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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
