Fifth Frontier War 1
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My usual opponent and I are playing through games set in the Traveller Universe, this being the third so far. While I've had the game in hand for a few weeks, and the rules printed, I've hard a hard time getting into it. It wasn't clear how to set it up, how the map worked, etc. The rules are not in case logic structure, which makes the rules even more difficult to read.
Anyways, we dug into the setup, and sort of figured out more or less where everything went, then figured out we really borked it all up. The Zhodani player, blue, me, needed to have plotted out an attack plan in advance, before the game started. Which of course I didn't do.
Nevertheless, we continnued through the sequence of play, and I think I'm hooked. It turns out the rules aren't that complex, but the mechanisms require some relatively deep thought. Movements are plotted in advance, up to 4 turns in the future, and fuel during movement has to be accounted for. Not all squadrons (groups of ships) can jump (move from hex to hex) at the same rate, so a fleet (group of squadrons) is limited by the slowest squadron in the fleet. Planetary systems are ranked by their technology level, hospitability, and presense of starship infrastructure necessary for fueling. Troops must be transported. Fleets require admirals, and there aren't enough admirals to go around.
From the face of it, it looks like a wargame. In game play, I think it's going to be a bit more like chess: pick a strategy and commit. Strategies can evolve, but not instantly. The idea is that any particular fleet will be plotting where it wants to be several moves ahead. Hence each turn, the players plot for the relevant turn in advance, accounting for fuel, jump capability, troop transport ability, etc. For example, with a 4 turn advance, on Turn 2, the position on Turn 5 will be specified. This is nuts, but in a good way.
At the moment, I'm leaving the game on the table with the intent of working through more mechanisms, doing a reset for both sides, then recording the current state of the board to be continued in a future play. We'll see how it works out.
Here's what the game looks like on set up:
AAR
I had intended on working through some of the mechanics of the game, hence left it set up on the table. It's too much though. I think the best thing I can do is outline some notions for review before the next play.
First, playing this game well is going to require knowing the terrain, that is, knowing where all the good bases, starport, hospitable planets are, and how they relate to each other spatially. This is not optional for effective play. It also represents a sizable investment of time.