The Master of Secrets Reveals

It's that time of the year again! Somewhere early January, packages start arriving across the world with over aged games and possible other turds sent to complete strangers. Yup, it's Secret Satan and this proud tradition started almost a decade ago at Fortress Ameritrash, now better known as There Will Be Games.

Of course the delays in delivery are all intented by Satan, including days waiting for neighbours to be home at the same time to finally get your hands on the stuff.

And then at last!

At last you hold the diminutive package in your hands and rip it open. Casting caution to the wind in case there might be anthrax in there. It seems not to actually be that bad....

And there's a message...

Well... you spot the fruitcake for me...

Guess these games will be added to my to do list for 2019. 

Milch und Gherkins is a famed game design by a secretive movie/board/computer games reviewer. I never understood that it was actually a composite game made out of two others! The genius had escaped me, but no more!

It will get an outing with friends and family, if only I can get hold off the rules....

I will seek a victim for some Cold War. How appropriate these days!

But my fear of the dark might prevent me from ever playing Nyctophobia. Perhaps some friends can hold my hand during the game, which is apparently played with sunglasses on...


Many thanks again to Satan for hitting me where it hurts!


The package I sent out seems to have arrived as well, but the receiver has not posted his ill gotten gains yet. Dommage!



Have a look at some previous Secret Satan gifts

Wow. Just wow

I told you two weeks ago, that my Secret Satan had been very kind and scarily knowledgeable about my wishes. The third package arrived a week ago, but since I wasn't home I had to pick it up at a post office. To which I only came around yesterday.

After all the goodness that had been my share already, I was surprised at the size of the package, although the weight was bearable.Arriving home I left it to unpack my groceries and the set upon the box with a knife.

The packing foam was familiar, but what it uncovered was frankly breathtaking. First, up popped an expansion for Blood Rage, so my thought was that the all-knowing Satan had picked up my interest in the game and wanted to tease me. Colour my surprise as more expansions followed, and finally, the basic game.

That had me stunned, because this was shaping up as no ordinary gift and I had no clue why Satan would have reason to reward me so richly.

Still unbelieving I tried to make sure that there was nothing else hidden in the box before I stashed it away. And colour my surprise several shades deeper as another package turned up, carrying Dungeon Crawl Classic RPG plus an extra adventure, as well as the rule book for Congo, a miniatures game by the same people that brought us Muskets & Tomahawks and Saga.

Satan is keenly aware of my interest in slavery and will have noticed when I expressed my doubts about playing a game with slave traders and which depicts the opening up of the Congo to the merciless exploitation of its people by the Belgian king Leopold as described in Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. I read the book last summer on the train to London, as Satan seems to recollect.

Also, I have recently been gifted with a copy from a German geographical magazine from 1872, with an account of Livingstone's research into the origins of the Nile. It has me salivating. Satan must be roaring with laughter putting this ethical dilemma before me.

And I hadn't even reach the bottom yet. Satan's final revenge. After all he goodness, there was this...

Yes, that is Knizia's Modern Art. A game which I revile and abhor. So much so that I had given it away having never played it. Okay, so I won a game recently; that doesn't make me like it! Apparently there's no getting rid of this steaming turd of a game. Perhaps giving it away is being too nice. Maybe stronger measures are called for...

There are no words to express my appreciation to Satan for going the length he did to spy on me to bring me such a generous package. I am absolutely overwhelmed by it.

Secret Satan has arrived!

Okay, I know, it's a bit late. But great nonetheless!

The idea started a few years back on Fortress Ameritrash, reversing the Secret Santa concept: send people some shitty stuff they'd really hate (and well, okay then, some good stuff as well). 2012 was a blast and 2013 included some intreagueing stuff as well.

I missed out on last year's edition and was mighty pissed off with that, so I sprung upon this year's. It seems that intercontinental delivery is a pain around christmas these days, because my package hasn't cleared customs in the US yet. Apparently serious backlogs there due to terrorism scares and new rules.

The packages may not contain soiled underpants (#truestory) but definitely some terrible games.

I'm gonna open these tomorrow. Will have a spring in my step all day today.

Surprises and Weaknesses

Okay, a nice surprise and bit of weakness here. Last week I received a package that I didn't expect but proved to be the last instalment of the Kensei Indiegogo from last year.

Some excellent sculpts in there but no idea how I will ever get it painted.

