One of the first games I ever designed was the old S&T/SPI Conquistador, a game for which I have much fondness. About 5 minutes after starting work on it, way back in the salad days of 1976, I realized that recreating “exploration” as a game was going to be a formidable task. That the results were so well received had much to do with the insight and assistance I received from the entire SPI staff… those were the Golden Days, the days when everyone pitched in (or simply kibbitzed) about everyone else’s design. As much as I liked Conquistador - and still do - that’s how much more I like Tom Lehman’s remarkably clever and enjoyable Age of Exploration, a game that covers virtually exactly the same ground as Conquistador - the Discovery and Pillage of the New World, from 1492-1543 - but in much zippier fashion than I ever envisioned. If nothing else, AoE will help to implant TimJim Games a bit more firmly in wargamers’ minds than their somewhat previously ephemeral appearances did. There’s an awful lot in the box, whose cover is sufficiently eye-catching to help it get lifted off the shelf. The counters are sturdy and serviceable, if not overly colorful. The same can be said for the 200 cards, whose great “plus” is how well the information is arranged thereupon. As the cards are the heart of the game, this is no small benefit. One does wish, though, that TimJim had chosen a somewhat sturdier card stock…while understanding, at the same time, the fiscal reasons for not doing so. Most impressive, however, is the game map (mounted, no less!). It’s not that its such a marvelous piece of art - it’s nice, but nothing exceptional. What is exceptional is how clever it is graphically, how well it services the game system, both visually and in terms of mechanics. No space is left unused, and, once the players have grasped the basic premise beyond how the map is organized, it allows each player to see just what he is up against with his expedition. And what he is up against is the underlying theory of the game: Nothing Good Ever Happens. At least not here. To be reckless is to be dead; to be cautious is only somewhat better. Once you’ve grasped the idea that no matter how great a navigator your Explorer is, how macho an hombre your conquistador may prove, Mother Nature … in conglomeration with a bunch of basically unhappy and danergous native types … is simply out of their league. A simple tale of simulated woe should suffice. My Verrazzano-lead expedition to Carribean waters was doing just fine … some gold here, bopping some locals there, taking a rest every now and then, while my co-players were having fits. Pizzaro led his men into the heart of the Aztec Empire only to find himself, at game’s end, walking - alone - along the Mexican beaches to find his ships had sailed off without him. (We awarded him the Taco Juan franchise in Cozumel.) Ponce de Leon had, much to our amazement, taken the bull by the horns and headed into Inca country … where, despite -- probably because of -- being laden with goodies (the Incans folded faster than a cheap beach chair), he and his men promptly got lost in the Amazon. (A phonecall to the late Klaus Kinski proved no help.) Me? I did some “hammock and tan” time in old Hispaniola, loaded my gold on board, and headed home. Should have spent a few more days recuperating though, because my ships proved ill-suited to the return task, Fifteen miles off the coast of Spain, Mother Nature sent in the Big Winds … and my ship (and all my victory points) went to the bottom. Three explorers: three disasters. And that’s pretty much what to expect with AoE. Not only do you play against your opponents -- although such inter-player competition is only tangential, as players rarely, if ever, interact -- but your toughest opponent is Nature and the Unknown. And they are tough Mothers indeed. What is most delightful is that AoE is not just a simple adaptation of previous exploration games. This is an entirely new (well, relatively new, as there hasn’t been anything really new in this hobby in years) system, one which not only is fun to tackle but manages to convey the sheer desparation, as well as the thrill, of attacking the Unknown. The game is not overly complex, as there are only four pages of rules. However, they are densely-packed (in terms of information, if not font) and require several infusions of mental connective tissue to grasp what the designer wants you to do. Nothing tragic, to be sure, but parts of the system are not too well explained. (We all found the “Read This First, Let’s Play” folder more confusing than help, although some of the examples do explain what seems to be rather opaque in the rules.) I suggest you read both before heading out to sea. Play starts with everyone randomly selecting an expedition leader from the 18 possible: 10 Explorers (Columbus, Cabral, Magellan, et al.) and 8 Conquisatadors (Cortez, Orellana, Balboa, et al.) Each man is rated in five categories: Leadership, Negotiation, Navigation, Ship Handling and Personal Arms, all of which are rather self-explanatory, but are sufficiently varied so that each of the 18 has a distinct personality. (Conquistadors generally suck wind in the navigation area, so they require a Pilot to be effective therein.) Each player now gets 6 Outfitting cards, each of which gives him some sort of goody or advantage, a few of which seem out of place at the start but come mighty in handy later on. These run the gamut from crew, guns, and cavalry, to