Die Säulen der Erde - Duell der Baumeister
Author: Stefan Feld
Publisher: Kosmos
Year: 2009
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Prior Philip and bishop Waleran are rivals with very different ideas on which buildings are required to upgrade the city. While Philip aims to erect the most beautiful cathedral of England, Waleran is in favour of building a strong fortress. They compete for the resources they require to build their prestigious projects, and very often they end up in a fight. The other characters from Ken Follet's book Pillars of the Earth have taken sides in the conflict, and they try to help their favourite to complete his building first.
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The blue player, Philip, receives three building cards that represent three sections of a cathedral, and the red player, Waleran, receives a fortress in three parts. On each section, the building materials required to complete this section are depicted. Additionally, the game contains two stacks of cards, A and B.
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Each round, a grid of three by three cards is laid out. The cards enable the players to for example collect resources or money, to upgrade their resources to building materials or to obtain chits. The starting player chooses one row, column or diagonal, and he claims these cards using his three markers. Subsequently, the second player also claims three cards, but he has to choose a row, column or diagonal that overlaps with exactly one of the cards his opponent has claimed as well. Next, the players fight over this card.
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The battle is resolved using chits that depict high values on one side, and low values on the other side. The players take turns flipping their chits into the air, and the player with the highest total score wins the conflict. The winner places all his used chits back in the general stock. The loser is allowed to keep one of his used chits, but he immediately removes his marker from the card they were fighting over.
Now both players carry out the actions depicted on the cards they claimed. After performing their actions, they may build in one section of their building. They place (part of) the required building materials on the section card, and pay the indebted amount of money to the bank. When all materials have been delivered, the section is completed and the card is turned over.
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In the next round, again nine cards are laid out. As soon as the A-stack is finished, the B-stack is used. Both stacks are used twice before the game is over. The player that managed to finish the most sections of his building wins the game. The game also ends when one player completely finishes his building; he automatically wins the game.
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Who thinks 'Duell der Baumeister' is a two-player variant of the board game 'Die Säulen der Erde' is mistaken. The only thing these two games have in common is that they're both based on Ken Follet's bestseller, and the themes are therefore similar. In 'Duell der Baumeister' the theme is mainly visible in the cards; many cards involve characters or events from the book. Not that this is of any significance to the players, because they are bound to focus on the actions depicted on the cards, rather than the illustrations.
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It has to be mentioned that the illustrations are very beautiful, and they give the game the necessary atmosphere (well, why not mention the man right away - and again: Michael Menzel - R.). Because, speaking of atmosphere, this is completely lacking in the gameplay. The theme is just a very thin layer that doesn't seep through into the game. The mechanics are so clearly present that it feels like choosing the right row or column and throwing chits, rather than visiting markets, building a cathedral or attacking a fortress armed with pitchforks. This flipping of chits is a rather silly way to introduce randomness into the game. They never land where you want them to, moreover, they seem to have a preference to land where you don't want them to (errh, the four is floating on top...). A dice cup is the safest solution.
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A huge disadvantage of the game is that in the beginning, when both players have just started building, all cards/actions are interesting, but as soon as the building activities reach their peak, most cards have become useless. If a player only needs to melt his ore into a church bell, he has to wait for up to three rounds for the card that allows him to do so. And even then, chances are small that his opponent will let him claim the card without a fight!
