Heroes on the Table

A couple of games of Heroes of Normandie, only the second time it has been played at the club.

I pre-selected two 200 point forces of Americans and Germans, and Dave M and Mark set about wandering the bocage.

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Despite both being new to the system they picked up the rules quickly and I was surprised how quickly the first game ended given that 200pts is a decent size for a game.

The Germans were given a more 'veteran' feel; more mobile, plenty of MG's, tanks busters and a sniper. The Americans had better armour (if you could describe an M8 Greyhound as armour), a mortar for indirect fire, and more troops, plus Clint as a Hero.

Mortar fire was decisive in the first game, with three consecutive rounds landing without scatter. Mark also learnt that light woods, while better than no cover, is no match for a hedge as he came out worse in a firefight. So a decisive victory for the Americans.

Dave M kept forgetting to activate Clint, with his autonomous hero action. Mark forgot to use his sniper as well and didn't use his 'veteran' rerolls effectively.

The second game, with adjusted board layout, was much closer. The Germans used their transports to capture the Victory Point locations early in the game. The Americans caused more damage to the Germans and used their armour to take out the transports, the Germans just failing to take out the armour with a panzerfaust that scraped the paintwork. The Mortar was nowhere near as accurate this time.

On the final turn, I tried to encourage Dave M to do or die with Clint to capture the middle Victory Point location. He had the opportunity to soften the target up with suppressive fire from either his 50cal or vehicle MG but chose to fire for effect with no luck. So Clint heroicly defended his shrubbery instead.

The Germans clung on for victory, the additional location counteracting the points for lost troops.
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Hero Training

With a number of people missing from the club, I finally managed to get the Heroes of Normandie boardgame into action.

Since this was essentially a training session for the game we worked our way through the first couple of base game scenarios. We decided not to use the cards just to keep things simple.

First scenario was over quickly, the package appearing on an intersection favourable to the Germans. Things proceeded with very little effective shooting, and only one close combat, which was initiated after the game was effectively won.

The second scenario was  the 'Saving Private Rex' one, this one does seem biased towards the American side, due to the amount that they outnumber the opposing Germans, who start with a badly placed Machine Gun nest.

A couple of mistakes made during game play in terms of visibility of concealed Recon units, and the ability to shoot through certain terrain squares to units beyond.

Going to get a couple more containers for the counters, to add to my existing one, as the ziplock solution currently in use is too disorganised.
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Horrific Easter

Lousy weather over the Easter holidays, so broke out Eldritch Horror for a couple of solo games, running a couple of characters in each game.

First game, with Cthulhu as the big bad, went disastrously. I chose the Explorer and to face the evil deep ones doings, but couldn't get any traction in solving the first mystery.

Theoretically having two characters working together should help make things easier due to the way the gate allocations and clue tokens to solve mysteries tend to work ( normally half the number of players and round up )

Second game, against Yog-Soggoth, went down to the wire, but managed to lose a number of characters in the process of solving the final mystery.

Charles Kane is not very useful on his own, but with more characters in play I can see his abilities to manage resources being very powerful.
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Heroes of Normandie

A boring day so decided to play around with my new boardgame, 'Heroes of Normandie' from Devil Pig Games. The spelling is correct as it's of French origin. The game is squad level WW2 based, with the inclusion of 'cinematic characters' (the titular heroes), which originally put me off the game when it was on Kickstarter.

Purchased while up in Keswick, it was the weight of the box that attracted me, as it nearly strained my arm when I tried to single handedly take it from the top shelf! This compared favourably to a number of more expensive big box games in the same section of the shop, which were a lot lighter and rattled quite a bit!

Race Night

On of those quite nights at the club in the lull between Xmas and the New Year. So Craig brought some boardgames along and the winner was Formule De, in it's Formula D incarnation. Two one lap races with seven drivers and plenty of wreckage. Both races on proper tracks and helmeted drivers rather than the chavy street racing option.

