Rufus

No deadlines! Take as long as you need. Access granted!

This pic from FBTB's Flickr has no confidential watermark, so I'm posting it here: 7347 Highway Pickup 805 Pieces US $79.99 I've updated the first post with latest information. Steering!

Nice micro-scale Architecture MOC! You've captured the spirit of LEGO Architecture perfectly Moving to Special Themes (the home of Architecture )...

Those are indeed very cute! Your MOCs are always amazing Nice Part Usage on the flipper for the tongue, BTW!

It was a risk we took in this game, knowing the possible consequences. It's very hard to judge in advance what might become an 'Easter Egg'; originally, only the Virgins had a in their role PM, but we saw how that could be used to confirm them, so added one in to all factions. If it hadn't been a 'surprise' new game concept, we could have been entirely open from the start... though it's amazing what seemingly irrelevant detail can get pounced upon

Oh yeah... I've even got 4209 - just haven't built it yet

Oooh, nice! And I like the look of that truck behind I think it's medium blue. I see what you mean, but I like it - and it's nice to get other than the usual primary colours in CREATOR sets I think it's just two standard frames side-by-side (but I could be wrong).

Ooh, more vehicles! I think there are new wheelarch parts in the Mining 4x4 4200 Not keen on the larger wheels in the Tipper 4201. I think 7631 got this sort of truck pretty much perfect; this latest one is - to use a word I hate - too <insert that tiresome argument>

WINNERS ARE ANNOUNCED! We had some wonderful entries this year! Check out the stunning winning entries here. And if you voted, find out if you won a mystery bonus prize!

Gratulerer med dagen, Quarry! I hope that's right. 2pid Google. And Happy Birthday Sirens! Hope you all have a fab day!

Don't forget Cornelius's and Sandy's Cherrinator requests

Sorry dude, but your pictures are waaaaay too large. I've removed the image tags. Please resize the pictures to a maximum 800x600 px (there's a link in my signature to the tutorials index if you don't know how to do that); then feel free to repost them Also, we don't allow animated GIFs to be used as avatars, so please replace it with a still image (I've removed it for now). Thanks for your cooperation!

Thanks Fangy, and cheers for the FP! You got a sneak preview Ooops! Teach me to rush... Thanks, Artifex! Glad you liked it Thanks Brickster! This set really grew on me as I was writing the review. It looks great from the front and sides, and I'm really impressed with how it looks like the real thing. Go get it! Thanks! You're probably right - I was being deliberately facetious. Seriously, though, a surprising amount of what we think we recycle actually goes in landfill, but I don't for a moment think it's LEGO's responsibility to worry kids with such heavy issues Thanks Rick! I tend to give most Police sets a miss, but this year they've managed to make even those interesting. I couldn't agree more. The stuff that 'Steve' is wearing is much more appropriate, realistic and interesting (even if he does have a Jesus face ). Thanks Rog! It's not that they don't look good, it just seems to me to go against what LEGO should be about. Why make a sticker when there are pieces that will do the job? I don't know, maybe I just hate stickers too much That's a good point. *Must check next time it's bin day*

