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The Gaming Parlour
Gold by Michael Schacht and Last Will by Vladimir Suchy
Jet Set by Kris Gould
Kaigan by Kenichi Tenabe
Don Quixote and Hanging Gardens
Poseidon by Helmut Ohley & Leonhard "Lonny" Orgler
Automobile by Martin Wallace
Gold by Michael Schacht and Last Will by Vladimir Suchy
Kendall arrives at Dicken’s house and hails his neighbour as she puts out refuse bins – well, it could have been Dicken. The man himself is on his lap-top as Kendall lets himself into the house, causing Dicken to check whether his door-bell is working or not – it was switched off!. Without further ado or confusion the pair make for Rob’s car, where Kendall elects to move the passenger seat forward before squeezing into the back seat. ‘New car, eh Robb?’ enquires Dicken. ‘No, it’s just the passenger seat moved forward…’ It could be a long evening (it was dark, already! – ed).
The party complete heads off towards Epsom town centre. Rob has taken on the character of the bus driver from the opening scenes of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. His little car hurtles through non-existent gaps in traffic, bounces off kerbs and then abruptly halts outside our destination; the British Legion Social Club, home to the Epsom Board Games Club. Squeezing into the last remaining space in the car park, it’s evident that hordes of members must now be present and hence the urgency of Rob’s driving.
The door is marked ‘Pull’ but won’t. As usual in such circumstances this results in Kendall pushing said door, then pulling the other door, then pushing the other door, before pulling the first door a tad harder. Kendall is no engineer. Great entrance. A sea of faces stare in bemusement. ‘Hi guys!’ - welcome to the Club.
There are three groups of tables drawn up with three or four gamers at each group. Two locals are propped at the bar. So whose are all those cars?? A few greetings and then Rob and Dicken put together another group of tables, whilst Kendall gets the beers in. ‘Speckled Hen?’ asks Rob. ‘Sorry’. ‘Is the Abbot on?’ from Dicken. ‘No’. ‘That’ll be three Green Kings then’ says Kendall brightly. At £2.30 a pint he has reason to be cheerful. At the last visit Dicken knocked over a full pint and barely checked his change when buying a replacement. There are no other gamers waiting to play, so the threesome sit down to a card game that Rob has brought along. ‘Watch out, this table’s a bit sticky?’ Must be the one Dicken abused last time.
Gold is the name, but Donkey is what sticks in the mind. The illustration is distinctly Shrek-like; ‘Are we there yet?’ There appears no relevance to the -2 Gold card being a donkey, but there you go. All other cards are points of Gold; 3 – 8 and in six different colours. Five cards are dealt face up at the start of each round and players can take the lowest card available, swap a -2 card for any other card or swap a higher value card for a lower. Cards are collected by colour. Three cards make a set and are immediately scored. At this point a player steals one card from any other player, but that card has to be a different colour to the ones the player has remaining in front of him and different to the set just scored.
Give or take a few organisational rules, that’s about it.
The game gets underway and as Rob has intimated it is entertaining and not a little mind-exercising - without being taxing. Rob scores, then Dicken, then Kendall, then Dicken again…. Stealing cards adds a little bit of tension, but awareness of who is doing best and no-brainer options keeps a lid on any hard feelings.
Half way though (ten minutes) and the party is joined by Dev. He’s looking to play whatever is decided next and is happy to watch meanwhile. Reading rules seems to be Dev’s speciality and before too long he is telling the party rules that are already being played. This could be irritating, but this a board-games club and all the better for being relatively new, keen to grow and genuinely and entirely made up of good-natured individuals. The Ragnars must be on best behaviour.
The game completes with a last round that starts to suffer from a touch of analysis-paralysis. Kendall feels that Rob is probably winning…. And so it proves. A win for Rob (62 Gold), Kendall (60), Dicken (55). Dev magically produces the club’s record-keeping sheet and the Ragnars give a rating of 7/10 for Gold.
The evening is yet young (Club starts at 7.00, which is an hour earlier than normal Ragnar Games-nights). Other games available to play are stacked nearby. Tigris and Euphrates, London, Evo, Year of the Dragon to name but a few old favourites. The group has been joined by James (friend from Peter’s games’ evenings) and so a 5-player game is required. There aren’t many to choose from and besides it’s going to be tricky if someone doesn’t have a fair grasp of the rules already. Fortunately James has played Last Will (brought along courtesy of and thanks to Andrew) and he is press-ganged into being the rules-meister for the evening.
Dicken’s turn to buy the beer. More Green King for Kendall and Dicken, but Rob has gone temperate.
Talking of which… it’s b***** chilly in the Club; goodness knows what it was like the previous evening when it was minus 5 degrees.
Last Will is out of Queen Games and typically is replete with components. Andrew helpfully breaks off from another table to help set-up and then it’s over to James. The game aim is to spend up a sum of money (in this case £100) as quickly as possible. Buying property and letting it decline in value, selling it at a loss, buying horses or keeping ‘ladies’ or dogs, having parties – you name it. Mechanics are relatively straight-forward. Players choose one ‘set’ made up of taking a number of cards, placing one or two top hats (in exchange for cards or actions from the board) and then a number (1-4) actions. Choice of the set also determines player order. Then it’s over to acquiring various cards (preferably understanding what they do), playing them to one’s array and then activating them once per turn. Dev keeps mentioning Race to the Galaxy – so presumably this bears some similarity.
It’s all good fun. There seems to be little interaction possible or probable. Time is spent calculating one’s own options whilst other player’s play out their turn. Kendall inadvertently loses £50 at game start – it might have gone un-noticed if he hadn’t spent an age searching for it in the gloom. Plenty of banter and the cards throw up opportunity for word-play ‘Dinner for dogs – dog’s dinner’ – Boom! Boom!
