Overview of the clans of Caledonia
Overview of the clans of Caledonia
The Industrial Revolution changed the world and in the 19th century Scotland moved from a simple agricultural country to a large trading and export power plant.
However, the historic Scottish clans have not faded and adapted to change are now competing for the most influential clan in the north! Produce, trade and export a variety of Scottish goods, including the product for which they are best known - whiskey!
A brief overview of the clans of Caledonia
Clans of Caledonia is a combination of worker accommodation and Euro game genres with a focus on action. It’s comparable to The Feast of Odin or Terra Mystica , but it’s a little less complicated than either of the two games.
For a game that has a pretty high rating on the complexity scale, Clans of Caledonia only needs 30 minutes per player to complete. It can be played by 1-4 players and has separate rules for Two Player Games and standalone mode .
If you are looking for a fairly complex economic strategy game that will challenge your min-maxing, Clans of Caledonia is the game for you. It combines many of the great mechanics we see in other games into one well-functioning unit and manages to maintain a relatively fast flow for a game of its kind .
Unpacking the clans of Caledonia
In the box you will find:
- 67 tokens for wooden goods
- 172 Wooden components of the clan
- 4 map modules
- 4 plates for players and 4 plates for export
- 1 market committee and 1 export committee
- 9 starting tiles and 9 scoring tiles
- Tiles 12 products
- 50 Export contract tiles
- 9 port bonus tiles and 9 clan tiles
- 4 Glory tiles and 8 technology tiles
- 70 Coins
- 1 MacDonald tile
- 16 tiles to mark door bonuses
- 6 Transparent price markers
- 2 Dice For solo play
- Accessories for 4 players
- 2 rules and 1 scoreboard
Despite the relatively small box, Clans of Caledonia is full of components. The lid of the box has a beautiful illustration of the Scottish landscape. In the foreground are people from the clan who take care of their livestock and whiskey, while in the distance you can see steamers and factories that mark the dawn of a new era.
Lift the lid and you will be greeted by a huge bag of bags with all kinds of wooden pieces. There are no plastic cubes here - each of the components of the goods and clan has a unique shape reminiscent of the product in question.
Whiskey is in brown barrels, cheese is a yellow triangular slice, milk in white glass jugs ... In addition to the dice dealer, hexagonal alignment and round-turning tokens, each component of the clan is designed as best as possible for such a small item.
The rules, scoreboard and reference sheets have yellowed, antique paper, but they are made pretty well. The policy is 12 pages long and is well organized without too many illustrations that make it difficult to follow the rules.
In addition to a bunch of extra bags, two dice for solo games are the only plastic components in the box!
Last but not least, we have an inch thick pile of punching plates. And just like a traffic light, they are packed to the brim with tiles and coins. Also, the panel modules are massive cut pieces surrounded by coins and tiles to take advantage of some free space.
There is an argument that the box is a bit too small for all the components, which isn’t really the case, but the problem is organizing everything in plastic bags after the game is over. A box organizer would help, but as it is, it’s still fine.
How to play Clans of Caledonia
Clans of Caledonia has a lot of rules and mechanics that aren’t necessarily complicated, but the instruction section would make it too long. Instead, I’ll give you a brief overview of the mechanics so you can get an idea of how the game is played.
Plates for players
Players choose a color and take all the appropriate chips. The game board is initially completely covered with chips, while the technology track is set to the starting position.
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Clans of Caledonia is not played as a normal game for placing workers. Instead of putting a worker on the board to retrieve funds from the tile and then return them to your hand, they receive the funds from the game boards by discovering places.
Starting from the top of the game board, you will take a source token, such as cattle or grain, and place it on the board. Each source has its own set price, which is summed up by the price of the game board tile you want to place it on. The exposed site will provide you with resources at every stage of production.
Merchants
At the beginning of the game, each player gets two dealers to trade, but this number can be increased to seven by purchasing dealers on the game board.
Shipping Tracker
The game board represents the landscape of Scotland with rivers, ponds and lakes that divide the terrain. If you want to cross a river or a larger body of water, you will have to invest in a shipping tracking route by paying a fee.
Technology tracker
On the right side of the board you have your workers - cutters and miners. By upgrading their equipment, you will increase the amount of money they earn at each stage of production.
Clans
The name of the game is not just an alternate place - players will take control of the historic Scottish clans and take advantage of their victory to win the game!
There are nine clans in the game with unique abilities and initial resources. The Buchanan clan focuses on the export of goods, the Cunningham clan sells milk for higher profits, the MacKenzie clan sells whiskey.
Clans add some asymmetry to the game and diversify the strategies that each of the players will make. Working in line with the strengths of your clan is important to increase production and income.
Trade Committee
During the game, you will consistently buy and sell goods to fulfill orders and goals. The trading committee works on the principle of supply and demand - the more you sell in one bulk, the cheaper the goods will be, and when you buy it, the price will rise.
Export Committee
The Export Committee contains a number of export contracts that can be obtained and fulfilled to obtain special funds. The board itself is surrounded by a tracker of cotton, tobacco and sugar cane. Once you sign the contract, you will move these trackers, which will have a significant impact on scoring later.
