Game: Ascendancy

Thread: Game Length

bucklen_uk — 2008-09-01T17:10:13+00:00

Some people have asked if the game length claimed is wildly optimistic and if actual play time is much longer.

Of course the time a game takes depends on the players, some people play very fast, others prefer to take time thinking about their play.

I'd say the short game takes approximately 20 minutes + 10 minutes per player. The long game 40 minutes + 20 minutes per player

The short game is designed to be played in about an hour - and my experience is that is true even with players that are new to the game. It might take 90 minutes if everyone was new and you needed to look things up, and you might spend a bit of time setting things up depending how you've organised the bits (throwing everything loose into the box after a game doesn't help setup time ...).

It lasts 6 rounds and each round you get 3 actions, so in a 4 player game that is 12 actions to resolve each round. Then there is managing the empire (adding fleets, flipping sectors) and distributing and returning resources and marking VPs. And the final tally of VPs at the end.

When I've run demos of the short game they've always been around the hour - including questions and rules explanation.

The long game add 3 more rounds, but doubles the play length as there is much more for the players to think about. The turn order jumps around, based on the actions players took in the previous round (which is a factor to consider, your opponents can arrange a double move on you). But the actions are simultaneously selected and ordered (secretly) by all players at the start of the round - so rather than wait for someone to plan their turn before you can take yours everyone does this bit at the same time.

Combat is deterministic (see http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/326384) which helps keep the game short.

Thread: Re: Related to the computer game?

bucklen_uk — 2008-09-01T16:45:08+00:00

DreadFuzzy wrote:
Sadly not! That was the first thing that I asked about the game when I first heard the title as well. I did so love Ascendancy, although I admit that micromanaging the planets became tedious later in the game. Great tech tree though.

Correct, check out this thread for a short overview of the game:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/303369

Assuming the computer game was a 4x game there will be elements in this game that are familiar. Of course a 4x game in board game format is rather different than one on a PC - the management things a PC does well needs to be abstracted in a board game or it would be tedious in the extreme, not to mention fiddly!

Thread: Re: Related to the computer game?

DreadFuzzy — 2008-09-01T06:43:57+00:00

Sadly not! That was the first thing that I asked about the game when I first heard the title as well. I did so love Ascendancy, although I admit that micromanaging the planets became tedious later in the game. Great tech tree though.

Thread: Related to the computer game?

dwculp — 2008-09-01T00:43:03+00:00

Is this at all related to the 90's computer game: http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/221/Ascendancy.html

It was a civ building game set in space and one of my favorite games of all time.

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bucklen_uk — 2008-08-27T09:59:34+00:00

Preproduction example of an Improved Technology Card [without card text]

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bucklen_uk — 2008-08-26T15:21:48+00:00

Sample Improved Mobilisation card

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bucklen_uk — 2008-08-26T11:08:42+00:00

Artwork for the achievement 'Education'

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bucklen_uk — 2008-08-26T10:08:58+00:00

Artwork for the Orbital Docks technology

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bucklen_uk — 2008-08-26T09:45:40+00:00

Artwork for the achievement 'Mobilise'

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bucklen_uk — 2008-08-26T09:44:28+00:00

Artwork for the Terraforming technology

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bucklen_uk — 2008-08-21T15:40:30+00:00

Artwork for the PSI labs technology

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bucklen_uk — 2008-08-21T15:37:55+00:00

Artwork for the Escape Pods technology

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bucklen_uk — 2008-08-21T15:12:45+00:00

Artwork for the achievement 'Expansion'

Thread: 2-player long game playtest (June 2008)

bucklen_uk — 2008-08-05T15:35:12+00:00

Introduction:

This session report is based on a 2 player playtest of a long game of Ascendancy, the published version may be rather different.

Player comments are in italics, as are mine. Both players are experienced at Ascendancy, so I was expecting a close game …

Pre game
Veleks vs Populi

Veleks – I plan to use a burn and move strategy, I’ll take out the Empire and then move on, allowing them to rebuild so I can attack them again, to maximise on my special ability and the VPs from it. Lack of infrastructure development might be an issue, but as it is a 2 player game I should have lots of opportunity to hit the Empire

Populi – I plan to limit advancement on the culture chart, instead I’m going to grab as many sectors as I can and try to dominate the galaxy that way. Starting with lots of fleets in reserve helps.

Setup
Veleks are going first, so Populi select Shields as the starting tech, Veleks go for Torpedoes.

Fairly standard technology picks – I expect the Veleks will take targeting to go with the torpedoes …

Round 1 (of 9)
1. Veleks – research, Assimilate; Populi – research PSI labs

Shows what an expert I am! Neither player picked the other combat technology, which surprised me, I can see the immediate use for Assimilate for the Veleks against the Empire, but I think the Populi should have taken targeting

2. Veleks, move – taking 3 empire sectors and assimilating 3 fleets; Populi, politics for an achievement card.
Fairly passive start for the Populi … not my style of play at all

3. Veleks, politics for 3 resources; Populi, assemble fleets (add 1 fleet)
Veleks are grabbing resources to advance on the culture chart – not really sure what the Populi have in mind at this point

Veleks advance to Era 1 Mid (using 6 resources), Populi can’t advance.
VPs: Veleks 35, Populi 0

Empire: Builds a monument and a fleet in each remaining sector (9 now held).
Time – Populi spent less time this round, and elect to play 2nd in the next.

Veleks: I’m surprised targeting is still available, and that I’m going first – means I get the powerful combination of firing first for 2 hits and I can get a mobilise card …
Populi: As expected my opponent now has all his fleets on the map, he needs more now, maybe he’ll take energy cells If he does I’ll have to take Escape Pods to guarantee I get the Long Range Patrol mobilise card.

I think the Populi player has made an error, either he should have taken targeting or picked to go first so he can get it next round, he did neither … and he’s behind 35 vps already

Round 2 (of 9)
1. Veleks – research Targeting; Populi – research Energy Cells (use PSI Labs to convert 1 empire fleet).

