The Labyrinth: 2012! So it has begun...

So the new year has come and gone.
Drifting by like a fluffy drifty thing... that swiftly and silently slips past us...
= /
Look it's the time of year where we ALL reflect on a year gone by, things we accomplished, things we never got a chance to do, and most important of all new years resolutions!
Whether its a promise to ourselves to shave a few pounds, read a few new books, or do something nice for someone else every day it's important to do!
Reflection is an important part of life and it's all too easy to lose ourselves in the day to day without focusing on the year as a whole.
Annual scrapbooks anyone? :D



Cribbage Tournaments!

But with the start of the year already a week old it's time to start telling everybody about what is coming up in the near future at the store!

Cribbage tourneys are being run in store by Peter DuChemin and have been happening on an almost monthly basis. The one for January is already completely full but if you are a cribbage fan it's worth keeping an eye out for the next one on Saturday February the 18th!
Sign up sheets will be available at the front cash.
For tournaments with 12-24 participants prizes are being awarded to the winner and runner up in the form of gift certificates! Under 12 players and the winner takes all.
It's 10$ per player to enter and game play is solo pairings in a round robin format with winners advancing to face other winners and losers well... you get the idea.
Each player will play 7 matches in total, so win or lose everybody gets a lotta crib in!
The tournaments are typically in the evenings around 7pm.


2012 Kingston Board Game BlitZZZzzzz!!

That's right folks.
The silly crown of hardcore gaming is once again up for grabs and with it ultimate bragging rights and the title of the best Euro-gamer in Kingston for 2012!
It's a title that has been fought over by dozens of gaming pros in the Kingston circle of gaming from year to year but no matter the level of intensity, dedication, and pure LEET gaming skillz there can be only one...
Highlander style.
Players will face rounds of play in which different predetermined Euro games are handed out to different groups based off a list of potential picks.
This will ensure a wide variety of styles amongst the games to test competitor's skill levels with a wide host of popular titles.
Many shall come but only one shall stand at the end!

The King or Queen of the blitz shall win a free trip to Fan Expo to play in the Championship Tournament of the Great Canadian Board Game Blitz.

The WHAT: Mixed Eurogame Tournament
The WHERE: At the Minotaur's Den! (aka the store)
The COST: 10$ Per person.
The WHEN: Saturday March 24th 2012 10am-7pm
The WHY: Because it's going to be bad ass?

Marc Lanctot should be in attendance at the Blitz and is the man responsible for making this style of Euro-gaming tournament into a Canada wide series of events.

But of equal importance, to those entering the tourney, is another man's potential attendance...
Hailing from the wild western land of Toronto...
An absolute gaming TITAN, who's name is whispered in shady underground gaming groups worldwide...
Game master Patrick McInally may also be coming for a shot at the title!
But...
In the mystical east of Quebec another gaming BEHEMOTH stirs!!
Surely the infamous Dr. J. Dupont craves the title for himself.
There shall surely be a clash unlike any other should these two terrors arrive.
You have been...OFFICIALLY warned.

There is no games list as of yet but one will be announced as soon as the final games are determined.


(The games will definitely be some of the ones in this picture XD)

Settlers of Catan Tournament!

Though we probably wont be hosting the Eastern Canadian Championships this year we will still most likely be hosting a feeder tourney of some sort sometime in April.
Michael White will have more details on when and how much the event will cost as we finalize what this is all actually about XD
Catan shrouded in mystery!
Just know that it is out there and 'looming'
*inserts spooky music*

Paizo Minis!

That's right the new Pathfinder Battles minis from the Heroes and Monsters set are pretty much out.
Jan 10th is the official release date and so you can expect to see these gorgeous new sculpts hit the floor first thing that Wednesday!
I have a few case boxes set aside for myself and the set looks promising indeed.
There are 40 minis in total to collect in both small and large sculpts that are aimed at giving new Dungeon Masters an awesome selection of iconic and everyday baddies.




Here are a few examples of the new sculpts!

