Pax Pamir, Languish PBEM

[Tamas]

I, for one, am looking forward to a rematch, now that I have at least a faint idea of what I am supposed to do

I kinda' miss playing Pax Porfiriana though. Overall less abstract.

I am also very curious about Pax Reness..ain..ce well you know which one I mean.

[Berkut]

We plaved Pax Ren at NBW a bit. Habs absolutely loves it, and I can see why.

It is really, really, REALLY driven by the need to understand a lot of pretty clever interactions between options. The path to winning is really well obfuscated behind some neat mechanics, like all these Pax games, but even moreso.

I am kind of torn on it. I think it is a really well done game, but I am not sure I find it nearly as fun as Habbaku does...

[celedhring]

Yeah, I'm looking forward another round now that I'm starting to understand how it works under the hood.

But well, the game isn't over yet, is it?

[Berkut]

Not at all....

[Solmyr]

As far as I can tell, I pretty much have to get 1 more influence AND change the regime, or else Habs will win?

Also, I think we forgot to apply Failed Topple rules for the last one?

And also, when you purchase a card from the market, I assume you first have to have enough rupees in your stash to do it, even if you get some back from the purchased card?

[Berkut]

No, you just have to change the regime, then buy the topple card so it fails.

I think the play is just buy and play Pomegrante Orchards, which will change us to Political Instability, which nobody wins.

Habs would then have to get something to change the current VP count, or change to another regime, AND buy the topple card to win, which I don't think he can do...

[Berkut]

And yes, you cannot use rupees on the card to pay for the card.

[Solmyr]

There's still rule H4:

H4. Failed Topple.
(H4.1) An unsuccessful Topple results in a purge, unless it is the final Topple.
(H4.2) Remove all but one cube and cylinder of each color from every map Location and Connection. Afghan Empire Cylinders are not removed.
(H4.3) Starting with the player to the left of the one who triggered the topple (and proceeding clockwise), players must cull their Tableau. A player may only have one card of each Mode. Cards in excess of this limit are taken into a player's hand (which may exceed hand size). Leveraged Cards taken back into player's hands must be paid for as if they were discarded. Spies on cards taken into a player's hand are returned to their owner's pool of unused cubes. Players may then freely discard any cards in their hand.
(H4.4) Reminder: Hand Size is ONLY used to determine whether or not a card can be taken from the Market during the purchase action(E3).

We didn't do that after last Topple, guess we forgot? Presumably this will be done after this Topple if it fails.

[Solmyr]

Anyway, I ask Cel to let me play Pomegranate Orchards in Kandahar for free. In return I will let you play Jean-Francois Allard in Persia for free, which you will probably need to do because Habs can easily change the regime back to Economic Boom on his turn.

[celedhring]

Solmyr-Khan's tribe is rich beyond measure, I'm sure they will find in themselves to contribute a mere 1 rupee to their pauper Afghan brothers if they want to set up a plantation in Kandahar.

[Habbaku]

We didn't miss a failed Topple because, to my recollection, there was no Topple.  It was at the front of the row of the market and cycled off.  That is not the same as a failed Topple--it just didn't trigger.

There's still rule H4:

H4. Failed Topple.
(H4.1) An unsuccessful Topple results in a purge, unless it is the final Topple.
(H4.2) Remove all but one cube and cylinder of each color from every map Location and Connection. Afghan Empire Cylinders are not removed.
(H4.3) Starting with the player to the left of the one who triggered the topple (and proceeding clockwise), players must cull their Tableau. A player may only have one card of each Mode. Cards in excess of this limit are taken into a player's hand (which may exceed hand size). Leveraged Cards taken back into player's hands must be paid for as if they were discarded. Spies on cards taken into a player's hand are returned to their owner's pool of unused cubes. Players may then freely discard any cards in their hand.
(H4.4) Reminder: Hand Size is ONLY used to determine whether or not a card can be taken from the Market during the purchase action(E3).

We didn't do that after last Topple, guess we forgot? Presumably this will be done after this Topple if it fails.

[Solmyr]

Ah, okay.

1. Purchase Pomegranate Orchards for 2 rupees.
2. Play Pomegranate Orchards in Kandahar, pay 1 rupee to Cel. Regime changes to Political Fragmentation.

With the recent string of assassinations and disrupted trade in the regions, the chieftains of Kandahar decide to go back to the land, selling the local pomegranates to Russian and Persian merchants.

Over to Habs, who will probably find a way to win somehow.

[Tamas]

so if unsuccessful Topple is not automatic whenever a Topple card leaves play, does that mean that people in general behind the race would want to buy the Topple card when it'd be unsuccessful, to force a reset of the board, so to speak?

[Berkut]

so if unsuccessful Topple is not automatic whenever a Topple card leaves play, does that mean that people in general behind the race would want to buy the Topple card when it'd be unsuccessful, to force a reset of the board, so to speak?

Indeed...

[Habbaku]

With the country's former economic miracle having temporarily passed due to breakdowns in peace talks, the Russian Empire has no choice but to send in more soldiers to protect its...investment.  The famous Ark of Bukhara is occupied by forward detachments with the advice of local potentates and shall serve as a base for the Imperial soldiery.

First Action: Purchase Ark of Bukhara from the market for 2.
Second Action: Play Ark of Bukhara to my left side.  1 Russian army to Transcaspian.  Move the army in Kabul to allow placement.
Free Action (Ranjit Singh): Tax Punjab.  Take 1 Rupee from Anarkali Bazaar in the market and 1 rupee from Henry Rawlinson in the market.
Free Action (Ark of Bukhara): Tax Transcaspian.  Take 2 Rupees from Solmyr.

At the end of my turn, I have to purge since I'm over my tableau limit.  I'll remove Helmand River Gold.

Over to Celedhring.