Go for the Gold...

Had fun Thursday night -- 7 guys showed up at Greg's house, and after the obligatory "What will we play?" discussions, we broke off into 2 games. A 6-player Here I Stand broke out (tournament scenario), while Jeff Burdett and I played the "Lion of Winter" scenario from Warriors of God. It was a close game for a while, then my French got some lucky control rolls (while Jeff's English didn't) and the VPs started to add up. Jeff commenced an epic battle in Ile-de-France, but greater French numbers won over superior English leadership. It was a real bloodbath, however! When VPs got to 23 for the French on Turn 7, we decided to call it a game, and this let Jeff get home earlier than planned.

I was thinking of heading home myself, but I got roped into replacing the Ottoman player in the HIS game. His position was decent, and I got some more Piracy VP, as well as taking Tunis, so I was in the mix when we called it a game. France had invaded England and taken Bristol -- something you don't see much in this game.

Greg has a great downstairs gaming/home theater/kids' rec room set up. He's threatening to do this on a regular basis, and I hope he does! Next time, we'll decide on games in advance, and I think I will go with Espana 1936...

Tonight, I think I'll set my alarm for 2:30 AM to watch the basketball gold medal game between the US and Spain. I'm glad the punky team that played in Athens lost, but I'm really rooting for these guys -- they're not only the best athletes, but they are definitely a team. I expect them to beat Spain by about 30, but am actually hoping for a good game. And, as the saying goes, "on any given day..."

More Gaming...

While waiting for the VASSAL HIS game to start up, I took over the English position in an ongoing ACTS game after a slow player dropped out. The game is "HIS Bible and Sword" for anyone interested in checking it out. The moves are being done using Cyberboard, while it's being tracked (and cards are dealt) using ACTS. England seems to be in a decent position, we'll see how it plays out.  Since it's been a couple months since I've played, I figured this was a good opportunity to refresh myself with the rules.

Tonight, Bill will be coming by to finish up our 30YW game.  I'll take notes and finish up the AAR in the next few days.  I have a feeling this one is coming down to the end -- I'll need to fend off both the Swedes and the French.  Time to go to the Pope and pray a little (or a lot!).

With summer coming and the impending move, I've gotta figure out how to pack my games into boxes (mostly big ol' plastic recycling boxes).  I want to sell/trade many of them, so I have to keep track of where each game is.  Also, I'll need to have handy the games I'll be playing/hoping to be playing this summer, with my groups and at WBC.  As someone who isn't the most organized person in the world, this is causing me a bit of consternation -- and paralyzing me from doing anything, at the moment...

Oh yeah, as far as the move goes, a house in our neighborhood just sold for $50,000 more than we paid for ours -- and ours is bigger and on more land.  I had heard that the housing market around these parts was pretty good (bucking the national trend), but I'm shocked at some of the high prices I'm seeing.  We need to jump on that bandwagon!

Clubbing and VASSAL...

No, I'm not 22 anymore, so "clubbing" has a different definition to me now...

I think that, after all, I may be able to head to the University of Buffalo (UB) for the Buffalo Gamer's monthly meet. It looked bleak yesterday, as we're having work done on our house in order to get ready to put it on the market. It looked like our friend Doug was coming in the morning to get started, and Deanna had plans, so I was stuck here. But Doug has said he can't get here before mid/late afternoon, by which time Deanna will be back. So if the plan holds, a day of gaming at UB is on my plate!

Besides, Deanna's the persnickety one when it comes to painting, drywall, wallpaper removal, etc., so better she's in charge than I. None of this, "Why didn't you have Doug do _________" stuff, if I'm not around. Hehe!

Yesterday I signed up to play a Here I Stand (HIS) game with some friends from CSW. HIS is a game on the Protestant Reformation, wars during that time, and the exploration of the New World. We're talking a time frame of the early-mid 1500s. It's a game for 6 players -- Hapsburgs, Ottomans, France, England, Protestans, and the Papacy. The game is a lot of fun, and we'll be playing on VASSAL, a real-time, or play by electronic mail (pbem) site. Alas, VASSAL is something I've always had trouble with, so I'm hoping a training session tomorrow will open my eyes a little. And, of course, I'll be reporting on the game here.

Finally, Khyber Pass Games put out a solitaire game, B-29, which lets one fly missions to bomb Japan in WWII. I signed up for a game on CSW -- I don't have to do anything, just see what happens to my character as javelina trader Shannon Cooke flies the missions. I'm the bombardier, so let's hope I'm on target!