Wargame Day 12/15

Well, that was quick wasn't it? The year just jammed by and before I knew it 2015 ended quite suddenly with Tim winning the Kriegspiel Trophy yet once again. Congratulations to Tim for another stellar year of Twilight Imperium.

Interestingly, the year had Tim in the lead with Bob in second and myself in third for almost the entire year. This is the third year in a row we have seen this "phenomenon". The final Kriegspiel Tournament scores were recorded with averages accounted in addition to placing and attendance:


Tim.......... 96.5....First
Bob.........108.0... Second
Joe.......... 158.1....Third
Bruce...... 168.8....Fourth
Luke........181.5....Fifth
Eric..........194.7....Sixth

Also, this was the first year of the Tournament where we played Twilight Imperium every month for the whole year. The reason for this was that the number of players that show up on any given game day determines the type of game we play. We have had a really good year where we have seen at least 5 to 6 people playing each game day. Thus, Twilight Imperium was the chosen game because it can handle up to 8 players easily.

Next year, scoring for the tournament will be made more simple with no averaging taken into account nor any punishing 10-point attendance scores for those who can't make it. If you get 1st place in a game then you get a simple 10 points. If second, then 8 points, if third then 6 points and so on. If you can't make it that month then you get a zero. Therefore, all points are merely added up at the end of the year and voila! - you have a winner. Should be pretty easy to keep track.

Overall, even though I got in fourth for the Tournament, I had a great time with everyone and look forward to 2016.

Wargame Day 1/15

On January 11th, Bob and his boys- Joe & Josh, Eric, Tim with myself and my son, Lucas got together for the first ever - Wargame Day! Our previous get-togethers have been at night but this year saw a time change to the afternoon and the inclusion of the next generation of gamers to the wonderful world of Kriegspiel Tag - Joe, Josh and Luke. They are also included in the Kriegspiel Tournament and have the opportunity of taking home the infamous Kriegspiel Trophy. Of course, all are welcome to join as this is not a "closed" group. Note the disparity in height. Don't let this fool you. Napoleon was merely 5 feet from head to toe!

I was eager to try a Twilight Imperium game with 7 players and so we proceeded to set up a 4 ring map with a total of 53 hexes placed on the table with Mecatol Rex at the center.

The following races were randomly selected:

Bruce - L1Z1X Mindnet
Eric - Sardakk N'orr
Josh - Nekro Virus
Tim - Embers of Muaat
Luke - The Winnu
Joe - Yassiril Tribes
Bob - The Universities of Jol-Nar

I decided to set up the game in the kitchen area with everyone spread out on the bar and a smaller table and then using the kitchen table which is taller than the dining room table as the "battle board" and Galactic Senate. This may have been better suited for Bob (he could move pieces on the board without bending over - barely!) due to his sore back which he courageously and painfully endured for this years January game day.

Slowly the game progressed as each race moved out into the unknown. I had intentionally placed all my red zone hexes towards Tim to lock him in place knowing full well he could pass through supernova hexes as the Embers of Muaat. Nevertheless, he felt compelled to move around the hexes I placed in front of him for good measure. Thankfully, I was sitting right next to Eric and Bob with the crazy kids away from me! Of course, the sinister Mr. Tim was completely on the other side of the galaxy but again still posed a menace as he began the game with a War Sun.  Amazingly, Joe and Josh ended up waging war between them from opposite ends of the galaxy! Josh as the Nekro Virus utilized wormholes to suddenly strike very close to the homeworld of Joe. This in turn required a visit by Joe on Josh's homeworld with the Yassiril Tribe fleet and unfortunately for the Nekro Virus, resulted in their homeworld being occupied, if I recall correctly. Both Eric and I were slow in leaving our sphere's of influence but Bob was hampered by Joe and his Yassiril Tribes in his space lanes of communication. Tim and Luke were the only ones able to break out and take some ground from other worlds. Ultimately, Tim managed to get to Mecatol Rex once again! Perhaps Tim is related to the Lazax? I don't know, but the rest of us were in no position to challenge him and thus he sat supreme at the center of the galaxy. A conspiracy if ever there was one!

