A Game Of Gods & Fate
Two-Gun Pixie Presents:
LEGENDARY
GAMING
005 - of Gods
& Fate
It’s great to see that all our Scruffy Nerd Herders have returned here for another tabletop game review from your favorite perfectly perky pistol-packing pixie page!
The Great Grognard has a very special treat for all of you on this, our Land-Mark, Ground-Breaking 5th installment of Two-Gun Pixie Presents: Legendary Gaming!
Ok, so… maybe it’s not really “land-mark” or “ground-breaking” but boy that sounded exciting!
Seriously though, we do have a special treat for you.
ANOTHER GREAT TWO-GUN PIXIE PRE-SALE BOARDGAME REVIEW!!!
Direct to you from the fantastic imagination factory of Osprey Games…
By the creator of Hey, That’s My Fish and Kahuna...
Hitting the shelves August 25th, 2016…
A game of War, Gods, and Fate…
Agamemnon
Designer: Gunter Cornett
Graphic Design: Steven Meyer-Rassow
Artists: Jose Daniel Cabrera Pena & Rocio Espin Pinar
Publisher: Osprey Games
Publication Date: August 25, 2016
Suggested Player Age: 12+
Number of Players: 2
Average Play Time: 15-30 Minutes
Game Mechanics: Tile Control
Category: Ancient Greece, Mythology, Wargame
MSRP: $24.00
Shipping Weight: 5 Ounces
ISBN: 978-1472817280
The Box
The now common flip-top box style which Osprey Games has embraced once again brings a sense of old time elegance to the world of tabletop gaming. For the box design Osprey Games went with a very simplistic, but powerful approach. Instead of taking the more commonly used idea of just depicting a flashy battle scene created to catch the eye of eager little murder-hobos we are presented with a humble slab of dark marble edged in a gold Greek Key boarder. Under the helmet of a hoplite commander reads the title. Yes, a simple approach but as stated it is actually quite visually arresting; it grabs your attention.
The box is both durable enough and relatively easy enough to travel with. It might not fit in a pocket but it fits into a small bag, backpack, or suitcase very nicely. (Hmmmmm... I wonder if Osprey Games ever plans to release a series of “Travel-Sized” games. This would “shrink down” fairly easily. Maybe a peg-hole game board with pegs drawn blindly from a bag and each peg has a number or picture like the tiles do? Oh, sorry... just typing out loud here so-to-speak).
Now, it may be true that one should not judge a game by its box but with that said, I am proud to display this box on my game shelf. It looks good.
The Components
Double-Sided Game Board
1 Six page pamphlet-style rule book
2 Player Aids
3 Sets of 20 Strings of Fate tiles
2 Sets of 15 Playing tiles (Warriors, Leaders, and Weavers)
4 Loom Tiles (Used Only In The Loom Variant)
Say goodbye to your minis, dice, and combat cards for this take on Homer’s Iliad. No sir, my fellow nerders, not here. Mortal forces may be waging a war at the great city of Troy but it is the gods themselves who play the strings of Fate... and you get to play THE GODS THEMSELVES! In keeping with this theme Agamemnon uses few components. Gods need not worry about tracking such mortal concerns as gear, coin, and something called XP.
The board is thankfully small in comparison with the huge foot-print game boards which seem to be growing in popularity these days. This board is two-sided; one for the “base game” and the other for the “Loom”, a variant of the game which should be played after understanding the base game. Both sides feature chains of different Greek Style edging inter-spaced by circular “node” spaces.
Once again Osprey Games delivers a game of deep complex tactics yet needing only a six page pamphlet of a rule book and only two of those pages are actually the rules you need to learn to play this game. This is because Osprey is quickly becoming known for this style of strategic games with simple rules. Everything is laid out in a logical order (some publishers should take note); intro, components, setup, tile rules, turns, and ending the game. There is an added bonus of three variant rule systems for this game. For the fans of Greek mythology and ancient history there is a short write-up and picture of the 10 iconic leaders from the two warring sides.
Besides the board itself Agamemnon also comes with two thin albeit sturdy player aids; one Greek the other Trojan. These identify each player’s leaders and remind players what the Weaver tokens do.
Two types of token sets are supplied; rectangular Fate string tiles that match the chains of different
Greek Style edgings on the board and circular tiles representing each side’s leaders, warriors and Weaver tokens (we’ll discuss them in detail below in the Game Play section). Leader tiles have stunning depictions of the famous names from both sides of the war; Paris, Ajax, Hector, Achilles, Memnon, Odysseus, Penthesilea,
Menelaus, Aeneas, and Agamemnon. Simple spears in groups of 1, 2, and 3 represent the strength of your armies.
The tokens/tiles are all strong and durable and the game even comes with EXTRA fate strings.
That’s it.