Play! Art Show

The flight art show has lingered a little bit longer than originally planned just because many of our local Kingston artists were too busy during December to work on any new projects and let us know that they might miss the deadline.
But the date is now fixed in stone and with an extra month for preparing we are eager to see what the new theme shall bring.

The submission deadline for the new show will be Monday Feb. 20th and the opening night soiree will be two days later on Wed. February 22nd. from 6pm-9pm.
The theme, like the last one, is open to interpretation and anything that is deemed suitable with the word 'play' is welcome in the exhibition!
Artists may chose to sell or to simply display their work.

Book Launch!

While we are on the topic of art I think it's worth mentioning that Nick Csernak is having a book launch for his new work: Essential Dream Jobs For Girls Who Can!
Let's hope to see everyone from the art show and more out at his event a few days later!
The show will be hosted here at Minotaur Games and Gifts on February 25th from 2-4pm.
It shall not only be a great chance to showcase the new coloring book but there will also be plenty of crayons standing by for kids to come out and have a coloring session!

As always...


This has been the Labyrinth, and I'm Henry McCulloch. Game on!

The Labyrinth: BLACK FRIDAY / apologies

Hello game fans!
I've fallen far behind in my previous standard of 3ish blogs per month.
During October I managed to produce but a single meager blog update and to be honest it's just because I've been nice and busy with the build up towards Christmas.
The first real sprinkling of snow and freezing rain came today to remind us...hey you %@&*@! we're in Canada so prepare to freeze your butts off!
The cold is settling in and THE Friday is fast approaching.
What's so fancy about it? What's different about it being Friday? And why is it black?!?



Black Friday in the traditional sense is the day after American Thanksgiving and the 'official' start to the Christmas shopping season. Across most towns in Canada and the States there will bemass numbers of shoppers heading towards downtown areas to make good of the sales and deals that are going to be offered in some form or another at most retail outlets.

Wikipedia describes Black Friday as the following:
'The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Use of the term started before 1966 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation began to be offered: that "Black Friday" indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or are "in the black"



Here you can see a graph above demonstrating the increasing number of tall silver bars that SUDDENLY become a much bigger golden bar! Hence illustrating why this Friday is by far the blackest...
*nods sagely*
It makes perfect sense. You just need to read between the lines and it alllll becomes clear.

At any rate here at Minotaur were going to be open for our normal hours from 10am to 9pm but everything in the store is going to be 15% off!
This deal excludes consignment items and the few red tagged items that are already marked down but if you've been debating starting your Christmas shopping but just haven't gotten around to it yet, then Black Friday is going to be the day for you! Not only can you find great deals at Minotaur but dozens of your other favorite downtown stores will be offering similar promotions.

In addition every person who spends a minimum of 50 dollars before taxes is going to have their name entered into a draw for a 500$ gift certificate. So grab your friends, bundle up if it's chilly out, and then head on down to Minotaur to find something for your friends and loved ones!

For those who enjoyed my writers corner and more constant updates to the blog my main excuse was Nanowrimo. A fun November event that has channeled most of my writing energies into writing a book! Soon as this month is up I'll start churning out some more fun things to peruse.

This has been the Labyrinth, and I'm Henry McCulloch. Game on!

The Labyrinth: The Coming Of Drizzt!

Oh ... my... gods!
*begins praying to goodly, unaligned, and the evil gods of the forgotten realms*
Salvatore Fans Unite!!

For those of you who know or care about Salvatore and who he is and the work that he does then you'll understand alllll of the glorious 'geeking out' I'm about to do.

If you don't then follow along as best you can ^_^

While his new books have all been coming out in rapid succession to keep us eager readers happy there is now...a board game dedicated to some of the most iconic fights of Drizzt and his bad of friends.
*Faints*
When I first heard about the line of D&D board games my overall response was somewhere above Meh! and not quite as bad as Arrrggh!
But with the newest upcoming game box being a set all about Salvatore's most famous character Drizzit Do'urden AND his arch nemesis Artemis Entreri my heart rate definitely quickened.

