Susie and I have passed out two weeks after the 2nd dose of Moderna. My gaming groups are starting to come back together, and I will likely return to the Portland ones now that we are vaccinated. These groups are mostly vaccinated people and are careful. I have not been willing to risk it until we got past this important milestone.
I visited Richard today to play games at his house. He is a dentist and has been vaccinated for some time.
We played Blood Rage first. I brought my copy with all the painted Vikings and mythical monsters. He beat me at my own game in his first play.
We then played Dune Imperium. A new game published in 2020 I have wanted to play for some time. Richard taught me the game, and I really enjoyed it. Richard did beat me by two points. You have a deck of cards that define what you can do–it is a deck-building game. You place two agents on the board based on the cards you have. This will give you resources, more options for play, and deploying army units. You can get more agents, and some options let you purge your deck of less valuable cards. This is a popular mechanic in working placement and resource management games. This is, of course, all themed to match the new Dune movie, currently held up by the pandemic, which is a bit odd. The game usually comes after the movie. Your turn ends with a revealing step where you can purchase new cards and support your troops. The battle of armies is fought using an abstract system of just counting strength. The winner and 2nd place are rewarded.
I added too many weaker cards to my deck. I also did not understand that you need to get cards from a specific group to use their special abilities. This meant my hand was weak some rounds. I focused on combat, which kept me in the game, but not getting the extra agent was a disadvantage I never recovered from. The intrigue cards created a more Dune feeling to the game. They also have extra scoring options. I would have picked up more had I known next time! Also, the loss of all troops used in a battle reminded me of the other Dune theme game I have known simply as Dune (2020).
This new game shows how we have polished game mechanics in the past years. The game flows and is easy to understand. While it is not as immersive as the chaotic and negotiate-focused, and simply insane rules of Dune (2020), it is a pleasure to play.
It did remind me of my recently purchased The Lost Ruins of Arnak board game. Many of the same mechanics are repeated here.
The day started with me sleeping in until 9ish and then painting figures for part of the morning. I also watched the first episode of Game of Thrones. It is on HBOMax, which we have. I am not sure I liked it, but I managed to get to the second episode of season 1.
I got Susie breakfast and then headed out to get my haircut. The rains are back, and I can breathe again. I drove, in heavy traffic, to Zerida’s place. It was busy but the rains made it a nice relaxing drive in Air Volvo.
I made Susie and I grilled cheese for dinner. Corwin later cooked steaks for her and his friend Andrew who moved today, just walking distance away now.
I drove to Portland and met Richard for games at 6PM. There was light-ish traffic to Portland tonight.
It is getting late and already Sunday so I will rush a bit.
349,313 more people are reported infected in India today.
29,160 people were vaccinated in Oregon yesterday. This number will usually increase as the counts are collected.
742 people died in the USA today from Covid-19.
I picked Amazing Grace for tonight.
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 