IHMN at Vapnartak, Sunday, 2nd February 2014
This was my first visit to Vapnartak and it is impressive. The show takes place on three open (mezzanine) levels which makes the atmosphere light and airy. Fifty plus traders and an equivalent number of games with other diversions put it into what I would call the mid-size category. There was a decent restaurant and plenty of seating. The organisers were allowed to sell home baked cakes and hot drinks in aid of ‘Help the Heroes’ which by mid-afternoon had raised £1,200 and lifted the weight of many already well-fed gamers.
The Game
As demonstrated at Derby, the GCN/COGS ran IHMN using the unique ‘Storybook’ system, in which the aim is not for one faction to triumph over another, but for players to complete individual secret goals within the battle. For this particular game the factions were home-built, the Holy Order of Iona (Monks) against the Karlsberg Coven (Vampires and their minions). There were 18 Combatants, 9 on each side, including 4 named Characters per faction. Each Combatant has his (or her) own Reference Card. These are placed face up in a ‘Ready’ area for all the players to see. In addition we have three decks of ‘Goal’ cards, 16 Major (worth 3 Victory Points each), 16 Intermediate (2 VPs) and 16 Minor (1 VP). Players draw two goal cards from each deck. Then initiative is decided and each Player in turn takes one Combatant’s Card to create a Team. This goes around until all the Combatants have been assigned. Note; Players may have teams that consist of Combatants from both Factions.
The game follows the normal IHMN turn structure but with the following strictures…
A Combatant cannot target, shoot or fight a member of the same Faction*
A Combatant cannot target, shoot or fight a member of the same Team*
*Unless forced to by game rules or powers such as Mesmerism
At the end of each turn, players declare if they have achieved any of their goals and claim the Victory Points. Then all the Combatants Reference Cards are returned to the ‘Ready’ area, initiative is re-rolled and Players pick their teams again.
The game runs for 5 turns, unless any player succeeds in scoring 4 Victory Points before then.
The full Storybook system is available on the Lead Adventure Forum, look under my tag.
The Show
The Game does play pretty fast (around 45 minutes), and can take up to eight players. As with any show, punters like to do their shopping before joining games. We kicked off at around 11.30 and did not stop until the shows end. Three full games were completed, with 5, 4 and 4 players respectively. Initially, there was a lot of cautious manoeuvring in each, but once the players realised the full potential for backstabbing, bluffing, double-bluffing and ungentlemanly conduct, the fun really started. In the first game Sister Mary, a kind, caring Character providing succour for the injured suffered instant annihilation in the first turn while the erstwhile Richard de Leon, a heavily armoured Templar Knight, decided that running away might be a good career move. Such is the nature of the Goals the players have. In at least three instances, a Player achieved a goal thanks to another Player’s unwitting actions!
A good time was had by all. Unfortunately, the photos were limited to one thanks to Tony’s shaky hands (too much cake methinks!). Our next outing will be Hammerhead at Newark with a possible new version. I have some perverse thoughts about a ‘Lark Rise to Ripper Street’ scenario, with Julie Sawalha as the Vampire hunting postmistress.
A PDF with the photo plus samples of the cards used is attached
08 February 2010, 11:43:12 AM