Yay for civilian vehicles! 2012 looks to be a great year for CITY. I thought LEGO would have a hard time topping the awesome 7991 Garbage Truck from 2007 (also a great year for vehicles), and my first impression from the pictures of this latest version was that, whilst it's certainly a modernisation of this crucial CITY set, 4432 seemed a little ... bland. Let's see how it bears up to some Rufus-scrutiny Set Information Name: Garbage Truck Number: 4432 Theme: CITY Release: 2012 (January) Pieces: 208 Figures: 2 Price: GB £14.99 | US $19.99 | EUR €19.99 | AU $29.99 | CA $24.99 | DKK 179.95 Links ... Shop@Home ... Brickset ... Bricklink The Box Click for a larger picture Same old, same old... the tried and tested CITY box art still looks good. Those of you who have read my 4435 Car & Camper review will notice again the Orthanc-like Clock Tower in the background, proving that it is indeed the same CITY; perhaps the Garbage Truck is clearing away the detritus left behind by those selfish caravanners? Alternatively, maybe a row of wonderful town-houses occupy the Fourth Wall of this picture: if so, I want to live there; the views are stunning. The rear reveals this set to be one of the subversive marketing 'Collect them all!' series: and do you know? I just might. Click for a larger picture HEY! Garbage-man shows off the set's features with a gesture that might appear excruciatingly painful from a minifigure's perspective. Amidst the expected modular construction, 'tipping action', and hands-free bin-emptier is what appears to be a Magnetic Banana. An ethereal finger seems to want to draw attention to this magic banana, perhaps rubbing it on the off-chance a Bin Genie will appear. No such luck! And - bad LEGO, bad! Making the poor lady garbage-collector ride on the outside in the cold! Or is she there by choice? If so, she's like no lady I know. From this angle, that's one big CITY - and it seems to rise out of an empty plain like there's no suburbia, and makes me think of Altanta, Georgia (based entirely on one picture I happen to have seen of Atlanta). Well, good job Atlanta for keeping your environs free from bananas and expired fish. Pity the Magnetic Banana isn't working for the lady. The Contents The disappointingly empty box yielded two baggies, ... ... a pristine instruction booklet, and an only-slightly crumpled sticker sheet. The Decal Sticker Sheet was crumpled enough to make photography tricky, but not enough to dislodge the decals themselves, thankfully. The now familiar registration plates flank white-on-green, and green-on-white Recycling logos, which cause a slight paradox. This is a Garbage Truck; the sister-set to this one is a recycling truck (it's even called 4206 Recycling Truck), and the figures are clearly clearing away rubbish (recycled fish, anyone?), so why the 'recycling' logo? It seems a little disingenuous to me; if teaching the kids that Recycling Is Good is the lesson of the day, then the even more important lesson that Not Everything Can Be Recycled has been skipped entirely. But I digress. Leaping from the moral high ground to a horse of equal height, let me rant instead about the Radiator Grille sticker. Why? Two white grille tiles would have been perfectly fine, and would teach the kids the important lesson that Simple Pieces Can Produce Impressive Effects (and appease the sticker-haters like me ). Instructions Gracing the front of the single instruction booklet is the same picture as the box front, except that the figures have encroached further through the Fourth Wall into the hazy blue universe beyond. Simplicity abounds; at one to two parts per step there is no need for the additional clutter of piece call-outs. The usual colour-differentiation issue between dark bluish-grey and black is wisely averted by have no identical parts in both colours. See the bluish-grey 1x4 brick behind the SNOTty front panel? That's a 1x4 brick with studs on one side, and will be mentioned later. The few sub-builds are handled smoothly; here we see how a soupçon of Technic provides the functionality of the bin-emptier ... ... and we can admire the interesting use of a door-frame piece. Towards the rear of the manual is the expected Inventory, spread over two pages: see Inventory 1 and Inventory 2; also as expected, the set's features are displayed in the rear of the booklet ... ... but rather surprisingly, they are in drawing-form rather than the usual photographic representations. Here we see the bin-emptier in action... ... and the tipper mechanism follows. Quite why they were done this way escapes me, particularly as the box back shows the same features quite nicely in photographic form. The Parts Bag One builds the cab and chassis of the truck, the figures, and some Rubbish. The banana is there, but sadly seems to be neither magnetic nor magic. Otherwise, the parts selection is much to be expected... but wait, what's this? Compare the green plate at the top right to the other green parts ... ... and there's a definite colour difference. Here I've displayed some of the green parts separately, along with three of my own green tiles. Yes! Most of the green parts from this set are, in the 2011 LEGO Colour Palette, 37: Bright Green rather than the usual 28: Dark Green (Bricklink's 'Green'; not to be confused with 'Emerald Night' 141: Earth Green) Previously, the Bright Green colour was used principally for large 'grass' plates, but its use in multiple pieces here (and in 4206 Recycling Truck) possibly heralds a new Bright Green era. There are even cheese wedges in Bright Green! (This says nothing: there'll undoubtedly be cheese wedges in Octarine before too long ) I confess to being completely and pleasantly surprised by this. Maybe you weren't; maybe you've already raved and/or ranted about it in the relevant Discussion Thread, or maybe you just looked more carefully at the box art than I did, but I was expecting nothing more than the usual green. My interest in this set went up several notches when I discovered this. Otherwise, I must also point out that one of the longer bluish-grey plates came out of the bag decidedly warped: These two plates are used in a plate-sandwich as the central spine of the chassis, so the bent piece doesn't affect the outcome; still, it's a quality control issue. I was also quite excited by these new hinge-plate pieces: Bottom and Top on Bricklink, they are connected via a technic pin, allowing you to vary the friction in the hinge action; they might also have interesting other uses: if, for example, you were to thread a Technic axle through several of (say) the top part, you might be able to create an interesting variety of spiral staircase. But they are currently available only in this set and the 4434 Tipper Truck, so it'll be a while before they are widely available. Seeing these, I was reminded of this old piece which I remembered from the Classic Space era; however, when assembled, the new hinge leaves a one-plate gap between top and bottom. Bag Two builds the main container of the truck, and the rear end with the bin-emptier function. More Bright Green - in 1x2 bricks, wall elements and slopes as well as the already commonplace large plates - brightens up the selection; the eight white 2x4 bows might be useful. The two door frames are unexpected (but I've already hinted at their use in the Instructions section). Leftover after building is the usual pile of 1x1 rounds, a technic pin and cheeses, but one of the leftover cheeses is Bright Green. The Minifigures Meet Graham and Diane: The inclusion of a female figure is interesting. In this set of all sets it demonstrably breaks a gender stereotype - though in 37 years I've seen women doing all kinds of jobs traditionally the realm of men, but I've never seen a female garbage collector. I like how she appears to be wearing lipstick and mascara! The set doesn't provide minifigure hairpieces, but I like to think that under that cap she looks like this: I love that Friends hair mold! The figures' dungaree torsos are not new, having appeared in several sets since 2010. They work quite well as a sort of uniform in this set, but I perhaps would have preferred Diane to have a female torso. From the back, the two figures are indistinguishable: Oh well, at least there's back printing. Here they are in action collecting rubbish: It's worth mentioning their facial expressions here. Having grown up with the permasmiles of Classic Town, I find every 'neutral' minifigure facial expression to seem somewhat sad, or at least resigned. In the Car & Camper review I drew attention to this, because in that set at least you'd expect the poor couple to be enjoying themselves; here, on the other hand, the expressions seem to say, 'Well, it's a dirty job, but...' Maybe I'm reading too much into this. The Truck I haven't included build shots in this review, but will show interesting construction details as we look around. I did however take a shot at the end of Bag One: Here you can admire the smooth tiling of the chassis, which is necessary to support the main container whilst allowing it to tip; note also the white tiles which secure the bottom part of the new hinge, and reveal why there is the one-plate gap in the new design. Clever! Here's the completed truck: This is one of the best views of the vehicle. It's functional, yet smart and compact. I'd have liked to have seen a little detail on the roof - even just a few grille tiles or something - but it'll do. Note the clippy-hinges which allow the rear end to pivot. The mass of orange lights at the rear look a little over-the-top to me, but I guess kids like flashing lights (though of course these don't flash). Moving closer to the ground, this is how the truck would look from street level: This view highlights one of the features which brings this set in line with most modern garbage trucks (in Europe, at least): the low-set cab. It seems to hunker down to carry the weight of the bulky container; the latter has that wonderful 'bulge' which is certainly authentic, if the myriad garbage trucks to be seen in my locality are anything to go by. Now might be a good time to compare 4432 to a 'real' garbage truck, in this case made by Mercedes: This particular example is