'Canal Mania' by Ragnar Brothers

'Canal Mania' by Ragnar Brothers

 

It's a balmy evening and the sound of S Club 7 greets Dicken as he arrives at Kendall's. Abigail (Kendall's youngest) promptly introduces Dicken to the latest recruits in the Kendall menagerie - two kittens, named Tao and Flint. 'Short for Flintoff' interjects Tim and the conversation accelerates into discussion of today's play in the Old Trafford test.

 

Tim, Dicken and Kendall make up three eighths of this year's fantasy cricket league. Having used the Telegraph stats for some time, the Ragnars have elected to work it themselves, but featuring only the test matches. Following players through a variety of tournaments in which the best-known players might be rested had become rather tedious.  So, each Ragnar picks a team of just five cricketers and vies to win a coveted

Trophy (£10-) as well as BIG prize money (£20-). Tim is currently leading as he has Freddy Flintoff, Shane Warne, Ricky Ponting and Steve Harmison in his team.  He'll have to watch it else someone will be poaching his cricketers during the rather novel 'Predatory Auction' that follows each test. The full rules can be found by clicking on this link 'Fantasy Cricket'.

 

Kittens have been admired and cricket discussed when Malcolm and his son Alex arrive. The two of them immediately announce that they are allergic to cats (but love them dearly) at which point Tim tries manfully to get them back into the kitchen.

 

This is Alex's first appearance at a Games Night.  At 17 years he is not the youngest player ever, but not far short. He has played 'History of the World' and runs his own fantasy game, so he's not a total novice. Moreover he tucks into the Pringles with relish (and houmus), although not indulging in alcohol.

 

'Canal Mania' is to be the latest commercial offering from the Ragnar Brothers. It's currently in the hands of the guys down at Carta Mundi who are putting it together for us - we do have to pay them. The game is about the building of the English (and a bit of Welsh) canal system and is for 3 - 5 players. No, there won't be a cloth map because it wouldn't lie flat enough for this game (hex-tile, not textile). A further description of the game and Design Notes will be available pretty soon on the web-site, the game being due for release in October.

 

Meanwhile, Alex is trying to get his head around the rules and for that matter, so is Malcolm. This seems somewhat amazing as Malcolm helped test only a few months ago. Truth is that during a 'white-hot' period of about three weeks, the game was hammered into its final shape by the two Kendall's courtesy of the wonders of e-mail. The game Malcolm last played hadn't included 'Goods' - which are now so fundamental to the game that it's hard to imagine what it was like before.

 

Kendall has drawn James Brindley (the first great canal engineer) and so he goes first. From the five contracts available in Parliament he draws the 'Thames and Severn canal' which must be built between Gloucester and Oxford. He places one of his barges (boat shaped wooden playing piece) on Gloucester. This is his first 'action' and each turn a player gets two. So, for his second action he draws three Build cards from the five available. Play moves swiftly on to Dicken (John Rennie) and Alex (William Jessop) who each have similar turns ending up with the 'Bridgewater canal' and the 'South Yorkshire Navigation' respectively. Malcolm (Thomas Telford) goes last and because there are just two contract cards left in Parliament he is able to take both as one action, placing his two barges on the map. He then draws some Build cards.

 

So far so good. In fact lots of Goods have appeared as they are generated by picking up Build cards, some of which bear a Goods coding. Two Goods get placed immediately onto cities and towns matching the colour of the coding.

 

As yet, no canal has started to be built and the sequence continues as Kendall elects to take a second contract from the five new contracts that have entered Parliament and then to take more Build cards. This can't continue forever however, as a player can only hold five build cards in hand at the end of his turn. Dicken is currently drawing four Build cards at a time as a result of having John Rennie in his employ and so at this point, a canal starts to be built.

 

Build cards correspond to the hex tiles used for building canals. These are double-sided - straights and 60 degree curves - and feature locks, aqueducts and tunnels as well as 'stretches' (i.e. plain ordinary). Each player has his own set, a counter-limit system being in play as well as colour coding to denote ownership of canals being built. It takes two aqueduct cards to build an aqueduct tile and three tunnel cards to build a tunnel, reflecting the manpower and time needed to construct these structures during the 18^th Century.  To aid and abet there is a Surveyor card, which can be used as any other card (wild).

 

Dicken builds from Liverpool to Manchester. Stretch, then lock - no two tiles of the same type may be placed adjacent to each other. Bang! Canal finished - what's the problem? He scores 1 point for the lock and puts the finished contract to one side. At the end of his turn he can move one Goods token along his canal, which he does from Manchester to Liverpool, scoring one point for each town - in this case 2 points.

