First Martians: Adventures on the Red Planet

Started by MikeGER, October 24, 2017, 09:57:02 AM

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MikeGER

First Martians: Adventures on the Red Planet  does anyone here has it and played it? especially solo ?

...i am about to go to the Spiel17 in Essen the day after tomorrow and looking for a treat.
It has to be a solo capable game. of course, first i looked in the wargame department but there is no new release from the year past by that is scratching my itch this time around.
(DVG Huey that might have been interesting is long way far in the future, even still in the design phase ...new stuff for Warfighter (modern) is also far in the future.  and the D-DAY series by Decision games i prefer the computer version)
"Where there is Discord" from a store which has a booth there but it is 300 Euro collectors item, no way Atm ...have to win lottery first! 
"V Commandos" doesn't seem to be represented on the fair at all, and well, i am only on the fence about this one
buuut its interesting.

so after browsing and checking through a lot of stuff at BGG, FM:AotRP made it on top of my interest list 
i like the Mars thematic and the hard science approach

already saw some Introduction Plays at YT, and those didn't turned me away...

bayonetbrant

I don't know anything about it but I'd be interested to see your thoughts if you check it out
The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

Barthheart

Don't forget  UBOOT. I believe it can be played solo. Booth 2B106, they'll be running demo games.


MikeGER

Quote from: Barthheart on October 24, 2017, 10:26:35 AM
Don't forget  UBOOT. I believe it can be played solo. Booth 2B106, they'll be running demo games.

don't worry  ^-^
the plan is to storm Portal Games hall#3 booth O118 first to maybe grab a copy of the Mars game.
Portal had it for preorder and pick-up at the fair, but i duno if some additional copies for first come first serve also...

later i rush to PHALANX hall#2 booth B106 for Uboot ...AFAIK they will only demo. its not released yet
( already on my todo list :))

a must is also the game auction  at UGG booth.
its the most wargame titel selection themed booth at the fair http://ugg2nd.de/en/Retail/
and often also with a good tradefair discount on some minimal-bruised-box copies.  so i often end up with an additional impulsive buy ^-^   

Barthheart

 O0

I bet Brant would love a short write up and lots of pictures of your adventures at Spiel17.... might even make the Front Page.  ;)

MikeGER

Quote from: Barthheart on October 24, 2017, 11:06:52 AM
O0

I bet Brant would love a short write up and lots of pictures of your adventures at Spiel17.... might even make the Front Page.  ;)

Brant might also contact Eddy_Sterckx  (maybe at BGG)
i bet he will be at the fair and has experience with reports from that event, he did it in the past

bayonetbrant

The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

MikeGER

back to the game
here is the rule book for those also interested

http://portalgames.pl/en/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/FIRST-MARTIANS-RULEBOOK-ENG.pdf

and the BGG page for an overview
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/192455/first-martians-adventures-red-planet

a nicer playthrough of one of the six single scenario mission to playbed first get the player ready before to dare tp jump on the campaign or the legendary campaign 


BanzaiCat

Cool...I like space games. I have a copy of Apollo XIII that I haven't gotten to the table yet.

MikeGER

#9
here my modest loot from the Spiel



and the quick report:
drive was a PITA with road construction works on the way but with my safety margin i made it in time to the opening
i stormed to the Portal booth and was able to grab a regular copy of First Martins.  the preorder copy has painted miniatures, i will have to settle for NASA-grey -still fitting to the theme, isn't it?  (or i just have to dare to start and paint them)

then i rushed over to UGG, who was still unpacking and filling up the shelves - good, so i had the full choice of things on sale. there was no bigger box that capture my interest, but i had found out in preparation for the fair: there are
solitaire games issues of Modern War Strategy & Tactics Magazine ...and they had them for half the price, Sold!

