Land and Freedom: The Spanish Revolution and Civil War from Blue Panther – Action Point 4

Land and Freedom: The Spanish Revolution and Civil War is a very interesting and unique card-driven in which players are play the roles of various factions who are attempting to work together to repel the Fascist attack on Spain’s sovereignty. The three sides, including the Moderates, Anarchists and Communists, have to work together in a loose alliance against the Fascists but also in an attempt to keep each ideology in check and win the game by amassing the most glory. The game looks at Spain in the framework of 4 separate geographic Fronts, which players have to defend using only their wits and the cards at their disposal. These cards can be used for their powerful events or placed into a tableau where in later turns the play of matching symbol cards here can trigger a very powerful and game changing momentum swing. The game is semi-cooperative, and what is meant by that is that all of the players will lose the game if 2 of the Fronts or Madrid are lost but if they sufficiently work together to keep the Fascist invasion at bay, they can then win individually for their ideology by amassing the most Glory through their brave deeds, skillful manipulation of the turn order and focus on increasing their hold on important aspects such as government control, external support from world powers in the form of Foreign Aid, the increase of individual liberty or a focus on collectivization.

In Action Point 1, we took a look at the Game Board and discussed the Fronts and various Tracks that belong to the different factions. In Action Point 2, we examined the anatomy of the Player Cards and discuss the use of their Action Points and Events as well as the Fascist Event Cards. In Action Point 3, we look into the Morale and Teamwork Bonuses and how they are best used by the players. In this Action Point, we will discuss the uses for Hero Points and take a look at the various Medallions that can be acquired and their uses.

Hero Points

One of the things that I really like about this design is that there are many different and varied mechanics used that uses history as a guide to make the game an interesting experience but also adds some elements that make the game a game. One of those mechanics is the concept of Hero Points. Hero points are a type of currency that players can earn by performing heroic acts on the various Fronts in the game. There are actually several ways to earn these points and we will take a look at the those ways.

A player will immediately earn a Hero point when they strengthen a Front that changes over to Republican Control by bringing that Front’s Value from 0 or worse to +1 or better.

All players who contributed to Success on the Fascist Test found on the Fascist Event Card drawn each round will earn 2 Hero Points. They must have directly strengthened that Front this same turn by placing Front Strength Markers onto that Front. Good intentions or words of encouragement don’t count unfortunately.

All players who contributed to a Victory on a Front will earn 3 Hero points and the must also have strengthened that Front this same turn.

Hero Points can also be earned through the play of certain Event Cards and their effects or from gaining Medallions.

It is also important to remember that the supply of Hero Points is finite and the 18 provided with the game are what can be earned. When a Hero Point is gained it will be removed from the common stock and added to a players supply. Also, when a Hero Point is spent it will be returned to the common stock. If there are no Hero Point Tokens available in the common stock, players cannot receive those earned and are just out of luck here. If the supply happens to be short when multiple players have earned Hero Points at the same time from something like Victory on a Front, the player who currently holds the Initiative will receive their allotment of Hero Points first, then the other players in turn order until there are no Hero Point tokens remaining.

Now that it is clear how these are earned, I want to talk about why they are important and then how they are used. As a type of currency in the game, similar to your cards, the Hero Points can be used by the players to purchase certain benefits including turning on Teamwork or Morale Bonuses (these were discussed at length in the previous post) or drawing cards. Some of these benefits are frankly better and more important to the game than others, but in the right circumstance and depending on what is needed at that specific time, each can be a help in the mission of the players to defeat Fascism and to advance their own cause by scoring the most Glory Points. This currency is actually a very integral part of the game and players will fine themselves unable to keep up with the demands of the Fascist Event Cards and the ever-present advancing forces on the Fronts without these. So how can they be used?

Any player may spend any number of Hero Points at any time during their turn for the following benefits:

Drawing cards will cost 1 Hero Point per card. This can be very banal or extremely important if you are looking for that specific Event or symbol on your cards. Do not underestimate this benefit.

Turning on a Bonus will cost 2 Hero Points. Remember, that having the Teamwork and the Morale Bonus on is very important to the shared experience and mutual aid given by players to the fighting the Fascists and keeping the Fronts under control. Remember that the Teamwork Bonus is used by the player when they are placing Republican Strength Markers onto Fronts to remove additional Fascist Attack Markers (Teamwork Bonus) or to get additional activations of their Symbols found on cards that have been played to the player’s Tableau (Morale Bonus). Keeping these Bonuses on is very important for the players and they will find their mission that much easier when they do have them.

Moving the Soviet Support or Foreign Aid Tracks will cost 2 Hero Points per step moved on these Tracks. This can be very beneficial to gain Triggers, which are immediate benefits that can be used by the player upon receiving them.

