LotR 52 - Journey Along the Anduin (5) (and game day)

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Another successful game day at CC's in Berkeley.

We played:

  1. Race for the Galaxy. This was CC's first game and he did really, really well with it, although I won it by a few points in the end.

  2. The Arduous Beginning. My second play of this and CC's first. I took the Germans and was able to seal the eastern edge by Turn 4 or so, then cleaned up the board. He won't let that happen again I'm sure. Not without a serious fight in any case.

  3. Lord of the Rings card game. We played Journey Along the Anduin with a couple of decks I build from Rings DB. We didn't quite get a clean win as we made a couple of mistakes early on, then I decided to retcon a play later in the game to send an engaged enemy back to the staging area. May still have won had I not played that card, but could have lost as well. I was definitely about to lose a hero.

All in all, a very good day.

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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.