J. R. Tracy - May 10, 2006 10:40 pm (#13517 Total: 13518) "I no drive just for drive. I drive for to finish in front." - Milka Duno, Le Mans Last night we fired up Friedrich again. Dan Raspler had Russia, Jeff Berry France, Sean Sealey Austria, and I was the big man himself. As the Prussian and protagonist, my goal was to put the laughter back into slaughter, at least at the outset. I was off to a good start, stuffing the French with a solid Hanoverian hand, steamrolling the Imperials, and annihilating 15 Austrian strength points in a pincer move at Lüben. The latter was a mighty victory but to some extent proved my undoing. After my initial success I donned a Fabian cloak and refused battle wherever possible. Lehwaldt played rope-a-dope with three Russian armies in East Prussia, keeping them busy before finally succumbing around turn eight or so. Once we were into the Fate cards I felt pretty good about my chances, with the Austrians still rebuilding, the Russians well off their timeline, and the French closest to victory but with plenty of Hanoverians and Prussians to protect their last objectives. The latter proved to be my problem – having destroyed half the total Austrian strength, I sent two armies west to protect Magdeburg. In doing so, I underestimated Sean’s ability to rebuild, and soon I was skating on thin ice in Silesia. Friedrich was fencing two separate Austrian armies, and I overlooked a road link and handed Sean the same pincer opportunity he dealt me early on. Friedrich found himself trapped in Striegau – I had over 40 points in clubs but Sean had a similar amount with a couple Reserve cards to boot. He knocked off Freddie and I was left with nothing in the immediate area to prevent him bagging his final flags in the following turn. We went 12 or 13 turns, the deepest we’ve gone yet. Our first five Fate cards were relatively meaningless, but the sixth reduced Prussia’s handsize. Looking further into the deck we found Russia would’ve been knocked out in two turns but Austria had at least six turns left. I made two mistakes, one big, one small – I allowed a supply unit to die in Saxony, not a big deal but it burned six points to replace and let Sean flag a space earlier than expected. The second was moving too much west to face the French when the Austrians have a good rebuild capability. I have to say Prussia can’t count on whupping 15 SPs so early, a major factor in my longevity. Playing Prussia again, I’d consider moving the Grünberg supply train into Poland, supporting an army covering Silesia from the northeast. It would further separate the Austrian points of attack and stress their supply situation. I might also offer battle a little more often – playing up to a single point loss and falling back worked for the most part, but in doing so I allowed Russia and Austria to build some monster hands. Austria in particular was able to rebuild his losses with hearts and some diamonds while still putting together monster points in clubs and spades, where he needed to fight. Dan reviewed his Russian play and feels Catherine needs to use all four armies to trap and kill Lehwaldt as soon as possible. Otherwise the fight in East Prussia drags on forever. Russia faces the greatest time pressure and just can’t screw around – Cath needs to have East Prussia in hand and forces in the Prussian heartland when the first Fate cards start rolling out. Jeff played France well but just suffered from a great Hanoverian hand – over half my cards were ten or better and most in useful suits. I was in better shape than I realized, underestimating the Hanoverian ability to protect the final couple flags from the edges of the country and beyond. Next time, I’ll make sure it has one Prussian army in support from early on, and give the Austrians the respect they deserver. Once again, I am impressed – there are really only five or six game mechanics to remember, but a host of tactical and strategic decisions to consider. The only possible knock is game length – if the Prussian is going to win, it’s likely to clock in over four hours. That’s not bad from a multiplayer wargame standpoint, but feels long given the simplicity of the concepts and its potential as a crossover game. I love it nonetheless, and look forward to another go as Prussia. JR