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Battlestar Galactica – Ionian Nebula

We kept The Pegasus and Treachery cards in but otherwise this was our first foray into Ionian Nebula.

Mike and Bruce turned out to be Cylons against Phil, Darryl and Andy.  It took ages before any Blue Cylon attack cards were drawn, only after Bruce declared as a Cylon before the penultimate jump and then so many came out at once we had every piece on the board.  Due to food and water shortages we ran out of food very quickly but population remained okay.

Bruce was the only declared Cylon at the Crossroads and unluckily was forced to draw Trauma tokens and was eliminated.  Phil went through 4 characters due to multiple executions (Cain, Adama, Tigh and finished the game with Apollo).  Even Andy was executed due to low morale before the final jump (ending with Chief Tyrrol).  Darryl’s Gaeta ended up being both President and Admiral.  A close win for the humans with food, morale and fuel all in the low red (about 1 or 2) and population just a little higher at 3 or 4.  Bruce was left cursing…if it hadn’t been for all those trauma tokens at the Crossroads he would have had those pesky humans at the battle of the Ionian Nebula.

Mansions of Madness

Forbidden Alchemy

Mike played evil overlord as Phil, Darryl, Bruce and Andy took on Herbert West.  Darryl burnt his first character Darrel the Flashwit to death but his sacrifice was not in vain as it led the adventurers to the chemistry set.  They were then able to use this to escape the machinations of West and his slow but deadly zombie horde.  This was a tough one.  With the zombies and very few guns there was a lot of melee combat and the fire also dealt a great deal of Health damage.

Mansions of Madness

Mansions

Mike as the Evil Overlord tricked the fool hardy adventurers (Bruce, Phil, Andy and Darryl) into entering the Witch House at night.

The Hobo and the Professor (Bruce and Darryl) went right whilst the Private Investigator and the Scientist (Phil and Andy) went left and then followed the clues in order.  Bruce and Phil vied with each other to see who could miss with the most shots or drop their weapon at the most awkward moments.  The Professor wrestled any wounded Cultists or Hounds he came across to finish them off.  The Scientist used her axe to good effect and put the clues together to solve the riddle of the adventure and learn that the players needed to destroy a Black Book should they find one.  Rumours of a cocked dice are in no way to be believed.

Unfortunately it proved impossible to enter certain rooms without Nola’s Journal so some time was lost especially due to certain tenacious Cultists who just refused to die.  Eventually however the adventurers made it to the Otherworld and raced out left and right again in search of the Book.  The Scientist bravely opened the locked box in one room only to fall into a dimensional trap and die!  Meanwhile the Professor and the Hobo chased away the Cultists using their Elder Sign and found the Book.  With the remaining adventurers on the verge of insanity or death from from multiple wounds and with just one turn to go the learned Professor destroyed the Book and the heroes were saved.  The Witch House was Haunted no more!

War of the Ring

Andy and Mike (Sauron and Saruman) beat Bruce and Phil by causing 12 CP with the Fellowship on the penultimate space in Mordor!

Congratulations on a clever victory!

Sun of York
First St. Albans
Lancastrian Victory. A lengthy battle with both Lancastrian and one Yorkist leader injured. Margaret never turned up. The Yorkists struggled to find orders cards. All leaders survived and King Henry was happy.

Blore Heath
Yorkist victory. The Lancastrians struggled to get their troops onto the field of battle across a narrow bidge. The player forgot to play the Dudley card as a leader after drawing it. Going all out for victory in the centre he gambled on a quick victory. However battle field confusion, fatigue, the death of his single leader and then “a Warwick” put paid to that. The lack of orders cards and the requirement of two orders to bring troops into play wore the Lancastrians down. With just six cards in their draw pile remaining the Yorkists captured both left and right battles thus claiming victory. All leaders survived and Henry remained happy.

