Objective Kiev IX

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Game 9 seems to be a German win.

I'm pretty sure I had one too many German IDs on the board at the beginning of the game, because I did not have it coming in on Turn 4 reinforcements with the Italians (that I forgot about anyway).

The initial breakthough was pretty good for the Germans. This can be problematic: if the Germans don't breakthrough the line by Turn 2, it's pretty tough to win as the Soviets start bringing in massive amounts of reinforcements.

As this game turned out, the eastern edge was cut of by the end of Turn 3, and it was just a mop up after that.

It's interesting how the first few games of this it was very difficult to understand how the Germans could even get close to a win. Now, it's hard to understand how they can possibly be stopped. As usual, many more plays will be needed to resolve this conundrum.

End of Turn 1

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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.