Things haven’t been going terribly well, so let’s Camp Down for now.
@gmwhite999 asked for a die roll:
Okay, as the Zeppelin lands in another part of the valley, Zhukov and Reggie sneak off and hide in a cave to recover and reacquaint themselves.
Now on to the Villain Phase, starting with the Villain Event card, which is …
- Surge of Darkness. All Villains immediately take an extra Villain Adventure Step, outside of the normal turn order. Move the Villain Track 1 step forward.
So, the Villain Track now moves to 3, needing 15 for them to win, and then Herr Teufel and Tresa will adventure.
-
Herr Teufel goes for the Amulet of Power rolls
pool 4: 3, 4, 5, 6 -
Tresa continues to search in the Amazon Jungle, rolling
pool 2: 2, 6
@gmwhite999 asked for a die roll:
Herr Teufel passes 4 of the 5 Dangers going for the Amulet of Power, so needs to pass one more Danger to gain it.
Tresa now finds the location of the Hammer of the Ancients, so can go it for it now, rolling pool 4: 2 × 3, 4, 5.
@gmwhite999 asked for a die roll:
Tresa passes 2 of the 3 Dangers so needs to pass one more to gain the Hammer of the Ancients.
Now the Outpost and Zeppelin Stage.
-
Secret Base roll is
pool 1: 1 - The Zeppelin will head for … (draws Location card) …the British Isles and rolls for movement, getting
pool 1: 3
I make it two routes from the Pacific Crossing to Britian, so will roll for it. 1-3 it heads via the North America, 4-6 it heads via Siberia. [pool 1d6]
@gmwhite999 asked for a die roll:
Zeppelin roll pool 1: 5
@gmwhite999 asked for a die roll:
Nothing happens from the Secret Base, but the Zeppelin heads via Asia and Europe to the British Isles, stopping in Siberia.
Now, the Villains get to Adventure properly.
-
Herr Teufel searches and gets
pool 4: 1, 2, 2 × 4 -
Tresa searches and gets
pool 4: 3 × 1, 6
A double success for the Axis Villains! The swines now have hold of both the Amulet of Power and the Hammer of the Ancients! This immediately moves the Villain Track closer 4 steps forward (2 per Artifact) and it is now at 7. Both Herr Teufel and Tresa return to base in a Ready State, so can adventure elsewhere next round.
In the End Phase, we draw two new Artifacts, which are …
- The Skull of the Dead (Artifact, 4 Fortune, 3 Dangers) is in The Steppes.
- The Tears of Darkness (Artifact, 6 Fortune, 5 Dangers) are in the Forbidden Islands.
A big round for the Axis there but all is far from lost for our Heroes. Back next time for Round 7!
(Programming note: I’m away now for 30-36 hours so will return on Sunday evening European time with the new board and start of the next round. While I’m gone, you can reflect on where to go and what to do next to try and get us these last Fortune coins. Have a good weekend everyone!)
2 Likes
And we’re back with Round 7 - here’s the board at the start of the round.
I did a few corrections too, tidying up one thing I missed from a couple of rounds back and an extra matter or two from last round, and here is the state of play at the start of Round 7.
-
The Heroes have 27 Fortune and need 30 Fortune to win.
-
The Axis are at 8 on the Villain Track and need to get to 15 to win.
-
Doctor Zhukov is in Arabia adventuring in the Valley of Hades. There are 2 Fortune left to be claimed from that temple adventure, plus claiming the final Fortune will give him the Temple Treasure which he can sell for 3 Fortune.
-
Alexander Cartwright is in Western Europe but not at an Artifact location.
-
Duke Dudley is in the Amazon Jungle but not at an Artifact location.
-
Axis Villains Herr Teufel and Tresa are off the board but in a Ready state so can explore in the Villain Phase towards the end of this Round.
-
The Villain Event Dark Destiny is in play, so while the Axis have the Hammer of the Ancients artifact (with the Fate attribute) the Villains gain +1 Search.
@gmwhite999 asked for a die roll:
Also, here are the Common Items available for sale at Cities this round, should anyone wish to buy something.
