Navegador, 27 December

Navegador - Orhan's Xmas present to Adrian in 2010 - came out for post-Xmas games with Guest Gamers Fred and Felix. In this rondel-based game players take the role of Portuguese explorers trying to found colonies and exploit resources from Africa to Japan. There are various ways in which to acquire victory points, essentially optimising against the different categories of ships, buildings, colonies etc. Asymmetric play predominated from the start with Felix and Fred opting for early exploration and colony building, Adrian going for workers and factories and James and Orhan going for a balanced approach. Fred and Felix found themselves in very beneficial positions with nicely complementary colonies and factories - the one producing goods which the other could then process, playing the market very effectively. This led to the brothers generating vast amounts of cash which they could then use to buy more buildings and colonies. The game end for this game was initiated by all the buildings being built as the players specialised in the buildings that would lead to maximum victory points. The final scores were closer than we might have supposed, but still showed a commanding victory for Fred: Fred 98; James 89; Adrian 88; Orhan 70; Felix 67.

Shako - Rivals Games Weekend 2011

We played Shako as the last of our games at the alternative Anderida weekend in November. The scenario was set in April 1809 with the encounter between the French and Austrians at Teugen-Hausen as its basis. The 10' by 4' table was configured as the sloping ground from the Austrian entry point at the village of Hausen down, over a couple of ridges, to the river at Teugen.

Having sent light cavalry on ahead (out of view in the point of view photo below because of the dead ground beyond the woods), Prinz Hohernzollen's (James) Austrian infantry divisions entered Hausen...

As Marshal Davout's (Andy) lead French units marched at full speed up the hill from Teugen.

The Austrian cavalry screen (commanded by Kieron) was driven off the French ridge by Alan's rapidly deploying infantry...

Meanwhile the French cavalry under Orhan advanced at full speed up the French right flank and encountered an Austrian infantry division (David) already deployed in the woods as more whitecoated fusiliers emerged from Hausen to take up battle positions....

As the infantry deployed on their respective ridges, artillery and musketry fire decimated the retreating Austrian cavalry caught between the lines (who quickly became desperate for a change of orders - 3 ADCs died or were injured trying to get through - no doubt victims of Jonathan's forward deployed skirmishers). Davout's lead infantry division then advanced down the slope on their side of the depression and prepared to assault the Austrians...

A fierce battle ensued in the centre with Alan and Jonathan's French attackers beaten off having taken heavy cannon fire from the Austrian batteries at the edge of the woods. The next Austrian wave of infantry then pushed forward on the Austrian right to assault the French ridge line...

As the Austrian infantry toiled up the ridge and the Austrian heavy cavalry erupted from the woods down the central road, the French cuirassier regiments deployed and attacked the flank of the Austrian right. The infantry attacked was halted, just as the French were stalled in the centre. Time was called at the end of a full day, with divisions broken on each side. Both the Austrians and French were in position of 'their' ridges and both armies intact enough to fight another day. Overall it was a great game and excellent to get the 15mm Napoleonics out again.

City Tycoon, 21 December

Pre-Christmas games at Adrian's with Guest Gamer Felix and we tried out City Tycoon, Kieron's birthday pressie. This new, semi-abstract game involves the players creating a tile city grid of power plants and buildings. Once buildings are built, powering them with electricity or water cubes (generated by the power plants) creates money to buy new buildings, or goods which in turn can be used to acquire victory points or intermediate benefits. It took us a few turns to get the hang of the game but we then realised its subtlety and cleverness. Not only a cracker in terms of gameplay, the design is also attractive and the construction solid. All in all a great little game. For this first play, the power of combiner cards meant that Adrian developed a pretty unstoppable lead. The final scores were Adrian 35; James 28; Kieron 27; Felix 26 and Andy 18.

