Essen 2012 is done. Was amazing. So many of you visited our booth. So many of you said nice things about my blog, about our videos, about our games. These were 4 days of pure joy - meeting all you geeks and chat with you. I post about Essen on my blog Boardgames That Tell Stories. In the next issue of STORYonBOARD we will cover Essen, we will show some pictures and write few words about this amazing fair. Robinson did well in Essen. 11th place in BUZZ ranking, great sales, now great reviews and ratings on BGG. One year of hard work is now paying off. We are happy. We have short vacations. And then we are back to work. New games are waiting to be designed ;)
PORTAL PUBLISHING, ul. Św. Urbana 15, 44-100 Gliwice, POLAND portal@wydawnictwoportal.pl, www.portalpublishing.eu
Robinson Crusoe 5
Are you designing game?
11
Why co-ops suck?
15
Choices are better than gun
17
Test game session
23
Designing the game is not 8 hours job
25
Discovery tokens in Robinson Crusoe
27
Creating Robinson
Neuroshima Hex 35
Outpost faction in Neuroshima Hex
Neuroshima Tactics 39
Creating an army
Editor: Ignacy Trzewiczek Translation: Marcin ’Joker’ Karbowski, Danai ’Smoczyca’ Chondrokouki Front cover illustration: Matuesz Lenart Design, layout and DTP: Maciej ’Scorn’ Mutwil
Robinson is doing well!
www.zmangames.com
www.filosofiagames.com
www.pegasus.de We are happy to announce that in Z-Man Games, Filosofia Games and Pegasus Spiele will publish their own editions of Robinson Crusoe. Join the adventure! This is a really great game!
There is another review of Convoy. Enjoy! http://www.boardgamegeek.com/video/22022/ the-convoy/drivethrureview-134-hex-killer
PART I Czech Republic is close, so when friend of mine recommended me this small Czech convention that took place 3 hours car drive from Gliwice I didn’t think too long. I took my wife, my daughter, I took Robinson and off we go! It was March or April, spring time, great time for nice weekend in Czech. This is a beautiful country as I heard! Certainly, I didn’t see much of Czech country. I didn’t see Czech at all. I spent two days in games room playing Robinson Crusoe and Convoy. But my wife said country was nice. She went for a small trip when I was playing... Anyway, at some point when I was looking for new players to play test Robinson, Vlaada Chvatil appeared in the room. One of players asked him to join test game. Vlaada looked at me, looked at Robinson and said: „OK, let’s play.” We began. The game was hard. Players quickly got wounded. Few times they were very unlucky. Because of wounds they started to loose their character’s skills (when you got some level of wounds, you were loosing skills) and they looked like in despair. Since 4th turn Vlaada started to complain. ‚We are going to die. We won’t make it’
I was in good mood. The game was tough, they really needed to fight hard to survive on the island. I liked it. ‚Stop complaining, fight. Do your best!’ I told Vlaada. 5th round. They got another couple of wounds and again lost some of character’s skills. ‚We gonna die next round’ said Vlaada. ‚Stop doing that!’ I said. ‚You need to fight. You need to do your best. You need to survive. Think, try to find solution.’ I insisted.
‚Ignacy, it ain’t a movie. It is a boardgame.’ Vlaada replied. I don’t know if Vlaada likes Die Hard, but at that very moment, he didn’t look like he was a big fan of John McClane. ‚Vlaada, c’mon! It’s like in Die Hard movie! You know, Bruce Willis in torn shirt, lots of blood and fight till the very end. Bruce Willis never gives up. That is the feeling I want to have here in Robinson. I want you bleeding, suffering but still fighting for survive!’
‚I do. But there is no solution. Game will kill us next round.’
‚It’s a boardgame. You are designer. Not director. Remember?’
Other players weren’t demotivated as much as Vlaada, they saw chances, they tried. Vlaada gave up. He saw that the end is close.
***
6th round. They are dead. Vlaada is right. They didn’t make it. *** ‚You should try harder.’ I said. ‚Game has bad construction. We had no chances.’ Vlaada answered. He was thinking, watching cards, character boards, dices. ‚If I may suggest... Well, in my opinion you have problem here Ignacy. When players got wounded, they loose skills. This is bad.’ he said. ‚Are you kidding? This is awesome! It’s like Die hard! You got wounded, you are bleeding, you have broken leg, you feel pain all over your body, but you can not give up, you need to fight!’ That was exactly what I wanted. You got wounded, you loose skills, you have to try harder. ‚It is like Bruce Willis, right? Wounded, bleeding but still fighting back!’
‚There is a serious problem here.’ Vlaada said. ‚When you get few wounds, you loose level of wounds and you loose skills of your character.’ ‚Yes, this represent that you are tired, hurt and you loose your abilities...’ ‚Take the story aside for a moment. Focus on problem. You get wounds when you are in troubles. When situation gets tough. Whey you have problem. But the game is not helping. It is knocking you down. You got wound, you are in troubles and what is more, game takes your skill away. It is double hit. You need tools to get away from problems. But here in Robinson when you are in troubles, game takes away your tools. You get the point?’ ‚Yep.’ I may be John’s McClane’s fan, but I am not an idiot... ‚But if character gets wound and there are no consequences, getting wound will not be problem! I need players to be afraid of wounds!’ ‚It doesn’t work. This mechanism is bad.
illustrations: Mateusz Bielski
You are in troubles. You get wound and at the same moment you loose tools to scramble out of this shit. This is bad.’ He was right. He just took whole ‚wound mechanism’ and throw it to the bin. I hate when people are right. I took my prototype. I went to the room. No, I was not crying. True John McClane’s fans don’t cry. *** That night I didn’t sleep well. To be honest I didn’t sleep at all. Well, maybe two or three hours. Let’s face it - if Vlaada Chvatil says that your game has a problem, you don’t sleep. Right? I spent few hours rewriting rules. Tried to find solution. I wanted players to be afraid of getting wounds but on the other hand I understood what Vlaada said about taking skills away. I changed levels of wounds that take away character’s skills. I changed skills, now when you loose them you don’t suffer as much. After few hours I had new set of skills, new levels and I was sure that now, when players got wounded, they will still have chance to fight back. But still, getting wound was bad, was something that players will try to avoid. I caught Vlaada on breakfast. ‚Got minute for me after breakfast?’ I asked. ‚Yes. Actually I wanted to talk with you. I was thinking about the game last night.’ I showed him my notes. I showed him how I changed levels and skills. I showed him how I changed wound rules and consequences of wounds. ‚Is it ok? This is what you were talkin’
yesterday?’ I asked. ‚Well... It is step in right direction’ he said. For all of you who don’t get it – ‚step in good direction’ is polite way of saying ‚Man, it sucks. Try harder.’ We talked about other problems of Robinson for an hour. Then I packed Robinson, Convoy, my wife Merry and my daughter and we drove back to Poland. My prototype was devastated.
