#columbiagames

Saracens start making serious inroads against the Franks in Crusader Rex. Of all the games that followed up on Hammer of the Scots, this is the one I like. The much wider, more open theater gives both players flexibility and room for maneuver. The game is also long enough to allow the game to develop and go back and forth a bit and for the vagaries of chance to even out. Plus, it works reasonably well on Vassal (although the map isn’t as nice as the one in 2nd edition, even though the rest of the art looks like 2nd?). The game is definitely hard on the Franks; they need to hang tough and and play defense and hope the crusaders can bail them out late in the game, but that’s easier said than done. There are now a ton of games that use this underlying system, but I haven’t played many that I really like - just this and Julius Caesar really, but I’m starting to have some balance concerns even about Julius Caesar. It seems like a simple, clean rules system, but it’s actually (apparently) quite hard to get it to really work. #gaminginthetimeofcovid19 #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #columbiagames #virtualgameday #crusaderrex https://www.instagram.com/p/CEDN_bCB-e7/?igshid=uzp5xrnv2n74

Breaking in Combat Infantry: East Front from Columbia. I like Combat Infantry, but wow, Columbia’s design discipline seems to have broken down significantly in recent years, between this and Victory in Europe. The scenario we played (E3) had several critical errors on the scenario card - including a German unit that doesn’t exist, contradictions about how many turns to play (victory conditions say 6, turn track says 5), and unclear German setup rules. The rules are also *still* maddeningly terse and oblique. When they sent solicited suggestions for ways to improve the rules late in the Kickstarter I sent them about a page of ways to clarify them; it appears none of my advice was taken. There is still so much good stuff in the game though. The maps are great bits of design that present all kinds of interesting little tactical problems, the system is clean and plays quickly (once you’ve worked out the rules), the command and control systems are great. The US, Germans, and Soviets all play quite differently with few to no special rules. I’ve actually quite enjoyed almost all of my plays of this (just one scenario I played from West Front wasn’t great) and hope it can still have some legs. But wow, it is *not* well-served by either the rules or the scenario format - for a comparatively simple game it’s more work to get settled with than it should be. #columbiagames #boardgamegeek #bgg #consim #boardwargame #boardwargaming https://www.instagram.com/p/B6NNKziBiTA/?igshid=1f9cc6c006t7r

Grant and Meade batter their way south while Sheridan gets stalled out in the Valley, and Siegel is far too incompetent to get anything done out of Norfolk. I’ve gone a bit back and forth on this as I’ve been playing it again recently. As the Union player, I found it very frustrating to try to use your crummy 3-step infantry to try to defeat entrenched confederates; they are so fragile that just one step loss makes them unusable in combat, which seems weird. But I kinda figured out how to use the decent Union artillery late in the game to get some results. It’s also a bit long. But it’s also quite clever in a lot of ways. I’m curious if this is getting much play out there, and what people think of the balance? #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #columbiagames https://www.instagram.com/p/Byam7MYhtzS/?igshid=1jgqov45pwhne

Bobby Lee 3rd. This is an interesting game which never really caught on that much, so I never had that much chance to play it. So it was fun to break out again! The original and revised Bobby Lee and Sam Grant are super old now (1993!) and I think they feel their age; playing them now in the age of so many block games (and so many good ones, not just from Columbia) they just don’t quite click. This new edition feels much better to me, cleaner and more evocative and quicker-playing (although still not as short as most Columbia game), while keeping the core mechanics. It really does capture a lot of the pressures of the eastern theatre of the ACW. Anyway, enjoyed this; looking forward to giving it a bit more attention. #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #columbiagames https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx1eHxThByP/?igshid=1lvupwxi6soi2

Julius Caesar, from Columbia. I played this a few times when it was new-ish and quite enjoyed it, but it just didn’t “stick”. I think that may have been because for many years my niche for 2-hour wargames has been shrinking; setting aside time for 2-player wargaming took effort so we’d prefer to do something meatier. But this was super-fun to revisit! One of the best in this particular style of post-Hammer-of-the-Scots games, a design pattern that has proved tricky to successfully execute IMO. Caesar has a tough army but also has a heavy lift to win. I cleaned up Italy and Spain and was feeling pretty confident but I just stalled out trying to get a toehold in the East, and Pompey won by one point. Looking forward to playing again. #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #columbiagames https://www.instagram.com/p/BwdL_4jDKg7/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=4v63eqpryn7v

Couple Pacific Victory 2 shots. I always liked PV quite a bit but play tailed off after we just found it super-difficult for the Japanese to be competitive. The new 2nd edition feels like it’s really improved an already quite good game: unit costs seem better (HQ step costs particularly have been reduced, which helps Japan a lot in the early going), and there has been a bunch of minor but helpful streamlining. The ability to build Major Bases is a small addition but a big deal in terms of flexibility. The balance feels better, but time will tell on that. I’m of mixed minds on the new China theater. It does add interesting choices and the extra resource flexibility for Japan (strip the Chinese theater of resources to fight elsewhere, try to stabilize the front, or go for a big push there) seems helpful; OTOH I’m not totally convinced it’s interesting enough for the time and attention it consumes. Will need another couple plays to see. We found the game long; the rules say 4h for the full scenario, but I don’t see how you could do it in less than 6. But it was also totally engaging so the length was not an issue, other than logistically. Anyway, quite enjoyed, looking forward to playing it again, and also made me want to play some Asia Engulfed again as well 😄 #bgg #boardgames #boardgamegeek #columbiagames https://www.instagram.com/p/BpccNtGDaQJ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1elooxr6f87er

Finally getting a chance to play Victory in Europe again. I played this a couple times when it was new and always thought it had a lot of potential, although the rules were pretty dicey. It didn’t really catch on so I haven’t played it since. The v1.2 rules are better, but still not great - they’re enough to explain the game (the originals did not), but not enough to explain it clearly, and there is a lot of looseness in the card texts. The map is also a mess, way too many blocks in too little space - I got a PDF of the map as part of the Kickstarter and if I wanted to play this again I’d have to make a blown-up version. I still find a lot to like here in the core idea and engine - I love the economy of pieces particularly. Despite the density of the blocks on the map, you never have enough units and you need to deploy carefully. The leader rules also work very well. But the various finishing issues bother me more than they did 5 years ago. I also think the need to do a full economy phase after every card play is too much, it makes the ratio of doing math and fiddling units to solving interesting tactical problems too high; I think if you could produce just twice a year it would be a huge boost to engagement and playability. Anyway, despite there being a lot to like here, I’m not totally sure if I’ll play it again, just given the above issues combined with the length. At 6hr I think it would be fine. At the 8-10h it actually takes for the full war, it’s just time-intensive for a clever but imperfect game. #bgg #boardgames #columbiagames (at Game Kastle - Mountain View)

Trying out the Battleaxe scenario from Rommel in the Desert. Nice - I had actually never played it before. A bit more open than the other scenarios I’ve played, with more space for back-and-forth; but also a bit longer. I thought I had it totally in the bag, only to lose in the last turn on a supply misjudgement. #bgg #boardgames #columbiagames #gmtwest (at G M T Games)