A Tale of Two Fridays (Boardgames)
After vacation and work complications, boardgame night has been revived, with two meetings in a row. Game of Thrones and Axis & Allies Revised were the chosen games for the meetings.
Last Friday, I had the opportunity to try out my birthday present from my wife, the Clash of Kings expansion for the Game of Thrones boardgame. I received GoT for Christmas last year and had given it a test run. That initial game saw me cast as House Greyjoy, the pirates/vikings of the world. After an initial spate with the northern Starks, I made peace there and tried to grab up what I could of the Riverlands. This brought me into conflict with the Lannisters and the Baratheons, who concentrated on the guy who knows the rules (and briefly, the frontrunner), allowing Tyrell to move unopposed and run away with the game.
Besides having two houses against me, I had two other problems in that initial game. One, the cards tossed a pair of Clash of King events in a row at us. During a Clash of Kings, each house spends power to determine their position on three influence tracks. One of these tracks determines how many special orders you can use in a turn; it's the difference between moving three sets of units and only two. The first Clash exhausted my power, and the second saw me at dead last on all three tracks. If your opponent can move three times for every two moves you make, you know you're going to have problems.
My second problem happened on the water; through bad luck, my fleet was destroyed. My home island was surrounded and cutoff, and I had nowhere to muster new ships. The loss of my capital pushed me from contender to hanger on.
CoK adds several variant rules and we put them all into play, except for the rule which would have added a sixth house to the game (sadly, we only have five players interested in boardgames. A shame, not least because the sixth house is Martell, which I've grown quite fond of in the novels). The variant that most intrigued was the inclusion of ports- sea areas attached to land areas. Had we had this the first time around, I would have been able to build ships even with my home island surrounded, which might have made a difference.
This time out, I was cast as the Baratheons. From the start, Greyjoy attacked Lannister, with Tyrell also making some attacks, but generally grabbing the south. Stark slowly moved down from the North. I had initial success in gaining Storm's End and King's Landing, increasing my influence and giving me additional mustering locations. The neutral Eyrie was next on my list, but I was twice repelled by the Stark fleet. Offering my apologies, I turned my attention to Dorne and the riverlands.
The game ended in round 7, when I announced my capture of a seventh city. The Greyjoy-Lannister conflict had kept them out of my hair, and while Tyrell was planning to check my ambitions, he proved too cautious. Of course, a win always makes me happy, but I was really happy to see the variants all worked out well. I'll look forward to playing it again, now that the other players have a better understanding of the game.
Two days ago, we met again for Axis & Allies Revised. I think this was one of the few times we had a full group of five for the game, so each player was able to focus on one nation. (And let me make a slight digression on number of players- I really hate that each A&A variant that comes out reduced the max# of players; Europe has spots for four players, Pacific only three- and yes, we've tried it with four and it really doesn't work; D-Day can seat three, but Battle of the Bulge and Guadalcanal are two player games. I know it can't really be helped due to the historical reality of it, but it's just so much easier to distribute extra sides to fewer players than it is to add in sides. If all five of us show up, that leaves only one Axis&Allies game on the table. *sigh* Maybe the WWI game that some of the WotC designers have been playing will see print).
I took my favorite country, Germany, while my ally, Japan, was played by the Stark player. We picked three national advantages each from the latest version of the Larry Harris tournament rules.
Russia started off confusing me. The Russian player often comes up with crazy ideas, some that work very well, but most that crash. He declined to attack the first turn, just building 8 infantry. I likewise held off on an attack, unsure where this was going. I did use my turn to destroy the British fleet and take Egypt. I pulled most of my units back from the Eastern Front, waiting to see what Russia was planning. Japan took Hawaii, and the US started the customary attack on Africa through Algeria.
Then things got weird. Russia showed that he can learn from the past, and sent only enough troops to capture my border territories, unlike the past where he'd send everything, leaving it in position for my armies to crush it. Britain, with a small group of recently purchased ships, attacked Western Europe and won (I blame some of the worst dice rolling of the game- starting with four infantry and losing one a round, I couldn't roll lower than a five). He then used his NA of French Resistance to prop up the invaders with three more infantry. It was a temporary victory, as I was able to send units over and retake it the next turn. But, this little win gave the US and Britain Ideas.
Another British NA is the combined assault. He declines to attack in a turn, and then US is able to use all British units along with his won for a turn. The African Expeditionary Force got back on their boats and sailed to France, meeting up with new British units. D-Day in turn three, I was rudely kicked out of Western Europe again. To achieve this, the Allies had to throw everything in, leaving no reserves. I, on the other hand, had plenty of tanks and men sitting in Germany and Italy, so the next turn I re-took the territory. Meanwhile, US pulling out of Africa allowed me free run down there.
Many of our A&A games are decided in turn 3, but this one still had some life. We ended up calling for time, but I think it was clearly going to be an Axis victory. US did capture Japan in turn 4, but he couldn't hold it. This was a setback for Japan, but neither Russia nor the US was in position to take full advantage of it. In the West, Russia's build of all infantry did provide him a lot of fodder, but my income was greater than Britain and Russia combined. I was able to destroy any ships Britain built, and I also built almost as many infantry as Russia, with tanks to back them up. Had the game continued, I probably would have built factories along the Eastern Front so my men could get into the fight faster. Japan kept the US busy enough that the US had not had an Atlantic presence since I destroyed the Allied fleet following D-Day. Meanwhile, Japan was making inroads into Russia, further cutting his strength.
Next week, we dig into the closet for Samurai Swords (Shogun). Five's the optimal number for that, so it should be a good game. And, in the near future, the next Descent expansion, Road to Legends, will be hitting the table. I've read over the rules, and I'm looking forward to it.