Kendall gets in more beer. The Abbot is back on.
The seventh turn marks the end of the game if it hasn’t already been reached. James, Dev and Kendall are all close to zero cash (and no remaining property) and the winning line. Kendall has played the housing market using an Estate Agent and Steward card. Dev has … er been doing something using combinations of cards on the opposite side of the table. James has been …. Er doing quite well. Rob meanwhile is complaining about cards he’d not been able to draw, so we know what he’s been doing (losing badly). Dicken is calmly soaking up the rules and card varieties ready to play the game ‘properly’ next time.
James sets down the marker – minus £4, Kendall equals that. Dicken can’t sell his last property in time and comes home with £12. Rob still has £33 and by all accounts has played ‘like a drain’. Dev creeps home with minus £6. Handshakes all round and then home.
The consensus is a 7/10 for Last Will and the components are very nice. Dev utilises his smart phone and comes up with a price of £30 from Games Guru – not bad for what you get.
A good night out. We will be back!
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It’s nearly Christmas and Roz, Derek and Gary enter Kendall’s be-decked home as waif’s might visit Aladdin’s palace, yet … they make no comment. Gareth follows a few minutes later, but pays no heed to the giant singing Santa by the fire-side. Perhaps the company is already weary of parties and the social round (Derek did greet the Santa and shake his hand on entering the festive halls of the Kendall household, he’s either short sighted or drink had already been taken on board – ed.). No matter… a games-night needs no further excuse. Beer, assorted crisps, humus and salsa, together with a new game on the table – what could be better?
And tonight’s game is Jet Set. It looks good. Kendall has played solo and is all set to explain the rules, when (to some astonishment) Roz is found to be reading said rules in advance and Derek is pouring over his player reference card. With such enthusiasm, what could possibly be easier than to flesh out what is a conceptually appealing theme? It almost explains itself, just by the layout; map of Europe, cities connected by flight-paths (‘What do the colours signify?’ – ‘Nothing’), flight cards showing destinations, little plastic aeroplanes (one colour per player).
And away we go…. With lots of appropriate, meaningless banter. Freddy Laker, Virgin, air hostesses, many allusions to the Easy Jet ‘extras’ that plague cut-price travellers etc. Some difficulty is encountered with working in Euros rather than Pounds – but hey, sign of the times! But … much more difficulty with those simple rules.
There are two parts to a player’s turn; the filling up of Flight card rows (of which there are two rows and two ways to fill up), and player actions (of which there are five). Nothing particularly difficult about any one ‘fill up’ or action; but every single one is royally misinterpreted at some time or another.
For example; action 3 - ‘Place planes on another player’s link’. Roz doesn’t realise that this can be done at all, and later that it can be done when another player’s plane is on that link. Derek wants to play on more than one person’s link in the same turn (but can’t) and Dicken … well, not sure anyone understood his problem, but it included at least action 2 - ‘Place planes on links you already own’ and action 4 - ‘Claim a Flight card’ (you didn’t tell me that I could claim Flight cards on routes that I didn’t completely own! – indignant ed).
The Flight Cards not only provide income but also victory points ranging between 1, 3, 5 and 7 but the more victory points the more complicated the route is to be able to collect it.
Through all this the person that is Gareth assists in everyone’s confusion. Fulsome re-explanations of rules follow upon every query. Sometimes these explanations are wholly accurate, but by containing numerous examples of play they quickly conspire to befuddle further. At other times, Gareth simply hasn’t quite got it right (amen! – ed).
The map is filling up, ‘un-owned’ routes are grabbed, planes skim along the flight paths, Flight cards are being taken. Money is in short supply, but at least the company have adhered to the rules advice of collecting at least one ‘1 point’ Flight card. To not do so is to court disaster, with the prospect of a long evening with no money and no chance of ever doing anything else in the game ever again (quite unusual in today’s hobby, but not unfamiliar to players of a certain generation who got used to ‘being knocked out early’- if you are referring to the pre-emptive strikes on you in Panic Station, then ‘get over it dude! – ed.).
The beer is good, the crisps are fine. The angst is ratcheted up and the suspicion is that the decibel noise of aviation has risen to a disturbing level. Routes are being snatched from under player’s noses under the banner of ‘I’ll take this on spec…’ and the Final Flight cards are being continually inspected as players attempt to figure out how the hell they can afford to complete either of the two designated 10 point routes that completion of will herald the end game phase! Dicken manages a cake based pun when the Madrid to Vienna route is ‘stollen’ before he can claim it – (groans of horrified delight erupt from the others – ed).
The first ‘Vacation card’ appears – it’s a ‘timing device’ explains Kendall. Roz doesn’t remember being told about this and what does it mean? Gareth to the rescue ….
The second ‘Vacation card’ appears. Hurrah! The game end is nigh. From now on the ‘Final Destination’ card (sounds disturbingly terminal) may be played. Players each have two at game start and one of these can be played, at which point that player stops playing and waits to see if anyone else will join him / her. This can go on for five turns, but each turn missed is rewarded with 2 bonus points for those who have completed their Final Flight.
Kendall is not hanging around. His planes have been positioning themselves for some time; Amsterdam, London, Dublin, Lisbon, Seville, Madrid, Rome, Vienna, Munich. 10 points – Ching! Ching! Time for in-flight refreshments – de-caff, white, no sugar. Dicken quickly plays his Final Destination card. Gareth meanwhile, is desperate for Euros. Kendall and Dicken collect more bonuses. Derek Final Destinates (is that grammatically correct? – ed). Roz remonstrates about the rules and not being told the rules. Gareth has enough Euros! Kendall collects his fifth round of bonuses – and Gareth doesn’t get time to spend.
A win for Kendall, followed by Dicken, 2 points behind and then Derek, Roz and … Gareth, lots behind.
