Gaming Great Bridge V: Alternate Rules

 “For me, it is always important that I go through all the possible options for a decision.”

— Angela Merkel

My Battle of Great Bridge set-up on site.

This past weekend I displayed and ran my Battle of Great Bridge wargame demo at a commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the mustering of the Culpeper Minutemen in the very field where they assembled...before they marhced off to Williamsburg and ultimately Great Bridge. Despite cool but sunny weather (quite nice for autumn in central Virginia), the attendance and participation was less than I had hoped, but it was still a positive day. Everyone who stopped by to admire the diorama, play the game, or discuss the battle brought their intelligent curiosity and interest in history. I ran the game twice with young but extremely bright participants and spent much of the day discussing the Battle of Great Bridge with folks, some of whom had never heard of it despite attending an event commemorating a unit which played a pivotal role — and gained its fame — in the engagement. I learned a bit, too, talking with those extremely familiar with the battle and the terrain.

Crafting Wargame Pieces

 “Toys are a caricature of reality.”

– Brian Sutton-Smith

I’ve had some occasional discussion lately about making the miniature wargaming hobby more accessible by – gasp! – playing with more easily acquired components than fully painted miniatures with diorama-quality terrain pieces. The amount of expense and effort can intimidate some who might otherwise dive into the hobby. Sure, it’s great to have painted miniatures and crafted terrain and play with them on the table; but buying and making them no doubt puts many off of the hobby by their sheer expense and effort. I started considering options to miniature soldiers and realistic terrain that could provide a satisfying play experience with minimal work. What options could I find to entice kids and newcomers into the miniature wargaming hobby that might fall into the realm of enjoyable craft projects they can then take to the table and play with? I’ll admit I was only partially successful; I failed to suppress my urge for more elaborate and realistic looking components.

Schweig’s B/X D&D Notebook

I’ve had hopes recently about introducing my son and a handful of his school friends to Dungeons & Dragons. (Granted I’m ignoring the inherent stigma D&D arouses in these regressive regions, but, ever the naïve optimist, I want to trust most parents these days would see the benefits of roleplaying games rather than assume they’re tools of Satan....) Unfortunately 18 months of the covid-19 pandemic – with its requisite precautions of social distancing, avoiding gatherings, wearing masks, plus an entire year of school online – put those aspirations on indefinite hold. But I can still dream and prepare. Besides, I sometime dabble in solitaire D&D play, reveling in rules, procedures, and imaginary action that once inspired me in my long-ago nostalgic youth. These urges lead to the inevitably inflammable question of “Which edition of D&D are you going to run?” Well, my own edition, of course.

Armies in Plastic

 “The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.”

– Carl Jung

I’ve extolled the virtues of Armies in Plastic figures before but never featured the company in a post all its own. Goodness knows I’ve mentioned these 54mm (1:32 scale) plastic soldiers enough during the past 10 years when I used them in various projects. Now that the company’s having a summer sale (ends June 30) it seems as good a time as any to talk about the large-scale historical miniatures it offers, good for young wargamers and seasoned grognards.

Armies in Plastic Native Americans
ambush a party of rangers.

These 54mm soldiers come in solid-colored plastic sculpted with enough detail one can identify them with a particular historical period. They range from 18th century conflicts (Seven Years War, French & Indian War, American War of Independence) throughout the 19th century (War of 1812, Franco Prussian War, various British colonial wars), and even into the 20th century (World War I, Rusian Civil War, and, a large jump over WWII, modern forces for the War on Terror). For some periods different forces are the same figures cast in different colors; for instance, AWI redcoats are red, patriots are blue, even though both have the same mix of poses. But most series include entirely original figures: rangers and Native Americans for the French & Indian War; numerous British colonial adversaries (Zulus, Afghan tribesmen, dervishes), several kinds of British colonial troops (including kilted Highlanders), even Germans in pickelhauben and later-war stahlhelme for WWI (to name a few with which I’m familiar).

Game Activity during the Pandemic

For two months the covid-19 pandemic has altered how we live our lives, including our gaming habits. Most world governments imposed limitations on their population (followed more stringently in some places than others). In less than two months more Americans have died than in all the years of fighting in Vietnam. Depending on how soon scientists can develop more effective testing and tracking, vaccines, and treatments/cures, we may never really return to a semblance of “normal” we experienced before. In the face of this deadly pandemic most everyone’s trying to adapt to the new situation: businesses, conventions, individual gamers. No doubt we’ll continue adjusting as conditions change for better or worse. We just have to sit back and see how our efforts affect the pandemic...and until then, we can distract ourselves and find some respite from this grim reality through our modified adventure gaming hobby activities.

