Robinson Crusoe - solo castaway

 While I've been recovering, my brother-in-law has kindly lent me his copy of Robinson Crusoe - Adventures on the Cursed Island.

This is a solo / co-op game of being cast away on an uncharted island.

I played the first scenario "Castaway" and randomly picked the ship's cook as my character.

The core of this game is a limited time (12 days) to build a huge signal fire and attract a ship to rescue me.  Each day my character can take two actions (placing my two action tokens, rather like Agricola).

In a solo game I have help from Friday (1 action token) and a dog (1 action, but only to Explore the island or Hunt).

To complete the scenario I will have to Explore and find a mountain (a pre-req to make fire) and Gather 17 units of wood, then Build my shelter and the woodpile.  There's a lot to do and probably not enough time.

For each action I can use one of my tokens and then roll the dice to find out whether I succeed or fail, maybe taking a wound in the process, or I can use two tokens to succeed automatically.  This mechanic neatly emphasizes the feeling of too much to do with not enough time to do it properly.  No doubt there will be a need to take some risks and rush a few of the tasks.

Learning this game from the rulebook has been a major challenge.

There is a numbered list of 17 steps to setup a game and a picture of an example game with each element of the setup numbered to show which step put it there.  It should have been so easy.  Sadly there were several mistakes and unclear instructions, so it took me a week to reach the point of starting play.  The setup instructions are for a 4-player game, with a later section to explain the differences in a 2-player game.  A further section describes the solo game as just like the 2-player game with some differences.  Back and forth through the rulebook, I got there eventually.

This game has not skimped on the physical parts and the production value is impressive.  There is a space on the board for the action to Arrange the Camp, printed with a reminder of the results, and there is even a card to cover it up with the different results in a 4-player game, but not one for a solo game.

The cost in resources (wood & furs) to build a shelter varies with the number of players, but the table printed on the board starts with 2 players and only the rulebook notes in the solo section that solo costs are the same as for 2 players.

Once the cook has a fire, I can add a fireplace and then the evening meal will heal a wound.  I'm going to prioritise fire over building a shelter and accept some wounds overnight from sleeping rough on the beach.

I explored the next hex from my camp, taking the dog and got lucky.

what my exploration found

It's a mountain (presumably containing flints, since that lets me make fires and knives).  It also contains a natural shelter (saving me 2 wood and an action spent building).

I spent the rest of the day gathering wood and food in the new mountain with help from Friday.

So far I've found 2 hexes that produce wood, and I can only get 1 unit of wood per day from each of them.  15 wood in 12 days is looking impossible unless I can explore some more, and I still need spare actions to make fire and build the woodpile...  I'm starting to see what this game is about.

Tomorrow's priorities will have to be making fire and a fireplace, then move camp to the natural shelter tomorrow night...

Update: the game slowed down as the weather took a turn for the worse, requiring me to spend time on building a roof for the shelter and causing wounds in the meantime, which then had to be healed.  My exploration found 1 more hex, which yielded an antique rapier, the only weapon I needed

A series of event cards needed actions to be spent to deal with problems.  However, by day 7 I had the hatchet, which meant 2 units of wood per day without needing to spend any actions collecting it (on top of my existing stocpile from days of gathering)and I realised that the woodpile does not have to be built (with a build action for each stage) and instead builds itself so that victory became assured.

I had constant need to refer to the 61 pages of official errata and FAQ, which made this first game slow and frustrating, but there are plenty of other scenarios and different characters to use, so there should be new interest in each new playing.  Maybe I was unfairly lucky to win this one first time.

Until next time, health & happiness to you all.

Thoughts about a scenario for Lexington & Concord

 

Looking ahead to the next anniversary of the AWI, this is going to be a difficult scenario to define in a way that makes an interesting and winnable game for both players.

My idea about the basic structure is to play two short sections, one after the other.  First will be a search of Lexington, looking for the ringleaders of the rebellion and any hidden arms and ammunition that were rumoured to be stored there.  Then the Crown troops will have the long walk back to Boston under harassing fire all the way.

