Who said euro games had to be nice, passive, multiplayer solitaire affairs, because Hansa Teutonica is as mean as any wargame on the market. This used to be a lot more common with Euro games and i think something has been lost along the way. What an astounding game Hansa is.
I actually think hansa is kinder than most because you get compensated when attacked and you can block with discs. Tokaido by comparison is far crueller
Hansa Teutonica completely took me by surprise... I turned up late to my local gaming group and there was 1 space left at a table and a medieval tax merchant looking man stared me in the face (the man on the box). "Oh my gosh.. this is going to be the driest of all dry euros ever..." I thought. NOPE. Don't let the theme throw you off.. this is a BRILLIANT game. l loved the player interaction and constant evolving of strategy because you can block/or be blocked. But you don't end up looking like a jerk because everyone is doing it to everyone else!
A phenomenal board game. Hansa Teutonica has been my favourite for more than a decade. Despite the dry theme, it's a really dynamic dance of cubes where you have tons of fun levelling-up and skimming-off bonuses by blocking paths where you know your opponents want to go. It's quick to teach and endlessly fluid. I feel like there should be wargames that work a bit like this, as the game makes me feel like I'm parachuting troops into a combat zone and securing objectives.
Thank you for this video! To paraphrase my Patron comment, it's a beautiful group dance where each dancer wants to be the one left standing, and each dancer also has a knife. Truly a great reminder of what "euro games" used to mean.
Great overview! I gotta send this to my friends that haven't played this game yet. Every game of Hansa Teutonica I've played was enjoyable and tense, win or loss.
I remember seeing that a remake with the theme of Chicago was going to happen about 4 years ago because it was out of print and the designer wanted the game out but didn't have the rights. But then the Big Box was released and I never did see anything else about it again. Not a looker as it looks like a dry euro, but this is so good and interactive with 3-4 players. Simply a top classic that should have gotten more love.
One of the games I wish I could play more often. I love a deeply interactive game where you have to react to other players actions and be more tactical than strategic. If I could find a group that could be persuaded to play this Five Tribes and Inis every week I'd be a very happy bunny. Shout out to the OG guild on BGG that helped me find other similar games too.
Thanks for the overview. I played this for the first time Wednesday night with plans to play it again tonight! What a fun and weird coincidence. The first play was a joy.
Thanks for your usual concise, well organised and thoughful review. I agree this is a great game/ I thought it light-medium, easy to learn and teach, though it has alot of decisions space that makes it wonderfully 'crunchy' and for all there is 'blocking' there are mitigations. Great value too
2:43 Small correction, you score per connected trading post, not just per town. The example on page 7 of the Big Box rules shows how 9 trading posts in 7 cities with City Keys at 3 gets you 27 points.
A bit tough to get to the table sometimes because it needs minimum 3 players but boy, is this game satisfying. Got the recent Big Box version myself just a few months ago and the dry theme just fades away when everyone understands how to play. It makes me wonder if this game would appeal to more casual gamers under a different name and theme. I had to do the research to learn how good this game was and then convince my family to give it a try because it looked so boring to them. 😆
This sounds like a game I'd love to try but might not want to own - I'd only know after giving it a spin. I'll keep an eye out for it at the game café!
There was a time when HT was *the* Eurogame ... and then it more or less disappeared from my local club. Perhaps it was the total lack of randomness that caused this; I cannot be sure.
I'd love to play this some day, but I fear the germanic trading theme isn’t going to get past my family! So maybe one for my irregular friends group at some point.
This game has been on my list for so long. But they removed the two player count from the box. I wonder how bad it really is. I enjoy Power Grid at 2 and everyone says it's horrible at that count..
5 is the best, then 3 on the other side of the board which is smaller. 4 is also good but you have a little bit more room to breathe, maybe someone would prefer that. 😅
The consensus on BGG seems to be that it's better the more players you have, but it's still good at three. Two is not recommended, but the current Big Box edition doesn't even mention the two-player rules, so I think even the designer agrees it's not worth it.
I would not play 5 with all new players. I would get some games in at 3 and 4 and once most of the table knows the game play at 5. I taught a group in a five player game and it took forever, one person did have horrible AP from turn 1 though @_@
I have played this game twice now, but I don't get it, I just rush to 20 points by farming points on the high priority trade routes, such as getting more actions, and nobody can seem to stop you unless they also join the rush tactic. I love euro games, but for some reason this one doesn't do it for me.
How are you getting in position to score points on all those routes without anyone stopping you? I mean, that's the game in a nutshell. You can win every game of chess if you opponent will never move to capture a piece off you.
@@3MBG The 'more actions' seems to be such a popular upgrade that the one who claimed that route gets tons of points at the start of the game. Maybe we played it wrong and our experience of the game would be different when playing with more experienced players
Yeah, maybe try and find some experienced players to see how it goes, because someone/everyone should have been putting pieces down that would have forced you to move them aside to claim the route, thereby giving them more pieces and slowing you down.
Who said euro games had to be nice, passive, multiplayer solitaire affairs, because Hansa Teutonica is as mean as any wargame on the market. This used to be a lot more common with Euro games and i think something has been lost along the way. What an astounding game Hansa is.
I’ve never really got the “euros aren’t attacky” thing most of them are BRUTAL
I actually think hansa is kinder than most because you get compensated when attacked and you can block with discs. Tokaido by comparison is far crueller
"What an astounding game Hansa is." ... Remember, "Hansa" is a completely different game from "Hansa Teutonica"! 🙂
Hansa Teutonica completely took me by surprise... I turned up late to my local gaming group and there was 1 space left at a table and a medieval tax merchant looking man stared me in the face (the man on the box). "Oh my gosh.. this is going to be the driest of all dry euros ever..." I thought. NOPE. Don't let the theme throw you off.. this is a BRILLIANT game. l loved the player interaction and constant evolving of strategy because you can block/or be blocked. But you don't end up looking like a jerk because everyone is doing it to everyone else!
