I played this game once with 3 people I'd basically just met, and 1 acquaintance, and it got pretty bitter. I believe in the game it advises that you only play with good friends and boy is that wise counsel. As the most experienced player I knew how to stop the people who were hovering at 10 and 11 influence from clenching victory and basically became the most hated person at the table as I set everything up for the end. But after around 4 hours (there was a lot of analysis paralysis from the new players) and a particularly prolonged primus, we all (mostly) decided to call it quits and give a tie to the two leaders which made one of them extremely angry (shrugs). Still a good game, like the show, more nuanced than it first appears. But it really requires the right play group (and also it is really a 3 to 4 player game and I would dissuade anyone from playing with 5+).
Great job. I really like you going through 1 complete turn. That is probably the best idea ive heard of for reviewing a game. You could(kinda) get the feel of TI3 or WotR in like 10 mins! I would love if you could do Robinson Crusoe so I won't mess up the fiddly rules. Again great job.
Thanks Kenneth! I'm glad to see all the positive feedback we're getting on it so far. Although it was a little long, I think it definitely works to show the game without doing a full rules explanation. As far Robinson Crusoe. It's high on my list to get! It's such a thematic, exciting game that I'm sure it would make for a good episode!
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it! It still went on a little longer than I'd have liked, but it certainly does cover the major mechanics of the game :) I think we'll certainly do this for games going forward.
Really liked the turn of play during the explanation. It really helps to put the replays and discussion into context. Thanks for the video, looking forward to the next one already!
Thanks Joran! We've heard a lot of good feedback on it so far so we'll definitely continue that in the future. As for the next game we'll be recording it sometime this week. Might put out a quick video asking viewers what they want to see next. Stay tuned!
Far and away, this is the best review/run-through of Spartacus that I have found. I'll definitely be checking out more of your review videos. Keep up the good work!
I really enjoyed the basic round. It helped a lot with the rest of the video and I felt like I understood more of what was going on than I would have. Thanks again keep up the great work! :)
Really glad it worked well for you. We're definitely going to keep doing this for our videos going forward! It doesn't cover ALL the rules, but I'm glad you were able to get a feel for the game from them. Thanks for watching!
Amazing, fantastic video! I LOVE the format, the editing is well done, and the after-play commentary amongst friends is really great to listen to. Subscribed!
This channel is exactly what I've been looking for to double check my understanding of game rules (not always possible to get a regular group together for trials) thanks.
Found your channel recently, and I really like your format and game group, especially how you and Jeremy strategize together/against each other, but the whole crew is awesome. So watching everything on your channel, and this is the first one I add to wishlist and will hunt down. Thanks :)
Thanks so much for saying that, we all appreciate it! We have a lot of fun playing these kinds of games together as a group. We only really discovered modern board gaming around 4 years ago but it's become one of our favorite forms of entertainment. Really glad to have you as a viewer, and hope you enjoy the other videos as well!
I particularly liked Brian's face when he lost Theokoles to injury from the poisoned wine. He had only ONE fight with that guy before he was poisoned...So awesome. Really works fits with theme in that no one is safe from treachery :) Thanks for watching!
Really enjoyable programme. I just discovered this tonight after watching your WIP run of Theseus, and I'm loving it. I haven't seen Spartacus before, and it looks like a lot of fun - may well look into this one. Thanks for demonstrating, and I'll keep watching the channel. :-)
Thanks very much! It's really great to see more people coming to the channel all the time. It was very cool of Rodney to give us so many shout outs. Glad to have you as a viewer!
I remember this game coming out and there being a considerable splash. Seems a perfect game for Board Game Replay, really enjoyed watching the game back. This is the sort of game I'd love to try before I buy, but I imagine you guys are completely right with it needing to be played with a group of close friends. Keep up the great work! (which, given this is Episode 3, you clearly did!)
Thanks a lot! Yeah, this one can be a little rough with strangers. I've played it a number of times with friends and only 1 time with (mostly) people I didn't know. It's a lot harder to get into the theme when you're not as comfortable backstabbing and playing with a cut throat attitude. The magic of the game is all in the social aspects with making and breaking alliances so if all players aren't ready for that kind of game it can potentially fall flat.
Great video. I like the unique format of the after game discussion mixed with clips from gameplay. Excellent work! I haven't played Spartacus yet, but I'm a big fan of GF9's other games: Firefly: The Game and Sons of Anarchy: Men of Mayhem. Any plans on doing a video on either of those?
