What's on your table right now?

[Ubercat]

As somebody told me when I was just a wee little boy, God told the Indians that if they danced for him, he would ensure that they would defeat their enemies and keep control of their lands. I remember thinking " Gee, what a lying asshole god was."

[bayonetbrant]

yeah, well...  in Liberty or Death, the Indians have control over a lot of the western frontier provinces, where there is absolutely no reason for any of the other combatants to go, other than to poke the Indians.

The French aren't even in the game until it's too late to do anything.
The Colonials aren't strong enough to poke the Indians and still run from the British.
The British have no reason to pick a fight with their nominal allies.

So the Indians set up in the frontier, build a crapload of villages, and everyone finally realizes what Custer realized ("Holy crap! That's a lot of Indians!") there's too many of them to put much of a dent in their head start of villages.

Note that this really only applies if you're playing the full-length game.  Shorter games and the Indians don't have enough time to build all those villages, and the Colonials are a little stronger at the start and can afford to bleed off some strength to chase around Indians.

[bbmike]

^I'm assuming you are talking about multiplayer and not solo? I'll have to check out what BGG says about it. If nothing else I'm sure someone has already houseruled a way around it. Not sure when I'll get it to table but it will be solo when I do.

[bayonetbrant]

^I'm assuming you are talking about multiplayer and not solo? I'll have to check out what BGG says about it. If nothing else I'm sure someone has already houseruled a way around it. Not sure when I'll get it to table but it will be solo when I do.

multiplayer, not solo

[Ubercat]

Fortunately, Andean Abyss and FitL seem to be much better balanced than that! They're the only two COIN games that I've played.

[bayonetbrant]

Fortunately, Andean Abyss and FitL seem to be much better balanced than that! They're the only two COIN games that I've played.

LoD is pretty balanced in any scenario except the long one.  And the long one is only unbalanced if you have an Indian player content to stay out of the fray and just reinforce/build on the frontier and cede the coast to everyone else.

[mirth]

Last night's group game. Play test of a WWI night trench raid game done in 28mm and using Operation Squad for rules.

Custom table built by my buddy Wayne, who will be running the game at Huzzah! (our local Con).






German assault troops. Since this is a night action, Wayne painted the figs and terrain in shades of gray. Creates a very cool effect.









Low angle shot of the table looking through the wire toward the trench line. Wayne did an amazing job on the table.





As you may have noticed in the other pics, my camera lens has a scratch that blurs part of the pic. Worked out pretty well for this pic though as it makes it look like the battlefield is covered by smoke or fog.




German troops approaching the wire (didn't actually cross here. There were three gaps in the wire where the Germans could cross).




Later in the game with the Germans assaulting a portion of the British held trenches. The British had the advantage of cover, but the Germans were trained trench fighters, liberally equipped with grenades and gear for close assaulting.





Wider view of the assault under way.





As might be expected from this type of game, losses were heavy on both sides. In the end, it was a minor German victory. The assault troops were able to break into the left and center, destroying two British squads in the process.

Very fun game. The rules are easy to pick up and we were able to play to a conclusion in about 4 hours. It will make a perfect convention game.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Looks amazing!  (and now I feel shame due to the dozen half painted minis that have been sitting in such a state on my bench for the last 2 months.)

[bob48]

It does look good - very atmospheric!

[bbmike]

+1. The photos have a 'historic' look to them because of the colors (or lack of).  O0

[BanzaiCat]

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, that's absolutely some of the best work I've ever seen! Kudos and I bet it was a helluva lot of fun.  :bd:

[bbmike]

Just in!



I've only played the base game once so far but I've really enjoyed it. I also have the Close Encounters expansion (which was hard to find).

[mirth]

Have you take the shrink off yet?

[bbmike]

Not yet, but at least it's off of Fields of Despair!

[mirth]

Not yet, but at least it's off of Fields of Despair!

:bd: