Dominant Species

Dominant Species got played. Dion Garner, Matthew Frederick, and Robert Bolan came over to try this out with me and none of us were disappointed. Dion was the reptiles, Matthew - amphibians, Robert - arachnids, and I was the lowly insects. Rules for the game are pretty straightforward and I was able to cover the rules in about 20 minutes. The first round was about what you'd expect from four players that hadn't seen the game and weren't sure what the flow would be like at all. For myself, I didn't want to run out of cubes later in the game, so I didn't plan to expand like a crazy man. I wanted to diversify my insects to survive on more than just grass-type lands, and chose to grab a sun element. Stupidly though, I chose to speciate (that's a word, I swear) from a spot on the board where I'd be sending my insects to immediate extinction (speciation is where you get to place your animals out into the world as a way to grow your influence). Given I had little to no adaptability for those areas the first turn, I scaled back my approach immediately. By the end of the second turn, I wasn't sure that was a great plan as I had one creature on about 4-5 spots and things looked poor for me. I had 1 point and while Dion wasn't far ahead of me, Matthew was way out in front and Robert was doing ok. I turned things around mid-game position wise, but was still WAY back in the points. Matthew still had a commanding points lead, though it looked like the glaciers were going to slow him down shortly (thanks to Robert). Dion made a few smart moves and appeared to be in a position to shoot ahead. At one point he caught Matthew. Unfortunately for him, we realized the glaciers had killed a few resources on the board and after adjusting the populations with some extinction, Dion's bonus points for Survival on tundra were dramatically reduced. At this point, I had clawed my way back in and though I was still behind, I liked my position heading into what looked like the last couple turns. Unfortunately for me, Dion used migration (and the fact that he ruled the food chain - ie tie breaker) to basically take away 80% of my major scoring. When we got to the last turn, the scores had tightened up considerably and it looked like it might be anyone's game but mine. Robert was doing well and I figured he might be the serious threat - I used the Glacier action to knock a lot of his population and his big scoring tile out of the picture. During the last round, the domination cards had a couple of seriously good powers for the last round. I took an early scoring opportunity to clear out a lot of cubes from the board. I took the Biomass card, which let me eliminate species on tiles where there where more species than resource tokens. This let me regain control on the places Dion had invaded as well as knock Matthew out of contention on a lot of places. As we started tallying final scoring, things were looking good for me as I was scoring a lot of points. Dion however had managed to get the Hibernation card, which allowed him to retrieve 5 species from out of the game and place them anywhere on the board AND then ignore extinction for them for one round. Dion essentially stole a sea tile from Robert and won the game.
My initial impressions on this game are good. Each species is unique enough to make things different without being quite as different as say the sides in Chaos in the Old World. The rules are not all that hard, but understanding the flow of the game is where things become really interesting. And while we each saw mistakes being made by the other players, there is also enough going on that there is usually a lot of "correct moves". That makes it engaging nearly the whole time you are playing. This isn't a game for people that don't like conflict - the whole game is one bash each other fight for survival. The biggest knock on the game is that the game is long. We ended up at about 70 min a player, in part due to this being the first game for all of us and rules and partially due to my slowing down the middle of the game to help my wife with our son who wasn't feeling well. With a couple of players knowing the game, I'd guess this is about 45 minutes a player (60 if you are Nathan Winchester). I've read that people think the cards are overpowered. It is true that they are not equal - you just have to play your turns keeping in mind the things that are going to occur at the end of the round - in other words, the cards are very manageable. I'm actually looking forward to how much tighter the game becomes with 5 or 6 players and I'm looking forward to playing again.

My Thoughts of No Interest on the BGG Top 50 (31-40)

Continuing on with more games and MHO...