But it all fits very well with the Okko skirmish game and miniatures I bought a few years back (the game has 2D cardboard cutouts rather than miniatures), and could easily tie in with samurai. I expect there to be a flood of second hand samurai miniatures in a few years when the Ronin hype has passed.

The weakness is that I fell for the Conan kickstarter. I played the game at Essen and it has real promise, while the minis are beautiful and plenty. So it was good I did away with the ban on buying new games. That was quite the easiest NYR of last year.

Won by the Sword and more

So after my last lament at getting so little gaming in, this has been a good catch up. Managed to play Won By The Sword. As a recent arrival with limited length of rules I decided it was best to get it to the table instead of something else.

It took us an evening to get through the first month (ie 5 activations of 5 armies each) of the 1632 scenario including a major battle and a small siege. The manoeuvring was a lot more hectic than I'd thought it would be. By the end we felt reasonably comfortable with the rules (there's not a lot of them but some of it is complex).

What I liked about Won by the Sword was that it promoted historical strategies, like laying waste an area so you make it more difficult for your opponent to attack you; and splitting off a separate cavalry column to forage.

Although it is a main part of the game, the foraging feels clunky, mostly because you make about 30 dice rolls in a turn just for that (no kidding). Too much looking up. I understand the wish to randomise but with this many rolls, the results tend to the average. 

Oh well, no judgement till I've played a bit more

Yesterday we were supposed to play a game of Civilization but changed our minds. We had a very tight game of In The Name Of The Rose, where Diederick scraped a just few points less than Michiel and me, even though I saw through his little trick!

Then continued with Love Letters. Michiel finally got most letters through. Love Letters was perceived as okay but not as cool as King of Tokyo which we played next. And again. And again. Absolute hit I guess!

Brutal as always I think we all won one of the games, and I won the last, very unlikely, with one health left. Epic, n'est-ce pas?

And in terms of New Years Resolutions this means one more unplayed game scratched off!

Essen 2013 Challenge Completed

With Essen 2014 fast approaching, I can draw up the result of my self imposed Essen 2013 challenge. What games did I manage to play that I bought there?

Rats in the Walls (at Essen 2013)
Strajk (Christmas Offensive 2013)
Concept (January 2014)
Sigismundis Augustus (19 september 2014)

Which means I have actually managed to play all four games I bought, but only just in time. These weren't the toughest games to learn, so you can see how hard it is for me now to make the effort. But I can go to Essen knowing my hands are free to buy games.

But the sad story is that the past few months, I haven't played many games. Only 5 since the end of June. Apart from Sigismundis Augustus there were the familiar Civilization and Battlestar Galactica. I learned the Game of Thrones card game I had bought for Died's birthday. Newly bought Pathfinder was also good, but doesn't really count towards my NYR because it wasn't my copy.

In terms of getting 13 unplayed games from my collection to the table this year, I'm now at 7, so behind schedule.The sterner among you (and who can remember the New Years' Resolution) will note that I also played Eight Minute Empire, which although I didn't buy it at Essen was also mandatory to play before the deadline.

Essen nearing

And with Essen nearing, I've made my first draft of the list of games to look at.

Some interesting stuff like 15 Dias, which is about my old friend the Conde-Duque de Olivares, or a game looking at the logistics of the Normandy Breakout. New stuff from Martin Wallace and Phil Eklund, a rondel microgame, more Polish military history.

And one game that sounds just to strange to be true. The Walled City: Londonderry & Borderlands has you populate villages 'with loyal peasants and nobles who share your view of this new city'. This means: Protestant settlers in Northern Ireland in the 17th century, so a highly contentious part of history. This might not go down will with (Northern) Irish catholics who understand Londonderry as a Protestant colony. Let's see if the game shows that sensitivity.

I was afraid I would be a bit meh about Essen this year, having been out of the gaming loop so long, but going through the new crop has wet my appetite.

30 Seconds From Mars to Tokyo

Well, more like 8 minutes. And even that is understating it.

Last Friday we first started with Mission Red Planet, a Secret Satan gift that I had on my wish list to play for a year. We were a bit slow in getting to grips with the rules, but finally did alright.

Mission Red Planet is effectively an area control game. Although the player action mechanic copied from Machiavelli/Citadels works well, we felt that this game is more subtle and doesn't give you the satisfaction of pulling off a good on one your opponents like you can in Citadels.

We will bring it back to the table sometime, but it might turn out a bit scripted once you know the game better. I can see the Explorer getting used en masse in the 5th and 10th turns, with the Recruiter in the 6th.

