Fantasy Flight Games 'CIV01' FFGCIV01 Sid Meier's Civilization: A New Dawn

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Sadly, though, on converting to analog, lots of the granular detail and complexity that made the original so engrossing was sidelined. So, while it’s a solid experience in its own right, diehard Civ fans may not quite get what they’re looking for. Conclusion: Verdict? The main mechanism that diverts Civ: A New Dawn from its forebears is the Focus Row. Five action cards occupy five numbered slots (1-5) in front of each player. On their turn, a player will select a card to activate with the card’s action modified either by the number of the slot or by the terrain type associated with the slot. For example, activating a Science card yields 1 to 5 points of advances in technology. Activating an Economy card allows a player to move a trade caravan as long as they are of certain terrain types that match the action card’s slot or lower. The action card “Focus Row” shows a single card for each action. The power level of the action is indicated by the slot from the bar above the cards. Knowing where you want certain cards at the right time for maximum impact is crucial. Moving onto the different focus card types you have at your disposal. The five areas are culture, science, economy, industry and military. Culture cards allows you to place down control tokens,which help you expand your territory and claim any resources that might be nearby.

Build 1 world wonder. Your production equals this slot's number, plus 1 for each of your districts on the map. When you defeat a barbarian, gain 1 resource of your choice from the supply (in addition to a trade token). Now it’s time to build the map. This is done at random by following the specific rules in the rulebook. Then, for every icon on the board – such as resources, barbarians, and city-states – place the corresponding token on it. By advancing their culture, science, economy, industry, and military, rulers can ensure their nation’s survival through the ages. However, true leaders want their civilization to not only survive, but thrive by advancing their pursuits and completing agendas. To become the supreme world power, a player must complete at least one agenda on each victory card presented at the beginning of the game. At the start of the first player’s turn, if a player has completed one agenda on each victory card, that player wins and ensures that their civilization will continue to flourish.

Define Your Civilization

After you place a control token on a mountain space, you may place a control token on a space adjacent to that space (which can trigger the effect again). Each player’s tech dial is put to zero and a capital city is placed on a free star space nearest to each player to act as base camp. City state cards relating to the ones that are in play are put nearby and finally three victory cards are laid out and the game can begin.

As mentioned before, the artwork and design is great, with time and effort being put into making this feel like a tribute to its gaming ancestor from the 90s. Having eight different races to guide through the ages adds variety each time you play and the unique focus card play system is refreshing. The tech dial upgrades give you the sense of improving your choices as you progress too. Once you've grasped the basics, you spend minimal time browsing the rule book looking for clarification on things, so again another plus.A big pull for A New Dawn is the player action system. You have five terrain slots with a focus card under each, ranging from the first slot as the weakest to the fifth being strongest. You select an action from a focus card in front of you and once it’s played, that card is moved into the first slot and the rest are shuffled up one place. Playing Civilization A New Dawn (Credit: Fantasy Flight Games) A New Dawn – Is it Civilized or Grass At the start of your first turn, choose another player. Take 1 diplomacy card of your choice from that player. You can have any number of diplomacy cards from the chosen player. Culture – place control tokens on a hex adjacent to your existing territory and claim its resources. The higher up the focus row, the more tokens you can place. Also, you may only place tokens on terrain that matches the slot the card was in.

A leader may choose to create a peaceful civilization defined by artistic and intellectual pursuits. For artistic pursuits, the culture focus cards allow players to place control tokens, which can expand their territory and claim resources. The card’s focus row slot also determines which types of terrain on which the player can place control tokens. For the intellectual, the science focus cards advance a player’s tech dial, allowing the player to discover new technologies. The dial advances spaces equal to the number of the science card’s focus row slot. Civilization: A New Dawn isn’t an overly complex game to play, however it might take a couple of turns before everything falls into place. This is partly because I think the rulebook makes things look a little more complicated than they really are. However, it does handily provide a map tile layout to use for your first game as you walk through the first few turns.

As turns progress, players expand their territory, battle barbarians, grow resources and develop their civilization, all in an effort to achieve three of the agendas set out on the three victory cards. Your First Game of Civilization: A New Dawn As we all do our part to stop the spread of COVID-19 through social distancing, it can be difficult to fill out the player count for our favorite board games. This new reality sparked a discussion in the Fantasy Flight Games “digital office” about which of our non-cooperative games might be best suited to being played solo! Since I had recently designed the upcoming Terra Incognita expansion, Civilization: A New Dawn came to mind quite naturally.

Industry – this lets you build a new city or wonder. If building a city, you may only build it on the terrain type that corresponds with the focus slot the card is in. It must also be on the territory you control or where you have a caravan. If (to both wow the world and grant yourself powerful abilities) you are building a wonder, the slot contributes towards its cost. Move each of your caravans up to 6 spaces. They can move into spaces matching this slot's terrain or lower, as well as water.Or, build 1 city on a legal space of this slot's terrain or lower within 4 spaces of a friendly space. You can count through water. Additionally, the game comes with several double-sided multi-hex map tiles to create a large and diverse terrain. Besides the landscape, spaces also include neutral city-states, barbarians, and resource spawns. Each of these interacts with the player in a somewhat expected way. A player can send a trade caravan to city-states, conquer the barbarians that harass them, and place control tokens on the board to expand their empire and control resources.