#SundaySummary – Stuffed #Thanksgiving and seeing red on #BlackFriday with @Alderac @trevormbenjamin @djackthompson @Zmangames_ @gmtgames @LnLPub @HuzzahHobbies @hollandspiele @PieceKeeperGame #wargame #boardgame

As previously warned about, not much gaming due to limited time and space. Then again, this is the time of the year I gladly give up game time on the family dining table for festive meals prepared by Mrs. RockyMountainNavy!

Wargame

Winter Wargaming Series

The RockyMountainNavy War Chest Winter Wargaming Series continued this weekend with me facing off against RockyMountainNavy T again. War Chest, by Trevor Benjamin and David Thompson (AEG, 2018) has become a go-to game for RMN T and myself to fill in the after-dinner time before watching sports or a movie. We use the draft system to pick our forces and this week was another interesting match-up:

• RMN T – Marshal, Berserkers, Footmen, Crossbowmen
• RMN – Royal Guards, Warrior Priests, Lancers, Archers

This was a hard-fought battle that lasted a full hour of play. I ended the game with just two coins in my bag but controlled five of my six needed areas before my last unit was killed. This game once again saw RMN T use the Marshal to order forces from a distance. We also had lots of change-of-initiative as we both leaned hard into using that rule to give ourselves back-to-back turns. For myself I think I used the Royal Guards more wisely than I have before. RMN T is now ahead 2-1 in our War Chest Winter Gaming Series with many more match-ups to surely come!

With RockyMountainNavy Jr. home for the holiday the Boys and myself got a play of Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Z-Man Games, 2022) in on Thanksgiving Night. We played on Padawan-level (3 missions) since it was RMN Jr.’s first play but we will play at least at Jedi Knight-level (4 missions) in the future because we never felt pressured. It also helped that RMN Jr. built a squad right from the beginning that was highly suited to the two at-start missions shown…

Holiday Sales/Black Friday/Small Business Saturday

I was (barely) able to take advantage of the GMT Games Holiday Sale. Was a bit difficult given I was on the other side of the world at the time. Next War: Vietnam by designer Mitchell Land should be inbound shortly. I also ordered a copy of Brandywine: Battles of the American Revolution Vol. II (designer Mark Miklos, 2000) only to later remember it is one of the games in the Tri-Pack Battles of the American Revolution (2017) that I already own! Ah…the challenges of managing your collection on the other side of the globe on a BGG app using spotty wi-fi…

I also took advantage of a sale at Flying Pig Games. Old School Tactical Volume II : West Front 1944-45 will hopefully arrive before Christmas. I recently acquired Old School Tactical Volume III: Pacific War 1942/45 and I like the system.

I also splurged a bit on myself for two other games from an online retail seller:

• Wings of the Motherland (Clash of Arms Games, 2019) is the latest in the Fighting Wings-series of World War II air combat games from J.D Webster and though very simulation-like I find no better wargame for showing the granular differences between combat aircraft than this series
• FAB: Golan ’73 (GMT Games, 2016) is part of the Fast Action Battles-series that I have read much about but never experienced; GMT Games has what appears to be the next-generation version, Decisive Action, up for its P500 pre-order program Battle Command up on P500 (thanks Jason Carr for the correction) but it will likely be years until that arrives (if ever) as it has not yet even “Made the Cut.”

I tried to order a game from the Lock n’ Load Publishing sale but couldn’t. Seems that whenever I try to place an order the shipping selection is lost. Same error on iOS, MacOS, and Windows devices in different browsers. (Sigh.) Guess the Interwebs Gods are telling me I spent too much already…

Wargame Practitioner

Am in the midst of a reading/research review of my library on the 1982 South Atlantic Campaign. Plenty of books but too few wargames. Detailed post in the future…

Boardgame

The day after Black Friday I stalked the tables at my FLGS, Huzzah Hobbies in Loudon, VA in support of Small Business Saturday. I was a bit surprised to find a Hollandspiele boardgame, The Field of the Cloth of Gold (designer Amabel Holland, 2020). Hollandspiele games are usually print-on-demand via Blue Panther and I had not previously seen a copy of any Hollandspiele game in this store. The game is still in shrink and I’m not sure if the shop ordered a few copies or if it was a consignment of sorts but it was 50% off (plus “Mil-D” – military discount) so I’m not complaining. I also found the game Flag Dash (PieceKeeper Games, 2016) on the $1 table so I picked that one up to add to the gifting collection of games.

Look Ahead

Gaming darkness. Have to take RockyMountainNavy Jr. back to college (whole day roundtrip driving). Have one more overseas business trip before Christmas (week on the road). Sister-in-law still occupying gaming space (ongoing for another five weeks).

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Feature image courtesy of self

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