Peloponnes & Ra - 7 December 2011

A welcome return for Pelopennes which we haven't played for a little while but all of us remembered the rules.  Except Kieron.  Who slowly and steadily remembered each rule just a little bit too late to take advantage of it.  We must play again soon so he can get his own back.  Orhan stormed it with (Population/Prestige with the score that counted underlined) 27/23, then Andy on 18/22, Adrian on 15/28, James on 9/27 and Kieron on 9/14.  I did remember the rules and only just squeaked past Kieron - I had a devastating population disaster (12 to 3 in one turn) that I never recovered from.

Time enough for old favourite Ra and another win for Orhan on 44.  James luckily achieved 2nd place with 23 after Kieron and Adrian tied for the lowest sum of bidding chits at the end losing them 5 points each to take them respectively to 22 and 20.  Andy was 4th with 21.

Whitewash City - Rivals Games Weekend 2011

The first of three games over the weekend of 18-20 November 2011.  James put together a big multiplayer Wild West skirmish game using the Warhammer: Legends of the Old West rules, the Whitewash City cardboard town, the Redoubt Enterprises train set, and a variety of figures and others bits and pieces.

The seven posses and their missions were as follows.  Stuart was the Lawmen, starting the game practising their skills at the gunsmiths, and outside the Sheriff's office, from where they were to take the captured Mexican leader to the gallows at noon.

Kieron's Mexicans arrived in the other corner of the town, desperate to save their Leader from a stretched neck.

Orhan's US Cavalry rode into town intent on a bit of R&R before collecting their wages from the bank.

David led the Hole-in-the-Wall gang who mosied into town planning to kidnap the Governor's wife and daughter and hold them to ransom.

On the other side of the rail tracks was Andy's Apache camp...

...who were headed into town to rescue the Chief's daughter from working at the Grand Hotel.

Alan's Texas Rangers were in town to see the hanging and ensure the Governor's wife and daughter were safely delivered to the Governor's residence.

Kieron kicked things off by shooting an innocent citizen who was unloading barrels outside the dry goods store.

Andy's Apaches began their slow and sneaky progress into town, climbing in and out of windows of the buildings alongside the railway tracks.  Stuart began slowly escorting the prisoner, using another passer-by's horse and cart as cover, whilst the other posses started moving in on the bank.

Miraculously timed with Adrian's delayed arrival, the noon stagecoach arrived, hotly pursued by the James-Younger Gang, eager to relieve the coach of its weighty casket of gold.

Mayhem swiftly followed.  Lots of exchanged lead and fistfights.  Invisible Indians.  The US Cavalry lost their horses after forgetting to tie up their reins.  An Apache was killed by a lady with an umbrella.  Stuart hanged the Mexican despite Kieron attempting to shoot the rope ("a frayed knot").

Adrian's bank robbers almost wiped out half the US Cavalry in one go after chucking a stick of dynamite into the bank.  Sadly it failed to go off but it was worth it for Orhan's face for those few seconds when his posse was facing obliteration...

On balance, a win for the good guys, but all the posses played their parts well despite taking heavy losses.

The rules worked well.  We randomised the turn order every time but afterwards decided that next time we would randomise the move order, and then again the shoot/fight order, to introduce more uncertainty about who shoots first.

Power Grid - 30 November 2011

A cracking game of Power Grid with the original German map.  James built first and ended up with Kieron right next to him.  Orhan took the East, Stuart the West, and David attempted to take the North, but he hadn't counted on Andy.

Trying to emulate a previous win for Lynne, Andy's strategy was to build only a few towns and then sit on them for a few turns spending no money.  He could have done this anywhere but to force himself to keep to the strategy he built in the three towns that David had blockaded hoping to build them later.  This meant David's first few builds were more expensive that anticipated, and Andy couldn't build at all until Stage 2 of the game.

Incredibly in the final round, James, Stuart and Orhan all managed to build and power 14 towns, with David, Andy and Kieron building and powering 12.  So it was the money that separated the two groups, with James just pipping Stuart with 53 Elektros against 50, and Orhan on 32.  Then David clearly at the top of the second group with 100, and Andy's strategy giving him the extra one he needed to beat Kieron into last place, 15 against 14.

