Strategic blundering has become a hallmark for our Heroes, enabling them to foil plots foul and sinister through a combination of dumb luck and bull-headed arrogance. When last we left our heroes the group had discovered the ancient dwarven ruins but appeared unable to reach the doors to that ancient vault. A mostly sheer cliff stood between our heroes and their prize. Undaunted, the Elf Lorenot sensing trepidation on part of his dwarven and halfling companions took it upon himself to climb up.
When the ridiculous bath towel caped elf made it to the top, the jailer Anika soon followed and eventually, by a reluctant Axel as well. Only dour Grim stood at the bottom unable or unwilling to trust his fortune to the dangling rope and dubious strength of his companions. "Nay," he declared, "A proper dwarf tackles such things with engineering and cunning!" Some half day later, with the assistance of a wandering elven scout, Grim had constructed himself a ramp of rubble enabling to clamber up to the ledge with body and dignity intact.
In the meantime the others had explored the great vault discovering first a gleaming bronze door replete with some symbol whose provenance turned out to be entirely unknown to any of the three members of the vanguard. Unable to read and not caring much for matters scholarly anyway, all three charged through only to discover a volcanic flood had claimed portions of the ancient stronghold. Slow moving rivulets of lava and crusts of cooled material created a zig-zag path that tested the heroes sorely. Indeed, so paralytically slow was their progress that grim and the scout managed to catch up by the time they had navigated their way to the far end.
Upon reaching the first of the main caverns the group saw the remnants of a surface market. Stalls with goods still very much in evidence lay abandoned as they had some millenia earlier when the ancient place had been abandoned after a particularly savage Greenskin raid. The market had truly once been a wondrous place serving as a trading spot for rare and precious metals as well as quality dwarf-make metal goods. The group plundered what few salvageable items were to be had with Grim making note of the remaining bits for later use in crafting.
Several caverns lead off of the market cave and, knowing that lava and dusty old tunnels inspire a powerful thirst, Lorenot charged down the tunnel ostensibly marked as a "tavern". He was sorely disappointed with the offerings through Anika seemed more than happy to drain cask after cask, double-fisting tankards in so doing. Further explorations revealed that some of the doomed dwarves had made their final stand here. Trestle tables lay up-ended and bones and debris lay scattered about. The heroes were especially pleased to discover that the defenders had held their position with the use of three blunderbusses. A small store of shot and powder remained enabling the party to make use of the hand canons at least a few more times.
The group continued to wend its way deeper into the tunnels locating a secret store of documents. The greater treasure, however, was found beneath secret panels. Unfortunately, the group's ability to disarm traps was perhaps not entire up to the task. Fortunately Grim was able to use his body shield to protect himself from the worst of the blasts on those rune-secured cabinets he was unable to efface. The treasures within yielded a few more choice goods while the party stumbled upon n even greater trove. A secret panel revealed an ancient armory, presumably belonging to the ancient ruler of the dwarven city.
Encouraged by their discoveries and armed to the teeth the band pressed onward. Another secret door led the party into a portion of the stronghold still swarming with the descendants of the Greenskin horde that had taken the city so many centuries earlier. The door was cleverly concealed as evidenced by the fact that the southern half of the stronghold had not been plundered quite so thoroughly as had the goblin infested areas. The band tracked the goblin raiders back to the old king's throne room and blanched at the goblin town that had grown up within its borders.
Rude huts scattered across the great cavern and bands of lazy goblin warriors lounged idly, evidently unaware of their approaching doom. Knowing that the Greenskins possessed superior numbers, Grim proposed that the goblins be lured into the tunnels where the narrow passages would impede and constrict their attack. The heroes would unleash the fury of their new blunderbusses on the packed horde, retreating when necessary to reload. Grim also boldly recommended that the fleet footed elves kick off the celebration by poking the goblin king full of elven arrows. That, he surmised, ought to get their attention.
By some mystery of circumstance and astonishing good fortune, the plan came together like a well-oiled halfling. The packed goblin ranks were decimated by concerted blunderbuss fire as the dwarves held the front lines chanting "It's Hammer Time - You Can't Touch This" even as the elves rained arrows on the mob and Axel steadily reloaded the blunderbusses.
By the time the smoke cleared and the last of the warriors had fallen Grim's blood-rage was up. he and Anika rushed forward putting the remaining survivors to the hammer though Anika spared a few by binding them with her trusty manacles. Appalled at the slaughter but powerless to stop it, Axel could only look on in dismay. the elf scout likewise stared on in horror at the savagery of the dwarven duo while Lorenot contented himself plundering the dead.
Just what new adventures, feats of barbarity or stunning incompetence the gang gets up to next, who knows?
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
The best things in life are worth killing for
Having freshly liberated Spookyton the heroes decided to go on a shopping spree. Naturally, Spookyton itself was a poor choice given that most of its inhabitants were either dead, dying or undead so the band made its way to the nearest settlement filled with living people. Lorenot the elf wandered off in his dingy bath towel cape doing whatever mysterious thing it is elves do in the forest by themselves while Axel, Anika and Grim did the actual shopping.
The band decided that getting a wagon might be a good idea ever since the soldier, the cook and the toll keeper absconded with the pony cart. Recognizing that none of the band was particularly adept at driving wagons of any size, they wisely decided to hire a pair of mercenaries who could manage the vehicle. After securing the necessary gear and supplies it was decided to venture back toward Evil Sausageburgh and its dreaded Black Keep.
En route, however, the band was assaulted by Greenskins as the company made camp for the night. The Greenskins were accompanied by a Chaos caster whose fell magic appears to have soured the mercenary Ullrich's stomach (or so he would claim). The pitched battle, fought mostly in darkness, left Axel once more teetering between life and death. As the bold halfling would later recall events 'The tanks went into the forest as a group leaving the paper mache guys all by themselves."
Fortunately Lorenot chose this very moment to reappear. Shouting the elven word of power "D'oh!" he caused the Greenskin menacing Axel to drop his great cleaver. The elf followed up with a rain of arrows that combined with Axel's flurry of daggers finally felled the creature. The Greenskins in the woods also came to a bad end but, as neither elf nor halfling witnessed the battle, the goblins may have just died of natural causes of their own accord. Natural causes for goblins consisting of various stabbing and slashing wounds.
The band faced a dilemma at this point. The Black Keep still lay a couple of days travel further along but the presence of Greenskins so deep in the territory bespoke of a different and perhaps more pressing need. Grim convinced the mercenaries to return to Spookyton and to return in a week's time. The Ill-Fated Brigade had decided to track down the goblins and exterminate them to the last monster. Which proved easier said than done.
One major obstacle facing the group was their decidedly urban inclinations. The group turned to Lorenot and trusted in his elven sense to lead them. little did they realize he was more a Bath elf than a wood elf. Still, heritage helped and he managed to guide the band toward some ancient dwarven ruins. The Brigade had heard tell of dwarven riches materializing in the nearby towns though none professed to know from whence these riches came.
It took very little time for the company to unravel the mystery - the goblins had been plundering a long-neglected dwarven tomb. This aroused much anger in both Anika and Grim and the thought of evil-slaying and gold gathering held distinct appeal to the mercenary hearted halfling and elf. Besides, what else was there to do in a spooky, ancient forest filled with blood-thirsty Greenskins, dwarven ghosts and not a decent massage available for two days travel in any direction?
