The New York City Gang Of Four

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Tested last night:

120 Siege, 80 Prince al'Kahora, 50 Iskra &
Sir Gilbert/KoW x 2

versus

130 Viceron, 80 Kumiko, 40 Siiv &
Tornak/Heavy Gruts x 2

As suggested in his Book, Viceron (aided by Tornak having secured the Move +2 Glyph) charged into a small crowd (Sir Gilbert, Siege, and a couple KoW) and did massive damage, self-immolating with 3 Wounds on his second Bloodstorm. Siege is a poor substitute for Asterios in this context, I'm thinking. Meanwhile, Kumiko (with +2 Move) took the Initiative Glyph. Prince al'Kahora came out and took the Treasure Glyph (Disengage) before going after Kumiko. He was, in turn, pursued by Siiv . . . and I went to bed.

P.S.: From Asterios' Book:

Quote:
Originally Posted by kolakoski

Just purchased a painted version on Amazon (only a couple left in stock) for The New York City Gang Of Four's next game day (Taeblewalker's HoB game (2/7) on his Savage Land Map).

This was last year and, after many delays, they informed me that they didn't have him.

Ordered another one recently, and it has shipped, but is "delayed." Amazon says it is "Arriving today by 8 PM ." One can only hope . . .

P.S.: Followed Walmart link above. Ordering 2 for $17.66 including shipping. If they arrive and/or the other one arrives, I'll offer up the extra(s) here (unless, of course, any of my fellow Gang members wants one) . . .

[kolakoski]

Well met!


NYCG4, make note:

In cluster or pod drafts, as long as the pods or clusters are balanced against each other (knowledge of metagame required), and in how they will synergize with other sets of pods or clusters, i.e., no Raelins, it does not matter what units you bring, nor does it really matter (IMHO) whether anyone knows what you will field in advance. It's all about how skillfully the players are able to use whatever units are in play. ~ Me


My comments below in red.




Quote:

Originally Posted by flameslayer93
Balancing against the metagame at a tournement is inherently dangerous for balance, as you cannot assume that a player won’t bring Raelin or some other massively OP unit.

Not sure how this addresses my point. I advised the Gang concerning balancing the pods against one another, and to avoid units that unbalanced the pods/combined armies, like Raelin.

Major Q9 is still dreaded for a reason, for example. You can ban those units, but that doesn’t stop another unit from taking the top tier spot. You can still do it, as it likely won’t ruin the whole event, just don’t expect it to be 100% balanced.

By definition, such an OP unit unbalances a player's pods in favor of the pod containing it. Our group is small and pretty knowledgeable, so I don't think this will be a problem.

That sort of reminds of me of when someone took Isamu and Otonashi for their two armies in a Bring 2 event. It went against the intent, but didn’t outright break it.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

[Typing this from a temp computer. Can't copy/paste pics.]

On 2/9, the NYCG4 put on a mini-tourney for Quizcode in anticipation of his imminent departure. [Not so imminent, as it turns out; he's staying an additional two months.] See Quizcode Tourney in the Gallery under kolakoski. Details to follow . . .

Highlights [or lowlights, depending upon your point of view] included:

chas' taking first place! He brought Quahon in one of his pods, and scored 840+ points in the first Round, and won draft initiative (giving Quahon to him) in every game.

Taeblewalker's Viper army rolled 8-9 Frenzies against me, and wiped me out in the first Round, in our encounter. [Sherman's Dreadguls didn't roll too badly for Berserker Charge against me either.]

In the final Round, Quizcode and I fought for 5th place. Finally, far too late, a bit of luck for me. My Viceron rolled 4 Skulls with his Bloodstorm twice in a row, obliterating Joris' army.

P.S.: Still waiting for any of the three Asterios figures I ordered to appear . . .

P.P.S: Just received notification that first one ordered is available to be picked up at P.O.

[chas]

I was very proud just to host a six player timed four round mini-tournament, and spent most of Friday building the four boards. Kolakoski discovered the wonderful maps by Flash_19 here onsite, and I set up three two players and one three player, so that we could deal with any odd or even number of players without having to stop and build during the event. This proved to be worthwhile when Taeblewalker had to report in late, and we used one 3 Player (in foreground in photo below of all 4 maps) and one 2 Player for Round One, later defaulting to the three 2 Player maps. The designer used a creative mix of glyphs, combining both types in very interesting ways.

