  |
Avalon Hill/$35 |
|
|
Avalon Hill/$35 |
|
Nicollo Machiavelli, one of the great political minds of the Italian Renaissance, dubbed the leaders of his world's city states and nations "Princes," and formulated a philosophy in which the most cynical, manipulative, and ruthless were the most successful. Players of Avalon Hill's Machiavelli can assume the roles of such dark, pragmatic personages, and control the destiny of Italy and its environs through bribery, assassination, diplomacy, and warfare.
Machiavelli is a variant of Avalon Hill's justly-famous Diplomacy, and utilizes the same basic mechanics; the 1995 version is a complete revision of the company's 1980 version of the game. It is intended for two to eight players, each of whom controls a major state of Italy or a neighboring power. As the game's introduction states, "If you are power mad, treacherous by nature, and can lie with a straight face, then Machiavelli is the game for you!"
Action takes place in Renaissance Italy from 1454 to 1529 on a large, handsome map that depicts the provinces and city states of the Italian peninsula, its immediate neighbors, and the various arms of the Mediterranean Sea that surround it. Switzerland lies on the northern edge of the board, Sicily on the south, Sardinia on the west, and the states that briefly comprised Yugoslavia are on the east, across the Adriatic from Italy.
Appropriately, the very game components of Machiavelli are on a Princely scale - the board is 22 inches by 32 inches, and the game pieces are relatively large (the smallest are 1/2 inch square, and the others are 3/4 inch square, and 1/2 inch by 1 inch). These large components help ensure that clumsy hands (or those unsteady from lack of sleep or too much caffeine) will not fumble and scatter pieces, a constant threat with games scaled less grandly (some of them are shown actual size at bottom of the page).
The complexity of Machiavelli is rated by Avalon Hill as intermediary between low and medium, and this is accurate. The basic rules appear on the first 10 pages, copiously illustrated with examples and graphics. Advanced rules and scenarios take up the remaining half of the rule book.
Combat resolution is very streamlined (following the trend established in Diplomacy), and will probably not appeal to players who like in-depth, complex warfare rules. However, this simplicity emphasizes that warfare is simply one phase of Machiavelli, and not necessarily the most important one. Assassination, buying off enemy forces, and raising rebellions are among the options available. And, whereas battle itself is handled cursorily, maneuver and strength of force are very important.
One potential disappointment to fans of Machiavelli the historian is that in his works he contrasts the political systems of France and Ottoman Turkey. Although these powers are represented in the game, the idiosyncracies Machiavelli describes are not reflected, and both entities function more or less identically. Nonethless, real-world history permeates the concepts behind Machiavelli, and as with many other Avalon Hill games, players will get a lively history lesson in the course of the game. And, of course, an opportunity to change that history...
Machiavelli rates 5 pips on a 6-point scale.
 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
|
