December 14th Post-session

Thanks to Patrick for hosting another well-attended Wednesday session. Amy and I were treated to a demo of Hunting Party while we waited for everyone else to arrive. The quality of the cards was amazing and the demo left Amy and I both eager to play a full game. Lots of neat mechanics blended together with the fantasy theme which will always appeal to me.

Once everyone (Amy, Jeff, Patrick, Kendahl, Simon, and Jonathan) had assembled, we got down to the business of bleeding the treasury of a Central American country dry via a game of Junta. I was not impressed with the quality of the bits in this West End Games reprint. The counters were all of flimsy cardstock and got fairly banged up just by being separated. The cards and money were standard quality, and while the board was a bit garish, I did like the clearly marked boundaries and the easy-to-follow phase tracks. The coveted office of president was heavily competed for from the word go, and the game stuck to its theme of corrupt politics like gum to a sneaker sole. There were at least a dozen assassination attempts, while bribes were solicited and given. Alliances were forged and broken at the drop of a hat. We cut the game short after Patrick managed to steal all the money from Kendahl that Kendahl had stolen from Amy. That gave Patrick what seemed to be an insurmountable lead, even though the game was at best only halfway done. Overall, it's a solid game with tons of player interaction. I'd be willing to play it again, especially now that we understand the turn order and the strength of the various roles. After a single play, I give it a 7 out of 10. One final thought: Amy and I had a conversation during the drive home that was inspired by Patrick's insightful comment "You know, 90% of the game has absolutely nothing to with the board." We think the game could have been done entirely as a cardgame without losing any theme and with the bonus of trimming off all the coup 'wargame' rules. It could be replaced with something simple like: Each role has X units assigned to it. In the event of a coup, role one die for each unit that your role controls (you can get temporary bonus units from cards). Declare yourself to be part of the Junta or a loyalist. Add up all dice for each side, high total wins.

Amy and I had to call it an early night. Everyone else stuck around and played ....something. I'm sure the details of the rest of the evening will be filled in later.