Boardgame Library

So I just started abusing my local library for books again.  Just finished a very good one:

The Warded Man

If nothing else, it's been a long time since any book has made a character such a bad-ass.  It takes half a book for his inner bad-assedness to surface, but when it does he's out to friggin' get you.

I was sort of lamenting a nice easy way to borrow boardgames as this.  There are a couple locals that I swap games back and forth with a fair amount.  But sometimes we end up just waiting on each other to buy copies of certain games that nobody wants to risk.  (Like Catacombs)

I do appreciate the boardgame library in GenCon a fair amount.  Each year I probably try out 3-4 titles from there.  And then another 5-6 from the exhibit hall.  It just is a mad-house in many ways so it's hard to stay sane and really test out some deep games.

If only I lived closer to Cincinnati.  I hear the CABS library is a friggin' sight to see.  Maybe I should just head down to Origins sometime just to check things out :)

GenCon Woes

Well, sounds like there won't even be space for open board gaming at this year's GenCon.  How lovely.  Guess we'll just have to take over whatever space we can find.

The whole convention center here in Indianapolis is currently ripped to shreds.  They're trying to get everything put back together in time for the 2012 SuperBowl.  This means next year we should have just gobs of space available to play games.  This year?  Not so much.  Maybe Origins isn't that far... And yet I work a whole 3 blocks from GenCon so it's too darn convenient.

Last GenCon?  Quite fun as always.  I am particularly still infatuated with Ra: The Dice game.  I feared it might have been a flash in the pan, but it's hooked me and staying strong.  It's currently outlasted both Roll Through the Ages and Alea Iacta Est.  I play the others, but I just keep getting drawn to Ra: Dice.  I think it's the setup and the play speed.  There's something to be said for a super short setup time.

Steam for 2

Got a chance to play some nice expansion maps for Steam:

http://boardgame.geekdo.com/boardgameexpansion/47686/age-of-steam-expansion-alabama-railways-antebellum

I previously had avoided many of the expansion maps because they all seemed to want to add their own wrinkles and mess with the basic formula.  I understand why they do this; to improve the longevity and keep people playing.  But dang it, sometimes I just wanted another map.

Anyway, I played the Alabama version with my wife.  It went really well actually.  The map was sufficiently tight.  We both reached from top to bottom by the end, but I was weighted very high towards the top and she was weighted towards the bottom.


We also played with some hybrid AoS / Steam rules.

We used the Steam goods production.  We used the Income/Shares/Locomotive chart from AoS.  We used the role selection from Steam, but put everything at half price.  And lastly for scoring we did: Income - Shares + Links and called that good enough.


I won, but only by about 6 points.  I actually really enjoyed how the income reduction acted as a great "whack-the-leader" mechanic.  And here I thought it would just be annoying.