PanzerBlitz does Kursk

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Headed down to Endgame today to knock out a solo game of Situation 10. Met Erich Schneider who was waiting for the historical board game group to show up, but they never did, so I talked him into a game of PanzerBlitz playing Situation #10.

I was German, Erich was Russian.

Pretty good game overall, and a pretty good scenario. We had to leave at 5 as Endgame was closing early for Labor Day, but Erich was definitely ahead at the top of Turn 10, with 32 units on Board 3, against 16 kills for me. That would be a decisive against a marginal for a tactical Russian victory.

However, I'm pretty sure I could have destroyed 4 more Russian units to turn it into a marginal Russian victory.

Highlights:

  • Bad rolls for me kept me bottled up on the south side for an extra turn at least.
  • I did not move enough units north fast enough to deny the Russian's real estate on Board 3. There is enough cover on board 3 to get a Russian tactical victory, the Germans need to occupy some of that before the Russians get established.

This was a good scenario. I want to play it again as the Germans.

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What to play next?

Deciding what to play next is always a tough call when faced with a closet full of games, all of which were purchased with intent to play. Here's one I'm dealing with the decision.

  • Something New: this means both something new to me and a game which has been published recently, within the last two or three years.
  • Something Classic: I've acquired a number of games properly considered "classic" which haven't yet been played. The current example would be PanzerGruppe Guderian.
  • Something Again: mastery requires constant practice, which means playing games many, many times to allow nuance to appear.
  • Something Vietnam: as I'm on a Vietnam binge. I don't have all the Vietnam games ever published, but I can say that I have a lot of them, and probably more than most people.
  • Something Obscure: as it's fun to poke around in the dustier corners of game design.
  • Something Different: break away from the same old publishers and try a game from one of the new kids on the block. Or, conversely, dip into legacy with a classic tried and true.
  • Something Light: once in a while it's nice to actually finish a game all the way through in one sitting, in an hour or two.
  • Something Heavy: if possible, it's nice to set up something big and complicated which can be left out for days or weeks or even months, for a leisurely stroll through a very large or long game.

There are surely many more ways to choose, but the above method keeps me busy enough, helps me get both breadth and depth into my play, and provides me with a sense of progress.

The odd man out

When there is an odd man out:

  • Have a solo game ready to play.
  • Keep score or advise on a game in progress.
  • Referee a game in progress.