Federation Commander

I played Federation Commander the other day for the first time and really liked it -- for the most part. My journey to Federation Commander began many, many, many years ago with the original Star Fleet Battles.  Not sure if I had the first edition pocket game or the boxed game.  All I remember is that plasma torpedoes were handled using a paper cone.  They were deadly, but slow moving and not very effective.  I played a few times through high school (1980s) and early college, then the complexity of the rules became too much and I dropped the game.  It was a fun game, and I liked the impulse movement mechanic, but when the game became a matter of ECM vs. ECCM, it became more work than it's worth.  I kind of feel the same way about Advanced Squad Leader, although I still enjoy that game on a smaller scale.

Original Star Fleet Battles Game

Since then, I've been waiting for a simpler, more streamlined version of the game. They came out with a few easier games over the years, although I can't recall their names. Then I came across Federation Commander.  Eager, I bought the game (Romulan Border -- I'm a Gorn fan -- and Klingon Attack) back in 2008 and after that, let it gather dust on my shelf.  Just didn't have anyone to play with.  Then, I found out someone in my game group is a big Federation Commander (FC) enthusiast and after that it was just a matter of finding the time.  That day came last weekend.

I played the Klingons and was teamed up with Stephen Brasseur (http://yockbosboardgames.blogspot.com/), who played the Lyrans.  Two others played the Federation (Jim D, affectionately known as "Big D") and the Hydrans (Brian).  We played with 2-3 ships of 270-300 points each.  I selected an F5 Frigate and a C7 Battle Cruiser.  My plan was to send the F5 ahead to take out drones and draw some fire as my C7 moved into position around the three Federation frigates. Yeah, that didn't work out so well.

First, the Hydrans came barreling in from their corner to join in the fray while my ally, the Lyrans, pulled a Russia and diddled their way to the front.  As a result, my two ships came under very heavy fire.  While my strategy worked to some extent, I failed to adhere my adversaries pre-game warning about overloaded photon torpedoes.

Federation Commander SSD (Ship System Display), which allows tracking of ship's power, weaponry, damage, and other functions.

I decided to take out the Federation fleet one ship at a time and did some damage to one of the three frigates, which subsequently disengaged.  However, I left both ships vulnerable to a barrage of overloaded photon torpedoes that effectively ended the game.

It was fun and I am looking forward to playing again, although I wonder if I'll ever be able to pick up on all the tips and tricks others have picked up over the years.  I do plan to explore the game more, play some solo games, and many sign up for a three month online subscription.

Having said that, I never try to end a game session without some "lessons learned":

1) When playing against the Federation, stay more than 8 hexes away; use speed and acceleration to do this.
2) Launch drones during impulse 8 of one turn then impulse 1 of the next turn.
3) Always save a few direct fire weapons for opportunistic fire later in the same turn.

I'm sure there were more lessons I should have learned, but that's all I recall.

I liked the game for the most part, but the record keeping was still a bit much.  The game does offer an even easier "fleet" scale that might be easier for new players.

July Gaming Recap

I've been playing a lot of games lately.  Which, given my income deficient status (my writing work has dried up and I've devoted most of my work time to finding a regular full-time job), is probably a good idea.  Yeah, it's been a slow summer, but gaming is a great hobby for those on a tight budget -- as long as you have the games (Al's collection) and enjoy the games you have (and don't forget your friends' game collections).  It helps that my sons enjoy playing some of the same games I enjoy.

My youngest (12) and I have been participating in a well-run Pathfinder campaign with three others.  It's been great and we've leveled up twice already -- he is playing a roque/fighter and I'm playing a fighter.  We've been playing for a few months now and play every-other-weekend. It's a fun time and I actually think it helps him with his Asperger's.

I've also hooked up with a Wednesday night gaming group. We played two games of Sword of Rome (I played the Gauls both times) and had a lot of fun.  We spent one night playing Mustangs, which I really enjoyed, and the group is now playing another air game, although out-of-town interviews and a back-to-school night have kept me away from those games. You can read my Mustangs AAR here.

