Pwnage and ownage

A bloglag starting with a long weekend visiting family has stretched out to more than twice as long as that thanks, above all, to the 'block'. Efforts to break on through had finally awakened a glimmer, but it was still a slog. Thank goodness then for Badger's visit last night.

Glorious carnage!
This phrase could so easily've applied to dinner as much as to the games that followed. I was cooking haddock with bacon and mushrooms, one of my favourite quick recipies from Good Food for Busy People- a book which delivers exactly what it says on the cover. Tasting while stirring everything together for the final five minutes' cookoff I immediately knew something was wrong. Sure enough, I had grabbed the wrong jar of red powder from my spice cupboard: those 2 added teaspoonsfuls of paprika were actually cayenne pepper; a disaster in the making on a par with the great pepper catastrophe of 2008.

I was able to save our meal with the application of my favourite natural yoghurt- cooling; and some lime juice- sweetening (should've been lemon juice). Not only was there a gratifying absence of pizza, but Badger even went back for another helping. Funnily enough, that haddock with bacon and mushrooms was the recipie I was cooking during last December's hot fat incident of idiot infamy. Lucky I'm not superstitious I guess!

Conflict? Yep... but heroes?
It's been nearly 6 weeks since Badger and I last played Conflict of Heroes - Awakening the Bear, so I was pleased to start with a couple more plays. Wanting to explore a single situation in more depth the better to cast light on the game, I'd suggested going back to firefight 1 and playing it twice, swapping sides. Badger'd been agreeable.

What went down
Random selection gave me the Germans first. My strategy was to win as many of the objective's 5VP (1VP/turn) as possible. To this end I mounted an attack that developed in 3 phases:

• Phase 1: prepare my base of fire and jumping-off points for the assault (light blue-grey):

1. A rifle squad and an LMG team group move up in the centre.
2. My second LMG team enters into cover to maximise its immediate firepower (spending 1AP to enter left it 6AP- 3 shots).
3. I angle for an assault on the Russian MMG position, sending the last rifle squad to dash up the left flank.

• Phase 2: Suppress the enemy by fire and clear the objective (medium blue-grey):

1. I reposition my LMG's: for dispersal in the face of enemy fire- in the centre; and to improve my field of fire- on the baseline.
2. My free-ranging rifle squad gets round behind the Russian flank.

• Phase 3: in for the kill: taking the objective on the way, my centre rifle squad runs forward to support the Pioneers entering from the NE (dark blue-grey).

Badger wasn't sitting still while I was doing all this, naturally enough. His early fire was more effective than my own frankly risible efforts; eg. 3 shots, all with +2 w/CAP, all missing; and I remember a few tense rally checks. But the first big stroke of luck was mine: an instant kill which gifted me the objective. Meanwhile my end run up the open flank was going great guns because I was keeping the MMG pinned down. The threat this squad posed was to prove decisive.

Looking to rescue the MMG team, Badger sent both his reinforcing rifle squads straight into that northeastern wood in turn 2. This was successful with a dose of brutal close combat. And so turn 4 opened with my Pioneers and a rifle squad facing off 2 Russian rifle squads and the MMG in those woods. I won initiative and pointed out to Badger that I could win right there and then. And I did: thanks to close range/close combat FP modifiers and with the aid of CAP's to boost dice rolls, those Pioneers took out all 3 squads by themselves for a turn 4 wipeout!

I had learned 2 big lessons from Badger's Russian game:

• The defenders shouldn't move too early; hold your fire and your positions until you see how the attacker commits himself:

1. In the north, my MMG held and did what it could to pin down Badger in the centre, moving out late on for the sake of mopping up.
2. I moved a rifle squad adjacent to the objective, where it promptly improvised hasty defences.
3. My SMG squad moved to cover, from which position it proceeded to kill a German LMG team which was making a break for the southern flank.

• You have to cover your rear against those Pioneers:

1. I moved the 2 squads straight into position in turn 2 (X marks the spot).
2. They were screened and covered so that Badger had little choice but to charge straight into my guns and hope for the best; he wasn't lucky there.

The threat to my rear thus removed, my remaining 4 units had little difficulty in finishing off what remained of Badger's platoon in a turn 5 wipeout.

