While I focused primarily on my unplayed games burndown throughout 2006, I actually set 5 distinct goals back in January 2006.  Let's review how I did on each goal.

1. Attend at least one mid-week gaming session a month (besides my own). This is mostly a matter of putting it on my schedule and making it a priority. I’m lucky to attend every other month, mostly due to my travel schedule.

I estimate that I made about 9-10 mid-month gaming sessions.  I started tracking my games played during the second half of the year, but have to guestimate for the first half.  I'm making more of Mike's sessions (closer to home) but still have a hard time making it to Doug's and have never made a trip to Matt's.

2. Play through my current owned but un-played list. I’ll probably post this next week with some comments. I’m allowed to add new games that go right into my un-played list. Maybe I’ll get to those next year. I think I might put a big burn-down chart on my game-room wall to track my progress.

This one got the most attention last year, and you can read my final 2006 burndown report.  I got through all but 2 of my unplayed games.

3. Play significantly more casual, short games at home with the family. I’ve already had some good success with this in the past week, playing Lost Cities twice with Jacob and Blink with Matthew. We also squeezed in a three-player game of Wyatt Earp this evening. This is hard to measure (not a very SMART goal) but the intent will pay off.

True, this was hard to measure.  I don't think I did very well in this area, especially playing lighter games with Matthew.  What I have done is play a lot more heavy 2-player games with Jacob, which has been a real treat for both of us.  Games we played in the last year include Twilight Struggle, Command & Colors: Ancients, ASL Starter Kit #1, and Through the Ages.  Hardly casual, short fare.

4. Organize and run sessions at GameStorm. I did this two years ago but didn’t last year. Not sure what I’ll run – any suggestions? We will definitely run some prototype playtestings for Sunriver Games, but I’d like to run something unusual/unlikely. Perhaps Battlestations would be a good choice.

I did some prototype playtesting and helped run the 2-player game tournament.  I also managed to run a number of unscheduled casual games like Can't Stop, Byzantium, and Munchkin.  This year I may help run a Kniziathon.

5. Improve my critical writing skills, particularly when reviewing and evaluating games. This takes time (that I’m not sure I have), practice, and personal content review/editing. I’d like be able to decompose a game as well as Chris Farrell but be a little less of a curmudgeon.

Talk about unmeasurable!  I'll let you, the reader, judge this.  I do know that I have not fundamentally changed my writing process in that I don't spend any more time editing or reviewing when I post then I did in 2005.

I've done some 2007 goal setting, but none of those are really focused on gaming.  One of those is to finish 2007 with no unplayed games in my collection - should be easier this year given that I'm starting with only two!  Julie and I have also set some financial goals that will limit my game purchasing, which is just fine by me.  I suspect I'll be buying more wargames this year than euros, partly because I've already P500'd a number of games that will eventually show up on my doorstep.  I will post shortly on games that I'm most interested in seeing in 2007.

The game classes have been a good success, even resulting in the conversion of a few families to full-time game geeks.  Julie is running the Wednesday class for 3/4 graders, and I handle the Thursday class for 4/5 graders.

After each class we have the kids rate the games and we now have a ranking of the games the kids have played so far:

• Saboteur / TransEuropa (tie)
• Pickomino / Family Fluxx (tie)
• Walk the Dogs
• Take it Easy

Not that any of the kids don't like these games - they are all rating very highly (Take it Easy is at a 3.6 on Chuck's 4 point scale).  Julie and I agree that the true test is what games the kids ask for on the periodic open gaming session where they get to pick and choose.  I think their choices align with the ratings above, though Walk the Dogs is probably a bit closer to 1st or 2nd place.  As we get towards the end of the year and start doing end-of-year open sessions I'll report back on their choices.

Here's what we have on tap for coming weeks:

• Carcassonne: the Discovery
• Bohnanza (probably the last game we'll do as it is the most complex)
• Incan Gold
• 24/7: the Game

Jacob and I are starting to get a bit hooked on Command & Colors: Ancients.  We played a game Thursday night then brought it out again this afternoon.  It sure is nice to play a wargame multiple times in a row like this - I must remember that and try it more often.  Amazing how the rules stick that way.

