Tank on Tank

Vacation News

I'm on vacation! That means you may be getting a slew of content, assuming I get a chance to play.

First Up

I'm going to start my vacation postings with a quick post about a board game.

Recently, I happened to stumble on a board game sale at Lock 'n Load Publishing. Tank on Tank was going for only $17.50!

Several years ago I purchased the computer version and I liked the game. Alas, that computer died and I don't know where the game files went.

Anyway, I now have an analog version.

First Game

I played the first scenario last week. Both the Americans (left) and Germans are trying to secure 3 towns in the central part of the board.

Here are the opening positions.

I'm not going to give a turn by turn recounting. However, here is a crucial turn. Having missing on attack where they only needed a 5 on 2D6, the Americans scored 2 unlikely kills (they needed an 8 and a 9 on 2D6). The counters with crosses represent the destroyed units.

The final turn. The Americans hold all 3 towns.

Thoughts

ToT has a lot of elements I like.

• The rules are simple. They are somewhat abstract but the game is still fun.
  
• It was a quick game. I did not track the time but I guess that it was under 30 minutes. I think later scenarios are somewhat longer. But it is still a quick game.
• The board is bigger than my homebrew games but it was still somewhat compact - 11" x 17" in believe/

Drawbacks? There are a couple.

• WW2 is not a particularly favorite period of mine. Therefore, I see this as a game with which I will occasionally dabble.
• As mentioned, it was a little bigger than my typical games. As such, it won't always fit on my gaming spaces. For example, I played this scenario on a footstool in my bedroom. And yes, I often play there. I did not have room for rolling dice so I rolled in a box on the floor. The size may inhibit play.

Despite these drawbacks, I'm glad I bought the game. I see myself using it as a filler game on occasion.

Armies and Stuff

Completed Armies

When I first started painting 2mm miniatures back in the day, my goal was to have a variety of different colors that could stand in various armies. I never achieved that goal.

Now with counters and smaller armies for quick play MicroBattle, I have accomplished that long-sought goal.

Here I have 6 more-or-less completed armies - red, navy blue, blue, white, brown, and green. I have 2 more printed - gray and purple. And I created one more, light blue, but haven't printed it yet.

These armies allow me to portray a vast array of foes. Just taking Napoleonics, for example, I can field British, Prussians, French, Austrians, or Russians.

The One Game of Christmas

I managed to play one game with my brothers over the holidays. We played Castle Panic. It was the first time for my brothers.

Things did not start well. We lost four walls to the first wave of attackers. Then towers started to fall. But we managed to rebound.

Here is the end of the game. We just survived.

Wild: Serengeti - My Kickstarter Adventure Begins

Taking the Plunge

It's ironic that a mere few days after Kaptain Kobold wrote about taking the plunge with Kickstarter, I'm kind of doing the same. Technically, it's not my first Kickstarter - I previously backed some RPG where you play anthropomorphic cats. But I pledged for a PDF copy, which I received, rather than a physical product. Today, however, I'm going for a physical item, a board game.

How I Found It

I found this by pure serendipity. I was perusing the RPG Pub and came across this topic about a game of African exploration. That's not the game I pledged. Instead, the thread sparked an interest in African exploration games. While I was searching, I stumbled across this game...

The Discovery

It's called WILD: Serengeti.

I immediately fell in love with all the animal meeples. As I read more, I realized that it's a perfect game for my animal-loving wife. Apparently, your character goes around shooting the animals . . . on film. Yep, your character is a documentary filmmaker.

Anyway, I immediately backed it. Now I just need to wait 10 months to get it.

Now back to the original search

I'm still looking for African exploration games. I'd really like to find one similar to Source of the Nile, but with a smaller map and about an hour playtime.

Twelve Games of Christmas - 2017 Edition

It has begun. For the fourth year in a row, we have begun the Twelve Games of Christmas.

Dec 22
It was actually a spur of the moment decision to start this night. My brothers ended up coming over for the evening so we decided to pull out a couple of simple games.

