Figured I'd start a thread to consolidate and ensure people are on board.
So far, we have myself, bogh, and Celedhring signed up. The game can support two more in order to make a total mess of Afghanistan.
Vassal module is here: https://obj.vassalengine.org/images/8/88/Pax_Pamir_2nd_edition-1-61-2.vmod
Rules are here: https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/174408/rulebook-pax-pamir-second-edition
I figure we're looking at a 24 hour response time when a player is up in order to keep the game moving. I am on hand to answer any rules questions, of course, but I think everything is pretty straightforward?
Post now if interested!
I'm in.
I am in, bringing my one game experience to the mix.
As said in the other thread, I am in.
Four's a good number but I'll give it another day to see if someone wants to be our fifth.
Just in case I don't have it, please send me your email (unless Bogh wants to set up an Airtable page?).
I can certainly do a quick Airtable setup if that's preferable? The turn structure is simpler, so it might not be needed?
Do you have room for a fifth? I'm not a heavy grognard but this looks interesting...
Quote from: bogh on November 30, 2021, 02:35:22 PM
I can certainly do a quick Airtable setup if that's preferable? The turn structure is simpler, so it might not be needed?
Probably right that it wasn't needed. Hopefully people will just regularly check the thread and respond to the emails then.
And yes, we have room for a fifth, Beeb! I'll start us up as soon as I receive everyone's emails for file-sharing.
I've sent out the setup file (Solmyr selects loyalty first) to everyone. If you did not receive it, please let me know ASAP and send me your email as well.
I've also attached a screenshot of the opening market for those paying attention at home. If you'd find it interesting (or useful, if you're new to Pamir), I'm more than happy to provide an overview of how I assess the market here.
Good luck!
(https://i.ibb.co/TmkTnnF/Languish-Pamir1.jpg)
I almost forgot I signed up for this! :lol:
Okay, going to go through the manual and things now. Any hand-holding is well appreciated.
Harumph... can't install Vassal on my work computer. WIll do so from home but will limit me to moves at night only - I'll see if maybe I can install on a USB stick to be able to do moves while at work.
When I follow through to the Vassal module it says there is no text?
Edit: at least on my end when I click Hab's link it doesn't pick up the closing bracket, thus leading to a dead link. Just something to watch for. I've got it now.
Quote from: Barrister on December 01, 2021, 01:54:23 PM
I almost forgot I signed up for this! :lol:
Okay, going to go through the manual and things now. Any hand-holding is well appreciated.
Harumph... can't install Vassal on my work computer. WIll do so from home but will limit me to moves at night only - I'll see if maybe I can install on a USB stick to be able to do moves while at work.
When I follow through to the Vassal module it says there is no text?
I've edited the module address. For some reason the link wasn't working! See also, below.
https://obj.vassalengine.org/images/8/88/Pax_Pamir_2nd_edition-1-61-2.vmod
And yes, no worries. Hand-holding is expected here. Night-time only moves aren't a big deal either as long as you can commit to the ~5 minutes it might take you when it's your turn.
Aren't we using a dropbox folder or similar for this? It would be handier, imho.
Yeah, I'll setup an Airtable for it. Stay tuned.
Airtable setup and invites sent out. Should be pretty self explanatory, but hit me up with any questions. Enable email notifications to get an email whenever your turn rolls around.
Thanks, Bogh!
Okay...
So got Vassal working. Looks like it should work fine off a USB key so I think I am not limited to only moves late at night.
So I'm Grey... selected loyalty to the Afghans. Sent the save off to everyone, I think.
But Airtable - kind of escapes me? What is this for?
Sorry excited to play, but not nearly as knowledgeable as some others here.
Don't worry. I am a filthy casual too.
Quote from: Barrister on December 03, 2021, 12:14:02 AM
But Airtable - kind of escapes me? What is this for?
Airtable is where we record our turns and upload the turn file. So when your turn is done, you add a row, upload the file and mark who's next. If that player has email notifications turned on, they will get an email to let them known someone added them as next player up. You can also post here if you want to make sure they see it. This saves us from emailing everybody constantly to make sure they have access to the lastest file.
If you want review someones turn (even if you're not the next player), you can always go and find the file in Airtable - and you can always find the latest file in there to avoid the confusion that can arise if you email the file around. A single source of truth if you will.
Hopefully that makes sense, otherwise let me know and I'll expand as required.
Quote from: Barrister on December 03, 2021, 12:14:02 AM
Okay...
So got Vassal working. Looks like it should work fine off a USB key so I think I am not limited to only moves late at night.
