That Blighted Reach!

A couple of weekends ago I was at HandyCon. I feel very lucky to have this really first rate con more or less on the doorstep (an hour's drive away in Milton Keynes – handy indeed). Not only is it very well organised, friendly, and fun, it also runs four times a year!

Anyway, the main event for me was a pre-arranged game of Arcs: the Blighted Reach. My copy of BR had been sitting untouched and taking up up a lot of space on my shelves, ever since it arrived when the Kickstarter rewards shipped. I was daunted by the thing, to be honest, that huge box full of cards and bits and rules. I felt like I ought to love it, but was not at all sure that I would.

So on HandyCon's Saturday morning I duly met up with Ted and Arthur, both very experienced BR players as was obvious from the host of yellow stickers on their BR box, one for eacg play! They did a great job of explaining the rules to be, and helping me through my first few turns. But boy this game is a beast! I don't have great eyesight and this is a game that has a lot of cards in play, many of which are upside down at the other side of the board, not to mention the Edict cards which are slipped into a little book where they were even less accessible to me. There are quite a few games these days where it helps a lot to be able to read small text upside down at a distance. It's quite a trope – build a tableau of cards, each of which subtly or not so subtly changes the rules – but BR strikes me as the apotheosis of this style of gaming

It was a fun experience – mainly because Ted and Arthur went out of their way to make it so. But probably not one I wish to repeat. And certainly not one I need to own (especially given the size of the box!) So when I got home BR went straight up on the BGG Marketplace, and sold almost immediately. It felt like a burden lifted.

(To be clear, I still own, and love, the Arcs base game, and the Leaders and Lore mini expansion.)

Time to ditch Cosmic Encounter?

I have had mixed success introducing Cosmic Encounter to gamers who have never played it before. About 50% of the time it goes down really well, and a hilarious evening ensues. But the other 50% of the time the game is met with blank stares or even open hostility. I just got back from a weekend spent with old boardgame buddies in a hired cottage in Somerset. Although we have played CE before, this time one player in particular became very angry – with the rules writing, with the game itself, and by implication my stupidity in thinking this is a good game. A difficult and not at all hilarious evening ensued.

I think it matters the expectations with which a group goes into a game of CE. If you are expecting a strategically deep space empires game in which you can develop a strategy and see it through to possible success – sort of a Twilight Imperium Lite – you will be sorely disappointed. It's more like a party game with aliens.

Anyway, not sure I want to risk any more 50% experiences. Maybe it's time to ditch my copy? (My nice FFG copy with the expansions anyway; I still have my ancient copy of the 1977 version hidden away somewhere which I might hang onto for emergencies.)

My shelf is famous now?

I was recently featured on Actualol, Jon Purkis's excellent and long-running video channel. He had invited viewers to submit a shelfie along with requests for help with our collection-related problems.

I have to say I was touched by the introduction he gave me: "this is the man that got me into modern boardgaming".

Here's a link if you want to see that deeply gratifying tribute, along with Jon's response to my shelfie.

Here is the text of my email to Jon that accompanied my shelfie:

What to do about nostalgia? For years now I've kept my collection at around 150 titles. A significant proportion of these are "nostalgia titles", games that I hang onto because they remind me of happy times in the distant past. Lots of old-school wargames. Monsters like Civilization or 1830. Let's face it, I have far more gaming years behind me than ahead of me, so most of these games I will never play again. And I want to remain engaged with the hobby which means inevitably buying some of the latest titles, and of course finding room for them on my already crowded shelves. So my question is: how can I overcome my nostalgic attachments and finally say goodbye to some of these dust-gathering old friends?

And here are some tips that Jon gave me for clearing out my "nostalgia" games:

Tip: Play it one more time

Tip: Take a photo, ditch the game.

Tip: Out of sight, out of mind.

Tip: Find it a new home.

Jon's final words on my collection: "Let this be a lesson!"

So, did I take any of Jon's advice? Well, I sold one wargame that has been gathering dust on my shelf for at least two decades (Hellenes, GMT). And I have posted three more on BGG Marketplace – no interest so far. I have also sold Arcs: the Blighted Reach, but that's another story...

Do I love Earthborne Rangers yet?

