| Tuesday night needs a couple good songs to rip off for these titles. | Brooklyn Eurogrognards BQE Gamers |
I know Tuesdays aren't glamorous, but man, outside of the Rolling Stones' Ruby Tuesday there just isn't much material to work with.
First, where are we playing?
Second...
...So I have a copy of Automobile by Martin Wallace. You know you want to play a game modeling the history of the automobile industry from it's inception to the stock market crash. It looks to be a kooky economic game rather than his standard kooky war games. He's looking to put it out on his Treefrog line, same line as Tinner's Trail. It isn't short, but it looks to be quite fun.
Anyway, I've had this for a while and I'm supposed to play it to see if Mayfair will want to pick it up. I'm beginning to look like an asshole not getting this on the table. I need a couple volunteers. It plays from 3 to 5.
| Run's house. | Brooklyn Eurogrognards |
If SPENCER = RUN and Morgan's DMC then all the Jam-Master J's know the place to B. So all you P-Daddys and Kut-Master Ts best move yur soulja's over to Run's rice paddy.
| SBW Games |
Hacienda
Ad Hac
P: cow
Reef Encounter
Offshore Drilling
P: gas
| Wednesday night Crimtastic |
Hey kids!! So I'm in town on Wednesday night... got a quick work pit-stop in the city on Wednesday, and if anybody's around for a mid-week game session, let me know!! I'm all ears... I'm staying at the usual Park Slope palace on Union... should be free in the 7pm range... Talk to me.
| Dusty (Battle)Springfield | Brooklyn Eurogrognards |
Recap
Whilst the rest of the crew put Tribune through its paces again this past Tuesday, I broke out Dust with Morgan and Squires.
Dust plays like a fairly straightforward attack-and-conquer game, a la Risk/A&A, with a few twists:
- Production is determined by building/seizing production centers, which in turn must be powered by occupying the power center spots on the board. Some of these spots are in the ocean, and require subs to control.
- Capital spaces provide additional production, and defense.
- Initiative is determined by army size (minus tanks, the cheapest unit), and is a major tactical element in combat.
- Your orders are limited by card play. Each player chooses a card from his hand, which determines turn order, # of possible attacks, and # of moves (which are like strat moves/end-of-turn moves in Risk, e.g. move one stack as far as you can). Generally, the player making the most attacks goes first.
- You can convoy land units across the sea, as long as you cover each intervening naval space with a sub.
- Each card grants a special power for the turn. Some add combat bonuses to specific units, or allow a re-roll. Others are quite powerful, like the Diplomat and Secret Weapon.
- VP's are scored each turn, and are cumulative.
We opted for the shorter game, rather than the epic one. In the shorter version, the entire board is seeded with player (as opposed to neutral) units, and there are fewer restrictions in the movement phase, which speeds up gameplay.
After setup, Morgan and I wound up deeply embedded in each other's territory, while John controlled much of Asia and Australia. I drew several Diplomat cards, and used them on the first two turns to force an alliance with Morgan, much to his consternation. As a result, John got kneecapped early, and couldn't recover. Morgan used his Secret Weapon to force me to retreat from my capital, costing me time and resources to take it back. Just as it looked like victory was in my hand, Morgan was able to re-take a capital space from me for the top spot.
Dust is a fairly pure build-and-fight game. The alternate-history storyline that gives it its theme is pretty much wasted- there's no real sign of "alien technology" in the game, or even the feeling that you're doing much other than pushing around tanks and planes. The cards give it some flair, but I think the lack of chrome is just fine. There are a lotta dice, and there's a lot of chaos, but Dust rewards a well-planned turn by giving you just enough constraints through limited attacks.
I'm a fan. For what it is, I think it succeeds pretty well. There's no innovation that makes me go, "Wow!", but it scratches the itch of games like Risk and A&A without being weighed down by some of the former's creaky rules and latter's on-rails gameplay. You can easily burn through the shorter game in an evening; the epic rules seem like they'd be more of an all-afternoon affair.
| Potential Crim Siting - Next Tue night |
There is a distinct possibility that I will be in town next Tuesday night 7/15 and ready to GAME ON. Just throwing that out there.
| Back by popular demand: Riding through England | Brooklyn Eurogrognards |
I did end up playing Riding through England on Sunday. As one of the only positive side effects of a new production schedule for the show I'm working on, I also have this Sunday the 27th off. You know what that means: Winsome party!
Details below in a comment.
2004 2 6 240 12 Riding Through England Riding Through England is the third game in the Riding Series and is the most complex entry in the game series, with several extra rules intended to simulate the railway history of England and Wales. Players buy shares in 10 English railway companies, build routes between cities, buy up old historical lines, and receive income. The most notable change to the game system present here is the end game, where the previously placed lines are privatized via a closed fist auction. The game focuses on the transition from the private railroad companies to their consolidation as a consortium (similar to Länderbahnen), a process that makes for a challenging game, primarily suitable for advanced economic gamers. http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic60019_t.jpg http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic60019.jpg Auction/Bidding Crayon Rail System First Edition Han Heidema The Riding Series Stock Holding Trains Transportation Winsome Games