Phalanx Hannibal and Hamilcar: Rome vs. Carthage Board Game

Just recieved this game. My son is studying the Punic Wars in school. In the past, i have used board games to supplement my kids education with a lot of fun and success. I have just cracked it open and what a monster! It fills the box to the brim and then some. The components are top notch. The rule books are over size full color and printed on quality semi gloss paper. There are two game boards, one for the Hamilcar sub-game and on for the Hannibal sub-game. Both maps are mounted, double sided with excellent art-work. The miniatures are plastic 40mm and well sculpted. The plastic is semi-sweet and, if the miniature, gets bent, it can be re-shaped with hot water. There are 3 manuals, a rule book, a scenario manual and a playbook. The playbook contains a programmed tutorial which allows for one to learn this game. I have heard this game criticized for being too complex. If you were looking for something like Risk or Monopoly, this game is not for you. This is an epic game, but I think the playbook will introduce players like myself and my son. There is also some good history write up contained within the rules, so I'd say this is more of an experience than a game. Overall, the price point is a little high, but worth it in my opinion. The quality of components and potential replay value is very high.

The game is fine. Who puts a heavy box into a flimsy box with no packing materials. Amazon you should be ashamed of how this was packaged. tsk tsk tsk....

Hannibal and Hamilcar: Rome vs. Carthage is a fantastic game set during the Punic Wars. One player takes on the role of the Carthaginians while the other takes on the role of Rome. The game board is a map of the Western Mediterranean Sea, with North Africa, Spain, and Italy prominently highlighted. The game comes with a number of scenarios to choose from. Each space has a political control marker, or a tribal control marker, and each player will have a number of generals. Each round a number of strategy cards are dealt out to each player. Players can play a card for its point value to activate a general (if the number is equal to or higher than a general's strategy card). You can also use it manipulate the political control markers on the board, or to mobilize combat units on the board. Or, if the color on the card matches your faction, you can play it for the event which usually will give your side some advantage or force a disadvantage upon your enemy. Eventually, as you are activating generals and moving them around the board, you will come into contact with your enemy, and a battle will ensue.When battles occur each side receives a number of battle cards based on a number of factors. The player that begins the battle will lay down a battle card, which usually corresponds to maneuver of some kind (right flank, left flank, double envelopment, probe, etc...), and the opposing player must them match the card with one of his own. After he successfully matches the card, he may roll a die to see if he then gains the initiative and may lay down his own card. Otherwise, the original player maintains initiative and lays down another card. Battle goes back and forth like this until one player cannot match a battle card. Depending on the last battle card played that could not be matched, a die is rolled and compared to a chart to determine how many losses both sides will take and any special penalties that apply. Players continue playing strategy cards and fighting battles until one side fulfills the scenario's victory objectives. There is also a sudden death victory condition in which if one side conquers the capital of the other the game immediately ends. Whoever manages to do that first, wins Hannibal and Hamilcar!I picked up the original Avalon Hill edition of this game back in the late 1990s, and it was a little over my head. I did, however, really enjoy the combat. Sometime around 2012 or so a friend of mine and I broke it out again and fell in love with it. I was very excited to see this edition brought to life with cool minis, beautiful artwork, and a magnificent new game board. The game is filled with tough decisions, the hallmark of any good game. How best do you use the strategy cards? Should you use the points to build your forces, or should you use it to maneuver a general to cover one of your cities? Or should you play it for the event, knowing it can screw over your opponent's strategy but may also throw a monkey wrench into your plans as well? The heart of the game, however, is the battle mechanic. I love the back and forth of the battle cards. It is simply one of the most intense systems featuring a bluff and double-bluff I have ever played, since the fate of the game can rest on the outcome. All told, this is a fantastic production from start to finish. Having said that, the rule book is good, not great, and really takes some studying to understand. Once you've got it down, however, you will be richly rewarded. This is a great game for fans of historical wargames, and even casual gamers looking to upgrade to something new will get a kick out of it.The Discriminating Gamer

It has a lot of history and information about the war and it is very accurate...but it is too accurate. The rules are too complex and complicated, it takes too much time to play the game and read the rules. It’s not even fun, I give the three stars based on the history and the details that the game include.