Risk Legacy - Session Report - Game 3 (no spoilers)

Date: Sunday April 29, 2012
Location: Christine’s house

Turn Order and Faction:

1. Mark - Imperial Balkania
2. Trent - Khan Industries
3. Nathan - The Saharan Republic
4. Ben - Die Mechaniker
5. Jeremy - Enclave of the Bear

Due to the speedy Game 2 (about 45 minutes), the commanders immediately regrouped to play again. This time, there was no high die roll for Jeremy. In fact, he went last after Mark won the roll off. 

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Initial Placement

The faction selection went almost the same as last time, but the outcome of the game was anything but. Mark picked first and opted for Imperial Balkania, having seen Ben and Jeremy use it to great effect in their victories in the first two games. He also chose to further emulate the other two, and placed his HQ in Western Australia.

Trent reacquainted himself with Khan Industries and decided he’d give Africa a try. The grey army gathered in East Africa.

Nathan chose the third most popular Saharan Republic and founded a base in Alberta.

Ben then made a key move that basically scuppered Mark’s plans to use the expand-to-four-or-more-territories tactic, by placing the fortified HQ of Die Mechaniker in Southeast Asia. This would make it very difficult for Mark to move out of Halitosia; however that turned out to be the least of Mark’s problems.

Finally with the vast open expanse of Europe and Asia beckoning, Jeremy chose to place the Enclave of the Bear HQ in Great Britain.

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Round 1

Mark had the first opportunity to expand the territories of the purple army, but with Ben threatening him from Southeast Asia, he decided to only claim New Guinea and Indonesia. Claiming Eastern Australia would have been beneficial, but with the Major City of Bento located there, Mark did not want to lose the two troops just yet.

 The Stare Down

The next four turns saw all four players take control of a continent. Trent claimed all of Africa, then Nathan claimed all of North America, spreading himself thin, but only threatened by Jeremy in Great Britain.

Ben then made his move. He brought the full might of the red army’s 10 attacking units against the 9 purple defenders in Indonesia...and won. Easily. Ben completed dominated the battle, allowing him to take the rest of Halitosia including Eastern Australia. For the second straight game, Mark’s forces had been wiped out by Ben.

Red Wins Halitosia!

Having seen everyone else grab a continent, Jeremy, who was already one star down on everyone except Ben thought he’d get in on the action, and he claimed all of Europe. This was a strategically stupid move. He could easily have kept his main army together and knocked off the lone sand person in Greenland to stop Nathan’s 5-point continental bonus, but instead he chose to spread the green army all over Europe and make a very easy and inviting target for Khan Industries and The Saharan Republic.

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Round 2

It should come as no surprise, then, that that is exactly what happened. Boosted by their continental bonuses, Trent and Nathan both started heading in to Europe, with the Enclave’s HQ in Great Britain as the grand prize. Jeremy could do nothing but look on and clump together the few remaining troops he had.

Meanwhile, Mark had come back on to the board in Irkutsk and decided to lay low and not spread out, while Ben also wanted a piece of the tasty Europe pie, and came up through Afghanistan into Russia.

Trent was the first commander to lay claim to another faction’s HQ when he conquered Great Britain. Nathan immediately decided that that just wasn’t on, placed all his new troops in Iceland, and attacked southward. The die rolls were not good for the aggressor however, and after losing half of his army he pushed east into Scandinavia instead where a single Bear was ruthlessly butchered.

On his next turn, Jeremy tried to at least gain a card and take back Russia, but his demoralised troops were no match for the disciplined Die Mechaniker unit who obviously wanted the Smirnoff all to himself.

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Round 3

Round 3 began with Imperial Balkania eyeing off a return to their old HQ. Mark attacked into China and then marched towards the border with Southeast Asia. He paused for a moment while considering the strength of the fortified Die Mechaniker HQ, but decided to press on anyway.

It didn’t work out too well for Mark. The purple army was repelled and would have to wait for a future turn to try and reclaim Halitosia.

Trent took advantage of the extra troop for the newly acquired HQ in Great Britain, but it would only be used as defence for now as he mobilised the Khan Industries army in Egypt and attacked the Middle East. Trent’s plan was to succeed where Mark had just failed by taking Ben’s HQ and winning the game.

