Lancaster is a worker placement game with a wealth of opportunities to screw over your opponents. If that isn’t enough to get your dander up it’s got a lovely theme (raising Knights, fighting the evil French and more importantly each other) and it’s beautifully constructed. The game features a stack of solid wooden pieces. I dare say if your game collection caught fire Lancaster would burn the longest…..
The unburnt version of the game sees up to five noble families moving through three phases five times to gain as much favor (score) as possible with the King. “Hey look at me King! No hands”.

  
Like most worker placement games you compete to build your economy and score points. You have a number of options in this regard. Your pool of Knights which start weak and few can be increased and upgraded and placed worker style on either your home castle spots for some safe but small economic rewards, on the castles on the English map for better rewards but a competitive environment or off in France to score favour points from the king risking getting tied up there or worse still captured and ransomed. 
The central map is clever. Each castle of which there’s ten or so give you rewards in the shape of nobles and/or some economic rewards. The nobles when claimed come to your castle and like an elderly relative never leave. These well to dos give you more voting power for the next phase

  
Parliament phase sees players either voting in new laws or keeping the ones in place at the moment. The laws consist of things like the player with the most squires gets a free knight. For every three nobles you have you get some kings favor. Person with most Knights at war gets some points and so on. The trick here is to keep laws in place that suit you and block ones that favor others. Just like real life. 
The last phase then is resolution where the Knights pay out on what they’ve claimed and the Knights come home. Except for those Knights who didn’t win their battles in France they get stuck out there and have to continue fighting next round. 

  
Another thing that has to be mentioned is the squires. These guys add to the strength of the knight when pushing another knight out of a spot on the map. The only thing is. If they later themselves get pushed out of a claimed spot by an even bigger Knight and his entourage they bugger off back to general supply leaving you to clean your own armoires trousers. The central map is nearly always contested and getting all the Knights on there is like trying to squeeze everything into a Ryanair overhead locker. Going early and late into a fight and figuring out what squires a player has behind their screen is key. Blow your wad to early and your done. Let someone muscle in and not have enough force to dislodge them later well, your done too. 
There’s a wealth of paths to winning the game. Every single point is hard earned. Every move is a brain burner and the important lessons of anticipation and disappointment are relearned every turn. 
I really like this game. The pieces are lovely and solid. The rules are straightforward. The theme is good. It’s close run, there’s always a way of winning if you can just find it…. I didn’t. But I didn’t come last. By one point! A victory of sorts. Will have it at Knavecon 7 on the 30th of April
Huzzah!
Vic 

Gamers, Painters, Modellers lend me your ears.  MrSaturday aka David Stafford has shown me his latest project.  The very sweet Pantheon of Chaos which is now in Kickstater.

Pantheon of chaos is a throw back to the good old days of gaming (which are still here) where players controlled mighty Chaos Warbands and spent their time roaming around beating seven shades out of lesser unfortunate Chaos Warbands.

The group of modellers putting the warriors together really know their stuff.  I particularly like “Arkus the Vengeful” who’s chaos patron has a black sense of humour.

SO. Check it out.

Pantheon of Chose

  
Splendor reminds me of Quake 3. It was a lovely slick engine in need of a good game. I’ve had Splendor for a long time now (in gamer time) and it occasionally gets wheeled out. Particularly when non gamer relatives call. 
I’ve spoken about this game before and like a number of other games that people rave about I’ve never really gotten it. That’s fine I don’t get lots of popular things it’s part of the reason I’m a gamer. 

  
Splendor is a game of theme tacked on gem dealing where you are trying to build up your economy and get to 15 points before the others do. (Bloody others and their ways). You buy gems of five different colours. Diamonds, sapphires, rubys, emeralds and brown ones each of which cost you coins of these same colours. In a turn you can buy stuff, draw some coins or reserve a cards and claim a joker.
Buying is simple, pay the cost and take your gem. Each gem card has a purchase cost of this many of this colour, this many of that colour and so on. You can pay for it through a mix of multi coloured jokers (gold), coins in hand and gems you’ve already bought. Each of the previously bought gems add an ambient value but never actually get spent. Some of the more expensive gems come with a score value so collect enough of these and you’re well on your way to getting to the 15 point finish line. Another complication is the Royal gem whores (or whatever they’re called) who once you’ve assembled particular combos of gems will visit and never leave like a bathroom smell. They each add 3 points to your score so getting them in your camp is key. 