Score
Badger 0
Me 2
:D

Afterthoughts
Conflict of Heroes continues to impress me. For example, I've read people on CoH@BGG questioning the replay value. This is understandable I'll venture: firefight 1 is played on a mapboard 17x11 hexes- that's roughly 3 bounds by 2 at 7AP/bound; with just 10 playing pieces; 1 fixed objective; and only 5 turns. Nonetheless Badger could see that the system's learning curve is enough to keep these introductory firefights interesting to begin with. Thereafter I would expect the intrinsic situational complexity of the bigger firefights to keep them fresh for many plays.

The texture of the dynamic gameplay I I applauded back in October becomes ever clearer too. CoH uses a straight Igo-Ugo turn sequence with the simple addition of the most elementary AP accounting. The swathes of lengthy one-sided turns from so many iterations of this most venerable of game mechanics disappear here in the subdivision of the gameplay into its constituent atoms.

The resulting minute interactivity creates more than just an authentically parallel unfolding of each side's manoeuvres; it also enables superiority in numbers to be expressed in measures of space and time. That is to say: you can swamp your opponent when their units are all committed and can't react- a gain of time; and the threat of this might force a tactical retreat- a gain of space. Open to local superiorities too, all of this is nothing more than the schwerpunkt, one of the key concepts of the military science through which the Wermacht theorised and organised its legendary blitzkrieg.

CoH's unique AP/CAP system is at the heart of this, naturally enough. I'll comment on that another time.

Have at ye!
We rounded off our evening's gaming with a bash at Ivanhoe. Badger had been enjoying a good run lately in our 2-player sessions of this favourite cardgame. He was no doubt hoping to retain that edge and make up for the preceding proceedings, but he was out of luck. He pulled even at 1-1, then I ran up to 3-1 before concluding in style by romping home in a straight whitewash all won with the Shield- a new record I believe.

Score
Badger 1 (Tokens: 14)
Me 4 (Tokens: 29)
Best margin Me, 5-0
:0)

Ever get the feeling you've been had?
Awaited less with bated breath than with anxious anticipation, HERO6 finally landed the other week then. Last March's 'Will I? Won't I?' nothwithstanding I bought it on sight, naturally enough. I've not had time yet to digest the changes from 5th to 6th edition, let alone the new edition as a whole.

Here're some data which should suggest why:

• Champions/HERO1 (1981): 64 pages.
• Revised Champions Boxed Set/HERO2 (1982): 80 pages.
• HERO3 (1984): 144 pages/416g.
• HERO4 (1990): 220 pages/625g.
• HERO5 (2002): 374 pages/1.2kg.
• HERO5ER (2004): 592 pages.

1. HERO6 Vol.1 (2009): 464 pages/2.3kg.
2. HERO6 Vol.2 (2009): 320 pages/1.7g.

• HERO6 Core Rulebooks totals: 784 pages/4kg.

All I will add on this topic is that I think Steve Long needs the attentions of an iron-fisted editor.

I expect there will be a measure of bitching and moaning in weeks to come as I get to grips with this bloated beast, but I'll spare you my rants dear readers. The changes in HERO6 are by no means all bad and I really do want to play HERO again. So, for the sake of a constructive approach, I'm going to work through the whys and wherefores of new elements I'll be keeping and old elements I'll be retrieving. But not today, because enough's enough. ;)

Resistance is futile!

My last words after reporting a few weeks ago on the games of Ivanhoe I'd played with Badger and my neighbour Liam were, "He'll be back!" This prediction was proved correct when Liam joined Donald, Gav, Tony and myself for our recent Sunday session. Liam being new to that table first choice went to him, which left us playing Risk, a game Liam knows.

In my innocence I thought we'd get the game finished in 2-3 hours but we were still playing 4 hours later, when the game had to be put away unfinished so that we could eat in time to settle down for the latest Doctor Who special, The Waters of Mars. Still, the game was great fun and Liam is keen for more. I guess I'd call that a result.

While on the subject of Risk: searching Hasbro.com for links, I finally caught up with last year's makeover. The revised Risk has a more modern look and intriguing changes to the rules (some look to me to have been lifted from Axis & Allies). After last Sunday's game I confess I'm quite interested in the "faster gameplay" the ad copy promises. Readers who are interested can click through to find the online demo.

