Subject: Barbarian Kings: caveat emptor Robert Rossney wrote in message <9cev4q$cfg@dispatch.concentric.net>... It's very nice that Barbarian Kings has finally seen print. And as someone who sold a copy of The Creature That Ate Sheboygan on ebay for an appalling sum, I'm in no position to be critical of Jolly Roger Games, or anyone else who figures out how to cash in on Greg Costikyan's game-geek cachet. However, for those who have not been as fortunate as I, a warning about what you get for your $50. (Yes, that's $10 more than Empires of the Ancient World costs.) A big bag of wooden pieces, a two-sided unmounted paper map, a rule booklet, and two sheets of uncut stickers. It's bad enough that you have to cut the stickers out yourself. But they're also too large to fit on the wooden pieces in any sensible way. And the game is unplayable without them. I'm not likely ever to assemble and play this. On the other hand, that means that a decade from now I'll probably be able to sell it as a mint Costikyan classic. Bob Rossney rbr@well.com David desJardins wrote in message ... "Robert Rossney" writes: > However, for those who have not been as fortunate as I, a warning about what > you get for your $50. (Yes, that's $10 more than Empires of the Ancient > World costs.) A big bag of wooden pieces, a two-sided unmounted paper map, > a rule booklet, and two sheets of uncut stickers. Why is the map two-sided? How are you supposed to use the back? David desJardins BoulderG wrote in message <20010428140329.29646.00001525@ng-ff1.aol.com>... > >Why is the map two-sided? How are you supposed to use the back? it's two-sided because one is the original map with the names costikyan wanted but spi replaced and one is the map used by the play-by-mail people. the blurb in our next newsletter: When published twenty years ago by SPI this was a good fantasy game but today it's pitifully outdated (a combat results table that will make a grognard grimace, little stick-on counters that have to be cut-out and look like cutting-edge game graphics for 1964, a paper "game board"). Throwing in a bag of painted wooden bits doesn't make this a German style game or justify the $50 price tag--or even our $32.50. So, unless, you want it for nostalgic reasons or because it's a classic, you'll probably do better spending your money on WIZARD KINGS, DISKWARS, DRAGONEPIC, BATTLEMISTS, or BATTLE MASTERS. 2-6, 14+ jim http://BoulderGames.com