  
You see since I first played this game I’ve learned a bit about its nuisances. This is a race game. Every single move counts and cock blockery abounds. Well it does with two or three players if you’re keeping an eye on your opponents (but you’re not because you’re self centered and only think of yourself). With four players it’s a lot more random and strategy goes out the window. 
This game will click with a certain mindset. That said it’s often a close race and has that “i would have won if I had one more turn” vibe going on which is always great. 
I don’t know what it is about this game. It’s just short of being a really really good game. It’s missing that one dash of magic sauce and it would be a classic. Maybe it’s me (it’s not) but ill happily play it but not in preference to a whole lot else. Curse me and my sophisticated tastes
Huzzah
Vic 

  
It’s back. It’s bigger. It’s badder. The Grand Knavecon raffle returns once again for Knavecon 7. Kicking it off we have something rather special to win. 

A deluxe copy of Galeforce 9s new game WWE Showdown with…. Pro painted models of the wrestlers!

Those of you who are members of the Ireland’s Gaming Community group on Facebook will know the prolific painter John Wickham. John foolishly agreed to owe me a favor recently for something and quickly figured the best way to pay it off (and avoid any inevitably unpleasantness) was a small painting commission. 

He’s nearly one model down and it’s looking sweet. For your chance to win this unique prize you owe it to yourself to enter our raffle. 

Full details on how to enter to follow (yes yes same as last time)

Huzzah!

Vic 

  
It’s time to revisit Forbidden Stars since I’m still very much in love with the game. My forbidden love for forbidden stars if you will. 
It’s not often I want to pamper a game by buying my own copy, painting the models, carefully protecting them and getting doped up tokens for it… Ok, well, I’ve done the first but I’ve strongly thought about the others. 
Forbidden stars is a game that just keeps giving. It’s expensive but it’s well worth the price. It’s just so good. I’ve had the pleasure of playing a dozen games of it and I still like it as much as the first time I played it. If anything it’s gotten better. It ticks all the boxes. Map conquest, random map, variety of races that all play differently, brilliant theme that’s not just tacked on, nice models, meaty, brutal, desperate. There’s very few games I’ll play over and over again without wanting a change. 

  
If you’ve not read my earlier gushing review of it. It’s set in the 40k universe and sees four players take on the roles of chaos (all out attack), orks (tough as old boots), eldar (weak but dodgy), space marines (balanced) and set out to recover a set number of relics belonging to you before the others get theirs. These relics are placed by your opponents usually as far away from your guys bases as possible. The map setup is slick with a number of strategic decisions required from the off. The game sees you constantly re evaluating your strategy. It’s an object lesson on how plans go out the window when faced by the enemy. 
As for enemies there is no pretense of alliances. I have objectives to claim and you’re in my way. Step aside. Actually .. Don’t. Occasionally. Very occasionally you’ll “co operate” with others if it’s to your advantage but it’s rare. It’s so 40k. It’s all war. All the time. 

   
Battles are nicely done and it’s not just down to bring as many guns as you can and you win. Every race fights differently. Be prepared. You can improve your punch by upgrading your battle cards. Actually there’s so much to spend your limited resources on it becomes a tough set of choices each turn. Choices abound, you find yourself spreading it about building your resource base, your forces, upgrading your guys, defending, attacking, foiling another players plans, the list is endless. 
A special mention of order sequence must be made. You place your orders face down on sectors and it’s possible to stack one on top of the other. These are then revealed and resolved in reverse order. More importantly opponents can stick THEIR order over yours and (as I’ve seen all too often) change your brilliantly drawn up plan into a mitigated disaster. 
I could go on and on about the keen minis, the high quality pieces and so on but I won’t. I urge you to try it out. I’ll have at least one copy at Knavecon and I reckon it could be the game of the con. You mark my words. 
Huzzah!
Vic 

  
They say you can never go back. They (whomever they are) are often right. Heroquest is just such a beast. Unlike Space Crusade you realize pretty quickly that you wasted your youth playing this game. Ok maybe not just this. Don’t get me wrong at the time it was good fun but it’s aimed squarely at younger players. I mean just look at the gurning 80s kids on the box. 
  