a long-wheelbase version with three axles, but shorter two-axled versions exist, and I think you'll agree that the LEGO designers have done a darn good job of rendering this. Even the sticker for the front would look realistic (had I applied it, though I maintain that two white grilles would do just fine ), and I like the LEGO solution for the wing-mirrors. The front view emphasises how low to the ground the cab is. I guess this allows quick entry and exit to the cab, and therefore speeds up the collection of garbage; well it would, but the cab doors are brick-built, and unfortunately don't open. The steering wheel is mounted rather high up, and looks a bit obtrusive. I'm less satisfied, however, with the rear, which looks a little sixties-retro to my eyes. Perhaps it's something to do with those round lights; the bin-emptier mechanism also looks rather blocky and bulky here. This point is emphasised also in the side view. I love how the green slopes and white aeroplane fins create a slanted junction between the sections, but otherwise, the truck seems to go rather suddenly from a svelte, functional beauty ... ... to a utilitarian monster. The rear is the 'business end', I guess, so it can be forgiven for being so. Perhaps the overhang of the bin-emptier is partly to blame for this impression. It sticks out rather too far beyond the truck's actual rear, and could lead to some interesting incidents whilst reversing. We'll look more closely at the bin-emptier mechanism presently, but my first impression was that it looks clumsy and too bulky, thus detracting from what appears so far to be a gorgeous design. Set Features Women can drive just as well as, if not better than, men, and Diane is driving the truck today. See how high up that steering wheel is? This could be modified, using two 1x1 SNOT bricks rather than the 1x4 which secures the front panel. With six-stud wide vehicles, it is possible - with the ingenious use of jumper plates - to sit two figures side-by-side; however this would overcomplicate the build for its target market, and in any case the wheel-arch pieces intrude into the low-set cab making it impossible in this case. Poor Graham therefore has to hang on to the side as Diane tears through the city. At least he has something to grab on to! I should mention at this point the clippy-bricks that allow you to attach the broom and shovel - it's a thoughtful addition, and helps prevent them getting lost. Now we get to examine that Bin-Emptying Mechanism I've been going on about. The figures have to lift the bin on to the sticky-out rear platform, where it stays attached via a 2x2 jumper tile. Diane turns the wheel (for dramatic affect, I assume - there would surely by a motor in the vehicle to do this) ... ... and the whole bulky structure tips, emptying the bin's contents into the main container, and exposing some ugly red Technic bricks in the process. The slope-brick helps to guide the rubbish into the container ... ... but not very far. It has a tendency to pile up on the studs at the very rear of the container, and the red door frame actually prevents it spreading further inside. Some tiling would fix this (and help with the tipping process later). Now let's compare this to the bin-emptying method employed in 4432's predecessor, 7991: This is Steve. Despite working alone, Steve enjoys his job - possibly because his local council has provided more appropriate attire (and gloves!) All Steve has to do is push the bin on the ground to the edge of the platform - no lifting for him - and the little droid-arm claw does the rest. This method is more in keeping with what really happens at the business end of a garbage truck; 4432's new mechanism provides an added play-feature, but it is bulky, obtrusive and - in my opinion - downright ugly, and as such seems to me to be an inelegant solution to a non-problem. Interestingly, as my good friend WhiteFang has pointed out, 4432's mechanism is similar to that of an old Classic Town garbage vehicle, 1987's 6693 Refuse Collection Truck: Even the dungaree uniform has carried over. At the end of their shift, Diane and Graham return to base to empty their load, and now we get to see the Tipper Mechanism in action. The ugly rear end swivels upwards, seen here at the limit of its movement ... ... and the container tips upwards ... ... dislodging some, but not all, of the container's contents. You can just see a single tan stud is refusing to shift, and the white rear end prevents the container tipping further. I guess it would work better with the fish and banana. Here it is again, from the side: This shows how the white rear end, which only pivots to 90 degrees, in turn limits the movement of the container. To be fair, this was also a problem in 7991. With the container upright, we get to explore a little more of the vehicle. Here we can see the rear of the cab, where some primary colours begin to show themselves: The jarring red piece at the rear of the cab roof is actually a 2x4 plate, which allows the orange lights to lift off with the cab roof (you may notice it is sitting on a white 1x6 tile). I can live with this; I'm more concerned about the rear of the cab being open to the elements. Not only would this be drafty on those cold winter mornings, but it also means that those nasty stinky garbage odours will permeate the cab, particularly as there are holes at the front of the container: I've removed one of the sides here to show the container's construction. You can observe how the SNOT side-panels are attached via only two studs; the red door-frame at the rear prevents these panels collapsing inwards. It's surprisingly sturdy. Comparison to 7991 We've already looked at the bin-emptying mechanism (there must be a better way to describe that ) for both sets, but let's see how the two as a whole compare. I was really impressed with 7991, back in the day. It has some fantastic little details: the steps up to the cab, the binocular horns on the cab roof, the ingenious way the little red trolley attaches to the roof ... it's a geat design, if a little flimsy. I wondered how on earth 4432, occupying the same price-point and having an almost identical part-count - could possibly top that. But it does, in a way. Gripes about the rear end aside, 4432 looks stunning: realistic and modern. Beside it, 7991 looks like something from an earlier age, belying the mere five years between them, mechanical and industrial. This is probably a good thing: 4432 is no replacement for the earlier set; the two could exist in your CITY, doing different jobs: 4432 smartly patrolling the streets, keeping them free of slippery banana skins and stinky fish, whilst 7991 belongs in the industrial and construction areas, the gritty coal-face of the ever-expanding cityscape. Conclusion In 4432, The LEGO Co. has again shown how it is able to keep bang up-to-date; continuously modernising and improving an already fantastic line-up of vehicles. I thought that the range of CITY trucks exemplified by 2007's 7991 had already reached its zenith; but no, 4432 makes 7991 look decidedly clunky and outdated, and the Bright Green colour scheme brings new life to the current range, and the hope of a much larger variety of Bright Green bricks to come. Might it even replace 28: Dark Green as the 'standard' LEGO green? This being said, the ugly rear end of the vehicle is an unfortunate triumph for function over form. For the dubious benefit of a minor play-feature - turn a wheel and the bin tips, rather than having to do it by hand - the blocky rear-end contraption quite spoils the otherwise aesthetically pleasing lines of this truck; I'd much rather the designer had stuck with 7991's neat (if a little fragile) solution to this feature. Scores Design & Build - 8 From the front and side, the Garbage Truck looks great - it is realistic and accurate, with a simple but stunning colour scheme; what it loses in technical detail compared to 7991 it gains in overall aesthetics. The build is simple but still entertaining, with some interesting techniques: the SNOT sides to the container and the green slope - white fin boundary towards the rear are superb for a set of this size. Minor niggles aside, if it weren't for the rear-end monstrosity it would be getting full marks here, but I really don't like that thing. Parts - 8 Truck construction has started to follow a pattern in recent years, and so we wouldn't expect much of interest in the parts section; however, some new pieces, and a whole load of commonplace parts found for the first time in an interesting colour, make this one of the more excting parts collections I've come across in recent years. I still wish they hadn't decided on that front grille sticker, though. Figures - 6 It's great to get two figures - remember the similarly-priced 7991 only had one - but the figs themselves are a little disappointing. Their 'uniforms' are neither rare nor interesting, and nor are they really appropriate for their job; their face-prints are nothing new (though this year's minifigure heads appear to have a new, closed-recessed stud configuration; see here). I like that a female figure has been included, but the only thing that makes her female is her head. Playability - 9 With two figures, two bins, some rubbish, and a truck with a two-fold tipper action, there's fun to be had! Even the ugly-monster rear-end mechanism scores some points here (making up not entirely for the 'Design' section losses); however, I think the real beauty lies in the cross-compatibility: forget the 'Collect Them All!' range - go and buy 4206 Recycling Truck which matches this set perfectly. Price - 8 This set - like the rest of the range at this price point - is good value for money. You get an interesting part selection, an enjoyable build, and a (mostly) great-looking result, that is both playable and integrates well into an existing CITY layout. Overall: 78%. My score: 8/10. 4432 doesn't have the wow-factor that 7991 had for me, back in its day, but it is a wonderfully realistic update of an essential Town set. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the review. Rufus My flickr set My 4435 Car & Caravan Review 7991 Recycle Truck by xwingyoda, Erdbeereis, Macoco