Ring Risk

Everybody presumed that somebody else would bring a game along but naturally nobody actually did soo in the end we played Lord of the Rings Risk, as supplied by Tony after a quick dash home.

Nominally good vs evil but basically a free for all. The map differed from the traditional Tolkien maps in that there were big gaps in the mountain ranges, presumably so that the armies had a bit more freedom of movement.

And large armies certainly ended up marching from one end of Northwestern Middle-Earth to another. Since Matt was the only other person to have played this version, and Tony sat out, he ran away with the game as he understood the victory conditions.
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Eldritch World Tour

Nothing to do with the Sisters of Mercy, but my first solitaire play through of one of my Xmas presents, a copy of Fantasy Flight Games Eldritch Horror, a sequel\companion game to the original Arkham Horror. Rather than being isolated to activity in the Miskatonic Valley this game is a globe trotting affair, much like the classic Call of Cthulhu RPG campaigns such as Shadows of Yog-Sothoth and Horror on the Orient Express.

Rulebook is quite hefty at 16 pages long and with another 16 page Reference Guide to go with it. Big board and numerous card decks and tokens all in the high quality that you would expect.

 

Playing in one player mode, with one character in play (I later read that solitaire games are 'more dynamic' with two characters). I choose Leo Anderson, the Explorer, who starts of in Buenos Aires and choose Azathoth as the opposing Ancient One, as the rule recommend that entity for beginning players.

Zombiefied

Ended up digging out my copy of Zombies!!! at the club after Martin's group got left in the lurch by his no show.

We used the Six Feet Under expansion but not the Subway transit rules as didn't want to complicate it for the first time players. The increased deck size was probably a mistake. After a long struggle the game was declared a draw\Zombie victory as the late appearing helipad was miles away (20+ spaces from nearest player) and no one was close to the 25 kills for a win, despite having plenty of zombie targets. So many zombies, in fact, that we had to start using zombie dogs as kill markers.

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Sherlock and The Mob

Played a couple of my non collectible card games at the Club on Tuesday, firstly a game of Family Business and then Sherlock Holmes Card Game, both classics from the eighties and nineties.

At least Family Biz managed to get a reprint and new edition, Sherlock hasn't been available for over a decade despite being a classic. Have started using Card protectors on my copy as the wear on the back of the cards make it pretty obvious who the bad guys are. The use of the original Sidney Paget illustrations on the cards was a master stroke.

The other players, Tristan, Mark and Simon, none of whom had ever played either of these games, enjoyed both of these classic old school games, both of which were using simplistic rules long before the 'euro-game' dominance of the gaming scene.

Tristan became the head mobster by keeping a low profile after the rest of us wiped each other out, and I never did get to play the St Valentine's Day Massacre despite having the card in my hand all game.

Managed to get five rounds of Sherlock in. Tristan taking the lead in the final round after a capture of Moriarty. Tristan 77pts, Mark 102, Simon 168, Tel 229 - low score is better. My score wasn't helped by being caught with the villain three times!

Also in my now venerable game box was a series of score sheets from the early 90's (and one with an actual date - May 93!) featuring the former gaming regulars of the Furness Warlords group such as Hopper, Ray, John, Lee, Gareth, Rob M and Dave Y.
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Raymondo Returns

After much cajoling by me over a number of weekends Ray finally decided to show his face at the Tueday club, probably for the first time in over a decade.

Ray had a chat with Martin about Battletech, plus a natter with Jim and Graeme, the surviving old timers from Ray's original time at the club back in the 80's and 90's.

BattleToys

Obtained the new "Battletech 25th Anniversary Box set", the release of which is running a few years late due to various shenanigans, including attempts to bring the 'unseen' back and some dodgy in house dealing.

Singapore Sling

Martin was missing so a lot of idle (i.e. more idle than normal) Battletech players hanging around. So the old favourite Formula D(e) got rolled out.

A new map set bought on the cheap by Craig, Singapore GP circuit and a Docks street race circuit.

