10-11-2007, 07:19 PM
Godfather - part 4 (PBM)
NICK READ (Waxey Gordon) and GAVIN WYNFORD-JONES (Al Capone) play the rival gangsters ...
[During the previous instalment, in issue 99, first Waxey Gordon and then Al Capone became Gang Lords, but they've both had some trouble finding the cash needed for success ...]
Turn 12 - Money, money, money
Waxey Gordon
'A mixture of success and failure this time around, but probably more failure than success. The good news is that my attacks went to plan and I took out one of Capone's Independent bagmen and a Protection racket. The most annoying piece of bad news is that for the second turn running I have misjudged the amount of spare cash I have and a couple of my orders failed when I ran out. I have to admit that I rushed my orders for the last couple of turns and this is the penalty.
Another worrying development is that Capone's income has taken a huge jump. My economics rating is still slightly more than his, but since this is an average of the last three turns Capone has now overtaken me in total income. The most likely explanation for this is that he has been setting up lots of Independent rackets. These are the quickest way to increase your income, but the disadvantages are that the margins are not great and that they are easy to destroy by attacking. I will try not to panic when he overtakes me in the rankings next turn and will keep up my policy of looking for and destroying his street based rackets.
My cruise last turn found one of Capone's Door to door rackets. Interestingly, Capone himself and two of his enforcers were also operating in that area. Having a pair of enforcers alongside your boss is a defensive move because if a lone enforcer were to attack the area he would get beaten back. The chances are that they will be elsewhere next turn, but I am still going to be cautious and leave that racket alone for now. Instead, I will attack another of his Door to door rackets that has been pinching blocks from one of mine elsewhere in the city.
One side effect of my recent cash shortage is that I badly need more beer production but I do not have the cash to build it. The turn sequence in Godfather means that new vats are installed at the start of the turn, before any income is generated. So, this turn I will aim to spend very little so that I have some cash to invest in vats next time.
Apart from the attack, I will send two more enforcers cruising for information, build a complex to house more vats, try again to employ another enforcer and set up my first two Independent rackets. Setting up Independents is cheap, but I will need to build lots more booze production facilities next turn to serve them. To preserve cash, I will have to stop trying to buy more weaponry. I still have fewer armaments than Capone, although the gap has narrowed.'
Al Capone
'Waxey attacked one of my few remaining Protection rackets and one of the newly-established Indy rackets. He's just rubbing it in. Feds? Usual.
It's time to take stock: most of my premises are now fortified, I'm selling booze all over Chicago and have the warehouses to back it up, street rackets are actually in good shape despite Waxey's attempts at putting me out of business and I have a good supply of equipment on hand for the men. Much to my surprise, I am once again ahead of my rival: only by a few points but who cares, I'm winning despite all his efforts!
I have a fair bit of cash on hand, so this turn I can expand and, at the same time, try to reduce the Feds' interest in my affairs. I'll add a new nightclub, a new Door to Door racket and hire another enforcer. At the same time, I'll reduce the Protection premiums my clients have to pay. And then there's the trap. With all the cruising that Waxey has been doing, he may try another attack this turn. I'll post a couple of well-armed enforcers and their boys in a suitable place and see what happens. Given my high military rating, he may well leave me alone, but that's not really been his style so far, so if he does come gunning for me I will hopefully give him a good thumping. But, I can't leave everything to chance, so I'll mount a raid or two of my own in areas that look underused and see what they turn up. Surprisingly, I have more territory than him. This is actually worrying because it means he's probably moving heavily into premise-based rackets and that will make it much harder for me to deal him a solid blow. His rating over the last three turns has hardly changed whereas mine has gone shooting up.'
Turn 13 - Optimism
Waxey Gordon
'Well, what a difference a week makes. Last time around I was slightly depressed about the way Capone seemed to be overtaking me. This time nearly everything went to plan.
