Nearly a month ago I spent the better part of a Saturday over at Doug's to play the Splotter game Antiquity.  Doug already did a great job of describing the session in detail, so I'll limit my commentary here to my impressions.

We started the game using the forgiving beginner rules - no polution, no famine.  As a group we decided to kick it in around the 5th or 6th turn.  In hindsight, it would have been better to start with those rules or not use them at all.  We just weren't ready to handle it, and as we scrambled to prepare a few of us came precariously close to a death spiral.  Much of my first town filled up with graves, though I built a second town in time to provide some space for new buildings.

Down-time can be a problem with the game if the players aren't taking about the same time for each move.  Even though much of the game can be played with parallel activity, I still found myself waiting quite a bit.  No dig on the other players at all - it is a very thoughtful game!  Still, I'm not sure a 3rd and 4th player adds much to the game, as you spend the first half in solitaire mode and the second half bumping into 1 or maybe 2 other players.  I think the right way for me to play this game is with 2 players - it will play faster and will be just as enjoyable.

As it was, we didn't manage to finish the game as I had to get home for some guests that were having dinner with us.  I felt liked I played the game enough to understand all the mechanics and look forward to trying it again, perhaps with Jacob or Ken.  This is a pretty brutal game as far as planning and forecasting go - I compare it to predicting cashflow in a business.  Matthew wouldn't be ready for it yet, but I think Jacob would enjoy it if he's in the right state of mind.

I'm running a weekly morning gaming class for kids at Archer Glen Elementary.  On this page you can find a list of games we'll be playing this year as well as links to Funagain Games where you can purchase most of the games.  Another local option for finding these games is the wonderful Rainy Day Games store in Aloha.  The SimplyFun games listed at the bottom can be purchased through my friend and SimplyFun consultant Mike Deans.  This is a page I expect to update from time to time, so I'll keep a permanent link on the home page.

From SimplyFun games:

I broke down and purchased the newest Ragnar Brothers game Canal Mania after reading the Counter review and seeing some positive buzz online.  Seeing that folks were comparing it to games like Volldampf and Ticket to Ride really piqued my interest so I took a chance.

The components are very high quality and I suspect better than any game Ragnar has done to date.  The board is thick with a linen finish and I found it fairly usable.  The main complaint is that it is hard to read the city names when you have barges and goods cubes on them.  Set in the late 18th / early 19th century, the game is about the frenzy of canal building that happened in England before trains took over.  But at its heart this really is "just another train game".

Each player randomly assumes the role of one of five different engineers that grant special abilities - these roles will change (view them as consultants working for your business and expect them to be hired away by the competition).  The basic idea of the game is to build canals between cities according to contracts granted by parliament (e.g., build a canal from Leeds to Liverpool).  Points are scored for using special kinds of canal tiles (locks, aqueducts, and tunnels) but not for the basic "stretch" tiles that are plain jane canals.  The catch is that you can never place two of the same kind of tile in a row along a canal.

You build canals by playing cards from your hand that can be drafted during your turn.  Similar to Ticket to Ride, the general idea is that you can draft cards or build canals but not both on a given turn.  So... the basic way to score points is to pick up contracts (you must always be working on at least one contract, but you can hold no more than two)and build canals to finish the contracts.  Contracts don't score points directly, but there's a nice bonus at the end (depends on the number of players) for completing the most.

The other way you can score points is by transporting goods.  At the end of your turn you can transport a good between two towns.  The last link followed by the good must be one of your own, but it can pass through others' towns along the way.  The restriction is that a good can only go through each color once, including the start and end town (I believe there are six different colors).

Instead of doing an action in a phase, you can always choose to draw a card from the top of the face-down build deck.  So if there are no goods to transport, you can always take a free card.

I played with KC, Rita, and Carey, and KC stomped us.  He mostly raced ahead through shipping goods, taking advantage of the replenishment rules that keep bringing goods back to towns that are connected to canals.  I didn't really think that through and left some goods around in my towns, wanting to wait until the routes got juicier and would score more points.  I didn't take into consideration that it would be fairly easy to get goods back (goods replenishment is triggered by picking up build cards with a goods symbol on them) into those towns, so I probably wasted 3-4 turns about about 6-12 points being cautious.