I'll merge this shortly into the CMF general discussion thread.

DINO 2012 5882 Ambush Attack Review 2 5883 Tower Takedown [REVIEW NEEDED] 5884 Raptor Chase 5885 Triceratops Trapper 5886 T-Rex Hunter 5887 Dino Defence HQ Review 2 5888 Ocean Interceptor [REVIEW NEEDED] Ninjago 2012 (will be edited into Ninjago section shortly) 9440 Venomari Shrine 9441 Kai's Blade Cycle 9442 Jay's Storm Fighter 9443 Rattlecopter [REVIEW NEEDED] 9444 Cole's Tread Assault 9445 Fangpyre Truck Ambush [REVIEW NEEDED] 9446 Destiny’s Bounty 9455 Fangpyre Mech [REVIEW NEEDED] 9456 Spinner Battle Arena [REVIEW NEEDED] 9457 Fangpyre Wrecking Ball [REVIEW NEEDED] 9551 Kendo Cole 9552 Lloyd Garmadon [REVIEW NEEDED] 9553 Jay ZX [REVIEW NEEDED] 9558 Training Set [REVIEW NEEDED] 9561 Kai ZX [REVIEW NEEDED] 9562 Lasha [REVIEW NEEDED] 9563 Kendo Zane [REVIEW NEEDED] 9564 Snappa [REVIEW NEEDED] 9566 Samaurai X Review 2 9567 Fang Suei [REVIEW NEEDED] 9579 Starter Set [REVIEW NEEDED] 5000030 Kendo Jay

This reminds me... ADHO should get some kind of award for some of the funniest lines ever. Here's a little selection: And this, which you have to see in the context of the start of Day Five: And they even continue into the Conclusion: I am afraid so, and contrary to what you might expect, I forgot to use protection...

Thanks for the info. I'll merge this shortly with the 2012 Architecture Rumours thread.

Even so, we were really pleased with what you did When we wrote the character of Nadir, this is who we had in mind: (watch it with the sound up!)

It's about time I updated myself Always Watching Wazowski - [from ISC, because I'm watching you, Wazowksi.] Defender of the Realm - [from ISC (who else?) for making some tags for the History forum. ] ... stole Christmas! - [from Hinckley (I think) because I did! I stole Christmas! It was all meeeeeee! But I promise to put it back where I found it. ]

Agreed. We should perhaps have given you guys a virgin of your own, or a conversion, but it's all to easy to analyse the game balance purely based on the way it turned out. As I said, our biggest fear was a scum walkover, given the results of the simulation, and we perhaps overcompensated I wrote that before the game started, when it all seemed so obvious ... It was supposed to be a hint to 'watch your backs' from an unexpected direction, because of the possibility that you could accidentally kill each other via the redirection action. Not that you'd have worked that out in a million years: it was just kind of a warning ... I admit it sounds rather lame now that I'm trying to explain it! You put it to much better use, anyway

In retrospect, we'd agree. We were concerned that the game was unbalanced towards scum, because of the simulation results. But I bet you could play the exact same game, with the same players in some parallel universe, and get an entirely different result. Possibly. But as Pandy said, it's really no different to a standard Mafia game - except that you have fewer players you need to kill. My point was that Hinck's and def's argument effectively split the town.

