Spanish Grand Prix with Race Formula 90

 So I continue my ambivalence towards which racing game to use for my project. The more I have been watching F1 on TV the more it seems to be about tire strategy.  That just isn't a big part of CFR.  So I tinkered with Race and banged out some rules to make the robots more unique and thought I would run the spanish grand prix.   Robots do change for tires and damage in my new rules.

I used the same qualify sequence that I developed for CRF which involves dice.    The top 6 were:

Raikkonnen

Lewis

Riccardo

Sainz

Vettel

Bottas

I qualified 10th. 

Starting grid.  you can just see me waaaay in the back

Starting weather was intermediate moving strongly to sunny which was interesting.  [ I used the weather rules from boardgame geek]  Soft tires would last about 15 laps and give you the 2-3 blue chip boosts per the rules and hard tires would last about 38 laps.  Due to the weather a 1 stop strategy wasn't really in the cards for anyone so all racers decided on variations of a 2 stop using both soft and hard tires.   Everyone starts on intermediate tires. 

Lewis gets a great start.  Sainz in the yellow Renault also starts well.  

 

Alonso and Grosjean both slide during a late break early in the race.

 

Track has dried.  Lewis bottom left has built a commanding lead around lap 18.  All cars except mine have switched from intermediates.   I have had an incredible run of cards and am trying to stretch out my tires a little longer.  I have moved from 10th to 8th.  

As my tires continue to hold I move up.  Here I pass Vettle.

Lewis switches from soft to hard allowing Raikonnen to catch up.  Finally Kimi passes Lewis on lap 24!

Huckleberg running a good race (7th) loses his gearbox and has to retire.

My intermediates hold through 30 laps and I hold Vettle off to keep 8th.  Now a 1 stop strategy looks appealing.

Lewis' tires are running bare, Vettle's hard are fine and he catches teammate Kimi and Lewis on lap 41.

  With new hard tires I catch Bottas and Ricardo also on Lap 41.  With careful tire management I shouldn't have to pit again while they will.  

Between laps 45 and 48 everyone pits and I take the lead!   Now roles are reversed as Lewis and Vettle are on new softs and quickly gain ground on me until the 53rd lap they catch me going into the turn...

Lewis decides to challenge me in the turn and we have contact.  He spins into the gravel but as I pass I realize my wing is decidedly bent.  With over 10 laps to go I enter the pits; rats.   

Lewis and Vettle challenge each other but in the end...

but in the end it is Hamiton first closely followed by Vettle and Bottas.   Ricardo takes fourth.

I manage a distant fifth as I pass Kimi on my brand new softs.    

I really enjoyed this race as well.    The robots all played differently and kept me engaged in the race throughout.    The time investment was still substantial, about 3 hours, but less than CFR with 14 cars.  While it didn't feel like I was in the car it did feel like I was watching it either in the paddock or on TV and was involved in the strategy of the race.  When to time the pit, when to push  were all decisions.  A different experience from CFR but enjoyable. 

Still don't know what to do?!?

Perhaps a couple more plays of each will help me decide.

Joe

Step One Chinese GP

Thanks for the response to my first post!  190 views, a comment and 2 nice discussions on boardgame geek.  I learned about several more racing games.  For those interested the most fascinating were

Bolide and Legends winds of War. 

Bolide sounds fascinating in that there is even less luck than CRF.  Your car goes on a vector and you can only move it 2 spaces right or left.  I won't pursue it for this project as I am already deluged in tactical detail with CRF. 

Legends winds of War is a cross country race before WW II.  It looks very cool and seems to combine Race and CFR.  the problem is it isn't formula 1.    After this project I might still check them out.

I ran the Chinese GP using CFR and the excellent track provided by jetcougar over at boardgame geek. 

I have made 2018 drivers cards and I am running a BMW team.  I only run 14 cars and 2 laps.  

Hamilton made pole.  He came in 1st in Nurburg and 4th in England.  I had actually swapped the renault cards with Red Bull for this race as Sainz had been out pacing the energy drinking squad in the last 2 races badly.  Ricardo started third and Verstappen 5th with Sainz squeezed in between.  Vettel started second.  I also improved Bottas' card as he had done poorly in the last 2 races.  Here he started 6th, his worst grid position!   I started 10th which is my normal spot on the grid. 

Bottas started out strong with his new card and quickly moved into 3rd.  Lewis and Vettel battled for 1st until they hit the long straight.  Here Mercedes has a distinct speed advantage which Lewis showed off. 

Have had 2 discussions about pitting in CFR.  I used Andy Blozinski's pitting rules with 2 exceptions. During the turn in the pits if you just change tires you move up 2 spaces.  When you restart your first turn is your start speed.   Above Lewis pits followed by Vettle, Ricardo.

Bottas still has some wear and decides to forgo the pits.

Lewis maintains his lead but Bottas moves into second!  

2 other cars pit, Alonso and Kubiac.  Kubiac had too secondary to faulty brakes. 

My best move of the day!  This shot me from the backfield to the edge of midfield.  I ended up fighting Haas all day. 

