War on Terror Blog
Sunday 29th January 2006
UK Toy Fair 2006 - Part Two
What a mad old week it's been.
Since launching the website a few days ago, we've had 135 pre-orders (from as far away as Qatar and Australia), a tonne of press interest, distributors showing keen and it looks like we'll soon have enough funding to manufacture our first run. Things are moving quickly - with any luck, WoT will be in the shops before you know it.
The Toy Fair was good fun and very useful. We gave Thursday a miss, mainly to lie low. On Friday, we went back again without our balaclavas, but for consistency's sake we wore "evil" t-shirts instead. A little more subtle we thought. Sadly, this didn't work at all since they were watching us as soon as we walking in the door. We got talking to the CEO of MindWare - she was very interested on a personal level, so we gave her a postcard. Security were obviously on standby because we got swooped by no fewer than 3 people telling us we'd already been "warned" on Wednesday. Sheesh, these guys are uptight.
... we got swooped by no fewer than 3 people telling us we'd already been "warned" on WednesdayAfter a brief discussion about what we were and weren't allowed to talk about and with who and what we could and couldn't give out, we were released and spent most of that day talking to small boardgame makers who were mostly at this stage a year ago. They were all very friendly and helpful and we got some good tips and advice.
The organiser saw us later that day, walked past us, then turned around and barked "jackets closed, lads". What the? Andy T even had his jacket closed.
Went down early on Saturday for the free breakfast (oh yes, we are living the HIGH LIFE now) and spent the morning talking to everyone we didn't cover on Friday, plus a couple of distributors/ larger publishers. Lots of interesting noises. Lots of leads to follow up.
Disturbingly, by Saturday, we were almost universally recognised as "the terrorist twins", or the "evil boys". Fame was never meant to be like this...
Tomorrow we've got an interview on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire for their breakfast show. Today Cambridge, tomorrow, the world!
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 29 January 2006 - 0 comments
Thursday 26th January 2006
UK Toy Fair 2006 - Part One
Our first Toy Fair! It's all very exciting...
Arriving shortly after 10am, we decide to waste no time and put our well-honed guerilla tactics into effect. Balaclavas on, game box out. Wander around looking threatening.
Amazingly, this haphazard approach works. Everyone is terribly nice and receptive to two blokes wearing balaclavas and we realise it's probably one of the few places where you won't get jumped by the anti-terrorist squad for dressing up as a weirdo.
Then we had a run-in with a giant badger dressed as a policeman ...We had our photo taken a lot. We perfected the art of snarling. Still need some practice there. Then we had a run-in with a giant badger dressed as a policeman. But much more fearsome were the Toy Fair staff who soon put an end to our fun.
We had to ditch the balaclavas and box, since this was construed as "selling without a stand". An offence which carries a hefty jail sentence, so we were lucky to be let off with just a warning.
For the rest of the day we drifted around, talked to a few people, made a few interesting contacts. All very .... interesting. We also drank our own body weight in coffee.
Heading back on Friday and Saturday with the aim of talking to more buyers/ distributors.
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 26 January 2006 - 0 comments
Wednesday 18th January 2006
Game Report: Andy S, Andy T, Jenn, Fiona & Adam
A five player game and everyone's got at least one game under their belt, so it looks like it's going to be quite a fight... Especially when Fiona announces 'I was far too nice last time' before she's even laid her first villages.
Setup goes well, Adam starts to curse his placement of both his village in South America as the board soon fills up and he's feeling a little trapped. Andy S splits between Australia and Africa, Andy T tries a Asia and Nowhere split. Jenn Asia and North America and Fiona is left with Europe. Within a round the axis of evil is being spun and everyone soon gets a turn with the balaclava.
There's a peaceful air about the game and comments such as 'it's going to hot up soon' are mumbled with each passing turn. A few notes go back and forth, the two Andys make a pact that isn't worth the paper it's written on, Adam and Fiona start what turns out to be a healthy correspondence.Then, blam! Jenn gets nasty and strikes out, making several enemies in a single turn.
Although Andy S has a healthy empire and wads of cash, he covers the world with terrorists and joins Jenn on the dark side.Andy T repays the favour and goes all out against Jenn to try and push her out of Asia. He leaves for a cigarette break and comes back to find former ally,Andy S, ready to launch an attack. NUKE! And Andy T suddenly doesn't own Nowhere any more, terrorists are popping up all over the shop and the peace of the early game is a distant memory.
Then things get really nasty, political kidnaps, regime change, suicide bombers... a usual game of War on Terror. Adam takes a nuke in Brazil, seriously weakening his Empire, Andy T keeps laying into Jenn and then a pincer movement from Adam and Fiona against Jenn in North America forces her to turn terrorist.
Jenn knows Andy S is holding the Global Terrorism card and keeps on the pressure to get him to turn, before long it works and although Andy S has a healthy empire and wads of cash, he covers the world with terrorists using the Global Terrorism card and joins Jenn on the dark side.
