PRINCESS RYAN'S STAR MARINES

BY:  Greg J. Schloesser

When I first saw the advertisement for this game in The General, I
thought, "Looks like a game for the early teen-age crowd.  It won't get
my hard-earned money".  However, ever the sucker for multi-player games,
I eventually coughed-up the steep price and ordered it.  I have been
pleasantly surprised.

The first thing that strikes you when you look at the game is the
beautiful artwork.  A great deal of effort has gone into designing the
cards and board.  I know it's an intangible, but I always enjoy playing
a game more if the components are attractive and visually appealing.

The object of the game is for the marine players to defeat the evil
Black Guard player and rescue the princess, who has been imprisoned in
one of 52 possible locations.  These locations are similar in effect to
a deck of playing cards:  there are four suits, each with numbers
ranging from 1 - 13.  The successful marine must defeat the guard and
narrow these possibilities down to the one correct location.

One player assumes the role of the Black Guard while the other players
represent the marines.  Don't be alarmed -- this is not completely a
`team' game where all of the marine players win as a team.  True, they
must cooperate in order to overcome the Guard, but, in the end, only one
marine player can claim the victory.  That is the marine who
successfully deduces the location of the princess after the defeat of
the Guard.

In the initial card deal, each marine player receives three marines and
six weapons, each of varying strength.  It is the weapon cards that are
divided into the four suits and thirteen numbers mentioned earlier.  The
Black Guard player receives six guard cards or varying strength.  The
marine player must choose the route he will take in order to reach the
end of the board and potentially rescue the princess.  There is the
direct route, which is usually more heavily guarded but is quicker and
takes less time, or the flanking route, which is not as heavily guarded
but takes lots of time.  Time is important since if the timer expires,
the Black Guard wins.  There are only 15 chits in the timer and many
moves and actions cause time chits to be removed.  Therefore, the marine
players must balance their actions versus the potential cost in time.

When the marines move into a new location, they first must make a
`check' to see if the move was successful.  They then must check to see
if any time has expired as a result of the move.  If the move was
successful, a skirmish occurs with the Black Guard.  The Guard player
plays one of his cards, usually face-up, and the marine players counter
by each playing a marine with a weapon.  The location on the board may
effect the placement of cards and/or modify their strengths and players
may also play cards to modify the results.  Often, the Guard is able to
play his card face-down, which makes its strength unknown to the
marines.  In either case, cooperation amongst the marine players is
necessary to insure the proper marines and weapons are played to counter
the strength of the Guard.  This can be tricky, as each players' weapon
cards cannot be shown to their fellow marines.  If the marines have
played cards with a total strength greater than the Guard, they win the
skirmish.  If not, the Guard wins.

If the marines win the skirmish, the one marine player who played the
highest total value (marine + weapon) draws a `Dispatch' (event) card
and gets `Promotion Points' equal to the a value printed on the defeated
Guard card.  These `PP's' can be used to purchase items during a marine
re-grouping.  The marine player also gets to ask one question of the
Guard player as to the whereabouts of the princess.  The question is
limited to either the suit or value of the location, and is based upon a
weapon card which the marine player hands to the Guard.  If the answer
to the question is positive, the Guard player returns the player's
weapon card.  If the answer is negative, a different card is returned.
In either case, the marine player cannot reveal the answer to any of his
fellow marines.  In is in this fashion that each marine player can
attempt to deduce the location of the princess.

If the Black Guard player wins a skirmish, marines usually take
casualties (they can take casualties even if they win, but it is not as
common).  The Guard can also draw a `Dispatch' card and force the
marines to retreat, or he can change the effects of a location on the
board.  No matter who wins the skirmish, all weapons and the Guard card
is discarded.  They will eventually be re-shuffled and re-enter play.

At several points in the game, the marines can decide to `Re-group'.
This allows them to re-fill their hands to capacity (provided there are
enough marines to draw that haven't been killed, captured or sent to the
sick bay).  The Guard player can do the same.  The downside of this,
however, is that it cost three time chits to re-group.  Kind of like a
pit- stop in a race - when to do it is vital.

Eventually, the marines either make it to the end of the board and force
a final showdown with the Guard or time runs out and the Guard triumphs.
The marines are allowed one last, desperate gamble, however, if it looks
as though time will expire before they reach the end of the board.  They
can declare a "Do or Die" maneuver and launch an airborne assault on the
Guard.  It is risky, however, as they must successfully survive flak and
citadel defenses first before engaging the Guard in a final battle.  If
they are successful, survive the flak and defenses, and defeat the Guard
in battle, they win.  If not, the Guard triumphs.