On Thursday we played the Castulo, with Jacob playing the Romans and me the Carthaginians.  This is a break-out scenario where the Roman player is trying to escape off the Carthaginian side of the board.  It also involves a bit of terrain which was a first for me.  We did fumble with the rules a bit, especially the benefits leaders bring (they must be attached to give the morale boost on ignoring flags, but an adjacent leader can give the attack bonus).  This was a decent first scenario for Jacob as it doesn't involve the elephants; elephants aren't that complex, but for a simple game they probably do introduce the most variable complexity.  The game was very tight with Jacob threatening to run off two cavalry units to seal the victory,  but I was able to force back his cavalry with a well played attack and momentum advance attack.  Still, my position was too weak to survive as he subsequently won the required flags by eliminating a weak stray unit.

Today we tried out the Ilipa scenario, the same one I played with Eric Landes a few months back.  This brings elephants into the mix (or, as we prefer to say, Stampy) and is more of a wide open smack-down with a healthy mix of cavalry, medium, and heavy units.

Things did not start at well for me, the Carthaginians.  Before I even played my first command card Jacob eliminated my elephant unit on the right flank.  Those pesky spear chuckers took him out with successive single-die red square rolls.  And I had so much planned for those two.  Sniff.

This was the closest game of C&C I've played yet.  I surged ahead with six flags to Jacob's four - seven are needed for victory.  Jacob caught up with a well played behind-the-lines penetration, but he left a stray unit that I was able to take out with a ranged fire to win 7-6.

I also spent about 3 hours putting stickers on my blocks for the 1st expansion while watching the Colts game.  As I finished the Greek blocks and started on the Eastern Kingdom blocks, I realized I had used the wrong color of blocks for the Greeks.  Oops.  Too late to move stickers too - they are (thankfully) designed to stick tight.  So I checked the block count to see how much damage I had done.  I was fine with the infantry, leader/chariot, and elephant blocks, but there are quite a few more blocks for cavalry for the EK than for the Greeks.  I checked the scenarios to figure out what configuration would allow me to play the most, and assembled what I could muster out of the remaining blue blocks.  Not satisfied, I searched Julie's craft drawer and found some blue paint that is more than close enough to work then proceeded to paint 9 extra natural blocks to turn them into blue blocks.  This would not work for a Columbia-style block game as it would defeat fog of war, but for C&C this is not problem.  This could have been a much bigger disaster if the two sides weren't pretty balanced to start with.

If you follow this weblog (and the now defunct Gathering of Engineers blog) you know that I had a New Years resolution to play through my current owned but unplayed collection of games.  This lead to a tracking and execution model of burning down the list.  2006 is now behind me and I'll give myself a qualified success score on the project.  I finished the year with 2 unplayed games in my collection (minus games I've moved to my trade/sell list).

Some interesting statistics:

• I started the year with 83 unplayed games in my collection
• I peaked at 118 unplayed plus newly played in 2006 games in early November (post Essen).  This means I added about 35 games to my collection this year, not including games I purchased that I had already played.
• I sold, traded, or gave away 30 games that were on my unplayed list at some time during the year.

In case you want to track my updates through the year, here's a summary:

• February
• March
• May
• August
• August
• October
• November

Here's my final burndown chart.

Thanks to the help of a dedicated set of friends and family, I was able to close out the year by knocking 14 games off the list in less than 48 hours.  These weren't just little card games either - we played some meaty games like Imperial, Shogun, and El Caballero.  Here's a brief wrap-up of each game played with some commentary:

Der Dieb von Bagdad

The running commentary in my game group (at least with KC and Rita) is how good this game is and how bad the dice game is.  Color me random, but I think I like the dice game a bit more.  At least this game doesn't have a simultaneous selection mechanism to choose what room to go to - that would drop it down to a 2 or 3 rating for me.

Employee of the Month

It was hard to get past some of the graphical design / human factors issues with this game, but it was a decent diversion.