Unfortunately, his Egyptians proved to be piss poor fighters and went nowhere. It was then pointed out to Trent that he could also use the troops he had stationed at his HQ in East Africa to attack the Middle East. With renewed hope he gave it another try, and finally won the battle. His tired and depleted forces could do more for now, and Trent’s turn was over.

Now it was Nathan’s turn to go for the win. The ladies of The Saharan Republic first conquered Great Britain to wrest ownership of the Enclave’s HQ from Khan Industries, and then the quietly amassed Alaskan troops crossed the Bering Strait and started marching towards Southeast Asia.

For the third straight turn, Ben found himself on the defensive protecting his HQ. This time, the die rolls did not favour him, and Nathan made a winning roll to claim his third HQ and victory!

...Not...So...Fast...

Just as Nathan’s victory cry was in full force, a missile fired by the Enclave of the Bear landed amidst his troops. Ben’s defensive roll turned into a 6 and his final unit had a reprieve.

Nathan still had a troops left, but the die rolls went against him, and the red HQ remained in the hands of Die Mechaniker. With no attackers left, and silently cursing Jeremy for ruining his moment of victory, Nathan had to call it quits.

So we played on. Ben reinforced his HQ, then Jeremy succeeded in taking Russia and finally receiving his first card of the game.

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Round 4

The fourth round then commenced with Mark adding troops to Siberia and taking Ural off Ben.

Having lost Great Britain last round, Trent was down to two Red Stars. He decided to take the heretofore unclaimed territories of Brazil, Argentina, and Peru and then knocked off Nathan’s troop in Venezuela to add a second continent to Khan Industries’ holdings.

Nathan then had another crack at winning the game. He placed all his recruits in Great Britain and set off on the war path again. This time, his eyes were set on Trent’s HQ in East Africa. The Saharans wasted no time in slicing through the Khanians in Western Europe and the ammo-deprived North Africa. All eyes then focussed on the battle for East Africa. 

There were no missiles left to influence the battle this time and the Saharan Republic proudly marched in to claim their third HQ, and Nathan won for realz.

Game 3 Ends

Victory! 

Nathan added his name to the board as the winner of Game 3 and then added the world’s second Major City when he founded New Nate City in Eastern United States. 

The hangers on all founded Minor Cities. Jeremy showed what he thought of his own performance in Game 3 by building the city of Smeg Head in Russia; Trent’s contribution was Fried Rat in Central Africa; Ben added Vindaloo in India; and Mark placed the city of Gulag in Siberia.

That brought the total of Minor Cities to eight. The sealed pack that is opened when the ninth Minor City is founded is almost certain to be opened at the end of the next game. We can’t wait to see what is inside.

Risk Legacy - Session Report - Game 2 (no spoilers)

Date: Sunday April 29, 2012
Location: Christine’s house

Turn Order and Faction:

1. Jeremy - Imperial Balkania
2. Mark - Khan Industries
3. Trent - The Saharan Republic
4. Nathan - Enclave of the Bear
5. Ben - Die Mechaniker

Initial Placement

Jeremy started first for the second game in a row, and having seen Ben pull off the win with Imperial Balkania last time, chose that faction. He deliberately placed his HQ in Western Australia in order to (a) claim a continent as easily as possible, and (b) ensure Ben could not place his HQ in his Major City of Bento in Eastern Australia.

Mark took Khan Industries with its one unit bonus per controlled territory with an HQ, and claimed Eastern United States.

Trent was third and chose The Saharan Republic, starting them off in Brazil.

Nathan, having played as Die Mechaniker in Game 1 decided upon a change and chose Enclave of the Bear as his faction. That was enough change for the time being though, as the familiarity of northern Asia called to Nathan, and he settled in Yakutsk.

That left Ben with Die Mechaniker, and he chose the haven of Great Britain from which to launch his empire.

 Initial Placement

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Round 1

The war then began with Jeremy taking Australia (losing only two troops to the Bento resistance) and leaving the bulk of his army in Southeast Asia, allowing him to take his first card.

Not wishing to lose any troops of his own, Mark left the minor city of B.F.I. in Eastern United States alone and settled in the territories around it.