Not surprising given the comments from last round, but I’m not sure the Populi need more fleets at this point, he only has 4 on the map and a huge pile in the reserve …

2. Veleks – politics, mobilise card Strke Formations (3 fleets added to the reserve); Populi assemble fleets (add 1 fleet)

If the Populi had picked orbital docks instead of energy cells he’d have more fleets in play, even more if he’d picked it on the first round

3. Veleks – move, taking 2 more Empire sectors, but abandoning one to do so; Populi – move, taking 2 Empire sectors.

Veleks advance to Era 1 late, Populi to Era 1 early.
VPs: Veleks 65, Populi 7

Empire: adds 1 fleet to each sector (6 now held) including the one vacated by the Veleks.
Veleks have used less time, and decide to go first.

Veleks – Strategy is working so far, I wanted to go first this round to grab sub-space radios, I want to be able to take multiple sectors in a single movement, so I need the technology to move multiple fleets. My lead in VPs is nice, but I haven’t got an achievement card banked.

Populi – Again as expected, but my lack of early resources has slowed my advance on the culture chart, that might be a mistake as early investment scores points throughout the game. I’m not planning to advance very far, but I probably should get to the final point as quick as I can, I’m well behind on VPs now.

Round 3 (of 9)
1. Veleks – research, Sub-space Radios; Populi research – robots (use PSI labs to convert 1 Velek fleet, sector now empty).
2. Veleks – move, taking 3 more Empire sectors but abandon 2; Populi Build 2 shipyards.
3. Veleks – politics for an achievement card; Populi assemble fleets (add 3 fleets).

Veleks advance twice, to Era 2 late (losing a fleet), Populi advance to Era 1 Mid.
VPs: Veleks 118, Populi 16

Empire: Does nothing (6 sectors held – 3 lost but 3 regained through being empty)
Populi have used less time and decide to go first.

Veleks – I’m very happy with the way the game is going, I’m short on fleets so I’ll look at technology to get a mobilise card. Losing sectors and fleets to PSI labs is annoying, but it is more profitable to keep hitting the Empire at the moment.

Populi – This game is turning into a disaster, I’m so far behind on VPs I don’t see how I can pull it back. I’ll get Planetary Defences and start building those to hold my sectors (as the Veleks don’t have shields) as well as giving me vps at the end of the game. I need to get this now as it has 2 mobilise icons and I’m sure he’s looking for more fleets.

Round 4 (of 9)
1. Populi - research (use PSI labs to convert 1 Velek fleet, sector now empty) Planetary Defences; Velek – research Hyperdrive
2. Populi – build (2 defences); Veleks – move (take 4 Empire sectors but abandon 2)
3. Populi – move (take 1 Empire sector); Veleks – politics for 3 resources

Populi advance to Era 1 late, Veleks advance twice to Era 4 (losing 2 fleets)
VPs: Populi 28, Veleks 200

Empire: Develops Torpedoes and gains a fleet in each sector (3 sectors now held)
Veleks have used less time and decide to go second.

Veleks – Great lead, I ended up taking the resources with politics, as I got an unexpected Hyperdrive so didn’t have the technology to get a mobilise card, but I’m happy as I got to advance further and I have both movement technology cards.

Populi – I feel a bit happier now, even though I’m far behind in VPs. Veleks only have 7 fleets on the entire map! And none in reserve, I’ll try to squeeze him now, missing out on hyperdrive was a mistake, I’d forgotten how quickly tech disappears in a 2 player game, mostly I play the 4 player version.

Round 5 (of 9)
1. Populi – research (PSI lab another Velek) Orbital Docks; Veleks – research Research Labs.
2. Populi – build, Shipyard and a Defence; Veleks – move (take 2 Empire sectors but abandon 2)
3. Populi – politics, mobilise card (3 extra fleets); Veleks – politics (achievement card)

Populi advance twice to Era 2 late (lose 1 fleet), Veleks do not advance.
VPs: Populi 49, Veleks 265

Empire gains a fleet and a defence is each sector
Populi have used less time and decide to go first

Veleks, it had to happen, the Empire now have defences which is a problem as I don’t have shields – so I lose a fleet entering the sector. I took research labs so I can get the improved technology cards and access to the improved mobilise cards as I’m short on fleets; all in all not a great round for me.

Populi, The empire getting defences might help a bit – I’m struggling with lack of movement, this happens to me all the time in this game, I end up wanting to do 4 actions but I’m only allowed 3. Now I need to get Research Labs to keep up with the technology.

Round 6 (of 9)
1. Populi – research (PSI lab another Velek), Research Labs; Velek – research Improved Research.
2. Populi – assemble fleets (adding 2 per shipyard thanks to orbital docks); Veleks – politics (take an achievement card).
3. Populi – Move (taking the sector emptied by the PSI lab attack); Veleks – move (taking 2 empire sectors but abandoning 2)

Populi no advance, Veleks advance to Era 5 (and lose a fleet)
Veleks have used less time and decide to go first.

VPs: Populi 74, Veleks 337
Empire: Develop Shields, gain +1 fleet and a bonus chit (5 sectors held)

Veleks – I’m glad I grabbed those 2 sectors before the Empire got shields – now they are quite difficult to take, fortunately my VP lead is huge. I need more fleets.

Populi – Not having hyperdrive (or sub-space radios) is really hurting me, I can’t get at the Veleks now he’s abandoned sectors next to me and moved to the edges of the map, and he’s got more achivements and advanced further. I can’t see how to recover. I need to play more 2 player games, it is rather different to a 4 player.

Round 7 (of 9)
1. Veleks - research, Improved Torpedoes; Populi – politics (take a mobilise card).
2. Veleks – politics (take an improved mobilise card); Populi – research (PSI lab an empire fleet) Improved Defences.
3. Veleks – move (taking 2 empire sectors, abandoning 1); Populi – move (taking Velek sector and Empire sector)

No advances (Velek advance prevented by Populi takin a key resource after winning the sector)
Time spent tied, so Populi select as Veleks were first this round – and decide to go first

VPs: Populi 97, Veleks 409
Empire: Gains a fleet and a monument in each sector (3 sectors held)

No further commentary was given, the players got engrossed in the end game and forgot to record any!

Round 8 (of 9)
1. Populi – research (PSI lab Velek Home world), Improved PSI Labs; Veleks – research Improved Hyperdrive.
2. Populi – build (2 defence markers) and Improve PSI labs the Veleks; Veleks – politics (improved mobilise card).
3. Populi – politics (mobilise card); Veleks – move (take 2 empire sectors)

Populi, no advance. Veleks advance to Era 6 (and lose a fleet)
Populi have used less time and decide to go second in the final round.