So here is my advice for all of you - think twice when you decide to take prototype to Czech next time... PART II I gave Merry car keys. ‚You drive. I work.’ I say and I sit in the back seat. I have Robinson prototype all in blood and tears after Vlaada’s comments. My beloved game was hurt and wounded. I had it right next to
me. I also had sheets of paper and pencil. And I had three hours of car drive to Poland. I came to Czech to present my great game. I going back with game torn into pieces. Oh, yes, I am pissed off. So we are going home. Merry is driving. My daughter Lena is singing. I am working. *** The problem – if player gets wound and as a consequence he looses skill, he is unable to fight back and get out of troubles. But on the other hand, if player gets wound and there are no consequences, he is not afraid of getting wounds. And this sucks. I look at the notes from last night, new rules I designed in the hotel room. ‚It is step in good direction...’ said Vlaada. ‚Good direction’... I’ll show you ‚step in good direction’... I torn it all into pieces. I don’t want good direction. I want: ‚Ignacy, this is brillant’. Did I mention I may be a little bit angry that day? Just a little. I took clean sheet of paper. I wrote: WOUNDS. CONEQENCES. LOOSING SKILLS. I crossed out LOOSING SKILLS. WOUNDS. CONSEQUENCES. I need new approach. I need new point of view. Merry is driving. Lena is singing. I am working. And I am really pissed off. *** It always starts from a story. So I am sitting in the car and I am trying to imagine myself on the Island. I am trying to imagine that I got hurt. I am trying to imagine what is happening... I am unhappy. I am scared. I am complaining. I want rest of team mates know that I got wounded so they know I won’t be able to work as hard as I wish. They are sad, demotivated, morale drops down. I am complaining... Morale drops down. Hmm... Interesting. When player gets wound morale drops down. That is a new point of view. There may be track of morale. It would show if players are motivated or not. It is one track for all. If one player gets wound, it affects this track. All group suffers. He is complaining. He is crying. He is hurt and wounded. Morale of team goes down... Oh, yes! I got it! Merry is driving. Lena is singing. I am pissed off but I am getting close to start being happy. ***
So what we have here? Solution fits the story – which is always very important for me – if player gets wound and another wound and another one at some point he starts to complain demotivating the whole group. I can imagine it. It works with the theme, with group of people on deserted Island. Spirit of the team. One for all, all for one. What else we have? If player gets wounded, he doesn’t loose any skills. I disconnected skills and wounds. You have skills till the very end, no matter how wounded you are. So when player is in trouble, if he gets wounded, game is not kicking him down. He is still capable to fight back. What else? If player gets wounded whole group suffers. It means that he doesn’t want to be hurt because all players will have troubles but on the other hand if he suffers, he can still play and act and don’t feel like being next to the game. He is not having this bad feeling of being excluded from the group. He is in the game till the very end. The problem solved. Certainly, at that moment in the car I did have no idea how morale of team would work, but it was just small detail, right? The thing – shifting wound penalty from one player to whole group was the most important. *** Few hours later I found something more. I can differentiate characters. Explorer will have only one level of complaining. He can gets six wounds in a row and he will say no single complain. He is explorer. He used to be in much worse shit. The cook? My dear, cook is moaning pig, he complains after he gets three wounds, and then he complains after two wounds and then again, two wounds and again he is grumbling. You better have food for cook, if he is hungry, he will get 2 wounds and then will lament like a slaughtered calf. It is fun. It – in very simple way – help diverse characters. And it help feel the character, feel the theme, feel the story. One characters will decrease morale often, other not. Ones are moaning pigs, other are tough like John McClane. This is simple and this is fun. This is good. *** When we arrived home I was relaxed. My game was repaired. Vlaada pointed problems in my game, I managed to solve some of them during way home and now my game was much better than 3 days before. When I reached home I turn my laptop, open BGG and sent geek mail to Vlaada. I was eager to once again thank him for his help. And very eager to tell him that problem is already solved. Well, what can I say... I may not look like Bruce Willis. But when I am pissed of I am getting better. Just like John McClane...
PART III
The game ended badly. One of characters is dead. It is game over and it is game over in bad style. They had no chances. They weren’t even close. It wasn’t a good game. ‚You were unlucky. Too many bad events. It’s adventure game, sometimes you have luck, sometimes you don’t...’ I say. Vlaada is searching throught decks of cards. ‚There are good and bad events in all of those decks?’ he asks pointing four decks of cards. ‚Yep.’ ‚You can’t have good events, here, Ignacy’ he says. Did I just hear him saying the thing he just said? ‚Are you kidding?! You’ve just lost because of lack of good events!’ ‚There can not be good events in those decks. You have to get rid of them. You don’t control the game at this moment. Ignacy, you – as an author – have to have control over your game.’ OK, I have to admit it - at that very moment I wasn’t sure what he was talkin’ about. Remove good events? Why? Have control? How?! I have, however, courage to ask. So I asked Vlaada to explain me. And he did. ‚How many good and bad events you designed in that deck?’ he asked pointing Event deck. ‚There are 40 good events and 60 bad events.’ I answered. ‚Robinson Crusoe: Adventure on the Cursed IslandStatistically you will have 3 bad and 2 good events in first part of the game and then again 3 bad and 2 good events in the second part of the game.’ ‚You have to get rid of all good events. Ignacy you don’t control it. This is bad. You can’t design game that you don’t control.’ Still no idea what he is talkin’ about. And still have courage to ask and learn. ‚Vlaada I don’t get it.’ He took one of my sheets of paper and my pen. ‚Look’ he said. ‚During set up you take five cards from this deck, right? You say that statisticaly there should be 3 bad and 2 good cards and that this is an avarage difficulty level, but...’ and he starter to write.
‚There may be: 5 bad, 0 good 4 bad, 1 good 3 bad, 2 good 2 bad, 1 good 1 bad, 0...’ ‚I get it.’ I said. ‚You want game to be difficult, you want game to throw at players 3 bad events and you want the game to help them twice. That is your dream configuration. But math is cruel. There will be games like ours today, with 4 bad events and only one good. There will be even games with 0 bad and 5 good events. Players will play it, will have 5 good events, finish the game without smallest effort and then they will write on BGG that game is easy like piece of cake and boring and they don’t recommend it.’ ‚You are right.’ ‚You need to control the game. Now it is rollercoaster. You have no idea what will happen. It may be extremely easy. It may be extremely hard. Your intended configuration of 3/2 is only one of many possibilities. What about others? You have to remove all good events. You have to make it 5 bad events, 0 good events and then set difficulty of the game.’ ‚Math sucks’ I said. If I were Vlaada, I’d say that Robinson sucks but Vlaada is a nice person. He didn’t say that. Conclusion? I had to take some about 120 events from 5 different decks and throw them to the bin. I needed to take control over my game and to do so, I had to trash 40% of cards I was designing over last 4 months. I did it. Without a blink of an eye. The Lesson? Few, actually. Vlaada knows math. Math is a bitch. Game designers need to have courage to throw ideas to the bin and start right from the beginnig. That what game design is - no mercy.
text: Ignacy T rzewiczwk illustration: M ateusz Bielski
I hate co-ops. I played countless number of different cooper ative games look ing for the one I finally fin d interesting. I played and played and it al ways was the sa me. Co-ops suck. Most of th em at least. They suck, because you can’t become winner. They suck because they do n’t react for yo ur actions and they act lik e moron. They su ck because your friend John drives you m ad everytime you play co-op by telling you what you should do th is turn. Missed somethi ng?
Oh, yes, I hate co
-ops. I’d like to discus s this three issu es here on Boardgames Th at Tell Stories. To day I start with „I can’t win issue.” In next po sts I will cover ‚Leader is sue’ and ‚Dumb player issue’. I can’t win issue Some players fin d it difficult to not be an ultimate winne r. To not crash op ponents. To not be the be st at the table. To not win against everyb ody. They just want win. Pure win. When playing co-op game yo u win as a team. There is no one winner. In most cases of course... Traitor At some point de signers introduc ed traitor rule. You find it in Shadows over Camelot, you find it in Ba ttlestar Galactic a, you find it in plenty of ot her co-ops. Oh, yeah, this is fun. One play er against others . He wins and is happy da ncing in front of th em and they are mad. O r the opposite. They won and are laughtin g and make fun of him and he is sad. Or m ad. Or, let’s face it – he is pissed off. Aren’t games su pp
osed to be fun?