Despite my dire predictions Capone did not overtake me in the economics rankings, although we are now neck and neck. More good news is that my single attack managed to destroy three of his street based rackets: one Independent, one Door to door and one Protection. He does seem to have set up an amazing number of protection rackets (I found yet another with a cruise this turn) but by this stage of the game they are of relatively little value.
The only disappointment was that my two cruise commands found nothing more than one protection bagman. I only know about one of Capone's rackets to attack at the moment and there are some important racket information sheets, such as gunrunner and rumrunner that I cannot seem to find.
Capone and I must now be close to qualifying for the next game ranking: Godfather. As the second highest rank in the game this brings the usual benefits (the chance to recruit two more enforcers and for rackets to operate in three more city blocks) but also allows enforcers to operate over a larger area: a radius of three (or 25 blocks) instead of a radius of two (9 blocks) at the moment. This change will make attacking and cruising much more effective. With this aim in mind I am going to focus on quickly increasing my income for the next couple of turns. If I could qualify for Godfather one turn ahead of Capone it could give me a useful boost.
At last I have managed to recruit an eighth enforcer and now have plenty of orders to use. My aim is to increase my income quickly and the best way to do that is with more Independent rackets. These racket can shift huge amounts of booze: at Ganglord level a single racket can sell 150 barrels of beer per week - equivalent to ten nightclubs. The downsides are that the margins are not so good and the huge production facilities required. Even a complex (the largest warehouse type) can only produce enough booze for between three and four Independents and is very expensive to fit out.
Since I bought a complex last turn, buying one more this time would allow me to set up seven Independents. But I do not have the cash spare to fit them out. Instead I will set up four Independents plus one Door to door racket (I still have some spare runners I need to employ). This leaves just two spare enforcers. My boss will go on a cruise and one other has to buy some more liquor and also buy some more weapons. However, cash for weapons is tight because I must make sure I have enough cash left to fit out the new warehouses at the start of next turn.'
Al Capone
'My heavy opium sales have finally paid off and I received the information sheet about China Joe. He's the guy who supplies everybody in town, so if I can eliminate him and set myself up in his place then I can deprive Waxey of any income from any opium dealers he may have. Therefore, the first order of business is a cruise with my best enforcer to find where China Joe currently is.
I'm running low on liquor. I'm surprised that I haven't found any Rumrunners so far. This is another of those 'must have' rackets: the profits become very healthy indeed once you have your own supplier! The three attacks I ordered produced nothing. On the plus side, that means I can safely set up in those blocks... But, as last turn, I'm beginning to wonder where Waxey is hiding. That said, he came for me again, all guns blazing and took out Protection, Door to Door and Indy rackets. Very painful. The Feds closed down two more Protection rackets but an earlier bust was released from Joliet having served his time. I'll put him back to work if only to get in some cash for a turn or two. I'm going to be conservative again as the number of targets I know about is now very limited. I'll cruise, cruise and cruise. A quick attack in Ward 4 might hurt Waxey, so I'll go for it. Oh, and open a new nightclub. We're still neck and neck in the winner stakes, but he's edging ahead in both economics and territory so I'll have to be careful.'
Turn 14 - Drawing blood
Waxey Gordon
'Capone has gone on the attack for the first time, taking out two of my Independents and one Door to door racket. He had three different enforcers attacking these locations, so most likely had been cruising for targets. He also had a bit of luck in meeting and killing one of my enforcers (poor old Eddie Mars - may he rest in peace), but it was mixed fortune because his attacking enforcer was wounded in the battle and will spend a couple of turns recovering.
There was some better news too. I succeeded in setting up three new Independents and one Door to door racket this turn (so I made a net gain of one racket overall!). I am also pleased to have found a large warehouse owned by Capone which makes a tempting target to attack next time. More good news is that I retain my slight lead over Capone in the economics rankings
My biggest problem at the moment is building enough production capacity to supply all my new rackets. Despite Capone destroying three booze selling rackets last turn, I cannot produce enough beer or whiskey to supply to supply everywhere. This is partly expected, since I have been trying to expand so quickly, but it is frustrating that I still do not have enough cash spare to build all of the vats and stills that I need.