So, we start with the Initiative Phase, and the Heroes roll…
-
Doctor Zhukov (@RogerBW) gets …
pool 1: 6 -
Alexander Cartwright (@Chewy77) gets …
pool 1: 4 -
Duke Dudley (@gmwhite999) gets …
pool 1: 6
@gmwhite999 asked for a die roll:
A rolloff between Zhukov and Dudley, resulting in …
-
Zhukov rolls
pool 1: 2 -
Dudley rolls
pool 1: 3
Dudley is First Player this round, so onto the Movement Phase.
Dudley first, and has a decision to make.
-
Option One is he moves 4 spaces to the Forbidden Islands to search for the Tears of Darkness.
-
Option Two is he moves to Siberia via a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Shanghai (which costs 2 Fortune but no movement allowance) then has to fight the Axis Soldiers and can try to sneak on board the War Zeppelin to try and steal one of the two Artifacts they have.
Your thoughts, fellow explorers?
With 27/30 it seems to me that small quick gains are worth trying for.
Tears of Darkness is 6 Fortune, while the Zeppelin costs 2F to gain 4F or 6F – which suggests to me that the Tears would be more worth going for. Still, a net +4F for Zeppelin plus Hammer of the Ancients would do the job. (Assuming I understand how artefact recovery works; it’s not clear to me from the rules.)
If (and it’s a very big if) Zhukov can finish off the Valley of Hades that’s enough Fortune for the win.
(Or if Cartwright can get to Greece and do The Eyes of Poseidon.)
1 Like
The most likely “winner” for the Heroes’ cause is Zhukov. If he can overcome 2 Dangers in the Valley he can claim 2 Fortune and the Temple Treasure which he can sell for 3 or 4 Fortune the turn after. Cartwright can help him with Combat and Agility tests, plus Dudley can help with Fights, so with some lucky draws and rolls, Zhukov might be able to claim the treasure this round and sell it next round. However I need to read up on one thing, because if Zhukov only completes one Danger or is forced to a Cliffhanger, one of the Villains may go adventuring in the Valley this turn and if so, probably claim that Treasure.
Cartwright is probably best served going for either the Eyes of Poseidon or the Skull of the Dead. The Skull effectively has 4 Dangers - 3 on the card plus he would have to fight Zombies at the end to gain the artifact - and the Eyes have 5. However, as the more valuable artifact, one of the Villains may be going for the Skull at the end of this round.
The other Villain will be going for the Tears later this round, although with 5 Dangers to pass, Dudley is unlikely to be able to claim it in one round. But is he more likely to be able to fend off anything from 1 to 6 sets of Axis Soldiers - the ones on the ground in Siberia and then those who find him when he boards the Zeppelin? If that proves to be only 1 to 3 sets of Fights, that might be possible with his good fight dice, but if more he could be KOd. And the Fortune cost for the flight would not be a big problem if he captures an Artifact or if Zhukov captures his this turn.
In terms of the Zeppelin, it is treated like an Outpost (bit like the Secret Base). The last paragraph of page 23 of the manual explains that is you destroy an Outpost you can choose to gain steal/take EITHER 1 Artifact the Villains have collected, OR take any Fortune that the Villains have collected plus move the Villain track marker back 1d3 steps.
A tricky call indeed! The Zeppelin approach might be more Dudley but if the Search roll goes badly it might be over quickly. Thoughts, Cartwright (@Chewy77)?
I think the key might be in Greece, but I am happy to assist in Arabia, I am in range for both.
Oh I had forgotten about that! Helping Zhukov directly in Arabia is a very good idea. In a cooperative game, two Heroes can team up on an Artifact or Temple adventure, and they choose which of them takes each danger test, so can use the one with the highest skill as necessary. They would both also gain the Glory from a success. That sound like a very good plan!
Dudley will forget about the Zeppelin and head to the Forbidden Islands.
Zhukov, are you staying put to try and finish the Valley of Hades - and if so, going to roll for movement to see if you get an Event card?
Cartwright, are you heading to join Zhukov or go to Greece or The Steppes? In any case, best not roll otherwise you might get low and not be able to get anywhere useful.
[Zhukov]
Whether Cartwright joins me or not, I’ll stay in the Valley of Hades and therefore roll for an event card.
@gmwhite999 asked for a die roll:
Zhukov rolls and gets …pool 1: 5
No Event card sadly.
Cartwright (@Chewy77) next: where are you moving too? Joining Zhukov or going to one of the other artifacts?
I will use my standard 4 and help the Doctor, get this Arabian Nights sorted. We always have Greece to fall back to if needed.
1 Like