LotR and High Frontier, perfect

May 8 2022

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LotR 219, Assault on Osgiliath 1

My usual LotR collaborator is back in the saddle after taking a few weeks off for vacation, and having several weeks of house guests. Our quest today was the Assault on Osgiliath. We embarked on this expecting to be absolutely curb-stomped, but the quest is a dud! It beat itself! On Turn 1, the whole staging was swept back into the deck, and after that we cleaned out the staging area and managed to close Round 3 or 4 with two Osgiliath locations under control, which constitutes a win. We were actually a bit disappointed.

High Frontier 39, 40

Since that went so fast, we took lunch, then set up High Frontier for a couple of rounds of Space Diamonds. We played Solar Sails first, then Rockets. As usual with Space Diamonds, I don't play to win. It's all about the map with the sail, then fuel strip with rockets. I don't recall the scores for the sails game. For the rockets game, I lost with 13 to his 20. No big deal.

The important thing is that he is familiar now with the map. I walked through some of the patent cards afterwards so that he could get a taste of what's to come.

I just realized I've only played High Frontier once previously in 2022, which was Jan 1. I've been a lot of LotR, and vintage Avalon Hill games.

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.