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Had the gang over for gaming Saturday. Mark had mentioned the week before that he’d really like to play Successors again, and since we had four (me, Dave, Mark, Patch), and I’m always up for Successors, we went for that.

Sadly, I hadn’t properly realized just how long it’s been, and how much there was to forget in a game that has a fairly nice rhythm. Also, two of us only barely remembered the game at all. So, things went slow, with a fair amount of rules lookups, and a large number of rules goofs. Thankfully, the game manages to be quite a bit of fun even with those problems.

I ended up drawing Peithon (Media) and Antigonus (Phrygia). I wasn’t too happy with that start, especially as Patch got Lysimachus (Thrace) and Leonnatus (Hellespontine), giving me a very compact and concentrated neighbor. Dave got Craterus (Cilicia) and Antipater (Macedonia), putting him on either side of my territory in Phrygia, but with the same problem as me with Patch. Mark got Perdiccas (Babylon) and Ptolemy (Egypt) for an easy first turn Usurper.

I concentrated on Media for my opening moves, sieging the rout into Mesopotamia (and taking it with two very good rolls), and spreading influence into Persis, before heading north to take Atropatene. Patch mostly played defensively, taking control of Tribali and Lydia after I had taken the city of Sardis. Mark built up a large army, and started heading north-west from Babylon… which was by far the biggest rules goof of the day.

We hadn’t remembered that the Funeral cart isn’t ready on turn one, and only realized it as things were rushing to a conclusion at the end of turn two, when I happened to note the various reminders on the turn track. As it was, Mark managed to knock out Craterus’ (Dave’s) army near the end of the first turn, precipitating a crisis that would unfold over the next turn. I had recently made an attempt at Patch, as part of an effort to stop him from interfering with Lydia and Caria any more (forgetting about losing Successor status until well after the combat), and went down surprisingly hard. Thankfully, I got the Silver Shields on a surprise card redraw, and scared Patch off with a surprisingly capable force under a minor general.

Until turn 2 that is. Even with the return of Peithon, and some extra troops, Patch nailed me again after I failed an avoidance roll, and played Silver Shields to take a major component of my army away to boot. The next round, I finally remembered I had Deception and Surprise, which could have made my avoidance roll succeed…. Grr.

Patch’s army then defeated Mark’s as it continued on it’s way to Pella. Patch then turned around and took the body to Pella himself, to fight Dave’s army, which had been recalled from a campaign  in Greece. While the outcome of that battle wasn’t in too much doubt, we were denied any satisfaction of schadenfreude when both leaders survived death checks after rolling ‘9’s in combat.

Between 10 Legitimacy for burying Alexander in Pella, and the various royals that Patch had picked up in battle (including Philip III, which he looted back from my army after I stole him from Patch with Philip Breaks From Guardian) he had about 19 points, enough for the auto-win. Patch was disappointed that it wasn’t an entirely ‘honest’ win, thanks to the goof with Alexander’s body, but that hadn’t been his fault.

It was still a good time, and we need to do it again, before we forget everything all over again.