31		Shogun (2006)	7.592	I've played neither this nor Wallenstein. Yes, I own a copy and yes it is unopened. One of these days...
32		Die Macher (Valley Games Edition) (2006)	7.574	I've only played this once. I really enjoyed the experience, but I have to admit, it really sucked all the brain energy I had out of me. After 7 rounds, I was ready for the game to be done. A really good game, but you have to be ready for this (mentally and physically, but mostly mentally).
33		Railroad Tycoon (2005)	7.573	My affinity for Age of Steam kept me away from the watered down version of the game. After playing the streamlined version in Steam, I've had even less reason to need to try this game.
34		Imperial (2006)	7.571	I've had this one in my collection forever and still haven't learned to play it. I understand it to be a decent stock type roundel game, so I'm not sure why it hasn't seen any play.
35		Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery (2007)	7.568	AoEIII sits somewhere in the bottom half of my Top 10. I really like this game and the various ways you can approach the game. There is a good amount of tactical play and player interactions. My only quibble is the randomness of the exploration tiles / cards - they can really swing the game away from you.
36		Ra (1999)	7.567	Ra is an excellent auction game / push your luck game. I don't know that this one has great legs and though easy enough to pick up for beginners (with a play mat) it is decent enough for gamers as a lighter end of the night kind of game.
37		Tichu (1991)	7.566	Though not a trick taking game (technically it is a "climbing game"), this is one of my favorite games - not just favorite card games. Partnership trick taking games are a load of fun and this is one of those games I'll rarely if ever pass up playing.
38		Dominant Species (2011)	7.563	This one is new to me - as in I'll play it for the first time tomorrow night. Though it is a "worker placement" game, it doesn't quite fit the mold of Le Havre, Agricola, or Fresco (to name a few) because instead of placing workers to gather resources or to convert resources into other resources, you are vying to dominate the earth as the species that adapted to the environment better than your fellow players. I don't know what that means, but I will soon.
39		Crokinole (1867)	7.558	My loving wife got me a Hilinski board for my birthday a few years back. This is a great dexterity/flicking game of skill that is a riot with four people playing in teams. I really hope my kids learn to love this as much as I have and fight over their Dad's board when I'm long gone :)
40		Here I Stand (2006)	7.557	I really like card driven games (CDG) and here is one that plays 6 players (and two with a special deck). There is a group that plays this at the Geekway and it seems to be a great event. The problem is - it is crazy long. I've also read that the end game can be ruined by luck of the draw determining the winner.

My Thoughts of No Interest on the BGG Top 50 (41-50)

Just some random thoughts about the games ranked in the top 50 of the BGG...

Rank			BGG Rating	My Take
41		Chaos in the Old World (2009)	7.548	I really enjoy this asymetrical Euro-trash game. The four sides play rather differently and the game really isn't long enough to dislike, even when you are getting killed. FFG did a great job and this ended up being a game that came out of left field and became an instant hit with me.
42		Go (-2200)	7.547	I am not good at this game. I've played through various tutorials, but still wouldn't feel comfortable playing without a computer telling me if I'm playing it wrong. I can see where this is an amazing abstract, but I just haven't grok'd it yet.
43		Small World (2009)	7.527	I am a fan of the original - Vinci. Sorry, not a fan of this remake. The art is SOO garish that I can't hardly look at the board. I've peeked at games in progress, and I can't tell what's going on. This game isn't that complicated - it should be really easy to glance at the board and assess your situation.
44		1960: The Making of the President (2007)	7.522	Steve Bauer was the "guy with the most recorded plays" for this one a year or so ago. His remarks about how this is an also-ran compared to Twilight Struggle (one of my favorites) took out any enthusiasm for wanting to even try this one. I don't play TS enough, why would I want to play the lesser version? Its not like it is any shorter.
45		Dungeon Lords (2009)	7.506	I have a number of friends that are fans. So why do I refuse to try this? I think it is because I really don't enjoy worker placement games ala Agricola. They are ok, but I'm not going out of my way to play them anymore. This one always seems to run really long to top things off, so I have avoided it.
46		Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! Russia 1941-1942 (2008)	7.504	Truth be told, I'd probably like this one. I tried to trade for it for a while. I've finally decided that I have Combat Commander and I'm not sure I need another squad level WWII game. What itch could this game scratch that CC doesn't? I'd be willing to play it, but don't need to own it right now.
47		Endeavor (2009)	7.490	JAE - Just another Euro. People said it was a decent little Euro game that borrowed a few mechanics from other games. And it got played a lot right after it came out. I haven't seen it since. I'd like to try it, but won't cry if I never play it.
48		Advanced Squad Leader (1985)	7.475	Um, no. I've heard the stories about the crazy-ass rules and charts and the rules and frankly it sounds like too much work. Again, what itch does this scratch that Combat Commander doesn't (and what does it do better than CC AND do it simpler)? I'm not inclined to even look twice in this direction.
49		Hansa Teutonica (2009)	7.470	I know nothing about this game. Nothing. Guess what? I didn't even go look when I wrote that. Unless told I HAVE to play this game, I probably won't play unless that's my choice for the night. I just don't care.
50		Memoir '44 (2004)	7.464	Ah Memoir. Jason Maxwell and I played through the entire base set and the first expansion set (all through VASSAL). I enjoyed the quick little battles (I think the games ended up running about 9-11 turns each). However, the game got a little stale and all started to feel "samey". I finally traded it away after BattleLore came out. Now that I have Battles of Westeros, I think Memoir is my LEAST favorite of the whole Command and Colors set of games. Having said that, playing this game in Overlord fashion is a riot.

