Confirming I have 18xx stuck in my head, I recently downloaded Rails, a free software package that allows you to play various 18xx games in a hotseat mode. While there is no AI, it does allow you to play each position, and see how things would play out.

So far I hae been goofing around with 1830.  But I note various other 18xx titles are offered, although not games I have any/much experience with.

Well, sadly, no gaming to report on.  I last played a game on April 5th, when we played Age of Industry and Rallyman.  I am hoping to play games tomorrow night, but will see if that works out.  I’ve been fighting some sort of cold/sinus/allergy thing, and may just take it easy.

I gave a co-worker a copy of Mr. Vampire today.  No, not a game, but a truly sublime video that features Hopping Vampires, Kung Fu, a Taoist Priest with two bumbling assistants…  If you’ve never seen it, well you’ve missed something special.  I can’t really say it is a “good” movie.  But I sure enjoy the hilarity, and the fun mix of kung-fu vs. horror.

I played Age of Industry again this week.  Pretty good, but ultimately something about it leaves me wishing for something more.  It’s a chip off the ‘ol Brass block, and while it does have a couple nice features, it mostly leaves me wishing for original Brass.

I haven’t had much call my name recently from the new games currently in vogue over at BGG.  Mostly I am just wanting to explore the games currently in my collection.  It seems as if I am self-selecting out of the mainstream of my hobby.

My appetite for exploring older Euros is also diminishing.  A copy of Banque Fatale came up for sale tonight – just the sort of older Euro I used to hunt down with some alacrity.  But I did a cursory look, and opted not to bid for it.

Zack gave me New Orleans Big Band recently, which is an older Euro I have wanted to play for years.  Its waiting in the wings, and I do want to play it.  But I suspect it will only get minor attention (if any) from the Bistro players.  Older copies of Pfusch and Neolithibium have never gotten on the table at the Bistro.  Although, one success story is An den Ufern des Nils - I have taken it over to a friend’s house, where we have played it 2 weeks in a row to great enthusiasm.

For me, the question of “What might have been?” has always enticed me to play older Euros.  I played Settlers back in ’95 or maybe ’96.  Later on I got the fever when Mississippi Queen and Formula De crossed my bows back in ’99.  I have frequently explored what games were theoretically available to me – just on the European continent, while I was on the North American continent, unaware a huge catalog of great games existed.

But a dozen years after being indoctrinated into this “German boardgame hobby”, I feel like I’ve done most of the back-exploration I have an appetite for.  Oh sure, I’ll continue to play newer games, and even occasionally get excited about a new game on my own.  But largely I am pretty jaded now – feeling like I’ve seen most of these themes and game mechanisms offered.

So I am feeling my curmudgeonly tendencies more and more.  But I do want to remain open to playing the new games my friends bring to the Bistro.  However, while I may enjoy the fun at the table, I will admit more often the new games leave me wishing for something closer to the wonder and excitement I felt when I first discovered this hobby back in the late 90′s.

Chester loaned me his copy of Poseidon last Tuesday.  I have been reading the rules, and tonight I set the game up for a solitaire affair.  Interesting – and in a good way.  I suspect I will be buying this game for my collection.  Another friend of mine is reporting playing this game in 90 minutes – and it really does seem like a chip off the ‘ol 18xx-block.

I’m hoping to play soon.

Seidenstrasse Action Roster

I played a cool game this Tuesday night called Seidenstrasse.  This translates to the Silk Road.  We worked a little bit to figure it out, but it was exciting us as a worthy game.  But even as we started to get familiar with the game flow, we still struggled with remembering what all the different icons on the board meant.

So I created an English player aid.  I have attached it to this post.  I was going to upload it to BGG, but realized maybe I was not allowed to.  BGG has you promise you have all rights to whatever you upload.  Since I copped the icons from the boardgame, I cannot claim that.  So we’ll post the file here.

Rather silly, as this was just the sort of thing BGG was good for once upon a time.

I played London last week with two friends.  It was sort of odd.  I can hardly believe it is a Martin Wallace game.  Usually his games covey the theme through mechanisms.  In London the theme is very present, but it comes from the cards (and the nice illustrations), and only somewhat from the effects those cards have.  I cannot say London is a light game, but it didn’t have that usual Martin Wallace feel.  Based on my single play, I’m willing to play again, but not burning to do so.

In other news, I have been reviewing an old Uwe Rosenberg game, Bean Trader.  Jay brought it by years ago, and for some reason it popped into my head that I would like to try it again.  In a Math Trade a while back, I got a copy.  In fact, I goofed, and ended up with 2 copies.  I am going to teach it to Rick Monday night, and give him a copy if he has any interest.