So I'm Grey... selected loyalty to the Afghans. Sent the save off to everyone, I think.
Almost there! I sent some new instructions via email for you.
Sorry I went silent yesterday. Mrs B was out of town with one kid, I was running around all day with the other kids. I sat down at the computer at 11:30pm, tried to make sense of it all, couldn't, and said "fuck it".
I may not yet get my move done tonight (still figuring out both the game and VASSAL), but I am on it.
If you'd like to set up a call during the day or evening, I'm happy to screenshare and walk you through some of the trickier Vassal/PBEM stuff, Beeb.
Your turn again, by the way. :P
I'd be more interested in you would make any suggestions as to what I should do in my move...
I'll see if I can get a move in at lunch (an hour from now).
Gladly!
Your options are really as follows from the way I read the board:
1: Purchase another market card. You have three excellent options here, of varying quality.
1a: Purchase Bukharan Jews. In addition to your first purchase (Maqpon Dynasty), they are also a leveraged card (note the black symbol with scales). Cash is king in Pax Pamir and having increased liquidity is always good. Since the base cost of the card is 0 (as it's in the first market column), it will net you an additional 2 rupees when you play it until you lose the card from your tableau.
1b: Purchase Slave Markets. For the same reason above, it's leveraged, but provides a block and, more importantly perhaps, has the very powerful Tax action on it. Tax actions can always be targeted at players who have a card in their tableau in a region you rule. As this combos very well with Maqpon Dynasty, you will be able to tax anyone that plays cards into Punjab. Even if they don't play into Punjab, you will be able to tax the market, guaranteeing some measure of liquidity.
1c: Purchase Ranjit Singh. This combos very well with Maqpon Dynasty and will virtually guarantee you will rule the Punjab for the rest of the game so long as you protect your tribes and prevent assassination of your rulers. Given that it also grants an army block in the region, you'll be well set up with this. The downside here is that it is somewhat expensive (2 rupees).
2: Play Maqpon Dynasty. Given there are two other Punjab cards on the market, play of this will disincentivize purchase of those cards (as they would have to pay you a rupee per tribe you have in the region as long as you rule it and Maqpon Dynasty provides 1 tribe/rulership in the region). In addition, it's leveraged, providing another 2 rupees in your pockets for later purchases.
Purchased Bukharan Jews. I think that does it.
Yep, all good. Solmyr's up.
From what I can tell actual game play in Vassal seems pretty intuitive. But logging in / logging out is not.
Edit: oh and this confirms I can work off of a USB key at work (during lunch and other breaks of course). :)
Quote from: Barrister on December 06, 2021, 03:06:47 PM
From what I can tell actual game play in Vassal seems pretty intuitive. But logging in / logging out is not.
Edit: oh and this confirms I can work off of a USB key at work (during lunch and other breaks of course). :)
:yeah:
I purchased Ranjit Singh and Mir Murad Beg.
Over to Celedhring.
I purchased two cards. Over to Beeb.
Here is the state of the board/market (since nobody has played anything into their courts yet) at the end turn 1. Pretty exciting.
(https://dl.airtable.com/.attachmentThumbnails/85539907c869425b623e29e73aaddd68/6ce76985)
As a reminder to Beeb/the player after him: note that if the event card is not purchased, it will cycle off at the end of Beeb's turn and trigger the "If Discarded" portion.
Okay, so I don't think I care if the event goes off as nothing is in play in Herat.
How do I go about actually playing a card (Maqpon Dynasty) in Vassal?
Drag and drop to a relevant portion of the board (the dotted line-boundary around the map itself).
Since you're first player, it makes most sense to drop your cards at the very bottom. If you do so, it'll auto-flag the card as your color and make relevant favored suit shifts as well, but you'll have to place the blocks manually (drag and drop onto a dotted-line connection on the map for a road, or into a region for an army).
Experiment!
Okay, so let me know if I uploaded it correctly and if I screwed up my move...
Also forgot to clean up the cards - sorry.
Only thing wrong I see is that you paid for the card you purchased by putting the rupee into the bank instead of sending it to the next market card down the row (Bengal Native Infantry). Easy fix, though.
Also, the turn order is Solmyr after you, not me, unless you tagged me in Airtable to double-check?
Regardless, I did a cleanup file. Solmyr's up.
Purchased Alexander Griboyedov and established Slave Markets in Transcaspia. Habs is up.
Purchased Prince Akbar Khan and then played Ranjit Singh to rule the Punjab (and take rulership away from pesky Beebs after paying off the local bandit-lords).
Celedhring is up.