Trent also started cautiously as the desert people took control of Peru and Argentina. Perhaps the ammo shortage scar in Venezuela turned him off from taking the continent too early.

Nathan then made the boldest move of the first round. With his eyes on the prize of the 3-coin Siberia card on the sideboard, he mobilised the Enclave army and marched them from Yakutsk though Alaska and Alberta and launched an attack on Mark’s troops in Ontario. The attack was successful, and Nathan maneuvered  back to Alberta while basking in the glow of a plan well executed... Except for one small, teensy weensy flaw. He’d forgotten to claim Siberia. With no spare troops left in Yakutsk to cross the border, the Siberia card remained on the sideboard taunting him.

Ben then took the final turn of round one. The red army of Die Mechaniker claimed Southern Europe and Iceland, then moved on in to North America via Greenland. But Ben wasn’t done yet; he smelled blood. With Nathan’s Enclave having battled Mark’s Khan Industries, Ben also wanted a piece of the action, He became Ontario’s third owner for the round and then retreated to Greenland.

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Round 2

That was just the start of the North American conflict. After Jeremy shot north through Asia to snaffle the Siberia card, Mark reinforced his North American holdings and retook war-torn Ontario for the resource card.

Trent then tried to get in on the North American action as well, but just like in Game 1, the Saharan Republic had trouble overrunning the bunker in Central America. Trent did finally claim that territory from Mark’s Khan Industries, but not without taking significant casualties.

Nathan was up next, and decided to conquer...wait for it...Ontario! Not content with sitting there, the Enclave of the Bear upped the anti again and attacked the Khan Industries HQ in Eastern United States. The attack was successful giving Nathan his second HQ and therefore third star of the game. 

The weakened Khan Industries were left with just three troops in Quebec, and keen to open the first secret envelope for eliminating a player, Ben thought he could do so by defeating Mark’s Quebecers. He did so, and took Mark’s only resource card, but unfortunately the rules state that a player is only eliminated if they have no legal starting territory to place their troops in at the start of their next turn. As there were still empty territories on the board, Mark lived to fight another day, and the envelope remained sealed, much to everyone's disappointment.

When his next turn began, Mark contemplated where his four troops would start. Despite Africa remaining relatively untouched, Mark couldn’t abandon his claim to North America, so Khan Industries started out anew in the previously unclaimed Northwest Territory and took a little revenge on the Enclave by claiming Alaska.

The blood continued to be spilled in North America as Trent attempted to take Eastern United States (and the former Khan HQ) from Nathan, but his attack was repelled.

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Mid Game

While all this action was taking place in North America, Jeremy continued to spread across Asia and Africa unchecked, and claimed his fourth resource card of the game without having initiated a single attack.

You probably won't believe this, but Ontario then changed hands for the umpteenth time in the game, this time being reclaimed by its original occupants controlled by Mark. Mark refrained from trying to retake his HQ however.

This was a wise decision as The Saharan Republic also had their eyes on the prize, and they took over control of Eastern United States from Enclave of the Bear. This put Trent into the lead with three red stars.

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End Game

Despite Nathan claiming a few northern Asian territories from Jeremy, and Ben settling the whole of Europe, nothing was going to stop Jeremy. The Purple Tide’s game plan was executed flawlessly, and the first turn of the fifth round brought Game 2 to a close.

End of Round 4

Jeremy traded in his four resource cards for a star, and then placed his seven starting troops in Japan. From there he strolled through Kamchatka into Yakutsk and claimed his fourth Red Star by conquering the three troops defending the Enclave of the Bear HQ.

Victory! 

For his victor’s reward, Jeremy decided to name the former Australian continent. The continent would henceforth be known as Halitosia. The Minor Cities of Brass Monkey (Alaska) and Potville (Eastern Europe) were also founded, the Brazil card gained a third coin, and the Siberia card gained its fourth coin.

Risk Legacy - Session Report - Game 1 (no spoilers)

Well here I am back up the vacuum thingy after a lengthy hiatus with a series of session reports for Risk Legacy. Due to the nature of the game, there will be spoilers, but not for the first few games.

