Even More Dark Age Reinforcements

Too many is not enough, more are required!

This is a real mix of figures some of whom have been painted for a while

and were just waiting for some similar types to join them.

Tin Soldier mostly DVA6 Bondi

Tin Soldier DSA2 Fyrd

Heading to the tabletop now.

Union Stockyards

This game came highly recommended, but it is not a subject I care for being a vegetarian.

I was the Swift meat packing company and muddled through with poor brand reputation, but a healthy slice of Packingtown.

Here is some commentary from Richard:

Union Stockyards

Well, we certainly learned what to do in the last turn if you're in a positive margin on your products. Russell selling three times in the last round pocketed a whole bunch of cash. Everything else kind of evened out, but Russell's cash holdings tipped things in his favour. Russell is 3 wins from 3 games. (I'll make sure the board is upside down when facing him next time).

Mark's product prices suffered from poor brand development, but he streaked ahead with buildings. Perhaps choosing different ones which also boosted brand might have helped.

My buildings suffered from poor synergies only getting a few late game points for those and I didn't get the most out of my railroad connections only getting one double location which I chose to develop instead of slaughtering like Russell.

It would be interesting to see how this game played with 4 or 5 players as that would cut down opportunities to acquire so many buildings each and you also get far more limited numbers of trade houses (although we didn't lean heavily into that in this game).

This game is really great I think and it plays so fast once you understand how it works.

Francis Drake Sails Again

Happy to get my second go at this game.  Much better when you have a feel for what to do, however it's a tricky game, especially when trying to outfit one's voyage.

Final scores top left corner.  Richard in yellow. I'm blue and Russell was red.

Back to Stalingrad

Andrew and Stefan successfully take a block of the ruins of Stalingrad from Karl and Stephen.

Clearing one building and getting ready to dash to another.

While the other Germans hold on in the factory.

More Dark Age reinforcements

These are very much intended to be generic Dark Age figures, but also, I just painted what felt right.

DNA6 Heavy archer form the Tin Soldier Norman Range.

DSA4 Select Fryd from their Saxon range.

Pretty sure these are Old Glory.

I was inspired by a mannequin I saw in the Army Museum in Toledo of a Visigoth knight.

One Sided Miniature Wargaming Discourse: Museum of the Army Toledo Spain

Tobago and Francis Drake

Two new and to me unknown games played in a few hours with Richard and Stefan (who had put in the effort to guess the game based on clues provided).

First there was treasure hunting on Tobago.  Fun and easy to pick up (the rules that is, not so much the treasure).  Both Stefan and I suffered from cursed treasure which impacted Stefan particularly badly.  

Then there was Francis Drake.  A more challenging game and it took me a while to figure out what to do.  As there are only three voyages this made it hard to catch up especially with some bastard moves that blocked me from getting indigo.  As it was Stefan (blue) and myself (green) finished very close together in terms of VPs.  Richard had romped home to win this game as well the previous one.

This game had some nice player aids, like the little treasure chests in which to store any gems that had been looted from the Spanish colonies.  Although a few things were rather dull in comparison (gun and crew markers for example).  But with this game it certainly helped to know the rules. 

Charming games.  Played quickly although not without lots of thought.

Nubian versus New Kingdom Egyptians

Could my Nubians repeat their victory against Karl and the Egyptians? 

No... :-(

The Nubians won the scouting and found the Egyptians defending a low hill 

with some broken ground on one flank.  

They decided to drop their large formations 

and went for filling the horizon in order to intimidate their opponent.

It didn't work.

Both sides start to advance.

The Egyptian chariots surge forward protected by their skirmishers against Nubian bow fire.

Some Nubian warriors decide to charge before they are charged, but it is a stand-off.

The Egyptian chariots prevail.

The Nubian centre realise time for waiting is over and start to advance.

The Egyptian foot has pulled back to defend the hill.

The triumphant chariots still have to contend with hordes of Nubian skirmishers.

The Nubian warriors charge, but it fails to have an impact.

The fighting drags on...

The Nubian attack has failed.

The Egyptian chariots have also broken free of the Nubian skirmishers.

Some Nubian warriors fight on, but it is all over.

Defeat!

Viticulture World

This cooperative version of Viticulture makes for a pleasant family affair.  Zoe and I completed the game in one session, it looked impossible to win until the final turn.

Note wine themed coaster which is not part of the game.

Nubia versus Palmyra

My cobbled together Nubians were expecting to face Karl's Egyptians but ended up fighting Palmyrans (on loan from John as the Egyptians stayed home in the belief that it was to be Stalingrad again).

Deployed on the club's fancy terrain with a wood on the left and some broken ground in the centre.

The Palmyran cavalry advance, while the Nubians spread out.

The Palmyran cavalry quickly come under a telling fire.

The Nubians might only be armed with sticks,

but they know how to make them fly.

The Palmyran left is in trouble and their right is in somewhat of a disorder.

