Why Do I Own This? - Part 6

Doctor Who: Time of the Daleks
How did I get this?...

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I really don't like Duel of Ages II and it is mainly because it is so US centric and requires folk knowledge of a lot of US 'personalities' to make sense. I have no idea who Annie Oakley is for example. Good for US folk less good for people who live elsewhere.

I love Duel of Ages II and am glad I have the whole thing. It hasn't left the shelf in quite a while... but some day!

Duel of Ages 2 is absolutely top 3 for me. Every game I’ve had has been memorable with stories upon stories (remember the time that Napoleon was killed by a door to door salesman...) Clunky and fiddle mechanics that remind me of old school rpgs but well worth it.

I have owned Duel of Ages II forever and can’t seem to get it played. Any tips for getting into it? Nice article.

Unfortunately, it's a little like owning Twilight Imperium. It's a big epic game tht takes some genuine effort for it to really pay off. But there are some good pointers I give for people to try to help them out.

- Print out or write out little cards that have the name of every achievement on them. It's so easy to lose track of the actual point of the game while it's going on. There used to be a special score tracker for the combat achievement on the Duel of Ages website, not sure if it's still available. Keeping the victory conditions in front of people does help the game stay focused, such as it is.

- Pre-select characters and platters before you play. Ideally the players will want to form their own team, and that's a big part of the game's appeal. But it requires a lot of experience and some mechanical understanding to do that effectively. This isn't a game where you can just throw together people who sound funny, because there's a decent chance they'll have no synergy together. If you pre-select them you can at least form some obvious synergies.

- I'm not sure if you have the Master Set, but it really does make the game complete. It adds platters from the other three ages and throws in more interesting characters. If you don't have it that's fine, but I do recommend downloading the Master Rules (again on the DoA website) because those do have the information for the "full game," including the different scenarios. A couple of mechanics aren't in the original box, but you'll do fine.

- If you get the Master Rules, try one of the Jump scenarios, which tend to move a little faster and I believe start with some items on the board. I might be wrong about that second part, but you could always house rule a couple of items to each character at the beginning.

- This last one is only if you really feel like making the investment, but the Duel of Ages II Codex (which is like $20 on Amazon) is a terrific book. It gives a lot of great insight into how to shape a team, how to teach the game, and how to play each individual character. (Yes, there is a strategy guide for each character in the game.) I would only recommend seeking this out if you play a couple times and decide you would like to keep the game going forward. I wish more games I loved had something similar.

I have the Codex and it is a great read, even if you don't play the game.