F@$% Samurai

Samurai

This is not a new game, but it's new to me. It's one of what's been called Knizia's trilogy of tile laying strategy games (the others being Tigris & Euphrates and Through the Desert). It came out in 1998, but I first played it this year.

The game is set in medieval Japan and the players represent different factions that play their influence tiles in turns around the board to capture resources all over the countryside.

The mechanics and rules are simple, and new players can catch on quick and be successful. But make no mistake, experienced players have the advantage.

What I like about this game is that each player has the same set of tiles over the course of the game, the battle is to use them most efficiently. If you spread your tiles too thinly in an area, you could end up with nothing. If you take too long to collect the resources in an area you are working in, you may have them stolen and all those tiles played are wasted.

I find this game is best with three players because only two moves between yours allows for a lot more plotting and scheming. Three moves allows for significantly less planning.

The game falls down a bit late when the board gets congested and someone finally has no move left but a bad move, and the subsequent player will take advantage of it. This happens less often than you think though. One thing that separates good players from bad ones is knowing when to leave an area alone and know when it's time to try and collect pieces from it.

The rules suggest you pick your five starting tiles, which for me removes a significant amount of luck. Since the cavalry is such an important piece, drawing it in your last few tiles is a huge disadvantage. So bad, that I don't even want to play the game with the risk that might happen. But when teaching the game, new opponents don't know what tiles to take. I resolve this by suggesting everyone take their cavalry (after explaining it's importance) and then randomly choose their other four tiles.

Tips:

*When you have resources available to you on the board, take them. Never believe you have a resource wrapped up so tightly with your influence tiles that you can collect it later. It can ALWAYS be stolen away.

*Try not to leave a city with resources you hope to capture with just one open tile surrounding it.

*Try to take advantage of situations where a city that your opponent aspires to capture resources is left with just one open tile surrounding it.

*Your cavalry is your most powerful piece. When you play it, be sure you are capturing at least three resources.

9/10 - Eager to play this game more, but it's yet another in the category of games Darren doesn't like to play.