Megagame Report: Outbreak.

Paul’s Story Living Games company was approached by a couple who wanted a game run as part of their wedding celebrations. Being keen board gamers they fancied something that could involve their party of 30 so Paul came up with a game set in the not too distant future where nation states/ regional power blocks battled each other and tried to contain an outbreak of an unknown virus.

The two of us headed up to the North Yorkshire venue a bit unsure what to expect- given the party was made up of all first time megagamers and possibly hungover.

We set up the main world map on the snooker table in the country house and I commandeered the dining table to run the science game. The wedding party were mulling around snacking and drinking already- some had got into the spirit of things and had got into costume.

Given all of the constraints of the game and the inexperience of the players the game went fantastically. After a rather polite start they got the hang of things and were playing against each others. An ill advised attack by Russia on the US blew up in the face of Europe who supported Russia rather than the actual aggressors. Guess it comes down what can be proved by the UN player.

Later on in the game the US did take a massive hit and had most of its population wiped out, I wasn’t quite sure what happened here as I was busy trying to help the science players eradicate the virus and stop the bioterrorists that had been revealed.

 

All in all it was really refreshing and motivating to see so much enthusiasm of these first timers. The way they approached the game was great to see and it showed that you don’t need that many control to keep a game moving. Both Paul and I were made very welcome and Paul’s game must have gone down well as they have book him again for next year and their first year anniversary.

On the way home I did ponder whether there are too many controls in some games given how well it ran with just two of us. Perhaps the more control present the less that players, either consciously or otherwise, are prepared to do for themselves.

Cheers,

Pete.

Megagame Report: Hold the Line, Poland 1939.

Due to illness I had managed to miss two games in a row that I was due to attend… I was really hoping it wasn’t going to be three in a row as the next one on my calendar was Paul Howarth’s Hold the Line ’39. Based on the invasion of Poland that kickstarted the war in Europe, it was to be played using the block based rules set that he had developed last year for Czech mate ’38 (see previous blog post). For a bit of a change I decided to sign myself up as a tactical player at the map. Usually I prefer command roles in these types of games but I fancied a change.

As a lowly German player I was assigned my sector and given my order: advance through the mountains from the south then sweep round the back of Warsaw to apply pressure on the capital. This was to be the diversionary attack with the main effort coming in from the west to trap and defeat the majority of the Polish forces whilst a push down from East Prussia would take the capital. At least that was the plan that the high command team had come up with. They had also opted for a longer build up and mobilization. This gave us more units and resources to start with but gave away our intentions to the Polish players: quite what bonus that gave them we were unsure. Still, for once, such decisions were above my pay grade.

The setting for the game was once again the wonderful, and fitting, Encliffe Hall in Sheffield. Paul had done a great job with the blocks and maps, shame our deployment onto the maps was a bit hamfisted… due to the Poles taking too long then some of the blocks being ‘tidied’- as such my deployment ended up being suboptimal with ramifications for the rest of the game.

As you can imagine it was slow work trying to force the mountain passes. Whilst they were lightly defended it did take much for the combat modifiers to stack against me, also my mountain troops weren’t where they should be due to the botched deployment.

 

The game system is now fully mature and was very nice to play. Given I was on a side map I didn’t see much of the rest of the game other than watching the growing amount of blocks being committed in the centre, that and the shouts of either joy or despair coming from the other side of the ballroom where the attack from East Prussia was going in.

 

By the end of the game the Germans had managed to get units into the capital of Warsaw; but with much heavier casualties and in a longer time span than what the Germans achieved in 1939. Nice to be rolling dice at the table for a change but on balance I prefer the command roles. As such I request one for when the next version of the game system is rolled out next year for the invasion of France.

I did take Nicola along as an observer- she was really interested in the idea but felt she lacked enough game experience to take part. I explained that the higher command roles are more about decision making rather than game rules; she seemed more taken with that. Hopefully I’ll persuade her to take part in the France game.

Thanks to Paul for putting the game on, and extra thanks as always to the control team who helped out.

Cheers,

Pete.

Necromunda Campaign Round up.

I’ve been very remiss (black dog issues) with posting up my Necromunda campaign so I’ll do a post with a thumbnail sketch of each game and a few pics to catch up but I’ll do a big post on the last game which we are all planning to finish off the campaign with.

Necromunda Campaign 2: Game 4

Games Workshop have just released another supplement to Necromunda bringing in hazardous environments to the game, as well as some other thing. This was eagerly awaited by us all and the new rules are to be added in.

The scenario that was chosen to try and force a crossing along a narrow bridge. Between the weather and the lights going out in the underhive James, playing his Delaque, and I struggled to make much of an impact against each other so we were both happy calling it a no score draw.

