A Perennial Favourite

 by Jeff Suderman

My top 10 German board game list actually includes about 25 games. El Grande is in my top three.

This game is about territory acquisition through card management and caballero (men) placement on different territories in Spain. Winning requires both offensive and defensive strategy. I find it enjoyable with anywhere from 2 - players though 4 or 5 player games can be more exciting (this is typical of many games). Naysayers to this game tend to be people who don't enjoy the see-saw battles for regional dominance (place men, see them moved, move someone elses as a result.....you get the point). This is the reason I like this game. It also has one of the most unique and exciting game mechanisms I have played - a hidden Castillo (region) that you can place men in but cannot see the total until a scoring round (when you then secretly send these men to a region thereby affecting scores).

I think that very few German gamers wouldn't give this as a solid pick for your collection. I think it should be one of your first picks.

P.S. - The expansions turn this game into a 10 for me but don't rush out and buy them until you have played the regular game 20 times. The regular game is just too good to begin with the expansion.

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