SPALDING WARGAMING CLUB
I've discussed Black Orchestra on the Fen Orc Blog but on Thursday I had a chance to play it myself with Karl. I chose Dietrich Bonhoeffer (radical Christian) and Karl chose Claus Von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise). Bonhoeffer (left) founded the anti-Nazi Confessing Church; Stauffenberg (right) led Operation Valkyrie to depose Hitler With the rulebook to guide us as we go and the setting on 'Easy Mode', we swing into action... The board shows an abstract map of Europe, before the War, with Hitler and his Deputies in Berlin (plotting) and us heroes in Berlin Station (also plotting). You've got two traits to manage: your Motivation (we start as 'Timid') and Suspicion ('Medium'). Increasing Motivation is a priority: your special powers kick in once you become 'Motivated' (e.g. Von Stauffenberg gets an extra action and I deliver electrifying sermons) and once you get to 'Committed' you are allowed to carry out Plots against Hitler. You also want to keep your Suspicion low, because of the Gestapo. The other priority seems to be to wander round the board collecting Items. We get off to a flying start. Karl collects the necessary explosives for a Suitcase Bomb to blow up Hitler in Berlin. It doesn't work. Not enough red successes to kill Hitler, but not enough 'eagle' suspicion symbols to arrest Stauffenberg. The Suitcase Bomb Plot fails. Stauffenberg miraculously escapes suspicion and meets me on a train heading south. We start discussing engineering a train wreck to kill Hitler instead. Then we realise that, with Hitler's military support as high as it is, we're never going to snuff him. We need to start sabotaging the War Effort. Now we realise the importance of the Conspire Action, to lower Hitler's military strength. We roll really well, but the War is opening out and Hitler just keeps winning: Anschluss, France, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Norway... Karl has another daring plan while pretending to do War Work out in the East. Why not kidnap Hitler? He visits Auschwitz, just to get his Motivation really high, then rushes to snatch Hitler from Nuremberg. This time we're well-prepared with tons of Weaponry and Hitler is super-vulnerable. Sure... surely... But no. Look at all those Weapons and a Signature too, plus tons of dice: roll well Karl. Ah. Hide your face in shame, young man. This time, Stauffenberg goes to prison. I'd like to rescue him, but I'm way too suspicious. You see, Hitler keeps dropping in on me for surprise chats. It's very unnerving. I decide to fly to Zurich to prove my loyalty and leave Karl to get himself out of prison, which he does by resisting torture. Well done. We're back out East again, sabotaging the War Effort. I've had enough. I'm sick of being the timid cleric. I've got a Poison Gas Plot and shedloads of poison. I've been to Treblinka, I've seen what they're doing. I'm ready. This time. T h i s ... t i m e ... We've got Hitler cornered. We've got all the poison left in Europe. We've got the dice. We roll the dice. Bonhoeffer is sad. It's Fortress Europe now. Hitler is in the bunker. The regime is doubling down. There are almost no resources left on the board. Karl talks about another Plot. Something about a Sniper. One last push and we can end this. C'mon. One last time. Then the 'Documents Located' card finally shows up. We are exposed. The firing squad awaits. How did we do? Well, we wasted time at the start, not realising you need to bide your time during Hitler's periods of military supremacy and strike when he's weak. Once we figured that out we had two solid, well-resourced strikes at him that should have, damnit, should have worked.
But the Führer is only lucky, lucky man. He went to the destiny allotted to him by history: 30 April, mid-afternoon, the smell of burnt almonds and the sound of a gunshot from the study.
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