My copy of Hispania arrived yesterday and I had to try it out:
As a sequel to Tetrarchia, it is of course quite similar. But this time the opposing armies are not “babarians” coming from the borders to attack the Roman empire, but the Romans are attempting to conquer Hispania and the locals are fighting back.
There are a bunch of newish mechanics:
- Roads allow for faster travel
- Fleets move with the transported general
- Rebellion stacks up to 3 hight and so do my own garrisons
- Garrisons defend against attacking armies (at least a little)
- Armies stick to their own province until it is secured
- You can spend money (actions) to make your own attack stronger
- You can spend money to uproot a garrison again
- After each round one rebel token is put on a track counting the years of attrition
Overall this got me thinking. The Roman conquest of Hispania took 200 years. I imagined living in a place that is slowly being taken over like that. It seemed quite awful overall and it made me feel like I was playing the antagonist in this game. I never had such thoughts playing Tetrarchia.
I enjoyed the game quite a bit. Sufficiently different from Tetrarchia to keep both boxes on the shelves. They are tiny for the amount of game they provide. If you missed out on one of them, no need to “have” to hunt down the 2nd one. They aren’t that different. I think I’d recommend Hispania over Tetrarchia (remember I only had one game) but I think this is a good evolution that improves on some of the “issues” Tetrarchia had by putting the game on a timer for example.
PS: my copy arrived with the beige general’s arm being … separated from his body. I’ll reattach it of course. Just a warning to anyone else getting a copy: these are breakable meeples.