Then it was on to 8 Minute Empire that is really liked by us all. Jeroen got a good introductory game.

Finally we played two games of King of Tokyo. My first game was really bad, not doing any damage before getting killed myself. In the second I managed to stay out of Tokyo for most of the time while acquiring a card that allowed me to recuperate faster. It meant that when I went I went into Tokyo in good health, I won.

Mice, Mystics and Empires

Spurred on by my lack of progress on the boardgaming resolutions for 2014, I spent part of last week reading the rules for 8 Minute Empire and Mice & Mystics. And Friday that made me the master of ceremonies for the evening.

And an enjoyable evening it was: we managed two pairs of empire building at each end of the introductory scenario of the cheese fest.

8 Minute Empire manages to get a lot a bang from its very few rules. Every turn you can pick one of six cards on display, with the order determining the cost of each card. Free for the first card, three coins for the 6th. At the bottom of the card you find the action you are allowed to take. This mostly means placing a varying amount of blocks on the board, or moving them. But occasionally there is the opportunity to build a city or to remove a block of an opponent.

At the top is the symbol of a good. Building sets of goods gains you victory points, but of course some goods score easier than others. Apart from the goods, there are points to be gained from having the most blocks in areas on the map. With 7 to 9 turns (depending on the number of players) you have to chose wisely.

A highly tactical game. With a variable map and deck of cards, there is a enough replayability. Due to the minimalist design it has been compared to Love Letters.

Mice & Mystics is an entirely different beast. A sort of dungeon crawler, but due to the fairy tale setting and wonderful art work and miniatures one that immediate grasps your empathy.  There is quite a bit of information to take in before the game: a reasonable amount of rules, but also some scenario specific information.

I hadn´t had enough time to fully master the rules before playing and although I took on the role of dungeon master (not prescribed in the rules, but a useful variant, I think) there was a misunderstanding with the rules which meant that the players felt the were unduly pushed towards the end. If we had played correctly, they would have had more time.

This game is definitely coming back to the table sometime. I think the setting and scenario´s have the potential to make this a returning favourite.

A Night of Short and Fun

Last Friday’s gaming session I had the opportunity to play three of the games on my list of to do’s for 2014. So that’s off to a good start! We were with four, which broadened the range of games we could play.

The kind of hand that will get you into trouble

First up was Love Letters. The theme may be a bit pedestrian (conquer the heart of the princess) but there is a lot of play in a game with only 16 cards. It’s all driven by the interaction between the cards, each with its own special effect. This also means that luck, but also deduction plays an important role (who hold which card?). With almost all of us in a position to win, this was a close fought and exciting start.

Next was Concept which I had picked up in Essen. At first sight this is a classic party game (guess a famous person/movie/object) but there’s more to it. The aim of the game is to describe an object through a number of basic concepts plus, colour, form, or whatever makes it stand out. Your opponents need to guess what it is, with points to the first correct answer. We also set a time limit of 2 minutes. It turned out that the quest for Jack Bauer (of 24 fame) got stuck on the name of the actor who plays him (Kiefer Sutherland) because I couldn’t get them to shift to the character. On the other hand ‘dinosaur’ was guessed in a wink. 

I think this one will reappear at some point because there is fun in developing a common set of shortcuts to more complicated concepts (ie a language). There are also good opportunities to integrate this idea in other games (where players are alien races).

My neighbour taking the flak

Finally Mag Blast, a lighthearted card game in which space race have to ground each other to dust. Game play and mechanisms remind me mostly of Enemy in Sight or (Modern) Naval War. For example, you need gun turrets in the right colour to play a blast card. There is a luck factor (hiding in an asteroid belt during most of the game helps) but its primarily good fun with limited complexity. I could get people to play this again.

Anyway, a good thing to play a few shorter games in an evening once in a while.

PS I also played a bit of Lego Creationary with the family last week, so that´s a good number of games by any means.

Eldritch Horror

Played Eldritch Horror again last night and it was a good session. I think in our first game we brought some misconceptions with us from our play of Arkham Horror. This is not surprising as there are many elements in both games that sound alike but have different practical execution, like monsters and clue tokens.

In our first game we took on Yog Sothoth. Our problem was that we focused too much on monsters, who are not as aggressive and dominant as in AH, while it left us stranded on unclosed gates for which we were then punished on the doom track. We also underestimated the negative effects of rumours, so we waited to long resolving them, which hampered our the main mission, ie getting the clue tokens on the mysteries. The result was a rather dismal three hour defeat with no mystery solved.

