Game Overview: Here I Stand: Wars of the Reformation 1517-1555
So, in honor of my first ever Play By Email experience and first ever Here I Stand experience, I thought I would give a brief overview of the components of this game. Admittedly, I have a very poor grasp of the rules (so far) but I thought I should punch everything out and try to set up the game so at least going into this PBeM session I’d know the terminology. I realized about 1/3rd of the way through the set up that I would need a better grasp of the rules before I could actually do it.
Aaand the rules are 43 pages long. But that doesn’t really scare me, nor does the average length of play time (~4-8 hours) discourage me. I have always been a fan of “epic” things, or at least being over the top. As Tom Paine said, (and I’m paraphrasing here) “Moderation in temperament is a virtue, in principle, a vice.” I am a distance swimmer, a long division lover and a binge drinker. Also a binge reader
Apparently I like epic things as much as McSweeney’s does. And gold accents? Anywho. Here I Stand is, as the subtitle suggests, a game about the wars of the Reformation. You can play as the English, the French, the Papacy, the Protestants, the Hapsburgs and the Ottomans. There is piracy, burning of heretics, circumnavigation of the globe, diplomacy and good ol’ fashioned war. It is a dice and card war game so there is some element of luck (and thank god because that’s probably the only way I’ll win one of these things), and each power has a very different path to victory. The two religious powers are trying to Reform or Counter-Reform areas, the Ottomans are basically trying to pillage, England is trying to find an heir, the Hapsburgs are trying to do a little bit of everything, and the French, well, they’re just trying to make the perfect wine. (Or is that Vinhos?)
The map is pretty great. I certainly love colors. Here, Puss is taking a break from shitting on the floor to inspect the board with curiosity befitting a cat.
Each player gets a sheet to keep track of their victory points and their various powers. Here is Suleiman the Lawgiver’s sheet for the Ottomans after the tournament scenario setup. I like the English players sheet for Henry the VIII as there are little chits for each of his wives (unless he’s divorced or beheaded them… gruesome.)
Here’s part of the map with some Ottoman pieces played. Looks like no one will be bothering them for a while—possibly a good time to raise the skull and cross bones and get some pirating done. AAaarrrggh!
I am interested to see how this victory point track works. This is the starting VPs for the tournament scenario and every power is trying to end a turn with 25 VPs to be the winner. Here, England is starting with a measly 9 whilst the Hapsburg have double that. How is this fair? I’m guessing since the paths to victory are heterogeneous, each power progresses with different speeds. I know that the papacy generally loses a lot of VPs as the Protestant player picks up steam as the Reformation strengthens.
Here is where the Papacy and Protestant powers keep track of how many spaces they have under their religious influence and who will debate the various merits of their religious philosophies. If a debater loses, he can end up disgraced, or as I said earlier, burned at the stake. Mmm steak.
Like I said, very much looking forward to giving this game a try. Will I be Henry the VIII and finally have a male heir? Will I be Pope Leo X and build St. Paul’s Cathedral? Will I be Suleiman the Wise and use my cavalry and naval fleets to gobble up the spoils of war? Or will I just be someone overwhelmed by rules and mindless of strategy that I get eaten alive by a yummy french croissant. (croissaint? crossant?)
