Version 28, 20th August

[Colonel Kilgore]

Kilgore Junior and I played 3 games at PP HQ yesterday, following some quick familiarisation with the ships and mechanisms.

We kept things simple (no scenery or tricks) but otherwise went through the pre-game mechanisms as per the rules.

• Game 1: Martin's merchantmen made a beeline for the escape corner, with Stewart's warships running effective interference on the attackers' 4 small warships, 2 of which ended up on the wrong side of things. Game ran very quickly with a very clear win for the defenders

• Game 2: Defenders' merchantmen (2 medium, plus 2 scurvy warships) got good wind and similarly made a speedy exit

• Game 3: this was a very close-run affair, with the attackers rapidly getting in amongst the merchantmen. One large merchantman was boarded, but subsequently set alight by the spoil-sport defenders. A defending small warship was lost and then reboarded, while another rolled a 1 on its "death roll" and also caught alight. The remaining large merchantman was forced down into the far corner by unhelpful wind, and was lucky to hold off a medium warship for a couple of turns. The defenders hurried up the battle clock to save what they could, resulting in a somewhat surprising defensive victory (which would almost certainly have been reversed had the game run on for another turn or two). Nail-biting stuff with lots of drama.

Sadly we forgot to take any pictures amidst all the excitement..

Thoughts on the games:
- version 28 played very slickly: probably the most straightforward mechanisms (moving / shooting / boarding) of any Peter Pig game that I've played to understand and follow [but, as Kilgore Junior reported afterwards: it's easy to play but difficult to master - probably how things should be!]
- wind is very important: the first "Mastery of the Sea" "aspect" to either gain more wind dice (attacker) or move the wind by 1 point (defender) is very useful
- the wind does take some getting used to if you've done any sailing (basically it's the wind direction on the ship at the start of the turn that determines its moves: it can thereafter zip around as it likes up to its maximum move), but it actually works well at the abstracted level of the game
- I need to remember to think more about the direction of the ship at the end of each turn relative to the wind, to be ready for the next turn
- boarding actions can be quick and bloody
- small warships ships are very manoeuvrable: the battle-hardened variety is a pretty tough customer
- large merchantmen can be surprisingly tough by dint of their size relative to most opposition
- I had found that notion of the sail, crew and gun counters for each ship rather abstract when reading through the various iterations of the rules: however, in practice these worked well and in a very visible way

I would humbly suggest consideration of the following changes:
- I struggled with the idea of being able to choose which angle a boarding ship can align with its target: I get the concept of heading on a collision course / slamming on the brakes / parallel parking against your target (to use some automobile analogies) but, given that you are always approaching from ahead or astern, it seems strange that the attacker can spin on the spot to face in the opposite direction to the one he was initially heading in. It would seem more natural to me to make the smallest angular adjustment feasible to come alongside
- using some nautical terms (e.g. starboard / larboard; bow and stern) would be nice
- in a confused ship melee (cf. our third game), it can be hard to remember which guns have fired: some kind of marker for bow / stern chasers as well as the very useful white pipe cleaner broadside markers we used would be helpful

With thanks to Martin for his hospitality and patience, and to Stewart for popping along to say hello!

[Leslie BT]

Played two games here as well, both the first games the results are as Simon's.
Defender won by a very large margin.
We played with the defenders merchantmen sailing straight across the table. The first game with no interference with the attacker.
The second game we went for larger fleets with smaller ships, the merchant men again just sailed across the table and the warships tangled, but made no difference to the game outcome.

We also ignored scenery and tricks.

Hopefully in the next game the attacker may get to some of the Merchantmen and then vary the final score.

[martin goddard]

Most games i have played seem to be very decisive in terms of the victory point margin. From my poor memory I think that the defenders are winning about 55% of the time (your experiences?).  This seems fine if one considers the more fun to be had with the hunter than with being the prey (your thoughts)?

There are probably lots of rule changes that have not happened yet. We are at 28 out of 75??

I will look at the land raid soon, in preparation for starting that part of the rules.

[Stewart 46A]

I think the defender has the edge at the moment and is winning most games but it's early days and a lot of tweaks still to happen. Peter Pig rules normal balance out before release to the masses.

[Duncan]

I agree the defender has the edge, but not a total out and out edge. I have won decisively as both attacker and defender.

It can turn on which trick you use, the ability to counter or change wind and lucky dice though. The sudden loss of a ship or change of wind can have a massive difference in outcome and even someone who is apparently in a winning position can suddenly find themselves loosing if th wind goes against them.

What I have found with the wins as an attacker, this often does not happen until the defender is almost off the table with merchants being captured just two, three or even just one hex from safety.

From a defenders point of view, i find it is often the case that you end up using one merchant (with the correct trick, usually the extra crew and/or guns.) as a default warship. Often the defenders way of winning is to actively go on the offensive with their warships right from the outset, tying up the attacker whilst your real merchants sail away.

Also, consider just because a ship has been captured, there is nothing stopping you from trying to take it back if you are positioned right.

But yes, generally I agree with Martin and Stewart.