VPs: Populi 127, Veleks 485
Empire: Develops Targeting and builds a defence (1 sector held)

Round 9 (final round)
1. Veleks – research Improved Targeting; Populi – assemble fleets
2. Veleks – politics (improved mobilise card); Populi – politics (achievement card)
3. Veleks – move (taking Empire sector); Populi – move (taking Velek sector & empty sector)

Veleks advance to Era 7 (and lose a fleet), Populi advance twice to Era 4 (lose 2 fleets).

VPs: Veleks 597, Populi 196

End of Game scoring
Veleks have 32 from Improved Research, 30 from Improved Mobilise, 100 from the mobilise achievement, 50 from technology achievement and 20 from Expansion achievement. Along with 51 in bonuses = 880 total

Populi have 126 from defence achievement, 90 from expansion achievement and 105 from ships in play (special power) and 30 in bonuses = 547

An interesting game – the scores reflect the quality of play – the Veleks successfully carried out the strategy of hit and run raids against the Empire. The Populi were starting to get the upper hand as the game ended, but the in game VPs collected by the Veleks were just too many.

What do I think the Populi did wrong? The two biggest errors were not taking targeting in the first round and not taking Hyperdrive once sub-space radios had been taken, the Veleks were able to use the extra combat tech to help against the Empire the whole game and the lack of mobility made it hard for the Populi to use their larger fleets to crush the Veleks as they were limited to the sectors they could invade each round.

If the Populi had advanced on the chart earlier they would have picked up more points, but this is minor compared to the lack of mobility.

Thread: Re: Combat System

medievalbanquet — 2008-07-17T01:28:19+00:00

Combat goooooood.

Thread: Re: Preorder Fifth Race - Five Players possible?

Pickles — 2008-07-16T15:26:29+00:00

rdsmith wrote:
I'll jump on board the question bandwagon:
In general, Ascendancy appears to be very similar to Twilight Imperium (but, what space empire game isn't). How is Ascendancy something different from what has gone before?

Thanks.

Ray

Rather late reply but my view on first playtesting was that,
Ascendancy is like Twilight Imperium but only takes an hour & you get to actually play with all of your toys.

It has changed a bit since then - it takes a little longer as it's a bit more involved but the essence is the same.

Thread: Re: Combat System

bucklen_uk — 2008-07-16T14:23:48+00:00

Yes, or Antike, and there are others.

Main difference is strike order is evaluated each round of combat, so depending on the technologies you have who inflicts a loss first can alter as the combat is resolved.

Thread: Re: Combat System

DaveD — 2008-07-16T13:45:10+00:00

So in essence the basic system is the same as Civilization conflict, but one side must be eliminated. Different technologies then modify things.

Thread: Combat System

bucklen_uk — 2008-07-16T13:11:46+00:00

Some people have asked for more details about Ascendancy, in particular the combat system.

Combat is a major part of the game - players can attack the (non-player) empire and also other players. The combat system is quick to resolve, deterministic and heavily effected by technology.

Ignoring technology for the moment, the way combat works is:

Compare the opposing fleets, largest fleet has initiative and fires first inflicting a loss. Then the smaller fleet fires back (if any survive). This is repeated until only one side is left. So if I attack your 2 fleet sector with 4 fleets I'll win and have 3 fleets left. If I attack with just 2 we will both be eliminated.

Technology alters this, for example if you have Shields you ignore the first loss in combat. So in the example above if I had Shields and attacked the sector with 2 fleets the end result would be I'd take the sector with no loss.

How does that work? First round of combat losses are inflicted simultaneously as we both have 2 fleets - you lose 1 fleet, I lose my shield. Second round of combat I have more fleets than you so I'm firing first, I fire your last fleet is eliminated and the combat is over.

Falling behind in the arms race is bad - but not necessarily a disaster, the stacking limits and movement system mean it is hard for to take multiple sectors in a single round unless you can take each sector with a single fleet, and if you have a way of getting more fleets onto the map you can make up for the lack of technology with sheer weight of numbers.

In summary, if you bring more kit to the war or have a technological edge over your enemy you will win, but winning a war doesn't guarantee you will win the game.

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DreadFuzzy — 2008-07-12T13:03:59+00:00

The Iccus home sector and local fleets - prototype edition

Thread: Ascendancy Races

bucklen_uk — 2008-07-11T09:27:54+00:00

Ascendancy will have 4 races (5 if you pre-order).

The Race is independent of player colour. In the short game the race you select is purely for flavour, but in the long game each race has its own starting forces and unique power.

Apocrilla
]]>Industrious insects controlled by complex hive minds. With the Empire in decline they are getting ready to strike back and reclaim their lost worlds.
- They get a bonus resource when building (shipyards, defences & monuments) and assembling fleets. Start with a shipyard marker, a defence marker, 2 fleets and 6 in reserve.

Iccus
]]>Graceful natural pilots employed throughout the Empire. Now persecuted for allegedly inciting rebellions they have been recalled home and are preparing for war.
- They can redistribute their fleets at the end of the round. Start with a shipyard marker, 2 monuments, 2 fleets and 7 in reserve.

Populi
]]>Physically small, with a short life span and high birth rate. The Populi are ruled by family clans and have recently started to expand into Empire space, conflict seems inevitable.
- Their stacking limit is 4 fleets per sector (rather than 3). Each fleet they have in play at the game end is worth bonus victory points. They start with an improved defence marker, 2 fleets and 8 in reserve.

Veleks
]]>The cybernetic slave race that rebelled against the Empire. Now ruthlessly repressed they take every opportunity to strike back at their former masters.
- They inflict an additional hit against Empire fleets in the first round of combat, and gain bonus victory points for each Empire sector they take. Start with a shipyard, 1 monument, 3 fleets and 4 in reserve.

Pre-order bonus race
Jix
]]>Deeply religious and intellectually advanced the Jix worked with the Empire to develop advanced technologies which helped the Empire to conquer most of the galaxy. The recent unrest has hampered further research and the continual failures have been blamed on the Jix. Now threatened by the very technology they developed they must respond.
- They start the game with Research Labs (allowing them immediate access to improved technology cards). Start with a shipyard marker, 1 monument, 2 fleets and 5 in reserve.