Oh dear, not more!
While on the subject of random finds, I last month happened upon yet another WW2 tactical game: France 1940, designed by Juan Carlos Cebrián. Based on Cebrián's A las Barricadas- about the Spanish Civil war, France 1940 is on MMP's preorder list and currently stands at about half the orders needed before it will go into production. I hope France 1940 makes it over this first hurdle. It is a very nice looking game about a crucial moment in WW2 which has received scant attention from games designers.

The overwhelming German victory- which would make for a dull game if represented authentically, and would raise objections from grognards if it wasn't- means that this is perhaps unsurprising. It's a shame though, because once you get round the overpowering mystique of the Blitzkrieg the early years of the war are very interesting from a wargaming point of view, thanks in no small part to the variety of AFV's taken into battle from prewar armouries by all sides; some- eg. the FT-17 pictured below, were of WW1 vintage! More than just a range of oddities, the AFV's that saw action in France in 1940 crystallised the true nature of the narrow margin of the since much-vaunted technological superiority of the German panzers. In 1940 this technical superiority had little to do with armour or weapons and was more a matter of details like crew compartment layout and the universal provision of radios.

The designer and graphic artist are available for comment on their thread @CSW as is the norm these days. The thread contains plenty of nice pictures of both games. A nice bonus to be found there is a free download of a demo version of France 1940. You can be sure that yours truly has his copy and is looking forward to printing and playing.

With Poland to feature in the next Conflict of Heroes expansion- Price of Honour (release expected before the year is out), grognards hankering for something a bit different from the familiar Tigers on the Russian front really do have plenty to look forward to (not that I've anything against Tigers; I just prefer Panthers).

And finally: the worst of all impossible worlds?
Academy Games- publishers of Conflict of Heroes, has cut itself a slice of the zombie action sweeping a world apparently powerless to resist. 'All Souls Day'- the latest bonus firefight for Conflict of Heroes, features a zombie horde attacking German units resting in a Russian village in late 1942. The firefight uses some simple special rules to create what should be a fun game.

Grognard that I am, I've always been of a serious simulationist bent; eg. I never played any ahistorical matchups in Up Front, not even a speculative one pitting the Americans against the Russians. But I've had a thing for undead on the Eastern Front ever since reading 'Fiends of the Eastern Front' in 2000AD back in 1980, so I expect I'll play this. And I suspect that the zombie special rules might get past even Andy's disinterest in WW2 tactical boardgames! ;)

This, that and the other

I've got various ideas simmering away at the moment, looking for the hooks that'll make them into stories. Meanwhile, it's time for another pot pourri...

So it goes...
I warned you yesterday dear readers, of my intention to follow through on the story of the controversy generated by the RPGpundit's 6th November blogpost about FFG and its GW RPG licences. El pundito posted his 4th installment today. To keep this brief, I will just make a few points:

• This post is a succint example of the hate-filled bile (here aimed at two of his favourite targets- RPG.net and the so-called "Storygames Swine") and overweening sense of self-importance which have defined the pundit's hyperbole from day one.
• The pundit's excuse for "not post[ing] this link" (to a Storygames thread)- his "policy of not providing assistance to the Swine in promulgating their filth", is lame almost beyond words:

1. Embedding links is so easy that I cannot help but imagine the man with the red flag from the early days of the motor car.
2. The pundit's persistent unwillingness to enable this technologically trivial cross-checking cannot but cast further doubt on the credibility of his commentary.

• The pundit's celebration of the publicity the whole affair has garnered cannot be said to have proved my speculations of yesterday, but I believe they remain valid and open.

There will be more I imagine. :-\

Something rotten? But where?

I feel I have to tread a careful line with this post. Why? Because it'd be so easy to get snarky about the storm in a teacup the RPGpundit generated with his recent blogpost about FFG and WFRP3, all the while forgetting that I am part of it all myself by virtue of making not just one, but two posts on the topic here at RD/KA!. For example, I could make some cheapass jibe about how el pundito has managed to pad the whole story out into 3 posts (#2 and #3) on a blog whose reputation for padding is surely second to none, but that would be to enter into pot and kettle territory don't you think?