Date: Friday April 20, 2012
Location: Trent’s house

Turn Order and Faction:

1. Jeremy - The Saharan Republic
2. Trent - Khan Industries
3. Ben - Imperial Balkania
4. Mark - Enclave of the Bear
5. Nathan - Die Mechaniker

The game sat sealed on the table at Trent’s house, with the players appreciating the box and anticipating the goodness that lay within. Then the game was opened and the minimalist board was revealed, ready to be adorned with stickers and scribbles, and to play host to war.

The game was set up, the extra money allocated to twelve random territories, and each Faction received a random starting power.

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Initial Placement

The Commanders were now ready to begin. The dice were rolled, and a 6 from Jeremy gave him the honour of being the first to choose a race and a starting location. He chose the Fremen Saharan Republic who had the ability to take their manoeuvre action at any time during their turn. The eight starting units were placed with their HQ in Argentina,  a strategic choice that would hopefully allow easy capture of South America and give the versatility of expanding into North America or Africa. Jeremy would find out that things were not going to pan out quite as he had hoped.

Trent sat to Jeremy’s left and was the next to choose. He took control of the blue/grey armies of Khan Industries and ambitiously set up his base in Great Britain. Khan Industries’ power would allow Trent to place on additional troop in each territory he controlled with an HQ. 

With the easily defended south eastern continent still up for grabs, Ben could not resist placing his Imperial Balkania in Eastern Australia. With the special ability of collecting a card for expanding to four or more territories, Ben sought to take an early lead in the quest to earn red stars.

Ben was followed by Mark who, whether because they were in his favourite colour of green, or because he just had a Dothraki fetish, chose the Enclave of the Bear. Mark placed his HQ in Alaska with an obvious eye to settling North America, but also allowing easy access to Asia. Mark was also hoping to benefit from the Enclave’s power that allowed instant conquest of a territory if he rolled a natural three of a kind and defeated at least one enemy troop. Unfortunately, with such low odds of rolling three of a kind (approximately 1 in 62) Mark was to be the only player who did not get to use his faction’s power during the game. 

Nathan was the last in line, and faced with a choice of Die Mechaniker or Die Mechaniker, he wisely chose Die Mechaniker. With only the continents of Africa and Asia without an HQ, Nathan chose to place his troops in Siberia. While of no real benefit through the early to mid game, the red team’s power of a fortified HQ (giving +1 to both defensive dice) would prove valuable in the late game.

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Round 1

The first turns panned out pretty much as expected. Jeremy took all of South America as well as North Africa to allow for future expansion in to Africa, his faction’s natural home. Trent split his forces between Northern, Southern, and Western Europe, already worried about the potential threat of the sand people.

Ben claimed the Australian continent and placed the bulk of his army in Southeast Asia, allowing him to claim the game’s first Resource card for expanding to four territories. Mark then pushed east and west from Alaska taking Northwest Territory, Alberta and Kamchatka. Finally Nathan split his troops between Yakutsk, Irkutsk, and Ural.

End of Round 1 

(And I'll just add my apologies now for the low quality of some of the pics in this and future session reports)

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Round 2

The Saharan Republic aren’t a greedy bunch, and were content to move into Central America while reinforcing the deserts of North Africa. Unfortunately, the paranoid and greedy Khan Industries weren’t too happy with their southern opponents sitting just across the Mediterranean, and initiated the first aggression of the game.

Not only that, but Trent pulled out the first scar of the game: an ammunition shortage which he placed in North Africa. With his high die roll reduced by one, Jeremy’s unfortunate Saharans were decimated, leaving him with no eastern defence. Trent took full advantage of this and moved in to Brazil to deny Jeremy the continental bonus. 

The Saharan Republic’s HQ in Argentina was ripe for the taking with only one unit defending it, but Trent did not wish to risk further depletion of his forces, and left his units in Brazil.

Khan Industries take Brazil. The Saharan Republic plots revenge.

Quietly content to see battles taking place elsewhere, Imperial Balkania spread themselves across southern Asia, earning Ben another Resource card. 

Meanwhile an agreement was forming between the Enclave of the Bear and Die Mechaniker. Mark withdrew all bar one of his troops from Kamchatka, and a non-aggression pact was made between Kamchatka and Alaska. The two new friends thus continued expanding into their own continents.

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Round 3

The Saharans then had their revenge and retook Brazil. It was not a pretty battle, and both sides paid dearly for this war. Khan Industries licked its wounds and decided that consolidating its hold on Europe may well be the better option.