Closer to home, my son and I have been playing Magic the Gathering. It's funny, but our decks couldn't be more black and white.  LOL.  That's an insider joke.  He has a black magic (swamp) deck and I have a white magic (plains) deck.  He whips out the evil creatures and I pacify them. I also love, love, love my griffins and griffin riders.  When I amass a few of those it's hard to stop me.

We also played a game of Axis and Allies and a few rounds of Stratego.  On July 4 (or thereabouts) my older son brought over Dominion.  I didn't think I would like it at first, but I really enjoyed it (he kicked out butts, though) and I like the idea of a game that changes every time you play it.

Coming up, I plan to replay the 1933 All-Star game using APBA Baseball game, and my Wednesday night group is beginning Clash of Monarchs on 8/22.
 
That's it for now.  Roll well, and live.

Al

Final Sorting of the Games

Well, I finally sorted my games and updated my collection on boardgamegeek.  I decided to categorize the games by historical period and/or type and I'm very happy with the final outcome. There's very little, if any, overlap between the games. I also created a number of boardgamegeek lists sorting my games.

There are a few gaps in my gaming list, as indicated by a few entries in my wish list.  The main games I'm looking for now are ASL Starter Kit Expansion 1 (seems like a nice general introduction to the game), Brittania, and Guildford.  The latter represents the only battlefield I've visited for which I do not have a game.  That and maybe Wilson's Creek, but I don't know many games that cover that battle. There's an old SPI edition.  Maybe I should put that on my wish list.

Anyway, here are my eight categories of games:

Family Games
"Grand" Wargames
World History
American History
American Civil War
World War II
Sports Games
Roleplaying Games

I won't sort the games out here, but you can see my collection at Al's Boardgame Collection and from there, you can find my geeklists and how I've sorted the games.  It's not a perfect sorting, but it works for me.

It was fun sorting my board games and wargames and very fulfilling getting the entire list into boardgamegeek.com. I've been wanting to get that done for a long time now.

Cleaning up the Game Collection: The Struggle Continues

Okay, I think I've finally decided how to organize my game collection. The struggle I have is that I have so many games that I feel like I'm a jack-of-all games, master of none. So, I have decided to categorize and prioritize my game collection.

For each of the below categories I will declare one primary game, three secondary games, and six tertiary games, giving me 10 games in each category for a total of no more than 40 games. Yeah, I'm gaming light.

Role-Playing Games (Pathfinder will be my primary game in this category)
Group Games (Twilight Imperium and Napoleonics Wars will be my top games)
One-on-One Games (Magic and War of the Ring will be in this category)
Topical Games (APBA will be my primary game in this category)

I realize there will be overlap but I'll work that to the game's advantage. I also realize I probably need a "Misc" category for card games and such.

So, with a move and moving sale just around the corner I think I'll pack up and go from there.

Game Collection: The First Cut

My first priority for keeping games was to keep those that my group enjoys playing and plays with some frequency.

Those games include:

Axis and Allies
Formula De (incl. tracks 5/6, 9/10, 17/18)
Napoleonic Wars
Kingmaker
Circus Maximus
Twilight Imperium (3rd Edition)
Power Grid

Settlers of Catan
Carcossone
Ticket to Ride: Marklin Edition

We played Circus Maximus the other day (12.11) for the first time in years and introduced our children to this very fun game. They loved it. So much so that we are planning a cyberboard race in the coming weeks and months. I'm looking forward to that. It's always been a favorite of mine and one you can't take too seriously or personally (although we've had gaming vendettas bleed over from other games). You need to lighten up to have fun.

We had a group of seven and I ran two chariots, which in hindsight wasn't very fair to the others. It was a classic Circus Maximus game with plenty of back-and-forth. We shortened the race to two laps and I think we may have lost only one car in the final turn. Other than that it was a race down to the finish between three chariots. I'm sure we'll play this game again real soon.

