Something new... I will talk about a game.

I will attempt to move the topic of things here on the Fortress back to the reason we are all here in the first place. That's right, believe it or not this blog entry will not speak of enemies of mine, or why Caylus sucks or any of that other shit that we tend to get bogged down with too often. I am going to talk (or is that type) about a game I enjoy more than the average collection of cardboard and plastic.

This game is the venerable Avalon Hill Gangsters.

Everything about this game drips with theme. You take on the role of a Gangster (Duh!) in Chicago durning Prohibition. You have 3 playing pieces that you control, one group of Racketeers, a gang of Thugs, and the ever powerful Vamp. The game is played on a street map with a large number of different colored Joints located all over the place. There are three paths to victory, Cash (earn $10,000) , a Monopoly on any single color of Joints, or ownership of 10 different colored Joints.

You start the game with ownership of 3 joints, and a small band of criminals consisting of at least one Racketeer, at least one Thug and a Vamp. You can beef up the number of Racketeers and Thugs you control. These are all represented by one counter, so think of it as increasing their strength. Each unit has a special function.

Racketeers control the number of actions you get per turn. The number of Racketeers you have divided by 2 is the number of actions you can take on a turn. Racketeers are also used to gain control of (buy) Joints. These guys can also perform a hit on another players joint or gang members but they hit only on a 6 so you have to be careful. Since these guys are the brains of the operation they can put business before pleasure and take out a Vamp.

Thugs, these guys are just that, Thugs! They can be used to extort money in unowned buildings, or they can be used to do a hit on an enemy joint, Thugs, or Racketeers. They hit on 5 or 6 so they are better at this than the Racketeers. Their weakness is they cannot bring themselves to shoot up a hot babe, and so they can not take out a Vamp.

Vamps, your ladies, the Ho's. That's right you are a pimp in this game too! The Vamp can be used to "Earn" money in an unoccupied joint. They also are the only member of your gang that can enter a space with an enemy gang member and not have a shootout. In fact if you enter a space containing a rival Thug, or Racketeer, your ladies convince them to join your gang. (That's a might fine woman that can make a man change Religion!) The opposing player loses one Thug/Rack and you gain that Thug/Rack. This is extremely useful for lowering the number of actions the other players get on a turn.

In addition to your own gang, there are other folks running about on the board.

Cops, that's right the boys in blue are here and they intend to mess up a good Gangsters day. Cops are controlled by all players and can bust any player that is performing and illegal act. (be that extortion or in case of the vamp recruiting.) Thy can also raid a Joint if there is illegal stuff going on in there too.

Public, John Q Public also is in the game. Someone has to pay for all these ladies and that expensive booze. Public game pieces are also moved by all players. Getting one in your Joint earns you cash, but exposes that joint to a raid by the Fuzz.

Also there is the Squirt Gun, every time you successfully do a hit on another player you get to squirt them one time with the gun.

On a typical game turn a player rolls 5 different colored six sided dice. (Green for Racketeers, Black for Thugs, Red for Vamps, White for Public and Blue for the cops.) After you roll you have 2 min to make your moves. When the time is up you are done. For each action available to you (number of Racks/2) you can use one Die to move a game piece. Everyone must move the cops 1's t and this does not count as an action. Then you have the ability to move other units. The number on the die is the distance that unit must move exactly without back tracking. No unit can move twice, but you can use the public die more than once to move 2 different units.

In addition, when it is not your turn, and after another player has rolled the die you are not allowed to talk. If you suggest moves in any way another player can call you on it and it costs you $500.

That is it, a quick summary of how this game plays. What ensues at this point is usually a couple of hours of get AT gaming fun!. You have to balance your play between achieving your chosen path to victory and slowing down the other players. Do a Make an enemy our of the guy to my right by using my Vamp to steak his Racketeers? Do I go for the cash or try to get a 4 joint Red monopoly? There is lots and lots of trash talking in this game, and if you do not like other players messing with your plans then pick something else. Gangsters is all about player interaction, its 100% there and you need to count on using and dealing with it if you want to win.
Everyone who claims to like AT games should at least check this game out. Copies are getting harder to find but they do pop up on ebay from time to time.

As a side note I want to say that for those of you who go to the WBC each year. (And all of you should since its the best damn game con out there!) Gangsters is the best run event there. John Pack does a great job running it and keeping it fun for everyone. There are some Great players there and it is almost as fun just to watch them play as it is to play them.