Purchased and played Dost Mohammad. BB is up - I forgot to refresh the market (apologies!).
Current board, after turn 2.
(https://dl.airtable.com/.attachmentThumbnails/1297b6bf5b00d55997273eef7e9711dd/843de593)
Quote from: bogh on December 08, 2021, 04:51:13 PM
Purchased and played Dost Mohammad.
:cry: I knew he wasn't going to be there when it got back around to me, but I could hope.
:cool:
You can comfort yourself by the fact that we both support the Afghans - I really am your ally!
Just noticed the shadow effects on the playing pieces. That's not the vassal I grew up with! :mad:
Yeah, I guess the sun is rising or setting while play is going on?
And judging from the shadow's direction, the Sun is now in the West, aka BRITANNIA :bowler:
Turn 3 is up. Sorry I missed last night.
Purchased Persian Army and played Alexander Griboyedov. Habs is up.
Celedh, you may want to consider purchasing European Cannons on your turn. Otherwise the Afghans could achieve dominance with it and clean up.
Mir Murad Beg takes rulership of Persia for my coalition, dropping a spy amongst the Slave Markets in Solmyr's court and triggering military strife (costs in the market now doubled).
That same spy cleans house in the markets and ensures that any action there will have to grease some palms first.
Over to Celedhring.
I'm almost relieved - I'm used to you guys always waiting on me, but I log in to Airtable and I find it's not even my turn.
Yep it's my turn. I'm travelling today, but I'll be able to make the turn in my evening.
Quote from: celedhring on December 11, 2021, 01:51:02 AM
Yep it's my turn. I'm travelling today, but I'll be able to make the turn in my evening.
No prob Celed. Just happy I'm not the one holding things up.
*sigh* another fucking busy day of boys hockey all over mid-northern Alberta...
What does the black strip above the market entail? Just double costs? No other shenanigans?
EDIT: Found it on the rules. Turn incoming.
I set up a market in Kandahar and ordered a few cannons from Europe.
I bought the exiled Durani nobles and installed them in Herat. Turn over to Barrister.
Turn 3 status:
(https://dl.airtable.com/.attachmentThumbnails/ed92b01e92900ede944b807735c4b5cf/1df9ac40)
I'm sorry Habs (or anyone else).
I could use any suggestions on what to do next. I now have a somewhat better idea of the basic mechanics, but no idea what kind of move I should be making that would actually help me win (or at least not lose badly).
I should be able to submit my moves tomorrow at lunch then.
I am no expert (this is my second game ever - and I lost my first one badly), but my two cents:
There is a scoring card in the middle of the market, so scoring could happen at any time. Currently, no coalition dominates, so the number of cylinders (tribes and spies) will give Habs and myself points and give everyone else zero.
Ideally, you should try and get in on the points for this scoring. That can happen in three ways:
1. Get at least three more cylinders on the board to match Habs and me (both at 4 cylinders) and get in on the failed dominance scoring (for 1st and 2nd place in cylinder count).
2. Push Afghans to dominance - you'd need to get four more green blocks on the map (without anyone else adding more from other coaltions). You, me and Habs would then share the points, since none of us have more influence with the Afghans.
3. Shift your allegiance (by playing a patriot of another coalition) and push that coalition to dominance by adding 4 (for the Brits) or 5 blocks (for the Russians) to the map.
To be honest, none of these seem feasible given the board position and imminence of the scoring card. So I would probably focus longer term, working on ruling of an area, getting some spies out or adding some useful actions to your court. Just grabbing some money is always useful as well.
Post scoring, you may well end up sitting in the same coalition as the two leaders (Habs and myself). I'd probably consider throwing my lot in with another coalition to balance it out, but Habs and I will need to go for each others throats as well at some point. There really isn't a lot of cost for you to switch allegiance if you have or buy a patriot from another coalition.
Hope that's useful - remember that I have very little actual insight and am mostly talking out of my rear end. :bowler:
What bogh said. I believe he's covered all the major points.
Okay all done. I was about to purchase a bunch of stuff only to realize it'd be wiped away with the dominance check.
Quote from: Barrister on December 14, 2021, 03:05:24 PM
Okay all done. I was about to purchase a bunch of stuff only to realize it'd be wiped away with the dominance check.
But would get you a good chunk of VPs. Not the worst exchange in the world when you're sitting on a pile of cash.
Beeb, you played Joseph Wolff who lets you play a spy. Spies don't go on the map (that's tribes), they go on court cards. Initially, you can place them on any card in anyone's court that has the same region, in this case Persia. So you can put your spy either on Joseph Wolff himself, or on my Alexander Griboyedov (dangerous because I have two spies there and can kill yours). Let me know which one you want to do.
