30th Anniversary Rivals Weekend

Somehow three decades have past since the formation of Rivals games nights.  Last weekend we got together to mark this and play a load of games.  Sadly Adrian couldn't make it, he was much missed.

We played a range of games, figures and board, old favourites and new.  We started with a "Bearers' Steeplechase" - a simple race game James had been planning for a while with some of the figures he had been collecting:

The figures were (from left to right, starting with the back row) Captain Scott on his Husky Sled, Lady Tsukiyama in a Palanquin, Sir Henry Pottinger in a Sedan Chair, Wilfred Owen on a WW1 Stretcher, Chief El Dorado the Muisca Chief, and Mrs Mavis Pike on her bicycle.

After looking for suitable rules for some time, James came across a game called Stage Chaser in a charity shop, a card based game simulating cycle races, with counters and tiles.  The tiles were reproduced as strips the figures could be placed along side.  The game uses three colours of poker chips to represent the energy a player has for attacking uphill, downhill and on the flat.  

Unfortunately this energy is depleted not by effort but by other players landing on your space and nicking your tokens.  This was quite fun but makes it tough to catch up, particularly if your hand of cards doesn't help your current position.  A good little filler game but if we play again, we'll use David's suggestions of allowing players the option of missing a turn in order to discard and replenish their hand in full.

The second game was a Dad's Army scenario - full write in this blog post.

Alternating with games of old favourites Ra and Pelopennes (and a picnic-style lunch and pizzas for dinner), we also had a couple of games of Hare and Tortoise that James had bought specially having recently discovered it was the first Spiel des Jahres winner back in 1979.  It was actually first published in 1974 but the German edition came out in 1978.

This 2010 edition from Gibson Games comes in an uninspiring box with an almost Victorian style board, suggesting a game of ludo-like simplicity.  But it's much more complex and devious than that - a race game that doesn't use any dice and (unless you take a chance card) has little luck element at all.  Suggested for ages 7 and up, we could imagine some very unhappy families trying to play this together - no doubt the reason there are so many copies under a tenner on eBay.

Each player starts with 65 carrots and 3 cabbages.  You move by paying carrots in triangle numbers for the number of spaces i.e. 1, 3, 6, 10, 15 etc carrots for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc spaces, and have to visit limited and busy locations to drop off your cabbages.  The added challenge is passing the finishing line with 10 or less carrots (or 20 or less if in 2nd place, etc).  You can collect a lot more carrots by going backwards and taking a tortoise approach, resulting in some large moves e.g. 20 spaces costing 210 carrots!

We really enjoyed it and played it twice.  The first game especially had much hilarity as we struggled to get over the finishing line with the right number of carrots remaining.

We next played the bidding game Medici followed by a 6 Nimmt, a Board Game Arena favourite from the COVID lockdowns.

After David left, we had a game of St Petersburg with James' new copy recently acquired from a Board Game Geek seller for a reasonable price.  This rare but excellent game attracts some very high prices on most selling sites.

In the morning, we had a hearty full English breakfast before a very close game of Airlines Europe.

A great weekend, missing only Adrian, in both senses of the word.  Our last games weekend was just before the first COVID lockdown, so over three and a half years ago now.  We felt we should try and do this more often!

Episode 302: High Stakes for Captain Mainwaring

Another game of Perilous Tales with the rules adapted for four players, with one Hero each.  The changes were:

• each Hero had the leader stats of 3 Actions, Skill 4 and 12 Wounds but only 1 trait
• a Hero could only perform one Hand-to-Hand or Shooting action per turn
• an activated Hero stopped their turn whenever getting within 6 inches of a threat marker but the other Heroes could continue their turns.  All threat markers within 6 inches of any Hero were then revealed simultaneously

The briefing for the game:

It's mid-evening in the church hall at Walmington-on-Sea.  The Home Guard are settling down to another lecture from Corporal Jones about his exploits under Lord Kitchener but are waiting for the arrival of their commanding officer.

"Uncle Arthur, Uncle Arthur", Frank Pike wails.  "We can’t start the lecture without Captain Mainwaring.  I don't know where he is!"

"Now, now Frank, there's no need to carry on like that", replies Sergeant Wilson.  "I know he was going to take some flowers to his mother's grave this afternoon, perhaps he lost track of time."

"But he wouldn’t miss another one of Jonesy’s tales about the Sudan!"

Sergeant Wilson stands up, puts on his cap and clears his throat.

"Ok men, I’m terribly sorry but the lecture is cancelled. Your orders this evening are to scour the graveyard and find Captain Mainwaring and if you wouldn’t mind awfully, do deal with any miscreants you encounter."

The table layout:

Our Heroes and their Traits were Sergeant Wilson (Lucky), Lance Corporal Jones (Tough Guy), Private Pike (Discretion) and Private Godfrey (Medic).

The villains were an assortment of vampyres and their acolytes (more details on earlier blog):

The episode was filmed by a unit from Perilous Pictures:

The Home Guard entered the graveyard and Jones revealed the first threat marker to be Bats!  Unfortunately this permanent cloud of bats was located very centrally and a number of the Heroes were bitten in this and subsequent turns.  The next threat marker was the Bride of Dracula but Jones despatched her in double quick time.

Pike revealed the next threat marker and promptly fell into an open grave taking several wounds as he cried for his teddy.

After climbing out of the grave, Pike killed Count Ruthven who had been revealed and softened up by Jones.  Wilson continued to lead the group in the search for Captain Mainwaring and Godfrey applied a number of much-needed bandages.

After a couple of attempts, the men managed to break down the door of the mausoleum to discover a confused and weakened Mainwaring inside.

As they started to escort him to safety, Private Pike encountered Count Dracula.  

Contemplating that the Count was already dead, Godfrey put aside his pacifism and seriously wounded him.  Pike finished him off.

The Home Guard decided it was now time to exit and headed for the gates.  But the increasing threat level meant that the unrevealed threat markers caught them up, and the Heroes found themselves harassed by Renfied, Nosferatu and a spectre.

With a little GM discretion, the spectre headed them off at the gate.

By this time Pike had already exited with almost all his wounds taken, so he watched through the railings as his friends killed the spectre and joined him outside.

Nosferatu moaned as the games were slammed shut and the Home Guard helped Mainwaring to Corporal Jones' butcher's van.

The Home Guard put in a truly heroic performance having killed the Master, hunted the fiends and, most importantly, rescued the prisoner.