Love letters were being sent once more a few days ago.
Though it looked like princess had already decided - none of the letters one of the players sent received any notion from her highness. Granted, it tends to affect outcomes when two times in a row the other players had princess in hand when baron showed up. This means automatic letter delivery with only two players. Princess really seems to like roses that much.
Thursday, June 28, 2018
Wednesday, June 20, 2018
Sixteen Years and Dust
So the group of four gathered to play Kingdom Death once more.
Since the game table was set up, I continued the story of Semathi State for a few years. Enough time had passed since the death of Suneais.
But I thought I had lost too much actual brawn from the settlement. I decided to take on Flower Knight level 2, since it has lower toughness than other level 2 quarries.
Hunt Phase had more events than your average level 3 hunts. This was thanks to events like Feet giving three extra events and survivors running away from Finale.
Showdown took a long time to resolve. It was a careful dance with Rothyong the spear master taking most of the hits. Survivors didn't get to roll for Breakthrough even once, and hunt phase had given -1 strength tokens for three members. This was troublesome, but became a real problem once Flower Knight released some pollen into the air, giving some survivors even more strength penalties.
Brabatul, who had bandages for the team, but he had gained hemophobia during hunt phase. This didn't play well with survivors receiving automatic bleed tokens from leaving fairy ring.
Trap card was thankfully late in the hit location deck. Trap sprung and didn't do all that much, but during second run-through of the hit location deck trap came early on as revealed by Cat's Eye Circlet. This further had survivors on their toes.
Last two cards in the AI deck were Pommel Punch and Pollen Strike, and survivors had their defenses pretty much devastated. A stressful situation especially when hit location deck was already running low even with me keeping trap at bay with Circlet.
After way too much struggle Pollen Strike was removed from Knight's arsenal. Pommel Punch was easy to evade, but Parry hit locations with basic attack on failure were not.
Finally Flower Knight was without cards in AI deck. One more wound. Just one.
Well, it did come and nobody died, but Rothyong had received hamstrung permanent injury and gaping chest wound.
Settlement event was Phantom. Warm Virus made departing survivors to receive +5 insanity and a random fighting art.
Then the Hand paid a visit, and wanted Rothyong to die. The spear master, who is also wielding twilight sword.
I decided to resist. After making Vespertine Cello Rothyong was able to get Rawhide Vest affinities activated. No helm because she is narcissistic.
Rothyong along with three fresh recruits survived the visit of his majesty rather well. A contracture and one of the new faces having to skip next hunt were only actual injuries that happened, which came from Line Up. But since The Hand has these nice aftermath rewards, a person who grew from Warbling Bloom died anyway.
But I shouldn't complain, as everyone in the fight rolled +1 strength from applause except for Flokla. He gained the best result of accuracy, strength and evasion. Offsets contracture nicely.
Currently settlement is plagued by some sort of fancy fashion bloom. A total of three survivors have received Wardrobe Expert fighting art - and it cannot be because of lousy shuffling. I shuffle the deck and roll a d20 and take the card that corresponds with the result, counting from top to bottom.
Year 11 hunt. I was really confident in my soon-to-be axe master, reborn bow specialist, and a few other great heroes. So I went greedily at level 2 Spidicules.
This is where downfall begun, and started a cascade failure like no other.
I believe it was first full party kill during when hunting quarries. Many times it has been so very close to happen. This time, actually it was almost like one of those times. Victory and defeat hanged on one roll of 5+, with a re-roll. But nope, not this time.
I blame this defeat for losing Dharellan during hunt - the axe wielder. Kind of losing, that is. He touched a statue in an inappropriate way, and became a sculpture himself - freeing the trapped shield professional. This was a straight net loss of three points of strength.
But still the showdown went relatively fine. Until there were around ten spiderlings on board, and all the survivors locked with Frantic Spinning.
Spidicules no longer had any cards left in AI deck, so it was performing basic action all the time. This made it possible for the former statue person - the only one still remaining - to take one last swing at the monster. Failed.
Kingdom Death really tried to rub it in my face when settlement event was Skull Eater. Luckily the one with cranial cravings succeeded in self-medication, so this didn't become a long term problem.
There was seven survivors left, and four of the best ones had died. Well, at least conviction comes to help. Semathi State needed to pick barbaric.
