A Great Board Game: Friedrich

[Antilogic]

I'm curious--has anyone else here played Friedrich? I live in America, and I forgot how I came across this German gem, but I managed to get a copy of it this December. I am wholly impressed--I think this is the best board game I've had the privilege of playing, beating Risk and Monopoly.

The basic premise of the game is the 7 Years War of Europe: one player is Prussia/Hanover, another France, another Austria/Holy Roman Empire, and a final Russia/Sweden. The latter three players are united against Prussia (under command of Frederick II the Great) and its only ally Hanover. You get to move generals (each leading up to 8 armies) and supply trains around on the map in a turn-based fashion, either conquering Prussia or trying desperately to survive against the onslaught. The attackers win when they conquer their objective cities by forcing the Prussians off and capturing the cities. Prussia wins by what I think is a clever system--starting on a specific game turn, "Cards of Fate" are randomly drawn, and the game becomes one of sudden death. If specific cards are drawn, the attackers will be eliminated from the game, one by one, until only Austria and the Imperial Army remain, after which Prussia wins.

That's a simplified explanation of the game, and honestly it doesn't do it justice. Has anyone else played this game? Or have I convinced anyone to give it a try?

 

[colontos]

I've never seen it or played it, but it definitely sound interesting. Where did you get it?

 

[Knight-Dragon]

Moderator Action: Moved to Other Games, for more comments.

 

[Antilogic]

In America, it was tough. With some help, I managed to track it down through Simmons Games (http://www.simmonsgames.com/products/Friedrich/index.html). The actual game website is here: http://www.histogame.de/friedrich/e_START.html.

What originally caught my eye was the card battle system. Instead of rolling dice and using charts to figure out battle results, you have some playing cards, labeled 2-13 (J, Q, K are 11, 12, 13), along with 1 cards, which are called Reserves and are kind of like Joker wildcards. You take the initial difference of armies, and then you add whatever cards you decide to play to your total. People go back and forth, essentially like a poker "I'll see your blank and raise you blank" style until one guy decides to retreat, where the current difference is the number of armies that person loses.

It's a lot harder to explain than it is to actually play. I'm wondering if anyone who plays is willing to share some strategies with a newbie...I think I've figured out the basics and a few tricks, but I'm nowhere near mastering this one.

 

[Goa]

I'm curious--has anyone else here played Friedrich? I live in America, and I forgot how I came across this German gem, but I managed to get a copy of it this December. I am wholly impressed--I think this is the best board game I've had the privilege of playing, beating Risk and Monopoly.

If your "references" are Risk and Monopoly, you got still a lot to discover in the marvelous world of boardgames. If you need some inspiration on what might be worth buying, this link may interest you: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/browser.php?itemtype=game&sortby=rank
The first one on the list is my favourite too...
Oh and I didn't know Friedrich yet, so perhaps I will have a look.

 

[warpstorm]

Goa, I would have thought Goa would be your favorite.

Antilogic (and anyone looking to buy), this game is readily available at the various internet discount boardgame resellers. Good ones are www.bouldergames.com, www.thoughthammer.com, www.funagain.com, and www.fairplaygames.com.

I will second Goa's recommendation of the 'geek. Go there to find out more about what boardgames are like these days. They aren't just Hasbro games anymore.

 

[Antilogic]

I was referring to some classics, although I used to love Risk. I've played some of the older Avalon Hill games (anyone else play PanzerBlitz or Third Reich from way back when?), but not too many of the newer ones (Axis and Allies is an exception, although that struck me as a little complicated for a miniatures game).

 

[Aabraxan]

[Edit: I reread the opening post. He doesn't need to know where to find it. Oops]

@warpstorm: Thanks for the links. They look like great sites. I'll have to check them out.

 

[Antilogic]

So have you played Aabraxan? I'm surprised no one else has heard of this game--it's top notch stuff.

 

[Aabraxan]

No, I haven't played it. But when I read your post, I somehow thought you were trying to find it, so I ran a quick search on boardgamegeek and found it. So I posted the link. Then I re-read your post and realized that you weren't actually looking for it. So I took the link back out. I browse this forum regularly and was trying to be helpful. I'm always looking for information on good boardgames, and that one does look interesting.

 

[Antilogic]

Ah, all right. I'm surprised there are so few on this forum...I figured there would be at least a couple.

 

[warpstorm]

I keep planning on playing it at lunch, but haven't got around to it, yet.

 

[Antilogic]

Something tells me you haven't seen the game...the shortest round I've played so far has been ~five and a half hours. I haven't won yet, but the last round, I'm blaming my British subsidies falling through at the very beginning--that crippled my combat operations like you would not believe.

Prussia is about the most masochistic and nerve-wracking experience that I have ever put myself through. Next time, I'm going to get to play somebody else...

 

[warpstorm]

Where I work we can leave board games set up for weeks on end if needed (we have a few board game designers testing out their newest project on staff) so playing a game over many lunches is not out of the question. A few of the games we've played over lunch, Twilight Imperium and Here I Stand (the designer works here) come to mind, have lasted a few weeks as they are closer to 8-10 hour plays.

 

[Aabraxan]

. . . A few of the games we've played over lunch, Twilight Imperium and Here I Stand (the designer works here) come to mind, have lasted a few weeks as they are closer to 8-10 hour plays.

How is Twilight Imperium, if I may ask? I've had it for years, but actually never gotten to play it.

 

[Antilogic]

All right, that makes more sense. My shortest round of Friedrich lasted around 4 hours, and that was because Prussia decided to try and pull off the Offensive Option--by invading Austria (me), despite being attacked on all sides. It was an exciting fight, but Prussia couldn't take the pressure and I won.

The longest was my holdout against France and Austria, lasting until the 20th turn and around 8 hours of game time, until finally Hanover collapsed and the French won. But Prussia was still going strong!