The Great Wall Board Game Review

 Note: This review is written after two three-player games in competitive mode. Other modes did not play. In the first game, the bare base was played, in the second - in the base together with kickstarter extras. goals The "Ancient Creatures" and "Black Powder" add-ons were not used.

BRIEF REVIEW MECHANICS

 There's a lot to The Great Wall, but the core of the game is the worker placement mechanic. The field is divided into an administrative zone, where players send their workers to activate actions, and a battle zone, where players build wall sections and/or barricades, and send archers, infantry, and cavalry to fight the horde. Foot soldiers can also be placed in an administrative area as overseers and will produce resources for their owners during the income phase. The number of available actions and received bonuses depend on the player's chosen command cards (they are revealed simultaneously).

 There's something in common with rock-paper-scissors: some command cards give their owners extra goodies if other players pick certain cards (say, if you pick a Despotism card, you can place an extra worker if other players pick a card "Economy"). Some locations of the administrative zone are activated if there is at least one worker on them, and to activate others, they need to be completely filled with workers. So, in addition to everything, you will have to try to predict the plans of other players here.

 Each player has his general and 2 or more advisors. Advisors can either be kept drunk, which gives additional opportunities, or put under the general so that he receives additional icons and his ability is strengthened. Victory Points in The Great Wall are honors awarded for building fortifications, defeating hordes, general effects, advisors, and tactics cards, as well as three artifact cards that give extra points in the end-game SP tally. The latter are especially important.

 Players can also gain tokens of dishonor (they give penalties if not removed by the end of the game): either if you are the only player with workers in a resource gathering or troop gathering location when it activates, or if a horde breaks through a wall , and you have no troops in this field.

 There are several end-of-party triggers — automatically after 6/5/4 years in a party of (1-3)/4/5 members, or at the end of a year if:

• a) all three zones of the wall are completely filled with fortifications (or 2 out of 3, if there are less than 4 players);
• b) or the stock of shame tokens has run out (this, most likely, can only happen in cooperative mode);
• c) or you beat the Genghis Khan map (if playing with the appropriate module).

DESIGN AND COMPONENTS

 I have the version with wooden meeples, but all versions of the game have miniatures for the Iron Dragon and the Rat, so I can roughly judge the other components by those. Both illustrations and components (in all versions) are of luxurious quality. Both the artistic text on the cards and the very functional built-in inserts are pleasing (although if you want to insert the walls into the box without disassembling them, you will have to throw out the insert from the box with additional purposes). Overall, the nice cards, meeples/miniatures, and 3D walls add a lot to the game's immersion (more on the combination of theme and gameplay below).

 However, I have one important remark. The game is big and takes up a lot of space. There are a lot of different cards spread out all over the field. And the fonts here are very small. You'll have to constantly pick up cards to look at what's written on them, or ask other players to remind you what cards they have, since you won't be looking at their effects yourself. It is especially critical for elderly people with poor eyesight. I would not recommend them to buy "The Great Wall", despite all its advantages.

GAME PROCESS

 I skipped the Kickstarter campaign because I'm used to Awaken Realms making ameritrash with overproduction and mechanics that range from decent to useless. It wasn't until I looked at reviews from reviewers with similar tastes that I realized that this time Awaken Realms made an overproduced euro.

 I really like the variety and thoughtfulness of the mechanics. There is a large deck of generals and an even larger deck of advisors. They all have special abilities that range from cool to awesome. However, the cards of generals and advisers seemed quite balanced to me (with the exception of the general, who can spend gold like any other resource, but maybe it's just that we haven't learned how to counter him yet). A large space for searching for synergies and creating combinations. It is difficult to say how balanced everything is in general, but if one of the players is unlucky enough to be obscene with the starting hand, then it is quite possible to counter him - everything is in the hands of competitors. Also, by the end of the game, everyone will have obscenely strong abilities and everyone will get a fan from them.

 The worker placement here is unlike other games with similar mechanics I've played. Players have to think not only about whether their competitors will help them by filling the missing slots in locations that are activated only when completely filled, but also about whether it is worth taking a risk and going to the barracks in the first place to recruit soldiers: if no one else goes there , you will receive a dishonor token. In addition, the workers in the administrative area are activated in the order according to the tea ceremony track, but the activation order of the locations is determined by the player with the active command card in hand. Therefore, an active player can play all kinds of tricks: for example, activate the locations of recruiting troops or building fortifications before the competitor has time to collect resources from the location that generates them. The tea ceremony track also determines who will receive the cards of the defeated hordes in the event of a tie. In some games turn order will not play a big role, but sometimes it is critical. Choosing the right moment to send workers to the tea house to gain control over it is another interesting and difficult decision.

