I'm expecting more pictures from one of the players, so until such time as they show up, the rest of this gripping narrative will be in text.
Essentially, the Canyon of Doom lived up to its name. It proved a tight squeeze for L class conveyances, and hindered S or M class whenever they tried to get around them. Give Way Checks would have addressed this, but we plumb fergot in the heat of the moment. In any event, by the time most of the group was at the end of the canyon, the Birdman of Biloxi had run out of energy, or pretty close to it. I had placed "The Tor" at the part of the course for this very reason... to give the Birdman a place to land and rest (and launch from at no penalty). Unfortunately, this was also the place where the third Spoiler popped up-- the Prussian hat cannon team. They took a few desultory shots at the Birdman, who had to take a serious Balance Check. So much for resting!
They tried to nail the count, as well, but missed his conveyance and hit a nearby Miracle tonic salesman, causing the contents of the wagon-- and the salesman, parenthetically to go up in a Nova of alcohol fire. The Miracle tonic WOULD have given anyone who wanted a little extra energy, but they now missed the chance.
Dang, where did those Savages Come From?
The fourth group of spoiler, Two Friendly Dogs and his band, in employ of Chief
Pantagruel, jumped from behind some cacti and started to pepper the race lead (the carpet
or the birdman) with arrows. Fortunately, all that happened was a balance check.
The clear race lead now was the Flying Carpet of Baghdad:
That Damnable CAD!
At this point, Captain Munoz, the Caudillo of Cadiz, decided "enough of this, cabrone... I will find my own path!" and bicycles OFF course (using up his referee bribe) to take a New York City Subway style shortcut to a point right before the final stretch. Unsurprisingly, the LAST spoiler, the Burrito Brothers, great his creative racing style with a fusillade of righteous indignation (and bullets). As fate would have it, the Caudillo emerges without a scratch-- though the vengeful Count was right behind him, and if his card had been drawn next, the good Caudillo would have been meat paste the next turn.
And so, Finis...
We had to call the race at this point, and I declared the Flying Carpet the LEGITIMATE winner, and Captain Munoz as the NON-LEGITIMATE winner. Hands were shook all around.
Conclusions
All things considered, I'm very pleased with this event. The race was a hoot, silly enough for people to enjoy as "light Faire" but with enough consistent internal logic not to offend the lawyer types. I did find some weaknesses in the rules as they are now, and will address them like so:
Le Grande Cirque FIXES:
1) Add a Flyer Spoiler, such as a Winged Monkey, controlled by an evil scientist. Just to annoy the flyers... not really attack 'em. (yes, I have the figs)
2) Give all racers AT LEAST 1D6 extra DISTANCE per energy expenditure, maybe more for extreme actions like redlining. The race goes too slowly and does not achieve victory within the time allotted. To quote Nigel: "you guys have been racing for three hours and only got that far?"
3) Make a Wind direction AND SPEED check... this can give wind vehicles an extra UMPH if behind them and add a little danger if athwart them. More importantly, it can affect flyers, too.
4) Make up a comparison Spreadsheet for all conveyances displaying Energy to start, expenditures and Gain Methods. Some things were broken here. This needs better analysis
5) Make ALL FLYING VEHICLES subject to Wind effects at some level.
6) Resolve how to fix the "Stuck L class conveyance blocking the M and S conveyance" problem. The "Give Way Challenge" was supposed to fix this, but to tell you the truth I plumb fergot in the excitement.
7) Resolve (DEFINITIVELY) what happens when a vehicle "explodes" through a failed redline challenge and/or poor engineering (the Steam Pony, the Dowd Steam Car). I had to wing this... didn't have anything written.
8) Set up a sliding penalty scale that affects ultimate victory. e.g., No Ref Calls makes you True Blue, one Call a Regular Fellow who Might Have Made a Mistake, 2 Ref Calls makes you a Bounder, 3+ Makes you a Cad and you lose a turn. Blatant cheating (as, ahem, the Caudillo engaged in) is instant Cad Status.
9) Figure out what happens in a CR or BC or DA situation for L class conveyances
10) Now that I have the time, WEIGHT DOWN THE DANGED FIGURES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, SHOUT-OUTS AND PROFUSE THANK-YOUS
The following people were extraordinarily helpful with this event:
Dave Markley: for making the grandstand (in a week!), bringing the steam car, Playtesting LGC in my basement, and a plethora of his usual development type revisions, suggestions, and additions-- as well as reffing the game at one end of the board. Dave is what I would call "True Blue"
Bruce Markley: for many useful additions and suggestions, particularly in the area of combat, and for playtesting. Bruce also flipped and called cards when my voice started to go.
Hal Dyson: Ditto! Hal's enthusiasm is very inspiring.
Colonel Hairy Haggis: For lending the Gotfredi Steam Bike piloted by the unfortunate LT Aldobrandini and constructing Harvey for me. Alas, fate dealt Elwood a cruel blow too early-- but we'll run him again at Historicon!
Chick Lewis: For lending me the pilot for the Flying Carpet of Baghdad, and a genie which we (shamefacedly) plumb fergot about in all of the excitement. Take solace in that your figure was the clear, er. LEGITIMATE winnah!
Jeff Ewing and Brett Abbott: For taking the pictures that I'm using in this replay.
The Hive Mind: You know who you are!
And so, good reader, our tale is at an end. Do check in again occasionally as I'm expecting more pictures from other sources.