
Competitive
Anachronism Review: Epic battles beyond chronology!
08/01/22 0 comments
Imagine Ramses II against Achilles, or Spartacus against Genghis Khan. This is only possible in Anachronism, a strategic card game to make your brain fry!
Anachronism

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Scenario

Summoner Wars
with strong chess strategic appeal.Anachronism, the card game


Components
About the components, the cards are of excellent quality, really thick and rigid. Two 6-sided dices comes with the Basic Kit The board is made of paper, which I didn't like—but you can't have everything in this life. The box is small, its cost is low, it wouldn't even be possible to put a board the size of the arena that the cards use. The way out was to make a paper Arena in the best “Summoner Wars” 1st edition style.Card Anatomy

Attack Grid
, that is, the red arrow where your Warrior is, as well as the values where they can attack. The right side of the Attack Grid shows the Warrior's elemental alignment (wind, water, earth, fire, metal, wood, and ether). Below the Attack Grid is the Warrior's name and then (below) their image. The 4 values in the lower-left corner are respectively (from top to bottom): health, number of actions, experience and damage. The table on the left side of the values brings the characteristics of the Warrior, their abilities, and a text with specific curiosities of that culture.
Support
, in this case, anArmor
, is simpler to analyze and understand.Ad

Weapon Card
has some peculiarities, it has the Initiative in the upper-left corner, the Attack Grid in the center and the Damage Value on the right. Otherwise, it follows like the other cards described above.Game Setup and Initial Strategies
“Everyone can see the tactics of my conquests, but no one can discern the strategy that generated the victories.”
- Sun Tzu
Turns
The game has 4 turns. Simultaneously on each turn, the players reveal their cards, on the 1st turn, they reveal card 1, they check the initiatives, whoever has the highest value starts, then the Warrior performs the number of actions they have, moving orthogonally (horizontally and vertically), attacking, defending, changing direction, etc. For attacking, remember the Attack Grid. Well, the Warrior can only attack if the opponent is in any of the places marked with values in their Attack Grid, that is, it is necessary to position well before attacking to make the best attack possible. Once this is done, the dice are rolled, bonuses are applied, the defender makes the same roll with the dice and applies any bonuses, and the highest final value wins. If there is a tie, the one with the highest Experience wins. So, is this game all about moving and attacking? Of course not - You need to be strategically positioned to hit your opponent and managing the amount of your actions to be able to get out of sight of the opponent's Attack Grid. Thought it was simple, didn't you? But what about the Weapon Attack Grid? Well, if you decide to use your weapon instead of the Warrior's basic attack, start to respect the Weapon Grid, another position totally different from the Warrior's, as it can be a ranged or melee weapon, in short, your position will be totally different if you are armed.Ad
Strategic Tips
“The ability to achieve victory by changing and adapting according to the enemy is called genius.”
- Sun Tzu
“Those who know when to fight and when to wait triumph.”
- Sun Tzu
End of Game
Teaching Tips for Anachronism
History
. As stated earlier, all of them have a text explaining a bit of the culture of that Warrior, that weapon, armor, inspiration or supporters, which makes reading them a History class. It's worth, and I recommend, a search on the internet about your Warrior's life — you'll be in for many surprises when you learn about their history, achievements, and even the strategies used to win. You learn by playing. It must be considered that calculations are also used in combats, and at least 2 basic operations will be exercised:addition
andsubtraction
, which will allow children to develop these skills.Ad
spatial location
, as it is necessary to choose the best position for attacking and defending your Warrior, so the use of spatial location and strategy is combined. There are only benefits for this simple game to play, to explain, but very deep in the strategy and in its teachings. In time, Sun Tzu is present in one of the Warriors kits! I recommend definitely Anachronism in your collection.
Cesar Cusin
Board Game and RPG collector/player (Master). PHD in Information Science. Master in Computer Science. College professor. Researcher in the area of Web Accessibility. Consultant in the area of Information and Technology Management. I support the Chiefs (NFL), Lakers (NBA) and I'm a Ferrarista (F1).
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