Its like a mix of Carcasonne and greek battles. You place tiles and fight using minitures. It has me intrigued.
Anyone here played Hellas?
Sun, 08/15/2004 - 21:44
Mon, 08/16/2004 - 00:16
#1
Anyone here played Hellas?
I've played it. It's collecting dust at the back of my closet now.
The miniatures themselves are awful. They have tiny bases and they're almost impossible to stand up on. They're also great at knocking each other over. A truck going by outside is enough to knock over every piece on the board. Trying to move a piece without doing the same is like pick-up-sticks, but much harder.
As far as the in-game mechanics, it's an interesting little game. It feels like it might have a good game in there but after a few playings, I just couldn't find it. It sounds a lot better than it is.
I have a lot of the Kosmos 2-player games. This is by far the worst I've ever seen (and I also have The Search, which got horrible reviews; this is far worse). I was buying a lot of those games without even reading too much about them. Hellas put a stop to that.
Get Kahuna or The Duel instead if you want a game from that line.
Mon, 08/16/2004 - 08:55
#3
Anyone here played Hellas?
And now for something completely different...
Hellas is among my favorite games in Kosmos' two player series. The pieces are great - I've never had any issues with them remaining upright - and the game is at its essence a two player wargame playable in a half hour. I think it's quite comparable to Battle Cry - not quite as good, but a much higher enjoyment to space ratio.
I wouldn't recommend Hellas for everyone - it _is_ a wargame, which will be a negative for many. But between opportunities for clever tile play, opportunities for clever card play, and a good central mechanisms, I would recommend it for those not bothered by the wargame aspect.
(FWIW, my other favorite Kosmos 2 player games include Heave Ho!, Rosenkoenig [though I'm not sure if it counts, since I prefer the four player rules], Starship Catan, and Tally Ho!)
Joe
Mon, 08/16/2004 - 10:23
#5
Anyone here played Hellas?
So far, the Kosmos 2-player line has been really hit-or-miss for me. I adore "Lost Cities", like "LotR: the Confrontation", mildly enjoy "Odin's Raben", don't care for "Settlers: the cardgame" and "Balloon Cup", well...
Let us know what you think of "Hellas". I'm quite intrigued by it myself, although I don't think my girlfriend would like it and she's the one that I play the most 2-player games with.
- René Wiersma
Mon, 08/16/2004 - 13:07
#7
Anyone here played Hellas?
I've seen incredibly varying opinions on Hellas. Some people I know love it, but they're usually people open to playing wargames. I don't play wargames (not out of moral reasons, but only because I'm terrible at them, and they don't bring me the joy that other games do), but if you enjoy them, you might like it.
Many Hellas fans insist that it's not so much a wargame as it is a game of hand management; but the wargame elements are strong enough that I really can't get into it.
This echoes my feelings. I like a lot of the designer's other games, but Hellas felt far less than the sum of its parts. A friend, who'd bought it, agreed with my sentiment that it seemed to rely on tit-for-tat island-hopping and we didn't get any feeling of strategy or decision-making.
I was dissapointed, but I know some people like it a lot.
All the best,
Richard.