If you go online to any of the many sources that tells you the general run down of the game it will say-

A cooperative game for 1–5 players based on the New York Times best-selling adventures of Drizzt Do’Urden.

The adventures of Drizzt Do’Urden, as told in the New York Times best-selling Forgotten Realms novels by R.A. Salvatore, come to life in this thrilling board game. Take on the role of the legendary drow ranger or one of his famous adventuring companions, battle fearsome foes, and win treasure and glory.

Designed for 1–5 players, this board game features multiple scenarios, challenging quests, and cooperative game play. The contents of this game can also be combined with other D&D Adventure System Cooperative Play board games, including Castle Ravenloft and Wrath of Ashardalon, to create an even more exciting experience.

Check out the Video!

This game includes the following components:

• 42 plastic heroes and monsters
• 13 sheets of interlocking cardstock dungeon tiles
• 200 encounter cards and treasure cards
• Rulebook
• Scenario book
• 20-sided die

So while all that SOUNDS good on paper a bunch of you might be saying.. "what does that actually mean though about how the game played?"
For those of you that play 4th ed D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) this game should be VERY straight forward to pick up and learn.
You will be playing with your allies each playing one of the famous characters from the novels.
Just like in 4e you'll get a move a standard and a minor action.
You will use minis and tiles to set the scenario that you are playing out and there is an interesting fog of war effect that means that tiles only get flipped when players end on an adjacent unexplored edge. Enemies and terrain features are revealed like this tile by tile adding a great deal of suspense about what lays ahead.
Players have hp (hitpoints) for their characters and whenever they are struck in combat they lose appropriate hp equal to the damage done by monsters. Players hava certain amount of healing surge tokens that they start with based off which character they are playing and to restore hp they must



In short I've toyed around with the game as a single player and i think any gamer will enjoy the fantasy themes running through this d&d based game BUT if you're a Salvatore fan you'll be tickled pink. It's also worth mentioning that if you are a model hobbiest and enjoy painting minis you can spend many hours/day painting up the full sec of plastic figurines that come inside the box. Overall I'm giving the Drizzt D&D ADventure board game asolid 8/10 but I'll also openly admit I'm horribly bias. This drow has forever caught and earned a place in my imagination and heart. Here's hoping the new books continue to be as awesome as the last!

This has been the Labyrinth, and I'm Henry McCulloch. Game on!

The Labyrinth: A Mansion filled with flights of Madness!

Flight.
Creepy bats swooping through the darkness.
Leaves drifting to the dirt around a creepy cemetery.
Ghosts drifting between the clouds on a starry night.
Flight is the theme ladies and gentlefolk!
But creepy is the coming month...why not combine them I say?

It's a dual post today as there is an upcoming event in the store as well as a gameeeee revieeeewww!
It's a good game and an interesting event so read both!
I double dog dare you.

The event coming up is our 3rd group art show!
I already mentioned it briefly in a previous blog but we've had a few new people not involved with the last show come into the store and mention that they hadn't seen anything on the blog yet about the upcoming art show.
This, to be frank,...SHOCKED me!
Not because they hadn't noticed the post but that people read this blog ?!? :P
What's up with that?!

But no in all seriousness
- ART SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT-
The theme is Flight!
The first two I'm pleased to say were smashing successes each with larger #'s of submitted pieces than the last and a range of mediums and themes that all fell within the last themes of robots and under the sea.
This coming month in Oct. it will be Flight.

This can be literally the act of flying around amongst the sky or stars but ALSO it could be something creative concerning the word like flights of haunted stairs or flights of fancy.
The sky is actually the limit here so go wild!
We of course reserve the right to pick which submissions actually fall within the criteria of the show but so far we haven't turned anyone aside that has a creative idea or twist.
The under the sea stuff is coming down as we speak so get your submissions in fast!

All submissions should be in as of the 15th of October.
The art show opening night shall be on the 19th!
Dress to impress or just come looking cheekily casual it makes little difference as it shall be a fun evening to be sure with snacks and beverages to meet and greet the artists and sign the guest canvas with a doodle or your signature.

