Westeros Bannerman,

The invitation sent to my colleague and his girlfriend read,

You are cordially invited to

an afternoon and evening of

A Game of Thrones

In addition to enjoying a day of combat, deception, and intrigue,

we offer culinary delicacies from

Westeros & Essos

Wine & Ale

Arbor Gold (White Moscato)

Dornish Red (Red Merlot)

Oldtown Ale (Newcastle Brown Ale)

Sweet & Savory

Fruit Salad of the Vale

(Blueberries, Raspberries, and Strawberries)

Crisped Bread from Pentos and Pureed Dragoin Eggs of Myr

(Pita Chips and Guacamole)

Dinner Entree & Desert

Flutes of Valyria in Red Waste Sause, Dothraki Horse Meat,

and Sprouts from the Forest of Qohor

(Penne Pasta in tomato sauce, meatballs, and mushrooms)

Highgarden Lemon Tart and Mug of Auroch Brew

(Lemon Pie a& Coffee)

One of the things this couple enjoyed about playing with me was the fact that as a 30-year gamer, I understood the ebb and flow of gaming and socializing...and that I had read the rules thoroughly and we could get right down to playing. As AGoT represents a game which has been on the shelf for years, I won't critique the game mechanics or other aspects as I do when play-testing or developing games. Instead, I want to focus on a 3-player game we experienced last night.

First, the game went the entire 10 turns, and by my colleague's account, it's the first of nearly three dozen games played that has done so. Why...again, they've played with non-gamers, uninterested in learning the game beyond a cursory examination of the rules and subsequently grew tired by mid0game, when things are starting to heat up around the board.

Second, with so many areas off limits, alliance were formed, broken, and formed once again over the course of the evening. In this game, everyone's word is secretly questioned, and even if your "ally" has promised one action, it's definitely in your best interest to keep a watchful eye on the tokens played.

Third, not one House moved from their respective Influence Track the entire evening. Baratheon maintained the Iron Throne , Stark held the Valyrian Blade, and the Lannisters (me) controlled the Raven (as a side note ~ very significant power with regard to the Special Orders !) Admittedly, I found the Iron Throne to prove a very powerful influence in the game, while the other two played a secondary role.

Fourth, the ability to Muster and Supply at the whim of the cards proved difficult at times, as there's no preparing for these events, as you would in a classic war game. Thus, you need to remain ever-vigilant of the numbers of units in each location, so that you may, at the turn of a card, capitalize on the new situation.

Finally, as someone who has play-tested more than 50 war games and has been part of developing half that many, AGoT with three players was an absolute blast. Again, we wen the distance, with Baratheon just winning with seven castles/strongholds to Stark's six and the Lannister's five. The game lasted five hours (when you take out the socializing and eating bits) and we will host this couple again...even my daughter got excited to play next time based solely on my colleague's and his girlfriend's enthusiasm.

Well done!

Cheers,

Joe

Glad you had a great time Joe! Play On!

SFRR,

It was a blast as I say. Two things I had not mentioned earlier...

We did not play with either the Wildings mechanic nor the Tide of Battle (TOB) cards. The Wildings Track, akin to several FFG games I've played, does not scale well based on the number of players. As the Wildings attack when the Track reaches "12" the game requires 5 or 6 Houses to respond to the challenge without going bankrupt. With 3 Houses, we'll use "6" as the trigger in future games. As to the ToB cards, we didn't want any other randomness added to the combat sequences. However, a review by Drive Thru Review recommends using them in 3-player games. We'll see.

Cheers,

Joe

Glad you liked the game so much, Joe! That's the spirit!

Now, as for the menu... I'd have come only for the food

Julia,

We would make it fun for you ~ what specifically do you not like about the 2nd Edition of AGoT.

Ciao,

Joe

Joe, sorry, my post was misleading. I intended "I'd have come for the food, since it's so inviting that the game's not so important".

Nothing against 2nd ed. AGoT. I'm just happy with 1st edition, and since it hits so rarely the table, we never felt the urge of getting the new one

Julia,

Ah, I get it! Well, hopefully, in the future, we'll get it to the table and we can all join in the fun together.

Ciao,

Joe

Westeros Bannerman,

We'll return to the table again this Saturday...hopefully traffic will not delay my friends by more than 3 hours like last time...that's enough time for nearly another game! I'll have another write-up on the heels of the conflict.

Cheers,

Joe

Westeros Bannerman,

Well, we met again yesterday for a pair of games...one three player and a modified 2-player game. And yes, we had an assortment of delicious food ~ pulled pork with a homemade sauce, tender Korean BBQ, and a pair of Eye Round Steaks cooked with potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, and onions.

Anyway, this time my friend Colin played Baratheon , Sarah (Colin's girlfriend) played Lannister , and I played Stark. Despite being away from the action for the first few turns, I amassed quite a few Power Tokens and units. Unfortunately, during the next few rounds, Harranhal , Moat Cailin , and other locations nearby became a blood bath as the Lannisters and Starks exhausted our forces against one another. Meanwhile, Baratheon slowly and steadily built his forces and then launched strikes deep into the North . With yet another Baratheon win, it's obvious that the other players must band together to keep that House at bay before it becomes entirely too strong.

During the second game, we made the North off-limits and played only Baratheon and Greyjoy (and had to move one of the Grayjoy's starting units in an acceptable location). We went 9 turns, with a number of battles around Harranhal , and both Houses had similar strengths. In the end, Greyjoy moved its fleet around Westeros and steadily harassed Baratheon's navy, cutting-off vital support on land. A great game...even though it's technically meant to be played with 2-players.

Hope your games are exciting, as well!

Cheers,

Joe