First up was Welcome to the Dungeon.

It is a push-your-luck card game. Each turn you can add a monster card to the dungeon, remove equipment from the hero, or pass. Once all other players pass, the last remaining player takes control of the hero and tries to make it through the dungeon. My brother Brian made it through in the first round but later failed 2 dungeon delves to get knocked out. My wife also got knocked out. My brother Brett then managed to defeat 2 dungeons to win the game.

Next was Zombie Dice, another push-your-luck game but this time using dice.

Your goal is to roll brains while avoiding shotgun blasts. Brett managed a run of 6 brains in one turn to rush (or more appropriately shamble) to victory!

Dec 23
This night featured a solo play of One Deck Dungeon. Sad to say that the dragon ate my paladin.

Dec 24

Decided to experiment with some bomb run rules (a la B-17: Queen of the Skies), albeit set in space.

Check out the game report

Dec 25
Merry Christmas!
Sadly too sick (very bad cold) for a game.

Dec 26
Another night. Too sick for a game.

Dec 27

Finally got to visit with my brother and receive my gifts from my family. Got Exploding Kittens and had to try it.

It's a very light card game. I played vs my brother earlier and then with my wife. I think it will work better as a party game with 3+ players.

Dec 28

Now my wife has the plague so she was not up for a game. Instead, I pulled out Castle Panic and played solo.

The monsters managed a rush early in the game and managed to knock down 2 towers. Then I lost a third to a giant boulder. My defenses then stiffened and I managed to save the last three towers.

Dec 29

No game.

Dec 30

We played 2 rounds of Exploding Kittens. Elizabeth won both games.

We did an experiment where we increased the number of Exploding Kitten cards. Typically, there is # of players - 1 cards placed in the deck. We added an extra. I think it made it a little more intense.

My wife then suggested adding in all the kittens. As I predicted, however, the game ended way too soon.

We followed that up with some Holiday Fluxx. I won the first hand but cannot remember who won the second.

Dec 31

I fell asleep early so my wife took up the mantle and played a game with her brother. More Exploding Kittens.

Jan 1

I didn't expect to play a game this evening, but Thomasina was in her game spot. We had to indulge her. this time with a round of Love Letter.

My wife won this time (7-4)

And that wrapped up the 12 Games (although we fell short by a couple of games. I'm back to work today so I don't expect any games until the weekend.

Vampire Hunter

As I mentioned earlier this week, I have been working on a vampire hunting board game. Here is the latest prototype, with map and cards printed on card stock. Soda bottle tops and pennies serve as markers.

The goal of the game is to destroy Dracula. First, you must search for clues (the coins) to his whereabouts. Once you discover his lair, you confront him in epic combat. Along the way, you may encounter Dracula's minions, but may also pick up some useful equipment.

Overall, it has potential, although I think I need to tweak a few areas. Some positives:

• It is easy to set up - just a board, counters for the players, and 2 decks of cards
• Game length is short - less than an hour
• There are some decisions to make - which actions to take each turn, what equipment to use
• It involves dice-rolling

Some areas of improvement include:

• Make it a little harder to find Dracula
• Streamline combat a little bit?
• Make it easier to heal

Anyway, my wife and I played last night. She was having success finding clues while I kept running into Dracula's minions. I piggybacked on her clues, however, and managed to track down Dracula on multiple occasions. I had worn him down and managed to attack him. With 6 dice, needing to roll 4 or better, here is what I rolled:

I had him! Or so I thought, until he successfully defended.

Later, I had him on the ropes once again but only rolled 2 successes on 6 dice. To survive, Dracula needed to tie my 2 successes, but he had 8 dice. The Dice Fates made up for my previous stroke of ill luck with this roll by Dracula:

 I had defeated the vampire lord!

A Manoeuvre Experiment

My cat Buster was a little under the weather yesterday so I skipped LARPing to watch over him. As he was napping, I pulled out my copy of Maoeuvre to experiment with different rules.

