Hulk II (or III, really): The Tyranids Strike Back

I managed to get back over to Robb’s for some games. There were fewer games than I wanted to play due to unforeseen circumstances, but sometimes this happens.

Robb’s daughter is apparently a Settlers of Cattan fan, and she asked us if we’d play a game with her. I’d never played before, so it was something of a trial by fire. This was especially so because the game board was randomized, and not set as the booklet suggests for newer players. Still, I managed to get a win after a long and grueling game. I found I was begging for sheep most of the game, and trying to avoid the phrase “and 8, we all get wood”. It’s pretty cool, overall, but I’ve never been a big fan of “monopoly” style trading in games. Never played the Succubus Club, if you know what I mean.

And I think you do.

After that, Robb had to go fix a flat tire. When he got back with Alayna we played mission six from the New Space Hulk Mission Book.

Mission VI: Alarm Call

I’d looked at the mission prior to going to Robb’s, and was surprised at a lot of the details. It is, in effect, a rescue mission. The librarian (psychic powerhouse) marine and the lightning claws marine start at the entry point awake and ready to rock. Sergeant Lorenzo and his squad of marines (Sarge, 3 basic marines and Brother Zael of the heavy Flamer) are dispersed throughout the rooms of the hulk, unconscious. The win condition for the marines is that they must awaken at least three other marines, and then the librarian and two other marines must escape at the exit point at the far end of the hulk.

That’s tough. I was thinking that the librarian must be a real badass if he can handle that kind of pressure. Even worse, the Genestealer player takes turns placing the unconscious marines, so when Robb placed Lorenzo nearest to the active marines, I placed Zael at the farthest end of the hulk, near the exit. So the heavy Flamer was effectively neutralized most of the game. To top it all off, I started with two blips and then two reinforcement blips, so 4-12 bugs move onto the board on the Genestealer player’s first turn. It’s an uphill fight for the marines.

The librarian is known as Lexicanium Calistarius. He plays differently than any other marine. He’s got a storm bolter, so he can do anything a vanilla marine can do. He also has a force axe for close assaults. He’s a combat veteran, so he’s plus one on his d6 for close assaults, but he can also spend X psi points to increase his close assault by X after the dice are rolled. So as long as he has psi points he kills any Genestealer who rushes him. He can also use psi points to do one psychic power per marine turn: for 1 psi point he can gain a command point, although there are stipulations to this. For 2 psi points he can drop a psychic force barrier on a square within 12 squares of himself, no line of sight needed. This barrier prohibits movement and firing through the square until the start of the next marine turn, when it goes away. For 3 psi points he can psychic storm a foe or a section within 6 squares of himself, no line of sight needed. If there is only a single target, it dies on a roll of 2 or more on a d6. If there are multiple targets in a section, he rolls a die for each and kills on a 4+. Marines are not affected by the storm. Calistarius only has 20 psi points to spend as he will during the course of the game. When he’s out, he’s out.

The lightning claws marine isn’t nearly as good as I thought he was. Brother Claudio only gets 2d6+1 to his highest die roll. I thought (and it used to be) that he got 2d6+2 to his highest die. It’s rough. Dude is nuts to go toe-to-toe with Genestealers.

Robb immediately made a break for Lorenzo, because it’s great to have a Sergeant to redraw command points once per turn. We screwed up the rules a bit, and Robb might have gotten an extra edge early on when we forgot that one of the nearby doors is jammed, and Robb opened it normally, and then later closed it to stem the tide of bugs. Ah well, turns out he needed the help.

I drew poorly from the Genestealer stack early on, only getting 1’s and 2’s for my opening blips the first 2 turns (six blips but only nine bugs). I decided to flood the opening corridors as best I could and hope I could kack a marine before they could wake up a bunch of reinforcements. I had to play crafty to avoid the librarian’s psychic storm, so I revealed many of my blips early so that I could spread the bugs out over multiple sections.

Robb managed to draw a ton of command points, and combined with the mistake we made with the jammed door, he managed to wake up Lorenzo by the end of the second turn, which was nuts quick. After that Robb had great command points due to redraws several times, and it really helped his game. I pushed a ton of bugs in the surrounding corridors, and several of them fell to Calistarius’ storm bolter, but Robb was in full doubles-rollin’ gun-jam mode, so I got a lot of bugs in little corridors nearby, ready to spring at the first sign of weakness.

I also tried to murder Claudio and his lightning claws, but it turns out he does okay, even without Robb putting him on guard for a reroll during close assault.

Robb didn’t use any psi points early on. I thought this was actually strong play. I would have been tempted to shoot my wad and try to mug Genestealers with the storm early, but it didn’t go down like that.

After getting Lorenzo good and rescued, the board was ugly for the marines. I had moved a bug to within a square of the Sarge, and there were several in adjacent hallways menacing the librarian from around corners. Also, Claudio was facing a rush of two or three bugs from the other side of the hulk. The marines were surrounded on three sides.

Robb marshaled his guys and finally started using the psychic friends network. Calistarius shot his way through a few bugs in the hallway and pushed his way into the next room with an unconscious marine. Then he put a barrier in the hallway outside, keeping my reinforcement bugs from coming in at his back (and because of the layout, Lorenzo’s and Claudio’s back as well). That was a good call. Lorenzo turned and ran down the hallway just out of range of a Genestealer rush. Claudio managed to claw his way through a few more Genestealers I had on his side of the hulk.

I had my work cut out for me, but now I was only drawing 3-Genestealer blips, so my reinforcements were coming in droves. I started moving blips in on the lower entrances, away from the entry points I had used in the early game. My plan was to flood the exit corridor and mid-to-late game areas with bugs, making any hope of escape difficult at best. I also still had a few bugs ready to charge in near the front entrances. I pushed two Genestealers down toward Lorenzo, but he was just out of reach. I put one right on his back so that he would have to do something about it, and then hid another just around a corner.

Robb decided to make a break for it. Lorenzo turned and shot that bug to bits, and then backed down the hall and went on overwatch to cover himself. Calistarius woke up the next marine and then kept on moving to the next entrance. Claudio went to kill a bug I had hiding in a side-corridor, and he did so. His side was facing the next wave, however, which meant I had an extra close assault against him. Calistarius put a force barrier up to keep a nearby blip from rushing out at him from a side entrance near the long end game corridor.

However, in so doing he did not nuke that blip. Maybe I bluffed him by not revealing it, but if he’d decided to psychic storm that particular blip instead of block it I would have lost (well, over an 80% chance for me to lose them) three Genestealers who later all become fodder, but who made Robb waste marine actions to kill them. The noblest of self-sacrificing four-armed mutant death machines, really.

