I've played
Pax Pamir probably a dozen times by now and have yet to grow bored of it. There is a lot of intricacy to the game, potential for backstabbing via the spy system, and the entire table can get uprooted by deliberately failed government topples, allowing players to come from behind and win. Ultimately, the game is about building up a strong tableau of cards in various provinces while steadily maneuvering your chosen Empire into the lead on the board. The Vassal module is also not a piece of junk, at least at first glance, so...
Anyone want to try their hand at multiplayer via forum? The game caps at 5 and I find that this is a great number to play with since it allows for a lot of self-balancing on the board. 4 is decent, while 3 is also a great number to play with.
Below, I've linked the description blurb, the living rules, and the Vassal module if you want to get a look at it.
QuoteWith the fall of Napoleon, the British East India Company plied its trade unchecked from the Cape of Good Hope to the markets of Hong Kong. India stood at the center of this sprawling imperial network, and the currents of empire ran through its ports, tying the Far East with European markets and awarding the British virtual control of the vast wealth of the subcontinent. However, the "crown jewel" of the empire was far from secure.
Across the forests of Siberia and the steppes of Asia, the Russian Empire advanced at a rate exceeding even the pace of America's western pioneers. This expansionism by the world's largest nation loomed over British holdings in India, casting a longer shadow each year. In the buffer region of central Asia, surveyors, adventurers, industrialists and government agents crossed paths, all seeking to manipulate the byzantine local politics. There, in the shadow of the Pamir Mountains, the stage was set for a game that would define the limits of global power in the 19th century and the present day.
In Pax Pamir, two to five players assume the role of Afghan tribal leaders navigating the winds of colonial power in "The Great Game". If either the Russian, British Empire, or Afghan is able to achieve supremacy, the player with the most influence in that empire wins.
https://boardgamegeek.com/file/download/tnuztv4o96/Pax_Pamir_Living_Rules_%281.2%29.pdf (
Living Rules)
http://www.vassalengine.org/wiki/Module:Pax_Pamir (
Vassal module)
\o/
:(
Hey Tamas, how's that turn of Dead of Winter coming along? Decided what to do yet? :P
I thought we killed it :P
I think it has certainly been killed. That much is true.
Well done, Tamas.
Where is your Pax Porfiriana turn, BTW?
Pax Recriminations--and its expansion, Pax Excoriations--is the next game in the series.
:P
So, sounds like I have at least three people interested...
Celedhring? A dark horse fifth?
I have never played this. I would totally suck.
So will Tamas and Berkut; I fail to see the problem.
Fair enough then. I'm in for the Great Game.
I'll join. :ph34r:
:yeah:
Berkut has yet to confirm, but if he's interested and will actually play at a decent pace, I'll start us up tonight.
If he's out, I'll just assume the four of us will play and get started later this evening as well. :P
Primarily, I encourage everyone to read the living rules and ask any questions you might have. Note, the living rules vary significantly in a couple of areas (Taxing and Campaigning, for example) than the printed rules--the changes are for the better, I assure you.
I will give it a go. Get us ready for NBW....sorta.
I'll be more likely to want to play Pax Renaissance at NBW, honestly. Pax Pamir is a much slower game unless everyone at the table has some experience. It's probably the superior PBEM option, but I still really like it face to face.
I would say that Pax Pamir is marginally deeper in terms of interactions, but Pax Ren is probably the better overall game.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zmuec5ld0x0omqr/AABWATw5WUUFrdlwUPRHNHYka?dl=0
There's the link to the dropbox containing the game folder.
As you can see when you open it, I set the board up already and have chosen a color (White). What you cannot see is that I also dealt myself one of the starting Loyalty cards.
In order, each of us needs to select a color, then draw a loyalty card. That card will determine the opening play order as well as our starting loyalties to specific empires.
So, deal yourself a card, then save the file and upload a new one at your convenience, but please write here that you've done so, otherwise we'll end up with crossed wires. As for selecting which of the two Loyalty choices you have at the beginning, we'll just utilize the honor system--no cheating after you see everyone else!
I have done mine, I think, choosing Black. Here it is:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/e7wf5a1pxpl243w/LanguishPamir%20001.vsav?dl=0
Should we just get a common shared DB folder for the game?
yes
Quote from: Habbaku on January 09, 2017, 05:18:24 PM
I'll be more likely to want to play Pax Renaissance at NBW, honestly. Pax Pamir is a much slower game unless everyone at the table has some experience. It's probably the superior PBEM option, but I still really like it face to face.
I would say that Pax Pamir is marginally deeper in terms of interactions, but Pax Ren is probably the better overall game.
I bought Pax Renaissance but have still to open it, but I liked it Pax Porfiriana. Pamir is new to me, but will follow this thread with interest.
I've been re-reading the rules last night, should be able to get my selection in tonight.
Will take me a bit to familiarize myself with the game.
I'm away and on my phone, but I will read the rules and try to get the selection done tonight.
I'll set up a common Dropbox if I can get everyone's preferred e-mail again.
No rush on grokking the rules just yet. Figure everyone can use a couple of days to familiarize themselves with it. The game is relatively easy in terms of mechanics, but there are a lot of intricate connections between the individual systems.
As always, feel free to ask questions.
Why did you pick White?
Seemed like a good, default, normal color.
:suspicious:
I picked Purple and dealt myself a loyalty card. Get the file here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hobvt6wteq4u5cm/LanguishPamir%20002.vsav?dl=0
Once Habs sets up the joint folder, should we send log files or game saves?
And moved that file to the new shared folder now.
You should have all received an invitation to the folder just now. Go ahead and poke at it at your leisure--that's where we should be uploading files as game states change.
As for Sol's question, I suggest we not worry about log files too much and instead just use game saves. Log files can be cumbersome and annoying to remember at times.
That being said, I hope that we all abide by a simple set of conventions during play:
After your turn is through, make a post here detailing everything that you did, preferably step by step.
IE, if my turn consists of performing the Tax action with one of my cards, and buying a market card, I would post the following:
Quote1st Action: Purchase Army of the Indus from the "2" space in the market. 1 Rupee each on cards X and Y.
2nd Action: Use my Z-Card's Tax ability in Punjab to Tax Berkut's ABC Card in Punjab.
Haven't used vassall in years. Soz but I'll need until tomorrow while I sort out the technical/knowing what I'm doing end of it.
No worries. Vassal is pretty much click and drag for just about everything for what it's worth. Dealing cards is pretty straightforward as well--just click and drag to the appropriate spot, etc.
Ok. I chose to play as Trump Orange, and I have drawn a loyalty card (I dragged it to the Orange Hand window, I suppose that's how I have to do it?).
Uploaded the save file.
Just to check, but at this point should we also flip our loyalty card so that the actual loyalty we want is on top?
Also, apparently I can see Cel's loyalty card while not the ones for Habs and Tamas. I guess others can see mine as well. Was there something we needed to do to hide it?
Quote from: Solmyr on January 11, 2017, 05:52:50 AM
Just to check, but at this point should we also flip our loyalty card so that the actual loyalty we want is on top?
Also, apparently I can see Cel's loyalty card while not the ones for Habs and Tamas. I guess others can see mine as well. Was there something we needed to do to hide it?
I think we should turn the cards now yes, although I won't.
And I haven't done anything special with my card. Maybe Cel left it up instead of flipped down?
Quote from: Solmyr on January 11, 2017, 05:52:50 AM
Just to check, but at this point should we also flip our loyalty card so that the actual loyalty we want is on top?
It doesn't matter that much, but no, you should leave it down and just mentally know which one you're selecting--honor system is easier than having us all flip the cards up or down all at once.
On our first turns, however, we should flip the cards to their correct side and color.
I just dragged the card to my hand. Did nothing else.
By default, then, Berkut is yellow. Just need him to make a file claiming it, then...
Quote from: Habbaku on January 11, 2017, 10:18:07 AM
By default, then, Berkut is yellow. Just need him to make a file claiming it, then...
So see you in a month. Maybe.
A month? Didn't figure the Russo-Finnish guy to be an optimist.
Is this the part where I tell you to all go fuck yourselves?
Selected...
And yet there is no file uploaded to Dropbox. :hmm:
Doh.
It saved in my Vassal folder, not the dropbox folder. Stupid Vassal!
I am at work, can we just take my word that I've selected a loyalty card and arranged it appropriately?
Actually, if I am the last to select, can I just announce it since everyone else has fixed theirs anyway?
That's what we're about to do now anyway, yes.
Now that all of us except Berkut have properly selected a color, we just need to post here what side/number we're selecting. So, if you're selecting Afghan with the 3 value, you'd post "Afghan (3)"
Once everyone's posted, we can begin. :)
My selection below:
[spoiler]Russia(2)[/spoiler]
[spoiler]Britain(4)[/spoiler]
[spoiler]Afghan 3[/spoiler]
[spoiler]Britain (1)[/spoiler]
Think Berkut even checks this thread? :hmm:
Russia 5
With that, the order of play and starting influence is as follows:
Solmyr (Britain 1)
Habbaku (Russia 2)
Celedhring (Afghan 3)
Tamas (Britain 4)
Berkut (Russia 5)
Solmyr's up to start us off. :)
Purple purchases Fath Ali Shah for 0, then plays him (3 purple tribes to Persia, regime changes to Intelligence War).
Habbaku can tell me if I did anything wrong.
Looks good, Sol.
My play:
QuoteI buy Ranjit Singh for 0.
I play Ranjit Singh. 2 White tribes to Punjab.
1 Russian army to Punjab thanks to Garrison.
A recommendation for everyone going forward: align your starting tribe card (accessed through the Rupee menu at the top) and your money on hand so that they can be easily spotted by all players involved, please. Don't stack rupees if at all possible--makes it hard to tell how much people have on hand, and that might matter.
Also, when placing your tribe card, you might find some difficulty in actually moving it after placement. When initially placing it on board, find a nice, spacious area in the module to drop it. I would suggest that Celedhring (who is next up) place his above mine, somewhere around the edge of the gray area so that there is plenty of space for expanding the tableau.
I'm away from my computer, so I won't be able to do my turn until Monday evening (I am away on weekends, most of the time). Sorry for holding the pace up!
Could we put a spare cube on our player sheets or something to indicate which color we are? As I have no idea at the moment.
My actions are:
1) Purchase Ghaem Magham Farahani (cost: 0)
2) Play him, putting 3 spy cubes on him
As I understand it, I have to discard Charles Stoddart from the market before refreshing it?
Quote from: celedhring on January 16, 2017, 06:15:56 PM
As I understand it, I have to discard Charles Stoddart from the market before refreshing it?
Incorrect--Charles Stoddart is not a Patriot card because the stripe is not on his top. Instead, the stripe on the bottom is the reward for killing him (via assassination, for example). See the Pandjeh Oasis card for an example of a Russian Patriot.
Fortunately, the Vassal module has a convenient button so you don't have to remember anything. If you look on the top row, you'll find a "Refresh the Market" button that will do all the work for you. When you're doing buying cards and doing your turn, just click that and it will take care of everything.
That being said, I just looked at the board and realized that Ghaem Magham is a Persian card. Celedhring, in order to play that card (or any Persia card), you would have to pay Solmyr 3 Rupees--unless he agreed to let you play it for a discount--since he has three tribes in the Persia space.
Thanks for calling me out on this. I've never played this and while I have the rules at hand I'll probably miss stuff this first playthrough (and totally suck at it, but it looks like a cool game). Hence why I hand't uploaded a savefile yet...
I'll get Stoddard instead.
1) Purchase Stoddard
2) Play Stoddard and put two cubes on him
I presume that's a correct turn now?
Yes. The regime will also change to Military Struggle when you play him.
Yeah, I understand that part. I suppose I have to change the regime card on the board before uploading the turn?
Yes.
There you go then. Hopefully I have done everything correctly.
Looks good!
Over to Tamas, then.
Thank you very much for taking the decent free cards than doubling the market price, aholes :P
:D
Am I right that it would not be a big deal if I just immediately switched my allegiance to Russia? #sowhat
Quote from: Tamas on January 17, 2017, 10:57:17 AM
Am I right that it would not be a big deal if I just immediately switched my allegiance to Russia? @sowhat
I hear it's all the rage nowadays.
Ok so I have taken Pandjeb Oasis for free, switching allegiance to Mother Russia.
As second action I have played the card, placing the garrison, and the two roads.
Quote from: Berkut on January 17, 2017, 11:15:25 AM
Quote from: Habbaku on January 17, 2017, 10:56:18 AM
:D
How was turn order established?
You asked me that via text. I answered. You even responded with "OK" as if you had read it. :hmm:
Quote from: Tamas on January 17, 2017, 11:06:37 AM
Ok so I have taken Pandjeb Oasis for free, switching allegiance to Mother Russia.
As second action I have played the card, placing the garrison, and the two roads.
Just a note, Tamas,
buying a card with a different loyalty does not switch your loyalty. Only playing it does.
The downside to switching allegiance is that you lose your starting card's bonus influence.
Quote from: Habbaku on January 17, 2017, 12:00:36 PM
Quote from: Tamas on January 17, 2017, 11:06:37 AM
Ok so I have taken Pandjeb Oasis for free, switching allegiance to Mother Russia.
As second action I have played the card, placing the garrison, and the two roads.
Just a note, Tamas, buying a card with a different loyalty does not switch your loyalty. Only playing it does.
The downside to switching allegiance is that you lose your starting card's bonus influence.
But bonus influence is just 1, right?
Correct. You're basically exchanging your starting 1 influence for another 1 influence.