Ravenloft with my Son

After playing Dungeons & Dragons: Castle Ravenloft Board Game yesterday, I still wanted to play this some more, so I talked my son into joining me for a bit of game. Since this was his first game, I went ahead and played the cleric so I could try and keep us alive while I gave my son the fighter so he could bash everything. Unfortunately for us, we had similar issues as the gang had last night - namely a trap or two took us out. At one point, Ashton got frustrated with the die and went and found a different one so that we could get a die that didn't "stink". It was sad but true. We ended up dying one tile short of the one we needed to win the game.

A Whole Lot of Losing (Unless You Are Matt)

Erik Von Burg and Nathan Winchester stopped by Friday night for a bit of gaming. We started the night playing a little Dungeons & Dragons: Castle Ravenloft Board Game. I enjoy this little co-op game with its dungeon romp theme and light gameplay and I'm glad Erik suggested it. Of course, we started off on the wrong foot as Erik's dwarf cleric started getting hammered on (no pun intended). We settled down and started kicking butt and exploring, but we eventually grouped our guys together to try and take advantage of the cleric's healing powers and some room traps got the better of us. Ah well - now I need to try and get my son interested in this again so we can play through some of it.

We finished picking up and Nathan got a call that Matt Longieliere was on his way over. We thought he'd be a short while, so I pulled out the game of titanic battles and high stakes - Colossal Arena. It has been years since I've played this, but I'll have to admit I'm glad I've kept this one. This is a fun little gambling game with a cool theme - mythological creatures battling it out! We went through the rules for Nathan and then Matt arrived, so we simply dealt him in and re-explained the rules. Matt started the game betting on the Amazons and secretly betting on them as well. We revealed this, and yet the rest of us spent our time killing each other's baddies off and it was pretty obvious Matt was going to win. Unfortunately, we ran out of cards in the last round before we could rid ourselves of Matt's crew and he walked away with an easy win.

We finished the night playing Ra. Unlike last weekend, I made some pretty poor choices. I went for monuments and some civs, but in the last round I didn't get a civ and was really far behind the others in points. The game ended with drawing Ra's and most of us were really off from Matt, who had scored huge draws with his good suns. So Matt walked away from the night as the only winner. The rest of us were winless for the evening. Ah well.

Got Me Some ASS

I like racing games. I especially enjoy the ones where you get to screw someone by cutting them off (Ave Caesar, Powerboats, etc). So after I played Top Race for the first time, I knew I'd eventually add this to the collection. Not only is it a fun 6-player game with plenty of screwage, there is betting at multiple points in each race to add to the fun. Now of course, the version I played was the ASS edition. The name alone meant I'd have to acquire this particular version (the game has been redone in other versions as well as reprinted, just never as an ASS edition). I mean come on, the money says ASS on it (sue me, I have the brain of an 11 year old). So, I finally made a trade for this. The best part is - I'm trading a game I picked up at a garage sale for $1.25. Kick Ass.

That's Enough Ages For A While

Robert Bolan, Matthew Frederick, Nathan Winchester and I finished up another game of Through the Ages (online). After so many games, I wanted to see if the expansion set of wonders and leaders they offer changed the game. They do, but not enough. I've dropped my rating quite a bit on this one. As fun and interesting as this one is, it is just too brutal. There is already so much rich-get-richer that it is nearly impossible to slow down or stop someone when they get ahead. Couple that with the fact that if you get slapped once, everyone is likely to join in on stomping you into submission. With no chance to catch up and a strong likelihood of being beaten if you fall off the pack and you have a really long game that starts becoming less and less interesting. I really liked this game, but the more I understand it the less I want to play it. This last game, I felt I had made a mistake in the first couple of turns that was going to cost me (I took a stupid wonder). I ended up trying to focus a bit on military, which helped me to get to second place, but I wasn't even close to Nathan who killed us all again. In order to even be competitive in this game, I had to bash on Matthew at least twice and then on Robert at the end of the game.

