Types of Traveling

Jodi and I have been traveling again, this time in Belgium and the Netherlands.  We were talking last night about the people with whom we interact while traveling.  When people idealize travel, they describe interactions with locals and learning about a place through conversations with the people who live there.  For the most part, this is not our experience.  Staying in hostels, we interact more with young travelers, the type of people who have a backpack and passport and are exploring the world.  I see our interactions as an insular experience.  We talk with like minded people, even though they are from all over the world.  The conversations, however, are very satisfying.  These conversations by themselves don’t constitute the type of experience in idealized travel.  They don’t involve learning about a place and its people.

We do, however, learn about the places we visit through our exploration of the environment in which people live.  We go beyond where just tourists visit.  We walk around neighborhoods in which people live, we shop in grocery stores, and we figure out how people get around.  A few days ago in Antwerp, for example, we walked around a Moroccan neighborhood for an hour and a half.  Our eventual goal was to find a place for dinner, but in that time, we learned more about who is a resident of Antwerp.  In Antwerp and Rotterdam, we have learned how to get around the cities.  In Antwerp, we tried a bike share program (Velo Antwerpen) for the first time.  Bicycles are everywhere in that city, and there are dedicated bike lanes on many of the roads, and traffic signals aimed specifically at bikes.  It provides a fast way around the city and a different view that is close to the street.  In Rotterdam, we navigated the public transport system of buses, trams, and metro trains.  Some of our travels were done during rush hour so that we were mingling with commuters on their way home.  We learned about the experience of a Rotterdam resident through a brief shared experience.

In addition to conversations with fellow travelers and venturing beyond tourist experiences, we learn quite a bit about the history of the places we visit through visiting the types of places tourist and visitors go.  This enables us to learn about the history and cultural heritage of a place and its people.  I also, personally, enjoy experiencing directly places that I have previously read about.  I think combining all three types of experiences produces a satisfying and worthwhile journey that I can share with others — other travelers, and friends and family back home.

We Are In This Together: Correlian Shipyards

Throughout the Corellian Conflict, as the rebel uprising has come to be called, The Empire's heroes have extended beyond just those piloting starfighters and the crews of captilal ships. Legions of workers, diplomats, and others have done their part to bring the conflict to an end. These people, who give their time and effort selflessly, include workers at the Corellian Shipyards. Since the conflict began, the shipyards have been in constant operation with refits, repairs, and construction. Selfless workers in pipefitter Quaxx Mairen. Quaxx has been working double shifts since the Conflict began.

“I don't see my family hardly, anymore, but I think it's worth it”, Quaxx shared with the Imperial Press Corps. “We are making a difference in the figth to keep people safe and secure. When I get home, and see my daughter sound asleep – safe, and free from rebel chaos, that's when I know what I am doing is right”.

Well said, Quaxx! He and thousands of others at the Corellian Shipyards provide an example to all Imperial citizens. The fight continues, not just on the battlefields above systems, but in the homes of everyone. The fight is won when each of us does our job and contributes our share to the united effort to expel rebels and their chaos.

In other news, Grand Moff Tarkin has been summoned to Corellia. Admiral Sloane has been rotated to Coruscant where she will provide technical leadership at the Imperial Starfighter School of Excellence. The rebel villain Ackbar is rumored to be leading a fleet to Corellia.

Prezcon Days 5, 6, and a Bit of 7: More People, More Games

It is Sunday morning on the last day of Prezcon.  The weekend's bring 8:00 AM tournament games, so I am taking time between my 8:00 and 10:00 game to sit by the pool again. 

The weekend brings lots more people to the convention.  The crowds in the tournament room and open game room noticeably increased on Friday morning.  This includes a lot of families, so that women are better represented (see my previous post for my reflections upon this earlier in the week) and lots of kids.  During my Friday morning Lords of Waterdeep game, a mother received a call from her kids' school system inquiring about their absence.  She responded to the call indicating that her son and daughter were absent due to attendance at a family event (Prezcon)    After she finished the phone call, I and the other players started calling her "Cool Mom".  If a parent is going to pull their kid from school for a day or two, Prezcon is a great event to do it.  Board games involve the application of math skills, decision making, and analysis.  It also provides young people a chance to interact with adults who are not their parents in a safe environment.

Since Friday, I have played a dozen games.  I haven't done well from a competitive standpoint, but I have had lot of fun.  This included one finals, one semifinals, several tournament heats, and open gaming.

