Almoravid boardgame - Taifa Politics

[@ReplicaJr]

I'm catching up having been looking at Inferno and yep, this video has totally sold me on Almoravid. I was on the fence with Nevsky and after it selling out here in the UK realised I should not have been. Thank you for these videos.

[@volkoruhnke26]

Thank you for the feedback, Howard, so glad you enjoyed the video and especially the games!

[@RiccardoMasiniWLOG]

Great stuf, this is how you depict history and its many different aspects in a game, while keeping its overall complexity at a very manageable level. This mechanic is not so daunting as it seems, after a while it flows naturally and - actually - it gives a bit of a "COIN feeling" to the L&C system: you can conquer land through battles or intimidation, but you will always get other forms of opposition by the people you have supposedly "subjugated".

[@volkoruhnke26]

Grazie Riccardo!

[@RandyStrader]

Very good presentation, the background here using game components and graphics is very interesting!

[@volkoruhnke26]

Thanks Randy!

[@neilbiggin]

This game will arrive at my door tomorrow. Thank you for the history lesson and background!

[@volkoruhnke26]

Excellent! Thank you for the feedback, glad you enjoyed the peek into history, and especially I hope you will enjoy the game!

[@RollDiceTakeNames]

My copy of Almoravid arrives today and this video provides great context. I have never heard the words Almoravid, Taifas or Parias before which is I enjoy digging into these games. I get to learn something. And I like how the political elements add a unique twist to what I've seen in Nevsky

[@volkoruhnke26]

Music to my ears!

[@LordoftheBoard]

I am more and more excited for this by day! Great video

[@volkoruhnke26]

Many thanks Sam!

[@hairbrainedgames3127]

Point of the Parias Payment... wondrous alliteration! :) Great video, really sets the framework for understanding the political aspects of the game.

[@volkoruhnke26]

Thank you HBG!

[@roycenlisa]

How did I just now come across this video. So good!

[@volkoruhnke26]

So glad that you did! Thanks for the feedback. I will try to spread word of this video more once preorders are delivered (all P500s are now in the mail or arriving!).

[@gerardmulder7656]

Thank you, this is a very good video. I am expecting Nevsky and will consider this one for sure.

[@volkoruhnke26]

Thanks Gerard! I hope you will like Nevsky!

[@volkoruhnke26]

Oh, and for learning Nevsky, you can't do better than this 3-part video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z4e2iGCvqJuAb5Y

[@Calmien]

Amazing ! Give us more :)

[@volkoruhnke26]

Thank you! Working on an INFERNO video now.

[@jimmarshall807]

Thanks Volko, great background. I've played and enjoyed Nevsky, and I've just unboxed Almoravid. Would I be right in thinking that (relative to Nevsky) Almoravid tones down some of the logistical complexity while beefing up the political element? (That's my initial assumption).

[@volkoruhnke26]

Hi Jim, thanks! Yes, exactly! Spain, though subject to drought and some high heat, benefitted from better developed and maintained roads and agriculture and was far less reliant to river transport than Rus. So the rules for transport and seasons cause fewer headaches here than in Nevsky. At the same time, there was no good way to simulate the Christian and Muslim campaigns without the game delving into 11th-Century Hispania's unique politics as I discuss here. I hope you will like the game!

[@jakubkuncik]

Hello Volko, thank you for the explanation video. I am looking for my copy of the game. I find more interesting the period of Kalifat broke up after Almansor reign. I used this chaotic time of first Taifas by one map of my game Scharz (not the simulation as by Almoravid). But I really looking for the Petr’s Žižka. Thank you for your games.

[@volkoruhnke26]

Hi Jakub! Thanks! I sure am looking forward to Žižka to!

[@IRLBemused]

This looks like such a good design Volko and a clever historical simulation. Can't wait to get it. What's the map on the wall behind you by the way?

[@volkoruhnke26]

Hi John, thank you! That map is the gameboard to Volume III in the same series, "Inferno", set in Tuscany. www.gmtgames.com/p-952-inferno-guelphs-and-ghibellines-vie-for-tuscany-1259-1261.aspx

[@richarddefortuna2252]

Excellent and very helpful video, especially as my copy just arrived. Thank you! An unrelated question, but what is the music being used during the back half of the middle, Parias, discussion? I'd swear that main melody is the Christmas carol "We Three Kings."

[@volkoruhnke26]

Thank you, I hope you will enjoy the game! See the music credits the end of the video--I'm not sure anymore which went there, but the links to enable you to find that melody.

[@richarddefortuna2252]

@@volkoruhnke26 Thank you! Rich

[@XHuntinatorX]

Does Almoravid have solo rules or do you just play both sides?

[@volkoruhnke26]

Hi! There are not true solo rules, as play is quite solitaire friendly. There are brief tips on solitaire as well as team play included, and various house rules going further are out there, such as randomizing both sides' Command cards.

[@XHuntinatorX]

@@volkoruhnke26 Thanks so much for the info!