May 27th, 2005 |
Dan had several hours to kill before he was going to go out, so he stopped by and we waited a while for Sam by playing Memoir '44. Sam reported that he was watching Elf and wasn't free until Dan and I were already absorbed in a game of Duel of Ages.
| Memoir '44 |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Mike (Allies) | 4 | 1 | |
| Dan (Axis) | 1 | 2 | |
Notes: Dan wanted something quick as we were hopeful that Sam might make it over. He opted for Memoir '44, and we played the battle of Sainte Mère-Église. We only played one round.
The battle starts out with some dropped pieces representing paratroopers. My guys all landed safely, which boded well for me and poorly for Dan. The Axis are set up in a fine pincer start up with one lone squadron of guys hanging out in a city. I wiped those guys out within the first few turns. Dan, rather than give up on them, fought vainly, and the injuries he doled out to my one unit were nullified when I had them retreat to safety. (Mike 1, Dan 0)
The focus of the battle then shifted to my left flank as I held the hill and sent two units in for some battle. Dand had scant choices to make and after a productive first turn and an ambush on me, we exchanged turns, each killing a squad. Then there were repeated battles for the city spaces on the left side, and Dan was hopelessly outnumbered. I managed to pin down and rout a second squad and the allies were in firm control (Mike 3, Dan 1).
The focus now shifted to the Allies' right flank, where I had spent a few action cards putting my men in a defensive position until the tanks might appear. Soon my men in the hedgerow were attacked by three units, and were knocked from their position for a minute, with only 1 man remaining. I reclaimed the position and brought up reinforcements while Dan, out of offensive cards, put down some sandbags to keep his wounded squad protected. To no avail. I devastated the 4th and final unit with a barrage card and the Allies won the battle of Sainte Mère-Église.
This game is cool and quick.
| Duel of Ages |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Mike | 5 | 1 | |
| Dan | 1 | 2 | |
Teams:
| White (Dan) | Black (Mike) | |
| Genghis Khan (the Tyrant) | Eliot Ness (the Detective) | |
| Frostdancer (the Graceful Warrior) | Jack Hammer (the Lone Wolf) | |
| Baron Von Krule (the Master Villain) | Sven the Netmender (the Young Hero) | |
| Henchman Reaver Mk. VII (the Battered War Machine) | Sterling Jack (the Con Man) | |
| Sheridan (the Cavalryman) |
Dan put his men out and sent Genghis towards the Ancient Labyrinth, Sheridan and Frostdancer towards the Colonial, and Baron Von Krule towards the Modern. I had Sterling Jack give his starting card to Eliot, who set up shop just south of the Colonial labyrinth and he killed Sheridan with one lucky shot. This sent Team White into a frenzy, and Eliot Ness soon found himself being chased by Frostdancer and the Reaver, though he escaped death when the Reaver rolled a 12 for damage. His life saved, Eliot escaped through the Tower of Maneuver. His special power is to change banished results to dismissals, and dismissals to "go to a dome of your choice." This was key, and it helped save his life.
Meanwhile, Sterling Jack won a joust at the Royal Tournament, Genghis Khan failed to steal the fairy gold, and Baron Von Krule was beat up by some Kung Fu punks. Soon after, Frostdancer FOPPed an ambush in a canyon in the Colonial labyrinth. Then, Sven made it to the Ancient labyrinth and tried to find out his stealth...he rolled an 11, which meant his stealth was red! Not a good start for rolling the ol' dice for stats. He failed and was kind of worried about how the rest of him would turn up. Sterling, though, helped calm him down (and extend team Black's lead to three) by passing the Lith Alliance First Contact.
In an effort to find out some more of his stats, Sven battled the Reaver to a fist-fighting draw. His attack was revealed to be Yellow, and his reactions were Green (not too shabby). Frostdance received the first card for team white by squeaking past the ambush, and Genghis unexpectedly passed it (He had a 6 to squeak). Eliot Ness tried to show his Chivalry at the Royal Tournament but made a complete ass out of himself. Jack Hammer, who had taken the first step forward on the Lith Alliance, now Amazed the Kung Fu punks, netting a card. Sterling squeaked the difficult Fairy Gold challenge, Genghis Khan followed up his unlikely ambush success with a strikeout of a .328 hitter in the Modern labyrinth, and Frostdancer beat some idiot Englishman at chess. Team Black feared Team White's sudden card advantage and was loath to run to close to them (plus the Reaver and Frostdancer are bad ass). The score was Black 3, White 2.
Eliot Ness changed the game, though, darting into Team White's Headquarters and looting their vault, which contained two excellent weapons. The Reaver cut further into Team Black's lead by showing his Amazing Feasting prowess at the Royal Tournament. Frostdance closed the gap in the Lith Alliance by passing the Caution marker. Baron Von Krule, seeking to add to Team Black's successful moves, tried to win a Bottle Rocket war...and failed.
Then Genghis Khan, armed with a Gyroneedler, laid in wait for Eliot, and luckily (he needed a 5) hit him. It looked like Eliot was done for, but the needles apparently bounced of Eliot's badge (12 for damage). Genghis chose to charge Eliot and Eliot missed him, and they bloodied each others lips in a fight but no one got hurt (Eliot had a -2 to hit Genghis because the Khan inspires fear!). Sterling finally nabbed the Fairy Gold, and after Eliot fled from Genghis (who missed with the Needler), Eliot took a shot at Genghis for OpFire, but Genghis, who had dived into a building, took no damage.
Jack Hammer, hindered by his lack of desire to exchange equipment was stuck with a Paint Ball Gun, which missed the Baron on his first try and broke on the second. Sterling set a Wolf against Genghis, but he killed it with his Needler before it came within four spaces of him. Sven then re-established Team Black's lead in the Royal Tournament by winning a skirmish. White was now behind 4-2.
We focused on adventures for a little while, but White was having trouble catching up, as Jack, Eliot, Sven, and Sterling all had nice rounded abilities and were generally able to pass things. Team White's characters were mostly White/Red levels, as Genghis, the Reaver, and Frostdancer were great warriors, but poorly adapted to other pursuits, and the Baron was pitiful in most respects. Reaver and Frostdancer eventually caught Sven in a showdown and whupped him for a 1 point of damage, but he turned the tables on them by roasting Frostdancer to death with his Flamethrower the very next round (revealing his point to be Yellow!).
Everyone was now passing pretty much everything, as Genghis whupped ass on the Cossacks, Eliot donated a card for Goodwill to the Lith Alliance, Sterling golfed, Sven climbed the Watchman, the Baron won a Spitfire over Bristol, Eliot redeemed himself at the tourney by showing his Chivalry, and Jack beat the snot out of an Armed Mugger. The Reaver had to avoid challenges as a 9 would make him malfunction. Team White, with the loss of Frostdancer, was hopelessly outnumbered, and even though Jack Hammer was running around with totally useless cards, the only semi-useful card Team White had was a cannon that Genghis Khan couldn't hit anybody with and did 1 point of damage to him each time he fired it besides.
Reave FOPPed a strength roll that might have given Team White a chance and Dan called it a game about 10 minutes early.
The keys were that my guys were more balanced, Sven had good stats (except Stealth, but Dan never really had a good gun), and Eliot took out Dan's only well-balanced character in the beginning, in turn 3. The flamethrowing of Frostdancer really saddened Dan, and he was pretty desperate after that.