Also, I'm not at a board at the moment, but everyone should bear in mind the special imperial Favor cards that are in the game for each empire. If you're the only one loyal to an empire, you get their card by default.
This means Cel had the Afghan Favor card from the start, and I got the British one when Tamas cravenly defected to the Russian side?
Also, shouldn't Tamas' tableau be up on top and Berk's come on the left side, to keep everyone in the play order? This affects where spies can travel, doesn't it?
Yes, I have no idea why Tamas parked his cards onto the left side of the board like that. Ideally, he and Berkut loop around the board in a counter-clockwise fashion since, as Solmyr mentions, the way spies travel is tied to that.
Berkut is up, by the way.
Quote from: Habbaku on January 17, 2017, 04:06:31 PM
Yes, I have no idea why Tamas parked his cards onto the left side of the board like that. Ideally, he and Berkut loop around the board in a counter-clockwise fashion since, as Solmyr mentions, the way spies travel is tied to that.
Ouch, sorry folks. Let me redo it.
Ok there is a new, fixed 008 file.
Quote from: Habbaku on January 17, 2017, 06:43:55 PM
Berkut is up, by the way.
It was fun while it lasted!
I will get to my turn this afternoon.
OK, so I will spend 4 for Herat.
Play Herat to get two back from the bank.
Add two spies to that card.
Refresh the Market.
Fath Ali Shah of Persia decides to appoint Ghaem Magham Farahani as his Prime Minister.
I will purchase Ghaem Magham Farahani for free and take the one rupee on the card.
Play him and add three spies to the card.
(IC AAR text in italic, I think it's more fun that way :) ).
At Niagara convention this weekend, so will be a little delayed. Should get my turn out on Sunday, most likely. Sorry, folks.
Quote from: Habbaku on January 20, 2017, 12:05:08 AM
At Niagara convention this weekend, so will be a little delayed. Should get my turn out on Sunday, most likely. Sorry, folks.
Ah, I should have guessed the two of you are going to your annual love nest, hence to TS turns from either of you :P
No worries, though :)
Will do my turn tonight. Stuck in an airport right now.
The ancient citadel of Bala Hissar, located in Southern Kabul, is steadily garrisoned by a fresh Russian force. With this newfound security in the heart of Afghanistan, the Russian commanders in the Transcaspian feel confident enough to engage the barbaric tribes of Persia, inflicting some damage in a skirmish on the borders.
Buy Bala Hissar for 0, taking 1 Rupee from the card itself.
Play Bala Hissar from hand. Deploy 1 Russian Army to Kabul.
Thanks to this (attaining 1 red star in my tableau, breaking the tie), I gain the Russian Favor card.
Campaign action (free action, since regime is Military Struggle) to send the Russian army in Transcaspian to Persia and kill 1 Purple (Solmyr's) tribe.
Over to Celedhring.
Will post mine as soon as I come back from work. :)
There's rumours that Prince Akbar Khan has been seen travelling out of Kabul, destiny unknown, while some tribal princes are debating whether to allow the West's mapmaking efforts in Afghanistan
1) I buy Prince Akbar Khan, for 2 rupees. One goes to Imperial Surveyors (first card on that row). Since the second slot in the lower row is now vacant, the second rupee goes to Karakul sheep in the upper row.
2) I buy Imperial Surveyors for free and pick up the 3 rupees on that card.
Is that 100% legal? Save's up in case it is.
Akbar Khan costs only 1 rupee. It goes onto the first card in that row (Imperial Surveyors). Since you placed a rupee on Imperial Surveyors, you cannot purchase it this turn.
You can, however, purchase Imperial Surveyors first for free (and get the two rupees on it), then purchase Akbar Khan for 1 rupee (which will then go onto Eldred Pottinger card).
Aren't cards double cost now? Because of the current regime.
Oh right, true. Then you put 2 rupees on the first card in the same row (or other row, if the spot in the same row is vacant). In any case, if you put rupees on a card you cannot then purchase that card in the same turn.
Thanks! Then it is:
1) I buy surveyors and pick the 2 rupees
2) Buy Akbar Khan and place the 2 rupees on Eldred Pottinger
Save's up.
Hey where did the Russian army I placed as garrison go?!
Habbaku moved it to Persia.
The Panjdeh Oasis continues to be a main hub of commerce, while Hajj Mirza Aghasi has been rumoured to be meeting with foreign agents
I use the Commerce action of my Pandjeh Oasis card to get 2 rupees off the Karakul Sheep card.
Then I take Hajj Mirza Aghasi into my hand by placing 2 rupees on Baluchi Smugglers
Berkut is up.
Quote from: Tamas on January 25, 2017, 05:13:34 AM
Hey where did the Russian army I placed as garrison go?!
Reading the posts that have been made in this thread will work wonders.
Quote from: Habbaku on January 25, 2017, 09:49:38 AM
Quote from: Tamas on January 25, 2017, 05:13:34 AM
Hey where did the Russian army I placed as garrison go?!
Reading the posts that have been made in this thread will work wonders.
:p I did, I just somehow missed it the first time
Action 1: Buy the Baluchi Smugglers Card for zero times two, which comes out to zero. Taking those two Rupees on the card.
Action 2: Use the travel actions, and send 1 intelligence officer to check out the situatin in Pandjeb Oasis, and the other to discuss matters with Mr. Faranhi.
The Pandjeb agent will be spying for Russia.
(https://i.makeagif.com/media/10-29-2015/398bM4.gif)
Rumor has it that British Army of the Indus has been building up for a march north. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Persia sends spies to monitor Russian-sponsored activities in the region.
1. Purchase Boland Pass for zero rupees.
2. Use Travel action to move 1 spy 2 spaces to Bala Hisar and 1 spy 1 space to Bandits.
Also, we got a Topple card. I believe currently the Russian Empire is supreme and Habbaku has the most influence in it (due to having the favor card). So unless something changes, he will win if the card is purchased.
Quote from: Solmyr on January 26, 2017, 12:00:05 PM
Also, we got a Topple card. I believe currently the Russian Empire is supreme and Habbaku has the most influence in it (due to having the favor card). So unless something changes, he will win if the card is purchased.
Alas, not quite correct--Berkut should have the Russian Favor card now since he has 2 Russian influence (1 natural, 1 from spying on Panjdeh Oasis) to my one.
Well, I'm sure you'll be able to fix that. And if not, we'll then blame Tamas for failing to prevent Berkut's victory. :P
The war in Persia continues, with Russian soldiers writing back tales of victory again over the wild, Persian tribes that refuse to accept their Imperial masters. The defeats by the Persian tribes and the slow investment of more troops into the region have led one local, Transcaspian potentate/slaver to throw his lot in with the Tsar.
Free Action (thanks to Military Struggle): Campaign with Bala Hissar. Kill 1 Purple tribe in Persia.
1st Action: Buy Allah Quli Bahadur for 0.
2nd Action: Play Bahadur. Place 1 White spy on Bahadur, 1 White tribe in Transcaspian, and 1 Russian army in Transcaspian.
Over to Celedhring.
Note that, at the moment, Berkut wins if he buys the Topple card (which is part of the reason why I deliberately did not buy those shiny red cards that showed up), but only if the government stays at Military Struggle.
Shouldn't just Celed get one of the army cards to place Afghan troops and prevent Russian supremacy?
I have to re-read the whole victory conditions part before making my move :D
Quote from: Tamas on January 26, 2017, 12:53:07 PM
Shouldn't just Celed get one of the army cards to place Afghan troops and prevent Russian supremacy?
There are four Russian armies on the board at the moment, so to cancel the military supremacy there would need to be 4 combined Afghan/British armies on the board as well.
The real trick is just shifting the government to Intelligence War, which the Russians are definitely not winning at the moment.
Okay, I guess the play is...
1) Purchase the Persian Army card for owt
2) Play the Persian army, paying one rupee to Solmyr, and placing two Afghan cubes on Persia (there's no interaction with the Russian army in there, right?). Regime changes to Intelligence war.
3) I could then take a free intelligence action, but I'll pass.
That legit?
Quote from: celedhring on January 26, 2017, 05:41:55 PM
2) Play the Persian army, paying one rupee to Solmyr, and placing two Afghan cubes on Persia (there's no interaction with the Russian army in there, right?). Regime changes to Intelligence war.
No fighting unless someone undertakes a military campaign action there.
Does anyone have supremacy right now? Britain has 3 spies on the board and Russia has 2, but Britain does not have cubes/cylinders of every other mode yet.
I'll give a rundown just so everyone can get an idea:
Supremacy for the various regime types:
Military Struggle: Russian Supremacy. 4 Russian armies vs. 2 Afghan/0 British. 1 Russian road, spy, and tribe are on the board.
Intelligence War: None. 3 British spies. 2 Afghan spies. 3 Russian spies. Neither one beats the others combined.
Political Fragmentation: Russian Supremacy. 3 Russian tribes vs. 1 British/0 Afghan. 1 Russian road, spy, and army are on the board.
Economic Boom: Russian Supremacy. 2 Russian roads vs. 0 British/0 Afghan. 1 Russian army, spy, and tribe are on the board.
Peace! The Emirate of Afghanistan has mediated between the two ravenous European powers that trample upon its territory. Russia and England have signed a treaty, but it is peace in name only, as open war has just been replaced by insidious mistrust. Spies and conspirators move behind the scenes, secretly advancing their powers' agendas, until time comes when one of them bids again for dominance in Afghanistan.
Feeling the need to assert its own presence on the country that it claims as its own, the Afghan Emir has pleaded for help and obtained the services of two units from the army of the Persian Shah.
1) I buy the Army of Persia card for 0 rupees.
2) I play it, paying 1 rupee to Solmyr, and placing two Afghan cubes there. Regime is now Intelligence War
3) I take one free Travel action and move one of my cubes from Charles Stoddart to the Persian Army
Over to Tamas.
As far as I can tell, game is over unless Tamas purchases but does not play Jan-Fishan Khan? Since any change to military struggle would give Berkut the win?
File is up. I did what I had to do, which cost me a discard.
Now get your act together because I am still holding a military struggle card in my hand and I am not too hot on the idea of discarding it.
I would have to buy the card, play it, then buy the topple card. That is three actions.
My move stands.
Quote from: Solmyr on January 27, 2017, 02:08:54 AM
As far as I can tell, game is over unless Tamas purchases but does not play Jan-Fishan Khan? Since any change to military struggle would give Berkut the win?
It's always a perfectly-valid strategy to buy the Topple card during a "neutral" government type to prevent just such a thing.
As Berkut points out, though, it currently costs him 3 actions to win unless it's already the correct government prior to his turn.
Its an interesting game dynamic.
Do I buy the card to switch back to military, knowing that if I do someone can trivially block it, but if I don't, the board doesn't even need to block it?
I guess it depends on how useful the card is otherwise....
:berkut:
Quote from: Tamas on January 27, 2017, 06:26:46 AM
File is up. I did what I had to do, which cost me a discard.
Now get your act together because I am still holding a military struggle card in my hand and I am not too hot on the idea of discarding it.
Errhhh...what is it that you did?
It might just be me, but I am having a lot of trouble following what is happening since we are just saving the end state of each move.
I still don't really know who is which side, other than myself...
You can see the sides by checking who has which loyalty cards? You, Habs, and Tamas are pro-Russian, I'm pro-British, and Cel is pro-Afghan.
Granted, everyone should move their color cubes to their tribe card, so that we know who is which color.
Quote from: Berkut on January 27, 2017, 10:42:11 AM
It might just be me, but I am having a lot of trouble following what is happening since we are just saving the end state of each move.
I still don't really know who is which side, other than myself...
I am ok following via this thread, but its hard to remember who is which colour and position around the table, but I am getting there.
Tamas, did you actually post your move in any case?
Should we try doing logfiles, but no comments in the log files, just the moves?
I have posted my move, yes
Quote from: Tamas on January 27, 2017, 11:13:11 AM
I have posted my move, yes
:rolleyes:
And you have yet to post
what you did during your move. You know...like everyone else has been doing?
Quote from: Solmyr on January 27, 2017, 10:49:18 AM
Granted, everyone should move their color cubes to their tribe card, so that we know who is which color.
I did that in my latest file. Everyone's cube reserve is on their respective player card.
As far as I can tell:
Tamas' first action: Discard card from hand.
Second action: Buy Jan-Fishan Khan from Market for 0.
Ok sorry, I had to rush it a bit, didn't realise I want particularly verbose. I just assumed Berkut's knew what was going on
:hmm:
Crap, is it my turn?
I honestly don't know...I assume from your response it must be...
You could always keep guessing...
OK, so it is Intel War.
I think that means that I can
1: Buy William Moorcroft
2: Play William Moorcroft, place spy
3: Execute move action on Herat card (free)
A: Move spy from Moorcroft to Herat
B: Move spy from Farahani to Shah card
4: Execute Counter Espionage action on Moorcroft, kill purple spy on Herat
I forgot to refresh Market before I saved, can the next player do that first thing?
Sorry about that guys, I should have known it was my turn.
Turn order is not going to change the entire game, no matter what, from what we started at.
Solmyr
Habbaku
Celedhring
Tamas
Berkut---> circle back to Solmyr
If the person prior to you finishes their turn, odds are it's your turn. :P
Quote from: Berkut on January 29, 2017, 07:19:48 PM
OK, so it is Intel War.
I think that means that I can
1: Buy William Moorcroft
2: Play William Moorcroft, place spy
3: Execute move action on Herat card (free)
A: Move spy from Moorcroft to Herat
B: Move spy from Farahani to Shah card
4: Execute Counter Espionage action on Moorcroft, kill purple spy on Herat
It doesn't matter much since we can just look at the board, but "on Herat" is almost meaningless. Herat is one of the six locations that a card can be in. When a spy is in operation, he's on a specific card that just so happens to be in a location. The card title is at the top of the card.