$20 Poorly Spent

Now, one could argue that any money is well spent if it means getting your child's attention for a couple hours. That being said, this particular $20 probably could have been better spent. I picked up the Island of Dread Runebound expansion last year and this was the first chance that Ashton and I had to play it. Basically, this expansion changes the game with a new board, new set of encounter cards and new endgame. There are also a set of heroes and a few item cards that can be used interchangeably with the main game. For the most part, you use the items, allies, etc deck from the base (and/or expansions you have) in conjunction with this expansion. Thematically, this isn't a terrible expansion (though the number of cards makes it very likely you'd be bored with it with a couple of plays). But, beyond the theme and such, this expansion has some issues. First off, it is much harder than the original. There are very few * spots that refill adventure spots. With just my son and I playing, it took us almost no time at all to get to the point where we had killed all the easy encounters and were stuck on the starting island. The choices were: fight the next harder stuff (very iffy), or travel by sea to another spot (also iffy as the sea encounters looked as hard as the medium stuff for sure). Once you break into the second level of encounters, you sort of skip a step (there are no 3rd level encounters). I guess for this game, they made the 4th level the 3rd, but the cards didn't seem to match this - they were hard as the end game ones in the base game. To top that off, to beat the end bad guy, you have to "find" the Island of Dread (easy-ish), and then beat a possible gauntlet of bad guys. If you survive long enough, you might get a shot at the Arch Villian (who is a reject from Arkham Horror), who first tries to make your allies encounters you have to beat first. After a couple hours, we gave up and both conceded defeat. Even with all the special items, my son said - "I'll never beat that guy". I'd be willing to play again, but only if we refilled EVERY spot on the board. As the expansion stands, one death (and the corresponding loss that accompanies it) makes it nearly unplayable and definitely less fun.

The Return of Mike B (aka - Game Night).

Friday night was game night at Rob and Michelle's place with a nice surprise - Mike Bauerlein. Mike used to own a FLGS that we'd play at every Friday night in Mesa. Mike had moved to Missouri and he's moving back and so he and his father and daughter came by to join in the fun. I arrived ahead of the crowd, followed closely by Noah Antwiller. The two of us team up against Rob and Michelle in a team game of Ingenious to start the night off. I think this game plays best with four in teams and offers interesting gameplay in a relatively short period of time. It also mitigates some of the luck. We called the game near the end as Noah and I had done a decent job of cutting off Rob and Michelle so they couldn't score their lowest color.
Mike and his family arrived as did Matt Cullinan, so after the greetings, we pulled out Ra. Mike joined Rob, Noah, Matt and I for one of the classics. I don't seem to always do very well in this push-your-luck game, but in the first round I was willing to bid on a number of groups that put me at 5 Pharaohs - scoring me a guaranteed 5 pts each round. I spent the rest of game grabbing little bits of points and avoiding taking any loss of points. Rob spent most of the game pulling Ra tiles and hoping not to "Ra" out before getting something decent at the end of each round. In the end, I had the high score! Unfortunately for me, so did Mike. When we compared total suns (the tie breaker), of course we had the same score, so we settled for tie.

By the time we wrapped up, another load of folks had arrived - Nathan Winchester, Niecy Westmoreland, and Matt and Liz Longieliere. With a bigger group of folks, we broke into three games. I sat down with Liz, Rob, Niecy, Nathan and Mike for a game of Top Race (ASS edition).This is a great little screw-with-everyone race game (not unlike Ave Caesar, except with betting). Unlike the first time I played this game, I managed not to lose money on any of the races. In fact, I played ok. However, Rob ran away with the last two races and betting. I think I beat Nathan though, so it wasn't a total loss.

The three "Matts" were still in the middle of their Agricola game, so Amelia, Liz and I pulled out GemBlo. I had only played this once a number of years ago, but this is essentially a Blokus variant that plays 6 players. It was still fun with just the three of us, though it took us a little while to figure out what part of the board to use for three players. I threw most of my big and difficult pieces out early (playing for blocks as much as I could) and that helped me finish with only 7 stones worth of points and a win. The three of us then finished the night with a three player game of Alhambra. I was never in a position to get any purple buildings and my giant wall didn't seem to help me much. Amelia scored a ton of purple points the whole game and won by about 15 or 20 points.