The choice made, Lorenot discovered ancient magics at play and sensed that a greater evil than any they had yet encountered still lay ahead. This knowledge did not cause the band to quiver or quail but instead hardened their hearts to the task ahead. Would the Ill-Fated Brigade again triumph over evil or would their moss covered bones serve as a grim reminder to future adventurers?
Tune in next month to find out....
The band decided that getting a wagon might be a good idea ever since the soldier, the cook and the toll keeper absconded with the pony cart. Recognizing that none of the band was particularly adept at driving wagons of any size, they wisely decided to hire a pair of mercenaries who could manage the vehicle. After securing the necessary gear and supplies it was decided to venture back toward Evil Sausageburgh and its dreaded Black Keep.
En route, however, the band was assaulted by Greenskins as the company made camp for the night. The Greenskins were accompanied by a Chaos caster whose fell magic appears to have soured the mercenary Ullrich's stomach (or so he would claim). The pitched battle, fought mostly in darkness, left Axel once more teetering between life and death. As the bold halfling would later recall events 'The tanks went into the forest as a group leaving the paper mache guys all by themselves."
Fortunately Lorenot chose this very moment to reappear. Shouting the elven word of power "D'oh!" he caused the Greenskin menacing Axel to drop his great cleaver. The elf followed up with a rain of arrows that combined with Axel's flurry of daggers finally felled the creature. The Greenskins in the woods also came to a bad end but, as neither elf nor halfling witnessed the battle, the goblins may have just died of natural causes of their own accord. Natural causes for goblins consisting of various stabbing and slashing wounds.
The band faced a dilemma at this point. The Black Keep still lay a couple of days travel further along but the presence of Greenskins so deep in the territory bespoke of a different and perhaps more pressing need. Grim convinced the mercenaries to return to Spookyton and to return in a week's time. The Ill-Fated Brigade had decided to track down the goblins and exterminate them to the last monster. Which proved easier said than done.
One major obstacle facing the group was their decidedly urban inclinations. The group turned to Lorenot and trusted in his elven sense to lead them. little did they realize he was more a Bath elf than a wood elf. Still, heritage helped and he managed to guide the band toward some ancient dwarven ruins. The Brigade had heard tell of dwarven riches materializing in the nearby towns though none professed to know from whence these riches came.
It took very little time for the company to unravel the mystery - the goblins had been plundering a long-neglected dwarven tomb. This aroused much anger in both Anika and Grim and the thought of evil-slaying and gold gathering held distinct appeal to the mercenary hearted halfling and elf. Besides, what else was there to do in a spooky, ancient forest filled with blood-thirsty Greenskins, dwarven ghosts and not a decent massage available for two days travel in any direction?
The choice made, Lorenot discovered ancient magics at play and sensed that a greater evil than any they had yet encountered still lay ahead. This knowledge did not cause the band to quiver or quail but instead hardened their hearts to the task ahead. Would the Ill-Fated Brigade again triumph over evil or would their moss covered bones serve as a grim reminder to future adventurers?
Tune in next month to find out....
Put a little "AaaahhhHHH" in your life
October 20 marked the return of Border Board games' annual monster game fest. We were pleased to have Carlo and Kristin drive up from barre for the event. Also in attendance, beside Beth and myself, were regulars Mike O., Andrew, Dennis, St. Jay Mike and Karl.
We quickly split up into two groups as Beth, Carlo, Kristin, Mike O. and Andrew started up with Betrayal at House on the Hill. They played two scenarios with the first being the Ghost Bride and the second where Beth became a vampire. The Ghost bride failed to bring her beloved groom to the altar while the vampire succumbed to the strength of daylight as the heroes emerged victorious in both cases.
Meanwhile Karl, Dennis, St. Jay Mike and I tried our hand at A Touch of Evil, all for the first time. To anyone familiar with Arkham Horror and Last Night on Earth, the play of aToE appears to combine some of the best portions of both games. It is not scenario driven but, rather, dictated by the nature of the villain which gives the game a less structured feel. That is good if you want a game that has the potential for replayability. The heroes travel around the board visiting spooky colonial-era locations while seeking to gain information about the town elders, gather loot and weapons and try to figure out where the baddy lives.
Through a few missteps, mistakes which reminded me of my own lapses in running the Elder God in AH, we still managed to gleefully bumble our way through the game. It was definitely a game where learning through play might prove more effective than trying to digest the entire manual in one go. Dennis the hobo (he called himself a drifter but we saw through it easily enough), managed to track down the Headless Horseman and defeat him with good old fashioned musketry. My school marm was closing in on the Horseman's lair in the bog but the drifter snatched away the chance.
In the next round of gaming table one played a game of Zombicide while table two cracked open Betrayal. In Zombicide the heroes barely eked out the win despite a huge, ravenous horde of monsters rapidly closing in on them. In Betrayal St. Jay Mike turned into a giant, hideous spider only to fall before the mighty little girl with the really big spear. In Mike's defence it was sheer luck that the character who would have been easiest to fight, having sustained major damage prior to becoming the host for the spider eggs, was unassailable owing to those eggs. Using the mystic elevator to gain access to the basement was also a bit of a cheat for the good guys but, hey, no one likes spiders anyway, right?
The next Border Board Games event will take place on November 17th at 6 p.m. in the Derby Line Village Hall.
We quickly split up into two groups as Beth, Carlo, Kristin, Mike O. and Andrew started up with Betrayal at House on the Hill. They played two scenarios with the first being the Ghost Bride and the second where Beth became a vampire. The Ghost bride failed to bring her beloved groom to the altar while the vampire succumbed to the strength of daylight as the heroes emerged victorious in both cases.
Meanwhile Karl, Dennis, St. Jay Mike and I tried our hand at A Touch of Evil, all for the first time. To anyone familiar with Arkham Horror and Last Night on Earth, the play of aToE appears to combine some of the best portions of both games. It is not scenario driven but, rather, dictated by the nature of the villain which gives the game a less structured feel. That is good if you want a game that has the potential for replayability. The heroes travel around the board visiting spooky colonial-era locations while seeking to gain information about the town elders, gather loot and weapons and try to figure out where the baddy lives.
Through a few missteps, mistakes which reminded me of my own lapses in running the Elder God in AH, we still managed to gleefully bumble our way through the game. It was definitely a game where learning through play might prove more effective than trying to digest the entire manual in one go. Dennis the hobo (he called himself a drifter but we saw through it easily enough), managed to track down the Headless Horseman and defeat him with good old fashioned musketry. My school marm was closing in on the Horseman's lair in the bog but the drifter snatched away the chance.
In the next round of gaming table one played a game of Zombicide while table two cracked open Betrayal. In Zombicide the heroes barely eked out the win despite a huge, ravenous horde of monsters rapidly closing in on them. In Betrayal St. Jay Mike turned into a giant, hideous spider only to fall before the mighty little girl with the really big spear. In Mike's defence it was sheer luck that the character who would have been easiest to fight, having sustained major damage prior to becoming the host for the spider eggs, was unassailable owing to those eggs. Using the mystic elevator to gain access to the basement was also a bit of a cheat for the good guys but, hey, no one likes spiders anyway, right?
