Marbit Island - The Far Side of the World - COMPLETED

[LTDave]

Well, we are drawing to a close - last orders, gentlemen, please!

[Swodaems]

The Big Head looks around the hex, spies the small tree, laughs triumphantly, and then ATTACKS the MARBITS!

Our fallen brethren must be avenged. The last tree on the island must be destroyed. Time for an act of Sod.

Rod has found and equipped the Helm of Destiny. He is thrilled with the arcane powers and excited at the possibilities that are now open to him.
For starters, Rod is sure that he can issue an order to a Marbit, any Marbit, and they will follow it without question. This must be how Commanders feel all the time...

M20 "Sod" orders M6 "Monk" to eat, drop rock axe tool, fill backpack with meat, tie Shelby to the raft via the harness, remove the Helm of Destiny from Sod's head, place the helm of Destiny on his own, get on the raft, and pull off after M19 and M2 have decided to board or not.

After the helm has been removed from his unresisting head, Sod will equip rock axe tool, move west and chop down the last tree.

We are going to completely depopulate this island. Without trees, the Testudo Auberii will lower their primary food source. M18 and M10 will need to kill the last greenie to make their sail.

We could try leaving this place as an even more barren wasteland by destroying the fungi. Either M18 or M10 can easily destroy the fungi in their hex in passing, but detroying the one in the home hex will take another sacrifice from either M2 or M19.

[KF25]

How many marbits fit on a boat?

[WhirdCheese]

M10 attacks the green creature then makes a sail out of its hide attacks the Vicous Foodbeast. (unless doing so seems to make V2 like him less) Moving all spare food to the boat then shoves off after V2 and himself are on. As well as the other Marbit in the hex unless he doesn't have an action.

[Lamech]

Well this was a terrible game for me...

[LTDave]

How many marbits fit on a boat?

How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
The answer, of course, is 8 if they are fat, and 16 if they are thin.

Well this was a terrible game for me...

Just because you died every turn for the last four or five...

Our fallen brethren must be avenged. The last tree on the island must be destroyed. Time for an act of Sod.

Your insurance does not cover acts of sod...

[KF25]

Random VI boards boat, prepares to leave.

[The Colonel]

M18 Stacks up with M10 Attacks the green food beast, Moves the food onto the raft and gets on.

[CroverusRaven]

Our fallen brethren must be avenged. The last tree on the island must be destroyed. Time for an act of Sod.

Your insurance does not cover acts of sod...

Oh wow I almost had a spit take reading this.

Is compelled to follow the order given, shoves off as soon as the other Marbits decide to join him or go help Sod.

[Werebiscuit]

Well, we are drawing to a close - last orders, gentlemen, please!

Make mine a double !

M2 Choppy meanwhile will Throw his backpack of meat aboard the raft push it out into the surf and jump aboard using his spear to pole it as far as he can. He will then use the spear as a rudder/oar and sit singing "Beyond the blue horizon"

[LTDave]

Oh wow I almost had a spit take reading this.

What is a spit take?

Nevermind, thank you Wikipedia.



M20 "Sod" orders M6 "Monk" to eat, drop rock axe tool, fill backpack with meat, tie Shelby to the raft via the harness, remove the Helm of Destiny from Sod's head, place the helm of Destiny on his own, get on the raft, and pull off after M19 and M2 have decided to board or not.

Monk Is compelled to follow the order given, shoves off as soon as the other Marbits decide to join him or go help Sod.

Random VI boards boat, prepares to leave.

M2 Choppy meanwhile will Throw his backpack of meat aboard the raft push it out into the surf and jump aboard using his spear to pole it as far as he can. He will then use the spear as a rudder/oar and sit singing "Beyond the blue horizon"


M10 attacks the green creature then makes a sail out of its hide attacks the Vicous Foodbeast. (unless doing so seems to make V2 like him less) Moving all spare food to the boat then shoves off after V2 and himself are on. As well as the other Marbit in the hex unless he doesn't have an action.

M18 Stacks up with M10 Attacks the green food beast, Moves the food onto the raft and gets on.







After the helm has been removed from his unresisting head, Sod will equip rock axe tool, move west and chop down the last tree.