I wanted my revenge on Spidicules. But this time around hunt party tried to catch a level 1. Hunt phase and showdown went excessively well. Spidicules takes Klamura (mother of Veromura) into it's lair. Nourain would have wanted to leave Klamura there, so Veromura took his life for such insult. That was Rivalry settlement event.
Settlement population is starting to look grim, but fortunately it's a re-match against The Hand. With two shields and absurd defenses of Rothyong I felt very secure in entering this fight. Rothyong, the spear master and twilight-sword wielder fought The Hand with Ma-aia, one of the original four prologue survivors. Veromura and Ovdar completed the party.
Ma-aia dies to very first attack, which was the Line Up. Annoying, but that was the only casualty. Ovdar took one trauma roll, but received only Overprotective disorder.
And reward are amazing. Rothyong gets +1 accuracy, strength and evasion. The remaining two get +1 strength. It's starting to look good.
Well, except that The Hand claims Ovdar's life in the aftermath roll. Rothyong and Veromura had been present in the first meeting with The Hand, so I suppose he plays favorites.
Then Hooded Knight pays a visit and duels Rothyong.
The Rothyong with +3 accuracy, +3 strength, +3 evasion, but with only one level of Twilight Sword proficiency. Rothyong falls in this duel and Hooded Knight leaves the settlement and looks disappointed. Probably I looked disappointed, too.
So suddenly there was only two members alive, third one trapped by Spidicules.
Veromura and Baledda were both of different sexes, so all was not lost. However, I couldn't trigger Intimacy during year 13. But Veromura and Baledda went off to save Klamura from Spidicules. Showdown itself went well, the two were able to butcher Spidicules at their leisure. Veromura, however, had picked Crystal Skin ability/impairment during hunt phase, and Ghostly Beauty somewhere. So she started to marbleize. And she would pass Crystal Skin to all of her offspring if she was to have any children, so I might get a settlement full of crystal-people.
Klamura is saved and returns with extra courage and understanding. What a boon!
And Kingdom Death's nightmare world definitely wanted me to continue this campaign even from dire situation like this when it gave two love juices from resource deck, and I did have a breeding pair of people in the settlement.
Double ones.
Really?
Really?? With Protect the Young life principle?
So population was down to one female with Crystal Skin.
Veromura, the Brainless Fool of Phoenix. Fist and Tooth proficiency at four. Crystal Skin, which I assume reflected her Ghostly Beauty disorder. Stark Raving she was, too. And that she was. She had +3 strength, +1 evasion and +1 speed. Well, she would have +4 strength, but one gaping chest wound from duel with Nourain hindered her.
She had faced The Hand twice, and lived to tell the tale. But to whom she would tell it now?
She had killed a fellow survivor that had insulted her mother. And then she rescued her mother. What a heroine.
I spent an endeavor to have her dance the Forbidden Dance. In hindsight this was a bad idea. She was ruined and lost -1 movement. I suppose those crystallized limbs aren't that lithe. Then she studies a statue and becomes Abyssal Sadist - I thought she might need this because of Ghostly Beauty.
I said she was Stark Raving mad. Rude to say something like that, but what else can one say when she thought that best way to save the settlement would be picking flowers and plant them for company? (I wanted to challenge level 2 flower knight in hopes of getting both Warbling Blooms to start having kids. Now imagine that. A settlement with one made of stone, and two flower-people planting their seed to fertile soil as fast as they can.)
I really thought she would be able to challenge the guardian of the woods with evasion 3 and abyssal sadist.
But hunt phase doomed that plan already. Last space before The Forest Wants What It Wants was Madflies that frenzied Veromura. Meaning she wouldn't be able to dodge.
She triggered Sonorous Rest anyway. Settlement had innovated Storytelling, so she was able to have some fun with shadow puppet play. Alone. But she was amused nonetheless and was able to relax.
Showdown started and she had +1 strength token and +1 speed token, and some other result gave her -1 accuracy token and +1 evasion token. So maybe. Maybe she'd be able to pull it through.
But she wasn't. AI cards were nasty. Thousand Cuts was exactly what wasn't needed here. Also that -1 accuracy token had her hit only on 9's. She had four attack dice, though.
She was able to score five wounds and even receive Fencing secret fighting art. But then she took a severe head injury. Without Crystal Skin it would have been intracranial hemorrhage. But with Crystal Skin it was a decapitation. She ended up with Insanity 38.
What a campaign.