Alonso really squeezed the most out of his car and new tires.  Here he makes a forced pass on his way to 6th place.    In the background Sainz is out of the race with brake failure. 

Lewis and Bottas battle to the end but Lewis on newer tires wins on the last 2 curves.  Vettel outmaneuvers Ricardo to take the final podium.  I finish 8th which isn't terrible. 

I really enjoyed the game and felt the new pit rules added a new decision point.  If you are in the front half of the grid it appears to be a viable strategy.   The game played faster as well but still took me over 3 hours which is a long time.  

That said, after I watched the real Hungarian Grand prix with the weather and the tire decisions I started to wonder about Race Formula 90 again.    I banged out 13 robot drivers for the 18 season and played Silverstone without weather just to get a feel for the system.   The first 6 turns were great.  After that it started to get boring as the robots were so automated they were predictable.  That said, it played fast.  I played 10 turns in 35 minutes. 

So.... unfortunately I still don't know which game I should really work on.  CFR and build the operational components or Race and build the solo and tactical components!  I guess it is a good problem to have as I have 2 fun racing games.  

I really have appreciated the discussions.

Thanks

Joe

 

Welcome! STEP ONE

Welcome to my new blog about my attempt at Formula one nirvana.  I want to create a game that is tactically challenging enough that my decisions make a difference and I feel like it is a formula one racing game.  I want it to be enjoyable not tedious.  I want the cars to be different.  I want the drivers to be different.  I want it to be easily playable solo.  I want to be able to play a season.
All of the above is step one.
If you are familiar with my other works, [ Platoon Forward, Squadron Forward and soon to be Flotilla Forward] nirvana is actually a character driven campaign game that you bolt on to a tactical game.  the interactions of your characters help drive your narrative.  My personal Championship Racing Forward game would be a 5 year contract with a team as a team boss.  I need to improve my team during those years.  You could also play as a driver.  The system is flexible and it is not racing game specific. But...
I need a racing game that I like to play enough that I can develop my campaign game for.
So with this blog I thought I would chronicle my quest and hopefully create some discussion along the way and inspire others with ideas of how to improve their own games.

STEP ONE

Pick a racing game to use as the tactical game for the season.  

You have read my criteria above.  You may have similar.  I really looked hard at 3 games and cursory at 1.

Race Formula 90

This is a great racing game and unique on the market.    It's focus is on the operational decisions during the race such as tires, weather and fuel.  [ It is set in the 1990's specifically for that reason.] It is not about taking the corner at 120 vrs 100.  It is about 2 pit stops vrs 1.It has solo robot cars that are challenging so it is solitaire friendly as well.   The author succeeds at his goal and I like this game. I have both expansions.  The big negatives here is since the focus is operational all the tracks feel somewhat generic and though I rationalize it, going "red 6" just isn't as cool as going "120mph".  I created several house rules which are posted on boardgame geek.

Grand Prix

To be honest, this was my biggest disappointment.   I have no interest in NASCAR but the predecessor to this game is quite popular so I had high expectations.  GMT had a sale so I took a chance.  This is a great game! I can actually get my family to play.  The production values are high, some of the mechanics are brilliant such as the close call tokens.    The problem is it has little to do with formula one racing.I applaud the designers in achieving what they set out to do.  If you look at my list above this ticks off very few boxes.

The boards for Grand Prix are the prettiest of all the games.  Too bad they are generic. 


Championship Formula  Racing

  
   This game is really an evolution of Speed Circuit which I had originally back in the 1970s as a youngster.  It is very granular and tactical.  You set your speed every turn and every track is different. You design the car and there is a very robust set of solo driver rules.  Sounds perfect right?  Whereas Race nails the operational aspects and falls short on the tactical, CFR absolutely crushes the tactical but there is  no operational here at all.  There is an attempt at tires and pitting but they are inadequate in my opinion.  [There are some fan made pitting rules that are  good.]   If you get in 2-3 laps with 14 cars you are doing well with CFR; that is how tactical this game is.  That said, you really feel that you are at least talking to the driver if not in the driver seat yourself.  The big negatives here are time involved in playing, and having to add operational rules to the game such as pitting, tires, weather and  paucity of tracks with solo notations.

CFR is very tactical.  Here Ferrari takes the lead as Vettel cuts inside of Hamilton. 


Formula De

I never actually purchased this game.  I have been tempted for years.   Loved the boards and it did seem to have tactical strategy.  My 2 biggest concerns are that the cars and drivers appear generic and while I love the mechanic of different die for different gears that still seemed gamey for my purposes.
Would love to hear from people that have this.  You know my criteria.  Do you think it would be a good choice for me?


So those are the games I have been considering.  Right now my choice if Championship Formula Racing.   The reason being it is so fun to play and has a great solo system that I think it will be easier to build the operational aspects on top of that than to build tactical parts onto Race 90.  For those of you familar with CFR, I have already made and am testing driver cards for the 2018 season.

Thoughts?    Other games to consider?   Has anyone built on a system to CFR?  Has anyone built on a system to Race?  Please teach me.  Am I crazy?

Thanks for reading.  During this time of Covid; please take it seriously and be safe.  I have a hospital with many people who wish they had.

Cheers

Joe