RogerBW's Blog

For the fifth year in a row, a bunch of us without family commitments got together for boardgames.

We started with V-Commandos, just a single terrain (The Hill) with Scout, Sniper, Officer, Medic and Butcher. Officer and Scout came in from the south and got objective one (and, since we weren't clear on just what was required, to drop it off in the target area); the others deployed smoke to grab objective two. I usually play this game as a full operation but this individual terrain was quite satisfying too.

Then on to The Networks, which I've been playing a lot solo lately as I try to finish my 10×10 for the year. Which meant that I streaked ahead… and then came third in final scoring. Still, we all had a good time; I think I might prefer the game if it were a little shorter, but it was the first time playing for everyone except me and it does get faster with practice.

Mental Blocks next, in which we did a terrible job, twice. But still had fun. I wonder how susceptible to solo play this might be (with all the compulsory cards and none of the optional ones)… fortunately I have a poor memory so I can play the puzzles more than once as long as I have a bit of a break between them.

Finally, Letter Jam, in which I was the only one not to get all their letters. Ah well. Still had a good time.

This is a Christmas tradition that I invented, and I think it's worth keeping up – purely because it's fun, rather than because it's a tradition. (And because it's a break from the barrage of Christmas Stuff which affects, well, people who leave their houses more than I do.)