One board used three Brandir's Chests (random trapped Treasure Glyphs), one two of them, a third two Power Glyphs and one BC, and the last two Glyphs of Brandir (random Power Glyphs). K. made up a glyph pool for the Power Glyphs which left out those he felt were unbalanced.

I played on each of the three 2 Player battlefields, but not the 3 Player. In the first three games I got to play both of my pods. In the championship round I still had my dragon, but not my other pod.

Chas Pods (250 Points Each)

Dragon's Nest
Quahon
Black Wrymlings x2

Acquilla's Aces
Kozil (new C3G Owlbear)
Fiorlag Spiders x3

(Note that the Spiders bond with either Predator, Quahon or Kozil).

My first match was against Quizcode, then Ishmel (who recently moved closer), Sherman Davies, and finally Ishmel again. Ishmel changed his teams out, so my second pod was one of his for the last game: Cyprien, Sonya, and 2 Chainfighters.

I never got a tournament trophy in my entire long life until a few years ago at Islandscape, when I fairly won in succession a "Worst Luck" booby prize, 3rd Place, and a second "Worst Luck," which today stand proudly in my bedroom. So for my first ever First Place win, I may actually order myself a trophy!

Everyone in or near NYC should consider coming over to play with us, which we've been doing monthly for the past 11 years.

On Sat. March 16 Quizcode will host his own first game here! We'll be interested to see what he comes up with.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Originally Posted by kolakoski

[Typing this from a temp computer. Can't copy/paste pics.]

On 2/9, the NYCG4 put on a mini-tourney for Quizcode in anticipation of his imminent departure. [Not so imminent, as it turns out; he's staying an additional two months.] See Quizcode Tourney in the Gallery under kolakoski. Details to follow . . .

Highlights [or lowlights, depending upon your point of view] included:

chas' taking first place! He brought Quahon in one of his pods, and scored 840+ points in the first Round, and won draft initiative (giving Quahon to him) in every game.

Taeblewalker's Viper army rolled 8-9 Frenzies against me, and wiped me out in the first Round, in our encounter. [Sherman's Dreadguls didn't roll too badly for Berserker Charge against me either.]

In the final Round, Quizcode and I fought for 5th place. Finally, far too late, a bit of luck for me. My Viceron rolled 4 Skulls with his Bloodstorm twice in a row, obliterating Joris' army.

P.S.: Still waiting for any of the three Asterios figures I ordered to appear . . .

P.P.S: Just received notification that first one ordered is available to be picked up at P.O.

Originally Posted by chas

I was very proud just to host a six player timed four round mini-tournament, and spent most of Friday building the four boards. Kolakoski discovered the wonderful maps by Flash_19 here onsite, and I set up three two players and one three player, so that we could deal with any odd or even number of players without having to stop and build during the event. This proved to be worthwhile when Taeblewalker had to report in late, and we used one 3 Player and one 2 Player for Round One, later defaulting to the three 2 Player maps. The designer used a creative mix of glyphs, combining both types in very interesting ways.

One board used three Brandir's Chests (random trapped Treasure Glyphs), one two of them, a third two Power Glyphs and one BC, and the last two Glyphs of Brandir (random Power Glyphs). K. made up a glyph pool for the Power Glyphs which left out those he felt were unbalanced.

I played on each of the three 2 Player battlefields, but not the 3 Player. In the first three games I got to play both of my pods. In the championship round I still had my dragon, but not my other pod.

Chas Pods (250 Points Each)

Dragon's Nest
Quahon
Black Wrymlings x2

Acquilla's Aces
Kozil (new C3G Owlbear)
Fiorlag Spiders x3

(Note that the Spiders bond with either Predator, Quahon or Kozil).

My first match was against Quizcode, then Ishmel (who recently moved closer), Sherman Davies, and finally Ishmel again. Ishmel changed his teams out, so my second pod was one of his for the last game: Cyprien, Sonya, and (?)

