Fire in the Lake 14

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We set up the long game using Period Events. It was prety cool, we got 22 cards into a deck of 78 cards, not quite 1/3 of the way through. The goal was to understand the mechanics of the NVA rally and infiltrate to see how the NVA can be a contender.

I played US/ARVN, AS played VC/NVA.

The ARVN really seems to have an advantage early on with being able to get a of units onto the board really fast, and bumping up the Aid.

By the time we called it at 3 pm, the NVA were able to mass a lot of troops in southern Cambodia, and would have been in a good position to shell or even occupy Saigon. Since we stopped at 3 pm, it turned into an ARVN win.

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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.