Pax Pamir, Languish PBEM

[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.

[Berkut]

Yeah, an alternative strategy is to play your entire game to just grab influence. That should work well?

[Tamas]

Yeah, an alternative strategy is to play your entire game to just grab influence. That should work well?

[Solmyr]

Waiting for my turn is always so exciting.

[Berkut]

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.

[Solmyr]

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.

[Habbaku]

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.   

Over to Celedhring.

[Berkut]

When did this turn into "everyone fuck Berkut"?

[Habbaku]

I did not fuck Berkut. 

[celedhring]

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.

[Habbaku]

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.

[celedhring]

Okay, thanks for the explanation on taxing.

3) I tax you for 2 rupees 

Over to Tamas if everything is correct.

[celedhring]

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).

[Habbaku]

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...

[celedhring]

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.