Here I Stood and other madness

So last night our game group were bickering on what to play. Battlestations and Federation Commander were both ruled out, so we argued for a bit until we came to the conclusion to play Here I Stand. I'm fortunate enough to have a weekly game group with six (to eight) players, each knowing how to play Here I Stand.

I had the lovely fortune of getting to play as the Ottomans, who I also am playing in our F:AT acts game. For those not following that game; I'm sucking in it. The Ottomans, as with any power, can be hamstrung by low value cards. It slows the progress of the Ottomans very badly in the early game, and without piracy, it's a real bitch to deal with. Last night, however, was not such a game. I didn't have a single turn in our 4 turn game where I didn't have a 4, 5 or 6 value card.

First turn, I took out Belgrade, second turn Buda, then piracy was played. France jumped to an early lead with circumnavigation and a slew of victories against minors and an alliance against Genoa. I made peace with the Hapsburgs on the condition that he focus his energy against France. France whined. By turn two, he had reached 17 points, turn three he hit 22. If he would have held his keys he would have probably won by turn four with five points ahead of everyone.

I decided that my mission in life would be piracy, and fucking with the balance of the other players. I quickly accumulated a slew of piracy vp by raiding France, and then the Hapsburgs. I racked up 6 total piracy vp by the end of turn four. France continued to whine when I hit him, and complained that we were letting the Hapsburg win. He was three keys away from an instant victory, but none of them would be easy grabs. I knew this, and also knew that piracy directed against him would either help me more, or slow him down enough so he couldn't hit the auto win. 

Did I mention that France was whining? Yeah, a shit ton. When the Hapsburgs attacked he complained. When we all didn't switch to only attacking the Hapsburgs, he complained we were letting them win. When England attacked, he complained that it was letting the Hapsburgs win. Too bad France held off the English attack and only lost one key to the Hapsburgs. The reformation was sweeping along, and the Schmalkaldic league guranteed Protestant dominance, especially since he controlled every elector. France whined about something else too, I've forgotten.

Turn four, the final turn, I played Copernicus to gain two vp. I played the card giving me a bonus vp from piracy in a region (forget the name). I had 3 successful piracy attempts that turn. Neither France nor the Hapsburgs had the fleets to defeat my corsairs and fleets, and after they had destroyed each others fleets, I mopped up.

It was interesting to see how important diplomacy was on my part, appeasing both the French and the Hapsburgs with occassional "unsanitary camp" cards to offset any aggression against myself. My victory did come at the end with my 25 vp, through a combination of luck, negotiations and masked ambition. I had a good time - and we played the whole game (including setup) in 4 hours. Not too bad.

For those who keep tabs on my "Sword and Planet" blogs, fear not. I've been trucking along making cards (currently at about 180), making more than I can use so I have some room to pick and choose when playtesting. Not a lot to report on the construction process, and I don't have a digital camera to show off the work. I have done some design on counters, and would like some feedback on them in the near future. So expect another blog in the next 2-3 weeks!

I'm also working hard on getting into grad school, so the rate of updates will slow for the next few months. Once January comes up, I should have more time to dedicate to the process.

Thanks for all the support everyone!