Wait, you can do multiple free actions in your turn? That would have been nice to know.
You can do one for each action icon on your tableau, right?
The Persian Shah hears of a Russian diplomat stirring trouble, and sends men to detain him. Meanwhile, the British send their agents among the Tajik tribes, trying to secure their cooperation. In the north, the Russian commander of Bala Hisar is assassinated by unknown agents.
1. Purchase Alexander Griboyedov for 0.
2. Purchase Tajik Warband for 1, placing a rupee on Market.
3. (free) Assassinate Bala Hisar.
As far as I can tell, Habbaku cannot win by purchasing the Topple on his turn, and it will be discarded afterwards.
Quote from: celedhring on January 30, 2017, 06:26:19 AM
You can do one for each action icon on your tableau, right?
During Intel War, the Intel actions do not count against your limit of two actions per turn.
There is still the limit that you can only activate each card once, and for one action.
Cue Habbaku to slap me and tell me that is totally wrong in 3...2....
No, that's correct. So long as you only use a card in your tableau for one action, regardless of how many government shifts there have been, you can utilize as many free actions as you like.
The ambitious Trans-Caspian Railway has finally been completed, connecting the vital hub of Kabul via a circuitous route to the hinterlands of Persia. Though civilian traffic flows regularly along it, the real purpose is surely to serve as a lifeline for the Russian military...
Action 1: Purchase Trans-Caspian Railway for 1.
Action 2: Play Trans-Caspian Railway. 1 Russian road to Transcaspain-Kabul connection. 1 Russian road to Transcaspian-Persia connection.
Over to Celedhring.
You didn't place any connections in your file?
Btw, apparently you can place multiple cylinders of the same empire on the same connection. What is the benefit of having a higher-ranked connection? Just the cylinder count for supremacy if regime is Economic Boom, or anything else?
Quote from: Solmyr on January 30, 2017, 09:56:34 AM
You didn't place any connections in your file?
Btw, apparently you can place multiple cylinders of the same empire on the same connection. What is the benefit of having a higher-ranked connection? Just the cylinder count for supremacy if regime is Economic Boom, or anything else?
Thanks--was in a hurry. File updated to place the new connections.
The point of more than one road on a connection is to have extra buffer for supremacy and to insure against destruction by wild armies.
How do you attack roads, btw? According to Campaign action, you move armies from one region to another, not onto a connection?
Roads are destroyed the same way armies are. However, if there are no enemy armies in the location being attacked (Herat, Punjab, etc.), then adjacent roads may be targeted as casualties instead.
Are you sure the uploaded save has the proper roads, Habs? I don't see anything on the Transcaspian-Kabul connection space. Maybe I'm missing something? :unsure:
I made a file and thought I uploaded the new one, but I suppose it's possible that it didn't work.
Regardless, the only thing wrong in the initial one I put up was the lack of placing those two roads. If you place those before doing your turn, you should be good to go ahead.
The Emirate aims to modernize its infrastructure in order to compete with the Western nations vying for dominance, although it has been forced to scramble for funds in order to start its ambitious modernization projects
1) Purchase "Market", paying 0 and taking the 2 rupees on it
2) Purchase "Bank", paying 3 and taking the 1 rupee on it
Since I'm over my card limit, I discard "Market".
Celedhring, you may never voluntarily go over your hand size. If you have a full hand before purchasing something, you simply cannot buy a card from the market.
Note that this differs from a purge of tableau at the end of your turn--you may go over temporarily in that case.
Ok! Sorry about the mistake.
The Emirate has finished mapping the Transcaspian area, hoping that it will help modernize the realm's infrastructure, a necessity if the scattered tribes ever wish to measure up to the Western nations vying for dominance.
1) Play Imperial Surveyors, put one spy on them and pay 1 rupee to the white player.
2) Purchase market for free, grab the 2 rupees on it.
Jan-Fishan Khan's meddlings in Kabul make tensions boil over into Military Struggle again. One alleged British casualty, a one Charles Masson has dissappeared and presumed death, but may resurface again...
1) Play Jan-Fishan Khan from my hand. Regime changes to Military Struggle
2) Get Charles Masson from the market to my hand for free
File uploaded
Alarmed by the global militarism in the countryside, a consortium of merchants, using some rather clandestine methods, quickly buy off the warring tribes with the promise of ill begotten wealth, ushering a quick return to the days of back room deals and knives in the dark...
1. Buy Bank from the Market for 1, taking 1 gold from the card.
2. Play Bank, regime changes back to Intel War
3. Play Bandits-Move2 for free
A> Move Spy from Fath-Ali-Shah to Allah Quli Bahadur
B> Move Spy from Bandits to Farahani
4. Play Moorcroft-Counter-Espionage1 for free, kill spy on Bahadur
Market costs are doubled during Military Struggle, so Bank costs you 2, not 1.
In addition, when you play Bank from your hand, you forgot to trigger the Leveraged effect of it--it's a 2-star card, so you gain 2 Rupees from outside the game.
Lastly, you didn't actually write where you placed the Bank's road-placements, but the file shows it's Kandahar-Herat and Kandahar-Punjab.
Net effect is that before Solmyr takes his turn, he needs to place 2 Rupees--one in Berkut's personal pile, and another on top of the "Farah Road" card in the market.
In that case, you will lose Russian favor since we will both be tied even on tie-breakers...
I updated a new file with those changes. Thanks for catching that Habs.
The Russian ambassador to Persia, Alexander Griboyedov, manages to receive an audience with Fath-Ali Shah. The eloquence of the playwright has a profound effect on the Shah, and Persian policy begins realignment towards Russia in light of the current political climate in the region. On the orders of prime minister Ghaem Magham Farahani, the British explorer William Moorcroft is seized near Kandahar and beheaded.
1. Play Alexander Griboyedov. Place 2 spies on the card. My loyalty changes to Russian.
2. Purchase Farah Road for 0, gain 2 rupees from the card.
3. (free) Use Alexander Griboyedov to Travel 1 spy 2 spaces from him to William Moorcroft, placing on the Russian card edge.
4. (free) Use Ghaem Magham Farahani to Assassinate William Moorcroft, paying 2 rupees. Gain card as Loyalty Prize.
4 out of 5 in Team Russia? :yeahright:
The next topple that shows up will end the game, if this doesn't change.
Three people are going to end up looking like suckers...
With the safety and security of the Russian army protecting moneyed interests in the capital, speculators and money lenders begin to work their trade, adding much-needed liquidity to the Afghan economy.
Action 1: Buy Money Lenders for 1.
Action 2: Play Money Lenders. Gain 2 Rupees from Leveraged impact. Place Russian roads Kabul-Punjab and Kabul-Herat (moving one of the roads from Transcaspia-Persia). Regain Russian Favor due to having more Rupees than the others.
Well, you guys kinda made it impossible to win as anyone but pro-Russian... I blame Tamas, if he had stayed pro-British, I wouldn't have switched either.
Once a third person jumps on board, it behooves the three parties to take stock and realize which of them doesn't realistically stand a chance of gaining more influence with that Empire. That person should then, pragmatically, jump ship ASAP to help rebalance the board.
That person is Tamas, by the way.
:mad:
It's my turn, right? I'll make my move this evening once I come back from my cascade of work meetings.
Why should I be jumping ship? You l33t guys can jump and take your spies and tribes with you, already starting in a strong situation.
Quote from: Tamas on February 02, 2017, 09:44:27 AM
Why should I be jumping ship? You l33t guys can jump and take your spies and tribes with you, already starting in a strong situation.
Because you have the worst position for winning as a Russian loyalist than the others do. By maintaining Russian loyalty despite that, you are essentially just assisting the other Russian players' win.
Yeah - its like the first win condition is a team thing. Team Russia has won!
Then the REAL win condition is "Who is #1 on team Russia?"
If you are #3 on team Russia, that makes no sense, unless you think you can jump into the lead before the finish line is actually crossed. Otherwise you are just helping the eventual winner....
It's not really worse than #2 who could have a running start with a new power.
:rolleyes:
Yeah well since Donald Trump got elected, Hungary has been demoted to #3 on team Russia and you don't see Orban jumping ship either.
To the powerful bey Al-Habbaku, the wise and merciful, favorite of the Russian czar.
As ruler of Punjab, we humbly ask your permission to deploy troops in that province without paying the due toll of 2 rupees. In exchange, we - the Afghan tribes loyal to the Emir - promise that nothing bad will happen to the Trans-Caspian railway. I mean, it's a really nice railway you got there, it would be a pity if something happened to it...
The wise and all-merciful will gladly grant passage to Afghan soldiers for no fee provided that the spies of Celedhring-Baba consider cleansing Pandjeh Oasis of Shah Berkut's pesky agents...
That is most agreeable to us, and shall be conducted swiftly.
The next morning, a Sikh regiment is allowed into Punjab by the local forces, while spies disguised as surveyors inside the Transcaspian mapping expedition travel to the Pandjeh Oasis with nefarious designs...
1) I purchase Akali Sikhs for 0 rupees
2) I play Akali Sikhs, putting two Afghan armies on Punjab
As free actions:
3) I get two moves from Charles Stoddard, which I use to move a spy from the Persian Army to the Akali Sikhs, and one spy from Imperial Surveyors to the Oasis. It's left on the blue band.
4) I get a counterspionage action from Imperial Surveyors, which disposes from the yellow cube in the Oasis, which is returned to Berkut.
During cleanup, as I'm one card over the tableau limit, I discard The Persian Army (why can't I get a single purple card!)
I hope all of this is legal? I checked and it should be.
:ultra:
Aye, your move is completely legal, Celedhring!
Over to Tamas.
Fishan Khan moves heavily to court the Russians, lavishing high-ranked officers with gifts, and activating his network of spies. Meanwhile, Charles Masson was spotted in the Panjdeh Oasis, shortly before a suspicious death rattled nerves there.
1. I play Charles Masson, placing 2 spies on it
2. I use Panjdeh Oasis for a Gift, paying 2 ruppees
3. Free action Travel by Jan-Fishan Khan:
-one spy from Fishan Khan to Bank, spying for Russia
-one spy from Charles Masson to Pandjeh Oasis
4. Free action Counterspy by Charles Masson, removing the Orange spy from Pandjeh Oasis
To me it seems like I have 3 Russian influences now, so it is up to one of you in the back of the line to switch.
Yeah, an alternative strategy is to play your entire game to just grab influence. That should work well?
Quote from: Berkut on February 03, 2017, 10:54:46 AM
Yeah, an alternative strategy is to play your entire game to just grab influence. That should work well?
:huh:
Waiting for my turn is always so exciting. :mellow:
I bought the Zaman Durrani card for 5, and played it, placing two of my tribes in Herat.
The play his travel and my Bandits travel to move my spy back to my Bandits card.
Persian agents are still rumored to operate around Kandahar, while others say they have expanded their operations around Herat and Uzbek lands as well. Aga Mehdi, a merchant from Yarkand, arrives in Bukhara to ply his trade. Soon after, a caravan of gold and silver en route from Bukhara to Kandahar vanishes mysteriously. As a result, the operations of the Kandahar bank are seriously disrupted and it is forced to close.
1. Purchase Aga Mehdi, gain 1 rupee from card.
2. Play Aga Mehdi, place 1 spy on him.
3. (free from Ghaem Magham Farahani) Travel, spy from Ghaem Magham Farahani to Bandits.
4. (free from Alexander Griboyedov) Travel, spy from Aga Mehdi to Bank.
5. (free from Aga Mehdi) Assassinate to kill Bank, paying 2 rupees to market. Black spy on card returns home. Gain card as loyalty prize.
Russian Influence count: Solmyr 3, Habbaku 2, Tamas 2, Berkut 1. I gain the Loyalty Card.
The Helmand River has long given supplementary income to farmers and itinerant workers in the Kandahar region, but lust for its gold sparks a lust for power in other areas of the nation. Local rulers begin seizing tax money for their own coffers rather than their betters...
Action 1: Buy Helmand River Gold from market for 0. Gain 1 Rupee from card.
Action 2: Play Helmand River Gold from hand. Move 1 Russian road from Kandahar-Herat to Kandahar-Kabul. Regime changes to Political Fragmentation.
Free Action (Allah Quli Bahadur): Tax Solmyr in Transcaspian (his Aga Mehdi card allows this) for 1 Rupee.
Free Action (Ranjit Singh): Tax Anarkali Bazaar and Henry Rawlinson in the market of both of their Rupees.
I should note that I specifically did not tax Celedhring instead of the market in hopes that this will continue to engender, ah...good relations between the tribes. :P
Over to Celedhring.
When did this turn into "everyone fuck Berkut"?
I did not fuck Berkut. :bowler:
Celedhring Baba thanks Al-Habbaku or his friendship, and wishes peace upon him and his progeny.
Haji Khan Hakar joins the tribes loyal to the Emir, which use his political influence in Kandahar to exact tribute on the Russian allies stationed there. Hakar's loyalty gives the Emirate much needed political contacts and organization in order to survive the Russian onslaught.
1) Purchase Haji Khan Hakar from the market, paying 3 rupees.
2) Play Haji Khan Hakar - two orange tribes and one Afghan army (garrison skill) go to Kandahar
My understanding is that I cannot tax Tamas as a free action because his 2 economic stars protect his 2 rupees.