The second game yesterday against Azatoth went much better. Better cooperation and specialisation, fewer unnecessary steps on the doom track for open gates and more focus on solving rumours quickly. Especially the sugar daddy and clue generating and dispensing specialisations proved beneficial as they ensured that players were equipped with enough gear and clues to take on the serious monsters and then close gates.

It still was a close run game which ended with the doom track on two (thanks to an added step that delayed it) and a few turns in hand. There were some ways in which that could have gone worse.

My first character in the 2nd game, just before he was
devoured to fulfill another player's Dark Pact

We were quite cavalier with taking on Dark Pacts. That served us rather well in general (although two investigators were devoured).

It has been said in several places that EH is AH without the convoluted bits and so plays smoother and faster, but I'm not convinced yet of either claim. We played 4 and a half hours with six players, which is not better than AH, and there was a period in the game where it felt gamey, and our energy levels fell and interest in the game sagged.

But it is a fine game. Good cooperation is rewarded and it still captures the mood of Lovecraftian horror.

Secret Satan is going soft

I've been a lucky guy over the last couple of years, with some good stuff coming in for Secret Satan, although last year's inclusion of Modern Art hurt pretty bad.

So this year I was worried that Satan might come to collect.

As this seemed to have passed the Saudi customs check, I deemed it safe to open in the presence of children, but still I proceeded carefully.

Satan message was a further indication that he had in fact no bad intentions at all, and so it was revealed...

Six games which indeed put the trash back into Ameritrash! Two of them were picked up by the kids to try as soon as we have the time, ie the game with the piglets (I need to find the rules, but it is a fairly common game, so that should not be a problem) and collision. Bumping cars is always good!

I remember it was fun to play Red November, so that's a great choice too! Mag Blast, the Island of Dr Necraux and Scarab Lords should also be entertaining if not great games.

So thanks Satan!

Spiel Essen 2013, part 2: the games I played

Here's the second part of my Essen experiences, consisting of the games I played, so with a little more hard info on the games. Look here for Part 1 and the Polish section is coming up.

Nate Hayden after a long day explaining his game
which sold out quickly

Nate Hayden's Mushroom Eaters 3D experience is singular, but the road is the destination. As you progress on the board through your trip, you face numerous challenges costing you physical and mental strength. This can turn your trip into a bad trip. You have some control over where you land, and you can regain strength at some points or learn mantras to protect yourself, but it just ambles along with us finding out where we were going.

There Are No Rats In The Wall! We've been Enjoying this unpretentious but effective bluff poker game with a Lovecraftian twist by Henning Poehl. Perfect for playing in the bar.

At the end of a game of Warlock

I had some fun playing Warlock by Quined, it had some interesting scoring mechanics and the combination of tile laying and deck building. You have to play cards from your hand to be able to place one in the 4x4 grid before you. Where you place them determines how much they are worth at the end. It's mostly multiplayer solo, although you can destroy other players' cards if they're unprotected (by dragons). Rules were not always intuitive but Warlock will play smoothly after one game.

ASiE after a dozen rounds

In a world where royalty are really the Ancient Ones, revolutionaries and anarchists are also saving the world from the return of Chaos. Your agents roam the cities of Europe to assassinate royals and control resources. As your identity is hidden, the other players don´t know which side you are on and since the game is lost by the side with the player with the fewest points, it becomes abit of a gamble who you attack. It’s great to see Martin Wallace slowly exploring the possibilities of combining deckbuilders and boardgames, and it is surprising not more people have latched on to this. I love how A Study In Emerald integrates cards and board, theme is fun, but we only played a dozen rounds or so. Hard to tell yet how good it really is.

Defence value 7, attack value 6  and because
of the double 3,   I got another turn

Masters of Revenge by Serious Poulp has a cool take on the manoeuvering of martial arts. I liked the numbers on the sides of the cards determining your attack and defence values. This created an interesting dynamic as you moved around looking for a weak spot in your opponent´s defence. Regretfully, it was overpriced. Nevertheless, I will have a look at their 7^th Continent kickstarter which is a choose-your-own-adventure-game that uses tiles rather than a book.

Leonardo by Ghenos is a fun light game where you gather resources and build machines by moving one of the three figures around the board. But if you are late in the turn, chances are another has moved that figure first. That makes for an interesting guess, giving you the occasional euphoria of outsmarting your opponents.

