-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- David Fristrom - 09:35am Apr 21, 2003 PST (#16434 of 16455) Out of the wrapper for me is Granada, Avalanche Press's game of the fall of Moslem Spain, 1481-1492. It was designed by Rob Markham, developed by Brian Knipple, with art by Terry Strickland and Peggy Gordon. The game is an attempt by Avalanche to produce a "Euro-style" (their words) boardgame, and I haven't yet figured out if the glass is half empty or half full. The components are definitely a step above an average wargame in quality, but for my tastes they don't reach full Euro quality. The 120 playing pieces are one inch square and quite thick, with decent if not great art work. However, they still have those annoying little stubs on the corners, which will need to be clipped or trimmed. But what is really annoying about the counters is that it is difficult to tell the two sides apart at first glance -- you have to look at the color of the strength number, since the background of the counters (blue sky over brown ground) is exactly the same for both sides. Compare this to the similar but superior counters in Phalanx games, which don't have stubs, have better artwork, and use different color backgrounds to distinguish the sides. The 22x17 inch map is nicely mounted with a glossy finish, though it does have the dreaded "valley" common to most mounted wargame maps; most mounted Euro game maps (again, see Phalanx) manage to avoid it. The appearance of the map has something of a period flavor but is still a bit blah. The biggest problem is again in usability. The map is point-to-point, with two kinds of roads (major and minor) indicated by two different kinds of dashed lines. The two are so similar that while it is always possible to distinguish the two if you look closely, they blend together at a casual glance, making it hard to look at the map and get the big picture of where the major routes are. In addition to the map and counters, there is a rule booklet (11 pages rather than the 8 pages promised on the back of the box and on Avalanche's web site), two off-map leader displays and a year/season display, nicely done with a glossy finish; one sheet of charts on really flimsy paper; and two ten-sided dice. What isn't there is the "combat display" also mentioned on the box and the web site, though it doesn't look like one is actually needed. The rules are pretty simple and straightforward. A die roll on a chart determines how many units/leaders can be activated on your turn, with leaders able to activate a number of units who move with them. Combat is resolved using the standard bucket-o-dice method (roll less than or equal to a unit's strength to cause a step loss; each unit has two steps). Making things a bit more interesting is the ability to put units in reserve (which can then be moved after the enemy moves but before combat), and castles and siege guns. But for such short, simple rules, there are way too many unanswered questions (I just posted a bunch in the Avalanche support folder). We're sort of used to this problem in wargames, and I'm sure that my questions will get answered and eventually we'll find out how the game is supposed to be played. And even without official answers, I could probably make up my own and play a decent game not too unlike what the designer intended. But it has left rather a sour taste in my mouth, and if I hadn't been punching out the counters while I read the rules, I might have tried to return it. If Avalanche really wants to publish high-quality games than can attract the Euro crowd, they need to work on the quality of the rules at least as much as the quality of the components.