inconsequential ruminations

As I wrote before, I accidentally discovered that one of my sculling friends plays Go.

On a whim, I messaged him on AIM and he came over. We played a quick 9×9. He gave me a two stone advantage and still beat by three stones, due to a careless mistake. He even lent me his proper Japanese board and stones, so that when he is cycling home from work, he can drop over for a game. :o)

I’ve finished a couple of PBW games recently.

Wallenstein
This was a particularly interesting experience. PBW gives you the opportunity to feel Wallenstein’s mechanics, without the distraction of the attractive pieces and the dice tower. Now I can safely say that Wallenstein a simple cross between Risk and El Grande, with secret actions. The lovely pieces and dice tower tend to distract from this, although in an enjoyable way.
Like most very political games, it’s a mistake to be ahead in the mid-game. The leader and second place players at half-way were hammered.
Wallenstein has lost some of it’s initial shine with me, but I’ll still buy it as soon as I can scrape some spare cash together.

StreetSoccer
This is a nice little game, but I don’t feel any desire to buy it. It would be a nice gateway game for a football fan, so long as they were not looking for something too heavy. There certainly seems to be quite a lot of genuine skill involved, as the designer, Corné van Moorsel, is one of the top rated players.

I’m starting a game of Bus at Spielbyweb. Anyone care to join me? It’s called Ding ding, no password.