Anachronism and TransAmerica

For Christmas, I got two quality games. Anachromis was a gift, and TransAmerica was a gift to myself.

I have spent the last few weeks preparing and organizing my new Anachronism collection (my gift was a collection of boosters, and I had to print the rules, etc., off the appreciated Internet. I also have been playtesting my new set of TransAmerica, learning and considering the optional Vexation expansion.

TransAmerica is a very good "best of both worlds" type of game. The game appeals to strategy thinkers but it also extremely simple (when ignoring Vexation, as I have learned to do with beginners). And I am not especially good at explaining games, or rather I suspect I am but I am inevitably scapegoated by malcontents.

Anachronism is a very good game, and well thought out, and I suspect easy to explain but hard to master. I haven't enough experience to properly say. However, so far I have seen that the sheer number of variables is over-whelming at times. But the challenge of the game might merely make it especially rewarding. I think so, and plan to find out.

It is considered a colletible card game, but that pigeon hole is not a very accurate one. The collectibility comes from diversity, not randomness. And the cards themselves are often (but not always) used more like miniatures than cards, but have the ease of handling a card affords.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/887682/anachronism
http://dystemporalia.org/encyclopaedia/
http://dystemporalia.org/rulebook7.pdf
http://dystemporalia.org/playmat/
http://dystemporalia.org/demo/

Discription via boardgamegeek.com:
A non-random collectible combat game presented by The History Channel and TriKing Games, Anachronism allows you to take control of some of the greatest warriors in history and pit them against each other in a one-on-one battle to the death.

Anachronism began with a 2-player starter set pitting Japanese warrior Musashi against the Norse legend Beowulf. The game now includes cards featuring such notables as Julius Caesar, Sun Tzu, Spartacus, Alexander the Great, Blackbeard and Genghis Khan, as well as weapons and armor from various eras.

Decks can be added-to with various booster packs, each of which include a set selection of cards initially focusing on Greek, Japanese, Norse, and Roman heroes, with other periods of history, including the eras of Genghis Khan and Richard the Lionheart,now in the mix. And of course, historical accuracy within the cards is sure to be high, as the game does bear the seal of approval from The History Channel.

Variant formats exist for more than 2 players, and some cards in the game are geared toward multi-player games.



http://www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/10499/anachronism-board-warrior-pieces-v1-doc?
http://www.robotviking.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/anach.jpg

and get an (up)load of this: http://www.zazzle.com/anachronism_playmat_tshirt-235993902721058498
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12493/twilight-imperium-third-edition