Axis and Allies is a good "we want to play a complex wargame but don't want to read or review any rules." It's been a while since we've played, but always a lot of fun.

Twilight Imperium and Napoleonic Wars are similar games, but more intense.

The last three games were saved because they have family-wide appeal.

Please note that I do not bother to update my general boardgames (Uno, etc) as many families own these games.

Roll well and live!
afw

Clearing House

Or, I should say, cleared house.

I don't know about you, but owning a large game collection can be stressful, especially if you don't have time to play the game.

I recently sorted through my game collection and made some tough choices. It basically came down to this: have I played the game regularly and, if not, is the game sellable? What I mean by sellable is that the game will fetch a good price for the amount of work needed to sell it? I have a lot of older games selling for $10-$20 on BGG and EBay, but it's a lot of work to make the sale, pack the product, and bring it to the post office for shipping. Honestly, I'd rather keep it for that much.

So I sorted my games into various stacks:

- Games that my group plays a lot
- Games that I play a lot, or would like to play a lot
- Games that I don't want to part with for one reason or another (sentimental value, non-sellable, etc)
- Games to sell or trade

I also kept most of my naval/air warfare games. I like that them.

So I ended up selling a bunch of games, including my beloved Advanced Squad Leader, and actually financed Christmas on the proceeds. Not a bad deal. I had mixed feelings about selling ASL, but I haven't played the game in years and it's a lot of work.

So, now time to update my Boardgame Geek list and get busy playing games.

History of the World

One of my group's favorite games is "History of the World," a game we've been playing since the old Avalon Hill days. I think it's a favorite since we all know the rules, the cards, and the basic empires, although honestly, I don't care for the game all that much, which probably comes as a surprise to my gaming group since I'm the one that usually pushes to play this game, especially this last time.

Why? Well, there are several reasons. First, I love the scope of the game - from the earliest civilizations up to the modern age. I love studying history and the rise and fall of empires and lately have been watching a show called Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire, which covers many of the Epoch III (or is it IV?) empires, so I've had an interest in playing the game. Of course, I'm never given the Romans, so it was a moot point. I'm usually stuck over in India, China, or the New World. I'm also a fan of Dr. Who, which (especially in its early years) covers a wide range of human history. As an aside, wouldn't it be interesting to include the Daleks in a future epoch? Another reason I've been wanting to play is exposure to a great deal of ancient art at our local art museum (St. Louis Art Museum). There you can find art from the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Chinese (many dynasties represented), and South Asia (include some from the Gupta era).

So what don't I like about the game? I think it's a lack of control. Not that I do well in games where I can exercise a lot of control, but it just seems like lack of control is rampant in this game. You never know from one epoch to the next when you will take your turn, much less where you will be. You can have a nicely played empire, only to lose it next turn to another empire that starts on your conquered land. Then there is the card draw, which, in my opinion, can make or break a game. I've gotten dealt some awful hands before (can anyone say Australia?) while I see other people clean up with leaders, engineering, and civil service.

There's also a lot of dice rolling. Sure, there's some strategy to taking lands, building monuments, and constructing forts, but I really wonder how much of an impact that has on the final outcome? There's also the issue of the chits a player gets for being in first place following an epoch. Sure, it's great to get them, but very frustrating when you come in a close second every turn and those chits just represent a bigger deficit that needs to be overcome. This happened to me last game, but it's also discouraging for players who struggle through the early part of the game and have very little hope of catching up. Yes, it's possible they may get a really good card, but I don't think that's as big of a percentage as it should be.


I, along with my group, will continue to play the game. It's fun and it's a "light" level of frustration (none of us really take the game seriously). In fact, we even play the game on-line through gamesbyemail.com, which has a very user-friendly interface and efficient email notification system.