Necromunda Campaign 2: Game 5

This game saw Van Saar on Van Saar violence as Marcus and I fought over the possession of some lost loot whilst trying to avoid three large chasms in the floor. Again random environment effects were in play with a large body of water draining through the hive, I managed to avoid most of it but Marcus suffered quite badly due to it giving me the win.

Necromunda Campaign 2: Game 6

This cycle saw me as the arbitrator – I game up with a fungus hunting scenario* where they were being used as ingredients for drugs. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.

*See the bottom of the post for the scenario.

Part of my role as Arbitrator was to field any challenge matches as such I went up against James and his Delaque on the more restricted board. It was the first game in which I fielded an Ambot- it worked a treat as it kept half of James’ gangers on the run or engaged; either way away from the loot crates. So I got the win.

Necromunda Campaign 2: Game 7

The roster for the campaign changed as Scott had to drop out, Richard stepped up to fill in with a Venators gang. I ended up fighting Richard in my own scenario which was good fun. As he had a starting gang I was massively more points than him so to balance things James joined forces with him his Delaques. Another fun game and a win, also one that gave me a better insight in how to write Necromunda scenarios.

Necromunda Campaign 2: Game 8

This cycle Niall had come up with a great scenario to fight past carnivorous plants that a gang was using to guard its drug stash. My gang with 2 Ambots this time, the winning streak I was on had been proving very profitable, took on Richard’s Venators again. Sadly for him my gang had got too powerful and he had to concede. To be fair to him he fought hard and the carnivorous plants did more damage to him than I did. Marcus and J were playing the same game at the same time on a different board, Marcus brought along some cider which made the whole evening very civilised.

Necromunda Campaign 2: Game 9

My penultimate game of the campaign was to be against Simon and his gang of Genestealer cultists. We were to investigate a dark corner of the hive in Joe’s scenario to try and locate an on the run escaped Ork. I was hoping to simply blast him when he revealed himself but Simon put his men in a better position than I for when the Ork was revealed. I had a cunning plan involving my flamer but I played it a turn too early and it wasn’t as effective as it should have been. A rare loss for my usual firepower heavy approach.

Looking forward to the final game now.

Cheers,

 

Pete.

 

*My scenario:

No low hanging fruit in the Underhive….

Introduction:

An Escher gang has been pushing a new drug throughout the hive and the noble houses are not happy as production in the factorium levels is dropping to the point that quotas may not be met. The drug is made from a fungus Psilocybinus that grows on the undersides of high walkways by the hive walls. There has been speculation by Necromundan scholars that the fungus has beewn brought in by the last storm, other look to a more malign xenos influence. The noble houses have been buying up any collected fungus to stop it being processed into the drug whilst the Escher gangs pay handsomely for it too. Gangs have been trying to collect as much as possible before deciding who to sell it to….

Set up:

Gangs start with 6 random gangers, the rest enter as reinforcements as usual. After picking table edges, the player with priority nominates a point on their edge- starting gangers must be placed within 8 inches of this point. Their opponent then does the same.

The howling winds Badzone event starts in play: at the end of a turn roll a D6 it will stop/ start on a roll of 5 or 6. No other environment or event card is used.

Objective:

Collect as many fungal spores from walkways as possible. When a ganger is at least 4 inches off the table surface they may make a basic action to look for fungus. On a 5+ on a D6 they have found some (a failed result means that the figure will have to move at least 6” before trying again), for every 2” above 4” the die roll gets easier by one. There is no limit as to how much a ganger may carry. If the fighter goes out of action all spores are lost.

Ending the game:

Game lasts for 6 turns. The gang that has collected the most spores is deemed the winner.

Experience:

All fighters who take part in the battle get 1 xp. All fighters who end the game in possession of at least 1 spore gain 1 xp. Xp for kills is earned as normal.

Reputation:

The Winning gang gains 1 REP, If this is the first battle between each gang then both gangs gain 1 REP. If a gang bottles the lose 1 REP. If a gang collects more than 6 spores in total they gain 1 REP.

Reward:

Each spore is worth D6 credits. After the battle each gang must decide if they are going to sell them to the Escher gangs or the Noble houses.

If the gang chooses to sell to Escher any Needle Weapons or Choke grenades bought at the Trading Post (assuming a high enough roll has been made) cost 5 credits less or halve the number of spores collected to get 1 drug of that rarity for free.

If the gang sells the spores to the Noble Houses when rolling for income from territories add one to all dice rolls. The authorities look they other way on the criminal activities of the gang for a short while… quidus pro quous….