Right, I am not big fan of traito r in games. Either trai tor or rest of pl ayers will be mad. I don’t find it fu n. I don’t want my games make so meone mad.
However I know th at Traitor solution is very popular. I know So, what the hell, I many players love it. don’t like it, I don’t th ink it is a good cure but de gustibus non for ‚I can’t win’ issue est disputandum... , Semi co-op At some point desig ners found different solution for „I can’t sue”. They created se win ismi co-ops. Semi co-o ps have an interesting concept – you all play against the ga me, but
ate at cooper her o t e v a ou h on ot ther. Y n’t win, but l win. o h c a u wi l e does ainst e also ag el so the gam ly one of yo n v o some le u all fight – .. olution yo s t ls a e e v r g emi le e k ny of s ia oks li m lo s d i e Th yp play we pla iaven’t – h I d a – b M it is e game to adm experience I have y nt of th e just lost i o m p t u e m H .B co-ops i co-op. At so will not win. e can win h e m h y e a s t tha ow rate cz sees nd there is n a r O ł cha es a esourc some r . e the gam . He do? e game e oes he h d t t a y o h r t W us. H des arts to ke it hard for him. t s e H . a s mess s with n to m He doe ything he ca aking all of u t er does ev ing and he is ose. lo n l l w a a r e rw is d tes late u n i m 30 was. Yes, it l? a g s. le Was it n? Try a gues can’t u er. He f ff t i u s s l a l a deW and we ut he is also le b a t b e h ng ser at t t loosi . Brillant. One lo he is not jus e a h t uld v play bu all fun we co g ? stroyin be fun osed to p p the u s mes one of f a s g a ’t n n w e o o Ar e is kn enders of Rom I know, Def w. Perc li b u , Rep anet. ’t kno I know es on the pl . But... I don o m o a t t best g re grea ough. alms a the Re sn’t lucky en gustiwa ns. De a f r i e haps I have th co-ops i m e s y, Anywa . .. s l be bu 3. Wil e 9 9 1 e s inc twic root ames s layed laying Role P le Playing G school I p re things Ro high e, mo I play on. In had less tim o s s r a 20 ye llege I . In co a week
. In Ro e game co-op h t t s in ght aga again. or semi a week ame ing to fi duce traitor n format – we y e r t ic , w r t e g G oth n’t intro ost eir base yed RP for one Too son I did ke co-ops in th loose. Thats m Yep, pla ad time only . in . h t .. b t n u o b m e all s. I li head and h twice a on my unded Portal solution e all win or w . nce or o y la s W o f p p . sI Then I all play t trait of co-o ese day mes... Th e this . n k e e c a e inifi team . For m hy ardg ig t e o per w s a u b s h t n is o g e w b ork ves learnin is may This is re much w es I wa venturers or in ll a f you th o-ops games. d o a y c y e e n h d t a a of c or m why of ad r all t two F e o s p f r is a u u e p t o n is a r r o e g o h f . Th at e t em y, f er – as a Anywa is a gre worth playing rying to mak played iors or whatev e W . n t . u r r issue’ e play is f r samurai war ed for 20 years they ar rking on and ‚Dumb playe ue’ o o x y s h w to fi d it ader iss I pla t e r n g w o fi ‚L o in stigator I w h y . x r n fi t ’? u o . This is I was g find it f er issue rying t for one better. issue. I ept. I like sittin I was t n’t be a winn ot pro. it n d o n s fi in c in Rob on. But ‚I ca is is feature, n ? I don’t the con o, helping each in issue co-ops. I like d ins w e th b o ’t t o n t R a a c h f I in it. For m gw ge o h a in t c s n s u a u o v t c d is ’t a big a riends and d I didn yf with m blem.
Last time I talked about ‚I can’t win’ issue. This was a minor problem. I wouldn’t even call it a problem. The big one? The big problem of co-ops? Leader problem! Oh, yes, this is the reason why most of you don’t want to hear about playing co-op, right? Leader problem Leader problem is a situation when you play cooperative game and one of players, let’s call him John, tells you what you should do in your turn. You play as a team. You all want to win, you all want to do your best, you all have ideas what to do. But John is trying to convince you that his idea is the best. He tells you that you should follow his plan and all of you should listen to him. His is forcing you to play his way.
I played plenty of games of Tic Tac Toe, but today I have an awesome idea. ‚Let’s put it here, it will be just awesome, look!’ I say pointing space where I want us to put third circle.
Ann is not convinced. She has other idea. She wants to create this upside down L shape which she finds cool. She wants us to put our third circle here:
It drives you mad. It makes you pissed off. You feel frustration and anger. It has nothing to do with having fun. When you are finished, you are no longer interested in playing with John. No longer interested in playing that game. No longer interested in playing any co-op ever. Never ever. In some cases it may be John’s fault. It is matter of that – he is asshole. He ruins the game, he doesn’t care about your ideas, he is forcing everybody to play as he wants because he is selfish jerk. As long as publishing companies won’t decide to put a gun into box, you will have to deal with John and problem won’t be fixed. No game designer can handle with dunderhead player. But...
John is looking at us and I think he doesn’t believe what he’s just heard. ‚Are you fuckin’ mad?’ he starts to yell at me and Ann. ‚We have to put circle here! We put it here or we loose! Are you with me or not?’ He points space where we should put our third circle.
In most cases it is not John’s fault. This is not due to the fact that he is asshole. This is due to the fact that cooperative games suck. As simple as that. Tic Tac Toe Here is an exercise – we will play Tic Tac Toe. We are in the middle of the game. We play circles. Situation on the board looks like that:
Me and Ann grumble for a moment. We think that he is dunderhead but finally we agree. It turns that he was
right. Blah. Damn jerk. So here is the question: Is John a jerk or just Tic Tac Toe is not a cooperative game? Tic Tac Toe is One Answer Game. There is no space for discussion. There is no room for debate. There is no chance to cooperate and work together to find great plan. It is One Answer Game. There is only one good answer and all other have to go to trash. That is why cooperative games suck. That is why Leader problem arises. Leader - John knows right answer. He played few times, he has experience in that game, he looks at the board and he sees it as a Tic Tac Toe. He forces you to play his way. Not because he is selfish jerk. It is because he knows Answer. It is because co-ops are One Answer Games. They are just like Tic Tac Toe. They have better artwork. They have interesting theme. They have a little bit more sophisticated rules. But at their roots they are just Tic Tac Toe. They are just puzzle. So... Well, I was not brave enough to put a gun into box of Robinson Crusoe so you could solve Leader problem. To be honest I was never ever convinced that Leader problem is John’s fault anyway. I believe that problem lies here – co-ops are just One Answer Games. And knowing that I started to work on Robinson Crusoe...
text: Ignacy Trzewiczwk illustration: Mateusz Bie lsk
i
wiczwk text: Ignacy Trze sz Bielski eu illustration: Mat
As I explained in previous article I don’t blame John. I don’t think it is his fault. He sees best move on the board, he sees One Answer and he tells other players that they should make that one best move. What do you expect from John? Do you expect him staying silent and seeing other players making wrong choices and loosing the game? Nope. He wants to win. He tells what they should do. That’s the case.
scenario) and they have 12 rounds to do it. It is long term. They know that during this 12 rounds they will have to remember about gathering wood and putting it on pile.
