El Grande is a seriously good game, combining fun and challenging decisions for two to five people. As the winner of the coveted Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year) award in 1996 this is a game with superb game mechanics. However this is not a game for the family market but is aimed squarely at real gamers who have a couple of hours to kill, and an appetite for tense tactical play.

El Grand comes in stunning large box, which shouts quality. Thankfully the components inside do not let it down. The components are:-

• a beautiful map of Medieval Spain,
• 162 wooden pieces,
• wooden tower
• five ``voting wheels'',
• 110 attractive cards.

The game is set in early 15th-century Spain, where powerful Grandees (aristocrats) are waging a political against each other. Caught up in this is the King who is continually being influenced by one Grandee or another. That’s the theme and to my mind it works well enough to give a little flavour to the really superb game mechanics.

The players take the role of a Grandee. Each Grandee has a retinue of Caballeros (Knights) to assist in his political maneuvering. The resource management of these Caballeros is one of the most fascinating aspects of El Grand.

Each player places his Grandee token on one of the nine provinces of Spain. This now becomes his home province and scores that player a bonus if he controls it. Each player receives 13 Power cards numbered 1 to 13, and a voting disc. The voting disc has the 9 regions of Spain on it, and is used to simultaneously record each player’s decision on which region he wishes to effect at various points during the game. The action cards are set out in 5 piles beside the board face down.

Each game turn, the top Action Card of each of the five piles is turned over, and read aloud. Then starting with the player who went last the previous turn each player plays a Power card. However you cannot duplicate the number of any card already played by an opponent this turn. The values on the Power cards indicate the sequence players will take their turns, highest number goes first. Also the Power cards have symbols on them to indicate how many Caballeros will be attracted to the player’s cause this turn. The higher the value of the action card the less Caballeros you attract. This is the first agonising trade off a player is required to make. Also once a Power Card is played, it's out of the game, so you have to use them carefully.

Once the sequence has been established the players each take their individual turns. A player's turn comprises

1. Attract the number of Caballeros indicated on your Power card to your Court
2. Choose one of the exposed action cards.
3. Move up to the number of Caballeros shown on the Action card to the board (a region adjacent to the kings region), or to the tower.
4. May play the Action card ( this can be performed before moving Caballeros if desired).

The player with the next highest Power Card now takes his turn, choosing an Action Card from the remaining four exposed ones, and so on.

The actions permitted by the cards vary widely, which creates interest the whole game through. Some cards let you make a special scoring, others let you move anyone's Caballeros around on the board, or sometimes off the board. So having first choice of the Action cards can be very powerful, especially if there is one there which will hurt you a lot and you want it removed.

After every third game turn, the current political position is scored as follows:

• Firstly the tower is scored, based on who has the most Caballeros in the tower.
• Next each player dials up a region on his voting disc
• Now all of a player’s Caballeros in the tower go to the region on the disc. Thus, the Caballeros from the tower can change the situation on the board dramatically.
• Finally the Regions are scored, with the player having the most Caballeros in a Region getting the most points, less points are awarded for second and third places. Just to add more spice to the game not all regions score equally, some tend to be more fiercely contested than others.

After nine rounds (three scorings, plus any special scorings allowed by Action Cards), the game is over, and the player with the highest point total wins. There is a scoring track around the edge of the board to record each player’s progress.

The game is simply delightful to play. The mechanics are well designed and well balanced. The decisions required due to selection of the Power cards, the effects of the action cards and unknown army in the tower are just pure heaven, or at times hell. The game does feel different with less than the full five players, this is due to the fact that the weakest action card will not be forced on to the last player in the turn, and hence get ignored. So find four friends and have fun.

A highly recommended game.