El Capitan - 23rd November

Looks like it's been over 2 years since we played this little gem, so we made up for things by playing it twice in one night.

Our first game featured Orhan and James fighting for the big scoring ports while David and Kieron went for diversity and attempted to get their markers on every port. Loans featured heavily - judging how many, what value and when to pay back is very important. Each time you take a load you effectively miss a turn, something that Kieron used to his advantage in the later parts of the game as he was able to control when the game finished.

Final scores were Kieron 182, James 168, David 157, Orhan 137.

For the second game we seemed to switch to opposing strategies. Kieron and David started fighting for control of the heavyweight ports while this time James and Orhan went for the diversity approach. However the big difference was that James and especially Orhan started a bit early resulting in an entertaining last phase where their vulnerable warehouses (placed first) started being closed down.

Final scores were Kieron 213, James 205, David 192, Orhan 175

Notice anything?

Rumours from Whitewash City

"Say, did ya hear what happened to Hank this weekend?"

        "No, wassup with him?"

"Well he was delivering grain to the Dry Goods store in Whitewash City, and he got shot in the ass by a Mexican!"

        "You're kidding.  Why?"

"Nobody knows.  But it was the start of an almighty shoot-out that lasted half the day.  See, what happened next was - "

        "Look - are we playing this game or what?"

"Alright, alright... I'll tell you more about what happened later..."

Steam - 9 November 2011

Orhan writes:  Wednesday the 9th of November saw an outing for Steam – Rails to Riches. After hunting around for an elusive set of rules we finally worked out what we were doing and got started. Several different strategies were played with David very effectively optimising his cash resources whilst Orhan went for a more business Moghul approach borrowing vast sums of cash. The interesting thing was that all the different approaches seemed to work well with an almost unbelievably close finish. with David on 29, Adrian on 28, James on 27, Orhan on 26 and Kieron just about out of the station on a 13. All agreed it was a very interesting game and one we have to play again soon before we forget the rules.

Vasco da Gama

Once Andy had finally decided to join us, we had a great game of Vasco da Gama.  There are some neat mechanisms in this game but it took me at least two of the five turns to recall how it all slotted together and get used to the amount of forward planning one has to do.  Kieron and Orhan surged ahead, with Andy and me struggling to keep them in sight.  Towards the end of the game, Kieron really pulled away and as two of Orhan's ships failed to move on to the next port, I managed to catch him up and just squeeze ahead.  Final scores: Kieron 86, James 59, Orhan 58 and Andy 34.

Thebes & Vom Kap bis Kairo - 19 October 2011

With only four this week, it was a good opportunity to look at games for maximum four players.  The popular choice was to try Thebes again - the turn of the century archaeologist game.  It's got a great theme, quite a bit of luck in the excavation phase but enough opportunity to try different approaches like developing the most specialised knowledge or attending congresses/exhibition.  Orhan was the most successful digger, James the most knowledgeable but David's many congress talks brought him first place.  Final scores David 54, Orhan and James on 50, with Kieron on 38.

After Orhan left, we still had enough time for a quick game of the card game Vom Kap bis Kairo, building railway tracks across Africa from Cape to Cairo.  It was a very close run thing but David got his second win of the evening.

Battlestar Galactica - 5th October 2011

We decided to give Battlestar Galactica a go with 5 players instead of the usual 6 as it meant we could avoid the unloved Sympathizer card and hopefully reduce time between turns a little too.

I played Baltar, James as Adama, Andy as Boomer (surprise), Kieron as Tigh and Stu as Apollo. The first part of the game progressed with no evidence of Cylons as everyone pulled together to get us to the halfway point without too much damage.

After the second round of loyalty cards things began to change. At this point I'd seen all of Kieron's cards (he was human) and one of James' (also human) and somehow I'd dodged the cylons with my three cards. So Andy and/or Stu were looking a bit tin-plated to me, but the others hadn't seen any other cards and didn't know.