And that’s – certainly – not all. These are just a few examples. Different strategies. Different approach. Fuel for discussion. Fuel for debate. This is what co-op should be. All players together discussing What is the aim of the scenario? It what to do. Making choices. Argue. is simple - gather wood. Having fun. No room for Leader How we can achieve it? Not so who has One Right Answer. simple. You have so many different ways. Short blanket Different strategy for a long time Find mountains and build axe so goal is not enough. It is a good you will produce more Wood every beginning but still, it is just beginWhen I sat down to work on Ro- single round. ning. I needed to put more choices binson I knew I have to get rid of Find plains, make rope and build so I put a lot of short time goals. One Answer issue. I knew I have to mast on the pile. Weather is deadly, so you have to give players choices. I have to give Find mud, make bricks and furna- build roof. Animals are deadly so them fuel for discussion. I have to ce so you won’t loose Wood during you have to build palisade. Sources give them this awesome feeling that winter time. are in short supply so you have to it is so much to do and they have to Build weapon, hunt animals. Use explore the island. Morale drops decide what to do. And „decide” is Fur to build roof and saved that down every few minutes so you the key word. I need players to de- way Wood use on pile. have to fight back and move it up. cide. I need them to have different Care about determination tokens In a moment it turns out that this options, different possible moves. for Carpenter so you will save Wood gathering goal is a really Wood pieces. long time goal. At this very moLong term goal Gather Wood, every round go and ment you have to think about all First thing was to make sure that bring Wood. the other stuff... there is a long term goal. Players Find river, draw map and make have to build pile of wood (first shortcut to produce more Wood... Yes, you need roof.
not enough action pawns. You have to choose. You have to make decision. You will discuss. You will decide to do roof not palisade. You will decide to go for Exploration not for gathering Wood. You will decide to not build Weapon but go for Morale. So many choices, so many consequences. There is no room for One Right Answer provided to you but Wise Leader... Threat actions And then I put Threat actions into Robinson. Every single round there is a new action appearing on board. You make it or it will get discarded and you will have nasty consequences. It is on board and is shouting: ‚You need to make this action or it gonna hurt you!’ Yes, you need palisade. Yes, you need weapon. Yes, you need high morale. Yes, you need to find River and Plains... You can’t do everything. You have
Choices are better than gun It turned out that putting many choices is far better than putting a gun into a box. Choices kill ‚John’. With so many decisions Leader problem is getting low. There is no ‚we have to’. There is only ‚we need to...’ We need to make roof. We need to make palisade. We need to gather wood. We need to get rid of this stupid threat... So what are you going to do? I don’t know. I don’t know the answer. Because there is no One good Answer for this question.
Robinson is co-op game where cooperation and discussion matters. You discuss. You choose. You have You have two rounds to get rid of fun. Threat action. You do it now, next round or never. So you again di- I will not tell you that Leader proscuss. So you again debate. Do we blem doesn’t exist in Robinson. But ignore it? Do we resolve it? Now or after these all test games I have to say – it is much lower than in many later? What to do?! Anyone? co-ops I’ve seen. Choices and different strategies are better than gun. They kill Leaders.
text: Roman Sadownik illustrations: Mateusz Bielski, Mateusz Lenart, Mich ał Zieliński
Hey all. This is my „short” report from my session in Robinson Crusoe. I hope You will enjoy reading this as much as i enjoyed making it for You. After several games I’ve played at Portal office Ignacy prepared an extra copy of Robinson’ prototype for me so I could test it at home. My first co-player was my wife. I thought it will be more like a single player version with 2 characters and a nice company of my wife asking from time to time ‘Are we still winning?’ but the game was so nail-biter that Gosia (my wife) fell into it totally. My wife is a newbie in board gaming world and she was shocked with the numbers of cards, tokens and markers in Robinson. It took few minutes to shuffle all decks, put initial Items on the board and prepare characters to play. I thought it would be best to play starting scenario – Castaways - so we wouldn’t have to bother about an extra stuff coming on the event cards and land tiles. For the starting event we have chosen ‚Captains Chest’ to get the advantage of additional starting item. In 2 players variant we have little help of ‚Friday’ – extra character. All other cards are randomly chosen. We got: Characters: Explorer and Carpenter. With Explorer we can take a look at 3 land tiles and select one and put it on top – this way we can easily find required resources. Carpenter will give us great advantage in building items so we will have nice infrastructure. Random items: Drum, Basket, Shield, Sack, Lantern.
With Bakset and Sack we will be able to strengthen Gathering action. It will be possible to bring 3 Wood pieces in one action! Starting items: Pipe & Tobacco and Revolver That was cool – twice per game we can get 2 determination tokens from Tobacco and with Revolver we were able to make one or two hunting’s. Lukcy draw!
rale goes up!
LET THE GAME BEGIN Turn 1 Event phase In the first turn you don’t draw event card. There is a starting event - “Captain’s Chest”. Morale phase We do not get any Determination tokes because at the beginning of the game Morale is 0. Production phase During production phase we get 1 Wood and 1 Food. Action phase From my experience most important thing is to get high Morale so you benefit from free Determination Tokens and possible healing later in the game. So we sent 2 meeples (1 explorer and 1 Carpenter) went for Arrange camp action to raise Morale by 2. We cleaned our camp, Mo-
We also decided to use Pipe & Tobacco for Explorer special skill to look at land tiles and we have chosen tile with River (with production of 1 Wood and 1 Food and with one treasure on it). Then we assigned 1 Explorer meeple for Exploration action. He succeeded but with an adventure. It was a windy day and he get ‘Flu’ (discard 1 Food or shuffle Flu into event deck!). As we had only 1 Food we decided to shuffle Flu into event deck. Sooner or later this flu will make problems and we all get fever and illness... Treasure we found was “Big leaves’ - they will be great aid when we get to many rain clouds. 1 Carpenter meeple with a little help of ‘Friday’ went to build Shelter (we use Pipe & Tobacco to get 2 Determinations tokens
to activate Carpenter’s special skill to produce 1 Wood). Weather phase None at this moment. Night phase We had only 1 Food so Carpenter did not eat and received 2 wounds because of hunger. We had shelter so slept in peace (ah and we moved camp to river tile). 2nd Turn Event phase We draw Rapid River event! Next Exploration action will go with an adventure no matter if we go with 2 meeples or only one. Terrain around us is dangerous because of this river flood... Morale phase Carpenter gets 2 Determination tokens and he got 4 now. Production phase We get 1 Wood 1 Food. To win scenario we have to build big big big wood pile so we should start already. We put 1 Wood on the pile. Action phase We had already discovered a River tile so we could make a Map (it gives an extra meeple for Explore action!) but what is more important with a Map we could build Shortcut to get an extra resource during Production phase! There was no place for risk - we had to build it for sure! Carpenter used his skill to get extra help in Building action to make a Map with no roll. We also had to sent 2 people to re resolve ‘Captains chest’ event or it will be discarded! Difficult situation. We have assigned 1 Explorer with ‘Friday’ to complete the event. On the ‘Captains chest” we get 1 Wood and random Starting item – ‘Hammer and few nails’ – this was good! We have 2 additional workers for build action. This is really useful! Second Explorer meeple was sent on Exploration (checked tiles with Explorer skill and we have chosen Mountain tile with 1 Food 1 Wood and one treasure – this way we could make Fire and Knife). Explorer had combo-roll, he rolled success and wound and adventure! Adventure is ‘Empty Forest’ which we shuffled into
event deck. We see that there are not too many small animals in forest. Sooner or later predators will turn to attack us... Last meeple was sent to Arrange the camp and increase Morale to maximum. Weather phase None at this moment. Night phase Once again we had only 1 Food – this time Explorer had nothing to eat – 2 wounds. 3rd Turn Event phase We draw Earthquake event. We had to turn face down beach tile and from this moment it was inaccessible. To discard this event we need Shovel which we can’t build now as we have no access to shells! Damn! It was an extremely unlucky. Morale phase Explorer heals 1 wound. Production phase We received 1 Wood and 1 Food. Action phase Explorer used his skill to reveal next land tile – hills with wood and beast and 2 treasures. He sent his meeple with Map and went to Explore hills. We sent also 1 Explorer (plus extra aid from ‘Hammer and nails’) to build Shortcut. 1 Carpenter with second ‘Hammer and nails’ builds Roof level 1 – we had to prepare for rainy season. Friday with second Carpenter make Fire. It was a good round. Our shelter has a Roof, we have Fire and we’ve made Shortcut, so we will be able to produce more resources since now. It looked really nice. We were proud. Weather phase None at this moment.
