Well, since Through the Ages is one of my all-time favorite games, you know what MY advice is going to be! First of all, you didn't do yourself any favors by starting out with the Full game. That's a whooole lot to absorb first time out. It looks as if you limited yourself to three players, which was wise. The game just has too much downtime with four. But with experience, you should be able to play 3er Full game in 4 hours, or maybe even less.

Battles don't always dominate, but they are usually at least something of a factor. Sounds like you were setting up a Perfect Storm--a leader bringing in buckets of VPs with a weak army. Attack! The key to TtA is you don't have to have a strong army, but you can't afford to have a weak one. So you usually have to devote at least some of your energies to keep up with the other warmongers. But there's usually not a huge "take that" factor as long as you take proper precautions.

If you need a selling point for Ed, TtA is supposed to be excellent for two. I haven't seen too many notices of you two playing longer or meatier 2ers, but it's such an involving game that this might tempt him. I'm sure Kevin could pick it up as well (last Gulf Games I taught it to Tim McCarthy and he played very well); whether he'd have the patience for something this long is another thing. But an occasional family game of TtA would be my idea of quality time.

Hope you're able to sell it. It's such an amazing game and a wonderful sandbox to be able to play in. And the more you play, the more you discover. If you have any Civ PC game fans in the family, just tell them this is the boardgame version of it. Good luck!

Larry,

We actually played with four and one of the other guys had only played once a while ago. The two experienced guys didn't even consider not playing the full version and didn't mind our AP too much (they said) because they want to get more people playing it. (These are guys I play with semi-regularly).

Losing my military strength like that midgame was a real bummer. I knew early Era cards would eventually have to be discarded from my hand but I didn't realize a played leader would as well. I thought I could keep Joan as long as I wanted. Too many rules to digest. I wish I had started with the basic game as you suggested or had a least read the rules ahead of time.

Good with two players, eh? That is music to my ears! I haven't heard much talk of the game with two. Ed and I don't shy away from longer games because we can just leave them set up to finish later. I don't think I'll have to work too hard at selling him on at least buying the game. Not after he just ordered a bunch of overpriced Wings of War minis ;-)

I think Kevin would enjoy it but I'd have to pry him away from World of Warcraft (the computer version)where he spends all his free time.

Maybe we can get in a game of it at Gulf Games this summer. Hopefully, I'll have played it a few more times and actually be competitive!

You're on for Gulf Games! You never have to twist my arm too much to get in a game of Through the Ages!