I decided to try out a couple of different armies. This battle featured the Ottomans invading the Austrians. I reduced the army size to 6 (a la One Hour Wargames). The randomly selected map tiles had 2 villages so I decided that the Austrians were trying to defend the villages against a Turkish incursion.

I made 2 major changes to speed play:

• I used the cards for activation, allowing each side to activate as many units as possible. To activate required a unit card. Leader cards could activate as many adjacent units as their Command rating. The special HQ cards (e.g. Regroup) would have effects as close to their original intention as possible, although I tweaked the rules a bit here and there.
• An attack required a roll on 2D6 >= the target's unit rating + terrain mods. Hit units retreated and would also lose strength if a D10 roll >= the target's rating.

I did not keep strict tabs but I probably played about a dozen turns.

At this point of the game, the Turkish irregular cavalry harried the 6th Grenzers off the battlefield.

Later, the Janissaries seized one of the villages.

The other village held out.

Given that one village fell and the Austrians suffered the most casualties, I grant the Turks a narrow victory.

I still need to work on the rules. Using cards for activation worked fine. The combat rules seemed a bit weak; there weren't enough strength reductions so combat seemed indecisive. I want to make it more deadly so that the game is more fast-paced.

My Thoughts on Manoeuvre

I gave GMT's Manoeuvre a trial run today and wanted to share my thoughts.

This is not a full-blown review but I hope you'll understand the game better from my babbling. Throughout my discussion, I will illustrate certain aspects of the game with some (poorly done) photographs.

Here is the initial set-up of a game.

Set up is a breeze. Pick 4 map tiles, give each army its command deck, draw 5 cards, and deploy the 8 units for each side.

• I really like the map tiles; they make setting up the battlefield a breeze.
• The tiles did slide around a little bit. I'm not sure how to prevent that.
• I also like the low counter density (only 1 counter per unit so a total of 16 on the board to start). This is a boon to a solo player.

Once the battlefield is set up, play begins. The sequence of play is as follows:

• Discard any or all cards from your hand
• Draw back up to 5 cards
• Move 1 unit
• You may be able to move more if you have applicable command cards
• Infantry moves 1 square and cavalry moves 2
• Make 1 attack
• Combat can only be initiated if you have an applicable unit card or ambush card
• There are 4 types of attacks - ambush, assault, bombardment, or volley. Adjudication is similar, albeit with variations depending on type.
• If you have a leader card, you can have additional units support your lone attack.
• Restore 1 unit to full strength (requires a command card)

As noted above, combat requires playing a card. The card will list the number of dice to roll. Sum your dice roll and add modifiers (such as the unit combat value, leader cards, or terrain effects). Compare your value to the target's defense (including mods). Combat resolution is similar to De Bellis Antiquitatis in that you calculate the ratio. The greater the ratio the more deadly the combat result is.

My first combat - the King's Dragoons bombard the French Guard Cavalry.

I rolled a 4 on a D10. This was less than the target's combat value of 8 so it had no effect.

• One interesting facet of the game is that there are no artillery units. Instead, units have bombard cards that they can use to attack at a distance. I guess the Dragoon's had some horse artillery along with them.

Here is an assault in action.

I used the Guard Cavalry card to initiate the attack; the card allowed the French to roll 2D8 in combat. I also played a Marshal Ney leader card which provides an extra 4. I rolled an 8, + 8 for the Guard Cavalry's combat value + 4 for Ney for a total of 20. The British Dragoon's had a combat value of 8 with no modifiers. Ration is 2:1 which results in a retreat or reduction of strength.

First blood! This bombard causes a hit to a weakened unit, destroying it. Each unit can take 2 hits. On the first hit, flip the counter. The unit's combat value will be lessened.

La Garde recule! In this assault, the Light Dragoons score 15 versus a weakened Guard's combat value of 5. The 3:1 ratio is enough to ensure the Guard's destruction!

