At it’s heart, Orleans takes place on your player mat. You can send the Followers that you draw each round to locations to accomplish certain deeds. Send the right quantity – or specific combination – of Followers to locations, and you could earn more Followers. These expansions introduce new mechanics, additional components, and alternative ways to play, ensuring that even the most seasoned Orleans players will continue to find new challenges and excitement in the game: So what about the follow-on, Altiplano? Should you skip Orleans and just get that? This is a difficult choice. Altiplano plays very similarly but feels very different. Part of this is the addition of movement. You have to be on the correct ‘island’ to perform an action as well as assigning the correct resources (followers in Orleans). Orleans can be a little overwhelming at first as you try to get to grip with the options.The gameplay is straightforward though, and everything on your player board makes sense. It’s especially important to have everything out and set-up as you explain how to play. Set-up is going to take a while too. I’ve upgraded my copy with the fan kit which lets you use meeples instead of the cardboard chits for characters, and technology, plus a fifth player. Whether looking for more plates to spin, or adding a combative streak, Trade & Intrigue adds a lot more depth to Orléans.

Want more gold? Recruit boatmen, more resources, farmers. Craftsmen offer technology which can be permanently added to one space on your player board – making it cheaper forever. The trader gets you a choice of extra buildings, which are basically extra action spaces for you. The monks act as a wild follower and I’ve already mentioned the knights and scholars. Orleans features high-quality components that truly immerse players in the game’s medieval setting. The artwork on the game board, player boards, and cards is beautifully illustrated and evocative of the era. The tokens and wooden pieces are sturdy and well-crafted, ensuring that the game will withstand countless playthroughs. Tech for Village; Tech from craftsman is a powerful bonus action that has more effect the earlier you play it. The more turns it is on the board the more you will be able to use it. Getting tech starts with a tech that will cover a farmer – that farmer should be the one for the village. If that’s not immediately obvious, I see it as key because this farmer is one of a three piece set and because this action will be the one that allows you to get more tech. Looking for an engaging and strategic board game experience that takes you on a journey to medieval France? In this Orleans Board Game Review, we will provide an in-depth analysis of this award-winning game. Throughout the game ypu’ll be challenged on your strategic planning and resource management skills. With that in mind, let’s explore the heart of Orleans and discover why it’s earned a spot on our board game shelf.In Orléans, you will always want to take more actions than possible, and there are many paths to victory. The challenge is to combine all elements as best as possible with regard to your strategy. Farmers Adds; Like the roads, the farmers should not be forgotten – they give you food which might avoid the misfortune of losing 5 coins in some turns. The items also score points and going far on this path can be worthwhile. Especially if you can bury the farmers on the board waiting for other tokens to circle round. Orleans: Stories – This narrative-driven expansion adds a campaign mode, where players can progress through a series of scenarios with evolving objectives, rules, and components.

So what about the follow-on, Altiplano? Should you skip Orleans and just get that? This is a difficult choice. Altiplano plays very similarly but feels very different. Part of this is the addition of movement. You have to be on the correct 'island' to perform an action as well as assigning the correct resources (followers in Orleans). Taking place over 18 rounds, during which players may have anywhere from one to four or five turns, Orleans has a strong solitary element, with two to four players each beginning the game with four worker (“follower”) tokens, using them to gain more followers, earn money or goods or development points, or move around the game’s map to build trading posts. There are more things to do on the board than any player will be able to do in a single turn, and early in the game a player will only get one turn in a round—usually just adding a single follower to his/her supply. Such choices have long-lasting effects on what that player might be able to do later in the game; some moves open up more possible moves for later, while others are aimed primarily at increasing the player’s game-end points total. Orleans: Invasion – This cooperative expansion requires players to work together to defend the city of Orleans from outside threats, adding a new layer of strategy and cooperation to the game. Before receiving theInvasionexpansion, we hadn’t played a whole lot of Orléans, but the games we did play were really enjoyable two -player experiences.Orléans Invasionis a big box expansion forOrléans which contains lots of scenarios designed by both the original designer and by Inka and Markus Brand who are also really well renowned designers. I like, “point salad” games. That is, games that have multiple paths to acquiring victory points. Games like Pulsar 2849 or Rajas of the Ganges.In addition, you will have to fortify the outer walls by building trade posts on all of the outer cities of the map. But in case you were thinking this all sounded too easy, each player has a personal, often selfish, objective that they must complete before the game ends. The game takes place in the Loire region in medieval France, with Orleans being at the heart. You’ll aim to move around the area from town to town, whether that’s by canal or by road. Can you build trade houses along the way? (If so, you’ll get rewarded in the form of ye olde victory points!) Orleans is a Euro-style strategy game, so whoever has the most points at the end of 18 rounds wins. For those who enjoy the base game, Orleans offers several expansions and variants that can further enhance the gameplay experience. So which? Orleans narrowly takes it for me, having the expansions and the options within the game. However, I do like the movement and streamlined nature of Altiplano. Maybe get both?!