The next Border Board Games event will take place on November 17th at 6 p.m. in the Derby Line Village Hall.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
To the left, to the left....
With darkness impending and the child, whose name still escapes me, soon to fall prey to the evil infesting town, the heroes inexplicably split up. Alic, Alfed and Bertold, unwilling to spend another night in the wretched town of Treva, decided to head west and establish a toll at the river crossing. Alfred's cookies proved especially popular even if Bertold and Alice's menacing wasn't and the trio earned a decent living at the task.
All of this, naturally, occured after Alice's discovery of a hair cutting bowl in the village. Knowing that the dwarf Anika was training to be a barber-surgeon, she offered her the bowl and the use of Bertold's head to experiment with. Bertold had taken a little too much of the sour drink passing itself as mead in the town inn. Unconscious and looking somewhat shaggy, he seemed the perfect subject for the experiment. besides which, the hair cutting bowl was sized to human heads. After giving Bertold his new haircut Anika came to the conclusion that the path of the barber-surgeon was not one to which she showed any aptitude. the path of the interrogator and torturer however....
Meanwhile, the remaining halfling, dwarves and elf decided to take the demon by the horns. Grim refused to surrender the child to whatever dark forces possessed the town and tasked Anika with securing the child. Apparently the party briefly forgot who the heroes were as the child was trussed up and gagged even as the count's sinister carriage came don the hill to collect his child bride. The idea was to protect the child despite appearances to the contrary.
Knowing that no god could possibly come of this union, Lorenot the elf, learning a lesson from last time, opted to use his bow on the count's men. Oh, if only they had been men. The arrows slashed through armor and withered flesh only to reveal the horror of the truth behind these grim guardsmen. The knowledge briefly incapacitated Axel even as Anika and grim prepared to defend the upper floor of the smithy. Fortunately the guards were slow footed and Lorenot was able to down several of the creatures before they gained access to the smithy.
Even as Axel regained his wits and he and the elf continued to pelt the advancing guards, Grim and Anika became aware of a sinister undead captain forming in the room from foul mists. Anika gamely charged the creature only to smack into the wall. The mighty warrior raised his sword to smite the impertinent Grim but, through a combination of skill and good fortune, the dwarven rune bearer managed to escape certain death even as he smote the creature.
Meanwhile, the elf and hagfling toppled an armoire down the stairs, smashing one of the guards and badly damaging another leaving only a few of the things left standing. The battle to dispatch the creatures was swift and bloody with Axel sustaining a near fatal wound in defense of the house. An odd aspect of the battle, and of those that followed, was an almost supernatural tendency to hit enemies in the left arm.
Knowing that whatever evil magic the count controlled would only grow stronger with time Grim encouraged the others to strike at the count sooner rather than later. Though Lorenot and Axel were still weary from battle and blood loss, they conceded the wisdom of his words. gathering up their weapons and some hastily assembled equipment, they boldly marched on the ruins of the fortified mansion the count claimed as his own.
Through uncanny good luck and skill at arms, the band finally gained access to the inner sanctum. In true heroic fashion, the band smashed and laid waste to everything even remotely evil looking (not to mention some perfectly innocuous and harmless trinkets and decorations). Having bulled through a series of traps and dispatched even more undead minions, Grim at last confronted the evil necromancer Troy in his lair. Grim managed to survive all manner of perils before finding a chance to smite the foul wizard. Having suffered some grievous injuries en route, the others were somewhat slower in arriving. As Anika dodged and weaved her way forward, Lorenot loosed a last arrow that severed a major artery in the wizard's causing him to fall dead at Grim's feet.
With the evil cleaned from the town, the weird, unwholesome mist that shrouded the valley dissipated as goodness was again able to infuse the region. Over the next month the dwarves completed their restoration of the forge turning out and endless tide of crappy hammers and exceptional armor. meanwhile Lorenot and Axel traveled to a nearby town whereupon Axel found religion and Lorenot discovered the rudiments of magic. Armed with their new found powers, the band returned to Treva to plot their revenge against the wicked folk of Malcano and their ratmen allies.
All of this, naturally, occured after Alice's discovery of a hair cutting bowl in the village. Knowing that the dwarf Anika was training to be a barber-surgeon, she offered her the bowl and the use of Bertold's head to experiment with. Bertold had taken a little too much of the sour drink passing itself as mead in the town inn. Unconscious and looking somewhat shaggy, he seemed the perfect subject for the experiment. besides which, the hair cutting bowl was sized to human heads. After giving Bertold his new haircut Anika came to the conclusion that the path of the barber-surgeon was not one to which she showed any aptitude. the path of the interrogator and torturer however....
Meanwhile, the remaining halfling, dwarves and elf decided to take the demon by the horns. Grim refused to surrender the child to whatever dark forces possessed the town and tasked Anika with securing the child. Apparently the party briefly forgot who the heroes were as the child was trussed up and gagged even as the count's sinister carriage came don the hill to collect his child bride. The idea was to protect the child despite appearances to the contrary.
Knowing that no god could possibly come of this union, Lorenot the elf, learning a lesson from last time, opted to use his bow on the count's men. Oh, if only they had been men. The arrows slashed through armor and withered flesh only to reveal the horror of the truth behind these grim guardsmen. The knowledge briefly incapacitated Axel even as Anika and grim prepared to defend the upper floor of the smithy. Fortunately the guards were slow footed and Lorenot was able to down several of the creatures before they gained access to the smithy.
Even as Axel regained his wits and he and the elf continued to pelt the advancing guards, Grim and Anika became aware of a sinister undead captain forming in the room from foul mists. Anika gamely charged the creature only to smack into the wall. The mighty warrior raised his sword to smite the impertinent Grim but, through a combination of skill and good fortune, the dwarven rune bearer managed to escape certain death even as he smote the creature.
Meanwhile, the elf and hagfling toppled an armoire down the stairs, smashing one of the guards and badly damaging another leaving only a few of the things left standing. The battle to dispatch the creatures was swift and bloody with Axel sustaining a near fatal wound in defense of the house. An odd aspect of the battle, and of those that followed, was an almost supernatural tendency to hit enemies in the left arm.
Knowing that whatever evil magic the count controlled would only grow stronger with time Grim encouraged the others to strike at the count sooner rather than later. Though Lorenot and Axel were still weary from battle and blood loss, they conceded the wisdom of his words. gathering up their weapons and some hastily assembled equipment, they boldly marched on the ruins of the fortified mansion the count claimed as his own.
Through uncanny good luck and skill at arms, the band finally gained access to the inner sanctum. In true heroic fashion, the band smashed and laid waste to everything even remotely evil looking (not to mention some perfectly innocuous and harmless trinkets and decorations). Having bulled through a series of traps and dispatched even more undead minions, Grim at last confronted the evil necromancer Troy in his lair. Grim managed to survive all manner of perils before finding a chance to smite the foul wizard. Having suffered some grievous injuries en route, the others were somewhat slower in arriving. As Anika dodged and weaved her way forward, Lorenot loosed a last arrow that severed a major artery in the wizard's causing him to fall dead at Grim's feet.
