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Pax Pamir session report

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17 Jul 2016 15:31 - 18 Jul 2016 15:09 #230326 by Cranberries
On Saturday Dan Thurot and his friend MarkH taught my son and I how to play Pax Pamir and Ashes: Phoenixborn, the game that people seem to love or hate.

The following sketchy notes are not meant to be comprehensive but just reflect what I can remember after one play.

About 20 minutes into Dan's lucid and entertaining explanation of Pax, I was thinking to myself, "I'm in way over my head. I'm so glad I didn't take the shrink off of my copy--maybe I can wait for it to go out of print and recoup my investment."

Once we got playing the game, I sort of understood what was happening, and look forward to playing it more in the future.

1. There are a bunch of countries in 19th century Afghanistan. Your goal is to align yourself with one of the colonial powers who are carving it up so you can be rewarded with a governorship at the end of the game.

2. Cards (people) come up for sale. The higher up in the queue they are, the more they cost. Each card does something cool if you play it, and also inhabits in your tableau, giving you a little engine of abilities that vary in their effectiveness depending on which "state' the country is in. Sometimes economic activities are free, sometimes you can spy for free. Dan created a taxation machine that was used to make us cry.

3. You can also place armies on the countries and the connecting roads. Dominance is one of the victory conditions.

4. Sending assassins around the board and dismantling another player's tableau by killing cards is a fun move.

5. So much treachery!

6. Dan and MarkH are really funny. Dan would say something amusing and I would ask him what he was quoting and he was all "I just made that up."

7. My son picked up the game much faster than I did and made various vicious plays. I spent most of the game begging for help with understanding what my possible moves were.

8. Topple cards pop up on occassion. You can buy them and play them so even if you don't satisfy the winning conditions, you still crush other players. As a result, the board changes quickly and frequently.

9. MarkH is not to be trusted. Ever. He kept pointing out Dan's dominance while he snuck up on us. Dan knew this was happening, but we walked into his little trap.

10. Pax Pamir feels like a Euro-wargame, with amrich theme and lots of great historical card text that I didn't have time to read. If the Universe were a fair place and people on BGG played games more than twice, it would be in the top five. People that like this game *really* like it, and don't tire of multiple plays. It is not for acolytes of the Cult of the New.

11. The Saturday afternoon light on the board was beautiful, but I was too focused on the board to take out my camera which I had brought for that very purpose.

By the end of the game (Only 90 minutes) I sort of understood what was happening and decided to keep my copy with the hopes of somehow cultivating a group to play it in the future. Dan mentioned he had played over 20 times, so there is a possibility, however slight, that I could get a couple of friends from work to play this enough times for it to really shine. What is that shine metaphor from, anyway? Apples? Fireflies? The waxed heads of bald people?

We then played that Ashes: Phoenixborn card game. I am too lazy to fully describe it, but it is very cool. The specialized dice are big, colorful and fun. It felt just a little like Summoner Wars, except you don't move around a board. The key thing I wanted to share is that on your turn you can always mess with your cards and dice and do *something* interesting--no down time. I'm selling Netrunner and buying it. Dan said he has played the base set for a year and not gotten tired of it. Expansions are expensive, around $20+.

One more thing: It was really nice of Dan and his friend to sacrifice a good chunk of their Saturday afternoon to teach us these games. Good people.


Random BGG image of Pax:



My son's arm plays Ashes: Phoenixborn.


My crappy unboxing video of Pax Pamir. See my leather flippers attempt to open shrink wrap while my bored son plays an untuned ukulele.

Last edit: 18 Jul 2016 15:09 by Cranberries. Reason: Made a few clarifications. Added the lame unboxing video.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Dr. Mabuse, DukeofChutney, charlest, Dan Thurot, JEM

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18 Jul 2016 02:02 #230341 by Dan Thurot
Replied by Dan Thurot on topic Pax Pamir session report
Definitely was a good time — thanks for playing!
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gary Sax, charlest

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