Quite a lot of gaming activity for me over the Easter weekend. Even though most of it consisted of me getting stuffed at various games by different people, it was still a lot of fun. On Good Friday Dave and William came over for a Down in Flames campaign. They played the brave pilots of the Eighth Air Force flying daylight raids in 1942, and I was the evil Luftwaffe. Dave and William drew no less than 3 raids against Cherbourg, but the highlight for me was their trip to Amsterdam when I managed to down 4 Flying Fortresses. Being evil doesn't pay, however, because in the end I came away with a "Dismal Defeat". In spite of losing so badly this was brilliant fun, very fast-moving and exciting play, loads of atmosphere and tension. Excellent.

On Saturday I played Gavin at the Settlers card game. I told Gavin it was a long game we were unlikely to finish - he proved me wrong by soundly beating me in just over an hour!

I also received a playtest kit from GMT on Sunday for Hornet Leader II, a reissue of GMT's classic solitaire air combat game that they are currently working on. I volunteered for the playtest team and duly received a zip file full of PDFs for cards, counters, rules etc. I've printed and made all these up and I'm working through the rules now, setting it up as I go along. It's fun, and a very interesting insight into the wargame development process, but I'm not sure I can keep up with the American playtesters who are already starting to post detailed feedback.