Night phase We had place to sleep (with awesome Roof!) but again Explorer had nothing to eat! We had a constant problem with Food... 4th Turn 4th round represents beginning of autumn. This is when weather die comes into play. Event phase In event phase card Rapid River goes off the board (as we did not manage to discard it previously!) and this is bad, really really bad. Its threat effect is deadly – we have no production phase this turn. River steals everything... Gosia said that we are going to die now. Well it’s not that bad but yes – weather is on and we have no Food and no Wood. It will be harsh times. Time to use Carpenter’s special skill and take a look at invention cards to find something useful! We took 5 cards and we found..... Furnace! Yes, we will not have to worry about winter anymore! Hope is back. Thanks to Carpenter we will build Furnace! But first, we have to build Bricks... Still we are in event phase, so it is time to take a new event: Hurricane! Arrange the camp action requires additional meeple this turn. Sweet. Morale phase Explorer gets 2 Determination tokens and he takes a look at new land tiles. We found last resource – Plains with Wood and Food production and with 1 Treasure. Production phase Nope.
Action phase One Explorer went to discard Hurricane event. We need to clean the mess after this deadly blows. Second Explorer with Map went for Explore action. We had to Gather resources for the Wood pile so ‘Friday’ went on Gather action. Gosia rolls for him... – no Success but with Wound and Adventure so it gives him overall 2 wounds (it was so lousy!)! It looks like sabotage! We sent him for Wood, and he comes back wounded, with no Wood at all... Carpenter (with extra meeple from Candle) builds Bricks and second Carpenter builds Pot but with adventure – ‘Construction is weak’ – we shuffle into deck – when comes back we will have to lower roof level by half. I have no doubt – it will collapse when winter comes, in worst moment that is... Weather phase It is first time to roll Weather dice – as I am unlucky I asked Gosia to roll. It was a good decision. We got only one cloud icon! With Roof level 1 we are safe! Night phase Again, we have nothing to eat – both woExplorer and Carpenter gets 2 wo unds. We use Herbs founded on one of tiles to heal 2 wounds on ‘Friday’ 5th Turn Event phase Wrecked balloon – we hear catastrophe of balloon and our Morale is decreased by 1. Morale phase We decided to heal 1 wound on Explorer. Production phase We get 1 Wood and 1 Food and additio additionally 1 Wood from a Shortcut! Uff! We put 2 Wood pieces on the pile. Action phase It’s time for hunting! There is only one beast in beast deck. We have 1 strength of Weapon but we also have Revolver with two bullets (our starting item!). We need Furs for Roof and for Sack so yes, we need to kill animal. Two Explorers went for Hunting action. We crossed fingers for some big animal as we had only 2 ammo in the Revolver and we could not afford to waste these bullets for small animal! We reveal the card and... It is Goat! It has 5 Strength, so we fired twice! We received 3 Food, 2 Fur but we also dropped 1 in Strength. It was tough fight.
One Carpenter with ‘Friday’ make Knife. Second Carpenter went to make Basket. I roll die – I have success and wound. Carpenter dropped 1 level down and Morale went down as well. This is bad. Weather phase Gosia rolled 2 Rainy clouds. We had Roof level 1 so we had to use Big leaves token to deal with this heavy rain. Lucky we had it. Night phase We ate 2 foods. We used 1 Food in Pot to heal Carpenter. 1 Food was wasted. 6th Turn Event phase Earthquake goes out of the board and beach tile is lost for ever... New event – Unusually cold night. It means that night was very cold and we have to discard 2 wood pieces. We have only 1 wood so everyone gets 1 wound. It was cold night, indeed... Morale phase Carpenter gets 2 Determination tokens. As we are not going to explore any more land tiles we decide to use Explorer special skill – he picks 2 treasures and keeps one. He found Goat – yeah – food and fur! Production phase We get 1 food and 1 wood and we decide to take 1 Food from Shortcut. Action phase 1 Explorer goes to discard Wrecked balloon event. He searched what remains and found Old Rapier - yeah – I always wanted to be a soldier. (Old rapier will raise our strength by 2 up to 3 now). Second explorer goes to Gather Wood with Basket. Unfortunately, he rolls adventure and this is end of the source. No more wood from this tile... 1 Carpenter with 3 Determination tokens (to generate an extra aid) builds Furnace. It was hard work and some may say not necessary as we had fire but believe me, on cold winter nights it’s really nice to sleep next to nice warm furnace. Second Carpenter goes to raise Morale by 1. Friday builds Sack. I was afraid that he will get hurt with the needle but luckily, he got success and no wound/adventure.. I’ve just noticed that we should build Snare already to get Food from it and use Shortcut to get more Wood! So I said we have to build it next turn. Gosia asked how to do it without a Rope and this was good point. It’s really shame on us that we had no Rope on turn 6th. Have to fix it asap. Weather phase We had one cloud. With our brand new
Furnace it was piece of cake. Night phase We ate 2 Food. 7th Turn Event phase We draw new event, Frost and we have to put snow token on weather space. I never thought that nights on Tropic Island could be so so cold. Good we have Furnace! Morale phase Explorer heals 1 wound. When You see things going good and You got faith that You will soon leave this forgotten by Gods island You get stronger. Production phase We get 1 wood and 1 food. And we take 1 Food from the Shortcut. We put 3 woods on the pile. Action phase Frost is not good for my old bones. We need to get rid of it so Carpenter takes 1 Fur and goes to discard Frost card – he made a carpet I think. Second Carpenter builds Rope (with little help from ‘Friday’). Two Explorer meeples we send to Gather Wood (with Basket and Sack). They bring 3 Wood. That is a good number! Weather phase Weather roll was going to kill us... Well not that bad, but it was hard. We had 1 Snow cloud from Frost event and Gosia rolled 2 Rain clouds – typically early winter. We ignored Snow cloud with Furnace. 2 Rain clouds left... As our Roof was only clo1, we lack one ud... We had to discard 1 Wood and 1 Food. Night phase Oh. It’s time to kill Goat! Thanks for that! Both of us have some-thing to eat but what we will do next? No Food supplies, we can’t go hunting we really need that snare build asap. I really miss Cook character…. 8th Turn Event phase Raging River is a deadly one! We have only
half production this round! We can’t believe it... Morale phase We heal 1 wound. Production phase 2 Food and 1 Wood turns into 1 food. This is a dramatic moment. It’s not like it will kill us but it really ruined our plans, and it looked so easy to complete… Action phase Carpenter with 1 Fur goes to discards Unusual Cold Night event. Ha. Carpet was not enough. We have to put some furs on the walls as well. Second Carpenter meeple is sent to build Snare. Explorer with Friday goes to build 2nd level of Roof. Second Explorer goes to Gather wood with Sack and Basket. Succeeded, but with adventure ‘Path of the Predator’. We have to shuffle it into event deck. So now we have all together 5 events and 4 adventures shuffled into deck. Soon we will suffer... Weather phase Weather roll and 2 rainy clouds – nothing happens. Our Roof is strong enough. Night phase We have only 1 Food. Carpenter eats , Explorer gets 2 wounds. He passes morale level and Morale goes 1 down. 9th Turn Event phase We draw a card, this is adventure card that we shuffled to event deck few minutes ago... It is Empty forest. Now all beats are hungry and have +1 Strength. Not to scary for us as we didn’t seen any beast around for a while. Is the winter to cold ? We draw another card... Construction is weak! Roof goes down to 1. Damn you! We put so much effort to raise it to level 2. Gosia is bit depressed but we still have 3 more turns and lucky we have lots of wood in the stock and this is most important. We will succeed when we make wood pile big enough to make fire seen from the horizon. Even if we complete with last breath… well this would be not good to build and die so not last but almost last. So we draw another card... What a surprise – we have commutation! Finally we draw event. This is Predators! Source of food nearest our camp is covered with black marker. Predators killed small animals... And I was so happy few minutes ago that we didn’t seen any beast for a long time. Good we have a Shortcut... Morale phase Explorer gets 2 determination tokens. Production phase We have 1 Wood and 0 Food from our
