We had ten gamers for a lot of wargaming and a little terraforming.

Natus and Scott grabbed Caesar's Gallic War, with Scott playing the Romans to Nate's Gallic/Germanic barbarian hivemind. The game uses the Hammer of the Scots engine as a starting point, with tweaks and period chrome to better reflect the subject. Players win by pulling the tribes of Gaul over to their side, either through diplomacy or subjugation.


Nate treats with the Esuvii

The Roman legionnaires are lethal in combat (the only 'A' units and so always assured of first fire) so Natengetorix worked the diplomatic channels and recruited several tribes while ducking Scottius' haymakers. However, Scott eventually had all of central Gaul under his hobnailed sandal and Nate could do little to pry any more tribes away. Tallying up the score at game end, it proved to be a vary narrow Roman win. Enjoyed by both, but unlikely to return to the table soon. Love the designer's Hands in the Sea, though - that one *will* be returning to the table soon.


More than three parts

Jim and Bill headed to 19th century Central Europe with Compass Games' recently released 1866: The Struggle for Supremacy in Germany. 1866 uses a PoG like engine to portray the short but decisive war between Austria and Germany that consolidated Prussian strength and set the table for several wars to come. Bill took the Prussians (and their Italian allies) against Jim's Austria and her assorted German holdings.


For the fate of Germany

The PoG roots are evident in the operations structure, large/small unit differentation, the combat resolution, and the deck breakout by period (Mobilization and War), but several elements set 1866 apart. For example, leaders are explicitly represented, interception and avoid battle mechanics are included, the game uses a common deck, and sieges are more detailed. The point to point map stretches from the Baltic to the Gulf of Genoa, with a slice of France in the west in case Napoleon III decides to intervene.


The attempt to relieve Dresden

After a stretch of mobilizing by both sides Bill got things rolling properly by popping down to the Kingdom of Saxony for a chat with Albert, the Crown Prince. Albert was having none of that and with his Austrian chum Feldzeugmeister Benedek he confronted the Prussians just outside of Dresden. Deft Prussian card play reduced Austrian strength leading to an inconclusive result. Benedek and Albert fell back to Prague, leaving the future Kaiser Frederick in control of Dresden. Frederick Charles is leading another Prussian force in Silesia, cleaning up the litter of an early-war Austrian incursion.


Albrecht in control

Down south, the Austrians have a firmer grip. The Duke of Teschen put the wood to the Italians, seizing several border spaces and daring La Marmora to do anything about it. Entering Turn 4, the Austrians hold a slender one VP lead. Looks good so far.

Smitch, Afghan Rich, Dave, and Mark turned to new favorite Terraforming Mars. This proved to be a romp by Dave, who got three shrubbery tiles out before anyone had one, and had a personal asteroid magnet that pulled down several high-value celestial bodies. Capturing all three milestones didn't hurt either, as he walked to a 15 point win.


Building a home away from home

Last up, Hawkeye and I banged out three games of Up Front. Looking for something off the beaten path, we opened with a Japanese/Soviet engagement. We tried Delaying Action, with my Japanese pursuing his Reds. A momentary lapse of reason led me to try a Banzai charge from way too far away, as my Group A chased his. I blame ASL rules bleed, as I thought my charging A Group could cut over and hit the Soviet B Group when it got close enough. Alas by Up Front's rules it was locked on his A crew, who sensibly fell back while the rest of his force cut me to ribbons. Let's just write that up as a failed experiment and say no more about it.


Bound for the land of wind and ghosts

For our second game we tried Outpost Line, with GIs versus the French in North Africa. Hawkeye's dogfaces were on the attack, supported by an MG-armed M20 scout car. I had the support of a 60mm Brandt mortar and the burden of the dreaded French single card discard. I had good fortune early, stunning the scout car, but Hawkeye methodically built the hand he needed before pounding my position. Despite my at-start entrenchments my troops steadily deteriorated from Pinned to Routed (for the lucky ones). I had no answer other than to try to knock out the M20, but that was a long shot and Hawkeye collected a tidy win.


