Wargame Night 03-11

On March 19th, Bob, Tim and myself got together for a game of Shogun. I decided to play this particular game this time to honor the victims of the latest earthquake and tsunami to hit Miyagi Prefecture in Japan earlier in the month. Our prayers and thoughts are with the people of Japan. Petals for the fallen lay at the foot of the Samurai swords.
Now, this particular Shogun game is not the more famous Shogun of Milton Bradley. If you recall, the MB version of Shogun had individual soldiers that you set up on a board and then roll dice to see who is removed. You also got miniature Samurai swords and lovely Japanese screens to shield your setup of soldiers from other players, if I recall correctly. Then there is the infamous Koku, the money for hiring soldiers and ninjas.

This particular game of Shogun was created by Dirk Hennin of Queen Games and it is nothing like the MB version. First, there is no dice. Instead, game pieces are thrown in a tower and any pieces that come out are typically the casualties. Any left over game pieces are then placed back onto the board. I believe this is called the Wallenstein system of determining battles in place of dice.  Also, we receive one card for each province we control. We then use those province cards and place them on a grid type system to give each province an order: build structures, collect taxes/rice, reinforce armies, and attack. That is the tricky part, because only one province is allowed one order at a time. Some provinces will be used for building while others may be used as a base of an attack on other players. Additionally, we only receive victory points by building castles, theatres and temples in those provinces. Finally, to ensure realism and honor the code of Bushido, the player who places last in the game must commit Hari Kari with the Samurai sword of his choice as seen in the first picture.

The following colors were assigned:

Tim - Blue
Bob- Yellow
Bruce - Black

As the game started out we each got to pick which provinces we wanted. As a result, Tim was positioned in the southern sector of Japan while Bob and I were pretty much ensconced in the center. The center is the most difficult to hold and most prone to vicious battles.

In this game, there are 4 seasons in a year and we have 2 years to finish the game. The person with the most points is the winner. Points are assigned by the number of buildings, the types of buildings and the number of provinces one controls.

I pretty much mopped up the island of Honshu of all resistance and took over most of the ports in Central Japan. Bob took up a more northerly position and had a few provinces in the remote eastern section. Tim was just pell mell all over the board as you can see in the above picture with the blue pieces.

As the first year was concluded I was only ahead by a mere 2 points while Bob and Tim were tied. The last year was the final go around and we all had to live or die by our decisions.

From the island of Honshu I was able to send a large force to Tim's back door and attempt a flanking maneuver on his left. Twice I was stopped cold in my tracks by Tim's forces at the province of Bingo. If I was able to take his province then I would not only be able to run rampant in the rear of his territories but also take a castle and temple located in the province, thus depriving him of crucial points in the game. But alas it was not to be!

I clashed twice with him over the province and reduced myself to a mere one army. Then Bob attacked me in the center at Mino and though I was able to repulse him most of my armies came out of the tower at that moment and deprived me of vital reinforcements for other more crucial provinces that would come under attack at the last turn.


Finally, Tim attacked me at a weak link in my defenses and I lost the province including a castle much to my chagrin. Both Bob and Tim thus chipped away at me and eventually by the last turn of the game any one of us could have won depending on what armies fell out of the tower. Tim was able to hold what he needed and kept his buildings intact. Thus, in the end, Tim won the game with 61pts and Bob came in second with 59pts. I came in dead last at 56pts. Thus, yours truly had to commit Hari Kari. Most unfortunate!

Wargame Night 02-11

On February 12th, Wayne, Tim, Bob and myself got together for a game of Settlers: Cities and Knights. The colors were assigned as follows:

White - Tim

Orange - Bob

Red - Bruce

Blue - Wayne

The last time we played this game Bob was still smarting from the barbarians in which he had lost his city to fire, rape and pillage. He also lost the game as well but he did get the honored title of "Defender of Cataan" which is still to this day solely his own.

In this game, Wayne was introduced to Settlers and as always was able to pick up the rules rather quickly and put on a good showing for a novice.

Unfortunately, Wayne was getting picked on by me and Tim when we sent the robber to thieve his supplies of goods. Which is why it's always good to have a few knights on hand to chase the thief away.

Both Tim and I started out strong and were able to maintain a sizable lead from Bob and Wayne. As time went on Bob became more desperate.

Bob was locked out from better positions on the board and after suffering another city being pillaged by the barbarians tried a "non-city" strategy of simply building only humble hamlets and building the longest road. He also kept to a coastal development policy by only building along the outer edge of the board. Quite funny really and after several rounds reluctantly came to the conclusion that he couldn't win the game by this method. As you may not know, cities are worth 2 points, metropolis' 2 points and settlements are worth a mere 1 point. In order to win the game, you must build enough cities and settlements to equal 13 points. The longest road gets you 2 points as well. However, you are limited to just 5 settlements and if you do the math then you would be hard pressed to get to 13 points on just a settlement strategy. Seems obvious now but when times are bad then you'll do crazy things you wouldn't think you are capable of doing during better times. Or something like that!

As the game came to a close both Tim and I were well positioned but only one of us could win. Wayne had hired a merchant (worth 1 victory point) and assigned him to one of his cities. As it stood, I was at 12 pts and only needed to move Waynes merchant to one of my cities and get one victory point for the merchant to win the game. However, Tim with the luck of the Irish, at the last minute was able to take Wayne's merchant before I could and won the game with most cities, metropolos', and victory cards. The final score was Tim (13pts), Bruce(12pts), Bob(6pts) and Wayne(6pts).