This reminded me of another survivor/killer: Through the Ages killed Nations dead on arrival, because it already did everything so much better than Nations =P
(This is mostly tongue in cheek, because iirc Nations was quite different. I do remember being very unimpressed though, and saying/thinking I’d rather be playing TtA.)
Then it is to be war between us!
I forgot about this. Battlelore 2nd ed is awesome
Yes. Instincts is what is required. A Red Company share was put up for auction: how much is it worth? How many rounds of dividends you’ll get before the game ends? Will it reach Chicago? Is it better to ally yourself 50:50 with Player B who holds the other Red share? What if the alliance is 33:66? Those kind of questions you end up asking when playing Cube Rails.
Other games like Indonesia are like this. And strategy can be fluid (to some extent) You start with a rice producer company, but you probably won’t be rice peddling all game. Most games, you stick that way the entire game in order to maximise your scoring potential.
For me it’s TOAM and multi player wargames that it killed. It really focusses in on the fun aspects. Encourages aggro, you build up fast so can get started quickly as well as potentially recover from a pummelling. Also the who to attack, where and when happens often enough it’s not building up to a one time commitment with a long tail of resolution.
Confrontation killed so many mini wargames. Really soured me on GW games, highlighted what a turd Warmhordes was and Malifaux was such a p**s weak shadow of this. Strategic and tactical, your list was an influence on what you might do but the winner was determined by how well you played. Crucially it was all about positioning, movement and timing. No just knowing the rules better or rolling better ftw. Purely about setting things up in your favour, laying traps and applying pressure at the right spot at the right time. Only Infinity has come close imo. The first 2 years of 5th ed 40K was good before codex creep killed it but neither has actually been able to scale those heights.
Agricola is the perennial survivor, seeing off all of Uwe’s best efforts to better it.
Some sequels are just better - the crew underwater is better than in space, cheating bee beats cheating moth
Nations and Through the Ages are funny. I think Through the Ages is better, but sometimes I just want to play Nations instead.
Update: I now see the light. A new convert. Dominion is just awesome!!
I think I have 2 problems with Dominion
Problem A: there’s too much. If any game needed an Essentials edition, it’s Dominion.
Problem 1: the best feeling in Dominion is when you have a mega turn. The worst feeling in Dominion is when you have to sit there while one of your opponents has a mega turn
Ah yes. You keep doing actions and draws until you empty your entire deck, and then you buy a Silver. #PeakDominion
Even with that, our games of Dominion only last 30 to 45 mins. I find it tolerable.