Gunslinger 3

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This was supposed to be a Salerno ‘43 day, but I did not sleep well, and have to show the apartment later this afternoon, so today will be shorter games.

We got kind of a late start on the day as we spent some time sorting the counters for Salerno into set up order. Then we had review a bunch of the Gunslinger rules, and we had a new situation, with elevation. Slowed things down and then it was lunch time.

We decided to do Scenario #5: The Ambush, where outlaw John Wesley Hardin ambush a small patrol of US troops traveling along a streambed.

We got in a good turn after lunch where my Kid whacked the Veteran, then I had to shut down for personal reaons outside of my control. We agreed to play this more often. Specifically, we need to play the scenarios in order to better learn the rules. Each of the first 4 scenarios incorporates more rules, and we jumped from scenario 2 to scenario 5.

Here is the set, with Hardin the outlaw depicted with a round red counter, and the patrol with blue counters:

John Wesley Hardin ambushes

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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.