Game Science Viet Nam (3)

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My usual opponent for this and other Vietnam games spent some time and redrew the map in AutoCad. It's more or less a direct copy of the original map, with the plot he brought over being somewhat larger than the original map. So we used it!

This was the first time I've played this game where it went all the way to the end, and it was a VC win for me. It seems like the game seesaws a bit until one side or another can force a reduction in the opposing insurgency pawns. After that, if the situation isn't fixed very quickly, the game seems to accelerate to the end condition. Runaway leader in other words. It feels appropriate here though.

We're going to play it more. And I'm interested in what he comes up with for graphic improvements for the map.

High Frontier 17, Space Diamonds 6

We set up Space Diamonds for Solar Sails.

I cruised around for easy pickings and grabbed up a bunch of fairly low value chits. My mission was cornering the ice market, but I didn't find any ice at all. My opponent decided to try for Euraka, and got bogged down, and failed a hazard as well.

Final scores:

  • Me: 14
  • AS: 11

He did pretty well despite getting sucked into Eureka.

Speaking of Eureka, Wikipedia's Euraka article is very informative, and helps understand why there are two hazards at the site. Here's the site as expressed on the High Frontier map:

Eureka

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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.