Rio Grande Games Maria Theresa and The War of The Austrian Succession Board Game

Maria is a fairly abstract strategy game of the 18th century war of the Austrian succession.Three players (it can be played with two, but you don't get the full Machiavellian glory of the three player version) control a few simple pieces on a board with two gorgeous maps of western and central Europe. A hand of cards is used to resolve conflicts and political events, and to reinforce the on-board pieces. A full 12-turn game can take up to 5 hours, but this is unusual as the game is quite unstable and tends to resolve decisively within 7-8 turns.Although the game mechanics are really quite straightforward and intuitive, they create deep, strategic options for the players, so the game becomes really immersive; you can focus on your strategy and not worry about rules issues. Although the battles are quick and simple, because they are often decisive they create great tension - I've actually felt my pulse increasing during battles... An interesting design feature is that although there are 4 factions represented (Austria, France, Prussia and the Pragmatics - yes, really), they are controlled by three players, one of whom is 'schizophrenic', controlling Prussia against Austria but also the Pragmatics allied to Austria. Sounds odd, but it works beautifully. This is probably a good point at which to note that the game is not balanced or symmetrical; each faction has different starting conditions and challenges, and needs to be played differently. This may bother some people, but I find that it adds to the charm and interest of the game. There is a little luck involved, from the cards that are drawn each turn, and quite a lot of hidden information, which I find helps to reduce analysis paralysis, but the game consistently rewards good play; it is not luck driven.Maria is probably not a good family game (depends on your family, I guess), but it does deliver loads of tense, immersive, historically interesting gameplay from simple and easy to learn (and teach) rules. I've played a lot of very good games over the years, ranging from gateway games like Ticket to Ride and Carcassone through Euros like Agricola and Troyes, to full-on wargames like Angola. Maria is easily my favorite though, a quite stunning game.

Item is of splendid quality! Packaging was top-notch. Notably quick dispatch. Seller is first-class.

One of the best games out there with experienced players who understand the ideas of containment. Super unique as a three player war game, which means that one has to play the other players off eachother just as much as one has to figure out the best 'rush-straight-ahead' tactics against an opponent. With beginners the game tends to become quickly unbalanced, with two players jockying for victory and the third completely painted into the corner and being in the awkward position of playing king maker. But it is highly replayable, and has extreme strategic depth and subtly, at the level of both tactics and strategy.