The third scenario in Squad Leader does an interesting trick: it takes the first two scenarios (The Guards Counterattack and The Tractor Works) and puts them together, depicting a rather busy day in the fighting for Stalingrad. Indeed, it’s a very crowded map when set-up, with the Russians having a total of 60 squads on the board! Squad Leader uses a system of teaching the … Continue reading Squad Leader report: 3a – The Streets of Stalingrad
My D&D session last night was cancelled when three players cancelled at short notice, leaving the four of us sitting around a table with my new copy of A Study in Emerald, an unholy mash-up of Martin Wallace’s game design skills, Neil Gaiman’s writing, Sherlock Holmes, and the Call of Cthulhu. They were slightly dubious going on. They left raving. No, no – in a … Continue reading First impressions of A Study in Emerald – a board game by Martin Wallace
Friday afternoon arrived and, much to my delight, so did Mick. As a result, we were able to play the latest in our series of ASL Starter Kit games. This is our fourth game together, I think. This time we were playing scenario S6, Released from the East, the final scenario in Starter Kit 1. After perusing the scenario set-up, Mick chose to play the … Continue reading Advanced Squad Leader report: S6 – Released from the East
My afternoon games of ASL have continued, although not always against the same players. This was another new opponent, a younger gentleman who otherwise was unoccupied on a hot Thursday afternoon. Seeing as I haven’t posted a report in this run for the first scenario in SK1, Retaking Vierville, despite playing it a couple of weeks ago, I thought now would be a good chance … Continue reading Advanced Squad Leader report: S1: Retaking Vierville
After a week of very hot temperatures (five days above 40 degrees Celsius), I was not exactly well-rested when it came to playing the A Game of Thrones Card Game. As a result, I was basically grumpy throughout the preceding week, and I had some major reservations playing in the Game Day event – especially as I had to run five hours of D&D immediately … Continue reading A Game of Thrones LCG Game Day, Ballarat
Brett had needed to leave, but Mick had arrived in the meantime, and so I was able to have the unusual experience of playing Advanced Squad Leader three times in one day! Admittedly, just the starter kit rules, but nonetheless, it was a good experience. Mick’s now played a couple of games with me, and having seen quite enough of S4 Welcome Back, I moved … Continue reading Advanced Squad Leader report: S5 Clearing Coleville
After the extremely short and brutal game we’d just had, which was basically over before Brett had even finished his first turn, we reset the board and began again. This time would be different! It was too – Brett took advantage of the cover given by the tree line to move down and get closer to his goal. But could he get his units off … Continue reading Advanced Squad Leader report: S4 Welcome Back (take 2)
Brett had indicated an interest in ASL (Starter Kit) when I’d been playing a couple of weeks ago, and discovering him this afternoon with nothing else to do, I suggested a game. He happily accepted. Thus began one of the more lopsided games in my experience. It’s the game a moderately experienced player has against a complete newbie – not only to ASL, but to … Continue reading Advanced Squad Leader report: S4 Welcome Back
Saturday’s boardgaming consisted of two games: Archipelago and Terra Mystica, before D&D kicked in. Archipelago is something of a controversial game on the ‘Geek, mainly because it has a way for every player to lose; the players need to co-operate enough to stop that happening, but it is still every man for himself. It’s made trickier by hidden victory conditions. Each player knows a open … Continue reading Archipelago and Terra Mystica
I’m feeling really good about last week’s role-playing. Three games, each with a different version of the D&D rules, all memorable for their own reasons. There are times when things come together, and that was the case this week. D&D Encounters – Legacy of the Crystal Shard – D&D Next This has been a challenging season to run, but it’s been getting a lot better … Continue reading Three Games
