Sails of Glory was played at Hurricon 2013 (September 27-29, Orlando, Florida). Our friend and supporter, Erin "Captain Kangaroo" Tucker ran 5 sessions over the course of the weekend, recreating the battle of Grand Port with 12 ships fighting in treacherous waters. Around 60 people experienced the game in these sessions, and as many people passed by between the sessions to see and get informed about the game. See the report and impressions below:
"I had planned on five separate scenarios, but as every group was comprised of all new players, I was able to use one layout, with a modification (making it more open) for the learning sessions. The first session of each day was a learning session followed by the true historical scenarios. What is really interesting is that every game had a totally different feel and outcome, though generally speaking, all started the same.
One of the Sails of Glory sessions at Hurricon 2013.
"In the learning games where there was little cohesion within the player groups, the natural tendency to bunch up occurred and we had several collisions as a result. The actual scenarios went much smoother, as there was coordination between the players, though in the first two Scenarios, there was some bunching as the ships closed for combat. Again, several collisions.
"The last session on Saturday night comprised mostly of Veteran naval gamers and the result was quite different. There were two collisions, one that occurred due to one ship running aground and the other just clipping him. The other was a glancing blow. This, at least, confirms when players learn the system and get experience, the game play will closely emulate the tactics of the period.
The second session of Sails of Glory at Hurricon in progress.
"During the briefing I laid out the do’s and don’ts for the game board, and made sure everyone kept their cards together in a holder. Over the entire weekend, only one was misplaced. (Perhaps this would be a Anchorage accessories idea.) I was aggressive with the time keeping and we managed a minimum of 20 moves each session. This was plenty to get firm resolutions. For the most part, there were no early losses, where a player could not continue through most of the game.
"The learning sessions resulted in a victory for each. In the historical scenarios, where the British lost the battle originally, two of the three were British victories, while the last one was a French victory. The first scenario MVP was on the French side, for being the one to single handedly destroy a Frigate. He won a book, ‘Master and Commander.' The second scenario MVP was on the French side and had caused the most damage. He won a Pirates at the Oceans Edge special edition game. The last scenario MVP was also on the French side, and had figured out a creative way to turn a French loss to a French victory. (A very experienced Admiral didn’t hurt either.)
I can safely say that there was not one player who did not enjoy the game or found themselves inactive."
Ares Games thanks Erin "Captain Kangaroo" for his support at Hurricon. He posted a brief report and pictures on Sails of Glory Anchorage forum - click here to see it. The next appointment for playing Sails of Glory is the iCon Southeast Idaho's Boardgame Convention - October 11th-12th.
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