Magazine Daydreams & A Side-Trip to Egypt

Lately I’ve been daydreaming about establishing a kids magazine featuring historical articles with an appropriately themed game in every issue. The grandparents had been asking us what to get our son, the Little Guy, for his birthday and Christmas, which, unfortunately, sit frightfully close on the calendar. One set of grandparents got him a subscription to National Geographic Kids, which he enjoys mostly for the cat features. His new-found interest in various historical periods coupled with Dad’s collection of games with historical themes and my own advocacy for using games for learning (especially with kids) got me daydreaming about a magazine concept. What if kids could get a bi-monthly magazine filled with articles on a specific historical subject complete with a small game bound within its pages? (In yet another daydream I’m employed in my chosen career field with a salaried position at a non-profit group advocating the use of games for learning with both children and adults....) Alas, in this Internet Age where everyone’s plugged in, staring at a screen, and doodling away at some solitaire online time-waster game there probably isn’t much of a market for a print magazine, let alone one geared toward kids (probably more plugged in than any other demographic), and one focused on history with an analog game inside. But it was a nice daydream before reality dashed it to pieces, one that inspired me to develop a very simplified solitaire game about ancient Egypt.

[Editor’s Note: And how timely that, as I prepare to post this, archaeologists in Sakkara, Egypt, have just discovered an undisturbed 5th Dynasty tomb of a priest from 4,400 years ago....]

Battle Ravens Looks Ideal for Kids & Newcomers

I rarely feature games in active Kickstarter campaigns (though I’ve looked at a few after release); but when I happened upon Daniel Mersey’s Battle Ravens: The Shieldwall Board Game I couldn’t resist both backing it and offering my perspective. Battle Ravens pits two players’ Viking-age armies against each other across the field of battle. Each side gets to place tokens (representing ravens) behind different sections of their line, then spends them to maneuver and fight with their warriors, hoping to break through the opponent’s line and send them running from the field. The battle game format works well for simulating warfare of this age; the rules provides plenty of historical context. The designer has released several recent and popular miniatures rules that work well for beginners. The mechanics seem basic yet offer players some careful choices to make. These elements can satisfy wargamers looking for a quick yet fulfilling tabletop diversion and tempt kids and newcomers to give the wargaming hobby a try.

A Game that Will Live in Infamy

“I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant

and fill him with a terrible resolve.”

– Admiral Yamamoto

In my spare/parenting time I’m preparing a Wings of Glory scenario for Pearl Harbor. My son, the Little Guy, now eight years old, has discovered that his ability to read means he can explore different books that interest him, both fiction and non-fiction. Earlier this year he and a friend developed a fascination for books about the Titanic disaster they found in the school library. I shared with him a few Titanic books from my own library. Then he discovered a book about Pearl Harbor. He started asking me questions. I encouraged his curiosity and we both undertook some research, exposing him to some historical events for the first time and allowing me to revisit them. Ultimately it led him to ask me if I had any games about Pearl Harbor we could play, one in which he could play the Japanese. I took it as a challenge, one to enhance his knowledge and fuel his curiosity. And I’ll admit it’s put me in an odd bind I’ve faced before: how do we feel about wargaming events in our nation’s past that evoked – and still evoke – deep feelings.

Themed Gaming Gift Ideas for Non-Gamers

It’s the holiday gift-giving season again. Goodness knows I’ve rambled on enough over the years about the magic of the holidays, how this is a great time to indulge in fantasy and gaming, and what gifts can best entice non-gamers and kids into gaming. I suppose I just can’t stay away. This year I’m recommending gifts for non-gamers that focus on a theme they enjoy. I’ve discussed the relationship between game mechanics and theme before in “Introducing Newcomers to Games: Theme & Mechanics.” The gist is that, while the turn sequence, player choices, interaction mechanics, and other systems of play are just as important in providing an entertaining game experience, often just getting new players to the table requires an enticing theme. “Do you want to play a game where you fly X-wings against TIE fighters?” sounds a lot better than “Do you want to play a starship miniatures game with maneuvers, special combat attacks, and upgraded ship abilities?” So I’ve perused my library shelves for board games I own or have played with interesting themes appealing to fans of certain genres. Most of these buck my past recommendations: they’re not necessarily the best games for introducing newcomers to gaming; few are kid-friendly; and the price points often soar past the $25 threshold a past “survey” indicated is the optimum cost of games to risk as gifts for non-gamers. Few of these are ideal starter games for newcomers to the adventure gaming hobby, so if you give them as gifts, expect to take the lead in introducing them to the rules through an actual game. I’ve listed them according to which fans might most enjoy each recommendation:

Adapting Games for A Play Community

“It’s not winning the game that makes the game fun. It’s playing that makes the game fun.”

