It took me longer to get Almoravid to the table than I expected. Partly it was the sheer size of the game – the board plus lord’s mats for the first scenario pushed the limits of my little wargaming corner. I have no idea how I’m going to play the later scenarios. The greater factor, however, was a personal mental block around learning the rules. I learned Nevsky thanks to Jean Michel Grosjeu’s excellent YouTube videos on it – I did later read the rules, but only once I knew how play worked. The prospect of learning Almoravid from scratch, especially tired as I was due to a very hectic few weeks in work, resulted in me postponing night after night.
What finally helped to sit me down at the table and play was San Diego Histcon’s online Levy and Campaign Fest event. At the event I picked up and played several in development L&C titles and my experience with Nevsky, limited as it is, was more than enough to get me playing without having read the rules to any of these games. When I finally did sit down to read Almoravid’s rules, it only took me like 15 minutes since I could just skim the sections where the rules were identical to Nevsky. The rulebook helpfully highlights areas where rules are new or have changed so you don’t need to pick through it looking for differences. Much like with Volko’s previous series, COIN, once you know how to play a Levy and Campaign game it really does making picking up another one much simpler.
The first scenario crammed as tightly as possible into my wargaming corner. The Christians are making a push on Toledo - can the Muslims hold them off?
I would also note here that both Nevsky and Almoravid come with quick start scenarios, neither of which I have used because I am a fool – if you are playing these for the first time, use the quick start rules. You can find them on GMT Games’ website.
The other outcome of my experience with L&C Fest was a greater desire to play this game against an opponent. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed playing both Nevsky, and now Almoravid, solitaire and I will continue to play both of them that way in the future. Instead, what I had was a shift in the reasoning behind my desire to play these games multiplayer. Previously, I wanted an opponent who would make different decisions than I would to add new excitement to the game. After playing some short games with human opponents at L&C Fest I now appreciate how much easier and faster it is to play L&C with another person.
The Muslim commanders make their way into Toledo while the Christians mass at the border of Toledo and lay down their first siege in Zaragoza in the northeast.
The Levy rounds in particular are much more tiring and involved when I have to do control both sides. There were a lot of Lords in play in the opening scenario for Almoravid and going through and doing all those Levy actions – especially in the first round – was draining. I was so relieved when a large proportion of Lords weren’t eligible for the second round. Playing with a human opponent greatly reduces the mental burden of the Levy phase, and I had not fully appreciated that until the combination of L&C Fest and solitaire Almoravid. That is partly why I’m very excited for the upcoming online Almoravid Tournament that’s being organised for later this year – I have no aspirations to do well in it, but I’m stoked for the chance to play multiple games against other people.
The Siege of Toledo has begun! Can the Christian’s sustain this many sieges? Probably not! Can the Muslim’s stop them? Also probably not. Only chaos can ensue!
I’m not saying I won’t play these games solitaire anymore, but I’m not sure if I will as a single session. If I have room to leave it set up and I can spend thirty minutes doing a Levy phase and then walk off to do something else and play the campaign phase later, I think I’ll have a much better time. In the short term this probably means that I’ll solitaire Nevsky more than Almoravid since Nevsky’s smaller board fits better in my little corner and is easier to leave set up. I can safely put all its key components out of toddler reach, which is not true of Almoravid!
The first campaign is over - time to Levy again. The Muslims are in friendly spaces but few of the Christians are so it went much quicker this time.
Enough about my play preferences, though, let’s get to the game! The big change in Almoravid from Nevsky is the introduction of Taifa politics. During the time Almoravid is set during, the Iberian Peninsula was largely divided up into several small to medium sized regions ruled by what are known as the Taifa lords. The game covers the invasion of Christian rulers from Northern Spain first into Toledo and then neighbouring Taifa regions, which then, via an invitation from the beleaguered Muslim lords, spurred the invasion of the Almoravid Dynasty, the rulers of Morocco. Volko has made an excellent introductory video about this system which is worth watch. You can find it here: https://youtu.be/A-f_hdEee1Y.
The Christians decide to storm Toledo. Their forces are impressive, but so are the walls of Toledo. How will it go?
The devastating results. King Alfonso takes Toledo, but at what cost!
In Almoravid regions have shifting loyalties and can change from friendly to neutral and then to enemy to each player depending on their status. If a Muslim Lord has been Mustered and is on the map, then his Taifa is Independent and all regions in it are friendly to the Muslim player by default. If the Lord is not Mustered, the region is usually in Parias, meaning it pays tribute to the Christians in exchange for neutrality. Finally, the region can be Reconquista, which means the Christians have conquered it. However, within a region loyalty may not be consistent – after a Reconquista some strongholds may be marked with Jihad markers, giving the Muslim player victory points, and making them friendly to that side. Similarly, the Christians can conquer individual Strongholds that will give them VPs and stay loyal to them even if control of the region changes.
The Taifa system adds a lot of extra elements to explore, and I feel like I’ve only dipped my toes into it. I really like how it adds a significant political element to the conflict and it has a very immediate impact on the decisions that both players must make. I’m excited to see how it plays out over more games.
I got too excited by the storm and forgot to take photos. Al-Mutamid briefly besieged Toledo before moving north and ravaging his way through the Christian Kingdom of Leon. Nearby the siege of Zaragoza stalled, although al-Mustain disbanded after his attempt to stop them failed. I forgot to update Parias in Zaragoza so the scores should be a tie rather than a narrow Muslim victory.
The other obvious difference between Almoravid and Nevsky is the map. Almoravid has a much narrower range of Ways than Nevsky does, and therefore a much narrower range of Transport, which is a difference I suspect some players will really appreciate. For me, however, the thing about Almoravid’s map that stood out (besides how pretty it is!) is the sheer variety of ways you have to get between locations and how frustrating so many of them are. Nevsky kind of felt like it funnelled players through a couple of choke points. In contrast, Almoravid reminded me of how my parents described driving in my hometown: there are about five ways to get anywhere, all of them equally bad. I was spoiled for choice in how to manoeuvre my armies but keeping myself supplied while I did that was agony. It didn’t help that Forage, Ravage, and Supply are all more restricted in Almoravid so having enough Provender was always a struggle. I loved it, A+ map.
My initial impression is that I think I like Almoravid a little more than Nevsky, but it’s a tight competition. I happen to really enjoy the agony of managing all your different modes of transport in Nevsky and found Almoravid’s more limited selection a little underwhelming by comparison. However, I really like Almoravid’s map (even if it barely fits on my tiny table) and I really, really liked the Taifa politics system. I’m going to need to make time to play both some more. The Levy and Campaign series is off to a strong start!