Thanks so much David, glad you enjoyed it! I actually haven't had a chance to try the Firefly game or Sons of Anarchy just yet. Some of the guys tried Sons of Anarchy at GenCon and enjoyed it so I'm hoping to try that one soon. It definitely seems like it would be another good game for this format too, so if we enjoy it it's certainly possible to appear in another video. Thanks again!
Was this review of Spartacus including the expansion pack? I noticed the amount of cards and dice you have is far greater then the amount i received without the expansion. Also, great review. Really helped me to learn how to play the game better.
Dawn, you're correct. This game did include the expansion. I actually made a few comments about the expansion starting at 31:20 . Thanks for the nice comments on the video, we had a great time making it!
+Jack Rosa Thanks a lot! We've actually been discussing going back and revisiting some of our favorite games we've done videos for so far...This is high on the list as we do have the Shadow of Death expansion and would love to get it played!
Hey Matt, just read that Wizkids is reskinning this as an X-men game. Can you see that working? I've never played Spartacus, but the X-men theme would have me interested...
I'll be honest and tell you that I love the Marvel universe so this one definitely has me interested. I'll certainly have to see some rules before making up my mind on it though. One of the key things that makes Spartacus work for us is how well the theme ties into the game. Scheming, backstabbing, bidding for power all fit really well with theme and tie into the television show perfectly. The actual combat elements of fighting in the arena are only a small part of the game, and I worry that's where they're going to put the major focus of an X-men game with this system. That said though, maybe they'll add more elements to that part of the game and totally blow me away! :)
Hey, loved this video but after playing this one problem occured in my group. In combat we had this endless dance for the first attack. We were circling around each other and at the end one gave up but it took quite a while and it's a huge disadvantage. So here's my question, how do you solve this? Great video again.
This is a great question. It's something we suffered with a bit when we first got the game as well. As time went on it became less of an issue, but if we ever found ourselves dancing around like that we'd say that the crowd got angry and we were forced to be brought next to one another and roll initiative. The winner gets to attack first, but not move. Then the second player gets to take their turn as normal. It's not a perfect solution, but it works. Also, something we didn't note in this video is that for combat we actually use the "Blue Dice" variant, which you can find on BGG. Basically it evens out the combat a little more by treating Blue Dice initiative rolls kind of like the standard attack / defense rolls. It takes away the huge advantage granted by gladiators with high speed stats. It's really not something we'd normally do in games ("house rule", that is), but this one just made the combat feel that much tighter for us. Hope that helps! *Edit* - Wow, I just realized that post was over 11 months old. I'm sorry I missed it for so long. There was a few month time period (around when you made your comment) that I wasn't getting notifications for new UA-cam comments. My apologies!
ah sweet! thanks for answering still :) It's the perfect timing because I was planning to play it again the day after tomorrow. This is a great solution that still has some 'story' elements, that seem logical. Thanks ^^
Fun video.. but I was particularly looking how the combat system worked. It would have been nice to see a Full play through. It would have also been nice to hear what your cons are for the game. From what I have read.. it looks like the arena is the worst part? no movement strategy? you just go straight till you are together? and whoever rolls the best at first will always have more dice than the looser? and once you loose enough dice.. isn't it pretty much over? but you still go thru the rolls to till 0,1,2 dice? It did look like a lot of dice rolling. what are anyones thoughts with this aspect of the game? Thanks
Thanks for the quick runthrough! I'm playing it with friends tonight for the first time and I wanted to seem to know what I was doing. LOL! How do you figure out for the first round only who goes first when it comes to Intrigue?
By the way -- found it at a yard sale, unopened, $4. Score! I think they saw the 17+ disclaimer and got scared ;) SO glad to hear that you really enjoyed it; now I can't wait to play!
Those sleeves are Dek Prot "Large Size" sleeves. They can be found in bulk for fairly cheap and they've got a nice thickness to them. After I sleeved them I had to do a few deck shuffles and they stopped sliding around. :)
This is definitely on the list to play! Just need to get a first game in with the friends as none of them have played it at this point. I know they'll love it though! I'm thinking we'll probably play the Feast For Crows 4 player game when we do it. Reduces the game length a bit and but still keeps it a tight and highly interactive game.
I'd really love to see a real game from the beginning to the end, especially after the expansions... since you're experts by now, it wouldn't take long to do it... because you can make your deals and discussions in a much shorter time.
