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Any Excalibur players?


MrTrust

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After some decent amount of time spent with it a few years ago, I've been trying to make a go of winning Chris Crawford's Excalibur.  It's a beautiful game, really, but I also feel a bit like the early hominids in 2001: A Space Odyssey, gathered in front of the monolith, when playing it.  I know this thing is trying to show me something, trying to get me to master some more complex concept, but I just can't do much more than smash animal bones on the ground.

 

I figured out how to grow Camelot's wealth fairly quickly: keep taxes around 60%, keep your army well below the tax rate for the first 20 weeks or so, and lay low.  Build up to ~30 men, and concentrate on pillaging the universally reviled Hengist's kingdom when he goes out campaigning.  Whack him, Royns, and Penda with Merlin's pestilence early on.  Your neighbors will be too poor to harass Camelot all that much, you can fill your coffers with plunder, and build your army.  Stick close to home and win a few skirmishes when attacked, and you'll have some prestige and the tributes that come along with it.  Then you'll be sitting on a treasury of ~1000, and be able to fund your army of 65-70 men without taxing your kingdom into Oblivion.  Soon, you'll wind up with some vassals.

 

And this is where it keeps falling apart for me.  I can get rich, and have an army that can repulse just about any attack, but I'm stuck there.  I just keep having to defend Camelot or one of the vassal kingdoms constantly.  The more I defend my vassals, the more enemies I make.  I can win battles by forcing the enemy to retreat, but can't find a way to rout an attacking force or kill their knights, let alone the opposing king.  Endless stalemate.

 

Are there any other players familiar with this game who have any advice on how to win?  Specifically, what's the best way to sway the other kings' disposition toward you other than bribing them (which doesn't seem to work all that well)?  How do you select the right knights for battle, and how do you know whether gifts or honors influence their loyalty?  What tactics in battle can you use to score a decisive victory?  When should/shouldn't you allow your kingdons to get pillaged?

 

I can't seem to find much strategy advice on the game anywhere, any help would be most appreciated.

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Im not sure any of Crawford's games were designed for you to win :) - Legionnaire I was able to win a few times and Im pretty sure I got to a winning point in Eastern Front once.  Doesnt surprise me that you'll need some bit of lottery luck and making 1 or 2 key decisions in order to get a chance to win.

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Many thanks for the article, I'd seen it referenced, just was too dense to track down the scan.

 

It's true; the man's games are brutally difficult, and force the player to really delve into the intentions of the designer.  That's the beauty of these old A8 games, though.  Minutes (maybe hours in this case) to learn; a lifetime to master.

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