Mare Nostrum, 12 September

A return after a long absence for the Mythologically expanded version of Mare Nostrum for 6 Rivals at Adrian's (first played in 2007, the next plays were later in 2007 and then next in 2010).  We allocated roles based on initial seating plans, which meant that David got to play Atlantis from nearly in the garden, James Carthage, Andy Egypt, Adrian Babylon, Kieron Greece and Stu Rome.  Quite amazingly there was no fighting in this game whatsoever despite a. various military forces generated (with David's Kraken the most fun) and b. the fact that we ran out of caravans quite early on.  There are various very nice mechanisms in this game, the trading round perhaps best of all.  The game notes suggested that the player that controlled the key roles and who through this sets the order of play for the rounds would be most likely to win.  With two roles victory was likely it said.  Kieron managed to bag three roles and for a couple of turns held all four.  And sure enough, despite 4 players having met the victory conditions and with Andy and Stu only a turn behind, Kieron's role supremacy meant that he could steer himself to the win.  A fun and very well produced game.  Although the ending was perhaps abrupt it felt pretty well balanced and had enough interaction to keep us interested.

Having looked back at previous blog entries for this game the replay value looks interesting.  Our first foray suggested that the roles were key.  Next time we played we concluded that Egypt was unstoppable unless the other players ganged up on Cleopatra and the lack of trading "felt funny".  The third go saw Kieron win through tax income but not as Greece.  Intriguing.

Mare Nostrum - May 19th

It felt like a reunion once again this week with 5 making it to Adrian's (Deej lurgified again and Stuart lost in space). Mare Nostrum, a game we hadn't dusted down for a long time was the choice this evening, even though we had some recollections slight failings in the game from a couple of years back. The trading round in this game is clever and rapid with no option for James to squeeze out a good deal ;-) Kieron and Andy were nicely positioned in the wings with plenty of resources. James occupied Egpyt , Adrian Italy and Orhan was in Greece. James and Kieron decided upon a truce from the first round allowing Kieron to have an early dig at Orhan in a fight for one of the only two gold resource regions. However, they soon realised that fighting is for losers in this game and concentrated on expansion. Adrian was quietly building a Roman empire with nobody prepared to take him on and Andy and James decided to spend the evening flexing their muscles and posturing along the north African coast. James enjoyed playing a Kieron/Stuart game style with no hope of a victory. So, it was left to Adrian, Orhan and Kieron to fight it out for the first to gain the pyramids. In the punultimate round, Orhan played a blinder and attacked Alexandria to gain a temporary rise in income allowing him to gain a hero. In the final round, he moved his target to Andy and was bout to claim victory when Kieron launched an attack on the heart of the Greek empire to gain an income of 12 and the pyramids. A fun game, but we've really outgrown these now. Another lucky win for Kieron ;-)

Mare Nostrum, 21 March 2007

The second outing for 6-player Mare Nostrum, this time at Kieron's. We opted to use the complete set of heroes and wonders, but kept the pre-programmed starting positions. The game saw less trading than usual in the early rounds. Stu as Egypt built up a commanding lead from his tax revenues. Although he was threatened (a bit feebly) by Kieron's Greece, and Andy worried him by almost moving a piece into his territory, we didn't display the killer instinct necessary to stop Stu winning rather easily. James on the other hand, who, as Rome eschewed building legions in favour of shopkeeping, was royally clobbered by Deej (Atlantis) and Kieron. This stopped him winning, but couldn't stop him securing a clear second place. Adrian (Babylon) did nothing all game. So the final scores afforded 10 points to Stu, 6 to James, and 2.5 to everyone else (an equal share of the remaining points for grabs).

Mare Nostrum felt a bit funny. Perhaps it was the lack of trading, or the abruptness of the win, or the starting positions, but at any rate despite it being a fun evening, the game lacked bite. If nothing else, having a situation where the Egyptian player will almost certainly win unless others attack them is a strange starting concept.

Games averages: James 6.42; Stu 5.38; Kieron 4.67; Deej 4.23; Adrian 3.97; Andy 2.36.

Mare Nostrum (with Mythology Expansion) - 10 January

James hosted a new Xmas game, Adrian's Mare Nostrum, boosted up by its Mythology expansion to cater for 6 players. Hard core Rivalry ensued. Adrian as Egypt got off to an early start, getting his second hero/wonder card quickly. But was sat on by James with little means to retaliate. Stu continued his vocation of carnage and built legions to attack Deej's Greece, but was seen off very quickly by the Greek centaurs. Stu's attention then turned to Kieron's Atlantis and desultory warfare raged in the west for the rest of the game. Andy as Babylon expanded his influence consistently, but somewhat purposely. The game came down to James' dominance of three of the roles - Trade, Gods and Movement. Early trading was cautious but the later uber-trade-fests resulted in James managing to buy the Pyramids. Deej also could have, but Adrian (unwittingly) picked James to play first. With the Pyramids gone, Kieron was next in line, being able to win with a fourth hero/wonder card. Deej and Stu could both acquire another to make three; Adrian had his (original) two; Andy his starting hero. But immense influence. :-)
With the now agreed scoring system, James got 10, Kieron 6, Deej and Stu 3 each, and Adrian and Andy on big fat 0s. After two games then, the running average scores are (by my reckoning): James 8; Deej 4; Adrian 4; Kieron 4; Stu 3; Andy 1. So Mr Parker pulls ahead...