Normally, a game lasts until one side loses 5 units or until both sides go completely through their command deck once (this is the "night falls" rule). In the latter case, the victor is the army that controls the most territory on the opponent's side of the battlefield.

I decided to call it quits about halfway through (the French had lost 2 units and both had used about half of their deck). I had been playing about 45 minutes, which seems reasonable for a first run-through. Although I hadn't fully explored all options provided by the game, I felt I had a good grasp of the essential sequence.
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Here is the position when I ended the game. The British had destroyed more of the enemy and had advanced into the French side of the battlefield. Advantage England.

So what do I think? Overall it strikes me as a good game.

• There are plenty of decisions to keep the players thinking. Do I discard or draw cards? Which unit should I move? Where do I move (how can I make best use of terrain)? What attack should I make? With proper card hand management, I can see players being able to coordinate a series of attacks over multiple turns. Having plenty of decisions makes for an interesting game.
• I was pleasantly surprised by the use of cards in the game. Your options are limited, but not too severely. You can always move any one unit so your army won't be stuck in place. However, you have to manage your hand to plan your attacks.
• In a 2-player game, the cards will provide fog-of-war. Your opponent won't know if you have the cards to launch an attack on his position.

I don't think I will playing this game much (at least as written).

• I primarily solo game. For solo gaming, the pace is too slow for my taste. The 1-move + 1-attack sequence makes for a deliberate pace that will work well in a 2-player, chess-like, tactical duel. When I solo game, however, I want fast-paced action that will allow me to generate interesting stories in a short amount of time.
• Some of the other mechanics (attacks limited to cards in your hand, calculating ratios to determine combat results) also slow the pace. Again, that should be fine for 2-player contests but it doesn't meet my needs.
• I also prefer variable objectives (a la One Hour Wargame scenarios). Manoeuvre essentially only has one scenario (a meeting engagement where you try to defeat the enemy army or take territory away). Again, this is fine for a 2-player duel, but it limits the potential stories for my solo gaming.

Nevertheless, it was not wasted money.

• I like the components (especially the map tiles and unit counters) and foresee me using them, albeit with different rules.
• I liked the cards and would like to incorporate them somehow (especially since the different armies reportedly have a different card mix that reflects their respective strengths).

So now it is just a matter of deciding what rules I want to use.

Unboxing GMT's Manoeuvre

As I previously mentioned, I recently purchased Manoeuvre from GMT Games. Manoeuvre is a light wargame with a Napoleonics theme.

It comes in a nice, sturdy box (similar to Command & Colors: Ancients)

Here is the interior after I removed the counter sheet, rules, and quick reference guide.

One of the reasons I purchased this game was because I figured that the components would be very useful. For example, it includes 24 map tiles with a variety of terrain features printed on them.

Online there was a lot of criticism of the tiles; people complained that they were too flimsy and tended to warp. My tiles seemed thick enough. There was a little warping but not too bad. I think the tile issues may have been with the first edition, and got corrected in the second.

And here are the counters.

Here is a close-up of the British army. Each army consists of 8 units, represented by 1 counter, each 1 inch square.

 Another feature of Manoeuvre are the cards used for commanding your armies. Each army has its own specialized deck.

Some cards represent the army's units.

There are also tactics cards and leader cards (right).

I was a little reticent to order the game because of the cards. I'm not sure if the cards will work well solo. However, I liked the components and decided the get it because of that. Even if I don't use the actually rules / cards I think the map tiles and counters will be useful. After all, I got 8 armies in the box!

I will be trying the game soon and will review it.

Tank on Tank

My experiment with One Deck Dungeon has impressed upon me the value of commercial games where all you need is contained in the package. Last weekend, as I waited for Hurricane Irma to hit, I spent some time searching online for a simple, small, board wargame that I could pull out when I don't feel like dealing with miniatures. Eventually, I stumbled on Tank on Tank by Lock n' Load Publishing. I remembered that the Battlefields and Warriors blog did a very thorough review, which had piqued my interest, When I noticed they had a digital version, I decided to give it a try.