Why would it always redirect to scum? That would have been decidedly unfair. Everyone seemed to assume it did, on the basis of one result... Not every action given to Town, in any given game, is there purely for the benefit of Town. Town had plenty of power roles in this game. This role was judged to add confusion to both sides at the start, but as I've already said: it wouldn't have been easy by any means, but just by looking at the two people who did target def on Night One, it should perhaps have given a clue as to what was going on. I know it's easy for us to say, and we accept Hinck's criticism of the role.

Warning - long post follows! GAME CONCEPT This has been discussed intensively already, but we thought it might be useful to explain our thought processes as the concept developed. We originally came up with the idea of a game where the scum only had to kill the vanillas about a year ago - I remember I was playing - or had just finished playing - Bloodbrick I at the time, and there was discussion about how vanilla townies can become disillusioned with the game, or just not really try, making them either passenger winners or lynch-fodder. The idea therefore is that, by being the sole targets of the scum win-condition, they go from being mere pawns to the most important people in the game. At about the same time we had the idea of the setting - loosely related to Pharaoh's Quest - and we liked the idea of a big statue that would 'eat' the victims. It was hardly a stretch then to label the vanillas as 'virgins' - and have them sacrificed - and there was a nice symmetry in this which made it seem <ahem> natural. As a new concept (it might of course have been tried elsewhere, but we weren't aware of that), we knew we had to think quite carefully about it. One of the first problems that might arise is what to do with night kills. It was obvious to us that lynches and scum-kills should count towards the 'virgin' total, but what about vigilante (or, had we decided to include one, serial-killer) kills? One option we considered initially was to have these kills not count towards the total; this would require a lower total of virgin kills for the scum to win, and lead to the paradoxical condition whereby it would be to the Town's advantage to kill off its own virgins. To combat this, we came up with some interesting roles whereby the scum could 'induce' virginity in townies, and even a 'stealth virgin' among the scum who could sacrifice themselves to help their team achieve a win... it was from the carnage of these brainstorms that the 'Cherrinator' role derived. In the end, we figured this would make the game too difficult to control, and ran the risk of leading to an unsatisfying ending (more on that later). So, we decided all kills would end up in the statue. This could happen by chance, but we didn't want to have to think up more and more imaginative ways to achieve this in photographs, so decided that a role which delivered night kills into the statue was needed. As far as the concept goes, I think (and the feedback we've received so far seems to agree) that it was a success . How much of that was due to the concept itself, and how much due to the people who were playing virgins, remains to be seen. GAME BALANCE Having played this, or followed along, you'd be forgiven for thinking that this game concept favours Town. However, when you think about it, a 'normal' EB Mafia game might feature 24 players and 5 scum, and would be considered a fair balance, so really this set-up should favour scum. Now, we couldn't release the concept to an unsuspecting public without testing it, could we? I actually wrote a simulator program to test it (Visual Basic inside a Microsoft Access database, if anyone's interested), and this is what we found: 24 players, of whom 10 are virgins, and 5 scum, gives a scum win 75% of the time. Granted, you can't simulate Town coordination (or investigative actions) without making dangerous assumptions, but the end result was that we had to give Town plenty of power roles in order to redress the balance. Whether those were the right actions is open for debate. Another interesting result of the simulation is that this game set-up can actually end in a draw - if the scum kill the last Virgin the same night as the vigilante kills the last scum. It's not likely - it happened about 1-2% of the time in the simulation - but it would lead to an unsatisfying end to all parties, and we wanted to prevent that happening. Actually the main advantage that Town used in this game was a product of our wanting to 'surprise' everyone with the concept. We deliberately obscured the scum win-condition (even, partly, from the scum themselves), but dropped hints in the role PMs. We were aware of the danger that this could allow comparison of role PMs to give Town and advantage; we planned therefore to reveal the conditions as soon as the 'concept' was generally known, but we didn't expect it all to happen so quickly. It was used to stunningly good effect by Hinck (despite being explicitly against the rules ), and even though we put a stop to it as soon as we could, the damage was already done. Ignoring the controversial roles for the moment, having seen the game in action, here's what we might have done differently: I'd have been tempted not to include a traditional investigator, and perhaps someone's idea of several one-shot investigators would have been better. Having two virgin-detectors would probably have been enough for town. The Cherrinator action was perhaps a little too powerful. It was designed as a means for a coordinated Town to move Virgins around, and therefore keep an organised scum team guessing - but as a side-effect it lead to a trail of 'confirmed' townies (and therefore the analogy to a Masons role, which we wanted to avoid - Masons without conditions are too powerful and lead invariably to a Town win). Instead of the scum's Weak Tracker role - which was in effect a virgin-detector, and a hint to the scum that they should be looking for those without night actions; they weren't explicitly told - I wish we'd given them a Hijacker role. This game would have been perfect for that! Not only would it have allowed them to find out which townies had which actions, it would have allowed them to use the action for a night, blocked the respective townie, and given them a much-needed advantage But we didn't think of it until the game was underway Confusing roles We expected we'd get flamed for including roles which weren't fully explained to the player, but their inclusion was quite deliberate. Hinck's bwankie role was on paper extremely powerful, and therefore we went to some lengths to temper that power, at least at the start of the game. It was an extra protector, so we made it block as well, and vice versa; however, its main purpose, as Hinck has already discovered, was a Nexus. Traditionally, this is