January 16 -- Game of Thrones Risk
With Gareth in Santa Fe and Archie about to head back to school, it was time for a F2F game night. Everyone but Peter was able to convene in Albuquerque for dinner and an epic round of GoT Risk.The rules are similar, the board done in dark pastel shades, but with 5 players, it had quite a different dynamic. The ability to combine attacking forces from multiple adjacent regions made for some massive battles. The ability to move from any east/west coast port to any other east/west coast port made for massive and surprising invasions.
The Valar Morghalis card turned up after my play and Gareth ran the board. According to our interpretation at the time, we thought this meant that Gareth won. See Feb. 20 for a different story.
All hail, King Gareth who sits on the Iron Throne.
February 18 -- The Grizzled
Off to a new year, we thought to try a new game, The Grizzled. It's a cooperative game, so either everyone wins or everyone loses. We played the easy level (without traps) to learn the rules. In the end we were all able to demobilize. Victory, everyone. And the Special Favorite pizza from Village Pizza was a huge success.February 20 -- Revenge of Game of Thrones Risk
We had another opportunity to pull the group together. This time Peter and Gareth were far afield. Kent took Gareth's chair and we marched on. Rosemary pot roast and a Greek salad fueled the conflict.This time the luck went out of my sails straight away and it was a struggle to stay on the board. A last minute run at the northern territories gave me a lot of territory, but only briefly. Valar Morghalis did not appear and the combined forces of Kent and Ty were able to push me back to a pitiful remnant. Archie had a good night and when VM turned up, he sat upon the Iron Throne. All hail, King Archie!
February 25 -- We now return you to our regularly scheduled Star Wars Risk
After The Grizzled, we finally have gotten brave enough to go back to SWR. Kent the Hutt, Darth LaBan, and General Karl sought to conquer the galaxy. Kent's aunt's sloppy joes, aka Sloppy Kents, were the kickoff event.Initially, Kent had the luck of the setup and scored 5 resource planets, but that's where it ended. A ferocious onslaught from the Rebels destroyed his large garrison on Bespin and the Rebel success continued with huge gains against the Empire.
But down does not mean out; both factions fought back and regained strength. The Hutts clawed their way to 7 resource planets and started turning in faction-card straights in rapid succession. The Stormtroopers were never able to critically damage the widespread Rebels. The Hutts never completely failed. The Rebels never were able to pick off a single starbase. The Ison Corridor was taken from the Hutts, held for 3 turns, lost to a desperate Imperial attack, and won back again by the Rebels.
After seven turns, matters were fairly stable. The Death Star had destroyed the Hutt garrison that had held Elom since the beginning. Sluis Van and Gamorr were heavily protected Imperial starbases. Bespin was a resource planet too far. But all starbases were on the board and the Emperor could well be "vulnerable." Yet the Imperial forces were by no means a triffling pest, but a real menace. The Rebels were somewhat weakened and a serious threat to the Stormtroopers if that distraction didn't give the Hutts their chance to snatch victory.
In the end, the lateness of the hour made the decision for us: a draw. Victory, everyone.
