The Legend

There’s really nothing else quite like Avalon Hill's "The Legend of Robin Hood."

Established AH game conventions and mechanics, but applied a little differently...

All the special case chrome is easy to remember, intuitive, and effectively models the main Robin Hood tropes; the archery contest, Maid Marion, disguises, Merry Men, robberies, rescues etc. all present, simple and tastefully built in to the course of the game.

But the game also easily slips into non-Robin Hood situations. Often hilariously so. I think it's a fantastic period narrative generator, really, as it often does a great job simulating medieval "local trouble" situations, i.e. squabbling nobles, people running around the countryside, murder, sham justice, rich bishops to plunder, a little sex & romance, etc. just not necessarily Robin Hood situations.

You could rename this game "Merovingian Mayhem” or “Squabbling Saxons.”

It could be a game about some Frankish princes trying to squash each other or it could be Alfred the Great's triumphant return.

The story of native son versus new intruder overlord class is familiar to everyone, even if it has perhaps earned extra emphasis in the Anglosphere. And the game models all that sort of thing, those stories.

And with that said, you could play it, each player sort of adhering to the basic Robin Hood legend outline, more or less, in the general course of play, and it could potentially simulate true-to-the-source-material Robin Hood stories, I believe. The elements are certainly all there.

And then there is this chess-like energy that creeps in at certain points which is a thing I look for in games. It usually indicates that something is right with the design. Randomness, which is necessary here, is constrained to allow for deeper strategic play, a balance optimal for modeling a situation like this properly as a game.

As further evidence as an example of a finer game, the almost perfectly divided opinion of players who feel it lacks balance; half of those people think the game favors the Sheriff and swear the Sheriff player is guaranteed a win if he truly understands the game, and the other half making the same claims for the Robin Hood player.

I really dig it will almost certainly play "The Legend of Robin Hood" again.