Searching for a Rally card, questioning the justice of the universe

Last up, we played a Jungle Assault, with Hawkeye again commanding Americans while I returned to the IJA. Hawkeye had a flamethrower, and Jungle rules were in effect, making Infiltration easier. Again Hawkeye went with a methodical approach, grinding forward with good use of Gullies and favorable terrain to avoid or blunt my attacks. Meanwhile, his support group chipped away at my defense, and as his forces closed I approached the brink of my break condition (75% for the Japanese). The end was nigh when his C Group moved to Relative Range 5 with five men, with a decent chunk of the final deck remaining. All he had to do was play a decent terrain card. While Hawkeye frantically discarded and drew, searching for some cover, I infiltrated the attacking group and managed to kill one GI - one more and he'd be a man short of the four-man victory condition. Unfortunately, I failed to infiltrate a second time (it's very hard to sneak into a moving group) but the deck god smiled on the Emperor, denying any terrain to Hawkeye. Time expired with Hawkeye's troops just short of victory.


Hawkeye, always generous with the Stream cards

Hawkeye totally outplayed me, so it was satisfying to snag one win out of three games. To be fair, it was more like 2.9-.1 overall, as he was a huge favorite in the final game as well. Great fun as always, and as frustrating as the French might be, I love the challenge and will play them again in a heartbeat.

Were you guys playing the 1866 game taking account of the card errata?

Were you guys playing the 1866 game taking account of the card errata?

There doesn't appear to be any that prevents proper play of the cards....I certainly muddled through fine in several plays. The three I can think of are obvious typos.

Capturing all three milestones didn't hurt either, as he walked to a 15 point win.

Friendly hint: Don't let somebody do this if you want to win. :wink:

The game uses the Hammer of the Scots engine as a starting point

As with Macbeth in the theatre, it is bad luck to use that name. At least in my hearing. Better to be safe with "The Scottish Game."

There is always Blacksdder's method of dealing with uttering the unutterable:

'The Scottish Play'

There is always Blacksdder's method of dealing with uttering the unutterable:

NO EXPLAINING THE JOKES

Jokes are always funnier when you have to explain them.

A Rabbi, a Priest and an Imam walk into a bar...

... while the Buddhist monk simply levitates over it.

and orders a Zen Martini.

The bartender describes the concept of it and then turns to the rabbi, priest and imam.

Another purchase from a while ago finally makes it to the table.

This solitaire game about the famous dambuster raid of WW2 is a quality product, and plays quickly and easily. The Attack and Flight Scenarios do not have much in the way of player decision making, so are akin to a turbocharged version of the old Avalon Hill game B-17. However, the Campaign game - which gives you the responsibility for planning, organizing, and training the troops - has much more for the player to do. The detailed outcome narratives - as opposed to bland Victory Points - are simply wonderful.

The whole package is clearly a labor of love, with excellent support material in the form of the player aid cards, and a sumptuous, well laid out rule book. The scenario book is pretty good as well.

If you want to know more, I thoroughly recommend Matthew Kirschenbaum's excellent BGG review.

Were you guys playing the 1866 game taking account of the card errata?

The non-labeled mobilization cards and the Moltke card with the incorrect modifier were the only ones that made us pause for a minute.

I finished up a solo game of Star Wars: The Card game, using the rules that I posted earlier from BGG. Though it is not as good as face to face, I enjoyed it quite a bit, in fact enough so that I'm ready to try again. The solo variant still gives you lots of challenges each turn, and some tension as you wait to see what the AI will do on its turn. The variant essentially does two things: 1) alter some of the basic rules to account for the AI (e.g., the AI gets a pool of Focus tokens that it spends to deploy cards, and any leftover carry over to the next turn; plus the AI has two hands equal to its reserve value: one to use for deploying and playing cards, the other to use in Edge battles); 2) provide a list of priorities to use when deciding things such as which enemy unit to attack, which friendly unit to heal, or which unit to commit to the Force. The rules took a bit to understand, but the more you play, the easier it gets to internalize the routines.

In my game, I played as Scum and Villainy, versus the Rebel Alliance. I created a deck that was heavy with creatures and Black Sun, which was exposed as a weak strategy when the Alliance plopped down a heavy ship and proceeded to pummel my objectives. So I reshuffled and tried again, and things went better, climaxed by the moment when I fed Leia Organa to the Sarlacc pit. I made good use of the S&V's kidnapping abilities to neutralize defenders, and even managed to destroy three Light Side objectives.

If you've got the game and have never found anyone to play with, consider trying this variant.

"NO EXPLAINING THE JOKES"

What? No song and dance? No hand slapping routine? No twisting of noses when you play 'Hammer of the Scots'? Oh dear, now I've gone and said it ... :chagrin:

Shouldn't it be Hammerer of the Scots? :eyeroll:

Shouldn't it be Hammerer of the Scots?

Hammered on Scotch?

Hammered on Scotch

Is that like the game "Blitzed on Schnapps"?

... and a "Blitzed on Schnapps" variant on the table: