Game: Goblin

Thread: Goblin Session

welleran — 2006-03-13T14:50:22+00:00

This was the first time I'd played Goblin in about 20 years. My old copy of the game had been sold by my parents in the infamous Garage Sale of Doom, so I had to make do with a homemade copy, courtesy of the folks at http://dwarfstar.brainiac.com

Since this was a test run of my homemade version, I played a solo game of only one raid cycle, rather than repeating it per the rules. It took very little time to relearn the rules, as the turns play out quite simply. The only complication was counting up points for all the units for their various modes of attack, though this was mere bookkeeping. All told, the game took about an hour, which included a quick read through of the rules.

As far as startegy, I think I was overly aggressive with the Goblins. Though they succeeded in plundering the majority of the towns (only the Abbey and the 3-hex city remained unscathed), successful human counterattacks caused a large portion of the plunder to be dropped and thus lost. A slightly less aggressive goblin raid would have probably sacked fewer towns but actually resulted in more plunder returned to the caves. As it was, the Goblins captured 35 points worth.

Next up, finding a live body to play this game to test it out further.

I posted a photo of the game in the appropriate place titled something like "The Goblin King escapes by the skin of his teeth." This was the end of the game, in which the King managed to somehow cut his way out of the combined forces of the Count and the Baron, along with supporting forces. He may not have got any of his plunder home, but at least he got himself home!

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welleran — 2006-03-12T18:05:34+00:00

The Goblin King attempts to flee back to his cave...

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The Maverick — 2006-03-01T12:30:33+00:00

Box cover, larger scan

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The Maverick — 2006-03-01T11:08:43+00:00

Rules Booklet

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stevetrpi — 2005-03-30T18:33:29+00:00

My print and play copy, ready to go

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The Maverick — 2005-02-20T15:21:56+00:00

Back of box

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The Maverick — 2005-02-20T15:21:56+00:00

Sample counters

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The Maverick — 2005-02-20T15:21:55+00:00

Map detail

Thread: Re:User Review

Robrob — 2004-04-23T05:03:00+00:00

Yeah it was underwhelming to say the least. I can't help but think we were misreading the CRT somehow. Now that is available for free download, maybe I'll revisit it. PS - I was in DC for business last week - how do you stand the traffic? It was rush hour 24/7!

Thread: Re:User Review

hotspur — 2004-04-12T18:54:26+00:00

Robrob (#9065),

I think I played an email game of this game with you at some point. I found it pretty disappointing (as the Gob player). Even with large stacks I couldn't do a heck of a lot in battle. I can't fathom why it's rated so highly.

Walt

Thread: User Review

Robrob — 2003-05-29T12:32:47+00:00

???

The up side: A beautiful game, typical of the Dwarfstar products from the 1980's (the era of the microgame). The game map resembles a watercolor, the unit counters are unique with individual names and personalities. The game concept is fascinating. One player is the Goblin king. He leads his troops in a loose confederation to raid the Human players towns. If the King looses too many troops or fails to gain enough plunder, he will be deposed. Morale is important. Troops will run away rather than fight.

The down side: The combat rules are anemic. Even when enclosed on all sides, units are rarely eliminated from battle. Without combat results, tactics become unimportant and terrain inconsiquential. There is a fantastic game lurking inside. It just needs some searching to find.

Here is a link to a pbem site:
http://pbem.brainiac.com/goblin_pbem.htm

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breakmanynecks — 2003-01-13T19:09:24+00:00