So, apart from attacking that large warehouse, I want to concentrate on expanding my empire while leaving some cash spare to buy more vats and stills at the start of next turn. One enforcer will try another cruise, my boss will recruit an enforcer to replace Eddie Mars, I need a second alky racket to cope with increasing booze production and I will set up one more door to door racket because I have some runners sitting idle after their racket got wiped out last turn. My two remaining enforcers will establish nightclubs, because they are fairly cheap, sell less booze that street based rackets (since I am struggling to build production capacity) and most importantly they are harder to destroy - important now that Capone is on the attack.
Still no sign of either of us reaching Godfather rank, and with the damage caused by last turn's attacks my income is not going to increase by a lot this time around. Maybe I will have to wait another turn or two.'
Al Capone
'Quite a good set of results, really. The attacks took out three rackets and resulted in the death of one of Waxey's enforcers. We sent flowers for the funeral. The loss of the enforcer is a double bonus, albeit a short term one: he'll have to use an order recruiting a new guy and he's got one less set of orders to play with this turn. He didn't attack me but seems to have spent a lot of effort in investing as his economic rating is high and he now has more territory than me. The Feds closed down yet another Protection racket and my cash situation is beginning to look dicey. This somewhat determines my orders for this turn as I cannot really buy anything. I'll take out China Joe and cruise a little again. One of Waxey's high level enforcers was seen near a nightclub, so I'll reinforce it just in case and move the production and distribution teams to another warehouse which I'll also reinforce.'
To be continued ....
Godfather at a glance
A crime game set in 1920s Chicago. Available in this two-player version, but also in a multi-player version and there's also an introductory solo game for novices. From Pagoda Games at £10 + 2 turns for startup, then £2.50 per turn.
NICK READ (Waxey Gordon) and GAVIN WYNFORD-JONES (Al Capone) play the rival gangsters ...
[During the previous instalment, in issue 99, first Waxey Gordon and then Al Capone became Gang Lords, but they've both had some trouble finding the cash needed for success ...]
Turn 12 - Money, money, money
Waxey Gordon
'A mixture of success and failure this time around, but probably more failure than success. The good news is that my attacks went to plan and I took out one of Capone's Independent bagmen and a Protection racket. The most annoying piece of bad news is that for the second turn running I have misjudged the amount of spare cash I have and a couple of my orders failed when I ran out. I have to admit that I rushed my orders for the last couple of turns and this is the penalty.
Another worrying development is that Capone's income has taken a huge jump. My economics rating is still slightly more than his, but since this is an average of the last three turns Capone has now overtaken me in total income. The most likely explanation for this is that he has been setting up lots of Independent rackets. These are the quickest way to increase your income, but the disadvantages are that the margins are not great and that they are easy to destroy by attacking. I will try not to panic when he overtakes me in the rankings next turn and will keep up my policy of looking for and destroying his street based rackets.
My cruise last turn found one of Capone's Door to door rackets. Interestingly, Capone himself and two of his enforcers were also operating in that area. Having a pair of enforcers alongside your boss is a defensive move because if a lone enforcer were to attack the area he would get beaten back. The chances are that they will be elsewhere next turn, but I am still going to be cautious and leave that racket alone for now. Instead, I will attack another of his Door to door rackets that has been pinching blocks from one of mine elsewhere in the city.
One side effect of my recent cash shortage is that I badly need more beer production but I do not have the cash to build it. The turn sequence in Godfather means that new vats are installed at the start of the turn, before any income is generated. So, this turn I will aim to spend very little so that I have some cash to invest in vats next time.
