I had an opportunity to try out Triumph! recently and came away with a good impression of the game. The game session was hosted by Chris Brantley and guided by Scott, who I understand has been helping run demonstration games of Triumph! at conventions. Both are great guys and excellent gamers. Here are a few informal observations:
Army selection: Army selection takes less time than I anticipated. There are more troop types in Triumph! than in DBA, but really not that many more variations in a single army list. I selected all the compulsory troops and counted up the total points, then picked other troops out of the box to get up to 48 points.
Board size: The widened board gives more flexibility in setup but all the miniatures are still within easy reach. It also looks good, an important consideration for me as a miniatures wargamer.
Terrain setup. The terrain cards are a nice part of the rules. They prevent players from setting out the perfectly symmetrical terrain sometimes used on the square DBA battlefield. There is still some player choice; selecting the long side of the battlefield, the number and types of terrain, and the order in which they are placed. The order of terrain placement makes a difference because the lower numbers on the terrain cards tend to be on the edges! At least it seemed that way to me. Overall pre-battle setup took about 10 minutes for each game.
Pace of the game: Each game, from selecting the armies to the final hand shake, took about an hour. Each player's turn comes around quickly, so there is not much idle time.
Tactics: The game has some interesting interactions between troop types. The first game was Gauls against Romans, which ended with the Gauls smashing through the Roman line. In a later game, a line of skirmishers in front of the Roman line slowed down the Gauls and broke up their formation some. If we had kept on playing, I might have tried a line of skirmishers in front of two separate lines of Roman infantry, to contain or destroy any Gauls who broke through. This makes me think the rules are doing a good job of simulating this type of warfare.
Chris and Scott did a great job of introducing Triumph! to a new player. The new troop types, army lists, and terrain setup are easier than they look in the rule book. The game runs quickly and involves a lot of interesting decisions. I look forward to seeing the battle cards and the final version of the rules.
First impressions of Triumph!
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- Sergeant
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- Levy
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Re: First impressions of Triumph!
Hi Texus. I'm glad you had a good time. It was great seeing you. Thanks also to Chris for hosting.
- FanatiChris
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Re: First impressions of Triumph!
Great to meet you in person Paul and a fun day all around. Hope we can do it again some day. In the meantime, I'll get to work on that Sumerian pitch to Eureka we discussed.
- David Schlanger
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Re: First impressions of Triumph!
Sorry I missed your visit! Sounds like you had a good time playing the game with Scott and Chris, so am glad it worked out well.
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