Hi! I just played Spartacus and I was a point away from victory just before the bidding for "Host". I had the most money in a 4 player game. So I would have won the auction and get the point. But one of the players just gave away all of his money to another player so the other play can win the "host" and deny me the victory point. The question is: can you just give all of your coins to another player without any connection to a card or exchange of something else in the game? I really hope someone can resolve this beyond shadow of a doubt : )
Yes, there's no limit to the number of bets that can be on those "neutral" spaces. Bets for decapitation / injury are basically neutral because you're not technically betting for or against a gladiator, you're just betting that those things will happen during the match. However, it's important to note that when betting on a gladiator / team, you can never bet against your own side. Hope that helps!
you missed to give the winning gladiator a favor token after the fight.. then i dont think you get your money back when there is a tie bet! great show otherwise!!
I played this game once with 3 people I'd basically just met, and 1 acquaintance, and it got pretty bitter. I believe in the game it advises that you only play with good friends and boy is that wise counsel. As the most experienced player I knew how to stop the people who were hovering at 10 and 11 influence from clenching victory and basically became the most hated person at the table as I set everything up for the end. But after around 4 hours (there was a lot of analysis paralysis from the new players) and a particularly prolonged primus, we all (mostly) decided to call it quits and give a tie to the two leaders which made one of them extremely angry (shrugs). Still a good game, like the show, more nuanced than it first appears. But it really requires the right play group (and also it is really a 3 to 4 player game and I would dissuade anyone from playing with 5+).
Great job. I really like you going through 1 complete turn. That is probably the best idea ive heard of for reviewing a game. You could(kinda) get the feel of TI3 or WotR in like 10 mins! I would love if you could do Robinson Crusoe so I won't mess up the fiddly rules. Again great job.
Thanks Kenneth! I'm glad to see all the positive feedback we're getting on it so far. Although it was a little long, I think it definitely works to show the game without doing a full rules explanation. As far Robinson Crusoe. It's high on my list to get! It's such a thematic, exciting game that I'm sure it would make for a good episode!
This new way of explaining the rules by showing the game being played is a real improvement! Thanks for this episode and keep up the good work!
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it! It still went on a little longer than I'd have liked, but it certainly does cover the major mechanics of the game :) I think we'll certainly do this for games going forward.
Really liked the turn of play during the explanation. It really helps to put the replays and discussion into context. Thanks for the video, looking forward to the next one already!
Thanks Joran! We've heard a lot of good feedback on it so far so we'll definitely continue that in the future. As for the next game we'll be recording it sometime this week. Might put out a quick video asking viewers what they want to see next. Stay tuned!
Far and away, this is the best review/run-through of Spartacus that I have found. I'll definitely be checking out more of your review videos. Keep up the good work!
+Cabel Gray Hey, thanks a lot Cabel, that's nice to hear! Glad to have you checking out the channel as well!
I really enjoyed the basic round. It helped a lot with the rest of the video and I felt like I understood more of what was going on than I would have. Thanks again keep up the great work! :)
Really glad it worked well for you. We're definitely going to keep doing this for our videos going forward! It doesn't cover ALL the rules, but I'm glad you were able to get a feel for the game from them. Thanks for watching!
Amazing, fantastic video! I LOVE the format, the editing is well done, and the after-play commentary amongst friends is really great to listen to. Subscribed!
Really glad to hear that! Thanks so much for watching (and subscribing!)
This channel is exactly what I've been looking for to double check my understanding of game rules (not always possible to get a regular group together for trials) thanks.
Found your channel recently, and I really like your format and game group, especially how you and Jeremy strategize together/against each other, but the whole crew is awesome. So watching everything on your channel, and this is the first one I add to wishlist and will hunt down. Thanks :)
Thanks so much for saying that, we all appreciate it! We have a lot of fun playing these kinds of games together as a group. We only really discovered modern board gaming around 4 years ago but it's become one of our favorite forms of entertainment. Really glad to have you as a viewer, and hope you enjoy the other videos as well!
One of the best thing about this show, is that you guys are playing my type of games. Keep it up! Looking forward to the next one.
Really great video guys. Love seeing the interactions live. It's always nice to see the look of deflated hopes and dreams on dear friends faces!
I particularly liked Brian's face when he lost Theokoles to injury from the poisoned wine. He had only ONE fight with that guy before he was poisoned...So awesome. Really works fits with theme in that no one is safe from treachery :) Thanks for watching!