I really should have taken more detailed notes and write some astounding stories that unfolded during game. House rules I had for Protect the Young were promising. More often than not it didn't affect anything, and without once-in-a-lifetime reroll the small stat gains here and there gave the player a bit more freedom in choosing where and how to have survivors killed. As happened with Spidicules level 2.
I'll allow me next solo campaign when I have really completed Flower Knight, the two survivor models I have in progress, and Phoenix wings ready to attach to main body.
Final survivor death count: 26.
Kill count:
Year 0 Prologue lion
Year 1 White lion 1
Year 2 White lion 1
Year 3 White lion 1
Year 4 Butcher 1
Year 5 Manhunter 1, Spidicules 1
Year 6 Spidicules 1
Year 7 Flower Knight 1
Year 8 White Lion 1,
Year 9 Lonely Tree 1, Slenderman 1
Year 10 Manhunter 2
Year 11 The Hand 1, Flower Knight 2
Year 12 Spidicules 2 (lost)
Year 13 The Hand 1
Year 14 Spidicules 1
Year 15 Spidicules 1
Year 16 Flower Knight 2 (lost)
Since the game table was set up, I continued the story of Semathi State for a few years. Enough time had passed since the death of Suneais.
But I thought I had lost too much actual brawn from the settlement. I decided to take on Flower Knight level 2, since it has lower toughness than other level 2 quarries.
Hunt Phase had more events than your average level 3 hunts. This was thanks to events like Feet giving three extra events and survivors running away from Finale.
Showdown took a long time to resolve. It was a careful dance with Rothyong the spear master taking most of the hits. Survivors didn't get to roll for Breakthrough even once, and hunt phase had given -1 strength tokens for three members. This was troublesome, but became a real problem once Flower Knight released some pollen into the air, giving some survivors even more strength penalties.
Brabatul, who had bandages for the team, but he had gained hemophobia during hunt phase. This didn't play well with survivors receiving automatic bleed tokens from leaving fairy ring.
Trap card was thankfully late in the hit location deck. Trap sprung and didn't do all that much, but during second run-through of the hit location deck trap came early on as revealed by Cat's Eye Circlet. This further had survivors on their toes.
Last two cards in the AI deck were Pommel Punch and Pollen Strike, and survivors had their defenses pretty much devastated. A stressful situation especially when hit location deck was already running low even with me keeping trap at bay with Circlet.
After way too much struggle Pollen Strike was removed from Knight's arsenal. Pommel Punch was easy to evade, but Parry hit locations with basic attack on failure were not.
Finally Flower Knight was without cards in AI deck. One more wound. Just one.
Well, it did come and nobody died, but Rothyong had received hamstrung permanent injury and gaping chest wound.
Settlement event was Phantom. Warm Virus made departing survivors to receive +5 insanity and a random fighting art.
Then the Hand paid a visit, and wanted Rothyong to die. The spear master, who is also wielding twilight sword.
I decided to resist. After making Vespertine Cello Rothyong was able to get Rawhide Vest affinities activated. No helm because she is narcissistic.
Rothyong along with three fresh recruits survived the visit of his majesty rather well. A contracture and one of the new faces having to skip next hunt were only actual injuries that happened, which came from Line Up. But since The Hand has these nice aftermath rewards, a person who grew from Warbling Bloom died anyway.
But I shouldn't complain, as everyone in the fight rolled +1 strength from applause except for Flokla. He gained the best result of accuracy, strength and evasion. Offsets contracture nicely.
Currently settlement is plagued by some sort of fancy fashion bloom. A total of three survivors have received Wardrobe Expert fighting art - and it cannot be because of lousy shuffling. I shuffle the deck and roll a d20 and take the card that corresponds with the result, counting from top to bottom.
Year 11 hunt. I was really confident in my soon-to-be axe master, reborn bow specialist, and a few other great heroes. So I went greedily at level 2 Spidicules.
This is where downfall begun, and started a cascade failure like no other.
I believe it was first full party kill during when hunting quarries. Many times it has been so very close to happen. This time, actually it was almost like one of those times. Victory and defeat hanged on one roll of 5+, with a re-roll. But nope, not this time.
I blame this defeat for losing Dharellan during hunt - the axe wielder. Kind of losing, that is. He touched a statue in an inappropriate way, and became a sculpture himself - freeing the trapped shield professional. This was a straight net loss of three points of strength.
