BIN'FA:THE TAO OF WAR (Kenterprises, www.binfa.com, 2-6 players, 1 1/2 to 2 hours; $40)
Bin'Fa, the brainchild of Ken Hodkinson, has existed in one form or another for over 25 years. (The rules list both a 1977 and 1998 copyright. Avalon Hill published a stripped down version of the game called Hexagony, with development by Alan Moon, no less, back in 1980). The game comes packed in a tube which holds its rolled up vinyl "board", six sets of colored armies (checkers), supply chips, a pair of six sided dice, terrain and vortex markers, and a set of instructions for this low to moderate complexity game.
The play
area is a large hexagon divided up into six territories in a grid that is triangular in shape.
This terrain is modified by black triangular pieces (which are impassable) and three white
triangular pieces (called "vortexes"). Players are
given a set of 12
armies
(checkers) in their own color. Set up is at the discretion of each player but
all of a player's forces start in his sector of the play area. Armies may be and
should be stacked; single pieces are ciphers offensively and helpless
defensively.
Die rolls determine moves but in an unusual way. Players move by comparing the dice roll and subtracting the larger number from the smaller. Roll a 4 and a 3, for example, and you can only make one move (4-3 = 1). Roll a 6 and 1, and five moves are possible (6-1=5). Roll doubles and your turn immediately ends. This mechanism creates an underlying tension because of the danger that your brilliantly constructed plans of attack may be undermined by a bad roll.
Two offensive moves are possible: dislodging and surrounding.
To dislodge, the attacking player must occupy a triangle adjoining the one being attacked with a stack of armies greater than the enemy force located there. Then, the dice are rolled, If a 6 comes up, the enemy forces must retreat and the offensive player moves his armies into the now vacated area. If no 6 is rolled, no movement occurs. (A double 6 roll forces the enemy to retreat 2 spaces. If unable to retreat, those enemy pieces are removed from the game!)
Surrounding the enemy is the key and your main goal in the game. You eliminate opposing forces by surrounding them on three sides with your forces in stacks of two or more armies (provided the surrounding stacks are at least as tall as the enemy stack). If an enemy is reduced to only three armies, that enemy is out of the game!
Vortexes are an appealing
option in devising strategy. They allow armies to transport across the board!
Simply put, armies
ending their turn on a vortex may then exit onto another vortex across the
board, on their next turn. The downside? Roll doubles and your armies in
the vortex are eliminated!
What elevates Bin'Fa from the
myriad games of abstract strategy, however, is the addition of supply.
Surrounding the play area is a series of 42 colored circles. Players
begin
with supply chips, the exact amount determined by die roll, and a supply marker
in their matching color. In turn, a
player may move his armies (at a cost of one supply chip per roll of the die) OR try to
get more supplies. This is done by moving his supply piece (via die roll) along the
outer perimeter track of colored circles. Land on a color in a sector where
your armies occupy a space and you collect supply chips (as many chips as
spaces you have moved). Land on the home colors of an opponent (each player has a home base
of 3 spaces) and you can either collect supply chips from the bank OR that
opposing player. Land on some other color and you get nothing!
Play continues until the last enemy army is eliminated. The last player to survive wins!
Bin'Fa benefits by an attractive presentation (the colors used in the game are clearly discernable and the vinyl field of action is attractive too) and a rulebook where the rules are given in a question and answer format that is easy to read and understand. What's more, the rules are complete. Every question raised during play was addressed within the rules. As the placement of terrain markers and vortexes can vary with each game, tactical considerations change, keeping the game fresh. The yin-yang of needing supply chips to power your movement versus giving up a movement turn in order to generate supplies presents players with challenging choices. The danger of running out of supply (or of rolling doubles which stops you in your tracks) adds a heightened sense of tension and excitement to play. The down side to this, however, is that you have to be prepared for a lot of die rolling - and, since combat and movement involve dice rolls, the luck factor is significant. (But, in all fairness, no worse than in a spirited game of Risk.) Since dice rolling is such an integral part of play, it is a little surprising that only two dice are included in the game. Giving each player his own pair of dice would have been a welcome touch.
One design question revolves around the single units. Single units have very little value. They may be used to "entice" enemy units to attack but that's about it. Giving them another "power" or benefit (and we could think of a few) would have been a nice addition. The biggest problem with the game, though, is the "last man standing" victory condition. This results in too much down time for eliminated players. It's not much fun waiting to see who emerges victorious. To eliminate that problem, we'd suggest an alternate victory system.
Instead of "last man standing", use a "point system". I recommend players score 1 point for each army they eliminate while all players score 1 point for each army that vanishes in the vortex (except, of course, for the player whose armies are lost). The first player to amass a score of 10 (15 or 20) points gets the win.
Despite the Asian flavor of the title, this is an abstract strategy game of "war". Such games are nothing new. (Think of Chess, for example). But Bin'Fa does combine elements into a pleasing package of movement strategies, supply considerations and pressing your luck (with a hefty dose of dice rolling) that make the game well worthy of attention. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Herb Levy
