by SW_Cygnus
Am I the only one who is in a VQ game which is going past 4 turns? :what:Anyway, I would be interested if anyone has noted the amount of games that end in a gunpowder plot victory. Does England need Walsingham in hand every turn if they have Cryptography (or Cipher Key)? Was England ignoring Jesuits (not taking offensive actions to clean them out)? On the flip-side, I would probably always have Walsingham if Spain had a large number of modifiers.
Joel K calculated all the odds here (Spanish odds of Elizabeth assassination and Gunpowder Plot auto-win)
It seems to me that if England nabs Cryptography (now has 6 dice for defense), Spain has to mount a large number of modifiers (which can be easilly pushed back) before it can hope to win an automatic victory. Since I am on my first game as England, I don't have much room to talk at the moment.
Yet... I certainly have not had problems talking and working out deals, even on the fly. So far having fun as England and not feeling like I am a marginal power. Also in my FTF game (as Spain), I was way to distracted by everyone else attacking and pirating me to worry about meddling in England too much. In that game England was in second place after when the game ended (end of turn 5 if I remember right). Although France won that game, it cleverly defeated the Protestants in the field of battle (using unrest to shield his advances on Rouen) and a lucky die roll for his marriage.