– Bernie De Koven

I’m reading Bernie De Koven’s The Well-Played Game in which he focuses on the “play community,” a group of people willing to play games together, striving not for the triumph of the win but for a positive, satisfying play experience. “The nature of a play community is such that it embraces the players more than it directs us toward any particular game,” he writes. “Thus, it matters less to us what game we are playing, and more to us that we are willing to play together.” I’d recommend the book to anyone willing to more deeply examine their relationship, dynamics, and shared goals with those who join them at the gaming table no matter what the game. Although it discusses “play” as a more free-form concept, its many insights can apply equally well to adventure games (as opposed to more rigidly organized games like sports, with more strictures in terms of rules, requirements, and referees). In that pursuit he encourages play communities to embrace the freedom to change a given game so we can play well together. Members of the adventure gaming hobby have a long history of adjusting their games to best suit their own tastes and sharing them with others, but we might consider becoming more sensitive to individual players and groups depending on the participants and venue of particular games.

The Basic Hack Offers Intro OSR Experience

I’ve enjoyed dabbling with the Old School Renaissance (OSR). It’s nice to indulge my nostalgic tendencies and revel in some of the innovations people are sharing based on the old “core” fantasy roleplaying game rule sets: Erik “Tenkar” Stiene’s Swords & Wizardry Light, James Spahn’s The Hero’s Journey, Scott Malthouse’s Romance of the Perilous Land, among others in the back of my mind. Yet the OSR itself caters to gamers with at least some experience with any earlier flavor of Dungeons & Dragons and roleplaying games, whether someone played once in high school or has been playing regularly for years. It’s not exactly a clear entry point for newcomers to the roleplaying game hobby. Since OSR titles are primarily available through online venues, they’re not visible in hobby, game, or book stores – unlike the current edition of D&D – and none of the OSR games have really, to my estimation, catered to complete beginners.... Until now. Nathan J. Hill’s The Basic Hack, an iteration of David Black’s The Black Hack, incorporates a few elements and a distillation of the OSR gaming experience I feel can offer an entry point for new gamers, either in the hands of an experienced gamemaster or even on their own.

Holiday Gift Ideas for Non-Gamers & Kids

As we dive pell-mell into the holiday season some folks continue their quest to find the right presents for people on their list, each with their own parameters based on relationship, etiquette, interests, and budget. Even gamers can prove problematic since they often have quite exactingly specific tastes in games...and frequently own everything for game lines they particularly enjoy. I’m always looking for ways to draw newcomers into the adventure gaming hobby – both adults and kids – so this season I’ve assembled some low-cost gift ideas for people who might like joining readers at their gaming tables.

Some adult newcomers to gaming might find satisfaction with the many Eurogames and similar fare happily found in such ubiquitous venues as Target and Walmart. Solid standards like Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, King of Tokyo, Carcassonne, Castle Panic, and Pandemic are good go-to games for adults seeking to break into the current popularity of board games, yet their prices tend to run higher than most casual gifts and they’re not always good for younger children. I’ve also featured a few specifically kid-friendly games – Dino Hunt Dice, Rory’s Story Cubes, Set, Dungeon!, Forbidden Island, Stratego Battle Cards Game, Robot Turtles, and the D&D Starter Set – in a similar holiday gift post two years ago; they’re all still valid recommendations.

Minecraft Card Game? Ideal for Families

We recently bought the Minecraft Card Game? for our son, the six year-old “Little Guy,” because he’s immersed himself in the Minecraft universe. I don’t pretend to know much about Minecraft; I’ve accepted it as one of those fads I’m aware of yet encourage my son to explore. At his insistence I bought Minecraft for his tablet and many of his first-grade friends are into it, so it’s his “thing” now (having set aside Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Godzilla for the time being). So he now wants any associated Minecraft toys and, when he saw it, the card game. I was skeptical at first, thinking I was just pandering to his fad de-jour, but upon playing it several times with our family, discovered the Minecraft Card Game? did a nice job of merging an interesting theme with easy yet engaging mechanics.

Thoughts on Playing Hero Kids

The Little Guy finally pestered me into running a roleplaying game for him the other night. He’s six-and-a-half years old, doing well in first grade, and has already sampled other games from Daddy’s varied adventure gaming hobbies, including miniature wargames and board games. I’ve had Hero Kids waiting in the wings for a few years, yet I just haven’t felt like the Little Guy was ready for something a bit more free-form than some of our other gaming fare. I ordered a print copy of the rulebook and printed out character cards, stand-up figures, and the Basement O Rats scenario back in August in case we had free time at a convention to run it; we didn’t, but it meant I was somewhat prepared when the Little Guy quite suddenly insisted we play it after dinner one night.