With the evil cleaned from the town, the weird, unwholesome mist that shrouded the valley dissipated as goodness was again able to infuse the region. Over the next month the dwarves completed their restoration of the forge turning out and endless tide of crappy hammers and exceptional armor. meanwhile Lorenot and Axel traveled to a nearby town whereupon Axel found religion and Lorenot discovered the rudiments of magic. Armed with their new found powers, the band returned to Treva to plot their revenge against the wicked folk of Malcano and their ratmen allies.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
The Misfits of Righteous Indignation
** Note** Due to simmering tensions, an expanding plaer base and the need to divert a potential player vs. player situation, our regular Song of Ice and Fire campaign has been temporarily suspended. In it's place we journery to the dark and despicable Empire of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying (2nd Edition).
To see them traveling together, one would assume the band was a tarvelling carnival of some sort or another. Three halflings, two dwarves, a human and an elf made their way along the mountain passes headed to the Sausage Festival in some wretched little town. If not for the happenstance of fate and the foreknowledge that the roads were dangerous, perhaps such a group would never have found itself in one another's company.
As the dwarvess Annika proclaimed, "I just want sausage, dammit."
The band consisted of a confidence man, a cook, a soldier, a tollkeeper, a gaoler, a rune bearer, a failed entertainer and a shady toll keeper. Each member of the troupe had its own reasons to be on the road. Some were simply afflicted by wanderlust while others were escaping the drudgery of their past lives. A deeper connection had to do with their own sense of propriety and justice, something the road ahead was sorely lacking.
That any of them individually could have survived the trek was never in doubt - they could not. City bred or better suited to the company of others, they plodded along barely able to keep starvation and disaster at bay. With their talents combined, however, it seemed this miserable band could at least make it from town to town.
What became apparent was that this part of the Empire has been in slow but steady decline for some time. the roads were in poor repair and many travelers had fallen prey to banditry and attack. This much was borne out by the fact that a warrior priest lay slain and abandoned along the roadside. Lorenot the elf took advantage of the priest's misfortunes and salvaged what he could from the corpse. many of his compatriots, though used to the carnage that accompanies the wilder areas of the Empire, found the elf's actions disturbing if not wholly distasteful. Still, the glimmer of gold was enough to assuage their guilt at least for the time being.
Upon arrival, the band took note of the erratic and lackadaisical actions of the town guard. Though protected by high, stout walls, the presence of voracious ratmen and bandits did not seem to engender any particular sense of urgency among the town fathers. Indeed, it soon became apparent that this indifference may have been purposefully cultivated. A pawn shop gathered and disposed of random wares, the type of plunder one would expect to harvest from travellers exposed to misfortune in the region. Likewise, the sausage maker Hanse, though locally famed for his product, didn't strike the band as being entirely honest nor trustworthy.
This mistrust was put to the test during the group's first night in town. The town gate shut promptly as evening fell and yet, a disturbance in the night aroused members of the company. Looking out from the confines of the fortified inn, members of the group spotted a wagon making a meat delivery in the middle of the night. Furthermore, the deliverymen had a decidedly inhuman gate that would later reveal them to be ratmen.
Lorenot and Bertoldt the toll keeper decided to confront the ratmen. Respectable sausage makers did not receive mystery meat deliveries in the middle of the night, and certainly not from wagons that blithely enter the town after everything should have been closed up for the night. Unable to contain their unease, the elf and the human pursued the ratmen as they attempted to make good their escape.
The battle was fierce but decisive with the pair managing to slay the foul beasts, though Lorenot sustained grave injuries in the process. Fortunately, the combined care of the dwarvess gaoler Annika and the halfling soldier Alice were able to patch up the worst of his wounds. Their attempts to confront the sausage maker with his foul deeds was briefly sidetracked by the cook Alfred's inability to confirm just what manner of flesh was contained in the ratemen's delivery.
"The meat is people!" Lorenot shrieked from deep inside the sausage factory's larder.
Though the band pointed out serious flaws in the town's defensive plans, the town fathers seemed to casually ignore the group's protestations. Only after receiving recompense for their disturbed sleep was the band promptly booted out of town to await the town fathers' judgment. Convinced that there would be no justice, the band made out for the north to the next town along the road - Treva.
The lure of the ruins of the Black Keep, though rife with possibility, also bore with it the high probability that adventurers were routinely sent there only to fall at the hands of the ratmen. With the elf still in dire circumstance, the band decided to make for the next town as quickly as possible, there to rest and re provision for a return journey to the keep.
Upon arriving at treva, the band found this miserable hamlet to also be in an advanced state of disrepair. the wall was barely sufficient to keep rabbits at bay, let alone attackers. the surrounding fields and forests were virtually barren of wildlife, the animals no doubt frightened by the pall of despair and evil that hung over the area. the presence of the unnamed and unnameable baron high atop the rocky crag did little to inspire confidence in the town's leadership.
This was further tested when the con halfling found that a lone child, probably an orphan of some predation or another, lived next door to the abandoned smithy. The child eagrly awaited her marriage to the baron on the hill, despite being only eight years old. The curious state of the hamlet's absurdly large cemetery only added to the growing unease of the band.
As Grimal the rune bearer pointed out "Those graves look like more things came out than went in."
Will the dwarf's proclamation prove prophetic? Will Bertoldt gamble away the band's meager possessions before the next big payday? Will Alice ever awaken from her seemingly inescapable nighttime reverie? Is there anywhere that Axel and Alfed can't get kicked out of? Can Annika ever get close enough to an enemy to bear him to the ground and produce a prisoner? is an elven entertainer even capable of earning an honest day's age?
These and other questions will be answered in the next installment of the company's chronicles.
To see them traveling together, one would assume the band was a tarvelling carnival of some sort or another. Three halflings, two dwarves, a human and an elf made their way along the mountain passes headed to the Sausage Festival in some wretched little town. If not for the happenstance of fate and the foreknowledge that the roads were dangerous, perhaps such a group would never have found itself in one another's company.
As the dwarvess Annika proclaimed, "I just want sausage, dammit."
The band consisted of a confidence man, a cook, a soldier, a tollkeeper, a gaoler, a rune bearer, a failed entertainer and a shady toll keeper. Each member of the troupe had its own reasons to be on the road. Some were simply afflicted by wanderlust while others were escaping the drudgery of their past lives. A deeper connection had to do with their own sense of propriety and justice, something the road ahead was sorely lacking.
That any of them individually could have survived the trek was never in doubt - they could not. City bred or better suited to the company of others, they plodded along barely able to keep starvation and disaster at bay. With their talents combined, however, it seemed this miserable band could at least make it from town to town.
What became apparent was that this part of the Empire has been in slow but steady decline for some time. the roads were in poor repair and many travelers had fallen prey to banditry and attack. This much was borne out by the fact that a warrior priest lay slain and abandoned along the roadside. Lorenot the elf took advantage of the priest's misfortunes and salvaged what he could from the corpse. many of his compatriots, though used to the carnage that accompanies the wilder areas of the Empire, found the elf's actions disturbing if not wholly distasteful. Still, the glimmer of gold was enough to assuage their guilt at least for the time being.
Upon arrival, the band took note of the erratic and lackadaisical actions of the town guard. Though protected by high, stout walls, the presence of voracious ratmen and bandits did not seem to engender any particular sense of urgency among the town fathers. Indeed, it soon became apparent that this indifference may have been purposefully cultivated. A pawn shop gathered and disposed of random wares, the type of plunder one would expect to harvest from travellers exposed to misfortune in the region. Likewise, the sausage maker Hanse, though locally famed for his product, didn't strike the band as being entirely honest nor trustworthy.
