Tabletop Spotlight: Ethnos
Can you lead your tribe to victory in a new board game from CMON & Spaghetti Western Games – It’s Ethnos!
Our friends at Dragon’s Lair Comics & Fantasy are always bringing in game that make me want to stop what we are doing and just play them. Ethnos is on of those games and I’m glad we’re showing it off on this edition of the Tabletop Spotlight:
Ethnos is a game that is all about trying to grab territory but it’s how you grab the territory that is interesting. You take the role of a leader that is trying to gather members of the different tribes together to stake your claim in one of 6 different areas. How you do that is by forming a party. Parties can be made of any of the creatures from the different tribes – however, they must either match based on color or based on symbols. So in essence it’s a card matching game. Once you get a match, you can place one of your player tokens on the territory. The player with the most symbols at the end of the age get the points for that area.
Now, that sounds simple right? But there are some catches. First off, Party leaders are all have special abilities. Those can vary but they have an impact on how the parties are formed and other effects. Secondly, your party is drafted from the same pool as everyone else – and it’s open drafting. That means people can see what you’re going for and make things challenging. And to top it off, there are 12 tribes total, but you only use 6 per game – that lends to a lot of replay value! There are also alternative ways to generate Victory Points besides taking territories. That helps players who might be a little behind get back in the game too.
Overall, I was really pleased with Ethnos. This is one of those games that is really easy to get into but hard to win. The barriers to playing are pretty low but the strategy to win is deep. In my mind that is a pretty cool combination. I haven’t even talked about the crazy cool art on the cards or the fantastical setting. It’s just a really well done game and I recommend playing it if you get a chance. Ethnos is in select stores now and should be available from CMON soon!
Ethnos
Ethnos is a mythical realm filled with creatures big and small. As the last Age ended, war and revolt left the inhabitants without someone to lead them into their future. Giants, Dwarves, Elves, and Centaurs have not traditionally gotten along, but a leader is a diplomat as much as a warrior. Now, you’ll have to bring the residents of Ethnos together under one rule. Over the course of three Ages, you will gather followers and convince them to band together to conquer the six Kingdoms. Featuring a classic design by Paolo Mori and breathtaking illustrations by legendary artist John Howe, Ethnos transports you to a world on the brink of disaster. Only a steady hand and a pure heart will be able to lead the inhabitants of Ethnos into the future.
Can you lead your faction to victory? One way to find out!
