The Right of Reply - Bellerophon's Account (Part One)

Those of you who read my blog about the Of Gods And Men Megagame will remember the significant role played by the city-state of Argolis, their patron Goddess (Artemis) and their chosen champion (Bellerophon). As a Hero-player myself, I was particularly curious about Bellerophon and the thought processes behind the (sometimes surprising) choices he made. For this reason, I am excited and grateful to announce that he has written his own report and agreed for it to be featured here! I hope you enjoy the opportunity to view the game from an alternative perspective. It certainly enriched my appreciation of the events that took place.
(A word to the wise: The Tavern Keeper, or Hero Control, was a man referred to here as “JP”.)

"OK, I'm not normally one for long posts, write-ups, blogs or those kind of things as I'm dyslexic and find it difficult to put my thoughts onto paper, it often feels like I'm having to carve out each word from granite (with a rusty spoon, of course). However, on this occasion I find myself compelled to do so, to try and clear my head of the spinning sensation I'm still suffering from my experience in Leeds.

Expect only the best from Leeds Sword

Friday night thoughts:
Before I received the game pack on Monday I didn't realise how complicated the whole system was going to be. Having read the documentation twice I'm still confused and it is a more complicated system than I expected. The normal game rules and hero handbook seem quite sensible when read in isolation but there are a some significant shortcomings in my understanding of the hero’s processes, especially around the use of cards, the prerequisites for quests, what the heck the rumours are about and I can only hope that in receiving the cards and seeing things in action tomorrow I will understand a little more about how the game sequence works. On a positive note my costume is ready: Cream Tunic, Sword, Greek Leather Belt, Bracers, Helmet and Cuirass. I intend to be the best dressed hero in town and amaze the tavern keeper with my tales of bravery and heroism.

Saturday A.M.:
So, we turn up here to the Megagame in Leeds Royal Armouries and enter the newsroom, as the gods and men arrive and the hero’s tavern begins to fill. Not only do we find ourselves in a position with a lot of new faces to the Leeds Megagame family, but we also find ourselves in the position not especially understanding the rules even though we've read them several times and prepared more for this game than other previous encounters with the Megagame collective. Having consulted “the book of armaments” (or the player Hero sheet) it would appear that I'm an expert Pilot and my starting glory is 13, not really sure if that’s a good or bad thing (13 - a pretty unlucky number, really, is this a bad omen?). However, all those on 13 Glory rolled the dice to determine the Hero ranking. At this point, I realise that Bellerophon is by no means the most glorious Hero and I find myself sat on a bench next to the least glorious Hero in 8th and 9th place. So I ask my fellow Hero (Autolycus) sitting in last place “How does it feel to be sat down at the bottom of the Glory Table?”, he looks at me with wide eyes and says “it feels full of potential”, “Yes, the only way is up” I add. At this point JP (the Tavern Keeper) interrupts the whole proceedings and demands each Hero introduce themselves in Rank order. I so want to impress the city states and gods as being the go to hero, but I'm second last (give me a break)… I guess I’ll have to turn the ‘charm-o-meter’ up to 11. I tell them I'm a ‘Master of War’ and I'm looking for a winged horse, but inside I've no real clue what I'm doing and I think I forgotten everything I read from the game rules! So, the heroes have introduced themselves. A rather impressive cohort of Heroes we have with us today. My objective is to climb to the top of the table, although I've no real idea how to do that. However, there appears to be some stiff competition, most of which appear to be new players and haven’t even bothered to come dressed for the occasion - huff (apart from that ‘Dapper Dan’ that is Autolycus).

To my right, the path to Glory!

The Best Dressed Fighting Combo:
As the first turn begins I plan to go and introduce myself to each table, however, I am strangely interrupted and drawn to the table directly in front of me featuring the best dressed city state of Argolis (the only team in matching full costume). As such, I unexpectedly commit myself to leading an expedition force to colonise new lands. I inform them I'm only doing this as we have made the same effort with costumes and this could be the start of a lasting relationship. We agree it would be good for them to accrue as many boats and forces as possible to make it a strong action and in return for my support they will give me 2 Hero cards (one now and one after the battle is completed). It’s at this point I realised my first mistake. The first thing I should have done is visit the Oracle on Mount Olympus to request advice and try to obtain additional hero cards or divine favours from the Voice of the Gods. Hero cards are really important and the larger the hand of cards you accrue the more likely you are to succeed in a feat or quest. So, I prostrate myself in front of the gods of Apollo, Athene and Artemis. All three Gods inform me they have no more cards left for this turn (I won’t make that mistake again). All the other heroes appear equally busy at this point, introducing themselves to the city states and getting busy preparing. So, I continue to ‘work the room’ (I think my ego may be swelling) and receive several requests of work (swelling further). I inform them all I'm already booked this turn, but we should team up later in the game.

Team Argolis get their International Trade on.