My recollection is that Bean Trader fell flat the first time we played it.  But we didn’t really know what we were doing until the game was mostly over.  I am hopeful this game might do better on this second chance.  I am going to strongly encourage everyone to use the rule that allows you to invite someone to the city you are in.  This will increase the interaction, and also help people avoid hastening the game’s end due to rapid cycling of the travel cards.

On the 18xx front, I’ve been thinking about the innovative rules in 1860 regarding how different tiers of companies enter the game.  Initially 2 companies are available.  But the next two companies become available after 1 of 2 cases occurs:

1. One of the first 2 companies sells out completely
2. One of the first 2 companies operates.

It’s this second case, that I especially like.  We’ve played 1825 a few times, and one of the complaints about it is the processional aspect of which companies can open.  In 1825 the 1st rule is the only way to gain access to the next tier of companies.  I’d like to try porting this additional case from 1860 over to 1825.

Of course, I don’t really know when I might get a chance.  The local market is flooded with lots of new 18xx games.  I have a whole shelf myself.  My current pecking order is probably: 1860 then 1825, then 1861, then 1830.  But I would likely accept any 18xx game I could get into.  I have a vague hope of getting in an 1860 this next weekend at a game con I will be attending.

The last time I played 1825, we played a variant – with alternate track upgrades and variant Private Company rules.  I was not satisfied with this, and have rejiggered my set back to basic rules.  I like the basic game 1825 is.  I now store it as a complete, yet modular, game.  I am of the firm opinion that Units 1 and 2 were never meant to be played separately.  I think it is a much better game combined with 2 units.  The processional aspect of Unit 1 is greatly reduced.

I also reset my 1829 games back to square.  I had borrowed several components from them for 1825.  I just got the most recent expansion for 1825, which provided the tiles I wanted, which had been on loan from 1829.  So the Francis Tresham wing of my 18xx collection is now fully sorted.  I hope we can play on some part of this collection again.

I’m not entirely sure why, but I seem to only want to read the rules to a game if I own it.  I understand part of my desire – I really enjoy spreading out the components and manipulating them while reading the rules.  This helps cement the abstract of the rules with the physical of the components.

This past week I amused myself by reading the rules to 1860: Railroading on the Isle of Wight, and then also for Liberté. 

1860 proved to be an easy read, if a long one.  18xx games have a familiar style of rules, and 1860 did not offer huge variances from the usual oscillation between stock rounds and operating rounds, and of the usual order of operations.  Nevertheless it struck me as an interesting rail game with a vibrant roster of companies, a tight map, and a potential for a very interesting game.  I liked the rules for pacing how the companies open.  Reminiscent of 1825, but perhaps a bit better.

Liberté is a game I have owned before, but one I had not played since 2004.  I did not really love my first and only prior game.  But I was able to re-acquire this game in a recent math trade, and I am interested in trying it again.  In recent years I have come around to be a Martin Wallace fan – at least some of the time.

On a different tangent, I have recently been playing in a RPG.  First time in quite a while.  We are playing Vikings invading England in the days of the Ragnar Brothers.  For amusement I have been showing my fellow players various maps from my boardgames.  The map of Britannia is nice and authoritative.  The map from Fire and Axe is nicely thematic.  And I also showed them the map from Kings and Castles which is one of the old tea towel maps from the modern-day Ragnar Brothers!

Tuesday night is game night around here – except when it is not.  Tonight was not.  But last night I did manage to play a game of Puerto Rico.  And Saturday afternoon I played the 1st scenario of the new “Breakthrough” Memoir ’44 game.  Very fun, and I hope to do more of that.  We used the new “Breakthrough” cards released in the “Winter War” expansion, which worked great.

I attempted to participate in a recent Math Trade over at BGG.  No luck.  I am realizing that I am falling further and further out of the pack.  Many new games are traded, and most are not interesting me enough to try them.  Further, the older games I might be ready to trade don’t seem to interest anyone else.  So no trading going on around here.

I may be getting an extra copy of Agricola - merely to beef up my available tokens for the game.  I dislike the counters used to indicate you have multiples of the various resources.  A bit ridiculous, but there you have it.

I found it interesting that some of my geek buddies over at BGG are trading off some of the newer games that I just recently acquired.  I really enjoyed Giants earlier this year, and tracked down a copy for my collection.  I saw it listed for trade today by two of my ‘trail marker’ geek buddies.

I’ll hope for a better week of gaming next week.