Thread: Playtesting

bucklen_uk — 2008-05-09T14:22:12+00:00

If anyone is interested in playtesting, get in touch.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/302873

Thread: Re: Demo at the UK Expo - 31 May

Phantomwhale — 2008-05-06T10:14:58+00:00

Am still toying with the idea of coming up for the Saturday.

If I do, I'll try and track you down in the morning, or spend the afternoon hunting down a green t-shirted man. Which might be hard, what with me being a little colour-blind and all

Just stumbled into this game via the Gamer's Mind blog, and looks quite interesting (a 4X game that doesn't take 4+ hours !) Was also thinking it might be based off the old PC title, but now see from another thread that this is mere coincidence.

Hopefully see you there.

Thread: Re: Short Game Overview

bucklen_uk — 2008-04-28T09:15:10+00:00

tritone wrote:
There actually was an old PC strategy game called Ascendancy... is this game related?

No, I've not played the PC game, and hadn't heard of it until people started asking.

Assuming the PC game is a 4X strategy game there is likely to be similarities, but any direct resemblence/match with alien races, technology etc is pure coincidence.

Game play 'feel' is a bit like Masters of Orion - you spend 'time' on various aspects, building your infrastructure, researching, sending fleets out. I don't know if the PC game Ascendancy did that kind of thing too.

Thread: Re: Short Game Overview

tritone — 2008-04-25T20:33:16+00:00

There actually was an old PC strategy game called Ascendancy... is this game related?

Thread: Re: Short Game Overview

bucklen_uk — 2008-04-14T09:16:11+00:00

tanis wrote:
a 4X game that should take ony 1 hour to play looks very interesting, and a very difficult design task. I'll look forward to it, being an old Master of Orion fan.

Question: how much language dependant will the game be?

Fairly. The cards you play will have English text as will the technology cards and there will be some text on the game charts and player mats.

Once you know the game I believe it could be played without needing translation aids, after a few games players don't bother with the reference card and if you play regularly you don't need to read the cards as you learn what each do. But to get to that point you'd either need to be able to read English or have some play aids, either paste ups or a sheet detailing what each card does.

When I get samples of the cards I'll post them here so people can see the level of text.

Thread: Re: Short Game Overview

tanis — 2008-04-12T11:54:18+00:00

a 4X game that should take ony 1 hour to play looks very interesting, and a very difficult design task. I'll look forward to it, being an old Master of Orion fan.

Question: how much language dependant will the game be?

Thread: Re: Demo at the UK Expo - 31 May

DreadFuzzy — 2008-04-01T12:56:01+00:00

I'm hoping to attend the Expo this year (although no guarantees at this point) and if I do I shall be hunting you down for a demo of this!

Thread: Re: Demo at the UK Expo - 31 May

Capoeirista — 2008-04-01T12:25:51+00:00

Hi, Nigel, that's fantastic, many thanks for offering to show us this. It will be 3 of us in total (sorry if my earlier statement mislead you) and we will be there at around 2:30pm.

Thanks again.

Thread: Comparison of the Long Game and the Short Game

bucklen_uk — 2008-04-01T10:48:16+00:00

Preamble:

Some people have asked for more details about Ascendancy, this is my second posting on this particular topic, see: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/303369
for an overview of the short game and an explanation of what I think ‘4x genre’ is.

I’ll cover what I think the overall difference between the game versions is in terms of feel when you play, why the two versions exist and then the detail of the differences in the Long Game.

Please note this refers to the play-test version of Ascendancy, there might be changes made once the game is published.

The main difference in feel between the two versions is game weight and strategic planning. There is some need to plan in the short game but for me it is mostly developing technology combinations and exploiting weaknesses and mistakes by your opponents. You can play the short game without too much advance planning, just optimise your choices each round, although having some goals (such as ‘get more fleets’ will help). The long game is rather different - you need a long-term plan (and maybe alternatives if you get baulked early) and also to plan each round. The increased number of rounds and other changes (see below) mean you are unlikely to succeed if you just take the short game tactic of optimising each round without an overarching strategy.

So overall the long game needs much more planning and careful thought right from the start - hence the extended playtime. 3 rounds have been added (an increase of a third) which usually doubles the length of play.

The short game should not be viewed as just a learning step to reach the long game. It has a different feel and is a complete game in its own right. Some play-test groups are happy with the short game and would play it in preference to the long game. They feel the short game gives a 4x game experience in under an hour without requiring significant amounts of planning, you can optimise your play by considering each card play as you make it - so as a quick space empire game it works. The long game requires more commitment to learn and more strategic thought to play - some gamers do not want that level of ‘weight’ in a game.

Saying that, the majority of play-testers prefer the long game - they like the additional options and decisions required and enjoy exploring the various challenges each race and map setup gives.

Changes in detail:

1. 9 Rounds instead of 6 and the Empire will develop all 3 combat technologies.

2. Resources are added each turn rather than all being available at the start. This makes it more likely there will be shortages of particular resources during the game.

3. Racial Differences - each race has a unique special ability and specific setup (number of fleets in play, total number of fleets available and infrastructure already built).

4. Starting Technology - each player selects their starting technology rather than have it preset based on initial play order.

5. Variable play order - in the short game play order is clockwise from the starting player and the starting player advances each round, so where you come in each round is fixed from the start of the game. In the long game each focus card has a time value, representing the time, commitment of resources and concentration the area demands. Players select when they go in the next round based on the time spent in the current one - with the player with the least time commitment choosing first and so on. Furthermore each play order position gives a different bonus for the round.

6. Per-planned focus cards - in the short game each player selects a focus card and plays it in turn and this is repeated three times. Instead all players simultaneously select the three cards they will use and also the order they will be played. Then in play order the first card is revealed and resolved, then the second and finally the third, so there is more opportunity to surprise an opponent.

7. Improved technology; each technology has a single more powerful version that can be researched. To gain the improved technology a player needs the basic technology and also Research Labs (a new technology not present in the short game).

8. End game bonuses players no longer automatically getting bonuses at the end of the game for holding sectors and building infrastructure. Now end game bonuses are represented by Achievement Cards, and players only get the bonus if they have selected the relevant achievement card. For example to gain victory points from sectors a player has to take the achievement card ‘Expansion’ if they do then each sector is worth 10 victory points at the end of the game, if they don’t then sectors they own are worth nothing. To take an Achievement Card the player needs to focus on Politics, and the card selected is kept hidden until the end of the game.