That's correct. With your current cards (plus Haji Khan), you could legally tax (as free actions) anyone that has a Kandahar card in their tableau or any market card that is in Kandahar. Players, however, can only be taxed with respect to their gold stars. Tamas has 2 stars and 2 Rupees, so is immune. I have 5 stars and 10 Rupees, so could be taxed down to 5, hypothetically.
From a tactical standpoint, there is really no reason for you not to tax 2 Rupees from me on your turn--I expect it, in fact.
Okay, thanks for the explanation on taxing.
3) I tax you for 2 rupees :P
Over to Tamas if everything is correct.
Question: are the topples mixed up completely randomly? (as opposed to say, seeded like in Pandemic where you can expect one epidemic card to show up every X draws).
No, the topples are seeded throughout the deck.
At the beginning, the cards are dealt into 6 equal piles, and the topples are sorted into the bottom 4 of those piles. So, realistically, we should be coming upon a topple card very soon...
Quote from: Habbaku on February 05, 2017, 02:10:17 PM
No, the topples are seeded throughout the deck.
At the beginning, the cards are dealt into 6 equal piles, and the topples are sorted into the bottom 4 of those piles. So, realistically, we should be coming upon a topple card very soon...
Thanks, I was trying to calculate when one was likely to show up.
Yeah, it's pretty soon. The deck started with 80 cards, with the 4 topples being dealt into the bottom ~54 cards. We currently have 37 cards left in the deck and have only seen the first topple card.
So, is this over yet? :P
Paging Tamas.
Soon!
The Persian Slave Market seems to have a new owner, and it continues to generate money for the man behind it, as well as local tribes
Bought and played Persian Slave Market, paying whoever has a tribe in Persia (I keep forgetting the colours).
I DID however, forgot to put down a Russian road. Berkut, please put one between Persia and Herat. Thank you!
No Topple card just yet!
Tamas, in order to place a Russian road, you need to remove a Russian cylinder from elsewhere on the board. Berkut cannot make that decision for you...
Ah, sorry!
Remove it from between Punjab and Kandahar, please
:zzz
1. But Wheat Fields Card for 0 rupees, take the two that are on it.
2. Free Tax action (Herat), take two Rupees from Minaret of Jam on the Market
3. Play Assasinate action to kill Allah Qudi Bahadur, pay two rupees for the privilege.
There gonna be a file?
Anyway, I cannot put the card into Berkut's hand since Vassal won't let me, so I won't submit a file now. In case Berkut does submit his, game can continue since my actions don't depend on it.
1. Purchase Shah's Guard for 0, take 1 rupee on it.
2. Play Shah's Guard (to the right of Fath Ali Shah), place 1 Russian army in Persia (take cylinder from Kandahar-Punjab road), place 1 purple spy on the card due to Informant.
3. (free from Fath Ali Shah) Tax in Persia, take 2 rupees from British Persian Trade in the market. Can tax there because I have 3 units (2 Russian armies and 1 tribe) which is more than 2 Afghan armies.
4. (free from Shah's Guard) Tax in Persia, take 1 rupee from Jean-Francois Allard in the market.
Alarmed by the news of assassination of the Khan of Khiva, Fath Ali Shah has his Guard stay close to him day and night. To pay the soldiers, tariffs and tolls are extracted from British merchants and European travellers alike.
Habs can make those changes in his file before playing his turn.
I saved the game, and I can see the save file in the DB folder on my machine.
I am at a loss as to why nobody else can...
I uploaded Berkut's file from my end. Should be visible now.
Will do mine and Solmyr's turn here in a while.
Thanks Habs.
Solmyr, there should not have been a Kandahar-Punjab road during your turn thanks to Tamas moving it during his own.
Which cylinder did you wish to shift around in order to place the new Russian army?
Berkut, in cleaning things up, it looks like you claimed the reward for assassinating my card. If you do that, however, you will be forced to switch loyalties to Britain.
Did you want to go ahead and do the assassination and not switch loyalties?
Quote from: Habbaku on February 10, 2017, 04:07:54 PM
Solmyr, there should not have been a Kandahar-Punjab road during your turn thanks to Tamas moving it during his own.
Which cylinder did you wish to shift around in order to place the new Russian army?
Transcaspian-Kabul then.
Nope, I am ok with switching to Brit.
Uploaded my turn (number 36), so Habs can continue with his from that. We got a Topple!
With bags of gold are Imperial friends won, and Russia is no different. The money lenders and gold merchants of Kabul conspire to ensure that, if there is a Russian potentate given control of the newest province of the Rodina, it shall be none other than those of the White Goat Tribe.
This newfound wealth being given over comes, of course, from a boom in the lands of Afghanistan. Improvements in the railway and the wily manipulations of Alexander Burnes and his connections with John Company ensure that gold will continue to flow for some time.
Free Action (Political Struggle): Tax with Ranjit Singh (Punjab). Take 1 Rupee from Anarkali Bazaar in the Market and 1 Rupee from Celedhring (since he owns Akali Sikhs).
Action 1: Buy Alexander Burnes from the market for 0. Take 1 Rupee from card.
Action 2: Play Alexander Burnes to the left side of my tableau. Trigger regime change to Economic Boom. Gain 1 spy on Alexander Burnes.
Free Action 1 (Economic Boom): Commerce with Trans-Caspian Railway. Take 1 Rupee from Barakazai Brothers in the market. Take 1 Rupee from Count Ivan Simonitch in the market.
Free Action 2 (Economic Boom): Gifts with Helmand River Gold. Buy the 6 Rupee Gift. 1 Rupee each to the six rightmost cards in the market.
Free Action 3 (Economic Boom): Gifts with Money Lenders. Buy the 4 Rupee Gift. 1 Rupee each to the four rightmost cards in the market.
I go up to 4 Russian favor to Solmyr's 3, so I gain Russian Favor.
Over to Celedhring.
The Orange Coconut tribe finds itself in a weakened financial position, but there's little it can do at the moment with the westerners having taking over the Afghani markets and roads. But maybe that will change in due time...
1) Purchase Jean-Francois Allard from the market, pay 1 rupee
2) Tax Kandahar, taking 1 rupee from the Karakzai brothers in the market
EDIT: Over to Tamas
Count Ivan Simonitch starts his work for Russian interests in Afghanistan, by negotiating new commerce deals.
1) Buy Count Ivan Simonitch, placing 3 rupees on previous cards, receive 2 rupees from the card
2) Play the Count by paying 1 rupee to Mr. Purple in Persia
3) Free action: Commerce with Pandjeh Oasis, taking the 2 rupees from Anarkali Bazaar
4) Free action Commerce with Slave Market, taking 1 rupee from British-Persian Trade
File has been posted
How can us non-Russians conspire to screw Tamas?
:rolleyes:
You should conspire against everyone else but me. I have the least Russian influence, and I do not have my own 2nd placed faction, like Celed.
Quote from: Tamas on February 12, 2017, 10:21:51 AM
:rolleyes:
You should conspire against everyone else but me. I have the least Russian influence, and I do not have my own 2nd placed faction, like Celed.
Yeah, but there is a principle involved. We know you won't make ANY move against Habs regardless.
He is on the opposite end of the table, I can't reach him :P
Quote from: Tamas on February 12, 2017, 05:21:19 AM
Count Ivan Simonitch starts his work for Russian interests in Afghanistan, by negotiating new commerce deals.
1) Buy Count Ivan Simonitch, placing 3 rupees on previous cards, receive 2 rupees from the card
2) Play the Count by paying 1 rupee to Mr. Purple in Persia
3) Free action: Commerce with Pandjeh Oasis, taking the 2 rupees from Anarkali Bazaar
4) Free action Commerce with Slave Market, taking 1 rupee from British-Persian Trade
File has been posted
Tamas, you need to purge your tableau. I didn't watch too carefully during your last play, but you're above your limit. With no purple stars, the maximum you can have is 3 cards. You need to select 2 to remove before Berkut plays.
Supremacy update since there is another topple on board:
Supremacy for the various regime types:
Military Struggle: No supremacy. 5 Russian armies vs. 5 Afghan/0 British. No supremacy.
Intelligence War: Russian Supremacy . 10 Russian spies. 3 Afghan/British. 1 Russian road, army, and tribe are on the board.
Political Fragmentation: No supremacy. 4 Russian tribes vs. 2 British/2 Afghan.
Economic Boom: Russian Supremacy. 6 Russian roads vs. 0 British/0 Afghan. 1 Russian army, spy, and tribe are on the board.
Influence totals:
Solmyr: 3 Russian, 1 military star.
Habbaku: 4 Russian, 0 military stars.
Celedhring: 1 Afghan, 2 military stars.
Tamas: 2 Russian, 0 military stars.
Berkut: 1 British, 0 military stars.
Quote from: Habbaku on February 12, 2017, 10:54:36 AM
Quote from: Tamas on February 12, 2017, 05:21:19 AM
Count Ivan Simonitch starts his work for Russian interests in Afghanistan, by negotiating new commerce deals.
1) Buy Count Ivan Simonitch, placing 3 rupees on previous cards, receive 2 rupees from the card
2) Play the Count by paying 1 rupee to Mr. Purple in Persia
3) Free action: Commerce with Pandjeh Oasis, taking the 2 rupees from Anarkali Bazaar
4) Free action Commerce with Slave Market, taking 1 rupee from British-Persian Trade
File has been posted
Tamas, you need to purge your tableau. I didn't watch too carefully during your last play, but you're above your limit. With no purple stars, the maximum you can have is 3 cards. You need to select 2 to remove before Berkut plays.
Sorry, totally forgot about that!
Corrected move is now uploaded, did it in a way so I don't have to redo my whole move: left the Count in my hand and discarded another excess card from tableau
So, if I understand the game state now.
We have a topple on board, so if Habs gets up to play, he wins (assuming no change).
Solmyr, who plays before Habs, has no way that I can tell of getting 1 more influence in 1 play such that he could then buy the topple and win.
However, he can certainly buy and play the Orchards card to change to political turmoil, and then buy the topple himself to prevent Habs from winning.
So I can safely just ignore that entire "ZOMG THE GAME WILL END" thing.
I will just try to start chipping away at the overall Russian dominance...
1. Play Baluchi Smugglers from my hand.
Place Brits roads in Herat-Persia, and Herat-Kandahar
Place cyliner in Herat (Garrison)
2. Play Wheat Fields from my hand
Place Brit roads in Herat-Transcaspian, and Herat-Kabul
3. Free action - Commerce Wheat Fields. Take rupee from British-Persian Trade and The Ark
4. Free Action - Commerce Smugglers. Take two rupees from the Ark
Solmyr, I left the ruppees on the topple card, figuring you should at least get some cash for your troubles.
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 :D
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.
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...
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?
Not at all....
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?
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...
And yes, you cannot use rupees on the card to pay for the card.
There's still rule H4:
QuoteH4. 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.
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.
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.
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.
Quote from: Solmyr on February 13, 2017, 04:35:31 PM
There's still rule H4:
QuoteH4. 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.
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.
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?
Quote from: Tamas on February 14, 2017, 07:45:51 AM
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...
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.
I drank too much after the football game, so I'll zend my turn tomorrow. I know wat I want to do but I'm sure i would fuck something up.
All the more reason to do your turn now!
The Emir has decreed the renovation of the grand minaret of of Jam, a witness to our nation's grand past and devotion to Allah. Tithes will be collected from all tribes near Kandahar in order to fund this great work.
1) Purchase Minaret of Jam from the market, grab 1 rupee from it
2) Play Minaret of Jam, paying 2 rupees to Berkut for the privilege. I place one Afghan army on Herat (garrison), and two roads (Herat-Persia, Herat-Kandahar)
3) Tax Kandahar for 2 via Haji Khan Kakar, grabbing one rupee from Tamas (4-3 protected), and one from Solmyr (2-1 protected)
If I'm correct, Russia no longer enjoys supremacy anywhere at this time. Over to Tamas.
1. I play Count Simonitch to my left, placing 2 spies on it, and paying 1 rupee to, I think, Solmyr.
2. I use the Count's Travel ability to move the spy from Slave Trade to Count Simonitch, and to move a spy from Count Simonitch to Herat, spying for Afghans
At the end of my round I discard Slave Market to stay at my Tableau size.
File has been uploaded.
First action will buy the Topple card.
(Yellow) moved Russian Cylinder from Transcapian to Russian Stock
(Yellow) moved White Cube from Punjab to The Tableau
(Yellow) moved Russian Cylinder from Persia to Russian Stock
(Yellow) moved Orange Cube from Kandahar to The Tableau
(Yellow) moved Yellow Cube from Herat to The Tableau
(
Start culling!
QuoteH4. 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).
Posted a file with the start of the cull.
If you guys want to post what cards you are returning to hand, I can do one file with everything.
Should be noted that we are playing counterclockwise for some reason. So I guess technically I cull first, then Habs, Cel, Tamas, and then Berkut.
Will take Aga Mehdi and Ghaem Magham Farahani into hand. Will then discard Aga Mehdi and Bolan Pass from my hand.
Btw, I think Berk cannot put cards into our hands or discard from them, so everyone will just have to post what they do here and then actually do those things before their turn. Until then Berk can just move the culled cards aside.
Isn't it better if we just do the culling ourselves directly in the save? Following the order you just posted.
You do have to discard from your hand, btw. Hand size only stops you from buying new cards.
We still have to post what we cull before Berkut continues his play. Presumably the culling may influence subsequent plays.
And Berk, presumably you mean you don't have to discard. I know, but I might as well get rid of weaker cards that I'd not use anyway.
