New acquisitions since the WoWpocalypse

One of the things I'd been doing in this space was running down my new game acquisitions.  While I was obsessively playing the WoW, I still managed to pick up a handful of new things -- I just didn't write about them.  That lapse has been a thorn in the side of my sense of order, a thorn whose pricking I will suffer no longer!

First, a quick thought on "collecting," since this is, plain and simple, a post describing my collection.  I actually don't think of myself as a "collector," really, but:  the facts are the facts.  I buy a lot of games that, on some level, I know I probably won't actually play (or at least, play much).  I derive pleasure from the actual owning of the things, apart from and in addition to the pleasure that comes from their use.  I guess that's a pretty reasonable definition of "collector," whether I like it or not.  So there.  I guess I'm a collector, but a half-assed collector, to be sure.

Anyway:  here, in no particular order, are the things that I've picked up but not mentioned previously.

World at War:  Eisenbach Gap.  The Cold War era is a little under represented in my collection (there's that word again!) and that's a little surprising to me.  It's the era during which I grew up, and I find the potential military conflicts of the age absolutely fascinating.  Accordingly, WaW is a title I've always intended to pick up at some point.  I finally put in a request for it as one of the two games I asked for at Christmas.  The game covers a fictional invasion of the West by the USSR in the mid-80's. It's a tactical-level game, but at 1 counter = 1 platoon (rather than 1 counter = 1 vehicle).  It has had a lot of positive buzz, and I definitely see the appeal -- it's a very nice looking game, among other things.  It hasn't exactly grabbed me yet, though.  I've been through the rules pretty thoroughly, and they could be tighter, frankly.  Still, I'm looking forward to getting into this.

Fields of Fire. This was my other (gaming) Christmas present.  Its reputation is that it is a highly complex, highly innovative solitaire infantry/tactical game.  It spans three eras, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.  It also has the reputation of having an extremely difficult-to-grasp rule book.  I've done little more than take the shrink off this one at this point.  I'm not going to dig into it until I am in the mood for a major project.

Lock 'n Load:  Band of Heroes.  (Note well:  not "Lock and Load," lordy no; one presumes that wouldn't be "keepin' it real."  Or whatever.  And I would love to have sat in on the production meeting wherein it was decided that the omission of the "a" in "and" was worthy of denoting with an apostrophe, but the "d"--well, the "d" can just hit the damned road.)  I got a used copy of this game in a BGG math trade.  I gave up my copy of the WWII version of Wings of War--a game which I'd also gotten in a math trade.  (Hello, my name is Greywing, and I have a problem.)  I apparently have embarked upon a mission to own every WWII tactical board game except Advanced Squad Leader, and this acquisition fits into that plan (?) nicely.  Nothing really to say about this one beyond that; I've done barely more than open the box.

Patton's Best.  This is another game I got second-hand in a BGG math trade.  I traded away my copy of the Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition Player's Handbook for it.  (Have I mentioned that I wasn't crazy about 4E?) It's a solitaire game that I've sort of been looking for for a while now.  I really like the look of this one -- it's a detailed simulation of the experiences of a tank crew in WWII Europe, down to the level that each individual crew member is represented.  I have every intention of learning this one in the near term.  This was an excellent trade for me, which broke a streak of less-than-great luck.  My copy is complete and in really good shape for a game first published over 20 years ago.

Midway.  I won an auction for this one for a pretty low price (under $20 including shipping).  I bid on this as kind of a lark, actually.  I thought I'd take a flyer on trying to get one of the real classics of the genre, and it worked out.  This is, right now, definitely in the "have it just to have it" category, but who knows?  I might actually set it up at some point, since the subject matter is the most interesting (to me) single battle in history.  Read Shattered Sword!

So, there you go.  I've got one order in right now, for the deluxe reprint of Twilight Stuggle, and after that -- scout's honor! -- I'm cutting back on new purchases.  Seriously.  The goal for the year is to get my Warmachine on.  Beyond that, I need to seriously cut into the my number of owned-but-unplayed games, and cut down on the new acquisitions!