Gaming and "why" blog...

When I first began blogging about games on Consimworld (CSW), my blog turned into a "stream of consciousness" type deal which then morphed into a "Howard Stern" type of site. I admit, it was fun while it lasted, but I soon grew bored with all the potty humor. Yes, I'm a guy, and we tend to enjoy that sort of stuff, but there is a limit. So I closed up after more than 25,000 posts. And I stayed away for a while, until my beautiful dog, Gypsy, was diagnosed (again) with cancer. I opened a new blog, with access only for my online gaming "friends," using it as a place where I could talk freely about what I was going through. In hindsight, certainly, I wish I had opened a real blog, like this one, to use for my catharsis. It did help, and I kept it open for 8 months or so even after Gypsy's death (and I will write about this lovely dog -- my friend -- here, but not today, as I wish to keep things upbeat). I knew, though, it was time to get off that site as a blog owner. Too many people who I didn't have fun around. A time sink without a good payoff.

Now, don't get me wrong -- I still go to CSW and post there, but I try to keep it gaming related (save for a few blogs of friends). It can be a good gaming resource, as are Boardgame Geek (BGG), Web Grognards, and others I'll eventually get to. But some of the animosity there has risen to a level that's made the site much less fun. So, here I am, getting the itch to write about gaming (and many other subjects) again. I know that my audience here will be much lower than it would be on a site like CSW, but it will, undoubtedly, be of much higher quality.

And yes, I have a lot to say...

But I was taken away by a walk at Indian Hill Nature Center in Perinton with Cheyenne and Deanna this afternoon, then I cam home to a neat little package waiting -- "Israeli Independence" from Victory Point Games. This company produces cheap little games, I believe the Israeli game cost $14, which includes postage. It's a solitaire game of the fighting around Jerusalem in 1948-49. Very abstract and completely luck driven, but strangely captivating. There are 5 Arab armies starting 4 spaces (on a track) from West Jerusalem. Each turn begins by flipping an event card which advances one or more of these armies (a few cards force retreats). The card also gives the number of Israeli attacks available that turn, anywhere from 1 to 3 (though a "Truce" cards gives 0). Arab armies are rated "3," save for Lebanon's "2" and Jordan's "4." When attacking an Arab army, you need to roll one die and get a number > the army's rating. So the Lebanese are pretty easy to push back, the Jordanians are tough! Some cards give die roll modifiers (-1, +1, +2) to certain attacks. There are also events which remove certain Arab armies from play if they're on the last space on their track (i.e. farthest from Jerusalem). The deck plays out through 22 of these event cards. If ANY Arab army makes it to West Jerusalem before the deck is exhausted, the Israelis lose. If you make it through the deck before West Jerusalem falls, Israel wins (and is created as an independent state in history).

Not a typical wargame, but one that was fun to go through a few times this afternoon, as each game was taking about 10 minutes or so.