Still one of the best board games ever..
Written: Nov 28 '03 (Updated Dec 07 '05)
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Pros: Up to 6 players, unique and simple combat system, strategic vision required.
Cons: Not enjoyable with less than 4 players, games take at least 3 hours.
The Bottom Line: History-of-the-World is a classic game that every family should own, a perfect game to play during holidays when all your friends'n'relatives are nearby and you have a few hours.
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| openroad's Full Review: Hasbro History of The World |
----- Introduction -----
Avalon Hill is a familiar name in the board game industry. They have been producing games for over 20 years, and are well know for their complex and detailed empire-building and warfare games. In 2000 they were purchased by the Hasbro company, which has a made their name in the child’s toy business. Since the merger, Avalon Hill has revamped some of their classics to more updated and colorful designs. They’ve also edited the rules a bit to make their games more approachable for newcomers, and easier to play for more age groups. Diplomacy, Aquire, Battle Cry, and Stratego Legends are a few of the popular titles in the Avalon Hill catalog.
----- History of the World (2001) -----
This is the 3rd version of History of the World (HOTW from here on) to be released by Avalon Hill. On the surface, HOTW is very similar to other conquest of the world games such as Risk. The difference in this game lies in the strategic vision the players must maintain, and the play balancing that occurs during each turn cycle. Each game consists of seven Epochs (rounds) each representing a period in world history. Each player will command on empire from that time period during every epoch. These empires will expand across the world, later falling to the conquests of new empires. Players score points by expanding their territory, as well as for controlling cities, capitols, and monuments. At the end of each epoch, the leading player also scores a pre-eminence points bonus. Throughout each players turn, they may play various event cards that are dealt to each player at the beginning of each game. At the beginning of each new Epoch, all players draw for new empires. After all seven epochs, the player with the most points wins.
----- Game Details and Description -----
To start with, Hasbro as done a wonderful job in it’s restructure of Avalon Hill’s art department. The game board is beautifully detailed in the style of old world cartography. Subtle tones and easily distinguished borders make this a board for other companies to envy, and hopefully copy! The event and empire cards are also well done, with clear text and colorful drawings. Army pieces are detailed and realistic looking, but also sized correctly for the board spaces. Eagle Games could learn a thing or two from Avalon Hill about piece construction, since their pieces are always too big for their game boards.
Miniatures are a bit different here than in other games of this type, each player doesn’t have their own unique pieces. Each epoch has it’s own unit style which all players use, with 6 different colors the only difference in nations. The game has to be this way since there are over 50 different nations to play if you count all the epochs. This leads to some interesting battles near the end of the game when you’ll see Spanish conquistadors fighting Roman legion or Egyptian infantry.
These types of battles are possible due to the unique scoring system employed in HOTW. I’ll explain how the turn order works a bit further down the review. Let’s just say it’s in your best interest to expand as much as possible early in the game to get those valuable territory points. Later in the game when you come upon your units from an earlier epoch you must make a choice. You can attack your old units to expand beyond your old territory, or leave your old unit alone since you still collect points for them. Yep, you collect points at the end of each epoch for all your territories, including those conquered in past epochs. This is also true for all the other players, and makes choke points valuable to guard your empire from future attacks. Your land is never completely safe since no matter how you defend it enemies can still attack from the sea. Defenders get a bonus in naval invasions, but sea based attacks are still very effective. The biggest departure from other empire expansion games is the limitation of one army per territory. Only one army miniature may occupy a land space. If an enemy army enters a land area combat begins.
Combat is resolved and the winner gains or maintains control of the land area. Attackers roll two dice and defenders roll one die, the winner is the player with the higher roll. Attackers may receive extra dice for attacking or additions to their rolled number if specific Event cards are played at the beginning of the turn.
Defenders may roll two dice if the attacking army is crossing difficult terrain. Some examples of difficult terrain are the Great Wall of China, mountain ranges, forests, and straits (shallow water crossings). If the difficult terrain is in the defender’s land space, he may roll two dice and keep the highest number. Forts are placed to increase the defensive power of your empire after your turn in over. If defending in a land space that contains a fort, you may add +1 to your highest dice roll. If the attacker wins the battle, the fort is removed and the army remains. The attacker rolls again, and if he wins this battle the land space is his.