Last Friday, I had the opportunity to try out my birthday present from my wife, the Clash of Kings expansion for the Game of Thrones boardgame. I received GoT for Christmas last year and had given it a test run. That initial game saw me cast as House Greyjoy, the pirates/vikings of the world. After an initial spate with the northern Starks, I made peace there and tried to grab up what I could of the Riverlands. This brought me into conflict with the Lannisters and the Baratheons, who concentrated on the guy who knows the rules (and briefly, the frontrunner), allowing Tyrell to move unopposed and run away with the game.
Besides having two houses against me, I had two other problems in that initial game. One, the cards tossed a pair of Clash of King events in a row at us. During a Clash of Kings, each house spends power to determine their position on three influence tracks. One of these tracks determines how many special orders you can use in a turn; it's the difference between moving three sets of units and only two. The first Clash exhausted my power, and the second saw me at dead last on all three tracks. If your opponent can move three times for every two moves you make, you know you're going to have problems.
My second problem happened on the water; through bad luck, my fleet was destroyed. My home island was surrounded and cutoff, and I had nowhere to muster new ships. The loss of my capital pushed me from contender to hanger on.
CoK adds several variant rules and we put them all into play, except for the rule which would have added a sixth house to the game (sadly, we only have five players interested in boardgames. A shame, not least because the sixth house is Martell, which I've grown quite fond of in the novels). The variant that most intrigued was the inclusion of ports- sea areas attached to land areas. Had we had this the first time around, I would have been able to build ships even with my home island surrounded, which might have made a difference.
This time out, I was cast as the Baratheons. From the start, Greyjoy attacked Lannister, with Tyrell also making some attacks, but generally grabbing the south. Stark slowly moved down from the North. I had initial success in gaining Storm's End and King's Landing, increasing my influence and giving me additional mustering locations. The neutral Eyrie was next on my list, but I was twice repelled by the Stark fleet. Offering my apologies, I turned my attention to Dorne and the riverlands.
The game ended in round 7, when I announced my capture of a seventh city. The Greyjoy-Lannister conflict had kept them out of my hair, and while Tyrell was planning to check my ambitions, he proved too cautious. Of course, a win always makes me happy, but I was really happy to see the variants all worked out well. I'll look forward to playing it again, now that the other players have a better understanding of the game.
Two days ago, we met again for Axis & Allies Revised. I think this was one of the few times we had a full group of five for the game, so each player was able to focus on one nation. (And let me make a slight digression on number of players- I really hate that each A&A variant that comes out reduced the max# of players; Europe has spots for four players, Pacific only three- and yes, we've tried it with four and it really doesn't work; D-Day can seat three, but Battle of the Bulge and Guadalcanal are two player games. I know it can't really be helped due to the historical reality of it, but it's just so much easier to distribute extra sides to fewer players than it is to add in sides. If all five of us show up, that leaves only one Axis&Allies game on the table. *sigh* Maybe the WWI game that some of the WotC designers have been playing will see print).
I took my favorite country, Germany, while my ally, Japan, was played by the Stark player. We picked three national advantages each from the latest version of the Larry Harris tournament rules.
Russia started off confusing me. The Russian player often comes up with crazy ideas, some that work very well, but most that crash. He declined to attack the first turn, just building 8 infantry. I likewise held off on an attack, unsure where this was going. I did use my turn to destroy the British fleet and take Egypt. I pulled most of my units back from the Eastern Front, waiting to see what Russia was planning. Japan took Hawaii, and the US started the customary attack on Africa through Algeria.
Then things got weird. Russia showed that he can learn from the past, and sent only enough troops to capture my border territories, unlike the past where he'd send everything, leaving it in position for my armies to crush it. Britain, with a small group of recently purchased ships, attacked Western Europe and won (I blame some of the worst dice rolling of the game- starting with four infantry and losing one a round, I couldn't roll lower than a five). He then used his NA of French Resistance to prop up the invaders with three more infantry. It was a temporary victory, as I was able to send units over and retake it the next turn. But, this little win gave the US and Britain Ideas.
Another British NA is the combined assault. He declines to attack in a turn, and then US is able to use all British units along with his won for a turn. The African Expeditionary Force got back on their boats and sailed to France, meeting up with new British units. D-Day in turn three, I was rudely kicked out of Western Europe again. To achieve this, the Allies had to throw everything in, leaving no reserves. I, on the other hand, had plenty of tanks and men sitting in Germany and Italy, so the next turn I re-took the territory. Meanwhile, US pulling out of Africa allowed me free run down there.
Many of our A&A games are decided in turn 3, but this one still had some life. We ended up calling for time, but I think it was clearly going to be an Axis victory. US did capture Japan in turn 4, but he couldn't hold it. This was a setback for Japan, but neither Russia nor the US was in position to take full advantage of it. In the West, Russia's build of all infantry did provide him a lot of fodder, but my income was greater than Britain and Russia combined. I was able to destroy any ships Britain built, and I also built almost as many infantry as Russia, with tanks to back them up. Had the game continued, I probably would have built factories along the Eastern Front so my men could get into the fight faster. Japan kept the US busy enough that the US had not had an Atlantic presence since I destroyed the Allied fleet following D-Day. Meanwhile, Japan was making inroads into Russia, further cutting his strength.
Next week, we dig into the closet for Samurai Swords (Shogun). Five's the optimal number for that, so it should be a good game. And, in the near future, the next Descent expansion, Road to Legends, will be hitting the table. I've read over the rules, and I'm looking forward to it.