Blog Moving!

Dear Readers:

Well, we’ve been at this address for over a year now, but it’s time for us to move to another site. You can now visit us here: http://marginofvictorygames.com

Please update your bookmarks and RSS aggregators as soon as possible; we want to keep our loyal readers! We’ll keep this announcement up for about a month, and will then dismantle this site.

ALSO, if you link to us from your blog, we’d appreciate it if you’d update as soon as possible. Thanks!

Giant Fighty Robots!

Russ and I are playing with the BattleTech quickstart rules tonight. Giant Fighty Robots, activate!

Lazers! Die, evil Russbot, die!

Wilderness War: PBEM Game with Jason from Point 2 Point

I am starting a game of Wilderness War online against Jason from the Point 2 Point podcast, which is the best wargaming podcast out there. I met Jason very briefly during the 2009 World Boardgaming Championships, and am very excited to…well, get schooled by him, probably! Stay turned for updates as we work our way through the campaign scenario.

Manoeuvre Toeurnament: Half-way Through the Groeup Phase

We are actually more than halfway through the Groeup phase of the Manoeuvre tournament but here are the results after 9 games. I’ll post some more updates at the conclusion of this phase.

Groeup A:
Sara 2-0
Rick 1-1
Hai 0-2

I think I need to eat my words on my initial assessment of this group. I barely squeaked out a victory against Hai in the first game after being down 4 units to 2. Then Sara trounced me in our match. She’s the one to beat now.

Groeup B:
John 2-0
Russ 1-2
Aaron 0-1

John took two quick victories against Russ to start his tournament. But Russ pulled off a victory against Aaron so he’s got a chance. This group could still go 2-2 across the board.

Groeup C:
Joe 2-0
Brad 1-1
Jess 0-2

Jess’s gut reaction when she saw her grouping has unfortunately been correct after losing to both Joe and Brad in one night.

So far the Russians have been the most used army. I think most people are using them to feel out the skill level of their opponents – pick a strong army but save the strongest in case they will need them in the re-match.

This has been a pretty exciting tournament so far stay tuned for more updates.

Manoeuvre Toeurnament: So It Begins

It’s not as big as I was hoping, but we’ve got 9 people signed up for the Toeurnament. The top player from each bracket plus the next best record will make it to the elimination bracket. The groups were decided randomly:

Groeup A: Rick (me), Sara, Hai
Groeup B: John, Russ, Aaron
Groeup C: Joe, Jess, Brad

I was happy to see that there is a game owner in each of the groups (John, Joe and me). This will help facilitate the games being played.

As far as the groups go, the experience levels are fairly well distributed. But based on number of games played alone, I probably have the best shot of advancing. Of course I will have to make sure I don’t underestimate Sara or Hai either.

My wife, Jess, was bummed with her grouping. Joe is a very talented player. And Brad, although he just learned this game a couple weeks ago, beat me in both of our games. For her sake, hopefully his beginner’s luck has run out.

Group B is the “Group of Death.” Aaron is the least experienced player in that group, but he is certainly capable. Because this group is the most evenly matched it’s likely that only one of these guys will come out of this stage.

Best of luck to everyone and I look forward to my first game with Hai on Wednesday.

Manoeuvre Toeurnament: Preview

As promised in my last post, I wanted to set-up and participate in a Manoeuvre tournament with my friends. There’s 4-5 of us that have played this quick playing, but very strategic wargame and several others that have tried it and liked it. So after some back-and-forth with friends about how to run it, here’s the preview of the tournament.

Manoeuvre Toeurnament 2011
Stage 0: Free Play (January ~ February)
This stage will be the learning stage. Anyone that is interested in playing but doesn’t know how to play will be taught the game. This will also give people an opportunity to brush up on their strategies and/or dice rolling abilities. People that try the game and decide it’s not for them can still back out at this point.

Stage 1: Group Stage (March ~ April)
All players will be randomly assigned to a group (think World Cup). In this group you will play all of the other group members once (possibly twice if numbers are low). Your final ranking within the group will be determined by your win/loss record. Each game you play will use the rules as printed for the 2010 version of this game. The only difference is that you choose your own armies but cannot play with the same army twice within this stage.

Stage 2: Elimination Rounds (May ~ June)
The top 2-3 players from each group will be seeded in a single elimination bracket. Strength of Armies used will break ties with the weaker armies used seeded higher. Rules will be the same as the group phase. You can’t use the same army twice, but the army options are reset for this phase. The winner will be crowned champion of Manoeuvre …at least for 2011.