I mean that we just go and do it in the save before Berkut continues with his turn. I think it will be cleaner this way, otherwise we will have to keep in mind that there's cards in there that aren't actually there until we complete a full round.
Quote from: Tamas on February 15, 2017, 03:51:47 PM
1. I play Count Simonitch to my left, placing 2 spies on it, and paying 1 rupee to, I think, Solmyr.
2. I use the Count's Travel ability to move the spy from Slave Trade to Count Simonitch, and to move a spy from Count Simonitch to Herat, spying for Afghans
At the end of my round I discard Slave Market to stay at my Tableau size.
File has been uploaded.
Tamas, when a Leveraged card is either played or discarded (even via self-purge), money enters and leaves the game, respectively. By discarding the Slave Market, you'll have to pay 1 Rupee to the bank (removed from game).
In addition, the person with the British Favor card (Berkut) gets the effect of that card every time a Leveraged card is discarded...
Well, I uploaded file number 47 with my culling. Habs is next.
No file from me, but I'll send Transcaspian Railway back to hand.
How are we doing this then? Not on the save file, just saying it here?
I will put Imperial Surveyors in my hand and then discard it together with Market. Market is leveraged so I guess Berkut gets a rupee (I don't pay since I never played it).
I'm just saying what I'm returning to my hand--we don't need a billion different files for the cull.
Still waiting on Tamas, regardless...
I am taking Charles Masson to my hand.
Bought Royal Guard with my second action.
Free tx action in Herat, take 2 gold from celed
The Russians enlist the service of the Tajiks around Herat. The Tajik warbands raid British forces and their allied tribes in the area. Amidst the fighting, Zaman Shah Durrani is overthrown and killed. Meanwhile, taxation ramps up again in Persia, while the Tajiks extort tolls from British merchants traveling there.
1. Play Tajik Warband in Herat, pay 1 rupee to Berkut for his tribe, place 2 Russian armies there.
2. Campaign with Tajik Warband against Britain, kill 1 British army and 1 yellow tribe in Herat. 1 Russian army is killed. Since Berkut's last tribe is killed, Overthrow is triggered and his Zaman Shah Durrani is discarded.
3. (free from Fath Ali Shah) Tax Tamas in Persia (I have 1 army + 1 tribe, Cel has 2 armies, but tie is in my favor because I have more military stars on tableau). 3 stars minus 2 tax shelter, so 1 rupee taken from Tamas.
4. (free from Shah's Guard) Tax Claude Wade in Persia from Market, take 1 rupee.
5. (free from Tajik Warband) Tax British Persian Trade in Herat from Market, take 2 rupees.
Ranjit Singh hires the plucky Italian adventurer and mercenary-captain, Paolo Avitabile, as his spy-captain. By cleaning up the administration of his informants, some discoveries about inefficiencies in tax collection have been made as well...and corrected.
Action 1: Purchase Paolo Avitabile from market for 1. Gain 3 rupees.
Action 2: Play Paolo to the right side of my tableau. 1 White tribe to Punjab. 1 White spy to Paolo.
Free Action (Paolo Avitabile, Tax): Tax 1 Rupee from Anarkali Bazaar in the market.
Over to Celedhring.
Away from my PC until Sunday night, will check the save and post my turn then. Sorry for the delay, I'm usually away on weekends.
The green coconut tribe seeks to improve its beleaguered finances by developing trade links with Europe, negotiating access to Persian ports controlled by the Bey Solmyr.
1) I buy British-Persian trade, pay 1 rupee
2) Play British-Persian trade, pay 1 rupee to Solmyr. I get one from the bank due to leveraged.
Free) Tax Kandahar, exacting 2 rupees from Solmyr.
DOnt I get something or other from leveraged plays?
You get it only on discards, right? (it's what it says on the British card) But I actually gave myself one less rupee than I should, since it's a Rank 2 card.
But this reminds me I owe you one rupee from when I discarded Market during the culling.
New save uploaded.
Quote from: celedhring on February 20, 2017, 05:00:17 PM
Free) Tax Kandahar, exacting 2 rupees from Solmyr.
You can only tax me 1 rupee since I have a commercial star protecting one other.
Quote from: Solmyr on February 20, 2017, 08:34:35 PM
Quote from: celedhring on February 20, 2017, 05:00:17 PM
Free) Tax Kandahar, exacting 2 rupees from Solmyr.
You can only tax me 1 rupee since I have a commercial star protecting one other.
No, unless I'm misreading this completely the only thing your economic star does is protecting one rupee from your stash. All the other 6 you hold when I use the tax action are free game. I take two from those since I'm using a Rank 2 card.
Relevant fragment:
QuoteE11.4) Tax Shelter. The total number of Economic stars on your Tableau indicates the amount of rupees you can shelter from the Tax Action. Only rupees you hold in excess of your Tax Shelter are vulnerable to the tax action.
Hmm okay.
I gave my only rupee to Berkut as he was owed one from my Leverage-discard (so did the bank).
In my turn I took Bazakhi Brother to my hand and played it, giving Celed the one rupee for the honor.
EDIT: file is up
Solmyr, why would you pound on the player in last place, who cannot possibly win, while ignoring the actual people winning the game?
You campaigned to knock the guy in last from 3 cards down to 2, while the people who can actually beat you all have 5. And knocking that card out helped you...not at all in any way that I can tell. You knocked Britain down, the weakest power, which means nothing at all really, at least not in the context of this particular game.
Maybe there is just some level of play here I don't understand.
1. Buy Madali Khan for 3 - rupees to Civic Improvemtns, Ghazni, Bengal Infantry
2. Play Madali Khan, paying 1 to Habbaku. Place three yellow cubes
Free action: Commerce on Herat, take rupees from Civic Improvements and Ghazni
I forgot to update the market, that will need to be done first whoever is next.
The Persians continue to collect taxes, using them to build civic improvements. A new Russian garrison is stationed in Persia to counter Afghan military buildup.
1. (free from Shah's Guard) Tax Cel in Persia, taking 1 rupee.
2. Purchase Civic Improvements for 0.
3. Play Civic Improvements, place 1 Russian army in Persia. Regime changes to Intelligence War.
4. (free from Alexander Griboyedov) Travel 2 spaces from Bandits to Madali Khan, placing my spy on the British band. This gives me 1 influence with the British, and I win the tie against Berkut due to having more military stars. So I gain the British favor.
Also, the next Topple just appeared. I think it means Habbaku wins.
How in the world could Habs win, what with the concerted effort everyone has made to take down the leader, which has been Habs the entire game?
Oh wait - everyone has done exactly fuck all against Habbaku. You guys know he can't come to your house and beat you for making a play against him, right?
Yeah, the Topple coming up right before my turn while Russia has supremacy is game over. My first action is to play Trans-Caspian Railway to my tableau, taking me up to 4 Russian influence compared to 3 each for Tamas and Solmyr. Second action is to buy the Topple for 5 (I have 10 rupees) and end the game with Russian Spy Supremacy.
Berkut, though hyperbolic, is partly correct here--relatively little was done to directly harm my interests save for a few instances where I was taxed or had my cards sniped. In addition, I positioned myself to pocket as many rupees as possible in order to buy Gifts ahead of the other Russian players. With so many other players aligned with Russia, I knew only one of us was going to win--and it was going to be the guy who stopped "helping" the Empire they were loyal to and started bribing the Empire for influence instead.
Of course, this was the first game for most of us, so I think taking lessons away from it are going to be very helpful.
Who's up for round 2? :)
I consciously gambled on the other 3 players to take Habs down while I prepped a winning position. If Habs didn't win this round I could've actually won the game in my turn (well, I might have fallen one rupee short depending on how cards fell).
It was a gamble, of course, and it failed, but I don't regret it.
Anyhow, loved this so I'm up for another go.
Nobody wants to give Pax Porfiriana a go? Maybe it's because I played that one face to face but seems less abstract in theme and mechanics.
I am glad to give this one another go too, though.
Yeah, we can switch to Pax Whatever too. Mechanics are broadly the same I gather?
I couldn't really do much against Habbaku on my turns. In order to do so I generally would have had to pay him lots of rupees to play cards, and I could not afford that.
I'm up for another go at this. Or something else.
I am up for another go if people want to actually play against ALL the players, rather than letting Habbaku play solitaire while the rest of us play multi-player...:P
I would prefer this again though - I would like to get a game where we all actually understand both the mechanics and the strategy a little better, and switching to another Pax game means we have to re-figure out the minor mechanicals changes, and the significant "how to win" changes.
Quote from: Berkut on February 22, 2017, 08:36:00 AM
I am up for another go if people want to actually play against ALL the players, rather than letting Habbaku play solitaire while the rest of us play multi-player...:P
I would prefer this again though - I would like to get a game where we all actually understand both the mechanics and the strategy a little better, and switching to another Pax game means we have to re-figure out the minor mechanicals changes, and the significant "how to win" changes.
Fair enough. Pax Pamir round 2 then! I am guessing Habbaku is nice enough to set it up again? :)
I set up a Dropbox for the 2nd game and uploaded my initial setup file.
Everyone needs to do a setup file as well, based upon mine (or whomever uploads after me, of course, in sequence). Deal yourself a tribe card, 4 rupees, 10 tribes of your choice (sticking with the same color will help!), and a loyalty card.
Once everyone has their loyalty card selected, we'll publicly post, rearrange "seating," and begin.
I am on it
My setup has been uploaded. I am Mr. Black again.
Claimed orange and drew a loyalty card. Didn't put anything on the board yet because I thought it would be best to wait until we know player order?
Either way works. I figured out how to move the tribe cards once they're placed (shift-click), so it's not an issue for me to shuffle everything around.
Is loyalty card selection public knowledge?
I am assuming so, since you can at least see what is left and hence what has been selected?
Although obviously not which direction...
It is not public knowledge, no.
If you deal the loyalty card to your hand, I don't believe anyone else can see which it is. You shouldn't be looking at the cards that are left...
Oh, I thought you selected from the remaining cards. You actually just get to pick which of the two the card you randomly get allows....
If you selected from the remaining cards, how did you think selection order was determined? :hmm:
OK, got purple, and saved file.
Quote from: Berkut on February 22, 2017, 01:17:15 PM
OK, got purple, and saved file.
apparently, after browsing the loyalty deck and picking one to suit your heart's desire :P
Of course!
I went through all the cards as well. You guys are doomed.
Quote from: Berkut on February 22, 2017, 01:17:15 PM
OK, got purple, and saved file.
Purple was mine. <_< So I guess I'm yellow this time.
Picked a loyalty card. Btw, can we go in clockwise order this time? :P
Also, what order to we reveal the loyalty cards in?
Order of reveal is irrelevant so long as everyone is honest. Once everyone has selected, we should all post our number ASAP. After that, I'll shuffle the setup cards (or someone else can do it!) and then the first player can go ahead.
Clockwise play order is fine. :P
Well, everyone has selected, I think?
Indeed, so why haven't you announced already? :P
Once again, post in the following format: "[Your Color] Loyalty: (spoiler) Selected Empire, Number." Follow my example:
White Loyalty: [spoiler]British, 10[/spoiler]
Purple Loyalty: [spoiler]Native, 3[/spoiler]
Yellow Loyalty: [spoiler]British, 1[/spoiler]
Black Loyalty: [spoiler]Afghan, 9[/spoiler]
Orange picks [spoiler]Russia (2)[/spoiler]
So we have:
Solmyr (yellow): British, 1
Cel (orange): Russia, 2
Berkut (purple): Afghan, 3
Tamas (black): Afghan, 9
Habbaku (white): British, 10
I'll start.
What, its the low numbers who start first? Since when?!
The British travel writer Arthur Conolly journeys to the Emirate of Bukhara, describing the areas he travels through. His observations point to a coming struggle that he calls "the Great Game".
1. Purchase Arthur Conolly for 0.
2. Play Arthur Conolly, gain 1 spy on him.
Cel is up. He should move his tribe card, loyalty card and rupees clockwise from me (I've already moved the orange cubes and the Russian loyalty card to the spot).
Quote from: Tamas on February 23, 2017, 05:28:40 AM
What, its the low numbers who start first? Since when?!
Rule C6: "Players adjust their seating according to the seating order number in the corner of their Loyalty card. The player with the lowest number is the start player and play will continue clockwise to the player with the next higher number."
Nice to know that you've read the rules. :rolleyes:
British adventurer Charles Masson, long thought dead, has resurfaced near Bactria in Afghanistan. What devices is he up to, nobody knows
1) Purchase Charles Masson for 0 rupees
2) Play him, put 2 spies on him
Also claimed the Russian favor card, as the sole Russian player so far.
Over to Berkut.
You should continue clockwise from me, Cel. That way everyone else is in the correct spot already.
Ah ok. Since we went counter-clockwise last time I was confused.
Fixed now.
Berkut's up then.
The new heir to the throne tries to consolidate his hold by hiring Persians to form his new guard...What could go wrong?
Purchase and play Royal Guard to Kabul
Bandits around Herat make good use of the political turmoil and make good money for their new master
Bought and played Bandits, gaining 2 rupees from the bank and placing 2 spies on it.
Tajik militias and vagabonds sign on as mercenaries and guardsmen for the borderlands of India and Afghanistan, in service of the Queen (or at least John Company)
Action 1: Buy Tajik Warband for 0.
Action 2: Play Tajik Warband. 2 British armies to Herat.
Tie broken in my favor, so I get the British Favour card.
Over to Sol.
Rumors spread that the British Army of the Indus is preparing for a major campaign in the region.
1. Purchase Bolan Pass for 0.
2. Purchase Army of the Indus for 2.
Over to Cel.
