Edition 2 Game Report: Tom, Ben and Andy S

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We've spent the last couple of months quietly making changes for what will eventually become War on Terror, v 2.0. We have a few aims with this next edition: 1) changing the rules to tighten up the looser aspects of the game and make it more strategically rewarding; 2) introducing some new cards and maybe the odd new rule to keep the game fresh and new; 3) changing the components to make the game lighter. This is our third test game so far ...

It's a school night and a late start. Never a good mix. We're playing with reduced amounts of pieces and money in an attempt to get this thing under 2kg. And there's a new 'piece'. The rumours of some kind of overseas base are correct; War on Terror now has Permanent Military Bases, denoted by two village counters - and boy are they fun.

It turns out to be one of the better games that we've played. There's the classic pattern of peaceful growth, followed by prosperity, followed by fear of losing that prosperity, followed by violence, followed by collapse, followed by a final push to win. This game even saw a 'failed win' as Tom thought he had it in the bag, but his inability to count up to four (developments) let him down and he ended up one point short.

Tom's near miss, opened up the game for Ben and Andy S. Ben was dying to turn terrorist to sample some of the new terrorist cards, but he was prevented by the fact that if he did turn, Tom would automatically win on the remaining points. So despite having been double-nuked by Tom, Ben had to limp on and rebuild his empire. This gave Andy S a chance to slip in under the radar when the entire game had been a two horse race between Tom and Ben... but that's how these things happen. A lucky mix of cards meant that a Regime Change, followed by a free City clinched the game. Andy S gets another win notched on the belt.

There are some lovely new cards, some of which we will divulge, but some we want to keep as a surprise. But we can tell you that moving terrorists around as an Empire is now much more fun. And the 'Democracy Export' card has quickly risen to be the most coveted card in the deck, not quite as devastating as Nukes, but they do have nasty, long-term effects.

War on Terror now has Permanent Military Bases - and boy are they FUN The little changes we've made seem to result in a more stable and tactical game, with slightly quicker round times. All of this is great news if it sticks. Another test game this week should tell if it's a one-off fluke or not.

If all goes well, we'll release the v2.0 rules and instructions on how to 'upgrade' your current game. We'll then be relying on you lot to fine tune our fat-fingered attempts at game improvement and then it's off to the printers ...

Posted by TerrorBull Games on 8 May 2008 - 0 comments