Neil picked up a copy of Perikles for £9.99 from TKMaxx, yep that
clothing store with branches in Uxbridge, Ealing, Hammersmith (King
Street) etc. Yep, £9.99 for a typically £39.99 game! Mind you, my
Ealing branch has been out-of-stock of it for 3 visits - no wonder!

So we tried it out on 2 Dec. Great. It then got the rare accolade
of being played two-sessions-in-a-row, on 9 Dec, and played
excellently again, IMHO.

We love the game! (see the poll). It is designed by a Martin
Wallace, a Brit in the north - who apparently designed another club
favourite, Railroad Tycoon. Hey we must try his others. George is
going to bring one called Liberte.

Perikles is, IMHO, a brilliant mix of politics, diplomacy and
warfare, with very neat interaction and trade-off between the three.

Everywhere I looked, there was an innovative (to me, at least)
mechanism which worked superbly - the asymmetric cities, rather than
all similar; the nominating tiles (get in early or wait till late?);
the dagger tiles (which is what makes the nomination tiles a balanced
choice); the alpha and beta; the fact that clever nominations can
exclude the most powerful from being a candidate, and yet leave him
strong influence for next turn; use and exploit a city, it will
probably be someone else's next turn; statues, such that, later,
there are some cities you WOULD like to inflict a defeat on, and some
you wouldn't; the VP balance between battles, statues and influence
left at the end (perfect); the filling-in of nominations, always a
case of who has higher priorities where; the option to trade future
influence for troops now (if you have a city with troops to spare);
the brilliant combat mechanism, with few modifiers to remember, and
yet tactically challenging; the two rounds for a battle, with the
first giving you a head-start on the second; the race to become
primary attacker (or defender), so that you stand to win or lose the
VP's at stake when battle is resolved.

Plus the tension of defending ALL your battles, or inviting/accepting
others in to be prime defender, and/or negotiating others in to be
allies for no direct gain, but indirect, or a diplomatic quid pro
quo; the effect of battle-arrangements on the influence you leave
yourself next turn; the effect of battle-outcomes on the value of
statues; and on the military strength of a city for next turn; and
the limit to 10 cards showing to pick from, such that you can't do
whatever you want in any city, you have to choose the best
available ... with half an eye on what that would leave the next
guys, eg something with a dagger or nomination on it ... but that's
in a city I'm not trying to wrest control of ... I could go on ...

It's a great game, a great mix of politics, diplomacy, resources and
battles, without too much in the way of modifiers, accountancy or
arcane rules.

I recommend it. And this gives me an idea ... see a later post if I
don't get interrupted.

Bob