But still the showdown went relatively fine. Until there were around ten spiderlings on board, and all the survivors locked with Frantic Spinning.
Spidicules no longer had any cards left in AI deck, so it was performing basic action all the time. This made it possible for the former statue person - the only one still remaining - to take one last swing at the monster. Failed.
Kingdom Death really tried to rub it in my face when settlement event was Skull Eater. Luckily the one with cranial cravings succeeded in self-medication, so this didn't become a long term problem.
There was seven survivors left, and four of the best ones had died. Well, at least conviction comes to help. Semathi State needed to pick barbaric.
I wanted my revenge on Spidicules. But this time around hunt party tried to catch a level 1. Hunt phase and showdown went excessively well. Spidicules takes Klamura (mother of Veromura) into it's lair. Nourain would have wanted to leave Klamura there, so Veromura took his life for such insult. That was Rivalry settlement event.
Settlement population is starting to look grim, but fortunately it's a re-match against The Hand. With two shields and absurd defenses of Rothyong I felt very secure in entering this fight. Rothyong, the spear master and twilight-sword wielder fought The Hand with Ma-aia, one of the original four prologue survivors. Veromura and Ovdar completed the party.
Ma-aia dies to very first attack, which was the Line Up. Annoying, but that was the only casualty. Ovdar took one trauma roll, but received only Overprotective disorder.
And reward are amazing. Rothyong gets +1 accuracy, strength and evasion. The remaining two get +1 strength. It's starting to look good.
Well, except that The Hand claims Ovdar's life in the aftermath roll. Rothyong and Veromura had been present in the first meeting with The Hand, so I suppose he plays favorites.
Then Hooded Knight pays a visit and duels Rothyong.
The Rothyong with +3 accuracy, +3 strength, +3 evasion, but with only one level of Twilight Sword proficiency. Rothyong falls in this duel and Hooded Knight leaves the settlement and looks disappointed. Probably I looked disappointed, too.
So suddenly there was only two members alive, third one trapped by Spidicules.
Veromura and Baledda were both of different sexes, so all was not lost. However, I couldn't trigger Intimacy during year 13. But Veromura and Baledda went off to save Klamura from Spidicules. Showdown itself went well, the two were able to butcher Spidicules at their leisure. Veromura, however, had picked Crystal Skin ability/impairment during hunt phase, and Ghostly Beauty somewhere. So she started to marbleize. And she would pass Crystal Skin to all of her offspring if she was to have any children, so I might get a settlement full of crystal-people.
Klamura is saved and returns with extra courage and understanding. What a boon!
And Kingdom Death's nightmare world definitely wanted me to continue this campaign even from dire situation like this when it gave two love juices from resource deck, and I did have a breeding pair of people in the settlement.
Double ones.
Really?
Really?? With Protect the Young life principle?
So population was down to one female with Crystal Skin.
Veromura, the Brainless Fool of Phoenix. Fist and Tooth proficiency at four. Crystal Skin, which I assume reflected her Ghostly Beauty disorder. Stark Raving she was, too. And that she was. She had +3 strength, +1 evasion and +1 speed. Well, she would have +4 strength, but one gaping chest wound from duel with Nourain hindered her.
She had faced The Hand twice, and lived to tell the tale. But to whom she would tell it now?
She had killed a fellow survivor that had insulted her mother. And then she rescued her mother. What a heroine.
I spent an endeavor to have her dance the Forbidden Dance. In hindsight this was a bad idea. She was ruined and lost -1 movement. I suppose those crystallized limbs aren't that lithe. Then she studies a statue and becomes Abyssal Sadist - I thought she might need this because of Ghostly Beauty.
I said she was Stark Raving mad. Rude to say something like that, but what else can one say when she thought that best way to save the settlement would be picking flowers and plant them for company? (I wanted to challenge level 2 flower knight in hopes of getting both Warbling Blooms to start having kids. Now imagine that. A settlement with one made of stone, and two flower-people planting their seed to fertile soil as fast as they can.)
I really thought she would be able to challenge the guardian of the woods with evasion 3 and abyssal sadist.
But hunt phase doomed that plan already. Last space before The Forest Wants What It Wants was Madflies that frenzied Veromura. Meaning she wouldn't be able to dodge.
She triggered Sonorous Rest anyway. Settlement had innovated Storytelling, so she was able to have some fun with shadow puppet play. Alone. But she was amused nonetheless and was able to relax.