Corto got me by the great art work and the direct conflict. There´s character cards and events which allow you to mess with other players tiles and affect the scoring. Scoring is for characters you have killed, groups of characters you control and point particular to a story line. It is really a pretty abstract tile laying game, even if cutthroat, and it irked my friends as it didn’t have a narrative as you would expect from a game about a comic book. But if you don’t care about that bit, this is one of the prizes this year.

Puppets moving out of their spawning points

Although an older release, I don’t want to leave out Puppet Wars, which we played and enjoyed a lot. The miniatures are brilliant, but require some glue and paint to bring to life. The game plays fast and furious (especially if you put your leader out in front). The basic mechanics are pretty simple, but the special abilities of the dolls (especially the combos) make this a challenge to master. I might just buy it some other time for the heck of it.

Nice minises, nicely painted

Off to Essen 2013

The day before Essen. We have a drop out for medical reasons but a promising replacement. It will be a little bit weird this year, with probably a couple of games back home on Saturday.

Check me out on twitter @jurdj the coming days as I play stuff and post images.

It's been some time since I set up my watch list for Essen 2013, but I've been watching the updates and there's some good stuff out there for the Ameritrash minded.

The 10 games that I look forward to most are:

Ace Detective. Richard Launius + 'noir storytelling card game that rewards imagination'


Corto. I love the Corto Maltese comics, so I'm certainly going to check this one out. The fact that Seb Pauchon is involved is a good sign!



Coup. The buzz is good, and some new editions are on the way.


Duel of Ages. The new edition has been very favourably reviewed by two Mikes! see for Mike 1 and Mike 2.

The Mushroom Eaters. A game by Nate Hayden (of Cave Evil and After Pablo fame) is bound to be special. I'm interested in the action path mechanic and of course the highly original theme

Pathfinder. See Michael Barnes' rave review


The Rats in the Walls. Henning Poehl´s fun games, great artwork and the Lovecraft setting might just be awesome.

Sigismundus Augustus: Dei gratia rex Poloniae. The theme of the game appeals, but it's quite heavy and worker placement, not a stand up conflict game. There's a favourable review at Little Metal Dog

A study in Emerald. Gaiman + Wallace + Lovecraft. It's almost to good to be true. Either elation or deep disappointment

Veto by Kuznia Gier. Polish 17th century history, political infighting an intrigue! However, the company is going through a rough patch and is unlikely to attend the show. I'll check anyway.



On the Essen 2012 front, I managed to get a game of the Lupin III expansion set in as evidenced by my review. But I will give myself a pass for Signum Mortis, which was late in delivery anyhow. That is also a good warning for me to trim down the loot to the absolute necessary this year and forget about games that I don't have the time for to learn.

Of course, time is a matter of priorities.

Lupin III

Hard to tell how big an impact childhood TV shows actually have, but I remember a few of them very well. There was Robbi, Tobi en het Frawatuig, De Stratemaker op Zee-Show and later Inspector Gadget. The impact on Pierluigi Frumusa must have been the same for Lupin III, a Japanese cartoon series about the grandson of Arsène Lupin, the French 19th century equivalent of Robin Hood.

Basic game and expansion

Lupin III and his gang, consisting of gun toting Jigen, modern samurai Goemon and vamp/action woman Fujiko, are always intent on pulling off great and improbable heists. At the same time they are pursued by gruff inspector Zenigata, who by force of the plot must always fail.

This gives the game a natural set up of a match between the gang players and the inspector. But the gang contains one weak joint: Fujiko. She has her own agenda and might in some cases decide to keep the prize to herself. The possibility of a three-way stand off gives the game an edge over many other coop games.

The theme is further integrated into the gameplay as all the characters have unique stats and a set of mission cards, which give you different options (like Lupin's penchant for disguises and Fujiko's betrayal). This reinforced by the excellent graphic design and the inclusion of five plastic figures of the main characters is a bonus.

Special character cards, and yes: only in Italian

Every game is based on a scenario, drawn from the cartoon series. The original game includes a double sided board for the first two scenarios, the expansion two more. Every scenario comes with a few specific rules as well.

Another feature of the game is that it includes a planning phase, in which the gang decides on the way to execute the heist. They have a limited budget with which to buy equipment, from shovels to guns to paragliders.

A few suggestions for your shopping list

Finally there's the limited visibility. As long as they are not in sight, the gang are not on the board, which is why Inspector Zenigata has a challenge on his hands setting up his policemen at the start of the game.