New Beneficial Deeds : a new Beneficial Deeds board providing completely new rewards for sending away your Followers However, unlike in Orleans, there is not as much to do with the harder to get resources, other than score points. This makes things simpler, as everyone is broadly following the same path to attempted victory, but you lose the options you have in Orleans. Prosperity : An extensive scenario introducing new Events and a Carpenter that all players may use to build Structures for victory points, designed by Inka and Markus Brand. Please note: Some of the tiles contained in the game may come with ONLY German names printed. This does not impact gameplay and the names are translated in the rulebook. Bathhouse & Bar; I like this combo because the bar earns you more coins per round with just a monk, and the bathhouse allows you to draw another token from the bag. If you use the bar first, this can mean that if you draw a monk you will be able to play the bar twice in one round – that’s a lot of money per round!There’s also two new Beneficial Deeds boards. It’s a double-sided board, each providing cool new rewards and bonuses. You send Followers here to go on permanent ‘placement’. (Thinking of Orléans as having worker placement traits to it; you place the Followers here, to gain the stated reward.) Also, in the base game, the Town Hall Beneficial Deeds board is a bit boring, but it's the only way to thin your followers from your bag, so you will use it.Player interaction is mid-range with it mainly be racing to get the citizens or build in the nearest areas on the map. In Orleans, players assume the role of powerful leaders seeking to expand their influence and fortune in the bustling city of Orleans and its surrounding provinces. The game is played over a series of rounds, with players taking turns to perform various actions such as recruiting followers, constructing buildings, and gathering resources. Central to the gameplay of Orleans is its innovative bag-building mechanic. Players begin the game with a set of basic followers, represented by tokens that are placed in a draw bag. Each round, players draw a specific number of follower tokens from their bag and place them on their player board. These tokens represent various professions such as farmers journalists, knights, and craftsmen, which are essential for performing different actions throughout the game.

This game is quite simply, amazing. It’s very easy to learn but can become quite the brain twister as you try to determine what “townsfolk” you want to put into your bag for the next round. You’ll have 28 rounds to pull it all off. Those 18 rounds are determined by (3X)6 tiles that are randomly shuffled before the game. Maybe in the second round you’ll have to pay 1 coin for the goods you just acquired? Maybe everybody else will get one coin for every trade house they built on the map while you failed to do it because...THATS JUST NOT YOUR STRATEGY!. When everyone is done, the event tile drawn at the start of the round is resolved, and the whole thing is repeated with a new start player. Boreleans? The expansion includes a new scenario for 2-5 players, a co-operative scenario, a two-player only duel scenario and a number of solo scenarios. We never play any solo games, so the focus of this expansion for us was the duel scenario and the co-operative scenario. We didn’t really feel likeOrléansneeded any expansion content, given that it plays extremely well with two players and is the style of competitive game that doesn’t get very in-your-face, but let’s see ifOrléans: Invasionis a must have for us. Orléans Invasion Gameplay – Invasion Also, in the base game, the Town Hall Beneficial Deeds board is a bit boring, but it’s the only way to thin your followers from your bag, so you will use it.Player interaction is mid-range with it mainly be racing to get the citizens or build in the nearest areas on the map.

Cull; The late game is all about thinning the bag. It’s time to take out everything you don’t need as you go, and putting it into the central board that scores points. You will make it more efficient to draw for the final rounds and ensure you get the right pieces at the right time.