Hive 46: what's with all the conceded?

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Another opponent conceded. This is annoying as I like seeing the actual final configuration completely finished.

This was a good win for me. The opponent is ranked 121 in Hive on the venue where we played (BGA). After this game, I'm ranked 224.

The game opened with the opponent, white, playing pretty aggressively. I bided my time, let him or her get most of their pieces on the board, while maintaiing as much perimeter control as I could. Once they had everything but two spiders down, with 5 bugs around my queen, I still had an ant and two hoppers to play. I also had a beetle poised to strike, and I got it up on the top until it was ready to move. Once I moved it over his queen, it was pretty much game over. He didn't have enough flexibility to win it, while I could leisurely rearrange the pieces to ensure a victory. Careful play and perimeter control.

Hive Game 46

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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.