Matagot | Western Legends: Ante Up Expansion | Board Game | Ages 2 to 6 | 14+ Players | 60 to 90 Minutes Playing Time

If you don’t have 4 or more people to play with i might not bother , but otherwise it’s great

Misread the contents information. Nonetheless, many cardboard components with a running train miniature.

ANOTHER ADD ON FOR WESTEN LEGENDS.

OVERVIEW: Western Legends Ante Up is a big box expansion to the original 2018 2-6 player competitive sandbox game set in the American Wild West, and requires the original game to play. Ante Up incorporates a new map of the frontier town of Buzzard Gulch, a moving train to heist, with connecting trails and train tunnels linking the two maps. Buzzard Gulch includes it's own Marshal's Office, Cattle Ranch, Trading Post, Bandit Hideout, and Saloon, which introduces the game of Farro as another gambling option. Ante Up incorporates a Gambler Track, similar to the Marshal and Outlaw Tracks, which anyone can advance through. This expansion incorporates new Character, Item, Poker, Story, and Man in Black Cards, as well as a new Event Deck that spawns new Outlaw, Claim Jumper, High Roller, and Longhorn Tokens across the board. Ante Up also includes larger Cattle and Legendary Tokens to replace the much smaller ones included with the original game. This big box expansion widens the options for players without upsetting the balance of the original algorithm in a modular system that can be altered to each group's tastes.ACCESSIBILITY: This expansion is exclusively for those who already own the original 2018 Western Legends game, which already involves a certain learning curve to understand all of the available options in the sandbox environment. Ante Up offers even more options to comprehend, but many of them are modular in a fashion that they can be disregarded easily. As the original 2018 game is substantial enough on it's own, a comfortable familiarity with the base game is highly recommended before incorporating this expansion.SCALABILITY: The original game allows for two to six players, but the best count in my experience is four players, based on the length of turns versus the impact of more characters in the sandbox environment. High player counts can leave players disengaged waiting for their turns, and Ante Up adds even more options for those with analysis paralysis to consider. While this expansion involves more mechanics to understand and follow, it also awards Legendary Points at a much faster rate, mitigating some of the game length to a degree.FRONTIER TOKEN MECHANIC: Buzzard Gulch is on the edge of the wild frontier, and exploring can be very lucrative for the first player to arrive at these areas. Taking an action to discard a poker card equal to or higher than the number on a Frontier Token grants the reward on it's underside. These tokens are generous with Legendary Points, so they can be a pivotal and controversial factor in who becomes the early leader in any given game. The Frontier Tokens can cause a rush for players to collect them, and rash decisions to be made by those those unable to do so. However, players in Buzzard Gulch must ultimately return to the Bank or the Cabaret on the main board to cash in. This mechanism is also completely modular, so it can be disregarded selectively per game.GAMBLER TRACK MECHANIC: The Gambler Track introduces a progression mechanism, similar to the Outlaw and Marshal tracks, on which anyone can advance collecting bonus Legendary Points and other rewards. This new mechanism affords every player a different path to victory through the Gambler Track as defined under the modified Poker and Farro rewards rules. It is also entirely modular and can be easily excluded, although most players would consider the Gambler Track to be an essential addition to the game.FARRO MECHANIC: Farro is a new gambling mini game option that can be played in any Saloon. Players place one or two ten or twenty dollar bets on the likelihood that specific cards will or will not be drawn from the deck over the course of three rounds. As Farro requires a few tokens and an understanding of the basic rules, most players choose to engage in a hand of poker rather than complicate the larger game any further. Still, it is an additional optional mini game that can add some variety and potential gains for any savvy gambler.TRAIN MECHANIC: Every turn starts with advancing this quality train miniature further down the track. This movement does not impact a player's ability to ride the train, as it is not necessary to wait for the miniature to come pick the character up. Although it may seem unthematic, the ten dollar ticket price affords quick access between the boards that the two trails do not provide. The train miniature serves as a mobile location for Outlaws to potentially commit a heist. A Train Deck randomizes potential passengers and freight that impact the difficulty and reward of each heist to varying degrees, creating