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A classic game of commodities trading and sea battles based in the medieval meditteranian, which is very visually appealing (even to a non-gamer), this would seem to have all the elements of a satisfying package.

The game allows between two and four players, who take the parts of the Venetians, the Genovese, The Spaniards and The Turks. It lasts for a fixed number of rounds, depending on how many are playing. For a two player, it will take 12 rounds, three players get 10 rounds and four players have only 8 rounds in which to make their fortune. Each player receives a sum of money, some sailors and a couple of galleys to get them started. These are placed in the player's home port. Each galley has a capacity of five, which may be used up by sailors, or a combination of sailors and cargo. Each player chooses how many sailors they wish to place in each of their galleys, and how many to leave guarding their home port. Balancing the capacity of a galley becomes quite an important aspect of the game. Carrying more sailors means that a galley may move faster and is less susceptible to attack, but can't carry much cargo. Having one sailor and four cargo means that you can only move one space a turn, and you're a sitting duck for any large nosed greedy bastards who might be around.

Each port produces a particular commodity. Some, like wood are fairly common, whereas others, like spice and gems are only produced at one or two places on the board. Each port has a capacity for goods to be landed there as well. The smallest can only handle two commodities and are then full, right up to the largest, which can store up to six.

As a player moves his galley into port, he may buy and sell commodities, but once a commodity is sold to a port, that port does not want any more of that particular commodity. If the port is neutral, the player may take over the port by landing some men.

If the port is controlled by another player, then goods must be bought from that player at a negotiated price. The port can be taken over by the landing player, but only after a fight! Fights between galleys, and fights between galleys and hostile ports are handled with a rudimentary combat system involving a d6. Basically, the person with the most sailors would be quite unlucky to lose. If the last man in a galley is killed, the victor has a choice of either capturing the galley by moving a sailor into the galley, or scuppering it, in which case it sinks. In either case, the victor has the chance to steal the cargo from the losing galley. Play is broken down into a number of phases, the first of which is where players bid for the order in which they take their turn. This is fairly abitrary at the start of the game, but towards the end, you want to make sure you go last!

At the end of the game, victory points are awarded to each player depending on how much money they have in their posession, the size and number of ports they control, and how full they are.

Evaluation

The quality and quantity of the game components is staggering. The galleys actually look like galleys. The fortresses are miniature plastic fortresses. Each component that belongs to a player is marked with a small flag. The commodities are small cubes of plastic in different colours. The sailors are denoted by generic blue plastic markers. The board is a very colourful one piece fold away affair.

A small criticism is that it is very difficult from a glance to see what the balance of power is. The game is also a complete pain to put away afterwards. The galleys are very easy to topple over, and it's damn funny when it happens to someone else! Also, Some of the colours on the board are difficult to distinguish in dim pub lighting.

Still - It's good fun. I think the rules could be clearer, and the game does slow down in the later turns. This one falls into the 'Good once in a while category'.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Serenissima
Author: Eurogames Category: Board Game Company/Publisher: Eurogames Line: n/a Capsule Review by Martin Bailey on 05/05/99. Genre tags: Historical	A classic game of commodities trading and sea battles based in the medieval meditteranian, which is very visually appealing (even to a non-gamer), this would seem to have all the elements of a satisfying package. The game allows between two and four players, who take the parts of the Venetians, the Genovese, The Spaniards and The Turks. It lasts for a fixed number of rounds, depending on how many are playing. For a two player, it will take 12 rounds, three players get 10 rounds and four players have only 8 rounds in which to make their fortune. Each player receives a sum of money, some sailors and a couple of galleys to get them started. These are placed in the player's home port. Each galley has a capacity of five, which may be used up by sailors, or a combination of sailors and cargo. Each player chooses how many sailors they wish to place in each of their galleys, and how many to leave guarding their home port. Balancing the capacity of a galley becomes quite an important aspect of the game. Carrying more sailors means that a galley may move faster and is less susceptible to attack, but can't carry much cargo. Having one sailor and four cargo means that you can only move one space a turn, and you're a sitting duck for any large nosed greedy bastards who might be around. Each port produces a particular commodity. Some, like wood are fairly common, whereas others, like spice and gems are only produced at one or two places on the board. Each port has a capacity for goods to be landed there as well. The smallest can only handle two commodities and are then full, right up to the largest, which can store up to six. As a player moves his galley into port, he may buy and sell commodities, but once a commodity is sold to a port, that port does not want any more of that particular commodity. If the port is neutral, the player may take over the port by landing some men. If the port is controlled by another player, then goods must be bought from that player at a negotiated price. The port can be taken over by the landing player, but only after a fight! Fights between galleys, and fights between galleys and hostile ports are handled with a rudimentary combat system involving a d6. Basically, the person with the most sailors would be quite unlucky to lose. If the last man in a galley is killed, the victor has a choice of either capturing the galley by moving a sailor into the galley, or scuppering it, in which case it sinks. In either case, the victor has the chance to steal the cargo from the losing galley. Play is broken down into a number of phases, the first of which is where players bid for the order in which they take their turn. This is fairly abitrary at the start of the game, but towards the end, you want to make sure you go last! At the end of the game, victory points are awarded to each player depending on how much money they have in their posession, the size and number of ports they control, and how full they are. Evaluation The quality and quantity of the game components is staggering. The galleys actually look like galleys. The fortresses are miniature plastic fortresses. Each component that belongs to a player is marked with a small flag. The commodities are small cubes of plastic in different colours. The sailors are denoted by generic blue plastic markers. The board is a very colourful one piece fold away affair. A small criticism is that it is very difficult from a glance to see what the balance of power is. The game is also a complete pain to put away afterwards. The galleys are very easy to topple over, and it's damn funny when it happens to someone else! Also, Some of the colours on the board are difficult to distinguish in dim pub lighting. Still - It's good fun. I think the rules could be clearer, and the game does slow down in the later turns. This one falls into the 'Good once in a while category'. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Serenissima