Plenty of après jouer. A game that draws players in, but doesn’t quite do what they would like it to. Derek fumes that not one, ‘Not One!’ of the longer Flight cards (5 points or 7 points) has been taken. Roz finds it ‘un-natural’ that the income for any Flight card collected beyond the fifth, will be less. And why do longer Flight cards generate the same income as shorter Flight cards? And why is money always in short supply? And is it a good thing that some players’ turns are protracted to several minutes, but then others have turns of ten seconds or less?
Who knows? It could be a Ragnar thing, but this is a game that deserves tweaking, as it has the potential to be very good and it plays with 6! Dicken and Kendall vow to tinker and play again (always ominous – ed).
The guests leave in good spirits – and with seasonal best wishes. ‘Til the next time.
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Kaigan by Kenichi Tanabe
Derek and Roz arrive at Kendall’s just after Dicken. Derek announces that he has brought his dinner with him – by which he means enough supplies to feed the gathering for the evening. Kendall is inwardly relieved as (being a Wednesday and not Thursday) he’d forgotten to buy humus. A bottle of white wine goes to chill while beer of various types are opened from cans and bottles. Conversation ensues to embarrass Roz and Kendall – it’s the teacher’s strike tomorrow.
After putting the world economy to rights, attention turns to tonight’s game Kaigan – The Race to Map Japan’s Coast. Kendall starts to explain the rules. Not an easy one, as some mechanics are novel and the theme of the game hardly helps understanding; this is a card playing and resource management fest. Consequently, firstly Kendall mumbles his way through the various actions available and the numerous ways of scoring. Secondly he concentrates on getting the first phase of the game ‘working’ with the idea that the rest will then fall into place. Hmmm! Not everyone is convinced, least of all Roz.
However…. It must be said that the first phase is the most interesting part of the game and if too much is known about what comes after, there’s every chance of the game transfixing. In turn players play one of their six action cards onto the main playing board (in fact the only board as there is a ‘playing paper’ besides). The cards can be played into any available space on any row (of five spaces), with some spaces already filled by pre-ordained actions. After playing a card a player could then ‘claim’ a row, thus preventing other cards being added to that row and with the player dropping out thereafter. These then will be the cards (of various players) which that player will use as actions in phase 2. Simple!
The blind, lead the blind – very slowly.
Dicken plays just one card and claims that row. Roz plays a second card and claims another ‘short’ row. Derek and Kendall mop up the remaining two rows, getting a few extra actions for their patience.
The Ragnars are meanwhile doing their best to put a bit of theme back into the game. Dicken is manfully inventing serious descriptors to go with the rather bland use of dates for each ‘round’. Currently we are working through ‘1800-1804’, which Dicken hails as ‘The First Great Expedition’. Japanese accents are used at every non-racist opportunity. Derek quips in with ‘Are there any nuclear reactors?’ Ouch! One wonders if game sales are affected by such acts of God.
Phase 2 and cards are ripped off in column order. Players can now place Surveyors (Carcassonne refugees) onto the coastline tiles occupying the playing paper. Mapping markers (cubes) can then be placed onto tiles where a player has Surveyors. This is the ‘basic’ and essential drive of the game – the only bit that remotely resembles mapping a coastline. Three of the cards (plus the ‘alternative’ reverse of any card) can be used to effect this – but they do require plenty of Ryo (money). Two of the other three cards are used to increase ‘Artistic ability’ or ‘Government’. The final card is a composite where players can choose to either take 3 Ryo coins, pay to increase ‘Artistic ability’ or ‘Government’ or pay to increase ‘Honour’ (victory points).
Back to the mapping … these tiles have numbers 2, 3 or 4. Once mapping markers are placed to equal that number, then the coastline has been mapped - ‘Hurrah!’ (which can be declared in a Japanese accent). If not filled by players in phase 2, there’s always a chance that the random dice rolls (representing the outstanding contribution of Tadataka Ino) of phase 3 will get the job done. And before you know it the game reaches phase 4 – scoring.
Kendall has been quite successful, having manoeuvred his surveyors and placed mapping markers to enable three tiles to be completed. Generally, this relies on a degree of co-operation – something that the Ragnars are not too good at. Consequently, Dicken, Roz and Derek are already playing catch up.
Besides the number of the tile, the only other feature is a symbol for either ‘Artistic ability’ or ‘Government’ or ‘Travel’. Completed tiles reap benefits of the appropriate type to players having mapping markers on that tile. Simple! Numbers crunch along three tracks PLUS the Honor (victory points) track. A little bit different for each type – but not too difficult. New tiles are placed to fill the discarded / completed tiles.
Kendall is 5 points clear on the Honour track and has a healthy Artistic Ability. Derek is mocked for his total lack of AA.
Phase 5 – Income. ‘Artistic ability’ and ‘Government’ are totalled to give the same number of Ryo as the position reached on the track by the player.
Phase 6 – Players receive Honour. Which the rules advise with: ‘NOTE: This phase is skipped in rounds 1, 3 and 5’. When it does happen (i.e. rounds 2 and 4) it amounts to ‘Artistic ability’ and ‘Government’ points being converted into Honour – and with a few other bits of scoring to add on as well…..
Phew! The team reach the end of round 1. Fortunately, the rest of the game simply repeats the same format of 5 or 6 phases (give or take the odd scoring alteration). Game on!
Highlights:
1805 – 1808 …. Derek shows outstanding use of his Quadrant (you’ll have to find this one out for yourself.
1809 – 1812 ….. Dicken claims more than three cards.
1813 – 1816 ….. Kendall has his trousers taken down by Derek (metaphorically speaking)
1817 – 1821 ….. Roz plays the wrong card / claims the wrong row. Oh dear!