Fraud Squad

Basically Clue without a board, this one dragged on too long for us to finish.  There are simply too many permutations to track and everyone found it to be too much work and too little fun.  Plus, I don't get the inclusion of a roll-the-die-and-you-might-lose-a-turn mechanic.

El Caballero

I was tired, distracted, and not really paying attention to this game but I still managed to win.  That can't be a good thing, but I'll be willing to try this one again.

Shogun

One of the highlights of the weekend for me.  I love it and am now wondering if I should trade away my pasted-up Wallenstein copy.

Bosworth Chess

One of the surprises of the weekend for me, despite KC's frustration is the middle / 3rd player in what really should be a 2 OR 4 player game, not a 2-4 player game.  I think there's a fun little chess variant here and I look forward to trying it with my chess club.

Socks in the City

Not much to say here - this was in the category of "OK, let's get this out and be done with it".  Thanks KC for teaching and bearing with me on the play.  This will go to the trade/giveaway pile.

Master Labyrinth

I found this in shrink at a Goodwill and it will be a nice donation to the school.  I don't see any reason to keep this if you already own Amazing Labyrinth, which I do like.

Hero Clix

I somehow talked Julie into playing this with me, and we both came away with the same impression.  Boring, tedious to lookup the abilities in external charts, and mostly just a stand around and attack game.

Starship Catan

Ken and I played this on Sunday morning and we both loved the experience.  It played in under 2 hours and we think we could get it down to an hour now that we understand the game.  I expect to see this come out quite a bit once Jacob and I give it another try.  Julie might enjoy it too.

Big Kini

I did not expect to like this game but came away very satisfied.  It looks and feels similar to Tongiaki but it is heavier with less randomness/chaos and some interesting mechanics.  It did tend to regress into min-maxing at the end which dragged out the final stage of the game.

Imperial

I was able to sit out for an hour of this 2:15 length game because I lost control of the UK to my own son Jacob.  I still managed to beat Ken and KC (hah!) but Brandon and Jacob ruled the day and finished 1-2.  I'll likely be writing more about this well designed war/economic game hybrid.

New York Central

It took a while for me to get this game going - the rules are a bit convoluted and I need to write some play tips on the geek to help others.  Still, this is a decent stock / train game played with cards that I'm going to keep and bring out some more this year.  We played in about 35 minutes.  The main question we have is how controllable the game is with bad card draws.

Crazy Diamond - Karatino

We played the shorter Karatino game... what a dog.  I suppose I'll try the Crazy Diamond game before letting this one loose, but I don't have high hopes.

Unplayed Games

Wooden Shoes and Iron Monsters

This was just too long and too complicated to consider bringing out over the weekend.  I really don't know what to expect with this game but given my groups fondness for 18xx games of late, maybe it won't be too hard to get it out.

Das Sceptor von Zavandor

We skipped this primarily because I don't have the English pasteups yet for the cards - just a reference guide.

Games Moved to the Trade Pile

History of the World

Britannia

These are both "old" versions of the games, and I just don't think they'll get out enough in my group or family.

Hellas (German version)

I didn't know how language dependent this game was when I picked it up on sale during a trip through Germany last year.

Cannes - Stars, Scripts and Screens

This was an add-on to my Indonesia purchase at Essen 2005, and I should have skipped it.

Final Thoughts

This process had the desired effect - refocusing my attention on my collection for playability and not just for collecting.  I'm committed to keeping the number of games in my collection approximately flat and I'd like to finish each year with as close to zero unplayed games as possible.  The end result is going to mean fewer purchased games in 2007 and focusing on playing the ones I have.

I took advantage of some solo time at home last week to invite some friends over for gaming.  It was my turn to host our weekly Tuesday night gaming, but I managed to sneak Doug over earlier in the afternoon to play several turns of Paths of Glory (Dug's report).

I can't remember when I picked up PoG, though I'm certain it was an eBay used purchase.  I love the idea of card driven games (CDG) and knew this was considered one of the best (the others, Hannibal and We the People, being quite a bit harder to come by).  The theme of WWI was also attractive.

