Lesezeit: 8 Minuten Marco kicks off the Tsukuyumi Special. If you’ve only just joined us, I highly recommend the teaser. Everyone else can look forward to Marco and his impressions of the factions and the game. Then it continues with Uwe and Marc. But even after that, it’s not over yet. So you can look forward to it.

May I introduce: Tsukuyumi Special – Marco

Brett & Pad: Hello Marco, please tell the readers of Brett & Pad who Marco is and how he got into board games. 

Marco: Hello dear readers, I’ve been playing board games since I was a child and my enthusiasm has always been growing. However, I really got into the world of games during my studies. At the beginning of 2000, I had a part-time job in a small but excellent games store in Trier and was a regular buyer at the toy fair in Nuremberg and the games fair in Essen. The Nuremberg fair was still very exclusive back then. You had fixed appointments with the big publishers, were shown into private meeting rooms by hostesses and were served delicious canapés and snacks with your press kit. Games and new products were presented to you personally and after the fair you went to the after-party. By contrast, most people will be familiar with the trade fair in Essen. Back in the late 90s, it was chaotic, colorful, loud, crowded, stuffy and full of people in chainmail bikinis or Warhammer armor. I loved both.

At the time, I was also a passionate Magic player, I took part in German championships, some pro tour rounds abroad and pre-release tournaments in the deepest Eifel. In Trier, I initiated an open Magic meeting in a youth center and met my friends for life there.

Uwe and Michael have remained in today’s board game group from this time, as has Marc, although he has taken longer breaks from time to time. Compared to the past, Markus is still a newcomer to our gaming group, we’ve only known each other for two years, but somehow it was love at first sight or love after the first game.

Brett & Pad: What do you actually like about this board game round?

Marco: Nothing really. I get really upset every game night, my pulse races like a half marathon and my carotid artery is almost bursting with rage. It feels like everyone is just attacking me, throwing random effects on the table, destroying my entire game strategy or thwarting my plans in the most perfidious ways. But I’m known for being very good at dealing with losses, losing and randomness. That’s why I sometimes have a bit of fun or enjoyment. Joking aside, a week without my board game group and the boys is almost unbearable. I really look forward to the little break and exciting discussions every time.

Brett & Pad: Ok, if you now have to list your 5 favorite games – besides Tsukuyumi – and say why in two sentences, what is your ranking?

Marco: My current TOP 5:

• Terraforming Mars (great drafting and engine building, my all-time favorite)
• Beyond the Sun (best techtree with race character, best individual development possibilities)
• Eclipse: Dawn for the Galaxy (best non-combat area-control game with fine, well-dosed dice battles)
• Twilight Imperium (best factions, epic battles, you can’t immerse yourself deeper in any game)
• Hybris: Disordered Cosmos (best worker placement and discovery of the year)

Brett & Pad: Which games scare you away?

Marco: All COOPERATIVE games. Yes, even Spirit Island. That’s all I’m going to say. Otherwise I’ll get into trouble with Michael again.

Tsukuyumi

Brett & Pad: Let’s move on to the theme special – Tsukuyumi. Why do you like this type of game in the first place?

Marco: I like asymmetry through individual factions or abilities, area control and drafting elements. Tsukuyumi offers all of this in an almost perfect combination.

Brett & Pad: What makes Tsukuyumi different from other area control games?

Marco: Firstly, you are never completely kicked out of the game. The losses of units are limited. Mistakes are forgiven. Secondly, you can try out lots of strategies. There are an infinite number of possible moves and actions. And that in every single phase of the game. However, I would never want to play the game with people prone to Analysis/Paralysis. Thirdly, the different factions and the variable game structure mean that you always have a new gaming experience. The abilities and influences of the factions on the game are immense and extremely varied.

Sentinels & Circle of the Sun

Brett & Pad: You have now been assigned two factions. The Sentinels and Circle of the Sun. Let’s start with the Sentinels. What did you notice?

Marco: The Sentinels are battle-hardened panda bears and the arch-enemies of the Oni. They win the game immediately if all the Oni are defeated but can also win the game normally by scoring victory points at the end of the game. The Sentinels are a small but, thanks to their portals, very flexible troop that is almost impossible to defeat in battle. Sentinels can camouflage themselves and avoid combat. In the first game, I quickly had all the Sentinel units in play and was determined to defeat all the Oni. In the four-player round, this turned out to be a Sisyphean task, as the other players let new Oni appear on the board every round and you can’t keep up with the slaughtering fast enough.

Brett & Pad: So impossible? Or do you just have to fight immediately?

Marco: You have to eliminate as many Oni as possible each round. The Sentinels‚ special 1x-per-round combat card helps you do this and gives you an extra move and therefore a little element of surprise. However, this attack usually also claims a victim in your own ranks, as one of the attacking Sentinels dies with the Oni.

