Battle for Moscow 15

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Playing the online version as the Germans against the AI. The last time I played the AI as the Germans it kicked my ass. That time I tried a more southern strategy and tried to roll up the east side of the map. That allowed the AI to pack the northern part of the map around Moscow with more units than I could handle.

This game I'm putting more pressue on the north side and trying to force AI reinforcements further south. I may not be able to stop them, but if I can slow them down from coming north, that would work fine.

And what do you know! Sending the panzers over the north of the map did the trick here! Now I need to play this a few more times as the Germans against the AI, then play the Soviets against the German AI and see what happens.

Here's what it looks like at the end of the game:

German 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.