rudy games - Leaders 2019 - Interactive Cold War Strategy Board Game with App - for Children 10 Years and Up and Adults, 30x30x7 cm, Military Colors

This game is like an advanced version of Risk. I recommend it for anyone who enjoys strategy games.The game is for 2-6 players. At least one device (smart phone or tablet) is required to play. The game board is similar in layout and function as the Risk board. The device comes into play to purchase units, research technology, hire and deploy spies and diplomats, and forge alliances with other players.There are a few different game modes (scenarios) that change the objectives and victory conditions. Whereas in Risk you won by conquering the entire planet, in Leaders you can win by conquering a majority of the planet, by performing research, or by completing missions. This keeps the game dynamic because it isn't always obvious how close another player is to winning. Your spies can help determine this though!Leaders is a lot of fun in my opinion and I recommend it for those who enjoy Risk and other strategy games.

I bought this board game because I thought that it being app-based was an interesting concept that could help make some of the stuff that virtual board games can do (like hidden units for example) finally accessible in a more IRL setting, and I think that this game does a good job at introducing the potential for that. Spies and Diplomats help add a layer of secrecy that I think is impossible in a traditional board game and helps add a bit of accuracy to the setting the base game takes place in.The physical part of the game feels like a more simplified version of Risk, which isn't actually a bad thing. The dice-based combat in this game is way easier to understand than it is in Risk. The amount of dice you get for your units is much easier to remember and victory is determined by "hits" instead of by getting a higher number, which can help make it easer to defend yourself if you don't have a lot of combat units to spare.I also think the app helped sell the game to my friends, as normally they hate these types of longer games with a lot of rules. But by the end of it they were on board with the concept, even one of my friends who's usually very biased against big strategy-based board games. I like to think that the way the app presents the rules of the game helped immensely with that as it was very easy to follow the games instructions and there weren't that many times where we had questions on how something worked thanks to the easy explanations.As much as I and my friends like the game, we do have some issues with it still. The pieces feel very cheaply-made and there were times where we had to cut off excess plastic just to get some combat units to stay standing. We also ran into an issue on the app where one of the research options (I believe it was Technology Level 2) wasn't translated into English from German so we were forced to figure out what it did through the reference sheet provided with the game.Another issue we had, and this is the big one for us, is the lack of a sort of "do-over" option to help mitigate human error. We were forced to cut our last game short because of this as when one of my friends was passing the tablet we were using to play, he accidentally tapped the next icon while on the production screen and, thinking the warning that popped up was actually for him to end his turn, hit the next button anyway. This action accidentally made it so that the next person had 0 production points. Because of this, I'd suggest either a limited "do-over" option to fix those kinds of mistakes, or making it so you have to tap a number before letting you continue past the production point screen so as to avoid that problem entirely. Or heck, even remember the last input that player made for their production so that kind of mistake isn't as damaging.Other than those issues we had though, we all thought this game is great and will most likely be playing it pretty often.

Fun game. Feels like an upgraded version on Axis and Allies. Single device mode makes game take too long and feels very slow because of the downtime while waiting for your turn and multi device mode could be easier to set up. It makes every user create an account to join in on a game, however, the activation code only allows one user to initiate a game. So unless the game owner loans out his user login info, he must be a player in the game.

Great Game. Gameplay is interesting and fun, it's unique that you get to play it alongside the app, really awesome stuff. Only issues are that the app sometimes feels like it takes a second or two to move on

This strategy game is tons of fun, especially if you are into all things Cold War related. It can get a bit complicated at times, but the 24/7 support on whatsapp is very helpful.

It’s an amazing game but it is missing all of the tanks in two of the sets. If I get this fixed I will honestly make it 5 stars.

Risk with a Cold War spin.

