Gaming, but obviously not blogging. Let's talk about a few recent sessions.

Matthew and I dug out Duel of Ages with the first two expansions and it was good. The components could be nicer, the cardboard tiles are warping in their old age, but the game was enjoyable though not terribly interactive. I think we fought against each other 2 or 3 times. Still, the time limit approach to the game keeps it bound and we think we'll keep this one around.

One of my un-played games was Risk 2210AD, a highly regarded Risk variant set in the future (oh, 200 years or so I guess). I can see why folks like it - similar to the Lord of the Rings Risk it is time-bound and keeps everyone moving. The special technology cards add a nice twist as does the moon, though only Matthew and I spent any time there. I think if we want to play Risk we're more likely to pull out Lord of the Rings.

Over the holidays we did a bit of family gaming and broke the shrink-wrap off of Buy Low Sell High. Classic but in my opinion underwhelming Knizia here. Maybe because I finished dead last?

Ken and Brandon came over for day of gaming and we enjoyed the cooperative game Red November and our first-ever play of Pacific Typhoon. Red November is a gnome-oriented (!) submarine survival game. There isn't much depth there but we had a good time, though I'm not I like the "bail out" option a gnome can take towards the end - seems to break the team spirit and doesn't feel as right as a the traitor in Shadows Over Camelot.

Pacific Typhoon is the redone, Pacific theater version of Atlantic Storm, a game I've never played. We all enjoyed it and I'd like to explore it some more to see if there's a durable game in there.

JD, Ken and tried out Hansa Teutonica, the only game I purchased at BGG.CON. I see why people are raving about this game - many ways to score points, quick turns, the game flows very well. Be warned though that this is a dry, mostly themeless classic Euro game. Writing this does make me want to pull this out again for another play, though.

A couple of weekends ago I ventured up to the GameStorm game day in Vancouver WA for some 18xx action. Chris Shaffer was kind enough to teach two full groups how to play the recent Mayfair games new look at 1853. Did I mention that my game group has gone a bit 18xx crazy lately? They have, and so have Jacob and I. In fact I might try to talk both boys into some 2038 action this weekend.

1853 is a bit wacky but very enjoyable. It has a very unique (to me) opening auction technique with sealed bids that determine the seating order (and initial priority deal). Folks overbid by much early on and we did a restart, but in the restart I was essentially forced to start a minor company. I had fun operating in the south and working my line up but was aided greatly when Chris Shaffer started building his hybrid line down south to join me. This opened up my minor to some big runs, and I raided and dumped the last major company to get some nice trains. The wackiest parts of 1853 (relative to other 18xx) are that dumping shares doesn't bring down the stock price, and you aren't obligated to hold onto a company if you are the director and sole shareholder. I managed a win by a small margin. It was great to play with some old friends and I think I'd like to add this one to my collection. The bits are very pretty but I wouldn't say the game was designed for function - some issues with colors and differentiation.

My good friend Brian emailed me about a month ago asking about Dungeons and Dragons. His son John started expressing interest in learning the game and Brian wanted some tips and suggestions. Brian had played only once during college 20-25 years ago, and while 4E D&D is relatively easy to learn I think it can be a tough game to bootstrap without a dedicated teacher. I proposed that they come out to Sherwood to join us in a game of Descent. Not quite D&D but a great opportunity to get a feel for this style of game. I also felt this was a game they could pick up on their own and play with 1 or 2 of John's friends.

Jacob and Matthew joined us, and we played the intro scenario for what seems like the fourth or fifth time. In fact, I'm not sure if I've ever played anything but the first scenario. This is a cakewalk for the heroes but Jacob still managed to die twice, adding some fun to the session. John absolutely loved the concept of adding skills to his character, even going back to town to spend 1,000 coins on a new skill card. This is a good sign he'll be a big fan of deeper RPGs.

Ken and I resumed what will hopefully be weekly Wednesday wargaming sessions. We've been playing through the Stalingrad scenarios for Combat Commander and loving it. We played scenario 37 which has a weak Russian force trying to hold out against a superior German force in an urban combat setting. I played the Russians, Ken the Germans.

The default setup and victory conditions has the primary objective for Germans close to the front line - a dividing road near the German setup location. We drew additional objectives that made the two buildings near the rear line worth an extra 14 VPs, which is a huge strategic change in the scenario. Ken was sufficiently aggressive, running up my weaker left flank in an attempt to capture one of the bonus buildings. In short order he was also moving up my right front or the 12 point bonus and there wasn't much I could do with my garrison near their front lines.