Game end and Scoring reaches fever pitch. There’s more points ‘Artistic ability’ or ‘Government’, bonuses for ‘Travel’ , plus and minus points for money, even a point for the Quadrant. In the excitement the gathering over-looks points for Surveyors and mapping markers left on tiles. It doesn’t matter. Kendall wins by about three points, with the other three bunched closely together.
Kaigan will be played again no doubt. This is a tightly knit game, with the card play mechanism being ‘very worthy’. Not sure, but it seemed that the lack of Ragnar co-operation meant the game was a bit under-powered. Certainly the various score tracks were barely half-used!
A cheery evening comes to an end. Roz reclaims the un-opened wine from the fridge. With a strike day tomorrow, there’s a chance that a review could be written. Ah, I see it has been!
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Gamesnight … ‘Don Quixote’ by Reinhard Staupe and ‘Hanging Gardens’ by Din Li Tsan
Roz, Derek, Dicken arrive in that order and all bearing gifts of food and drink. Indeed Dicken has a bottle of fine beer brought all the way from Boulogne – regrettably it’s not for sharing.
Kendall has already set up his new game, ‘Don Quixote’. Bought as a game to use with pupils at his school, it is billed as a cross between ‘Take it Easy’ and ‘Carcassonne’. Roz and Derek look bemused – amazingly neither have played either.
But first to more important matters; which bag of nibbles? Roz simply can’t decide and turns to her husband. ‘Doritos!’ says Derek with a decisiveness that brings a compliment from both Dicken and Kendall. ‘…. Or… maybe….’
‘Don Quixote’ is maximum four players. Each has a grid board and the same selection of twenty-four tiles. A deck of cards determines which grid space is to be used each round and players then decide which of their available tiles to place there. The game is in three phases (9 tiles, 7 tiles, 5+1 end tiles) at the end of each, scoring takes place.
Say it or write it quick and it sounds straight-forward. And so it is. However, there are seceral scoring strategies and these cause rather more confusion – particularly the knights who defend the frontier (‘Ni! Ni!’). These have to be adjacent to the grid edge, connected by a road and in the appropriate half of the tile. Then you need 4 points worth in the first phase, 8 points in the second and 12 points in the third. Roz has got the hang of it by the end of the game – that’s to say, the second game.
Dicken is enjoying the game, but keeps looking for evidence of Sancho Panza and his donkey and Don Quixote. OK, so it’s not re-telling the story, but it does have wind-mills, churches, castles and lots of knights. All of these score points by connecting with roads and thereby creating groups. The larger the groups, the better the points.
The third phase and Kendall is bemused by the need for the sixth tile to be separated so that it and it alone is used as the last tile. Roz explains – unless thus, players would be able to allocate tiles for the best grid positions with total certainty. An ingenious solution, that still seems improbable (surely it only affects one tile?).
Game over. Kendall wins, followed by Dicken, Derek and Roz,
Time for another…..
Game over. Kendall wins, followed by Dicken Roz, Derek. Much lower overall scores this time due to a devilish initial placement of the 6 point castle.
Just got time for ‘Hanging Gardens’. This game was introduced to the Ragnars by Rob and Katrina. R + K rate it as one of their favourites and had gone so far as to tell the designer himself – apparently he was ‘very pleased’.
‘Hanging Gardens’ has a similar feel to ‘Alhambra’ – and it’s not just the gardens (actually not all gardens as it happens – there are housing, water, building and garden squares – all different colours). Player order rotates, giving each first player the chance to draw first of four cards. These are a grid of six that provide the foundations for the ‘gardens’ themselves as well as one two or three garden squares. Gardens squares must always sit on foundations, otherwise the cards can be positioned any which way overlapping previous cards. Once a group (3, 4, 5 or 6) of the same coloured gardens is made, players place a temple in that group and may then draw a tile. Tiles are in various sets and ….that’s how points for victory are scored.
Doesn’t sound to have that much in common with ‘Alhambra’, but the simple decision making, tile-laying, group scoring and overall game length make it appealing in the same way and to the same ‘gateway game’ market.
Kendall starts, but gets nothing out of the first draw – but then that’s the same for the rest of the players. Next round Roz gets a ‘no-brainer’ – a set of three on the same card. She places it, places a temple (squares near the middle seem best; cards can’t be placed on temples, so. keep them out of the way) and draws a yellow tile. Dicken and Derek soon have their first tiles, but Kendall is struggling.
The nibbles and dips are still not exhausted – no humus at the local shop; salsa and garlic dip are no substitutes.
The game progresses with Derek getting some groups of five allowing a better choice of tiles. The six tile group is a game-winner – if a player is prepared to play for it. This allows a draw of any tile on the tile board and a free tile from the top of the deck. In addition, there’s every chance that the group can be subsequently split to generate another tile taking opportunity. But it’s one of those games where the tiles that players are collecting keep appearing on the tile board. No six-pointers tonight.
Game over. Kendall wins, followed by Dicken, Derek, Roz
Verdict: ‘Hanging Gardens’ preferred of the two, but both are worthy additions to the Ragnar library.
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Gamesnight … Poseidon by Helmut Ohley & Leonhard "Lonny" Orgler
Dicken and Kendall arrive to find yet more work has been completed at Peter’s new residence. A neat gravel trap for friends late braking; very thoughtful.
Paul and Phil (stalwart members of the Esher Gaming Group) are already at table and Poseidon is laid out. Paul is quickly explaining the rules, but not before the Ragnars have poured themselves a drink and Dicken has presented an offering of homemade chocolate brownies – priorities gentlemen.
Plenty of components for this game about the Greek expansions of 1800 BC. The board is double-sided and (as seems habitual) is immediately turned over to the English side. It’s a Z-Man game and production values are slick. The rules are quite complex and it takes a good while before the game gets underway. Paul confesses that he hasn’t had time for a trial run and Phil gets his excuse in early (‘I’ve never played an 18XX game’).