I rushed a pile of bugs at Lorenzo, but he kacked them all, including slicing the one I got into close assault range with his power sword. Clutch roll for the Sarge. Claudio and is lightning claws had run out of luck, however. There were two bugs in range of him, and while the first was eviscerated, the second managed to maul him. This meant that I had open corridors in the back through which to funnel more bugs at Lorenzo.

Lorenzo turned and woke up yet another marine in the middle, fulfilling part of Robb’s victory conditions: wake up three marines. Now for the “get the librarian and two other guys out of here” subroutine. In light of this, Calistarius and his newly awakened marine escort did something I thought they wouldn’t: they went to rescue the final two unconscious marines. To do this they had to charge past a hallway quickly filling with Genestealers from both ends. Robb used another force barrier to keep the same group at bay (I’d revealed them and spread them out a bit by this point), but I’d put something like 6 Genestealers and another 3-blip in the very end of the hallway near the exit.

I used my turn to strategically move that ridiculous pile of bugs all over the exit-corridor, making sure to space them out so that Calistarius wouldn’t wreck my eventual advance. I moved some bugs into the area around Lorenzo’s back, forcing Robb to do something about them.

Lorenzo turned around and shot up one of the Genestealers, but he was going to get close assaulted again. Robb then ran Lorenzo’s newly awakened marine escort across the hall to wake up Zael of the Flamer. Meanwhile, Calistarius and the other marine woke up the last, then the librarian turned around, shut the door to the room, and went on overwatch. I had three bugs able to reach him that turn. Shit was getting ugly. Robb placed a force barrier counter to protect Lorenzo’s back, but as he did so I noticed that the marine timer stopwatch app on my iphone was at 3:52, which is much longer than the marines are allowed.

Robb made a case that he’d meant to do it earlier and such, but I told him that in the interests of sometime Genestealer victory we had decided to adhere strictly to the time limit. No barrier. Bad shit happened after that. There was a Genestealer in the final corridor close enough to get to the marine who’d woken up Zael, and it managed to kill him. Lorenzo managed to fend off several close assaults, but at the end of the turn he was standing with a Genestealer both in front of and behind him, and more were closing on both sides. Worse, Calistarius jammed on his first or second overwatch shot, so I got two bugs into close assault with him. Robb rolled terribly, which in game terms means I made him spend a _lot_ of his psi points (four per assault) to kill the Genestealers and stay alive. That was a huge blow to Robb’s game, because losing nearly half of his supply of psi points meant that Calistarius was rapidly becoming another guy with a Storm Bolter, which isn’t good with bugs filling the halls. He still had six or so left, but he was getting low.

Lorenzo somehow saved himself from the mess he’d found himself in by turning around and shooting the bugs I had coming in behind him. The two marines with Calistarius shot through all the doors and killed the Genestealer in the adjacent room with Zael. Zael moved up and torched the endgame hallway, killing a Genestealer. Robb had Calistarius put up another psychic barrier to protect Lorenzo from one angle, and cleared the jam and closed the door again, shooting a Genestealer down the hall in the process. Things were nasty by this point.

I counted the models I had on the board around this time. There were five marines left alive, but there were no less than 15 Genestealer models and 3 blips on the board, and they were all over the hulk. In his effort to protect Lorenzo, Robb had left some space for me to get at Calistarius again, and I made him use another 2 psi points just to tie in a close assault with one of my bugs. I then filled the corridors behind Zael and Lorenzo (and in front of Calistarius) with bugs. Zael was looking at a big pile of bugs waiting to rush him as soon as the first fire burst died down.

Robb actually made a break for it with Calistarius around this time. His two support marines had moved into the room where Zael had been asleep, closest the exit. Robb used all his command points to run the librarian to join them and get out of Genestealer reach. Zael torched a hallway again and Lorenzo fought for his life still in the room.

When the dust settled Robb and I looked at the board and there were something like 3 bugs able to get at Zael and Lorenzo from behind. Robb had been doing well in close assault to this point, but his luck ran out. Zael and Lorenzo went down, and with only three marines left and Calistarius out of psi points Robb conceded the game. There were a ridiculous amount of Genestealers in the exit hallway section by now. I think I outnumbered the marines 6 or 7 to one at the time of concession. Most of the 22 Genestealer models were in play.

Tough mission for the marines. Robb and I have been texting back and forth about strategy. He’s convinced that a few stupid mistakes cost him a whole lot of trouble. I tend to agree. The marines can win, but they have to be played rather precisely or they don’t stand a chance. Originally I felt that not using psi points early was a wise move, but then when things got hairy Calistarius had to use half of them in close assaults (it didn’t help that Robb was rolling 1’s and 2’s for close assaults on the librarian). Going for the last two marines was almost certainly folly. Of course, the Genestealer player starts with a crapload of Genestealers compared to other missions.

In previous missions, the Genestealer player might get two blips per turn, but he doesn’t also start with any. Further, the marines often had two squads when the Genestealer player did get a lot of blips, or had relatively simple win conditions. The more complex the mission objectives, the more likely the bugs will overrun the marines.

I played the bugs quite conservatively this mission. Instead of filling corridors I spent a lot of time moving them just of their own rush range, but nearly totally out of harm’s way, and in directions which the marines would find inconvenient to deal with (marines can only fire forward in a 90 degree arc, so directly right or left isn’t good for them). If I’ve got a Genestealer down a hallway lurking a bit, the marines had to turn to kill it, and then turn back. If Robb wasn’t getting results on his shots he was getting mugged.

Marines player rating: 3.0 Genestealer rating: 3.5 lots of bugs and lots of ways to go about this mission.

We played some Duffin Draft and double Duffin Draft with Alayna after the game, but it still felt meh with only 3 players, and Robb and I kept mugging each other and then Alayna would win. It was sorta lame.

Robb got two Heart of the Cheater in those 9 packs (only five 3rd Ed, too), but that card isn't so good in Duffin draft.

-Merlin out

Halloween Games

Robb, Devin and I got together late on Halloween to play some games. We managed to get in a mission from the New Space Hulk, and then Devin talked me into playing some “extra work” VTES, wherein one person plays two decks crosstable to simulate a four-player game, even though there are only three players available. More on that later.

Space Hulk Mission V: Decoy

Devin and I each got to play a squad of space marines in this scenario. Robb played the bugs, as is his specialty. The marines start in two entry corridors on one end of the map, and must traverse to the other side, to a designated exit point. The game ends when there are no more marines left in play: all of them must be dead or escaped. At that point the marine player rolls a d6, and if the number rolled is less than or equal to the number of escaped marines, the marines win. Otherwise the Genestealers win.

