A Close Run Thing

I've been in a little bit of a gaming lull lately; I haven't done much. However, our family game nights continue, and last night's was a nerve wracker.

We decided on something simple so we pulled out Castle Panic. It features simple rules, quick play, nice components, and easy set-up. Perfect for gaming when we're feeling a little lazy.

The only problem is that it is easy to win. In fact, I don't think we ever lost before. Last night, however, the game decided to challenge us.

Early in the game, we faced a swarm of monsters in the green sector.

We lacked troops in that sector (your troops are randomly drawn cards). As a result, some of the monsters broke down the walls and tore apart some of the towers. It was looking bleak at this point.

Cooper decided to supervise. His clever strategery turned the tide of battle. :)

At one point, we came within a whisker of losing. We had one tower left. I commented that if a boulder came from the opposite side it would destroy our last remaining tower. My wife then recommended that we build a wall an the opposite side. I did so. In that very same turn, a boulder came rolling down the hill on the opposite side. If I had not built the wall, we would have lost!

With that crisis past us, we slowly whittled down the enemy. Finally, only one troll remained. He came lumbering toward our castle and was nearly within our walls. If he made it, we probably would have been doomed. Then my wife deployed 3 swordsmen who took out the troll. Victory!

Whew. This was one of the closest games of Castle Panic that we ever played. Even though we rarely lose, nights like this keep us coming back to this game.

Modifying Four Against Darkness

After last week's session of Four Against Darkness (4AD), my wife said that she liked the game and wanted to play again. One aspect of our game that made it enjoyable to her was that our party was made up of our cats. For some reason, she enjoys dungeon-crawling so much more when it involves cuddly, furry creatures (which is why she also likes Mice & Mystics).

This week's session was less successful. Toward the end she was visibly bored and ready for the game to end. As I see it, there were 2 issues:

• Too Long - Admittedly, 4AD is a fast playing game. A single combat can be over in a couple of minutes at most, Still, I haven't totally gotten used to the charts, slowing down play. I have gotten better. By adding an index to the PDF, Ganesha Games made it so much easier to find stuff in the book. They also provided cheat sheets but I haven't been using them. Previously, I made my own cheat sheet in Excel and I find it quicker to use that. Even with these improvements, we spent nearly 2 hours playing (although I probably spent half an hour redoing the character sheet). I have a couple of ideas to speed the game:
• Pre-mapping the dungeon - I could do the mapping and rolling for encounters prior to us playing. But that won't be as much fun for me; the surprise of the randomness certainly makes things interesting. Still, it may be a good idea for my wife's sake.
• Impose a time limit - an idea in the 4AD rulebook. I could say that after an hour of exploring we find the main boss. Alternatively, I could limit the dungeon to a certain number of rooms.
• Too Much Combat - My wife complained that this session had too much fighting. We fought 5 combats vs. 3 in the previous session. However, in this session we fought 3 bosses vs. 0 in the first session. I think it was too many bosses for my wife. Solutions?
• Modify the encounter charts to create more non-combat encounters
• Increase the odds of a boss being the final boss (which should also reduce the time spent playing)

Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy this game immensely. I also love that my wife is willing to play. The core rules are fine but I just want to streamline the game a little more. I think I may try a combination of the ideas above.

Cat Patrol and Other Goings On

I've been on vacation this week. We were at Disney so I was "restricted" to games with few physical components. I had my computer with me so I was able to complete a Four Against Darkness (4AD) adventure. In addition, Kate and Kip began a new mission.

Last night, my wife was so bored that she actually agreed to play a game of 4AD! I asked her to create the party; she decided to name the characters after our cats:

Cooper - He's the alpha male so he became our warrior.

Thomasina - She's beautiful and mysterious so I thought she'd be a good elf. However, we needed a healer, and our vet described her as a "perfect angel." So she became a cleric.

Onyx - He's kind of the bad boy of the group so he became a rogue.

And finally Ollie - He's the smallest one so he became a halfling.

I've dubbed them the Cat Patrol. Their first adventure is over at my Tales of the Templars blog.

Living through Death Angel

Saturday was

For more information see Geek & Sundry

Unfortunately, I had a prior commitment

which benefits SOS Children's Villages Florida.

To make up for missing the holiday, we decided to play a game last night. I asked Elizabeth what she wanted to play. Surprisingly, she pulled out this:

I've mentioned this game before (particularly about how bloody it is. We never won). Nevertheless, we decided to give it a go.

Things did not start off well. On the very first turn, Elizabeth lost one of her Space Marines. Then, as we made our way through the space hulk, our numbers were whittled down. About halfway through, my wife lost her last character. I gave her one of mine and we pressed on.

We then really started getting swarmed. My wife suggested that we give up but I wanted to see it through to the bitter end. We kept going. Somehow were able to speed through a couple of rooms. As we entered the final room, Elizabeth lost the character I gave her. Only 2 Marines left. I just needed to get to the control panel and activate it to win the scenario.

My Marines raced to it and engaged the control. I just needed to roll a 1 or less (the Death Angel dice are D6s that are numbered 0-5). Here's my roll:

Success!