a random redirector used in games with many power roles (check), but we wanted the player to be able to control the redirection if they could work out how to... and that wouldn't be easy. The idea therefore was that early in the game, it would add a random element and cause confusion, but later in the game it could become a powerful force for Town (potentially causing scum to kill one of their own). Admittedly, the player might never be able to figure it out (and had a player other then Hinckley received the role, it might never have come into play), but we wanted to give it a try, and I'm sorry that it caused so much consternation The High Priest role was the answer to the problem of what happened to the vigilante kills. It is a passive role - the player wasn't told about it, beyond some hint about an 'ascetic lifestyle'; each night, the player would appear as a dark figure carrying any vig kills into the statue. Had Wuntin used his kill earlier in the game, scum probably would have figured this out sooner. So why ascetic? This action had to be unblockable - otherwise the game concept wouldn't work. As a side-effect, it made the player immune to investigative actions and modifiers, which would be a hindrance early in the game as it would cause suspicion; but when scum started to lose members of their team, they could pair it with another action (ideally the killer) to create an extremely powerful role (and the only way to defeat the Bwankie). It was also immune to night kills - this to prevent the aforementioned problem of the game ending in a draw - but we decided to keep the 'ascetic' title as we thought hints about 'ninja' would be too obvious. Again, apologies to the confusion this caused; however you can see how we tried to balance the confusion equally on both sides! *What follows was written before or during the game* DETAILED ROLE DESCRIPTIONS The Last Scion of IMHOTEP (Town Investigator) - Cecilie You are the last in your family, a family who has known for generations that one day a group would attempt to awaken IMHOTEP and try to bend him to their evil will. You have been afforded the power, through the ages, of being able to determine the evil-doers. Each night you may submit the name of one other player for investigation. You may not investigate yourself. Sane action. Returns 'You successfully investigate <character (player)>. You discover an Innocent/a member of the Cult of IMHOTEP.' Nosy Parker (Town Flavour Cop / Virgin Detector) - Flitwick You are just so nosey! You like to know everybody’s innermost secrets, particularly those of a sexual nature.... Each night you may submit the name of one other player to ascertain whether or not they are a Virgin. You really don’t need to check up on yourself, do you? You can’t. Sane action. Returns 'You successfully pry into the affairs of <character (player)> and discover that they are a Virgin/ not a virgin.' Note: This role is in effect a weak tracker role. The Unclean (Town Blocker) - Zepher You have terrible personal hygiene and are prone to spreading horrible infections. Each night you may target another player and tamper with their dinner. As a result they will spend the entire night in the latrine with dreadful diarrhoea and thus be unable to perform any actions. Returns 'You successfully block <character (player)>. Healer (Town Protector) - ADHO You have a lot of respect for the Restoration School. Egypt could use more healers. Your research has included study of ancient Egyptian healing rituals. Each night you may practise your art on another player with the intention of shielding them from harm. Returns 'You successfully protect <character (player)>. Night Wanderer (Town Tracker) - WhiteFang You get confused sometimes and forget where your bedroll is. Don’t tell me, someone’s stolen your bedroll. Anyway, each night to assuage your confusion you follow one other player in the hopes that they will lead you to your bedroll. On the way, you will notice if they target anyone. Standard tracker role. Returns 'You successfully follow <character (player)> and find that they visit <player> (and <player>). Ornithologist (Town Watcher) - Waterbrick Down You are also here to catch a rare glimpse of the endangered Egyptian Nightingale, and spend each night glued to your binoculars. As a result you sometimes see what other people are up to. Each night you may focus your binoculars on another player and see who comes to visit them. Standard watcher role. Returns 'You successfully watch <character (player)> and find that they are visited by <player> (and <player>). Curator (Town Nexus) - Hinckley You have an ancient artefact in your possession. It is a cloak or blanket of unknown material, and since your arrival in the valley it has begun to shimmer mysteriously. It’s just so shiny and reflective. Each night you may place this material over yourself or any other player, but you’re not quite sure what affect that might have. The blanket is a redirector. It redirects to the first person the Curator quotes in the day thread. If there is no quote, the target will be random. All actions are redirected except the Ascetic. The Curator can use it on him/herself or any other player. If used on another player, it will protect them, but also block them. It must be used. Returns 'You successfully cover yourself with your bwankie and have a peaceful night's sleep.' or 'You successfully cover <character (player)> with the blanket.' If Curator tries to use the blanket on another player, this action can be blocked. Redirected players are told 'You think you target <character (player)>. Your night action is successful. You find.....' Notes If town are clever, they will realise that this is best used to protect virgins. It is possible for the wielder to work out the redirection action (and its conditions) but it will probably take a lot of time and effort. The idea is that it will go from being a random element early in the game to a very powerful Town tool later. Insomniac (Town Vigilante) - Wuntin You are absolutely fed up with all of these silly people, and what’s more you have awful insomnia. As you hear people wandering about at night, making too much noise, coupled with the sand and the heat, and the smell of the camel... well - you’ve just had too much and decide to take matters into you own hands. Each night you may target another player to be on the receiving end of your wrath, and your shovel. Returns 'You successfully bash <character (player)> with your shovel.' Cherrinator (Town Action Donator) - Eskallon You are deeply ashamed of that one night of foolishness and wish to regain your virtue. You have in your possession an ancient scroll, which you’ve noticed since entering the valley now appears to have a cherry on it. At night you may attempt to sleep with another player and activate the scroll. If that player is a Virgin you will regain your virtue, they, however, will