Really enjoyable programme. I just discovered this tonight after watching your WIP run of Theseus, and I'm loving it. I haven't seen Spartacus before, and it looks like a lot of fun - may well look into this one. Thanks for demonstrating, and I'll keep watching the channel. :-)
Thanks very much! It's really great to see more people coming to the channel all the time. It was very cool of Rodney to give us so many shout outs. Glad to have you as a viewer!
Awesome! Very easy to follow. Thank you.
I remember this game coming out and there being a considerable splash. Seems a perfect game for Board Game Replay, really enjoyed watching the game back.
This is the sort of game I'd love to try before I buy, but I imagine you guys are completely right with it needing to be played with a group of close friends.
Keep up the great work! (which, given this is Episode 3, you clearly did!)
Thanks a lot! Yeah, this one can be a little rough with strangers. I've played it a number of times with friends and only 1 time with (mostly) people I didn't know. It's a lot harder to get into the theme when you're not as comfortable backstabbing and playing with a cut throat attitude. The magic of the game is all in the social aspects with making and breaking alliances so if all players aren't ready for that kind of game it can potentially fall flat.
Very fun this gameplay... good job!
Best episode yet, well done! What a great game for this show!
Great show. I would still like to see the whole gameplay as a separate video. Please consider it!
Finally bought myself a copy after watching this video a while ago. Should be here this weekend so I wanted to get a jump on learning the rules.
+Andrew Littell That's great to hear Andrew! We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Awesome video guys... I have to play this game
Great video. I like the unique format of the after game discussion mixed with clips from gameplay. Excellent work! I haven't played Spartacus yet, but I'm a big fan of GF9's other games: Firefly: The Game and Sons of Anarchy: Men of Mayhem. Any plans on doing a video on either of those?
Thanks so much David, glad you enjoyed it! I actually haven't had a chance to try the Firefly game or Sons of Anarchy just yet. Some of the guys tried Sons of Anarchy at GenCon and enjoyed it so I'm hoping to try that one soon. It definitely seems like it would be another good game for this format too, so if we enjoy it it's certainly possible to appear in another video. Thanks again!
this game is a blast reccomend to buy the expansion even the promo gladiators
do you guys ever post the full play through of any games? id like to watch the full game play of this,
awesome video guys! Thank you. Holy fuck, this game looks fun!
Great Video!
Was this review of Spartacus including the expansion pack? I noticed the amount of cards and dice you have is far greater then the amount i received without the expansion. Also, great review. Really helped me to learn how to play the game better.
Dawn, you're correct. This game did include the expansion. I actually made a few comments about the expansion starting at 31:20 . Thanks for the nice comments on the video, we had a great time making it!
Ok thank you, I thought so. I must have missed the mentioning of it, sorry. But I'm convinced that I do need the expansion now. Thank you!
Dawn Steinbrecher No worries! :) It's a great expansion, I think you'll like it!
Great video. would you guys ever do a review/playthrough with The Shadow Of Death expansion. I would like to see that. Peace.
+Jack Rosa Thanks a lot! We've actually been discussing going back and revisiting some of our favorite games we've done videos for so far...This is high on the list as we do have the Shadow of Death expansion and would love to get it played!
Hey Matt, just read that Wizkids is reskinning this as an X-men game. Can you see that working? I've never played Spartacus, but the X-men theme would have me interested...
I'll be honest and tell you that I love the Marvel universe so this one definitely has me interested. I'll certainly have to see some rules before making up my mind on it though. One of the key things that makes Spartacus work for us is how well the theme ties into the game. Scheming, backstabbing, bidding for power all fit really well with theme and tie into the television show perfectly. The actual combat elements of fighting in the arena are only a small part of the game, and I worry that's where they're going to put the major focus of an X-men game with this system. That said though, maybe they'll add more elements to that part of the game and totally blow me away! :)
it seems to me that a game of thrones would be another great game for your group...
Hey, loved this video but after playing this one problem occured in my group. In combat we had this endless dance for the first attack. We were circling around each other and at the end one gave up but it took quite a while and it's a huge disadvantage. So here's my question, how do you solve this? Great video again.
This is a great question. It's something we suffered with a bit when we first got the game as well. As time went on it became less of an issue, but if we ever found ourselves dancing around like that we'd say that the crowd got angry and we were forced to be brought next to one another and roll initiative. The winner gets to attack first, but not move. Then the second player gets to take their turn as normal. It's not a perfect solution, but it works.