The Cost of Boxing up Combat Commander (and more)

I've received a few questions so to answer them all:

• $12 - This is the box I used from Staples - it is really sturdy. I got clear with a "smoke" lid. Don't buy a cheap box.
• $42 ($7 each) - I bought bead boxes like the picture. They have these at every Walmart I've been to (or had - I had to go to three to find the 9 I bought).
• $18 - Ultra Pro Clear card protectors. I went with the clear ones to show off the different backs to the cards. I've never played the game without them, so none of the cards show any wear.
• $4 - Counter Clipping Jig by Jesse
• $2 - 200 count cardboard boxes 
• $30 - Litko markers and smoke and blaze markers.

Now, that makes the cost around $108 for the parts that aren't the game. Dang. It doesn't seem that much when you buy it in small chunks. I had a few folks ask me if this solution will hold CC:E + CC:Med + CC:Pacific. The answer is - nope. This should hold CC:E + CC:Med + expansions (Paratroopers, Stalingrad, Normandy, Resistance!, and the stuff from C3i), but if you put 9 of the bead boxes in the box, there is no room for the cards. That's ok by me - Pacific is really its own game as opposed to all of the others which are really a set. FYI- the Pacific box top sits up about 1cm with three bead boxes stacked on the maps and rules.

Boxing Up Combat Commander

The goal: figure out a solution for storing Combat Commander: Europe and Combat Commander: Mediterranean. The problem: CC:Med takes up as much space as the original game, but isn't a standalone either - it is a full on expansion.
After a little bit of internal debate, I finally decided that whatever solution I settled on for putting things together was going to take space. I had originally settled on a solution that had each faction basically in a small Plano box and the cards bagged. All of which sat on the maps and rules etc in their own boxes. Not terrible, but it meant having to always haul out two boxes and sifting through everything to find the things you wanted/needed for a game. It also didn't lend itself as a solution when you started adding in the small expansions and scenarios from C3i. The best solution I had seen on BGG was one guy (Chick Lewis) that used a file case to load all his stuff. I started here and looked at a number of different storage solutions for the chits before finally settling on some bead boxes. These boxes are clear, fairly flat, and hold 24 individual cases with clear screw tops. The chits fit well in them and are easy to find and get out - it is also easy to pull out certain ones (like the suppression markers, smoke, wire, etc) and have them sit off to the side without taking up much space. I got six of them and fit everything in with room to spare. Not sure the expansions have lots of chits, but if they do, I have space for them. With the cards, I decided to use a couple of the deck boxes I have floating around. Each holds three of the sleeved decks (perfect!) and the two boxes easily fit in the case. There is also sufficient room in the case for a couple of hanging folders for the maps, rules, reference cards, and scenario books. The box I purchased (Staples) also has a flip up lid on top with some spaces where I have put all my little plastic bits. So, this takes up a bit of room, but the system works really well. Robert and I pulled all our pieces out from this setup the other day to play and it was pretty smooth overall.

Rush to Contact

Outskirts of Hitdorf, Germany - April 6, 1945. After crossing the Rhine, leading elements of Company A, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Regiment found themselves met by elements of the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division on the road to Hitdorf. Both side reported contact and immediately called for reinforcements.
Robert Bolan came over to resume our battles in Combat Commander:Europe after a 5-6 month layoff. He had lost the last time we played and chose to play as the Allied/American forces this time around. The scenario laid out with minimal units for the Americans and Germans. I had luckily drawn my secret objective as the spot closest to me and least likely to be ever taken by my opponent, so I setup my group near the house on the hill and hoped to maybe pick of any approaching Americans before reinforcements arrived. Robert quickly used what he had to basically over-run the other objectives and was well positioned when it was reinforcement time. The Germans arrived quickly and all at once and I setup to lay seige to the American's position in the central part of the map. I used another group on the far East side of the map to race off the map for points and as reinforcements when Robert would get his next batch of men (the Americans trickled in over three or so time spots). For a couple turns, I used my men in high-ground areas and machine gun teams to try and repel the Americans. Robert was giving the West side of the map a wide bearth (no cover near the road to approach my machine gun) and so I chose to try and race more units off the map. However, Robert stopped them dead in their tracks and eliminated them shortly after. My other units were not seeing much success either and Robert kicked their ass with two rounds of devastating order cards. He was able to call in artillery on my mass of machine gunners assaulting his houses and then through a series of the most lucky events, I lost recover cards in consecutive rounds, keeping me from regrouping. Without the ability to fight back, he demolished the Germans and forced a surrender victory. I played this one poorly (should have forced Robert to assault my positions) and Robert had all the karma. Next round is my pick. We'll have to see what happens.