Thread: Re: Ascendancy now available for pre-order

DavidNorman99 — 2008-03-29T00:53:31+00:00

rdsmith wrote:
To avoid the hideous shipping,

I'm not sure how you can describe GBP 3 (US$6) as a hideous shipping cost!!! Especially when you get double that as a discount for pre-ordering... But...

rdsmith wrote:
will Ascendancy have any direct distribution in the US from FRED or any other distributors of JKLM? Would the pre-order with the bonus race be available from "them" too?

Thanks.

At present, nothing has been finalised, but that is usually the case this far out, and I would be very surprised if none of the distributors in the US take it.

The pre-order bonuses will only be available if you pre-order it...

David.

Thread: Short Game Overview

bucklen_uk — 2008-03-28T11:56:59+00:00

Some people have asked for more details about Ascendancy.

I expect the rules to be available on-line, but not until very near the game release date (or even afterwards). JKLM want a duplicate of the rules you'll get in the box (complete with layout and graphics) available rather than my proto-type effort (complete with bad grammar and speeling mistooks).

So, instead here is my overview of the Short Game version of Ascendancy.

Preamble: I'd describe Ascendancy as in the 4X genre, certainly the inspiration for it is PC games like Masters of Orion and boardgames like Stellar Conquest.

By 4X I mean:

eXplore: The map is not totally visable at the start, and players discover parts as the game progresses. This isn't a major part of Ascendancy, but the hidden aspect is there.
eXpand: Players start off with a small territory and have to go out and take more.
eXploit: Players get resources from areas they control, and can steal them from others.
eXterminate: Players attack each other - and in the case of Ascendancy the non-player Empire.

Also (for me) a 4X game has to have:

Technology - stuff you can research to gain extra powers and abilities and allow differences between the players
Racial Powers - each player has a unique starting setup and special abilities. In Ascendancy this is only implemented in the Long Game, to keep the Short Game easier to learn.
Strategy - these games are much more strategic than tactical, you have to carefully plan your development, pick the technologies that fit your plan and optimise your actions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4X

Anyway, enough of the background here's the overview.

Ascendancy – Short Game Overview

This is a game of Galactic Empires which should take about an hour to play – the map which is made up of tiles represents the galaxy, each tile is a sector of space around 100 light years across. For the last 2000 years one race has grown to dominate the galaxy, this is the Empire and at the start of the game it controls all the sectors apart from the unwanted poor barren sectors at the edge.

However the Empire has grown complacent and decadent, and now a crisis point has been reached. The servitor race of cyborgs, the Veleks, have rebelled and although this mass rebellion has been crushed the Empire has been severely weakened and short of their labour force.

The remnants of the Veleks have massed on the galactic rim and along with other races are preparing to challenge the Empire.

You represent one of these races and over the next 6 rounds (600 years) will try to become the dominant power in the galaxy. Each round you will focus on three areas to develop your empire. You can focus on research to gain a technological advantage over your competitors and the Empire. You can focus on fleets – and assemble a vast navy (each fleet represents 1000’s of individual ships) to either defend your sectors or battle for new ones. You can focus on building a network of shipyards, defences or monuments, or you can focus on movement and invade adjacent sectors. Also you can focus on politics and either stimulate your economy to produce valuable resources or increase your military capacity through recruitment of new officers and improvement to ships and training.

Not all your developments need to be warlike, if your empire has a surplus of resources you can advance culturally, but there are dangers. As your people gain in this area the drive to expand decreases, you could be following the same pattern of decline as the Empire.

Each round the Empire may react and increase their fleets or even develop combat technology to fight off the invaders.

After 6 rounds the positions of each player are compared – you gain points for attacks on the Empire, sectors you control, shipyards and defences you have constructed along with any increases to fleet capacity and any resources you have stockpiled. These are added to any points you have amassed during the game from monuments you have erected and your cultural advancement.

The Player with the most points is deemed to have reached Ascendancy and is the winner.

Thread: Re: Ascendancy now available for pre-order

rdsmith — 2008-03-27T20:46:28+00:00

To avoid the hideous shipping, will Ascendancy have any direct distribution in the US from FRED or any other distributors of JKLM? Would the pre-order with the bonus race be available from "them" too?

Thanks.

Thread: Re: Demo at the UK Expo - 31 May

bucklen_uk — 2008-03-27T14:04:11+00:00

I'll try to keep the space for the afternoon if there are going to be 4 of you, any idea of time?

In any case I'll wear my Celtic Quest shirt on Saturday - it's dark green with "What's your Destiny?" on the back and some art from the game and Celtic Quest logo on the front.

It's fairly unique (I only had 3 made) so chances of someone else having it is minimal

Thread: Re: Demo at the UK Expo - 31 May

Capoeirista — 2008-03-27T13:45:02+00:00

People should carry around banners with their BGG avatars on them, would make them easier to recognise and find. Of course, could be tricky for those of us with animated ones - it might be tough lugging around an LCD display all day.

If you can find somewhere else to run a demo, I can definitely pledge three players. Pehaps even in the evening game area in the nearby hotel where I'm sure an appropriate liquid bribe can also be arranged.

Thread: Re: Demo at the UK Expo - 31 May

bucklen_uk — 2008-03-27T12:24:23+00:00

I'll be at the Expo all day - I'm just not sure how long I can have the JKLM table. Of course once I'm gone from the booth/area finding me isn't going to be that easy ...

Thread: Re: Demo at the UK Expo - 31 May

Capoeirista — 2008-03-27T12:17:24+00:00

I hope you are still around in the afternoon, as I will be in an event in the morning, but would love to try this out.

Thread: Re: Preorder Fifth Race - Five Players possible?

bucklen_uk — 2008-03-27T11:14:42+00:00

warrenac wrote:
Glad to see you here answering questions. I guess I should just ask straight up then - any specific reasons why the game is limited to 4 players?

Several:

1. Playtime - I really wanted a space empire game playable in under an hour, the short game delivers this. Adding a 5th (or 6th) player lengthens the game over this mark. Similarly for the more complex Long Game, with 4 players it is easily playable in under 2 hours, adding more players lengthens the game.