Now on to the game!!
As mentioned in the previous post today's pick is-

Mansions of Madness

It's a game I've played once or twice so while I've had some exposure to some of the scenarios I'm by no means an expert on the game yet and am still hungry to play it a few more times outside the store or on a games night.

But some of you who have been staring at it on the shelf or asking a buddy of yours to bring it in might want a bit of a rundown on what to expect. So here we go.

House on Haunted Hill fan? Good start!
Similar to Arkhem Horror you say? It isn't without its similarities!
In fact the characters (to my knowledge) are the same in both games.
The tile style board game leans more towards the HoHH setup as shown below.


Co-operative too you hear? Sort of... players must all cooperate to solve the challenge and fight off dreaded monsters, minus the dreaded overlord who will attempt to foil you at every turn!

Mansions of madness draws upon new and old game elements to keep the creepy cthulu and moldy mansion theme fresh and new.
Similar to both Arkhem and Haunted Hill this game sports several characters with unique stats for players to choose from before the game starts.

Each of these characters will have benefits and weaknesses.
The game has plastic detailed (yet unpainted) figures both to represent you and the monsters on the game board. Some players will be ideally suited to fighting off the beasties while other characters like the old professor or the gorgeous starlet might be better suited to collecting items or solving complex puzzles.

The fighting mechanic is nothing to marvel at as it's been used many a time before but at least it's well balanced!
You have X amount of hit points to begin with, typically ranging from about 3-8 and each time you are struck by a monster in combat you take wounds appropriately. If you reach zero you die. Items can be found that heal you or give your stats bonuses and weapons can be found to increase your combat lethality.

Scattered through the house are clues that will lead to other sections of the mansion or unlock new wings. All the while monsters of varying difficulties will spawn to impede the characters. That or senses of dread, shifting walls, or sudden power outages also can occur at the game masters discretion or through the drawing of cards that will act as interesting plot points.
Ultimately each scenario will have the party fleeing from the mansion or needing to reach a boss monster in time. I recall in our group we needed only to flee and bring every party member with us before the house sank forever into the earth. We managed to all get out save one party member which left us ending in a stalemate.

The most interesting thing for me was that many of the key clues and the in game mechanic to get past locked doors, to unseal a crypt, or to get water circulating / the power back on. Based off your characters intelligence statistic you will be presented with a physical puzzle. Perhaps a series of tiles to arrange and twist about or coloured rings to be assembled. If your intelligence stat is lets say... 4. Then on your turn you can move the tiles about 4 times. This limits how fast you solve the puzzle but since they are still brain teasers there is your OWN intelligence that comes into play because you might not immediately see the solution and no one can help you solve it.

I found it a refreshing adventure game since so many others of late have left me feeling unsatisfied. I'd rank it a 7.5 out of 10 with my vote increasing to an 8/10 if all the other scenarios are as engaging as the 1s one I played.

This has been the labyrinth, and I'm Henry McCulloch. Game on!

The Labyrinth: The Hallow is nearly upon us!

Halloween!
That wonderful time of the year every Oct. 31st when children, youths, and sometimes deranged and sugar-deprived adults dress up and roam the streets in search of candy!!
Or brains...brains that taste like candy are the best IMO.
MmmmMMhhh brainnnnns!

For the most part the costumes are meant to be scary...but from time to time we do see the odd fairy, princess, or purple lovable huggable dinosaur costume.
It remains our solemn duty, to this day as a timeheld tradition, to beat those pink and fluffy critters black and blue with our true monstrous appendages and dastardly weaponry.

Know your enemy...
Study it's movements and behaviour patterns carefully.
Sometimes they travel in packs, aim your strikes on straglers or sickly specimens.
Pick the perfect time to strike when it's most vulnerable.
Always approach from the shadows and make sure to aim for their green underbellies or flowery wings...only when you are certain of the kill can we all breath a little easier.

If we manage to cull enough of these 'adorable' critters then we can reinforce our scary superiority and remind them that the POINT of the holiday is to scare off the real demons and monsters that lurk in the dark.

Well...or to get ridiculously drunk and forget everything associated with the holiday.