Heroquest is a basic fantasy dungeon bash featuring plastic miniatures. Everything you need is in the box and the rules are very straightforward. This is heaven for younger players. My kids love it. If you’re even a passable Dungeon Master you can entertain children by bigging up the story. More importantly this is a gateway game to a whole world of adventure. 

  
The game sees up to four brave heroes, Barbarian (good attack), dwarf (tough and slow), wizard (powerful attacks weak Defence), elf (ranged attack and good with colours) set off into surprisingly well finished dungeons to have at it with the overlord and his dastardly plans. 
The overlord is played by one player who takes control of the monsters and reveals the dungeon as players open doors. It’s good fun. I alway like being the overlord. I don’t need to justify myself. 
The game is exactly what you would expect. Kill monsters. Grab gold. Buy better kit. Repeat. That’s fine. It’s McDonnells. The game comes with around a dozen missions and they’re all good fun, not that you’ll play them all because your gaming ADHD will kick in three missions in and you’ll find something else. 

 
Again be warned this is a simple game if you’re a more seasoned gamer look to Descent 2 or Imperial Assault for a more grown up experience. 

 
All in all a nice slice of nostalgia and if you get it for a good price go with. it’s become more rare surprisingly for a mass market game and fetches quite a high price now. That said it’s chock a block with plastic (jelly baby ish) models so it’s a big un. Tell you what. I’ll have it at the next Knavecon, so if you want to try it let me know

 
Huzzah!

 
Vic 

  
I like Scotland Yard. I like letters from White chapel and I like Fury of Dracula. I also now like spectre ops. 
Spectre ops sees one character (the op) trying to infiltrate a high tech complex and counting coup in five different zones then egressing like a panda. The op is invisible to the four defending players (whom I can only assume have restricted zoolander style vision) and must use their special abilities to hunt down and eliminate the intruder.  

  
The op (there’s a choice of four different flavorsof agent. All with different mad skillz) moves secretly on gridded paper on a map of 200+ locations. The controlling player has to indicate if the op moves into the vision of the defenders who can only see in straight lines in the same way as bomber man’s bombs explode. 
The defenders are a rum bunch all with interesting abilities. The wolfman dude can move half distance and “sniff” showing up the infiltrator if they’re within five spaces, the gun character is handy with a sniper rifle. The power dude can operate the team vehicle remotely. The team have for access to a zippy car that can zoom them across the map and also has a useful scanner which shows if the operative is north, south, east or west of the car. 

  
When the defenders do corner the operative they can take pot shots at them and try and knock their four life points down to zero. The operative can call on a number of one off cards like smoke grenades and so on to assist them in their rapid stage left exit 

This is a lot of fun with lots of guessing and hunches, sneaky movement and subterfuge. It’s a lot more forgiving than some of its ilk. I had a lot of fun with this game 

It scales nicely with more players. With a full five one of the hunters is secretly a traitor. As you can imagine this is music to my ears and sadly when I played I was neither op nor traitor but I’m going to play again. Oh yes. 
Spectre ops is quick. More so if the op is crap (ha ha). It’s straight forward to learn. It’s actually a lot of fun being a hunter as well as the hunted. It’s pretty cheap. It’s got nice paintable models. Nice artwork and a good theme. I like it. More of this sort of thing. Let’s have a game at Knavecon
Huzzah!
Vic 

  
The problem with Blood Rage is the models. They’re just too Damn good not to paint and if you’ve neither the inclination or the skillz to paint them it will kill you every time you take out the game. I luckily didn’t suffer from that “bare guilt” as it wasn’t my copy and it was also very nicely painted
Bloodrage is a bit like Kemet or indeed the platinum horde it’s all about the kill burn pillage! The end is nigh so time to go out with a bang or indeed multiple concussive bangs and smoother yourself in as much glory as you can

  
Only one problem, there’s a number of other teams trying to do it better than you in a sort of Valhallal xfactor. 
Blood Rage sees you all starting with a troop of basic dudes and a captain as well as a supporting ship. The boys have got base stats and through pillaging and the use of some cards you can up one or more of the three stars. Rage (how many action points you start with), axes (how glorious your victories become and how much glory each is worth) and helmets, how many of your dudes can show their bearded face on the map at one time. A pop cap if you will

  
Rage is effectively gold and in each of the three rounds you start with a certain amount. You can use rage to buy in troops, pay for certain cards to execute or March your boys around in a menacing way
Axes are glory or score. Doing stuff like winning battles, completing quests and being in the wrong place when ragnaroh hits will earn you glory. Most glory wins game. Ugh. Hulk smash

