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This is a game of political intrigue set in Medieval Spain. Apparantly, during those turbid times, the king of Spain had scant influence over his nobles which were called Grandes. The game attempts to simulate the political maneuvering between each of these Grandes, hence the title of the game.

The board is a large fold out map of Spain on nice thick board. The colours on the map are a little drab, but this does reinforce the medieval flavour of the game. The map is subdivided into a number of regions which are worth differing amounts of points to the Grandes with the most armies in that particular region.

There is a special region indicated by a wooden castle.

The game allows for between two to five players and although I haven't actually played with less players, I suspect that it works best with the full complement.

Each player is dealt a card which denotes which province their Grande initially occupies. A large, coloured, wooden block is used to denote each player's Grande. The King's initial starting location is also determined randomly.

Each player is given an identical set of thirteen initiative cards. These cards are marked with a number in the range 1 - 13 and a pictogram indicating an amount of armies or caballeroes between zero on the higher cards right up to six on the 1 card.

These are used to decide who goes first in any given round and how many armies each player gets to play with. At the start of the first round, the youngest player selects a card first and then going clockwise around the table, every player selects a card.

No two players may select the same numbered card. After each round, players discard the initiative card they used. On subsequent rounds, the player who went last on the previous turn begins the next.

The player with the card showing the highest number goes first. They may place the number of armies indicated on the initiative card they selected, from the provinces (effectively out of play), to their courts (effectively their hand).

At the end of the table are five categories of action cards. Each category has an action, and a number of armies ranging from 1 up to 5. Each player in turn selects one of the action cards. In either order, the player deploys the number of armies printed on the card, and carries out the action printed on the card.

Armies can only be deployed in a territory adjacent to the one the King occupies, or into the castle.

The action cards can vary greatly in effect. Most of them are geared towards placing or moving armies around on the board, towards scoring territories, or even moving the King. The territory that the King occupies may not be affected by any players actions.

At the end of turn three, turn six and finally turn nine, each individual territory is scored, starting with the castle. After the scores for the castle are tallied, each player secretly decides where they wish their castle armies to move to. These are revealed simultaneously, the armies are moved to their respective destinations and scoring continues for the other territories.

At the end of turn nine, the player with the most points is declared the winner.

http://members.aol.com/~kulkmann/elgrande.htm

Evaluation

This game is a tricky one to evaluate after just one game. The components are all top notch as one would expect from a Hans Im Gluck game.

There is a great deal of depth. Often, you are trying to juggle the fact that you want to go first because there is a very good card available, against needing more armies.

There is a high degree of trying to predict what other players are going to do, particularly when choosing where armies from the castle are going to be scored. There is a healthy dose of backstabbing and the fact that you have to discard initiative cards once used means that you need to plan your campaign.

The effects of the cards can vary dramatically depending on what's going on in the game. You do need to be on your toes and I think if this game has a weakness, for me this is it. I like my games to be easy to learn and difficult to master. If this review makes the game sound complicated, it is reasonably accurate.

A second game, however, knowing the rules, and knowing what sort of action cards are in the pack may well be a completely different story. http://homepage.virgin.net/martin.grimes

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

El Grande
Author: Hans Im Gluck Category: Board Game Company/Publisher: Rio Grande Cost: £28.99 Page count: n/a Capsule Review by Martin Bailey on 02/02/99. Genre tags: Historical	This is a game of political intrigue set in Medieval Spain. Apparantly, during those turbid times, the king of Spain had scant influence over his nobles which were called Grandes. The game attempts to simulate the political maneuvering between each of these Grandes, hence the title of the game. The board is a large fold out map of Spain on nice thick board. The colours on the map are a little drab, but this does reinforce the medieval flavour of the game. The map is subdivided into a number of regions which are worth differing amounts of points to the Grandes with the most armies in that particular region. There is a special region indicated by a wooden castle. The game allows for between two to five players and although I haven't actually played with less players, I suspect that it works best with the full complement. Each player is dealt a card which denotes which province their Grande initially occupies. A large, coloured, wooden block is used to denote each player's Grande. The King's initial starting location is also determined randomly. Each player is given an identical set of thirteen initiative cards. These cards are marked with a number in the range 1 - 13 and a pictogram indicating an amount of armies or caballeroes between zero on the higher cards right up to six on the 1 card. These are used to decide who goes first in any given round and how many armies each player gets to play with. At the start of the first round, the youngest player selects a card first and then going clockwise around the table, every player selects a card. No two players may select the same numbered card. After each round, players discard the initiative card they used. On subsequent rounds, the player who went last on the previous turn begins the next. The player with the card showing the highest number goes first. They may place the number of armies indicated on the initiative card they selected, from the provinces (effectively out of play), to their courts (effectively their hand). At the end of the table are five categories of action cards. Each category has an action, and a number of armies ranging from 1 up to 5. Each player in turn selects one of the action cards. In either order, the player deploys the number of armies printed on the card, and carries out the action printed on the card. Armies can only be deployed in a territory adjacent to the one the King occupies, or into the castle. The action cards can vary greatly in effect. Most of them are geared towards placing or moving armies around on the board, towards scoring territories, or even moving the King. The territory that the King occupies may not be affected by any players actions. At the end of turn three, turn six and finally turn nine, each individual territory is scored, starting with the castle. After the scores for the castle are tallied, each player secretly decides where they wish their castle armies to move to. These are revealed simultaneously, the armies are moved to their respective destinations and scoring continues for the other territories. At the end of turn nine, the player with the most points is declared the winner. http://members.aol.com/~kulkmann/elgrande.htm Evaluation This game is a tricky one to evaluate after just one game. The components are all top notch as one would expect from a Hans Im Gluck game. There is a great deal of depth. Often, you are trying to juggle the fact that you want to go first because there is a very good card available, against needing more armies. There is a high degree of trying to predict what other players are going to do, particularly when choosing where armies from the castle are going to be scored. There is a healthy dose of backstabbing and the fact that you have to discard initiative cards once used means that you need to plan your campaign. The effects of the cards can vary dramatically depending on what's going on in the game. You do need to be on your toes and I think if this game has a weakness, for me this is it. I like my games to be easy to learn and difficult to master. If this review makes the game sound complicated, it is reasonably accurate. A second game, however, knowing the rules, and knowing what sort of action cards are in the pack may well be a completely different story. http://homepage.virgin.net/martin.grimes Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

El Grande