I'm pleased with the game overall and think the team did a good job with development - it is fairly streamlined and easy to play once you get past a few of the special rules.  I would put it in between Age of Steam and Ticket to Ride in complexity, and probably closer to the Ticket to Ride side of the spectrum.

Chris Palermo does an amazing job with INDEPTH, the free PDF gaming magazine from the Long Island Boardgamers.  I worked with Chris on setting up an RSS feed for the magazine, and it is up and working.  If your feed reader supports auto-downloading of enclosures you can aggregate the PDF files right onto your desktop.

At Origins earlier this summer Tom Vasel was kind enough to give me a copy of Gemblo Lite, the smaller version of the Korean game Gemblo. The publisher is trying to increase awareness of the game by getting world-famous game reviewers and bloggers to talk it up. Tom apparently couldn’t find anyone that met those criteria, so he handed me a copy.

A couple of weeks ago Jacob, Matthew, and I sat down to give it a try.  At first we assumed it would play just like Blokus, but there's a subtle difference: in Gemblo, you can play off of any edge of a piece, whereas in Blokus you can only play off the ends.  Other than that, the games are very similar though Gemblo does a much better job of dealing with variable player numbers.

I can't comment on the differences between the light version and the original big version, though I do like the fact that the box fits very nicely on my standard gaming bookshelf.  The components in this version are nice, with good contrast between the different player colors and an easy-to-use board that shows what to use for different numbers of players.  Our game played in about 30 minutes, and I suspect we could play in 20 now that we know how to play.

If you like Blokus, you'll probably like Gemblo but... I'm not sure why you would need both as the games are more alike than different.  One consideration is this: Gemblo Light is smaller and supports up to four players, while the smaller version of Blokus (Blokus Duo / Travel Blokus) only supports two.  So if you want a smaller box game in this genre, Gemblo Light is the way to go.

Julie and I launched a new program for the boys last night – it will officially kick in on Oct 1, but they got the program last night over dinner and seem to be pretty excited about the plan.  This is adapted from some of the teachings of personal finance guru Dave Ramsey, who has been instrumental in guiding our philosophy about money management and debt avoidance.  I took the $ amounts out, so if you want to adopt something similar just substitute in what you think is appropriate based on your situation.

I especially like the fact that the boys are already talking about some savings goals and what they would like to buy with their own money (with cold hard cash).

The Goal

To develop healthy money management habits, learn how to save for the future, pay cash for purchases, and how to earn money for needs and wants without borrowing money.

The Basics

Jacob and Matthew will earn $x per month in base salary, payable on the 1^st and 15^th of each month.  This base salary is for the core set of responsibilities that both boys have as part of our family:

·         Making your bed each morning after you wake up

·         Setting and clearing the table at meals

·         Taking care of food and water for pets

·         Keep room and game room straightened up (CDs away, etc.)

·         Keep bathroom in decent condition (wiped, straightened, etc.)

·         Miscellaneous odd jobs as requested by mom & dad

Commission Earning

In addition to the base salary, Jacob and Matthew can earn extra money by taking on extra jobs that earn commissions (“fees for services rendered”) according to the following commission schedule:

Savings and Giving Expectations

Jacob and Matthew are expected to set aside some of their salary and commission so that they can give to those in need and save for items that they want to buy with cash.

Giving

Jacob and Matthew will set aside at least 10% of their salary + commission for giving.  They will each decide on a charity to give the money to on a quarterly basis.

Saving To Buy With Cash

Jacob and Matthew will set aside at least 10% of their salary + commission for savings.  As an incentive to save, mom and dad will match up to $x each month of the money set aside by the boys for savings.  The only catch is this: the savings + match must remain in savings for at least 90 days after saving or the match will be forfeit.  This is an incentive to save for long-term wishes and delay gratification.

