#55: Wallenstein
A 'wargame' that is more about economics than war, Wallenstein takes an unusual theme (the 30 Years War) and an unusual mechanism (the randomizing tower used in the less successful Im Zeichen des Kreuzes) and creates an immensely playable game. Brian Leet: "I like games that require concrete planning based on imperfect information, and this is the best of the bunch. I also appreciate that it is a game about a war where combat is often not the better option."
picture from Board Game GeekLabels: The One Hundred
posted by Mark (aka pastor guy) at 7:52 AM
3 Comments:
A little too confrontational for my tastes, but a great game anyway. I like that, as a war game, it makes you think about building and feeding people, and that as a building game, it makes you think about conflict.
This one I have to dissent on - while I can appreciate the elegance of the design, this one just hasn't ever been fun to play. I've never really been able to put a handle on to why that is, exactly, but there it is - I'd always opt for something else, given the option.
I really enjoy the process of programming my actions for the turn. It seems there are never enough provinces, never enough gold, always too many unrest markers, always too many provinces I'm hoping to conquer, and awlays too many border to defend! The dice tower is great as well, and to top it off the board is stunning.
I do wish, though, that Wallenstein had a little greater sense of movement to it, with less entrenchment. It's the kind of game where sometimes the threat of a fight is enough to shape a player's actions, even if the invasion never comes.
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