The French and Indian War Game

Slightly long for what it is (lots of bucket o dice rolling) but a nice game when wanting to play something simple.

This game's rulebook compares its mechanics to a game set in feudal Japan called [thing=155695][/thing], with players conquering colonial-era forts and towns rather than castles. Like Age of War, conquering each location requires certain combinations of die rolls using a pool of custom dice. For example, to defeat the French at Fort Carillon requires a fort symbol, a cannon symbol, a Native American symbol, and four musket symbols, all rolled separately. These requirements can be met in any order, but failing to meet any of them with a specific roll causes the player to remove a die from their dice pool before trying again. The player rolls and rerolls until he or she completes the objective or doesn't.

The extra elements that are layered on top include first and foremost a map of North America during colonial times, with some locations under French control and others under British control. Generally, the British player should try to move northward and westward on the map, while the French player should aim to hold their ground or head southward. In addition to the map, two sets of event cards modify the rules each turn, with effects like allowing additional rerolls, increasing or decreasing the number of locations that can be attacked, or changing the makeup of the players' dice pools. Another subtle change allows the players to add extra defense to three locations each turn, making it harder for their opponent to take those locations. Lastly, there is the addition of a naval die for each player, which determines whether naval attacks are allowed.

I liked the addition of the new elements to the dice-rolling mechanic, but two aspects of play negatively affected my enjoyment. First, as the British player, I found it extremely difficult to defeat two key locations [i]required[/i] for victory (Quebec and Louisbourg). These conquests can be even more difficult when you consider that the French player can add extra defense to these locations every turn. The second problem was the game length. Unless one player achieves automatic victory (which seems difficult for the British), the game lasts 20 turns, which equates to about 1 hour and 40 minutes, assuming turns are kept to five minutes. By contrast, the Art of War's total play time is only 15 to 30 minutes. Somewhere in the middle would be the sweet spot for The French and Indian War Game; I could see bringing it back to the table if it could be completed in about an hour. I just don't know if this will be possible without feeling rushed.

Enjoyed this but was hoping for a bit more of a cohesive feel to the battle. You can only take over cities adjacent to ones you occupy, but that's really the only feel the game gives you of the importance of keeping your forces together and holding your supply lines. I would have liked for some additional "chrome" that would incentivize you to make concerted efforts in parts of the map, rather than opportunistically moving into cities and hoping to roll well. Will try it again - I did enjoy it.

KEEPER Like the theme and the easy mechanics, with a little bit of historical flavour.

Age of War variant with map and event cards. It's fast.