First Multi-player Game

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Frewfrux

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First Multi-player Game

Post by Frewfrux » Sun Feb 25, 2018 5:44 pm

SolomonMedici and I had our first multi-player game today and I thought I'd give it a bit of a write up here. (Let me know, SolomonMedici, if I forget anything or get something wrong.)

The decks: It was Scout verses Beowulf, as-is "out of the box." I was Beowulf and SolomonMedici was the Scout.

Experience: Both of us had played solo games several time and were familiar with the rules. (We both have been online in these forums asking questions leading up to the match as well.) I can't speak for SolomanMedici, but I had managed to get my solo games down to around 45 minutes (30 minutes for the second play-through of the same deck).

The game (time to play - 2 hours):

EARLY GAME

For the first few (4 - 5) rounds we got used to the timing of a multi-player game. The Scout had some trouble getting crew out initially while Beowulf managed to jump ahead in points with a couple of quickly resolved :contract's. Then the Scout got out a decent crew and things got interesting.

MID GAME

As the game progressed, the Scout managed to get caught up in points and successfully foiled the Beowulf's attempts to keep up the "quick-win pace" that had marked the early game. There were several timing blunders on both sides of the sub-sector that served as good "learning experiences." Also, both players tried to make use of crew combat abilities, but it seemed that, unless you managed to kill a person off in the same round, these abilities were not going to play a major role.

Neither player engaged in any piracy, though Beowulf was starting to run out of cards and may have been a good target for this had the Scout had much ability in this area.

END GAME

Eventually Beowulf got stuck trying to complete a contract and running out of cards, while the Scout completed a few lower-point :contract's. Using "Time is Money," Beowulf took initiative so that he could place his own :complication's without them getting replaced by ones from the Scout that he could not handle.

The score was Beowulf 18 and Scout 16 when Beowulf drew his last two cards during the Ready round. No longer being stingy with expenses, Beowulf played all he could leading up to the Resolution phase. The Scout managed to complete a 3-point :contract and solved a :subplot for the last :vp he needed to be at 20. Beowulf, however, playing the last cards from his hand, managed to also jump up 4 :vp's for a total of 22.

Both captains had met the victory threshold, however Beowulf managed to eek out a victory with the higher total. It was about as close to a tie as it could have been.

Good game SolomanMedici! You are a formidable opponent. I look forward to challenging you next week.
tn+ru+ge+!3ic-jt-au+pita*he+

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SolomanMedici

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Re: First Multi-player Game

Post by SolomanMedici » Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:02 am

I think Frewfrux described the game quite well. Clearly I'm going to have to improve my skills at shuffling so I can get more crew cards to the top of the deck. ;)

I hadn't planned on resorting to piracy, and by the time it was starting to look like a useful strategy to slow Frewfrux down, he had too much armor for me to overcome. So no point. The occasional shots and grenades traded between the crews seemed like just an annoyance at the time, as they didn't take anyone out. They did use up :ev however. In retrospect, if I'd been able to shoot him a couple more times I probably could have forced Frewfrux into bankruptcy. Maybe next time... In the end the game was resolved through good old fashioned :contract contracts and :subplot subplots.

So after 2 hours of play it came down to a photo finish. That is my kind of game! Very good fun :D
“I don't always play card games, but when I do I play Traveller CCG”
-- The Most Interesting Man in the Imperium

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Horizon Jeff

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Re: First Multi-player Game

Post by Horizon Jeff » Mon Feb 26, 2018 4:41 am

Nice report!

One thing on combat abilities. In my experience, they are useful applying economic pressure. If you can't eliminate enemy crew, you can still force them to resolve the wounds, often by paying in the Ready Phase.

Even 1:1 expenditure rates can be advantageous, if you're ahead in terms of remaining resources.

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