then i went to Phalanx  for their upcoming UBOOT Game (Kickstarter in November and available spring 2018 ) https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/219100/uboot-board-game

and had a nice chat with the developers and participated for a while in a demo session in the slot of First Officer
here are some not so sharp pics







...will report about that experience so more later

after the UBOOT demo i left the fair and stored my loot away to the car and rushed back to the fair, visited the booth of sellers (Brave New World, Cologne  Fantsay En'Counter Essen)  i had on my list to check for special offers and checked them for V-Commando but they don't even knew that game. go figure   
strolled the halls some more so that i am back 1300 at UGG who allways does a funny moderated game auction of copies with minimal damage to the wrapping of the box... I participated in DVG U-Boat Leader auction, but it went above my threshhold and way to close to the offer of a mind-condition one on the shelve

then strolled the halls some more, soaked up the impression left and right .... you literally drown in games, and people, and impression ...its strenuous!  ...until my feet burned and i had enuf  - system sensor overload

and drove home tiered but satisfied :) 


 


   

bayonetbrant

The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

Barthheart

Sounds like fun Mike. Looking forward to your impressions on UBOOT.

Silent Disapproval Robot

One of the Wednesday night regulars picked up First Martians at the store last night so we'll probably give it a go next week.  I saw a couple of women playing it at the Con last weekend so I asked them their thoughts on the game and they both thought it was a little too serious and sciencey for them so I suspect I'll probably dig it.

Tried out Core Worlds and Summoner Wars for the first time last night and enjoyed both.  Good little filler games that are easy to learn and don't take too long.

I also picked up I'm the Boss because what fun is a casual game night if at least two people don't almost come to blows.

MikeGER

#13
Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 09, 2017, 10:14:27 PM
One of the Wednesday night regulars picked up First Martians at the store last night so we'll probably give it a go next week.  I saw a couple of women playing it at the Con last weekend so I asked them their thoughts on the game and they both thought it was a little too serious and sciencey for them so I suspect I'll probably dig it.
O0

would like to hear your thoughts when you had a go

in preparation and watering you mouth for your upcoming session here is in addition to the rules an Almanac pdf of the game
http://portalgames.pl/en/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/First-Martians-Almanac.pdf


all the things might be a bit overwhelming and complicated at first sight, but all make sense.
if you are in doubt of a rule, how would that work-out also in real life is usually the answer and what you will find when you look it up in the rule book. 

example:
a mayor misunderstanding for beginner is that the top bar of O2 , energy and food are actual storage counters not production

production of O2 and energy are used instantly (like a tiny stream) to drive your facilities....its just the upkeep.  (if you have an overproduction half of it get stored in the top-bar)  if you don't have enuf cause of a malfunctions you have to shut down a facility. either O2 or energy wise or even both.
now after repair of let say a damaged O2-Generators, and now you have enuf O2 upkeep production to reuse that shut down facility again, you first have to flood that big empty room with a canister O2 from the storage to work inside again (cause the tiny stream of O2 produced which is just the up-keep, would take forever to fill the room to a decent level)  ...make sense! 
same goes for an energy shut down of a facility.

also if a room is shut down o2-wise it still consumes energy. (heating/cooling for example) if a room has no power, it still consumes O2. (small leakage of pressure-seals in RL)

farming rules also look complicated first, but make sense when you think things over.
you plant a seed, the seed grows a tiny plant, the plant grows in stages over several 'sols' until its fruits/leafs are assumed to be  be constantly harvested (not the whole plant itself) and so produce a daily ration.  if you get a problem with the farm, a plant start to degenerate over several days in stages until its dead and cant be nursed back to the harvesting stage.

now that may sound all real technical and not fun.
That fun is the will to exploring and the will to progress not the housekeeping but you get a little hindered by the harsh circumstances. and always has to gamble if you just try an action (and have to roll dice) or make sure its a success  (dedication of two pawn= no roll need) and you never have enuf 'pawns' (a half days work in RL) to just get it all without a risk.
   

BanzaiCat