Showdown started and she had +1 strength token and +1 speed token, and some other result gave her -1 accuracy token and +1 evasion token. So maybe. Maybe she'd be able to pull it through.
But she wasn't. AI cards were nasty. Thousand Cuts was exactly what wasn't needed here. Also that -1 accuracy token had her hit only on 9's. She had four attack dice, though.
She was able to score five wounds and even receive Fencing secret fighting art. But then she took a severe head injury. Without Crystal Skin it would have been intracranial hemorrhage. But with Crystal Skin it was a decapitation. She ended up with Insanity 38.
What a campaign.
I really should have taken more detailed notes and write some astounding stories that unfolded during game. House rules I had for Protect the Young were promising. More often than not it didn't affect anything, and without once-in-a-lifetime reroll the small stat gains here and there gave the player a bit more freedom in choosing where and how to have survivors killed. As happened with Spidicules level 2.
I'll allow me next solo campaign when I have really completed Flower Knight, the two survivor models I have in progress, and Phoenix wings ready to attach to main body.
Final survivor death count: 26.
Kill count:
Year 0 Prologue lion
Year 1 White lion 1
Year 2 White lion 1
Year 3 White lion 1
Year 4 Butcher 1
Year 5 Manhunter 1, Spidicules 1
Year 6 Spidicules 1
Year 7 Flower Knight 1
Year 8 White Lion 1,
Year 9 Lonely Tree 1, Slenderman 1
Year 10 Manhunter 2
Year 11 The Hand 1, Flower Knight 2
Year 12 Spidicules 2 (lost)
Year 13 The Hand 1
Year 14 Spidicules 1
Year 15 Spidicules 1
Year 16 Flower Knight 2 (lost)
Mortenebra1 versus Zerkova2
Played this 75 point game of Warmachine as a sort of practice for an upcoming tournament. I really want to play Mortenebra1, but last time in a tournament I was too afraid to put her on table in any of the games because her list was outside of theme. So I suppose I will play her in the only theme I have an actual selection of models to choose. Except, of course, Black Industries.
Still annoyed with theme lists. But here's my list:
[Theme] Infernal Machines
Master Necrotech Mortenebra [+24]
- Defiler [8]
- Kraken [36]
- Seether [13]
Darragh Wrathe [9]
Pistol Wraith [0(5)]
Saxon Orrik [4]
Soul Trapper [1]
Bile Thralls (max) [15]
Mechanithralls (min) [6]
- Brute Thrall (2) [4]
- Skarlock Commander [3]
Opponent had:
[Theme] Wolves of Winter
Obavnik Kommander Zerkova [+24]
- Devastator [14]
- Juggernaut [13]
- Sylys Wyshnalyrr, The Seeker [4]
Greylord Forge Seer [0(4)]
Koldun Lord [4]
Doom Reaver Swordsmen [13]
- Greylord Escort [0(3)]
Doom Reaver Swordsmen [13]
- Greylord Escort [3]
Greylord Outriders (max) [20]
Greylord Ternion [7]
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt [8]
- Koldun Kapitan Valachev [0(4)]
I let opponent start game, which in hindsight may have been a mistake. Scenario was Recon II. Wreck marker represents Kraken, which I forgot home.
I was quite worried about the amount of sprays opponent could muster. My def 10 & 12 infantry with 12+ armor values felt almost like dead weight. And then there was this solo that denied ranged attacks within 9" of it.
But the horror dawned on my only after I actually saw spd 9 cavalry with 8" sprays doing their thing and being able to reposition to safety. Looking back now, I should have kept Darragh Wrathe spamming Mortal Fear with Kraken and Seether and not somewhere in-between. That 1" of extra movement for Bile Thralls wasn't going to add up to anything on that flank. Oh well.
I tried to play extra carefully, and in the end I was far too careful. Opponent was able to score scenario victory, as I only had one reliable contestant - the Kraken.
Monday, June 18, 2018
If only a look could kill...
Burk is dead! Long live Burk! Oh...
Another year has passed in Burkyard.
I mean, Boneyard.
Year 7 began with Manhunter fight. We had Candice, Mal-Mal, Samuel and Avatar of Burk confronting this enigmatic figure that had come to claim, well, did anyone even ask what it was about to claim?