It was the first time we won this game. Which goes to show, we should listen to this advice

Four More Against Darkness

I've been having fun with Ganesha Games's latest rules - Four Against Darkness (which I described a couple of week ago). Since then, I've posted a couple of adventures (like this one) on my Tales of the Templars blog.

Of course, being cursed with GADD (gamer's attention deficit disorder) I cannot envision myself being content with adventures in a single genre. Fortunately, I experienced some inspiration from the Rincon de Slorm blog where there is posted a sci-fi themed dungeon crawl using the 4AD rules. Slorm's variant is cleverly simple; keep the rules as is but just change the names of classes and monsters to fit the theme. Even I can do that!

Way back in January, my excursion into skirmish gaming began with a vision - pulp adventures in my 1930s-style, imaginary world of Aetheria. Nothing materialized with this setting because I never found paper miniatures that I liked. Well 4AD has given me the opportunity for a pulp-era dungeon-crawl. To that end, I give you Dirk Daring and his Thrilling Adventures in Aetheria!

Game Notes
Like Slorm, I did not change the rules; I just changed names to fit the theme. Hobgoblins became Imperial Guardsmen, a small dragon became a Dragon-class exoskeleton complete with flame-thrower, and various vermin became guard dogs. Their game stats remained the same.

I did something similar with the classes. Dirk (warrior) became a soldier while Boomer (wizard with fireball spells) became a demolitions expert. I didn't come up with new, formal class names for Sally and Fifi (halfling and elf respectively) but in my mind they were a mechanic sidekick and a secret agent.

I did make some tweaks. Because I could not see pulp-era heroes carrying shields, they lost the defensive benefit. I compensated with extra bandages (healing). For those characters who could use light armor, I assumed they had leather jackets that provided some protection.

Anyway, not only did I enjoy the game, I had fun coming up with pulp-themed translations of the monsters and treasures. As a final note, I think that my experiment showcases the versatility of 4AD and why it has quickly become one of my favorite games.

Air Raid Rules Experiment

After the Battle of Haines City, I expressed my dissatisfaction with my air battle rules. Specifically, units could not stack in a space. As a result, my bombers ended up remaining stationary while the fighter squadrons dueled. I would think that the bombers should continue to approach their targets, running the gauntlet of the dogfights swirling around them.

During the past week (when I wasn't playing Four Against Darkness), I jotted down some ideas for new air battle rules. This morning I did a test battle using a few squadrons per side.

Rules Description
Attacking units are classified as bombers, escorts (fighters that remain in the same space as the bombers) and free-roaming fighters. All defenders are considered free-roaming fighters.

The game turn sequence is simple:

1. Activation/Movement (attackers first then defenders)
2. Combat (simultaneous)

Bombers and their escorts automatically activation and move 1 space. Free-roaming fighters must roll for activation to move (using the Song of Blades and Heroes methodology); each successful activation allows them to move 1 space.

After movement, enemy aircraft in the same space engage in combat. Aircraft adjacent to a combat lend support (like DBA). Combat follows this sequence:

1. Dogfights (fighters vs. fighters)
2. Attack Bombers
3. Anti-Aircraft Fire (if over cities)
4. Bombing

Combat is resolved with opposed die rolls. Losing fighter squadrons are driven off (i.e. retreat) and may suffer damage while losing bombers suffer varying degrees of damage.

Today's experiment focused on activation/movement and dogfights/bomber combats. I don't have rules yet for phases 3-4 of the combat rules.

Analysis

I liked how the movement rules worked. The bombers moved inexorably towards their target while the defenders frantically tried to intercept them. There were times when the roaming fighters failed activation and ended up sitting in the same space. I could justify it by saying that they were unable to spot the enemy so they were circling around while they tried to get a bearing.

I was less pleased with combat. If you read the battle report, you'll notice that there were only 2 "hits" during the entire game. In most cases, the result was "driven off." It felt more like a shoving match than air combat. I'm toying with the idea of making combat a bit bloodier.

Overall, the attackers were very successful in this scenario. Most interceptors failed to get through the escorts to the bombers. I think some randomness may have skewed the results so more experimentation is needed.

Edit: One other note - These rules were designed for a 6 x 6 grid with squares large enough to fit multiple squadrons. Because my air battle board features smaller spaces, I may need to rethink the spatial relationships. I may allow 2 spaces per move and combat occurs when adjacent.

Raid on Coventia

A Side Show of the Lucranian Campaign

While the Battle of Haines City raged, the Imperials launched smaller raids on other Lucranian cities. Coventia was one of the unlucky targets.

An escorted bomber squadron approaches Coventia while another Imperial squadron flies nearby. Three Lucranian intercept squadrons (blue) scramble.

As the bombers draw closer, a Lucranian squadrons sights the enemy and speeds off to intercept.

The combatants draw closer

But the Imperial escorts drive off the defending interceptors.

Again the defenders lose and the bombers are over the city, dropping their payloads on the unfortunate city.

As the bombers turn for home, the defenders finally get past the escorts and inflict casualties on the bomber squadron.

The escorts rally and drive off the interceptors.

The Lucranians pursue

Again the escorts hold off the attacks and the bombers make their escape.

The successful raid brightens Air Marshal Gruber's otherwise bad day.