Thank you for the kind words! :). Definitely let me know what you think of Pax Ren when it arrives. I'm still amazed at how much is packed into this game. Take care!
@@hairbrainedgames3127 ok, sir, this game is fascinating…my goodness so much game here. Reminds me of my favorite solo game, John co 2nd ed. in many ways. Really going to have to dig in here, great recommendation
Pax Renaissance is my favourite pax game and I love what ION Games Design achieved for the 2nd edtion (shame about your board warp issue). I admit I am surprised the rulebook is a 10/10. I think the average person will struggle to learn from it due to the Eklund's infamous use of terminology rocking your brain.
HEY! I agree on the 2nd Edition design. Other than the board material itself, it's all for the better. I'm thinking of getting a hard plastic or metal plate and affixing it to the four parts of the board, maybe to help it settle down. I really love the components otherwise. Yes! The rulebook is like a gold mine of historical gems and insights. I really do enjoy his "ek"letic approach to his writings. :)
Amazing review! Learning this game is odd. Initially nothing made sense to me (being new to Pax) but when I understood the basic flow I understood that it’s…actually quite simple! What kills me to this day though is the difference between very samey actions. To this day I mix them up ALL OF TIME. I also don’t agree with people who say this works great at 2p. For me at least it turns into a zero sum AP fest. I feel this is much nicer at 3p where everyone accepts that things cannot be planned perfectly and therefore it holds many more surprises. Bombastic game that couldn’t ever get old. It’s Pax Pamir 2nd turned up to 11.
Excellent insights. You've hit the nail on the head, particularly the two player game. It's very much a rigid "high brain taxing level" Chess match. I enjoyed it at two, but at more counts it really gets all the nuances of the game firing in all directions. Surprises. Exactly. I have no plans to get rid of this. To be fair, almost no Pax game is going to go away for me, though, but this one would be last to go. Thanks as always.
@@greginfla7211 a lot of those plays were concentrated over a period of two weeks that I had off work, we managed to play quite a few games daily (& yes I am a childless bachelor haha) one of my favourite aspects of Ren is how quick it plays for such a rich and deep game!
Holy smokes! That's amazing! You could probably do some valuable strategy videos with that many games. I'm impressed. I can very much see this game being a multi-hundred matches game that stays fresh, there's so much packed into it. So question for you. Of the many many games you played, would you say that the four different victory paths were pretty equitably achievable? Or was there one of the victory paths that generally tended to be achieved.
@@hairbrainedgames3127 They are all relatively achievable however some are certainly more common than others, which I personally don’t mind at all! it adds texture to the game and makes certain less likely victories feel uniquely earned. Of course after many plays the probabilities of the victory types have changed over time as players became more familiar with the game, in the beginning the imperial victory was by far the most common but these days imperial might be the least common victory right behind holy victory which remains the most difficult to achieve and the most contingent on factors outside of anyone one players control. The biggest trap in this game however is putting all of your eggs in one basket, the game state is so dynamic that the victor is nearly always the player who is able to remain the most flexible and always have an exit strategy and a few backup plans. I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that no other game has rewarded me so generously for (excessive?) repeated plays, it’s honestly just as exciting now as it was when I was first exploring and learning all the ins and outs. I was very tickled to see that you had covered it! Would be curious to hear your thoughts on Trans humanity which is my 2nd favourite title in the series
Surprising data point is that an average game is about 9 turns. It is not epic in time scale. Imagine a season of a TV show. Pax Ren is one episode. One, maybe two generations. A set up game between two experienced players runs 30-40 minutes.
What a nice game review. I have the same positive impressions about the game. Even though I have made myself a pledge not to buy any new game until 2025 ( I have at least 20 unopened games at this moment...), when I saw this game and how it plays for me it was an instant buy. Being a history buff, I love the period, art and most importantly the gameplay. The rulebook however, can be improved a ton.... I needed to watch at least 2-3 videos to grasp some concepts. Best regards and keep the good videos coming!
Hello! Thank you!! I am... sincerely impressed... at your restraint in staving off game purchases until 2025! "Being a history buff, I love the period, art and most importantly the gameplay. " Yes! Exactly! Love it! This is so amazing in that the whole game *is* the story of that history. So good. Thank you so much for your comment! Take care.
Darn good question. Of the ones I've really played and feel qualified to speak on, I like this a bit better than Pax Viking, and as much as Pax Porfiriana. I haven't played enough Pax Pamir to feel I can give a fair comparison. I know that at the game conventions and game group nights, Pax Pamir seems to be far and away the favorite.
