2 Player AoS and BGG.Con!

Not a brilliant weekend for gaming, but a bunch of notches above average. On Saturday, I drove out to Lebanon to play Age of Steam with Lyle. I had a great time, breaking out two 2-player maps that I had not yet played.

First up was Scotland. I really enjoyed this map. More so than the second game that we played, the Scotland map seemed to replicate the feel of a three plus player game of AoS with only two players. I have this map printed out and I look forward to playing it again.

Instead of playing Scotland again, Lyle suggested that we break out Austria. Austria deviated from basic AoS rules much more so than Scotland, doing away with the bidding for turn order and the issuing of shares. This resulted in a game that felt quicker, was still a lot of fun, but seemed to lack the class AoS feel that I am growing used to. I am also not sure if I am a fan of the use of ports in the map. I enjoy the feel of creating that large network, and I did not accomplish that in this game. Urbanization is an incredibly important action for the first player to take, basically every time that they can. At least that is my assumption after one play. I would definitely play this map again, and I would pick it up if I found it for cheap somewhere. Another positive note is that AoS sans Shares and Bidding is much more forgiving and this would be a great map to introduce some of the basic concepts to a new player.

In conclusion, I did not know what to expect when Lyle suggested that we play some 2 player games of AoS. It is not as much fun as games with more people, but it is still a heck of a lot of fun! I now have my eyes on a Bezier map featuring solo and 2p play.

I also want to thank Lyle for having me over for the games and Jim for introducing me to Lyle. This is definitely something brilliant about this hobby, when I can happily and with zero trepidation drive 45 minutes to someone’s house, whom I have never met before on the recommendation of another person whom I have basically only played games with. I have said it before, but I think that that is one of the best aspects of this hobby. I have met so many people that I would call my friends through gaming and I look forward to meeting many more.

And that leads me right into the next announcement: I leave for BGG.Con on Tuesday right after work! More on this later (if I actually keep up with the blog), but I am driving to Maryland on Tuesday to stay with my cousin. My plane leaves for Dallas early on Wednesday and the actual convention starts Thursday. Aside from Origins, this is probably going to be the biggest convention that I have ever been to and I am definitely looking forward to it. I am going to stop talking now, so I can post this, but I really hope to get a games played list posted after the con, as well as an obligatory games purchased list!