This mistrust was put to the test during the group's first night in town. The town gate shut promptly as evening fell and yet, a disturbance in the night aroused members of the company. Looking out from the confines of the fortified inn, members of the group spotted a wagon making a meat delivery in the middle of the night. Furthermore, the deliverymen had a decidedly inhuman gate that would later reveal them to be ratmen.
Lorenot and Bertoldt the toll keeper decided to confront the ratmen. Respectable sausage makers did not receive mystery meat deliveries in the middle of the night, and certainly not from wagons that blithely enter the town after everything should have been closed up for the night. Unable to contain their unease, the elf and the human pursued the ratmen as they attempted to make good their escape.
The battle was fierce but decisive with the pair managing to slay the foul beasts, though Lorenot sustained grave injuries in the process. Fortunately, the combined care of the dwarvess gaoler Annika and the halfling soldier Alice were able to patch up the worst of his wounds. Their attempts to confront the sausage maker with his foul deeds was briefly sidetracked by the cook Alfred's inability to confirm just what manner of flesh was contained in the ratemen's delivery.
"The meat is people!" Lorenot shrieked from deep inside the sausage factory's larder.
Though the band pointed out serious flaws in the town's defensive plans, the town fathers seemed to casually ignore the group's protestations. Only after receiving recompense for their disturbed sleep was the band promptly booted out of town to await the town fathers' judgment. Convinced that there would be no justice, the band made out for the north to the next town along the road - Treva.
The lure of the ruins of the Black Keep, though rife with possibility, also bore with it the high probability that adventurers were routinely sent there only to fall at the hands of the ratmen. With the elf still in dire circumstance, the band decided to make for the next town as quickly as possible, there to rest and re provision for a return journey to the keep.
Upon arriving at treva, the band found this miserable hamlet to also be in an advanced state of disrepair. the wall was barely sufficient to keep rabbits at bay, let alone attackers. the surrounding fields and forests were virtually barren of wildlife, the animals no doubt frightened by the pall of despair and evil that hung over the area. the presence of the unnamed and unnameable baron high atop the rocky crag did little to inspire confidence in the town's leadership.
This was further tested when the con halfling found that a lone child, probably an orphan of some predation or another, lived next door to the abandoned smithy. The child eagrly awaited her marriage to the baron on the hill, despite being only eight years old. The curious state of the hamlet's absurdly large cemetery only added to the growing unease of the band.
As Grimal the rune bearer pointed out "Those graves look like more things came out than went in."
Will the dwarf's proclamation prove prophetic? Will Bertoldt gamble away the band's meager possessions before the next big payday? Will Alice ever awaken from her seemingly inescapable nighttime reverie? Is there anywhere that Axel and Alfed can't get kicked out of? Can Annika ever get close enough to an enemy to bear him to the ground and produce a prisoner? is an elven entertainer even capable of earning an honest day's age?
These and other questions will be answered in the next installment of the company's chronicles.
That AA game
The August edition of Border Board Games brought out some old favorites and brand new titles. We'd like to welcome Karl to the fold and look forward to sharing some new games from his collection and ours in the future. This month we had myself, Beth, Karl, Mike O., Andrew, Dennis and St. Jay Mike. It provided us with enough folks to hit up two tables of games.
Castle Panic!, courtesy of Karl, occupied Mike, Andrew, Beth and Karl as the opening game. the group valiantly struggled against the invading hordes but, eventually, a succession of giant boulders breached their castle walls and led to their downfall.
Meanwhile Dennis, Mike O and I tackled Agricola or, as St. Jay Mike calls it "That game with A at the beginning and A at the end." needless to say, it is not one of his favorites. It was the first time that Mike O has played though he has witnessed a few games of it in progress. As is often the case, sometimes just not getting begging cards is a victory of sorts. It was a surprisingly tight race at the end as Dennis managed to fill his farmyard in the late goings. His early farm was a pitiful affair with a couple of rock strewn fields, a pig in his house and a surprisingly robust stone mansion to his name. In the end, however, the early advantage of the Midwife proved the deciding factor. having those extra actions courtesy of the additional farmhand allowed me to squeak out a 42-38 win. Sadly, Mike O didn't do so well but finished with 20 points. In his first game of Agricola, finishing with points in the twenties is a sort of victory in and of itself.
As Agricola wound down and castle panic! ended in crushing defeat, the first table switched gears to the ever popular Lords of Waterdeep. It has proven to have enduring replayability with a slick and engaging theme. Though there is only a superficial depth of strategy, it is sufficiently varied to keep the interest of repeat players, approachable and easy in concept and execution with just the right level of randomness to keep things interesting. Beth proclaimed her first ever victory in the game, a fact which she made abundantly clear with her pronouncement of jubilation.
After Agricola and Lords of Waterdeep concluded we broke out into new groups with the two Mikes, Andrew and Dennis picking up a game of Power Grid. Admittedly I didn't follow the progress of the game quite as much as I should have. It did become apparent that Andrew developed a fascination for resource-less wind energy and rapid expansion. Though he was poised to breach the cities controlled barrier, his free energy lacked the punch to power all of those towns leading to widespread blackouts in his sector. While I believe St. Jay Mike eventually triumphed, admittedly, I don't know that for certain.
Karl, Beth and I brought out a game that hasn't hit the table in quite some time: Giants. Thematically, it is one of the most excellent games in our collection. Everything from the difficulty of getting hats and Moais to their pedestals to the deforestation of the island to make it happen play well with the Eastern Island mystery theme. It was a tight race down to the end. Indeed, if not for a miscalculation on his use of logs, I think Karl may have actually pulled this one out of the bag. I was able to win the game despite a slow start. Capping all of my Moais and scattering statues and hats on different sides of the Island enabled me to maximize my points.
Due to scheduling conflicts, the next Border Board Games game night will take place at the Lair (our home) on Friday, September 14th. Keep you eye out for FB messages or e-mails informing you of changes in the schedule.
Castle Panic!, courtesy of Karl, occupied Mike, Andrew, Beth and Karl as the opening game. the group valiantly struggled against the invading hordes but, eventually, a succession of giant boulders breached their castle walls and led to their downfall.
Meanwhile Dennis, Mike O and I tackled Agricola or, as St. Jay Mike calls it "That game with A at the beginning and A at the end." needless to say, it is not one of his favorites. It was the first time that Mike O has played though he has witnessed a few games of it in progress. As is often the case, sometimes just not getting begging cards is a victory of sorts. It was a surprisingly tight race at the end as Dennis managed to fill his farmyard in the late goings. His early farm was a pitiful affair with a couple of rock strewn fields, a pig in his house and a surprisingly robust stone mansion to his name. In the end, however, the early advantage of the Midwife proved the deciding factor. having those extra actions courtesy of the additional farmhand allowed me to squeak out a 42-38 win. Sadly, Mike O didn't do so well but finished with 20 points. In his first game of Agricola, finishing with points in the twenties is a sort of victory in and of itself.