tile, plus 1 Wood from shortcut, plus 1 Food from Snare... We put 1 Wood on the pile to complete the level. Action phase Carpenter with ‘Friday’ goes to discard Predators. We need our poor little animals for us. We can’t share this source. Second Carpenter with Explorer goes to build Mast (Carpenter uses 2 tokens to satisfy Wood cost). And we get 3 woods from this to put on pile! 1 Explorer goes to Arrange the camp and move up Morale. Yes as I said at the start of our adventure. Morale is most important not only at begging but all the time. Weather phase 2 rainy clouds. Roof is level one so we have to discard 1 Wood and 1 Food. We are going to starve again but it should not be a surprise on small island in the middle of nowhere. With only one desire – GET OUT OF HERE !!… so we have to build a pile – food is not important. Night phase Explorer eats last food, Carpenter have nothing to eat. Gets 2 wound and pass second condition. Morale drops down... Explorer can hold only 5 wounds and Carpenter only 4. We are in bad shape... Turn 10 Event phase The only thing that can kill us now is the unlucky event draw as we will have enough wood to complete the pile and get help. I’ve crossed my fingers and Gosia draws a card and it is…… Vertigo !! ( first player will have only 1 meeple available! )
Yes ! Yes! We did it. We will survive event phase Morale phase Carpenter gets 2 determination tokens. Production phase In production we get 2 woods and 1 food. We put 5 woods on the pile and it is done. We are saved! We won! It was the ‚easiest’ scenario. We did it in Turn 10 while this scenario have 12 turns! Good job. I have to admit we had lots of luck and lots of experience in Robinson. In my opinion it’s crucial to build pile as soon as possible. You could say we had two more turns forehead but it’s much easier to die in those two turns then to survive. With our lousy Roof it would be hard... It’s my first game report... it’s not perfect i know but it’s really hard to make report from game where you have so much opportunities and so many actions you can take. You feel like it’s waste of time to notice each action in the note. And remember. Never say: ‘I’ll remember this and notice this later. I’ll make update after this turn’. Kind Regards.
I don’t know how other designers work. I don’t know if I am a freak among designers or I am a clasical example. But I want to tell you how it looks. How it looked with Robinson. I spent last year on the Island. Really... For me 2012 was year of Robinson Crusoe because for the last 12 months I only read adventure books. I really mean it. I read a lot of Julius Verne novels. I read all novels I could find about castaways. I read all books about survival I could find. I read also comic books and I – certainly – watched all movies I could find that were about deserted Island or castaways. I read about tens of ways of making fire. I read about building shelter from almost nothing. I read how to find water, I read how to find north without compas, I read everything I could. I am – with no doubt – one of the most educated persons on this planet... in terms of castaways... If, by any chance, you are on the deserted Island, just call me. I will teach you how to survive. You don’t need to worry. * For me 2012 was year of Robinson Crusoe because every single weekend of this year I had prototype of the game set up in our living room. Our home was literally paralyzed by Robinson. The game is big, it covered nearly whole table in our living room (I have to say – we have a big table). Because of Robinson we had mess on that table for every single weekend of 2012. I played it all the time, every single weekend, I drove my wife crazy with this tokens, cards, notes, dice with all that stuff that was living with us this year. It was like part of our furniture. We had sofa, we had table, we
had chairs and we had Robinson. It was part of our everyday life. * 2012 was year of Robinson Crusoe for my whole family. Kids have grown – it is a year of time! - and they saw and hear all the time about Robinson. They discovered this story. They played prototype with me. They played live Robinson all the time. They built real shelter in our garden (ok, I helped them a little), they spent countless hours in our garden hunting imaginary beasts, strengthening the roof or searching for treasures. With no doubt, if in 20 years I ask my kids about summer 2012, they will tell ’It was time of Robinson’. * 2012 was year of Robinson Crusoe because it really touched our every day life. We spent holidays this year by the sea and of course I had Robinson with me. Game was with us all the time. Sometimes it touched our life in a funny way. I remember one Sunday few weeks ago. I was a little bit late for a dinner, I entered the room, all kids were already eating and there was no plate for me on the table. I asked: ’Hey, what about me? I don’t eat?!’ And I heared answer from 10 years old Nina: ’You know, it is like in Robinson. There is never enought food... Today you get 2 wounds’ Woow. That was accurate... * Next week I am in Essen. My adventure with Robinson ends. I finally leave the Island. I am finally free. I spent here whole year of my life. It was great but that’s enough. It is time for you to visit the Island. I strongly recommend it. This is a great adventure.
pawn), Goat can be killed and give you food and fur... Every single ru le was connected wi th a particular discovery to ken. And then? And then it turned out that we not put names of th can e discoveries on to ke ns . There is no space for na me of discovery. O nly space for icon. Tokens ar e too small. ek text: Ignacy Trzewicz Bielski sz teu Ma s: on ati illustr dź, Tiago Duarte wie dź Nie b photos: Jaku
It’s Essen 2012. I am watching players playing Robinson Crusoe. At some point one of the them draws Discovery token with brown worker icon. „We found a worker!” he says. They are happy. It will help them build Roof. However I have to I interrupt them. „This is a candle.’’I say. They look at the token. Then they look at me with their faces shouting „Candle?! WTF?” Yes, this is candle... It is always the same. First I design story, then I adapt rules. So at the very beginning players were finding Candles, Goats, Old machetes, Pirate chests and other stuff. All the things you can find on the deserted Island. The story was most important. Then all these items got their own rules. I look at them and started creating rules. Candles let you work longer in the night (so you may got additional
That’s how my disc overies, born from the story, changed into „b rown meeple”. And that’s how many of you may st art think... „I went to jungle. I found something. I found brown meepl e. WTF?” Here I am. Look at the genesis of toke ns... Candles These are old cand les or lanterns. You find them and now you can work in the evening and night! You don’t need to hurry, you may wo rk slowly and work for a long time. You have wh ole night ahead. Th at is why you gain Brown m eeple. If you build for a long time, you finally do it. It will be a succes s. Goat In the forest you found a goat. You bring it to the cam p. Later on you wi ll be able to kill it (if yo u have 1 Strength of Weapon at leas t). If you kill Goat, you receive 1 Food and 1 Fur.
