Setup and Rule Diagrams

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below!

[fendrick]

I really struggled with this game, and ended up having to abandon ship and just move on after the 3rd question. After looking at the first list question, it helped me slightly with the set up, and I had the foresight to list the different numerical distribution possibilities but after that I was fairly lost. Would this game have been a good candidate for doing some limited solution set ups before jumping in?

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Fendrick,

Yes, it definitely would be, and we have this game classified as an "Identify the Templates" game. That means that during the setup, making templates is the best way to approach this game.

In this case, use the numerical distributions as the base for the templates. It takes a bit of time (as is typically the case with templates) but then you can go much faster in the questions and regain that time. Just keep in mind that the rules aren't all that restrictive, so you just want to get a sense of each template (except the 3-2-1, which fills in completely).

These are the four templates, with some notes:

• 3-2-1: This template fills in completely, with F, K, and L assigned to O, G and M assigned to R, and H assigned to V.
  
  2-3-1: This template features M and G assigned to R, and either H or L assigned to V. Otherwise, things are wide open.
  
  1-3-2: This template is the most challenging, as the GM block can be assigned to either R or V. that opens up a lot of possibilities.
  
  1-4-1: This template is easy to overlook, and features M and G assigned to R, and either H or L assigned to V. F, K, or L must be assigned to O.

That's a start, but you still have to do some work in the questions at times.

Thanks!