The plan I had originally was much too complex and would probably turned off a lot of the more casual gamers. This is a simple system and should allow for ease of play by everyone. So far there are 7 people that have expressed interest and a few more I think that I can convert before March.

I’m also hoping the top players will be able to get together for a one day throw down in the elimination phases. And the championship game may be a best of 3 series. But we’ll see how it the initial stages go first.

2010 Personal Retrospective

I managed to keep a record of games played throughout all of 2009 and gave the breakdown in an earlier post, and after a bit of number crunching, now present my 2010 personal retrospective:

Games played: 143
Wins: 70 (49%, up 3% from 2009)
Losses: 72
Draws: 1

Average time between games: 2.5 days
Best game month: January with 31 games played (due to Guatemala service trip and lots of card games)
Worst game month: August and November with 2 games played apiece (August due to master’s thesis, November due to special events I’m in charge of at work)

Two player games: 52 (36% of all games played)
Two player wins: 36 (69%, a 13% increase from last year!)
Multiplayer games: 91 (64% of all games played)
Multiplayer wins: 31 (34%, a 7% drop from last year)

Most regular two player opponents
1. Rick (11 plays, 5 wins)
2A. Russ (9 plays, 8 wins)
2B. Wife Sara (9 plays, 6 wins)
3. Brother Mike (7 plays, 6 wins)
4. Dad Rob (5 plays, 4 wins)

Most popular games of the year
1. Cribbage (15 plays, 8 wins)
2A. Chrononauts (9 plays, 2 wins)
2B. Washington’s War (9 plays, 9 wins)
3A. Carcassonne (7 plays, 0 wins)
3B. Mafia/Werewolf (7 plays, 5 wins)
3C. Pacific Typhoon (7 plays, 3 wins)

Games played for the first time: 13 (9%)

Not a whole lot of surprises here, other than I actually didn’t play many more or fewer games than I did last year. Considering the hectic nature of this year (medical issues, completing graduate school, first child born), I’m pretty impressed with how many games I got in. The only thing that really surprised me is that…I can’t win a game of Carcassonne to save my life. Go figure.

Oh, and because it’s a new year of gaming, time to throw down the gauntlet. Rick, I’m gunning for you. And everybody else…you’d better be gunning for me.

Tell us about your gaming breakdown in 2010 in the comments.

Shamless Plug for Pics of Her Royal Cuteness

I just posted on my family blog, The House on Winslow, about our newborn beginning to “play” boardgames with the family. Check it out!

Metro Game Day IV: Preview

The fourth gathering of game-playing will commence this Saturday. Between work, family and raking leaves, we haven’t had as much time to put into this game day. I had grand visions of theming each game day (starting with this one and Lord of the Rings) and then tailoring the achievements to fit the theme. But I think it’ll have to wait until next time… or at some point.

Even so, I’m really looking forward to this Game Day. It will be a great opportunity to put off other responsibilities (as much as possible) and just relax, hang out and chat with friends and get in some good gaming. I have recently acquired a few games and I’m excited to get them on the table. I’ve played them solo or with my wife, but it is always interesting to see how the game changes when more players are added. I also like to see how different types of players approach the same game.

Look for a recap next week. I’ll at least have a list of all the games that get played.

Play in Public Campaign

Looks like we’re a few days late on this one, but there’s still time to get out there play a game and maybe even win something. For the month of August, Seize Your Turn announced the Play in Public Campaign. It is pretty much like it sounds, grab your favorite Euro, war, or non-traditional board game and go play in a public place. Take a few pictures and follow the rules here or here and you may even win something.

The goal of the PiP Campaign is to create a positive public perception of mature board gamers and maybe even create some new gamers. With that said here’s some tips for a successful outing:

• Throw out the “Wood for Sheep” t-shirt and try a polo shirt or button down with the sleeves rolled up. Present yourslef as clean and well groomed. Let the board game draw attention and not you.
• Try the bar or a coffee shop instead of the gaming store. Make sure to buy a pint or a latte before spreading out over a table. Bars and coffee shops are usually social places, so playing a game shouldn’t cause a problem, but be mindful of how long you occupy the table.
• Pick a game that’s visually appealing and isn’t too large. If you find yourself pulling multiple table together to play you may make yourself more of a problem than an ambassador of board gaming. Choosing something with colorful with interesting pieces like Tobago draw people’s eyes to you game and can make a great conversation starter.
• Enjoy yourself. Board gaming is supposed to be fun. And everyone likes fun, right?

So, one last question. How much will you give me to play Cash and Guns at hardcore biker bar?