&games

Played some more Advanced Squad Leader on Friday night. I have come to the conclusion that I will not be participating in the ASL tournament. I just can't get past the point that I don't have to ask basic questions. "Do I get to fire in the next phase?", "Why is that building the only one I can retreat to?", "How many spaces does this squad move, and what are the ramifications of CXing?", "Why does that dice roll of 3 activate my sniper and the other roll of 3 didn't?"

I will play a few more times, but only to help my friends get brushed up on the rules. It isn't a bad game. It just isn't my kind of game.

Saturday was a good game day. We started early and ended early because I had to be at work by 5:00 p.m.

Played a 3 and a 5 player game of Ticket to Ride: Europe, as well as a game of Puerto Rico. I came in last in Puerto Rico. I didn't do too badly in Ticket to Ride, but I was the only one who had previously played. The Ticket to Ride groups were pretty cut-throat, that made a big difference. Up to this point I had not played with aggressive players. Aggressive play makes for a much better game.

I've stated that T2R:Europe is a better game than T2R. That was not a resounding endorsement on my part. I'm fairly unimpressed with the original game. But with cut-throat players (and only cut-throat players) I might suggest playing the European version. Up to now I would just grin and bear it when my wife suggested playing.

Look out dear, from now on I'm only playing with the goal of cutting you off to piss you off. Now that should be fun.

On Monday I broke out Carcassonne: The Castle and played with my wife. I am not a fan of Carcassonne, but the Hunters and Gatherers version was good enough that I thought I would try another game in the series. How could I go wrong? I figured Carc: The Castle was designed by Knizia so it had to be better.

Knizia added some interesting twists, but I was unimpressed. If I am unfortunate enough to play again I will post a better review.

My five year-old daughter watched us play Carc: The Castle. She seemed to grasp the game fairly well so I held my nose and played a 3 player game of Carcassonne with her and mommy. My daughter did pretty well (of course we scrapped the farmer rule). My wife and I almost didn't have to throw the game in order for my daughter to win.

Good gaming
Coldfoot