Apart from the attack, I will send two more enforcers cruising for information, build a complex to house more vats, try again to employ another enforcer and set up my first two Independent rackets. Setting up Independents is cheap, but I will need to build lots more booze production facilities next turn to serve them. To preserve cash, I will have to stop trying to buy more weaponry. I still have fewer armaments than Capone, although the gap has narrowed.'
Al Capone
'Waxey attacked one of my few remaining Protection rackets and one of the newly-established Indy rackets. He's just rubbing it in. Feds? Usual.
It's time to take stock: most of my premises are now fortified, I'm selling booze all over Chicago and have the warehouses to back it up, street rackets are actually in good shape despite Waxey's attempts at putting me out of business and I have a good supply of equipment on hand for the men. Much to my surprise, I am once again ahead of my rival: only by a few points but who cares, I'm winning despite all his efforts!
I have a fair bit of cash on hand, so this turn I can expand and, at the same time, try to reduce the Feds' interest in my affairs. I'll add a new nightclub, a new Door to Door racket and hire another enforcer. At the same time, I'll reduce the Protection premiums my clients have to pay. And then there's the trap. With all the cruising that Waxey has been doing, he may try another attack this turn. I'll post a couple of well-armed enforcers and their boys in a suitable place and see what happens. Given my high military rating, he may well leave me alone, but that's not really been his style so far, so if he does come gunning for me I will hopefully give him a good thumping. But, I can't leave everything to chance, so I'll mount a raid or two of my own in areas that look underused and see what they turn up. Surprisingly, I have more territory than him. This is actually worrying because it means he's probably moving heavily into premise-based rackets and that will make it much harder for me to deal him a solid blow. His rating over the last three turns has hardly changed whereas mine has gone shooting up.'
Turn 13 - Optimism
Waxey Gordon
'Well, what a difference a week makes. Last time around I was slightly depressed about the way Capone seemed to be overtaking me. This time nearly everything went to plan.
Despite my dire predictions Capone did not overtake me in the economics rankings, although we are now neck and neck. More good news is that my single attack managed to destroy three of his street based rackets: one Independent, one Door to door and one Protection. He does seem to have set up an amazing number of protection rackets (I found yet another with a cruise this turn) but by this stage of the game they are of relatively little value.
The only disappointment was that my two cruise commands found nothing more than one protection bagman. I only know about one of Capone's rackets to attack at the moment and there are some important racket information sheets, such as gunrunner and rumrunner that I cannot seem to find.
Capone and I must now be close to qualifying for the next game ranking: Godfather. As the second highest rank in the game this brings the usual benefits (the chance to recruit two more enforcers and for rackets to operate in three more city blocks) but also allows enforcers to operate over a larger area: a radius of three (or 25 blocks) instead of a radius of two (9 blocks) at the moment. This change will make attacking and cruising much more effective. With this aim in mind I am going to focus on quickly increasing my income for the next couple of turns. If I could qualify for Godfather one turn ahead of Capone it could give me a useful boost.
At last I have managed to recruit an eighth enforcer and now have plenty of orders to use. My aim is to increase my income quickly and the best way to do that is with more Independent rackets. These racket can shift huge amounts of booze: at Ganglord level a single racket can sell 150 barrels of beer per week - equivalent to ten nightclubs. The downsides are that the margins are not so good and the huge production facilities required. Even a complex (the largest warehouse type) can only produce enough booze for between three and four Independents and is very expensive to fit out.
Since I bought a complex last turn, buying one more this time would allow me to set up seven Independents. But I do not have the cash spare to fit them out. Instead I will set up four Independents plus one Door to door racket (I still have some spare runners I need to employ). This leaves just two spare enforcers. My boss will go on a cruise and one other has to buy some more liquor and also buy some more weapons. However, cash for weapons is tight because I must make sure I have enough cash left to fit out the new warehouses at the start of next turn.'