On that note, avoid downtown princess street on the weekend beforehand. The 29th and 30th are most likely going to the herald the arrival of armies of wannabe-strippers, playboy bunny girls, and drunken cheer things. Covorting about until theyre just sort of lounging about and hurling on everything in sight...



I personally feel we should all be on high alert this time of year!
Not drinking ourselves into oblivion.
Halloween is the one time of year that we are most likely to get caught off guard by an authentic zombie apocalypse and for what?
Nowadays when you run around and get candy it's almost always crap candy anyways...erm. Least that's what i hear...not like I still go door to door at my age.
Or rough up purple dinosaurs and take their candy...

In my neighbourhood they strove each year to put the junk in junkfood.


(Such a handy graph! :P and oh so true.)

But enough...those that are crafty will make it to November and those that aren't well...they shall bolster the undead's numbers for the following year. We'll just have to go Shaun of the Dead on them and chose our very worst vinyls to hurl at them! Best scene...EVER.

Shaun: NO! That's the second album i ever bought!! Some of these are limited... AHH what was that??
Ed: Blue Monday...
Shaun: That was an original pressing!!
Ed: For FUCK SAKE!
Ed: Purple Rain?
Shaun: No.
Ed: Sign O' The Times?
Shaun: Definitely Not...
Ed: The Batman Suondtrack?
Shaun: Throw it!

Because any crisis should be handled as such...with a very british sort of air of calm and collected no-nonsense logic!
:)

Now the question of the day!

HOW DOES ANY OF THIS RELATE TO MINOTAUR?

A valid question indeed...
One that I'd be overjoyed to answer if it wasn't for the fact that zombies are assaulting the front AS WE SPEAK!
I shit you not...luckily we have an extensive costume section in the back these days!

I'll just run back throw on one of our creepy capes snatch myself one of our sharp swords and
equip an eypatch and viola I have a perfectly piratey outfit!
...
Which, as we all know, is one of zombie's true weaknesses. Acts of piracy!

OR i could use the mountain of makeup in the back and blood packets to dress up like an undead zombie or vampire and mingle right in and save myself!
Our halloween section ALSO has catalogues so...if i can baracade myself in and spend a few weeks waiting for a delivery i could order in anything my heart desires costume wise!

This all also ties in with next weeks game review of Mansion of Madnessssss!
Since tis the season we decided it would be appropriate to talk up the creepy crawly game.
Till then stay safe and keep a wary eye peeled!

This has been the Labyrinth and I'm HenryMcCulloch. Game on!

The Labyrinth: Blogs? Yersh! Brogz!

So another week, another few days in the life...
It's Sept. Now...crazyness how the time flies.
Gaming is a lifestyle that some of us eat drink breath and sleep with clutched near to our hearts.
It doesn't matter where our lives take us or what's going on in them as we will always find a way to game wherever we are!
That statement rings true with me over the last month more so than ever!

These past few weeks I've been gaming a fair bit both on the computer and with a handful of boardgames / card games.
I've been really eager to try a newish title that came out a month or 2 ago called dominant species. I'll admit and after seeing it get played once or twice at the last few games nights it has only served to increase my desire to try it out but it's tough to sneak in a night at the store that I'm not working when the temptation of the inter web beckons from the comfort of home.



(It's come to my attention from a concerned reader that in my blogs of late there has been a SEVERE lack of cats, kitten, or fluffy critters of any kind. Therefore to remedy the situation several extra kittens will be making appearances this week!)

So instead of trying out Dominant Species I did manage to try a game that I had never played called Carson City last week with several of the games night regulars.
It was a fun light strategy game that pitted players against one another in a wild wild west styled shoot out for the burgeoning Carson City.
So my first thought was... "solid name choice..."
The next thing I noted was the familiar colored meeples very akin to many Rio titles.
It made me smile and nod and think about it more as a old favorite rather than a daunting new game to learn.
Finally we played it through.

