Mid-summer Ogre

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At Endgame as usual.

Game 1: Breakthrough against AW, I was attacker. Won with decisive 56 point advantage, really blew AW away on this one.

Game 2: Breakthrough again with AW, this time playing defender. 20 point deficit for me, technical draw for scenario. AW got quite a few units off, but I killed a fair number as well which brought my vp score up a lot.

Game 3: AW and AS for 3 player Breakthrough, huge blunder I missed seeing a mobile howitzer which fired on a stack of 5 gevs. However, AW forgot to move the mobile howitzer, so I killed it next turn. AW managed to slaughter AS forces, part of which drew those forces away from mine. I was able to get 7 units exited and killed a bunch more to almost balance it out. AW won 102 to 99, iirc.

Another game of Nam Diary, played NVA against AW. I won. AW said this game us not unlike other games where it turns into dice fest, as there is no way to out maneuver without losing a round of fire.

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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.