My favourite among the west kingdom trilogy! AP always hit us hard in this game but we really enjoy it. Each games feels different as we need different strategy to win depends on the king’s order.
We’ve only played Paladins and well, it was long. 4 players, 3 were new to the game including me. It was fun but I lost all cognitive ability by the third hour....
I was a West Kingdom virgin and kept seeing these games everywhere. I thought, Ok, what's up? Can they be that good? I watched your entire playthrough series, (this one last), and after this video said, I HAVE TO HAVE THIS GAME! I now own it and, while still scoring poorly, am having so much fun loosing to the AI. Thank you for your great videos. I feel they really help me to make more informed decisions about games to bring to my shelf. Keep up the great work!
Thank you so much for spending your time with us! So glad the video series was helpful for you. After all this time, Paladins is still both of our favorite from the West Kingdom series.
I've watched a number of videos either going over the rules in a detailed manner or just giving a simpler overview of play and have failed too grasp game play. You two are special. Watching your quick tutorial and playthrough has me finally (finally!) understanding the flow of play and game play goals. Thank you so very much.
That was an amazing playthrough. Loved every minute of it! Monique's 6th round should be a textbook example of how to master the game. Very inspiring! :)
Great playthrough again and I am very happy you love this one, as I love it, too! I’d say the theme here is mostly in the game mechanics. For instance, you need green workers to hunt, who happen to be scouts, or blue workers to trade, who happen to be merchants. Red workers, or fighters, recruit, i.e. they go and gather those pesky town folk and put them to good work :) Meanwhile, black workers, or monks, pray, because this is what they do all day, right? Attacking requires scouts and fighters (so red and green), as well as labourers to cook and do all the menial work. Converting takes fighters and monks, as the way outsiders were converted back then was to give them an offer they couldn’t refuse ... I know, it’s not very obvious, but it’s still there. You also have the mighty paladins that arrive with their entourage (i.e. additional workers). You pay money to absolve your sins, which is what the church did back then, selling indulgences to the wealthy in exchange for closing their eyes - which is why you need traders to connect you to the church, and you need to be somebody important to be even allowed to that, hence the influence requirement. It goes on, but the game has a lot more in theme than it might appear at first glance. Anyway, the game is indeed great and I love the challenge it poses. By the way, the rules say outright that you start developing from left to right spaces, but as you noted, it wouldn’t make sense to do it otherwise. I was also very impressed with Monique’s sixth round, though sometimes you do have everything aligned perfectly for you. What I love is that even if you get lucky with your cards and benefits, it still requires planning to get the maximum. By the way, the solo variant is not bad, though the bot is a little bit random. Yet, designing solo rules is not easy, and I feel we all have been spoiled with the tough nut that Root’s bots are :) I am increasingly leaning towards getting the two other games (I own only Paladins), along with the Tome Saga, it looks a lot of fun. One more thing - regarding components, I believe it should be mentioned how tiny Paladins’ box is, given how much table space is needed for play. I always appreciate efficient packaging and this one is one of the best. Are the boxes for the two other games similar?
I know this reply is late but i think all west kingdom games have this compact packaging. I own viscounts and it also has a fairly small box which i like.
I have to learn to stop coming here to watch your videos right after I place an order on the game, because gaaahd it makes me NEED it to arrive immediately so I get to play it! hahah I discovered your channel recently, and I'm a fan already!
I loved the video, it was extremely well done! You guys played well, too. One thing I noticed (and you mentioned it in the end, too), that you did a bit of a 'little of this, a little of that' during the early turns. Also, I think developing is more urgent (do it more in the beginning) so you need less workers to do things. The way I play, I barely do a spot that requires 3 workers, put one green house there at least. You can't do everything, so concentrate - once you did 5 of the king's orders, you usually have the option to max it out, and you should, the points are there at the end of the line :). An amazing game, one of my favorites for sure! Keep up the good work, it is a joy watching you play and interact.
I’ve bought the entire west kingdom series with my recent board game splurge. Can’t wait to learn how to play viscounts next with my favorite boardgame RU-vid channel :D
This game is SO GOOD!!!! The more you play the more you understand the nuances and strategies, and it's super satisfying when your plans come together.
You guys are the best!! I'm working my way thru all your videos and I won't buy another game again until I've seen your play thru. Thanks a lot I really appreciate your videos! You have the best play thrus on the net. The only improvement I can suggest is an extra camera focused on showing the cards up close.