In turn, the three remaining empires stop fighting each other and concentrate on the all powerful enemy of democracy. Several turns pass and it could go either way, all the time anarchic terrorist propaganda is being hurled at the empires.
It's getting risky, both Andy T and Fiona are looking like they could pull off an empire victory, but neither attacks the other, instead they try and keep up the false pretence of 'working together'. Andy T regrets this when Fiona manages to take Europe and build enough cities to win! A four hour game which had it all, fun, laughter and extreme pain.
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 18 January 2006 - 0 comments
Sunday 8th January 2006
Game report: Andy S, Jenn, Rob, Andy H & Joe
War on Terror on tour! The game comes to London for a weekend special. It's the morning after a heavy night and that's why we don't get started until 6 in the evening when heads are just beginning to clear. And what better way to beat a hangover than intensely plot against your friends, whilst trying to take over the world?
Jenn starts and takes Australia and Madagascar. Andy H turns up two blanks in North America leaving him with a guaranteed oil revenue of absolutely nothing for at least one round - definitely the worst start on record. Rob is in Asia and Africa. Joe goes for South America and Europe and Andy S finds himself displaced between Siberia and Nowhere, but pulls a lucky Explorers card in his first turn and ventures into North America too.
Andy H suddenly realises "Hey, this is a really nasty game!"Development is uncharacteristically slow with no one rolling any high development numbers, meaning after a few rounds, there's still plenty of space and even land undiscovered at the end of the game (Cuba and Japan both escape colonisation) - which is virtually unheard of.
Maybe we were too busy fighting the poisons inside us to fight each other, but the opening game is both peaceful and hesitant. Tensions only begin to rise when notes start getting passed around with messages such as "show this note to everyone except Andy H" and Andy H suddenly realises "Hey, this is a really nasty game!"
The axis of evil gets spun and it's Andy S who's labelled a baddie, so he tries to kickstart events by nuking Andy H, thinking he can take N.America for himself and force Andy H to turn terrorist in one fell swoop. This mastermind move is only thwarted by Andy H having a nuclear bunker. The most Andy S pulls off is a bit of WMD action in the Western States.
Suddenly everyone starts picking on Rob. Even Andy H, who stands nothing to gain from it. Forlornly, Rob reminds us all that it's his birthday but his plea for special treatment is met with more aggression if anything. Still, he bears the brunt of the attacks with weary stoicism. Only Andy S, who shares a border with Rob, tries to keep him onside in his own interests.
Meanwhile, recent WoT winner, Jenn, is sending a flurry of propaganda and notes around the entire table, offering "helpful advice" and making everyone think that she's a friend. Of course there's no such thing in a world of fear, but she gets away with it and quietly builds her empire, free of suspicion.
Meanwhile, Andy H steals the Kyoto Protocol card from Andy S and has his revenge, playing it against him instantly. Despite a decent pot of cash, Andy S is virtually bankrupted by the card. A blow, to say the least. Then Andy H turns terrorist after playing the Global Terrorism card, although being completely skint, he can only get about 5 vanguards on the board. It's a pathetic display and about the only sniff of terrorism we have all game.
Smarting from the bankruptcy, Andy S contemplates giving it all up for the dark side of borderless freedom that the terrorists are offering him. Andy H certainly looks like he could do with the company.
Joe and Rob keep having skirmishes over Europe, their attention fully diverted from a devious Jenn who grabs the 10 point victory before the terrorists even get a chance to rip into the board.
A two-and-a-half hour game - unnervingly quick for a 5 player and we've all learnt this is what happens when you hold back: Jenn wins.
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 8 January 2006 - 0 comments
Thursday 5th January 2006
Game Report: Andy S, Jenn & Fiona - part 2
Just when Fiona thought she got off lightly, we start again. The first time in the history of WoT that two games have been attempted back-to-back. The last time two games were played within a 24 hour period, we considered placing a Surgeon General's health warning on the box, so it's with some trepidation on Andy S's behalf that we all dive back into it.
This game seems a reversal of the previous one. Fiona realises she was far too passive in the previous game and is also rolling like she's sold her soul to the devil in exchange for oil... which could be the case because she's stinking rich within a very short space of time.
Andy S seeks the relative sanctuary of the southern hemisphere - Australasia, nowhere and South America, while Fiona's spread through Asia is frighteningly rapid, leaving Jenn sandwiched in Europe and Africa. This time, Jenn has much less cash and little luck finding the oil. She desperately wants a double-win, though, and starts sending Andy S messages which list the various benefits of prolonging the game (for her benefit).
It's a rapid, dirty game from there on in. Developments shoot up. There's a bit of a tussle between Fiona and Andy S. It looks like Fiona could take it this time and she stays later than her own imposed curfew purely on the strength of this promise. However, despite her triggering a well-timed regime change in the Falklands, Andy S just sneaks in there and takes it in one hour and forty-five minutes.
And we're all still standing at the end of it. That wasn't so bad really.
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 5 January 2006 - 0 comments
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