So, if you can’t tell by this point, it has been a slow last half of the week at work here. A week or so back I posted a review of a game from one Frans-Benno Delonge and I didn’t have many nice things to say about the game (see Ramblings on: TransAmerica). As I mentioned in the article F-BD has made a couple of my favorite games so I thought I’d highlight one here.

Hellas takes place in ancient Greece and is set in a period where two factions are struggling for control over the many islands Greece. The game consists of hex map tiles that depict the land and water masses as well as various cities and temples. In addition there are fifteen plastic army men representing Hoplites per side (or are those Roman…Anyway I’m too lazy to fact check this) and ten war galleys a side. There are also three decks of cards representing the favor of the gods (Ares, Zeus and Poseidon) - and this is where I feel the real heart and soul of the game is located.

The game starts with players alternating tile placement (each player places four) to create the initial map. Players then alternate placing one ship and one army man on the map. Players also take one card from each of the god decks creating a hand of three. The object of the game is the first player to control ten cities on the map is the winner. In order to control a city there has to be an army man on a city (just being on the tile counts as being in the city). Now quickly think back to the number of army men each side starts of with…fifteen so troop management is a very integral part of this game.

During a players turn, they have three options available to them:

Surge: The phase where players are able to reinforce their army men and war galleys where needed. It also allows additional god cards to be drawn and allows movement of troops at the end of the phase.

Voyage: Which involves using your ships to explore the lands in hopes of finding more cities and temples. When voyaging players draw a new tile and if the tile fits, using the placement rules, all is good, if the tile doesn’t fit then the voyage is wasted. Voyaging is a necessary part of the game since there won’t be 10 cities to start with on the map to satisfy the victory conditions - need to control ten cities to win - but it is also a risk because you may not find anything.

Attack: Attacking is this game is simply a matter of odds. If you outnumber your opponent you win (with slight variations depending if the attack is all over land or combines land and sea…etc.). Where the variation comes in is via the use of the god cards.

Now as I mentioned, the cards are what I feel really makes this game shine but it is also the part which turns a lot of people off to this game. The cards vary in power with Ares helping on attacks, Poseidon helping on voyages and Zeus providing general fun. These card decks are relatively small when compared to other games that use decks of cards (Arkham Horror; Twilight Struggle…etc.) with only 16 per each god and cards do repeat.

The game’s strategy is developing through knowledge of the cards, their approximate ratio in the deck and combos that work well. This aspect is often missed by people playing the game for the first time which leads to longer games and draws it out to a point where the fun doesn’t seem to be there. Since actual resource management of army men is very tight due to the victory conditions knowing the cards is what allows a large offensive to take form and is what keeps the game moving.

So those things said, this game does have a longer than normal learning curve to the game and it is one of the few games where early on in the learning curve players tend to not enjoy the game. This game does take a few plays because at first players are learning the things like movement and combat and how that works and the cards are seen as secondary, almost like a bonus instead of a key part of the game. After the resource distribution mechanics start to click though and focus can be placed on the cards and how they interact, that is the point where the game really shines.

Now this game isn’t for everyone. Like I mentioned some people need games to grab them right off the bat to continue interest in the game. I know there are a lot of good or great games out there that didn’t grab me during my first play and subsequently I haven’t given them the fair shot I’m asking people to do here. Some people may not like the direct conflict that this game has as well or the tight management of meager resources. This ranks for me as an upper tier game. For the size of the box, the game offers quit a punch and with the variability in cards and the way the map forms, the game offers quite a lot of replay value. One of the major downsides to the game is players of different skill levels (read as “if one person knows the god decks better than the other”) the player with the higher skill level is going to win more often than not, which is also another contributing factor to new people having a rough time with the game.

Rating: 4 out of 5

‘Til Next Time - Happy Gaming
LvT

Filed under: Games - Board Games, Hellas by LordVonTush
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