Hoplite 2: Mantinea

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Back to GBOH with my usual opponent, this time for Hoplite, a new title for me, and probably the last title I will purchase in this series. In fact I'm considering selling half of my existing titles, and may only keep Hoplite and War Galley. I like all the other titles, but I don't have time to play them all, and I think I want to deep dive into both Hoplite and War Galley.

I took a short note into a rejuvenated game log, a moleskin from Bishop Fox, where the previous entry was dated 2019-08-04. The note was to help learn the initiative rules. Here's how it went down:

  • AS rolled 9 + 4 initiative = 13.
  • I rolled 0 + 4 initiative = 4.

AS chose to lead with the his Hoplite command, but did not choose to move the massive phalanx. We rolled for the advance to combat, and conducted pre-Shock TQ checks correctly (we're prerrt sure).

Anyway, we played a very, very careful and detailed Turn 1, with nearly 20 points routed for each of us at the end. Further turns would have gone faster, but we had enough for the day, and have a decent grip on the rules.

The huge Theban phalanx seems to be useless in this scenario, AS didn't even move it.

We're still not clear on how to best use skirmishers, light cavalry, and light infantry. Phalanxes are pretty straightforward, just drive forward and smash.

Here's the middle of Turn 1:

Hoplite Matinea Turn 1

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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.