[LTDave]

As the rafts sail slowly away from the Island, the surviving Marbits look back to see M20 enter what was the home hex. The Big Head appears to be watching the rafts, with a grim smile of satisfaction. The Big Head does not notice M20 until it is too late - with a single swipe of his axe, M20 cuts down the very last tree on the Island.

The Big Head turns at the noise, notices M20 grinning wildly, and drives his spear through Sod's body with a single thrust.

M20's death scream is drowned out by the furious bellow from the Big Head.

The remaining Marbits decide to get as far from the Island as possible.

[LTDave]

Thanks for playing Marbit Island II – The Far Side of the World.
The game has now come to an end. You have scored 28 out of a possible 35 points. Well done.

Just a little bit of fluff about the influences and motivations for this game.
First, Easter Island. I once watched a doco about this amazing place (the Island with the giant head statues). One line from the doco has stuck with me for many years – the Island was so small that the person who cut down the last tree knew that it was the last tree on the Island. But they cut it down anyway. The inhabitants needed wood to make the statues (rollers, cranes, scaffolding, cracking the rock with heat, etc), but they also needed wood to make the canoes they used to go fishing and feed themselves. With all the trees gone, they could not repair or replace their canoes, and eventually died out. This was part of my plan with Marbit Island One, but I made a mistake in letting the trees regrow so quickly. So, in MI2, I did not let the trees regrow. I wanted to see if the players would chop them all down, causing the tortoises and iguana to die out (and not pop again – they did not pop as often in hexes with fewer trees).

On Easter Island, the locals built their statues for reasons only guessed at – but it seems pretty clear that it became an obsession that destroyed them. On Marbit Island I placed the stone altars in an attempt to get the Players to compete to find the gems and place them on the altars, and levelling. Only two players seemed interested in following this path.

Second, the Aubrey / Marturin books by Patrick O’Brian. Probably best known by the excellent Russell Crowe movie “Master and Commander – The far side of the world.” In one of the books they visit the Galapagos, and in another book the entire crew is shipwrecked somewhere in the China Sea, and have to build a ship from the wreck of the old one to get home. Excellent books, and the Testudo Aubreii is, of course, named in honour of Captain Jack Aubrey.

Thirdly, the Galapagos and Charles Darwin. Once I had a desolate Island with Turtles and Iguana, it seemed only a natural development (bing!) to bring on Charles Darwin, escorted by giant finches, and ultimately riding on a famous beagle. My knowledge of Darwin is not extensive, and I’ve only ever read the first paragraph of his most famous book (and before that, had only heard it read aloud in that episode of the Simpsons). Darwin has of course moved beyond his historical humanity, and is now a cultural identity that bears little similarity to the man himself. My Darwin’s obsession with beaks and the creatures of his Island is intended merely for humorous purposes.

[Swodaems]

Thanks for the great time LTDave. You've left me wishing I could play again and try to do better.

The game has now come to an end. You have scored 28 out of a possible 35 points. Well done.

What were the other 7 points? Were they the 7 remaining creatures from the island (Big Head, Big Dog, Very Big Bird, and the 4 remaining Testudo Aubreii(including mounts))? Did we need to kill them all?

And why were there more altars than gems?

[LTDave]

1 point for taming an iguana, 1 for killing a Tortoise, and 5 if you could defeat big head a second time.

And Just Because.

I have thoughts for Marbit Island 3 - but they need some more fleshing out.

Suggestions? Comments? Improvements that could be made? What would make this game better?

[Lamech]

What did the greeny's take to tame? Meat? Also if the turtles and such take trees to grow does that mean we turned this place into a desolate wasteland filled only with emptiness and loss?

Oh and idea, next game we could be racing against gobwins or others to construct industry weaponry and to destroy the enemies! (Or be destroyed by them...)

[CroverusRaven]

Probably mushrooms.

And I thought I killed one of the VFBs... Oh well, no biggie.

Making it so we don't eat automatically was a good call. Keep it that way I think.

[Lamech]

Probably mushrooms.

I'm pretty sure I tried that...

[KF25]

Are we going to have MI3?

[LTDave]

Maybe. Perhaps. Almost Certainly.

I have thoughts for Marbit Island 3 - but they need some more fleshing out.

Suggestions? Comments? Improvements that could be made? What would make this game better?