I want to thank you for the review, it opened my eyes. I'm very fond of japanese culture, but I'm very rigorous with game's components: game's design and component's quality was always two of my most important game choosing criteria. And first time I saw this game (just by glance), my reaction was like: "Really? Another block wargame?" And I ignored it. With your review I was able to see the subtle details of this game, it's design, it's components and most importantly the game's mechanics. As an architecture student who specialized in japanese architecture, japanese aesthetic is one of my specialties, and in my opinion, this game's design is very faithful with japanese aesthetic: the block dimension, the symbols, the map and even the color palette, they are simple, but very elegant and almost minimalist. One of my biggest surprises is the "loyalty system". We know that one of the elements that caused the defeat of the Ishida's force was the betrayal of some of the samurai clans, they shifted side in the middle of the battle. The card's strange name are samurai clan's surname, and the "floral symbols" (mentioned by one of the comments) are actually these clan's coat of arms, and the player can only give order to that specific army if he have the matching clan's leader card in his hand, which means that player can only give order to those specific army if he have the matching clan's loyalty, this is simply brilliant! My only disappointment is that we have to put stickers to the wooden blocks, I mean if the publisher can put those symbols with laser cut... then this game will be a real piece of art.
I have forgotten about this game until a generous birthday offer from an old friend genuinely pleasantly surprised me. An obligatory "no, don't be silly" excuse and a couple of weeks of forgetting later I have finally re-entertained the question of a type of present from him to receive. Book seemed unnatural so my second final plan was 'solitaire wargames'. Revisiting old Dice Tower/HAMTAG YT episodes proved to be a winning start and even greater was the later research on BGG. So of course I have picked a complete opposite to all that 'solo' and ended up with Sekigahara, a game for two, a game in which you bluff all over the fact you have promised much more than you can deliver; in your hand and on the battlefield. That being said: Marco's rules explanation and passion in the review was one of the reasons I have remembered this game and chose it as our new tradition: to play Sekigahara, 1-2x per year, me and this old friend of mine, when and where we meet. Can't wait - should happen!
Thanks Marco for the review. This looks like a good, straightforward block wargame. I love the elegant visual design - the floral symbols on the solid color blocks are quite lovely.
Brilliant, been chewing over what 'block' game to get as decided I wanted to give one a try and thanks to this have just ordered what must be one of the last copies of this available in UK :-)
I'm usually skeptic about card-driven games and not really a fan of block-games (mostly for ergonomic reasons) ... but Sekigahara is an exception. This is a great game. I just played a game of "Stalins war" and one of "Sekigahara" and they represent two completely different card-driven experiences. While Stalins war seem just broken with the many special cards which completely change the game whether they appear or not, Sekigahara poses you with real challenges about how to best utilize your resources and though you can have a more or less lucky start, it doesn't dominate the game if you know how stuff works.
@Blahdabbadoo "Block wargame" refers to games like Napoleon: The Waterloo Campaign, 1815 or Hammer of the Scots. Block wargames usually have secret information ("I see he has three blocks, but what is printed on those blocks?"). Shogun and Wallenstein aren't "block wargames". /pedant
I'm sorry, but when I saw that FUKUSHIMA card I laughed. I have a childish mind I'm sorry. That said, I'll probably pick this game up. I don't have many two player games and only one game from GMT at the moment.
One of the best wargames of all time. So elegant, so beautiful and intense.
I want to thank you for the review, it opened my eyes.
I'm very fond of japanese culture, but I'm very rigorous with game's components: game's design and component's quality was always two of my most important game choosing criteria.
And first time I saw this game (just by glance), my reaction was like: "Really? Another block wargame?" And I ignored it.
With your review I was able to see the subtle details of this game, it's design, it's components and most importantly the game's mechanics.
As an architecture student who specialized in japanese architecture, japanese aesthetic is one of my specialties, and in my opinion, this game's design is very faithful with japanese aesthetic: the block dimension, the symbols, the map and even the color palette, they are simple, but very elegant and almost minimalist.
One of my biggest surprises is the "loyalty system". We know that one of the elements that caused the defeat of the Ishida's force was the betrayal of some of the samurai clans, they shifted side in the middle of the battle. The card's strange name are samurai clan's surname, and the "floral symbols" (mentioned by one of the comments) are actually these clan's coat of arms, and the player can only give order to that specific army if he have the matching clan's leader card in his hand, which means that player can only give order to those specific army if he have the matching clan's loyalty, this is simply brilliant!
My only disappointment is that we have to put stickers to the wooden blocks, I mean if the publisher can put those symbols with laser cut... then this game will be a real piece of art.
I have forgotten about this game until a generous birthday offer from an old friend genuinely pleasantly surprised me. An obligatory "no, don't be silly" excuse and a couple of weeks of forgetting later I have finally re-entertained the question of a type of present from him to receive.
Book seemed unnatural so my second final plan was 'solitaire wargames'. Revisiting old Dice Tower/HAMTAG YT episodes proved to be a winning start and even greater was the later research on BGG. So of course I have picked a complete opposite to all that 'solo' and ended up with Sekigahara, a game for two, a game in which you bluff all over the fact you have promised much more than you can deliver; in your hand and on the battlefield.
That being said: Marco's rules explanation and passion in the review was one of the reasons I have remembered this game and chose it as our new tradition: to play Sekigahara, 1-2x per year, me and this old friend of mine, when and where we meet. Can't wait - should happen!
Sekigahara is utterly fantastic - the best of the best. Every move, every decision, is agony!
Continuous agony is the best, to you?
Thanks Marco for the review. This looks like a good, straightforward block wargame. I love the elegant visual design - the floral symbols on the solid color blocks are quite lovely.
Brilliant, been chewing over what 'block' game to get as decided I wanted to give one a try and thanks to this have just ordered what must be one of the last copies of this available in UK :-)
I'm usually skeptic about card-driven games and not really a fan of block-games (mostly for ergonomic reasons) ... but Sekigahara is an exception. This is a great game.
I just played a game of "Stalins war" and one of "Sekigahara" and they represent two completely different card-driven experiences. While Stalins war seem just broken with the many special cards which completely change the game whether they appear or not, Sekigahara poses you with real challenges about how to best utilize your resources and though you can have a more or less lucky start, it doesn't dominate the game if you know how stuff works.
Yep. "Stalin's War" was a disaster.
Great review!.I have to get a copy of this game.
Thanks Marco :)
Omg this game is beautiful
@Blahdabbadoo "Block wargame" refers to games like Napoleon: The Waterloo Campaign, 1815 or Hammer of the Scots. Block wargames usually have secret information ("I see he has three blocks, but what is printed on those blocks?"). Shogun and Wallenstein aren't "block wargames". /pedant
this game is AWESOME...!!!
I'm sorry, but when I saw that FUKUSHIMA card I laughed. I have a childish mind I'm sorry.
That said, I'll probably pick this game up. I don't have many two player games and only one game from GMT at the moment.
Take that, Shima!