I never got a tournament trophy in my entire long life until a few years ago at Islandscape, when I fairly won in succession a "Worst Luck" booby prize, 3rd Place, and a second "Worst Luck," which today stand proudly in my bedroom. So for my first ever First Place win, I may actually order myself a trophy!

Everyone in or near NYC should consider coming over to play with us, which we've been doing monthly for the past 11 years.

On Sat. March 16 Quizcode will host his own first game here! We'll be interested to see what he comes up with.

Only took a few pics.

The four maps. Unfortunately, I didn't play
any games on Venom, the map I practiced on at home.




Venom





Wo-Sa-Ga approaches.

The Armies:

chas: Quahon, Black Wyrmling x 2 & Kozil, Spiders x 3
Sherman: Sgt Drake (110), Eltahale & Iskra, Dreadguls x 3
Taeblewalker: Zogross Hardscale, Armoc Vipers x 2
& Venoc Warlord, Venoc Vipers x3, Isamu
Ishmel: Bramcephys, Marcu & Cyprien, Sonja, Chainfighter x 2
Quizcode: Wo-Sa-Ga, Nagrubs x 3, Chainfighter
& Ne-Gok-Sa, Brunak, Tarn Viking Warriors
kolakoski: Bahadur, Arthur of Sherwood, Darrak Ambershard
& Viceron, Prince al'Kahora, Siiv

Wo-Sa-Ga vs. Bramcephys




One round knockout for the Venoc Vipers.

The Scores:

chas: 2,610
Ishmel: 2,285
Taeblewalker: 2,221 (Missed first Round; gave him
his average points in lieu of first Round.)
Sherman: 2,110
kolakoski: 1,640
Quizcode: 1,485

Congratulations, chas!

How did this happen?

The maps looked and played great. Thanks to Flash_19 for the designs and chas for hosting us and building the maps for gameday.

Looking good in our living room.

I'll be packing up Venom (sans Glyphs) today for our granddaughter's birthday weekend. Creating a Heroic All Star Game for her and her cousins/friends.

[chas]

Quizzcode's First Game

We're starting to learn a bit about the first game Quizzcode will be running for us this Sat. Mar. 16.

Each player will choose two Unique Heroes with a maximum of 170 points to start on Round One; then two more, one of which will be added in Rounds Two and Three. A Healer is recommened. Anyone with Fly or Disengage may not use that power in the game. Surviving heroes will heal between rounds.

QC will be coming over a day early to build his boards.

***

We may also have a new occasional player from upstate, who is already here onsite, after he moves closer to NYC in April! Looking forward to meeting him. QC will be moving out to the West Coast, but says he will occasionally be bi-coastal, and return to play once in a while too!

I list our games on my monthly newsletter board game invitational schedule, so others may eventually drop by as well.

[chas]

Quizzcode is dropping over this afternoon to build his maps for tomorrow's/Saturdays game. He's sent us revised rules, and it looks like a three round event which will have two boards going at once. On each one player will take an army of 350 points (Unique Heroes only; maximum 4). After the first and second round survivors will heal and one may be resurrected if the hero player takes a special hex and fight an additional enemy. Then the player can add 175 points (maximum 2 more heroes).

The other player will be running a preset 'Dungeon Army.' Victory in each round will be killing all the enemy or getting to a special Exit Hex.

I'm looking forward to "the new guy" running his first Scape Day for us!

[chas]

Sherman Davis Scape on April 6 will use his Supers cards (see Marvelscape Customs) for an Avengers End Game theme, which film is due out next month also.

Due to the early game date, before the movie comes out, the game will instead be a replay of SD's London Falling, with the Avengers out to stop Loki and his allies.

[chas]

We had a good time replaying Sherman Davies' London Falls with Thor, Valkyrie, Captain America, Captain Britain, Mr. Fantastic, and Invisible Woman vs Loki, Enchantress, Skurge (Executioner), and Ulik (Troll Champion) and some Marrow Drones and Stingers. Loki had the Crown Jewels which contained an Infinity Stone.