Probably not, as Burk and Manhunter started grinning at each other intensely, which quickly evolved into a staring contest.
Mal-Mal's Red Fist secret fighting art gave us the edge we needed, and showdown went on well enough.
Burk used caratosis X to infict automatic hit with Clawhead Arrow. This hit Manhunter in the shoulder. Slowly he turned around and gave Burk a look that sent him fleeing the scene.
Manhunter shot some volleys into the air and dealt intracranial hemorrhage to Candice. Soon enough there was only one card left in Manhunter's AI deck.
It was Murderous Gaze, and it targeted Burk. Don't ask how, but this was enough to decapitate Burk. Manhunter had won their staring contest. He probably fulfilled whatever his secret mission was, because he died soon after.
This was annoying, because it is so rare to get a savior with Survival of the Fittest. And Boneyard lost the savior in the first showdown. I suppose Burk was the savior Boneyard did not need, but deserved.
Who would follow in Burk's footsteps? Who would be able to fulfill the destiny that was written in the stars? In a shaking handwriting and incoherent contents, but written in the stars nonetheless!
It was Burk's number #1 fan, who discovered her one, true name.
Burgette.
We hunt a level 1 antelope, which isn't much of a problem. When survivors return, year 8 begins with incomprehensible glossolalia. Nobody understands what each other is saying. And true to her calling, Burgette steps forward and invents a completely new language, becoming the Mother of Words.
I envision that in this new language every noun is "Burk".
Next we might try level 2 Screaming Antelope before King's Man encounter.
Another year has passed in Burkyard.
I mean, Boneyard.
Year 7 began with Manhunter fight. We had Candice, Mal-Mal, Samuel and Avatar of Burk confronting this enigmatic figure that had come to claim, well, did anyone even ask what it was about to claim?
Probably not, as Burk and Manhunter started grinning at each other intensely, which quickly evolved into a staring contest.
Mal-Mal's Red Fist secret fighting art gave us the edge we needed, and showdown went on well enough.
Burk used caratosis X to infict automatic hit with Clawhead Arrow. This hit Manhunter in the shoulder. Slowly he turned around and gave Burk a look that sent him fleeing the scene.
Manhunter shot some volleys into the air and dealt intracranial hemorrhage to Candice. Soon enough there was only one card left in Manhunter's AI deck.
It was Murderous Gaze, and it targeted Burk. Don't ask how, but this was enough to decapitate Burk. Manhunter had won their staring contest. He probably fulfilled whatever his secret mission was, because he died soon after.
This was annoying, because it is so rare to get a savior with Survival of the Fittest. And Boneyard lost the savior in the first showdown. I suppose Burk was the savior Boneyard did not need, but deserved.
Who would follow in Burk's footsteps? Who would be able to fulfill the destiny that was written in the stars? In a shaking handwriting and incoherent contents, but written in the stars nonetheless!
It was Burk's number #1 fan, who discovered her one, true name.
Burgette.
We hunt a level 1 antelope, which isn't much of a problem. When survivors return, year 8 begins with incomprehensible glossolalia. Nobody understands what each other is saying. And true to her calling, Burgette steps forward and invents a completely new language, becoming the Mother of Words.
I envision that in this new language every noun is "Burk".
Next we might try level 2 Screaming Antelope before King's Man encounter.
Saturday, June 9, 2018
The Eternal Crown
I had a weekend trip a while ago and visited some friends. It has been a while since I got to play Talisman. That changed a total of four times during my stay.
All games were three player games. All games were played with Cataclysm board. We had none of the side boards, which had me worried because of Harbinger. "Everyone loses" is a bit bland ending to a game like Talisman.
First game we didn't use any special ending or the Harbinger, though.
Characters were the Knight, Bounty Hunter and Ogre Chieftain. Bounty Hunter died early in the game thanks to some bad luck and was replaced with Ancient Oak.
I have some trouble remembering any interesting details about this match. Ogre Chieftain was the first to reach Crown of Command, and after a few turns of failing to cast the Command Spell he finally got the hang of it and won.
Second game we had Harbinger with the terrain altering prophecy and Warlock Quests ending. We house ruled first three Warlock Quests to give a quest reward card.
This game, on the other hand, was a memorable one. And record breaking. Starting characters were Highlander, Dread Knight and Dervish. But when game ended, the lineup was something entirely else - most of us having had their characters killed multiple times.
