Antike
Another week another boardgame, this time it’s Antike, a civilisation-type boardgame! What’s a civilisation-type boardgame? Well, they are boardgames which contains elements of building, expansion, technology tree research, army raising, and of course, war! Oh yeah! Knocking down and killing stuffs you just spent the last few turns building. Antike, like a good German boardgame, introduces a streamlined gameplay. Unlike Twilight Imperium III, the building options are limited to temples, ground armies and naval fleets: before army building… peaceful town & villages after army building… War! To Arms! In civilisation-type games, you also get to research technologies to give your civilisation a boost in the competition. The ‘technology tree’ can be seen here, there’s options to boost defenses, economics, movement… (Why is everyone going for marketplace!?): Resource gathering and building is alternated during each player’s turn using a mechanic unique to Antike, called the ‘Rondel’: This mechanic limits the players to resource gathering (of iron, gold or marble) or building (of army, technology or temple) in a single turn. This limitation forces the players to make excrutiating choices on which resource to gather and which strategy to pursue. The ‘Rondel’ also punishes players who are too dedicated to one strategy by forcing them to pay extra resources. This balances the game from situations where there will be one dominating strategy. The objective of the game, is to be the ‘best civilisation’ and score the most victory points, by: 1. Expanding civilisation, 2. Researching technologies, 3. Building Temples, and 4. Conquering opponents. I played this game during the boardgame Session @ Games Circle on Saturday 12 August 06: In my game, I was Greece and was sandwiched between Persia, Carthage and a Germaniac tribe. I went for the iron & army strategy while neighbouring Persia went for a classical marble & temple strategy. Despite his temple defense bonuses, I took his first province. Then I had a change of heart. The guy was on the verge of being eliminated from the game and still did not raise the required army to oppose me. I held back the killing blow. Sigh, needless to say, I lost the game to a technology-rich civilisation. Woe to me for losing steam in my expansion and conquest. Overall, a solid game, but the players have to be aggressive to fully enjoy the game.