Peter is elected first player and therefore goes last in selecting his special card. These give some early shape to the game, but as yet no one can gauge their significance – it’s presumed that their Taler (Z-Man’s generic money) value is a clue. Then Peter founds a city-state (Sparta) and starts sailing.
The general consensus is that Poseidon is based on 18XX systems, but it also seems to have features of a number of other games in the way funds are raised and banked in the coffers of the state. Players tread a line between siphoning of funds for themselves and enriching the state, thus increasing its trading value and its share value. Paul is later to declare that the buying and selling off of ships between two states owned by the same player is a good example of asset stripping. Frankly, this doesn’t feel very much like ancient Greece, but there are lots of game decisions that will keep players from dwelling too much on whether the theme is being delivered with ‘historical accuracy’.
Kendall takes Thessalonika and edges out into the northern Aegean. Dicken is further down the same coast (a grey coloured state), Phil picks up Athens and heads for Crete and Paul is on the West coast (playing black). Paul’s choice seems a good one (less competition) so Dicken, Kendall and Phil each buy one of his merchants (shares).
The trading bases use the same counters as merchants, so here is a key decision – how many bases do you found as against how much money do you need by issuing shares?
Placing bases is done by moving the ‘discovery’ boat, trading then follows using the fleet. The fleet is made up of a number of boats for which the state needs money to buy and to keep up-grading.
It sounds like accountancy, but fortunately the company is good and ‘fun’ is being had. ‘The Greeks are very honest; they always tell you how much they urn!’ Bazinga!
About an hour into the game, the first 4-point boat is taken and the game lurches to a halt. Old 2-point boats are jettisoned (presumably asset stripped to an inferior culture) and some extra funds can be raised. A good time as well to top up the beers, although this applies only to Kendall and Peter as Dicken and Phil are driving and Paul is TT.
By now the trade routes are quite lengthy, so high value boats are useful to reach as many trading bases as possible. After a slow start, Peter’s Spartans are particularly popular and those shares are gobbled up. Paul and Phil both found a new state and these shares are also attractive – being as they are cheap as chips.
Kendall meanwhile is buying heavily into his own Thessalonika shares, convinced that having reached the lucrative Bosphorous / Dardanelles provinces (the future Constantinople etc.) these will deliver rich dividends as well as increasing steadily in value. Only Dicken seems interested in this bonanza, presumably because Kendall’s fleet is still under strength.
And that’s where time ran out…. 1600 BC ish. Still plenty to happen, although most of the features (special cards etc.) seem to have been explored. No clear leader / winner. This is a game that will have to be re-visited before anything definitive can be gauged.
No one came close to ‘taking over’ a City State from another player but perhaps that might have happened later in the game – probably another 45 minute to an hour needed to finish it. Poseidon is definitely a business game and it works no doubt but unlike many 18xx games the theme was peripheral really and perhaps this is because too many 18xx games have been played and players cut straight to the mechanics rather than stopping to admire the scenery (to mix my metaphors). I’d judge this game will get a replay as we all know the rules now and have a feel for how different aspects of the game interact with each other. The speed will improve and I suspect the asset stripping aspect will be more savagely utilised. Never stand in the way of a Spartan who is bent on stripping an asset……
Peter provides the customary and sumptuous supper. Fantasy Ashes are due to start again with Peter and Paul keen to sign up. Plenty of e-mailing due to happen before battle resumes.
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Gamesnight …22nd June …Automobile
Despite history dictating that gamesnight begin at 8.15, Dicken is becoming persistent in appearing at 8.00. To counter this habit Kendall sends son Tim to answer the door and is delighted to hear him declare, ‘Dad’s in the bath’. Kendall is tempted to appear in a towelling robe, but settles for T-shirt loosely covering shoulders – (he cuts a manly figure – ed).
Dicken meanwhile is already setting up the game – determined to get to bed in good time. Kendall has been re-assembling his house (again) after the installation of fitted wardrobes during the day. The conundrum is that Kendall (as ever) tries to squeeze time before games, while Dicken sensibly tries to keep the lid on the evening.
Rob is next to show, apologising that he hadn’t confirmed earlier. Both Kendall and Dicken swear blind that there had been e-mail correspondence. That just leaves Paul B to arrive. He’s running a little late, so Kendall (aided by Dicken) recounts the tale he (Paul) is likely to tell: a trip to the Grand Prix at Silverstone. The phone rings. It’s Paul asking if he should give Kendall a lift. Communication seems to be out of kilter this week.
Paul arrives and is so taken with the Automobile board (all those lovely cars, but what year was each built?) that any other conversation is quickly glossed over. Rules are explained and the game is underway.
Let it be said here and now that for this reviewer Automobile is unquestionably the best Martin Wallace game so far (yes, better than Liberte, Age of Steam, Brass, Tinners Trail, After the Flood, Princes of the Renaissance, Last Train from Wensleydale etc.) and one of the best games in this era of game designing. If you haven’t played it, you should. And for this very reason, this review will NOT ramble on about how we ate kettle chips and humus, drank John Smiths and forgot some rules whilst remembering others. No, this review will pick out some features of the game this evening that help show why the game is special and if you desire an explanation of the rules please see reviews on BGG.
- Paul built two mid-range factories and a parts factory on turn one and continued to churn out cars until the end of the game. In doing so he managed to acquire thirty (!) loss markers, yet still challenged for the lead.
- Rob built three bottom range factories and a parts factory to compliment the two bottom range factories he already had. He then produced at full tilt from both factories, consistently out-competing Kendall.
- Dicken played ultra-conservatively, yet felt compelled to take a $500 loan (Rob was the only other with a loan).
- Kendall never reached full production in any factory without taking losses.
- No-one built a single deluxe factory or car until turn three.
