In a world of change, there is but one certainty in life: that when Wednesday comes around Bromsgrove Board Gamers will meet at the Hop Pole Inn. So here we are again, an intrepid group of wannabe-geeks meeting to have fun playing table top games. We once again covered a wonderful array of different games. Jon, Ash and Sam loaded up Trains, Neil, Aaron and Peter M played Eldritch Horror on the pool table and Chris taught me 1775: Rebellion. Essentially this is an area control game based on the American War of Independence and is effectively the sequel to 1812: the Invasion of Canada.
Here's Tom Vasel from The Dice Tower with his review of this highly-rated game.
Here's Tom Vasel from The Dice Tower with his review of this highly-rated game.
The designers have set out to create a light but tense war game, and it's worked. For starters, there is a set number of rounds; not
From this short experience, I have one possible criticism and that is just because of the nature of the design. To keep this short and sharp, the designers have deliberately brought in end-game mechanisms. You cannot argue with their reasoning; even the most experienced board gamers sometimes balk at heavy war games and can you imagine teaching Commands & Colors to a newbie? The rulebook alone would send most running. However, it does seem slightly contrived that halfway through round 2 of this play I knew for a fact that the game would be finishing at the end of round 3. You are then left in this pseudo-historical situation where the winner is the player with the most territories at a pre-defined time point. Incidentally, I also knew I physically couldn't win when it came round to my last orders courtesy of drawing a couple of rotten movement cards.
A small criticism this is really because I enjoyed the game very much and am looking forward to the next time. Chris won 6 territories to 2
Chris dusted himself down from our little conflict to teach Discworld to Jon, Sam and Ash while I joined the Eldritch Horror group, then finishing off with a game of Red7.
Game results
Trains
Jon 39
Sam 35
Ash 20
Eldritch Horror
Co-operative game. The players lost and boy did they lose! One character went insane, one in the void, another with amnesia lost in time and space...
1775: Rebellion
Chris 6
Peter 2
Discworld
Chris won.
Red7
Peter H 36
Peter M 10
Neil 8
Aaron 0
My gamer of the week goes to Chris for his brace of victories in 1775 and Discworld.
that y o u'll necessarily even reach the end of those. Our game lasted the bare minimum 3 rounds and was over so quickly that this gamer quickly arranged a re-match. As Board Game Geek describe it, " players take the roles of the American Continental Army and Patriots against the British Army and the Loyalists. Each side tries to control the colonies, provinces and territories. They call on the aid of Native Americans, as well as the German Hessians and French Army in order to successfully birth a revolution or quell the rebellion. The four factions each use their own deck of cards to move their units into positions. Battles are resolved quickly with custom dice. If you can control an entire colony, province or territory you raise a flag. When the game ends with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, the side with the most flag markers is the winner."From this short experience, I have one possible criticism and that is just because of the nature of the design. To keep this short and sharp, the designers have deliberately brought in end-game mechanisms. You cannot argue with their reasoning; even the most experienced board gamers sometimes balk at heavy war games and can you imagine teaching Commands & Colors to a newbie? The rulebook alone would send most running. However, it does seem slightly contrived that halfway through round 2 of this play I knew for a fact that the game would be finishing at the end of round 3. You are then left in this pseudo-historical situation where the winner is the player with the most territories at a pre-defined time point. Incidentally, I also knew I physically couldn't win when it came round to my last orders courtesy of drawing a couple of rotten movement cards.
A small criticism this is really because I enjoyed the game very much and am looking forward to the next time. Chris won 6 territories to 2
Chris dusted himself down from our little conflict to teach Discworld to Jon, Sam and Ash while I joined the Eldritch Horror group, then finishing off with a game of Red7.
Game results
Trains
Jon 39
Sam 35
Ash 20
Eldritch Horror
Co-operative game. The players lost and boy did they lose! One character went insane, one in the void, another with amnesia lost in time and space...
1775: Rebellion
Chris 6
Peter 2
Discworld
Chris won.
Red7
Peter H 36
Peter M 10
Neil 8
Aaron 0
My gamer of the week goes to Chris for his brace of victories in 1775 and Discworld.