Gunslinger 2 & Star Realms

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My usual opponent stopped by for some Avalon Hill Vintage game action. We do this once or twice a year, haul out the old school stuff.

Game 2.

We played the Showdown 1 with Scout, little Ernie, Doc Holliday, and Quiet Man. Despite some initial action from AS’ Scout, where he knocked down the Quiet Man he was unable to prevail as his Scout was then killed by Quiet Man, then Quiet Man was killed by Doc Holliday, then a Little Ernie drew a solid bead on him, aimed over a couple of turns, as Doc Holliday miscalculated and had to reload. Took Doc down on turn 10 with a bull’s-eye which went to a vital kill with that Colt 45. Good game.

Here’s the final result:

Little Ernie, last man standing

Star Realms 26, Promo Pack 1

Back to some classic Star Realms, but with the Promo Pack from the Kickstarters. I went first and managed to pick up a good Star Empire card, then very shortly picked up the Star Empire Outpost which allowed drawing 3 cards then discarding three cards, and a Star Empire ship went cycled back to hand after every round. A couple more Star Empire cards came up and I built some early synergy which took me to a crushing win. Opponent ended up with cards of all colors, was not able to get any synergy. Which is fan as he crushed me last game!

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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.