2. Testing - vast majority of testing has been 2-4, I wouldn't want to add an extra player (or 2) at this late stage without extensive testing, and there isn't time for that now.

3. Cost - adding extra players will increase the components, which will add to the cost.

4. Map and player interaction - adding a 6th player isn't too much of a headache for map configuration, each player will have 2 near neighbours (or maybe 5 with a totally symetrical layout) but 5 is a problem, not impossible to solve, but would need a bit of thought and work. Also adding more than 4 players alters the technology available, either there would need to be more copies or alternatives.

In summary, game has been designed with 2-4 from very early on, increasing to 5 players is a non-trivial task.

Any chance of changing your mind about it? I'm very much liking the broad ideas you've mentioned so far, but I'm always sad to put back a game because of having one too many players...

No, not at this stage. Saying that I have some ideas of how to add 1-2 extra players, which then might see print as an expansion or something - but nothing definite is planned. JKLM want to see how well the game does before considering any add-on.

That said, I'm already very happy that it's 2-4 and not 3-4!

It's rather different with 2 than 3-4. With 2 hurting your opponent is just as profitable as helping yourself. Of course it depends on player style but 2 player games tend to be aggressive. Technology choice is very nasty in 2 player too, you'll often select a tech just to deny your opponent rather than because you really need it.

Thread: Re: JKLM Interactive?

bucklen_uk — 2008-03-27T10:56:53+00:00

I asked JKLM and was told unfortunately not - game is too complicated to do quickly (and cost effectively).

I think there will be some sort of flash video giving an overview, like they have done for Athene

http://www.jklmgames.co.uk/gamessin.php?game=403

But that won't be available until the art work is completed, I haven't been given a date.

Thread: JKLM Interactive?

warrenac — 2008-03-27T06:10:38+00:00

Any chance of seeing this on JKLM Interactive? - for those of us not able to jog out to the UK to see it demo'ed...I'd be happy to play it with placeholder graphics (although all the art I've seen so far has been awesome! Love the cover)

Thread: Re: Preorder Fifth Race - Five Players possible?

warrenac — 2008-03-27T06:07:12+00:00

Hi Nigel,

Glad to see you here answering questions. I guess I should just ask straight up then - any specific reasons why the game is limited to 4 players? Any chance of changing your mind about it? I'm very much liking the broad ideas you've mentioned so far, but I'm always sad to put back a game because of having one too many players...

That said, I'm already very happy that it's 2-4 and not 3-4!

Thread: Demo at the UK Expo - 31 May

bucklen_uk — 2008-03-26T11:14:09+00:00

I'll be at the UK Expo on Saturday the 31st May, and JKLM have agreed to give me some table space to run demos of the playtest version of Ascendancy. Not sure if I'll be doing it all day, depends on interest and demands for the space, but certainly the morning.

More info about the Expo here:

http://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/

Thread: Re: Preorder Fifth Race - Five Players possible?

bucklen_uk — 2008-03-26T11:05:01+00:00

ekted wrote:
Reminds me of Antike in some respects.

Deterministic combat certainly is similar to Antike - technology is different though. In Antike everyone can get all the tech, and getting it first cost more. With Ascendancy only 2 players (1 in a 2 player game) can get each tech, so waiting isn't a viable strategy ...

Thread: Re: Preorder Fifth Race - Five Players possible?

rdsmith — 2008-03-25T20:58:46+00:00

I was afraid of this. It sounds great, you scoundrel. Yeah, put me down for one.

Thread: Re: Preorder Fifth Race - Five Players possible?

DreadFuzzy — 2008-03-25T19:52:07+00:00

~Sighs~

I'm going to end up buying this one aren't I?

Thread: Re: Preorder Fifth Race - Five Players possible?

ekted — 2008-03-25T19:45:31+00:00

Reminds me of Antike in some respects.

Thread: Re: Preorder Fifth Race - Five Players possible?

bucklen_uk — 2008-03-25T14:48:37+00:00

rdsmith wrote:
I'll jump on board the question bandwagon:
In general, Ascendancy appears to be very similar to Twilight Imperium (but, what space empire game isn't). How is Ascendancy something different from what has gone before?

Oh, start with the easy questions and then ramp up the difficulty

I'll happily discuss 'overview' stuff in a public forum, but until the game actually gets released it is all based on my prototype submitted - there might be changes made in the final version (certainly the art will change, not my strong point that!)

Back to the question, what's different to that what has gone before ...

Depends what you've played of course. Main features:

1. Scale - in Ascendancy you are fighting over sectors of the galaxy and moving fleets around - so there's no micromanagement of resources to buy ships, design ships or save up for technology, defences etc. Game lasts either 6 rounds or 9, and each round represents about 100 years.

2. Game play - each round you direct the focus of your empire in 3 specific areas (of course your empire is doing lots of things in the time, but from the game perspective you set 3 agendas), if you want to research (for example) you pick Research - that lets you select a new technology. If you want to move your fleets, you pick Move and that lets you either move all the fleets out of a sector, or move all fleets in range to a sector (your choice). None of these require action points or saving up resources or collecting fuel counters etc - limit is you have choice of 3 from 5 each round.

3. Non-player Empire - most of the galaxy is controlled by a non-player power, the Empire. They are sitting on all the resource rich areas - players are out on the edge in barren space, so part of the game is hitting the empire and grabbing the valuable real-estate. Empire reacts to this, and will develop combat tech to make taking sectors harder.

4. Multiple routes to victory - you gain victory points for a number of areas, you choose the route you want to take, maybe you plan to annex most of the galaxy, maybe you plan to build monuments, or maybe you want to wipe out the empire, or win the technology race.

5. Dice-less combat. Combat is deterministic, you factor the number of fleets in the combat, any defences and what technology each side has and then work out fleets lost (one side will lose, no co-habiting allowed). Once you've got the hang of it combat is fast (see point 7)

6. Pressure - you can't do everything. You can only attack from or into one sector a turn (unless you research to increase this), you can only attack adjacent sectors (unless you research to increase this too). You only have a limited number of fleets to both defend and take new sectors, you only have a limited number of rounds to get it all done. The technology is in short supply. In a 2 player game if you get increased movement then your opponent can't - so it's not just a matter of what you need it's a matter of how critical is it and what do you do if someone else grabs the tech you were planning to get next time?