Dread Knight was the first one to die. Graveyard was the first board space to become altered, so Dread Knight wasn't able to get a new warhorse. Thus crippled he was no match for just about any drawn monsters. But Dread Knight's legacy passed on when Arcane Scion entered game.
Dervish and Highlander died soon after, with Scout and Mutant making their appearance.
Key to Hades killed Scout and made him Jin Blooded, and the Arcane Scion grew up to be Philosopher. Mutant looked like the only real contender to Crown of Command, but was stuck in some Warlock Quest.
But the real winner here seemed to be Harbinger. Omens were juggled back and forth, but the progress went towards the inevitable doom. Philosopher did find Apocrypha that would give him the victory if last omen is discarded. But he died, or perhaps was thoroughly corrupted by the Apocrypha - next character was Possessed.
Due to some luck the Possessed managed to pick up the Apocrypha where Philosopher had ditched them, and the last omen was discarded. A cheaty victory for the Possessed.
But the game was record-breaking in many ways. First, for a three player game it involved seven different characters. One of the players made this record of playing four characters - and still winning the game. Granted, it was a very non-standard way of winning. So much so, that winning with Apocrypha has never happened before. That's another record.
This was also the first game for Arcane Scion, Scout, Mutant and Jin Blooded.
Third game we had End of Days ending and Stars Align prophecy.
Characters were Scavenger, Totem Warrior and Leprechaun. Scavenger had terrible luck, as she picked this card that reduced life value for each spell she had - and Stars Align increases spell limit regardless of Craft.
As a result, Scavenger died. Next in line was Cleric.
Cleric and Leprechaun struggled with character progress, but Totem Warrior had a major snowball effect when he received this follower that enables a teleport to face-up enemy in region in place of move. And with End of Days ending enemies were not in short supply...
I was sure that this game would end in Harbinger's victory, though. Omens were getting discarded at an alarming rate. But for some reason it all stopped for the late part of the game. Not a single event was drawn for ages.
But once game was nearing end, Harbinger hasted pace. In fact when Totem Warrior faced The Beast, everyone would lose if Totem Warrior lost the fight. Last omen was face-up, and End of Days would discard top omen if someone lost a combat with the Beast.
Totem Warrior didn't lose. He had Strength of twenty or twenty-one, so odds were in his favor. But there was a chance to lose.
Last game we had The Eternal Crown ending and Armageddon prophecy.
Characters were Chivalric Knight, Necromancer and Warlord. Once again none of the starting characters were alive at the end of the game.
All characters died so early in the game that it might be more accurate to list Spider Queen, Vampiress and Cat Burglar as the initial draw. Warlord's death was a pity, since she had an amazing start. I forget what actually killed her, but Cat Burglar had great animosity towards Vampiress, who cast this binding spell and made Cat Burglar pick up Key of Hades. Cat Burglar was able to et rid of it, but the spirits of vengeance had been summoned. They were fighting over The Ring and Unicorn, and Cat Burglar made Vampiress to lose all craft.
Necromancer was used as a sacrifice to banish Harbinger from the board. Good riddance.
But in the end Vampiress took some risk and tried to enter Crown of Command with Strength 10. It took a couple of tries, but succeeded. She didn't roll 1-2 even once, so it took four or five turns on the crown to achieve victory.
Had Cat Burglar been fast enough, Vampiress would not have stood a chance. Burglar had Strength and Craft 13 both - in stat points only, not counting the gear.
All of the games were rather interesting. Seems like Harbinger ups the body count in dead characters quite spectacularly, but still all of these games ended in player victory. And perhaps losing a character isn't that depressing when everyone else is losing them, too.
All games were three player games. All games were played with Cataclysm board. We had none of the side boards, which had me worried because of Harbinger. "Everyone loses" is a bit bland ending to a game like Talisman.
First game we didn't use any special ending or the Harbinger, though.
Characters were the Knight, Bounty Hunter and Ogre Chieftain. Bounty Hunter died early in the game thanks to some bad luck and was replaced with Ancient Oak.
I have some trouble remembering any interesting details about this match. Ogre Chieftain was the first to reach Crown of Command, and after a few turns of failing to cast the Command Spell he finally got the hang of it and won.
Second game we had Harbinger with the terrain altering prophecy and Warlock Quests ending. We house ruled first three Warlock Quests to give a quest reward card.
