I found the board somehow both prone to deadlock, and unbalanced in that control over the entire left side of the board results in about 1/3 of the bonus available to the right side. But worst of all are the mysterious long-distance borders that are unmentioned in the board description or on-board legend. Altogether, the whole game felt pretty much pointless and unsatisfying.
I like the map because the gameplay is different. Graphically, it is clean, simple, sober and straight to the point. As everybody said the Canadian stronghold is useless.
It is hard to play it if you are not premium due to non access to bonuses stats... except if you spend an hour counting. Problem which does not really occur on more basic maps
Don't be afraid to hold a road early on as it probably won't change you min bonus unless you control other bonuses. I have attempted to use to capital, but there really is no large benefit to holding it.
I would give this board a 10, but the capital is an unnecessary, unused, unwanted, & avoided part of the board. you'll only make the mistake once, lol!
I love this map though New Montreal was a nasty surprise my fist game.
I've played it a number of times and found it to a very tricky highly technical game each time.
I experimented with fog but found that the negatives make it far too easy to get in a fight with another player to early and both go down. I have yet to try light fog.
With no fog though this is a great board to play with experienced players. New players will have a hard time navigating the most effective way of reducing others bonuses but don't really bring the rest of the game down.
I like this a bit more than road warrior because I feel there are more good defensible areas.
This is an extremely original board. it's not a beginners board. Though it is not too difficult to figure out, it takes a while to wrap your head around the strategy. Good graphics, no complaints. not crazy about the addition of a capital. I don't think that helped anything. Nonetheless, superb design.
This map is offers a unique challenge. It will take you some time to get the hang of it.
You really can't expand too quickly or else you are vulnerable to getting all of your bonuses wiped out. Have to put that thinking cap on each turn!
Such a great idea with the roads all being -3... and the cards reset at 40, so the gameplay feature of not expanding too quickly is preserved throughout the game.
The capital can change the gameplay as someone usually gets it without knowing it is a capital. Might be more interesting if the capital was worth more than +2 and/or if there were more capitals around.
This is the most creative board design and game play I have seen in all the maps on this site. By far my favorite map. The people that rated this poorly based on "balanced" didn't understand the strategy well enough to play it properly.
Not well balanced... in some areas its to easy to spread across and in others its packed with highways that give -2 units and are un-avoidable when trying to expand... needs alot of work.
I'd give this a 10, but I've yet to see someone make a run for New Canada. Boo!
Seriously though, this board does a fantastic job of taking the standard Hordes concept and turning it on its head. I disagree with Yertle that it's "easy and quick to pick up on" - it took me two or three games before I started to feel comfortable on it. Once I did, though, strategies just kind of clicked into place.
Give it a couple of chances. You'll like it in the end.
Awesome board and gameplay! Great strategy is involved but the board is easy and quick to pick up on. Be sure and never give up as an attacker can easily damage themselves!
I still like the thought of the original version better (no capitals and always increasing cards), but haven't seen those two factors play too big of a role in the games I've played on the board. I do hope to see a few more Scenarios evolve from the board and I bet there could be some fun come out of those too!