More Meltwater (2) with some Jump Drive

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The usual opponent stopped by this afternoon for another game of Meltwater. He's quite taken with the game, to the point of purchasing his own copy. We replayed our roles from the first game, with me taking USSR forces and AS taking US forces.

We did a couple of things different and better this game than we did on the first game:

  1. Played Pressgang correctly, it only works on neutrals.
  2. Neutrals regard other neutrals as "friendly," and we got the defections working correctly.
  3. Radiadion markers by themselves do not induce Dirty hexes, Dirty is a consequence of attacking.

It also seems apparent that the USSR needs to push to the center of the map fairly quickly, as the coastal areas where they start get irradiated. Better to move before then.

It was a good game. We ended up in a draw with no survivors on either side. It would be more accurate to say we both lost, really. Here's what the end of the game looked like:

End of game 2, a draw, both losers really

We also played a couple of games of Jump Drive. AS had never played it before, so I crushed him on the first game as he ramped up on the rules. The end result with me at 62, AS at37. This is a result of me going big with Galactic Trendsetters, having 4 on the table on the last turn.

The second game he crushed me 51 to 27. I got a late start on my engine. It's really important to get card draw running big early. I tried to run a military-heavy strategy, but didn't get either card draw or VP production in gear until too late.

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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.