Watch “The Long View of El Grande with Mark Bigney,” a board game review for El Grande from The Long View Podcast on BoardGameVideo.
Description provided by The Long View Podcast on YouTube:
El Grande. The Great One. How many games have lasted more than 20 years under the scrutinous eye of tabletop aficionados? None can truly be worthy of uttering its name, but for this episode we have invited back he who is admittedly "so very wrong about games", Mark Bigney. Mark's self-aware inadequacy in approaching such a colossal subject is certain to have you laughing and cringing in similar proportions. Jump into the Castillo and keep your hands off the king's territory in the queen mother of Area Control: El Grande.
Trying something different this time. Here's a list of commonly held beliefs for you to systematically disprove. I'm calling on my inner contrarian here as I do quite like The Large myself.
1. It's outdated; I recognize and appreciate it as a step in the evolution of modern tabletop, but it pales in comparison to recent releases.
2. The Castillo looks pretty, but it's just a gimmick that adds nothing to the gameplay.
3. The way turn order is determined is clunky and confusing. Why can't it just go clockwise?
4. Card effects are balanced by the amount of pieces they allow you to place on the board.
5. Some of the action cards have hugely impactful effects. In other words, broken. Like ones that affect all of a players' available cubes regardless of quantity.
6. Going early in turn order when you choose your effect is pointless because of how much the players that go later can undo your entire turn.
7. It overstays its welcome. Pure area control over an hour begins to buckle.
8. The hidden bidding part of the game frequently results in 2 players colliding in what they believed would be a safe, less sought after area to control while another player gets the best spot uncontested.
9. Swingy King. Not being able to place in the king's area is too restrictive.
10. The expansion (grand inquisitor) fixes the base game.
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Mainly reviews. El Grande is covered on BoardGameVideo.com by 36 reviews, 18 how-to-play guides, 7 recorded sessions, 8 unboxings, and 7 other videos.
2 - 5 players
60 - 120 min
Medium weight: Teach it in one sitting
About El Grande, from BoardGameGeek:
In this award-winning game, players take on the roles of Grandes in medieval Spain. The king's power is flagging, and these powerful lords are vying for control of the various regions. To that end, you draft caballeros (knights) into your court and subsequently move them onto the board to help seize control of regions. After every third round, the regions are scored, and after the ninth round, the player with the most points is the winner.
In each of the nine rounds, you select one of your 13 power cards to determine turn order as well as the number of caballeros you get to move from the provinces (general supply) into your court (personal supply).
A turn then consists of selecting one of five action cards which allow variations to the rules and additional scoring opportunities in addition to determining how many caballeros to move from your court to one or more of the regions on the board (or into the castillo - a secretive tower). Normally, you may only place your caballeros into regions adjacent to the one containing the king. The one hard and fast rule in El Grande is that nothing may move into or out of the king's region. One of the five action cards that is always available each round allows you to move the king to a new region. The other four action cards vary from round to round.
The goal is to have a caballero majority in as many regions (and the castillo) as possible during a scoring round. Following the scoring of the castillo, you place any cubes you had there into the region you secretly indicated on your region dial. Each region is then scored individually according to a table printed in that region. Two-point bonuses are awarded for having sole majority in the region containing your Grande and in the region containing the king.
Designers
Wolfgang Kramer, Richard Ulrich
Artists
Doris Matthäus, Stefan Sonnberger, Franz-Georg Stämmele
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