[Umbrella]

Card 9: Operations

Our scouts were wrong. The Spanish weren't sending missionaries, they were sending soldiers. The enemy gets 6 AP's, and spend 3 AP's with a small raid.

Here's how raids work. For every AP spent, they get a raid counter in Sante Fe. In addition, they get a raid counter for each level of ferocity our families have. Since we had Family A turn into a raiding machine, they have a ferocity of 3. That means the enemy has 6 raid counters.

The enemy looks to the closest family by movement points. In our case, both Family A and B are 6 MP's from Santa Fe. Ties are broken alphabetically, so the enemy is going after family A.

As the enemy approaches, we can spend AP's to react. We can harass, which slows the enemy down. We can negotiate. We can ambush. And finally, we can evade, which is the only reaction that doesn't cost AP's. Family A is a fighting family, not an evading family. Unfortunately, we don't have horses or firearms, and we don't have trade goods to get them. It's tough to fight without horses and firearms. We are in trouble.

I decide to spend my only AP to harass the enemy. Family A and B are still in danger, but the harassment will keep Family C safe. As the enemy enters Family A's area, I attempt to evade. As expected, this doesn't work. Now I have to choose, fight, or get caught. Without horses or firearms, the odds of winning are against me, so I surrender.

What this means is I lose a member of the family to the passage of time box. Goodbye child A. Also we lose a culture point. But the enemy ferocity also drops by one.

The enemy then goes after Family B. Family B is able to evade further into the San Juan valley. This is all the enemy has, so the raid ends. However, since he caught one of our families, enemy morale increases by one. Then I return caught families back to the board at any ferocity I want. I return Family A with a ferocity of 0.

Our scouts know for a fact another raid is coming. I want Family A to interact with the enemy. The reason for this is that if an enemy raid doesn't encounter any families, they feel like the area is safe, and build more missions. The enemy spends their last 3 AP's to conduct another raid. Since my total ferocity of all families is 0, they only get 3 raid points. The enemy encounters Family A, but since they are not so ferocious, they are better at evasion, and evade very deep into Shiprock. Since this raid didn't produce any results for the enemy, their morale drops by 1.

Now it is our turn. Family A and B are way deep in their territories, and are kind of useless. Plus, we have a mission in Shiprock that still needs to be dealt with. I choose to Take Actions.

I have a ton of elders, so all four families will move. I start with Family D. Any family that starts in Canyon de Chelly can spend all their MP's to go anywhere on the board. I move them to the spot with the mission. This is risky, since if a raid comes, families on the same spot as a mission cannot react. However, my scouts are telling me that the Spanish are preparing for a monster raid, and this should take some time. I should be able to destroy the mission before the enemy raid arrives.

Family C plants corn. Family A does a long distance raid of New Mexico. Any family can spend all their MP's to do a raid. We get some much needed horses. These horses immediately go to Family B, so they can begin to get out of the deep crevices of the San Juan Valley.

For the major event, the Apaches are at it once again, only this time they are at war with the Spanish, and the Pueblos are joining them. The Pueblos are now no longer fully subjugated. The minor event is drought related, and we aren't affected.

If my scouts are correct, this major raid is coming. I need to decide whether I should attack the mission, or maybe do some planning. Plus, the next historical event is coming.