Have at thee! Card Game

I picked up Have at Them by Forlorn Hope Games we had the first play through.

A couple of quick notes - the rules that come with the game are poor! By that I mean they explain game play badly.

There are a revised set on the Forlorn Hope website (I haven't read them so can't comment on them but the have to be better that the set with the rules. 

http://www.forlornhopegames.com/index.php/product/2404-revised-rules-download/category_pathway-135

Also watch the play through on YouTube - It makes it clear how to play (I'll try and remember to post a link).

Overall we liked this little game - we played 2 games! 

The quality of the cards is good. 

We did notice that one player was picked on for a round, then next round someone else got picked on unless they played the "best friends... Really" card.

Players have to play an attack card face up on another player who can choose to defend the attack or not. They can also play Ouch cards which can make the attack rebound on the attacker. Defensive cards are played face down are are resolved on the defending player's turn, so they can't attack. There are also some special cards which can allow you extra cards in you hand. 

Players keep playing attack cards until they run out and have to pass - when all the players have passed the round ends and cards are re dealt. 

The are as many rounds as players - each player starting a round once. At the end of a round the number of hits received are recorded. The player with the least hits at the end wins - simples. 

The strategy is choosing an attacking hand or a defensive hand - very important in the last round.

I think 4 out 5 is a fair mark!

Morts

Linden Way - Battle Report

We finally got together for scenario 3 Linden Way in the Orcs Drift campaign. 

DK was the orcs again and Steedo and Snake-eyes were the settlers and militia. 

Quick battle report and pictures.

The sleepy settlement of Linden Way just before the Orcs arrive!

The militia deploy to defend Linden Way buying time for the settlers to escape.

The Orcs approach! Out of picture the Orc archers and Shaman started shooting at some militia on the hill to the south. 

The main shieldwalls clash - this was always going to go the Orcs way!

The militia break and the Orcs swarm in!

The militia wiped out - apart from a few on the south road with some settlers. Orcs on their flank.

The mad wizard Old Barrachus emerges from the ruins and unleashes a fireball at the Orcs.

In desperation Mayor Leowine challenges Magyar Ironfist. It didn't go well for the mayor. 

In the end 5 settlers and 2 militia escaped the south. 

Now time to fest up and admit a mistake with the militia - they weren't supposed to Rout. A special rule for the scenario. 

Sorry Steedo and Snake-eyes. In an effort to redeem myself I fought out the militia shieldwall again from where the mistake occurred. As I commented on earlier the result was never in doubt but the militia did manage to kill two more Orcs. 

Overall a good game hopefully the boys enjoyed it.

Of all scenarios so far I felt this was the least balanced in objectives - I fudged the movement for the settlers so that the Orcs had a chance to catch some of them. Also the rules in the booklet for Old Barachus were difficult to get him to do anything, so they had to be fudged too.

Morts

Building works

Well I have been playing around with the 2D design program at work and have come up with this.

It is a sort of middle eastern building with will probably get use as ancients games etc. the roof wiki be lift off. Obviously it will be textured and based - might do it as photo story. 

Morts

Warhammer - Age of Sigmar. My thoughts.

So Warhammer is dead - as we know it. Well I don't actually.

First of all I have to admit the first wargame rules I bought were Warhammer 2nd edition in the red box way back in the mists of time. 

I played them and just used any figures I had generally in large skirmish games and I had a great time - then Ravening Hordes came out and the armies became more racially pure - a move away from my Tolkien inspired imagination of the battle of five armies (pre Peter Jackson). 

I think I played a couple of games with Ravening Hordes before moving off to the world of Hordes of the Things (HoTT) and Historical wargaming. I enjoy HoTT as I can get it to fit with MY prejudices. 

Anyhow I bought Warhammer 6th edition second hand while it was the current edition and managed to pick up the Ravening Hordes - getting you going army lists and the Warhammer annuals. 

I have played a number of enjoyable games with these rules and would say they are superior to the 2nd edition. In fact I am using them to fight out Orc's Drift. 

So I have watched 7th and 8th edition Warhammer come and go - I haven't played them. I have discussed with a friend the rising number of figures needed and bonkers pricing that Games Workshop  use to price people away from fantasy.

I have been watching the leaks and discussion about the release of Warhammer the Age of Sigmar with interest. So here are my thoughts on it.

It's free online so it is worth downloading and having a go with what figures you have got! I will be doing so and having a go - it could be fun :)

The apparent move back to a skirmish type game seems sensible and links back to how I used to play Warhammer. With any figures and not worrying about ranks and stuff. 

I don't really like the "Space Marine" Angels figures - just not my thing.

Keep playing with the edition of Warhammer you like - things don't need to be new and shiny - they have to be fun and enjoyable. I don't get the "I've been betrayed by GW and I'll never darken their doors again" rubbish some people have. I play games I enjoy.

Arctic Scavengers

Last night we got together and played Arctic Savengers at DK's. Thanks for hosting.

Arctic Savengers is a deck building game set in a post apocalypse second ice age. 

The game set up as DK went through the rules - the mercenaries you can (need to) buy to increase you 'tribe'. 

A rough outline of the game is to collect, mercenaries, equipment (can be tools or medicines) and buildings so you have the largest tribe at the end. 

Each turn you can use your hand of 5 cards to buy a mercenary, dig in the junk pile or get ready to fight for contested items. 

The game takes 17 rounds - for the first 3 there isn't any fighting as the players' hands are very similar - the next 14 rounds have a contested item to fight over. After the last fight the game ends and players count up their populations. 

This is a clever deck building game and I enjoyed it, even though I came last by some margin. 

DK and Steedo had an advantage over Snake-eyes and myself as this was their second game. 

DK won by enmbarking on a massive building program - buildings help by allowing you to store cards once they are built - getting them out of you hand, but allowing you to bring them out to win a fight and therefore a contested item. When things are being built more cards are taken from your deck - thus speeding up the recycling of cards.

Another key thing to get hold of are medics, pils and medkits - these are vital if you want to buy some of the more useful mercenaries - group leaders, sniper teams etc. Unfortunately I didn't ever manage to get enough 'med' points to buy these useful cards - I did have a lot of hunters and rifles, as I did a lot of digging. This stuff was then clogging up my hand, so I was unable to play cards in an effective way. 

Overall Arctic Scavegers is a good game, which we hopefully will get to the table again soon - not that I have a cunning new strategy to win it - but I have a better idea of how to play it! Or should that be of how NOT to play it!