I finished fifth in the finals of History of the World.  I experienced a little bit of bad luck early in the game, but played well until the last two turns when I lost focus on what I was doing and made some boneheaded mistakes.  It's a long game (five hours for a six player game), and I can get tired.  There was also a little bit of arguing among two other players in the middle of the game about how to correct a mistake one of the players made.  It required the intervention of the gamemaster to adjudicate the situation, which upset him a bit.  It was an argument between two players who are lawyers in "real life", so what can I say?

I missed advancing to the Castles of Burgundy finals by one point:  213 to 212.  The game was a lot of fun, and with all of our scores above 200 points, we all knew what we were doing.  I learned more about the game and the planning elements that actually do exist.  While I have approached the game as a series of tactical decisions based on what currently appears on the evolving game board, better players have looked at the layout of their own board, accounted for how many tile pieces exist in the entire game, and designed a plan from the start.  They also pay more attention to what other players are doing and employ blocking others as a secondary strategy to their own plan.  It is fascinating.  I also learned that missing the finals had a good element to it.  The woman who beat me by a point later relayed to me that the final game took four hours (Burgundy is normally just over two hours) as people carefully considered what they did.  The finals also immediately followed the semis, so people in the finals played a high concentration game for over seven hours.

I have also played a game of Conquest of Paradise, two games of 7 Wonders, and Liar's Dice.  My best finish in each game has been second place (I have one more heat of 7 Wonders later this morning).  These are both neat games.  Conquest of Paradise plays in one to two hours and almost always has a dramatic finish.  7 Wonders plays in 30 to 40 minutes, is a pretty game, and involves lots of interesting decisions.  It is one of my favorites.  Liar's Dice is a hoot, plays quickly, and just involves basic math and bluffing.  I introduced a couple of people to the game, lost my tournament game, and won a pick up game.

In open gaming, I played with Matt J and Mike M, and Twiggy.  I learned Glory to Rome (wasn't excited about it) and Madeira (very enjoyable game that reminds me Caverna).  The open gaming room was packed throughout the weekend.  Tara G and I also discussed her idea of having an advance Meetup type of communication before the convention for people to schedule games in the Open Gaming room.  We both like Prezcon tournaments because it guarantees play of certain games because those games are scheduled.  Open gaming is a bit hit or miss.  I can bring my favorites down to the Open Gaming room, but it is like a board gaming bar.  One wades in, looks for opportunities to play, and instead of hooking up, finds people to board game with.  As I remarked earlier in the week, it can be awkward.  There are also missed opportunities with multiple people wanting to play the same game (such as my Prezcon friend Paul's and my desire to play Lewis & Clark), but not being able to coordinate a time during the convention.  Communication via Facebook, or on the Prezcon website, or other method might help that effort along.

As is the case every year, I declare Prezcon a success.  I am happy that it is going strong in its 25th year.  It is a much bigger event than the first one I attended in 1994.

Prezcon 2018 Day 4: More Games

I am writing this about two hours later than I have my previous posts about Prezcon.  The late nights are finally pushing back the time I wake.  Happily, my gaming schedule today provides me the luxury of sleeping in.  I am still able to sit by the pool, which itself is quiet.  I can, however, hear the gamers upstairs walking and talking to their early morning games.

Yesterday, was a big day in playing games.  I managed to get in five games, with three of them being ones with which I am familiar.  I played a second game of History of the World for "funsies" and managed to win that game by one point.  My friend Nathan T also won his game so that we will both be in the finals Saturday morning.  I also played Puerto Rico for the first time in a year and a half.  The game progressed much faster than I expected, and while I felt good about the actions I was taking, I needed a lot more time to score points.  I finished third out of four.  I played Conquest of Paradise, which is a regular game for me at Prezcon.  I scored my best points total ever, but still ended up third.  There is an economy of action to that game, which I have only now just realized, that is very important.

Tara G and I picked up a copy of Concordia in the Prezcon game library to learn it.  As we were reviewing the rules, a gentleman approached looking at what we were doing.  We asked if he wanted to join us, and as important, if he knew how to play Concordia.  His response was yes to both questions.  It took me about half the game to figure out what I was doing, but I started stringing together actions that made sense.  It requires the same type of planning and action strings as in one of my favorite games Lewis & Clark.  It also possesses a good theme in that you are an ancient Roman trading house exchanging goods across the Mediterranean.  I very much enjoyed it.  Tara liked it, too, and might get the game herself.

