\n
\n
![\"Sternenhimmel\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/Ressourcen\/sternenhim_t.jpg\")
This \u201cmajority in areas\u201d scoring principle takes an\nalmost freeform approach in this game, as circles of star signs are randomly placed until
\nall have been scored (meaning: all players have placed a numbered token \u2013 or
\n\u201cstar\u201d – on each space of the star sign). As star signs go, some of them are
\nlongish affairs (like the \u201csnake\u201d or the \u201cscorpion\u201d), some of
\nthem consist only of four spaces (\u201clibra\u201d). The larger the sign, the more
\npoints it will bring upon it\u2019s \u201ccompletion\u201d \u2013 the player who owns
\nthe majority gets the most points, but has to \u201cpay\u201d all other players who
\ndidn\u2019t make 1st or 2nd place (one per placed token). This makes 2nd place the most
\ninteresting prospect, as it usually only gives 2 points less than the leader gets \u2013
\nwithout having to pay the others!<\/p>\n
Spaces on the signs come in two groups: \u201csecret\u201d (value of token is hidden)
\nand \u201copen\u201d. Each player has a selection of tokens, mostly numbers (the
\nhighest being 10), two doublers (doubling the value of all surrounding tokens) and
\n\u201cblack holes\u201d (destroying all surrounding counters). The latter two are
\nmostly placed on the secret spaces \u2013 If a player starts to surround a
\n\u201csecret\u201d token with numbered tokens you can be pretty sure he has a doubler
\nplaced there. And other players can profit as well! The design of the starsigns makes for
\ndifferent tactical situations, \u201cnode\u201d points become more important than
\n\u201cline\u201d \u2013 points etc.<\/p>\n
![\"Sternenhimmel\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/Ressourcen\/sternenhimmel2.jpg\")
But the problem is the \u201cfreeform\u201d aspect \u2013 it
\ncan happen (it did happen to me) that you invest in star signs that will not be
\n\u201ccleared\u201d by other players (usually it is desireable to place the LAST token
\non each sign, as this gives the most control of the scoring) \u2013 they simply place
\ntheir tokens on other signs. This means your tokens are not freed for other uses – as
\nlong as the sign is not totally occupied the tokens remain on the board. If the group –
\nand this is simple \u201cpeer pressure\u201d – decides to let a player
\n\u201chunger\u201d on a sign, they can block him out for several rounds. Of course in
\nour game this was partly my own fault, as I placed too powerful combinations (apparently)
\nthat didn\u2019t make it attractive for other players to \u201cinvest\u201d.<\/p>\n
The bigger problem though is the simple repetitiveness of it all: place a
\n\u201csecret\u201d token \u2013 it is either a black hole or a doubler (mostly).or
\nplace an open number token. That\u2019s all. With more convoluted star signs the outcome
\nis totally random, as you can never really be sure who places what on the secret spaces.
\nAnd then you feel slightly bored by the strange use of the \u201cstar\u201d theme (and
\nattractive playing materials) for a totally abstract game with little strategy.<\/p>\n
Not a winner….<\/p>\n
Westpark-Gamers score: 4.6<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
\n
\n
![\"Titan](\"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/Ressourcen\/titanarena_t.jpg\")
G\u00fcnther kannte dieses Spiel noch nicht (obwohl er nat\u00fcrlich\ndie \u201eKnizia-Urversion\u201c durchaus kannte). Immer wieder wird dieses Spiel gerne
\nbei uns auf den Tisch gebracht \u2013 es ist perfekt in seiner Mischung aus Komplexit\u00e4t,
\nAbwechslung und Spiell\u00e4nge. 8 Monster k\u00e4mpfen in einer imagin\u00e4ren Arena \u2013 die
\nSpieler repr\u00e4sentieren die Wettenden, die ihr Geld auf die Monster setzen. Es wird
\nmehrere Runden geben, in der jeweils ein Monster ausscheidet. Am Spielende bleiben 3
\nMonster \u00fcbrig, und die \u00fcberlebenden Wetteins\u00e4tze werden gez\u00e4hlt (Wetteins\u00e4tze auf
\nsterbende Monster werden vernichtet). Jeder Wetteinsatz wird auf ein Monster in einer
\nbestimmten Runde gesetzt (ein anderer Spieler kann dann nicht mehr setzen), und z\u00e4hlt
\nmehr, je fr\u00fcher er eingesetzt wurde (nat\u00fcrlich ist die Chance, da\u00df der Wetteinsatz
\n\u00fcberlebt, bei fr\u00fcherem Setzen geringer). Es ist auch m\u00f6glich, in der ersten
\n\u201eKampfrunde\u201c, geheime Eins\u00e4tze auf ein einziges Monster zu machen, die z\u00e4hlen
\nam meisten am Ende. Man macht immer EINEN Wetteinsatz und spielt EINE Karte (nicht
\nnotwendigerweise auf das selbe Monster).<\/p>\n
Jedes Monster hat 11 zugeordnete Karten (von 0 \u2013 10). Nur diese Karten k\u00f6nnen unter