Devin took Lorenzo’s squad: Sergeant Lorenzo with the power sword, Brother Zael with the heavy Flamer, and three vanilla marines. I took Gideon’s squad: Sergeant Gideon is the Thunder Hammer/power shield marine, Brother Leon packs the Autocannon, and then there’s three mostly vanilla marines. One of them has a chainfist for cutting open doors. If Devin and I could get six of our ten marines out the escape hatch we would win.

Robb started the game with five blips (which seemed like a lot). There was some contention here, as the mission stated he starts with three and gets two reinforcements per turn. We didn’t argue and he's mostly right, I checked the rules today. It made for a tense game. Also, we actually played with a timer this time. I downloaded a stopwatch app for my iphone (two really, the first was shit) and we timed the marines’ turns to three minutes.

Devin hadn’t played in a while (decades. . .) so we had a lot of discussion about best practices throughout the game. There was no conflict, however, which turned out great for us. Devin and I plotted our first turn so that Brother Zael would be able to fire flames down either point of Genestealer entry near where the marines start. While Devin was doing that, I moved my squad out and lurched most of them down toward the middle of the map, Gideon in the lead.

Robb did as we expected and put a bunch of bugs at our back, near the entry points, as well as a blip on the far side of the map, near the exit. Robb’s general strategy this game was to put big blips (2 or 3 Genestealers) near where the marines were, and to put smaller blips (1 and occasionally 2 Genestealers) near the exit area. This is an old strategy of his that aims to keep the smaller blips (1’s mainly) unrevealed for as long as possible, in order to maximize the number of 3-bug blips drawn per turn by keeping the 1’s out of the bucket. It’s sound.

Brother Zael opened a door blocking his path of fire and nuked the first series of bugs near the entry point. Another marine, with a storm bolter, killed a few bugs coming in the other entry point nearby, and then went on overwatch to shoot anything that moved. The rest of Devin’s squad moved down the hallway toward the middle section. Meanwhile, my squad split, with Brother Leon of the Autocannon and dude-with-chainfist joining Devin’s squad in one corridor while Gideon and two others took an alternate route.

I wanted to test something. Gideon has often been derided (by me) as being a victim. This is because in old hulk rules, the Thunder Hammer marine never did a goddamn thing for me. He has no ranged weapons, he can’t dance, and he can’t go on overwatch. Furthermore, when a Genestealer player is rolling dice AT ALL, the marines are losing a guy 90% of the time. The rule of the game for marines is “for the love of the emperor don’t let them get close”. Gideon and his Thunder Hammer are anathema to that paranoia.

However, in new hulk, Mc Thunder Hammer is a Sergeant, which gives him an additional +1 to his close combat die. Furthermore, he can go on guard, which is essentially close combat overwatch. When on guard a marine can reroll a close assault die after seeing what the Genestealer player rolls. This is hot. So the game math went from Genestealer player 2d6 (3d6-1d6 for power shield) vs 1d6+1 for the Thunder Hammer victim, to Genestealer player 2d6 (3d6-1d6 for shield) vs 1d6+2 with a reroll if the Sarge is on guard. This is a big difference.

I wanted to see if it paid off. So I marched Gideon down to a doorway, the only doorway by which Genestealers could get at the marines in the middle section (an entry point was 8 squares away), and I plopped him there on guard. I hedged my bets by placing another marine on overwatch behind him while the third in that section joined the rest of the marines making a break for it.

Meanwhile, Zael and the overwatch marine near the start of the board were fending off Robb’s horde quite handily, to the point where Robb decided that he needed to concentrate on Gideon and the exit point. I think that around this time there were like 5 blips (maybe 3 blips and 3 Genestealers? Robb was revealing the big ones to put the chits back in the pot) in the exit section, most of them down a hallway which was going to be a bear to take.

Robb threw a half-dozen bugs at Gideon, but the Hammer/reroll kept fending them off. Admittedly I got pretty lucky: Robb had me with a 6 on one of his close assault dice twice, and Gideon managed a 5(+2) on the reroll from being on Guard both times.

While this was going on, Devin had moved Brother Deino (a vanilla marine whose valor has earned him a proper name) down to the homestretch toward the exit. He blew all the doors he could see off their hinges, so that Robb would at least have to reveal any more blips that came to get us from this direction. Deino then sat on overwatch four spaces from the mass of bugs in the hallway nearby. Lorenzo, Leon of the Autocannon, and three other marines bunched up behind Deino.

Robb kept tossing bugs into the entry point near Gideon, but they took two turns to get to him, so he made a very slow retreat, the marine covering his back also making similar progress. Zael and the entrance guard marine both slowly backed toward the exit, as no more bugs were coming to menace them, but Devin wanted to hedge their bets. Robb decided not to reveal his bugs in the exit-hallway slaughterhouse yet.

All eyes were on that hallway. I told Devin we had to run a guy up there to stir things up. We drew a bunch of command points, and Deino rushed forward, turned and shot the first Genestealer he saw, shot twice at another to kill it, and shot again. He moved forward with his last shot, into a hallway with another two bugs, but he had done his job. Leon was behind him with the Autocannon, and now I moved him up and put him on overwatch. Leon could cover all points of Genestealer entry on the endgame sections from there.

On Robb’s turn Deino bit the dust, but the charging Genestealers were all mowed down by Leon’s Autocannon. There was just a couple bugs left in the back 40 now. Leon reloaded his gun and moved to an adjacent hallway section the next turn. We didn’t have enough command points to put him on overwatch again, but he was safe from Genestealers and could take one shot during Robb’s turn. Lorenzo ran down the hallway toward the exit, with three other marines behind him. Robb still had two Genestealers in the back rooms coming their way.

Meanwhile, Robb made another attempt at Gideon, who was slowly backing into the endgame sections. Gideon managed to crush two more bug skulls. Robb said something about me calling the Thunder Hammer marine an asshole all the time, and that he was kicking ass today. I said that the guard feature is a big improvement on the old rules. I haven’t seen Brother Claudio on guard yet; he’s got the Lightning Claws, which are 2d6+2. . .I wonder how that stacks up. We’ll find out in later missions.

Robb tried to get Leon and his Autocannon to blow up. After reload, the AC can nuke if the marine rolls triples on his three attack dice. I came awful close but never quite nuked. Robb tried closing the door to shuffle blips into the back hallways, but I used our last command point to shoot the door with the Autocannon.