have lost theirs but gained your scroll. If they are not a Virgin, then you retain your scroll. And your shame. Arguably the most important Town role to keep around. If the town coordinate, it allows them to switch around the remaining virgins, to keep the Scum off the scent. Cherrinator (passed on) 'Last night someone crept into your bedroll and had their wicked way with you. You couldn’t resist their advances! You are no longer a Virgin. You are deeply ashamed of that one night of foolishness and wish to regain your virtue. You now possess an ancient scroll, with a cherry on it. At night you may attempt to sleep with another player and activate the scroll. If that player is a Virgin you will regain your virtue, they, however, will have lost theirs, but gained your scroll. If they are not a Virgin, then you retain your scroll. And your shame. You are an Innocent member of the group. You have a night action (because you’ve had some action at night before... ) To achieve your freedom from the curse of IMHOTEP, and thus escape the valley, you must eliminate all the Cultists.' Cherrinator (successful) 'You have successfully regained your virtue. You are an Innocent member of the group, additionally you are a Virgin and have no night action. You might wish to keep this to yourself. To achieve your freedom from the curse of IMHOTEP, and thus escape the valley, you must eliminate all the Cultists.' Note: This is in effect also a virgin-detector role, as if the target is not a virgin, the return will state 'Your night action is unsuccessful.' Scum – Cult of IMHOTEP You are a member of the Cult of IMHOTEP. You worship him as the god he is, and you know that it is your destiny to awaken him and take your place at his side to rule the world in immortality. IMHOTEP demands specific sacrifice. You must sacrifice 10 pure members of the group to awaken the evil inside him and fulfil your destiny. High Priest of the Cult of IMHOTEP (Scum Ascetic Godfather) - Brickdoctor You are the High Priest of the Cult of IMHOTEP, you are preparing your mind and body for the transformations that you plan to bring to fruition by the awakening of the great god IMHOTEP. As a result, you have given up nearly all the worldly pleasures of your past life, and now live a more ascetic lifestyle. You have no active night action; other members of the cult will work with you to achieve your goals. This role is Ascetic. No night action (including modifiers) has any effect. During the night, the player will drag any unconscious bodies into the statue. This is a passive role and the player is not informed. It must be passed on if the godfather dies. If another scum member dies, the cultists are offered the opportunity to switch roles. Ideally, they should choose the kill role to be join the Ascetic, but they are not told this. They cannot have more active roles than players but can choose which to drop. Note Early in the game, this role is a hindrance. Investigations won't work on the Acetic (they will be told, 'Your night action is unsuccessful.' and this will likely draw suspicion; they can't be protected; they can't be blocked, but early on they have no active action so this is no advantage. Later on, if/when another scum member dies, this action will be combined with another, and become vastly more powerful (eg, an unblockable night killer). Herbalist (Scum Killer) - Tammo Your studies of the ancient texts led you to learn of powerful herbal mixtures with which to incapacitate your unwilling sacrifices. Each night you may use your mixture to render someone ready for sacrifice and once you have done so, you will feed them to IMHOTEP. Only he can judge whether it is a suitable sacrifice. Knocks victim out and feeds to IMHOTEP. Devotee (Scum Protector) - Fooog Your devotion to IMHOTEP extends to the other members of your group, and as a result you are able to nullify any harmful action directed at your target. Each night you may choose another player to protect. You may not target yourself. If the scum have any sense, they will ask themselves why they have a protector. Snake Charmer (Scum Blocker) - CallMePie It’s a little known fact that you’re good with snakes. Not trouser snakes, real snakes. Your pet Viper, Nancy, has learnt to do your bidding, and will bite people for you. Each night you may choose another player to be bitten by Nancy. That player will be paralysed overnight by her venom and thus unable to act. Blocked player (if has action) is told: 'You feel a sharp prick at your neck, and are paralysed for the duration of the night. You are unable to perform your night action.' Acolyte (Scum Weak Tracker) - TinyPies You are so keen to please your god and your fellow cultists that you are always hyperactive and acutely aware of events around you. You have excellent night vision and so are able to see if people are active at night. Each night you may target another player to determine if they have a night action. This role is a clue that the scum are looking for those without a night action. Returns 'You successfully follow <character (player)> and determine that he has/does not have a night action.' GAME MECHANICS Because there were a large number of active roles in this game, it was necessary to consider the order of night actions carefully, in advance, and to consider every eventuality. As a general rule, role modifiers would go first, followed by investigative actions, followed by kills. Two actions of equal rank would act at the same time, and both would be successful (unless either was role-modified), even if one were to target the other. For example: If vigilante targets scum killer who targets Player C, both player C and scum killer would be killed. This creates a potential paradox. If both scum and town role-blockers target each other, then both would succeed, and therefore both fail. As the blockee (if has an action) gets a message that they are blocked, they should therefore receive a message like, 'You block <Player>. Your night action was successful. You are <bitten by a snake/afflicted with terrible diarrhoea> and unable to perform your action.' This clearly makes no sense, but if deciphered would potentially reveal the name of the scum blocker to the town blocker. To prevent this, in the unlikely eventuality that both blockers target each other, both would receive 'Your night action is unsuccessful.' Actually, this was best summed up by the Scum: The order of actions was as follows, with specific situations accounted for: Blockers and Nexus (which is also a blocking role). Blocker blocks Nexus: If Nexus targets another player, they are blocked and do not act. If nexus targets themself, blocker is redirected.Protectors Trackers and Watchers But will see blockers actInvestigators (includes Cherrinator) Killers Here's what actually happened: Night One Hinckley (Nexus) targets himself Successful. Actions on Hinckley redirect to