Old machete Old machete, probably lef t here by some fearsome pirate, arr, arr! Spices You found glade with spice s. Your soup and other foo d will finally taste good! If you ha ve a Pot you will do a treme nd ous soup. Morale of all team ma tes will go up! Poison You found glade with dead ly plants. You can gather the ir fruits and if you have Pot, you ca n prepare poison from the m! Your weapon will be much more deadly now... Vegetables You found glade with vege tables. If you have Pot, yo u can make a strong healing soup that will help you with illnes s and make you feel much better. Herbs You found glade with herbs . If you have Pot, you can ma ke a different cures and medicati ons. Thorny bushes You found an extremely tho rny bushes. You bring it to the camp and you can use it as a great way to strength en your fence and to make you mo re safe in your camp! Big leaves You found a really big and strong leaves, you can bring them to the camp and use them as a roof. They will not las t long (only one use) but at some point they may be very hand y. Tobacco Yuppi! There is a tobacco on the Island! Morale in the team goes up!
text: Micha³ „Walec” Walczak illustrations: Jakub Jabłoński
It is by no means reassuring, that the last line of defense of humanity, the all bold and brave Outpost, numbers but a few souls (lowest number of soldiers compared with other factions). They’re not known for their toughness, and you will have a problem to find them warring a armor. And if that is not enough, they don’t use any nets to tie the enemy down. You won’t be able to play “push back” tile on your adversary. Yet, despite all this, Outpost troops still hold their ground against all odds! Heartless Machines, cruel Mutants, rough gangs from Hegemony, the whole lot. They still stand, undefeated, proud, with their back straight and their chins up high. And trust me boy, it`s not going to change easily, as it takes a lot more to break their spirit. Being able to survive despite all this disadvantages is intriguing. But so is the Outpost. It is by far the most interesting, agile and surprising faction of all. Get a good grasp of what it is like to play Outpost, discover what is has to offer, and see the enemy lying dead under your feet! Outpost in numbers Out of 35 tiles in the game, six of them are battle orders, and an astonishing number of seven is devoted to movement. But there is a tradeoff for all this mobility. You will find only twelve soldiers under your command. Not enough? Well, think of it that way, as many as nine of them have “Ranged Attack” ability. Combined together, and you can give a whole new meaning to what “Fire and Maneuvers” stands for. Still not convinced? Well here is how it looks in numbers. You will have a 43% chance to draw a Movement tile, 37% for a battle order, 65% to draw a soldier tile and, bet-
ter still, a 52% chance to draw a soldier who is able to shoot. Now you got your numbers rights, let move on to tactics. Entrenchment means bad luck Back in the old days, soldiers valued shovels more than their rifles... Silly, right? Every game starts with the HQ placement. If you happen to be the first player to make a move, place your HQ right in the middle of the battle board. Do not dig in somewhere away from the center. There are four very good reasons for that. For one thing, if you are in the middle, you will have many more escape routes in case the things will turn ugly. Remember, flexibility is the word. You have around 40% chance to draw a Movement card each turn! If your opponent gives your enough breathing space by not starting the battle, you can simply withdraw from the hex on which the whole hell will break loose soon, into one, where you can enjoy battle view, from the distance. Yes, perhaps it is not what a hero would do, but it does not matter. It is cunning, it’s smart, and it works. Secondly, consider this. If you place your HQ in the middle of the board, you make it very hard for the opponent to keep it under the net for long. Enemy “Net Units” will be exposed and vulnerable without the safety provided by the edges of the board. Hunker down somewhere in the corner, and you will regret this decision all the way to the grave... On the top of that, remember that no matter where you opponent puts his or her HQ, you will always have at least one spot, behind your own HQ, from which you will be able to shoot at the enemy. And trust me, that counts.
Third important reason is as follows: HQ supporting melee combat by increasing strength or initiative (mainly Borgo and Hegemony), will have to place their HQ in the middle ring. It will be much easier to run away from them, and what follows, move away from enemy unit that’s being supported by their HQ What if you are running low on good luck, an your adversary puts his HQ on the battlefield first? Well, remember, you are the Outpost, do what you do best: adjust! Put your HQ right on the middle ring. If the opponent’s HQ is placed somewhere in the remote corner (as happens mostly with Moloch army) you can act twofold. You can try to hide in the remote corner and engage in the exchange of fire over the long range ... or try to place your HQ in such a way, so that it touches the edge of the battle board on one side, and enemy’s HQ on the other. Thanks to that move, the perk from your HQ will always work (even for your melee units). At the same time, if your Moloch opponent would like to attack your HQ with his units boosted by the HQ perk, then they would have to be placed right next to your HQ. That means they will not stay there for long (one or two battles at the most, before they perish!). That also gives you rather
nice, easy to bunker place, from which you can inflict some range damage with your HQ bonus!. Control the situation. During the game, you will have the highest chance to draw a battle tile, the catch is that you also stand the lowest chance to draw a soldier. That is why, it will be so crucial for you to adapt to the changing situation on the battlefield. Remember: each gain is welcome, but if you are about to end the battle inflicting only one or two points of damage to your opponent, you will have to consider carefully pros and cons of this. Loss of a mutant, a thug or a machine is frankly nothing, compared to the loss of your soldier. My advice is: a good battle is the battle
after which there is at least one remaining Outpost soldier, aiming at the opponent’s HQ. That will force your enemy to deal with this problem first, before he or she can move on to attacking your HQ. Don`t hesitate. Fight! Imagine that you draw a Annihilator tile and the order for battle. You can place the Annihilator right behind your HQ and start the battle. Four points of damage dealt easily to your opponent, isn’t it? But that is not just a straight luck. Outpost draw, usually provides you with precisely such a combination. Someone to do the shooting and a order for battle to trigger the fight. It is like a powder keg, all it takes is a little spark... In theory, if as a result of the battle you are about to be hit for two damage (say, by a ganger who is receiving support from the Hegemony HQ) and you in return, can shoot as him twice, there seems to be no gain at all. But, consider this, by the end of this battle this nasty Ganger will be dead, right? And your soldier will be still on the battlefield, reloading his gun, whit a grin on his face... You will find out that many engagements will end up dealing the exact same amount of damage, but the important point is, that the Melee units are much more fragile and die quicker. You must go beyond “here and now” and adopt the long term perspective. Before you commence fighting, think which units will perish and what consequences it will bring in the future. But, hey, just because you have less soldiers, not neces-
sary means, that you have to moan about this. Sometimes, for outpost is more than enough to have movement to play a battle. You just move your HQ and use it to eliminate enemy units or modules. If there is less board tile on your army, you need to learn using the instant tiles. Adjust your tactics through the time. Thing about number of battles jet to came. It does not matter what the situation will look like at the end
of the game. It is important if you have more or less HP in your HQ. While playing Outpost you have to find a place to run. Slow tactics of Borgo, to place mutts on the edge of battleboard end fast by fact, that you have no place to run or place your soldier. Control battleboard in order to maintain most of if clean, and available for placing a tile. Use your HQ to eliminate your opponent tiles. Despite Runners are not efficient in dealing dmg to your opponent HQ (because their moderate initiative), there are perfect, to “toss the trash”, like lonely modules, or separated units.