Zael and entry guard were getting close to the middle now. Robb saw that we had four marines (Lorenzo one of them) poised to exit in the next round or two, unless he crushed them. Devin ran Lorenzo down the hallway, turned him at the corner and shot at a Genestealer, and missed. He fired again and missed. He fired again and missed. He fired again and killed it, but there was another two squares away. Devin used our last three command points (extra moves for the marines player to disperse as needed) firing at that Genestealer. He missed every time.

So then Sergeant Lorenzo was two squares from a hungry bug without a way to take a shot. Devin and I wrote him off and put the other three marines (and Leon, covering the entries) on overwatch so that they had a shot at Lorenzo’s killer. More bugs came toward Gideon in the rearguard, but would not reach him until next turn.

Robb said later that the turning point in the game was when he rushed Lorenzo, did a close assault, and Lorenzo managed to win because of his +1 Sergeant bonus and force-a-reroll parry ability from the power sword. Devin and I fist-bumped. Four marines escaped in short order, including Sergeant Lorenzo. Meanwhile, Leon ran out of autocannon ammo savaging all of the Genestealer reinforcements. After that I had him rush toward the entry point so that Robb would have to lurk blips for a turn before coming at us from there.

I put Leon on guard. It didn’t help. Two marines dead. Robb made a last rush at Gideon in the rear, which would have been significant as Gideon was our last Sergeant in play, but the Hammer stood strong.

Zael and the rearguard had caught up, and after Leon was dead Zael tossed a Flamer blast into the entry point near the far end of the map, which blocks all models from entering that section. Zael proceeded to cover the area in flames while the rest of the troops poured toward the exit. After we drew enough command points to kill the last two Genestealers hiding in the final hallway, Robb conceded defeat: at least 6 marines would escape.

Robb was wondering what has changed in the rules to allow the marines to win. There’s a couple things that are small changes that make a big difference. One is the guard function for the close assault marines. That was huge this game. Normally I would not advocate standing toe-to-toe with a Genestealer for any reason, and quite honestly, allowing the Genestealer player to roll dice is bad play on the marine player’s part. However, that gamble (and it is a gamble) can pay off big. It did with this game.

Two is the fact that marines can now unjam their Storm Bolters (which jam if the marine player rolls doubles while on overwatch) for just one action or command point, and if on overwatch the marine stays on overwatch. In old hulk rules the marine would have to spend a command point to unjam and then another two to go back on overwatch. That was brutal.

The overall feel of the game is intact: the game is at its most tense when there is a marine on overwatch, able to take a shot (indeed, must take a shot) every time a Genestealer appears in his line of vision within 12 squares, and the bugs rush at him. He has to roll a six on one of his dice to kill it, and he has X shots, where X is the number of squares the bug must close before getting next to him. It seems like overwatch has only failed us of late when it isn’t fatal for the marine, i.e. when the bugs are too far away to reach the marine during a rush.

Still, the game is a lot of fun, though perhaps moreso for the marine player than for the genestealer player. Mission rating marine player: 3.5 Genestealer player: 3.0

VTES: Multideck format

Robb and Devin, being antisocial, have cooked up a variant, or perhaps expanded on a variant that a dude named Tom McNulty once played with us. That variant is standard VTES, except one player plays more than one deck at the table. To try and minimize in-game knowledge and collusion, the player who is playing multiple decks at a table should have their decks be crosstable.

Oftentimes, it goes like this: Robb(DeckA)>>>Devin(DeckB)>>>Robb(DeckC)>>>Devin(DeckD)

If DeckB got ousted, Robb and Devin would then take turns playing one of Robb’s decks so as to limit the unfairness of one player playing two decks. The player(s) playing multiple decks need to play to win, and hopefully they can use a measure of objectivity to assess and play their turns.

On Halloween, I volunteered to be multiple-deck guy, because the only deck I’d brought lacked reaction cards. I find it easier to be objective (and play multiple decks) when I’m not reacting a lot. I had brought a G4-5 Morlock variant of the “Zombo Combo” Baron Samedi Cemetery/Corpse deck. Devin tossed me a huge Eternals/Followers of Set deck to play as a second deck.

The game went thusly: Me(Samedi)>>>Devin(Hermanas Love Lilith)>>>Me(Eternals of Nahkthorheb)>>>Robb(DoC agro-vote)

I popped up Morlock on one side of the table and Amenophobis on the other. Devin got a Hermana Menor turn one, hunted the next turn and popped two more, then got a Camera Phone with the one while the others hunted. Amenophobis bled for a few while I pushed beads to Cagliostro. Robb got Yseult and called a Lily Prelude to thump me for 4. Then he got Antoinette.

Morlock did his thing, getting a corpse and freaking into a cemetery, and then freaking and bleeding. Robb’s vote made me cautious, and I declined transfers (silly, really) instead of pulling some off the down guys. I wanted to get Abebe out, and I should have.

Devin bled the Fos deck for 5 with the Phone and a Walk of Elvis. Then he popped another sister and hunted with his empty two. He cursed not having a Lilith’s Blessing yet.

The Fos bled for a couple, which Robb ignored, and then it got Cagliostro. This, as it turns out, is subpar for a Nahkthorheb deck. Devin assured me that there were six Nahkthorheb in the deck (there wasn’t) and that I’d gotten a bad draw (I had, but there were only four N). Not having the extra actions was killing me, and discarding Corruption cards was pissing me off. What the hell are Corruption cards doing in a deck? Didn’t Revelation of Ecstasy re-wallpaper them?

Robb bloated with the new DoC bloater vote and got up the two-cap daughter. Morlock spun his wheels a bit. I dropped another Cemetery and thought again about bringing up a minion, but pulled two back this time for sure.

Devin bled for a bunch with a Hermana and the Elvis Walk, but because he had to front-load it I blocked with Cagliostro. My Hermana deck has Increased Gate tech, so I figured the Form of the Serpent in my hand was actually to get back to close and knock a sister into torpor with hands for one. After Devin dropped the Signpost, I realized that Cagliostro’s snake form could save him a lot of hurt. Caggy ran away.

Devin still bled for a bit, and got another sister a cellphone. Then he got Hermana number 5.

The FoS deck had too many actions and stealth to not have a multi-actor like N up, so I knew it was only a matter of time before it was ousted. The game had broken the way many four-player games do, only I was playing both of the disadvantaged decks. Cagliostro got a Perfectionist and a Heart of the City, while I left up Amenophobis to block a frontloaded bleed from hell.

Robb mugged Morlock but good on his next turn, dropping another Lily Prelude and then a Reckless Agitation. That was enough to oust the Samedi deck. At least my life was getting simpler. Robb started influencing Sashiya.