Some early time triggers put the screws on Ken pretty hard but he stayed with his plan. He only managed to capture a single objective by the turn 6 trigger that brings in my reinforcements plus an extra squad/LMG for each objective I still hold (4 total). We both felt like this was probably game over for the Germans but Ken persisted and I made at least one tactical error by having my front garrison run for the sewers. I forgot about his hero that could dash across the map at will and this allowed him to capture the building. It then became a race of casualties vs. time, and as you can see from the photo below we were both up against our surrender limits.

Unfortunately for Ken the sudden death time trigger came before he could eliminate another unit and the Russians were the victors.

This is a very well balanced scenario (considering a single play) with loads of tension and a classic attacker/defender posture. The time-based reinforcements force the Germans to act quickly which keeps the pace brisk.

Jacob and I were eager to play Roads and Boats again, so persuaded Matthew to join us for a Sunday afternoon game. I was a bit hesitant, not knowing if Matthew would latch onto a game that can be a bit of a brain burner and would hardly be considered light. Given he enjoyed War of the Ring, I should not have been surprised with his pleasure playing this.

Jacob is very much a natural at planning ahead on both logistics and production. He once again mostly ignored the wonder and focused on working towards coins and stock certificates. I was more aggressive in updating my transporters, getting to 5 wagons fairly quickly followed by a couple of rowboats. Matthew went long on the wonder, earning points in just about every row while learning his way around the production tree.

Matthew and I were fairly convinced that Jacob would be the runaway victor (again), but I researched specialized mines and new mine shafts (after building a "normal" mine so that I could grab some ore) and got a nice steady flow of gold. Jacob worked his way to a stock certificate and would have had a second soon, but Matthew forced the game to end by racing the wonder. I had a nice mix of wonder points, raw gold, and two coins and edged out a narrow victory (204 to 186). Matthew loved the game and this might become a staple in the house.

While I haven't had much time for gaming lately, the time I have made has been very good. Some meaty games and old gems that don't hit the table very often.

A few weeks ago the boys and I broke out Attack! with the expansion. Besides Nexus Ops (which we play when we want something shorter), Attack! is probably our favorite Ameritrash multi-player conflict game. It has a nice steady build-up, enough resource management to keep it strategic, and a fun but bizarre alternative-history view of WWII. The game must be played with the expansion in our opinion, and we may consider getting the the Attack deluxe expansion at some point.

In the good old days, Jacob and Matthew would go at each other's throats while I sat back and cleaned up the scraps. No more - the boys made a secret alliance against me and knocked me out early. Jacob held off Matthew for the victory. I think the game took about 2-3 hours total.

While Jacob was away at Philmont, Matthew and I were digging for something a bit deeper to play. Matthew has stayed away from wargames heavier than Memoir '44, but given his affinity for Lord of the Rings I thought War of the Ring might be a good next step for him. This is a game I absolutely adore but play too infrequently to quickly start, though this time around the rules came back to me more quickly and I'm starting to see the simplicity of the system. Matthew played the Shadow and I the fellowship.

Matthew was slow going on the military side, taking too long to siege Minas Tirith and get the Shadow armies rolling north. Still, I played fast and loose with the Fellowship, spinning off companions early and running as quickly as possible to Mordor. I pushed things a bit too hard (relative to Matthew's military buildup) and found myself in Mordor with a tad too much corruption to handle. I had to slow down a bit in hopes of getting some cards to help me heal corruption, but the rules force you to slog ahead even if slowly. In the end it came down to the last two tile draws - Matthew managed to draw the only tile in the bag that did not advance the fellowship just as I was sitting on the doorstep of destroying the ring, then on the next tile draw I had only a 1/3 change of surviving and alas I didn't. Score one for Sauron. Matthew loved it and hopefully we'll try again soon.

Last weekend Ken and Eric came over to join Jacob and me in a long overdue game of Roads and Boats. We used one of Sterling Babcock's fine scenarios that allowed the players to get rolling with minimal interaction, but forced some competition at mid-game for the mining resources in the middle.

Jacob is a natural at this game and spanked us all pretty badly. Eric and I both made poor decisions on our mining upgrades which kept us even further back. I quick-played the endgame by building out the wonder but that netted me a solid 4th place. It didn't help that my deep mine yielded three consecutive ore tiles - even one gold would have gained me 3rd place, and three gold 2nd. As I told the group, I love this game even when I finish last. Jacob, Matthew, and I plan to play a three player game this coming Sunday.