Joyous news! Dost Mohammad, the King of Afghanistan, has publicly given his favor to the tribal confederation of the Orange Steppes. It is known that such a display of support must have not come cheap, but the tribesmen can exploit their newfound political strength to recoup some of the bribe money...
1) Purchase Dost Muhammad, paying 3 rupees to the market
2) Play Dost Muhammad, adding 1 army to Kabul (garrison trait) and one agent to the card (informants trait)
Free) Tax Kabul using Dost Muhammad, taking 2 rupees from the purple player, and 1 from the market (Jan Fishan Kan card)
Save uploaded
and so it begins
I purposely picked as much as I could from the market in order to not to draw your ire :D
ire: drawn
The arrival of a nice man from Italy has everyone talking...
(Free) tax Kabul. Take 1 rupee from my sworn enemy for all time ORANGE
1. Buy Paulo Avitabile for zero, taking two rupees from Market
2. Play Paulo, place purpe cube in Punjab
I did my save as a logfile. The only difference is that it means when the next player opens it, they need to step through it.
I think it is nice to actually see what is happening. But it is kind of a pain if you do a bunch of stuff and forget to start the logfile, so maybe not worth it?
Paulo has an Informant, which I forogt to place, so I may a new logfile with that, so both 13 and 14 are mine...
Mir Murad Beg gathers his followers and fortifies the Transcaspian
I buy and play Mir Murad Beg.
Regime changes to Military Struggle
Save posted.
If you all prefer we can switch to logs.
Lets try it for a round or two. I really like being able to watch what happens...It also makes it easier to tell who is up, since you can see who is actually moving...
If it is to much of a PITA, we can just switch back.
Quote from: Berkut on February 25, 2017, 09:26:41 AM
The arrival of a nice man from Italy has everyone talking...
(Free) tax Kabul. Take 1 rupee from my sworn enemy for all time ORANGE
1. Buy Paulo Avitabile for zero, taking two rupees from Market
2. Play Paulo, place purpe cube in Punjab
QuoteThere are two restrictions on the Tax action. First, cards may only use the Tax action in their location. Second, a player may only Tax in a location if he has at least one tribe and more units (tribes + loyal armies) than any other player in that location. Ties should be broken following the tie-breaker (A3)
You may not tax in Kabul--you have no tribes there and Celedhring is pretty decisively ahead of everyone in tribes there...
I transferred the rupee back from Purple to Orange.
The East India Company invests heavily in local farms, buying up as much of the excess flour stock as possible for future campaigns...or present ones. With Russian Cossacks spreading far and wide, it becomes difficult to tell them from local bandits. A strong column from John Company departs for the capital and wipes out Dost Mohammad's personal guard and mops up some of the locals while they're at it.
Action 1: Buy Wheat Fields from the market, taking 1 rupee.
Action 2: Play Wheat Fields to my right. Place 1 British road Herat-Kabul. 1 British road Herat-Transcaspian.
Free Action (Campaign, Tajik Warband): 2 British armies from Herat move to Kabul, then attack Russia. 1 Russian and British army exchange. The remaining British army kills 1 Orange tribe.
Over to Sol. I recommend taking advantage of the British being the only major military power on the board during Military Struggle... :bowler:
The British establish a garrison in Bolan Pass, preparing for a major campaign. Soon after, the Army of the Indus invades the Sikh Empire and conquers Peshawar, overthrowing its governor Paolo Avitabile. The British now also control the eastern end of the Khyber Pass and seem poised to invade Afghanistan proper.
1. Play Bolan Pass, gain1 British army in Kandahar and 2 British roads around it (to Punjab and Kabul).
2. Play Army of the Indus, paying 1 rupee to Berkut. Place 2 British armies in Punjab.
3. (free from Army of the Indus) Campaign in Punjab, killing 1 purple tribe. This triggers Overthrow, forcing Paolo Avitabile to be discarded.
I now have 3 points of Loyalty, so gain the British Favor Card.
Log posted. Over to Cel.
I have never used a log file before. I'll try to figure it out when I'm back at my computer tomorrow...
cel, a log file in Vassal is, at the heart of it, identical to a save file. The only difference is that it also records the moves. So when you load it, it loads at its start point, you click the little arrow to step through, and then it gets to its end point, which is identical to the state it would be in if you didn't use the logfile feature at all.
So just think of it is as a save file with attached history.
The thing that messes people up sometimes:
1. They forget that this is a logfile rather than a save, and start making their changes before they step through the file - which means they are not playing at the correct state.
2. When exchanging in this manner, you want to start your new logfile *before* your moves, rather than saving *after* your moves. This is actually very annoying when playing complex games where you are making, say, 50 discrete moves. If you make 25 of them, then realize "Fuck, I didn't start the logfile!" you have to start all over. For this game, with there only being half a dozen moves in a particular play (and nothing random), that really isn't any big deal.
The vassal logging system is pretty great, but Cyberboard does it better - it just records all your moves as a matter of course, then lets you write them out as a distinct element from the game save itself whenever you want.
In any case, for what we are doing, the logfiles are actually very easy to use, I think. The question is whether they are worth the trouble.
Thanks for the primer! It will help.
My only experience using Vassal was playing a bunch of Twilight Struggle and Memoir games quite a few years ago, and we never used the log file system.
Rule Britannia! Impressed by the might of the British armies besieging the fortress of Kabul, the local tribes have met with William Hay MacNaghten and negotiated their defection to the Crown.
1) Buy William Hay from the market (pay 2 rupees because of military regime)
2) Play William Hay and put one spy on him. I'm now a loyal Brit! :bowler:
Free) Use the campaign icon on Hay to move the British army from Kandahar to Kabul, Attack with that army and discard it and the Afghan army.
Over to Berkut
EDIT: I discarded my Russian favor card, but forgot to discard my starting Russian loyalty card. Will do on my next turn to avoid confusion.
Remember to refresh the market at the end of your turn, guys.
Well, I cannot resist a free card with 3 rupees on it...
1. Buy Jan Fiashan Kan for zero, take the three rupees on it.
2. Buy Lapis Lazuli mine for 2 (MS)
1. Get Anarkali Bazaar for free and get the 2 rupees
2. Use those two rupees to get Abbas Mirza from the market to my hand
File should be up
Habbaku is next
Wait, wait. Berkut cannot actually purchase Lapis Lazuli Mine because he can only hold one card in his hand. Which means there are no two rupees on Anarkali Bazaar either and Tamas will need to redo his turn.
Uggh. Let me redo ny play now that my subterfuge has allowed me to see into the plans of Tamas....
Berkut still redoing his turn?
yes
Doh, sorry.
OK, redid my play, it is logfile 21.
Just bought Jan Fisher and played him rather than hold and buy another.
1. Put Lazuli Mine to my hand
2. Moved out two spies. One to Berkut's Jan Fishan card, other to Habbaku's Wheat Field
The farming chieftain of Herat side with the British Empire and open new trade routes into the interior of Afghanistan. More trade brings less war...for now.
Action 1: Buy Ishaqzai Chiefs from the market for 2 (Military Struggle doubles costs).
Action 2: Play Chiefs to my right, triggering Economic Boom.
Free Action (Wheat Fields): Commerce. Take 2 rupees back from the market.
Over to Sol.
British merchants and financiers start following the armies from India, seeking new opportunities in Afghanistan.
1. Purchase Farah Road for free.
2. Purchase Bank for 1 rupee.
3. (free from Bolan Pass) Commerce to take the 1 rupee back.
Over to Cel.
Berkut, as a fellow patriot I urge you to do something against the overwhelming superiority of the British infidels.
Yes, I can see how concerned you are about that - that must be why you sent a spy to my card.
Quote from: Berkut on March 02, 2017, 08:04:07 AM
Yes, I can see how concerned you are about that - that must be why you sent a spy to my card.
He is merely passing through. :sleep:
I suspect he won't be passing through.
Quote from: Berkut on March 02, 2017, 08:32:10 AM
I suspect he won't be passing through.
Inshallah, he will.
All this bickering among the savages clearly shows that it is the White Man's duty to civilize them! :bowler:
I know I know. Need to finish some work stuff and I'll be posting the turn.
Sorry guys, these past two days have been HELL.
Turn forthcoming.
Seeking to improve its political - and financial - standing, the tribal Confederation of the Orange Coconut courts the services of Fath-Ali-Shah, obtaining money from gifts from its more savage Afghan counterparts.
1. Trigger Tax ability on Dost Muhammad, get 3 coins off the purple player (sorry Berkut, you are the only one with a Kabul card)
2. Purchase Fath Ali Shah from the market, paying 3 coins to the market.
1) Buy Abas Mirza for zero
2) Play Abas Mirza
Shift to Intel War
(Free) Use Counter-Intel on Royal Guard to kill Tamas spy
(Free) Use Travel on Jan to move 1 spy to Mirza, and 1 to Royal Guard.
1) Buy William Moorcroft for 1, take 1 rupee off card
2) Play Willam Moorcroft
free: Travel with Bandits: Wheat Field -> Tajik Warband. Bandits->Mir Murat Beg
free: Assassinate (William Moorcroft) Tajik Warband for 2 rupees
You people need to stop giving Habbaku free money.
I wish it were free money. Nothing coming my way this turn, unless the Afghans don't give in to my diplomacy:
Berkut: Are you willing to let me buy and place Russo-Persian Trade at no charge? I am not going to risk winning as the British this time as I don't have the advantages that Solmyr does and it'd be a money-race for Gifts that I don't believe I can win. I'd like to switch to Russia. Naturally, this will start counter-balancing the advantage that the British have on the board, making it possible for the Afghans to actually win.
If you won't consent to that...I'll make the same offer to Tamas, only for buying/placing Trans-Caspian Railway.
If neither of you agree, I'll have to take my chances as a British player...
I should note the implicit understanding here is that neither of you whack my cards for a while--playing as the only player loyal to an Empire is hard enough without having to worry about spies wrecking me. If you start whacking my cards, I'll likely have no choice but to switch again and starting Gifting with the winning side...
Why sure, go right ahead!
Seeing the way the winds are blowing, the White Camel Tribe throws its lot in with the Russian Empire, who eagerly infuses the local economy with much-needed liquidity.
Action 1: Purchase Russo-Persian Trade for 3.
Action 2: Play Russo-Persian Trade. Gain 2 rupees due to Leverage. Place Russian roads Persia-Herat and Herat-Kandahar.
Over to Sol.
On market refresh, the first Topple came up, so I'll give a rundown:
British: Solmyr (3 influence), Celedhring (1 influence).
Afghan: Berkut (2 influence), Tamas (1 influence).
Russian: Habbaku (1 influence).
Political Fragmentation (Tribes): 4 Afghan, 1 Russian, 2 British tribes. Afghan Supremacy.
Intelligence War (Spies): 5 British, 3 Afghan. British Supremacy.
Economic Boom (Roads): 4 British, 2 Russian. British Supremacy.
Military Struggle (Armies): 4 British. British Supremacy.
Sol is well-positioned here, of course, considering his significant influence. Fortunately, he's broke and cannot afford the Topple any time soon--but he's not that broke.
Might I recommend my Afghan, er, friends and the losing British player (that'd be you, Cel), do something to forestall the win?
I've done all I can. I welcome our new British overlords.
Quote from: Berkut on March 04, 2017, 01:45:09 PM
I've done all I can. I welcome our new British overlords.
What, exactly, have you done?
ALL I CAN
The British found the Afghan Bank of Kandahar as part of their program of economic domination of the area.
1. Play Bank. Gain 2 rupees from Leveraged Impact. British roads to Kandahar-Herat and Kandahar-Kabul.
2. (free) Travel, 1 spy to Bolan Pass.
3. Purchase Anarkali Bazaar, gain 2 rupees from it.
Discard Arthur Connolly due to being over Tableau Size limit.
Quote from: Habbaku on March 04, 2017, 01:34:34 PM
Might I recommend my Afghan, er, friends and the losing British player (that'd be you, Cel), do something to forestall the win?
You forced me to turn my coat with your military exploits, abd and I am gonna stay British while there's 552555 red cubes surrounding my power base :p
I am up, I suppose?
You are.
The mighty Orange Coconut confederation dares not raise the sword against the mighty British
armies while the red coats are stationed in its vulnerable capital. But might some subterfuge be able to divert them away?
1. Purchase Nuristane Terrace Farms from the market, taking 1 rupee, and paying one
2. Play Nuristane Terrace Farms, putting a Kabul-Transcaspian road and a Kabul-Herat one. Since the British side is out of cylinders, I take those from the Kabul and Punjab armies.
Free (Intelligence War). I move (McNaghten card) the spy in Dost Muhammad to Royal Guard. I trigger counterspionage (Charles Masson card) to eliminate the purple spy there - no risks taken since that spy is way too close to my turf and Berkie can assassinate.
To the savages: British army power is down to two. Judicious usage of the Akhali Sikhs and the Arsenic mine can lead to a failed topple.
Did Berkut pay me for the second Kabul card he has on his tableau? I should play more attention... :hmm:
Yes, I can see why I would be totally incented to cause a failed topple since you just spent your turn screwing me.
(Free) Travel with Khan
Send cube from Mirza to Royal Guard
(Free) Counter-Espionage
Kill cels cube
Buy and play Akali Sikhs to Punjab
Two Afghan Armies to Punjab
So if I understand this whole thing correctly, thanks to Orange (who is Celed, right?), who just can't be bothered to not side with British imperialists, Britain would achieve Supremacy in an Intelligence Topple, since Orange and Yellow (Solmyr, right?) has more spies than rest of us combined.