El Grande

This month at the work gaming night, I introduced my fellow gamer/co-workers to El Grande. We had exactly five - Robert Bolan, Ana Lopez, Danielle Reader-Jolley, Deborah Allwes and myself. I went over the game and there were a few confused stares. Probably partial due to a number of co-workers being a bit fatigued. Despite that, once we started everyone seemed to really like the game. I myself enjoy this one a lot - though I've only played it three times (once with expansions). I think this one seems hard to get to the table due to it seeming to be really best with five players. I could see it being ok with four, but not as good. At any rate - I started out with an early lead which I managed to hold onto the entire game. Not that everyone didn't make some moves at the end of the game. In the last round, everyone managed to knock me out of first place in every place I was going to score in - with the stupid Castillo. Luckily in the last round, there was a "score first place only" in every region action that accounted me a good sum of points which let me hold out. Ana managed to be within a few points - she was in second most of game. Danielle kind of mis-understood the scoring and didn't score well in the first scoring, but made up ground in the last two to finish in the middle of the pack. Robert and Deborah were fighting to avoid last, but Deborah managed to eck out two more points than Robert.

Through the Ages

And yet another game of Through the Ages in the bag. I apparently learned something from the last beating I took at the hands of Steve Bauer. This online game was played with Robert Bolan, Nathan Winchester, and Matthew Frederick. The game started with my taking Homer - he's nice for some early points which is probably the amount I won this game by. The difference for me this game was two things: one, I NEVER got a mine upgrade. That's right, I played the whole game never having more than three bronze workers. I never even saw a mine upgrade card - the jerks I was playing with snatched them up as fast as they appeared on the board. This forced me to pay more attention to what I was taking and to play more efficiently than normal. It worked. The turning point for me was probably near the end of the first third of the game when I passed taking a swordsman technology. Saving my science points for knights and saving myself the cost of buying (and expending) swordsman helped immensely. As the game neared its end, I looked to have a pretty comfortable lead. Right up until Robert declared war on Nathan. Nathan DESTROYED Robert and garnered a reward of 21 culture points. Suddenly I wasn't sure I could hold him off. I grabbed Gandhi to earn points and built items solely gearing myself to generating as many last round points as I could. After the dust settled, I had managed to finally knock off Nathan from his undefeated streak. Nathan's "super science" strategy has been defeated (and not by uber military). Some interesting things to note:

• Never upgraded my mine, nor had more than 3 bronze workers.
• Never disbanded anything
• Didn't build the Transcontinental RR (built a late Ocean Liner Service)
• Didn't change governments until late in the game - switched to Republic 
• Never had more than 2 military actions

I'm not sure how much more of this game I have in me. It plays awfully tight and seems a little unforgiving when everyone knows the cards and pacing of the game. That kind of non-flexibility is ok in games that are shorter, but this game is pretty long to be that unforgiving. The other thing that is bothersome is that this is a rich get richer game. Fall behind and you are screwed. I still like the game, but its just about to fall out of my top 10 after nearly 10 plays.

Return to Lipki

I have returned to Lipki, Russia. The year is 1941 and I'm in charge of a German recon mission. On the other side? Erik Von Burg and the Russian army - out on a search and destroy mission. And this is why I play Combat Commander. Because it draws you into the story. But unlike some games that are all story and little game, there is plenty of game here. This was the first time Erik had played Combat Commander, so I went back to the beginning. Heck, it had been 5 months since I last played, so I had to go back and review the rules before Erik came over so I could remember everything. The game started slowly for Erik as he made a small mistake and had to regroup his forces in order keep his troops in command range of his leader. He made up for this by quickly taking out a small squad of Germans he ran into in the forest. I was forced to huddle in some buildings and try to hold out against Erik. I killed a couple of his squads, but it became a firefight across the road - with his side having a slight advantage with two medium machine guns. I contemplated moving a unit around to the west and then north to score some points for moving them off the board, but Erik managed to draw the Time! card over and over. He finally went through his deck and suddenly the game was over. When we revealed the objectives I managed to edge him out for the win.