Also, you don't need to move the market cards manually at the end of your turn, you can just click the "Refresh market" button at the top.
Quote from: Solmyr on December 15, 2021, 11:03:41 AM
Beeb, you played Joseph Wolff who lets you play a spy. Spies don't go on the map (that's tribes), they go on court cards. Initially, you can place them on any card in anyone's court that has the same region, in this case Persia. So you can put your spy either on Joseph Wolff himself, or on my Alexander Griboyedov (dangerous because I have two spies there and can kill yours). Let me know which one you want to do.
Also, you don't need to move the market cards manually at the end of your turn, you can just click the "Refresh market" button at the top.
Okay thanks.
Please put the spy on Wolff.
Encouraged by Russian agents, the Persian Army deploys to the field, marching into Bukhara and overthrowing Mir Murad Beg. Meanwhile, Afghan spies are hunted down in Transcaspian slave markets.
Over to Habs.
Not quite.
Solmyr, battle actions must pick a single location to target--either a region or a court card. You can't split the battle power between two areas.
What do you really want to kill?
Kill Mir Murad Beg then, leave the spy on Slave Markets.
Roger.
Unfortunately, have to pause here to ask permission:
Beeb, you have rulership of Kabul at the moment and I only have 1 rupee, therefore can't afford to pay the bribe to play Akhbar Khan. If you'll forgive the payment this round, I promise to do the same in Punjab and will also agree that your tribes in Kabul/Punjab are free from any harm by me until after the 2nd Dominance check.
I want to play Akhbar Khan so I can punish Solmyr for his effrontery.
Thoughts?
My thoughts are that if Habs plays Akhbar Khan, he's just pushing himself closer to dominance again. Not sure why Beeb would want to let him do it for free. At least take the 1 rupee.
Of course, I also don't know what the Red Afghans' problem is with me, seeing as I'm nowhere near dominating. It seems that continuing to fight is a waste of resources (I remind you that the Afghans started first), but if I continue to be attacked then I will definitely focus on fighting back to the exclusion of everything else.
You initiating aggression on the board instead of keeping it to the courts is why the Red Afghans have a problem with you. ;)
War is a mere continuation of politics by other means. ;)
But anyway, as said, if you stop attacking me, I'll stop attacking you.
I have my doubts about that considering where my spy is positioned in your court.
You can always move him elsewhere. ;)
Quote from: Habbaku on December 16, 2021, 01:42:08 PM
Roger.
Unfortunately, have to pause here to ask permission:
Beeb, you have rulership of Kabul at the moment and I only have 1 rupee, therefore can't afford to pay the bribe to play Akhbar Khan. If you'll forgive the payment this round, I promise to do the same in Punjab and will also agree that your tribes in Kabul/Punjab are free from any harm by me until after the 2nd Dominance check.
I want to play Akhbar Khan so I can punish Solmyr for his effrontery.
Thoughts?
In the words of Sally Brown:
All I want is what I have coming. All I want is my fair share.
No rupee, no card.
Does that mean 1 rupee = yes or a hard no? Kinda need solid answers to proceed. :D
Quote from: Habbaku on December 16, 2021, 03:00:37 PM
Does that mean 1 rupee = yes or a hard no? Kinda need solid answers to proceed. :D
Sorry.
Hard no.
I have no idea why I am asking Beeb this when it's Bogh in charge of Kabul now that I look at the board again. :lol:
Turn coming soon.
Actually, apologies for delay, but I pretty much have to offer Bogh the same deal as Beeb since he runs the shop in Kabul. Bogh?
After a careful review, the wise rulers of Kabul have decided to deny the request.
Ahem.
Sorry, pre-Christmas is being pretty hectic, and I need to review the Dominance check rules before taking my turn. Will be posted in my evening.
Yeah, I figured a slowdown around this time would happen. No big deal.
Sorry - didn't realize the turn had actually passed to you. Thought maybe Habs had missed my response to his request.
Quote from: bogh on December 21, 2021, 10:21:43 AM
Sorry - didn't realize the turn had actually passed to you. Thought maybe Habs had missed my response to his request.
Negative, though I was a bit delayed over the weekend even so. Thanks for checking.
Quote from: celedhring on December 21, 2021, 07:58:11 AM
Sorry, pre-Christmas is being pretty hectic, and I need to review the Dominance check rules before taking my turn. Will be posted in my evening.