7. Reasonable playtime. Short game is playable by new players in under an hour (unless they are really slow), and the Long game in under two.
In the Long game you pre-plan your 3 focus cards simultaneously, so everyone chooses and plays them facedown at the same time. They are then revealed and resolved in order - this helps to keep downtime to a minimum, everyone is working out what they will do in a round at the same time. There's no waiting around for 20 minutes while 2 other people fight a space battle.
For example, in recent 2 player playtests of the long game with experienced players seem to take just over an hour now (but these are players who know all the technology cards and have a clear idea what they are doing).

Edit - clarified the last sentence

Thread: Re: Preorder Fifth Race - Five Players possible?

rdsmith — 2008-03-25T14:12:46+00:00

I'll jump on board the question bandwagon:
In general, Ascendancy appears to be very similar to Twilight Imperium (but, what space empire game isn't). How is Ascendancy something different from what has gone before?

Thanks.

Ray

Thread: Re: Preorder Fifth Race - Five Players possible?

bucklen_uk — 2008-03-25T11:43:45+00:00

warrenac wrote:
The preorders come with a 5th race - does this mean that the game will allow for 5 players, or just more options during setup?

Plus, will there be more details (e.g. rules?) before the preorder window closes?

The latter - more options during set-up, each race has unique abilities and differing starting forces.

Amount of detail available about the game prior to release is up to the Publisher (JKLM) - but you can message me with questions if you like.

Thread: Preorder Fifth Race - Five Players possible?

warrenac — 2008-03-25T08:35:29+00:00

The preorders come with a 5th race - does this mean that the game will allow for 5 players, or just more options during setup?

Plus, will there be more details (e.g. rules?) before the preorder window closes?

Thread: 2 player short game playtest (early 2008)

bucklen_uk — 2008-03-03T14:26:41+00:00

Introduction:

In a far far galaxy a long time ago ...

]]>
this session report is written in the style of historical report, based
on a 2 player playtest of a Short Game of Ascendancy, components are my prototype, the published version will be rather different.

My comments are in italics both the explanations of the images and game commentary.

Galactic Year 1000 (GY1000), the old Empire has finally crushed all
resistance from the rebellious Veleks, but unknown to the leaders the
Veleks have setup secret homeworlds on the edge of the galaxy in a
sector of barren space long ignored. Also the Apocrila believing the
Empire is now in decline are readying to invade.

About to be attacked on two fronts and weakened by the recent rebellions
the Empire looked doomed, how did this 600 year struggle play out, which
race eventually dominated?

GY 1100
The Veleks have developed powerful Torpedoes and plan to use these in
the war against the Empire - the Apocrila are an unknown, living far
away on the other side of the Galaxy. The Apocrila have just made a
break through with Shield Technology and believe this gives them the
edge, hence their plans to invade.

]]>
[Starting setup, Veleks are red, Aprocrila blue and Empire black]

Veleks research Targeting, allowing them to fire their vicious torpedoes
first - confidence is high. The industrious Apocrila have developed
large robots allowing them to rapidly build shipyards which will help
build war fleets for the coming invasion.

Veleks assemble fleets, giving them the capibility to attack two
sectors, the Apocrila do the same.

Veleks invade two Empire sectors easily eliminating the defending
fleets, around the same time the Apocrila do the same on the other side
of the Galaxy.

Flushed with early successes historians now classify both races reaching
the Early Era 1 stage
[1 VP each]

GY1200
The Empire reacts increasing fleets in each sector

]]>
[Veleks taken 2 sectors (orange and blue), Aprocrila have taken 2
yellow and the Empire has increased fleets to 2 per sector]

The Apocrila scientists discover Terraforming, allowing them to exploit
more resources from their empire. The Veleks develop assimilation
technology allowing them to incorporate captured ships into their
fleets.

Exploiting their robots the Apocrila build new shipyards in both sectors
they took in GY1100. The Veleks advance into a third Empire sector,
capturing many ships but one of the sectors they took in GY1100 reverts
back to Empire control as the fleet vacates.

The Aprocrila utilise their extensive shipyard network to assemble 3
large war fleets, while the Veleks make a political breakthrough and get
agreement from their homeworlds to mass mobilise and form strke
formations [increased fleet capacity]

Historians classify both races reaching the Late Era 1 at this stage
[4 VP each]

GY1300
The Empire increases their fleets by 1, including rebuilding a fleet in
the sector vacated by the Veleks.

]]>
[Veleks have lost 1 sector (orange), taken another orange (gaining a
fleet through Assimilate), Aprocrila has added a fleet to each sector
and the Empire has increased fleets to 3 per sector, except the retaken
one, that has 1 new fleet. (Mobilise card visible in the lower right
corner)]

Velek's develop control ship technology, allowing them to co-ordinate
multiple attacks while the Apocrila continue to assemble war fleets in
their 3 sectors.

Needing more ships another fleet is assembled at the Velek's home sector
as the Apocrila invade a 3rd Empire sector.

Using their new fleet the Veleks take another Empire sector
(assimilating in the process) while the Apocrila develop planetary
defence technology.

Both Empires enter Early Era 2.
[10 VPs each]

GY1400
Finally the Empire gains a technological breakthrough and develops
shields to match the Apocrila, it is not clear if the technology was
based on the Apocrila's or something unique to the Empire - records are
now lost, the Empire does not increase its fleets during this period.

]]>
[Veleks have taken another sector (yellow), Aprocrila have also taken
a new sector]

The Aprocrila utilise their robots and planetary defence technologies to
construct ship yards and defences in the most recently conquered sector
while the Veleks gain a major breakthrough in ship engine technology
developing Hyperdrive, now the galaxy is a much smaller place.

Worried by the range of the Veleks' ships the Aprocrila move fleets to
the front line from their home sector but decide not to invade the
Empire, possibly put off by the development of Shields.
Needing more fleets the Veleks assemble another at their homeworld,
their lack of shipyards within their Empire a major handicap.

Aprocrila make a political breakthrough and get agreement from their
homeworlds to mass mobilise marine engineers [increased fleet capacity],
while the Veleks invade another Empire sector.

