Vacation Doesn't Suck

So, I had the week off this week, mainly to make a hard push on a major interior remodeling project underway at the casa. Still, I was able to make time to accept Steve's gracious offer to spend a day of gaming today at his wonderful, happy home where dog and cat frolic together in unholy union.

We started off with a game of Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage. I took the beleaguered Romans, and actually had a good start, holding onto a chunk of Spain, while minimizing the bleeding from Hannibal in Italy. Like the USA in Twilight Struggle, the key for the Romans in the early game is just to survive the onslaught, or, even better, maintain reasonable parity. Unfortunately, crafty Steve eventually cornered my incompetent Consuls into a position where I was forced to give battle, and, wow, did I lose big.... about five battles in a row. My typical die rolling lack of prowess was in peak form, but Steve has truly mastered the art of playing his battle deck to the fullest. I was able to reproduce Romans pretty must as fast as he was able to kill them, but the political will of the empire was turning against me with each defeat. I finally made some desperate attempts to crush Hannibal by slamming him in between two Consular armies, but Steve intercepted the first one before it could form but, utterly destroying it and winning the war. Curse you, Longus!

Next, Steve agreed to try out Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation. We played several games, trading sides each time. Shadowfax again made a key appearance in the game, helping carry Steve's Frodo into the loving arms of the Witch King. All in all, this is one of my favorite quick filler games, rich in theme, yet meaty enough to hold one's interest.

Lastly Steve set up Kingmaker, and we played through a turn or so. I first played this game back in 5th grade, so it was probably one of the first 3-4 wargames I ever played. Ah, nostalgia! Steve did a wonderful job of running through the rules and explaining how he could adapt the game to use either miniatures rules or perhaps BattleLore eventually to resolve the battles, with the turns being resolved by e-mail. I'm totally signed up to participate in such a campaign game!

Okay.... back to studying Europe Engulfed. I think this is a game I just need to get to the table and struggle through the first time. The rules just make me sleepy! Anyway, tomorrow looks like its going to hold more vacation wargaming! Woo hoo!

PS: SPQR Deluxe arrived today from GMT. Wow, what a spectacle of a game.