A small board and few components equals short, almost no, set-up time required.
Thank you.
Game Play
Set up the Fate tiles by placing them on their matching game board spaces. Each player then places their entire set of playing tiles; leaders, warriors, and Weavers all face down in front of their playing area and mix them up. Alternately, we have discovered that placing your tiles in a bag or cup and drawing them blindly works just as well. Set up is done. I know, nice.
Choose the starting player.
The starting player chooses ONE of their facedown warrior tiles (or blindly draws from the bag/cup) and shows it. Then the player may place it on ANY open circular node-like space on the board. The second player then does the same.
Each turn after that each player, on their turn, draws TWO of their warrior tiles and place them on any unoccupied node.
Continue until each player exhausts their collection of warrior tiles.
Game over.
No, really... That’s it.
Simple.
Simple but far from easy.
OK, yes this game does seem incredibly easy. It does not feel like it plays simple though.
The TRUE game play is not in simply placing your tiles but gaining control of one (or more if you want to win) Fate strings. At the end of the game scoring begins and it’s ALL about controlling those Fate strings. Gaining possession of one of these strings means you will have to position your warrior tiles in key nodes across the board before your opponent. When both players have warrior tiles on the same strings the player in control of that section of Fate is determined by which player’s leaders are marked as stronger, higher ranked, or both.
Now, before you think this is a simple race and the game will end up as a first-come first-win situation we have those Weaver tiles I mentioned already. Mixed/hidden in those warrior tiles of yours are four Weaver tiles. Each player has two of the two types; 2 Warp and 2 Weft.
This is where things get very interesting.
Your two Warp tiles can each be used to swap two Fate String tiles that are connected (touching) the node the Warp was placed on. This is strategic because it lets you steal Fate Strings for yourself.
Those two Weft tiles of yours sort of drop walls on the String it is connected to. It does this by splitting the string in twain from the point the Weft is placed on. Yup, just because your opponent has taken control of a long Fate String doesn’t mean you can’t cut it off with a Weft and take control of YOUR side of the String.
Now, scoring the game.
After the second player places his last two warrior tiles on the board you get to find out who’s divine strategy paid off.
The three different designs for the Fate Strings represent three different aspects; Strength, Force, and Leadership.
The player in control of the Strength String is decided by which player with warrior tiles on Strength Strings has the most spears. That player then takes ALL the Strength Strings.
To figure out which player is in control of the Force Strings you count up which side has the most Player Tiles on those strings. That player then takes ALL the Force Strings.
Control of the Leadership Strings is determined by the player with the highest ranked Player Tile on those strings. If there is a tie look at the next highest-ranked tile, and so on until a winner is established. That player then takes ALL the Leadership Strings.
The player in control of the most Fate Strings wins the game.
See, simple yet deceivingly strategic.
As a BONUS the game comes with variation rules; The Loom, The Oracle, and Defy The Gods.
The Loom variant uses the back of the board which is another map of interconnecting Fate Strings like the front of the board. This has more, over 20, Fate paths to attempt to control.
The Oracle variant allows players to divide their Playing Tiles into three groups; Leaders, Warriors, and Weavers. On each players turn they choose which of their three piles to choose a face down tile from.
To Defy the Gods the payers agree to play with their Playing Tiles laid out in front of them Face UP. This way each player may choose which tile they will use from turn-to-turn. Keep in mind that even the game designer suggests that this is quite tricky and it is not recommended as it slows down play significantly.
Final Thoughts
This is advertised as a "fast-paced" game but we have to disagree. Yes, Agamemnon does play in 15 - 30 minutes as advertised which does mark this quite literally as a “fast-paced” game. However, we found this to be more akin to a game of chess as far as reading the board, planning in advance, and finding a balance between using a move to advance your own plans or to hinder your opponent's. In this sense we here at Two-Gun Pixie cannot truly refer to this as a “fast-paced” game. Trust me, this is a good thing! I'm sure there are games being played where each player is fast and the moves are a quick tit-for-tat back-and-forth slamfest. After getting use to the simple rules one can even finish this game in about 10 minutes but it never feels like the game went by too fast. This game can be used as a quick filler or it can easily run as a series of “Best 3 out of 5 or 5 out of 7” style game.
The only things this game is missing is the nigh indestructible walls of Troy and the unassuming “gift from the gods”, the Trojan Horse. Maybe an expansion with new Playing Tiles is in the future. Hey, you never know.
The manufacturer's suggested retail price of $24.00 is definitely worth your buck for this game.
We think that if you like quick to set-up, fairly easy to travel with games that are fast to teach and surprisingly strategic, then you will want to add this game to your game shelf.
In our opinion Agamemnon is one of the best games Osprey has yet to publish. And they have given us some great games so far.
Go ahead; Play the Game, Be a God, Alter Fate