 

Dicken mops his brow and suggests Kendall might invest in air conditioning. Dicken would never have made a navvy. 

 

Alex is beginning to find his feet and cracks on building from Sheffield to Goole. Goole ! - now how about that for an unusual place on a game map? Add to that Huddersfield, Burton, Guildford, Skipton and more - surely the tourist industry can't resist the Ragnars this time! William Jessop enabled Alex to build a tunnel with just two tunnel cards. Each of the other engineers gives a building advantage and exchanging engineers is one of the other actions available to players in a turn.

 

Kendall daubs houmus on a couple of cards to much hilarity. This 'testing' deck is beginning to look very threadbare with ink stains and tippex, coupled with a variety of different graphic styles (a product of ongoing development) - but he could be more careful. His canal building is progressing nicely however, as the northern arm of the 'Grand Union canal' is supplemented by the 'River Nene Navigation' between Peterborough and Northampton and later by the 'Grand Union' link to Birmingham. Regular 4 point Goods moves allows him to steadily pull ahead of the others around the 40 point score mark.

 

Alex has powered through the Pennines to build the Rochdale canal, but it took time and he lags behind Dicken and Malcolm. Dicken's network is predominantly to the North and West of Birmingham. Malcolm has canals dotted all over the map, but is doing well with passing trade.

 

The last five contracts (there are thirty in all) enter Parliament and the final rounds begin. At this stage players get the opportunity to move Goods as an action as well as normal Goods move. This, coupled with the urgency to complete canals gives a frenetic end to the game before the final scoring. In this instance both Dicken and Malcolm are able to draw level with Kendall, with Dicken also able to complete two more short canals.

 

A quick tally of each players completed canals reveals Dicken on seven, Malcolm on six, with Kendall and Alex tied on five.  Enough for that also to be the final positions at game end as the bonus points are added on.

 

Game length 105 minutes. Time to draw breath. It's been a well-fought game and one in which everyone has had a chance to pull off some good moves (as well as Goods moves). Alex looks pleased when invited to try his hand again in the not-too-distant future.  We must be doing something right.

 

It's Dicken's place for tonight's game and Paul and Liz are back.  Since Spiller's departure to the fens, they are now the 'second row' of the Southern Ragnar Games' Nights.  Paul and Liz are not great collectors of games (although they did buy 'Where there's a Will' in 2004 and Serinissima before that), but they are pretty experienced gamers and pick up and play new games with some passion.  They've not seen 'Maharajah' before, so there are a few minutes of rule bashing to be done.

 

Kendall and Dicken have had a two-player evening (sad) and, since it is billed as a two-player game, 'Maharajah' had its first outing.  The verdict on that occasion was that it was really a three to five player game and that the court, judge and jury would have to re-convene. Two-player games (reaching for the anorak) are a horse of a different colour to three +  games. Two player games tend to involve more multi-option tactics / strategies, so that the players can become wrapped up in their decision-making, necessitating / allowing social conversation to lapse. Three + games have more thinking space (down-time) which encourages / allows more social interaction. Despite some optional rule tinkering, 'Maharajah' falls into the latter category.

 

Paul and Liz are oblivious to such matters, although they are vaguely aware that Kendall and Dicken are (as usual) advantaged. 

 

The game has little or nothing to do with India as opposed to anywhere else in the world.  It does have a map showing cities and villages connected by roads, and palaces and houses for placing on the map. The houses are as close to Monopoly hotels as you are likely to find and the palaces are those shiny glass beads beloved of Mancala sets and the Pokemon card game (rather disappointing). Each player has a 'Robber Baron' playing piece representing his 'architect' and one piece representing the Maharajah (he visits the various cities). There are some Governor tiles that determine which city will be scored for this turn and (most novel) a small two-handed dial-thing for each player. This is made of thick card with plastic hands fastened by a plastic screw. It's used to secretly indicate a player's two action choices. There is some money and finally there are some special cards that give player's extra ability, each in one element of the game. They also determine player order and as Paul has chosen the lowest numbered card he goes first.

 

Paul starts by placing a house onto the map to provide free movement along a particular stretch of road. Everyone follows suit and then a few more quick rounds of the same take place. It would be possible to place some of these initial houses in the cities, but no-one is thinking that far ahead.  The game proper begins.

 

Each player selects their actions. Paul carries out his two. He builds a palace in the centre of the first city and two houses, one in the city and one on the next city (determined by the Governors track). This all costs money. Everyone else does a bit of building, mainly in the first city and then the first city is scored for. The inner palace is worth 3 points, an outer palace is worth 1 point, each house is worth 1 point, a player's architect is worth 1 point. The player with most points wins the most money. Paul wins most money this time, but the next city is already built in and he will have a harder job next time.