All that said, I cannot but suggest that a measure of gentle ridicule is called for in respect of the tone of wounded innocence our 'intrepid' self publicist conjures under the title of 'Responding to The FFG Controversy', as if said controversy (spread now across 3 threads: FFG's own WFRP3 forum; theRPGsite- the Pundit's own forum; and RPGnet) wasn't entirely the intended outcome of his own efforts in the first place.

If controversy was the Pundit's goal, then why am I getting involved? Does this not mean that I'm giving him what he wants I hear you ask dear readers (Andy, I'm thinking of you in particular here!). That's as may be, but I have my reasons.

To begin with, I feel I have an obligation to follow this story because I took it up in in the first place. That may sound strange, but that's what happens when you start reporting on stuff: you feel the need to follow through.

In addition I must confess to having a soft spot for the Pundit (pauses for the obvious jokes to flit through readers' minds); I'd hardly be keeping tabs on his blog to this day if I didn't, don't you think? Seriously though, as I wrote more than 3 years ago, the Pundit was the individual most singularly responsible for inspiring me to take to blogging, for which I remain grateful. Precisely where this fits in the cocktail of reasons prompting me to return to this story is as invisible to yours truly as it no doubt is to everyone else, but there you go.

On top of those more personal motives I feel compelled to point out something that has, at the time of writing, been missed by all concerned on the threads linked above. That is to say: the Pundit's own motives. I believe the Pundit essentially gives these away in today's post on the controversy (#3 above) when he includes the link to Brett Bernstein's post of 10/11/09 on 'Brett's Blog' over at Precis Intermedia. There Brett reminds us of what he points out in the RPGnet thread inspired by the Pundit's original rumour-mongering: that the Pundit's second RPG - GnomeMurdered - is soon to be released by Precis Intermedia, as is RPGPundit's Guide to Game Mastering. And there you have it in my opinion: the whole thing is just an advertising stunt by someone who has already revealed a genuine talent for internet self-advertisement of the lowest sort.

What this might reveal about the initial rumour is straightforward enough. If we take at face value the official FFG statement that there "is nothing accurate in this fabricated post whatsoever", then we have to ask ourselves about the rumour's credentials. Was there a genuine email? Or did the Pundit just make it up so that he could generate some timely publicity? That is speculation on my part but, having followed the Pundit's online career these past 5 years I for one believe that he quite capable of such lies and deception in pursuit of his selfish interests. You, my dear readers, must make up your own minds. ;)

Related@RD/KA!
- Stuff and... nonsense?
- This, that and the other

Stuff and... nonsense?

He is The Law!
Passing through Borders bookshop the other day in search of a classic 20th century novel and that search proving futile, I made a beeline for the graphic novels there to surrender gleefully to the impulse I'd carried over from my last visit to those same shelves, picking up what I know will only be the first of many more: Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 01 (59 progs' worth of strips in 320 pages for £13.99?-: a real bargain!).

Moments when a cultural encounter profoundly define a person are relatively few and far between I reckon and become rarer as the years go by, for simple reasons I would suggest:

• There is naturally some kind of limit to people's self-definition through cultural consumption; a limit determined both by the dynamics of human growth and maturation on the one hand, and by the available cultural wealth on the other.
  
• I would aver that there is too a limit to people's capacity for reinvention; a limit imposed ultimately by age.

Perhaps rarer still even in our increasingly rich and diverse culture are those moments when you can get in right at the very beginning of something that proves to be a genuine phenomenon.

Judge Dredd was my first experience of this ilk. I mean to say: I can still remember the first Airfix kit I built and painted all by myself; and my first game of Risk?- well I was reminded of that when the game returned to the table here not long ago. Definitive moments for yours truly these might've been, but their importance was entirely a personal matter.

And Judge Dredd? Well, back in February 1977 (10 months before Star Wars too made sure that nothing in geek culture would ever be quite the same again) 2000AD was just another new comic which had caught the imagination of a couple of young teens. And Dreddy was just a character who'd made his first appearance in issue Prog. 2. Who'd've thunk it that all these years later Judge Dredd would turn out to have been the first iconographic British comic character ever to stand up there beside Superman, Batman, Spiderman and the other great characters we all knew and loved as kids, and which made American comics bigger even than America itself?

