A Successful Dungeon Crawl

A few months ago, I posted about a particularly unsuccessful expedition into the dungeon. Last weekend, we gave it another try.

Jimmy and Elizabeth chose the wizards while I played a warrior. My strategy was to head for the tougher levels. I cleared out a few rooms of level 4 on my way to level 5. The wizards, who are actually more powerful than the warrior, took a more conservative approach. Elizabeth primarily stuck to the first few levels; Jimmy initially worked on levels 3-4 (although he later delved into the deepest level, but with little success).

Another part of my strategy was stubbornness. If I lost a battle, I would go back in until I defeated the monster. Even if I lost some treasure, I eventually reclaimed it. Similarly, I spent several turns trying to get through a secret door.

My treasures. Not many, but of high value

My strategy paid off. Even though I did not collect as many items of treasure as Elizabeth, my loot had much higher average value. Once I reached 20,000 g.p. I raced back to the Great Hall (avoiding combat as much as possible). I got stuck at a secret door; after several turns of frustration I took a longer route. Nevertheless, I made it out safely and won the game. Elizabeth was close (she had about 24,000 g.p. but as the wizard she needed 6,000 more).

More Francesian History

A while ago, I presented a short battle report from the chronicles of Francesia.  

Now I offer a belated follow-up.

With their victory at Blancport, the bulk of the Redgravian forces massed around the city. Meanwhile, King Frederick’s Capitol Army, depleted by reinforcements sent to the battle, assumed a defensive position in Middle March. Learning of its weakened state, Emperor Lester advanced.

Frederick positioned his forces on the far side of a fordable river. Lester had a nearly 2 to 1 numerical superiority, but the bulk of his troops where unreliable Landwehr (militia). Despite the terrain and the lack of training of his troops, Lester decided to attack.

Bravely, the Imperial forces marched forth into battle. As they tried to cross the stream, the Imperials met a withering fire from the Redgravian defenders. Disordered by the stream and hammered by the sure and steady enemy volleys, the Landwehr lost their nerve and broke. With the bulk of his forces running back to the Imperial capital, Lester had no choice but to retreat.

Casualties:

§  Empire (Lester) – 37,000 troops engaged; 4,500 casualties

§  Redgrave (Frederick) – 19,000 troops engagded; 2,000 casualties

Random Thoughts

I haven't been doing a lot of gaming lately (Jimmy and I did save the castle last weekend) so I haven't posted many game reports. Today, I came across a file with a bunch of random gaming ideas about which I planned to blog. Hopefully, this will allow me to present a steadier flow of material.

Anyway, below is my first random topic.

Ace of Aces

My all-time favorite aerial combat game is Ace of Aces. 

Each game included two booklets, each representing a single aircraft. The Handy Rotary edition featured a Sopwith Camel vs. a Fokker Triplane. Players chose maneuvers; then there was a neat little algorithm which took you to a page in the book. The page showed you the view from your plane’s cockpit.

The Allied pilot gets a shot at the Hun

I loved this game and played it to death in high school (even during some really boring classes). Unfortunately, it doesn’t really lend itself to multiplayer games. Years ago, I decided I wanted to transfer Ace of Aces to a board game. I managed to translate the maneuvers to a hex-based movement template.

The letters on the template refer to a maneuver as labeled in the Ace of Aces Balloon Buster set. The starting position and facing is shown by the colored arrow and the other arrows display the final position and facing based on the maneuver.

With this template, I think it would be possible to play Ace of Aces as a multiplayer board game or pbem (play by e-mail) game.