----- Turn Order -----
The highest rolling player is first to draw an Empire Card, and may look at the card and decide if he wishes to play this empire or draw another card. Many different factors are involved in choosing whether to play an empire or not, and only playing multiple games will teach you which empires are best for the situation at hand. The first player may draw up to the maximum number of players in the game. Say there are 5 players, and player one doesn’t like his first Empire Card. He may pass it to his left and draw again. If he decides not to keep this card, he passes it two players to his left. This continues until player one decides to keep a card or until all five players have cards. In this case player one must keep the 5 th card he draws, since there are no other players to pass the card to. This rule also applies to other players down the line with this exception. If you were given an Empire card by the player before you, the card you draw must be passed to the first player to your left without a card. If you were given a card you may not look at it until everyone else has drawn. If you draw a card, you may look at it but don’t show it to anyone else.
Now someone reads off the empire play order on the back of the Empire cards. This is where things get interesting. It doesn't matter how many victory points you have or what the turn order is, players MUST play according to the empire order specified on the cards for that epoch. This is hugely important when choosing your empire, since a strong empire that goes early in the epoch has 5 more players after him that will attempt to take his lands away. Remember, lands that you keep will still score after all players have played their empires and the epoch is finished.
----- Scoring -----
Scoring is very simple, and easy to calculate. Each continent or land group (such as Europe) has a base score. This score is displayed next to the land in question, and changes throughout the epochs. For instance, N. America isn't worth anything until the last few epochs of the game, whereas the Middle East is valuable in almost every epoch. If you have any units in a specific land group you receive the base score, which for my example will be 2 points. If you have two or more units, and more than any other player, you are the dominant power in that area, and receive double the base points (4 points). If you control all the land areas in that group, you are the controlling power and receive triple the base points which would give you 6 points. Since everyone is scored at the end of their turn, all the other players are trying very hard to keep you from getting control or even dominance over a region by fortifying their area.
Capitols under your control give you 2 points, Cities give you 1 point, and Monuments give you 1 point. Add up your victory point total and move your token forward on the V.P. table that encircles the board. In the next epoch, the player with the lowest number of victory points draws the first empire card. Players continue to draw cards in the order of lowest points to highest.
At the end of the game, players total up the points for the last epoch played, add in any pre-eminence tokens, and declare the winner.
----- Final Comments -----
I am enamored with the game's mechanics, obviously. But the real point to be made is that History of the World is a lot of fun to play. The random elements keep things interesting right up until the end of the game. There is room for negotiation and diplomacy, which can be a lot of fun. Neither of these factors overpowers sound tactical decisions and planning, however, so winning is usually a matter of skill (making the most of what you have), not luck. This separates HOTW from Risk and other games of its ilk, and allows all the players to feel satisfied at the end of the game. No matter how I finished, I won't be yelling about how "lucky" the winner was and the complete randomness of victory.
The low complexity of the rules means the game can be enjoyed by both kids and adults, and it is a reasonable family game if you can spare the time (game length is about an hour per player). Although some people may not like conquest games, History of the World is a bit different in that it isn't too personal. You expand your empire as best you can, score your position, and then move on. Unlike Risk, you start in different locations each Epoch, so it often doesn't make any sense to 'pick on' a particular player or foster a perpetual war with someone. This aspect of the game increases its appeal, especially with people who do not like overt confrontation.
I feel this game has wide market appeal... PROVIDED Hasbro promotes it forcefully and correctly. Sadly, it hasn't been. It's most often shipped to hobby shops where it sits on their shelves, relying on eye-catching graphics and superb box art to sell it. What a shame. Marketed properly, this game could be a BIG hit, one easily learned and played by adults and teen-agers everywhere. Wake up, Hasbro! Spend some money and market Avalon Hill's games properly! As with most high quality strategy games, you'll find it most easily at high end game shops or on Ebay.
I heartily recommend History of the Word. The historical theme is very well done and adds richness to the game that is not often found. It has a nice balance of tactics and luck that keeps things interesting while rewarding good game play. Well worth the time investment to play it. HOTW is an excellent holiday game, since it gets better the more players you have. Diplomacy and treachery are both valuable assets in HOTW, and for this reason men and women both can enjoy this game since it relies on equal parts mental ability and military strategy.
Games do take quite a while to complete, usually a good average is 1 hour per player. 6 player games can be completed in around 4 hours if everyone plays quickly.
---( Other game reviews that might interest you: )---
Axis & Allies Pacific
Axis & Allies Europe
Axis & Allies Classic
Axis & Allies Revised Edition
The American Civil War Board Game
Settlers of Catan
Settlers of Catan: Cities and Knights Expansion Pack
Thanks for reading and feel free to comment!
Openroad
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 26
Type of Toy: Board Game
Age Range of Child: Kids to Teens
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