Devin put an Oppugnant Night into play and proceeded to crush DoC like it was the thing to do. Robb threatened to transfer out. I laughed at him, as telling Devin he’ll only get 2 Vps and a GW instead of 3 isn’t much of a threat. All the Daughters were in torpor except the 2-cap when the FoS went, but they didn’t have much to do. I bled Rob for some and finished my turn.

Robb rescued Yseult and got out Sashiya. Devin beat up Yseult again. Then he bled me for a lot, knocking the FoS deck down to 4 or 5 pool. I stayed untapped to attempt some blocks. Robb bloated with votes and rescued Yseult again.

Devin ousted me with bleeds the next turn. Robb hurled invectives at me because now he couldn’t play his Reckless Agitations. I told him I was sad for him.

At that point I went to play my guitar. Robb told me he managed to vote Devin off the table before Devin drew and played another Oppugnant Night.

Robb: 3VP 1GW, Devin 1VP

Game MVP: Conductor

-Merlin out

Space: The Hulkening 1

Due to scheduling conflicts, this blog is rapidly becoming just about gaming. I might have to change my banner and title if I keep it up.

I always enjoyed the Space Hulk board game, though I haven’t played it a lot. I was introduced to it by my brother back at a MichiCon event in the 90s. I must have been around 12 or 13 years old. He had all the expansions and whatnot, and it was a lot of fun getting my marines annihilated. I don't think I ever beat the Genestealers. A few years later my friend Robb pulled the same game and expansions out of his cabinet, and we played it some more. Still, no marines could pull off a win. And we never even played with the optional timing rules, or if so not much.

Anyway, the third edition came out last year, and I decided that I had to have it. I swooped it up for a little less than cost from my FLGS. Getting it less than cost was actually a good deal, as it was a limited edition and they’re sort of expensive online now. On top of that, all the models were already put together because it was a display game, the proverbial last-in-stock.

I think it’s worth the cash, but then I hadn’t owned the game. Robb, being the only friend I have who loves board games, agreed to play some new Hulk, mainly because he was interested in the rules changes. Robb was skeptical, especially with the rules updates. The 3rd edition rulebook is a slim 24 page manual with lots of full color illustrations, and the psyker rules have been significantly simplified. Robb liked the old rules better. He always does. He’s been pissed about the change in Zip Gun and ammo cards for a while now. And don’t get me started on Kindred Restructure. Christ.

The game, for those not in the know, is roughly the plot of the film Aliens. A group of supersoldiers climbs into a derelict space station in search of. . .whatever the mission says. . .and there’s a big bunch of man-eating reptile/bug/monster thingies there. The tension in the game comes from the fact that the marines have ranged weapons, while the Genestealers excel in close combat. So if the marine can shoot all the bugs to pieces before they get close they’re good. If they can’t then they’re probably dead. The players each control one faction (it’s a two player game at heart, though multiple-squad missions can be played with more than one marine player) and each mission has a set objective, at least in the Mission book. Of course, new missions can always be created, and the lovely cardstock (hugely thick) panels for map construction offer a myriad of various space derelicts.

I give the board game components, with the awesome minis and panels, a 4.0. Some of the missions are more Meh.

Mission I: Suicide Mission

We played the first two missions awhile ago.

Mission one pits a squad of marines against an absurd amount of Genestealers. The marines need to fire their heavy flamer weapon (one guy has a flamethrower with six shots, and it’s a devastating weapon, let’s call him Brother Zael, as that’s what the Mission book names the heavy flamer marine) into a certain room to stop the launch of potentially Genestealer-infested escape pods. The Genestealer player needs to kill Brother Zael or make him use his six shots before he can torch the room.

I played as the marines, and things went pretty well. I lost one guy early, but while all that was going on I moved my troops down to the correct area and incinerated huge swaths of bugs with Brother Zael. I got pretty lucky, and we did not play with the timer, as I’m not nearly as familiar with the rules as Robb is. Also, the floor-model game I picked up was missing the timer. It’s not a big loss, from what I understand.

I managed to get to the Launch Control room, but in order to flame it with my last shot I had to incinerate Sergeant Lorenzo, who had opened the door to said room. They don’t call it Suicide Mission for nothin’. Marines player:3.0 Genestealers player: 3.0 Lots of fun and strategy for both sides.

Mission II: Exterminate

Robb and I decided to switch teams (read that as you will) and he played the Marines, and I the Genestealers. I think this is the first time I ever played as the bugs. This is a pretty simple “outlast the other side” mission. The marines get to dig in on the map, and the Genestealer has a finite amount of reinforcements (in most missions, the Genestealer player has unlimited reinforcements, so the marines are working against that). Whoever is left when the dust clears wins.

Rob dug himself in real good and then rolled like gangbusters, nuking all of my bugs before they could get close. I think I only managed a single close combat roll the whole time, and Robb won that as well, so I got skunked. Kind of a boring mission, and. . . Hmmm. Marines win again. Marines player:3.0 Genestealers player: 2.0 Not having more bugs was a let down, Robb got this one pretty easy.

At this point we stopped playing, mainly because it was 2 in the morning. Robb was concerned that the rules changes benefitted the marines player too much. In earlier editions the marines player had a tough go of it, while so far the marines were batting 1000, out of two at-bats, which isn’t necessarily proof of brokenness. . .

We picked it up again this weekend and continued through the missions in the mission book.

Mission III: Rescue

We had to re-refresh ourselves on the rules, because the first two missions were played like last December. We swapped sides again, so I got to be the marines. We again elected to play without a timer because of the rules thing. We’re not sure that was a good idea.

Rescue has two squads of marines at opposite ends of the map, and Squad A needs to navigate through the halls to meet up with their pals and then move back toward Squad B’s starting point. There’s a marine carrying a MacGuffin which needs to go out the exit for the marines to win. The Genestealer player needs to stop that from happening.

This one was a lot of fun. For me. Robb didn’t get to make a single roll as the Genestealer player. I moved Squad A along and pushed only two guys from Squad B to meet them, sending Sgt. “Victim with a Thunder Hammer” Gideon and a couple of grunts down to seal off the entry points near the exit section. This kept the Genestealers from moving in behind me.

Squad A was full of killing machines. I set a couple of marines on overwatch to keep an eye on the back hallways while the MacGuffin-carrying marine made his mad dash, and those guys killed at least a dozen Genstealers. I also used Zael’s Flamer to block off some access points for the bugs, which bought me a lot of time.

