Game Night Light 24

Monday was a solitary game night. I pondered working on miniatures. But instead I hauled out an old game, Waterloo!

I've had this game since high school. Lost it somehow. And bought another long ago.

Identifying the small print of unit commanders for the French and Prussian-Anglo-Allied armies plus the PAA reinforcements was a challenge to my aging eyes. I passed. But Lord. 

I mostly remembered the strategies. I made a basic strategy error on the PAA side by giving up ground too early. 

As the French my left flank attack did no more than force the PAA to divert troops there. 

In the center the French reached Quatre Bras fairly quickly and the French had a pretty good kill ratio. By then the British were trading space for time a bit better. The French did not achieve a breakthrough before the British reached their final main line of resistance south of Mont. St. Jean. The British had to do or die, risking death if forced to retreat through forests.

The French right flank attack had promise and forced the PAA to divert forces there. Napoleon was close to exiting troops off the north to induce defections. But no cigar. Then the Prussians arrived.

This was the end game after the PAA turn and a successful counter-attack. As the British I judged a risk exposing a couple divisions to a flanking attack was worth it given how much the French would have to thin their lines to take advantage. I decided France had no shot at winning:

At this point, the British had been able to slug it out at the main line of resistance at the left end--away from the final Prussian corps--for several turns without breaking. And the late-arriving Prussian corps was finally moving into the main battle area after ending the French right flank threat.

So I built a fire and sang a couple songs. Which was nice.

It was certainly fun to play this old game. Oh, and after it was too late I noticed that I had helpfully written starting placements on the backs of the counters as well as the order of reinforcements.

Well, I'll have another weekly game night this coming week.

Game Night Light 23

The weekly game night and beer exchange was achieved last night! I'll admit that they haven't been as regular as I'd hoped. Winter is getting to me early this year.

First, the beer:

And the game, Wooden Ships and Iron Men:

I haven't unpacked the box in decades. Evidence of heavy use with lots of partially used data sheet and extra ship lists, plus half a dozen sharpened pencils(!).  It included my squadron sheet of HBS Hurley, Ryan, Buffy, and Xena. So I guess the 1990s rather than college was the last usage.

We had a meeting at sea between British and French squadrons totaling 80 points of ship.

On the one side was a French squadron of a large ship of the line, two large frigates, and one small frigate.

On the other was the British squadron with one large ship of the line, one medium ship of the line, and one small frigate.

The French approached with two columns with frigates leading. The British were in line ahead with the smaller SOL leading and the frigate trailing.

One French large frigate took the blunt of two British SOL fire. But the British squadron got stuck downwind with trouble maneuvering. 

When the lead French frigate struck its colors to keep the holed hull afloat, it provided a shield to get the large British SOL that had somehow maneuvered ahead to slowly heave around, shielded from rakes by the British frigate. The French squadron split by the wrecked frigate were delayed in regrouping.

While that took place, the large French SOL engaged the medium British SOL while both sides attempted to reinforce. While the British gunners killed lots of fish, their better crew quality kept the exchange pretty even. The British had to turn to avoid getting raked by the French ship. But the French ship was forced to turn into the wind to keep shooting.

The British large SOL finally caught up with the other British SOL, which had lost a mast by then. The British reinforcement ended up adjacent to one of the French large frigates racing in, and the first broadside exchange was brutal for the French frigate. In two or three turns the British would have two SOLs against the single French SOL. But the end of the evening arrived and the battle ended.

Amazingly, the basic rules came back to us pretty quickly. Although memories of some of the advanced rules had to be suppressed.

Truly, this would be a good multiplayer game as we discovered in college. And much easier than Star Fleet Battles!

Another fun game night with a game rescued from my shelves. And new beers.

February 2022 Game Night

We played the February game night this last Saturday. At one point we thought we might be playing Mega Catan. But we ended up with a scrappy group on the small board. Still, though the board was small, the screwing was mega.

Joe, Tony--who apparently hijacked a library van on the way here--and Pete joined me to play. Paul stopped by briefly to eat and drink, and to mock our play. Apparently.

We dined on pinwheel sandwiches, a couple types of corn chips and salsa, cookies, and mini cupcakes. The House Swill was available in basic and full strength, plus a smattering of better beers left over from a prior game night.

We of course played the harbor master variant for all games. So you needed 11 points to win.

Game 1.

The order of placement was me (red), Joe (orange), Tony (white), and Pete (blue).

This is the start map.

I jumped on the wood and rock. By the time I could place last, I had to decide between brick and some open space to the west. I chose the bricks. I chose poorly. In retrospect I should have gotten the 3,4,6 wheat and sheep combo and tried to trade for brick. At least I'd have had more room to spread out.

