High Frontier Core and Competition - 56

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This was my first actual opposed, competitive play. And this may be the start of many more with this opponent. We had played a long cooperative game a couple of years, with Bernals, etc. but I think it was too much for him to assimilate. There are a fair number wackadoodle notions in High Frontier which don't seem to make sense from either a game play or physical point of view. By focusing on just the core game without even Module 0 Politics, we cut down the decision space considerably.

By the end of the game:

Dave:

  • Colonized Mars.
  • Colonized Hertha.
  • Glory chit for Venus zone.
  • Glory chit for Mars zone.
  • Claimed Polana.

AW:

  • Colonized Minerva
  • Glory chit for Earth zone.
  • Glory chit for Ceres zone.
  • Glory chit for Jupiter zone.
  • Glory chit for Saturn zone.
  • Claimed one of the comets IIRC.

We made a bunch of mistakes both blunders (unfored errors) and rules misunderstandings. We'll get it all straightened out at some point.

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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.