BoardGamer

The first thing I should do is explain why I have chosen this little known game that was produced in 1985 for my first posted review.  The truth is that some of my fondest gaming memories are of my family (father, 2 brothers, brother-in-law and myself) playing Ultimatum late into the night during the Christmas holidays many years ago.  Having played it many times over the years I can honestly say that this is a fun game that has been unjustly forgotten about.  It is my hope that this review might peak the interest of even a few people.

Ultimatum contains a mounted map, currency denominations of 1,5 and 10 billion dollars, 4 unique dice, 72 action cards.  The game uses small circular disks for armies along with battleship and submarine miniatures for each player (3-6 players).  The rules are presented in an easy to read pamphlet that is basically 10 pages long.  All the pieces were well produced with the focus being more on function than on appearance (although everything looks good).

Ultimatum is set in a future where the world has been divided into three major alliances which are listed as Communist, Western and Peace.  In addition a number of oil producing states are listed that are very important in terms of geo-politics.  In order to win the game you must control one of the major alliances along with all the oil producing states (in the three player game you must control 2 alliances + the oil).  At your disposal is a military made up of army, navy and air force units (later in the game you can also buy lasers space stations). 

Ultimatum is definitely a dice rolling game.  Different dice are used depending on the type of combat but in almost every battle heavy casualties are taken.  In order to succeed in the game you need to make sure that you are able to bring in enough money through conquest and control that you can continue to finance your military expansion.  While the movement and dice rolling mechanics of the game are rather simple these rules are augmented with a deck of cards.  These cards provide players with many creative attack and defense options and it should really be pointed out that this game was ahead of its time in terms of card usage.

In the end Ultimatum can basically be described as a hardcore version of Risk.  The benefit of this is that you don't need a hardened group of war gamers to play it but it will definitely satisfy those who can't handle another game of Risk or Monopoly.  You will need to set aside a good 3 to 4 hours to complete this game and it can last longer.  The strength of this game is that when it is played with a close group of friends you will find lots of opportunity for negotiation and table banter.  The real reason I love this game that it is a perfect fit for the "take over the World" game genre that I love so much.  This is a game where you will feel in control of your strategy and in charge of your destiny

Overall 9/10

P.S. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the game or ideas on how to improve my review.

Conclusion: Overall this is a podcast that you can probably afford to miss.  It is entertaining at times and is a good source of information with regards to the games that Weeks promotes.  Weeks does a competent job of hosting, it is well produced and has some well spoken guests.  Personally I find the musical interludes a tad annoying although it is not due to the quality of the music.  It's that sometimes I just want to listen to a podcast and if I were in a mood for music I would turn on my ipod instead.  The biggest problem with this show is that it is very much focused on the culture and politics of BGG.  Although it is evident that Weeks doesn't take himself or his issues all that seriously it still results in a podcast that is geared to a specific audience.  As such it often seems like you are listening to an inside joke with a punch line that you don't care about.  That being said, if you are interested in the BGG Eurogame/Ameritrash debates you might well find this interesting.  Although some people find this podcast mean spirited I think they are probably reading a bit too much into it.  If Weeks were to take a shot at me I would probably just chuckle along with him.

Here is the plan for the next few days:

Thursday: Podcast review (i'll be reviewing a different boardgaming podcast each week)

Saturday:Game Review (Ultimatum)

Monday:Thoughts on Thought Hammer +

Canadian Gamer (Jason)

This is my second introductory post and is designed to give you a sneak peak at what the content of this blog will be.  Most of my writing will fall into three categories:

1)The first is general information I discover about gaming that I think my readers might find helpful or interesting.  These posts could be about anything from podcasts, on-line game stores or new games that have been announced to upcoming conventions .  These general posts will likely make up the bulk of my blog as I am always coming across interesting articles or events that I would like to share with the gaming community.

2)The second type of post I am planning will be focused on specific games that I want to tell my readers about.  Some of these blog entries will look at games which are modern and currently popular while some (probably the majority) will be focused on great games that seem to have been forgotten about.  These posts will basically be reviews for many of the games that I enjoy. 

3)The last type of post that I will include is going to be the odd comment on what is going on in terms of my own experience in the hobby.  I'll occasionally post things like the name of an OOP game that I'm trying to acquire or perhaps I'll fill you in on a gaming session that I participated in recently.

 Also of Note: I really want this to be an interactive blog.  If you want me to link to your site just let me know (and please return the favour).  If you want me to look at a specifc game aI might be able to do that for you as well.  Please leave any comments you have and feel free to e-mail me at brownjj2@hotmail.com if you have any questions or comments.

 Canadian Gamer (Jason)

I thought I would begin by providing you with my reasons for starting this blog:

1)I have recently gotten back into the world of board games after an absence of several years and have found it rather easy to re-ignite my passion.  I have been busy buying copies of my favorite games from the past (on Ebay and via the BGG) while picking up some newer games that look excellent as well.  Therefore, this blog is going to be an outlet for me to express my love of games, while informing others of any interesting information I might stumble across. 

2)I wanted to write a blog with a wargame focus that isn't burdened by the Ameritrash/Eurogame debate.  As such, this post is the last time you will hear me use the term Ameritrash.  This is not to say that I won't talk about Eurogames as I feel no ill will toward those games but they just aren't my thing. 

3)I want the opportunity to reminisce about many of the games that don't seem to be talked about anymore.  I find it strange that some of my favorite American made games have fallen by the wayside and have yet to be replaced in the gaming culture.  I'm someone who wants to conquer the world (by dominating 4 or 5 friends) and am willing to free up a weekend to do it.....but for some reason the games that facilitate this just aren't made anymore.  So as I await the release of Reins of Power I want to draw some attention to great games that have been forgotten of late.

 Canadian Gamer (Jason)