Joe had limited but reasonable initial expansion options; while Tony had open spaces if he could beat Pete.

I did manage to expand more than I feared I might. If I could build on my last option, I'd be able to get 9 building points and hope for largest army. Joe managed to carve out an adequate space with more options available. And Tony had his longest-road Lineland cut off at both ends, most critically by Pete, leaving Tony with even fewer build spots than I had available.

Pete ended up on top by getting 4 points on the last turn. He built a settlement on a port, promoted it to city, and thus took harbor master from Joe. Congratulations Pete!

This is the end map.

Joe followed with 6 points. Tony and I had 5 each, with Tony using the longest road to reach his score.

Game 2.

The order of placement was me (red), Joe (orange), Tony (white), and Pete (blue).

This is the start map.

I took the decent rock and best wood, with an adequate wheat. With plenty of territory open to me with the desert shielding me, I opted for the coastal brick and woods. Which didn't make Joe a fan of me. But Pete totally grokked my decision.

Tony absolutely needed a quick break out in the south. Pete had lots of room in the north. And Joe had room in the north with a small window in the south.

I did as well as I hoped in the south, but not as well as I hoped in the west. But with a full build I'd need just largest army or a single victory point card to win. Joe was trapped in the south but his northern settlement expanded nicely to the coast. Even without another build spot, with harbor master he could win. Tony again had a Lineland but couldn't hold it. Although if the game went on long enough he could retake it.

But in the short run Pete grabbed longest road long enough to get to 11 points, aided by a nicely played monopoly card. Congratulations Pete!

Looking at the end map, we really built inefficiently. Although it protected Tony's road.

This is the end map.

Joe finished with 9 points, including the harbor master. Tony and I tied at 7 each.

Game 3.

The order of placement was me (red), Joe (orange), Tony (white), and Pete (blue).

I switched to the golden dice to interrupt my "probability" deficit.

This is the start map.

I prioritized getting the best wood on the map. I then picked last for another wood resource and some barely adequate rock and wheat. I at least had all resources with some decent potential in the northwest and good options in the south for expansion, notwithstanding the desert.

I bought my only development card of the night this game, which helped to get the robber off of me at one point.

Tony was blocked going for longest road, getting penned in  at his southern territory and managing to wrap around the woods in the north. Despite no wheat he fully promoted all of his cities. Pete was cut off in the north but expanded pretty well in the east. Although with only five build spots and one port, he needed the largest army (or VP cards, of course) to win. By the end he did have two knights. Joe fortunately didn't build too much in the southeast but got bottled up in the north quickly after cutting Pete off from the coast. But with 4 harbor points Joe locked up harbor master. His big wheat monopoly play gave us a scare as he built but then passed the poop.

I managed to build nicely in my eastern outpost, blocking Joe at both ends along the coast. At one point I built three roads in one turn to connect my roads. Which denied Joe the ability to link his roads. I built to the coast in the southeast, protecting my longest road card from Pete. Eventually I guaranteed I could hold it. I built one last settlement and made it to 11!

This is the end map.

Joe finished second with 10 points, including the harbor master. Tony had 9 and Pete had 8. It was a tense closely fought game.

Game 4.

The order of placement was the by-now traditional me (red), Joe (orange), Tony (white), and Pete (blue) in the coveted DP spot.

This is the start map.

I grabbed the bricks and good wheat in the southeast. Shockingly, I had the wood spaces open, although I had to forfeit rocks, practically speaking. Bu my expansion options seemed barely adequate. And with good wood and the best brick resources I thought I was in good shape to stake out build spots.

But Pete managed to beat me to build spots at both of my enclaves. I couldn't be to vindictive given how hemmed in he was even with that. I got to 5 build spots and 2 cities, with Joe blocking me in the north where I hoped a crappy port build spot would be unappealing. Joe staked out a good enclave in the north and really expanded in the south, with lots of build spaces secured, securing the harbor master card.

Tony almost built a Lineland again, but expanded out from it, securing the longest road anyway. At ten point but unable to promote a city and no options to build another settlement, Tony played the classic lottery ticket ploy. As he reached for the pile, I tossed down my cards and said, "I think we know how this will work out." And he drew the victory point for 11. Congratulations Tony!

I will say it was karma given that months ago in our first return to in-person game night Tony lost a game because he was rusty and thought he could only play his two victory point cards one at a time. And he didn't realize the error of his ways until after he lost his longest road. Dave's victory* in that game will always have the footnote.

This is the end map.

 Joe finished in second place with 9 points and the harbor master. I had 7 points and Pete had 6.

 

And a meme gif. With hat tips to Dave and Paul:

See you next month! Perhaps with a 3:00 happy hour. But the afternoon start seems to be liked.