In the 'Loft

Played a couple of games of Castle Ravenloft, a collaborative tile exploration game based on Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition rules and the associated traits and powers of the system.

A fun, relatively quick to play dungeon raid game. A big box game with high quality components including plastic minatures and thick, glossy, cardboard tiles. The Monsters provided are mostly undead types, which fits in nicely with the classic Ravenloft theme.

From Furness Wargamers Fantasies

Rike Stuff

A couple of games of Svea Rike as the club, still low in numbers due to the holidays, found itself exiled down below as the main hall was laid out for 'Out of Africa' kids activities.

First game was fairly standard, with a new player learning the ropes, and a number of successful battles against the foreigners. I manged to pick up a few points on the way by using event cards to help out these battles, but couldn't buy up enough land or resources. Low scoring in terms of points with Martin winning.

Second game was played at speed due to the limited time left, but was actually finished with no problem for time. This was strongly merchant based game, as a number of disastrous wars saw the lands depleted. Colin took victory with his pile of mercantile cash. I came second with my lands and resources after a quick early bout of merchanting before a war with Russia took them out.
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Street Formula

Craig wanted to do a big player game of Formula D, the new version of Formula Dé, so I decided to join in as it's been sometime since I've played a boardgame. Rolled for pole position and ended\started up in mid-field which I was happy with. Have never thought of pole as being much of an advantage in this game, it's often better to reach the corner at race speed, particularly if the next corner is within one turn\gear shift reach.

Was going to be a three lap race, but the decision was made to shorten the race to a single lap half way through the first lap, due to not wanting some late turn ups to sit out the game, so people started burning their tyres more. Some how I managed to take the lead by taking a risk out of the penultimate corner and burning all my tyres out of the final corner to be able to reach sixth gear and the finish line. Was surprised by the over cautious approach of the two lead cars in the penultimate corner as both had tyres and brakes left.

Next couple of races were one lappers on street circuits, a new feature with this version of the game. This was the first time for me in playing the street circuit rules. Chicago, the flip side of Sebring, was the first. Rather than hot rods the vehicles were more clown cars\keystone cops as ramming and excessive debris caused vehicles to fall apart quickly. The rain in the second street race, using the original race track with all the gimmicks, lead to even further devastation; with four cars being knocked out before the fourth corner and only three finished, including one who had to limp home in low gear to survive.

Turns out Craig's desire for a Championship season is taking a bit of a hammering given the lack of availability of different tracks, the new releases are few and far between and the old version maps are going for funny money on eBay. Shame as running a near full season can be great fun.
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Magic Formula

At a loss for games on Tuesday, didn't fancy a small DBA tournament, set in what looked like Egypt judging by the pyramids and sphinxes, and the Uncharted Seas game was already full.

Didn't bring my usual selection of games and unfortunately everybody thought likewise so we were sort of stuck at what to do. Craig normally brings something along but as he hadn't currently arrived, it was decided to do the 'summon Craig ritual' and send me out to get my games. True to form the ritual worked and by the time I got back Craig was there setting up a game of Formula D (De as was).

Use to play this game enough in the past (with Jon, Ray and Ian) to actually have full World Champions and running two cars each, but this is the first time playing the new version.

The new version has flashier components than the old, with peg based dashboard rather than the paper and pencil pads formally used. The cars look smaller than previous and are one piece but coloured rather than the old with their clip on wings which you could mix and match.

The race was a two lapper on a proper racing circuit (Hockenheim) rather than one of the gimmicky street racing ones included in the new version. Six players racing one car each.

Didn't get off to a good start, taking two collision damages in the first third of the track and leaving most of my tires on the tarmac.

Everybody bar Craig headed into the pits at the end of lap one, and being within a turn of each other a large tailback ensured. Not sure that the pit rules were done properly as I didn't think you could stall in the pits; either fast or slow stop and out in Fourth gear (or lower) regardless of the pit roll. Another new thing in this version is the limited ability to fix two damage to other areas of the car as well as renewing the tyres.

