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First the bad news: Pandemic on the Brink has been delayed. It’s still scheduled as September which probably means the end of September
Endeavour should have a UK release on Tuesday the 8th September. I managed to secure some English copies of this marvelous game from another country – none remain though. I have recorded some first impressions on the blog.
Now the good news.
Railways of England and Wales, Martin Wallace’s expansion for Railroad Tycoon, is released on Wednesday. It contains both a Railroad Tycoon expansion and a new 18xx style ‘advanced’ game to play.
If you have not picked up Rails of Europe the other official expansion for Tycoon I am doing a combined deal on both the games in the Guru Summer sizzler section
The standard Axis and Allies game has received a re-vamp and face lift in a new edition:-
Axis and Allies 1942 it contains new units and rules adopted from the Anniversary edition (which is now out of print)
Night & Day is in stock. The box looks like it should contain expensive chocolates and the art work is splendid. I like the game – it is a hybrid of an abstract board game and Magic the Gathering like card play.
Musketeers is released by Fred imprint Gryphon games. A card game it is, described as an ideal game for younger players.
The Stars are Right ‘, an English version of Die Sterne Stehen Richtig, is a Cthulhu card game from Steve Jackson Games
I have added some more games to the Guru Summer sizzlers – A couple of highlights are Descent + and expansion of your choice for £69.99 and Rune Bound and expansion the Isle of dread packaged together for £49.99.
Not quite a sizzler but I am selling Ra : The dice game at £14.99
Back in stock
‘Birds on a wire’,’ ‘Keltis Kartenspiele’ (similarities to Lost Cities but with added spice and can be played with 4 players), ‘Horus’ and ’Tales of the Arabian Nights’
Showing posts with label new release. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new release. Show all posts
Kahmate - bite size rugby
Ka mate, ka mate! ka ora! ka ora (I die! I die! I live! I live!)
If there’s one think more thrilling than watching the New Zealand’s rugby team perform their pre-match Haka, it’s watching them play rugby afterwards - unless it’s a World Cup year but we won’t go in to that.
From a gaming perspective rugby is a very hard game to model, for a start it has 15 players on each side, the re-starts are not uniform and 40% of the action (scrum, maul. lineout and ruck) is opaque to all but the cognoscenti. For the full 15 man aside experience Crash Tackle has the best reputation as feeling like a game of Rugby. However, for those needing a quick rugby fix without all the trappings could do no better than purchase a copy of Kahmate.
Kahmate is a stripped down and slightly abstract re-creation of rugby. There are only six players on each side. The set-piece is entirely lacking from the game and if anything it feels more like Rugby League (without the be-loved Eddie Waring ‘oop and oonders’). For all of the things the game does not have it has the most important it feels like rugby. Territory and match ups are all important, it’s hard to score from your own half and you are always looking to maneuver your players to get the uneven match up fast guy versus slow guy, big man versus small man.
How does it play? The game is played on a board eight squares wide by eleven long. Each player has 6 disk team members. Two of the team members are’ normal’ they can move three squares with no diagonal movement allowed. The other players have special characteristics, the fast guy can move four squares but is a runt so has a penalty when tackling or being tackled, the tough guy moves three and has a bonus when attacking, the strong guy moves two but has a bonus in attack and defense, and the clever man has a bonus when defending. Success depends on getting the right men in the right place at the right time.
On a players turn they can move up to two team members, pass an unlimited number of times backwards (behind of diagonally) to team members up two squares away or kick the ball forwards up to three squares. Kicking diagonally is allowed. Only one team member disk can occupy a square and when a player, with the ball, comes into contact with a defending player he can try to force his way through him. Force through and tackles are handled in the same way; the attacker is the player trying to force or a player attempting to make a tackle. Each player starts the game with an identical hand of six ‘Stamina’ cards numbered one to six and he plays one of his cards to resolve the play. Bonus points are added or subtracted from the cards and the higher number wins. The losing team member is flipped over to show he is collapsed in a heap and can’t be used on the players next turn. A successful tackle with a two point card advantage causes a turn over; otherwise the ball is reset behind the player tackled. The card played is discarded and can only be picked up again to be played after all six cards have been played. Thus timing the use of cards is crucial you don’t want your skinny bloke trying to tackle the strong man on the line when you only have a one value card left in your hand.
The game was a finalist for the French Tric-Tac boardgame award 2008 award and is the first game from Igor Davin. It’s a pleasure to play, each game takes about 15 minutes and it feels like rugby that for me is the most important thing and I’d recommend this game to anyone who loves the oval ball but does not have the time to play one of the longer rugby simulations.
If there’s one think more thrilling than watching the New Zealand’s rugby team perform their pre-match Haka, it’s watching them play rugby afterwards - unless it’s a World Cup year but we won’t go in to that.
From a gaming perspective rugby is a very hard game to model, for a start it has 15 players on each side, the re-starts are not uniform and 40% of the action (scrum, maul. lineout and ruck) is opaque to all but the cognoscenti. For the full 15 man aside experience Crash Tackle has the best reputation as feeling like a game of Rugby. However, for those needing a quick rugby fix without all the trappings could do no better than purchase a copy of Kahmate.
Kahmate is a stripped down and slightly abstract re-creation of rugby. There are only six players on each side. The set-piece is entirely lacking from the game and if anything it feels more like Rugby League (without the be-loved Eddie Waring ‘oop and oonders’). For all of the things the game does not have it has the most important it feels like rugby. Territory and match ups are all important, it’s hard to score from your own half and you are always looking to maneuver your players to get the uneven match up fast guy versus slow guy, big man versus small man.
How does it play? The game is played on a board eight squares wide by eleven long. Each player has 6 disk team members. Two of the team members are’ normal’ they can move three squares with no diagonal movement allowed. The other players have special characteristics, the fast guy can move four squares but is a runt so has a penalty when tackling or being tackled, the tough guy moves three and has a bonus when attacking, the strong guy moves two but has a bonus in attack and defense, and the clever man has a bonus when defending. Success depends on getting the right men in the right place at the right time.
On a players turn they can move up to two team members, pass an unlimited number of times backwards (behind of diagonally) to team members up two squares away or kick the ball forwards up to three squares. Kicking diagonally is allowed. Only one team member disk can occupy a square and when a player, with the ball, comes into contact with a defending player he can try to force his way through him. Force through and tackles are handled in the same way; the attacker is the player trying to force or a player attempting to make a tackle. Each player starts the game with an identical hand of six ‘Stamina’ cards numbered one to six and he plays one of his cards to resolve the play. Bonus points are added or subtracted from the cards and the higher number wins. The losing team member is flipped over to show he is collapsed in a heap and can’t be used on the players next turn. A successful tackle with a two point card advantage causes a turn over; otherwise the ball is reset behind the player tackled. The card played is discarded and can only be picked up again to be played after all six cards have been played. Thus timing the use of cards is crucial you don’t want your skinny bloke trying to tackle the strong man on the line when you only have a one value card left in your hand.
The game was a finalist for the French Tric-Tac boardgame award 2008 award and is the first game from Igor Davin. It’s a pleasure to play, each game takes about 15 minutes and it feels like rugby that for me is the most important thing and I’d recommend this game to anyone who loves the oval ball but does not have the time to play one of the longer rugby simulations.
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