Day 2 here at Buckeye Game Fest started off with breakfast with Hermann Luttmann and Ken in the hotel restaurant. Bacon was plentiful and I think I took about a year off my life with how much I ate. We had a great time discussing Herm’s upcoming Revenge of the Zeds from Blue Panther. He is specifically trying very hard to not infringe on his Dawn of the Zeds from Victory Point Games like just do a carbon copy so the setting is a whole new situation and is focused on the next generation of Farming Dale (the imaginary setting from Dawn of the Zeds). It was also interesting to just talk about his designs and the process he goes through in design and development and how he is able to do so much. Hermann is not only a great designer but he is a real true first class guy!
After breakfast, we went to the War Room and got setup for our 2 COIN Series Teach & Play Events. This is where we try to teach the concepts of COIN from GMT Games and then play a shorter duration scenario with these new players.
I took on the task of teaching Fire in the Lake to 3 pretty new COIN Series players. They all caught on pretty quickly though and were able to get the basics down and actually did pretty well. We played the Short Scenario that was just 3 rounds from 1966-1968. The NVA squeaked out a victory at the end of the third round with a score of -4. The VC was second at -6, US third at -8 and ARVN last with -12.
Alexander’s teach was with more seasoned players and their game of Andean Abyss ended with a Cartels victory. All in all a great time and a good start to our day.
We then again sat down with Hermann Luttmann and he gave us a quick Look at his upcoming Tattered Flags Volume 1: Into the Whirlpool. This game is a remake of one of his first games with Victory Point Games and takes a look at American Civil War tactical combat at Gettysburg and the Wheatfield.
They have a new artist (and I can’t remember his name) but he has brought some new life to this one and it looks just great! New counters and a new map have been commissioned and they really have a very interesting look and feel. we hope to get to play this one tomorrow so hopefully I can share more then. We did shoot a 30-minute video with Hermann and discussed this game as well several others coming out soon. Look for this video on the channel in the next month or so.
After we chatted with Herm, he invited us to try out his new design called Alpha Zeds coming soon from Trick or Treat Studios. This one is a cool press your luck dice chucker where the players are playing as the Alpha Zeds and racing to take out the human defenders in the city center. The players roll action dice and assign them to one of their Zeds and then move up their track and attack survivors Al the while trying to reach the end goal of the city. They have hordes that are behind the Zeds and they can be moved up to behind the Zeds to help them with extra attack dice and if they get beaten by survivors they will only retreat to as far as their Hoard counter is located. Think In Magnificent Style. Really fun and really lite game that will definitely get some play on my table.
The best part about the game was the combat and the use of Brain Cards to gain extra dice, rerolls and gain special benefits. This one is going to be pretty good and should release later this summer.
We then took a break and went to dinner alone at a place called Bare Burger. I ate a fantastic southwest salad and we enjoyed some onion ring appetizers as Alexander downed a delicious looking burger. The decor was a bit interesting and this place was definitely an experience.
I am obviously eating a bit healthier since my health scare of last year and my Southwest salad was very good and had lots of kick with jalapeño and spicy ranch dressing.
We then returned and I feel like we forced Hermann to play his The Struggle for Zorn: The Red Blight from Blue Panther which is a 1-5 player semi-cooperative fantasy wargame. Players represent the various Houses of the Kingdom of Zorn, and these Houses have joined together to defeat the growing threat of the vile Red Blight. The Red Blight is an evil entity that has just launched an invasion into peaceful Slumbering Troll Valley, the northern-most province of the kingdom.
The players will each control a Commander, a Magic User, and a House Army, which consists of various types of military units. Each player attempts to defeat enemy units and capture Treasure Tokens, and by so doing earn Glory Points. The player scoring the most Glory Points will win the game. But players must cooperate and assist each other as well because if a Red Blight creature slips past them and runs off the board they will lose.
This game is a fantasy wargame and revolves around players maneuvering their forces to attack evil units and using terrain and an understanding of the map and how the enemy moves to win. This one is very fun but can be a bit long. Great production and lots of stuff in the box so you will want to look into this one.
The final event of the evening was our Nations & Cannons RPG event where we played 2 concurrent sessions that ultimately came together at the end to one table. Nations & Cannons is a complete historical campaign setting for D&D 5th Edition that is set in the American Revolutionary War.
The crux of our one shot adventure was that one group was attempting to break out from jail 10 colonial sailors and then hijack the HMS Avenger that was docked in Boston Harbor. They then were to pilot this ship to aid the other party who was set to assault the British held fort on the Dorchester Heights ahead of Henry Knox arriving with his guns taken from Fort Ticonderoga to force the British to leave Boston.
Hilarity ensued in both parties and lots of shenanigans were perpetrated and when they came together they all had a laugh and were thrilled that we could pull that off. But it wasn’t over as they had to take the fort by shooting the swivel cannons and deck guns to pick off the British forces as they stormed the fort. The HMs Avenger approached the fort flying the Union Jack so they were hailed by the British and then began unloading on the column approaching the fort and killing several soldiers.
As the battle raged on, from the depths rises a beast of myth and legend in the Kraken. His eye is set on the HMS Avenger as the battle for the fort rages on.
The party took the fort and did well over 190 total damage to the Kraken. Finally, the Kraken was no more as our brave heroes, who hauled the metal flagpole from the fort and rowed a canoe to ram the beast, skewered his eye and the protruding lightning rod attracted a huge fiery bolt that connects and blows the evil to pieces! One party member was crushed to death in the beak of the Kraken but the others won the day. We had a total blast and Alexander did a fantastic job with the game. It was kind of funny to watch him GM after we got together. He was sweating up a storm, as the room was very hot, but mainly due to his jumping and prancing around.
What a perfect end to a perfect day!
Tomorrow, we are planning to play a 6-player game of Here I Stand in the morning and also hope to try and play Tattered Flags with Hermann Luttmann. Also will probably finish the night with a game of The Thing. But who knows what we will get to.
Thanks for reading along and we will be back with you tomorrow night with a rundown of Day 3 here at Buckeye Game Fest.
-Grant
The Players' Aid 