Wow! What a great game. It took waaaaay more than the 90 minutes it said on the box, but then all four of us were new to the game, and only I have read the rules, (twice). We still made a few mistakes, but as we got into the third age, we were all finally getting some good strategy going. I'm sure our next game will be even better. 

We discovered that there is a lot of value in the "screw your neighbor" tactics. I anticipate more PvP action in our next game too. 

My only complaint in the game is that I don't think all bits and pieces of the game fit into the box very well. I've got some ideas on how to tackle that. If I can work them out I'll share them here. 

All-in-all, AoC is a wonderful game, and I can't wait for the expansion!!! 

JonHook said:

Ditch the plastic insert.  Make a few tuckboxes and separate the armies and cardboard into separate baggies.  Much easier.

I'll add that AoC is one of my groups favorite games.  Unfortunately, we don't get it on the table nearly often enough.  I just taught it to a couple of friends last week.  They had a blast and are looking forward to a second session.

Awesome! I love the idea of tuckboxes. I'll do that. Thanks!  

I actually think that AoC is one of the few games that actually does fit into the nice and snug.

My game is in transit from Japan at the moment so I can't check to see exactly how I packed it, but I first put the forts in the bottom (3x3) and then a ziploc bag with the rest of the miniatures on top. The cards go into their little area, as well we as the dice. Now there are a couple of smaller bags of tokens left, and not all of them fit into the last area. The ones who don't I can usually make room for along the edges of the miniature wells. Although, I'll probably have to ditch the anyway as I'm painting the minis.

Oh, and congrats on your first game! It takes a long time at first, but we usually play three and four player games in about two hours now, sometimes much less if Conan is crowned early. Who won?

My friend playing Hyperboria won the game. I was playing Stygia, and I came in dead last.  :( 

I just ordered this of the holiday sale I actually cant wait to try it out. My gaming group is not a huge war game group but im going to try to start with this bad boy I will be sure to post my results once played.

Heh, I've had this game for two, three years and we still can't finish a game under 4 hours.

The best nations seem to be Hyperborea and Turan, after the initial "By Mitra, Aquilonia is soooo powerful!" shock. Turan can do everything Aquilonia does with less cost, while Hyperborea enjoys both might and magic.

Poe said:

I actually think that AoC is one of the few games that actually does fit into the nice and snug.

I agree. I individually bagged every player's units, towers and fortresses along with the bidding tokens and the Empire point markers. The rest went into another bag. The two silver Conan pieces have their own little bag. Make sure you don't pack air along with gaming pieces in every bag. That way everything fit into the box nice and snug.