It is at this point that, if victorious, each marine player must write
down the location he suspects the princess is being held in.  The marine
player who correctly identifies the location is the individual victor.

The game is fast-moving and fun.  There is constant interaction amongst
the marine players and conflict with the Black Guard.  Each turn is full
of action.  Far from being a game for pre-teens (although they, too,
would enjoy it), this is a game which will appeal to all ages.  Is it a
brilliant tactical game which tests the full mental and strategic
capabilities of the hard-core wargamer?  Most definitely, no.  It is,
however, and fun and challenging game with lots of action and player
interaction.  And if a game if fun, it ranks high in my book.

This said, there still are some problems with the game system (what game
doesn't have some glitches?).  According to the rules, potential
casualties are taken first by the player who fielded the lowest value
marine (plus their weapon) in a battle.  This could easily cause the
player with a high value marine to continuously play that marine in
skirmish after skirmish with little or no fear of him being subject to
casualty checks. Thus, each skirmish, that player would get to draw the
Dispatch card and ask a question of the Guard.  This could easily weight
the game in favor of that player who happens to draw a high value marine
card from the outset.  There was a suggestion on the internet that would
force the highest value skirmisher to be subjected to any casualty
checks first. We played with this suggestion and it proved successful.
I strongly urge others to incorporate it into their games.

Another point of concern is that at the end of the game, if the marines
win, players must each guess the location of the princess.  If two or
more players correctly guess the location, the victory goes to the
marine player who played the highest value skirmisher in the final
battle against the Guard.  I question this.  It doesn't seem right that
a player who may have not performed well throughout the entire game may
win simply on the basis of playing the highest value skirmisher on the
last battle.  A suggestion that may work is to grant the victory to the
player who had accumulated the greatest total of Promotion Points
throughout the game.  A simple tally could be kept during the game of
these points.

Another final concern is that it is possible for a marine player to go
through an entire game and never have played the highest value
skirmisher in a battle.  Thus, he would never be able to draw a Dispatch
card, earn Promotion Points or ask a question of the Guard player.
Sure, certain cards allow him to usurp a Promotion Point or draw a
Dispatch card, but these are rare.  The main concern, however, if never
being able to ask a question of the Guard.  Without being able to do
this, that player does not have a chance at winning (unless he is
psychic and can mentally see the princess' location).  This,
unfortunately, happened during our first game, wherein one player was
instrumental in organizing the marines but, due to the luck of the draw,
never was in a position to be able to play the highest value skirmisher.
Maybe this was a fluke, but it can obviously occur. If anyone has any
suggestions on how to help alleviate this occurrence, please e-mail me
and let me know.

With only one game under my belt, I look forward to more play with this
fast and fun game.  Don't be put off by the title or premise.  Like
Mikey from the Life cereal commercial -- Try it, You'll Like It!

PRINCESS RYAN'S STAR MARINES

Optional Rule Variant

One of the problems mentioned by several gamers is that, according to
the rules, the lowest valued marine played during a skirmish is the
first to suffer a casualty check if one is called for.  This results in
the highest valued marine usually being insulated from most casualty
checks.  Thus, barring the play of the `Jagged Piece of Metal' card or
the Guard's use of the `Sniper' special card which calls for the marine
C.O. to take a casualty check (or the rare event wherein all marines
undergo a casualty check), it is extremely difficult to dislodge the
current marines C.O. from command.

This has several drawbacks.  The marine who plays the highest valued
marine (marine flag value + weapon value) earns the promotion points for
defeating the Guard.  Also, he gets to draw a dispatch card AND gets to
ask a question of the Guard players as to the whereabouts of the
princess.  This honor will all-too-often go to the C.O., since he has
the highest flag value and, all things being equal, will usually play
his strongest weapon cards to insure he wins the skirmish.  Thus, what
easily happens is the player who draws the highest valued marine card at
the beginning of the game can easily dominate play.

A suggestion was made on the internet which alters the rules to call for
the highest valued marine (+ weapon card) to be the first to undergo a
casualty check.  This would cause the player controlling the highest
valued marine to think long and hard before committing him to every
battle.  After all, he would be the first to suffer any adverse effects.
This would allow more opportunities for other players to `win'
skirmishes and reap the benefits.

We have played with this variant several times and do find it much
better than what the original rules state.  Highly recommended.

GSCHLOESSR@aol.com

Westbank Gamers
http://members.aol.com/GSCHLOESSR/index.html