Tara and I also developed the idea for a smartphone app that helps a group of people decide the type of game they want to play.  It would utilize data about expected length, number of players, complexity, preferred mechanics, and theme -- perhaps drawn from BoardGameGeek -- and suggest

Part of the Prezcon game libary

games to play.  It would utilize the phone's camera to identify which games are in front of you (especially useful if you are looking at a game library) to see what kind of games fit your desires and suggest them to you.  Do you know of any apps that do this?  Do you know anyone interested in developing such an app?

I played another game of Castles of Burgundy, this one starting at 10:00 PM.  Tara and Matt also played, Matt playing at my table.  Tara played at a table the likes I have never seen before:  four women and no men.  Castles and some other games seem to appeal to a more diverse crowd than many of the other games I play.  My impression of the gaming hobby is that it is populated with white guys.  This is especially true of older military games and games that deal with area control.  Economic games and action efficiency games appear to draw in some women.  This difference might be socialization of what we are "supposed to like".  Maybe it is something else.  I don't know how most people get into board gaming.  My own experience was through friends, but I don't remember what put me into contact with my first board game beyond Monopoly:  Risk.  Was it that my parents just bought it for me for Christmas?  I don't remember seeking the game out.  On the subject of getting different people into games, I am glad there exists a diversity of games these days that does appeal to lots of people.  In talking with Tara about this, we also remarked on the rarity of people of color in board gaming.  Maybe this is more of a class thing, than anything else.  Board gaming, especially playing as much as is done at Prezcon, is an expensive hobby that requires disposable income associated with upper middle class people.  Maybe with gaming having been dominated by white folk a generation ago, it is just a product of parents introducing their kids to what they know.  I don't actually know why this is (it could be that my own observation is limited or inaccurate).  Tara expects to see a more diverse crowd at Prezcon once the weekend starts.  What are your thoughts on this?

Prezcon 2018 Day 3: Winning and Losing

Day three at Prezcon was a lot of fun.  I awoke feeling good (no headache!) and spent five hours playing a monster game that only sees the table at Prezcon:  History of the World.  The game was close through the next last turn, with four of the five players being within five points of each other (in a game where scores range from 150 to 225).  I played behind for much of the game with an eye toward setting myself up at the end, by choosing smaller empires, so that I would have a chance to get the "best" empires at the end.  While I didn't get what I recognize as the best empires,  I experienced some good fortune in getting the best situation at the end where I was able to maximize my points (getting the Ottomans followed by the Russians as my final two empires).  I won with a score of 203 points, which is the first time I have outright won any HOTW games at Prezcon (I have several second place finishes).  My win puts me in the HOTW finals on Saturday morning.  As usual, playing with members of the HOTW Prezcon crowd was a lot of fun, and I will be playing another game just for fun this morning.

I also played a game of Settlers of Catan, which is the classic Eurogame these days.  I finished in a respectable second place, but with only six points.  My friend Shane M played a clever game mixing city building and development cards.  Sitting at seven points and seeming to be pretty far from immediately winning, he used the Road Building development card to seize the longest road and two points, then revealed another development card for his tenth point.  I had a good setup with access to brick and a brick port that enabled me to do some trading for development cards.  I had three points in cards and potential to get the largest army for another two points, but I set up in such a way that I was never able to expand my settlements into cities.

I skipped playing Castles of Burgundy after History of the World, opting to grab dinner with my friend Nathan T.  It was the prudent choice because I would have crashed in the middle of the game and not had fun.  My friend Matt J has discovered that he very much likes Burgundy, and has played in two rounds of the tournament so far.

I also played Texas Glory.  I won as playing Mexico, but I play at a glacial pace.  There are many details regarding the layout of the map and how units are commanded that I need to pay attention to.  My opponent Grant was gracious in telling me that only experience playing the game will speed that up, because rushing leads to mistakes.  He and I both made mistakes at the end of the game.  I was able to recover from mine.  His mistake helped me get the win on the 11th of 12 turns.  It's a fun Columbia block game that I learned at Prezcon last year and picked up my own copy.  I have a 1-1 record in the tournament and plan to play in the third round.

I have to review my schedule for today.  I am hoping to play Conquest of Paradise and also Castles of Burgundy, but I might need to give up one because of schedule congestion. 

It is a relaxing and fun time here at Prezcon.  If you enjoy board games, I encourage you to come this year or next.  There are a hundred organized tournaments and a huge open gaming room.  Prezcon has an extensive game library, so it is a great place to learn new games (I still need to hop into a game of Sagrada).  The people here are also cool.

Prezcon 2018, Day 2

Virginia weather is finicky.  Yesterday, the temperatures got up to 70 degrees, and today the forecast is for 77 degrees.  We had snow just a few days ago.  I am convinced that the suddenly warm weather contributed to the splitting headache I had for much of yesterday.  Day two of Prezcon was therefore a light board gaming day for me.

