Nations | Rahdo's Final Thoughts 

agreed!

yup, still have it, and it's still in my top10 fave games of all time :)

@@rahdo awesome. I just got me the expansion as well

Dennis Bozic of for me, it's nations... no brainer! :)

Okay. :)

pretty much just what the rules call for... mostly less cards come out every round :)

this, no doubt. eclipse wasn't for us, for reasons i oulined in my runthrough of that game

Oh, wish i'd seen that review now, thanks. I'm always looking for a new good game and I was looking at this, eclipse and mansions of madness.

still nations :)

That's amazing. I recently got to choose between one and the other, and most comparisons I could find were comparing Nation the the previous TTA. It's really nice to know that it is still holding it's ground even with the new TTA around. Thank you for answering.

cool, where are you? i'll figure out what shipping would be to get it there (shipping is crazy expensive out of malta)

***** ok, you should check Slovakia then. I've already asked my local gaming store to find a copy near me , we'll see. Thank you!

foldesgabe ok. i just checked, and shipping from malta to slovakia would be over €30!!! so i don't think a sale like this makes sense...

***** ok thanx! I want this game so badly so if I still can't find a copy near me soon, no shipping price will hold me back :)

yup, i played it again recently, full player count, and I still think it's the best game of the year... i'll be doing a 2013 top 10 update video soon (maybe this week) :)

well they're thematically similar, but in terms of gameplay they're RADICALLY different. i would say though that you can definitely target a type of civ you want to build and follow that path throughout the game. i guess if you like 7 wonders and are ready for a much heavier, longer game, then you may very well like nations too :)

Ty for your responce I actually ordered it im going to pick it up tommorow at my local game store :D

+5ergion i haven't looked very close at what changes have been made for the new TTA, but my understanding is they're minor tweaks, which means nations is still the game for us! i think we're getting to the point where i could list 10 civ games that jen and i love, but we're not there yet! :)

yeah, but it has a lot of combat, right? probably not the game for me and jen then :)

***** You don't need to do any combat in CoC and you are unlikely to get to do any until nearer the end of the game just because of the slow movement on the map. I've certainly played games were there wasn't a single player vs. player fight (though you often need to fight barbarian settlements and you could consider prozeletizing your opponent's cities, which takes VP but leaves them with control of them, as combat). It really isn't TtA light though, by any stretch of the imagination, if only because it doesn't advance past the ancient world!

Bil Bas -- I think Richard you need to do a runthrough of CoC :)

I must admit Bil makes a strong argument... sounds good :)

I just wanted to say it wasn't a game with a "lot of combat". Combat is certainly a very viable strategy, but it isn't a critical one. One thing I did consider since I made the original comment, however, is that the game loses a fair bit of variety if you discount the conquest route (over cultural conflict, which as I said doesn't damage your opponent - it just steals VP - or simple self-improvement). I hope I've just made you do a bit more research on the topic rather than take the dramatic war scene on the cover as actually representative of the majority of the game-play :D

SuperTupko still think it's great, and wish i could play it more often. opening strategy is always defined by what cards are availalbe for display crossed with what nation i am, so it's always going to be different. i know they're working on expansion stuff, but no idea when it'll be ready :)

some people say that if you play with the more advanced cards, it becomes very gruelling and unforgiving, but we haven't found that to be the case. HOWEVER, if you change the difficulty, and play on the tougher levels, the game can get pretty hard going, and every little bit counts. so yeah, i guess it can be punishing if you want it to be... :)

yup, i'm heavy in love with it right now, in a way that few games hit me. jen agrees as well :)

:(

nope, doesn't bother me. the game creates an alternate world history, different every time, and i very much enjoy it. if you take a broad enough sweep of history, you'll find egypt suffered from highs and lows in all these metrics, just like every other civilization. iirc, egypt's dominance was brought about by famine. google search says: www.newscientist.com/article/mg17323271-800-how-egypt-was-felled-by-famine-in-2180-bc/ so let's just say that the game envisions an Egypt past it's prime, at the the end of the old kingdom's greatness, and it's up to you to steer the ship differently that what history tells us.

Well I would argue that Egypt's dominance was also brought on because of the Nile. which may be saying the same thing you are but differently. What I mean by that is what does Egypt have that the other northern African countries don't have? If you have ever seen the I believe HBO series Rome. In one of the later episodes they do talk about the grain shortage because of what was happening in Egypt. In any event Egypt did fed the Mediterranean. And as I watched your run-through I kept bugging me. About the Egypt situation. I suppose I didn't see how being more factual about the food and no military had any real baring on the game play. In other words if it had been more factual I couldn't envision you being like, "Egypt can have a military? Well I'm not playing this game." One last thing about Egypt. If you and your wife ever get a chance to go to Egypt do so. You won't regret it. And go to Cairo, Luxor (the Valley of the Kings), and Alexandria. Parts of the lighthouse are still in the water near the beach. And also plan to be in Alexandria on a day where you can visit the famous library. We didn't have that opportunity. It was closed to tourists that day. Before you go since you did like the fact that you liked the game without it being too factual I would like your opinion on something. I do have an idea about a board game. It would be called Beethoven: The Most Famous Four Notes in the World. Not to the exclusion of other things going on, it would be a game in which people take turns being Beethoven composing the 5th. Symphony. Just on that information alone, would that intrigue you, or spark your curiosity to find out how it works? Or would you think it was boring? Let me know. I don't know what would come of this idea. But just as a reality check. Thanks.

well, historical accuracy aside, the reason that egypt has these settings is primarily because they wanted each civilization to have a completely different feel, and starting with no military is definitely that. all ancient cultures had strong military forces some points, and at other times they didn't (again, in the new kingdom, egypt was repeatedly conquered by other civilizations, so one could argue that's why it doesn't start with a strong military in the game, and it starts with no food because of the famine that it experienced IRL as well). basically, the game doesn't represent Egypt at the height of it's powers, but during its decline as an ancient world power. a design choice, primarily, but with some historical precedent behind it, i'd say. the 4 notes game sounds like a very interesting concept, definitely.

Thank you for your input about the madness behind the genius of the game or visa versa. Also thank you for the input on my Beethoven game. To your knowledge would there be one game company more than another that would be more receptive to that kind of idea. The game would not be a cute and cuddly children's game. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But the game board, the theme would be dripping in 19th. century Germany, Austria, and France. Napoleon would be out and about doing his thing and Beethoven would be doing his thing. As well as other pertinent characters in the story. I ask because I have no car, I'm not a kid, very limited disposable income, and a pacemaker, and no one I know lives in the world of board games. A while ago I was looking for a present for my sister for her birthday, and went looking for board games. And I had no idea this alternate world of board gaming existed. So I spend at least 10 days to 2 weeks looking at videos of board games. I settled on Spyfall. Her and her group like party games. As I was doing this I looked into Napoleonic games and I decided to satisfy me the game would be very involved and take at least a year to finish. Then I saw a wonderful documentary about Beethoven. And I said this story would make a great board game. But I haven't the first clue as to how or what to do about it. Or if it's DOA. However I did notice it seems to be a subject that is untouched in your world of games. I looked at two games The Virgin Queen and Unhappy King Charles. My thinking hopefully is that if there is a company willing to make those 8 to 10 hour board games, there's got to be room somewhere for my little game.

check my faq, #19 for the only suggestions i've got for potential designers: faq.rahdo.com :)