This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Ruby Buzz
by Daniel Berger.
Original Post: Game-a-thon, July 14-18, 2006
Feed Title: Testing 1,2,3...
Feed URL: http://djberg96.livejournal.com/data/rss
Feed Description: A blog on Ruby and other stuff.
I just got back from a heavy duty wargaming session in Detroit with one of my good friends. In some cases we played a whole game, in others we just did a turn or two to get the feel of it. Here's a synopsis, from easiest to most difficult:
Ticket to Ride - Fun, simple train game that can be finished in about an about 45 minutes, and you can probably rope in the spouse and/or in-laws. Playable while drunk.
Battlestar Galactica CCG - Relatively easy and interesting CCG based on the newer television series. Unfortunately, this game is saddled by the problem that many CCG games have in that once you get behind it's almost impossible to make a comeback.
Twilight Struggle - A relatively simple, card driven game that simulates the Cold War in a very abstract way. Not bad, but not great. It's fun, but somewhat chaotic and luck driven.
Wilderness War - A card driven, strategic level version of the French & Indian War (aka the 7 Years War). Simpler than Paths of Glory, yet still somewhat interesting and fun. Somewhat chaotic and luck driven, however, and should be limited to the tournament scenario. The long game does not work.
Shifting Sands - A strategic level game of the North African campaign of WWII. This game uses the tried and true system of 'Paths of Glory' with some minor modifications. It seemed like a pretty good game on the whole, but I suspect the replayability is limited.
Revolution: The Dutch Revolt 1568-1648 - A very interesting looking Civilization style game, best played with 5. The strategy and tactics seem subtle and intriguing (much more so than Civilization). The map is a little too small (or the counters too big), and the small, cursive writing makes it difficult to read, but nothing insurmountable. I definitely want to try it again with 5.
The Civil War - The American Civil War, that is. This is an old, but excellent game by Eric Lee Smith that really set the standard for strategic level ASW games. It does show its age a bit with an early 80's map and counters and long playing time, but its vastly superior to 'For the People'.
For the People - Another strategic ACW game, but vastly inferior to Eric Lee Smith's game. Idiotic leadership rules, dumb CRT, bizarre and fiddly river rules, and a chaotic card set make this game unplayable. We played it twice just to make sure we weren't missing something crucial. We weren't. Between this game and the disasterously bad Empire of the Sun, I won't be purchasing any more Mark Herman games.
Attack Vector: Tactical - A space combat game for those who enjoy realistic physics and a little bit of math. Not for the faint of heart.
In the computer gaming department, we played the Drop Team demo. There's a version for Linux, btw.
Previous Topic