- Random tile draws were consistently average or better until turn four, at which point demand for deluxe and mid-range cars plummeted.
- Use of bonus sales from executive decisions had little or no impact in the game.
- By placing extra distributors, Rob made significant gains early in the game, but in the final turn two distributors making losses cost him the game.
‘Good replay value’ is an under-statement. The game doesn’t work the same two times running; so much so that experienced players feel uncomfortable to the point of squeaky bottoms. Each decision feels, and is significant. Players have to concentrate hard to avoid elementary errors (number crunching), but have to use intuitive skills to gauge how others might play and how the game might thereby evolve. There is a fierce competitive edge; blinking first is not a good idea.
- Final scores Kendall $4620, Rob $4600, Dicken $3960, Paul $3960
Great game!
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Games-night …… Freya’s Folly by Don Bone
Dicken is surprised to see Kendall accompanied by Derek only. Jamie and Roz have some extravagant excuses. Kendall suggests Carol might make a fourth player, but Dicken prefers to see her complete the cleaning of their car – after all his mother-in-law is buying it.
After some Ragnar Brothers house-keeping, tonight’s game hits the table. Kendall has read the rules in advance and so promptly asks Derek and Dicken to sort the multi-coloured components. This proves un-necessary as the set-up requires a good deal of random placing of ‘jewels’ onto spaces in the mines, which will then be grabbed by players’ dwarves. Jewels are returned to the surface and used in various combinations to create jewellery depicted on ‘Settings’ cards. A special piece of jewellery uses amber only; this is the Brisingamen of Freya.
The World Cup is mentioned by Derek and Dicken commiserates that like England, New Zealand have only managed to draw their first game. Derek doesn’t see it that way. He’s still euphoric at equalising in the third minute of extra time.
Kendall starts and sends a dwarf into the mine. One action takes it to the first lantern; a second action takes it to a small cavern where a couple of jewels are housed. These are snaffled up. Kendall looks smug.
Derek starts his two actions by taking an Ability card – the bat. His second action is used to send a dwarf into the mine.
Dicken also takes an Ability card – stamina. His dwarf also heads into the mine, but is able to jump Derek’s, taking it to a second lantern. This jumping of dwarfs is the core movement mechanic and works nicely. Only two dwarves can be jumped (unless the Ability card – stealth, is used), which means small teams have to work their way down the mine together before working their way back up again. Of course other dwarves may be going up and down at the same time, so there’s quite a lot of bumping and barging.
There is a pleasant selection of nibbles and a pot of humus is soon being dipped into periodically.
Meanwhile, Dicken is becoming irritated by Kendall’s inability to flip his dwarf counter at the appropriate time. One side (only) shows jewels and is used once a dwarf has collected from a cavern; important as a dwarf may only make one such collection (unless the Ability card – stamina, is used). The jewels themselves are too numerous to place on the dwarf counter, so these are placed in the dwarf’s barrow (on an array). Besides which an Ability marker may be already on the counter.
Fiddly? Not really. Also, the rules are brief and pleasingly specific. They even have a ‘Frequently asked questions’ section and this is immediately useful when the assembled players ask one of the Frequently asked questions. Perhaps not surprisingly some of these Frequently asked questions are asked frequently.
The Settings cards are becoming tempting. Getting the right combination of jewels can be helped by using an action to visit the Black Market for swaps. Dicken sifts through the available jewels (there aren’t many) like a man panning for diamonds. Derek remembers that he had intended washing his hair; time can be so precious.
Bats have been loosed, strength used and the threat of a thief averted. Abilities ain’t what they used to be. No card of the Brisingamen has been assembled, yet Dicken is well on his way to completing all six pieces of jewellery he needs to end the game. Kendall and Derek urgently rush their jewel-laden dwarfs from the depths of the mine. Suddenly everything starts to happen…..
Kendall has finished his third can of John Smiths and requests more beer. Dicken obliges with a birthday bottle of Speckled Hen. Delicious, but twice the alcohol level of his previous beers!.
Kendall completes a Brisingamen card (Hurrah!). He is rewarded with five Free Action tokens. Up to three of these may be used to extend a player’s turn. If unused they will be worth points at game end. Kendall goes on a spending spree and polishes off another Brisingamen card. Derek and Dicken respond with more Setting card completions and then Dicken knocks out the third Brisingamen (such a long word to keep typing!) card.
It’s evident that Dicken can end the game next turn, but Derek’s emerging dwarfs get the job done by completing the fourth and final Brisi… (bugger it) card.
A quick points calculation reveal a tie between Derek and Kendall. The rules don’t suggest a tie-breaker, so there’s a hand-shake and forced smile. Ironically Dicken was trying to persuade Derek to NOT complete the BC, but had that happened Kendall would have won. Why Kendall sided with Derek remains a mystery.
A few jewels find their way under the table and Derek is after them like a shot. Sometimes you can take role-play a little too far.
A good game, but a little more speed in taking a Settings card (one action) and Completing a setting card (one action) would help. It might also make the 50 minute game a more realistic possibility.
It will get played again but not too often methinks, but maybe with a Ragnar tweak?
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News from the Frozen North: Washington’s War by Mark Herman.
A Brief History of the World (Ragnar Brothers) was released last October and on the whole has been well received by the gaming world. No bones were made about it being a re-working of a classic, and on that basis it has been given a warm welcome. Martin Leathwood, reviewing the Eastbourne 2010 gaming weekend, writes:
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”Not a new game but a great improvement, now taking about thirty minutes per person. An excellent blend of an ‘experience’ game coupled with good fun and the need to make wise choices. The luck of the dice plays a part but less so than in the original game. However, it is still a joy when a single Macedonian unit fights the Huns to a standstill or the Romans don’t turn up at all.”
