is elected to sit on the throne. The "side" whose King is elected gains another 5 VPs. End of Turn One.
Game lasts 5 turns and the person with the most VPs is the winner.
I really enjoyed this one (perhaps it helped that I won the game). The game is very fluid with little wildfire battles all over the map, so there is no "Risk-like" gradual take-over of a nation or area. The more you can adjust to the fluid nature of the game the better you will be. You must be willing to take advantage of opportunities as they are presented rather than having some grand strategy. This one left me think "what could i have done better" - sign of a good game IMO.
THROUGH THE AGES
This one has definitely been the BEST of the games I've seen lately. Certainly it's not a new game - but it was new to me. First, on Friday afternoon Scott Brooks, Mark Qualls, and I played a "learning game" (Simple version) as we read the rules and stumbled our way through. Then, Saturday afternoon, Chuck Parrot taught us the Advanced Game. Both games were fascinating! I won the first, but came in dead last in the Advanced Game. But i loved it and am ready to play again despite the 5 hour playing time!
Designer - Vlaada Chvatil
Mechanic - Card Drafting, Action Point Allowance System
Type of Game - Civilization building!! (Yeah. My favorite type)
First, my greatest disappointment - no map board!! However, this was overcome by the fascinating way the game played and feeling you get of seeing your civilization grow. Game-play looks like a bear to learn, but once you start playing, it all makes sense and plays easily. I was always turned off by the myriads of tiny bits I saw (from afar seeing others play it) and didn't want to get involved in all the minutia and trivia. But found that to be a wrong conclusion once I read the rules and started playing. The game is fascinating to me.
Each player starts the game with an ancient civilization consisting of a single lab, two small farms, 2 bronze mines, and a single warrior. Your government is Despotism - allowing you four Civil Actions and two Military Actions per turn. As the game progresses it is your job to a) increase your population, produces resources (bronze and food), develop your philosophy and religion, and add increasing technological advances to your people - all the while building a reputable military and advancing your Government! You can't do it all in a single turn - but you must plan carefully and balance your advances in each area carefully. In the Simple game you play through the Ancient age and Age I. In the Advanced Game you play through Age II (introduces new technologies). In the Full Game you play through Age III (by now you will have Tanks, Rockets, Planes; you will have Democracy, Communism, or Fundamentalism as your Government; you will have access to leaders such as Einstein, Churchill, Nicola Tesla; and technologies such as Oil, Mechanized Ag, Satellites, Computers, multi-media, professional sports, fast food chains(!), space flight, and the internet!! (if you are fortunate).
On a player's turn they Re-arrange the Card row and spend actions to select cards they want; perform a single Political Action (costs no action points); then take Civil and Military Actions. Finally, the next person begins their turn while you produce and maintain your stock of resources, food, etc.
The game is played using small sets of cards which you choose from a row of 13 cards, then you place cards on your playing mat and move resources and population markers to & from cards to represent your buildings, farms, technologies, etc.
I can't begin to explain this one in a few short words - but I can say that it is a fascinating game to play even if you don't win! I heard that said more than once as we played. Three of us were new to the game and we were all extremely excited about it and ready to play again.
DOMINION: PROSPERITY
I won't say much about this one - it's another Dominion expansion. But I will say that I like it better than any of the other expansions or Dominion stand-alones. There is plenty of money (after all, it's an age of inflation)! But, things also cost more. Colonies (10 victory points!), and Platinum (5 Treasure) is added along with some great new action cards that both cost more and provide more money. It's especially fun to play in time of USA recession! Now you can spend that money!!
CONCLUSION:
All of these games are great additions to my gaming library. I will have to say that Through the Ages is now at the top of my list - though the length of play will keep me from playing it as often as I would like.
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