The Palmyran cavalry bravely press on.

It is not going well for them.

The minor success against the Nubian left flank is totally offset by the disaster on the right.

The Nubian warriors charge but fail to make contact.

The destruction of the remaining Palmyran cataphracts causes their morale to break.

The Nubian warriors had finally come to blows with the Palymran centre

but didn't do as well as the Nubian archers.

1989 Dawn of Freedom

Another week and another new game, although the system was familiar.

I was the Communists trying to hold onto power in various Eastern European countries in 1989.

Unlike the Europe in Turmoil games this one loses a bit of momentum when you lose power in a country: once they have freedom there is no going back.  A Power Struggle occurs before scoring and can be quiet volatile.  If the Communists lose the struggle that's it for that country.

We stopped after the Communists lost power in all six countries, but with a better understanding of the rules we should have kept on playing, although I was under some misconceptions about a few things which had crimped my play plus I made one or two mistakes.

Will be interesting to play again.

Qugong

New and delightful game today: "Gùgōng. Exchange gifts, send servants, and visit the Emperor in a luscious 1570 China".  (That description is from here and is a good summary of what the game is about.)

Not even going to try and pronounce it,

I just hope I have the orientation right.

The game at start.

I am the red player.

Aim is to get an audience with the emperor (central track)

and amass Victory Points (outer track).

Thinking back red is a lucky colour for the Chinese I believe,

it certainly worked for me.

Stalingrad - Practice

It has been my intention to at least play this scenario once a year around this time.  I know I missed last year, but it is rather embarrassing to find the last time I played was five years ago!  

This session was very much a practice game to get Karl up to speed with the rule's mechanics.  We played without hidden setup, and I think that takes all the magic out of the game.  

The setup.

Knowing where and where not the Soviets are enabled the Nazis to mop them up with some ease especially given some excellent die rolling on my part.

Great Western Trails - Argentina

New game built on Great Western Trails which I had enjoyed playing last year.

Beautiful game and the introduction of farmers makes it different from its predecessor and although they present hazards, they can become very valuable works.  Also new are ships and ports which offer additional and alternative ways of obtaining VPs.

Pax Pamir

A post lost during the chaos of the festive season.

Very attractive name.  The key is remembering that you are playing for yourself (family or tribe) not the nation (Afghanistan) or foreign power (England or Russia).

Played with Richard, Russell and Stefan.

You need to keep nimble with your allegiances as once a player gets ahead it can be hard to catch up.

Nemesis

Perhaps more family friendly than Diplomacy, but not without its domestic challenges.  Karen and I played with our daughter and her boyfriend.  

Not sure this game is going to photograph well.

Play really tells a story and it will be hard to capture all the excitement.

There are fifteen turns in which to fulfil our individual objectives...

We awake and start exploring the ship.

I'm the captain (blue).

Karen is the mechanic (orange)

Zoe is the scout (purple)

Tom is the soldier (red)

I have gone off the check the engines are okay.

The others are searching rooms for gear and information as to function.

The supplied miniatures are exquisite, but crying out to be painted.

Four turns have now elapsed..

Fires have broken out in some rooms

and there is a lot of disturbing noise,

but no aliens.

The mechanic is keen to find where the ship is heading.  Earth, I hope.

All engines are functional.

But there are some extraterrestrial lifeforms in the hibernation chamber.

Nasty!

It's not easy to know what to do.

I'm just trying to keep my crew alive.

The aliens are attacking the crew in multiple locations

and fires are still out of control.

I've made it to the fire control room and trying to help the mechanic battle the alien

Time is running out.

At least the fires have been supressed.

The soldier should be able to deal with that alien in the door control room.

The soldier has trapped me in a room with an alien,

but karma sees an alien take a fancy to him.

The mechanic has been infected and is trying some self-medication

but is being hampered by another alien.

The scout is busy collecting samples.

In an exciting finish, the mechanic made it to hibernation.

The scout, after successfully researching some alien corpses (aided by the captain)

has also gone into hibernation.

The soldier tried to get to hibernation but triggered an alien.

The captain fought off the alien, but it was too late for them to go into hibernation.

So the captain and solider perished and the mechanic and scout escaped, but both had been infected.  In a dramatic bit of card drawing the infection proved to be nonfatal and they lived.

The ship returned to earth fulfilling the mechanic's objective.

The scout had researched the aliens thus fulfilling her objective.

In a Pyrrhic victory the soldier had made sure Player One did not survive.

And the poor old captain, me, Player One, died trying to save himself and at least one of his crew.

Lots of fun, which is important as it is a long game (took us six hours).

Each player starts with two possible objectives and has to choose one when the first alien appears.  I had a choice between eliminate Player 2 or save myself and at least one other crew member.  I went for the latter objective obviously as Karen was Player Two.  Tom on the other hand had a dilemma: eliminate Player One or Player Two.  He made the right move in selecting the former.