So Dad sat down with the Little Guy; Mom was a good sport and agreed to play so we wouldn’t have an awkwardly solitaire game session and to demonstrate the idea of an adventuring party helping each other overcome challenges. They chose characters from those I’d printed to cardstock. I took about 20 minutes to outline the various elements of their characters and answer questions, then we dove into the game. I ran the Basement O Rats scenario complete with printed map boards and cardstock character and monster stand-up figures. Using the recommended number of adversaries for two players (a helpful, balancing innovation) they explored the caves beneath the tavern, vanquished the rats, and rescued Roger, all within about 45 minutes (including a few quick asides to look up and clarify minor rules questions). The Little Guy enjoyed it so much he wanted me to run another scenario immediately....

I examined Hero Kids when I first got it and, from a basic reading, was impressed with the resources it offered: intuitive mechanics using six-sided dice; clear character sheets; lots of advice for running a roleplaying game for kids (or even newcomers); a setting focusing on the role of kids rather than typical fantasy heroes; and map “boards” and pieces for scenarios to help transition from more traditional games. After actually playing it, I realized most of my earlier impressions were spot-on, though, of course, actual play reveals some nuances:

Duration: Kids have limited attention spans, especially in this age of instant gratification from electronic devices. The concepts and mechanics behind Hero Kids took only a few minutes to introduce to new players, while the scenario itself ran in less than an hour. This was the perfect length of time to maintain interest while still offering a significant taste of the game play. Occasionally the Little Guy’s attention wandered off a little, but it was more a lack of patience with other players’ turns and the presence of natural distractions such as errant toys at the dinner table that tempted him.

Party Teamwork: The Little Guy played a warrior while Mom ran a healer; the combination, and their coordination during combat, helped illustrate how different party members could contribute to success. At times the Little Guy wanted to go off on his own, deny assistance to his Mom’s character, or even attack her (“Can I attack other players’ characters?” he asked...something I expect every gamer asks at some point). At each turn we gently demonstrated how party members depended on each other – offering coordinate attacks or healing each other at key moments – or how, sometimes, his own insistence didn’t matter, such as when his warrior scaled a wall with the healer’s help, then he didn’t offer the healer assistance...not that she needed it with a successful skill roll.

Skill Tests: I really liked the die pool system, especially for non-combat skill tests. In a fight players roll the appropriate die pool and compare the highest result against the opponent’s roll; for skills they compare a roll against a difficulty number (4, 5, or 6) for success. Each combat skill (melee, ranged, and magic) also serves as a skill (strength, dexterity, magic), and each player also gets a few non-combat skills like tracking or lore. Although the scenario depended on lots of combat, it also offered some purely skill-based challenges, like climbing a cave wall or figuring out which tunnel led to the rats. It offered a nice balance between hack-and-slash and problem solving.

Lack of Character Advancement: The Hero Kids rules don’t offer any mechanics for character advancement, though it’s easy enough to allow each player to assign an extra die to their character after several hard-won adventures. Yet the lack of an advancement system removes the emphasis on killing monsters and taking their treasure for personal gain and instead focuses on fulfilling the story elements. Rather than delving into the tavern basement seeking hoarded rat treasure, the heroes explore the tunnels and vanquish rats with the goal of rescuing their friend. While it might seem good to offer some motivation in the form of personal advancement (gold, experience points), it’s refreshing not to place emphasis on greed and killing.

Maps and Pieces: I’m undecided about using the maps and cardboard stand-up figures. They’re useful for transitioning players from traditional boards and pieces to a roleplaying game setting. They’re absolutely necessary for introductory Hero Kids games. They help everyone visualize what the environment looks like, where heroes and adversaries stand, and how everyone moves relative to other elements. Yet the reliance on physical components hinders the gamemaster’s ability to simply whip up a new scenario on the spot (at least without having a stock of ready-made maps and cardstock figures), as demonstrated by the Little Guy’s insistence I run another session right away. I started mentally fumbling around for ideas, all of which required me to look up some potential adversaries, jot down some scenario notes, draft gridded maps on a large enough scale to use figures, and then find or print said figures. I think for at least the next few game sessions I’ll have to either devise my own maps and use figures I have or rely on printing materials from the Hero Kids scenarios I have in PDF. That said, the game could easily transition to a more freeform system, even one with a purely verbal description.