Rudy Games' Leaders looks like it would be a lot of fun. That's why I requested it from Amazon Vine. It's like an updated version of Risk but with app integration. It boasts the you don't need to read a rulebook at the app with take care of all of the tedious parts of the game for you, and guide you on your turn. Now, I love app-integrated games generally. Mansions of Madness 2nd Edition is one of my favorite games. I also enjoy XCOM: The Board Game and Lord of the Rings: Journeys to Middle Earth. However, while all of those games require you to download an app before playing, once it is downloaded you don't need to "sign in" to an account, or use an online component at all to play the game. The apps occasionally update for those games, but you don't need an internet connection to play them. With Leaders, you have to download the app and then remain online to play. I was not happy about that, but I went ahead and downloaded the app anyway onto my iPad. Once it was downloaded it tried to log on. It told me "No Internet Connection," despite the fact that I had just downloaded the app! I tried again, same result, and again and again. I then downloaded the app onto my iPhone and tried again. Same result. Over Wi-Fi and 4G. Over and over. Is this game no longer being supported? I play a lot of games and really would have liked to have given this one a try. I'm just glad I didn't pay money for it. It doesn't work.

Ich habe mich wirklich auf Leaders gefreut. Ein App gestütztes Spiel, das mehr Tiefe und Spielmechanik ermöglicht als ein reines Brettspiel. Klang vielversprechend. Die Ernüchterung folgte auf dem Fuße:Der Spielplan war an vielen Stellen zusammengeklebt und ließ sich nicht öffnen. Ich musste ziemlich daran ziehen und ihn versuchen mit einem Messer aufzuschneiden. Bei vielen Bereichen ist der Druck abgerissen. Sehr unschön und sollte eigentlich direkt zurück. Aber ich war so voller Vorfreude und wollte mich nicht aufhalten lassen.Es liegt eine Stanzkarte mit Markern bei. Da hat direkt einer gefehlt. Ließ sich auch in der Packung und beim anderen Material nicht finden.Dann die App. Runter geladen, installiert. Um sie zu nutzen muss man zwingend ein Konto beim Hersteller anlegen. Das wollte ich eigentlich nicht. Aber gut, wenn es eben nicht anders geht. Was aber noch mehr ärgert ist, dass bei einem Spiel mit mehreren Geräten (so dass man das Tablet nicht dauernd herum reichen muss) JEDER ein Konto anlegen muss.Egal, ich war zwar schon nicht mehr begeistert, wollte es aber immer noch spielen. Also Spiel gestartet, die Spielmodi sind nicht so unbedingt vielfältig, dafür wird gleich mal Werbung für weitere online Bezahlangebote eingeblendet. Egal. Ich baue die Armeen auf. Wieso reichen meine Infanteriesoldaten nicht für alle Felder die ich besetzen soll?? Nachgezählt. Sind 25. Sollten aber laut Anleitung 30 sein. Farbe gewechselt. Jetzt gehts. Dann das Spiel endlich gestartet.Das Spielprinzip ist ein bisschen wie bei Risiko. Allerdings erhält man pro Territorium das man besitzt Produktionspunkte und die kann man in die Entwicklung verschiedener Bereiche eingeben. Dazu gehört die Produktion von Einheiten, Forschung und Diplomatie.Umgehauen hat uns das ganze nicht denn:Diplomatie macht nur im Spiel mit drei und Mehr Spielern Sinn. Eigentlich sollten es immer 5 sein. Nur dann kann man das wirklich ausspielen und nutzen.Wer einmal abgeschlagen ist holt auch nie wieder auf. Es fehlt einfach an Produktion.Die App / Spiel Kombination ist ziemlich unnütz. Die App macht eigentlich nichts anderes als geheime Informationen an andere zu geben. Zeigt bspw. an, dass man sabotiert wurde oder welche Ziele man verfolgen soll. Nichts was man nicht in reinen Brettspielen auch schon anders erfolgreich gelöst hat. Lästig ist, dass sie keine interaktive Karte hat auf der man einfach angibt, welche Gebiete man erobert hat. Dadurch muss man immer die Produktion wieder neu zusammenzählen. Aber wenn die App solche Sachen machen würde, bräuchte man eigentlich auch kein Brettspiel dazu.Die Grundidee ist eigentlich ganz gut, in der Umsetzung bleibt es leider stark hinter meinen Erwartungen zurück. Die miese Produktionsqualität tut ihr übriges dazu, dass ich wirklich nur von diesem Spiel abraten kann.