And with the boardgame, Judge Dredd continues to entertain even though I no longer read 2000AD. What can I say? Oh yes. Maximum thrillpower! Zarjaz! :0)

Idle rumour and cheap speculation?
It's been more than 3 years since RD/KA! featured the doings of internet cage-rattler and self-appointed cultural crusader- the RPGpundit. He appears now only by virtue of a rumour he's peddling about problems FFG are having with their GW RPG licences, to wit:

• Rogue Trader: volume 2 of the 40KRP trilogy.
• WFRP3: FFG's big new box of... RPG, or is it boardgame?

I wrote back in August about the geek rage the news of WFRP3 initially evoked in yours truly, and of how I became interested in what the game might offer once I found out more. I've been keeping up with the news since then, and the geek rage continues to echo across those intarwebs. Meanwhile I confess I remain interested in what the system might deliver.

My continuing interest notwithstanding I cannot deny that there are certainly good reasons why people could (perhaps even should?) be dismayed with the nature of FFG's WFRP3 project. There is more to this than the mere matter of money, although 'mere' is hardly a tag applicable to the price of a workable set of WFRP3:

• The Core Set: $99.95
• The Adventurer's Toolkit: $29.95
• Dice Accessory Pack x2: $23.90
• Total: $153.80

This is compared to $104.85 for D&D's 3 essential volumes: the DMG, PHB, and the MM. OK you need dice but that cost is relatively trivial and 832 pages of hardback book strikes me as offering extra content sufficient to compensate for that minor additional overhead.

At least as important as all that IMO is that the marketing approach which patently drives WFRP3's design and production is one that strikes to the very heart of something taken utterly for granted about RPG's since the earliest days of D&D: the initial buy-in- often but not always a single book or box; this buy-in was a self sufficient game which could be used for the enjoyment of as many as wished to join in. All the cardboard bells and whistles FFG are adding to WFRP3 mean that this isn't really true, however interesting might be the mechanics these parts support.

This is the rational kernel of the otherwise rather ludicrous complaints about WFRP3 being more boardgame than RPG, and it is a fair point. What FFG clearly hopes is to find some way of doing with WFRP3 what GW proved unable to do with 1st edition WFRP in the 80's- ie. reap rich rewards; an economic dilemma the solution to which was to turn GW into the hardnosed miniatures company so well known today.

What I imagine this means is that a major plank of FFG's marketing strategy for WFRP3 might be the assumption of a high turnover of customers who don't take the game any further than the initial buy-in. This is pure speculation, naturally enough; but that's how GW worked (and still work AFAIK). The Milton Bradley co-productions and so on got the Warhammer brand into the public eye so that aunts and uncles, grandmas and grandpas etc. would buy Warhammer games for young relatives. So GW's growth was based on a customer base for whom Warhammer was just a youthful pastime and not a geek's hobby. In other words: brand recognition in the same league as that of D&D which makes the brand a money spinner not because of hobbyists' interests, but regardless of them.

The fly in the ointment now for FFG is the recession. It is a truism that leisure and entertainment do well in hard times, but Rogue Trader and WFRP3 are high-end products, which surely can't be in their favour. I know I'm interested in both; but I can easily see myself going for the minimal buy-in and then mining the games for ideas. I really don't know. But then again, if I'm right about FFG's marketing model, they won't give a tuppeny ha'penny damn, will they?

Finally for now: the RPGpundit's thread is worth checking; as much for the sake of the later sensible comments as for the original rumour itself. ;)

Related@RD/KA!
- Something rotten? But where?
- This, that and the other

Echoes of a master's wordage

If James Ellroy's in town when unexpectedly so still are you; and one of the 'Men in Black' of late 80's Albacon infamy tells you he's got a spare ticket for the gig; there's only one thing to do: be there.

So it was last night I found myself at the GFT for the Glasgow leg of the promotional tour for Blood's a Rover, the latest novel by this master of modern American noir; best known- thanks to Hollywood's stylish 1997 adaption, for L.A. Confidential, a novel of brutal and corrupt law enforcement in 1950's California. I knew very little about this new book, not having kept up with volumes 1 and 2 of the Underworld USA trilogy the completion of which Ellroy trumpets with all the shameless hucksterism of a 2-bit street-corner hustler you might meet in the pages of his wordage.

