Assyria and Homesteaders

Homsteaders first. I'm now up to three plays and my ability to play the game is going down in proportion to how much my liking it is going up. It's the dang auction which is throwing me - twice a game i have a mental 'all in' moment and win an auction i did not want to win, then build a building i did not need. I think the key is to plan to pass in advance and don't panic if someone else picks up a cheap auction. You can score about 29 points by not participating in the auction (Advance up the RR track to the 3pt square, picking up a trade chit , a cowboy and a gold on the way, and score 1 pt a round on your Homestead, ) so scores in the early 40's (mine) are pretty lame. Never mind there's always another game.

Assyria. The theme put me off (as did a sight of the board at Essen) It's about ancient stuff - ziggurats, camels et al. However i opened a copy after a customer sang it's praises and i'm glad i did. It's got a nifty card drafting mechanic to feed your villages , the rest is fairly standard fare of sacrificing Vps for income, going for short term vp gains against longer term aims. However, it pulls together into a (for want fo a better word) solid Euro. I'm not sure whether my liking of the core drafting mechanic will stand up to repeated plays but i have enjoyed the two games (2 and 4 player) to date. Maybe a try before you buy.