Travis R. Chance
United States
NYC
New York
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So Saturday was my second game of TI3. Last time, I was Hacan; I played virtual bully--I never was in a single space battle, despite having two War Suns out relatively early. In the end, I lost on tie-breakers to Fedor's Barony, my plan to ride his coattails and hopefully draft past him Days of Thunder-style falling just short due to being overly passive and fumbling on a few critical turns. This last weekend I ended up Yassaril Tribes, and endeavored to play the role of aggressor.
My neighbors were Andy (Barony) and Ken (Ghosts). Our galactic spread was decent, though our side of the table was not quite as juicy as the double dual planet goodness that was Paris' (Necrovirus) immediate environ. At a glance, my immediate assessment was that Andy and I would be the quickest bullies. Fedor (Norr) needed some momentum, as did Paris, before they would be as problematic. I made mention of this to Andy, but, as I will detail later, that went in the bin after a few mere turns.
I won't bother to vivisect this game blow-by-blow--this was a looooong one, rife with Fedor taking the role of Rules Manager more so than player, much in the way of squabbling (of which I admittedly took the self-proclaimed title of Vox Populi), and an over-saturation of inexperience that Gaylord and Fedor could not counter despite their expertise. Instead, I will just make mention of a few of the bold(er) strokes.
I was quick to move up the track, though everyone managed to stay right with me, or not far behind. I was building up a promising fleet, as my Preliminary was the commission of all 5 Dreadnaughts. As I plopped down my 4th, Andy rolled a die to determine if he would tussle with Fedor or me; I ended up the victim, as Andy swept in like the Wrath of... Khan? God? Todd? I dunno which, but he manager to beat the living hell out me, reducing me to a lowly PDS on one of the two planets. This was a pretty big wrench in my plans, and Fedor suddenly looked terrifying with his early Flagship and formidable fleet.
At the dinner break, the question was asked to Andy if his incursion into my turf had to do with an objective card; the answer was no. As I had stated at the onset, the two bullies diminishing one another early would be trouble proved true as Fedor climbed up the VP track from last to lead in a mere few turns. Fedor, who stayed behind at the space while the rest of us and ate and commiserated to some degree, was unaware of these dealings, but the sentiment was the unanimous: he was trouble.
Andy took Diplomacy the following turn (after our break) to squirrel up in the neighboring system in response to me taking warfare (which was beyond a miscalculation on my part). He popped Diplomacy turn one, making my High Alert this round a +1 one move for some carriers (sadly) Andy moved out his admiral to a severely under protected home world. Luckily, Fedor had been signal jammed twice (I believe), leaving his Flagship sputtering inertly. When I asked Andy if he would vacate said sector, he said, "well of course I am going to say yes, even if I plan otherwise." So, as I remained Speaker, I took leadership, and, to quote some famous violent Russian of yore, " I crush him" on my next turn, taking back what was mine.
I should also mention I did some dishonest dealings, lying to Ken when he did not move ships into Lesab, just having an influence marker; I swooped in and stole it! Later, which Fedor will point out issues with this play in an email soon, I played Patrol (I can't remember the actual name of the card) to sneak out and steal Ken's home world, allowing me to claim the VP for having more Influence than my neighbors AND my secret objective: I control all planets in an enemy's home world. This play sparked a 20 minute debate (imagine lawyers on fire screeching like baby owls with rules in their hands), at the end of which I was pardoned... AND WE STILL PLAYED THE THING WRONG! I shot up to 7 VP (just 2 shy of victory), with my eye on Bureaucracy the next turn to take the game (having unknowingly cheated: I squeaked a Cruiser with a Ground Troop out using said Action and then activated in Ghosts home to steal it; we forgot he part where sneaking the Cruiser out activates the system, making it ineligible for further action). My last evil deed was borrowing a Trade Good which I never paid back to fart out the 5th Dreadnaught and get my Preliminary off--not much of the devil's handiwork, but I rather enjoyed being diabolical as opposed to the scary Wallflower in my last game.
The game ended with Andy having to bow out due to prior obligations, as the game was about 12 hours at this point. Paris had built a formidable force, stormed Rex, and was quite aware of my designs to use Bureaucracy for the killing blow. He took Warfare, which I guessed was his obvious play. His death cluster in Rex was promptly put on High Alert. Now, at the end of the prior turn, I rolled out three Dreadnaughts to create a nice little box in case such a thing happened, thinking Paris would only be able to move his Dreadnaughts 2 at most. And, even though I had Flanking Speed (I think that was the name), I didn't factor in that he might also have it. He did. And, he rained down on me like some simile or another. A vote had been passed through collusion for my Fighters to get +1. I had 7 in my home sector. Out of 25 plus rolls over three rounds of combat, 5 hit, and I was reduced to ash. I rallied to take back my home so I could score, but alas, Paris proved far stronger than I had hoped, playing a card that forced me to either retreat, or lose two ships. Even with Flanking Speed, I was barely able to mosh his damaged Dreadnaughts, cruiser, and handful of fighters. I wiped out his space fleet, but lost on both planets in head to head mechanized battles. At this point, I had a blockaded dock, three ships, and a bunch of influence flags on abandoned planets.
Paris was convinced he had me tied for most, but Ken thought it humorous to sneak in and steal an unguarded artifact, dropping Paris to one less VP than me. Gaylord went first during Status, and compliments of the Promissory Note I bartered for said law to be passed in my favor, crept up from damn-near last to take the win!
Thanks again to everyone. I would encourage that next time Fedor have another Rules Master so he can actually enjoy the game without the FAQ in his hands.
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Did you claim your secret objective before your preliminary? Is that a variant you guys use?
Fun writeup. Yssaril are great.
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Travis R. Chance
United States
NYC
New York
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No no, I got my prelim first. We played Red Tape variant. Sorry, I wrote this in haste whilst at work!
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What is Red Tape variant, and where can it be found?
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Fedor Syagin
United States
New York
New York
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The Archon wrote: What is Red Tape variant, and where can it be found?
I think Aweberman describes it best ( http://boardgamegeek.com/user/Aweberman)
"I am not the originator of the variant, but I have been a big promoter of it for a long time.
Here is a link to a printable image of the Strategy Card: http://checkwolf.com/ti3/images/high%20resolution/jpeg/sc%20...
Here is the text:
"Prepare Objective deck as normal, than deal out all Public Objectives in a line. Place Red Tape counters on all but the first Public Objective. No Public Objective with a Red Tape counter may be claimed.
Special: After selecting this Strategy Card, remove Red Tape counters equal to the number of Bonus Counters on this card.
Primary ability: Receive 1 Command Counter from your reinforcements. Then, remove one Red Tape counter from the Public Objective of your choice. You may not choose a Stage II Objective in the first three rounds. You may then immediately claim one Public Objective for which you qualify."
So sigma (as usual) is right about the way the variant was initially designed -- it is supposed to emulate Bureaucracy as closely as possible, so only the first PO is available from the start of the game."
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/757071/red-tape-with-bureauc...
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Posted Tue Feb 7, 2012 1:34 am