It's my favourite of the trilogy, and one of my favourite games period. I'm very excited for the expansion. I wouldn't recommend it at 4 though unless all the players are experienced at the game, aren't prone to AP, and are okay with a longer game. It can get very long at higher player counts.
Love Paladins! My play group plays with a small house rule because we don’t like the type of variance they went with on the wall cards. We play it that when you fortify, you draw two wall cards, then play one and bottom the other. It wouldn’t be an issue for us if the wall cards were more balanced, but the fact that some are literally strictly better than others regardless of circumstance is kind of unforgivable in an otherwise perfectly crunchy euro.
Wow! The shift of intensity from Architects to Paladins. Everything you expect from a sequel which this truly felt like one. Loving the series even more and can't wait for the finale and the wrap up! Cheers!
I'm a big fan of Shem Phillips games, Shipwrights was the first game of his I played and feels like the games being put out from there just get better and better. The North Sea trilogy has the same sort of game combo expansion called 'Runesaga' and some great expansions for the Raiders and Explorers game in that series too. Paladins got to me in early Pandemic timing so I've not played it yet, its sitting next to Viscounts waiting for gaming to start again - hopefully next month in the UK. Great video series, discovered you via Watch it Played so I've been working through your back catalogue!
Really great video, thanks for making it! At 37:01 The Tax Stand has 1 Silver and Naveen needs to take 2. I believe in this situation the second Silver does NOT come from the bank. The Tax Stand refills, and the second Silver comes out of the newly refilled Tax Stand. That is my reading of the rules anyway. You guys seems to love this game as much as me! It's such a satisfying, combo driven, engine builder. Quite unique as well, no other game combines the mechanisms it has in such ways. Similarly no other channel displays the fun of playing games among good natured friends quite as well as you two do!
Well I did it again, watched the whole thing lol. I must say you guys are really good at playthroughs, I normally enjoy other people doing them but you explain everything and narrate in a way that keeps me engaged. Paladins looks great, I’m definitely going to pick this up with Architects some time in the near future. Do you have Amazon associate links for these so you can get a kick back for selling me on these games?
My favourite video yet by the two of you. That was so much fun to watch and cannot wait for my copy to arrive. Your play through was so informative that I should be able to jump straight in with little rule reading. Just love it well worth the wait. In the meantime will make do with Architects & Viscounts + Tomesaga. So far Viscounts is our favourite and most played 👍🏻
Great play through! Very excited to play this one... quick question, can you please tell me how to find the scoring app you use at the end? It looks really helpful. Apologies if you already posted this somewhere but my google search turned up lacking.
I think this is the meatiest of the three. It’s super tough to optimize your plays, but it’s very satisfying when you pull it off. As a “gamer’s game” I like it best, even though I’ve never played a good game of it lol. I think both of you did great.
Awesome review and play through!!love this game and enjoying the tome saga. Did have issues at the start with the rules of the kings favours when I first played it.I have to go back and get architects as I went from raiders with both expansions to paladins and after watching your review I really like how the tome saga takes it to another level.Keep on giving us great content absolutely love your channel!!!,
Really looking forward to viscounts! Haven't tried Paladins myself, but I'm waiting eagerly on the latest expansion kickstarter to arrive (november...)
I'm still having a hard time deciding do I like it more than Orleans. This must be the hardest choice for me when comparing two games. On one side Paladins are has such a confusing iconography and explaining the game is not that easy, even though the gameplay is not that complicated. On the other hand I like how Paladins have more control on "bag building" mechanism. That's the biggest issue I have with Orleans, lack of control. So all in all, I have both games in the collection xD
I've only played Paladins once but I didn't see anything in the game to make me choose it over Orleans (one of my favorites). Am I crazy? I actually like the ambiguity of worker availability in Orleans, whereas in Paladins it feels relatively static to me.
Both are great games, I've only played Orleans once several years back. I definitely would like to get it to the table again now so I could compare and contrast the 2.
1:00:50: Part of me hoped Naveen would claim that specific tome, since he claimed a similar tome in the prior game. Though considering how close the final tome score is, it's probably for the best that she grabbed that one first... 1:54:35: I believe this is also how you improve your credit score. Interestingly, while Paladins is described as a game where you're protecting your city from outsiders, the outsiders don't seem to have any ability to affect the city (at least, not as far as the game is concerned). Are the titular paladins so insulated from the common people that they don't notice any effects from the ongoing war, or are their concerns about the outsiders simply unfounded?