A phenomenal board game. Hansa Teutonica has been my favourite for more than a decade. Despite the dry theme, it's a really dynamic dance of cubes where you have tons of fun levelling-up and skimming-off bonuses by blocking paths where you know your opponents want to go.
It's quick to teach and endlessly fluid.
I feel like there should be wargames that work a bit like this, as the game makes me feel like I'm parachuting troops into a combat zone and securing objectives.
My first thought was some kind of information warfare.
Thank you for this video! To paraphrase my Patron comment, it's a beautiful group dance where each dancer wants to be the one left standing, and each dancer also has a knife. Truly a great reminder of what "euro games" used to mean.
How did you post this comment a month ago?
Great overview! I gotta send this to my friends that haven't played this game yet. Every game of Hansa Teutonica I've played was enjoyable and tense, win or loss.
This is hands down one of my favorite games!
Absolute gold medal!!
I remember seeing that a remake with the theme of Chicago was going to happen about 4 years ago because it was out of print and the designer wanted the game out but didn't have the rights. But then the Big Box was released and I never did see anything else about it again. Not a looker as it looks like a dry euro, but this is so good and interactive with 3-4 players. Simply a top classic that should have gotten more love.
One of the games I wish I could play more often. I love a deeply interactive game where you have to react to other players actions and be more tactical than strategic. If I could find a group that could be persuaded to play this Five Tribes and Inis every week I'd be a very happy bunny.
Shout out to the OG guild on BGG that helped me find other similar games too.
Thanks for the overview. I played this for the first time Wednesday night with plans to play it again tonight! What a fun and weird coincidence. The first play was a joy.
After maybe 15 years of boardgaming, this one's my favourite.
Thanks for your usual concise, well organised and thoughful review. I agree this is a great game/ I thought it light-medium, easy to learn and teach, though it has alot of decisions space that makes it wonderfully 'crunchy' and for all there is 'blocking' there are mitigations. Great value too
2:43 Small correction, you score per connected trading post, not just per town. The example on page 7 of the Big Box rules shows how 9 trading posts in 7 cities with City Keys at 3 gets you 27 points.
My bad
I had to pull the box off my shelf to verify this. I've been scoring this part incorrectly! Thank you.
A bit tough to get to the table sometimes because it needs minimum 3 players but boy, is this game satisfying. Got the recent Big Box version myself just a few months ago and the dry theme just fades away when everyone understands how to play.
It makes me wonder if this game would appeal to more casual gamers under a different name and theme. I had to do the research to learn how good this game was and then convince my family to give it a try because it looked so boring to them. 😆
This sounds like a game I'd love to try but might not want to own - I'd only know after giving it a spin. I'll keep an eye out for it at the game café!
Without a doubt a favorite in my collection, always fun to block someone in hansa
Squarepusher! What a great kind of music. Check out album Big Loada as an easy intro.
Music is Rotted One Note for the
courageous.
OMG, SOMEONE FINALLY GOT IT!
There was a time when HT was *the* Eurogame ... and then it more or less disappeared from my local club. Perhaps it was the total lack of randomness that caused this; I cannot be sure.
I'd love to play this some day, but I fear the germanic trading theme isn’t going to get past my family! So maybe one for my irregular friends group at some point.
It looks like the driest bit of stale white toast, but in reality it is one spicy meatball.
This game has been on my list for so long. But they removed the two player count from the box. I wonder how bad it really is. I enjoy Power Grid at 2 and everyone says it's horrible at that count..
It would suck at 2 in my opinion
Would you recommend all player counts from 3-5?
I have the big box on my shelf, but I've yet to play it.
I've not played it at 5, but 3 and 4 are great
5 is the best, then 3 on the other side of the board which is smaller. 4 is also good but you have a little bit more room to breathe, maybe someone would prefer that. 😅
The consensus on BGG seems to be that it's better the more players you have, but it's still good at three. Two is not recommended, but the current Big Box edition doesn't even mention the two-player rules, so I think even the designer agrees it's not worth it.
I would not play 5 with all new players. I would get some games in at 3 and 4 and once most of the table knows the game play at 5. I taught a group in a five player game and it took forever, one person did have horrible AP from turn 1 though @_@
It’s decent at 3, great at 4, and phenomenal at 5.
I have played this game twice now, but I don't get it, I just rush to 20 points by farming points on the high priority trade routes, such as getting more actions, and nobody can seem to stop you unless they also join the rush tactic. I love euro games, but for some reason this one doesn't do it for me.
How are you getting in position to score points on all those routes without anyone stopping you? I mean, that's the game in a nutshell. You can win every game of chess if you opponent will never move to capture a piece off you.
@@3MBG The 'more actions' seems to be such a popular upgrade that the one who claimed that route gets tons of points at the start of the game. Maybe we played it wrong and our experience of the game would be different when playing with more experienced players
Yeah, maybe try and find some experienced players to see how it goes, because someone/everyone should have been putting pieces down that would have forced you to move them aside to claim the route, thereby giving them more pieces and slowing you down.
Great game, bad name… needs better Marketing for it to be more famous
I dunno, Carcassonne sold a gazillion copies and i don't think that name is any more exciting from a marketing pov.