More carnage going around the second lap but not from my car. Jim's Tractor ended up falling apart half way round the second lap with Keir's soon to follow. Did manage to use up all my tires and brakes to just survive the last corner, and putting myself one step ahead of my rival for third\fourth place. Thought I had blown it at the end as I rolled one short of the finishing line, but thankfully the guy behind was just as bad at rolling the die as I was and came up two short of the line. So staggered across the finish line in third.
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Bound Again

Another go at playing Runebound and this time it was a success! (nearly)

From Furness Wargamers

Poor old Mad Carthos didn't get off to a very good start, having to spend his gold on healing when he eventually got to town. Decided it was best to get some distance between poor Carthos and the rest so headed north and over the mountains to a nice secluded zone, where he started to fare a little better. When he finally got some more gold he had a choice when he visited town; heal his three wounds or buy something explosive. The Bomb won.

The game did drag out a bit with there being the full complement of six players. There's only so much interest you can take in someone elses fights, and the distance between players can even make following the combat that much more difficult. It really is a better game when only four are playing.



Eventually we ran out of time and as a last gasp effort I moved onto a red counter and, despite being underpowered, took on a bad guy just for the hell of it. Didn't do too bad managing to get them down to two health remaining before getting put down.

So we never managed to finish it, think at least a couple of people were in with a shout of knocking out one of the Red level beasties, especially Colin with his before combat hits and cannon fodder followers.
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Runebounder

Attempted to play 2nd edition Runebound which Graeme had brought in. Played the 1st edition a couple of times a few years back with Ian and Co., but long enough ago to make the rules fuzzy, and the new edition changes were unknown to me.

Cock-Up with the dice as we were all rolling only the one; it was only after checking the combat example that it became apparent that both 10 sided dice should be used. In the original edition it was a single 20 sided die, other changes are on the FFG forum.

Have never played it with six players before and it did seem to slow down a bit as you wait for your turn.

Everyone sort of agreed to try it again next week, hopefully using the right rules this time.
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Rule Britannia (and Hibernia)

Another old post.

March 2006

Got delivery of the new edition of Britannia and boy are the components sweet. Well worth the £25, full colour map and counters, and nicely layout rule book with pictorial examples. Overall a big improvement on the Gibsons Games presentation. Minor quibbles about it include the lack of tribe names on counters (each has its own unique picture\emblem on) and the fact that the inlay tray in the box seems to be from another game! there just isn't enough room for the components once they been punched out.

Also this week: The ongoing Irish campaign came to a conclusion at the Wargames, with Tel O'Malley becoming High King of All-Ireland (barring the bits the Normans have). After many skirmishes between the rival claimants it came down to a meeting of all nobles to decide democratically upon the king. This didn't work as planned as the ensuring stalemate descended into an all out fight. O'Malley becoming King due to the principle of last man standing.
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The Return of Gareth

An old post from my first attempt at a blog on MSN Spaces - stopped using it as was a bit too public with notification of posts sent to work colleagues.

28 September 2005

A right blast from the past last night as not only did I end up playing Britannia for the first time in nearly a decade but the Britannia man himself, Gareth, made an appearance later on.

Might as well of not bothered with the game after turn 4 as the Romans decided to attack the Welsh (Me) straight off, with the result that Hadrian's Wall ended up being built in Cheshire and basically gifting the game to Red. Blue might of stood a chance but was being played by a first timer\child who liked attacking anything. The game ended at turn 13 due to time, but my last group (the Danes) were basically played out even before the Magnificent Sven turns up ('We came, we saw, we went home')

Told Gareth about the Sunday Board Games, but he's mostly busy that day.

Also of note :- There's a new Edition of Britannia coming out late 2005\early 2006 by the original designer. The original versions of the games (two separate set of rules by Gibsons and Avalon Hill) had their rules messed around with by in-house people (who obviously knew better than the PhD holding designer!) so the new edition should be a little bit simpler\slicker.

http://pulsiphergames.com/britannia/index.htm
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