However, if I flip the Regime to Military Struggle, then nobody has Supremacy, for the time being anyways, and it gives Habbaku the chance to go Cossack on all those British roads, right?
That's correct.
Ok so, accordingly, I have made a meaningless move for myself by buying and playing the Bakh Arsenic Mine card. We are now in Military Struggle.
You also inexplicably placed the road built by the mine adjacent to Kandahar instead of Kabul.
What connection do you really want to place the road on?
Damn, you just handed the game to Habbaku. Well done.
Berkut, I would like to buy Count Ivan Simonitch and play him to keep counterbalancing the bickering tides of Afghans and British, but his location is in Persia. Would you be willing to consent to another freebie so that I can prevent the British spy network from running away with it?
I only do 1 freebie per player. You would have to cough up a rupee, because you have plenty of cash anyway.
Still need an answer from Tamas before I make my call...
Between Kabul and Punjab
Action 1: Buy Count Ivan Simonitch for 0.
Action 2: Play Count Ivan, paying Berkut 1. 2 spies to the card.
Over to Sol.
The British establish regular garrisons along the Farah Road, extending their power projection from Punjab and Kandahar into the heart of Afghanistan and towards Persia. With the redcoats poised to strike from India at any time, the Emir decides to submit to the Raj continue the futile resistance.
1. Play Farah road in Herat, pay 1 rupee to Habbaku. Roads to Kandahar and Persia (take cylinders from current double British roads). Gain 1 army cylinder in Herat, use the old Herat-Kandahar road cylinder.
2. Purchase Topple for 3. The British have 3 armies to Afghan 2 (and no Russian ones), and at least one each of other cube/cylinder types. I have 3 influence with the British, so I win?
2. Commerce with Farah Road to take 2 rupees from market.
3. (free from Army of the Indus) Campaign in Herat, killing Habbaku's white tribe. This triggers Overthrow and Ishaqzai Chiefs is discarded.
Discard Bank from my Tableau afterwards. I have the British favor, so I only lose 1 rupee from discarding it and keep the other one.
Doh, of course I missed that market cards cost double. One rupee short, so close! Updated my post above and uploaded a corrected log.
Over to Cel. I suggest you keep an eye on the armies of Afghan savages, as they may steal a military win while we aren't looking.
Things I hate: doing my turn and then realizing it's a logfile and I hadn't moved it to the end.
British and Afghan troops clash in Punjab, while the British Raj garrisons the Ghazni Citadel to protect the city of Kabul
1) Purchase Ghazni Citadel for 0
2) Play Ghazni Citadel and one British Army on Khabul, taken from one of the roads.
Free) Use the two Campaign actions on my Tableau to use the two red cylinders in Khabul to take out the 2 green ones. The british are also eliminated.
Brits again enjoy military supremacy. Here I am, doing Solmyr's dirty work, but Berkut could have levelled Kabul the next turn, and I don't doubt he would have.
The savages and the Russian bear might want to change regime to Political Fragmentation if they want to avoid Solmyr's victory when he comes up next.
Berkut is up, btw.
The regime needs to be changed, and the cards that would allow it to be changed back to something the Brits are winning need to be removed as well. Doesn't do much good if they just switch it to Economy, they still win.
Or we drive the Topple off the market before it gets to him.
1. Buy Jan for zero. That will make the political struggle cheaper for the next player, and push the topple down, and make Orchards cheaper.
2. Buy Nomadic Warlords for 4.
:mellow:
NEVER MIND I realised I was wrong reagarding military supremacy. Any idea what should I do to prevent a British victory?
Alright, by buying and playing Pomegranate Orchards I have switched the regime to Political Fragmentation.
As I see the Brits have no Supremacy in Tribes.
But as Afghans do. So now all Habbaku has to do is remove two of Berkut's tribes and get rid of the Topple :P
Quote from: Berkut on March 11, 2017, 09:17:38 AM
1. Buy Jan for zero. That will make the political struggle cheaper for the next player, and push the topple down, and make Orchards cheaper.
2. Buy Nomadic Warlords for 4.
Apologies for the delay, folks--have been busy.
This isn't legal, Berkut. The regime is currently Military Struggle--market costs are doubled. Nomadic Warlords, then, would cost you 8 rupees, and I doubt you want to pay that much...
We need a corrected move from Berkut, then Tamas will have to do his turn differently, most likely.
I hate this game.
OK, I reloaded file 35, and am going to redo file 36 and delete the old 36 and 37.
1. Buy Jan for zero. That will make the political struggle cheaper for the next player, and push the topple down, and make Orchards cheaper.
2. Buy Afghan Handicrafts for 2. Rupees on Jews and Cossacks.
No rupees should go on the Cossacks--both rupees go on the Jews instead.
Quote from: Habbaku on March 15, 2017, 11:11:30 AM
No rupees should go on the Cossacks--both rupees go on the Jews instead.
I'll correct things according to Habbaku's anti-semite comment when I do my turn.
It's just how they are, you know?
So, Habs, I think I'll just let the Topple move to the leftmost position for you to let it fall off without an effect. Any objections?
Nope, I figured that was the plan. Certainly easier than trying to maneuver the Regime and such into a spot that Sol can't win on.
1. Buy Pomegranta Orchards, get 1 rupee from it
2. Play Lapis Lazuli Mine, pay Orange 2 rupees, put Afghan roads to Kabul-Kandahar and Kabul-Herat
Action 1: Buy Mysorean Rockets from market for 4.
Action 2: Play Mysorean Rockets from hand. Regime shifts to Economic Boom. 2 Russian armies to Punjab.
Free Action (Wheat Fields): Commerce. Take 2 rupees from Bukharan Jews.
Free Action (Russo-Persian Trade): Commerce. Take 1 rupee from Topple, 1 rupee from Charles Stoddart.
During cleanup phase, I'll lose Wheat Fields from my tableau.
Over to Solmyr.
The British do what they do best: engage in commerce, bribe local rulers, and prepare for arms race.
1. Play Anarkali Bazaar. Gain spy on card. Place British road Punjab-Kabul.
2. (free from Bolan Pass) Commerce to grab 2 rupees from the market.
3. (free from Anarkali Bazaar) Gifts to purchase one gift cube for 2 rupees.
4. (free from Farah Road) Commerce to take those 2 rupees back.
5. Purchase Cannon for 1 rupee.
Over to Cel.
Can I execute two sets of free actions if I switch the regime in the middle of my turn?
Yes
The Orange Coconut tribe tries to improve its standing on the eyes of the British Raj, conducting a series of briberies and army deployments against the Afghan rebels, hoping that these actions will reach the ears of Lord Auckland. On that regard, Charles Stoddart is recruited as advisor.
Free) GIFT action (Nuristani Terrace Farms) paying 2 to the market.
1) Acquire Charles Stoddart for free from the bank, grabbing the 1 rupee on it
2) Play Charles Stoddart. Regime changes to Military Struggle
Free) Move the army in Herat to Persia, and remove 1 purple cube (Citadel of Ghazni)
Free) remove the second purple cube (William Hay MacNaghten). Abbas Mirza is discarded. Black now has the Afghan favor.
Is that correct? If I'm understanding correctly I can use a single red cylinder to attack twice the same location, triggering two cards with the campaign action.
I think it looks correct, but I think you are forgetting that there are other players in the game than just purple.
Just because you CAN do something doesn't make it a good move.
Quote from: Berkut on March 16, 2017, 10:22:37 AM
I think it looks correct, but I think you are forgetting that there are other players in the game than just purple.
Just because you CAN do something doesn't make it a good move.
Seems like a perfectly valid move to give prominence to the true patriot, over the false one.
Berkut is up, btw.
Cel, after yet another turn of screwing me for no particular reason, I think the least you could do is let me play Afghan Handicrafts into Kabul without extracting payment...
Quote from: Solmyr on March 16, 2017, 05:11:01 AM
The British do what they do best: engage in commerce, bribe local rulers, and prepare for arms race.
1. Play Anarkali Bazaar. Gain spy on card. Place British road Punjab-Kabul.
2. (free from Bolan Pass) Commerce to grab 2 rupees from the market.
3. (free from Anarkali Bazaar) Gifts to purchase one gift cube for 2 rupees.
4. (free from Farah Road) Commerce to take those 2 rupees back.
5. Purchase Cannon for 1 rupee.
Over to Cel.
You're over your support limit. What card are you purging from your tableau at the end of your turn?
I don't pretend to understand why Cel is continuing to smash those that are preventing a British win while, from my perspective, I see no realistic way for him to win as a Brit. He has 2 influence to Solmyr's 4 and Sol has plenty of money and more military stars...I would think that using Travel actions to get his spies on to Sol's British influence cards would have been better than whacking Afghan tribes.
Obviously I won't divulge my plans to Russians and savages.
Quote from: Berkut on March 16, 2017, 01:34:36 PM
Cel, after yet another turn of screwing me for no particular reason, I think the least you could do is let me play Afghan Handicrafts into Kabul without extracting payment...
Go ahead, you managed to make feel bad, and it's a harmless card.
1. Play Afghan Handicrafts, place Afghan route on Transcapian-Kabul Road
(Free) Commerce to take rupee from Money Lenders
Hey Tamas, if I drop Jan Prosper on the Cel side of my tableua, so the spies are nice and far away from you, can I put it into Trans without the need to pay you?
Quote from: Habbaku on March 16, 2017, 01:44:14 PM
You're over your support limit. What card are you purging from your tableau at the end of your turn?
Oh yeah, forgot about that. I'll toss Anarkali Bazaar and get the cube on it back into my pool. Someone can do it on their turn.
Quote from: Berkut on March 16, 2017, 03:43:30 PM
(Free) Commerce to take rupee from Money Lenders
Regime is military struggle, so this isn't free?
The current file shows Economic Boom....
Cel changed it on his turn via Charles Stoddart. Guess he didn't flip the card?
Yes, my bad.
Uggh, it was never updated. OK, that changes my play....
Tamas, I would like to play Jan Propser in Transcaspian. I assume that you would not demand me pay for that as long as I am putting the card and spies at the cel end of my Tableau, and hence far away from you?
Quote from: Berkut on March 16, 2017, 03:43:30 PM
Hey Tamas, if I drop Jan Prosper on the Cel side of my tableua, so the spies are nice and far away from you, can I put it into Trans without the need to pay you?
No, I need the money.
OK, I will pay the money and send the spies your way instead.
Quote from: Berkut on March 16, 2017, 05:10:06 PM
OK, I will pay the money and send the spies your way instead.
Yeah I am sure that was not your original plan.
:ph34r:
Incidentally, I like this game quite a bit. Sadly the theme is too obscure for my regular playing group to take on it, otherwise I'll buy it.
Maybe I could try Pax Renaissance, since it has a more accessible theme. Is it too different?
Quote from: celedhring on March 17, 2017, 05:13:04 AM
Incidentally, I like this game quite a bit. Sadly the theme is too obscure for my regular playing group to take on it, otherwise I'll buy it.
Maybe I could try Pax Renaissance, since it has a more accessible theme. Is it too different?
I have started reading the book referenced in the rulebook, its fun to read all these different people that I know from the cards, but let's be honest: the theme is paperthin in this game, especially if you compare it to other Ecklund games.
Quote from: Tamas on March 17, 2017, 02:58:41 AM
Quote from: Berkut on March 16, 2017, 05:10:06 PM
OK, I will pay the money and send the spies your way instead.
Yeah I am sure that was not your original plan.
Actually, I just realized it would cost me 2 rupees, which I am not paying no matter what, so the point is moot. Will have to think about this some more. Stupid military regime when there are no Afghan troops at all!
1. Pick up Bahadur
2. Tax Punjab, and take two rupees from Cel
Quote from: Berkut on March 17, 2017, 07:31:42 AM
2. Tax Punjab, and take two rupees from Cel
You can't do that. No purple tribes in Punjab.
Well crap.
There is very little I can do here. My cards are both Transcapian, and my "ally" thinks this is a zero sum game where he should harm the only other person on the board playing on his side, who is in a clear last place.
OK, instead of taxing cel, duh, I will just travel my spy a card over.
Fix posted. Sorry cel.
1. Get Bukharan Jews for free
2. Play Bukharan Jews to my left, get 1 rupee from Leveraged, place 1 spy, regime is now Economic Boom
3. Free action Commerce with Lapis Mine, grabbing the two rupees available in the market
4. Free action Gift with Balkh Arsenic Mine, buying my first gift for 2 rupees
5. I believe I am over my tableau limit so I am discarding Balkh Arsenic Mine.
My run as a mining magnate did not last long.
End, we have a new Topple! File has been uploaded.
Berkut I'll need you to put some Afghan units on the map. Then I will take on the burden of moving them with my Afghan special card
I need money, so you will have to pay me.
He's trying to trick you into winning the game for him, B :lol:
Make him pay at least :thumbsup:
Pfft, he couldn't trick a Trump supporter into blaming Hillary.
Trying to engage in diplomacy with the beet farmer is a waste of time.
:rolleyes:
I am reluctant to pay you, since it is in your own best self interest to try and build up an anti-British presence that is not directly controlled by Habbaku. The Afghan side has no chance of winning this Topple, we need to look for survival.
Quote from: celedhring on March 17, 2017, 05:13:04 AM
Incidentally, I like this game quite a bit. Sadly the theme is too obscure for my regular playing group to take on it, otherwise I'll buy it.
Maybe I could try Pax Renaissance, since it has a more accessible theme. Is it too different?
Pax Ren is similar mechanically in some respets, but a completely different game both in themes and interactions. It's also only 4 players. That being said, it's definitely my favorite of the Pax series. Highly recommended.
