More Twelve Games

Looks like I am proceeding with the Twelve Games of Christmas during my vacation time. Here's what I have played.

Game 1 (Sat. 12/18) - As I previously mentioned, my wife and I played Forbidden Desert.

Game 2 (Sun. 12/19) - I played The Lost Expedition solo, although my cat Thomasina watched.

I picked this up during a short-lived jungle exploration kick. By the time I got it, my interest waned and it sat unopened in my closet. Looking for something to play, I decided to give it a chance. I'm not going to do a full analysis here. Suffice it to say that it felt very random, and naturally all my explorers died.

Game 3 (Mon. 12/20) - I recently discovered Operation Last Train, a free sci-fi game by Joseph McCullough (of Frostgrave et. al. fame). The concept is that a small force of soldiers drop onto a bug-infested planet to save any survivors. Rather than play the rules as written, I adapted the concept to MicroBattle.

My troopers (bottom) arrive at an embattled farmstead. They see some green hellions (I don't have bugs so Khurasan's mini-hellions filled in) near the main building.

Communications failed so no pictures (translation - I was too lazy to document the mission fully) Privates Able and Baker advanced on the left, reaching the left-most buildings and rescuing 6 survivors. 

Sergeant Hawke led Privates Charles and Daniels on the right. They were attacked by a swarm of hellions. Charles went down but they managed to wipe out the little beasts. Sergeant Hawke reached the third building, when five of the hellions jumped him. He went down, followed shortly thereafter by Daniels.

As the hellions rushed at them, Able and Baker escorted the survivors onto the waiting dropship (off board) and managed to lift off.

As they began to fly, they noticed that Sgt. Hawke had activated his rescue beacon. The dropship managed to swoop down so they could grab the sergeant.  

Per the rules, there is a chance for downed troopers to make it out. Sgt. Hawke made his roll, so I created this little bit of fiction. Charles and Daniels, however, ...

Then they blasted off from the planet.

This was a fun game with quite a bit of suspense. I used MicroBattle's random activation/movement, which increased the tension. Just meters away from the dropship. Able's group of survivors froze for 2 turns while the hellions drew nearer. Fortunately, heavy gunfire cut the beasts down before they could get to the survivors.

Game 4 (Tues. 12/21) - Met up with my brother, who is visiting from NYC, to play Dual Powers. My brother gave it to me last Christmas, but I never had a chance to play (I did not realize until today that it has solitaire rules).

It is essentially a resource management game set during the Russian Revolution. I played the Whites vs my brother's Reds. We muddled through learning the game, and made a lot of mistakes. In the penultimate turn, I was able to wrest control of a key sector of the capital, winning the game.

Game 5 (also Tues. 12/21) - To entertain our cat, I pulled out a game in the evening. I chose an oldie but goodie, Elder Sign. I played solo and was a bit pessimistic about my chances because I am a very bad die roller. But I got hot, and easily sealed off the gates before Yog Shothoth appeared.

Game 6 (Wed. 12/22) - My wife fell asleep early so I could not set up the gaming table lest I wake her. But I had to play a game for Thomasina. Therefore I took to my Switch and played video Yahtzee. It counts. right? Sure, why not.

Game 7 (Thurs 12/23) - I tried to make it across the Oregon Trail. Here's how my characters did.

In my first expedition, Lil' Jeb died of dysentery, Jim Bob died from a snake bite, and then Mary Sue succumbed to typhoid. The numbers show how far along the trail they got before dying. Given that you need 50 cards to get to Oregon, the expedition barely made it halfway.

I tried a second expedition, but brothers Zeke and Zeb both died of rattlesnake bites. And it was a very short game!

🎲🎲🎲

And so this is where I stand as of last night. Stay tuned for more games over the coming week.