I don't know what to think of the new Iron Dragon.
Of the scribblies it was always my favourite. Only played it 2 or 3 times though, and my memories of actual play are dim.
I always kind of wanted it, the only scribbly that had that effect on me.
I'm not sure I like the new box art - it seems kind of muddy. A gentleman over at boardgamegeek has helpfully posted side by side photographic comparisons of the two editions.
I've recently got glasses, not much correction though. There's concerns in the forums that the new edition is less kind to deteriorating eyesight. Which is a bit silly as it had a big fan base all of whom now may be suffering deterioration of vision.
Iron Dragon came out before Ticket to Ride and its myriade variants. Will my patience for the scribbly form of game have been destroyed by the quicker Euros I've been playing for decades now?
Is it World in Flames vs Memoir '44?
What do you think?
Oh, and here's a link to an article from Game Trade Magazine.
Also will treatises appear on exactly how best to Dragon your Train?
https://www.gametrademagazine.com/Home/1/1/58/581?articleID=190468
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ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how I feel about this new interpretation of the game. I love Martin Wallace's crayon games. Martian Rails is far and away my favorite. Empire Builder, Lunar Rails, Nippon Rails, and Russian Rails are next, in that order. Then it's Iron Dragon, and the abysmal Australian Rails last. I've never played China or Euro. I absolutely love the idea of Iron Dragon and wanted to love it, but felt they really cut too many corners on the production; the monochrome board, chips and cards made it take too long to find the right bits as we played. We also felt they made the underground tunnel too difficult to use, and so it went mostly ignored.
ReplyDeleteMy real hope was they were going to fix the tunnel and add some color to make the game faster. Unfortunately, I think they went too far with the art so it now feels completely out of place with the rest of the series, and switching to cardboard chips is more than a little disappointing. I feel it's a let down after a unnecessarily long wait.
I guess going back to your original question, I'd recommend owning at least one crayon rail game. Lunar for a shorter game, or Nippon for 2-players. If you can invest a good three hours for three or four players, I'd get Martian or Empire. I just find them relaxing, until the exciting mad dash during the last 15 minutes. It's not a 45 minute Ticket to Ride, but there's still nothing quite like them and have their own unique niche.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your thoughtful insight SGT Dave.
ReplyDeleteI've played Nippon, which seemed, obviously, really crowded and cramped with more than 2. Didn't really appeal. I have a soft spot for the Australia Rail, but that's more because we played in ON THE INDIA-PACIFIC and were actually just about playing it real time, we passed through Cook, both in reality and the game at the same time. Wouldn't buy it. Crayon games are really themselves and a worthy, if sometimes frustrating genre. The fantasy aspect of Iron Dragon brought together my love of fantasy, and my love of trains, so if I do indulge in a scribbly, huh, I might look for someone getting rid of the old one if they prefer the new one.
It sounds cheesey, but if I ever get an original Iron Dragon again, I'm going to paint the outer rims of the chips. The symbols are so small, we waste a lot of time searching for what we need, so color coding is a must for me. But I agree having the fantasy element is a real plus. I think that's why Martian is my favorite, with all its John Carter references.
ReplyDeleteOkay, Martian sounds very cool.
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