Post by Gilvan Blight on Jan 22, 2007 1:37:41 GMT -5
This is the updated multi-national edition of Wallenstine.
Summary: players take on the role of conflicting warlords in fudal Japan. The game is played over two years, with each season being another game turn. Each turn consists of a number of rounds. First the order of the ten types of actions is determined (these include harvetsting Rice, Collecting Taxes, building your armies, moving an army, building castles, building temples, building theaters and attacking). Then players plan which of the ten actions they wish to do this season and which province they own to do them in. An auction is held for seasonal bonuses (which also determines turn order). The event for this season is revealed (changes the rules each season, for example one season you may not attack provinces with temples, the next you can only harvest a max of 3 rice, the next castles provide a bonus to defence etc). Players then complete each of the 10 actions in the order determined earlier. The final season each year is Winter. In winter no actions are taken but each player must provide rice for his people or they may revolt. After the potential revolt points are scored. Players score points for the number of provinces they own and for owning the most buildings in each region (coloured sets of provinces). The player with the most points after two years is the winner. Battles are fought in a very unique way. Players armies are represented by coloured cubes. These are dropped into a tower. The amount of cubes that fall out of the tower determines the winner. The tower itself is laticed inside and puposely 'catches' some of the armies.
The Good: the componenets are pretty top notch. Everything has a very Japanese feel too it that fits the look perfectly. Armies and gold are represented by wooden pieces and buildings by well cut good looking chits. The battle tower is still one of the coolest game mechanics out there. The clear base for the tower (as upposed to Wallenstiens black) doesn't look nearly as good, but definately helps all players see the results of battle. The combination of resource management and wargame makes this a unique game that really apeals to players of both wargames and eurostyle games. This edition has quite a few improvements over Wallenstien. The most obvious is the set of rules in 6 different languages. Wallenstine was only released in German, so rules needed to be downloaded for most of us to play. The second is the setting. I personally find the Japanese setting a little cooler. Also, the names of the Japanese provinces are must easier to pronounce then the German ones. Perhaps the biggest improvement though, is the inclusion of two maps. Each side of the board provides players with a different challenge as the regions are layed out differently. This adds double the replay value of the original. The addition of pre-set starting layout for beginers is also a nice touch.
The Bad: I was somewhat disapointed to see that the entire game became symbol based. I guess it makes sense if you are going to make a game that multi-national. But I expected to see english on the board for some reason. What happens now is you need the english referance sheet to see what everything means (though you can pretty much figure it out and put it away after the first season). This really isn't much of an improvement on downloading an english referance page for Wallenstien. Too many sets of rules. There are so many sets of rules (different languages) included in the box that the damn thing won't even close all the way. Really not an issue as you could store them elsewhere, or just toss out the non-native ones, but it was annoying.
The Ugly: Tiny Cards! Why are all newer games coming out with those dumb tiny cards. Much of this game is handled through cards. Each player holds a hand of provinces, and a hand of bidding chests. In addition turn order is determined randomly by 10 cards, events by another deck (not sure how many), bonuses by 5 and so on. All of these are the tiny type of cards you are used to seeing in Travel additions of games (and quite a few newer games, aka Hacienda). I like full sized cards. I hate these tiny ones.
Overall: I loved Wallenstine when I played it for the first time just over a year ago, and had been looking forward to this international edition since I heard of it coming out. I wasn't disapointed. I think this edition takes an amazing game and actually improves on it slightly. This is mainly due to the fact that the game comes with a double sided board, and the fact I prefer the Japanese background (especially due to easier to pronounce provinces). If you liked Wallenstine you will like this, if you own Wallenstine you probably don't need to pick this up though, there really isnt' that much difference. If you haven't played wallenstine but enjoy resource management and wargames you will probably enjoy this. If you only like wargames or resource management, I still suggest you give this one a try.
This is one I would love to bring to a future gathering to share the joy.
Summary: players take on the role of conflicting warlords in fudal Japan. The game is played over two years, with each season being another game turn. Each turn consists of a number of rounds. First the order of the ten types of actions is determined (these include harvetsting Rice, Collecting Taxes, building your armies, moving an army, building castles, building temples, building theaters and attacking). Then players plan which of the ten actions they wish to do this season and which province they own to do them in. An auction is held for seasonal bonuses (which also determines turn order). The event for this season is revealed (changes the rules each season, for example one season you may not attack provinces with temples, the next you can only harvest a max of 3 rice, the next castles provide a bonus to defence etc). Players then complete each of the 10 actions in the order determined earlier. The final season each year is Winter. In winter no actions are taken but each player must provide rice for his people or they may revolt. After the potential revolt points are scored. Players score points for the number of provinces they own and for owning the most buildings in each region (coloured sets of provinces). The player with the most points after two years is the winner. Battles are fought in a very unique way. Players armies are represented by coloured cubes. These are dropped into a tower. The amount of cubes that fall out of the tower determines the winner. The tower itself is laticed inside and puposely 'catches' some of the armies.
The Good: the componenets are pretty top notch. Everything has a very Japanese feel too it that fits the look perfectly. Armies and gold are represented by wooden pieces and buildings by well cut good looking chits. The battle tower is still one of the coolest game mechanics out there. The clear base for the tower (as upposed to Wallenstiens black) doesn't look nearly as good, but definately helps all players see the results of battle. The combination of resource management and wargame makes this a unique game that really apeals to players of both wargames and eurostyle games. This edition has quite a few improvements over Wallenstien. The most obvious is the set of rules in 6 different languages. Wallenstine was only released in German, so rules needed to be downloaded for most of us to play. The second is the setting. I personally find the Japanese setting a little cooler. Also, the names of the Japanese provinces are must easier to pronounce then the German ones. Perhaps the biggest improvement though, is the inclusion of two maps. Each side of the board provides players with a different challenge as the regions are layed out differently. This adds double the replay value of the original. The addition of pre-set starting layout for beginers is also a nice touch.
The Bad: I was somewhat disapointed to see that the entire game became symbol based. I guess it makes sense if you are going to make a game that multi-national. But I expected to see english on the board for some reason. What happens now is you need the english referance sheet to see what everything means (though you can pretty much figure it out and put it away after the first season). This really isn't much of an improvement on downloading an english referance page for Wallenstien. Too many sets of rules. There are so many sets of rules (different languages) included in the box that the damn thing won't even close all the way. Really not an issue as you could store them elsewhere, or just toss out the non-native ones, but it was annoying.
The Ugly: Tiny Cards! Why are all newer games coming out with those dumb tiny cards. Much of this game is handled through cards. Each player holds a hand of provinces, and a hand of bidding chests. In addition turn order is determined randomly by 10 cards, events by another deck (not sure how many), bonuses by 5 and so on. All of these are the tiny type of cards you are used to seeing in Travel additions of games (and quite a few newer games, aka Hacienda). I like full sized cards. I hate these tiny ones.
Overall: I loved Wallenstine when I played it for the first time just over a year ago, and had been looking forward to this international edition since I heard of it coming out. I wasn't disapointed. I think this edition takes an amazing game and actually improves on it slightly. This is mainly due to the fact that the game comes with a double sided board, and the fact I prefer the Japanese background (especially due to easier to pronounce provinces). If you liked Wallenstine you will like this, if you own Wallenstine you probably don't need to pick this up though, there really isnt' that much difference. If you haven't played wallenstine but enjoy resource management and wargames you will probably enjoy this. If you only like wargames or resource management, I still suggest you give this one a try.
This is one I would love to bring to a future gathering to share the joy.