I saw this game at the UKGE 2018. There was nothing fancy about Rudy Games stand and you certainly could have missed it if you were not looking. I was struck how their games board was a lot like ‘Risk’. Risk has always been one of our gamer group favourite games. The problem with ‘Risk’ is that it’s a bit limited and sometimes rather frustrating. So after playing our first game of ‘Leaders’ I can say it’s ‘Risk Like’ but ‘Risk on steroids’. With ‘Leaders’ you have a traditional board game with the added benefit of an app on a smart device. Much of the ease of the game is that the app guides you through set up, rules, and wining conditions and they are always within easy read. The game certainly if different to ‘Risk’ there are multiple ways to win, production points, improving technology, or completing missions. A player can also boycott or infiltrate other players as well as forming alliances. There are also global events that affect all players. These events and actions are all done within the app. You will need the board to track your production points which you spend inside the app creating new units, diplomates, spies or improve your economy or technology. The heart of the game is the board where you can move your units, re-enforce, and do battle. Battle is conducted by dice. There are three types of dice, white for infantry, grey for tanks, and black for planes. Each player takes one dice for each of the units that are within the territory. So if a player had two infantry, two tanks and one plane they would take one dice of each unit. The defender would then take one dice for each type of unit they had. The dice are rolled and the number of hits is indicated, the players then remove units of their choice from the game board equalling the number of hits. This carries on until no one has any units left, or one player wins. Winning territories give your production points and winning a whole continent gives you extra production points.Conclusion: Leaders is a fun strategy game! There is more going on than ‘Risk’ and it’s not as complicated as something like ‘Axis and Allies’. I tried to play ‘Axis and Allies’ once and after 2 hours of setup decided to give up! You do need a smart device to play and I’ve had no problem with the app crashing. Rudy Games have told me they are working on bring new features within the app so it will be expanded over time with new scenarios, statistics and some bells and whistles to make it even more polished. If you like ‘Risk’ but feel it is a little limited and don’t want a full-blown deep strategy that you can’t play in a night, or have a number a casual gamers in your group then I highly recommend picking up a copy of ‘Leaders’.In response to a review below, you can switch the timer on which limits people’s time use of the app making the game faster paced.

I bought this game quite a while ago, and being a lover of all things strategy it was a brilliant decision. The game itself is a joy to play, with easy to learn rules and a delightful amount of depth. The tablet usage blends seamlessly and enables you to easily see at a glance everything available to you. The unit models are well designed and made, and it gives you the feel of standing in a war room deciding the fates of whole nations. Frequent free updates to the rules, for example the inclusion of nuclear weapons mean the game continues to grow and develop.There is also something that must be said for the support from the creators of this game. Thanks to heavy usage and my young son quite a few of my units have gone missing. Upon contacting the creators, I have been able to secure replacement units with ease, something that really sets Rudy games apart from other manufacturers.Simply put, I cannot recommend this game or its creators enough. If you love strategy, or the feeling of truly annhilating your nearest and dearest, you owe it to yourself to give this game a go.

I think this game was amazing. Really enjoyed it. One part I liked was the inclusion of each countries' leader and ideology, which gave more personality to the game. The setting of 1960 is a nice touch as very few Board games touch on this era. Usually WW2 is used. The rules are somewhat confusing on your first try but getting used to them isn't impossible or hard, even. The playable nations are the USA (democratic, JFK), the UK, (democratic, Harold Macmillan), French Republic (authoritarian democrat, Charles de Gaulle), West Germany (authoritarian democrat, Konrad Adeaneur), Soviet Union (Communist, Nikita Khruschchev) and China (Communism, Mao Zedong). China is my favourite as they almost always win. Playing with friends is good when you make alliances and sabotage/assassinate other leaders. There are some expansions. I have bought none, but they look great. There is a mode where you play as the leaders of the mentioned nations in 2016. They add separate DLC for Republic of Cuba, Australia, Republic of South Africa, Empire/Republic? of Japan, Argentine Republic and German Democratic Republic (East Germany). £8.99 for 2016 scenario and £2.49 for one DLC nation.

This game does go on for a while, however the time really doesn't matter as it seems to fly by! This game is so fun, there's is very little luck involved, and so much going on that it doesn't get boring. Highly recommended.