At this point historians classify the Veleks as Late Era 2 whereas the
Aprocrila have advanced further and reached Era 3. This cultural
development by the Aprocrila comes at a cost reducing their drive for
further expansion [-1 fleet]

[Veleks 20VP, Aprocrila 25VP]

GY1500
The Empire is at maximum fleet capacity for its sectors and appears to
do little in this period beyond maintaining its defenses.

The Veleks finally realising their difficulties with deploying large
fleets research orbital docks, doubling the capacity of their only
shipyard, while political developments with the Aprocrila give them
Defence Nets [increased fleet capacity]

Utilising their orbital docks the Veleks assemble 2 fleets at home, the
Aprocrila on the other hand increase their fleets in all four sectors.

Both races attack the Empire and Veleks taking 2 sectors, the Apocrila
one.

The Veleks enter Era 3 [-1 fleet], and the Aprocrila reach Era 4 [-1
fleet]
[Veleks 35VP, Aprocrila 48VP]

GY1600 (the decisive period)
The Empire develops Torpedoes to match the Veleks, and conducts a
massive monument building programme throughout the Empire to celebrate.

]]>
[Veleks have taken another sector Aprocrila have also taken a new
sector and build shipyard and defences. The Empire has build monuments
in each sector

The Aprocrila increase their fleet size further assembling their maximum
fleet size, while the Veleks launch a surprise assault at two Aprocrila
sectors that have yet to build defences - quite why the Veleks switched
targets is a mystery, some historians feel the technological advances of
the Empire were the reason, others that the Veleks were falling behind
and a secret pact had been signed with the Empire to fight the more
numerous Aprocrila.

Despite the encroachment by the Veleks the Aprocrila continue their
invasion of the Empire, taking another sector capturing the newly
erected monuments, the Veleks build a shipyard.

Needing to protect their sectors the Aprocrila build defences in two,
while the Veleks spend time on politics (possibly working on the
unvarified treaty with the Empire).

Neither race develops further remaining in the Era's they reached in GY1500.
[Veleks 52VP, Aprocrila 75VP]

At this point in history both the Veleks and Empire went into terminal
decline and the Aprocrila became the dominant power throughout the
Galaxy.

]]>
Map position, end of final round - Veleks have an extensive empire
but few shipyards, Apocrilla have less sectors but they are more
developed, and have two mobilise cards

[Finally VP tally:
Veleks - 181 VP (Cumulative score 52, Bonus Chits 38, Resources
24, Sectors 42, Infrastructure 15, Fleet Mobilisation 10)
Aprocrila - 199 VP (Cumulative score 75, Bonus Chits 33,
Resources 10, Monuments 2, Sectors 24, Infrastructure 35, Fleet
Mobilisation 20)]

Quite a close game, Terraforming helped the Aprocrilla gain more
resources, which allowed them to advance faster and further on the
culture chart (from round 4 onwards) this gave them the extra victory
points during the game.

I think the Veleks suffered by not building shipyards earlier - the
assimilate technology while nice did not bring in sufficient fleets to
enable them to avoid assembling fleets, allowing the Aprocrila to build
more infrastructure. The attack in round 6 hurt the Aprocrila and was
well planned as there was little they could do to counter it, the
Aprocrilla felt attacking the Empire was more profitable on this last
turn.

However it was too little too late as the surviving Aprocrilla Empire
was large enough to carry the win. The Veleks had considerable
investment in combat and movement technology, they could carry out 2
move actions (Control Ships) and move a distance of 2 sectors
(Hyperdrive), neither were fully utilised, the attacks on the
Aprocrilla should have started on turn 4 (GY1400) as soon as Hyperdrive
was obtained

Thread: Re: Ascendancy now available for pre-order

DavidNorman99 — 2008-02-28T18:38:47+00:00

DreadFuzzy wrote:
So, how much will P&P to the UK actually be?

P&P is GBP 3.00, no matter where in the world you are.

David.

Thread: Re: Ascendancy now available for pre-order

DreadFuzzy — 2008-02-28T18:34:29+00:00

So, how much will P&P to the UK actually be?

Thread: Re: Ascendancy now available for pre-order

bucklen_uk — 2008-02-28T17:38:46+00:00

And worth noting that is is scheduled to be an Essen 08 release now.

Thread: Ascendancy now available for pre-order

DavidNorman99 — 2008-02-28T16:36:28+00:00

Ascendancy is now available for pre-order. To do so, go to the JKLM Games site (http://www.jklmgames.co.uk), create an account (or login if you have one) - this is mainly so we know where to send it to! And then go to the Ascendancy page and click the PayPal button for the currency of your choice.

The RRP for Ascendancy is GBP 30.00. Pre-order it before production starts, and you get 20% off - that's just GBP 24.00. Furthermore, the first 10% of people to take advantage of this will get a GBP 3.00 voucher towards a future JKLM purchase. 11%-25% will get a GBP 2.00 voucher, and 26%-50% will get a GBP 1.00 voucher. See the FAQ on the JKLM games website for full details of the pre-order programme.

All pre-order copies will also come with a fifth, bonus race.

GBP 1.00 is about US$ 2.00 or Euro 1.33, but this may vary due to currency fluctuations.

David.

Thread: Re: Expected Release Date

DavidNorman99 — 2008-02-28T16:35:28+00:00

bucklen_uk wrote:
Release date has been pushed back a bit - 23 Oct (according to the JKLM website).

Yes, this is now scheduled as one of our releases for Essen 2008. There is a lot to this game, and we'd rather take the extra time and make sure we get everything right.

David.

Thread: Re: Expected Release Date

bucklen_uk — 2008-02-28T15:02:39+00:00

Release date has been pushed back a bit - 23 Oct (according to the JKLM website).

Thread: Re: Expected Release Date

DreadFuzzy — 2008-02-08T17:49:23+00:00

Incidentally, if you're débuting the game at the expo then you should see about getting onto their Debut Games page.

Thread: Re: Expected Release Date

bucklen_uk — 2008-01-17T18:35:58+00:00

More info about the Expo here:

http://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/

Thread: Re: Expected Release Date

DreadFuzzy — 2008-01-17T17:12:12+00:00

Ooh, the Games Expo, that's just up the M5 in Brum isn't it? (I'm in Bristol.) I know I'll have some friends going this year, maybe I can swing a trip as well...