Then during a Cylon attack, Stu showed his hand and refused to fight, instead steering two civilian ships into the path of the raiders. Carnage ensued, but Stu was clearly mistified when he got no help with a follow up crisis that would have put the humans in a much worse position. More cylons and basestars attacked, and the humans found themselves with no pilots as Andy repeated Stu's approach a turn later.

In a typically close finish, fuel and morale were hovering just above zero and the humans needed one more jump to win. Andy and Stu managed to trigger a final crisis that was decided by a die roll. The result was the loss of one more fuel and defeat for the humans.

It felt frustrating to have decided the result of the game on a dice roll - a skill card showdown would have felt more satisfying, but ultimately the humans put the fuel at risk and then the cylons managed to exploit it.

It felt a bit odd having the declared Cylons pick a crisis and (as current player) choose the worst option, but that's exactly what an undeclared cylon would do I suppose.

Great fun and felt better without the Sympathizer card. At some point we should check out the expansion as I think they provide more variety for the cylon players and give the humans the option of kicking cylons out of the airlock!

Robots in disguise?

Another game of Battlestar Galactica last night - I'll leave it to David to post the outcome but here's a photo to keep you guessing which helmet Andy was wearing this time...

...and yes, I have been looking forward to posting this photo for a while.  It was taken at a Sci-fi exhibition at the Heritage Motor Museum at Gaydon back in May (we were actually there for a slot car festival).

Show and Tell: Stable and Graveyard

One of the interesting things we spotted at Colours were laser-cut MDF buildings from Warbases and Sarissa.  I bought a stable for £6 from Warbases, glued it together, based it, tiled the roof (with little squares of cardboard), and painted it up - and the result looks like this:

Andy and I also bought a load of plastic gravestones.  These came pre-painted for just a few quid and I've based them on a square of plastic, and grassed it with a path down the middle.

I sized the base to match the white picket fencing and church (which I painted, including all the stained glass!) picked up at a previous Colours show.

Ivanhoe & Pelopennes

The first, and almost certainly last, outing for Ivanhoe - one of my random Bring & Buy purchases.  The theme looked good (nobles attacking the castles of evil King John), the artwork was passable, but the game mechanics stank.  When you conquered a castle, you didn't actually gain control of it.  Instead the original player retained control and you joined a queue which, if it became long enough, effectively pushed the original owner off to the dungeon and the second in line took control.  There was a little bit of swapping around, particularly at the end as you are forced by the game to attack if you can, but Orhan and Stuart deployed large armies early in the game to hold onto castles.  Everyone who took a castle early held onto it until the end of the game, with just the small castle changing hands and giving me the win in the end as I was the last person with a big army and could take it over.  Very disappointing.  I'll double-check BGG to see if I had a duff translation of the German rules but otherwise, this is going back to the next Bring & Buy.

The second game was my much more successful B&B game of Pelopennes.  In the process of explaining the rules to Stuart, I appeared to blank them from my mind shortly after, and consequently made error after error.  Charitably, the boys game me a few Mulligans (and others benefited from the evening's generous spirit) but I couldn't make progress after missing so many opportunities.  Everyone else had good solid games, particularly David who won with a population/prestige score of 42/27, followed by Orhan on 18/32, Stu on 18/26, Andy 18/24, Adrian 15/23 and me on just 9/16.  It looked like Stu and Andy were going to share 2nd place with Orhan, until the latter pointed out the prestige score was used to resolve ties.  I still love this game.

Ticket to Ride: Europe & Ra - 21 September 2011

A great game of Ticket to Ride: Europe with the little stations that allow you to hop on parts of others routes - essential when, as happened to Kieron, a key step in your long ticket route gets blocked.  Final scores were James and Stuart both on 115, Andy close behind on 107, Orhan on 98 and Kieron on 84.  Sharing first place, especially with Stuart :-), is never satisfactory and Orhan had lost his rules so we couldn't check how to resolve draws.  But according to BGG:


The player with the most points wins. If a tie, the player who completed the most Destination Tickets wins. If still tied, the player with the Longest Continuous Path bonus card wins.