\ndas Monster gelegt werden, es z\u00e4hlt immer die oberste Karte. Nachdem alle Monster in
\neiner Runde eine Karte \u201ebesitzen\u201c, wird das Monster mit der niedrigsten Karte
\nentfernt. Nat\u00fcrlich ist das kein einfacher Prozess, denn die Spieler versuchen je nach
\nWettinteresse Monster zu st\u00e4rken und zu schw\u00e4chen. Es gibt auch einen Satz Jokerkarten,
\ndie auf jedes Monster gelegt werden k\u00f6nnen, und 2 Spezialkarten, mit denen man gespielte
\nKarten regenerieren, und geheime Wetteins\u00e4tze entdecken kann.<\/p>\n
![\"Titan](\"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/Ressourcen\/titanarena2.jpg\")
Der eigentliche Gag des bisher recht abstrakten (Knizia!) Spiels
\nist aber eine Weiterentwicklung Don Greenwoods von Avalon Hill: Jedes Monster hat eine
\nSpezialf\u00e4higkeit, die von einem Spieler ausgel\u00f6st werden kann, wenn er a) die meisten
\noffenen Wetteins\u00e4tze auf dieses Monster hat, und b) eine Karte auf dieses Monster spielt.
\nSo erm\u00f6glicht die Hydra das Ausspielen einer weiteren Karte, der Troll kann gespielte
\nKarten fr\u00fcherer Runden wieder auf die Hand nehmen, der Ranger zieht 3 Karten usw. Obwohl
\ndiese F\u00e4higkeiten im Spiel seltener eingesetzt werden, als man auf den ersten Blick
\nglaubt, so geben sie doch die entscheidende W\u00fcrze, die dieses Spiel so unterhaltsam und
\nspannend macht. Beim Platzieren der Wetteins\u00e4tze spielt nat\u00fcrlich die Zugreihenfolge eine
\ngrosse Rolle: Spiele ich gegen einen Spieler, der direkt nach mir dran ist, so wird er
\nmir h\u00f6chstwahrscheinlich die Tour vermasseln. Viel sch\u00f6ner ist es, den Abschluss einer
\nKampfrunde \u201evorzubereiten\u201c (man kann es ja wirklich selten alleine steuern),
\nund erfolgreich darauf zu spekulieren, da\u00df der linke Nebenspieler mit den selben
\nInteressen auf jeden Fall \u201edicht macht\u201c.<\/p>\n
Wir haben dieses Spiel sicherlich schon knapp 20 mal gespielt, und es verliert nie seinen
\nReiz, daher:<\/p>\n
Westpark Gamers Bewertung: 8.25<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
\n
\n
![\"Forum](\"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/Ressourcen\/forum_t.jpg\")
This is again a typical German \u201emajority in an area\nscoring\u201d \u2013 game, with a geometrical twist. Forget the Roman Theme, this is a
\nvery abstract \u201cAdvanced TicTacToe\u201d with no relation to history or senators,
\nlike \u201cRepublic of Rome\u201d.<\/p>\n
Players have a set number of tokens which they can place anywhere on the board (after all
\ntokens are placed, they can move any token to anywhere). The rectangle map is diveded
\ninto 7 \u201chouses\u201d (square areas), with an overlay of vertical and horizontal
\nlines, and two diagonal lines. Each of these \u201careas\u201d is scored, after all
\ntokens in it have been placed. The winner is rewarded points, the others get nothing, the
\nplayers who have NO token in the area are punished with negative scores (especially
\nnegative if they are the only one, who does not have a token). As the various areas
\noverlap (for example you could place a token that fills up a house, but at the same time
\na vertical, a horizontal and even a diagonal line), you have to think ahead, and
\nsometimes surprising scorings take place, especially in a 5 or 6 player game. After an
\narea is scored it is marked with a token and cannot be scored again, but still a token
\nplaced there could be important for another scoring, so you have to think about what
\ntoken to remove and when. Deadlocks are not scored, but at the end of the game (when all
\nareas have been filled at some point) they are rewarded as if there were several winners
\nin each area (mostly decisive in winning). So basically you place tokens, are surprised
\nby sometimes unforeseen scorings, and attempt to have enough tokens in the final areas to
\nget a good \u201cdeadlock scoring\u201d \u2013 that\u2019s all!<\/p>\n
The game keeps your interest because of the \u201cgobang\u201d element, but is not
\nreally very exciting. And Wolfgang Kramer went on to create much more interesting
\n\u201cmajority scoring\u201d games, like \u201cEl Grande\u201d.<\/p>\n
Westpark-Gamers-Score: 5.4<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
\n
\n
![\"Adel](\"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/Ressourcen\/adelverpflich_t.jpg\")
One of the most famous \u201cGerman\nStyle\u201d-games, and rightfully so, as it is still enjoyable and fresh more than a
\ndecade after it\u2019s publishing.<\/p>\n
Players represent Art collectors who collect \u201cseries\u201d of hopefully long
\n(large) collections that they can exhibit. Cards are labeled A-F, and also have a date as
\na tiebreaker (oldest exhibits win, if two players tie in the size of exhibits).