Hey great video. Pax Ren if I remember correct it had two versions in the instructions one for starters and another for advance. That's if I remembering the proper pax game. 😂. Remember looking at a few Pax games and they were a heavy lift. More than I wish to tackle, so they are dubbed my retirement games. Lol. I will have the time to dedicate. Have to catch up on your videos as the last 3 weeks has been challenging. Looking good, great video like always and take care. PS are you getting 80 degrees weather yet? We have a few days the last two weeks. The oddity continues..😂
Heya heya! There are some variants for complexity, yeah. They recommend first trying it out with one objective, not four. That definitely helps, but once you learn enough to add the other victory conditions you realize how much of the game depth exists beyond that. Heck, if that one victory condition was it, it'd still be mighty and meaty. But yeah... Pax games definitely could be retirement games. I will say that once one 'gets it' in the understanding of how the Pax games work, it does start to get easier to play them without too much learning burden (it instead becomes a 'how do i make the right choice' burden). No worries on catching up, I honestly haven't done hardly *any* board game videos or anything the last few weeks, it's been a drought, so you haven't missed much. I hope to get a break here by next month to maybe get on a better cadence. I hope your challenging few weeks isn't *too* challenging, my friend. :(. As for weather... I crave the heat! But no, it hit 57 one day but otherwise it's a typical mellow spring (rain, sun, hail, then on to the next hour. ;) ). 80 degrees for you? Really? I'm jealous, but amazed. Rock on, man.
I haven't played a Pax game yet. When you do it will be solo and the footprint of this looks good. Is one of the longer ones and would you say to start with this one?
Darn good question. I thought about it a bit before answering you. :). I think the answer is 'yes', if I had to dive into Pax world as a completely new person to the experience, either this or Pax Pamir would be the entry points I think I'd suggest. Pax Viking is actually a bit easier, but it's also less indicative of the Pax series in my opinion. Pax Porfiriana, Pax Emancipation, Pax Transhumanity are all good, but I think the 2nd edition here of Pax Ren is the presentation and experience I think is my growing to be my favorite (at least until Pax Hispanica or until I find a good printer for printing out the fan made Pax Expanse. :) ). Thanks!
Thanks for your thoughts. The rule book is far from the best. No proper explanation of battle and rechime change. You shouldn‘t be forced to read a glossary to get all the rules and then there is stuff in the glossary like: Victorious, attacker has a survivor remaining, see player aid (!?) 😒
Well done good sir, just bought the game based off this review. Love your recommendations, thorough analysis, and enthusiasm, take care!
Thank you for the kind words! :). Definitely let me know what you think of Pax Ren when it arrives. I'm still amazed at how much is packed into this game. Take care!
@@hairbrainedgames3127 ok, sir, this game is fascinating…my goodness so much game here. Reminds me of my favorite solo game, John co 2nd ed. in many ways. Really going to have to dig in here, great recommendation
Interesting take: having John Company 2nd as favourite Solo game
Great video as usual! Thanks for the time and effort gone into it!
Gladly, my friend!
Pax Renaissance is my favourite pax game and I love what ION Games Design achieved for the 2nd edtion (shame about your board warp issue). I admit I am surprised the rulebook is a 10/10. I think the average person will struggle to learn from it due to the Eklund's infamous use of terminology rocking your brain.
HEY! I agree on the 2nd Edition design. Other than the board material itself, it's all for the better. I'm thinking of getting a hard plastic or metal plate and affixing it to the four parts of the board, maybe to help it settle down. I really love the components otherwise.
Yes! The rulebook is like a gold mine of historical gems and insights. I really do enjoy his "ek"letic approach to his writings. :)
This is my favorite game. So so so good.
It is, it really is. Such depth...
Amazing review! Learning this game is odd. Initially nothing made sense to me (being new to Pax) but when I understood the basic flow I understood that it’s…actually quite simple! What kills me to this day though is the difference between very samey actions. To this day I mix them up ALL OF TIME. I also don’t agree with people who say this works great at 2p. For me at least it turns into a zero sum AP fest. I feel this is much nicer at 3p where everyone accepts that things cannot be planned perfectly and therefore it holds many more surprises. Bombastic game that couldn’t ever get old. It’s Pax Pamir 2nd turned up to 11.
Excellent insights. You've hit the nail on the head, particularly the two player game. It's very much a rigid "high brain taxing level" Chess match. I enjoyed it at two, but at more counts it really gets all the nuances of the game firing in all directions. Surprises. Exactly. I have no plans to get rid of this. To be fair, almost no Pax game is going to go away for me, though, but this one would be last to go.
Thanks as always.
@@hairbrainedgames3127 Looking at the state of your ‘game room’ I’m assuming most games don’t go away 😂
No possibility for zero sum games, as facts cannot be unturned and wild card diversification
My favourite game of all time hands down. I’ve played it over 100 times in person since just January 😊
100 times... Holly Hanna That's like one play a day. Only Pax game I have is Pac pamir
@@greginfla7211 a lot of those plays were concentrated over a period of two weeks that I had off work, we managed to play quite a few games daily (& yes I am a childless bachelor haha) one of my favourite aspects of Ren is how quick it plays for such a rich and deep game!
Holy smokes! That's amazing! You could probably do some valuable strategy videos with that many games. I'm impressed. I can very much see this game being a multi-hundred matches game that stays fresh, there's so much packed into it.
So question for you. Of the many many games you played, would you say that the four different victory paths were pretty equitably achievable? Or was there one of the victory paths that generally tended to be achieved.
