Gaming started off with Marty and me playing Scenario 22 of CC:Med. It is dusk, and a group of Scots Guards are approaching a small hamlet held by rag-tag German troops (it's 1945), but the Germans do have a heavy machine gun (HMG) and a mortar, and the Scots are advancing over a wheatfield and begin the game suppressed, from harassing fire. For the first time at NBW, I got to play a non-German nationality, taking the Brits (Scots). I began by placing as much smoke as I could from my light mortar, and some lucky attacks soon broke the Germans manning the HMG. With the night getting darker, I hastened my approach and with assault fire was able to hurt the German line. Marty ran into some extremely bad luck, as his mortar broke and his HMG was useless, so the Germans decided to surrender before the men in kilts could slit their throats. I had made my 4th game of CC and was 4-0. Figured I was doing OK!
Marty and I wandered around and 3 gents were getting a Le Havre game going. Now, I want to say that Marty had done something really nice for me -- he sent me a "thank you" box prior to the con for picking him up at the Buffalo Airport. There were several treats for Cheyenne (which she's since devoured!) and the game Le Havre for me! That was mighty kind of him, if I do say so... Well, I had read the rules, but like many of the "heavier" euros, they didn't make a lot of sense until one actually sat down and played. So that's what we did, playing a 5-player game. Basically, the game has you buying goods at the docks and then using these goods to buy buildings, make money, and feed your workers. It's a real balancing act. I really took to the game, and things were looking good for me. On the last turn, I had run out of food, so I had to pay another player 2 francs to use his "Shipping Line." The usual cost is 2 food. At the end of the game, one counts up their victory point (VP) buildings and adds in their francs, with the total being their score. I had 139 points. The winner had 141. the winner was the guy I paid 2 francs to! D'oh! If I had had 2 food I would have won the game! Final scores were 141-139-139-108-88. A game I really enjoyed, and will be playing a lot over the years, I believe.
After hanging out and chatting with folks for a couple hours, Nels Thompson and I squared off for another CC game. Now, Nels is the guy who first taught me the game, and we've played quite a few times, usually having good games. Giddy with my British victory, I decided to pick a scenario with no Germans, choosing #15 from CC:Med, Rumanians blundering into a town in Russia in 1941 that is more heavily defended than they bargained for. Nels took the Soviets, and we were off. Now, the Rumanians had a ton of troops, but most were of questionable quality. Several Soviet units got to set up hidden, popping up on Turn 2. My initial plan was to flood my right flank, make a breakthrough, and try to send as many squads as possible off the board before Nels could react. Well, the best laid plans and all that... In the first 8 hands, we had 3 time advances, so before my guys even got moving, Nels was able to reinforce his left flank. Just as bad for me, my reinforcements had nowhere to go, and the board was full of juicy Axis Minor targets. I fought it out as hard as I could, even killing a few Soviets, but Nels just kept mowing my boys down, ending up with an 18 point Soviet victory. My undefeated tourney record was now officially history!
Nels and I were looking for something lighter now, and Marty and Jeffrey "The Kid" joined us for a game of Dominion. Light it may be, but this was one fun, and close game. Final scores rang out as: 27-26-24-23. I had the 27, so some of the sting of my humiliating Rumanian defeat was washed away...
Chit-chatting away with others for a bit, then I got into another CC:Med game, this time with Francois Petitclerc from Montreal. Francois had come down with Marc Guenette, a CSW friend who I had been asking to come to NBW for several years. Well, he finally made it, and we actually even got a game in (more on that later). But today it was vs. Francois, and we were fighting Scenario 23 -- British vs. Italians in the Western Desert, 1942. I took the Italians. Both sides had trench lines, artillery, and the British had a forward machine gun post in an abandoned truck while the Italians had many more men. There was no terrain here (just a lot of sand and trenches), so Francois began by laying down smoke and aggressively taking a couple of objectives, forcing me to react to his moves. I did, and the game bounced back and forth for several turns, with neither of us more than 2 VPs ahead. I finally cleared out the machine gun, but Francois got a squad and leader to take over the position, and this new force dominated any advances I tried to make for the rest of the game. We ended with a 4 VP British victory, and I learned that Francois is an excellent opponent (not to mention a very funny guy!). Great game, but I was now on a 2-game losing streak...
Defending the Western DesertI was ready for another lighter game, and when Pete Lipson showed up with Race for the Galaxy (RftG), he, Francois, "The Kid" and I sat down for a game. I love RftG, yet hadn't played much since the 2008 NBW -- my fault. But we got right into the game and it soon became obvious that our Montreal ringer was going to win this one pretty handily. He did, with the final scores being: 45-20-18-16. I had 18, so at least I wasn't last...
7 of us went out to dinner, back to Carpaccio's. I had a really nice egg noodle and mushroom dish, as well as a huge salad, as I was craving greens! We spent a long time in the restaurant shooting the shit and laughing at a table of drunk older ladies celebrating a birthday... Stopped at a Beer Store on the way back, and I bought some Tankhouse Ale and Lager. The Ale was delicious, the Lager was disappointing. But it was still beer, so we were happy...
To end the night, I got into an Atlantic Storm game with Clint from Northern Ontario and a bunch of newbies. It was late, and the game went too slowly, so I just drank a few beers to pass the time. By the time it had ended, the scores were 36-30-30-23-18-15. I had a "30" and didn't even care that I didn't win. I just wanted to get to bed...
2 comments:
And now "CC: Med" too! ;-) Actually I'd been planning on getting the rest of the CC mods as I can, but you know, gotta make house payments first!
All the Combat Commander stuff is most excellent. Several folks have been telling me CC:Pacific is the best yet. I hope to try it out over break next week...
Post a Comment