The three player version of Alea Iacta Est dispenses with the Templum and Fortuna cards, removing on the options and strategies of the game. This makes the Senate Cards even more important and James maxed out on cards which provided extra bonuses. We all had about the same points based on the provinces and citizens, but the Senate Card bonuses gave the final scores of James 54, David 38 and Andy 33.
Time then for a game of Maori - the island exploration game. Andy had a bit of bad luck with island opportunities at the beginning of the game and couldn't catch up, and the final scores were James 49, David 43 and Andy 18.
Building on our commitment to more frequent figures games, James hosted a Wild West train robbery scenario. This was played once before back in December 2007! The train is carrying the Cavalry payroll and the desperados have to attack the train and steal the money.
The neat twist is that the train is static on the table and the scenery scrolls past each turn, forcing the players to take evasive action.
The train had three flat beds, two of which I converted to a goods wagon and a passenger carriage. I formed a carriage from foam card which could slide over the flat bed.
The train was attacked by three bandits (Adrian, David and Andy) and James umpired and defended with three lawmen on the train and three members of the US Cavalry. There were fights on roof tops, shoot outs in carriages (with some incredible misses), and regrettably no failed Jump rolls as characters leapt from their horses to the train, or across the roof tops. But the good guys were vanquished and the James-Younger Gang escaped with the loot.
This is really a two-player scenario and although it was a good re-introduction to the Warhammer ruleset Legends of the Old West, it didn't give each player that much to do. So I hope to run a proper multiplayer game with a posse each within the next few months.
Back in 2007, we took a photo each turn and posted a stop-motion video on YouTube. This time, I used the Framelapse app to take a frame every second, which at 30fps means an hour long game is a two minute video.
With hindsight, I should have repositioned the camera when the action moved further up the train, but it gives a flavour of the action and how the scenery scrolls past. You can see the bandits chase the train, jump on the guard van, knock a sheriff off, and then start working their way up the train. The cavalry arrive from the top right with one killed by David's shotgun before getting anywhere near the train.
We finished the evening with another quick game of Eight Minute Empire, using the other side of the board with more islands. Some very close scores but a triumph for Andy. Final scores: Andy 11, David and Adrian on 10, and James on 9.
First play of David's birthday gift to James. Eight Minute Empire claims to be learned in one minute and played in twenty (not sure where the eight comes from...). The small board has a large number of territories on a small number of continents. Players buy cards that allow then to add counters to the board, or move them across land and sea, and a couple of other options, in order to maximise the territories and continents they control. But the cards also represent resources, and sets of these earn additional points at the end of the game. Neat, good fun and does play in 20-30 minutes even with us! Final scores: James 12, Andy 9, David 8 and Stuart 7.
Plenty of time for a medium-length second game - Downfall of Pompeii. The first half of the game is placing people, and the second half is directing lava flows over your opponents - Nya Ha Ha! Final scores: Stuart 8, David 7, James 7 (3rd place since more people killed by lava!), and Andy 5.