I’m sitting here on a United flight from Connecticut to Chicago, watching a preview of the upcoming TV series “Friday Night Lights”.  This is a high school football drama loosely based on the movie that came out a year or two ago.  It looks to be a good show, and for those of you not in the USA it should help give an understanding of the importance of that sport to many Americans.  Of course, as an American, when I say “football” I mean American football and not soccer.

I have the extreme fortune to be coaching youth football this year in Sherwood.  I’m the assistant coach for Matthew’s team comprised of 3rd and 4th graders.  Matthew is in his second year playing, and Jacob is in his fourth year.  It is a dominant presence in our lives from August through the end of October, with practices 3–4 nights per week and games on Saturdays.  The Sherwood youth program is one of the strongest in the state, and I feel that our community as a whole has a true program in the sense that the entire community is behind it, we have significant involvement from the high school coaching staff, and that safety and sportsmanship are key components to everything that we do.

I have a lot more experience coaching baseball than football, and I was more than nervous going into this season.  I’m the defensive coordinator but have done much of the offensive line coaching as well.  This is even more of a challenge for me in that as a youth player I was a running back and quarterback and didn’t play much defense at all.  Of course I’ve been forced to educate myself and lean on others.  The one I’ve leaned on the most is my own son Jacob, who is in his fourth year as an offensive and defensive lineman in the Sherwood program and can usually answer any question I pose.

For those of you that care, Sherwood runs a Wing-T offense (popularized by the University of Delaware) and I’ve elected to run a split-6 defense (four down lineman and four linebackers, with the two outside linebackers playing a role that is like a blended defensive end and cornerback).  When I say “Sherwood runs a Wing-T offense”, I mean the entire program runs the same offense from 3rd grade through high school.  This offense relies heavily on speed, mis-direction, and play progressions that keep the defense guessing where the ball is going.  We don’t overpower defenses off the line (our kids are usually smaller) but we’ve had great success with traps and pulling guards to get players where they need to be to break our backs free.

As a 3rd/4th grade team, we are generally expected to run-run-run the ball with little or no passing game.  Matthew is playing fullback and his good friend James is quarterback; they played football together last year and were also on the same baseball team last spring when I coached.  James is a talented quarterback with a great arm, and Matthew is a solid (and TALL) receiver so we are mixing in a healthy dose of passing plays.

I tell you, there is nothing like watching 11 kids that you’ve worked with for 6 weeks execute plays together like a fine-tuned machine.  Baseball is a great sport, but teamwork is on the fringes as it requires mostly individual effort (pitching, hitting, fielding).  Matthew’s team had an outstanding game last Saturday, winning 26–14 after being down 14–0.  Matthew had a great day. scoring all four touchdowns, rushing for about 180 yards, and receiving for about 40 yards.  He also had 9 tackles.  Impressive.

But you know what impressed me most?  After every play when he tackled an opponent, he was standing there next to the player reaching out a hand to help him up.  It is hard to teach sportsmanship like that, but it is moments like those that help remind me of what being a parent is all about.

Jacob is enjoying similar success but in a much more reserved way.  There are weight limits in youth football, and while Jacob is very fit and lean, he has always been a big kid and at 5’4” 125 lbs (he’s 11, turning 12 in October) he cannot carry the ball.  He has turned into an absolute terror as a defensive lineman.  I don’t get to see the stats for his team, but I saw at least 4 tackles for losses in his game on Saturday.  This is pretty unusual for an inside lineman – they are supposed to plug holes and set up the ends and linebackers to make the big tackles.  It must be hard for him deep inside to observe and hear about Matthew’s glory carrying the ball, but Jacob remains incredibly supportive of his little brother and clearly recognizes the importance of his own accomplishments.

As a coach, the best stories are those kids that don’t have the talent of the stars but find significant ways to contribute to the team.  These are kids that work hard, listen, and adjust as necessary to become key contributors.  I’ve got several boys on the team that have impressed all of us and are turning into key role players.  If you think that kids these days are dead-beats that sit at home and play XBox all afternoon you should check out the 350+ youth players in Sherwood that show up for 2 hours three days a week for practice.  That’s a big part of what football (or any team sport) is about: showing up and working hard to achieve a difficult goal when there are so many paths with less resistance that a child can take.