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| A Game of Thrones |
Last night we met up at TBK and got our first six player Game of Thrones match-up since QCON. The unlikely wannabe kings were GaryB (Barratheon), Dave (Martell), Christian (Tyrell), Chris (Lannister), Michael (Greyjoy) and myself (Stark).
Three of the players were new to the game, so we spent a good half hour explaining the rules before getting started.
It was a cagey start with only the Barratheons making any sort of move by taking Kings Landing in their first turn. That proved to be a bit of a distraction as they mistakenly placed support markers the following turn after they had been banned from actions that round.
Stark had built up a sizeable navy in The Narrow Sea and took full advantage by moving into Shipbreaker Bay and taking Crackclaw Point from the Barratheons.  |
| The Starks take Shipbreaker Bay |
It wasn't to last though and the Starks were quickly pushed back to lick their wounds in the North.
The south was relatively quiet as both the Martells and the Tyrells jostled for position to improve both their supply and castle holdings. Martell wasn't beyond a few forays into Barratheon waters and ended up chasing one of their small fleets into the Sea of Dorne, only defeating them on the third attempt!
In war we are often advised to adopt a "divide et impera" or "divide and conquer" strategy in order to gain the upper hand. Following a quiet start, playing with their boats, the Greyjoys decided it was time to adopt such a strategy and attack the Starks to the North and the Lannisters to the South resulting in complete devastation... for them that is...
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| The Greyjoys Take Riverrun |
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| The Starks Take The Greyjoys |
Whispers in court mocked them for dividing their own forces rather than those of their enemies and for the first time in recorded history the Greyjoys were left with little more than a few measly ships.
All of this non-sense to the West gave Barratheon the opportunity to take the lead and amass six strongholds, only one short of victory. Unfortunately in doing so he managed to peeve off both the Tyrells and the Lannisters who rightly turned on him during the next turn.
For the Starks though things were improving fast, first taking Seagard and then The Eyrie they went into the last turn holding all three trophies and six strongholds. In spite of some last turn politicking which saw them stripped of these trophies, they still managed to take Crackclaw Point to seal their victory. Hoorah!
“When you play the game of thrones you win or you die. There is no middle ground.” - Cersei Lannister
A great synopsis Gary. I thoroughly enjoyed playing GOT last night and hope to get the chance to play again. It takes a while to get your head around what to do at first so hopefully next time I can improve on last night's experience. An excellent game to play, highly recommended. My thanks also to TBK for being great hosts and having a nice comfortable environment to play. I wish TBK every success for the future.
ReplyDeleteGreat game and well played by everyone. GaryG played an excellent game as usual and his destruction of the Greyjoys and deft use of his fleets meant that I had to make a dash for the winning line a turn or two earlier than I would have liked. This left me a target and I guess made it even easier for GaryG to take the Iron Throne.
ReplyDeleteI quite enjoyed playing House Baratheon, powerful if somewhat outnumbered by enemies. Great to get another six player game.
We are normally happy to play GOT with a five player minimum, but after last night's game I think we should always hold out for a sixth.. A new game is always a tough learning curve and that showed a little in the final scoring for those playing their first game. That being said everyone really got into the game and very much played a part in making it so much fun.
ReplyDeleteGreat to see you all down and roll on the next game!