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Game Report: Andy S, Andy T, Tom & Ben
Have we been looking forward to this! Not only has it been ages since we've found time to actually play the game, but tonight marks the first game on a proper set with no home-made elements whatsoever. And what a lovely, shiny, smooth, newly-printed treat it is.
The board is set up and the original WoT triumvirate - the Andies and Tom - take a moment to drool over the cards, money and other game elements. Ben looks worried. It's not even started yet.
Ben gets to lay his starting villages first, spreading them out across the globe. Andy S next, sensing Ben - as fresh blood - would be easy pickings, places his villages next to Ben's. Tom goes for Nowhere and Asia, while Andy T cannot resist getting aggressive straight away and tries to outnumber Andy S in N.America.
Andy T also turns evil very early on, earning him some valuable terrorist cards. Unfortunately, as soon as he can, he uses his new terrorist influence to destroy Andy S's barely upright-walking culture in N.America. A town and a village fall, but the next go, Andy S puts some war cards to good use and chases Mr T out of his home continent.
In his excitement, Ben managed to overlook the Falkland IslandsSmarting, but not defeated, Andy T concentrates on populating Africa and Australia instead, while Tom and Ben quietly get on with the relatively peaceful business of Empire building.
Both Ben and Tom get a thirst for development and cities start springing up in Asia and S.America. A lucky oil gush makes Andy T an instant billionaire, while Andy S isn't going anywhere fast, hindered by a regime change in Egypt and a terrorist attack in Libya. Shortly after, Tom flushes Andy S out of Saudi Arabia and Iraq and so leaving Andy S with one village in the Balkans, sandwiched by three empires - a crucial buffer to world peace.
But not for long. The Balaclava of Evil gets passed round to Tom, then Andy S, then Ben, each wreaking their own special brand of terror.
Suddenly Ben seems to wake up to the point of the game and turns nasty. He decides he wants S.America for himself and funds some terrorist activities in Columbia to make sure of it. Then in the same go, quite arbitrarily, he decides to drop 'The Bomb' on the centre of Tom's business district in Afghanistan. Nasty business. Luckily Tom has a nuclear bunker and the attack is foiled.
A moment of particular tension follows when Ben, holding a terrorist column, hovering over Asia, can't quite decide where to place it. Each move seems to have a thousand possible outcomes, none of them good. "It's too mental", he declares and decides against the move altogether. Ben, you haven't seen anything yet ...
The temptation to ramp up the mental stakes is too much for Andy S who cashes in his chips and turns terrorist, but not before playing the much-feared 'insurgency emergency' card, thus doubling every terrorist unit on the board. Chaos and horror ensue.
It's a bloody mess from that point onwards, but Ben starts to see the temptation in turning terrorist, especially when Andy S convinces him that with some careful planning as a rogue Empire, he could ensure a terrorist win when he turned. To this end, Andy S donates two of his best cards.
What no one expected from a newbie is that he'd take those cards and use them entirely to his own advantage and try and go for glory all on his own. He builds a few cities, declares Europe for himself and bingo! Victory!
But not quite. In his excitement, Ben managed to overlook the Falkland Islands and so hadn't quite conquered S.America, despite the fact that sheep and penguins formed the only resistance on the vital island. But it's the end of his go and he has to save glory for another day.
After Andy T does very little, it's down to Tom - if Andy S can persuade Tom to turn terrorist, then a terrorist victory is well within grasp. Tom's interested, but first he needs to use all his cool cards that he's been saving up for half the game.
So that's why he cleared up some radiation in Peru, and then followed this by dropping a nuclear bomb in Brazil. Ben's devastated. A load of terrorist nasties in Europe and a particularly uncalled-for political kidnap mean that Ben finds himself on the verge of bankruptcy. He caves in and joins the terrorist force, pushing the terrorists to within a point of victory.
While Tom contemplates which mode of torture to use on Andy T, Andy T is busy doing sums and very slowly comes to the realisation that the next person to turn terrorist ensures a terrorist victory, thus resulting in the one remaining Empire losing. Pointing at the board, he ventures, "Hang on, if I turn ..." And just at that moment, Tom declares his intentions to join the dark army.
And that's how the game was won and lost. Three terrorists share the victory and Andy T, the sole Empire, a very sorry loser.
A classic game. Everyone was evil. Terrorist hi-jinks. Stupid secret messages. Back-stabbing a-plenty. And asses laughed well and truly off. Ben declaring at regular intervals 'I can't believe you've made this thing I'm playing'...
And now, my friends, we give it to you...
Posted by TerrorBull Games on 13 October 2006 - 0 comments