Moving the Liberty or Collectivization Tracks costs 3 Hero Points per step moved. This one costs more because the Anarchists own these Tracks and because they basically start in last place, and have a much more difficult time in gaining Initiative, which remember leads to Glory Points, have to be able to protect these with the added costs. And let me tell you, the difference between 2 and 3 Hero Points is HUGE! You will not see players spending 3 Hero Points on a single option very often.

Moving the Government Track costs 4 Hero Points per step moved and is the most expensive benefit. This Track is directly fought over between the Moderates and the Communists and the same as the Liberty and Collectivization Track is disincentivized by the exorbitant cost of 4 Hero Points.

Players can also purchase certain Medallions with Hero Points to activate once they have been acquired. We will discuss Medallions more later on. It is also important to keep in mind that Hero Points are not protected and can be lost due to the Fascist Event Cards or being taken by other players through the use of their Player Cards and their printed Events.

Hero Points are a very precious commodity and really increase the tension in the game as players simply have to be able to gain them in order to compete. In my first play of the game, I found myself really not focused on gaining Hero Points and I quickly fell behind in the first round. As I looked around and saw the other 2 players spending them for these great benefits, I knew they were important and immediately changed my focus to ensure that I was gaining at 1-2 Hero Points per turn.

Medallions

Similar to Triggers and Hero Points, Medallions are an item that can be used by the player to increase their utility and benefit under certain circumstances and actions. When a player’s owned Track is maxed out they may earn one of the 5 available Medallions. Each game there will be made available 5 random Medallions (from a possible 9 total Medallions) at the start of the game. When a player earns a Medallion, they may choose the one they desire from those available in the Medallion Holding Area found on the board. If there are no Medallions remaining in this Holding Area, they will not receive one. Some Medallions give an immediate one-time bonus, while others give a permanent upgrade or even a new way to use their Hero Points.

Let’s take a look at each of the 9 Medallions:

Subterfuge – Add 1 Player Token to the Glory Bag. This one can be really nice as it gives you one more chance to draw out one of your Tokens when Glory is drawn. It is nice to get a bonus like this when it matters and it can make a difference in scoring at all or scoring more than you would have.

Valor – Gain 7 Hero Points. A gift of 7 Hero Points can allow the player to have a lot of flexibility in what they do over the next several rounds. These Hero Points can be used to take several 1-2 Hero Point Actions or do 1 or 2 major Actions. Nice options here and Valor is very much underrated!

Momentum – Play Another Card. Get to take another turn right after you have just gone? Yes please and talk about an opportunity to gain some momentum in what you are trying to do. This one really becomes handy in the late game as well when the Fronts are dangerously close to falling or near the end game scoring when a player can grab some extra opportunities to gain Medallions by moving Tracks or hurting your opponents by moving their Tracks.

Strategy – Add 1 Extra Strength When Supporting a Front (once per turn). This one is very situational and the benefit of just 1 Extra Strength on a Front isn’t all that appealing but it can be depending on what is vexing the players!

Propaganda – Gain 2 Extra Hero Points from Each Successful Test (even if the player didn’t support). Picking up Propaganda early in the game can really return lots of Hero Points over the course of play and give a player a big edge.

Intelligence – +1 Card When Drawing from Your Deck and Keep +1 Card in Hand at End of Year. As this is a Card Driven Game, having more options to choose to play from our hand of cards is always a huge advantage.

Volunteers – Convert Any Number of Hero Points into Strength Added to Any Front. A last gasp to save the game!

Archives – Spend 1 Hero Point to Remove a Blank Marker from Any Track. Want to get a really nice bonus from that same space a second time? Archives allows you to uncover it by removing the Blank Marker and gives you the ability to increase that Track to take advantage of that bonus…..again!

Organization – Spend 1 Hero Point to Double a Track Icon on Your Current Card to Improve the Morale Bonus by 1 (once per turn). This gives you the power to really make a big difference in a certain area all at once. Plus, like the benefit Momentum, this basically can give you two turns in a row!

As you can see, these Medallions are really powerful…even more so than the Hero Points and having them gives players a real leg up on the competition. But remember, that there are only 5 of them in any single game and you are not guaranteed to get the opportunity to acquire the best ones. But, you have to strategize which ones you want, do your best to get them before your opponents and use them when the time is right to take the lead. Getting two of these during any one game is pretty rare but can really benefit you and doing your best to get them will be to your advantage.

I really enjoy the economy that the Hero Points and the Medallions create within the game. It is almost a game within the game and creates some real opportunities for good play and solid strategy. They are nice and really complement the card play and fighting of the Fascists on the Fronts making the game a great competition. Well done Alex! A very nice addition to the game that really pays dividends.