I rounded up some of the usual suspects for a game last Sunday, along with some new people. In total there were 10 players. We used the nine eastern countries plus Assiriya. We then blocked off the western part of the map by saying that the areas "belonging" to the the non-participating countries were out of bounds. This restriction on space seemed to work fine, space was only a little tight, thus causing the usual border wars ( along with the usual death threats and retribution). Despite the tight space, players were able to ascend to nine cities from time to time. The game was well balanced and close all the way along. I myself playing Babylon, lagged behind. At the start of the game all the surrounding countries headed in my direction, after the fertile areas I assume, so I was squeezed at the beginning, but was able to carve out my own space. I got hammered by a civil war and epidemic in the same turn, so I was handicapped for a few turns. Despite that, I was still competitive in the final score, but did not win. the general consensus is that the game seems to be fine and little, if any, refinements are needed.

Domric

Thanks Domric. It's realy nice to hear of 100% positive games!

When you say you removed areas "belonging" to the unused nations, do you refer to the listings in the Alpha Scenario Handbook? If so, what do you think of it? That's the only component where I can see major work has to be done, and any user input is appreciated.

Yes, I was referring to the listings in the Alpha scenario handbook. It seemed to work out fine. Mind you, you should have heard the groans by the players situated next to those areas as they were removed from play one by one. I think they had eyes on certain areas, such as the fertile lands in the Nile Delta.

Domric

Sorry... picturing this made me laugh out loud. Glad to hear the scenerio book helped!

Who won?

The game was won by Nubia, who had a very non-combative neighbor in Saba. It was a close game, I don't recall the point spread from first to last, but I think it was 20- 25 points from first to last. I think Partia was headed for victory, but got hit with Regression on the last turn of the game, causing much laughter, except from Partia, which is okay, we are on orders from his wife not to let him win. If he loses he just goes home, grumbles a bit to her and goes to bed. If he wins he has to replay his victory, blow by blow, and wastes a half hour of her time.

Domric