My friend, Graham, travelled from Brussels for the weekend.
The weather here has turned rather Arctic and my permanent games table is
located in the garage, which is not the most salubrious place during the winter
months. Therefore we decided to limit ourselves to a mix of boardgames and small
wargames that could be played on our regular dining table.
On the Friday night, after dinner, we settled down to play a
couple of quick card games; Parade and Sushi-Go Party. Both have simple rules
to explain to a new player, and Graham is a fast learner anyway. I think I won with
Parade and seem to remember Elaine winning Sushi-Go. Both games are fast but
taxing, and are ideal intro games, especially when most focus is on general
chatting.
Next day, Graham and I settled down for s a couple of games
of Battlelore 2, which Graham had never played before. I have recently
finishing painting the purple, Undead army and was keen to get the figures on
the table. So I played purple against the red, Barbarian army. The battle was
nicely balanced. I had the lead and got to 15 victory points first, but my now decimated
army lacked the strength to achieve the final victory point to win! Graham
picked off the last weak purple units for a red win instead. In the next game,
Graham stuck with the reds and I changed to the blue, Medieval army. Another
tight, bloody game but this time I did maintain focus and reached 16 victory
points, only 2-3 ahead of Graham. Overall we both felt Battlelore gave a good
game. Graham is normally a competitive wargamer who plays detailed historical rules
(DBM, FoG, FoW etc.), so I was concerned he might find the system a bit
simplistic. I think he enjoyed the unique Richard Borg command card mechanism
and combat dice system, and felt the different armies had a different feel and
characteristics, accentuated by the Lore decks. The fantasy setting allowed the
game mechanisms to work and we both thought that transfer to a historic genera
would raise too many anomalies, and would not feel right. So, Battlelore 2 gets
two thumbs up, and is an ideal simple war/boardgame where space and time are
limited.
We still had a couple of hours until dinner, so we played
Jugula. After creating our gladiator schools we set to for a couple of rounds
of combat. Interestingly Graham won both clashes but my school achieved the
most Glory and had a Paulus-grade fighter, although Graham had the most cash.
We both really liked the campaign system which lies at the heart of Jugula, the
combats are an enjoyable interlude between pre- and post-fight decisions. In
the combat stage Graham showed how important it is to get the crowd on your
side early on, whilst I tried to demonstrate how a fast moving Veles figure can
run rings around heavier opponents. I did manage to force Graham’s gladiators
in to tight corners but he managed to punch his way out with the support of the
partisan crowd behind him.
In the evening Elaine joined us for a game of Ticket to
Ride, Europe. This classic game Graham had played before, which he demonstrated
by winning! Next morning, Graham and I had time to play a game of Dead Man’s
Hand before heading out to a local pub for lunch. The beautiful 4Ground
buildings and accessories make this a very visually attractive game. The rules
are so simple that new players easily pick up the game, and it is ideal to take
to the club when you have no game planned because anyone can have a go. We
played with small 12 point factions with Graham’s outlaws taking on my cowboys.
Needless to say, Graham’s faction shot mine to pieces! The card-draw
initiatives and special faction rules work well. I would introduce a couple of
house rules concerning out-of-ammo and reloading, but otherwise the game works
smoothly and is great fun. I think I might be inspired to buy a few more
figures to allow me to field new factions (I would like some banditos and
renegade Indians).
All-in-all a highly enjoyable weekend. It was great to see
Graham again and we must plan a return visit in early 2018, especially as he
has a dedicated indoor wargame room, so cold weather poses no hinderance.
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