Wallace = EuroTrash

For my money, Martin Wallace games are the best definition of EuroTrash - lots of conflict, special powers galore, all surrounding what is usually a nutty and gooey Euro center.

Specifics:
* Princes of the Renaissance - lots of special powers and conflict, and good theme. Also lots and lots of auctions.
* Struggle of Empires - Even more special powers and conflict and theme. A funky diplomacy model. Also feels a lot like a really open, fluid, El Grande.
* Age of Steam - Obviously more Euro, but even here there's a few special powers and lots of conflict. See RRT for a trashier version, with more special powers in the form of cards.
* Tempus - an example of what happens when a Wallace game is too Euro-fied. The special powers and conflict are neutered (in some cases you can't even attack someone else) and what's left is crap.

I'm obviously leaving a lot of games out but I submit that all of them (perhaps with the exception of some of the early Railways stuff which I've never even seen yet alone played) straddle the divide between Euros and Ameritrash in a very pleasing way.
Plus all of the people I would even think about playing Ameritrash with happen to be Wallace junkies. There's got to be a connection.

I used to be really into Martin Wallace's stuff...back in the late '90s, his stuff (like LORDS OF CREATION) was refreshing because his games had actual combat and cool themes and managed to be relatively playable in reasonable amounts of time. But these days, I find that most of his games just leave me wanting something else from them that I don't think they can provide. There's always either something completely missing, too abstracted, or borderline broken in pretty much all of his designs.

That being said, I think STRUGGLE OF EMPIRES is pretty much the Wallace masterpiece- it gets very nearly everything right and is a really tight, fun game with a good mix of Euro and AT style mechanics. PRINCES is good, but for some reason I think the basic concept (wherein you can literally be a mercenary/Condotierre and get embroiled in conflicts purely for profit rather than territorial gain) isn't really served by the actual game very well. All the bidding...jeez.

I do love RAILROAD TYCOON. I think it's the perfect distillation of all the good ideas in AGE OF STEAM without the usual Wallace gamey-ness and with heaps more atmosphere and flavor. Sorry, but AGE OF STEAM might as well not have art at all.

I did like WAY OUT WEST, again marginally. It seems like it just doesn't work quite right, but god damn it, it's a cowboy game and it has shootouts.

Lately I've been checking out Phil Eklund's games, particularly ORIGINS...imagine a designer doing mid-80s style AH games but with a couple of Euro mechanics thrown in and a ridiculous level of factual detail. Very Wallace in a way.

Michael Barnes wrote:

Lately I've been checking out Phil Eklund's games, particularly ORIGINS...imagine a designer doing mid-80s style AH games but with a couple of Euro mechanics thrown in and a ridiculous level of factual detail. Very Wallace in a way.

I've been eyeing some of his games lately. Especially Luftschiff (now called Airships at War 1914-1941) and the bundle with American Megafauna and Origins, as both games seem interesting and the price is right. I'll probably take the plunge soon...

-Jorge

ORIGINS may be awesome. I need to play a couple more times. I'm pretty sure it's great, but it might be awesome. I'll have a review on it over at Gameshark in a couple of weeks.

Megafauna is indeed awesome, although I have only solo'ed it. I really would prefer to wait on Origins until I manage to get Lords of the Sierra Madre played, but if Barnes' review is too positive...

Loved RR Tycoon -- though only played once -- but I'll have to break out the Perikles game that I got for 10 bucks during the FFG sale last Thanksgiving....hope its decent.

Michael Barnes wrote:

I do love RAILROAD TYCOON. I think it's the perfect distillation of all the good ideas in AGE OF STEAM without the usual Wallace gamey-ness and with heaps more atmosphere and flavor. Sorry, but AGE OF STEAM might as well not have art at all.

This was one of the first things that really tipped me off to the rotten core of euro posters on BGG. The way that RRT is discussed in the comments/forums/geeklists is fucking criminal. Now, of course, you'll notice that RRT has a very high rating, but the main lights who hang around the other boardgame site fucking hate RRT and shit on it in favor of AOS at any moment. And RRT is a *great* game, it irritates the shit out of me how people over there treat it.