I'd seen James Ellroy talk about his work on TV, and this same promotional tour had taken him to BBC Radio 4's Front Row only last Monday (Ellroy starts at 14:45 in), so I knew him as forthright in his opinions and entertaining in his wordplay. And the sight of Ellroy squaring up to the lectern like a boxer grabbing the ropes to keep himself from bouncing out of his corner before the next round's bell rings; well, I couldn't but sense that we were to be treated less to a talk than to a verbal doing in the form of an author's reading.

The notion barely formed, Ellroy was off; and nothing could've prepared me for the salvoes of wordage he delivered in those first few minutes. Bam! Take that. Again, bam! And another, and another. Starting slow and building up like a boxer working the speedball, Ellroy threw wordbomb after wordbomb into the mix until he had us at his mercy in a bravura display of the primal power of word and movement in the transports of delight that are the narrative arts.

I can say little more about this great performance; the clip below gives another taste to go with the R4 link above.



OK, I said I could say little more, not no more. What little I can add is that Ellroy's performance was an examplar of Rule of Thumb #1 for GM's and PC's in Matters of Description: Less is More. Sure, it'd take a roleplaying genius of a very rare (if actually extant?) kind to be able to extemporise with the poetic precision and rappers' beat of Ellroy's intensely worked prose. But to be drawn into Ellroy's world the way I was made me acutely aware of several things:

• Roleplaying description should focus on the barest mininum of crucial attributes, described as briefly as possible so that the immediate effect of the words still linger while that which has been so described plays its part in the story; to use an obvious example:

1. Sight- raucous gang of men.
2. Sound- drunken shouting.
3. Smell- beer and piss.
4. Then blammo- an attack by suddenly surprisingly sober assailants.

• Movement and gesture is as important a tool for working on people's thoughts and feelings as are words.
• There is a certain universality to the kinds of characters who people sleazy underworlds, genres notwithstanding- eg. the snoopers; so modern crime novels like Ellroy's can inspire GM's and PC's both in any game.

These are not novel insights on my part, but I would say that anyone who was interested could bring something new to their roleplaying by tracking down and watching over and again a few times some of these performances by James Ellroy, or by reading some of his books.

The reading over Ellroy opened the floor up for questions, as you'd expect. Away from the honed text long rehearsed to be pitch perfect he must still've been wearing his performer persona to some extent. Even so, he came across as frank, honest and impressively open to his audience; eg. he readily admitted that the stylistic approach he'd taken in The Cold Six Thousand (volume 2 of the Underworld USA trilogy) had been a mistake from which he'd learned due to criticism.

The 'Man in Black' had got his oar in before yours truly realised that the situation demanded blatant self-advertisement. So I challenged Ellroy on his casual dismissal of the electronic media- warriors against which we were all presumed to be by Ellroy in his introduction. Feeling compelled to defend my media I pointed out:

• It's the power of TV that gives us- his audience, the dynamic visual sense enabling us to walk the streets of America with his characters.
• That his ever-more telegraphic prose style might be construed as an attempt to give artistic expression to the ever-diminishing attention spans we are told the electronic media inflict upon younger generations.

I confess I was a bit nervous about this but... Well, let me put it like this: I'd like to think that the merit of a question resides in the quality of its answer. James Ellroy's answer to my question was considered, thorough and illuminating. I couldn't've asked for more.

After all the talk about wordage there was signage, naturally enough. I'll be waiting for the paperback omnibus of Underworld USA, so I took along my battered copy of L.A. Noir. Yours truly cleverly forgot his digicam (sheesh, what kind of blogger am I?), so this blurry pic from the 'Man in Black's iPhone is the only record. Ah well. Still, I guess it gives James Ellroy a degree of plausible deniability should he feel the need for it!

James Ellroy is a man who famously has little interest in the gadgets and gizmos of the electronic age. So the small kindness he showed this blogger last night was much appreciated. Remembering as I write this the sight of him surrounded by fans snapping away with phone cameras, I have to ask how Ellroy feels about the way ICT has made his public appearances more immediately the 'property' of fans who hitherto were a mere audience. How, I wonder, might Ellroy's sense of being out of step with the modern world influence his wordage? If last night's performance is anything to go by, it's not for the worse! ;)

I shall have my rewen-ge!

Recently preoccupied with a new member of his household- a kitten (cue pause for wave of 'Aaaaahs' from the audience- including yours truly I must confess: Andy and I visited Gav later to meet Kai the kitten and she is indeed the cutest little furball), Gav was missing from the table last Sunday. This was a bit of a shame because with Dave and Tony present we'd've made six for a Sunday session for the first time in many moons.

