Whilst browsing over to the MilSims site, I noticed they’ve changed their banner to have a “Merry Christmas” included in it. I guess we’re getting really close to that part of the year. (It’s now under three weeks until my birthday!)
When I got home last night, I found a copy of Hansa Teutonica waiting for me – I’d forgotten that MilSims had sent my copy earlier this week. This is a new Eurogame which has been getting really good reviews at BoardGameGeek – it’s currently sitting at 60th place, which is pretty high. It’s being touted as a game that allows many strategies a chance of winning – as well as being a worker placement/area control game. I hope to get a game of it today or tomorrow, depending on what else is going on.
A bit more exciting for a lot of people is the new copy of Sid Meier’s Civilization: the Boardgame that I bought from Good Games Ballarat on Wednesday. For 2-4 players (best with 4) and taking 2-4 hours, this is a boardgame based on a computer game I love. I’ve now managed to play the game three times – one incomplete, the other two 3-player games which I won (military and cultural victories), and I can give some sort of opinion on the game.
It’s good, it isn’t great. However, it *is* fun. Last night, we played two games back-to-back, so both Derek and Paul thought it was good enough to try. In the first game, Derek got into a military fight which left Derek with no troops left… so I wandered in the back way (with the biggest army in the game) and destroyed his capital. That was enough for the military victory. The second game, Paul and Derek were more respectful of military, and Derek – in particular – build up his forces. He and I had an uneasy truce on our borders, which was shortly to become a very uneasy war… however, I was able to parley an initial bonus in my Chinese culture for capturing neutral villages into a massive cultural advantage for end-game. Neither Paul nor Derek were advancing on the cultural track, so I had a handful of cards I could use to counter their schemes. I was able to win just before Derek attacked with some fairly serious troops.
The new edition of Battle Cry has also arrived, slightly early for the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War. It’s a very nice reprint, which also has a number of revisions to the cards, figures and rules. I’ve played three games of it, and – though it isn’t of the weight of BattleLore or C&C:Ancients – it plays nicely and enjoyably. Best of all, it comes with 30 scenarios. 🙂
I managed to play Hansa Teutonica a couple of months ago; I loved it. I’ve only played two games of it, but it’s definitely one that I will be picking up.
I managed to get in three games yesterday, and they were astonishingly good: for such a simple rule set, there is a lot going on. All three games were very different, and the game kept showing us new strategies and ways of playing. Looking forward to playing more of it!