 The rock-paper-scissors mechanics of choosing team cards are even more interesting when you consider that after discarding team cards, players may not return them to their hand (and may also later draw cards from the discard pile into their hand). Each card left in the discard pile gives the owner 2 honor. On the other hand, it is easier for other players to predict which team card the opponent will choose next time.

 When the horde is defeated, part of the units remaining on the card die, unless their owner spends "chi" to save them (with the exception of assassins, they cannot be saved). Exactly how to deploy your troops is a decision with important strategic implications, not one for the atmosphere. But the output still comes out thematically.

 In addition to the wide variety of cards in the kickstarter database, there are also many additional game modes in addition to the main, cooperative and competitive ones. There are 6 historical scenarios (chronicles) that significantly change the goals and rules of the game, as well as three modules that can be mixed into the base. More about them below.

GAMEPLAY WITH KICKSTARTER ADDITIONAL OBJECTIVES

GENGHIS KHAN

 "Genghis Khan" consists of a central card with 10 vital points and two trait cards (chosen randomly from the corresponding deck). Each has additional points and an ability that makes life difficult for players in the section of the wall where Genghis Khan is currently located. It cannot be attacked directly. When defeating another horde, the player who received its card can move one of the surviving soldiers to the Genghis Khan card. Each point covered gives the player 6 honor, but that soldier is essentially removed from the game.

 Also, during layout, two types of basic horde cards are removed from the deck and replaced with three special types. Yes, in our party we removed the assassins and palii (who set fire to the fortifications). They are replaced by Genghis Khan's Armored Archers (shooting your archers on the wall; in the base they are immortal unless the horde breaks through the wall), scouts (forbid attacking other hordes in the same section of the wall while the scouts are alive) and barbarians are replaced by another card from the deck hordes). Together with the special abilities of Genghis Khan himself, this makes you think much more about the competent placement of your soldiers in the battle zone.

 Additionally, when playing with Genghis Khan, a random Emperor's Grace card is selected during the layout. When a player builds part of a wall, they receive this grace and its special bonus. Until another player does the same and takes away that mercy. Each player also gets a standard bearer in addition to the standard troops: he helps to recruit more soldiers. This partially compensates for the increase in game complexity.

 Verdict: A great addition. It's not necessary, since the base is already great, but it's definitely worth it. Especially when you want particularly deep and complex games.

RAT

 This module features a small deck of cards. Each year, one is revealed and indicates who will get the right to place the rat (as always, ties are allowed by the tea ceremony track). A rat must move every year. When a rat location is activated, each player who has a worker there receives 1 gold.

 Verdict: A decent addition, but nothing special or impressive. Adds another difficult decision to the game, and the extra gold doesn't hurt if you're playing Genghis Khan or a difficult scenario.

IRON DRAGON

 This is a cannon (not related to the Black Powder add-on) with its own special location and a small deck that determines which horde cards (in a 3×3 square) can be fired from this cannon. When activated, these cards are immediately defeated, even if not all of their life points are closed, and players who have workers in the iron dragon location receive additional VP. You can send a worker there when you send a worker to a standard location and pay extra. The location is activated only when it is full (4 workers in a party for 4-5 participants, 3 for 3 participants).

 Verdict: Not so much. Filling this location with workers is difficult, and killing several hordes with it is even more difficult, so it is difficult to plan anything with the help of an iron dragon. Personally, we completely ignored her. It's unlikely I'll be playing with this add-on again; it makes you think even more about whom to send where, and does not add fana.

 PS I did play Ancient Creatures and Black Powder. The Ancient Creatures are not bad, and I may add variety to a bare base with them, but combined with other modules, they slow the game down too much and cause information overload. It is better to combine "Black powder" or "Genghis Khan" with "Rat". "Black powder" is a great addition; my favorite since Genghis Khan. We should try to combine them. I suspect that it will be very difficult to survive in such a party, both in competitive and cooperative mode.

A FEW MORE THOUGHTS

 Both our parties took about three hours. Maybe I'll still play the panda clan (because of asymmetric troops), but I definitely won't be in a party of five: it takes too much time even with the fact that the number of years is decreasing. And the downtime is also increasing. On BGG they say that the optimal number of participants is 3, and I agree with them. However, I don't mind trying batches 1, 2 and 4. Just not 5.