Between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM, I only played one game, Columbia Game's Texas Glory.  It is an asymmetrical, two player game about the Texas Revolution.  As Mexico, you win by taking over all eight of 11 victory cities before the end of the game.  As Texas, you win by either holding on to four victory cities for 12 turns, or by killing Santa Anna.  I played Texas, and lost to Steve K, who had only played the game once before (I learned the game last year at Prezcon and picked up my own copy), but who is a very smart player. 

Playing games at Prezcon, I reflect upon the fact each year that there are a lot of good players here.  While I play a lot of my games by "feel", I see a lot of people who quickly calculate odds, can count large number of cards, and -- more importantly -- can make good decisions.  I come away from a lot of games having learned something different I can do, or gathering a new piece of information about how an element of a game works.  Even with games with which I consider myself familiar, I often find myself relearning the feel of the game the first time I play at Prezcon.  Some of the games I play, such as Texas Glory or Alhambra than I played yesterday, I just don't get many opportunities to get to the table outside this convention.

I started feeling better by 6:00 PM and entered the Castles of Burgundy tournament.  Castles is a game I very much enjoy.  While having a plan for the game is useful, the game involves a series of tactical decisions based on what appears on the board in each round of the game.  That fits my play style.  In this game, I ran behind on points four out of the five rounds, but my early investment in turn order and picking up mines (a mechanic in the game that generates the rare commodity of money) finally paid off in the last round.  I had set up a large amount of bonus points which propelled me to a narrow victory.

I continued feeling good later in the evening, so I played a pick up game of Axis & Allies.  A&A has a "new" edition that is about 10 years old.  It plays better than the old version in that provides some additional units that makes sea combat more interesting, a redrawn maps that expands the size of Russia and the Pacific, and a more generous scientific research rule.  I played the axis powers (Germany, Japan, and Italy -- yes, Italy is an independent power), and ended up losing.  The allies employed a Germany first policy which allowed Japan to run rampant until I made the same mistake twice (!) with Japanese fleets.  The game ended the way A&A games should, by Germany and Russia rolling huge handfuls of dice in a battle for Moscow (dice that are heavier than your hands!).  To win that battle, I needed some luck and needed the Russian to roll a bit below average.  It went the other way, and with that battle lost, I conceded the game.  Playing A&A took me back to the days when my friend Jim and I would play pairs tournaments of the game at Prezcon and Madicon in the early 90s.  I had a lot of fun, but didn't get to bed until 1:30 PM.

Today, my highlight game is History of the World.  It is the kind of game I rarely get to play outside of Prezcon because of its length.  I finished second in last year's tournament in dramatic fashion.  We will see how it goes today.  I will also play Settlers of Catan, and possibly Castles of Burgundy.

Prezcon 2018: Arriving Earlier than Ever

I'm sitting on a couch next to the pool in the Doubletree Hotel Charlottesville. It is early morning on Day 2 of Prezcon (early morning being just after 8:00). I actually slept in, more or less, not getting out of bed until just after 7:00. That is important to do at my week of Prezcon because I will be playing evening and late night games. 

Last night, in fact, I crashed while playing Power Grid. Power Grid requires some concentration in order to make good decisions. After 10:30, I no longer seemed capable of making such good decisions. Perhaps it was the psychological effect of having heard my phone's bedtime tone sound off at 9:45, but I am pretty sure that having been up since 5:45 AM (my normal wake up time) had just caught up to me. I had fun playing Power Grid, I just need to be more alert throughout the entire game.

Yesterday, I learned how to play The Voyages of Marco Polo. It has a little bit of Lords of Waterdeep and a little bit of Castles of Burgundy to it. It also has the them of travel (it's in the name) so it has a lot of appeal to me. As a member of the Polo merchant network, you have a set of dice that represent the actions you can potentially take. The numbers on your dice determine how powerful an action you can take and, potentially, how expensive that action might be. The board is less dynamic throughout the game than Castles of Burgundy, so developing a solid plan at the beginning can be very helpful (having a plan in Burgundy is good, too, but the changes in the board, require more of a series of tactical decisions). I finished fourth of four on the board, but had a respectable score, and I plan to play again today. It's complexity is on par with another of my favorite games, Lewis & Clark, so it isn't something I can get on the table with family. It is something I could see playing at my company's monthly game day or with board gaming friends.

