"Imperial Skies... Thoughts after a few small games." Topic

I finally got some ships painted and was able to play a few small games.

I wrote up my thoughts and posted them on my blog. link

We had some issues with the group activation command action being a bit overpowered, but that is most likely because we used only a small number of small ships.

Ultimately, I like what I see so far. It plays quickly and there is limited bookkeeping. I will be playing more of this and will work on getting more ships painted so I can use a larger variety of ships.

I love the game. A great improvement on Aeronef and a lot of fun. It has quickly become my go to game for 'steampunk' miniatures.

All I can say is I wish there were people locally who played..

[Deepest sympathies; Sean and Randy, as friends, are gems of great value.]

So, started a reply, but knowing 'I can't shut up', saved it a couple of days in case others covered my thoughts:

Our first game, I'd forgotten I was wearing a Battleship tshirt ;->= , was definitely a perfect storm to me, but kudos to you on taking full advantage.

No regrets, of course; we wanted to try simple, and get to battle quickly. A taste of the rules was in order.

The combination of starting closer than the book shows, you having initiative, and more command points than ships, gave you the opportunity to show masterful control of the table.

As you've said elsewhere, your dice rolling didn't hurt, either.

Robin has many times said this ruleset was for larger games, and the activation rule in particular, and the command points in general, being per commander rather than based on sizes of fleets, definitely suggest a sweet spot on numbers of ships.

I think this shows in other parts of the rules [as written], but you're right, this is early days for us.

We need a few fleet actions before deciding on adjustments.

My schedule has been tight of late, but this was definitely fun, even with me having only one damaged ship fleeing for its life…

Thanks again, Sean!

Doug

@Khusrau: While I do have a copy of other players local to me, I've wanted to play plenty of games that no one else was playing. My advice is to buy enough (even just small forces if that is all you can afford) so 2 can play and enlist others to give it a try. You might be surprised by the interest that grows once they have played something new.

@TheBeast: While we missed you in the 2nd game, I know you will soon again be commanding ships on the table. Lots to learn and questions about balance at the size we are likely to play, but those issues can be fixed. As I've said, the basics are solid and I like what I see. I look forward to more.

sean68333 when you say about being surprised by the intrest that grows when you have people who play something for the first time because it happened to me at least one time.

A few years back my friend Charlie wanted to teach me and some other friends how to play OGRE.

So one day he brought over his OGRE collection and we played a game,and after we finished I was hooked on OGRE and within 2 months of playing that game I had a collection of a collection of over 500 OGRE minis including 20 plus OGRE's.

Sadly last year between May and June Charlie passed away and my interest in OGRE grew less and less and I sold off most(but not all)of my collection because I needed the money since on June 10th my Beloved Cat of 15 years passed away and I needed to generate money to have her buried.

So last year was a bad year all the way around.

Michael

@Captain Gideon: Sorry for the loss of your friend and your cat. I hope that though you don't play OGRE any longer you still have some good memories of playing with your friend.

Yes I do indeed because he also ran Pre-Dreadnought games for a few years before we even did OGRE.

I knew Charlie for a good number of years and we did many different games like Napoleonic Naval,WWI and WWII Naval and other things as well.

Another friend during one of the Pre-Dreadnought games filmed a little bit and Charlie was in the footage so I have that and so I can always hear him and see him.

Michael

Thanks for the thoughts and AAR. One quick question for those in the know – can you design your own ships in the rules?

Yes, the rule book has a section that talks about creating your own ship designs.

Thanks Sean.

On page 55 of the book, 'The damage grid used by each class of airships are represented in a PDF and a link to this PDF template is shown on the Imperial Skies Facebook page.'

Can't find it; anybody point me to the link?

Doug