Ok, that’s the tactics in generally. Now, let’s look at the few tricks, you may find helpful. Saboteur Trick Saboteur is a module that reduces initiative of enemy units. So, what does it do? As a name indicates… It simulate a net. Surprised? But in Outpost there is no net! Formally, not, but, if you lack of smth. you like, you like what you got. Saboteur can mix up a battle board, that`s for sure, but i n
some situation you can use it exactly to „slip” an enemy initiative. Most common it works against Moloch, but others factions are good enough too. So, what`s that all about? Well, you need to place Saboteur in way, it die in higher initiative then initiative of unit we like to “slip initiative”. You need to attach Saboteur to both of that units (the “fastest” one kills Saboteur). I give you an example, ok? You place Saboteur next to Gladiator and some thug with 2 initiative. Both of them has reduced initiative, so thug
kills Saboteur in 1 initiative. When Saboteur leave the battle board, there is a 0 initiative If the Saboteur would be still alive, gladiator would fight just right now But, he is dead, so gladiator initiative “slip”. His time is long gone. He could fight with our HQ, or kill our units, but he won`t deal any damage. Nice trick, huh? Some of you already know that trick. Some of you does not heard about it. It is nice thing to do, to get some practice, to see all of those situation, when you can use it like that. It is not popular trick, so, it is easy to surprise your opponent. Scooper defence Hack someone’s module, and use that modules trait to attack enemy HQ. it is rarely successful mission… enemy modules has often just one side active, and it is occupied by enemy unit. More often it is better to use scooper as a long term investment just blocking a place near to witch opponent would place a module. Such investment really often pay`s off, cause enemy has to sacrifice time to remove scooper (instead of dealing dmg to your HQ) or he let him be, and loss benefits from modules. So, it is easier to thing of scooper as a module “turning off” enemy units then try to use them. Brawler and Heavy armor Those two units are great material for suiciders. Brawler placed next to enemy HQ, without HQ trait, most often, before die, deals 4 dmg. Its 20% of initial HP being ripped off by iron fist of Brawler. Heavy armor, in the other hand, place in the same way, deal 6 dmg. Why loos so fast such a powerful unit?
Because Heavy armor is like salt in eye of your opponent. It is way to easy to be killed, and if it die, before dealing 6 dmg… Well… then his potential is wasted. But, if you considering not to sacrifice a Heavy armor, best time for this is in beginning of game. But, still, if you hesitating, remember, it is better to have those 6 dmg, then risk then losing them. Briefing There is many other „god advices”, but you find them all out game, by game. For now, above any other thinks, just remember: Use movement, take care of units. Don`t be afraid for fight… for just another day in humanity survival.
Assembling your army So we start the most pleasant part of the setup - creating characters and building your army. An army must work like a clockwork, it’s only then that it becomes a destructive force. Get a feel of the setting, put up some music, see what comes to your mind and create your army. You start with choosing the faction one of the sides of the conflict. There are four possible choices to begin with, so think how your heroes should look like, what should they excel at? The first thing that springs to your mind is a big, strong mutant, that’ll knock anyone down in one punch? Or maybe you’re considering a perfectly trained Outpost sharpshooter or a Moloch Defender, armed up to its teeth? There’s also the moustached Hegemony gangster, a dude with a crowbar, that’ll take no bullshit from anyone. It’s quite an important decision, so take your time to make up your mind. Ready? So let’s move on. Four factions Let me tell you about Borgo. The Mutants, strong, fast, fearless. They have been created by Moloch, for the purpose of wiping out humanity, but they rebelled against their maker, and now strive for each breathing moment. That fight is what makes them so tough. Sounds good already, ain’t it? The mutant army units are fast and deadly in melee. If that other loser lets them come a tad too close, you can hand him a shovel. You have at your disposal the Claws, a unit made to snatch the enemy and tear him apart, there are mutts that swarm at the opponent and crush the enemy forces with sheer numbers, and then there are the most badass warriors, the Cyborgs. Never
Author: Artur Blok Photo: Grzegorz Bobrowski
mind the whizzing bullets or explosions,they will get to the enemy and destroy them utterly. Think a bit if this team is to your taste. If you prefer something else, you can choose the perfectly trained, elite Outpost units, the remnants of the US army. They are hardened in the battles agains the machines, perfectly armed, but it’s their blazing spirit that aids them in the greatest perils. You want more? Become the leader of a team of Assault Troops, corner the enemy and shower them with bullets. Lead your fast, well-oriented Scouts into battle, or choose Light Infantry, the kind of units that is able to hide anywhere. Become their commander, and show the enemy what the US army still can pack a punch! Unless... Maybe you want to stand at the enemy lines? Take control of the disciplined, lethal armies of Moloch, the rutlhess robotic killers, spreading fear and destruction through the land. Are you ready to lead the mighty, heavily armed Defenders? Or maybe you’d rather have under your command the cunning, tough Hybrids? They are perfect in both melee and ranged combat. And if that’s not enough, you can have something every Outpost soldier fears like death itself. The Spiders. They are the elite of sneak assasins. Are you in? There’s only one more army left - a very special one at that. Those dudes respect no rules. To command them you need to be the toughest, you need to overpower them and rule with an iron fist. The only thing the Hegemony gangers understand is brute force. And no wonder, since they are the most wanted felons, best gladiators, punks and Black Angels, which make even the Moloch’s robots weary. The gangers with their trusty crowbars are always first at the battlefield, always ready for a brawl. They will kill anyone who
crosses them. And don’t forget about the Punks. They might not be the brightest crayons in the box, but I’ve got to admit - I’ve never seen anyone shoot an MG like that. They’re real trigger virtuosos. Will you be able to control them? Unit types You probably already know all the armies, which means you know which one will be the best for you. Let’s now pick the abilities. Usually, the hero in RPGs has a unique set of abilities, that make up his soul, his experience. An army in miniature wargames also has its unique skills. Each unit and each squad is special, and constitutes a part of the army. You need to decide whether your hero is to be a quiet assassin, or maybe an preacher with a bible in one hand and a shotgun in the other. You’d rather feed the enemy a knuckle sandwich, or shoot him down before he even notices something’s wrong? Well, when you decide, you can start picking the units that will suit the character of your army. In Neuroshima the units are divided in three classes - squad units, special units and heroes. Army limit Whenever you arrange for a battle with a buddy, or participate in a tournament there needs to be an army limit for the units partaking in battle. A small battle is about 600700 points, a standard one 1250, the bigger ones start at 1500 pts. When you agree on the amount of points, the fun beings...Each squad has its cost. When buying a squad for your army, you also gain the possibility of choosing special units - medics, lieutants, supermutants, moloch battle brains and many other models. They do cost a lot, but they give you a load of possibilities. When you assemble your army, you choose the squads that will be the soul of your tactics, you build a strategy in your mind. Then you boost
it with the special units, and you’re half way there. There are also the heroes. You get one for free, he’ll be your avatar, your alter ego running among he ruins. He is you. Other heroes you can buy for points, all the Couriers, Cowboys, Preachers, Hitmen, Rats... It’s a lot of wonderful fun, all those squads, special units, heroes. And the best part is yet to come... Equipment Here’s the nicest part - the equipment. Of course, each unit has its default equipment, but what kind of fun would it be, if you couldn’t buy some extras? Maybe start small, with nice, little grenades, a chainsaw, or go big and get your boys a bazooka? You have a wide array of possibilities - it’s your crew! Get them Molotov cocktails, smoke grenades, get them some of those postapo toys! Each squad has their equipment listed. Special units and heroes also have a lot of freedom when it comes to the stuff they have with them. They’re walking surprises, with really killer toys. It’s realload of fun. Epilogue But a battle comes to an end, the same way a RPG session does. And now what? Is your wonderful hero bound to be forgotten? Never! In the Campaign mode your units get experience Points! Your army evolves, to get stronger and better. You can improve their skills and hone them to perfection. You dreamed of your hero having some kind of a dwelling, a house, or perhaps a heavily forced base? You can make those dreams come true! Manage your base, improve it, expand your teritory. The Campaign rules have been made with particular attention to the fun you can have with having a base, some turf, intrastructure, with developing your characters, buying equipment, improving your stats. Sounds like fun?