The new blog post – Neuroshima Hex: Pirates

Michał Oracz went mad. Such an intelligent guy, a brilliant game designer, and he produced such a flop. An idiotic idea he came up with all those years ago irritates to this day. You probably look at these additional spaces on the Hex board and think: “I wonder what an idiot put them here.”

I’m sure these exact thoughts troubled Michał Walczak, the author of the newest Neuroshima Hex army, when he was staring at the ring of these additional spaces on the game board. I mean—let’s be honest—why the hell were they even there?! Who would play Neuroshima Hex with five players?! Who would even think about that?

And so, Michał Walczak sat in front of the board game, looked at these damned spaces, and decided to use them in a brilliant and surprising way. “No one will ever think that Oracz was crazy anymore,” he thought. “From now on, everyone will be convinced it was his intention from the start. I will save the legend. I will save Michał Oracz.”

I’m sure this is exactly what happened.

Pirates are the newest Neuroshima Hex army. They are played outside the main board and use these stupid additional spaces. Their HQ is a ship that swims around the Battlefield and shoots inside it. Their units are boats and motorboats that are incredibly hard to target, since they move around constantly. They’re placed outside the main board, but they have such firepower you don’t know where to hide from them.

Well, there’s one such place—the middle of the Battlefield. The hottest place in Neuroshima Hex provides a new advantage—the Pirates can’t reach it from outside the board. All your knowledge of Neuroshima Hex, all your habits and tactical choices are overturned. New army means new strategies and the joy of discovering all the new tricks.

When it comes to Neuroshima Hex, I’m a rather casual player. Every year when a new army comes out, I bring it home, play it for a weekend or two, and, with my infinite admiration of the author’s talent, I put it back in the box. The authors of new armies have been surprising me for more than a decade now. There was friendly fire from the Beasts that completely changed the way you think about placing your units, there were Troglodytes, who cannibalized their own, and now there are Pirates, who play outside the board.

I take my hat off to the authors of new armies for Neuroshima Hex, and I encourage all of you to acquaint yourself with this iconic game and all its armies. You don’t have to be a specialist or a hardcore player to enjoy discovering the talents of the armies’ authors every year. Check out the Pirates and explore the ocean of new possibilities.

And Oracz? We’ve known each other for 20 years. I assure you he really is a genius. He knew from the start these stupid spaces around the board would find a use some day.

Author: Ignacy Trzewiczek