Doug always does a masterful job of teaching - we had a very similar experience with Europe Engulfed - but unfortunately we (I) don't seem to have the time to play through an entire game like this.  I had no problems understanding the game and was even getting a sense (I think) of some basic strategies for the allies.  Still, it was easy to conclude after we finished about 3 hours of gaming and finishing only 3 turns that this game needs to go on my sell/trade pile.  There simply isn't room in my collection for 2 player games that take 6-8 hours, and given a choice of keeping one or two I will keep Europe Engulfed over Paths of Glory.  For now Twilight Struggle is filling the CDG spot in my collection but I would certainly welcome suggestions for a 2-3 hours CDG that Jacob might enjoye playing with me.  Doug did convince me that Combat Commander would likely be a great choice for Jacob and me.

Tuesday night I convinced the group to play TurfMaster Deluxe, a game I purchased in Essen but hadn't come out yet.  I found it easy to teach, engaging, and fun - I think the group mostly did too, though a few seemed ambivalent about the game.  We had a very exciting finish with four players finishing within 10 points of the leader.

My final game played before heading to the coast for New Years gaming was 1850 with Mike (Mike's report), Tim, KC, and Eric.  After playing 18FL I knew I wanted to own one of the newer Deep Thought games, and 1850 was my choice given where I grew up ("I've lived on 6 of these hexes!").

1850 did not disappoint - it is quite a bit longer than 18FL, but I never felt bored and the time flew (we played in about 6 hours).  Clearly not a game that will come out every month, but I hope to play 4 18XX games in 2007 and I'd like this to be one of them.

My next post will be about gaming over New Years weekend and my success (or not?) in finishing the year without any unplayed games.

Boise State wins... have you ever seen a better football game than this?

Maybe I'll do a top n games list for 2006 at some point, but when I reflect on the past year what comes to mind are great gaming experiences, not great games.

New Years Magic: the Gathering Tournament

Magic doesn't get played very often in my house, but when we do it is always a blast.  We are heading into our fourth year running of a Magic sealed deck tournament, and I'm excited as ever to do it over the coming weekend.  Sealed deck tournaments (and booster drafts) get to the core of what Magic is all about: discovering new cards and combos, creative deck building, and strong tactical play.

Conquest of the Empire

This was my favorite big conquest-type game of the year (we played with the Martin Wallace rules).  I found this to be a huge improvement over Struggle of Empires, mostly because of streamlined play and nicer bits.  Everyone was in the game and we found it very engaging through the end.  I also love a game that easily plays all of the Rude/Brooks boys in a balanced fashion.

18FL / 1850

I'm at risk of turning into an 18XX geek.  Playing 18FL at Eric's was easily one of the most satisfying gaming experiences I've had recently - I love the pure economics, the no-luck, and the dialog we all have as we compete/cooperate.  I mentioned during our play of 1850 two nights ago how nice it is to play with other unwashed newbies as I find the open discussion and lack of cut-throat play more enjoyable than it might be with a different crowd.  I don't expect to start collecting these games (I only own 1850 now, and I can leave the collecting up to Eric and Tim), but I hope to play at least 3-4 times in 2007.

Roads & Boats

I'm glad I picked this one up, and it will be hard to justify bringing out Antiquity or Indonesia over this title when choosing a big Splotter game to play.  I enjoy the combination of logistics and economics in the game and find it much less punishing than Antiquity - even though I lost miserably at R&B, I never felt like I wasn't moving forward.

Liar's Dice

Jacob's Boy Scout troop held a game night on Dec 15 - mostly console video games, but I made sure to bring a few board games.  We played some Incan Gold but the huge hit was Liar's Dice.  It was great seeing some of the older scouts sitting down with adults and playing this game.  The last game we played ended with a showdown between one of the other adult leaders and me - he with 5 dice, and me with just 1.  Through a combination of lucky dice rolls and good bluffing I managed a win, something I thought was near impossible.

Oh, can I mention Guitar Hero 2??  I know it isn't a board game, but this is just about the coolest electronic game of any kind I've ever played.  I'm quickly turning into a console gaming convert (from PC gaming) after spending some time playing this and Madden NFL.

