Catch up ......

Been pretty busy with work and some gaming recently, so thought I should post an update.

A couple of weeks ago the team headed down to Snake-eye's in Kernow and restarted our Pirate RPG with Steedo as the GM .... But it RPG so I don't want to talk about it ..... Good fun but some appalling decisions made by DK and Snake-eyes, the fools. Almost killed a character for some perfume! Madness I say!

Then last week it was DK's birthday bash - approximately 11hours of gaming (drinking and gorging on pizza and a very rich chilli - Thanks DK). 

So what was played during this marathon session?

First up was Dune the boardgame. 

DK has been wanting to play thus for ages (years and years) and he has be banging on about how good it is .... Even after 40 years. We ran through the set up with DK getting the Bene Gesserit (can use the voice - stops other players using certain cards), Slyon the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV, Snake-eyes - House Atreides (can look at treachery cards), Steedo - the Fremen (can move around more easily) and myself House Harkonnen (get extra traitor cards). The game is quite involved with plenty of negotiation and back stabbing - with traitors being picked in the set up. We played without the Navigators Guild as there were only 5 of us - however the Spice they would have be paid for transporting troops would have balanced the Spice Sylon was getting as the emperor from the bidding and purchasing of Treachery cards. Alliances can only be set up with when a sandworm card is drawn from the Spice deck. 

Roughly the game turn runs something like move the sand storm, place Spice from the spice deck, bidding for treachery cards (used in combat and other situations - money goes to the Emperor, deploy and move troops (might have bought troops first) to the planet (pay Guild if there is one), fight battles - heroes first - if killed then the winner gets their value in spice - compare combat values, loser loses all troops and winner loses the number they committed to the battle) - or if the hero is revealed as a traitor it is an automatic loss .... Then check for victory conditions - 3 strongholds for one player, 4 strongholds for an alliance of 2 players and all 5 for and alliance of 3. 

Our game ran for about 4/5 hours and I think we completed about 5 turns - early on we got a sandworm card and alliances were sorted - almost matching the books with the Harkonnen, Bene Gesserit and the Emperor aligned against the Fremen and the Atreides. The power of the Emperor's money and the use of traitors caused Steedo to have a board flipping moment .... So a win to Sylon, DK and me.

The game is very involved and I did enjoy it and the banter - but it is an event game needing a fair amount of time put aside to play - it was ok. Might be better with more plays, but I'm not sure. 

After Dune it was a quick game of the classic brain burner Rhino Hero (which I lost), then down the pub for more drink and pool - where Steedo and Snake-eyes got some revenge ....

Then back to DK's for chilli and a Cthulhu cooperative game which name escapes me for now - but the monsters won (even though my character was kick-ass). 

A good days gaming .....

Morts