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In the eyes of the Ragnars, it does everything that they set out to make it do. And so tonight we shall see if Washington’s War can do the same for We the people.
We the people was Avalon Hill’s card-driven simulation of the American War of Independence. It has always been a Ragnar favourite, combining as it does an interesting unbalanced military campaign, a clever game system and some entertaining random events. For several years, Phil and Roger played it as their two-player game of choice, Phil being particularly pleased since Roger – being Roger – developed a penchant for trying to make the British win – something that the system seemed gleefully keen to frustrate. But on to the spawn of We the people - Washington’s War.
Washington’s War uses similar systems to its forefather. The game operates at two levels – the military and the political. A spread of cards offering 1, 2 or 3 operations points. British generals tend to require 3 points to move, the Americans 1 or 2 points. As a result, strong stacks of British regulars alternate sitting doing nothing with plodding around trying to do damage to small, manoeuvrable American armies. The political level uses one of those systems that feels gamey to begin with, but after a while becomes just part of the game. It is basically Go, in that you spread your Political Control markers out to try and cramp up the enemy and, if possible, surround, isolate and thus destroy him. The Go similarities are even more apparent in that you can survive if your markers connect to an empty space – a nice gaming mechanic but something that doesn’t seem to have a lot in common with the realities of 18th century colonial warfare.
Phil takes the Americans, Charlie the British. Early hands favour the British despite the Declaration of Independence being played early on in the proceedings (1776 oddly enough). Very soon there are lots of British troops on the map and precious few Americans. A turn of big British 3-operation point cards is followed by one in which the British are virtually catatonic. George Washington manages to take control of Rhode Island (a tiny state that still counts the same as Virginia or New York at the end of the game), but then gets crushed by General Howe. Phil’s invasion of Canada is successful for the second game running, and it looks like it will be tight. However, the wheels come off as three-quarters of the way through the final turn the British play a combat modifier card, and – to Charlie’s delight – replace it with the Major Campaign event. The lights go off throughout North America. Goodnight Philadelphia.
So how do the two games compare? Physically the board for Washington’s War is light years ahead. It is bigger, the various states are much clearer and it has an excellent chart for keeping track of the alignment of the various states. Combat has been altered significantly – the old card-driven system has been ditched (sadly in some ways because it was hugely entertaining) for a simpler, faster modified-dice system. Getting into a fight is still very luck-based, but it is faster and does give you a better idea of your chances. One common sense change is to allow all events to have an alternative effect – in We the people you could find that half your cards were useless; now, whilst they still might be of limited use, you can at least do something with them. Other changes include tougher winter attrition for the Americans, a British amphibious attack option, a less drastic penalty for lsong George Washington and a more demanding system for bringing the French into the war; individually they don’t make a huge difference, but added together they seem to bring the British onto an even par with the Americans.
Overall judgement? Mark has done a good job. It’s nice to see a good game being improved like this. Some might say it’s the gaming equivalent of a greatest hits album, but that would be very unfair. Unlike a novel or a piece of music, you can go back to a game and improve it as an experience. The knack is to leave the best things in place, to pick up on the weaknesses of the original and to add quality systems that enhance the original features. Now, get down off the horse, give it some oats and put it away in the stable.
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News from the North: Roll through the Ages by Matt Leacock
It is Friday, 8.15pm, and the first night of the Ragnar annual bash in Derbyshire (really north Staffordshire but for a mere quirk of geography). Phil and Roger appear almost seconds after Kendall and Gary; Richard has been in situ a full half hour. A pulsating discussion ensues on the relative merits of fish and chips (Richard), takeaway pizza (Phil and Roger) and homemade sandwiches (Steve and Gary). And so to the first game of the weekend.
Phil has brought a new game along. His wife has continued her dalliance with show business and has just ‘played her game’ on Deal or no Deal (to be screened on May 19th – put in it your diaries now). “How much has she won?” Phil cannot say - apparently Channel 4 employ shady characters whose job it is to listen in on the conversations of ex-contestants. Any mention of the filthy lucre will result in them leaping out of their hiding places and making off with the ‘winnings’. The Ragnars are sceptical about how much Phil’s wife actually has won; this is based on a series of snidey remarks about the current state of Phil’s wardrobe, footwear, car etc On the other hand, he has been allowed to splash out on a new game – Roll through the Ages – so she must have won something.
Kendall in one of his forays North has already played this. He found it interesting without being completely blown away. According to Counter it is considered “addictive”. This might be a bit strong, but it has the honour of being the first game of the weekend. It is a smart-looking game – some nice cribbage-style boards, pegs, seven wooden dice and a chunky scorepad that promises many a game yet to come. Players in turn roll the dice Yahtzee-style – you can roll the dice up to three times – and use their results Civilization-style to develop your kingdom. ‘Workers’ allow you to build more cities (roll extra dice) or to construct monuments (extra Victory Points), ‘food’ allows you to feed your people, ‘coins’ provide you with spending money to buy developments (offering dice bonuses and Victory Points) whilst ‘goods’ give you the capacity to generate even more income. Muddying the waters are ‘disasters’ which provide lots of goods, but also, depending on how many you roll, penalty points.
The Ragnars – being Ragnars and being five – decide that, even though it specifically states that it is a game for two to four players, all five will play it. Phil does have to draw himself a little chart to take the place of a cribbage board, but that should be fine. At this point the designers would probably have leapt out of their hiding places and shouted ‘No! Four players yes, five players never!!” And how right they would have been - the game doesn’t so much ‘roll’ as creak along. Dicken at a very early stage demonstrates a knack for rolling three disasters (this exports three penalty points to each of the other players). Cue massed outrage. Roger is underwhelmed, Richard so-so whilst Kendall is particularly bitter. Phil enjoys it, whilst Dicken loves it. But then he has won at a canter.