Stu and I both had completed three Destination Tickets but I had managed to secure the Longest Continuous Path, so I am deeply humbled and embarrassed to announce myself the winner :-)  (At least until Orhan finds his rules, and they don't say this...).

With half the evening left, another fun game of reliable old favourite Ra.  The high point of which was the last round where Kieron lost Russian Roulette leaving himself with the 15 and 16 tokens unused.  However, that did leave him with highest sum of bidding tokens, so the five he earned from James (with the lowest sum) kept Kieron off the bottom and James off the top of the scorecard - leaving Stuart in first place.  Final scores Stu 40, Orhan 36, James 35, Kieron 30 and Andy on 27.

Colours 2011

Andy and I spent almost a full day at the Colours wargames show at Newbury Racecourse today.  Adrian was also there (although only Andy managed to bump into him during the many hours we wandered around).  Jonathan also planned to visit but I didn't spot him either.

This continues to be a great show.  Nice atmosphere, easy location, a big show without being too big.  Loads of traders and plenty of participation games to check out.  As before, the only downside is the poorly organised bring and buy - although I did find a bargain: Beowulf.

This is a tie-in with the Hollywood movie of a few years ago and as you can see, it is subtitled "The Movie Board Game".  This should be enough to put any experienced gamer off but I noticed a wonderful phrase on the box that changed my mind "A Game By Reiner Knizia".  This game is based on an earlier Knizia game called Kingdoms, has good reviews on BGG, and I look forward to playing it.

I also picked up some paints and some headstones (my church needs a graveyard!) and Andy found a Stuka and some nicely-painted 25mm WW2 Germans.

The highlight of the demo games was Isandlwana.  A huge long table with one figure for every real person in the battle!  The Zulus and British weren't as well painted as Adrian's but the effect across a 6 by 30 feet table was very impressive.

The British camp...

 The British fire out as the Zulus charge in...

One other game that caught my eye was a 25mm WW2 game that had everything - planes, ships and tanks!

Peloponnes & Ra - 7 September 2011

An evening of firm favourites.  Firstly Peloponnes with the Sea Expansion.  Orhan ruled the waves, James and Andy became lumberjacks, Adrian and Kieron went for more balanced strategies - but the final scores (where the lowest of Population/Prestige is the player's tally) were Andy 12/24, Adrian 18/26, Kieron 18/30, Orhan 33/26 and James taking the lead with 30/29.

Next another riotous game of Ra, notable for James starting the game with the best bidding counter (value 16) but failing to actually use it until the third epoch.  Andy and Adrian played strong architect games and the final scores were almost the exact opposite order of the first game: James miles behind with 21, Kieron on 29 just pipped by Orhan on 30, and Adrian on 39 again pipped by one point by Andy on 40.

Zulus! 31 August 2011

After having painted up 180 Zulus, 30 Natal Natives and 60 British plus a couple of wagons it was time for a game of Black Powder before everyone got too busy again after summer hols. James and Orhan took the roles of the brave British garrison at the mission station at Myers' Drift. Opposing them was the massed Mblini clan under the princely leadership of Andy ('Hyena of the Pongolo'), David and Kieron.

The Zulus had lain up for a day, hidden in ambush in the hills and mealie fields around the mission station, awaiting the arrival of the supply wagons and the doughty Naval Brigade. Their plan was to attack the wagon train, drawing out the Redcoats into a close quarter ambush.

The attack from both sides of the road had the Sailors and Native contingent fleeing (after a British command blunder) although Andy's attacking impi stalled on the hillside after the rapidly moving British relief column set up a firing line and kept them suppressed with enfilade fire.

As the wagons and porters headed for the camp, the Natal Natives, Boers and Sailors were pummeled by Andy and David's warriors. The 24th Foot started to form up to repulse the attacking Zulus, only for Kieron to unleash his main force - the elite Impis of the Royal army from the mealie field into the rear of the thin red line. Luckily for James, his supporting company was able to join the melee, hitting the first band of Zulus in their rear - only for the second Impi to crash into combat.

