It turns out that there are quite a few nerdy board gamers and wargamers in town! Our Hiroshima Gamers Facebook group had become pretty moribund during the epidemic, and last week was the first time I'd met anybody for a gaming session other than chess since 2019.
Suddenly, our Facebook group has sprung back to life with some fresh blood taking the initiative. I was invited to participate in a gaming evening in West Hiroshima on Friday. That is very convenient for me as it is just a few stops down the tram line from my gaffe.
The event took place in a recently opened cafe that was until recently a kimono shop in a run-down part of West Hiroshima that has recently been given a new lease of life. If you look at the street on Google maps you will see how it WAS; the renovation that has gone on is so recent that Google maps has yet to return and record it as it is.
It was fun to meet a new bunch of people and get to know each other over beer and pizza before the gaming session began in earnest. There were two games going on. On the big table, there was a space monster game going on that at times became quite raucous.
Pax Pamir
Meanwhile, our host, John, myself and an American guest, Adam, got down to playing a game of Pax Pamir. It was the first time for Adam and myself to play the game. I had an edge over Adam inasmuch as I had watched a Youtube video about the game mechanics. Adam left half way through and his place was taken by a Japanese friend of John's who arrived half way through the evening.
Pax Pamir is set in 19th-century Afghanistan during the "Great Game" period of imperial struggle between Russia and Great Britain. The players represent local Afghan tribes and have to engage in political intrigue, make and break alliances, spy on the other tribes, and fight to gain influence in the region. Each player's tribe may be allied to either Russia, Britain, or the local power of the time, the Durrani Empire. Alliances can shift, and more than one tribe can be allied to the same great power even while fighting among themselves.
In spite of the games complexities, I found it relatively easy to adapt to, partly because this kind of war-and-diplomacy/intrigue kind of strategy game is right up my alley, partly because I had watched a useful video guide to the game, and partly thanks to my having played a game of "Obsession" just a few days ago. (See my Obsession post here: https://hive.blog/hive-147010/@hirohurl/sunday-afternoon-obsession ).
Like Obsession, Pax Pamir has a "decreasing value market" mechanism built into the game, so having got used to that mechanism by playing Obsession, I was able to adapt to the Pax Pamir market relatively easily.
And here's the video I watched to prepare for the game:
In the game, I chose to be allied to Russia, and this turned out to be a good choice as Russia came to dominate Afghanistan. Our host, John's tribe was also allied to Russia, but his tribe (indicated by the red token on the fabric game board) lost control of the Punjab shortly after the photo was taken.
It looked as if we would not be able to finish the game before I had to leg it for the last train back to my neck of the woods, but in the nick of time the last two Dominance Cards arrived in the market and at that point the game ends and the victory points are tallied. As my blue tribe had just managed to strengthen its hold on Kabul and invite in more Russian armies, the blue tribe was able to amass enought victory points to win the game.
Meanwhile on the big table, the game had been won on the last throw of the dice by the fast movers rather than the slow shooters (as far as I understand it), so both games were concluded before the evening was and all and sundry parted company feeling highly satisified with the evening's play.
I look forward to more such gaming sessions in the near future.
Cheers!
David Hurley
#InspiredFocus
For the best experience view this post on Liketu
I've been a keen boardgamer, but never heard of this game before. Good to hear your group coming back to life!
Thanks, @mypathtofire - the gaming world is very lively right now. I had not heard of Obsession or Pax Pamir until this month and very glad to have had a chance to play them.
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