The Lamps are Going Out - learning game

Earlier this year I was lucky enough to pick up a used copy of the The Lamps are Going Out, produced by Compass Games. I'd been keeping an eye out for it for a while after reading a review that struck a chord.

I set it up on Monday, have slowly worked through the sample game which takes you through the first two turns, and am carrying on from there myself to learn the rules and try to get a sense of how the game flows. It can be played solo, two-handed or four-handed. I think it will be a good one to get down: there is promise of replayability!

The map is pleasing. I like area maps for solo play, and it reminds of the Diplomacy board, which gives me the warm fuzzies. 

The game play is interesting. You have a fresh/spent model - familiar to me from Phil Sabin games - with a production model which allows replenishment of spent units, but production points are at a premium, and must also be used to do other things. 

Attacking units automatically become spent, but if they score equal or higher to the defender (with a few modifiers here and there as you would expect) the defender will also become spent. When all defenders in an area are spent, further successful attacks will either force retreats or cause casualties. 

You can probably imagine how the Western Front might go under such a system!

Alongside this you have event cards drawn each player turn which change the board situation in some way, and technology cards, which may introduce new types of units, or leave you with no advances at all, depending on what card your faction pulls.

There is 'chrome' to keep things interesting (trench rules, air rules, artillery rules, naval rules, U-boat rules, collapse-of-Russia rules, amphibious operation rules, a 'USA entry' track and so on) and allow players to put some Baldrickianly cunning plans into action.

I'm pleased with it so far and enjoying pottering around with it. It is satisfyingly large in scope, but without so many moving parts and so many decision points that you burn out playing it. 

The Schlieffen Plan - Germans in the Somme!

It has started well. Let's hope it continues that way!