Tribune - 2 February 2011

First outing for my Christmas present from David - Tribune: Primus Inter Pares.  This game is set in Ancient Rome but  unlike Republic of Rome, it is competitive and the players vie for control of factions to bring a range of benefits (e.g. legions, money, different type of accolades) which are required for victory.

The game is beautifully produced with a board representing different areas of Rome and lots of sturdy (and beer-proof ;-) counters.  The heart of the game is in the competition to collect cards to control the various factions.  There's a nice balance of making the most of the luck of the cards you get at the start and choosing which other factions' cards to collect, and balancing risk and cost in the way in which the cards are acquired e.g. for various costs, or through discards, or in bidding against a fellow player.  There is also a lovely 3D horse and chariot model which is bid for and used to protect your faction from takeover.

The rules took longer to go through than was really justified, as the game played more simply that the read-through had suggested.  There are a handful of victory condition cards to choose from, and the one we used required the victor to have achieved any three of the four conditions on the cards - a longer game could be had from going for more, or playing until someone had taken a certain number of factions over during the course of the game, and then using a points-scoring system.  So some variety to attract more replays.

In our game, David got a strong win in turn 4, meeting the required three victory conditions.  In points terms, he had 28, with Kieron and James both on 16, Adrian 12 and Andy, despite his early almost-unbreakable control of the Senators, with 6.  Good fun, and now we've cracked the rules a game we could play in half an evening next time.