Warlords (1978) - the wargame in which you never whose turn it is!
Turn 7:
Let's return to the battle (now over, but there still several turns to go).
I am lucky at the opening of turn 6, for two reasons:
- Rastignak discovers that the game forbids you to recruit directly in the [X]ity (which the game calls "capital"),
- I move first,
I recruit next to the Xity, and immediately use the opportunity to pounce on it. It's mine!
This throws a spanner in Rastignak's plan to protect his Xity and then retake Dayyalu's castle, particularly as he needs to assault me twice to retake the Xity.
Ah, if only this turn had ended after one impulse. Alas, it continue and continued and continued - 5 impulses in total, which also Rastignak to consolidate his position further by taking two new locations.
Still, the situation improved drastically given the massives losses received by Rastignak this turn:
- I have 16 troops, whereas Rastignak has 18, so his +16 advantage turn into a +4 advantage only.
- However, his revenue is 38 and mine is 31, so +7 in his favour (worth 3.5 armies) so I need to act fast.
Fate seems to recognize the situation, because just after we both recruit our forces Rastignak in his castle and me in the plains next to the Xity, this happens:
Wel, this coud not have happened at a better moment: Rastignak's force is down to 28, including 10 out of place (AFTER recruitment), while I have 26 men, including 20 exactly where I need them!
At this point, this is my game to lose.
Turn 8, much belated
I hope you remember the situation. There are two players left: Rastignak and myself - and everything is about the control of the central [X]ity. After a series of tactical victories by Rastignak, I was desperate, but a perfectly timed plague halved his forced.
Rastignak plays first and transfer forces from his castle to the Xity.
Of course, I immediately move toward the castles. Rastignak is forced to garrison it, and I take the [X]ity.
Neat, chess-like moves. But the turn continues. Rastignak brings troops from the South-Eastern corner, which is both a risk and an opportunity.
- A risk, because my castle is defenceless, so he can approach it and force me to reinforce my castle, which would allow him tor retake the [X]ity next turn with forces levied in his own castle.
- An opportunity, because the South-Eastern corner is undefended.
Experience from the previous turn (17 men attacking 13 of them, most of mine survived and Rastignak had to attack a second time with 17 men) showed that I can maybe detach a few men from my garrison to beeline to Morpheus' former castle in the South-East. At worst, I would take the town and threaten the defenseless castle next turn (Rastignak would be forced to garrison it, which would make his attempt to push North unsupported, as you can deploy reinforcement to only one place "outside" of your castle. At best, I can get the town and the castle - which honestly would end the game. Odds are in my favour, I detach 4 men and go for the town...
This is a terrible decision, Rastignak tries a hail-mary attacks on the Xity, and it works. Rastignak loses... 0 soldier.
... and this ends the turn, at the worst possible moment.
Turn 9+
Turn 8 was my high-ebb; I went down fighting but never came that close to victory.
I create an army between Rastignak's castle and the Xity with the objective of both pinning his armies and take the South-Western]own. Alas, Rastignak moves first and immediately crushes it. I end the turn with only 7 soldiers on the map!
Confident that he has a decisive advantage, Rastignak beelines from Dayyalu's former castle. Unfortunately, on my side I decide to recruit both in my castle and in Dayyalu's castle (in the previous turns, I was not recruiting in my castle, and the saved money would allow to deploy anywhere in the following turn). This costs me a lot of flexibility in the future, but I am lucky: turn 9 turns out to be extremely long, and I have the time to merge my armies and destroy Rastignak forces of 20 for almost no cost on my side.
Pushing my advantage turn 10, I prepare a fork, but the turn ends quickly, before I can force Rastignak - again - to choose between defending the castle or the Xity. Situation turn 10:
Rastignak brings enough reinforcements in the center to block the situation: I can't recruit locally, and I know that Rastignak will defend the castle if I advance, let me take the Xity and then retake it with his combined force. We start jockeying for position in the East: I am trying to reach the South-Eastern castle and Rastignak tries to approach my undefended castle - he will be able to reinforce his army faster than I can upgrade my garrison given his economic advantage. Situation turn 11:
Rastignak feels enough threatened in the South-East that he reinforces his garrison there. I use the opportunity to destroy his army closing on my castle - and he destroys my fork. The situation reeks of déjà vu, and we're all a bit frustrated at this - or at least I am. Turn 12:
Rastignak pushes his advantage in the North-West, and this time retakes Dayyalu's castle. Meanwhile, I prepared both a large stack to take Morpheus Kitami's castle and an army to retake Dayyalu's but the turn ends before my plan can come to fruition. Turn 13:
My revenue has been halved. The soldiers I lose are not coming back, and on turn 15 my castle is taken and I throw the towel.
Congratulation Rastignak, and more comments on the game soon!
I’m still kind of amazed that such a simple ruleset managed to create so many tense moments. The game never felt like a slog, but honestly it seemed more about lucky RNG rolls than deep strategy. I never really thought I was in a winning position until the very end - when I wiped out Scribe’s army in the swamp above the Xity and started steamrolling what was left. Even then, I mostly survived thanks to a few golden rolls at just the right time.
What I really liked, though, was the randomized move order and the different number of pulses each turn (“campaign”). That mechanic fixed a problem a lot of rulesets have, where going first or last can be a big advantage (or disadvantage). Even when it was just two of us left, turn order still mattered: if you went first, you had to plan around a possible double move from your opponent; if you went second, you were hoping for your own.
The fixed recruiting order, on the other hand, definitely gave me an edge - especially late game. Since I recruited after Scribe, I could see where he placed his troops outside the castle and then counter him. A small tweak - like only letting players see their own garrisons during that phase - would fix that.
I played pretty aggressively, since it felt like the ruleset really favors attackers. Defending worked sometimes (especially at the Xity), but most of the time going all‑in paid off. And yeah, the Xity was the key: big income, great position, total map control. At first I hated having my castle right next to it (I actually thought Morpheus had the best spot), because I figured everyone would pile on me in a King‑of‑the‑Hill fight - and they tried to. But in the end, that position is what won me the game. I could grab the most valuable territory right away and usually defend it easily, since I could recruit in the castle and move troops to the Xity in one go.
Scribe really should’ve dug in at the Xity after taking it from me. Going for Morpheus’ castle was bold, but it was literally a bridge too far. That move probably cost him what could’ve been a win.
All in all, it was a great fun, and the game holds up surprisingly well for its age!