The Saga of the Heart of the Ice

V. Ambush on the Cliffs

Thor, Thor, the warriors	whisper, name of Thor;
Silent-wing Hjolvar	takes flight, spies them out;
Five, the foes, in wait;	Five, the foes to fall;
Winter Haunt Iborighu,	shadow-drow and folk
watch attentively,	unaware, cat and owl stalk;
Frost-folk pair look down,	Skald, Elf-Spell, Viking
sneak with stealth unseen	as Druid slays frost-folk;
Shadow-elf mutters	dark words and hides away
afraid of warriors	wielders of the light;
Bjorn Reaver-Born and	Skaroya Elven-Son slay
wayward frost-child,	from Skalding's hand fiery
Ilduvær flies to strike	frost-heartless foe in flames;
Grey-Spell speaks arrows	of light to strike Haunt-evil
who cringes at snow-cat's	wrath; Iborighu-thane calls
down the cold of his	Winter-God and brings
forth dire-wolf from ether;	Shadow-Lord, in fear
for his life, summons	shadow-stuff to fight
in dark-elf weakness	as Bjorn Axe-Biter slays.
Across the gulf Ilduvær	flies, tastes Iborighu-flesh
as light-arrow takes	foul Winter-Haunt life;
Shadow-master falls	under leopard claw
and Hjolvar's righteous	wrath; but shadow-thrall
stalks, wraith-form	slipping through Skald's
well-aimed arrows;	Elven-Grey calls bolts
of acid and magicks	dissolving shadowy resolve;
Mighty Bjorn scales	walls like a spider
descending to the path	and up to the other,
where wrath-fuelled	axes bite into the shadow
as darkness falls upon	them in their victory;
Thor, Thor, the voices cry;	Thor, in hall on high;
As warriors find	much-needed sleep,
Hjolvar stirs in dream,	Hled-Eidolon reveals
itself in ice-clad home,	their quest-goal in sight.

Recently Played: Mississippi Queen with The Black Rose expansion set

Mississippi Queen
Mississippi Queen: The Black Rose

This is a race game with a dual-minor in strategy and resource management. I can't vouch for the dynamics without The Black Rose expansion, as I haven't played it that way - but it felt right playing as we did.

We played this at one of the cookouts, so we had a good sized crowd, hence we didn't actually bring The Black Rose herself onto the board.

The game boards are hex sections of the Mississippi River, and each turn the first one onto the last section rolls a die to determine which way the river flows next. Your job is to pilot a steamship along the river and be the first to reach the ending docks.

One thing you have to manage and balance out is picking up two passengers - if you don't slow and stop at two different docks, you can't dock at the end.

Another aspect of resource management is gauging your supply of coal. Each turn, you get one facing change for free - this allows you to change direction. Want to turn more? It costs a coal. You're on a hex, so it takes four turns to do a 180 - you've only got six coal, and only two chances of picking up more coal along the way.

You also can change speed by one position each turn - if you need to slow down or speed up faster, it costs coal. Your speed determines how many spaces you move in one turn. To pick up a passenger or more coal, you must move onto the space at a speed of one - and often, you have to spend some coal to slow down in time.

On the river there are obstacles to avoid - sandbars and logs can be piloted through but cost you speed, coal, and other things. There's also islands, and the direction of the river itself to take into account when charting your course. The other players also form an obstacle - they can hit you and force you onto their choice of an adjoining hex. The only plus to that is you get to choose your facing, which might actually result in a very positive change.

The rules were fairly involved, but they were also grasped easily as many of them only needed to be learned in certain circumstances - and with a lot of players, there were a lot of reminders about what you could and couldn't do.

It was an enjoyable game to play, and one I would purchase (although it doesn't seem to be available at the moment - hopefully it will be in the future!)

Overheard...

"You had me at your beck and call, and you still didn't use me!"

Later, in the same phone conversation:

"Oh, so it's Mr. Programmer now, I don't even have a last name? Guy?"