I picked up the Westfront module. 

I played the first scenario (Overrun) a few times. The starting positions are shown below:

In this scenario, German Panthers and Tigers are trying to overrun an American held position. I played the Americans in my first attempt. Not really understanding the objectives or how to play the game, I proceeded to lose my entire force. Imagine my surprise when the game said that I won. The Germans (the computer) never managed to secure the 2 objective points before the end of the game (7 turns for this scenario).

I then tried as the Germans and got slammed. I tried a couple more time before Hurricane Irma knocked out my power. As I played, I began to pick up the rules and tactics of this game. Now that I have power, I tried again and finally won! On to the next scenario!

I really enjoy this game, even though I am not particularly interested in World War II. It is simple, quick, and yet requires tactical planning. I think this will be a wonderful filler for when I want to play a game without setting anything up. I am even tempted to get a physical copy!

If you have an interest in quick and simple WWII games, I recommend you read through the Battlefields and Warriors review I mentioned earlier. If you like what you read, order a copy!

August Update

Nada, zip, zilch, nothing. That's what happened in August.

Six by Six Challenge
Last month I predicted my pace would slacken and I was right about that. I had hoped to get one game in, but I never managed it.

Nevertheless, I have completed 27 games, an average of 3.375 a month. Still on pace.

What Happened?
There are a few reasons why I believe my productivity crashed.

1. The August Swoon - I'm not sure why, but August tends to be a slow month for my gaming. Over the years, I average 5 posts a month in August compared to 8 posts a month overall. Still not sure why August tends to be slow.
2. Burnout - I have been on a (for me) torrid gaming pace this year. I probably average 1-2 games  a month in a typical year compared to over 3 this year. That pace was a result of the 6 x 6 challenge, which was the point of the challenge. The drawback is that I began to feel burned out, that I had to perform. I just tired of it.
3. Real Life - lots of things going on this month, from a sick cat (the Buster saga is continuing) to work, church, etc. I just have not felt up to much gaming on the weekend.
4. LARP Life - I also mentioned last month that I started a project to launch a new LARP kingdom. This project has been diverting a lot of my energy.

Prospects for Next Month

• Once again, I hope to complete at least one miniature game during the month.
• I am excited about a couple of games that I recently ordered. My wife and I have been feeling tired with many of our games. Too often they require a bit of set-up, which discourages us from playing. We've been moving towards games that can be set up and played quickly. We recently found a couple that seem to fit the bill.
• Welcome to the Dungeon - We saw this game on Tabletop and my wife was interested. It is a bluffing / push-your-luck card game of dungeon crawling. Players take turns adding monsters to the dungeon or taking items away from the hero. A player may drop out of the round. The last player left in the round then takes on the role of hero and tries to make it through the dungeon. If the player succeeds then he/she gets a treasure. Get 2 treasures and win! When we watched the Tabletop episode, we expected it would be a 3+ player game. When I saw that it can accommodate 2 players I immediately ordered it.
• One Deck Dungeon - Another dungeon crawl game. This can be played by 1 player or 2 players co-op style. It is essentially a dice-rolling game.

RETROSPECTIVE - B-17 Queen of the Skies

It has been a while since I've done a Retrospective but I've had a flash of nostalgia. While searching for air combat games I stumbled across some references to the venerable solitaire game, B-17 Queen of the Skies.

I picked up the Avalon Hill version some time in the 80s and ended up playing it dozens of times. In this game, you are in command of a single B-17 bomber on missions against targets in German-occupied Europe during World War 2. Although you might occasionally have a milk run, oftentimes the missions were harrowing as you ran a gauntlet of enemy fighters and flak on the way to your target. And if you managed to drop your payload, you still had to get back home!

Although a wargame, B-17 had a bit of an RPG flair to it. You named your plane and crew. If they managed to survive they began to take on a life of their own. It really hurt when you rolled the dreaded BIP (burst in plane), demolishing plane and crew in one go. Such was the life of a WW2 bombing crew.