I played Evil, and killed Thor, Mr. Fantastic, and Valkyrie with Ulik! Enchantress Mind Shackled Captain Britain. Loki was killed and dropped the key Glyph, but Captain Britain flew in for us, recovered it before the Good side could, and flew far away with it to a Tower location at the far edge of the board. That put the icing on the cake of our Evil victory. MwaHaHa!

Next up: Kolakoski will replay one of his classic scenarios. Happily, Quizzcode will be with us for another game; he moves out to the West Coast at the end of May.

Thanks to K. for he Asterios mini; I used hot water to bend him back straight on his original base. The bull is loose in Brooklyn!

***

I just received, prepped, and hosted two games of my giant Kickstarter package of Red Alert: Space Fleet Combat (PSC, by Richard Borg). That's 149 spaceship minis mounted in one morning! I'll have it out on the table most of April, and everyone near NYC is welcome to come try it out.

I'll also be playing my first game in years of A Game of Thrones (Second Edition, FFG) next Saturday with its new Mother of Dragons expansion, the day before the TV series' last season begins it broadcast!

[kolakoski]

Well met!

I will be hosting the Gang of Four on May 4, 2019, at chas' Game Palace, with this simple scenario, inspired by the classic 1945 movie, Tarzan and the Amazons.

The Lost City of Ashra

Groups of Explorers have joined forces to find the Lost City of Ashra, and are about to enter it. Inevitably, they will form secret alliances, and then . . .

"The Treasures are here, here, here, here, and here," the Ninja said. All are closely guarded by Warriors." The Captain thought a moment. "We need to divert their attention. Ideas?" The Ninja spoke again. "They value their Sacred Trees above all else, save, perhaps the life of their Great Priest, Acolarh. A threat to either or both should do the trick." "Not everyone will like the idea of killing trees, or priests for that matter," the Captain said. "But they'll get over it somehow. Being filthy rich will help."

The Map. There is a Glyph of Rannweig, under Acolarh, at the top of his Tower ("Acolarh's Tower"). There are 5 Treasure Glyphs. There are 3 Great Evergreens and 9 Evergreens. [I will be free building the Map the night before to these specifications. Pics to come.]

The Explorers. 4-5 players with pre-made armies of 600 points apiece (no Marvel, but C3V, Kha (SoV candidate), and C3V Public Playtesting units are allowed), each player's army to fill no more than 12 spaces, placed, a card at a time, as in Heat of Battle, outside the City (adjacency to other players' units allowed), on hexes outside the City. No Explorer's army may contain Acolarh or the Warriors of Ashra (the "WoA") (Acolarh and the WoA, together, the "Amazons"). The Explorers may then (after HoB placement) move anywhere on the Map, including into the City, but may not attack any Trees or units (other Explorers' or the Amazons'), nor place any OMs on the Amazons, nor may they move onto any Treasure Glyphs, until the beginning of round 4. Prior to round 4, all Explorer units are considered "friendly" to each other and to the Amazons. After round 3 (at the beginning of Round 4), the armies of Explorers are considered, of course, "enemies" to each other and the Warriors of Ashra.


The Amazons. There will a Warriors of Ashra card for the Amazons, and a card for Acolarh. Each player may place one, and only one, of his Order Markers upon the WoA each turn, beginning with the third. No OMs may ever be placed upon Acolarh's card. The WoA cannot be moved in such a way that they would risk falling damage, nor may Amazons attack Amazons. WoA may not risk Leaving Engagement Attacks, for which purpose all Explorers are considered "enemies," even those Explorers of the player controlling them (which otherwise would be considered "friendly"). Thus, you may not move WoA out of engagement with any Explorer's units, even your own. Acolarh stands on the Glyph of Rannveig (Wind), and bestows his grace (Leaf of the Home Tree Aura and Ullar's Amulet) upon the WoA. He may not be Enslaved, Moon Frenzied, Mindshackled, etc., but may be moved by Chainfighters, Wyverns, Knockback, Jotun's Throw, etc., and, of course, may be killed.

The Amazons Have Bows. The range for the Warriors of Ashra is increased to 5 for this scenario.

Falling Trees. The C3G Christmas Special Falling Trees will be used in this scenario.