There are a couple of good templates for part 2 in the existing OHW scenarios.  Scenario 23 Escape looks promising, while scenario 20 Fighting Retreat adds a couple of elements that don't seen to fit the historical situation here: the retreating force has to quickly cross a river or be trapped and eliminated, and there is a strategic hill to be fought over for the final victory.  While it could have gone badly for any Crown forces that failed to reach their boats and cross back to Boston, that crossing is near the end of the scenario, rather than on turn 2, the time limit in in scenario  20.

Sadly there is no template for a scenario where Red searches a village, sending a unit to spend some time in each building. Blue can cause a few casualties during the search, rather like the losses from fighting at the north bridge.

Sadly I'm not convinced that the Crown troops ever had a realistic chance of finding their targets.  The advance from Boston had been well observed and all the ringleaders were long gone before the troops arrived to look for them.  Unless the Crown troops have some outside chance of finding something in their search, there is little point in playing the first part of the action, other than to scatter the Crown forces and cause a few casualties among them.

Perhaps an American reader will have a different perspective?  Are there versions of the story where the ringleaders were lucky to escape capture and showed great cunning or daring to remain free?

Until next time, health & happiness to you all.

Fourth quarter reading

Another quarter ends, and I've not forgotten how to read, but haven't maintained much of a pace, which is odd because there's not much else to do when you're laid up for a week in hospital.

Ben Macintyre - Colditz: prisoners of the castle

Having grown up with the TV series, the boardgame and the film, I thought I must have heard all about Colditz before my brother-in-law passed on this book for me to read.  Certainly a lot of the escape attempts are familiar: the impersonation of Franz Josef and of Willi the electrician, for example.  But it seems that the main source material was Major Pat Reid's book, and he escaped relatively early on, so left out much that happened after that.

There's a lot of interesting material in here that I hadn't come across before.  There's the story of Majumdar and the Indian nationalist angle.  The book addresses sexual frustration and how the inmates dealt with it.  Some of the issues of where to hide escape equipment such as maps and money (before the days of cavity searches). I thought of Colditz as a camp for the "bad boys" and repeat escapers, but it was also used for possible high-value prisoners, including a nephew of Winston Churchill, who might be useful in any bargaining with the victorious allies.  The sad story of the last escape attempt was new to me and very moving, given this was the same officer who played the part of the sgt major "Franz Josef" so well with so much planning, driven to such a desperate and hopeless rush.  The strange events of the end of the war were also new to me, when the kommandant gave orders for the prisoners to be armed if necessary to defend themselves from the SS.

Recommended, even for those who think they may have heard it all before.

Stephen Fry - Mythos

As a boy, I read Roger Lancelyn-Green's and Charles Kingsley's books of the Greek Myths and loved them.  It was probably one reason I have an academic qualification in ancient Greek.

Stephen Fry's rendition of the old myths & legends is more comprehensive, organised in a sort of chronological order, where the other two just picked out their favourite stories and left it at that.  This means that he begins with primordial Chaos, followed by the titans (who are mostly the embodiment of natural phenomena like earth, sea, day, night, sleep and individual rivers) and Zeus is not even born until page 30.  Once the human race has been created, the best-known tales begin, and Fry tells them with an obvious affection, mixed with the scholarship of alternative versions which is kept apart in footnotes.

I particularly enjoyed his version of Sisyphus, which goes well beyond the boulder that everyone remembers.

John Lambshead - One-Hour Ancient & Medieval Skirmish Wargames

I found this an annoyingly lazy book.  The basic rules were already written (in his Ohe Hour Skirmish Wargames), so most of the book was there for free, but still fails to  address FAQ from the original volume.  For example, it still says that a model may not move any further after shooting (point 3 in "The Player Phase" p8), but doesn't clarify that close combat is also expected to be the end of a model's activation.

Once again the scenario descriptions mention some terrain that should be on the table, but most is not marked on the map, and the effects of terrain on the game are not clearly defined (e.g. the punishment raid on p70 has gullies and fast-flowing streams, but are they more than waist-deep as specified on p9?  and how many should there be? and where are they?).  There are rules about light infantry, heavy infantry etc with no explanation that these are defined by the level of armour the models wear.