Also, something we didn't note in this video is that for combat we actually use the "Blue Dice" variant, which you can find on BGG. Basically it evens out the combat a little more by treating Blue Dice initiative rolls kind of like the standard attack / defense rolls. It takes away the huge advantage granted by gladiators with high speed stats. It's really not something we'd normally do in games ("house rule", that is), but this one just made the combat feel that much tighter for us. Hope that helps!
*Edit* - Wow, I just realized that post was over 11 months old. I'm sorry I missed it for so long. There was a few month time period (around when you made your comment) that I wasn't getting notifications for new UA-cam comments. My apologies!
ah sweet! thanks for answering still :)
It's the perfect timing because I was planning to play it again the day after tomorrow. This is a great solution that still has some 'story' elements, that seem logical. Thanks ^^
Hey, glad to hear that! Happy to help :)
Fun video.. but I was particularly looking how the combat system worked. It would have been nice to see a Full play through. It would have also been nice to hear what your cons are for the game. From what I have read.. it looks like the arena is the worst part? no movement strategy? you just go straight till you are together? and whoever rolls the best at first will always have more dice than the looser? and once you loose enough dice.. isn't it pretty much over? but you still go thru the rolls to till 0,1,2 dice? It did look like a lot of dice rolling. what are anyones thoughts with this aspect of the game? Thanks
Thanks for the quick runthrough! I'm playing it with friends tonight for the first time and I wanted to seem to know what I was doing. LOL! How do you figure out for the first round only who goes first when it comes to Intrigue?
By the way -- found it at a yard sale, unopened, $4. Score! I think they saw the 17+ disclaimer and got scared ;) SO glad to hear that you really enjoyed it; now I can't wait to play!
Great video guys. What sleeves did you guys use for these cards? I've sleeved some other games but have had problems stacking the cards afterwards.
Those sleeves are Dek Prot "Large Size" sleeves. They can be found in bulk for fairly cheap and they've got a nice thickness to them. After I sleeved them I had to do a few deck shuffles and they stopped sliding around. :)
When I have a card war(shame,foil of shame,,guard...) in intrigue phase whit one players can get involved 3 player in this battle?tnx
I second GoT lol
This is definitely on the list to play! Just need to get a first game in with the friends as none of them have played it at this point. I know they'll love it though! I'm thinking we'll probably play the Feast For Crows 4 player game when we do it. Reduces the game length a bit and but still keeps it a tight and highly interactive game.
I'd really love to see a real game from the beginning to the end, especially after the expansions... since you're experts by now, it wouldn't take long to do it... because you can make your deals and discussions in a much shorter time.
what was the song used in the video? Spartacus sounding onew
+Van Hovannisian It is called "Ancient Rome" from Productiontrax.com .
Hi! I just played Spartacus and I was a point away from victory just before the bidding for "Host". I had the most money in a 4 player game. So I would have won the auction and get the point. But one of the players just gave away all of his money to another player so the other play can win the "host" and deny me the victory point.
The question is: can you just give all of your coins to another player without any connection to a card or exchange of something else in the game?
I really hope someone can resolve this beyond shadow of a doubt : )
Money can change hands at any time so (un)fortunately this is possible to do, yes ;)
That is the nature of the system.
How many player can bet in the same bet place if playing 4? can all 4 bet in decapitation for example??
Yes, there's no limit to the number of bets that can be on those "neutral" spaces. Bets for decapitation / injury are basically neutral because you're not technically betting for or against a gladiator, you're just betting that those things will happen during the match. However, it's important to note that when betting on a gladiator / team, you can never bet against your own side. Hope that helps!
you can't bet against yourself unless you play the scheme card that allows you to
When I play card on me in intr.phase can other players play guard on me?
no, guard card specifically says on it it can only foil a scheme that was played on the individual with the guard card
if i win initiative can i attack and then move??
+Nemanja Vuchkovic Yes, you can attack or move in any order. Hope that helps!
tnx
you missed to give the winning gladiator a favor token after the fight.. then i dont think you get your money back when there is a tie bet! great show otherwise!!
then the host of the game is last to bet so he others cant bet the same if he has a good plan!
Bagarn B Ahh yes I forgot to mention both of those things...whoops! Thanks for pointing that out! Also, thanks for watching! :)