Round breakdown
The game is played in five rounds. Each round consists of four phases:
- Preparatory phase
- Action phase
- Production phase
- Scoring phase
During the preparation phase , the export plate is restored, the players take the traders back from the market and the scoring plate of the previous round is turned.
The action phase allows players to do one of eight possible actions. The phase continues in the established order until all the players have passed. Available actions are:
- Trade
- Obtain an export contract
- Expand
- Upgrade shipping
- Upgrade technology
- Hire a dealer
- Fill in the export contract
- Pass
Once everyone is over, the production phase can begin. Each player receives income and goods based on empty slots on their board. You can choose to turn milk into cheese, grain into bread, or grain into whiskey.
The scoring phase takes place at the end of each round and includes all the resources you can obtain.
Scoring and end of the game
When five full rounds of the game are completed, you will begin the final scoring. Winning points are obtained from basic goods, processed goods, money, hops and export contracts.
Cotton, tobacco and sugar cane are scored according to the export tracker, with the rarest product being the most valuable. The settlements on the map are also worth points and are scored according to the group of settlements. As with any game, the player with the most points is declared the winner, and spare coins are used to tie.
Your first game Clans of Caledonia
I can’t tell you much that won’t sound confusing at the moment. You should play the game a few times for some strategic advice, but since this is your first, I’ll simplify.
You will get the most points by taking advantage of your clan. If you’re playing with the Cunningham clan, which can sell milk for a fixed price, you’d never want to make cheese and your main focus should be maximizing cattle production.
Export contracts are worth a lot of points, so watch out for other players and try to match the number of contracts they fulfill. Start working on your contracts as soon as possible - first with smaller orders, then fill larger orders as you gain more funds.
The game clearly shows that scoring is not about expanding the maximum number of spaces or creating the largest settlements. Before you develop your strategy, make sure you understand the rules.
Clans of Caledonia has a number of simplification rules that are great for first-time players .
Export goods can be set to a fixed value of 4 VP each, which eliminates the rarity of goods and makes this part of the game easier. You can also ignore scoring and door tiles, which I didn’t even mention in the instruction section because it increases complexity.
In 2 - A game with five players , you can shrink the map to make it more tense and easier to navigate. Finally, you can even get rid of clans and make the game symmetrical, as everyone will have to follow a similar strategy. I don’t recommend this method as it really takes the gist out of the game.
Advantages disadvantages
Advantages:
- An amazing mix of mechanics
- Fast play
I don’t know how they managed it, but the designers of Clans of Caledonia managed to combine different mechanics into a single game and work so well. It could be a simple game to accommodate workers and fall into a sea of average titles, but instead it brings something different to the table, which makes it truly remarkable.
Game speed and complexity are one of the most difficult aspects to balance. The more complicated the game, the longer the players will have to take action, which can really slow down the game. Clans of Caledonia keeps pace despite all the action and mechanics, and the four-player game can be completed in just 2 hours!
Weaknesses:
- The box is too small
- Lack of resource tokens
The only real complaints I have are about the physical components of the game. The box barely fits the components when they are tightly packed from the factory and with all the carved pieces in place. If you are anything but precise, you will find it difficult to close the box and should not store it vertically.
The lack of box organizers means that the packaging process will be time consuming and laborious. You will need to sort the components, fold them well and fold them into individual bags. I’m sure there’s a better and easier way to organize a box.
Another minor complaint is that there are not enough wooden resources in the game. Yes, they are replaced by multiplier plates, but it doesn’t feel the same as stacking all those barrels of whiskey.
Overview of Caledonian clans (TL; DR)
It’s hard to find a separate economic game, but Clans of Caledonia manages to create a unique experience with the perfect mix of different mechanics. It’s too complicated a game to be your first Eurogame experience, but once you play some easier games, you’ll be ready to pick up Clans of Caledonia and enjoy it to the fullest!
Conclusion: a verdict?
Let’s be honest, board games aren’t cheap , and most enthusiasts can’t afford more than a few games a year, so every purchase counts. The Clans of Caledonia is one of the games you simply must try, especially if you are a fan of economy / euro / accommodation workers.
I’ve played a lot of Eurogames of varying difficulty and difficulty over the last year, but Clans of Caledonia still managed to impress and impress me.
Despite the many actions available, the course of the game is surprisingly fast, as everyone can perform only one action per move and is quite intuitive. There’s also no need to plan 5 steps in advance - you’re working towards your clan’s strengths and making goods step by step.
I really like adding market values and how you can influence them through trading. If you accumulate too much, someone else could break in and sell, which will ruin the value of your goods. However, the price will stabilize again as players take advantage of the favorable price to increase their stocks.
The only mechanic that can really break your brain is the value of the exported goods. When you perform export tasks, you earn export goods and move them on their tracker at the same time. However, the one who is the lowest on the track is worth the most points, so he is actually a very complicated mechanic. However, the application of the simplified rule that all goods have the same value classifies this problem.
- Board games.
- Publisher: Karma Games.
- Subject Title: Caledonian Clans.
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