Combat resolution is slower (both shooting and close combat) to allow a second round of contested card draws (one draw to hit, a second draw to penetrate the armour).  Attacks are more likely to be ineffective than in the original book, because in all cases the defender draws extra cards for one or other of the two draws.  The defender is allowed a counter-attack, which is resolved immediately (two more contested draws).  While the author argues that this is to provide differentiation between different grades of armour, in practice that could have been handled by card modifiers or by additional card draws on defence; the changes to the rules make combat more granular and longer-running, creating a more heroic / pulp feel to the fighting, so that it goes on longer and in more detail.

To play this game, the players will have to fill in the gaps, some of which will have significant impact on the game balance.

Anthony Horowitz - Close to Death

I saw this in a bookshop just before my family asked what I would like for Christmas, so I jumped at the chance.  If I'd done my homework I would have realised that this is the 5th Daniel Hawthorn book.  While I've only read the first two and this one refers to events in the ones I missed, so it would make more sense to read them in order.

I recommend starting with The Word is Murder.  Horowitz does something interesting with the format of the whodunnit by including himself as a character (rather like Dr Watson) and this volume continues to explore his relationship with the detective.

Enjoyable, if not a masterpiece like Magpie Murders or Moonflower Murders.  The way those two books interweave a whodunnnit book with a mystery involving the author is something exceptional in my opinion, although I didn't take to the anagram at the heart of Magpie Murders and therefore prefered Moonflower Murders.  dr gustibus nil disputandum as they used to say.

Until next time, health & happiness to you all.

A stroke of luck

I must be the luckiest blighter alive.

On Friday the 13th of December, a date of ill omen, I suffered a stroke, a bleed on the brain.  I was taken in to our local hospital and a week later I  was sitting up in bed, chatting with old friends who had come to visit and check on my progress.

As I typed this on Christmas Eve, I was looking forward to seeing my two lovely granddaughters on the big day tomorrow.

Don't get me wrong. I haven't just walked away from this serious incident unaffected, but it could have been so much worse.  I'm still walking, talking and getting a weekly game in, even if I am half-blind now.  

Before all of this trouble. I was making a little progress on my backlog. including this famous archaeologist in a ruined temple.

Until next time, health & happiness to you all

Indy & the temple of inadequate maintenance

Zulu hordes with Trevor

Trevor came round on Friday for a game.  At one time we used to do this weekly, but it's been a long time since we could manage that.  As usual the evening was a mixture of actual gaming and chatter about what we've been reading and buying and so on.

Trevor has been painting up 10mm Pendraken figures for the Zulu wars, with the intention of basing them up for proper big battles, but he has based the first few as individuals for skirmishing.  So we played the One-Hour Skirmish Wargames Zulu scenario, which is a sort of miniature Rorke's Drift.  The British redcoats are taking cover in a redoubt as an endless stream of Zulu warriors rushes up to overwhelm them.  Dead Zulus are replaced after one turn, a little more than one move away from the redoubt (though they still count toward the Zulu morale breaking).

Tiny skirmish action

The luck of the cards was outrageous.  I kept pulling face cards for actions, while Trevor drew 2s & Aces.  Twice the turn ended just as Trevor had one of his redcoats attack my best warrior across the wall of the redoubt; to resolve this the attacker draws two cards and uses the higher of them to beat the defender's one card draw; he pulled a high card, I pulled a low card, then he drew his second card and it was a Joker.  That means that the turn ended immediately without resolving whatever activity needed the card to be drawn, and so my warrior wasn't dead after all.  It sounds like one of those very rare events, but it happened twice in one game.

The fighting continues until one side's morale breaks or until a relief column appears to save the day for the British.  The timing of the relief column is decided by drawing one card at the end of each turn, and when the running total reaches 30 the column arrives.  Trevor drew some terrible cards for this.  He was down to just the lieutenant and the inspiring private Alexander when it finally appeared.  He spent the whole game moaning about his terrible luck (and it really was outrageously bad) right up to the point when he suddenly won.

The OHSW rules are cinematic and generate games that are exciting and fun.  They are massively "swingy", generating very unfair and unlikely outcomes for individual actions with the expectation that they will average out across the game.  The outcome is far from predictable.  But if you are less concerned with playing the odds to maximise the effectiveness of your side and happy instead to effectively watch a Hollywood action movie unfold on the table, then they are worth a look.