missionaries, interpreters, supplies, rutters, even copper-plated hulls as protection against the Teredos. (A good card to have on the homeward journey, let me tell you.) The player now chooses a ship, either a Caravel or a Carrack, depending on whether you want speed (a relative term in this game) or reliability/capacity. Assume one thing: the ship type you choose is not the one you will need later in the game. Having assembled the expedition, each player now puts his fleet in Europe, waves goodbye to Marlon Brando, and heads into the unknown. As much control as he has had over the process up to now, that’s how little he has from here on in. From this point on, each player is the prisoner of the Exploartion Cards, of which there are two decks: one for Water, one for land. None is overly friendly. Add to this the fact that, at the start of the game, virtually every box on the map - movement is through a series of tracks of inter-connected boxes - is unexplored territory. To move, the player draws an Exploration card, which, depending on where you are, tells you what you can do (Progress0 and what happens to you when you do it (usually bad). Some examples: Move one box (Progress), but lose either one Provision or one “Men” to scurvy Move one box, or two if you have a caravel; however, check Ships Reliability if you do so. Progress one box, but crew is Afraid (if in unknown territory). Check agains Leadership; if you’ve got Mister Wishy Washy, you get to go home. And that’s just at sea. (I left out the dreaded “Storm” card, as well as all the nasty stuff that happens in Coastal Waters).) If you are lucky enough to make it to land … and your Exploration card says you have made a Discovery; nothing is a Sure Thing here … you get to venture onto land - and the Land Exploration Cards - wherein you meet such as: Hostile Natives. Do you attack or trade? Disease. Lots of this stuff. Starvation. Friendly Natives. Do you get some provisions or attack them. Ambush. You don’t want to see this card. All the while, each land box you enter usually has some goody to lure you on,like possibilities of finding Gold, Gems, wood, and, most enticing, the huge empires of the Inca and Aztec. And while all of this is going on, if you’ve been the first one to enter certain boxes/areas, you can get credit for Discovering them … if you live to report that Discovery. Most of the stuff - major rivers, discovery of land, etc., garners 1 VP. However, if you can trash the Incans you get 11 VP’s (2 more than the Aztecs; one wonders why). If you can circumnavigate the globe - and everyone else hasn’t gone home while you’re doing it - you get 8 VP’s. And for traversing the ephemeral Northwest Passage, it’s 14 VP’s. (I would say that doing so is pretty imporbable, ahlthough not impossible. Any one of these is usually enough to gain game victory … if you can survive. And that, ultimately, is what Age of Exploration is all about: Survival. This is not just a game where you wander around the map seeing “wha’s happenin, bro?” Progress is slow - usually one box per turn - but play is rapid, as each player turn takes, oh, maybe 1-2 minutes … not including the derisive laughter time that your opponent’s indulge themselves in. And, in terms of play, each Player Turn is a test of how each player “triages” his Survival with his Greed. Each Exploration Card, each move, requires the player to make choice … and, some of them are truly Hobsonesque choices. To win the game requires a sagacious mix of aggression, cunning, rapacity and, anachronistically, caution and planning. And what is so special about Age of Exploration is how well the system tests the players’ abilities to use those skills, not just to play the rules. We -- the BROG Crack Playtest Staff -- had a ball with this game. We laughed a hell of a lot - at each other, and at ourselves. We alternated between foolhardy aggression and massive indecisiveness, and well all railed, Lear-like, at the viscitudes of Fate. We also noted, en passant, that AoE, would make not only a marvelous solitaire game but a great teaching tool. For any of you have ever done any reading in this era, you know what incredible feats these men - men who managed to combine greed, discipline, cruelty and perserverance - accomplished. Playing Age of Exploration allows you to understand just how incredible their accomplishments were … and have a helluva lot more fun doing it than they did. CAPSULE COMMENTS: Graphic Presentation: Good, if not great. Playability: Excellent. Short set-up (try almost none), altho some rules are a bit cloudy. Great solitaire, too. Replayability: A major plus. No game is ever the same, and the challenge of beating Nature is always present. Wristage: Not that much. Creativity: High, indeed. My hat’s off to Mr. Lehman … this is very clever stuff. Historicity: Excellent, both in terms of what’s included and feel. Comparisons: A major advance from Conquistador. Light years beyond AH’s New World. Overall: One great game, one of the best, most enjoyable I’ve played in years. from TIMJIM GAMES 16” x 22” mounted mapboard, 240 counters, 200 Cards, 6 Exploration Display Sheets, Rules Folder, Fast Play Folder, Historical Guide; boxed. TimJim Games, 1010 El Caimno Real #140, Menlo Park CA 94025. c.$35 Back to Berg's Review of Games Vol. II # 15 Table of Contents Back to Berg's Review of Games List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1993 by Richard Berg This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com