The middle section of the map is ugly, with two ridiculous access points for the Genestealers to jump out of, near a critical junction where the marines must pass through. Using the last of my Zael’s Flamer ammo to emberfy two Genestealers, Sgt. Lorenzo and MacGuffin Marine made for the exit, backed up by reinforcements from Squad B now.

No marines lost, but Robb conceded the game to me right after Brother Zael had used his last Flamer shot, and Zael was almost certainly going to get mauled in the hallway with no gun to shoot. However, for as successful as it was, I was incredibly lucky. Many times my last shot of the turn is what killed the bug in front of one of my marines. Marines player:3.5 Genestealers player: 3.0 There’s enough entry points for bugs that there are several strategies available, and the middle section could get nasty if the marines miss a few key shots.

Mission IV: Cleanse and Burn

Robb took the Marines for this one. He immediately recognized it as an older mission redone for the new game. The map was even similar. The marines get two squads and have to fire heavy weapons (Flamer or Autocannon) in two rooms, similar to Mission I, in order to win. The Genestealer player needs to kill Brother Zael and Brother Leon, or run out of ammo, before they can complete the mission objectives.

Robb plays a strong game as either side. I seem to need every bullet I get when I’m playing marines, but Robb just muscled his way down the hall toward the objective, blasting every door in sight so that my bugs had nowhere to hide. I poured most of my Genestealers into the middle access points, but Robb nuked most of them with Flamer and Autocannon fire. Brother Leon, the Autocannon Marine, was running out of ammo. I set my bugs upon him and managed to eviscerate him and most of Sgt. "Victim" Gideon’s squad. Meanwhile, Lorenzo’s team was pretty strong, and Zael had already flamed one of the objective rooms. Damn.

I ran a few Genestealers in to try and make things difficult, but Robb moved Zael into position and had his lead marines open all the doors cross-hallway to the other objective room. Zael pulled the trigger and that was that. Four marines dead, but still no victory for the Genestealers. Marines player:3.0 Genestealers player: 3.0 Lots of fun, and a fast-paced mission to boot.

We had to call it again on account of lateness, but Robb would like to play all twelve missions and then perhaps revise or hybridize the rules with the first edition set he has. I guess we’ll see how those houserules go after playing all twelve missions.

Both Robb and I independently came to the conclusion that the marines player needs to have the timer in order to balance the marines out: they’re supposed to be calculating beasts, but any mistake on the part of the marines can be fatal, and the timer really plays to that. So next time we’ll use a stopwatch or similar and see if things get balanced. Downloading a stopwatch app for the iphone right now. . .

-Mark out

A Digression: Civilization Revolution

I'm working two jobs again, which means getting out for multiplayer and roleplaying games is more difficult. Also, the mostly torpid Prince of Flint is working again, which means both of us have less time, and therefore less time to organize gatherings of either the CCG or RPG variety.

I've been playing some on 1-player games. I have a weird need for strategy-based entertainment. I picked up Civilization Revolution on my iPhone in July. It was free over the 4th weekend, and since I don't like to pay for apps, generally speaking, I swooped it while the swooping was good. Turns out it's normally 6 or 7 bucks. So, that was a sweet deal for me.

I played the original Civilization game on my dad's Commodore Amiga 1000 computer when it first came out. This would be in 1991. I was eleven. It was pretty cool. When I saw that my mobile device had a variant I thought I'd check it out to see if it can hang. It can hang.

The iPhone version is a port of a stripped down version of Civ released on the major game console's downloadable games services. It's pretty simple and takes roughly 2 hours to play a game. My first few games (and the harder difficulties) took much longer, but, the process has since become rather streamlined.

I take the role of one of sixteen great leaders of sixteen great cultures, and using their distinct advantages (and a lot of luck) I dominate the world in some way. There are four ways to win: Conquer all other capital cities to achieve a domination victory, save 20K in gold and then build the world bank to win by economic victory, achieve 20 cultural landmarks (either building wonders of the world or attracting "Great People") and build the United Nations to get a cultural victory, or research all the technologies in the game and then build and launch a space colony to win a technological victory.

The conquer victory is the easiest, and the quickest. But all of the various win conditions inform the others. For instance, having superior tech and the money to afford massive advanced armies certainly helps in a military campaign. Culturally dominant nations will often seduce and absorb smaller cities from less cultural neighbors with ease. And so on.

I prefer to play the game on “king” difficulty, which is the middle setting. Anything less is too easy, and anything more is frustrating in a “the computer cheats!” throw-your-controller-which is actually-your-phone way: I once had an enemy ship park outside an island city and never move away, yet every other turn, like a goddamned Gauntlet II ghost generator, a Legion Army (which is a weird redundancy in the game) disembarked and threatened that city. Fuck all that noise. I at least want the illusion of fairness, even if the AI gets mad production bonuses (they do; they always have, even in 1991).

The game has a lot of replayability for me, mainly because of the various leaders/nations available for play. I want to put down some reasons why some of them are awesome and why it really sucks to play as others.

Americans/Abraham Lincoln:

Well, at least we get the tall guy. Note that Americans are the top of the alphabetically list for the game. Conicidence? I don't think so. It's a damn shame that playing as the Americans is actually not a lot of fun. The game is divided into four eras, and at each era the various civilizations get different bonuses. The American bonuses are pretty lame. They do start the game with a Great Person, but that's a total crapshoot. Chances are they’ll end up with Thomas Edison or Karl Marx, who don't do much for an early civilization. The early game is all about violence: If I can take an enemy capital early I've effectively doubled my civilization while eliminating an adversary. Adding to science or culture(even more of a cultural bonus than Great People already give, anyway), as Edison and Marx do respectively, doesn’t benefit my wars directly for quite some time.

The Americans don't do violence well until the mid- to late game. Later era bonuses they receive include the ability to pay less to rush units out of production and building super-bitchin’ factories (when they finally get to build those in the endgame). The problem is, by then I've probably been slogging through a two-front war for two millennia. 1.5

Arabs/Saladin:

The Arabs are scary good. They've got some interesting monetary era bonuses, but all that shit doesn't matter because their early military game is fucking incredible. They start the game with free Religion technology. This allows them (and their game defaults) to have a Fundamentalist government. Fundamentalist governments in CivRev give the ground units a +1 to attack strength, but don't allow libraries or universities to contribute to science production.

