Two Battles Fought

Andrew and I battled it out twice today -- once in Northern France, and once in the battlground states of the US.

We played the first ASL Starter Kit #1 scenario for the second time today. Andrew took the Germans, and I took the Americans. We still got a few rules wrong, but we're getting better. Andrew learned the dangers of running a squad across the middle of the road in front of a fire group; I learned not to move into point-blank range of two stacks. Andrew ended up winning the game. He likes the game enough that while I was cooking dinner, he set up the second scenario -- which adds machine guns -- and played it solo.

Next, we tried out Campaign Manager 2008 for the first time. Andrew took Obama and I took McCain. I was able to pull out a solid victory by taking Florida, Pennsylvania and several other swing states. The game was very easy; anyone could learn to play it in ten minutes. At any point in time there are four battleground states up for grabs. Each player draws and plays cards to try to capture the states. Some cards allow the player to alter the state's primary concern -- defense or the economy. Other cards allow the player to place markers (matching the campaign's color) on the state's card -- either in the economy section or in the defense section. When a player completely controls the section of the state's card devoted to the state's primary concern, the player is able to claim the state. The first player to claim enough electoral votes is the winner. (There are additional things going on, but that's the essence of the game.) I enjoyed it for what it is -- a very light Euro-like game that can be played in less than an hour. The cards reflect campaign events, but I don't think a player will really learn much about the 2008 campaign by playing the game.