It was short enough with only 5? ...
I want to say 5rounds of total play and while there are plenty of guns to sling around or hire it was a fun little tricky thing to sit and analyze when it was all done. Three of the 4 players were all within 4 points of one another with any number of ever so slight differences making or breaking the game for them. One of those..."I would have won if he hadn't of beaten me there but because he didn't here so and so is just one point behind here which ties them for points before the points we get from cash" Definitely one that I will explore again in the near future and while it's not one of our games that we keep in the store as model inventory I STRONGLY suggest folks reading this that love westerns to special order it. That or you could always settle for Blackgold which is a similar game but more about the oil rush. OR alternatively yet again you can get your name on a waiting list for Deadwood which outa be another solid shoot em up western.

So that's really it for board gaming for me of late...sad I know but I did watch most of an El Grande game in the store and sit in on a game of Ikusa. Neither thirst is fully sated but dulled while I sit now scratching my head with what to finish the blog about...



But not really...
There's plenty to talk about in store even if it isn't directly gaming related.
The under the sea art show was a smash.
I'm including some photos that were sent to me of some of the folks in attendance for the opening night reveal of all the art pieces.
(Pictures are still on their way but I'm posting this as is. Ill upload pics as they become available)
And while I'm at it I'll mention that the next art show has already been decided!
It is going to be flight.

That's all just the word flight.
So it can be anything in the realm of aviation as most will take the word for that meaning but we can see literal flights of stairs or flights of fancy!
Comon it's artsy fartsy after all we can make things as creative as we like with the topic.
The opening night for that exhibition is going to be October 19th from 6pm to 9pm at the store.
All submissions should be in by the 15th though to ensure yourself a spot!
Same as last time, one entry per artist with any form of medium that tickles your interest.

Hmmm what next...
The promenade I mentioned in a blog right before it happened but someone brought up that we never showed any pictures of the day to show what a success it was again this year.
(Pics will follow soon yet again :P)
Despite torrential rain that put the rain forest deluges to shame and with dozens of stores being flooded or without power just the day before the promenade weekend we downtown businesses still managed to connect and enjoy the sight of thousands of Kingtonians travelling up and down princess / the downtown core to see the street festival.
Included are some pixs for your enjoyment.

Next up D&D!!!
What I haven't talked about it for at least 5minutes...it's only fair to get back 'on topic'
Paizo is putting out a new line of plastic gaming minis soon.
And by soon i mean December...but still for us plastic model addicts Christmas time can't come fast enough with this tantalizing tidbit being announced.
Sadly they ARE going to be randomized instead of in conveniant battlegroup format as many of us hoped they would be.
Still with the mini market running on empty beggars cant be choosers I say.
They are going to retail for $4 for a standard mini or two smalls and $6 for the large minis.
Here are a few samples of what they will look like!



Plasticky for sure...
Monster minis we have already? True enough.
Color jobs on some that look like a colorblind amputee goblin could do better?
Hmmm well I still am reserving judgment for when they arrive because I heard in the rumor mill that these pictures arw computer tailored and NOT the actual paint jobs.
Here's hoping!


(We all feel like that some days...damn will saves)

While we are on the D&D topic / creative writing I figured I'd mention my writer's corner.
I already have the next installment more or less done...just trying to decide whether or not to post it up?
Not sure if those particular posts are getting any reading time but I'll wait to hear back from anyone if they would like to hear more about the adventures of Cale, Feris, Ariel, and Framfrit.
Their ongoing saga can continue as interest reveals itself!! :P

I suspect that's all for now but here's hoping you hear a lot about some new games in the upcoming weeks, I'll promise to do my best to try a few I've been meaning to sink my teeth into.


This has been the Labyrinth and I'm Henry McCulloch. Game On!

The Labyrinth: Feudal Japan VS Medieval Spain!!

The Time: The 15th - 16th century
The Place: Feudal Japan!

During this time period the island nation of Japan underwent a bloody era known now as the Sengoku period or 'warring states' period. For over 100 years political and military powers vied for control over the island nation. Large Samurai armies led by Daimyos shed their neighbours blood in a deadly conflict to decide who would be the next ruling Shogunate to maintain control over all of Japan. Contact with Europeans had only recently been made and while the sword and the bow were still the mainstay of any Samurai army, gun power in the form of basic arquebuses had begun to take their place amongst the rank and file soldiers.