The scenarios are frustrating to read.  They are all specific actions, no generic situations.  The terrain setup is disturbingly vague.  In this scenario "the only cover [is] small outcops of rock and giant ant hills".  There are no clues about how many to place, how large, where they should be, whether they slow movement or block line of sight, just the assumption that they probably provide a 1 or 2 card bonus for Zulus being shot at when next to them.

There is a chapter in the book on point values, but those costs don't give the numbers stated in the scenarios.  For example, in this scenario the British force is correctly costed at 18 points, with no extra points for being in a redoubt, but the Zulu force is 24 points, not the 31 stated in the scenario.  Perhaps the extra 7 are the price of limitless replacements and a 9" movement rate?  In effect the book might as well not include points at all, and instead say "write your scenario and play it a dozen times; if one side keeps winning then change something in the other side's favour".

Until next time, health & happiness to you all.

A sample story using Plotto

I mentioned [here] that I'd read Plotto, but didn't talk much about how it works.  Here is something of a worked example to show just how fascinating it can be.  You may wonder why you'd be interested.  Well, a lot of people play solo role-playing games with a bunch of random events and so on to fill in the story between the fighting, and Plotto works in a very similar way.

Plotto - the Master Book of All Plots

To start with, the book recommends that you choose an A clause (the hero), a B clause (the action) and a C clause (the outcome).  It sounds a bit like the old game of Consequences.  They start on p14 of the book.  There are 15 A's, 62 B's and 15 C's to choose from.

I was looking for a rom-com (don't ask, I just was), so I selected A4. An Erring Person  B23. Becoming involved in a complication that has to do with mistaken judgment and suspicion.   C8. Achieves a spiritual victory.

Now I want to add some detail to that story.  Each of the B clauses has a set of suggested conflict situations that can take place (in an index on p20, if you're trying to follow this with the book).

For B23 I am offered Love and Courtship 21, 177, 328, 365.  These are listed fully on p30.  I'll take the obvious conflict 21:

(4a) (1167) (1168) (1169) (1170)

A meets B and thinks she is a transgressor; and B, on her part, thinks A is a

transgressor * A and B, each thinking the other is a transgressor, nevertheless fall

in love ** 

(69) (97)

A and B are the standard identifiers for the male and female lead characters.  There are a pageful of supporting characters, such as A-2, a male friend of A.  The story will make a lot more sense when the characters have names.  I'll call our Romeo and Juliet something more English, like Rick and Jill.

The bracketed numbers at the beginning are situations that might come before this one, and the ones at the end could come after this situation.  The * and ** divide this into two sections, and you may only want one part of the situation.

OK this situation raises lots of questions for me to resolve into specifics: what is wrong with Rick's judgement?  What kind of transgression do Rick & Jill suspect?

Maybe this is chick-lit and our hero A is the woman, she has lousy taste in men (always picking the wrong sort) and suspects that Rick is another one.  But what kind of transgression has Rick suffered from women in the past?  Gold-diggers?

Just like a solo role-playing game, you are left to fill in these details out of your own imagination.  Or you could make a list of six possibilities and roll dice for it.

The method suggests further situations to take place before & after this one, which may make the story clearer. The mention of conflict 69 to follow 21 suggests an altogether different kind of transgression:

(27) (1146) (1173) (1175) (10c) (14b) (147) (61)

A, in love with B and thinking B has committed a crime (1172) (1206) (1292) (1293a, b, c), 

declares to the police that he committed the crime himself (828) (833) (787 ch A to B)

This looks more like A is an incompetent detective, mistakenly suspects B of something and confesses to the crime himself or herself (which is a lot to do for a complete stranger).  Now situation 21 already told us that B must believe that A is guilty of something, too.  How will they get out of this one?  Presumably the real culprit(s) must be discovered (or the crime be found not to have actually happened).

At this point I had a flash of inspiration and came up with a working title: Do you take this Mann? (featuring a stolen bust of Thomas Mann, the author of Death in Venice)

Maybe it will help if I add some more situations to happen before this point in the story, so I check the suggested predecessors of 21: 4a is the first suggestion sets up the detective angle.  A, seeking to uncover duplicity, falls in love with B, supposed to be guilty of the duplicity - maybe A is looking for a thief, expects an interview with a suspect and some mix-up has her meet B?  Later she can visit B and find a replica of the stolen thing boldly displayed in his home.