I believe the game board actually shows how many VPs each player would get if Dominance were checked right now. At the moment no empire is dominant, so Bogh would get 3 VP for having the most cylinders. Habs and Beeb are tied for second place, so they divide 1 VP between them rounding down, resulting in zero for both of them.
Don't think Cel can do anything about it. Even playing both his cards would not be enough for British dominance.
Quote from: Solmyr on December 21, 2021, 02:17:55 PM
Don't think Cel can do anything about it. Even playing both his cards would not be enough for British dominance.
Pretty sure I can.
Purchase Conflict fatigue - coalitions are now dominant if they have 2 more blocks
Play European Cannons in Transcaspia (no ruler) - Britain is now dominant :bowler:
Dominance triggers, I score 5, BB scores 3.
That is a legal move, I think? Also, how do I go about making the dominance check in Vassal? Do I have to do it manually? (it didn't trigger when I refreshed the market)
That's correct. The Dominance check will trigger during your market cleanup phase (you'll have to "purchase" the Dominance card manually, then implement each step, then do a market refresh), but there is a button that will clear up the blocks at least.
I will, of course, point out that that could have been prevented if Bogh had been more accepting of other Afghans coming on the board...
Edit: Sorry, mostly correct. Beeb has 1 patriot, so the VPs would be reversed--BB gets 5 VPs, Celedhring gets 3 in that situation.
The game is giving me the +5 - I have 2 loyalty points (I did purchase a gift in a previous turn), and BB shows as 1.
Quote from: celedhring on December 21, 2021, 03:43:04 PM
The game is giving me the +5 - I have 2 loyalty points (I did purchase a gift in a previous turn), and BB shows as 1.
I don't show you with a gift, though, and nor are the rupees in the correct location for that.
Just ran through all your previous turns. At no point did you purchase a gift.
Yeah, you're right - damn my brain is full of mud. Apologies, I went back to my turn and realized that I didn't go through with that gift purchase (now I remember that I decided not to spend the money and didn't make the play in the end), but forgot to correct the scorecard. Then both me and BB are at 1 influence.
Can Bogh fix the VP scoring? Turn is already up.
Sorry, I missed the VP scoring fixing request. BB (or someone after him) can fix it - it isn't urgent-urgent.
Took my turn, played into Herat and bought "Confidence failure" to swap hands with Habs.
Current board:
(https://dl.airtable.com/.attachmentThumbnails/ac2a2d7c079d0b3d5c30706e179b8470/1204b9b2)
Beeb's up, yeah?
I found Rally the Troops recently: https://rally-the-troops.com/pax-pamir
:worthy:
The implementation is great, way better than Vassal, and allows for asynchronous play with email reminders when it's your turn. Highly recommended.
Who's up for a round of Pamir?
Sure!
Sure, although these next two weeks are a bit nightmarish until August comes and my bosses go on holiday.
I don't mind a little slow play. I think you'll find yourself compelled to play quickly with the email reminders, anyway. :P
I'll give it until the end of (my) day, then throw up the private link for those that have expressed interest.
I will warn on the RTT module: though there is an undo button, some of the decisions don't seem to be undoable--so make sure you click what you want, when you want it until you're familiar with what can't be taken back.
Sol, Celedhring, head over here to join at your leisure:
https://rally-the-troops.com/join/8078
Quote from: Habbaku on July 14, 2022, 07:51:54 PMSol, Celedhring, head over here to join at your leisure:
https://rally-the-troops.com/join/8078
Done.
Solmyr has abandoned us.
Turn on email notifications, please. :P
Didn't know you had to turn them on!
Done now.
Hey, so you know I'm getting the nagging emails :P As I said, I'm having some very intense days at work, but I should be able to get the turn done at some point today.
No rush! I'm at a convention the weekend and all next week so will be slow myself.
Hey, I'm getting asked to change the current suit and I don't know where I have to click to do it (clicking the current favored suit icon doesn't seem to do anything). I only have an "undo" button at the top bar.
EDIT: Never mind, I found it. I had to move the actual pawn on the board.
I just clicked the suit you are supposed to change to.
Well, that one was short :lol:
My fault, I didn't calculate well and failed to realize Habs had a winning hand.
:D It can take a game or two to start really recognizing what the others are up to.
I'll start another!
https://rally-the-troops.com/join/9146
I'm going on a small holiday with the GF so I probably won't take any more turns until Thursday.
:cheers: Enjoy.
I'm still mourning Mohan Lal.
He's too bright for this world.
But what about Abbas Mirza? :mad:
The guy that wandered into sniper fire?
Back from holiday. Looks like we're all Afghan brothers now.