A Day of Epic Battles

Steve and I started the day off with Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage. Steve took the pesky Carthaginians, while I commanded the noble Romans. I think the key to victory for the Romans is to play a conservative defense, wearing down Carthage but avoiding getting sucked into a large engagement until your good general, Africanus appears on turn 8. This is very hard to do, as Hannibal is happily marching up and down Italy and your empire threatens to come apart at the seams. Despite one ill advised foray into Spain with my Consuls, I managed to keep things pretty much together. Unfortunately, I made a crucial error by sending Africanus to Spain while Hannibal was still strong in Italy. Steve masterfully earned the auto-victory and remains undefeated at this game.

We next busted out Commands and Colors: Ancients. Sticking with the theme of Rome vs. Carthage, we kept the same sides and re-fought the Battle of Cannae. History was reversed again, as I was able to barely squeak out a desperately fought victory against Steve, winning by one flag. Glory to Rome!

Next, we coaxed Jon into trying the new game Age of Gods. We each played to the role of a fantasy god, manipulating various fantasy races to engage in a worldwide chaotic war of death and destruction in hopes our followers would reign supreme in the end. Master of Deception Jon totally misdirected me into thinking the High Elves were his followers, and I spent the first half of the game annihilating them from the map. Unfortunately, he was secretly controlling the Dwarves and the Giants, two races that I had helped fortify and expand in order to take down the innocent elves. Argh! Steve ran amok as the God of War with the Orcs and Gargoyles and moved to a solid second place. My poor Legion of Chaos, Amazon nation, Cult of Necromancers, and Lizardman tribe were all pretty much wiped out by the various fantasy incarnations of tactical nuclear weapons present in the game. Excellent win, Jon!

Lastly, Steve and I played an epic game of War of the Ring. This post is getting long, so I'll cut to the chase. Steve dunked the ring with 11 corruption and me on the verge of having 8 VPs. A solid win which, despite speedy play, was so tightly contested that it took a solid three hours to reach its conclusion. Steve, you're a master of this wonderful game.

Chris, thank you very much for your fantastic hospitality and gracious hosting!