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Underground > Games & Gameplay >

Tannhauser

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

00:00 / 12.01.07

Zut alors! That links to the manual, but it's easy to navigate to the main site from there, and while I'm glad I'm bilingual and can READ the instructions, I'm gnashing my damn teeth because I can't get the game! It's from Asmodée, the same company that produced Dungeon Twister (which, incidentally, also merits accolades and deep praise as one of the best strategy games of the last decade -- the gloss is D&D, but the strategy is amazingly profound).

Anyone taken a gander at this? Anyone likely to? I know board games don't get a lot of play in this forum, but this one looks really intriguing. It's got a new mechanic called Pathfinding, which (roughly) seems to be a game system that helps you find the most efficient ways to do things, probably levelling the playing field a bit between long-term wargamers and those newer to board game geekosity. The game itself actually seems to come with modes including "Deathmatch," which sort of makes me wonder whether board games are spiralling towards trying to emulate video games -- which is probably a bad move, given that it's the social element of board games and "slow food" strategy latitude that give them their (in my opinion) appeal.

Anyway. If anyone in the UK has actually had a chance to crack a Tannhauser box, I'd love to know if it lives up to the hype. It certainly sounds cool.

08:00 / 12.01.07

Wow that looks pretty sweet

Have a word with Leisure Games in Finchley, they're pretty much the best importer of boardgames and roleplaying games in the country. Also they sometimes include unofficial translations of games with foreign editions if you buy the original.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

08:07 / 12.01.07

I'm in Canada, unfortunately -- the local game store stocks French games (I live in Quebec) but it doesn't look like they're distributing over here yet. Probably waiting for the translation so they can make shipping worth their while. These boxes are HEAVY -- they slate shipping to Canada at 25 Euros plus. Yikes.

Kiltartan Cross

12:31 / 12.01.07

Here's a link to an English language presentation for the game.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

17:56 / 05.06.07

Got it! Played it! Not a lot of time for a full-bore review right now, but a few quick notes:

- Despite what the box says, it is not a game for 2-10 players. It's a 2-player game where each player controls a five-man squad of "Reich" versus "Alliance" soldiers (the conceit of the game is the Germans have held out and kept the Great War raging for 30+ years, so there is no "Third Reich"), and any attempt to add players beyond 2 just means diluting the play experience.

- The "Pathfinding" innovation is actually really cool and easily the decisive factor in the game. If you can get the hang of it, you'll win. If you can't, you'll lose. I'm having trouble with it -- the one game I've won so far was a result of my opponent having such a good time killing my doodz that he forgot what the objectives of the scenario were.

- Definitely a "complex" game on the broad scale of things.

- Gorgeous-looking but more limited than I'd hoped for -- only two real maps and two squads of troops. No versatility in choosing squad members; obviously designed for expansions (kinda like Dungeon Twister).

- Worth playing if you like very agressive one-on-one games that are intuitive once you know 'em but a real hassle to learn in the first place (again, like Dungeon Twister).

- Still only available in French, so I don't quite "get" all of the subtleties of the flavour text.

Gotta say I'm let down, but only because my expectations were so high. Bang for the buck, Dungeon Twister is the better game, but on the table, Tannhauser is very, very impressive.