As Agricola wound down and castle panic! ended in crushing defeat, the first table switched gears to the ever popular Lords of Waterdeep. It has proven to have enduring replayability with a slick and engaging theme. Though there is only a superficial depth of strategy, it is sufficiently varied to keep the interest of repeat players, approachable and easy in concept and execution with just the right level of randomness to keep things interesting. Beth proclaimed her first ever victory in the game, a fact which she made abundantly clear with her pronouncement of jubilation.
After Agricola and Lords of Waterdeep concluded we broke out into new groups with the two Mikes, Andrew and Dennis picking up a game of Power Grid. Admittedly I didn't follow the progress of the game quite as much as I should have. It did become apparent that Andrew developed a fascination for resource-less wind energy and rapid expansion. Though he was poised to breach the cities controlled barrier, his free energy lacked the punch to power all of those towns leading to widespread blackouts in his sector. While I believe St. Jay Mike eventually triumphed, admittedly, I don't know that for certain.
Karl, Beth and I brought out a game that hasn't hit the table in quite some time: Giants. Thematically, it is one of the most excellent games in our collection. Everything from the difficulty of getting hats and Moais to their pedestals to the deforestation of the island to make it happen play well with the Eastern Island mystery theme. It was a tight race down to the end. Indeed, if not for a miscalculation on his use of logs, I think Karl may have actually pulled this one out of the bag. I was able to win the game despite a slow start. Capping all of my Moais and scattering statues and hats on different sides of the Island enabled me to maximize my points.
Due to scheduling conflicts, the next Border Board Games game night will take place at the Lair (our home) on Friday, September 14th. Keep you eye out for FB messages or e-mails informing you of changes in the schedule.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Pounding sand and raking in the big money
After an inexcusable delay in compiling Border Board games game logs, BBG returns with this installment of the July Olympics of gaming. In addition to the usual crew of Kim, Homer, Beth, Dennis, St. Jay Mike, Mike O and I Rob popped in and Andrew returned for a second visit to the Derby Line Village Hall. Things got off to a fast paced start as we whipped out our newest game Toc Toc Woodman. The smash hit Korean game went over well even if some of us, most of us actually, never saw our scores rise out of the range of integers.
After a few rounds of Toc Toc we split up into two groups to tackle Thebes and Black Gold respectively. Kim, Homer, Rob and I plunged into the deserts of the Near East to plunder the treasures of the ancient world. It being Rob's first time playing, he appeared to be off to a strong start handily dishing out treasures. As it turned out, his luck would eventually dissipate like a mirage and soon he was pulling nothing but sand. Indeed, we began to suspect that Homer was the evil Sand Djinn sucking us down into his vortex of sand and despair. Who needs treasure when you can enjoy a beer on the beach? It eventually came down to a contest between Kim and I. Having scored a five point show on the final turn of the final year I was able to pull out a two point victory 58-56.
Over at the Black Gold table Beth, St. Jay Mike and Dennis drilled for oil. Dennis would emerge atop the heap amassing a sizeable fortune before the oil barons arrived. beth finished a close second while, as Mike exclaimed in his own words "I finished a distant fourth." In a three player game, such results are particularly dismal.
As the Black Gold game wound down, the Thebes table turned into a game of A La Carte. Kim, Rob, Mike O and I attempted to create the most resplendent dishes possible out of cigars, elephant trunks and beret wearing octopus. Rob demonstrated his early mastery of the game with Gordon Ramsay-like precision and attention to detail. Though it took him some time to get used to the "one shake" mechanic of the ingredient containers, he turned out three perfect dishes to earn his Michelin stars and victory. Indeed, he only ruined one dish and that early on. It was the first time that I have ever seen a victory by stars.
Next up we split again into two tables featuring Lords of Waterdeep and Le Havre. In LoWD Rob, Beth, Mike O and St. Jay Mike squared off to see who would rule the city. Rob would emerge victorious with a fair margin of victory. The table then set about playing a round of Thebes with Andrew, St. Jay Mike, Mike O and Beth heading to the desert. St. Jay Mike possessed the finest collection of Egyptian antiquities anyone could ever hope to see. Sadly, his collection paled in comparison to Beth prodigious talent at public speaking. On the strength of a pittance of treasures and a solid hold on the Congress cards, Beth ran off with the win.
Meanwhile, Kim, Homer, Dennis and I ventured into the shipping trade with Le Havre. Being a fan of Agricola, we thought this might be right up Dennis' alley. As it turns out, it was. Dennis boasted an impressive array of buildings and cleverly sniped the docks away from me and my mighty merchant marine. Homer, as per usual, constructed a fine fleet of steel ships falling just short of the time necessary to build the HMS Homer luxury liner. In the end Dennis claimed the win with a sizeable hoard of francs.
So concluded the July Border Board Games game night. Based on post-game chatter, it seems highly probable that Age of Empires III, Agricola and Bang! will be featured at the August game night scheduled for August 18th at 6 p.m. in the Derby Line Village Hall.
After a few rounds of Toc Toc we split up into two groups to tackle Thebes and Black Gold respectively. Kim, Homer, Rob and I plunged into the deserts of the Near East to plunder the treasures of the ancient world. It being Rob's first time playing, he appeared to be off to a strong start handily dishing out treasures. As it turned out, his luck would eventually dissipate like a mirage and soon he was pulling nothing but sand. Indeed, we began to suspect that Homer was the evil Sand Djinn sucking us down into his vortex of sand and despair. Who needs treasure when you can enjoy a beer on the beach? It eventually came down to a contest between Kim and I. Having scored a five point show on the final turn of the final year I was able to pull out a two point victory 58-56.
Over at the Black Gold table Beth, St. Jay Mike and Dennis drilled for oil. Dennis would emerge atop the heap amassing a sizeable fortune before the oil barons arrived. beth finished a close second while, as Mike exclaimed in his own words "I finished a distant fourth." In a three player game, such results are particularly dismal.
As the Black Gold game wound down, the Thebes table turned into a game of A La Carte. Kim, Rob, Mike O and I attempted to create the most resplendent dishes possible out of cigars, elephant trunks and beret wearing octopus. Rob demonstrated his early mastery of the game with Gordon Ramsay-like precision and attention to detail. Though it took him some time to get used to the "one shake" mechanic of the ingredient containers, he turned out three perfect dishes to earn his Michelin stars and victory. Indeed, he only ruined one dish and that early on. It was the first time that I have ever seen a victory by stars.
Next up we split again into two tables featuring Lords of Waterdeep and Le Havre. In LoWD Rob, Beth, Mike O and St. Jay Mike squared off to see who would rule the city. Rob would emerge victorious with a fair margin of victory. The table then set about playing a round of Thebes with Andrew, St. Jay Mike, Mike O and Beth heading to the desert. St. Jay Mike possessed the finest collection of Egyptian antiquities anyone could ever hope to see. Sadly, his collection paled in comparison to Beth prodigious talent at public speaking. On the strength of a pittance of treasures and a solid hold on the Congress cards, Beth ran off with the win.
Meanwhile, Kim, Homer, Dennis and I ventured into the shipping trade with Le Havre. Being a fan of Agricola, we thought this might be right up Dennis' alley. As it turns out, it was. Dennis boasted an impressive array of buildings and cleverly sniped the docks away from me and my mighty merchant marine. Homer, as per usual, constructed a fine fleet of steel ships falling just short of the time necessary to build the HMS Homer luxury liner. In the end Dennis claimed the win with a sizeable hoard of francs.