 

Paul and Liz are coping well, but beer and Pringles are very welcome.

 

There is a lot to think of because of the planning ahead and the calculations as to what others can and will do. Player's must have something in a city to drag in the income; having a big investment is good but costly. The potential for doing things is great because building can take place in different cities provided the architect can wing his way there. Movement along roads requires a network of houses and using other player's houses costs money. And so on and so on.

 

Finally there is the opportunity for really stitching people up by shuffling the Governor order so that a different city scores. This hangs like a sword of Damacles over every turn, the only safe player being he or she going last - and this can also change within a turn. The BIG bang comes if a player is the only one scoring in a city; worth zillions of points and making the rest of the game into a procession (presumably).

 

Several players have already had a Mulligan (changed a mistake). Kendall wants two (not allowed).  Liz wants a Super Mulligan (she's allowed it). It's that kind of game. Lots of tension and frustration.

 

The game is won by the player building the last of his palaces or at the end of a set number of turns. It seems likely that this will happen during the second round of Governorships and in this game it does. Paul is steaming ahead with plenty of property in the first city (see above).  Can he be stopped? Yes.  Kendall shuffles the Governors (first time in the game) and pops his architect into the second city. The money sloshes in. It's still anyone's game, though Dicken and Kendall are most likely to build their final palaces. Players roll out their actions.  Kendall again shuffles the Governors and the game's up. Kendall first, Dicken second.

 

A strong game, with plenty of replay value and you can see why it claims to be two-player. However. It's good to do some yoga before and after.

 

Next week, Kendall's - and new guests, Ros and Derek.

Amidst the chaos that is invariably a Wednesday night, the Elder Kendall has eventually managed to arrange another trip to Bingley. There are four for the evening - probably a good thing. Of the massed faces from the previous outing, Kendall remembers just one - Tom - mine host - and so it is useful to insert Pete and Sue into the memory banks.

Out of the large pile of games on the table Kendall recognises just the one - Wallenstein. Though by no means a bad game, he is relieved to hear that it is not to be the one. A brief lingering glance at San Juan (possibly next time) and instead it is off to Versailles for a try of Louis XIV.  Apparently reviews of this are 'pretty good' (Tom) and he has read the rules through once. Consequently, Sue takes the lead in reading the rules from the rulesbook. Now this is something to admire. Brought up in the world of the Ragnars where it's a case of dog eat dog (or rat eat wolverine eat head of the food chain) a sort of self-defence mechanism has grown up. Get your head round the rules before anyone else does so that when the heckling kicks in, you can at least vaguely follow your train of thought. Working it out on the hoof is a very different kettle of fish (to mix a metaphor, but to develop the animal theme). Only at the point when the idea of 'making a start' without having gone through all the rules  does Kendall twitch. "Can we go through it all?", though as it happens, plenty of rules get forgotten at the vital moment so it probably didn't make much difference in the long run.

There are plenty of other restrictions and any number of alternative sources of Victory Points, but as Sue proved, without the missions you can basically forget it. Albeit on only one playing, it seems to come down to maximising your mission score (four turns, a maximum of two missions per turn) whilst making as many other bonus points as you can.

How did it play? In terms of scores, it was fairly even: Pete 43, Kendall 41, Tom 40, with Sue (plus missing missions) 34. It's hard to work out how anyone might have done better - there's a lot of options available, but very often it seems that one option is no better than another option. You certainly don't sit there thinking "if only." At two and half hours plus, it also seems surprisingly long. Admittedly much groping for rules was going on, but this is still half as long again as it says on the box. Unfortunately it's one of those games where you can't really plan what you're doing until the player before you has finished their turn. Also, for a diehard lover of history, it doesn't really deliver: compared to something like Princes of the Renaissance, this is very mechanical - you're playing against a game system, not trying to deliver any history. Furthermore, in the words of Tom, it's very "tactical" - all to do with achieving things at that precise moment, whilst inconveniencing the other players as much as possible: there doesn't seem to be much long term strategy.  

Overall, not a bad game at all, but possibly better as a two- or three-player game. There are so many cracking four-player games out there that it's got its work cut out to establish a place in the pecking order.

And so, home to a very late bed.     

A hasty call from Kendall to Dicken at 6.30 sees 'St Petersburg' sneaking up on the rails as tonight's main course.  It was to have been a game test of one of the latest 'Top Secret' games from Ragnar Brothers, but Kendall knows rule changes are needed and he's not sure which bits to tinker with. It will have to serve as dessert.

