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| Tim S. is a member of the club who would like to thank Tony and Grotto for teaching him what it feels like to get whacked in style. |
| Blood Feud In New York Publisher: Eagle Games Web Site: http://www.eaglegames.net/products/feud/feud.shtml Release: 2004 Players: 2-6 Blood Feud In New York is a new game of empire building and conquest set in a modern New York mafia setting. Mechanically, this game plays similarly to Axis and Allies and/or Risk. However, this game differentiates itself with the addition of special units known as “family members” (this is a mafia game after all). And these guys aren’t like Fredo . . . you will need them to win the game. Each neighborhood on the map is worth ten income points. Once you calculate your territory income, you multiply it by the number of family members that you have in separate neighborhoods in your service. This gives you your total income. Thus, a family with all six of its members should have substantially more income than a family that has had a few members rubbed out. Additionally, if your boss is captured or killed, the game is over. This family member dynamic moves the game along as players make lightning raids into enemy territory to capture enemy family members or kill a boss. Plus, there is no defensive “turtling” in this game as you need to spread out your family for the economic multiplier to work. Multiple family members in the same neighborhood only count once for the economic multiplier (i.e. three family members in Astoria only give you a multiplier of one). To help in your lighting raids, you can buy limousines, speed boats and helicopters to bypass enemy troops unless they also have a matching vehicle or have bribed the local cops to not let you pass. This makes the borders in the game extremely fluid and attacks can come from anywhere. You can hire thugs, henchmen and assassins to act as soldiers for your family. Combat is simultaneous, with the more expensive troop types having a better to-hit number. All combat is resolved by rolling D10’s. When one side is eliminated the combat is over. Any family members involved from the loosing side are considered captured. The victor can hold them for ransom or kill them. As mentioned above, if a boss is captured that family is eliminated, its remaining family members join the victorious family and its soldiers and assets are removed from the game board. (As a successful player eliminates other families and assimilates their family members into his/her own, their economic multiplier also grows. This usually means that the player who successfully eliminated another family first has the advantage with an economic multiplier of around eleven.) Imaging, if you will, that a player is feeling comfortable with his position. Suddenly, a limo full of thugs and a helicopter full of hit men drops in and whacks his boss . . . game over! This game rewards risk and aggressive attacks. You have to capture more territory to gain more income for more soldiers. You need to have enough territory for buffer zones from raids by other players. You need to kill other bosses to win the game! But, you don’t want to leave yourself open to counterattack . . . or weaken an opponent without finishing them off because another player will steal the benefits of the kill and assimilate new family members. My personal strategy (if possible) is to start in the Bronx because the rivers give you some protection and the player who starts in the Bronx always goes first or second. The player in Manhattan has the hardest time because they are surrounded on all sides, but they always go first in a six player game. The player in Staten Island has no where to expand to, but is relatively secure. The players in Brooklyn and Queens must make an alliance at first because of their long, continuous border. Jersey seems attractive, but it goes last and will come into conflict with Staten Island right away. But, you cannot get too attached to territory in this game. It is better to keep your borders fluid and look for an opening to capture another player’s family or kill their boss. A lot of the excitement in this game comes from alliances and betrayal. With the possibility of any player being eliminated in any turn (even on the second turn) this games moves fast and stays exciting. This game is not an elegant art film . . . but it is an exciting action flick and if you have a group of 4 to 6 people who like to play fun games with lots of yelling and back stabbing . . . you have to give this game a try. (Be forewarned, if you have someone you like to play with who cannot stand loosing, this game may not be for you because being eliminated early in the game can lead to some violent temper tantrums and accusations.) |
Blood Feud In New York - A Review
The starting mix of units varies depending on the number of
players in the game, but in every game each family starts in one
borough of New York (or New Jersey) with a boss and five
family members. The family members are good to have in
combat, but you will not want to expose them haphazardly
because they act as a multiplier for your crime empire’s
income. Let me explain . . .
players in the game, but in every game each family starts in one
borough of New York (or New Jersey) with a boss and five
family members. The family members are good to have in
combat, but you will not want to expose them haphazardly
because they act as a multiplier for your crime empire’s
income. Let me explain . . .