So concluded the July Border Board Games game night. Based on post-game chatter, it seems highly probable that Age of Empires III, Agricola and Bang! will be featured at the August game night scheduled for August 18th at 6 p.m. in the Derby Line Village Hall.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Witches, oil barons and treachery oh my!
The March edition of Border Board Games saw the return of a lost son and a visit from the southern marches. We were pleased that Rob was able to rejoin us and Bradford Brad journeyed north to join our merry band. Also stopping by for the first time in ages was daniel, the chess guy. I'm sure Shannon remembers him well.
We started the evening with a round of base set Dominion that featured Brad, Beth, Rob and myself. It's been ages since we broke out Dominion and, not surprisingly, some of us had gotten fuzzy about what exactly each card did. Our card set up was also less than ideal lying sometwhere between a bastard and a punch in the face. We had only two 3 value cards and the awful thief made an early appearance. Needless to say, coin was scarce in the latter goings with Rob the only player to acquire more than a single Province. Despite being cash poor, my witches proved brutally effective clearing out the Curse deck as a way to spend a quick finish. As it turned out, despite his collection of Provinces, the big pile of purple cards dragged down Rob's final score allowing me to squeak in the victory.
Next up was a game of Black Gold, the newest addition to our collection. St. Jay Mike took one for the team replacing Dennis at the chess table. It's still a fairly new title for us but it is a surprisingly simple game to play. Hudson Oil appeared to fall on hard times throughout the game with its prices yo-yoing between average and terrible forcing most of the bid battles on Jet Oil and US Oil. In the end, a key win for Brad gave him the edge and the win. Despite a slow start including a noticeable lack of oil derricks, Dennis rebounded nicely to snag second place on the strength of a solid position of hi train in the final round.
Our final game of the evening proceeded after the departure of Brad and Daniel, one headed south, the other north of The Wall. Shadows Over Camelot, aka The Traitor Game, was the choice of the night, both because of its ability to accomodate a large number of players as well as not having hit the table in a long time. Not surprisingly, once again I was dealt the traitor card. For a game with so much randomness, it is positively uncanny how often I am selected to try and sabotage the efforts of the noble knights.
My efforts would be quickly foiled, however, since only a single lasting sepcial black card ever appeared, Morgan, and it was eliminated in a single round as the Saxons were routed from England's shores. The knights proved frightfully effective capturing both Excalibur and Lancelot's armor in addition to completing a few other quests. Though I remained undiscovered until the end, the loyal knights had banked sufficient white swords that even a sudden reversal of fortunes was unable to swing things my way.
The next edition of Border Board games will be the BBG Roadshow in Lyndonville. To everyone else it will be known as Spring Meltdown. We return to the Derby Line Village Hall for the May game night.
We started the evening with a round of base set Dominion that featured Brad, Beth, Rob and myself. It's been ages since we broke out Dominion and, not surprisingly, some of us had gotten fuzzy about what exactly each card did. Our card set up was also less than ideal lying sometwhere between a bastard and a punch in the face. We had only two 3 value cards and the awful thief made an early appearance. Needless to say, coin was scarce in the latter goings with Rob the only player to acquire more than a single Province. Despite being cash poor, my witches proved brutally effective clearing out the Curse deck as a way to spend a quick finish. As it turned out, despite his collection of Provinces, the big pile of purple cards dragged down Rob's final score allowing me to squeak in the victory.
Next up was a game of Black Gold, the newest addition to our collection. St. Jay Mike took one for the team replacing Dennis at the chess table. It's still a fairly new title for us but it is a surprisingly simple game to play. Hudson Oil appeared to fall on hard times throughout the game with its prices yo-yoing between average and terrible forcing most of the bid battles on Jet Oil and US Oil. In the end, a key win for Brad gave him the edge and the win. Despite a slow start including a noticeable lack of oil derricks, Dennis rebounded nicely to snag second place on the strength of a solid position of hi train in the final round.
Our final game of the evening proceeded after the departure of Brad and Daniel, one headed south, the other north of The Wall. Shadows Over Camelot, aka The Traitor Game, was the choice of the night, both because of its ability to accomodate a large number of players as well as not having hit the table in a long time. Not surprisingly, once again I was dealt the traitor card. For a game with so much randomness, it is positively uncanny how often I am selected to try and sabotage the efforts of the noble knights.
My efforts would be quickly foiled, however, since only a single lasting sepcial black card ever appeared, Morgan, and it was eliminated in a single round as the Saxons were routed from England's shores. The knights proved frightfully effective capturing both Excalibur and Lancelot's armor in addition to completing a few other quests. Though I remained undiscovered until the end, the loyal knights had banked sufficient white swords that even a sudden reversal of fortunes was unable to swing things my way.
The next edition of Border Board games will be the BBG Roadshow in Lyndonville. To everyone else it will be known as Spring Meltdown. We return to the Derby Line Village Hall for the May game night.
Friday, February 24, 2012
The Howling Hag that got away and other timely misfortunes
It was a strange sort of Border Board games for February 18th. With the village hall seeing some other use, the action moved to the newly re-christened Creaserton Abbey. Mike and Dennis came up from St. Jay early to get their game on. The afternoon started with Age of Empires III. Beth and her Dutch legions staked an early lead that she would not relinquish over the ten turns of the game. Racking up many points in the colonization rounds coupled with some fortunate capital buildings allowed her to run off with a commanding victory. Dennis and his Portugese forces employed an interesting armed camp variation that effectively slashed into Beth's point total while bolstering his own. While the French under my leadership explored like mad, my lack of a presence in the colonies hampered my startegy. Though not sure what strategy Mike employed, his was at least as successful as my own despite a fourth place finish.
We then launched into a few rounds of Trans America at which point Mike O arrived. As Trans America goes, it tends to end quickly and a disasterous secound game saw Dennis plunge into the Pacific in near record time. I hink everyone saw the advantage ofusing the Screw You pieces and the second game saw frenzied placement in the rush to avoid a cliff-diving finale.
We then brought out Castle Ravenloft in a co-op frenzy to defeat the Howling hag. It was, in my estimation at least, one of the more difficult scenarios I have played to date. Having the party scattered to the four corners of the map forced us to rely on our own pitiful skills in the early going. My wizard and dennis' rogue teamed up in the one two-man group while the Mikes and Beth had to fight their way out of their respective corners. Dennis and I caught up to Mike O's ranger in short order while we blazed a path to the central summoning circle. Dennis, amazingly, managed to draw four of the five zero monster tiles in our push ahead.
Beth had poor luck as she almost instantly drew the howling hag figure. The tile placement was also working against her, locking her into a corner while Mike's fighter tried to cut his way down. Eventually we managed to open the circle and start whittling away at the time tokens. This is where things took a turn for the weird. Mike O had already taken heavy damage, often as the result of unfortunate Encounter draws. With two of the five time tokens off, the hag teleported Beth closer and herself further from the action. This is where we thought we had it won. Suddenly, my raggedy wizard was sucked off into a corner with two monsters including an Environment strengthrned ghoul. I used my fire blast but managed to slay only the rat swarm. The ghoul took one swipe and down I fell.