Battlestar Galactica
Anyhoo, it was my turn to choose our first game. After all that I've recently written on the subject, it was a cinch that I was going to choose Battlestar Galactica. There was more to this decision than the obvious desire to play the game over which I'd expended so much digital ink to expunge my doubts about its lasting merits. No, I had a whole other agenda, a 'political' agenda if you will. Y'see all that analysis had also convinced me that BSG gameplay could be improved if you brought ulterior motives and other sources of paranoia to the table.

And so I entered Sunday's game determined to do my best to deal with a legacy from previous games. Not only that, I made sure everyone else knew this (what's the point of having a private agenda in a game about politicking and paranoia if you don't tell people?); even if, as it turned out:

• Nobody understood what the frakk I was talking about: I only announced that I had an agenda, because it'd've been easily foiled if I'd told everyone what it actually was.
• My goal was achieved without any effort on my part in any case.

I can't therefore reveal what this agenda was because I'll be bringing it to the table for our next game of BSG, let me assure you!

What went down
Sunday's group of Cylon suspects and would-be heroes of humanity were:

• Tony: Gaius Baltar.
• Me: Lee "Apollo" Adama.
• Andy: Saul Tigh (Andy'd wanted to be a pilot and flat out refused to let me change my character when I offered, preferring instead drunkenly to nurse a grudge while plotting nuclear destruction).
• Donald: "Chief" Galen Tyrol.
• Dave: Kara "Starbuck" Thrace.

To say this game was eventful would be one of the understatements of my gaming year. The 'Besieged' Cylon attack Crisis card was followed by 'Declare Martial Law' then the 'Ambush' Cylon attack so that after a mere 3 turns the Cylon threat to the fleet was unprecedented, as 5 Vipers led by Apollo found themselves pitted against:

• 2 Basestars,
• 8 Raiders,
• 1 Heavy Raider;

in defence of 8 civilian ships.

As the second wave of this attack closed in Andy had instituted the military dictatorship which turned out to be merely Phase 1 of all those years of less-than-petty scheming by Tigh after his failure at pilot school. A few turns later, with 1 Basestar largely crippled Andy took out the other with a nuke; an act which was later to prove just how devious the bitter old drunk had been all those years.

The Cylon threat looking managable for the first time all game, we barely had time to draw breath (a mere few turns) before we were hit by 'Thirty-Three' and we saw our population drop to a mere 3 (from 12: unheard of in 7 previous games) under the relentless Cylon onslaught. Unable by virtue of this perilously low population to make fast jumps (because they cost population) we were lucky to be able finally to make our first jump out next turn- turn 11; which left us at 2 population and with a Centurion boarding party on Galactica.

By the time we finally reached the midway point on the journey to Kobol, and the Sleeper Agent Phase which decrees the final Cylon dispositions, we knew for sure that Dave and/or Tony were Cylon (there are 2 in a 5-player game). Our resources were:

• Fuel: 3.
• Food: 5.
• Morale: 6.
• Population: 1 (15 from 38: bad even if we weren't teetering on the brink with that 1 population).

Sad to say humanity's time proved to be as short as you'd expect in those dire straits.

Sure enough, Tony soon revealed himself to be Cylon and he quickly availed himself of an opportunity which we'd never seen in action before, but which I was half expecting: he made his way to the Cylon Resurrection ship so that he could pass off 1 of his 2 'You are a Cylon' cards to Andy (dealt 2 Loyalty cards at start because he was Gaius Baltar, Tony had started Cylon and had been dealt his second 'You are a Cylon' card during the Sleeper Agent Phase); a wise choice when you consider all the power that Andy had concentrated in his hands. I held out the hope that Tony was just playing mindgames; but the hope was faint, and false.

Andy cruelly fanned the flames of this faint hope by keeping his true nature secret and we were able to reach Jump 6, with our resources down to:

• Fuel: 3.
• Food: 4.
• Morale: 4.
• Population: 1.

These last desperate hopes of humanity's survival were soon extinguished when Andy turned up the 'Riots' Crisis card and used his powers as the Admiral to wipe out what remained of our once proud species.