This other predecessor to 21 takes the same direction: 1168

(599) (1161 ch A-4 to A-2)

A, inspired by altruistic motives, assumes the name and character of A-2, using

A-2’s clothes and other belongings, and seeking to carry out an enterprise begun

by A-2 * A, posing as A-2, does not know that A-2 is a transgressor ** 

(603a) (822 ch B to A-2) (1044a)

Now we've got a possible mix-up.  Rick goes on a blind date in place of his friend Tony, just intending to let the girl down gently.  Tomy's mother is always trying to set him up and he has work to do that night (stealing the maguffin), which is why he asks Rick to cover for him.  In fact the next meeting could be at Tony's home and it could be the real maguffin on the shelf, not even a replica.

Now detective constable Jill doesn't even have to confess.  If she was the blind date then she has become Tony's alibi !  That won't go down well at work.

How do things develop from here?  And if Jill doesn't confess, why does Rick think she did it?

833

(1334c) (1337)

A sifts the circumstantial evidence of a crime in an attempt to discover the perpetrator 

(1371) (1413a) (1449)

Maybe she didn't confess?  What if it was a 1st edition of the book Death in Venice by Mann, and on the date they talk about how she's never read it and so Rick lends it to her, not realising it's stolen?  Now it's got her fingerprints on the cover and she can be caught red-handed with it...

Although why would anyone be in her flat to look at it?  She could have a boss or a colleague who's trying it on, decides to drive her home after a difficult interview (when she offers the suspect an alibi), and invites himself in for cofee.  He spots the book on the coffee table.

Meanwhile the real thief (Tony) is trying to arrange a buyer for the book, which must come back & bite Rick sooner or later.

1371

(l290a ch A to A-5) (1334c)

A is positive, in his own mind, that his friend, A-2, has been murdered by A-5 * A suspects A-5, seemingly an honest man, of a crime, and tries to prove him guilty ** 

(1222a ch A-3 to A-5) (1413a) (1456a) (1413 ch A-3 to A-5)

A-2 (Tony the thief) was trying to sell to A-5 (let's call Victor Cranborne).  Now we've got Tony giving Rick his keys to make the blind date believable.  Tony's mum called to set him up while the two men were in the pub, so Rick has to be the thief convincingly and then the blind date (Jill the detective) can convincingly tell Tony's mum how it went.  Rick goes back to return Tony's clothes when Jill arrives to take him in for questioning.  Tony's mum calls Rick to say she's worried about her son who's not been in touch...

How does Rick get a lead on the buyer?

1413

(a) (1302 ch A to A-5) (1305) (1334c)

A, by mind-reading, secures a confession from a transgressor, A-5 (1451d) (1461b

ch AX to A-5)

(b) (1097b ch A-2 to A-5) (1261 ch A-3 to A-5)

A, a detective, unmasking A-5 as the leader of a criminal gang, finds that he

cannot secure A-5’s arrest as the police authorities refuse to act * A discovers that

A-5 is a government secret service man, merely posing as a criminal in order that

he may secure an advantage in prosecuting his work for law and order ** (1222a

ch A-3 to A-5) (1228 ch A-3 to A-5)

I'll skip the mind-reading option, but 1413(b) looks promising. Once Rick somehow identifies A-5 (Victor Cranborne) as the buyer, he takes it to the police and they aren't interested.

That feels like enough twists and turns for my little brain.  Now I just need Plotto to help me tie up the loose ends, save Tony from Victor, and allow Rick and Jill to fix a second date with no lingering suspicions...

That can be the subject for another post, and perhaps a written-out version of the final version of the plot that I choose.

Until next time, health & happiness to you all

Holiday in Paignton plus Warfare 2024

No blog posts for a while, because we've been on holiday in Paignton for a couple of weeks.  In November?  Are we mad?  Actually we had two weeks of dry weather, warm for the time of year (16C in the first week, down to 11C by the end) and a fair amount of sunshine.