The game itself was primarily a die-rolling exercise. You rolled to see if you took off safely, then more rolls each time you entered a new zone to determine what the Germans threw at you. Rolls for combat, damage, the bombing run, landing, etc. Through it all, you were shuffling through numerous charts. It sounds tedious, and from a game design standpoint you could say that B-17 was lacking. In a recent post I mentioned that I wanted rules that required some tactical thought. There wasn't a whole lot in this game (you could choose which enemies to target with which guns and could move crew members around when some were wounded or killed). But then, when did bomber crews have much choice in their tactics?

Where this game succeeded was its brilliant evocation of its theme. Missions typically were filled with suspense (when are they going to hit us?) punctuated by terror (when enemy bullets ripped into your plane). As such, B-17 scores extremely high on the Feel scale.

Sadly, I no longer own this game. In the early 2000s I found a computer game that covered the same theme, but without shuffling through a bunch of charts. At the time, I felt that the computer game made B-17 obsolete. Unfortunately, the computer game was not compatible with newer computers so it too is obsolete. One nice thing about board games is that they aren't dependent on operating systems.

I would be interested in replacing B-17, but copies can go for nearly $200. I did stumble across a newer game, Target for Today, which states that it is "s an advanced update of Glen Frank’s classic game B17, QUEEN OF THE SKIES."

Very interested!

2016's Twelve Games - Part 2

I previously recounted the first week of the Twelve Games of Christmas. Here are the rest:

Wed 12/28 - Love Letter
My wife is working early tomorrow so we went for something short - the card game Love Letter.

Thomasina our cat loves this game. Perhaps it's because we call her Princess and there's a princess in the game. She probably thinks we're talking about her.

Anyway, I pulled out to an early lead (5 hands to 3) then lost the next 4 to lose the game. I then spent some time playing this:

Thu 12/29 - Boss Monster
We tried to play Boss Monster (which I described in an earlier 12 Games). We had a slight problem:

Onyx is not the Boss Monster

Onyx decided that he wanted to play. Every time we moved him, he hopped back up on the table. Ultimately, he bored of his game and we finally finished ours. I managed to put together a killer dungeon filled with deadly traps, which allowed me to win 10-5.

Fri 12/30 - Ticket to Ride (Nordic Countries)
I was feeling good when I ended the game. I had completed two very long routes (including Murmansk-Kobenhagen) for massive bonus points.

My routes are in white

And in fact, my bonus points were enough to overcome my wife's lead and her bonus points. One problem - because she was completing shorter routes she finished more of them and earned the 10 point Globetrotter bonus. She beat me by 5 points.

Sat 12/31 - Gloom and Batman Fluxx
What better way to spend New Year's Eve than to play games? We decided to play another card game, Gloom (described here). It turned out to be a short game because I got some great cards. I was able to pile on the misery and then kill my family, securing a quick victory.

We then played Batman Fluxx and my luck continued. I rattled off 3 straight victories. Fluxx can be a very unpredictable game - sometimes it ends quickly but others it can go on and on. Tonight, my victories ended quickly. My wife went out on a high note, however. We played one more hand and this time she won.

Sun 1/1 - DC Rivals
We originally thought about Mice & Mystics but I was tired from a day of killing (like this) so we turned to DC Rivals instead. We decided to shorten the game by playing to 2 confrontations won (instead of 3).

I won the first confrontation but then my wife won the next. This left us tied 1-1. Then I had a hand with about 9 points, however 3 cards allowed me to draw more cards. I needed another 4 points to win. I debated whether I should try a confrontation, then decided to go for it. With my additional draws, I gained 4 more points and my wife had no blocks in her hand. I won the confrontation and the game!

I don't expect to game on Monday so this wraps up the Twelve Games of Christmas, and true to its name we played 12 games.

Twelve Games of Christmas - 2016

We've started something of a holiday tradition around our home that we call the Twelve Games of Christmas. Over my vacation, my wife and I try to play 12 games. We first did it in 2014 and repeated it last year.