This is my first year arriving on the Monday of Prezcon. There were more people and more games going on than I had anticipated. My friend Matt is here, and I have already run into several people I know from Prezcon, and even some people from my old Harrisonburg days. When I started coming back to Prezcon several years ago, arriving on Wednesday seemed a bit of a stretch. While I was having fun playing tournament games like History of the World, finding players in the open gaming room was difficult. This year, finding open gaming players was easy. I found a pick up game of Alhambra in 30 seconds, and the Power Grid game Matt and I were starting grew to five players in as many minutes. The open gaming room is definitely growing. The convention is experimenting with an expanded sign up board for open gaming, but I still believe it requires just going up to people looking at games on the shelf and asking if they want to play.

Games on tap for today include Texas Glory, Castles of Burgundy, and The Voyages of Marco Polo. I will see if I am up to a 9:00 PM start for a Power Grid game, or if I opt for pick up games in the open gaming room. There are also some new games some of my friends have including Sagrada and Terraforming Mars that I hope to try this week.

Star Wars Armada Corellian Campaign Third Battle Report

Victory in the Correlllian Sector!

Acting upon intelligence gathered by the Imperial Security Bureau, Grand Admiral Thrawn led a fleet in a show of force on to secure two space stations at the Truuzdann system. The ISB had learned that the stations were being used by rebels as a supply staging areas for their attacks on peaceful commerce. Thrawn's fleet set out to seize the stations and prevent rebel assaults on innocent citizens of the Empire.

When the rebels refused Thrawn's calls to surrender the stations, he was forced into the heavy task of destroying the stations. Having studied his opponents, he devised a bold, yet prepared, attack. His star destroyers swept in and engaged the rebel heavy ships (stolen in the Mon Calamari civil war). The ISDs were support by a team of nimble starfighter squadrons who made short work of rebel cutthroat starfighters.  Thrawn's fleet destroyed both stations, accomplishing its mission.

Teamwork

Admiral Reynholm disccusses tactics

What was the key to Imperial starfighter success at the Battle of Truuzdann? It was the squadrons' ability to coordinate their movement and attacks. They supported each other and became a stronger whole to overwhelm the rebel squadrons and their individual abilities. The teamwork exhibited can be attributed to the Imperial Navy's newly reorganized Starfighter Piloting School of Excellence run by Admiral Reynhom. Reynholm's methods emphasize dedication to the starfighter wing before oneself. That pilot selflessness enables pilots to maximize the strengths of the fither wing. The results shoed true at Truuzdann.

Star Wars Armada Corellian Conflict First Battle Report

This is a brief description of the first campaign battle report of a Corellian Conflict campaign a friend of mine and I are playing.  As I am the Imperial player in the campaign, it is told from the perspective of the Empire.  Draw your own conclusions as to how the game went.

Official Reporting of the Imperial Press Corps

“Maintaining Peace and Order Across the Empire”

Terrorist Attack at Drall System!

In a surprising incident in the Corellian Sector, Rebel terrorists mounted an assault against civilian targets at the Drall System. The Imperial Navy, commanded by Admiral Motti rushed to the aid of the beleaguered citizens of Drall. Admiral Motti boldly led his Imperial Star Destroyer against a Rebel MC-75. Both ships were supported by several smaller ships and starfighter squadrons, creating a chaotic battle space where fronts constantly changed direction. While the Rebels fought with the fanatic vigor of zealots, they were no match for the Imperial Navy. While Motti’s fleet suffered the casualty of one ship lost, the IN was able to inflict triple the losses on the Rebels.

With the conclusion of the battle leaving the Rebel terrorists to lick their wounds, Motti’s fleet went on to refit and repair. Several members of the fleet were also singled out for recognition and, in a particular case, promotion in the wake of Imperial victory.

Focus on an Imperial Hero

You might start calling her the Hero of Drall. Aquia Yarvis, commander of a Raider II in Motti’s fleet, met with particular success in the battle. Her deft maneuvering and gunnery enabled her ship to catch an opposing vessel unawares, and with repeated shots landed true, destroy it. In an interview with the Imperial Press Corp, Lieutenant Commander Yarvis described the success of her ship.
“It is my crew that deserves the credit. Their repeated practice in gunnery and quick response to my maneuvering commands, enabled us to maximize the ability of our small

Yarvis's Raider in action at Drall

ship. The crew placed our ship into the right place to use our disposable capacitors to extend the range on our initial shot and then move in for the killing blow”.

Lieutenant Commander Yarvis received a battlefield promotion to Commander for her action at Drall and retains command of her Raider.