Unplayed games coming out of the closet

The more I read of Chris "GamerChris" Norwood's blog and the more I hear of his podcast, the more I appreciate his thoughtful take on boardgaming.  Most recently, he posted an admission of his "secret shame" - a list of unplayed games.  I recognized a number of games on his list, and was just about to chastise him for having neglected some particularly good ones ... and then I thought that perhaps I ought to see just how much glass there was in my own house before casting stones in his direction.

Showdown at Guadalcanal

My good friend Frank Hodge and I sat down after work for the last scenario in our "Pacific Theatre via Midway" series - the Battle of Guadalcanal - or more correctly perhaps, the Battle Around Guadalcanal (since we didn't worry too much about how the troops in the mud on the island itself fared - with apologies to my brother Pete the Marine).  This scenario for the first time presents the U.S. player with the same problem that faces the Japanese player in almost every other scenario - having to land transports on an objective.  In this case, both the Japanese and the Americans are trying to land forces on Guadalcanal to reinforce troops already there so as to secure control of the island.

Diana Jones Award nominees - dubious recognition

A Wil Wheaton tweet called my attention to the nomination of the YouTube Geek and Sundry show Table Top for the 2013 Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming.

The what?

War and Peace in an afternoon

(c) Worthington Publishing
Used by permission

After work today, my friends Frank Hodge and Grant Greffey and I got together to break in Grant's new copy of War & Peace (designer Grant Wylie, publisher Worthington Games).  This game covers the campaign of Napoleon in Europe in an Axis and Allies format with some interesting rules to handle shifting alliances of some of the second-tier powers of the war.  Normally a two-player game, we used the optional rule for a three-player game, so that Grant played the French as Napoleon Bonaparte, Frank played the English, and I played the Russians.

Backyard 24/7

Just a picture this time:  As the weather improves, the backyard boardgaming becomes more frequent.  Friday after work it was 24/7: The Game (designer Carey Grayson, publisher Sunriver Games).
 

Undiscovered Carthage?

(c) Z-man.  Used by permission

Last Friday, I wrote about the underappreciated game Alexandros.  I remarked that I never run across any mention of it in blogs, podcasts, or anywhere else outside its boardgamegeek entry.  This evening, Kathy and I played another game only slightly more recognizable, Traders of Carthage (designer Susumu Kawasaki, artists Peter Gifford and You Satouchi, publisher Z-man).  The whole time we were playing, I kept remarking on the tight, agonizing decisions, turn by turn.  Nothing is obvious in this game; every choice has two sides - risk and opportunity, benefit and consequence.  I wondered whether ToC, like Alexandros, might qualify as a little-known gem that deserves more recognition.

Birthday dinner gaming

Yesterday was my beautiful wife Kathy's birthday, and we celebrated by having our good friends Glenn, Jeff, and Rebecca over for dinner and boardgames.  We customarily get together every few months or so to socialize, most recently in November when we played Tsuro and Settlers of Catan at Jeff's house.

Who loves you, Alexandros?

Today, Kathy and I played Alexandros (designer Leo Colovini, art by Grafik Studio Krüger, publisher Rio

Kathy's green generals govern some
high tax-earning provinces in the west

Grande).  I'd blogged some time ago speculating that this game might have a runaway leader problem, but that was not in evidence in our game today.  Although I jumped to an early lead and tried to continually levy taxes to open my advantage, Kathy gamely and gradually caught up to me.  She accumulated cards to knock me out of my high-earning provinces, one by one.  She timed it perfectly, so that she passed me on the high end of the scoring track and maintained the tax-collecting momentum to win by a substantial 120 to 97 points.