| Rick Thornquist hat folgendes geschrieben: |
| Fall of Rome (Kampf um Rom in German) is next in the Catan Adventures (Abenteuer Catan) series of games. Previous games in the series, Candamir and Elsasund, only bore a passing resemblance to Settlers - Fall of Rome is more like a Settlers scenario that has been greatly enhanced.
The map represents southern Europe with Italy to the east and Spain to the west. The map is fixed and divided into large hexes of different terrain (similar to Settlers of the Stone Age). The board is also divided into regions and each region has a number of cities. All the cities start with face-down markers on them. There are also arrows along certain hexsides that regulate movement. The players represent Germanic tribes that are encroaching on Rome. Each player has two armies that start in the northeastern corner of the board. These armies will move across the board, pillaging cities for resources. When a city is pillaged, the city’s marker is turned up and the player will gain some resources (and sometimes lose some troop strength). Collecting one city marker from each different region yields two victory points. Armies, once they have built up enough strength, can also conquer cities. Each conquered city yields one victory point. The player with the largest army gets two victory points. The first player to get to ten victory points wins. At the beginning of a player’s turn they roll for resources four times (the same number can’t be rolled twice, if so, it’s rerolled). Resources are gained from where your two armies stand, plus where you have conquered cities. The resources are wheat, ore, and ox/horse. The ox/horse cards come from a face down deck so you are never sure whether you are going to draw an ox or a horse. After rolling for resources the current player can trade resources and build. This is very much like regular Settlers except you are now building troops instead of settlements and cities. Note that you can build up your armies with more troops, but you always have two armies. After trading and building, it’s time for the troops to move (and perhaps pillage or conquer). Each player moves his first army in turn, and then each player moves his second army. If you move an army into an unpillaged city space, you can pillage it (if you have enough strength) or conquer it (for victory points). Once all the armies have moved it’s the next player’s turn. Play continues until one player has ten victory points. If regular Settlers was considered more of a family game, then Fall of Rome is really more of a gamer game. There strategies are deeper than regular Settlers. This also a game of movement - where you move your armies and when is crucial to producing the resources than you need, pillaging the cities that you want, and putting yourself in the best position for the next turn. Managing your resources and trading wisely is also required. Note that though players have armies, conflicts don’t happen between players - they only happen with the neutral cities. I very much liked the game. The first few turns were a bit of a blur as I tried to get a sense of what was going on, but after that it became apparent that the planning of my armies movements was crucial, and I also had decisions to make as to what were the best things to build with my resources. I was very impressed with Elasund, the previous game in this series, and this one may just impress me even more. I’m very much looking forward to playing it again. |