Afterthoughts
What a great game! Fast, furious and eventful, this was everything I've always thought Battlestar Galactica could deliver as a gaming experience. It's just a shame Gav wasn't there to share the thrills and spills. Apart from the terrifying speed with which the crisis went from bad to worse, the game's high point had to be Tony's use of the Resurrection ship to pass his 'You are a Cylon' card to Andy. The possibility of Gav finally enjoying Cylon status by being given it in this way was something I'd been wondering about; I just forgot the precise mechanic which could deliver it. I'll warrant that the chance to pass on Cylon status must be second only to the fun of playing Cylon.

Andy gaining the Cylon victory without actually having to reveal his nature was also neat. In a final irony, the postgame discussion revealed that there is in fact a way by which we might perhaps have saved ourselves: the Galactica location 'Communications', which we'd never used before, and of which we were barely aware. In mitigation I have to note that the Cylon threat to civilian ships in this game was unprecedented, so that we've never really needed this location before. That's my excuse and I'll be sticking with it!

Score
Toasters 1
Toast 0
:-(

Judge Dredd
Casting around for our next game, it was Tony I believe who suggested Judge Dredd. Well overdue as I'd been thinking only recently, it was nice to introduce this GW classic to another fan of the strip, namely Dave. Donald was convinced that he was reigning serving Chief Judge of Megacity 1. Unfortunately for Donald I must correct that mistaken impression: Gav- AKA. Judge Jules, holds that office; as records and RD/KA! both show.

In any event, evidently the sight of Judge Jules seated in his office stroking a cat with the inevitable evil gleam in his eye was enough to persuade everyone that he was in no way suitable for this supreme office. Donald was able in the end to find that much sought after seat in the Chief Judge's office, although he has to share it (the office, not the seat; though what happens behind those closed doors is their affair I guess...) as a 3-way tie:

• Andy: 34,
• Donald: 36,
• Dave: 36,
• Tony: 36,
• Me: 26;

means that an iron-fisted triumverate now rules over the Megacity.

Score
Inhuman and tyrannical 2
Just plain inhuman 1
Tyro tyrants 1
Burnt toast 0
:-0

Fluxx
Dinner loomed. We needed a quickie filler to get in any more games before I had to repair to the kitchen. Munchkin was suggested, but my taste for that game is strictly limited- ie. preferrably not 2 weeks in a row. Fluxx was therefore an easy choice all round. We weren't far into our first game before Donald helpfully pointed out that if I didn't win a game of Fluxx I'd be on my second duck in a row for a Sunday session. Sad to say the would-be Evil One's prediction came true, as our 2 games went to:

• Donald: with the Appliances (another frakkin' toaster!).
• Dave: Hearts and Minds.

Score
Inhuman tyrant 2Capricious tyrants 2Tyrannical and devious toaster 1The bum's rush 0
:_(

Oh yes, and there were more games of Fluxx but nobody took notes while I was slaving away in the kitchen, so the world shall remain ever unaware of whether Dave, Donald or Tony came out on top of the struggles in the Chief Judge's office in Megacity 1. Perhaps that's for the best, don't you think? ;)

Geekish grab bag!

As I said on Friday, I want to celebrate the latest small landmark in the life of RD/KA! by looking to what the future might bring for this geek and his games.

Memoir'44
Regular readers will know that Badger and I have recently taken a break from our 2½-year Combat Commander odyssey. We'll be returning to this great game for sure (there're scenarios still unplayed and more to come); and then there'll no doubt be a taste of Chad's next WW2 tacsim- Fighting Formations: Grossdeutschland Infantry Division; but not before we've indulged our taste for Conflict of Heroes.

Superior tacsims all though these games are (or promise to be), none are intrinsically more exciting than Memoir'44; nor do they relegate the game from its well-deserved status of light wargame to some nether region of little or no interest to this grognard. Days of Wonder themselves are doing their bit to maintain interest in the game, with their planned December release of Memoir'44 Battle Maps Vol. 3: Sword of Stalingrad, featuring:

• 2 Overlord scenarios.
• 2 Standard scenarios.
• Summary cards for the previously published Battle Maps and Mediterranean Theater expansion.
• Additional cards for in-game play - the new Combat Deck (see above) specifically designed for urban warfare (DoW News centre).