@@hairbrainedgames3127 They are all relatively achievable however some are certainly more common than others, which I personally don’t mind at all! it adds texture to the game and makes certain less likely victories feel uniquely earned. Of course after many plays the probabilities of the victory types have changed over time as players became more familiar with the game, in the beginning the imperial victory was by far the most common but these days imperial might be the least common victory right behind holy victory which remains the most difficult to achieve and the most contingent on factors outside of anyone one players control. The biggest trap in this game however is putting all of your eggs in one basket, the game state is so dynamic that the victor is nearly always the player who is able to remain the most flexible and always have an exit strategy and a few backup plans. I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that no other game has rewarded me so generously for (excessive?) repeated plays, it’s honestly just as exciting now as it was when I was first exploring and learning all the ins and outs. I was very tickled to see that you had covered it! Would be curious to hear your thoughts on Trans humanity which is my 2nd favourite title in the series
Surprising data point is that an average game is about 9 turns. It is not epic in time scale. Imagine a season of a TV show. Pax Ren is one episode. One, maybe two generations. A set up game between two experienced players runs 30-40 minutes.
What a nice game review. I have the same positive impressions about the game. Even though I have made myself a pledge not to buy any new game until 2025 ( I have at least 20 unopened games at this moment...), when I saw this game and how it plays for me it was an instant buy. Being a history buff, I love the period, art and most importantly the gameplay. The rulebook however, can be improved a ton.... I needed to watch at least 2-3 videos to grasp some concepts. Best regards and keep the good videos coming!
Hello! Thank you!! I am... sincerely impressed... at your restraint in staving off game purchases until 2025!
"Being a history buff, I love the period, art and most importantly the gameplay. "
Yes! Exactly! Love it! This is so amazing in that the whole game *is* the story of that history. So good.
Thank you so much for your comment! Take care.
How does this pax ranked compared to the other pax games?
Darn good question. Of the ones I've really played and feel qualified to speak on, I like this a bit better than Pax Viking, and as much as Pax Porfiriana. I haven't played enough Pax Pamir to feel I can give a fair comparison. I know that at the game conventions and game group nights, Pax Pamir seems to be far and away the favorite.
I enjoy them al thoroughly and am happy to play any of the main 4 (Ren, Porf, Pamir, H+) but Ren is absolutely my favourite of the bunch
Own all. Pax trans humanity is fantastic as well.. same designer as porfiriana
@@john-qz3fu Pax Trans Humanity is one I've eyed but not yet played. I will put it closer to the center of my radar . :)
seems a bit like Lorenzo il Magnifico
That's an interesting comparison. I have Lorenzo II on my shelf but have yet to play it. I'm intrigued now, I'll have to get it on my table! :)
Hey great video. Pax Ren if I remember correct it had two versions in the instructions one for starters and another for advance. That's if I remembering the proper pax game. 😂. Remember looking at a few Pax games and they were a heavy lift. More than I wish to tackle, so they are dubbed my retirement games. Lol. I will have the time to dedicate. Have to catch up on your videos as the last 3 weeks has been challenging. Looking good, great video like always and take care. PS are you getting 80 degrees weather yet? We have a few days the last two weeks. The oddity continues..😂
Heya heya! There are some variants for complexity, yeah. They recommend first trying it out with one objective, not four. That definitely helps, but once you learn enough to add the other victory conditions you realize how much of the game depth exists beyond that. Heck, if that one victory condition was it, it'd still be mighty and meaty. But yeah...
Pax games definitely could be retirement games. I will say that once one 'gets it' in the understanding of how the Pax games work, it does start to get easier to play them without too much learning burden (it instead becomes a 'how do i make the right choice' burden).
No worries on catching up, I honestly haven't done hardly *any* board game videos or anything the last few weeks, it's been a drought, so you haven't missed much. I hope to get a break here by next month to maybe get on a better cadence. I hope your challenging few weeks isn't *too* challenging, my friend. :(.
As for weather... I crave the heat! But no, it hit 57 one day but otherwise it's a typical mellow spring (rain, sun, hail, then on to the next hour. ;) ). 80 degrees for you? Really? I'm jealous, but amazed.
Rock on, man.
Learn them now. We never know if our world survive until our retirement or if our brains still can manage these games when finally retiring..
I haven't played a Pax game yet. When you do it will be solo and the footprint of this looks good. Is one of the longer ones and would you say to start with this one?
Darn good question. I thought about it a bit before answering you. :). I think the answer is 'yes', if I had to dive into Pax world as a completely new person to the experience, either this or Pax Pamir would be the entry points I think I'd suggest. Pax Viking is actually a bit easier, but it's also less indicative of the Pax series in my opinion. Pax Porfiriana, Pax Emancipation, Pax Transhumanity are all good, but I think the 2nd edition here of Pax Ren is the presentation and experience I think is my growing to be my favorite (at least until Pax Hispanica or until I find a good printer for printing out the fan made Pax Expanse. :) ).
Thanks!
Thanks for your thoughts. The rule book is far from the best. No proper explanation of battle and rechime change. You shouldn‘t be forced to read a glossary to get all the rules and then there is stuff in the glossary like: Victorious, attacker has a survivor remaining, see player aid (!?) 😒
What happened to the other guy ?
He shaved...
G.O.A.T. in my opinion