We love this game. We actually love the entire WK trilogy. I have a question and it’s not meant to be disrespectful or mean but I couldn’t help but notice that you both sound different in this video? The only way to describe it is that you both sound like your are getting used to a new retainer. Are you guys using new Invisalign or something? Sorry if I’m way off. I love your guys content.
Great hearing your thoughts on this one! I love it but I'm also prettttyyyy bad at it. I just love the interconnectedness of the systems and fiddling with it all. Also the solo mode is REALLY hard lol
I really love this one, mostly play at 2. I do feel like, even with the new spaces opening up for commissions and garrisons, it is harder at 4 in terms of recruiting or attacking/converting. Perhaps we've all aligned in 4 player mode but it's been a lot harder to recruit workers and get as many attacks/converts in, in a 4 player game. Definitely not a problem, makes for more tension about what other people will do from my perspective.
Really nice video, thank you. I thought it was a good game but didn't feel it was as amazing as a lot of people think. I have only played it a couple of times though so I need to play a few more times, maybe then I will appreciate it a little more!
This game is crayzee good! 🤪 It is my top game so far that I’ve ever played. Soo good that I backed the City of Crowns expansion on Kickstarter. My first ever KS! I’ve only played it solo but it was enough to win me over.
My favorite of the 3 but Viscounts is slowly creeping up. I usually solo. The fact that you can play against 4 differently focused AI might kick this one up a notch. I was really impressed with the way the AI worked in this. I think you will enjoy Viscounts. Looking forward to the next video of the series.
@@craigandrews7544 Paladins is still #1 followed by Viscounts and then Architects. The last expansion made Architects better but still not on par with the others
This playthrough is a good example of why this game is actually interactive. Naveene didn't compete for any of the slots in the main board and Monique was able to flip all her debts and win the game just from it. I think the passive incentive to pass first was actually bad for Naveene
Also at 1:40:25 I think Monique should have put that converted card in the tableau at the bottom of her board, instead of with the other defeated cards.
I might be going against the grain here, but my wife and I bounced off this HARD. It just has too many little subsystems. Even choosing your paladin cards, you're comparing 1) their stats, 2) the meeples they give you and 3) their special ability. And there are so many little decks of cards along a narrow board, it takes up a ton of table space. That's not to mention the complete lack of player interaction - it the best euros, (even Ticket to Ride!) you care about what other people do on their turns. If I'm thinking this hard, I want some magic. The euros I prefer, roughly organized from heavy to light: Brass Troyes Village with the Inn and Port expansions Hansa Teutonica Concordia Istanbul Kingsburg
I guess I’m still confused about the Workshops you played on the right side from the Develop. Do those workshops get discard at the end of the round when you clear all your workers? 😐
Hi! No, the workshops stay on your board for the duration of the game, making those locations cheaper in workers. Is there a specific spot in the video where you had some questions? Thanks!
What would West Kingdom trilogy be categorised? It kinda has some elements of Legacy style games where items carry over to the next game, but it's not a true Legacy where there is a sense of permanence to these carry over pieces.
Im a solo player. If you want to look into solo play that is pretty easy, try mansions of madness. It’s super fun but there is definitely luck involved. Personally, i love lovecraftian theme.
I really like this game according to what I see but I fear that it is too long. Does anyone know how much time (more or less) it will take for 2 players once they played it a couple of times??
Haven't finished watching the video yet, so this might be addressed later, but I see that Naveen already twice missed the opportunity of using the green card revealed on round 3. This would have give more money than the actions he took, and he would have got rid of suspicion too.
Yeeees been waiting for this one damn this trilogie is a fun idea . Friends bought the aechitects i went crazy and told me and my wife would buy paladins and maybe steal vicounts from somewhere :D
So I just bought Viscount of the West Kingdoms and played a solo play through again a manuscript AI. And got ABSOLUTELY crushed... I lost 120 to 77 assuming I did the AI correct. Would have been close, but the AI had 4x manuscripts sets which was RIP
Great game but i think its a little time consuming more then any other game. And you edited this video so its actually 1 hour more full gameplay. But its great mechanic and brain frying I love that wheel that make you think all the time about what to do and not utilize max paladin skill.
What a playthrough!!! Gosh I love this game. Monique, this round 6 was just crazy. Makes me want to go back to the game and rock and roll just like you did!