The British held for a time (their Stubborn and Steady ratings being key) but eventually the first company crumbled and the impi charged on, heading for the wagons. At this point the power of the British firing line came into its full effect - the Gatling gun on the hillside opened up with enfilade fire at the same time as the third company of infantry. The impi melted away. The final turn saw Orhan preparing to retire his remaining Redcoats as David sprang his own mealie-field ambush - necessarily prematurely in terms of the game, but it was getting late.

The umpire declared the game at honours even. The vital supplies looked like mostly being rescued, but at a high cost in dead British soldiers and sailors.

This was probably the largest 28mm game we've played with Rivals' figures - and the first to use casualty figures, which, for this period at least, seemed to work.

Dominant Species - 24 August 2011

First outing for Orhan's birthday gift to James - Dominant Species.  This is a complex and thoughtful game simulating evolution.  It sounds quite dry but is actually a lot of fun with plenty of interaction between the players. There are a lot of facets to the game but not all come into play at each decision point so the complexity felt manageable, but we agreed this is definitely a game to play when everyone is feeling alert!

Although we avoided analysis paralysis, the game is lengthy and we played 3 turns, rather than the 5 or 6 the full game would take.  We discussed ways to shorten it (without rushing it) and having now read some of the BGG postings, I like the following suggestion:

• Remove all Action Pawn-related cards (Intelligence, Parasitism, Omnivore, Immigrants). Fewer pawns = fewer phases = shorter game.
• Randomly remove an additional card (or better still take out Blight - the devastating card that nearly wiped out David in the very first turn).
• Shuffle the Ice Age card with 4 more cards and put them at the bottom of the draw deck.

That way, the game is at least one turn shorter, and no animal has an advantage over another.

The lead changed a lot throughout the game but James' growth in number of species in the final turn meant he cleaned up in the final reckoning when each and every terrain tile is scored one last time.  James got 88 victory points, David 72, Orhan 71, Kieron 65 and Adrian 63.  One to play within the next few weeks I think whilst the mechanisms are still fresh in our minds.

St Petersburg - 17th August 2011

Not many for games this week so we played a less well known 4 player game called St Petersburg. David and Adrian had played it before, but it was new to James and Kieron. Prior experience helped David build up a commanding lead that was never threatened. James and Adrian fought for second place, while Kieron fell behind in income early on and struggled for a couple of turns.

It's a good game, with straightforward rules and simple games mechanics, but incorporates good money vs victory points balancing.

The board was cleared away before I had a chance to record the scores - I think Adrian pipped James for second place?

Lee withdraws from Gettysburg - 29 July 2011

Three weeks on, my scribbled notes from this game aren't that clear - so here's a quick summary and some  photos from another great ACW game set up by Jonathan.

Following defeat at Gettysburg, General Lee (Jonathan) is withdrawing with the rebel army west towards the Shenandoah / Cumberland valley with its rail links back to Richmond.  The Third and Fifth Corps are in the Vanguard of the pursuit, swinging south via Frederick, through High Knob Pass towards Sharpsburg seeking to cut off the Confederate Army before the Potomac River crossings and safety at Williamsport.  On the 11th Lee has ordered Longstreet and Hills division to hold the Hagerstown to Downsville line to screen the withdrawal over the Potomac.

The Union Army (James and Kieron) has the chance to seal the victory and defeat the main rebel army in the field, brush aside the covering force and seize the crossings bring this war to a close.

Jonathan charged onto the table in his first move but failed his command roll in the second turn so his advance was halted.  Nevertheless his artillery and shooting managed to break the first Union brigade that very turn.  James then got his first (of very very many) command blunders (a double six).  By the fifth turn, he'd had four command blunders - but his flank march did arrive pretty early.

With lots more scrapping and shooting, by lunchtime it was still anyone's game.  Early in the afternoon, Jonathan's flank march had also arrived and the Union was taking a beating.
 

The classic moment came in turn 10 when Kieron and James rolled four successive double-sixes - blundering all over the battlefield.  A couple of turns later it was all over with a decisive win for Jonathan.