Meanwhile, the others battled an assortment of fiends near the circle as well as dealing the death blow to the hag herself. sadly, two of our companions dropped as well. All we needed to do to win was remove the final three time tiles by simply starting and ending our turns in the circle. unfortunately, two of the four characters in the circle were lying in pools of their own blood and we had but a single Healing Surge remaining. Thus, with the monster defeated, we still took the loss.
To cap off the night we rolled out an oldie but a goody: Settlers of Catan. It went as settlers often does. While most of us bickered amonst ourselves, the 8s were noticeably absent and the 4s and 10s obscenely prevalent. This was good for virtually everyone at the table except for Dennis and myself. Mike O pulled out the ninja victory by slowly but surely building up his roads and armies while everyone else concentrated on whomever built the latest city. In a stunning final move Mike O connected his two neighborhoods snatching away the longest road from Mike while simultaneously laying down his third knight to claim largest army for the win.
We then launched into a few rounds of Trans America at which point Mike O arrived. As Trans America goes, it tends to end quickly and a disasterous secound game saw Dennis plunge into the Pacific in near record time. I hink everyone saw the advantage ofusing the Screw You pieces and the second game saw frenzied placement in the rush to avoid a cliff-diving finale.
We then brought out Castle Ravenloft in a co-op frenzy to defeat the Howling hag. It was, in my estimation at least, one of the more difficult scenarios I have played to date. Having the party scattered to the four corners of the map forced us to rely on our own pitiful skills in the early going. My wizard and dennis' rogue teamed up in the one two-man group while the Mikes and Beth had to fight their way out of their respective corners. Dennis and I caught up to Mike O's ranger in short order while we blazed a path to the central summoning circle. Dennis, amazingly, managed to draw four of the five zero monster tiles in our push ahead.
Beth had poor luck as she almost instantly drew the howling hag figure. The tile placement was also working against her, locking her into a corner while Mike's fighter tried to cut his way down. Eventually we managed to open the circle and start whittling away at the time tokens. This is where things took a turn for the weird. Mike O had already taken heavy damage, often as the result of unfortunate Encounter draws. With two of the five time tokens off, the hag teleported Beth closer and herself further from the action. This is where we thought we had it won. Suddenly, my raggedy wizard was sucked off into a corner with two monsters including an Environment strengthrned ghoul. I used my fire blast but managed to slay only the rat swarm. The ghoul took one swipe and down I fell.
Meanwhile, the others battled an assortment of fiends near the circle as well as dealing the death blow to the hag herself. sadly, two of our companions dropped as well. All we needed to do to win was remove the final three time tiles by simply starting and ending our turns in the circle. unfortunately, two of the four characters in the circle were lying in pools of their own blood and we had but a single Healing Surge remaining. Thus, with the monster defeated, we still took the loss.
To cap off the night we rolled out an oldie but a goody: Settlers of Catan. It went as settlers often does. While most of us bickered amonst ourselves, the 8s were noticeably absent and the 4s and 10s obscenely prevalent. This was good for virtually everyone at the table except for Dennis and myself. Mike O pulled out the ninja victory by slowly but surely building up his roads and armies while everyone else concentrated on whomever built the latest city. In a stunning final move Mike O connected his two neighborhoods snatching away the longest road from Mike while simultaneously laying down his third knight to claim largest army for the win.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
A Game of Pwns
It was nice to have Carlo and Kristin come back to BBG, even if it was only to disappear into the hate-filled turmoil of Westeros for the evening. Beth, Homer, Carlo and Kristin duked it out in a four player death match in A Game of Thrones. Despite Homer's mocking jab at Carlo and his tented board, it appears Homer's may also be heading the same way. In the first of the two games Carlo emerged victorious leading House Greyjoy to victory. He semi-repeated the feat in the second game as he led the incestuous Lannisters to victory. Apparently promises to wipe him out (even if it wasn't strategically necessary) failed to materialize. As Homer remarked later "I tried to get to him but ran out of time."
Meanwhile, the Mikes, Dennis and I cracked open Thurn & Taxis to enjoy a little mail delivery mayhem. Though it was the first time for everyone else, they caught on quickly and soon we had a heated race to capture victory points. Inexplicably, the city of Lodz materialized far more often than it seemed it should despite the fact that St. Jay Mike was the only one to ever place a post office there. Mike O had what would have been a first for T&T, if only he'd had the time to play it. he was poised to land a massive suite that would have enabled him to place post offices in EVERY province in a SINGLE round. In hindsight, on the heels of St. Jay Mike's rush to the seven carriage, splitting up that route might have been more prudent.
Next we decided to head across the ocean and plunder a bit of the Caribbean in Merchants & Marauders. Apparently it was an ampersand sorta weekend. For all of us it amounted to our second or third play ever so, in many respects, we were quite evenly balanced. Mike O was the only one to pursue a pirate role but, at game's end, wondered if perhaps starting with a bigger merchant ship may have proven more advantageous. Oddly enough, Dennis, SJ Mike and I all drew Dutch captains.
It was a bad season to be anything but Cap'n Dennis. An incessant series of storms coupled with a baggage train of pirates kept most of us from making effective use of our time. Dennis, however, enjoyed plenty of good fortune as he consistently drew three card sets of in-demand goods destined for nearby ports. The rest of us hauled ass halfway around the world to sell two of something for next to nothing. On a positive note, however, we were able to enjoy upgraded ships and avoided being hung as pirates or taken by same even as Dennis cruised easily to victory.
The next edition of BBG will be hosted at The Lair on February 18th due to a booking at the Derby Line Village Hall. Earlier than usual gaming is liable to occur so please stay tuned.
Meanwhile, the Mikes, Dennis and I cracked open Thurn & Taxis to enjoy a little mail delivery mayhem. Though it was the first time for everyone else, they caught on quickly and soon we had a heated race to capture victory points. Inexplicably, the city of Lodz materialized far more often than it seemed it should despite the fact that St. Jay Mike was the only one to ever place a post office there. Mike O had what would have been a first for T&T, if only he'd had the time to play it. he was poised to land a massive suite that would have enabled him to place post offices in EVERY province in a SINGLE round. In hindsight, on the heels of St. Jay Mike's rush to the seven carriage, splitting up that route might have been more prudent.
Next we decided to head across the ocean and plunder a bit of the Caribbean in Merchants & Marauders. Apparently it was an ampersand sorta weekend. For all of us it amounted to our second or third play ever so, in many respects, we were quite evenly balanced. Mike O was the only one to pursue a pirate role but, at game's end, wondered if perhaps starting with a bigger merchant ship may have proven more advantageous. Oddly enough, Dennis, SJ Mike and I all drew Dutch captains.
It was a bad season to be anything but Cap'n Dennis. An incessant series of storms coupled with a baggage train of pirates kept most of us from making effective use of our time. Dennis, however, enjoyed plenty of good fortune as he consistently drew three card sets of in-demand goods destined for nearby ports. The rest of us hauled ass halfway around the world to sell two of something for next to nothing. On a positive note, however, we were able to enjoy upgraded ships and avoided being hung as pirates or taken by same even as Dennis cruised easily to victory.
The next edition of BBG will be hosted at The Lair on February 18th due to a booking at the Derby Line Village Hall. Earlier than usual gaming is liable to occur so please stay tuned.
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