6 MAY

 

4TH MAY

 

Addictive

 

29 APRIL

 

28 APRIL

 

Another big map

 

913 AD - Yellow struck first...

 

AD 912 - The brink of war!

 

SMALL SAGALAND TEST - AD 908

 

It's nearly full at this stage - only space for a few more farms some of which will only be able to use 6-8 farmers. I'd say about 50 more farmers and we're maxed out.

Maybe the sea birds should allow and extra farmer? They did eat them.

So 180-200 farmers is the limit. How to win?

Could say a certain number of farms? 10? Or income over 100? Once you have 100 income there will be nothing to spend it on... Except Vikings and ships!

Map making is soothing..

 

Another map...

 

AND ANOTHER...

 

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE?

 

TILES

 

BEST YET?

 

Another full map

 

FULL MAP WITH ADDED TILES - THIS COULD BE A BASIS FOR PHASE 2 AND 3

 

200 TILE MAP - NO HOLES BESIDES THE SEA HEXES

 

More tests

 

All the tiles..for now...

PLATEST 4-04

 

Another very cool map. 

Controlling coasts is a key part of scoring points. It's unclear what the best plan is. Committing 2 ships keeps the other player out of the scoring but does not score extra. Being able to remove a ship at any time allows players to cut their losses and be flexible. All meeples can be removed but doing so scores no points. Players wil have to balance loss/gain.

I feel I need to add more of certain rare tiles to allow the map to have fewer holes.

As it is Iceland themed some volcanic features would be fun.

Volcanoes and lava fields? 

There is no reason mountains should not touch the sea - this is actually quite common in real geography.

MORE MEEPLES?

Another nice map. With the rules for coastline I think more meeples are needed. It was very constrained and boring after the boats were placed.

Maybe 3 steads, 4 ings and 5 knarrs? A total of 12 pieces for 180 tiles...

Carcsassone we have 7 and 140 tiles. 124 usable makes 1/18. So we should have 10...3/3/4? try 3/4/5 next time and see how it goes.
 

Looks a little like Iceland?

 

Considering scoring coastline as follows:-

Putting a ship on a coast claims it. You score one for every hex on the coast at game end. If an opponents ship is on the same coast it gets the points for every hex on the coast up to but not including the hex occupied by the other ship. So if 2 ships from different players occupy a coastline the both get the points for the coastline between their locations and each get points for the hexes on the other side of their locations.

Fjords effectively score 2 points as they go in and out of the fjord. Ideally, you want your ship at the mouth of the fjord when it is 'finished'.

Lakes can be 'finished' and score 1 point per hex in it - with the ship returning to the pool.

Ships can be moved to any coastal hex contiguously connected by coastline to their current location but cannot 'jump over' a ship of another player.

And another!

 

Another cool map - this took 90 -120 minutes - was a little distracted by whatsapp messages! To player a shorter game can just agree a set limit to the number of turns...100 for example and stop at that point. Could add an alarm to stop us overshooting. Unused tiles are not an issue.

Nice map!

 

Lovely map today - played using the rules summarised below. Dead heat! Only one annoying hole - fair enough as it would have been tactically useful to block that lake's completion.

A few times a fjord was finished and then included again in another fjord. Does this matter? A player does not have to finish the fjord and can leave their boat there, maybe? This adds another decision. The points will be available later though they may be shared.

Something new!

 

This project is energising me again - I love the total absorption and problem solving/creativity.There is nothing else like it.

Plusses - the pieces are very much what I had imagined - and very easily adapted/extended. 

They produce beautiful maps. I want the game play to encourage players to make the map nice. As far as possible. It still has to be a game though.

There needs to be a tight limit on 'meeples' to force tough choices.

I imagine there will be 180 tiles finally. Some of the pieces that should exist do not exist. Need their mirror images. I also feel there are not enough coastline pieces and perhaps too many mountains? 

I don't think vassal can handle more than 180 tiles well. And a 180 tile game would be about 90 minutes. That's a pace of 1 tile each per minute.

BDF at 1638 - GERMAN WIN

 

The US are reduced to just a few cadres and crews, a hero and a leader [wounded]. The rest are POWs, broken or surrendering. The 2 remaining M8s can't be expected to do much at this stage. 

The Germans succeeded by exerting cautious steady pressure. They whittled down the US defenders who ran low on ammo and men. 

It was a brave defence - no doubt. But the Germans are numerous, have FP and can use the time they have to wear down the US.

In the real battle, I suspect they were in a rush and ran risks. Also, they would not have had St44s or snow camouflage in all likelihood. It's conceivable coming from Norway they'd have snow camouflage. But there is no evidence for this.

Still. A fun game. Lots happened. What next?

BDF at 1630

 

BDF 1616

 

With about 30 minutes before sunset - Twilight should start in 15? - The US have little left to fight back with. Outnumbered 2:1, how long can they last?

Back at this after a long break....BDF

 

Laborious. That about covers it. I think the Germans have too much to do with too little combat power. It's a long way to get to the jump off points. The mist makes it hard to use their FP. It does stop the US too though...

So many things can go wrong. An entire platoon has disappeared due to morale loss - just melted away. Seems fair. The main defences, lots of riflemen in foxholes to the south, and a bunch of MG nests to the north are untouched. Mobile devastating FP from aaHt are still on the map, though one has been shot up badly. Meanwhile, what attacks the Germans can launch are probes at best. The will inflict losses and burn thru ammo - but cannot dislodge the Americans.

Interesting study. The men who held Parker's Crossroads were brave, no doubt. But they achieved what was reasonably expected of them until 2nd SS arrived and then it was beyond anyone's ability to hold on. Like Arnhem bridge really.