I spent the two weeks leading up to Christmas in the USA, visiting my son Phil who back in early 2024 moved to Richmond VA, taking my daughter-in-law and three of my grandchildren with him. We had a great time, and lots of games were played, including some bizarre games of chess (with a 4-year-old), some Micro Macro for kids, and Outfoxed! which was a huge hit. The kids rapidly dispensed with the need for adults to be involved, and set the game up for themselves any time they had a spare moment. (Incidentally, I was put onto Outfoxed! by a recommendation from Actualol.) Anyway, this is all tangential to what I'm posting about...

I spent the last couple of weeks before our transatlantic trip playing my new copy of Earthborne Rangers (ER). I am very drawn to sandbox games – my shelves include copies of Sleeping Gods, Xia Legends of the Drift, Star Trek Captain's Chair, Oath (yes it feels sandboxy to me), and Merchants of Venus. I was getting past the initial learning hump and starting to feel at home in the game's very appealing world. There were some weirdnesses about time and location which I was deciding whether or not to be irritated by. But the trip meant I had to put the game aside for a few weeks – which is blessedly simple to do.

When we got back home I felt the urge to set up a meaty game on my desk to play in solo mode. I had been reading and listening to enthusiastic raves about Fate of the Fellowship (FotF), but was of course unable to find a copy. So my thoughts turned to War of the Ring (WotR), in particular my copy of the 2nd edition of which I am very proud with its painstakingly painted miniatures. So after a brief struggle I mentally set on one side the idea of picking up ER again – at least for the time being – and carefully set up WotR for 2-handed solo play (inspired by memories of Ricky Royal's video play through) and had a great time. Just look at this photo, the two hobbits with their heads down, plodding across the emptiness of the Emyn Muil. Enemies in every direction, shelterless, friendless. I admit this game elicits feelings in me of pity, sorrow, anxiety; doubtless gaining power from its peerless source material.

So the question that bothers me is – given that I passed over ER to play WotR, does this mean I haven't quite been hooked by ER yet. Indeed, I quite fancy having another go at WotR, this time with the Lords of Middle Earth expansion (with miniatures I recently painted). There's a lot to be said for doing this while the rules are still fresh in my head. I do hope to get back to ER soon, but if FotF comes back into stock any time soon, it could be a while.

1830 at work

I have recently – over the last couple of years or so – been renewing my interest in 18xx games. This is  largely thanks to the 18xx.games website as well as the excellent Derailed podcast (now sadly defunct). And 18xx's growing profile has made it slightly easier to find opponents. It also helps that companies such as GMT and All-Aboard Games are making beautifully produced 18xx games. It's no longer necessary to tolerate a print-and-play vibe to explore the 18xx world.

I have a battered copy of 1830 – arguably the godfather of the genre – which I opened up for the first time in decades. I was surprised to find my handwritten records of games I played in the early 1990's, when I was in my early 30's. Five games dated between Oct 1991 and Oct 1993, which I played – and this is the bit that astonished me – with colleagues at work (at the time I worked for Winterthur Life in Basingstoke). There were also records of three more games dated between Nov 1994 and Nov 1995, which were played – less surprisingly – with my gaming group in Salisbury. 

But back to the 91-93 games – how on earth did I manage to persuade three of my colleagues to play 1830 with me?! Tom Smith, Ian Mitchell, and Chris Whitley (may they be blessed forever) – none of these were hobby gamers. 1830 is not a short game, especially when played by relative novices; you're facing 6-8 hours of intense concentration. Did I pay them to play? Or am I more persuasive than I imagine? And how did it work logistically? I vaguely remember meeting in the staff restaurant after work. Surely we could not have completed an 1830 session in one evening (some of us, me included, had a substantial commute to get home) so did we leave the game set up to carry on (unmolested by cleaning staff) next day? Or did we record and pack away the game every time (seems unlikely). But then the whole thing seems unlikely. Nevertheless, there is the evidence in Quink washable blue. It happened. 

Which leaves me impressed with my hunger to play such a chewy game and my willingness to drag non-gamers into the fun. Mind you, these non-gamer colleagues were fellow coders and techie's, so perhaps that explains some of it. Is this something that I would have done more recently? Well, writing this post has reminded me that in my last lab position, just a handful of years ago, I allowed a colleague to talk me into playing NetRunner with him after work. It's the circle of life.