I finally got my hands on a more or less pristine copy of Britannia from Fantasy Flight Games. The cardboards chits had not been punched out but the board was little bit worn on the hinges and the box fell apart on one corner on opening more or less. But it's basically perfect and didn't cost a fortune.
I played it 2-3 times in total I believe at my brother's house between like 2005-2010 ish. First time ever I was blue and just failed utterly, didn't do so good with Boudicca/Belgae at start, attempted to be aggressive with the Picts and died, was wiped out as the Angles as is customary and failed to make a dent as the Normans which is standard from what I can see.
The second or third time (last time) I ever played it a few years later I was red and one of those times I won decisively. Maybe it was just once I played again and won or I am muddling the two memories together. Either way, I played as red at some point and won: Brigantes held out until end game, the Irish for a foothold in Wales, the Norsemen took a bite out of Scotland and the Saxons held England. Almost perfect way to get a ton of victory points and win but it was just luck and I probably had a better feel of the strategy of the game by then.
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I often test the rules of games so I can be ready to read the rules out for friends at later stage by playing them solitaire. I try to simulate as much conflict or cooperation as I can obviously its inferior to just playing it with other people. But at least when I hopefully get to break Britannia out with friends in a few weeks I'll be ready for rules queries and arbitration.
So I had the privilege of playing as the yellow (or formerly, purple) Romans for the first time and the various greens. In Britannia yellow have a reputation of scoring loads of points early as the Romans and kind of just hanging on until the end, with minor spurts of activity later in the game. Blue are the kind of the opposite, waiting for the Angles and especially the Normans at the end to make a difference. Green and Red score throughout the game.
So anyway here goes:
Yellow did OK but probably underperformed. Belgae submitted with 3 territories left, Welsh submitted after they broke through to the lowlands and Devon and the Brigantes did not surrender. The Romans reached one upland tile of Scotland but were done. They did lose to a few chance 6 rolls so that weakened their invasion a bit.
Red scored good points for occupying northern England/southern Scotland as the Brigs, causing chaos in southern England as the Saxons while the Irish underperformed in Wales.
Green got most of their points for being Welsh and staying in Wales and the Caledonians defended in northern Scotland. The Jutes were 'allowed' to get their due in Kent but made no impact.
Blue did OK as the Belgae-Boudicca insurrection, burning some Roman forts. The Picts held east Scotland so got what was due but the Angles underperformed in England.
Red scored good points for occupying northern England/southern Scotland as the Brigs, causing chaos in southern England as the Saxons while the Irish underperformed in Wales.
Green got most of their points for being Welsh and staying in Wales and the Caledonians defended in northern Scotland. The Jutes were 'allowed' to get their due in Kent but made no impact.
Blue did OK as the Belgae-Boudicca insurrection, burning some Roman forts. The Picts held east Scotland so got what was due but the Angles underperformed in England.
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Yellow in Round 7 scoring did poorly enough, as expected after the Roman invasion: Romano-Brits scored one or two kills and provinces but were being annihilated. The Scots I played aggressively with 'Scotland for the Scots!' and took a chunk out of western Scotland and the Brigs' territory in south Scotland-northern England so managed 10 points.
Red Brigs lost out to the Scottish aggression and could not keep Strathclyde, their main point scorer. The Irish failed to make a dent in Wales/western England. The Saxons continued to perform well in England and held their power base in Avalon-Hwicce-Downlands etc as well as much of eastern England the various -folks and -sexes haha.
Green just held nicely in Wales, making occasional jabs in to England but backing out. The Jutes held Kent as usual for 4 and the Caledonians stayed in northern Scotland defending.
Blue Belgae only held Lindsey as is customary only for 2 points. The Picts held eastern Scotland Moray-Mar etc. while the Angles did better this time at the expense of the Romano-Brits.
Yellow lost their lead by round 10 scoring, though the Scots continued to do OK.
Green continued to be Welsh in Wales but crucially did not capture York though they made a thrust at it. Caledonians and Jutes held on.
Blue still had Lindsey with the Belgae, east Scotland with the Picts and reasonable English control with the Angles.
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Yellow lost their Romano-Brits but gained the Dubliners, who took a bite out of England.
Red continued to dominate and be king a lot in England as the Saxons. The Norse arrived and took 2 of the 3 Caledonian territories in Scotland. The Irish and Brigs were finished.
Green Wales continued to be Welsh but had suffered a bit from Red and Yellow attacks. The Caledonians were now confined to the Hebrides alone. The Danes meanwhile arrived and took a huge chunk of the eastern coast of England, racking up points just for showing up. Payback for the death of the Jutes.
Blue continued to truck along as the Belgae and the Picts but crucially lost the Angles, sandwiched as they were between the Saxons and Danes.
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A situation emerged with a runaway leader, the Reds, so the 3 other 'players' 'agreed' to fight them as best as they could in a loose alliance while also trying to claw back the game in the last 3 rounds.
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A situation emerged with a runaway leader, the Reds, so the 3 other 'players' 'agreed' to fight them as best as they could in a loose alliance while also trying to claw back the game in the last 3 rounds.
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I did not expect this but I should have:
Yellow kept Scotland Scottish, while the Dubliners held on in Cheshire and north western England. The Norwegians arrived late and wiped out the Belgae and killed Harold.
Red got beaten down to only 2 territories by the end of the game. They made a valiant attempt to kill William in the middle of England but failed and tried to just hide in the southwest.
Green managed to take back Cornwall from the Reds and Wales kept scoring them consistent points. The Caldedonians survived in the Hebrides. The Danes smashed through York and killed William the Conqueror, making Svein King of England.
Blue got their Pict points and some props for beating up the Saxons and killing Harald but it was too late for them.
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So in the end the Alliance handed victory to the Greens. I learned a lot form the solo playtrhough, not least the rules but also how viable the Greens are, if a little boring sometimes. I'm still not sure how to do good as the Blues. Nice to see the Yellow have their day with the Norwegians and the Dubliners and Scots are no slouches either. Reds continue to be unreal in my mind and have the clearest strategy of holding 4 different parts of Britain with 4 different players.
Anyway I'll come back later with an update on how the real game with 4 players does!