Here's a quick wrap-up on our trip to Florida last week.  After our visit to Homasassa Springs, we drove down near Disney World to stay in a timeshare for two nights to make the travel back and forth to the Kingdom a  bit easier.  Tuesday night we stopped in at Downtown Disney and had some great (if a bit overpriced) Irish food at the pub there.

Wednesday was Magic Kingdom day for just the four of us.  My parents rested and did some shopping.  It was as crowded as I've seen it and by the mid afternoon congestion was getting to be quite annoying.  We took advantage of the fast-pass system throughout the day and never waited in line for more than about 45 minutes.  Lowlight: waiting in line for Pirates of the Caribbean for 25 minutes only to have it shut down when we were less than 5 minutes from boarding.  Highlights: Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Carousel of Progress (aka the Carousel of Missed Opportunities).

On Thursday we drove to Melbourne to check in with my Old Uncle Larry then shot up the Atlantic coast to visit the Kennedy Space Center.

The line to get on the bus at the space center was longer than any we waited in at Disney - how annoying!  The trip was very enjoyable if a bit rushed - we didn't arrive at the center until well after noon.  Unfortunately we ran out of time on the bus tour and never got to stop at the International Space Station exhibit.  We also allowed way too little time to visit the Astronaut Hall of Fame at the end of the day.

On Friday Larry and I played golf, we spent some time at the beach, then celebrated Christmas with a small gift exchange and a delicious meal.  Saturday found us flying back to Portland via Denver (post blizzard) with about a 3 hour delay in Denver. 

We all flew down to Florida Saturday morning and are currently staying with my parents near Leesburg, just northwest of Orlando.  The boys have been hankerin' for some Manatee action, so today we drove over to Homosassa Springs on the gulf coast.  Very worthwhile trip - you can see photos in my Flickr set.

This place used to be one of those classic, campy privately owned Florida wildlife tourist attractions.  Apparently you could often find the animals from the TV show Daktari there (and Lu, the hippo from the show, is still a resident).  The state of Florida took over the park in the 1980s and they've done a nice job of keeping it tourist friendly and non-commercial.

The park is a mini-zoo, with the highlight being the captive manatees (orphans and rehab cases).  Our friends also recommend Blue Springs State Park, situated on the St Johns River, as a great place to see manatees in the wild.

Tomorrow we will drive down closer to Disney World in preparation for a day at the Magic Kingdom on Wednesday.

Last Saturday I hosted a dynamic duo of class big games - Roads & Boats and Die Macher (new edition).  Eric, Wes, and Michael joined me for a morning start of R&B.

We were all thankful that Eric managed to make it (late entry) - the rest of us were newbies.  We played the rowing scenario, encouraged for 1st time four-player games.

The game isn't very complex, especially if you are somewhat familiar with the "gather these to build these" civ mechanic.  By playing the rowing scenario, we were pretty much guaranteed to have 2 separate games going on - Michael and I never directly met up with Eric and Wes with the mountain range between us.  Both sides mostly cooperated throughout the game, even negotiating the construction of certain shared resources (like the rowboat factory).

While I did a great job creating an efficient transportation network, I did a lousy job of converting my resources into coins and stock certificates (that's how you score points).  I essentially lost track of how to score points and how much time was left in the game.  The others didn't, and I finished a solid last place.  Eric won easily, but we all agreed it was a great gaming experience.  I found it much more enjoying than Antiquity.

The evening (approximately 6pm) meant a double header of Die Macher with 8 players total participating.  Doug brought along his copy, and for a much better description of his session you should read his report on Die Macher.

I felt a bit bad about Brandon and Jacob playing - Brandon had spent all day at a Lego Robotics tournament, and Jacob spent all day down at the Evergreen Aviation Museum earning his aviation merit badge.  They were both a bit zonked so we adjusted to a 5-round game instead of the typical 7 round.

This is a game I'll have to play again - there are a lot of moving parts and I did enjoy it quite a bit.  The human factors issues bothered me a LOT (again, read Doug's report on details) and I will likely do some markings on my own game cards if Valley Games doesn't do anything to correct them.