Last Tuesday (the 20th), our cat Thomasina (who loves watching us play games) kept trying to lead us into the living room. We could tell that she wanted us to play a game. I checked and we did start prior to Christmas last year. So the next day we decided to start our 2016 edition of the Twelve Games.

Here is what we've been playing so far:

Wed 12/20 - Castle Panic
Castle Panic is a light, cooperative family game where the players defend a castle from hordes of monsters. Although there's not a ton of strategic thought needed, it is easy to set up and quick to play. As a result, we'll frequently pull this out when we don't want to be taxed by something more complicated. We decided to start our season with it. Although we stumbled early, we recovered and won a fairly easy victory (at least compared to a recent play)

Thu 12/21 - Elder Sign
I haven't written about it in a while, but we will still occasionally pull out Elder Sign (which I described in this post). It is a bit fiddly to set up (there are a lot of card decks) so we don't play it much anymore. However, it is playable solo and my wife was not feeling up for a game. Yet Thomasina demands a game so I needed to play something.

Elder Sign is like Yahtzee, but with monsters. To defeat the elder gods and their hordes, you need to roll the special dice and get combinations specified on the location cards. Repeated failures will ultimately unleash an elder god. Rolling well goes a long way to winning the game. Unfortunately, I was rolling . . .

Anyway, the elder god, Ithaqua, appeared. To defeat it and banish it to its home plane, I had to roll a combination consisting of 3 investigations (magnifying glass), a skull, and doom (tentacles); and I had to do it 11 times before my last life. Well, I was down to my last life. I rolled the combo ten times, nearly shutting the portal. I only needed to do it one more time, but I only had 3 dice left. I rolled, and got this:

My roll - 3 investigation, a skull, and (sigh) 1 investigation

Ithaqua snatched and devoured my character, and then proceeded to destroy the world. What a cheery Christmas game!

Fri 12/22 - Once Upon a Time
Once Upon a Time (here's a detailed description) is another game we haven't played in a while. I forgot how quick and easy it is (although it will challenge your creativity). I won the first 2 games. In both stories, I managed to get the hero to marry a beautiful princess to win the game. I thought I was going to take the final game, too. I had control of the story and was weaving a tale that would use up my cards and lead to my ending. Then I used the word "cauldron." My wife had that card so she stole control and kept it to the bitter end. Well played, dear.

Sat 12/24 - No game
Visiting family

Sun 12/25 - Labyrinth
My wife is a huge fan of the 1986 Jim Henson film Labyrinth. So much so that she was in tears when we saw it in the theaters earlier this year for a 30th anniversary showing. When I saw this game in the game store, I had to get it for her for Christmas

We tried it out. It's not complicated; essentially you roll to move, draw a card for a challenge, and then roll to beat it. Failure can land you in the Oubliette. The game is timed - you only have 13 hours (turns) to get to the castle and rescue Toby. Unfortunately, we could not get past the Humongous so Toby was turned into a goblin.

A lot of the game is random so there is not a lot of strategy. Still. we would play it again but it seems very difficult to beat it in the time allotted. We did not even find the goblin city until turn 10 and then the guards in the city are very difficult to beat. We'll have to give it another go at some point. (by the way, the components are beautiful)

Mon 12/26 - Holiday Fluxx
This night we pulled out another Christmas gift, which is yet another version of the card game Fluxx.

In the first game, I (quite unintentionally) gathered a feast-themed hand of Keepers.

Meanwhile, with candles and bubbly, my wife declared that her theme was "Get Lit."

We played 3 hands. She won 2-1.

Tue 12/27 - Batman Fluxx
For Christmas, my wife gave my brother-in-law Batman Fluxx. I'm guessing that she likes Fluxx; perhaps I should include it as part of the Six by Six Challenge.

At this point, I'm halfway through my vacation, and we've completed 6 games (including this night's). Looks like we're on pace for a dozen. I'll post the other half at a later date.