GREAT FALLING TREE
If this Great Evergreen Tree is destroyed at any point during your turn, before removing it from the Battlefield you must choose 3 spaces in a straight line from one of the spaces this Great Evergreen Tree occupies. All figures on these spaces and all adjacent spaces, whose bases are not higher than the height of this tree, receive one wound. Huge figures are not affected.

FALLING TREE
If an Evergreen Tree is destroyed at any point during your turn, before removing it from the Battlefield you must choose 2 spaces in a straight line from that Evergreen Tree. All figures on these spaces whose bases are not higher than the height of that tree receive one wound. Huge figures are not affected.

Treasure Glyphs. The 5 Treasure Glyphs in this scenario are all Brandar's Chests and have no inherent powers. The rules for Treasure Glyphs are quoted below.

TREASURE GLYPHS
Treasure Glyphs, which are available in this Master Set, are a special type of Glyph. Treasure Glyphs are normally mobile and can be carried by a Unique Hero unless otherwise stated in a scenario. Treat Treasure Glyphs as normal Glyphs with the following exceptions. Some scenarios may break these rules.

1. Only Unique Hero figures can attempt to pick up or activate Treasure Glyphs. Remember that Uncommon figures are considered Unique for all special powers and Glyphs. Other figures can land on spaces with Treasure Glyphs on them, but they cannot attempt to pick them up or activate them unless otherwise stated.

Note: Any figure may choose to stand on a Treasure Glyph
and not activate it or pick it up, preventing others from gaining access to it.

2. Treasure Glyphs do not force figures to stop when moving onto them. However, a Unique Hero figure that ends its movement on a space with a Treasure Glyph may attempt to pick it up or activate it, depending on the Treasure Glyph's individual rule.

3. When attempting to pick up or activate a symbol-side up Treasure Glyph, you always roll for a trap before revealing it. You never roll for a trap on a power-side up Treasure Glyph.

4. Treasure Glyphs that have been placed on a figure's Army Card affect only the figure that is carrying them unless otherwise stated.

5. Treasure Glyphs cannot be traded between figures. Treasure Glyphs must first be dropped by one figure (either Voluntarily while moving, or by the figure being destroyed - see below), and then picked up by another figure at a later time.

6. A Unique Hero can carry any number of Treasure Glyphs. Traps: When one of your Unique Heroes ends its movement on a Treasure Glyph that is symbol-side up, you may attempt to pick the Treasure Glyph up or activate it (depending on the scenario). If you do, that figure might be caught by the scenario-specific trap. Roll the 20-sided die.

• If you roll a 1-5, you set off the trap. Leave the Treasure Glyph symbol-side up. The scenario-specific trap takes effect.

• If you roll a 6 or higher, you did not set off the trap, and the figure that landed on the Treasure Glyph now picks up or activates the Treasure Glyph. Turn the Treasure Glyph power-side up, remove it from the battlefield, and place it on the figure's corresponding Army Card (unless otherwise stated in the scenario). That figure now controls that Treasure Glyph.

Note: You do not roll for a trap when landing on a Treasure Glyph that is power-side up.

The Victory Conditions. The player with the most Victory Points (out of 65 total) after 15 rounds wins. VPs are awarded to each player as follows:

1 VP apiece for killing each of the 9 Warriors of Ashra.

2 VP apiece for destroying each of the 9 Evergreens.

3 VP apiece for destroying each of the 3 Great Evergreens.

4 VP for killing Acolarh.

5 VP for possession of each of the 5 Treasure Glyphs at the end of the game.

[chas]

I like it! But a male priest for Amazons? We should use the Knytela Gwyn mini with the Acolarh card!

I was going to ask to be able to use Tarzan, but it doesn't look like anybody has made one; nor do I have one in my exhaustive superhero collection. So I can't bug you for it. But although I see a Ka-Zar, nary a Tarzan--which surprises me. Do you see one?

And I still hate killing trees!

[kolakoski]

Well met!


Acolarh is Acolarh. No Tarzan anywhere. 2 games, 15 Rounds per game; bring/build 2 armies; sounds like a plan.


P.S.: Anyone have Red Mantis figures? Good proxies? I'm thinking of using my Hand Ninjas.