by Alan Emrich
Columbia Games' Liberty is one of their best "wooden block" games that I've ever played (and I've played most of them). But then, I love strategic-level games on the American Revolution. That Liberty is simple, elegant, fairly fast-playing, and more intriguing to play each time one finishes a game of it is all to the good.
Since I'm the kind of guy who likes to really get
involved with the games I enjoy, I've made a Player's Aid for Liberty.
I've created a Step Track to be placed beside the map next to the Year Track.
Since the game comes with two spare blocks, one can be used to keep track of the
current Year while the other can keep track of what current Step is. Not only is
this a handy way to make sure that activities stick to the Sequence of Play, but
there are some rules reminders for each step as well. To get the Liberty
Step Track Player's Aid, just click on its picture to download an MS-Word
version or
click here
for a .pdf version.
It prints out on a single sheet. I think you'll
find it useful.
For more skinny on Liberty, click here. This is the Columbia Games' official Liberty page and includes a .pdf file with the latest rules for your download and inspection. It won't take you long to see the potential in this game, I assure you. To check out what they're saying about this game, check out the Liberty Forum on www.consimworld.com.
Variants
Variant ideas are rampant among players of Liberty (and there are a good many of them). Below are my contributions bases upon repeated playing of the game:
No Prisoners!
Captured blocks can be retrieved in a manner similar to taking a replacement (6.0). That is, they exist in their own separate Prisoner Pool, are shuffled before drawing, and you may use each action point to draw one (1) block.
However, these blocks are not inspected after being drawn, nor are they deployed onto the map. Instead, they are simply transferred, face-down, from the enemy's Prisoner Pool to your own Replacement Pool.
Thus, you can replenish your captured forces and get them back into play via your Replacement Pool, but you're spending additional actions to do. Also, each such draw is essentially buying a pig in a poke. It's better than nothing, but you're still better off suffering as few captured pieces as possible. This variant was devised to offset the gross demoralization that happens when a lot of early captures take place to one side or another. It's important to keep hope alive and offer a 'safety valve' strategic option to make sure the game remains interesting for both sides to continue right up to the end.
Hand Balancing
We find the most unbalancing thing is a great disparity in relative hand values, particularly when this happens multiple (or worse, consecutive) times to the same side. To help minimize the extreme consequences of this occurrence, we use these one or more of these variants:
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Each Game Turn, if one player reveals a '1' action card, and the other player reveals a '3' action card, treat the '1' action card as if it were a '2' action card. |
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Prior to playing the first card each year, both players pass, face-down, one card to the other player (who adds it to their hand after their own card has been passed). The card passed must be the of the type that player has the most of. If they have a tie for most of one type, they may pass any tying card type. For example, you're dealt a 2x Replacement (3), 2x Action (1), and 1x Action (3) cards. You may pass either a Replacement (3) or an Action (1) card to your opponent. |