{"id":3618,"date":"2015-01-24T13:23:35","date_gmt":"2015-01-24T13:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bucksurdu.com\/blog\/?p=3618"},"modified":"2015-01-24T13:23:35","modified_gmt":"2015-01-24T13:23:35","slug":"first-play-test-of-the-pterodactyl-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bucksurdu.com\/blog\/?p=3618","title":{"rendered":"First Play Test of the Pterodactyl Game"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The "bomber" in its starting position<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last night would have been a Traveller night for those in the HAWKs participating in Eric’s campaign, but not enough players could make it, so Eric suggested that I host a game at my house. \u00a0I recently had knee surgery and am still not too mobile. \u00a0We pulled together a couple of folks at the last minute, and I hosted the game.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The German side setup<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The objective of the game was for the pterodactyl “bomber” to get across the table. \u00a0It had limited mobility and had to weave back and forth across the table to avoid stressing the pilot.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A group of Brits on Griffons in their starting positions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I used a very slightly modified version of X-Wing for this game. \u00a0I found a site that let be build tailored order dials and another to build the pilot \/ ship cards.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The fur ball begins<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I placed a few mountains on the table to add a little interest to the table and a few obstacles around which to fly. \u00a0It turned out that the “bomber” got too close to one of the mountains while trying to avoid the onrushing griffons and eagles and took some damage.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The beginning of the game<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The action builds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the “bomber” could sustain twelve hits, that wasn’t enough. \u00a0An American with a Garand did the last point of damage, and the pterodactyl fell screeching between two mountains.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The griffons swoop toward the giant pterodactyl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I think the sides were pretty evenly matched. \u00a0The Germans had slightly better pilots and several auto cannons that were big killers. \u00a0The Allies had numbers on their side, and even the Brits with their bolt-action rifles were able to get in a hit or two. \u00a0Very little tinkering is necessary to be able to run this game at Cold Wars 2015. \u00a0I made some mistakes on the German pilot \/ ship cards that I will correct.<\/p>\n