This review continues my series of detailed reviews that attempt to be part review, part resource for anyone not totally familiar with the game. For this reason I expect readers to skip to the sections that are of most interest.
Image Courtesy of Toynan
Summary
Game Type - Euro Game
Play Time: 30-50 Minutes
Number of Players: 2-4 (Best 3-4)
Mechanics - Hand Management, Track Movement, Tile Placement, Worker Placement, Ownership
Difficulty - Pick-Up and Play (Can be learned in under 10 minutes)
Components - Very Good
Release - 2008
Designers - <PERSON> the Flood, Age of Industry, Age of Steam, Automobile, Brass, Discworld: Ankh-Morpork, Doctor Who: The Card Game, A Few Acres of Snow, God's Playground, Last Train to Wensleydale, Liberte, London, P.I., Princes of the Renaissance, Railways of the World, Runebound, Steam, Steel Driver, Struggle of Empires, Tinner's Trail, Waterloo)
Overview
Welcome to the Spanish town of Toledo. As part of a wealthy family you are trying to curry favour with the King by fashioning the finest swords possible and presenting them to his highness in the grand Alcazar that overlooks the town on the hill.
To outdo the competition though you will need to walk the streets of Toledo to gather the famous Toledo Steel and fine gems from the many businesses. Your family owns some of these businesses and should be frequented often, but there will be times when you need to make use of other family businesses to acquire the goods and skills you seek.
Gems and steel are the main commodities that you require but the famous artist <PERSON> is also selling his fine works of art and they too can bring prestige to your family.
<PERSON> comes to us from highly respected designer <PERSON> and from the credits above it is obvious that he is no slouch. My perception of <PERSON> and the fans that love him, is that his reputation has been built upon heavier Euro designs. But it can sometimes be forgotten that Mr. <PERSON> has peppered his career with lighter fare too and even some genres and themes outside his regular comfort zone. It is these offerings from <PERSON> that have tended to catch my eye the most.
He no doubt made his name with Age of Steam and gained more respect with titles like Brass and Automobile. 470
To let you know my personal bias, my favourite <PERSON> game is easily Runebound but I also enjoy Discworld: Ankh-Morpork and games like Tinner's Trail.
So where does Toledo fit into his portfolio? Let's find out...
The Components
Toledo offers up a bit of a mixed bag in relation to components...
Board – The board depicts the town of Toledo, with its three streets zigzagging their way up the hill towards the grand Alcazar.
The streets offer up a total of 19 tile shaped spaces where businesses can be placed by the players, but 3 of these are already taken with a pair of Taverns and the residence of the painter <PERSON>.
The board also offers spaces for card piles, discard piles, locations for steel and gems, locations for the swords that can be made and a place to put the Skill Tiles. The result is that the board offers a place for everything and nothing needs to be placed beside the board, which helps if your gaming space is modest.
Artistically the board is okay but it is dominated by the terracotta tiled roofs of the town and overall it looks a little bland. Contrast is offered by the illustration of the wagon in the bottom right and the Cathedral at center left, which serves as the starting location.
Image Courtesy of <PERSON>
Movement Cards - The cards used in Toledo serve three different purposes and as such feature three key pieces of information. In the top corners a number is featured, which denotes how far a single pawn can be moved. Centrally a coin value is depicted (which is always the same value as the movement allowance) and reflects the value of the card if it is used to pay for a trade. At the bottom of the card a scene is depicted of 2 swordsmen dueling. Each scene features one of three background colours (and a neutral colour) and one of the two silhouettes will be coloured in. These icons are used to decide the outcome of duels but I'll outline the mechanics of duels later.
The background of the cards is left fairly neutral and that is to better highlight the key information. All in all the cards are a nice bit of design that help the mechanics to be clear and functional.
Image Courtesy of <PERSON>
Pawns - The pawns are a classic Euro wooden affair that come in four colours. 84