In the early game, I don't have any libraries to care about, and the attack bonus effectively doubles how strong my basic Warrior units are. I've won some super-early domination games with the Arabs simply because of their Religion tech. The fact that they get free Math tech (=Catapults) and _additional_ bonuses to mounted unit's attacks in subsequent eras is just crazy talk. I find it hard to argue against these guys. The AI opponent Saladin makes life difficult for me for similar reasons. 3.5

Aztecs/Montezuma:

I don't like the Pontiac Aztek, but I like the CivRev Aztecs. They start the game with some pocket money and their military units automatically heal to full health after any successful combat. That's pretty strong. They never have to halt a grinding advance to nurse their wounds. Early on, they also gain science production from Temples, which makes a single building add to both culture and science. If the Aztecs can bully another Civ out of the game with a quickness they have a great shot at winning via late-game economic growth, and sometimes they can just dominate the globe early with their supersoldiers. Aggressive expansion is the name of their game.3.5

Chinese/Mao:

Mao made it into the game? Hardcore. The Chinese have some of the best era advances for a technology run. It's too bad that the tech victory is the hardest to achieve before someone puts a Bomber in your anus. Still, they're a lot of fun. They get a bunch of free Writing-type technologies, and libraries cost half at around the midpoint in the game. Also, new Chinese cities always start with more people than other Civs, so the Chinese are great at early expansion and productivity. I still usually wind up rolling my tank units through the other capitals when playing as the Chinese, but that's only because the AI-controlled Civs tend to get lippy and aggressive while I'm winning the tech race by a large margin.

The one time I actually tried the Communism government I was playing as the Chinese. It was whack. Under Communism, all city production increases by a huge amount, but Temples and Cathedrals (the main source of city culture) no longer add to culture. The increased production made the late game quick, and through my ruthlessness, brutal for everyone else. I prefer the culture victory in the late game, so I shy away from Communism most of the time, but damn is it a way to get shit done. 3.0

Egyptian/Cleopatra:

Playing as Cleo is a lot like playing as Lincoln in that their start-of-game bonus is a crapshoot: The Egyptians start the game with a random ancient Wonder of the World. The difference for me is that while there is a preponderance of mediocre Great People, Wonders of the World have some awesome benefits, and while some are lamer than most (Stonehenge is meh), others are freaking incredible. The Great Pyramid allows access to all forms of government (see Arabs and Fundamentalism or Greeks and Democracy or Romans and Republic. . .), and the Great Wall makes it so rivals simply can NOT declare war on me. That’s hot. Eventually ancient wonders become obsolete, so their bonuses are not forever, but that push in the early game can make a huge difference.

But hey, Cleo gets other bonuses as well! Most of them are food/population oriented, so expansion is easier for Egyptians, and in the late game they get a boost to the economy, but for the most part the wonder is where it’s at. 2.5

English/Elizabeth:

Ah, Elizabeth. My personal favorite monarch of the bunch, but as I’m the sort of guy who reads Shakespeare for funsies I’m a little biased. It’s too bad that the English aren’t super cool to play in CivRev. They do start with a Monarchy government, which adds huge cultural bonuses and allows access to the Feudalism tech early (which allows Knights units, strong and fast mid-game assault troops). They also have Longbowmen, special early-game defensive units (everyone else’s Archers are called Archers, the game does this with every Civ’s iconic troops, Russian Horsemen are called Cossacks, etc.) with mad defensive skills. So they’re good at holding cities in the early game if I can capture them.

However, capturing cities isn’t their strong suit unless I relentlessly pursue that agenda. That can be frustrating, especially if more than one AI Civ has their sights set on me. The later-game bonuses for the English are quite navy-centric, which is odd as navy forces don’t account for a huge part of the game. Ultimately, the English are interesting, but not the strongest of the factions to play. 2.5

French/Napoleon:

The poor French. It seems almost all of their advances and bonuses are pretty lame. They get free Pottery tech from the start. Wooo! Earlier granaries! They start the game with a Cathedral, which is actually a big cultural bonus. However, it’s not nearly as awesome as starting with a wonder like the Egyptians (wonders and cathedrals both add a lot to culture). Later on they can build roads for half price, they get bonuses to Cannon attack, and they get faster-walking Riflemen. None of those things are particularly exciting. The roads thing is about as good as it gets. In the early game the cultural bonus from the Cathedral is sometimes enough to swoop up smaller nearby cities from more barbaric Civs, but overall the French are not much fun to play. Most of my losses in the game are with the French, which says a lot, I think. 1.0

German/Bismarck:

Bismarck! I chuckle at the chosen leaders for the game sometimes. The Germans are absolute military beasts. Their start-of game units all begin as Veterans, and if I build a Barracks early all units automatically begin with Elite unit upgrades. That’s crazy talk, and that’s only the beginning. As the Germans advance in technology, they get production bonuses, cheaper Barracks buildings, and extra money. They tend to expand and conquer at least one enemy Civ early with ease, and if I can maintain a tech advantage while I perpetrate extensive conflict I tend to win via domination quickly. Elite unit upgrades include Infiltration (+100% attack against cities), Blitz (two assault moves per round for the unit), Loyalty (+50% defense in home territory), and Leadership (+100% defense while supported by other units). Elite upgrades are substantial. If the Americans start with a Great Warrior Person they can get these advances for all units built in one city. The Germans get them all the time. 3.5

Greek/Alexander:

The Greeks are a paradoxical bunch. Alexander is a great warrior type, but his Civ isn’t very warlike. The Greeks start the game with knowledge of Democracy and a Democratic government. Somehow, knowledge of Democracy gives a Civ the ability to build strong defensive Pikemen units, called Hoplites for the Greek Civ (they are stronger than Archers, the basic defensive unit; English Longbowmen are as strong as everyone else’s Pikemen). So they get a sweet defensive bonus early. Democracy as a government style contributes a 50% bonus to both gold production and science production, but the congress will never allow a Democratic nation to perpetrate acts of aggression. So while the Greeks, led by famous conquerer Alexander the Great, adhere to their free bonus tech government, they can’t conquer other Civs unless those Civs come after the Greeks first.

The AI makes keeping a Democracy difficult. Oftentimes Saladin or Bismarck will try to bully me into giving them money or tech, run armies all over my borders, try to capture my cities, and so forth. Then, when I use my superior tech to fight back, and move my Knights/Catapults/Tanks/whatever in to take Tripoli or Berlin, the villain suddenly sues for peace, and if I’m in a democracy, I _must_ accept their offer for peace. Congress won’t let me decline. It’s maddening. That’s when I change governments to Fundamentalism or Monarchy and crush my foes. Interesting political commentary there.