This continued to be good news for Ben’s faction as he continued to spread into unclaimed territories in Africa and gain another card without having to engage in battle.

Eyeing the continental bonus for North America, Mark’s Bears pushed southward, and decided to take Central America from Jeremy’s beleaguered Saharans. Despite placing a bunker in Central America, the Saharans defences were once again overwhelmed. Jeremy not only lost control of Central America but also suffered the indignity of another ammunition shortage scar played against him in Venezuela, losing his continental bonus once more.

Left mostly alone in northern Asia, Die Mechaniker quietly continued to amass troops. Confined to just a few territories, Nathan wasn’t seen as much of a threat by the other players - a fact he was using to his advantage.

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Mid Game

The mid game settled into a semi routine. Mark claimed North America; Trent claimed Europe and also became the first player to trade in four cards for a red star; Jeremy kept losing the bulk of his troops to either Mark or Trent;  Ben continued to reap the advantage of troop bonuses from holding so many territories as no other player wished to make themselves vulnerable by taking out Ben’s thinly spread troops; Nathan continued to trade Mongolia with Ben, build up his forces, and cajole the other players (rather successfully) into waging war upon each other.

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End Game

Then the end game was upon the world.

The first major push to attempt to win the game was Trent’s. Except he didn’t realise it. He decided that he wanted to deprive Mark of the North American bonus, and pushed into Greenland. With three red stars in his possession (two star tokens plus his HQ in Great Britain), Trent only needed to capture one more HQ. All he had to do to win the game was take his ten or so troops in North Africa and defeat Jeremy’s two units in Brazil and one unit in Argentina. 

But he didn’t. Being too worried about defending Europe and not seeing the game ending move right in front of him, Trent ended his turn.

This proved to be a great relief to all the other players, and to Nathan in particular. There was a good chance he was about to take the win on his next turn. He was planning to trade four cards in for a red star and then break his treaty with Mark by taking the bulk of the Die Mechaniker army across to Alaska to capture the Enclave of the Bear’s HQ.

However this also failed to pan out when Nathan’s plan was unwittingly thwarted when he was attacked by Ben.

Trent may still have had a chance to win on his next turn, but the Saharan Republic were not going to be defeated so easily. Jeremy traded in seven coins on his next turn to claim 17 bonus troops to go with the 3 regular reinforcements and the 2 bonus troops for holding South America. Most of those 22 troops went into Brazil, and with blood on their minds, the Saharans engaged in a bloody war for North Africa, ending Khan Industries’ immediate chance of victory.

From then on almost every turn saw one faction or anther have a tilt at victory. Mark’s Bears pushed into Europe through Iceland and then captured Trent’s HQ in Great Britain. Mark’s influence could go no further however, as he was unable to break the Saharan's hold on Venezuela.  

Other than Trent, Ben was the only other player to trade in cards for a red star, so he too was seeking just one more HQ to conquer. The path of least resistance was through Africa to South America, but he failed in his bid to conquer Jeremy in North Africa.

Trent recaptured Great Britain and looked to the red menace in the east. The battle for Siberia became perhaps the most one sided large battle of the game. Die Mechaniker’s faction bonus kicked in big time. Not only adding one to both defensive dice, but having the added bonus of a bunker in Siberia, Nathan’s troops cleaned up the attackers with ease.

The game could not last forever though, and Ben finally managed to put together enough troops to take North Africa from Jeremy before pushing through the token resistance in Brazil and Argentina and capture the Saharan Republic’s HQ, thereby earning his fourth star and victory.

Victory!

It was most definitely a hard fought game that had plenty of chances for victory. It was Ben, though, who became the first to sign his name on the board. For his prize he chose to found the Major City of Bento in Eastern Australia. 

As all other players held on, each chose a lesser prize as well. Jeremy and Mark chose to add Minor Cities to the board (Jezeru in Peru, and (B.F.I (don’t ask) in Western United States), while Trent and Nathan chose to add a third resource sticker to two of the Territory cards (Great Britain and Siberia respectively).

All players throughly enjoyed the game and no doubt learned a thing or two about the mechanics of Risk Legacy. Expect a tougher battle for the world in Game 2.