Naturally, I encouraged Luke to belatedly attack Tim and rescue the rest of us from his evil rule. Of course, this meant he would take casualties and perhaps suffer a visit to his homeworld with Tim's War sun! Luke didn't take my bait, unfortunately for me, and thus pursued his own interests without considering my own fate sandwiched as I was between Bob and Eric. Perhaps a bribe or two will encourage more creative investments by my opponents in other people's spheres of influence?

The game ended with Tim taking 1st place and little Luke in 2nd! Joe got 3rd with Bob in 4th. I took 5th with Eric in 6th. Josh got locked out with a 7th place finish. No problem! Better to get 7th place than not show up at all!

Wargame Night 12-14

Bob, Tim and myself got together for the grand finale of the Kriegspiel Tournament on December 13th, 2014. After a couple of months on hiatus, we resumed where we left off in September. The trophy was up for grabs as all three of us were in contention for first place. I had the greatest amount of tournament points albeit, from a weak position as I was only in the lead by a mere three points. Tim was in second going into the final and Bob was in third place. However, all of the scores were pretty close to make this an all or nothing game night. The trophy was taken by me last year and sat in my dining room and was brought out of "stasis" for the climatic end of the Kriegspiel Tournament. Who was going to win? We chose a Twilight Imperium game to decide the trophy's fate.

The chosen races of Twilight Imperium were lead as follows:

Tim - Clan of Saar
Bob - Embers of Muaat
Bruce - Sardakk N'oir

We also modified the ancient artifacts setup by only placing one artifact on Mecatol Rex. We decided to allow for domain counters as well as the Wormhole Nexus with the planet of Malice as the backdrop to an otherwise sterile and tightly confined 3-man map board.

We also went into the game with the adjusted rules that only allows one tactical movement per round as originally stipulated in the rules. There is a tech card, Fleet Logistics, that allows for two tactical movements in one round. Originally we had been playing that all tactical movements had to be performed in one round. Which made the Fleet Logistics card, dare I say - "illogical", considering the above now understood rules. Plus, there are some action cards and the wretched Xxacha Turtles that make it much more logical in their handling as result of the more natural game flow.

Amazingly, as the map hexes were divided and passed out to everyone, I was the only person to get all of the red zone special systems - a nebula, a gravity rift with planet, and an ion storm. I gleefully placed them right in front of Lord Hideous, Tim of the Clan of Saar. I did this slow his advance to Mecatol Rex which I was sure was his ultimate destination. I was now ready to move forward and take my place amongst the stars and fallen worlds of the Lazax Empire in the Twilight Imperium universe.

In spite of the obstacles that were placed in front of Tim, he did manage to occupy Mecatol Rex. Both Bob and I met our Preliminary Objectives and were ready to move onto our secret objectives. From Mecatol Rex, Tim made a parley into one my worlds and took it from me after a close battle between a single troop. This unfortunately, sealed my fate and even though Tim and I had 4 victory points to our name, he did reach the 4th point before I did and was technically ahead of me. Bob had a mere 5 victory points when he pulled the Imperium Rex card to end the game immediately in his favor. This made Bob the undisputed winner of game night, however his win resulted in a tie for the trophy! I had received third place for the night and once again, third in the Tournament as a result. So, congratulations to both Tim and Bob for placing first place in the Kriegspiel Tournament in 2014!

We now decided that Tim and Bob would play a game of Stratego in a final death-match to determine who would drive home with the trophy this night. After some jockeying and jousting, Tim began to edge out Bob when Tim's spy took down Bob's Marshal and left him vulnerable to Tim's Marshal. One by one Bob's army was picked apart until finally Tim had all avenues of approach guarded by outranking pieces. Bob decided to bow to the inevitable and concede the game in Tim's favor. Tim was now the undisputed champion of Kriegspiel Nacht.

Congratulations Tim for a job well done! Tim takes the trophy for a second time and once again takes the title of Kriegspiel Champion. It was well deserved. But just remember the motto of Kriegspiel Nacht, for all glory is fleeting:

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi
The glory of the world passes away!

In the meantime, enjoy the taste of victory, literally!