This game, on the other hand, was a memorable one. And record breaking. Starting characters were Highlander, Dread Knight and Dervish. But when game ended, the lineup was something entirely else - most of us having had their characters killed multiple times.
Dread Knight was the first one to die. Graveyard was the first board space to become altered, so Dread Knight wasn't able to get a new warhorse. Thus crippled he was no match for just about any drawn monsters. But Dread Knight's legacy passed on when Arcane Scion entered game.
Dervish and Highlander died soon after, with Scout and Mutant making their appearance.
Key to Hades killed Scout and made him Jin Blooded, and the Arcane Scion grew up to be Philosopher. Mutant looked like the only real contender to Crown of Command, but was stuck in some Warlock Quest.
But the real winner here seemed to be Harbinger. Omens were juggled back and forth, but the progress went towards the inevitable doom. Philosopher did find Apocrypha that would give him the victory if last omen is discarded. But he died, or perhaps was thoroughly corrupted by the Apocrypha - next character was Possessed.
Due to some luck the Possessed managed to pick up the Apocrypha where Philosopher had ditched them, and the last omen was discarded. A cheaty victory for the Possessed.
But the game was record-breaking in many ways. First, for a three player game it involved seven different characters. One of the players made this record of playing four characters - and still winning the game. Granted, it was a very non-standard way of winning. So much so, that winning with Apocrypha has never happened before. That's another record.
This was also the first game for Arcane Scion, Scout, Mutant and Jin Blooded.
Third game we had End of Days ending and Stars Align prophecy.
Characters were Scavenger, Totem Warrior and Leprechaun. Scavenger had terrible luck, as she picked this card that reduced life value for each spell she had - and Stars Align increases spell limit regardless of Craft.
As a result, Scavenger died. Next in line was Cleric.
Cleric and Leprechaun struggled with character progress, but Totem Warrior had a major snowball effect when he received this follower that enables a teleport to face-up enemy in region in place of move. And with End of Days ending enemies were not in short supply...
I was sure that this game would end in Harbinger's victory, though. Omens were getting discarded at an alarming rate. But for some reason it all stopped for the late part of the game. Not a single event was drawn for ages.
But once game was nearing end, Harbinger hasted pace. In fact when Totem Warrior faced The Beast, everyone would lose if Totem Warrior lost the fight. Last omen was face-up, and End of Days would discard top omen if someone lost a combat with the Beast.
Totem Warrior didn't lose. He had Strength of twenty or twenty-one, so odds were in his favor. But there was a chance to lose.
Last game we had The Eternal Crown ending and Armageddon prophecy.
Characters were Chivalric Knight, Necromancer and Warlord. Once again none of the starting characters were alive at the end of the game.
All characters died so early in the game that it might be more accurate to list Spider Queen, Vampiress and Cat Burglar as the initial draw. Warlord's death was a pity, since she had an amazing start. I forget what actually killed her, but Cat Burglar had great animosity towards Vampiress, who cast this binding spell and made Cat Burglar pick up Key of Hades. Cat Burglar was able to et rid of it, but the spirits of vengeance had been summoned. They were fighting over The Ring and Unicorn, and Cat Burglar made Vampiress to lose all craft.
Necromancer was used as a sacrifice to banish Harbinger from the board. Good riddance.
But in the end Vampiress took some risk and tried to enter Crown of Command with Strength 10. It took a couple of tries, but succeeded. She didn't roll 1-2 even once, so it took four or five turns on the crown to achieve victory.
Had Cat Burglar been fast enough, Vampiress would not have stood a chance. Burglar had Strength and Craft 13 both - in stat points only, not counting the gear.
All of the games were rather interesting. Seems like Harbinger ups the body count in dead characters quite spectacularly, but still all of these games ended in player victory. And perhaps losing a character isn't that depressing when everyone else is losing them, too.
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Magic Maze take 2
First four scenarios of Magic Maze were played last weekend along with three players.
Now with two different groups it's becoming apparent how this game would require quite a dedicated group to actually play beyond the introductory scenarios. It's a casual and light-hearted game, but one that isn't all that easy just to "pick up."
But for sure it's something entirely different than what I've used to.
Now with two different groups it's becoming apparent how this game would require quite a dedicated group to actually play beyond the introductory scenarios. It's a casual and light-hearted game, but one that isn't all that easy just to "pick up."
But for sure it's something entirely different than what I've used to.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)