Came in Wednesday just in time for our summer-limited gameday on Thursday.
I came in last place.
I did manage a fun move where I betrayed one of my own court cards to gain the prize, so that I would have 3 influence vs 2 for the other Afghan loyalist.
I didn't realize quite how bad swapping loyalties would hurt me. I lost a patriot, which caused overthrow in Kabul, as well as losing the spy on the that patriot. Overall...probably a poor move. We also saw swapping loyalties really work well for a player, who jumped on board my Afghan war train when it became obvious they were winning that dominance. This forced the killing of my own court card above.
Really happy with the rules weight, was a fairly easy teach. I really liked it. great level of player interaction....you really can't rely on things staying around. I'm itching to play again. Unfortunately it may be alittle too direct and cut-throat for most of my group.
Yeah, it is a real brutal game. I doubt I could play it with my IRL game friends, though I'm hoping to branch out this year and get into a new game group so maybe something like this can get on the table.
PS: Did anyone get dominance or whatever they call it for a faction? I'm super curious how that could even be manufactured in a many player game. I wonder if turn order would be really, really important once you introduce that possibility to the table.
on our first dominance check Afghans won 8 blocks to 4 Russian blocks. I ended up with 3 influence vs yellow had 2 influence.
At the end of my previous turn, I told them that I was going to win(5-0-0) if they didn't do anything. As a group we looked and tried to see how to avoid this early win. There weren't any Afghan patriots in the market.
To switch loyalties he had to betray a card to take it as a Afghan prize, which took him to 2 influence. Then it was my turn, where I betrayed my own court card to take it as a prize, to get me to 3 influence. and for the second action, I bought the dominance check card.
Preface this by I've only run through some solo games, but it should work well. Most Pax games are best with 3 imo, though the faction dynamic might lose something with 3 so maybe Charlie, Mason or someone else can come through on that.
I think Charlie put his post in the wrong spot, but having played it handful of times with 2-4, I think both 3 and 4 are great spots for the game. with new players, there's alittle tendency with the 3 player game for each person to jump into bed with a coalition to stay there, but when you analyze that first dominance it shouldn't take much convincing to get people to switch.
Two player was good, but definitely different feeling. Not sure I'd play it over more dedicated 2 player games.
Looks like I'm going to get a chance to play this in a couple of days time
We'll all be first timers, is there any general advice that I can share with the others so that we avoid crashing the experience by making naive mistakes?
Charlie doesn't plug his stuff here but just contributes, but I'm going to plug it for him. This is a great read about this game and he has played it a lot which I always love. I think his blog is his best work so I'm glad it got reviewed there. Pulled a quote from it; this is basically my takeaway from all of Cole's games except Root, and it's one of my absolute favorite styles of games:
"All you can do is nudge the whirring contraption in your direction and ride the situation like a hapless stooge atop a thrashing bull."
That's why I love these games!!!
PS also, ubarose, I wasn't sure about the thread org on this one you had in mind, PM me if you want changes (I see some moving on the other thread attached to the game entry).
Thanks for sharing, Steve. I thought about posting a link in this thread but I hate to self-promote as it feels like I'm taking away from what this site is doing by posting my work here. Someone else doing it though doesn't quite feel that way, so I appreciate it.
I have a hard time seeing this usurped as my game of the year choice at this point. Looking forward to my next play.
Pax adjacent (central?) news, looks like Eklund's doing a new one, Pax Viking.
Pax Viking is a strategic, historical card game for 1-6 players age 12 and up, about the less known Vikings, those who travelled eastwards. These came primarily from Sweden and were for the most part merchants. They were skillful opportunists both in matter of silver and axes. Ready to use whichever works best as a tool in the current situation they encountered. They did so with the same adventurous explorer mindset found among the westward travelling Vikings, and reached far to the south and east in their journeys, forming many strong connections, founding societies and future empires on their way.
In Pax Vikings you represent a Jarl, one of the powerful leaders in the nordics during the 10th century that may have had ambitions towards ruling Sweden. The game takes place just before the turn of the previous millennia. Your goal is to build your family's power through trade, personal connections and smart, but sometimes deceitful actions. With the ultimate goal to become the first King to rule Sweden.
There are 4 main paths that history may take. During the game you will strive to have a high reputation in one or more of these.
Also:
Bios:Insecta, and.... A game on zeppelins is also planned.
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