The Time: The 15th Century! ? ! ?
(Meh...it's probably sometime towards the fall of the Kings of Spain...lets call it around
the death of Henry IV in 1474 since there was a lot of political upheaval.)
The Place: Spain!

During the early 1400's the Muslim forces that held the south of Spain known as the Almohads had almost been entirely forced from the peninsula. The only foothold they retained was the territory of Granada. Each unique territory and region that loosely made up what would over the next century become a more unified Spain held their own political and judicial structures
During the following 100 years known as the Reconquista period one of the most influential Kings Henry IV the ruler of Castile passed away. This highly sought after throne became the aim of several influential rulers of neighbouring regions.

<(O.o)> - huh? wha'bout games?

So, now that the history lesson is done for the day...what do these two time periods have in common?

Yes. You are correct oh savvy reader, they certainly ARE both about countries at the peak of military and political infighting. If you had already guessed that both time periods have been made into games well then you are crafty beyond compare!!



With great pleasure here is an in depth look at both,

IKUSA
(Formerly known as Avalon Hill's 'Samurai Swords) [Formerly Formerly known as Shogun!]

--------------------------- -VS ---------------------------------

El Grande
(Currently known by this guy as omgbbqsauce i wonzzzz!)

Dahhh Winning!

Both are games from my childhood and both are titles worth adding to any gaming collection.
While neither are cheap to come by both easily deliver in terms of game play, artwork/style, re playability and gorgeous manufacturing bitz.


~~~~[]~~~~[]~~~~[]~~~~[]~~~~[]~~~~[]~~~~[]~~~~[]~~~~

Starting with Ikusa lets give it a thorough once over shall we?

Style of Play: As mentioned above it's an old Avalon Hill title but it plays very much like the classics Risk or Axis and Allies.
FULL STOP!


Alright that right off the bat might turn some folks off but I should reiterate.
It is what Risk and Axis and Allies SHOULD have been if only they had been combined by a loving game designer who thought everything was better once you throw in Samurai and deadly ninjas and giant Japanese castles from which you can bombard your opponents with wave after wave of angry hired Ronin!!!

So...it isn't exactly like either but has some similarities.

The combat uses D12's (cool I know) and the combat is streamlined with easy to follow melee and ranged rounds of fighting that make WAY more sense than the frequent dice fests that are Risk.
Plus they have &#%*ing swords!

Ikusa has dealt with the conundrum of how to display large forces of armies while still retaining the coolness factor of having lots of meeples to fling to their untimely demises. In Risk you need to 'upgrade' single soldiers to horses and those pony riders in turn into field artillery. These pieces have no real importance as they are all just numerical representations that you need to push around in a big clump. In Ikusa each unit is unique with its own strengths and abilities. In Risk you can attack ad nauseam in a mass clutter of units from southern Australia to Eastern America when you go on an attacking binge which makes little to no sense logistically but in Ikusa you can normally only attack a single time against a neighbouring region.

Axis and Allies steps things up a great deal from Risk because the units each are unique with separate battle statistics. Its combat system is much more akin to Ikusa but the en masse feeling of battle can often be lost visually under an ugly stack of white and black combat chips. In Ikusa the battles can still be awesomely epic while keeping the board relatively clutter free without losing the mass battle feel. Each player gets an army card with slots on it for x3 Daimyo's each with it's own unique flag. A single playing piece with the matching flag symbol represents this large force on the game board while still letting you still count out and arrange a massive force just off the edge of the board. You can draft troops turn by turn and swell your armies up or drop off units alternatively as you pass through areas but unlike Risk or Axis and Allies each army caps out at 15 units. This encourages players sitting with full armies of samurai to engage in combat that keeps each turn active! As the game progresses each victory your Daimyo's obtains will in turn increase thier skills in combat as they learn from past experiences. In subsequant turns they begin to be able to attack or move multiple squares on both offense and defense, covering great distances in the span of a single turn.

Truly this is a military classic without compare.
It has few drawbacks but those that it does suffer from may deter certain types of gamers from trying it out.
