June 10, 2004 |
I gave Sam a ride home from a mega-rainy work day, and invited him to join Dan and me for a gala little gaming session in lieu of softball (which was soggied out). After scarfing down some Popeye's chicken, getting May fed and put to bed, and making a failed effort to lure Lee over for some 2 and 2, we played a two hour game of DoA (which Sam likes to call "Battle of the Time Zones"). I should note that we could have played a 3 player game of Power Grid, but they ignored me when I brought it up as an option. Dan wanted to play 3 team DoA, but I am doggedly opposed to it. Two reasons: I've heard OpFire is a mess, and I don't want to wait through two turns when I can just wait through 1.
| Duel of Ages |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Mike | 3 | 1 | |
| Dan & Sam | 0 | 2 | |
Teams:
| White (Dan & Sam) | Black (Mike) | |
| Enrak the Fury (the Berserker) | Dunabi (the Wildman) | |
| William Wallace (the Inspiring Leader) | Ivymane (the Wood Fay) | |
| Titanium Renegade (the Cyborg) | Pile of Weewaks (the Horde) | |
| Reaver Mark VII (the Battered War Machine) | Fanged Tracnids (the Multipliers) |
Meanwhile, the Fanged Tracnids tried to spend turns absorbing water to increase their health, but Enrak and later the Reaver came too close for comfort. The pile of Weewaks made for the Future labyrinth, and Dunabi gave Team Black some points in the Ancient labyrinth. Ivymane tied Team White in the Royal Tournament and then gave Team Black some more leads - in the Mercenary Camp and the Ruins of Cany XII.
It was here that Team White made its fatal mistake. Instead of dedicating themselves to a strategy, they got distracted. The Fanged Tracnids, having obtained a Varmint Rifle, parked themselves in some water and took some (woefully ineffective) potshots at Team White as they made for their card exchanges. One shot bounced off Titanium Renegade's metal eyebrow. Enrak made a charge at the Tracnids, who had gained 2 points of health (and now stood at 4), but then ducked into colonial labyrinth to avoid death (where the fleet-footed Dunabi had given Team Black a 2 space lead). Dunabi then picked up the slack, shooting his bow and arrow at the Renegade and Enrak, remaining just out of range for them to attack him. After delaying everyone for a couple turns, he fled. All this while, Ivymane gave Team Black a lead in the Royal Tournament and the Pile of Weewaks moved the guardian in the Future labyrinth into a tie with Team White.
Part of Team White's problem in this stage (when they fell behind 4-0 at one point), was that the Reaver failed a roll he should have passed, and the Titanium Renegade had HUGE movement penalties in the area he was running around in. The platter was full of water and swamps, and he was stuck there, wasting several turns running back and forth to no effect, and when he got upset that he was being shot at (but not injured - only Enrak got hit at all, losing 3 of his 5 lives) he ran at the aggressor. With Team Black's advantage in speed, this was a critical boo-boo.
At last, though, things started turning Team White's way. The Tracnids spent some time trading in their varmint rifle for something useful in the vault, and Ivymane and the Weewaks (who had been damaged from 24 to 20 points) tried to exchange cards. Dunabi ran about, generally doing whatever he wanted, as he had good weapons and the speed to escape from anyone. Ivymane and the Weewaks met in a location too near to the Reaver (who had tied things up at the Royal Tournament) and Enrak, however, and Ivymane was killed by one slap of the wrist of Reaver - this delighted Dan to no end. Ivymane was flying all over the damned board, and it must have been like finally killing that pesky mosquito.
Next on the agenda for Team White was to kill the Weewaks, a BIG mistake. They managed to get some good hits in over the next couple turns, but Enrak was killed eventually, as he only had 2 points left and there are an infuriating number of Weewaks. The Reaver made for the future labyrinth once his pitiful bow (which hit only once for no damage against the Fanged Tracnids) broke. The Weewaks (now down to about 9 health, fled the scene, and the Tracnids were a little too fearsome (and quick) with their Colt .45. The Reaver's place in the battlefield was taken by the Titanium Renegade, who was armed with sneakers (movement = 6) and a pistol. He risked himself a little much, though, as he took some serious damage from the Fanged Tracnids' Colt .45. The Weewaks also managed to disrupt some of his circuitry before losing even more health.
Dunabi kept running around, making sure Team Black kept his lead. His remarkable number of yellow skills was a huge boon, and he rarely seemed to miss. The Weewaks, after the Reaver's failure to re-take the lead in the Future labyrinth, made for it and also failed it. The score was now 3-0, but the Tracnids FOPPed a roll in the future labyrinth and was placed in a dome that was quickly surrounded by the Titanium Renegade and William Wallace. With time running out, Team White was down to their last couple chances. The Reaver was stuck on the other end of the map, with only one opportunity (a green wits challenge) to take away a point from Team Black. With that point taken away, and the inevitable death of the Fanged Tracnids (now at 3 health), the score would stand at 2-1, and victory would be within reach.
Alas, it was not to be. The Fanged Tracnids, despite all odds, not only managed to escape (they used terrain effectively enough so that they were not hit once by the Titanium Renegade, who has a white ability with pistols!), and their reactions were quick enough so that they were only hit one time in melee combat. Plus, armed with a Colt .45, each advance by Wallace and the Renegade came at a cost. In fact, the Tracnids not only escaped the failed pincer attack (which Dan called "pathetic") but they almost killed the Renegade, getting him down to one health.
With this attack declared a failure, Team White threw in the towel a minute or two early.
In reflection, the time-wasting in mid-game was crucial to Team White's defeat. The card draws were kind of bad for them, too, as most cards were either reds, blues, or whites. This made it easy for Team Black's members, who had a lot of mediocre stats (especially the Weewaks, who were deemed non-threatening early on) to get past the guardians. Late in the game, when Enrak was killed by the nigh-unkillable Pile of Weewaks, Dan felt that the Weewaks were an unbalanced card. I disagree. The Titanium Renegade and Reaver had no trouble whittling them down (and rarely took more than 1 or 2 points of damage if they were even hit. The problem was that he tried to take the Weewaks on with a character with health 2. Such disrespect given to an enemy in melee combat is almost always a big mistake in DoA. It's one of the reasons I don't like Fen Lin or Koguryo. They have high melee and reaction skills, but only 4 health and very low armor, and tend to die if they get hit twice (or even once). Sure they probably do some damage in a fight, but then you have to run and get them healed (the Bladed Terror, on the other hand, is sweet, because he has green armor).
The Weewaks, after all, fled quite a bit, and were never really assaulted with something that goes after their true weakness - an area attack weapon. Going into melee combat against a foe with much greater health is always a bad idea unless your armor is outstanding. Remember that, Dan!