Lupin pops up near Stonehenge to the surprise
of inspector Zenigata and his agents

Together, the heist scenarios, planning phase, hidden movement and conflicting goals of the players with unexpected twists in the execution phase make the game feel very much like the cartoon original. I think that´s a major achievement for a designer.

So, what's not to like about Lupin the 3rd, a good looking game dripping with theme and some interesting and rare mechanics? As in other cases (Gen-X, I'm looking at you here) English rules written by non-native speakers are not the easiest to digest. A combination of weak translation and sloppy rules writing leaves considerable gaps and confusion that players need to sort out during the game. Luckily there´s a revised English rulebook and a FAQ to provide some help.

As one of my friends said: rather than not playtesting it enough, they have probably playtested it too much and forgotten how much is assumed in the rules that we're not told about.

The visibility issues also can become problematic, which is why I think playing with an umpire is a good idea, especially when introducing players to the game. Does that diminish the game? I think not. But then I am used to half finished games where umpires and players work with the mechanics and role play rather than try to break it. If you are up for a unique game, brimming with theme, don't let these glitches stop you.

Essen 2013 watch out list inaugurated

I´ve put up my list of games to watch out for in Essen at boardgamegeek.com.

Serious gaming: playing King of Tokyo in bed

I have started with Pete Ruth's excellent report on GenCon and will add games from Eric Martin's preview list later.  I'm also adding opinions and reviews from some people who've played the games in the run up to Essen, so you might want to check back once in a while. Your suggestions are also more than welcome!

I will be tweeting from the show as @jurdj on the Thursday and Friday and post a few pics if time allows. And Saturday on the way home we will play a few of the games we bought. In the run up and afterwards I will also post here at Rear Guard Action.

Target Earth - very decent SciFi Ameritrash

On Friday, Andries brought in a game he bought at Essen two years ago that we hadn’t played yet. Good move! Target Earth was published by the Spanish guys Gen-X that also published the intreaguing but excruciatingly badly written Luna Llena. This, however, is a much better game and genuine Ameritrash. To those that remember the video game X-Com, the setting will be very familiar.

The gameboard with the countries marked (green for alien,
blue for allied) and Terschellinger pondkoek

The players together lead an alliance against an alien invasion of earth. Some of the countries of the world have joined the alliance, others stay neutral or have already succumbed to the alien threat. Worryingly, the aliens keep sending new and stronger waves later in the game.

Personal objective card indicating that you score points if Japan is part of the alliance
at the end of the game, and if the US, China and India are neutral or alien

Prime objective is to learn enough about the alien technology while keeping the alliance more powerful than the aliens. The players all have secondary objectives as well, which determine the winner if (a big if) the humans achieve their prime objective. This adds a nice influence on the incentives for players.

The tiles to upgrade your base

The countries of the alliance produce income that can be used to either research new or alien technology, upgrade their bases or buy new units. There’s four types of units: infantry, tanks, shuttles and fighters. For each of your units, you need room in your base. You can also build laboratories (for research) and radars (to help interceptions). 

Two of my veteran infantry taking on low grade alien ground troops

During the game, players try to fend off the attacks on allied or neutral states, either by attacking the UFOs with fighters or the ground troops that spawn from them. Combat is dice based and unpredictable, with the aliens holding the edge in ties. There’s a few combat bonuses around in event cards but fundamentally you need to improve your technology to keep apace with new waves of aliens.

Examples of event cards, those with stars
are worth VP at the end of the game

In terms of strategy, we now feel that since researching alien technology holds no extra benefits, it should be left as late as possible, concentrating on combat tech first. In combat, playing it safe seems the best way to go about it because losing units is costly and income is limited. However, with dice you can’t avoid extreme results. Also, the ease with which the aliens can be held in phase one is deceptive. The problem is: when the alien invasion gathers pace, it’s too late to catch up. We had a hunch that it will be easier with four players.

My base early on in the game, 3 credits in the top left, diplomatic
bonus counters bottom left and extra units bottom right

All in all this game provides a tough but interesting challenge to veteran Ameritrash players. There's lot of dice rolling, and there are difficult decisions to be made. Because of that we gone from relief to agony and back many times in the game. I liked how the personal objectives add some spice to the cooperative goal of beating the aliens. There's no innovation in mechanisms that I could see. Although the rulebook is still not that easy to read and navigate, once you get playing the game ramblesalong fine. I bet we're going to give this one another try.

Andries, thanks for teaching us the game!