High Frontier 4 All (4) Space Diamonds (3)

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I'm going back to work way too soon, so I want to get a few more games in play before that happens. I am not looking forward to to going back.

For this game, I'm taking two ships, basically playing "both side of the table" like a regular wargame. I think this will work really well as both side have hidden information, and neither side knows what, exactly, is being hidden. I'm using the white and the green rocket markers.

Missions:

  • White: claim the discovery chit on Venus aerostat-xity for 3 points.
  • Green: have more Ice chits than anyone else at end for 6 points.

Turn 1

White moves first and flies to Sol-Venus Lagrange L1 in 2 burns.

Green needs to go to Mars: two burns to the first red route hohmann, which is in the Mars zone, going to be a long flight.

Turn 2

White 2 burns to the hazard in front of the aerostat, roll 4, enter 2 burn from aerostat, burned 3 times.

Green can move to the Sol-Mars Lagrange L2 and make the burn before landing on phobos, turning up Life/Drop 1 chit for 1 point.

Turn 3

White lands at aerostat, find Ice/Drop 3 for 3 points, getting back to LEO will win it for White.

Green can get from Phobos to Apophis in 1 burn, so he does that, and that will bring him back into the Earth zone. Finds 5 points of gems at Apophis.

Turn 4

White wants to high tail back back to LEO to win, from aerostat moves to Acid Clood hazard, roll 5 for no effect, move into LVO.

Green gets two burns and moves from Apophis to Itokawa, finds gems for 4 points. Interesting, green may be able to win this.

Turn 5

White burns all the way back to LEO, gains 4 VP for first to return.

Green has three turns to get to LEO, and can get from Apophis to the radiation space between the Venus-Sol and Mercury-Sol L3 Langrange spaces. This is first turn of endgame.

Turn 6

Green has 3 burns. Entering the Sol-Mercury L3, he can move to the Sol-Mercury L4 for burn 1, Sol-Earth L1 for burn 2, Cycler for burn 3 bd he's home for 3 points.

It's going to be close I think within a point or two. Score:

  • White:
    • Mission accomplished: 3
    • Ice: 6.
    • First home: 4
    • total 13.
  • Green:
    • Gems for 5 + 1 + 4 = 10.
    • Second home: 3
    • total: 13.

It's a tie!

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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.