To be fair Dicken, Phil and Jason return to it on the Sunday morning and play two further very enjoyable games. Certainly it works much the better for having fewer people. There is a suspicion that consistently rolling the three-disasters could be a game winner, whilst an early house rule increases the number of developments needed to trigger the game end from five to six. Nevertheless, a good buy and one that will no doubt appear regularly at future Ragnar bashes.
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Planet Steam by H. G. Thiemann
It is Thursday night following the day time thaw and the roads now glisten with headlights glare rather than the grey slush that has kept so many of us in our homes during the snow falls and freezing wind of the past week or so. Dicken and Kendall make the relatively brief journey to Peter’s burning with a keen desire to play Planet Steam again before they forget all the rules drummed into them at Derek’s place a couple of weeks ago.
Kendall has driven and speaks eloquently during the journey of the game designing process and the buzz that comes from putting a mechanism into a game that really delivers the goods. We are only halted in our discourse by the opening of the door by Pierre and it’s game on!
Planet Steam is a fantastic looking game – lots of specially designed playing pieces and artwork to die for – production standards through the roof and thus a commensurate price tag. This is not a cheap game and fortunately it delivers like an expensive game should, no disappointments that the game falls short of the ‘look’.
Phil and Paul are waiting and following a brief recap of the rules and an explanation of the advanced rules – we are playing with all the variants tonight, just as the rules state (no house tweaks), we are off.
Paul makes a top bid of 30 credits for the first choice of character card and chooses Lady Steam – she allows you to go first in almost everything. Kendall raises an eyebrow at the amount bid but Paul insists that in previous games this has been the sort of amount considered reasonable and that going first is good, very good. Paul has forgotten that he is playing with 5 tonight and the game only lasts 4 turns – he continues to play with some aplomb however until the end of the turn and then declares that he might as well go home now as he has ‘botched it’, spending too much and also not realising that prices at the end of the first turn plummet.
Dicken claps him supportively on the shoulder and insists that he is not out of it and that a comeback is possible. The others nod and Kendall relates how he had botched not one but three turns in the first game he played – the reassurance intended is blunted somewhat when he admits to coming last – but it is well meant and play continues with more thoughtful bidding from all at the start of the second turn. Dicken and Peter have purchased ‘Deeds of Ownership’ in the first turn and wink conspiratorially as they tuck them away – these babies are worth 50 credits each at the end of the game and only cost 1 ore and 1 quartz each.
Turn 2 sees all the tanks bought up with Dicken missing out (1 credit short of the required amount). He keeps his disappointment to himself as there is quite a poker like element of bluff involved in Planet Steam. You don’t want to give your strategy away as other players actions can easily influence what you can buy and sell. Frustrations are axiomatic in this game as you will often see the price of what you wish to buy or sell move in the wrong direction given your place in the turn order.
The character cards have a nice balance between turn order number and what your special ability allows you to do in the game and the Venturer, who Peter insists on calling the Ventura (must be a big Jim Carey fan) is highly sought after – he allows you to pick a shaft for auctioning off (extra to the shaft everyone gets each turn) and also allows you to pay half the winning bid if you yourself win the auction. Considering that each shaft with your platform on it is worth 25 credits at the end it’s an easy way to make profit and you get to go second in the turn! Bargain!
Some wheeler dealing goes on in turn 2 and Dicken although missing out on a tank gets himself another Deed of Ownership hee hee! And a Compressor (also worth 50 credits at the end).
Turn 3 sees the bidding going very low compared to the previous 2 turns - the boys are learning fast. Some tanks are built and Dicken gets one this time, but it will be his last – 3 in the whole game. Everyone else is trading as much as they can but Phil makes a cardinal error, selling all his energy for top dollar but leaving himself with none to feed his tanks to produce in the last turn. He is downcast but like the old gamer he is he has a plan…. But Peter and Dicken get to buy their 2nd and 3rd Deed of Ownership respectively and the last ones available to boot. Phil missing out due to the turn order.
The bidding is fierce in turn 4, both Dicken and Phil taking the bidding for first choice up to 28 credits in rapid order – the others fall by the wayside aghast at the heights these two old asteroid belters are prepared to ante up. Eventually Dicken decides his profit margin will be cut too thin if he continues and lets Phil have it – this lets Phil choose the IPF Agent (the Banker) who gets one of the resources available (an energy) and also lets him buy another resource for 1 credit (an energy) – see what he did? Now he has energy to power up his tanks!
The last turn sees the price of quartz and ore at maximum so lots of production and selling goes on with Paul making a fortune by selling first and Dicken making a pigs ear out of his decisions and probably losing 20 credits that he could have made. However, Dicken did get the Ventura, sorry Venturer and made 19 credits on that shaft/platform plus his own platform via a Building License acquired in the previous turn, so he’s not unhappy.
When everything is added up Peter reads the scores out and it’s Dicken first by 40 credits from Peter with Kendall, Paul and Phil bringing up the rear. Kendall queries the merit of the 5 player version if Dicken can win with only 3 tanks on the board, but Dicken had a lot of platforms plus the Deeds plus he’s the only player who has invested in a compressor (which by increasing the production of a tank in effect is like having another tank). So, Dicken defends his win as being the result of making the best choices available to him given the constraints of the game and that really is what Planet Steam is all about. More variables than in Puerto Rico but essentially it’s still about making the best decision at each point in the game plus some nice tenseness created by the auction system.
Planet Steam is good if not very good and I am sure will get more plays but it’s not for the faint hearted gamer, occasional gamers may get floored by having to keep making decisions, any of which can severely effect your chances in the game.
No evening is complete at Pierre’s without a spot of supper and a glass of wine and that is exactly how we end the night, chatting about the cricket (England facing a spanking in the last test against the Saffers) and planning our attempt on the face of Indonesia in a couple of weeks time.
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