From: Roberto Chiavini <mumaye@mail.dada.it>
Subject: more reviews

The Golden Horde (Excalibre games)

Abysmal product from the mid-Seventies by a house noted for having
taken several products from other companies to publish in the late
Eighties (like Yaquinto and Phoenix titles).

The game should be a simulation of the Mongol invasions of the XIII
century A.D., but it's a total failure, even for the standards of more
than twenty years ago. The graphics are really poor: the map it's not
really bad (only a little bland, with two color shades), but the
counters are really terrible: they have only two numbers on them (combat
strength and movement factor) and are yellow for the Mongols and green
for all the other peoples (as the numbers are black, they are not too
readable on the Allied units).

The rules are simply too simple, almost non existent: three pages,
written really large and for most parts almost void of any utility.
There are no ZOC, combat is not mandatory, stacking is two for the
Allies and three for the Mongols. The CRT is terrible: the results are
not very well balanced and, as the Allies are limited in their
counterattacks, as they must remain inside their territorial borders,
for the Mongol player is easy to destroy his enemies one by one. Yes,
there is also a Siege CRT, but it's almost "chrome".

What more can I say? I've played more than 300 games in my gaming life
and this one is certainly one of the poorer of the lot.

For a better game on this subject (not itself a masterpiece, but better
at least for solitaire play) take a look for SimCan's Scourge of God.
              
I would rate this game 2 out of 10.