This week, we had another go at Antike. Last time, we were pretty impressed with the game and the same was true on this occasion. This time, we played on the German side of the board. Mark G pursued the same line as he did previously by building a formidable army but again didn’t take real advantage by attacking some close temples. Mark K and I had a couple of skirmishes over Brittany but the game remained pretty peaceful most of the time. Phil started in North Africa and eventually got his fleet of ships going. John, however, was the man with the plan. He tried to keep himself to himself, built temples on his gold cities and played the advancement table for all it was worth. Once he got to 6 Ancient Personalities, the rest of us wised-up and did our best to thwart any further progress. Nige and Mark K between them stopped him from building a sixth temple, but eventually John was able to sack a temple and gain his final trophy for his first win of the year.

Antike remains a very impressive design. There is still plenty to explore and everyone can approach it in different ways and still feel they have a chance of winning. I’m not sure there is a killer strategy. Excellent stuff.