A ring at the door at 8.00 p.m. and no, it's not someone canvassing for votes - is anybody out there?  It's Paul.  No Liz tonight.  Tim (Kendall's son) immediately spots a novice pool player and challenges him to a quick game before Dicken's arrival.

Dicken arrives and heads for the computer room to check out 'Nero'. Kendall's hard disk had crashed irretrievably and the Ragnars have learned (relatively quickly) that backing up the entire hard drive is probably a good thing.  Paul continues to watch Tim potting the balls. 

And so to the game. 'St Petersburg' has cropped up in a couple of the Ragnar bash reports, but full justice needs to be done to this excellent game.  The rules are relatively simple, especially if the detail is left out of the explaining. Paul experiences this as first Kendall and then Dicken give him an airy sketch before plunging him into the first round.  Paul remains cool.

Four rather strange wooden bits determine who goes first in each of the four rounds of each turn. Two of them, the onion dome and the head are obviously appropriate for representing the Buildings and Aristocrats respectively; but what of the chair (Workers) and the square (Trade cards)? Something left over from a previous production, perhaps? More to the point, Kendall notices that he will be going last in the first round (Workers) and immediately lodges a protest whilst threatening to moan all evening. Dicken magnanimously changes places.

Kendall's point is that going first when choosing Workers is good, but going last is disastrous. Each Worker (and players are advised strongly that they should take the two available at the start) generates 3 Roubles at the end of the Worker round, each turn. Kendall takes the cheapest workers (9 Roubles) , Dicken takes the most expensive (15 Roubles). As players only start with 25 Roubles, Dicken will have to play catch up this round and next (when he will be second to Paul).  By the third turn Dicken will be first, but then other revenue sources will be available.

Dicken remains cool. The next round is Buildings. Paul immediately makes a decisive and innovative move, buying the most expensive building available (Theatre) which will be worth 6 victory points per turn until the end of the game.  He has no more money. Dicken's and Kendall's erections are less impressive (steady out there! - ed.).

So to the Aristocrat round, which (as Kendall pointed out to Paul) is where the game is generally won and lost. Aristocrats (like Buildings) generate victory points and money as the game progresses, but their main impact comes in the final count-up when then will generate points, increasing incrementally for each Aristocrat owned. Dicken and Kendall are both able to afford their first nobles, who in turn bring in a small income.

The final round of each turn sees players choosing from the available Trade cards. This a composite deck made up of superior Workers, Buildings and Aristocrats. These can only be played by replacing an appropriate card and paying the difference in cost.  No-one can afford these at present, but as players are able to hold three cards in their hand, some do disappear.

Kendall drifts between phone calls from Spiller, saying 'Goodnight' to his off-spring and passing round the cheese and biscuits.

Previous games had seen a major cock-up on the rules front regarding how many cards are drawn from each deck and where they move to. Suffice to say that a maximum of eight cards can be face-up at any time, some of which will be on the bottom row (cards remaining from last turn) and costing 1 Rouble less.  Despite their best intentions, Kendall and Dicken still manage to forget how to move cards from top to bottom row and end up losing a few Buildings early on - but that's so much water under the bridge.

The game progresses serenely on. Never quite enough money to do all that one would like, but plenty of options available. A player's place in the turn makes quite a difference, as does the number of cards to be turned over in each of the rounds. Generally speaking, it has been the Workers pack that runs out first, and that is the case tonight. At which point the current turn is the last.

Kendall is loaded with money (45 Roubles per turn from his Workers), but Paul is well out in the lead courtesy of his Theatre. Dicken manfully brings up the rear. Critically Dicken poo-poos the two Observatories that are on offer from the Buildings and Kendall gleefully snaps up both. Paul doesn't realise their potential impact. Instead of cashing in the 1 victory point for each, Kendall is able to draw two cards from the Aristocrat deck, adding them to his teeming ranks.

Kendall wins with 92 points ('It was the Aristocrats what done it!'), Paul second with 68, Dicken third with 62. Dicken agrees that some tweeking is needed (variable amounts of money for players at the start of the game?).

(In retrospect I seem to remember a rule about not using the same card (Observatory) twice in a turn - or is that another game? - ed.)

9.50 p.m. and Paul has to be up at 6.00 a.m. - although he lets it be known that he could be taking a redundancy to try his hand at social work.  Dicken urges him to 'come over to the dark side'. Just time for a quick dart at 'the game whose name cannot be mentioned'.

Somewhat surprisingly, the tinkering turn out to be a major success and the game is immediately tighter and more tense, yet more flexible and less mechanical.

Fingers itching? You'll have to wait.