Picture downloaded from BoardGameGeek
 

Luca Revello, the creator of 2ruote (2wheels), has done it again! 15 years later, he presents a new game, based on 2ruote, but different in many aspects. This new game, as its predecessor, is distributed as a free print-and-play game, and you can download it from Boardgamegeek. The rules are bilingual (Italian/English) again, but this time the English version seems to be slightly favoured, since the English rules are included in the game download pack while the Italian rules are available as a separate download. Not to mention that the name of the game is only in English this time.

While I never wrote a proper review of 2ruote, I always found it a very interesting game, and I have always felt a little guilty not finding time to write a longer review. (It is not the only case of print-and-play games reviewed too hastily on this site; since these games are available for you to form your own opinion, I tend to favour the inmediacy factor, featuring the game as soon as possible and fooling myself into thinking that I will eventually review the game with more insight afterwards, but unfortunately this is seldom the case).

This is the case again, but this time I will try to do a little better. However, the first thing I must say is that Blazin Wheels is an overtly ambitious outgrowth of 2ruote. The rules are twenty-plus pages long, ridden with abbreviations and acronyms, and not especially easy to read. Though the game has been tested, according to the author, by "a group of sports games' fans", I am not sure if the rule reading has. I mean, either the author of the game is always present when the rules are explained to a new player, or I am losing faculties with age. The case is that such a level of detail and concision is quite overwhelming. These rules are not for the faint-hearted.

 

 

First breakaway road segment and bunch segment

 

This said, Blazing Wheels is a game of what I term "relative movement" (as opposed to "absolute movement"), which means that you do not have to move all the riders in every game turn, but only those who change their position in relation to the main peloton. The road is composed of a main segment ("bunch"), in which all the riders are placed at the beginning of the game, and four additional segments, three of them ahead of the bunch for breakaways and one behind for dropped riders.

This strategy allows games to have bigger pelotons without taking an excruciatingly long time to move all the riders in every game turn. (Refer to the -unfinished- text "New Directions In Cycling Board Games" for details, if needed). I have always believed in this approach, and I am firmly convinced that the next great cycling game will use it. We may not be there yet, but we are getting closer. 

 

 

The fact that the road segments that make up the game board do not have climbs, descents, or other variations does not mean, of course, that the game does not feature them. Races are divided into "sectors", each of them with their special parameters. Each sector represents something between 10 and 20 km, and as long as nothing relevant happens in the race, the bunch remains grouped and the game goes from one yellow sector to the next. When the action starts (attacks, breakaways, etc.) all groups of cyclists that are not in the peloton are checked in each single sector.

You may have noticed a "rain" indication in the upper left corner of the stage table. Specific cards and tables are provided for weather conditions, falls, or sprints, and also for time trials.

Once you acquire a certain understanding of the game you will be able to design your own races, but for starters you can use one of those that are readily available. At the moment of writing, you can download both the 2022 Giro d'Italia and Tour de France, and also the 2023 Giro. Probably more races will be added in due time.

 

There are two types of cards in this game, SICs and FACs. SICs (Stage Information Cards) are used to choose cyclists and teams, as well as to determine the time gaps between groups of cyclists.

FACs (Fast Action Cards) are the core of the game. They are used to determine what actions involve the cyclists in the different sections of the stage and to check the cyclists in the different groups ahead of (or behind) the main peloton. At first sight they look quite cryptic, and, as said above, you need some dedicated reading to make sense of the abbreviations, but do not let my laziness discourage you.

 

 

 

Furthermore, we have detailed individual features for every rider who took part in the actual races, though you will only select a few of them for your team. In some aspects, Blazing Wheels is not too far from replay games, and it may appeal to replay game fans since it also can be played solo.

 

 

The downloadable game pack provides 12 teams of 5 riders, plus 9 special riders with leaders' jerseys, ready to print. They are the same riders that were already featured in 2ruote, though now we have more teams. However, the rules say that the game can be played by a maximum of 22 players, in which case you will need more teams. (Don't worry, the rules also say that it is better not to play the game with more than eight players). In any case, if you need more cyclists, since the game is not so much about the cyclist figures but about the detailed features of the riders and the road, as shown in game cards, any figurines that you have at home will do, provided you have enough of them (and that you print the road segments big enough for them). As you can see in the BGG picture above, small plastic riders are perfect to play the game. And of course, almost any cyclist included in the "make your own game" section of this website will do too.

 

Download Blazing Wheels from Boardgamegeek