Wrath of Ashardalon

Elf Paladin and Human Cleric took on the Campaign.
First Clan: Kobolds; Just won with no surges left. Paladin level Two.
Second Clan: Duergar; Much better. No surges lost, both level Two and well equipped.
Third Clan: Orcs: Went pretty smoothly despite being chased by Traps. Upgraded equipment. Elf has +2 Sword, Amulet +1 AC, Bracers of Defence. Cleric has Elven Cloak (very useful), Throwing Shield, Vorpal Sword. Plus other minor items such as rings of shooting stars, potions and lucky amulets.
Fourth: Stables: Rage Drake. Went okay. Gained Staff of Command and Shield +2. Command and Cleric Blade spell really hurts these big monsters.
Fifth: Otuyhugh: Went so fast. Command and Cleric Blade spell really hurts these big monsters. His tentacles and lots of traps though did pose a challenge.
Sixth: Elite Regiment; Too easy as they all seemed to be out, but now we draw two encounter cards per turn when instructed.
Seventh: Gauth; That is always a tricky one with the Evil Eye, high AC and HP. With two encounters per turn and lots of monsters and traps running about the cleric was knocked unconscious by poison ray. Thus the Cleric had to use a Healing Surge after applying the poison damage and they and the Paladin slew Gauth.
Eight: With both short cut and guards bypassed boons the adventures start quicker. This time the heroes raced towards the chamber followed by a few monsters. The cleric found the chamber to find a Prison guard and two villagers. One of the villagers raced towards the exit only to be pounced on by a ferocious cave bear and killed. Only one villager remained. The Palasin dashed into the room and slew the cave bear and then used bravery to advance on the gibbering mouther thus saving the last villager. In time all the guards lay dead and the villager was rescued. Two encounters a turn is nasty but oddly the heroes did not cancel any, saving their cards just in case something devestating appeared. There seems to be no way of saving the villager from the cave bear unless you have the right item or power available.
Nine: Unknown Monster’s Lair. The Rage Drake; The two heroes advanced rapidly towards the chamber. This time the cleric disarmed the rolling ball trap. The Rage Drake and Phalargar’s Lair Event knocked the Paladin unconscious but the Cleric was able to kill the now enraged Drake on their turn using the Throwing Shield and a natural 20.
Ten: Treasure Chamber. The heroes stumbled upon the Treasure Chamber. However due to the Dragon’s Tribute card the chamber was bare with just three 100GP treasure piles. Ironically it turned out to be guarded by Asahardalon. The cleric’s Command spell moved Ashardalon onto a Blade Barrier and out of range of his breath attack. Both heroes were heavily wounded when they managed to kill the Dragon and collect enough treasure to exit. Having collected 1700GP on their way in through killing monsters before the environment card appeared it did not take long to collect the last remaining GP and race for the exit. Luckily the chamber was actually near to the exit, the map having curved round and they were both able to race off map without using any surges.
Eleven: The heroes now have almost every single useful treasure item and potion saved up ready to start the hunt for Ashardalon and the final battle. Also the boon cards which spped up the search. They made short work of the monsters and soon reached the chamber, though the Paladin had taken a fair bit of damage and used up a lot of healing powers and potions by then. Ashardalon’s lair was revealed and the heroes attacked. Having saved up all their xp they cancelled an annoying cave in and then a pit trap. The Kobold and the Legion Devils produced no real threat. Once again the Cleric used his Command power to move the Dragon onto the Blade Barrier and out of range of his breath attack. This allowed the two heroes to then slay the Dragon and complete the campaign.
Campaign Victory for the Cleric and the Paladin. A very powerful duo with lots of healing available and good AC. Not so sure it would be that easy with the weakling wizard or without the healing from the Cleric. Of all the powerful items the Elven Cloak seemed to help the most.

Solo play using two player set up.  After repeated defeats solo I was able to heal the eagle using a two player set up.  Legolas, Beravor, Denethor with Aragorn, Gloin, Eleanor.

Unhappy King Charles

King Charles survived the onslaught of the New Model Army.  Whilst Cromwell and Fairfax were distracted by Royalist armies who dispersed when attacked his pamphleteers won the people of the South over to the cause.

Sekhigara

First game.  Steve volunteered to learn and played Yellow blocks.  Victory for black blocks due to Treachery in the battle on the road, South of Osaka.

Solo play of an old classic. The SPI version of War of the Ring.
Initially all seemed to be going well for the Free Peoples. Gandalf led the forces of Rohan to the rescue of Minas Tirith after trapping Saruman within Isengard. The Dark Lord won when the Fellowship got spotted in Gorgoroth and Frodo put on the Ring and raced off to Mount Doom. Aragorn and Gimli were captured and dragged off to Barad Dur in chains. The Nazgul descended onto Frodo who failed to take the ring off. Despite the valiant sacrifice of his comrades and his own brave defence the Nazgul slew Frodo and took the ring to Sauron. In hindsight Frodo should have retreated to Minas Morgul and removed the Ring before venturing towards Mount Doom.