\nExhibitions are a series of cards, and have to be played in an alphabetic series (so you
\ncould not play A-D-F, but for example A-A-B-C-D-F).<\/p>\n
There is a \u201crace track\u201d around the board, with an ingenious twist: Depending
\non the position of the leading player the scoring for the exhibitions is different. This
\nencourages purposefully falling back for tactical reasons and using the new position of
\nthe leader to surpass him again. At the end of the game there is a final exhibition in
\nwhich the largest and 2nd largest collection wins additional points on the track, mostly
\ndeciding the winner.<\/p>\n
![\"Adel](\"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/Ressourcen\/adel_2.jpg\")
Doesn\u2019t sound very interesting yet, but there is more:<\/p>\n
Each round each player secretly plays a card to show where he will go: either the
\n\u201cAuktionshaus\u201d (auction house\u201d, for acquiring art cards) or the
\n\u201cSchloss\u201d (castle, for making an exhibit). The two places are dealt with
\nseperately: in the auction house players try to play the highest \u201ccheque\u201d to
\nacquire one of two open art cards, but halt!, you can also play a thief to steal the
\nhighest played cheque. Two or more thieves block each other out, and yes, the
\ncheques\/thieves are played face down, at the same time!<\/p>\n
The castle is more complicated, you can make an exhibit (the largest and the second
\nlargest are awarded spaces on the track), you can play a thief who can steal a picture
\nfrom EACH exhibit, and you can play a detective, who only comes into action if there was
\na thief (the thief is taken temporarily out of the game) and gains you spaces on the
\ntrack depending on your actual position (the farther you\u2019re behind the more spaces
\nyou gain). If there was no thief: well, what a bummer!<\/p>\n
Again, this is a guessing game, as all players play their cards secretly.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdel verpflichtet\u201d really is a fun game, with elements of bluffing,
\nprediction and possibilities for naughtiness. Generally it is adviseable to play
\n\u201cagainst the flow\u201d:if you predict most people will make an exhibit it will be
\ngood to be the only one in the auction house (to get a very cheap art object). Also one
\ncan try to predict the cards played in the castle \u2013 players desperate for art
\nobjects are very likely to play a thief, as in the final analysis it is impossible to win
\nthe game without a good collection. If everybody predicts, something totally
\nunpredictable can happen, like everybody playing detectives, which is of course good fun.<\/p>\n
A game to be recommended for anybody who is interested in \u201cGerman style\u201d
\ngames \u2013 you can tell it is good by the fact that it is popular in the UK and US,
\nalthough the name of the game is totally unpronounceable for English speakers\u201d!<\/p>\n
Westpark-Gamers-Score: 6.75<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Game Session Report 4.9.2002 Author: Moritz at the table: Walter, Peter, Hans, G\u00fcnther, Moritz on the table: Sternenhimmel, Titan – the Arena, Forum Romanum, Adel verpflichtet This evening was full of German games, two of them with the \u201emost german of all german game inventions\u201c \u2013 the \u201eKramerleiste\u201c (\u201cForum Romanum\u201d and \u201cAdel verpflichtet\u201d), and two … Game Session Report 4.9.2002<\/span> weiterlesen