Aqua Romana
We pulled this game out for a second playing last night. The first game had been fun, even though we had serious worries about the Queen Games ("QG") English rules as we went along, and we wanted to try it again before too much time passed. In the first game, we had tried to apply the "Zugzwang" rule in the way that it was written in the QG English rules, resulting in us both having to move each other's workmen at times. To add to this we had unfortunately also overlooked the use of the pool of spare Master Builders and this exacerbated the problem, because we could not summon these additional men to bale us out of trouble. Thirdly, the question of where bonus tiles (earned when the Master Builder rounds a corner) could be placed was a little unclear (the German "angrenzend" being clearer than the English).
I have been reflecting on the reasons for these problems. The first is undoubtedly the poor quality of the QG English translation. There is a second reason, and this is the layout of the QG rulebook. The gatefold format, with panels and paragraphs all over the place, looks very nice, but is actually quite hard to follow. I thought back to Alhambra, and there is the same process of turning the rulebook over, folding and unfolding, to find the right section. There's just not quite enough logical flow to the structure.
Anyway, I had spent some time reading the BGG game forum, absorbed the real intention behind Zugzwang and also looked at Steve Cox's excellent alternative translation. We were ready.
One thing that we did in the set-up that doesn't strictly follow the order of the rulebook is that we placed the reservoirs and selected colours *before* placing the Master Builders. This added a lot of interest to the process of selecting and placing Master Builders, which almost became a micro-game in itself. (Not unlike the field placements in Keythedral, which are equally important in their effect on the main game.)
The game itself felt quite close throughout, with all twelve workmen making reasonable progress. I felt that I was doing well by keeping some flexibility in possible placements as the game moved into the later stages, and Lucy found several of her aquaducts completing first, around the 6/7/8 mark. Unfortunately, I was unable to continue into the available spaces with the result that my final two workmen, each responsible for 8-point aquaducts, scored only two points and one point respectively. I had completely underestimated the importance of keeping an eye on the podiums (podia?) and being open to the possibility of a planned early exit. Lucy won by about 10 points.
Looking forward to the next game!
I have been reflecting on the reasons for these problems. The first is undoubtedly the poor quality of the QG English translation. There is a second reason, and this is the layout of the QG rulebook. The gatefold format, with panels and paragraphs all over the place, looks very nice, but is actually quite hard to follow. I thought back to Alhambra, and there is the same process of turning the rulebook over, folding and unfolding, to find the right section. There's just not quite enough logical flow to the structure.
Anyway, I had spent some time reading the BGG game forum, absorbed the real intention behind Zugzwang and also looked at Steve Cox's excellent alternative translation. We were ready.
One thing that we did in the set-up that doesn't strictly follow the order of the rulebook is that we placed the reservoirs and selected colours *before* placing the Master Builders. This added a lot of interest to the process of selecting and placing Master Builders, which almost became a micro-game in itself. (Not unlike the field placements in Keythedral, which are equally important in their effect on the main game.)
The game itself felt quite close throughout, with all twelve workmen making reasonable progress. I felt that I was doing well by keeping some flexibility in possible placements as the game moved into the later stages, and Lucy found several of her aquaducts completing first, around the 6/7/8 mark. Unfortunately, I was unable to continue into the available spaces with the result that my final two workmen, each responsible for 8-point aquaducts, scored only two points and one point respectively. I had completely underestimated the importance of keeping an eye on the podiums (podia?) and being open to the possibility of a planned early exit. Lucy won by about 10 points.
Looking forward to the next game!
posted by Tim Synge at 9:40 am
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