Random thoughts on storing Combat Commander

Now that I have Combat Commander: Mediterranean, I've been considering the options for storage. Each of the Europe (base) game and Med fit in their own boxes using the Plano containers (pictured) I have now. Three of these (20 spaces each) and the card decks fit into the boxes with the lids either flush or just barely lifted. The problem is - CC:Med is not really a separate game - it is an expansion (and in some ways "completes" the base game). I could of course just use GMT counter trays, but six or seven of these will fill a box and require the cards and maps in another box. The other issue I have with the counter trays is that I'm not sure the lids won't just pop off and dump chits everywhere. I'd also really like to have all of the materials in one container. A lot of the published scenarios and tourney scenarios require both Europe and Med. Then of course there are the expansions :

• Combat Commander: Battle Pack #1 - Paratroopers
• Combat Commander: Battle Pack #2 - Stalingrad
• Combat Commander: Battle Pack #3 - Normandy
• Combat Commander: Resistance!

These will add to the bulk of maps as well as add counters. At this point it almost looks like I need a tackle bag solution like I use for Command and Colors: Ancients. The problem with this is that the Plano boxes are too big for the little chits. While there are lots of chits, they aren't so plentiful that I need the kind of space that the C&C:Ancients blocks require.
This morning, I was over at Walmart looking at their tackle selection trying to figure out if I wanted to just use a tackle box and what might work. Then I wandered over to their craft section and there I found bead boxes. These smaller boxes are fairly flat and have 24 containers inside them (thus I'd need 5 to meet the current storage need and maybe a 6th for expansions. These aren't too bad for size (I'd still need some other solution for toting everything around, but the clear plastic should work pretty decently). The small containers have screw tops to keep the chits in. I'm kind of leaning this way if I can figure out a solution for keeping these and the cards and all of the maps and booklets together.

Gaming With Nathan

Nathan Winchester and I haven't played anything face to face in a while - its been busy for us lately. He just got back to town after being in Washington for training for his new job and he wanted to game. He stopped by after work and we had a little dinner and then played some games. We started the night with a couple quick games of Hive - including the new ladybug. Ladybug was interesting though not really a factor. I lost the first game stupidly and then we pushed in the second.
Next up, we pulled out Caylus Magna Carta. This one is short and sweet and still interesting. This game, our setup had no food card and we didn't pay attention to build one right away. Nor did either of us build a gold and thus our game went by pretty quickly. I amassed a good amount of cash and then managed to get the card down that lets you buy the castle stones and purchased my way to a victory as quickly as I could. Of course, the last time we played we forgot an important rule - the player who collects the most building stones each round is rewarded with a gold resource marker. Well, we forgot AGAIN. That might have made a bit of a difference.

We ended the night playing Louis XIV. I haven't played this in years, but obtained a copy in a trade a while back. This isn't a bad little area control game. It is interesting game (though the two-player version is slightly odd). I'm still not too keen on the end game scoring thing with the coat of arms, but it doesn't make the game bad. Nathan did manage to score a single point more than I did for a win despite my winning a number of CoA bonuses. I'd like to play this with three people (four was rough IIRC).

Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization

Last Friday night was game night at Rob and Michelle's place. Matthew Frederick had indicated wanting to play Through the Ages face-to-face, the two of us sat down with Steve Bauer and Robert Bolan for a marathon game of TtA. We knew this would be a long game with four players and we were not wrong. Unfortunately, Steve has played often enough to know how to kick all our asses. And kick he did. Robert and I probably should have conceded about two hours before the end of the game (at least two hours). We learned a lot about the game (that had previously been essentially hidden from us by the online system we use for PBEM games. Of course, having more knowledge of the game hasn't made me any better of a player. Today we finished another online game and Nathan is now a stupid 6-0 in this game. I'm really on the fence with this one ATM. I like the game, but I just don't seem to grok it. I'm torn between wanting to figure it out and not wanting to play it anymore. I'll likely keep playing online and for sure I will not play it again F2F with four players (in fact, I won't play this with 2 online or F2F). Not sure how many more beatings I have left in me though.