Silver Bayonet: Operation Long Reach, Turns 8-10

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Bright, warm, sunny, extremely still day. The surf would be glass if I were surfing. It was flat yesterday, so probably no loss today. And today is game day.

This is the third session of the Silver Bayonet full campaign: Operation Long Reach, with 39 turns. Today we start with Turn 8. My strategy is to clear out the PAVN around Pleiku so that I can get the relief convoy with supplies to the Plei Mei SF camp which is under siege. My opponent’s stratgy seems to be centered on taking Plei Mei, currently with 3 CIDG forces, which I will need to reinforce shortly. He’s been super lucky two turns in a row with massive odds on Manuever combat, making the coordination rolls twice in a row. He is not bombarding! But he has managed to get two of the CIDG units fatigued.

He did manage to get the 66th regiment in play, but the whole regiment came in at Chu Pong, the worst place possible for him.

I am still pulling ahead on points. Bombardment seems to be key for attriting PAVN units one step at a time.

I am calling this game 36 of Silver Bayonet, for 1609 total plays of all games since I started tracking.

Here’s the start of Turn 8:

Start of Turn 8

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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.