Watership Down: I Die in the Burrows and a EuroQuest Rises Again

EuroQuest 2011: The Year of the Golden Rabbit

I enter the hole and experience a great pain.  Then I spot some dudes and start gaming.

In attendance: Various and sundry members of the Wednesday night crew. KingPut. Army Pete.  Sci Fi Steve.  Hustler Pat. Little Big John.

Games Played

JAB Realtime Boxing x7, Hammer of the Scots x3, Julius Caesar, Sekigahara x2, Tin Goose, Martian Dice x5, Panic Station x2, Small World,  Age of Steam (base map), Ninjato, King of Tokyo, Dungeon Raiders x2, Tonga Bonga, Die Burgen von Burgund, Serenissima, Fearsome Floors (two-monster variant).

Games that were new to me...

JAB Realtime Boxing

One of my favorites of the con.

I feel like a flailing mass of spaghetti whenever I play this hyperactive box-fest.  But if you can keep your eyes and mind darting in three directions at once - and somehow I can - you'll have a fair shot at the championship belt.

Two-player games aren't always easy to squeeze in, but when they only take 5-20 minutes and are silly in the pugilistic extreme there's no reason not to play.

And I'll say it again: COM-BOW!

As yet, I am undefeated at 7-0.  I take all challengers.

Sekigahara

Sekigahara's upstart departure from other block game systems is refreshing.  The cards are the thing, not the blocks, and the one-upsmanship combat procedure found elsewhere (cf. Friedrich) is refined and possibly perfected.

As far as rules depth and learnability, Sekigahara is truly an introductory game of war strategy.  But simple doesn't mean simple-minded.  The game manages to capture the sweep and sway of field and siege battles, while also rewarding advanced planning - and all in a way that doesn't intimidate new grognards.  Everything is quick, clean, and an immediate rush.

Plus there are mechanical frills - mostly focusing on card management - that keep everything orderly and thoughtful, and dashes of Far East flavor and color contribute to the experience.

A minor complaint is that block secrecy will wane as the game wears on, though some would argue that knowing the identities of particular blocks may not be a major concern in Sekigahara.  When the merry-go-round hits the brass ring, the only thing that matters is whether your enemy's cards match his intent.  That the blocks are present is irrefutable.  Whether the blocks can be deployed is another.

So do pay attention to the number of your cards in your opponent's hand, and if possible scout for Loyalty Challenges in the reflection in your opponent's glasses.  My record defense against a loyalty assault?  An opponent played three of the four possible Tokugawa LC cards against my golden hordes in a single all-or-nothing battle in Kiso.  And yes, I deflected them all.  So the golden Sun rises again over the land of my honored ancestors.  Until I get beaten down badly in my next game, that is.  

Note:  It's unfortunate that players not wanting their heads to explode are forced to read the posted rules clarifications on sieges, group movement, and mustering into battle.  The rules are easy.  They just aren't all there.

Martian Dice

Since Martians are superior to zombies in every way (training, flexibility, etc.), it only makes sense that Martian Dice is better than Zombie Dice.

Panic Station

The infection mechanism is a luminous stroke of Sci Fi wizardry, and the basis for what should be a groundbreaking game. If you haven't yet played and are wondering why the designer chose to allow gasoline trades (only) to prevent bug outbreaks, you'll find out soon enough.  Tense decisions all around.

Regrettably, Panic Station bounds toward the edge of greatness, leaps with enthusiasm, and cackles maniacally as it crashes into the rocks below.  One example: Panic's mechanical idiosyncrasies are major obstructions to what should be unabashed fun.  Both sessions moved forward haltingly (stop/start, stop/start, hey I'm starting to get sick) just to get all procedures, items, and locations straightened out.

Not including player aids, for example, was a colossal act of dumbness.  Nothing ruins the game more quickly than players needing to consult the rulebook after every trade to see what a new item does, as the simple act of reading lets everyone know that the player's received card wasn't an infection card.

And what does one say when a player reveals that "Our friend Joe just passed me an infection card. Everyone avoid him."  Uh, thanks?  Next game, please?

All of which is a real shame, because casual to medium-casual gamers - who I thought would be the target audience - don't have the patience for dealing with Panic's full-geek level of complexity.  So what could have been a power hit is instead a niche experience for John Carpenter fans.

If the game becomes part of your group's regular gaming beat, and not too many new players join up, I could see this going somewhere.  If not, do your best to enjoy the ride.  Come morning, we'll see who's human and who is not.

Ninjato

An epileptically bad combination of Eurogame mechanisms (set collection, multipliers) and mass market Amerigame nonsense (random cardflips galore).

O mighty ninja, why do you seek refuge in the mists of dawn? Is it so you can divert my attention with Z-man overproduction as you spray a wave of dark shuriken at my family, my nation, my hooded future?

The world will never know. 

King of Tokyo

I was unexpectedly impressed with the "damage many others" mechanic: Those monsters inside Tokyo damage those on the outside, and vice versa.  And if you want to flame out and take 2-3 other inhumanoids with you - knowing that you won't last another round - you can.  That's a thing of beauty.

This would be an instant purchase at $15-20.  But it's a "nevermind" at whatever exorbitant price they're charging.

Dungeon Raiders

I no longer need to spend my daydream hours wondering whether someone will ever fix Zombie in my Pocket.  Adventureland Games did it independently and better.

Dungeon Raiders outshines Cutthroat Caverns, Masquerade,  and other light 'n nasty card-based adventure systems.  Yes, it only involves playing numbered cards while fighting through dungeon "levels".  Many of you will hate it. But that doesn't make it bad.  It just means your taste has not evolved to my exquisite level.  Or it could possibly mean that you don't smoke as much Quaalude as I do.  Call it 3:2 odds.

Order placed...

Tonga Bonga

The game dances along at a spry pace until the completely broken endgame comes along.  As others have stated, once you're significantly ahead on money and someone is headed back to base, there's no need to establish any more camps or spend any more money.  You just steer your treasure-laden ship in circles until someone else ends the game.

A shame, really, because the mechanic of tempting other players with money to enhance your own movement is pretty slick.

The obvious variant is to forbid someone from winning unless they've established all four camps.  A better payout ($15-20) for the person ending the game also wouldn't hurt.

In my first game I also did the unimagined:  I rolled three seasick sailors all at once.  Them's low odds, cap'n.

Burgund von Burgund von Burgund...

Our game went like so:

I take a 30-second turn, and I grow increasingly bored while others take 5-minute turns.  Though I did learn in my burgeoning agony that my nails need trimming, the ceiling needs washing, and everyone else in the room is having more fun than I am.

Speaking of praying for a heart attack so the game ends more quickly, I do not need to play another game where the game's winner is determined by massive endgame swings in VP due to bonus/multiplier tiles. Sure, if I cared about these spoiler tiles I could go for them myself.  But I don't.

So if I see you coming with Burgund I'll be running the opposite direction.  Nothing personal.  It just means that I don't like you.

Serenissima

Broken like the dreams of a roadflattened armadillo.  For all the reasons others have described.

Depending on the warmongering attitudes present at the table, a player can get eliminated on the FIRST TURN.  Our one and only game took a full eleven minutes because we immediately turned on each other until only one ship remained.  That person won.

Hoo boy.  Glad I didn't pay for that one.

The End

If you weren't at EQ 2011 you owe me a dollar.   Or a game of JAB.  Your choice.

I'm waiting...