I got to see the cirl buntings in Brixham, watch seals from Goodrington Esplanade and see gannets diving for fish off Berry Head.  There were a lot of cooked breakfasts, meals in the pub and other creature comforts, along with a lot of shopping.  I got a new leather belt, just like the one I bought on Newton Abbot market over 20 years ago (and am still wearing).  There was also a significant haul from the charity shops, including a lot of CDs and DVDs that many shops are practically giving away at the moment.

Some relevant finds in charity shops

That lot in the photo cost me less than a tenner.  In fact I spent more on a grilled mackerel breakfast in the Guard House restaurant (which was excellent and well worth the price).  It was a good mix of familiar haunts and new discoveries.  Sad to see Oldway mansion looking so run down; apparently it has been closed since bits of masonry started falling off in 2022.  Originally built for Isaac Merritt Singer, the inventor of the sewing machine, the last time we visited it was in use as the local registry office.  Sue Barker learned to play tennis on the courts outside.

Oldway Mansion looking a bit tatty.  The other side looks worse

While away, I started playing Mike Lambo's Fields of Normandy.  In this book, the player commands a platoon of the 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers clearing the Germans from dug-in positions around Caen as part of Operation Epsom.  The first few scenarios are a tutorial and I cleared each of them at the first attempt, getting the hang of scouting, flanking and supporting fire.  The fourth scenario by contrast had me stumped with a srting of 4 successive defeats.

Fields of Normandy, going the safe way

Here you see my stealthy approach,  Starting from the space at the bottom (with the black triangle) I've sent all three sections around the hill, scouting the German infantry squad position to find it looking the other way.  A section has already gone ahead and scouted the position of a second German squad (also looking the wrong way), so the attack should be simple.  There is a third position in the NE corner, still just a question mark.   I played the scenario four times this way and didn't lose a man, but there wasn't quite time to clear all three in six turns.

Eventually I took a chance and rushed straight over the hill into the first German position with the whole platoon.  I got lucky and cleared a light MG position, but it could have gone badly wrong.  As a result, the platoon was on hex further east and a turn sooner, leaving plenty of time to tackle the other two positions more carefully.

There's a surprising amount to think about in such a small scenario.

Drove home on Friday and on Saturday went up to Reading's Warfare show at Farnborough airport with my brother-in-law.  Spent a long time around the trade stands, but better not talk about the haul.  Let's just say that money changed hands, and unlike my companion I managed to stick to my orders and didn't buy any more toy soldiers.  MDF bases, scenic accessories, a rulebook and some special dice are not toy soldiers.  And we don't live in an elastic-sided house.

Most of the pleasure for me in a show like this is to look at the demonstration and participation games.  They are far beyond my ability to paint so many models, build so much fabulous scenery and above all find anywhere in the house to store it afterwards.  But I do like to dream.

Guilford Courthouse with Sharp Practice by Huntingdon Wargame Society

This beautiful layout is a great example.  You'll need to click on the image to see it full-size and appreciate how good it is.  The crown forces are at the far end, and will have to fight through three lines of rebels to cross the whole length of the table and achieve a significant victory.  While staring at the table, I eventually realised that I had met one of the organisers (Mark, on the left) last year at Posh Lard in Peterborough.  So we chatted a little.

There are a lot of familiar faces at a show like this.  I didn't spot any magazine editors this year, but plenty of other faces that I only know from their hobby blogs (or in one case from the television).  Keith Flint was there, which reminds me that one year I must make it to his Cotswold wargaming day.  And I also ran into a couple of Postie's Rejects.

Ray and Lee with some smug-looking bloke.  What's he so pleased about?

It's good to see Ray up and about for an event like this.  He said something on his blog about coming to say hello, so it would have been rude not to.  Actually I saw him at Warfare last year, and got as far as "Hello Ray" just as someone else that he already knew (it may have been Lee) appeared and started talking to him.  I left them to get on with their conversation, thinking we were bound to pass each other again, but it's a big enough show that it didn't happen.  So we got a proper hello this year, before I go back to being just a page-view statistic from Blogger.

I'll just say that there are a number of blogs that inspire me to do better at the hobby, and if I don't leave a comment, that's only because I've got nothing of value to add.

Update: Ray has published a much fuller report on the Warfare show on his blog [here]

So that's a summary of a busy couple of weeks.

Until next time, health & happiness to you all.