Tuesday 6 January 2015

Review - Ottoman Sunset by Victory Point Games



Ottoman Sunset is a solitaire game from VPG, which is a game from their States of Siege series. You play the role as leader of the Young Turks (the government of the time), trying to hold together the last remnants of the Ottoman Empire during World War 1.

I have played this game three times now, and I have really enjoyed it. It is a strategic level wargame in its scope, and the battlefronts which the Ottomans were involved with are dealt in a very simplified way.


The game is driven by Event cards, which details which Theatre of War you have to dice for, which of the six Fronts are advanced or retreated, and how many Actions the player is allowed to make. It also give a small historic brief of actual events which occurred during the war.

The cards bring into play a lot of counters which really add a lot of interesting aspects to this game, which can be an advantage...or not! 


There are three ways in which to lose, but more importantly, only one way to win, and that is to still be active when the last event card has been drawn and used, after which, it is a case of working out the various Victory Points you have accumulated and checking to see what level of victory has been achieved.


So far, I have not been able to win, but I have come within 10 cards of it.

Here are some of the "Fronts" which can advance or retreat.

This is the "Narrows Display" which depicts a front which has to be fought when the British try to take a direct route by sea to Constantinople. This Front is activated by one of the event cards, but you can use action points to allocate minefields and guns to protect the Narrows.

This  is the boxed version, which comes with the following:

•   One 24-page, full-color Rules booklet
•   One 11" x 17" paper game map•   50 cards•   57 thick, two-sided, multi-shaped game pieces•   One six-sided 12mm die•   One 11" x 17" mounted, jigsaw-cut game map•   One bright red, 9 1/4" x 5 7/8" Standard cardboard VPG game box•   One beautiful box cover sleeve•   One "Wipes-A-Lot" napkin•   One charcoal desiccant packet

The artwork is really nice, the counters and mounted board are good thick quality, the cards are well printed and a good thickness, and the rules are well laid out and very easy to follow.
In fact, I picked this game up and played it as I read the rules, and played my first game in about an hour. My second game (and my best yet) took about 90 minutes, so it is quite a fast paced, quick to play game.

Overall, this is a well thought-out, quality game that I really enjoyed, and there is no doubt it will come out and be played regularly.

Graphics - 10/10
Components - 10/10
Gameplay - 10/10
Replayability - 10/10









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