At this point, I receive the nod from Argolis that they are ready to go on expedition. Argolis turn up with a good few boats, an elite force and several armies. However, at the same time two other city states (Attika and maybe Boeotia, I think), with their own Hero in tow, arrive on the same colony (Crete, I think). I also see behind me the hand of a God, this is the God who seems to favour the city state Argolis and who has maybe taken pity on the hero who did not prostrate himself early enough. Some discussion then ensues between the two arriving city states as to how they will approach Argolis. They agree to merge forces in an attempt to remove Argolis from the colony and take the spoils themselves. The poor game control standing opposite looks as confused as we are and we all reach for the game handbook. As the other city states get their act together, they are in deep conference with their hero, Laertes (I think). He appears to have a good grasp of exactly how the game works and is clearly better briefed than I am. Control now asks who is leading each army. I say “I am” and the other states debate who should take the lead a Wanax (King) or Laertes. Common sense eventually prevails and they agree on Laertes. At this point the question appears of “whose is the best leader”? We now agree that a Duel must take place. I roll a 5 and have a combat value of 3 and win a victory, scoring 2 Glory points (Huh-ray). The battle then commences and I roll for Argolis. With the help of the Hand of Artemis we are victorious. I'm not sure how many Glory I should have for all this, but everyone from Argolis is happy and as this battle was fought in the name of Artemis we receive a ‘Favour of Zeus’ token. I then take this to the Oracle. On returning to the Argolis table to congratulate ourselves, they then ask me to help them get rid of some Cattle Rustlers. I have to admit I have no clue what this means, but a passing hero agrees to help us all through the process. Between us we have the appropriate prerequisites and defeat the rustlers.

The Tavern Keeper and his Board of Glory

I then hear a call for the heroes to return to the Tavern. The Tavern Keeper asks us all to reveal how much Glory we have earned. JP helps us all understand how much glory we should have accrued and asks us to regale him with tales of our conquests. It appears most heroes received a minus score in the first turn and then JP instructs us all to sit down again as he calculates the leader board. Before the verdicts are revealed some of us are asked to face off in order to finalise the leader board. How should such an important deadlock be decided? Yes, you guessed it ‘Paper-Scissors-Stone’ (and where’s the ‘Lizard-Spock’ I hear from a voice deep inside). I pull out the ‘Paper’, as does my fellow Hero. So, I go again with the trusty ‘Paper’ and I win – Yes! Mainly due to this, or possibly the victorious duel and battle, I move from eighth place to fourth overall. Unfortunately, the passing hero that helped me with the cattle rustlers was then informed he must lose one Glory point as he helped a hero lower than him in the glory table and let me lead a combat - Harsh. It’s clear that this hero game is a cut-throat business. I feel unusually guilty about this and quickly offer to trade cards, or provide him help in the future to reciprocate the favour. The Tavern Keeper then redistributes the hero badges and we all receive to additional hero cards. I'm still trying to work out how these hero cards really work, but I'm sure all will become clear as the day progresses.

Turn Two Begins:
Turn two begins with another approach from Argolis, who wish to take a raiding party to another city state, Lakonia. “Are you up for it?” Asks their Wanax. I'm very interested, but before I do anything else I must visit the Oracle to ensure I pay respects to the appropriate gods and request favours from them in advance of any action. This proves very fruitful as Artemis remembers the bonuses provided by allying with the number one team of Argolis and Bellerophon. I receive a Hero Card and a ‘Green Sticker’. I think this is a good thing, but have to ask a passing game control what this means. As the resolution turn begins I'm grabbed once more by my Argolis friends and thrust into the front line. Who do I see before me but my old pal Laertes. Again, we duel and again I win, but this time with a Triumph. As the battle then begins the Hand of Artemis and the hand of another god appear (Ares I think). We are left equal after the die rolls despite having the best leader and outnumbering the Lakonians. However, Argolis play a ‘Luck’ token and we re-roll a Victory. We continue onto the Inner Hinterland, roll and again are equal on the points, but Artemis clearly wants a Triumph at any price and expends a large amount of Divine Might to offset the other god's attempts – Huzzah! We agree to call it quits at this point and not ride our luck by attempting a move on their citadel. Although, in the confusion it was unclear if anyone had notified the game control that the battles were fought in honour of Artemis, but given the direct involvement of the Hand of Artemis an agreement is reached. I again visit the Oracle and then return to Argolis to collect my Hero cards. As I wander around the room I'm pulled over to Phokis, by their Wanax who appears to be wearing a Toga and sporting a rather impressive mitre. They would like me to rid them of a Sea Monster. I ask if this would be in honour of any particular god, I think he exclaimed “Apollo” (but he may have said Aphrodite). I agree on two conditions: 1) in exchange for this I would like a Hero card and; 2) I must revisit Mount Olympus to pray for guidance in advance of any action. The people of Phokis agree. This again proves fruitful as I receive a ‘Luck’ token from the Voice of the Gods, somehow manage to accidentally have the correct prerequisite cards in my hand and (after a re-roll) Triumph over the beastly creature. Another, ‘Favour of Zeus’ and after returning to the Tavern I am able to impress the proprietor with my adventures. Thus I receive an additional Glory and am proclaimed the ‘Hero Most Glorious’! Although, I worry I may have peaked too early...

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All images courtesy of Jim Wallman and Andrew Hadley (Megagame Makers)