Matrix Games Forums

I asked this in another thread, but it got buried:

Having never played the board game, although I have played computer games of a similar nature, how good a job does EiA do of easing in someone new to the system? I'm concerned that the manual, while clear to someone who already knows the rule system inside and out, might be a bit obtuse. Also, is there any kind of tutorial?

As an example, I've read all of Raleigh's AAR's a couple of times, and it took a bit to deduce what "factors" and "chits" are.

Well, the EiA rules are simple the mechanics are really challenging. I think it is up to the player to read carefully the manual and then to try some little opening game.
 
But i think to understand the rules take no longer than 3 hours in my opinion.

We rate this as an "Advanced" game difficulty-wise. It's one of those things where it doesn't seem that hard once you learn it, but climbing that learning curve can take a fair amount of time and careful attention. For example, I think EIA is easier to play than WITP, but probably just as hard to learn.

The manual does explain the rules, but it's important to read carefully and not just skim to make sure you understand the nuances. All the important game resolution tables are included in the manual as well so that even if you don't have the board game you can understand how things work with a bit of stufy.

Regards,

- Erik

ORIGINAL: tgb

I asked this in another thread, but it got buried:

Having never played the board game, although I have played computer games of a similar nature, how good a job does EiA do of easing in someone new to the system? I'm concerned that the manual, while clear to someone who already knows the rule system inside and out, might be a bit obtuse. Also, is there any kind of tutorial?

As an example, I've read all of Raleigh's AAR's a couple of times, and it took a bit to deduce what "factors" and "chits" are.

If you want to 'see' what some actual games looked like, in the days before we played EiA by email with Cyberboard (a *great* free GUI for wargames), a lot of us used to maintain websites with the maps and pertinent turns.

Our old games have all long disappeared, but dr google found a few remnants of the old days:

http://eia.xnetz.com/ (click for english if you need to) a fun overview of several games, with some helpful forms/tools/etc

http://www.soapyfrog.net/eia.htm (not as informative, since summaries rather than play-by-play but still gives a good flavor)

http://lists.ellipsis.cx/archives/eia/
*incredibly dry*, i.e. not newbie friendly - BUT - will give you a good idea of how play was before Cyberboard - we did everything by text, and kept our own maps

(b.t.w. i have no links/don't own stock in c-board... it was just a wonderful upgrade from the text days) : )

and this Web-Grognards page has a lot of links to different people's sites (many now dead)-
(and the original opponents list where I met a *ton* of new friends...) : )

http://grognard.com/titlee.html (scroll down)

if nothing else, reading the game summaries will give you an idea of the complexities of 7-player diplomacy and the 'feel' for the grand strategies, i hope.

Welcome to EiA, by the way - it's a *great* game

Eric -

How would you say this compares to Forge of Freedom or Europa Universalis?

I would say that the board game EiA looks simple from the outside but when you play it becomes quite involved. Constant supply calculations with a pencil take time. Every move / calculation is scrutinized by your angry opponents across the table (The nickname for this game in some circles became "Empires and Arguments"). This is NOT to take anything from the game, it's a brilliant masterpiece in my opinion that was created decades ago before PCs became so plentiful and cheap. The problems were typically the humans playing it [:)]
 
Make sure you understand the rules of the game so that THEN the user interface will look a little more intuitive.
I don't think this is a game that you could just start playing out of the box without some understanding of the mechanics of EiA.
 
 
 
 

ORIGINAL: tgb
How would you say this compares to Forge of Freedom or Europa Universalis?

I think Marshall explained it pretty well. It's key to realize that this game, first and foremost, is an adaptation of the board game EIA to the computer. As such, it was not designed from the ground up to be a computer game but rather to adapt the board game design and mechanics to the computer. Those are really two different design processes.

As a result, you're really learning how to play a board game with a computer game interface. The board game itself at the heart of this title is arguably one of the best games of all time, but it is also a complex game in terms of all the options and rules. The learning curve on this title is basically the same as with the board game EIA, with the exception that some of the interface aspects and record-keeping/calculations (and the AI) make play smoother and easier, but to play well you need to learn the rules.

Regards,

- Erik

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

ORIGINAL: tgb
How would you say this compares to Forge of Freedom or Europa Universalis?

I think Marshall explained it pretty well. It's key to realize that this game, first and foremost, is an adaptation of the board game EIA to the computer. As such, it was not designed from the ground up to be a computer game but rather to adapt the board game design and mechanics to the computer. Those are really two different design processes.

As a result, you're really learning how to play a board game with a computer game interface. The board game itself at the heart of this title is arguably one of the best games of all time, but it is also a complex game in terms of all the options and rules. The learning curve on this title is basically the same as with the board game EIA, with the exception that some of the interface aspects and record-keeping/calculations (and the AI) make play smoother and easier, but to play well you need to learn the rules.

Regards,

- Erik

Well, then: let's have the game! I'm pumped!

It's too bad we can't get a peak of the manual, a day before game release.


Alan