Quote from: Tamas on March 17, 2017, 09:49:12 AM
:rolleyes:
I am reluctant to pay you, since it is in your own best self interest to try and build up an anti-British presence that is not directly controlled by Habbaku. The Afghan side has no chance of winning this Topple, we need to look for survival.
:rolleyes:
That would be a more convincing argument if it wasn't following your "Pay me because I want money even though forcing you to pay me just means you can't play events that would actually help us both anyway".
Your idea of "diplomacy" is "I WANT MONEY IS GOOD SO GIVE ME".
So yeah, your sudden desire for "cooperation" rings a bit hollow. You want to survive? I suggest you do what you can to make that happen, because cooperation isn't really on the table anymore. Me "cooperating" so someone other than me can win instead of some other person other than me isn't that interesting.
You can keep demanding that I pay you to help our side, and cel can keep hammering the player in last place, and solmyr and Habs can figure out between them who is going to win the game.
Your pay-per-guilt-trip method worked on Celed, but won't work on me :P
Yes, I am aware that diplomacy doesn't work on you - I think we've established that.
Quote from: Berkut on March 17, 2017, 10:49:04 AM
Yes, I am aware that diplomacy doesn't work on you - I think we've established that.
I AM taking notes on how to throw tantrums though, so I'll might still improve!
I wish you two would just fuck already.
Whose turn is it, anyway?
Habbaku's
Sorry, folks. Have been stupid busy the last few days. Will do my turn tomorrow morning or afternoon at worst.
Apologies for the delay. Shouldn't happen again, but I make no guarantees...
Action 1: Buy Baluchi Smugglers for 1.
Action 2: Play Baluchi Smugglers. 1 Russian road each to Herat-Transcaspian and Herat-Kabul. 1 Russian Army (Garrison) to Herat.
Free Action (Baluchi Smugglers): Commerce. Take 2 rupees from the market.
Free Action (Russo-Persian Trade): Commerce. Take 1 rupee from the market.
Forgot to do so in my file, but please remove Baluchi Smugglers from my tableau due to being over-stacked.
Over to Sol.
1. Play Cannon, place 3 British armies in Transcaspian. Take 2 cylinders from Transcaspian-Kabul and Persia-Herat roads. Pay 2 rupees to Tamas for this.
2. Campaign, move 3 British armies from Transcaspian to Herat. Kill 1 Russian army and 2 Russian roads (Herat-Kandahar and Herat-Persia). Lose 1 British army.
3. (free) Gift, purchase British favor for 4 rupees.
4. (free) Commerce, take 2 rupees back.
Discard Farah Road at end of turn.
Berkut, I'm planning on taxing Kabul again. I'll target Tamas instead of you, in exchange of guarantees that the spy on Akali Sikhs won't have funny ideas and cross over to my side. Otherwise I'll need to keep starving you out of funds.
I know that despite siding with the savages, you're a man of honor. :bowler:
I think Tamas has made it very, very clear he prefers all spies to go on his stuff.
Is that a yes or a no? :hmm:
It is certainly a yes or a no.
I will say that taxing me would make me re-evaluate Tamas commitment to making sure he gets all my spies.
Consider this a post-truth bribing. You're now 3 rupees richer than otherwise, and your main opponent for supremacy is 3 rupees poorer.
The Orange Coconut tribe taps into its tax base in order to please the British Raj, while secretly infiltrating the Army of the Indus
1) Tax Kabul using Dost Mohammad. Take 3 rupees from black.
Free) Gift action using Nuristani Terrace Farms. Pay 4 rupees to the market
2) Move action using Charles Masson. Both spies on the card travel to Army of the Indus. One is placed on the red band as spy, the other in the green band.
Orange loyalty: 4, still #2. Over to Berkut.
Failing Orange sides with petty local warlord to hinder the Mujahedin. Sad!
Tamas can I play into Transcaspian for free?
edit: Let me re-phrase.
I want to play Bahadur to Transcapian. This will give the Afghans an army there. How much are you charging me for that play?
I will not charge you for creating an army of God. You can play it for free.
OK then...
1. Play Bahadur to Transcapian, and place an Afghan Army there (Garrison) and a Spy on the card (Informant).
2. Buy Nomadic Warlord from the market.
I won't have access to the files until late night tomorrow, probably there won't be a play until Thursday
1. Free Commerce action (Lapis Lazuli Mine) to take 1 rupee each from Barakzai Brothers and Opium Fields
2. Pay 4 rupees to market to grab Persian Army
3. Play Persian Army to my right. 2 Afghan armies are placed in Persia. Regime changes to Intelligence War
4. Free Travel action with Bandits: one spy from Bukharan Jews to Mysorean Rockets, one spy from William Moorcroft to Persian Army
Discard Bukharan Jews to maintain tableau size.
File is now up.
Habbaku is now up
....
Tamas, there is no downside to spying for a faction, so I assumed your spy on my rockets is spying for Britain.
Free Action (Count Ivan): Travel. Move 1 Russian spy to Solmyr's Bolan Pass. Spy for Britain.
First Action: Purchase Barakazai Brothers from market for 0. Take 1 rupee.
Second Action: Play Barakazai Brothers to left of tableau. Government shifts to Economic Boom. 1 Russian/White tribe to Kandahar.
Free Action (Russo-Persian Trade): Commerce. Take 1 rupee each from Opium Fields and Money Lenders.
Over to Sol.
The newly appointed Afghan vizier Yar Mohammad decides to throw in with the British. The British East India Company expands aggressively, seeking every last bit of profit. The Army of the Indus is used to advance British commercial interests, cutting off Russian trade routes and hemming the Russian armies into Punjab.
1. (free from Bolan Pass) Commerce, take 2 rupees from Topple card.
2. Purchase Yar Mohammad.
3. Play Yar Mohammad. 1 Yellow tribe in Herat. Regime changes to Military Struggle.
4. (free from Army of the Indus) Campaign. Move 1 British army from Kabul to Kandahar and kill the White tribe. Barakzai Brothers are overthrown.
5. (free from Cannon) Campaign. 2 British armies in Herat attack Russian roads adjacent to it, eliminating them.
With the Topple close, here are my calculations on who is winning what:
Military Struggle: none
Armies: 4 British, 2 Russian, 3 Afghan.
Intelligence War: none
Spies: 6 British, 2 Russian, 4 Afghan.
Political Fragmentation: British
Tribes: 3 British, 0 Russian, 2 Afghan.
Economic Boom: British
Roads: 5 British, 0 Russian, 3 Afghan.
Influence
Solmyr: British 5
Cel: British 4
Habbaku: Russian 2, British 1
Berkut: Afghan 1
Tamas: Afghan 2, British 1
So I don't see any way for Cel to win on his next move (he'd need to change the regime to Political or Economic, take the lead, *and* buy the Topple). He can certainly simply take the lead though, which means subsequent people will need to get rid of the Topple.
Away from my computer. Will post my turn tomorrow evening. :bowler:
Question: if I understand the rules correctly, I'm *forced* to place the required number of cubes (spies or tribes) mandated by the card I'm playing, am I right? I can't voluntarily place less if I don't have enough in the reserve (and thus I have to take them from elsewhere).
Yes, correct.
1) Buy Henry Pottinger, 2 rupees are paid to the market
Free) Campaign (Ghazni Citadel) One army from Herat moves to Kabul. Activate army in Kabul. Kabul-Punjab road is removed
Free) Campaign (William Hay MacNaghten). Activate army in Kandahar. Kabul-Kandahar road is removed
2) Play Fath-Ali-Shah. Three orange tribes to Persia (one from the reserve, one from Charles Masson, one from Kabul). Regime is now Intelligence War
Free) 2 Travel actions from Charles Stoddart. One spy from Army of the Indus to Bolan Pass - it's placed on the British band. One spy from Charles Masson to William Hay.
Free) 2 Counterespionage actions from Charles Masson. White and yellow spies removed from Bolan Pass.
British loyalty: 5-5 - Yellow retains favor due to highest military cards
Intelligence war: 4 - British - 1 Russian - 5 Afghan
If Berkut doesn't change the regime or buys the topple, Tamas will win the game. According to my calculations he can't put Afghan on top, gain favor AND buy the topple in the same turn.
EDIT: I created an additional logfile since I forgot to refresh the market.
EDIT 2: Shit, I forgot to change the regime. I hate logfiles.
How would Tamas win? Afghan do not have Intel victory since they don't have more than all other combined, right?
I don't have the board in front of me, but iirc he can use free intelligence actions to get rid of a Russian spy.
Ahhh, I thought you were saying he would win if I took the topple. He would not, it would be a failed topple.
Which I am considering...
I think it would be far more fun if I won.
:D Deliberately failing a topple is certainly a viable strategy, especially for the Afghans.
I'd consider it in your position...
OK I can't figure out a way to win, so I shall punt.
1. Play Nomadic Warlord to Tableau
Pay 1 to Yellow
Place two Afghan Armies in Herat
Take Afghan favor
(Free) Jan's Travel action, move cube to Nomadic Warlord
2. Military Action from Warlord, activate the two Armies in Herat to attack the Brits.
1 Afghan Army killed, remove Brit army and tribe.
Discard Yar Mohammed
Discard Royal Guard to get Tableau back to size.
Is it: Tamas' turn?
Sorry guys forgot it was my turn. :(
Before I make my move though: is it just me or still I should have the Afghan favour card? I have a gift, so I have 3 points to Berkut's 2.
So Berkut has handed you the victory? :hmm:
Quote from: celedhring on April 08, 2017, 11:09:49 AM
So Berkut has handed you the victory? :hmm:
I'll give him the chance to redo his move.
Berkut do you want to change your move in light of ignoring my Gift previously?
:zzz
I'm thinking of starting a new game, no Berkuts allowed.
Sorry, it has been a long weekend. Holiday, divorce, moving out, etc., etc.
I'll redo my move today.
New move:
1. Purchase Topple
Intel War, and nobody has victory for it, so the topple fails.
Removed extra cubes (except Afghan)
Cull Tableau:
Discard Royal Guard
Tamas up to cull...
If you guys just want to post it, I can update one file.
I take William Moorcroft back to my hand and then I discard Pomegranate Orchards.
I cannot send a card to your hand apparently...can you post a file with your resolution?
Quote from: Berkut on April 18, 2017, 12:00:31 PM
I cannot send a card to your hand apparently...can you post a file with your resolution?
Done!
Looks like red is next to resolve his tableau...
Solmyr you are up!
We are still resolving the post-topple culling, I presume?
Yes
Sorry, I was confused when Berkut called me red while I am yellow.
I will take Army of the Indus back into my hand. Orange spy on it returns home.
File uploaded and Cel is up to cull.
I'm nursing a massive hangover after the one-two punch of my brother's wedding and winning El Clásico. Hopefully the cobwebs in my brain will clear out in the afternoon and I'll do this.
Finals season is upon me, so have been more than a little distracted, myself.
Will catch up some time tomorrow and point out the errors you have all made. :P
I take Dost Mohammad, Charles Masson and Charles Stoddart to my hand. I assume the orange cube on Kabul goes when I take Dost Mohammad to my hand?
Should I do this on the save currently uploaded or wait for my turn?
Quote from: celedhring on April 25, 2017, 02:41:49 AM
I take Dost Mohammad, Charles Masson and Charles Stoddart to my hand. I assume the orange cube on Kabul goes when I take Dost Mohammad to my hand?
Should I do this on the save currently uploaded or wait for my turn?
You should do it now because the culling happens before the next player's turn (which is Tamas, I believe). And no, the tribe doesn't go away, only spies on cards that are removed do.
Put the cards back on my hand and uploaded a new save.
I am actually not done with my turn yet, so it is back to me once The Culling is complete...
Well, it's your turn now.
Aren't we waiting on Habs to find time to do his culling and point out our errors?
Quote from: Berkut on April 25, 2017, 07:45:40 PM
Aren't we waiting on Habs to find time to do his culling and point out our errors?
I think so? He seems to have been busy lately.
Am literally in the middle of moving right now. Should be settled at some point tomorrow.
Moving is fun. I love moving. I wish I could move more often.
Is our game dead?
Bones?
Habs probably woke up inside a moving box in Abu Dabi.
Sorry folks. Have been feeling really drained the last week due to personal stuff. I'm okay now, but I take full responsibility for the stall. :(
If you guys want to continue, I will gladly figure out where we were, post an update some time tomorrow, and get us going again.
Alternatively, we could reboot and just go for game "3" on a fresh board?
I hope everything's ok, Habs.
Dunno what others think, but I'd like to finish this one.
I'm up for finishing and then starting a new game. :D No pressure Habs.
I am ok with finishing
So Habs, how do you feel about running a Time of Crisis Languish game?
:blush: Forgot about this game. Sorry about leaving it to rot.
Time of Crisis would be an excellent game for Languish. I've played twice now in-person, the game has virtually no back and forth plays (IE, one person does something, then another person responds), and plays quickly.
I won't be able to actually start until I return from Pennsylvania, though, in about a week.
Know nothing about the game but I love the theme. Sign me up while I pass some bribes to get myself hailed as Augustus.
Sounds good to me, I'm in. Is this on Vassal?
Quote from: Solmyr on July 25, 2017, 03:49:25 AM
Sounds good to me, I'm in. Is this on Vassal?
Yes, looks like it has a nice module.
Yeah, played it a bit in Vassal. Looks good, I'll join a game.
Is this game: dead? :P
This or the new one that hasn't happened yet? :P
I can get us rolling some time tonight or tomorrow.