It's running time is very long easily approaching 4hours or more and like many conflict-based games it does have the drawback of potential player elimination. All in all it's worth it to see one of these Japanese death matches through to the end.
Just have any friends who get eliminated perform an elaborate Sebuku for your amusement as the game carries on without them :D

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El Grande

What a drastic change from Ikusa.
This game is everything that a military game isn't and is one of the best Euro-games currently out there. Here at Minotaur it had a very brief stint where it saw some play but the regulars either overlooked its elegant game mechanics or didn't get a chance to have this unique strategy grow on them.
So that's why I'm bringing it back!!!

El Grande is just too good of a game not to have on the shelf...no two ways about it.
The game is like a precursor to Agricola, Peurto Rico, Tikal and Alhambra all bundled into one. It has very familiar scoring rounds like many Rio Grande games that take place at the end of the 3rd 6th and 9th(final) turn.
The game has very verrrry limited luck in it and most of the events that will shape the outcome of the game are based off the choices players make and the strategies they chose to employ. Certain methods of play that might work well in one game or in a particular situation wont against other strategies or styles of players.

In many ways it is like Puerto Rico.
Often I've heard gamers exclaim that the players are what make or break the game but that seating position is crucial. If you are seated next to a very strong player on your left often you'll find yourself struggling when an inexperienced gamer in the same seat will spell out a drastically different outcome. El Grande also has a selection mechanic where 5 choices will be available each turn to players to chose from but unlike Puerto Rico the order of play changes round by round to keep the competition fierce.

The basics of El Grande is that each player will have small tokens representing caballeros that they will draft each turn into their court that are worth a single point of influence. They shall also have a large cube which represents themselves as a Lord or Lady of future Spain which is worth additional influence (Similar to the worker and head worker from Tikal) Through intruige subterfuge and diplomacy players must use these tokens to vy for control over different territories to eventually become the next King. The tricky part however is the King's Pawn piece which travels about the board. Players may only effect areas adjacent to where the King is and by that same rule can never add or remove units in the location the King is standing in for that particular turn.

To make things a bit trickier again the way with which you acquire more caballeros and pick your turn order is one of the best parts of the game. Each player starts with a deck of numerical cards ranging from 1 to 13 and players will pick one at the start of each round. Similar to the card game 'stupide vulture' when you spend a card it's gone for good so players need to balance saving powerful cards for turns where they'll want to go early in a round, with playing low cards that, while meaning you probably will go last and have an unfavorable action card during that turn, will allow the player a larger # of caballeros to influence regions.

Four of the action cards that crop up each turn will be unique but one that remains from round to round is the option to move the king. Often players will want to play high cards to be the 1st pick because doing so will mean you can strategically place the King's Pawn piece in a way that will limit your opponents from being able to place caballeros in the region that the King's sitting in in addition to any sections of the board that aren't adjacent as well. There are many layers to the strategy beyond this but these few basic elements are what keeps El Grande in the top 15 games on boardgamegeek. It's currently ranked 12th and whenever i reminisce about the imes I played with my Dad and Uncles back when we were all around Ottawa it always makes me grin a lot. Each one of us was pretty particular about what kind of games we enjoyed but El Grande was always our go-to game when we couldn't all agree on what to play because each one of us loved it through and through.

I personally have a copy of Ikusa now and will be searching high and low QUESTING if you will for people who want to sit down on a Sunday games night perhaps or on a different night at my place to slog through it. I also just ordered a El Grande for the store and here's hoping that one of our games night regulars decides to pick it up and bring it in a few times so that the gaming folks can see just how strong a title it is. If no one picks it up within the first week or two I'm thinking I'll buy it and bring it in and make everyone play it!

Don't make me come in and force you all to play under swordpoint!
I'll be dual wielding a rapier and a katana! ;D

This has been the labyrinth and I'm Henry McCulloch. Game On!