Red Dragon Inn

There is another chapter of WotW coming but first I want to talk about a game that my wife picked up over the Christmas holidays (one of many). It's a card game that can be played with 2-4 players (more if you buy the expansions). The gist of the game is pretty straight forward. You are a group of adventurers that have returned from the dungeon laden with gold and you want to blow off some steam at the Inn. The objective is to be the last one standing. Each player has three resources to track: Gold, Fortitude, and Alcohol level. If you run out of gold you get tossed from the Inn by the bouncer, If your alcohol level meets or surpasses your fortitude you pass out drunk and the rest of the players split your Gold.

On your turn you get to play an action card of some kind. You can start a poker game and try to take the other player's gold, you can inflict damage on another player, or force them to take drink. Other players can play counters and often you get a good back and forth going.

Each player gets their own deck which are largely the same but different characters tend to be stronger in certain areas. Gog, the half-ogre barbarian, has lots of cards that allow him to inflict damage on the other players. Fleck the bard is good at cheating at cards. Dimli the Dwarf is hard to make drunk. There is a Red Dragon Inn 1, 2 and 3 and each game is self contained but you can use the character decks from any game with each other. There are also two separate expansion decks you can buy, Erin the Druid, and Mott's psychotic familiar Pooky the bunny (from RDI 1). The characters in Red Dragon Inn three have an extra mechanic that randomizes their effectiveness somewhat (Piety for the Paladin, Inventions for the Gnome, the Troll makes potions, and the Pixie has an animal companion).

I really love the game as it gives me a chance to talk in stupid voices (Gog being my favorite). It is easy to pick up as Rognar and his wife vanquished first myself and then my wife before having an epic drink off to eventually knock each other out at the same time.

So if you are looking for an easy social game to play that doesn't take too long (about 30 minutes per player) then this is a good one. The game is lighthearted and pretty funny especially if everyone gets into it. I recommend it!

This is a good Youtube video of a group playing Red Dragon Inn 1.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VGQZHW-Jhw

Fortress America, f*#& yeah!

Back in the day when the lads and I would get together for a game, it was usually D&D, but sometimes when the urge to lay a beatdown on each other would take over, we would turn to Milton Bradley. Of course, the most popular MB game at the time was Axis and Allies and we played the heck out of that game (I always enjoyed the sheer desperation of playing the UK, not sure if that provides any insight into my psyche). We also tried Shogun a few times and one time, a buddy got his hands on Fortress America. It was only the one time. I played the US and got totally destroyed, but it was a blast. Since then, of course, Axis and Allies has been expanded to multiple versions and Shogun, later rereleased as Samurai Swords and later still as Ikusa has also been available. But I never again saw Fortress America, until today. I dropped in to my FLGS and what do I see, but a new edition of the game. Unlike A&A and Ikusa which are now published under the Avalon Hill branding, Fortress America is published by Fantasy Flight Games with all that implies (FFG quality, FFG pricing). Though I don't have much time for boardgames these days, I am sorely tempted to lay down my hard-earned coin on this piece of my misspent youth.

-Rognar-