Flash Point redux

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Played another beginner setup of Flash Point this evening. Here's how it went:

  • Played with two firefighters instead of 1.
  • Figured out carrying a victim costs 2 AP instead of 1 AP. This slows it down a lot!
  • Not so lucky rolls this time. One of the firefighters was Knocked Down, although it was lucky he was right by a door next to the Ambulance area, so no big deal.
  • Rescued 5 victims, lost two, one of which was a False Alarm.
  • A couple of unlucky Explosions ate up damage markers, so I lost by Building Collapse.

This game, even though I lost, felt a bit more satisfying than the previous, which I probably won because of not paying two AP for carrying victims.

I'll probably play more of these kinds of games in the evenings. There is a good cost benefit ratio here, better than reading expensive books. I'd prefer to wargame in general, but that's proven a bit too heavy for evening entertainment to date. We'll see what happens in the future.

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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.