Al Capone
'My heavy opium sales have finally paid off and I received the information sheet about China Joe. He's the guy who supplies everybody in town, so if I can eliminate him and set myself up in his place then I can deprive Waxey of any income from any opium dealers he may have. Therefore, the first order of business is a cruise with my best enforcer to find where China Joe currently is.
I'm running low on liquor. I'm surprised that I haven't found any Rumrunners so far. This is another of those 'must have' rackets: the profits become very healthy indeed once you have your own supplier! The three attacks I ordered produced nothing. On the plus side, that means I can safely set up in those blocks... But, as last turn, I'm beginning to wonder where Waxey is hiding. That said, he came for me again, all guns blazing and took out Protection, Door to Door and Indy rackets. Very painful. The Feds closed down two more Protection rackets but an earlier bust was released from Joliet having served his time. I'll put him back to work if only to get in some cash for a turn or two. I'm going to be conservative again as the number of targets I know about is now very limited. I'll cruise, cruise and cruise. A quick attack in Ward 4 might hurt Waxey, so I'll go for it. Oh, and open a new nightclub. We're still neck and neck in the winner stakes, but he's edging ahead in both economics and territory so I'll have to be careful.'
Turn 14 - Drawing blood
Waxey Gordon
'Capone has gone on the attack for the first time, taking out two of my Independents and one Door to door racket. He had three different enforcers attacking these locations, so most likely had been cruising for targets. He also had a bit of luck in meeting and killing one of my enforcers (poor old Eddie Mars - may he rest in peace), but it was mixed fortune because his attacking enforcer was wounded in the battle and will spend a couple of turns recovering.
There was some better news too. I succeeded in setting up three new Independents and one Door to door racket this turn (so I made a net gain of one racket overall!). I am also pleased to have found a large warehouse owned by Capone which makes a tempting target to attack next time. More good news is that I retain my slight lead over Capone in the economics rankings
My biggest problem at the moment is building enough production capacity to supply all my new rackets. Despite Capone destroying three booze selling rackets last turn, I cannot produce enough beer or whiskey to supply to supply everywhere. This is partly expected, since I have been trying to expand so quickly, but it is frustrating that I still do not have enough cash spare to build all of the vats and stills that I need.
So, apart from attacking that large warehouse, I want to concentrate on expanding my empire while leaving some cash spare to buy more vats and stills at the start of next turn. One enforcer will try another cruise, my boss will recruit an enforcer to replace Eddie Mars, I need a second alky racket to cope with increasing booze production and I will set up one more door to door racket because I have some runners sitting idle after their racket got wiped out last turn. My two remaining enforcers will establish nightclubs, because they are fairly cheap, sell less booze that street based rackets (since I am struggling to build production capacity) and most importantly they are harder to destroy - important now that Capone is on the attack.
Still no sign of either of us reaching Godfather rank, and with the damage caused by last turn's attacks my income is not going to increase by a lot this time around. Maybe I will have to wait another turn or two.'
Al Capone
'Quite a good set of results, really. The attacks took out three rackets and resulted in the death of one of Waxey's enforcers. We sent flowers for the funeral. The loss of the enforcer is a double bonus, albeit a short term one: he'll have to use an order recruiting a new guy and he's got one less set of orders to play with this turn. He didn't attack me but seems to have spent a lot of effort in investing as his economic rating is high and he now has more territory than me. The Feds closed down yet another Protection racket and my cash situation is beginning to look dicey. This somewhat determines my orders for this turn as I cannot really buy anything. I'll take out China Joe and cruise a little again. One of Waxey's high level enforcers was seen near a nightclub, so I'll reinforce it just in case and move the production and distribution teams to another warehouse which I'll also reinforce.'
To be continued ....
Godfather at a glance
A crime game set in 1920s Chicago. Available in this two-player version, but also in a multi-player version and there's also an introductory solo game for novices. From Pagoda Games at £10 + 2 turns for startup, then £2.50 per turn.