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!

A spot of shopping

In the grand tradition of wargamers who haven't done very much recent wargaming, I went and placed an order with a favourite online wargames shop on the weekend.

The games I'd had my eye on for a while, but as they were both in stock and the prufrockian coffers had been slightly swelled due to a bit of overtime, it seemed as if the wargaming stars had aligned. 

Dien Bien Phu is by Legion Wargames, a newish company I've heard good things about but not yet played a game from. A tense siege - modern but not too modern - easily soloable, and an epic situation fixed in the mind by boyhood reading of those collectible magazine sets from the '80s on famous last stands or some such thing. I missed out on the first edition so it was happy chance that NWS had a second edition left in stock just when I was there browsing.

Battle Hymn Volume 1: Gettysburg and Pea Ridge is by the legendary Eric Lee Smith, building upon his Across Five Aprils system from many years ago, published by Compass Games, and enjoyed by our own Norm Smith whose review of this system I remember reading but cannot find. 

For some unknown reason Gettysburg is a particularly important battle for me. It causes a weird emptiness in the stomach. I've played it out with Summer Storm, Thunder at the Crossroads, and Battle for Gettysburg: the First Day. They all have an honoured place on my shelf (especially the last - as it was a desk top published game with actual paper maps I put it in a Very Safe Place and have not been able to find it since!), but I'm still looking for that game you can set up and play solo (or with a friend) over a couple of evenings with components attractive enough, end point visible enough and game system engaging enough to see it through to the end.

Whether the games live up to my anticipation remains to be seen. Going by previous experience the answer is likely to be 'no' - I'll likely open them up, have a look, put them on the shelf with satisfaction and then never get round to playing them - but we'll do our best to change the pattern!

Anyway, it's a pleasure to deal with NWS again, and I'm looking forward to trying out the new games when they arrive.