Mixed bag of gaming

Even though I haven't blogged much in the past month, I have been playing a lot more!

Since the last blog post (from the beginning of April), I have been doing this:

Multi-player gaming Me, in a fierce battle of Song of Blades and Heroes! Ran one game of Song of Blades an Heroes with one of my gaming buddies. We had a lot of fun, especially in the end where my single human left on the board knocked down my opponent's five six orcs and gave me the win! Very unexpected, but a lovely twist! Have started a long-term campaign of Memoir '44 (with the same gaming buddy). Got my hands on the Memoir '44: Campaign Book Volume 1. It was not an easy find, since the book has been out-of-print for quite a while. Anyway, I'm glad I got it, since it's very well done. So far we have played three scenarios and we intend to play through all three major campaigns (50 scenarios or so).

Solitiaire gaming Field Commander: Napoleon, in the middle of a battle! I have, finally, dug into the solitaire game Field Commander: Napoleon from DVG (which I have owned since it was released last year, but not played, until now). The game is a masterpiece and I have rated it a 10 on BoardGameGeek. One of few games that I have rated this high. Reasons are many, which I will explain in a review (which will be posted here) as soon as I have played through all campaigns. Other solitaire gaming activities would include some iPad gaming (yes, I bought an iPad2 not long ago; a wonderful piece of hardware). I have been playing Neuroshima Hex and Forbidden Island -- two very faithful digital implementations of board game originals.

Solo Tabletop Gaming Appreciation Month -- should I join or not?

Official logo of the Solo Tabletop
Gaming Appreciation Month.

I'm thinking of commiting myself to the Solo Tabletop Gaming Appreciation Month (initiative by Solo Nexus) which will set off in November 2011.

The idea is that you undertake some kind of solo tabletop related project during this month. Since solo gaming is something I do a lot, this shouldn't be a problem. However, if I join, I want to do something special, not just a regular play-through of a random solitaire game (which I regularly do anyway).

So far, I have come up with these candidates for a potential project:

* Re-learn the solitaire board-/wargame Fields of Fire by GMT Games, using the new version of the rules (second edition). I currently own the first edition, and have spent a numerous number of hours learning the game to a degree that I was able to play through the first couple of WWII missions. However, the (first edition) rulebook was lacking a lot of details, so while playing, I had to do a lot of forum posting/searching, reading FAQs, go through examples etc. That took away much of the fun/tempo of the game -- a game that certainly has a huge potential. Now, a second edition rulebook has been released, and perhaps I should go for it, and give the game a new try.

* DVG (Dan Verssen Games) is a little game company that makes excellent games, especially solitaire boardgames. One is called Field Commander: Napoleon -- the third game in the Field Commander series (the first two are Rommel and Alexander). The game is a solitaire board-/wargame, where you take the role as Napoleon. I have it on pre-order, since it is not available yet. But it has just recently been sent to the printer, and is expected to return in 12 weeks, plus a few weeks for shipping (so it should hit my desk well before November). Playing through a big campaign and write a nice/special/beautiful AAR (After Action Report) could be a perfect project for the Appreciation Month.

* Another DVG title named Phantom Leader is one of my absolute favourite solitaire board games. A Vietnam air war simulator. I'm thinking that I might run through the biggest campaign and write an innovative AAR (don't what it would look like though, just brainstorming).

* Use the Mythic GME together with some standard RPG (e.g. Call of Cthulhu or FU RPG), and run through a solo role-playing adventure. Have to think about this...

* Read the Strands of Fate rulebook (own the softcover version, but haven't read it yet), and make it work with the Mythic GME for the purpose of solo role-playing. Have to figure out a clever way of dealing with FATE Points etc, in a solo environment.

I need to think about these candidates for a few days or weeks. Perhaps I will join the November solo fun! =)