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LONGBOW
a game session report by Chris Hall

 

     Crecy (1 full play, and 2 restarts.) In the 1st go thru, half the Geneose crossbowmen circled to the English right, and all of them concentrated fire on selected targets. They gave almost as good as they got, and softened up the English line quite a bit. Which seemed ahistoric to me. But I kept playing, and ran the French Mounted MaA up the hill. The potholes are awful. So is the mud. And the charge up 2 elevations. The horses got caught by the longbows, and the dismounted MaA were there to act as a welcoming party when a few did get to the top of the hill. Carnage. The English counterattacked, finishing the job. Lots of fun. I then messed around with the house rules I described yesterday, finally producing a crossbow rout in fairly short order. But I stand corrected reading RHB's post, and am ready to return to a tense missile duel in the next game. All in all good fun, and some interesting replay possibilities. Getting the French to the English rear looks achieveable - and potentially deadly.
      Poitiers (One game played, and the best of the three so far.) A long, difficult tilt, with numerous French casualties, but the constant threat of flanking on both sides of the English line. Having the damn Duc d'Orleans run off like a rabbit in the middle of the fight was unpleasant, to say the least. But King Jean kept charging the English center and left, while the the Dauphin and the remainder of Saarbruken's men worked around to the English right. A couple a fierce skirmishes over there, with Captal de Buch leading the hobilars defending the wagons.
      Two memorable charges occurred - Prince Edward led a Mounted MaA charge to take back the 'angle' in the center of the English line that had just fallen to a determined French melee, and rolled very well indeed. The first 'continued attack' result led him down the hill, into Saarbruken's men. The 2nd continued attack was launched into the flank of a crossbowman. The 3rd continuation fell in the rear of a dismounted MaA. The 4th (yup, the 4th ... those rear attack drms are BIG) wiped out another crossbowman, and left Prince Eddy all alone way behind French lines. "Eh, look, wot is 'e doin!?!"
      The next 2 English activation rolls brought Eddy right back to the angle, untouched. Loud cheering from the English line! The last part of the game involved Warwick's battle counterattacking in an all-or-nothing effort to drive the French Flight Points high enough to end the fighting. King Jean had attacked the English left for the 4th of 5th time, and had been pushed back (yet again) with lots of disrupted units. Warwick unexpectedly departed from his safe position behind the (remaining) hedge, and meleed the left of the French line, killing 3 MaA (a great result), and precipitating the winning Flight Level DR (35 plus a '7'). Had the roll gone against the English, Warwick was way out of position, and would have been hit in the flank by King Jean's men from the center. Likely a very ugly ending for the English in that event.
All in all another very fun battle. I think we have 2 winners here!

The above was sent to us by Richard Berg with Chris Hall's permission.

WHO STOLE ED'S PANTS?
designer notes by Jim Doherty

     With WHO STOLE ED'S PANTS?, the theme came first in the game design process. Rather than having players trying to solve a crime, I was looking for a game where they were trying to frame each other for it. A light crime seemed to make for the best subject matter. Hence… pant theft.
      In WSEP, there are three Crime Categories of concern: When the crime was committed, Where it was committed, and Who the thief resembled. Players must recruit witnesses of various credibility to support their cause in each of these three Categories. If your witnesses are highly credible, you have the ability to plant evidence on other players, or even alter the crime facts that the police are focusing on. For example, you might make it known that your opponent has a pet parrot, and then drop hints to the police that the thief resembled a pirate. If you time these plays correctly before the scoring round ends, the police will divert their attention to the opposition, and leave you alone.
     But witnesses and their credibility are fluid, and herein lies the core of the game. You have the ability to replace your own witnesses as well as those of your opponents. Further, you can change the credibility ranking of entire groups of witnesses, no matter whose team they happen to be on. On your turn, however, you may only perform one action. Thus your own supporters will begin to falter if you spend too much time trying to inflict damage on other players. You need to balance your offensive attack with some defensive attention to the credibility of your own allies, all the while keeping an eye on how incriminated you appear to be to the police.

     Once you've taken your action, you may draw a card from any of three face-down decks. This forces you to do make a little strategic investment as to what you think you will want to do on your next turn. You must also keep your eye on when the scoring round will end, since that is when player guilt is assessed.
     WSEP went through many redesigns since I began working on it in 1999. In the beginning, it was actually a board game, with players racing around trying to plant evidence on each other. But ultimately, the board did not carry its own weight, and it had to go. The idea of recruiting allies became much more attractive to me than trying to gain the optimal position on the board.
      What did survive the translation to a pure card game was the idea of numerous paths to victory. And while the most-incriminated player will lose the game, it is only the least-incriminated player will win. You must therefore make sure that every opponent looks more guilty than you; it will not help you to just keep pummeling one other player.
      So, despite the lightness of the theme, there is a fair amount of decision-making to the game. As with most card games, the luck of the draw plays a factor, but it's my hope that strategists will enjoy the multiple in-game options they have to choose from.

Jim Doherty started Eight Foot Llama in 2000 and has produced the games LifeLinks and WHO STOLE ED'S PANTS?. His website is www.eightfootllama.com and he can be reached at jim@eightfootllama.com.

 

10 WAYS TO RECOGNIZE A GERMAN BOARD GAME ADDICT

by Jeff Suderman

  1. They can spell "Spiel Des Jahres."

  2. They pack games with their lunch hoping to lure fellow employees into a quick game.

  3. Essen is more exciting than Christmas.

  4. Their games closet is more current than their wardrobe.

  5. Their pets are named Drunter and Drüber.

  6. They often refer to the money in their wallet as Ducats or Florin.

  7. Their browser has a quick link to the Babel Fish translator.

  8. They call their boss El Grande.

  9. Their Christmas wish list includes airfare and hotel accommodation at the next Gathering of Friends.

  10. They know what a "Knizia" is.

Jeff Suderman is Director of Admissions at Trinity Western University in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

WILDERNESS WAR

a review by Brandon Einhorn

     WILDERNESS WAR is a two player strategic/operational level game on the French and Indian War (1755-62) between France and Britain for control of North America. It's a card driven game in the same style as Hannibal (AH) and For the People (AH/GMT). There are 3 scenarios covering various periods of the war and a campaign game. Overall it's an attractive package, with a nice map, counters and card deck.The map covers Canada to northern Virginia, and the Ohio River Valley to the Atlantic. It will take a while to get used to the geography of the map because most of you will be unfamiliar with all the Indian and French place names, but it's got a good historical feel. The map has roughly 3 centers of gravity. To the west is Ohio Forks where the French can base their raiding parties against Virginia and Pennsylvania. In the center is the Montreal-Albany axis where the main armies face each other. To the east are Louisbourg and Quebec.
      There are 70 cards in the deck depicting various events and people. The counters represent professional units, rangers, backwoodsmen, militia, and of course Indians. Counter density is low, and the game is well suited for beginners and veterans alike. At two turns per year, the tournament scenarios should take 4 hours with experienced players, and the campaign game (all 8 years) should be playable in 8-12 hours.

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