an unknown risk for potential train robbers.TRADING POST MECHANIC: The Buzzard Gulch Trading Post includes a smaller version of the General Store Display Stand from the original game. It offers a random exclusive weapon, mount, and three miscellaneous items not available in the General Store each game, increasing the importance of on site inventory at each location. Next, three promotional items are randomly selected to be widely available at every location for the duration of the game. These adjustments to the Western Legends supply availability have strategic ramifications for players seeking specific purchases as part of a larger strategy.EVENT MARKER AND DECK MECHANIC: Event Markers are tokens placed at intervals along the Outlaw, Marshal, Gambler, and Legendary Point Tracks that trigger an Event  Card by players landing on those spaces. At the beginning of each game, immediately resolve one Event Card for every two players rounded up, ignoring any direction to move the Sheriff. These Event Cards (not to be confused with the Story Cards) spawn several new types of tokens across the board, including the Outlaw, the Claim Jumper, the High Roller, and the Longhorn Tokens. They are managed similar to their current counterparts, but offer varying modifications and increased rewards defined by the Event Cards.PROS: Ante Up brings the original Western Legends game to the next level by adding variety and new paths to achieve legendary status beyond your peers. Outlaws now have the opportunity to rob the train, with mixed scenarios determined by the train deck. Anyone can advance on the new Gambler track simultaneously alongside the Marshal or Outlaw tracks, play the new Farro gambling mini game, or explore the frontier outside Buzzard Gulch for big rewards. Special Outlaw, Claim Jumper, High Roller, and Longhorn Tokens are also spawned from the Event Deck, introducing new options and variables across the board that increases the overall replayability factor. The train miniature and Buzzard Gulch Trading Post improve the game's table presence and tactile experience as players interact with these pieces. The larger replacement cattle and legendary tokens are more practical and invaluable for those with diminished vision. Everything included in this expansion attempts to enrich and improve upon the experience of the base game.CONS: The new Buzzard Gulch board has the same beautiful artwork and much more clearly defined spaces than the original, but the overall layout is awkward, confusing, and almost detracts from the appeal of the original board. The Farro area should have been a separate tableau, then the train tunnel could have been incorporated into that spot with a simpler more intuitive system. The train tunnel itself is impractical and unnecessarily complicated in it's design, with loose trail tokens on the main board which is already crowded with components. The board configuration is long and rectangular, for a dining room or banquet table, and leaves a heavy footprint, hogging any extra available space. There are many new moving parts in this expansion that may add more strategic depth, but also lead to confusion and frustrating game play mistakes. Understanding how all of these moving parts function extends an already lengthy game just that much longer. Of all of the things that Ante Up improved upon, players are still stuck with the same old flimsy character tableaus from the original game.CONCLUSION: The original game requires a little patience and focus to understand and appreciate, so I would not recommend this expansion for anyone that hasn't already played through the base game a couple of times. That being said, I will never play Western Legends again without the Ante Up expansion because of the different dynamics and variables it brings into the experience. The modular nature of Ante Up allows players to incorporate parts of this expansion and disregard others until they are ready to incorporate them. The large replacement cattle and legendary tokens are a massive improvement over the tiny ones supplied in the base game, while the train miniature and Trading Post Display are welcome additions. Concerns that players are more easily able to avoid interaction in the larger play area are generally unfounded as certain special abilities, poker cards, mounts, legendary items, or a ten dollar train ticket can facilitate rapid movement. Buzzard Gulch is also not somewhere you can remain indefinitely since there are no Banks to cash in gold nuggets or Cabarets to sell Legendary Points out on the frontier. Ante Up improves upon that open world dynamic presented in the base game without breaking the sandbox algorithm at it's core. I recommend this expansion for any gaming group that enjoys the original game and are looking for a more dynamic and robust experience with improved variety, theme, available options, and replayability.

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