Battle of Trifernum (SPQR 1)

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First play of SPQR, and it was cool. We chose the Battle of Trifernum which is one of the snaller scenarios in the box. We got a bit of a late start as we had to set up counters, and while they weren't a tremendous number, it was still on the order of several dozen counters.

I played the Samnites, my usual opponent played the Romans. Here's what the battle (might have) looked like at the startt. Nobody really knows for sure, but the game is all about plausibility, and this seems plausible to me, lacking any other knowledge.

Start of Trifernum

While my opponent had most of the early turn initiative (low initiative values), he chose to be rather cautious. In contrast, I took my whole lines forward right away with intent slam into the Romans. It was probably not a great idea as Light Infantry (LI) can't shock, but we were more interested in learning the rules, and getting into combat as fast as possible is a good way to do that.

Here's what it looked like when we ran out of time half way through Turn 2:

Start of Trifernum

Here's the location of Trifernum in Italy:

Trifernum

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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.