Anyway, the Greeks also get a free Courthouse, which expands a city’s radius, so Athens is an expansive place early on. Later, they get cheaper libraries, additional Great People, and bonus food from sea areas. These are all scientific and cultural bonuses. With their substantial science bonus from early Democracy, the Greeks can make a serious go at the tech game. It’s too bad that the opponent AI makes a habit of forcing me to change governments so that I can exact sweet sweet revenge against them. The Greeks are alright, but not awesome. 2.5

Indians/Gandhi:

Indians begin the game with access to all natural resources. Normally a certain tech must be acquired in order to access a given resource. For instance, Irrigation gives access to Wheat resources, which give huge food/city growth bonuses. The Indians get access to all of them right off the bat. It’s huge. Forget that they get cheaper settlers and half-price Courthouses and free Religion tech later on, their start-of-game bonus is great. They always seem to start next to a resource as well, so they can usually access their bonus immediately. Currently this is my favorite Civ to play, because the random nature of their bonus (which resource will it be?) offers different replayable scenarios: Do I start with Oak nearby and Delhi is a production powerhouse? Is it cattle and my city grows at a ridiculous rate? Are there several patches of Oil resources nearby, which make it so I can outstrip all other Civs in production even early and expand into greatness?

Also, it’s a lot of fun to have Gandhi roll tanks through other Civs who have wronged me too many times. Suck it, Napoleon! 4.0

Japanese/Tokugawa:

Ah, the Nihonjin. Lovely people, and a great Civ for play. Their bonuses at start don’t seem significant. They get Ceremonial Burial (and the ability to build Temples) and a +1 food bonus from Sea terrain. That food bonus turns out to be huge. Sea squares normally only produce trade, which turns into either Science or Cashmonies, but having food/city growth and trade/science growth bundled at the start of the game makes the Japanese technology powerhouses. They also get a bonus to their Knight unit attack (their Knights are called Samurai), which means researching Feudalism early (because of the tech bonus) is a good idea. I usually win fairly quick (1800AD-ish) domination victories with the Japanese. They tend to expand quickly and then crush all foes whenever they get Feudalism, which can be a lot of fun. 3.0

Mongol/Genghis Khan:

The Mongols are one of my favorite Civs. However, they're a little tricky to play. They have some great benefits at the start of the game: taking barbarian villages converts them into new cities for the Mongols, and anytime a rival Civ’s city is captured it actually produces more trade than normal Mongol cities. So they’re a militaristic Civ, which is great in the ancient era. The barbarian villages thing is huge, but it can be a real pain. While getting a new city each time they crush a village allows for quick expansion of the empire, it turns out many of the map’s natural resources appear underneath barbarian villages, so taking them instead of razing them (not an option for Mongols, they just take them) actually limits the special resource terrain available to the Mongols. Further, since the barbarian placement is random, sometimes a new Mongol city actually has horrible access to resources around it. For example, I’ve taken villages and then realized that they have no access to food resources, so the city will never grow in population. That’s essentially a lame duck of a city. Same with an overabundance of food resources and no production squares (forests, hills, or mountains).

Later on, Genghis gets bonus speed to Horsemen units, extra production from Mountain squares, and finally free Communism tech. All that stuff is great, but by the time I get most of it I’m on an all-out offensive against at least one, if not all of my rivals. If my barbarian converts are good, I’m in good shape. If not, then I’m in trouble. That element of randomness makes playing them fun, but sometimes frustrating. 3.0

Roman/Caesar:

The Romans are the most cultural-centric Civ in the game. They start the game with a Republic, which allows them to build Settlers for less city population, allowing quick expansion. They also get half-price roads. Their next era advance is half-cost wonders of the world (which produce culture), which is nuts: building Oxford University or the Himeji Samurai Castle is cheaper for the Romans than putting a wall around a city. Their next era bonus is additional Great People, which is another culture producer. So by mid-game the Romans are churning out an insane amount of culture bonuses, optimally. They push for the United Nations-building cultural victory, and in fact almost all of the games I have lost are due to me not crushing Rome early and then not having the resources to do so while they generate an insane amount of culture. Rome, as an adversary, is a late-game powerhouse. However, their early wargame is only mediocre, and that can make life difficult when I’m actually playing as Caesar. 3.0

Russians/Catherine:

Catherine? What? Best they could do, eh? I’m a little conflicted about the Russians. They start with a local area map and they get bonus food from plains, which are normally subpar city growth squares. However, the map bonus is fleeting, and as soon as I get a Warrior unit to start scouting it’s obsolete. The plains food bonus isn’t nearly as good as the Japanese sea food (:D) bonus either, since instead of +2trade going to +2trade +1food for the Japanese, the Russian plains go from +1food to +2food, which isn’t nearly as significant. Russians do get substantial bonuses later in the form of automatic Loyalty (+50% defense in own territory) upgrades for defensive units and half-cost Riflemen, which are the late/mid-game defensive unit of choice. So the Russians are good at holding whatever they’ve gotten by mid-game, but getting there can be difficult.

Their last era bonus is half-cost Spy units, which is amusing and can be nasty when mounting offensives, but all of these bonuses make me feel blah. I’ve had some great victories as the Russians, but I’ve just as often been angry at my own mediocrity playing as them. 2.0

Spanish/Isabella:

The Spanish bonuses manage to capture the spirit of exploration and naval superiority well. That’s pretty cool. When exploring the map, sometimes a unit will discover a naturally awesome hill/river/grassland etc (which isn’t a special “natural resource”) that gives a one-time cash bonus for discovering it. The Spanish double their exploration cash, which can be a big help in getting started. It makes for weird play as the Spanish, as I’m not as worried about finding new avenues to explore and barbarians to capture, but instead I’m meticulously checking every square for bubbling spigots of cashmonies.

The Spanish also start with Navigation tech, allowing them to build Galleons in 4000 BC, about four millenia before anyone else. Later on they get Naval combat bonuses and bonus gold production.

All of that is well and good for an economic game, and the Spanish do that perhaps better than anyone. But in the ancient, ground-assault era, they aren’t better off than anyone else, and they’re actually worse off than the naturally militaristic Civs. So while playing as the Spanish can be fun, the early game can be a bear. 2.5

Zulu/Shaka:

The Zulus have some interesting bonuses. They get an “overrun attack” at the start of the game, and their basic Warrior units have an extra movement, making them incredible scouts and an agile assault force in the ancient era. As time progresses that isn’t so awesome. Their other era bonuses are rapid city growth and mad gold production, which are both pretty good in general. The thing about the Zulus is that if they don’t find another Civ capital to prey upon in the first couple of millenia, they’re going to have a hard go of it. Those early benefits are wasted if not spent, unlike, say the Mongol barbarian conversion benefit, which lasts the entire game. So, for as much as I like the Zulus, they still have some troubles. 2.5

-Mark out