  
The map is tight, with only a half dozen locations each with room for a limited amount (3-5) of troops to stand. The center of the map is limitless and is very much the equivalent of a chipper after chucking out time. There’s going to be a fight there pretty much guaranteed and it’s going to be epic. On top of that the map is shrinking….. ragnarok (a type of attic insulation) is falling from the sky and each round (three in total) another region is going to be off limits and everyone left there will be rubbed out (in a bad way)
The one thing I didn’t mention was the card drafting. There are a number of Gods all up in your fighting business and they assist through different cards. At the start each player gets a stack of cards drawn from the current age and picks one and passes it left. Repeat this until you have a full hand. (it’s what we call drafting). These cards give you pluses in fights, missions which when completed can be cashed in for score and a few other nasties, instants and permanent effects. Its hard to know how balanced they are, likewise the monsters but time will tell. Some like the fire giant are murderers.  Battles are fast and brutal. But don’t worry dying is no bad thing as long as it’s honorable and more importantly scoreable

  
It’s fast. You can be done and dusted in an hour which is excellent for this type of game. There’s a definite urge to play again and you will need to to learn its nuisances. 
All in all thumbs up. Fun game. Good strategic elements. Gorgeous models (painting assumed). Good design. Like it. Like it a lot
Huzzah!
Vic 

Hardcore Skull and Roses

O.K. here’s the plan. I spoke before about a custom game for Knavecon 7.  If you remember the last one we did Love Letter but with pictures of various gamers as the cards.  I have another plan (never a good thing). Hardcore Skull and Roses….

Skull or Skull and Roses is an easy to learn, poker ish, psychological game.  It’s also very simple to create.  Here’s what I need you to do

Submit a picture you would as your Skull, i.e. the card that screws people over when you turn it over

MrSaturday will work his photoshop magic upon it and upon arriving at the con you will receive your own custom pack of four beer mats with your skull card lovingly stuck to the back of one of them.

You will then join with the others whom have done the same and at a set time we will play hardcore Skull and Roses.

Hardcore you say? Why yes insofar as you will be gambling your set of four cards.  The last remaining players in the event will get to keep not only their set of four cards but the pick of five other sets they have defeated thus getting them an exclusive and unique Skull deck.

There will be a nominal fee of €5 to cover entry to the competition, production of your card set, photoshopping, administration and various outstanding debts to bookies and mobsters.

So… who’s game?

  
Series 6 of Game of Thrones is coming in April. Entirely unrelated we played Game of Thrones for the first time in well over a year. Maybe two. 
This is a game that’s been around for a while. In a lot of ways it’s a sacred cow of games. The IBM, the Volvo. Solid. Well formed and we found to our surprise a bit more boring than I remembered

  
Game of thrones is an area control map conquest game based on the world and map of Westeros. You control one of the six families from GOTs and compete to be the first to control eight castles or part there of by turn 10. 
Each turn firstly sees a series of event cards happening which will elevate and possibly kick off a dangerous wildling attack. 

  
Then it’s planning, where you put action tokens secretly on your troops. These actions can be move/attack (obvious), support another armies attack or Defence, defend, raid (screw up someone else’s support or raid) or consolidate power (gain political power tokens). 
All tokens are revealed and one by one they’re resolved by each player. It’s sort of like winding up the board and having it slowly unwind. This is where all the stabby stabby happens. 

Political power tokens are a useful currency for bidding for control of the iron throne (adjudicates on draws), the valerian sword (turn order and +1 attack value) and the Raven (allows a change or orders and dictates how many special actions a family can take)

  
It’s a nice game, the theme is… Fine. None of the participants actually feel like the books or the series. It could as easily be Elsa from Frozen as much as John Snow in a battle. There’s no variety outside of their starting positions. The problem I have with this game is not that it’s a bad game (it’s a good game) it’s that more refined versions of this style of game have come out since it’s release. Forbidden Stars is a much better beast. If you combined the rules of forbidden with this setting you’d have an amazing game. As it stands it’s a fine and venerable old warhorse that’s being superseded by newer sharper kids. That said I have a soft spot for it so it’s not going to disappear from my collection anytime soon
Huzzah!
Vic