High Frontier 4 All (2) Space Diamonds (2)

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I just snapped out a fast game of Space Diamonds using the very simple Solar Sail, and decided I needed more, today. While there are 9 more missions to fly with Solar Sail, I decided this time to fly a rocket. Rockets in Space Diamonds provide an easy way into using the fuel strip correctly.

For this game I pulled the 5-3 Nuclear Rocket, with the "Lineae-Vacation on Europa" mission, which is to be the first player to reach the S site on Europa. I think this is a good mission for this rocket, I should be able to get there in 2-3 turns, unless the hazard rolls go nuts.

Turn 1

Starting with Wet Mass 8, burn from LEO to pivot at Didymos, which lines me up on the Green Line for next turn.

Wet Mass (WM) 5 1/3.

Stopping at the pivot to save fuel.

Turn 2

Continue on Green Line through the next burns to the Jupiter Fly-by, navigate the hazards, and get to the Valhalla site on Callisto. Sadly, I'm stuck at the hazard at the Jupiter flyby, which kills my momentum. Not sure I'll even be able to get to Callisto.

Turn 3

Hazard roll 4, at the lagrange point, burn twice and I'm at 2 1/3 WM. Basically, out of gas.

Turn 4

Advance to next burn space.

Turn 5

Advance to next burn space.

Turn 6

Advance to landing burn at Callisto.

Turn 7

Land at Valhalla site on Callisto, fuel.

Turn 8

More fuel!

Turn 9

And even more fuel!

WM: 14.

Turn 10

See if I can get Europa, I may need more than 4 burns.

Yep. Got to the L1.

WM: 6 1/2.

Turn 11

Burn once and land on Europa.

Except, rolled 1 on hazard… :/

Turn 12

Land on Europa. Refuel.

Turn 13

Not in any hurry, let's fuel again.

WM: 13, with -1 net thrust.

Now where do I want to go next?

Back to Callisto to pick up fuel to get home. Being stuck in Jupiter's gravity well is no joke.

There is a single hazard on this one, roll 3 to pass.

But I'm too heavy to get there this turn!

Turn 14

One burn and land on Callisto.

WM 5, refuel to get WM 8, which lets me have 5 burns next turn.

Turn 15

Let's go back to LEO, will take a couple of turns. First to the pivot which takes 5 burns, as shown:

Game 2 with rockets!

WM: 2 5/6.

Turn 16

Second pivot, as shown:

Game 2 with rockets!

Turn 17

Take it home! Modulo a hazard roll…roll 1! Dang!

Game 2 with rockets!

Turn 18

Home to LEO.

Calling this the game.

VPs:

  • Mission accomplished: 4.
  • First one home: 4.

Total: 8.

AAR

For Space Diamonds, only the skull icons require a hazard roll. I would have passed Jupiter had I only rolled for the skull.

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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.