Fugazi. Zepher blocks Kiel Successful. No effect - Kiel is a virgin. CallMePie blocks Waterbrick Down Successful. WBD is told he is bitten and paralysed. ADHO protects Hinck Successful, but he actually protects Foog. Fugazi protects def Successful. WBD watches Flitwick Unsuccessful. WBD is blocked (paralysed) WhiteFang tracks Hinck Successful, but he actually tracks Foog, and sees him targeting def. TinyPies tracks Zepher Successful. Zepher has a night action. Cecilie investigates Hinck Successful, but she actually investigates Foog. He is a Cultist. Flitwick investigates def Successful. def is a Virgin. Eskallon - no action submitted Tamamono sacrifices Rick Successful. Wuntin does not act. So much happened around that Nexus role, that Town could have figured out what happened if they had concentrated on how Fangy apparently saw Hinck targeting def. Had they done so, it would have outed Foog, and the town would likely have been utterly invincible. But it's easy for us to say! Night Two With CMPie lynched, the scum get to rearrange their night actions. Brickdoctor (Ascetic High Priest) takes the blocker role; Fugazi the tracker; and TinyPies the protector. Tammo retains the kill. Hinck targets WBD Successful. WBD is blocked. He is told he sleeps peacefully throughout the night (same as Hinckley on night one) Zepher blocks Kiel Successful; no effect. Brickdoctor blocks ADHO Successful ADHO protects def Unsuccessful. ADHO is paralysed. TinyPies protects Brickdoctor Unsuccessful. BD is ascetic, and immune to night actions. Fugazi tracks CorneliusMurdock Successful. CM does not have a night action. Fangy tracks Foog Successful. He sees Foog targeting Cornelius. WBD watches Hinck Unsuccessful - he is blocked by cloak. Cecilie investigates Kiel Successful. Kiel is not a cultist. Flitwick investigates fhomess Successful. fhomess is a Virgin. Eskallon targets Sandy Successful. Eskallon becomes a Virgin; Sandy inherits Cherrinator role. Tamamono kills def Successful, because ADHO is blocked. Wuntin does not act. If anyone had targeted WBD, who had the Nexus, they would have been redirected to Cecilie, the investigator Scum correctly work out that ADHO is the protector. With def dead, the town unite behind Hinckley. Could killing def have been a mistake? Night Three With Brickdoctor lynched, the ascetic High Priest role passes to Fugazi. TinyPies takes the blocker, and Foog reverts to protector. Again, Tammo has the kill. Hinck targets himself Successful. No-one targets him. Zepher blocks Bob Successful; no effect. TinyPies blocks WhiteFang Successful ADHO protects Cornelius Successful. No-one targets CM. Fugazi protects TinyPies Successful. Fangy tracks ADHO Unsuccessful. Fangy is paralysed and cannot act. WBD watches Sandy He would see no-one targeting Sandy, but he is killed. Cecilie investigates Fugazi Unsuccessful. Fugazi is Ascetic and immune to NAs. Flitwick investigates Tamamono Successful. fhomess is a not a virgin. Sandy targets Tamamono Unsuccessful. Tammo is not a virgin. Tamamono kills WBD Successful. Wuntin targets TinyPies Unsuccessful. TinyPies is protected. Scum play the safe option here. They could have killed Hinckley, if Foog had taken the killer role and the High Priest (HP is ascetic and immune to night actions and modifiers, so the Nexus cloak has no effect on him). However, they are concerned that the 'mirror' cloak reflects to scum. It can, but it doesn't necessarily, and on this night would redirect to Sandy. It looks at face value like a disastrous night for Town, but they learn that Bob is likely not scum, and Tammo not a virgin (we don't know at this point what Tammo has claimed). <edit after the event> Pandy has pointed out that we did know - obviously I didn't read the scumboard carefully Night Four Finally, scum pair the kill action with the unblockable ascetic High Priest role. Tammo becomes the blocker. Hinck targets himself Successful, but he is killed by the scum Ascetic killer. Zepher blocks JimB Successful; no effect. Tammo blocks fhomess Successful; no effect. ADHO protects Cornelius Successful. No-one tries to kill CM. Fangy tracks ADHO Successful. He sees ADHO targeting CM. Cecilie investigates Fugazi Unsuccessful. Fugazi is Ascetic and immune to NAs. Flitwick investigates Kiel Successful. Tammmo is a not a virgin. Sandy targets CM Successful. CM becomes Cherrinator and Sandy reverts to Virgin. Fugazi kills Hinckley Successful. Fugazi is Ascetic and the redirection action has no effect on him. Wuntin targets JimB Successful. This could turn the game around for scum, depending on whether Hinck has passed his secrets on or not. The best person to lead from now on would on paper be Flitwick, who has confirmed three virgins (two still living); it might however have occurred to him that being a virgin doesn't necessarily mean one is not scum. Alternatively, Eskallon can confirm Sandy and Sandy CM. The only confirmed innocent is Kiel, but it appears from tonight's actions that either Cecilie or Flitwick are not playing along with the town leadership (or the Town plan is confused). Night Five Zepher blocks Fugazi Unsuccessful; Fugazi is immune to NAs. Tammo does nothing Successful. ADHO protects Sandy Successful. No-one tries to kill Sandy. Fangy tracks Tammo Successful. Tammo does nothing. Cecilie investigates Flitwick Successful. Flitwick is not a cultist. Flitwick investigates Scubacarrot Successful. Scooby is a virgin. Cornelius cherrinates fhomess Successful. fhomess becomes Cherrinator and CM reverts to Virgin, but fhomess is killed. Fugazi kills fhomess Successful. Wuntin targets Fugazi Unsuccessful. Foog is immune to NAs. Tammo's bomb story will hold up, as he is seen not targeting anyone. Statistically, with two actions on him and two previous unsuccessful investigations, Fugazi is the weakest link, but will the other players realise that? NIGHT SIX Zepher blocks Tammo Unsuccessful. Tammo is now High Priest, and immune to night actions... but Zeph is killed. ADHO protects Cornelius Successful. No-one attacks CM. Fangy tracks ADHO Successful; he sees ADHO targeting CM. Cecilie investigates Fangy Successful. Fangy ain't a cultist. Flitwick noseys Eskallon Successful. Esk is a Virgin. Wuntin shovels Zepher Successful Tammo kills Scubacarrot Successful We don't know what led Wuntin to target Zepher, but it removes the one result from the night that could have sealed Tammo's fate. But by now the remaining town are pretty much all cleared. Tammo removes another virgin, but there are still four more to go, and it's unlikely Tammo will be able to survive that long. NIGHT SEVEN Well, technically, the game is over, but to keep a little suspense we still asked for night actions... and this is what we received: ADHO protects Eskallon WhiteFang tracks Kiel Cecilie investigates Cornelius Flitwick noseys Sandy Now go and read the conclusion again!

I don't think this is going anywhere. Locked.