On topic, it seems to me that Martin Wallace has basically recognized the sales of some of the drier eurogames and really changed his game ideas to be more and more pure dry Euro as time goes on.

Yeah, he's pretty much dismissed Runebound (but it's hard to believe that the game came from the same mind anyway, as different as it is.)

That's a shame, because I think he did show some real flair with Runebound. I think he probably looked at it like he was slumming it.

Call me a Wallacian. His boardgames are the real crossovers, able to satisfy wargamers. I'm not interested in Brass: I hate management games. But SOE is my favourite boardgame, period. And we played Byzantium a lot recently. Great game. As always, maximal interaction and innovative concepts, specifically developped for the topic: antithesis of an euro. Perikles is interesting, but the combat phase is poor. Main problem: the artwork. Ugly. Euroish. Wrong style: the Eurofreaks are not his public.

RRT with 4+ players is good times. Confrontational, tactical tile laying a goods cube delivery rules.

Great game, just a damned great game.

My take on Wallace is that the guy really need to get with a good graphic designer and finish his fucking games.

They are all like 90% done and the look like projects my 4 year old brings home from art class.

He has some nice ideas, but all of his game have some wacky rule or problem.

Take a game like Struggles. It is an ok game, one I use to love, but as I play it more it seems way too long for what you do. (essentially you do the same thing every turn for most of the game) This is cool for a few hours but my group takes like 5 hours to play this thing. Also you have the stupid roll to move over the rope rule, and cumbersome movement rules in general. Add in that the board design is uninspired at best and well you begin to see what I mean when I say 90% done.

There are other examples.... Production issue with Liberte, the stupid come from behind win in both liberte and Byzantium, everything in Empires of the ancient world.... I could go on.

Anyway I think Mr 90% has some great ideas, and I always check out his new stuff, but he is certainly one you have to approach with an open mind.

-M

In the words of Bobbytweeks "If it's not Wallace it's Crap!" The Wallace approach to game design is very unique. I've said Wallace created some of the first Euro - AT hybrid games but at the same time his games are neither Euros or AT or Wargames his games are just Wallace games. “In you and me fight him” MattDP talks about multiplayer conflict games and how he likes multiply player conflict games that you can’t gang up on the leader. In my 6 favorite Wallace games, Struggle of Empires, Perikes, Byzantine, RRT, AoS and Brass it’s possible to gang up on the leader to a point but difficult because of how he’s designed the games. Martin Wallace games are great even if his art, bits and rules suck. Wouldn't you love to see Christian T. Petersen and Martin Wallace work on game together.

Press Release: Among the dozens of titles that Kosmos is showing off at the Nuremberg Convention is a new titles from Martin Wallace called Toledo. Mayfair Games will release the game in English, and Ubik will do so in French. Here’s a brief description of the game from Kosmos:

In the 16th century, the fascinating city of Toledo was the capital of the Spanish empire, a place where Christians, Muslims and Jewish culture mixed peacefully, a place that the great painter El Greco called his homeland. But Toledo was also the center of European swordsmith art.

Your task is this: Forge the most beautiful swords of the city and deliver them to the rules in the Alcazar. Your talent in the procuring of the needed materials is called for at the same time as your dexterity in forging. Don’t neglect your fighting arts if you want to have success.

God help us, this sounds like the most Euro Wallace game ever.

Toledo is also home of Tony Packo's.....awesome hot dogs...

Oh wait, not that Toledo....

Michael Barnes wrote:

ORIGINS may be awesome. I need to play a couple more times. I'm pretty sure it's great, but it might be awesome. I'll have a review on it over at Gameshark in a couple of weeks.

I have to agree with Mike here. As I live by the "Mike" is always right theory.

ORIGINS may be bad ass, but it's so weird, so different, that the experience in just a couple games hasn't been fleshed out as to what one can really do. I like it, and it provokes a lot of thought even after playing it.

As for Wallace, I am a fan. He has made some of my favorite games, but he has also made some games which I should like but fell flat. But I'll always buy a Wallace title.