But attacking as much as possible every round is not enough to win. As a Sentinel player, you also have to make sure that as few Oni as possible spawn on the playing field. You can achieve this by discarding the action cards that cause many Oni to appear. In other words, you can discard a card that would be more suitable for other players and only offers you limited advantages. As long as a certain Sentinel unit is on the table, you can ignore the Oni abilities of the action card and thus nip new Oni units in the bud. Good action cards for the Sentinel player are therefore cards with movement, lots of attacks and lots of Oni abilities. Action cards with a faction effect and lots of resources can be neglected.

Brett & Pad: What if the Sentinels play together with the Reef? Or other factions that also like to slaughter Oni? Are there any constellations that you see as favorable for the Sentinels or unsolvable?

Marco: The Reef Collective or the Lords of the Lost Sea are rather problematic for the Sentinels, as these factions don’t fight the Oni directly and hardly deal any damage. They don’t really help the Sentinels, but pursue their own, very specific goals. Combative factions such as the Nomads or the Moon Circus, on the other hand, are good teammates for the Sentinels, as these factions have to move quickly and far across the playing field and therefore occasionally clear a few Oni out of the way.

Brett & Pad: What’s the difference with Circle of the Sun?

Marco: Circle of the sun is less combat-heavy and relies on formations. The leader, called Gospel Bearer, gathers her followers around her and you have to try to form certain patterns, such as a circle or a straight line, with the occupied territories. This gives you special bonuses in each phase in the form of additional movement points, resources or victory points. The circle plays very pleasantly and elegantly. You don’t have to have control of the territories to form the formations, it’s enough to be present in the territories. The Circle therefore manages quite well without battles. Another special feature is that destroyed followers are sent to Dreamtime. From there, they can quickly return to the game at no cost using their own faction ability. When setting up the game, particular attention should be paid to the positioning of the home area and surrounding barriers. The Circle is not particularly mobile and everything depends on the leader’s movements.

Brett & Pad: How can I understand the special bonuses? Does it give you tons of victory points? Is that a game changer?

Marco: The circle formation is definitely a game changer, as it gives you two victory points at the end of each round. That’s quite a lot in Tsukuyumi. The center of the moon, for example, only gives you one victory point at the end of the round and is fiercely contested. However, this formation is also difficult to form in the first round; you need at least two movement points per unit and a favorable starting position with few barriers.

With the transformation, a kind of cross formation, you can remove an Oni in each red phase and replace it with your own followers. This keeps the areas clean and requires fewer resources, so you can choose action cards with other effects.

The Circle of the Sun player should always play in formations and use all the advantages. They do not have a long range or particularly powerful troops.

Brett & Pad: What do I have to do with the Circle to win? Are there favorable moments that I need to recognize?

Marco: Forming the circle formation quickly and then holding it gives you a good advantage in terms of victory points. As a Circle player, you should also just keep your mouth shut and quietly collect or activate the bonuses. Just don’t attract attention and don’t make a fuss is the motto of the Circle of the Sun. The Circle does not win through the number of territories, but through the missions and special victory points of the Circle formation.

Brett & Pad: Was there any opponent who made it particularly difficult for you? Why?

Marco: I found the Reef Collective particularly nasty. The Reef just spreads out and ignores everything else that happens via events or counter options in battles. As a Sentinel player, I couldn’t do much about it, especially since I was only busy with the Oni. And I don’t particularly like the Reef as a faction, it’s too passive, too unspectacular.

Conclusion

Brett & Pad: If you take all the factions in the game, which is your favorite faction?

Marco: Definitely the humans, the nomads. I really like the ability to lay traps in the form of mines to secure access routes or protect areas. The use of weapons, a special feature that no other faction has, also makes the nomads very strong in battle. I also identify more with the humans than, for example, with a coral reef or a chimpanzee in a spacesuit.

Brett & Pad: In the various games for the special – what was your absolute highlight?

Marco: There was a final move by Uwe with the turtle faction, the First Guardians. He quietly and secretly pushed his fat monsters across the table the whole time and ended up securing quite a few victory points with the digging-in ability. It was actually predictable, but the turmoil on the playing field and the actions of the other players meant that it wasn’t. A very successful finale.

Brett & Pad: Why do you think Uwe won the first two games? Does this have anything to do with the factions? Was there a favorable constellation? Or can all factions win? 

Marco: Uwe always plays with foresight and always follows some kind of long-term plan. This is very helpful with Tsukuyumi, as the game is only decided in the last round and the ranking can change completely.

Brett & Pad: What’s on the table now after Tsukuyumi?

Marco: I hope not a cooperative game, not even Spirit Island.

Brett & Pad: A word perhaps for the readers of Brett & Pad?

Marco:  First of all, a thank you to Markus for the idea and implementation of the Tsukuyumi special and also to Christian for allowing us to make a small contribution to Brett & Pad. Big thanks to the readers who are following the special and sticking around until the end. Thanks for reading, commenting and continuing to play. And if anyone knows of a few good cooperative games, please feel free to leave them in a comment. I will then forward this to Michael.