When the Little Guy expressed an urge for me to run more Hero Kids, he demonstrated that he doesn’t quite understand the amount of preparation that goes into running a scenario. His tastes tend to run toward whatever electronic media he’s devouring at the moment. He’s looked at Daddy’s Basic Dungeons & Dragons rulebook but really wanted to try the Hercules & Xena game he spotted. He’s asked me to run a Star Wars roleplaying game session, though he prefers the prequels to Daddy’s cherished original trilogy. I think we’ll do more Hero Kids before we decide what direction to take next. He’ll be seven years old soon, a good age to continue our exploration of adventure gaming and expand it with some roleplaying game scenarios.


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Star Wars Duels Redefines “War” Card Game

I recently picked up Star Wars Duels, a card game from Hasbro with an obviously popular theme, at the behest of the six year-old Little Guy, who saw it on sale at our grocery store and immediately wanted it to try for our weekly family game night. I’m not a huge fan of card games, though we have a number we enjoy because they’re right at the Little Guy’s level and work with engaging themes (particularly Godzilla Stomp and Otters). Star Wars Duels pleasantly fits into that category, combining modified “War” gameplay with colorful images of Star Wars characters kids love.

The 54-card deck comes with a rules flyer and a reference card for some of the symbols used in the game. They’re standard playing card-sized cards, though given the box size and the intended audience I somewhat expected slightly larger, more kid-friendly cards. Each card comes with a blue, red, or yellow border for the heroes, villains, and neutrals (mostly creatures); a full-color photograph of the character; their name; a card value from 1 to 10; and one or two symbols related to the character’s affiliation. The heroes and villains each have 23 cards, with 8 yellow cards devoted to neutrals. Card values seem a bit inconsistent, but vary from a standard playing card deck spread: 8 to 9 cards of the lower values (1–3); 4 to 7 cards of the middle values ( 4–6); and 3 to 4 cards of the highest values (7–10).

WEG Memoirs: Young Writers Workshops

Sifting through boxes in the basement often uncovers lost bits of my past. My latest foray brought forth a small packet of papers: a pile of photocopied Star Wars line art from West End Games products, a sheaf of double-sided worksheet forms about creating planets and aliens, and some note cards with talking points for a seminar I gave way back in the mid-1990s. Long ago while working as an editor with West End I had several opportunities to participate in young writers’ workshops in my hometown. As a writer and editor who worked on the Star Wars Roleplaying Game and managed its quarterly Adventure Journal I found myself in a position to combine the exciting Star Wars universe and my career experiences to inspire creativity in young people. Having the resources and professional credentials to participate in these workshops remains one of several aspects of my work with West End I miss.

In my early adulthood I’d always maintained contacts with my old high school where I grew up in Connecticut. At the time I still knew teachers and administrators with whom I could work to share with students the professional skills and experiences I’d recently acquired. While working as a reporter and editor at the Ridgefield Press – where I gained a great deal of my professional editing experience – I ran an after-school writers workshop at one elementary school and occasionally spoke to classes on various journalism-related subjects. When I left to edit the Star Wars Adventure Journal for West End Games I was a little more than a two-hour drive from home; so occasionally participating in school-related presentations remained possible. At the time my mother was a third-grade teacher in the town’s school system, a connection which also offered opportunities to talk about writing and publishing with kids. Perhaps the most interesting activity was an annual kids writing workshop one Saturday every spring. Here students from the town’s third, fourth, and fifth grades could sign up for the day’s activities, which included a group assembly and talk from a notable author, two subject-specific seminars, and a wrap-up writing session with educators. Being only an hour north of New York City, the workshop drew many notable news media and publisher personalities for some very diverse offerings. For two years I volunteered to give workshop presentations related to my work on science fiction and Star Wars. The first year I went on my own; the second I brought several editors from West End who had ideas for their own workshops.

Grown-Up Games & Kids at Play

“A game is a form of play with goals and structure.”

– Kevin Maroney, The Games Journal

As a gamer parent I encourage my son to join in my games. I’ll freely admit my enthusiasm sometimes gets the better of me, that I don’t always have realistic expectations, and that – like some parents do with sports, careers, or other interests – I gently force my own expectations on my son against his childlike wishes. Kevin Maroney’s basic definition of a game outlines a balancing act gamer parents face. Kids naturally want to play freely, but are they ready for the structure of a game, especially the more daunting structure of a game their parents enjoy?

Frequent readers know I introduced my son, the now-six year-old Little Guy, to games at an early age. He’s always been interested in Daddy’s toys despite the heaps of his own toys spread in the living room and his bedroom. Like most kids his age he enjoys going beyond the bounds with his toys, not simply playing with them as intended but crossing genres and making up his own entertainment unhindered by rules or restrictions. He’s exhibited very imaginative play tendencies, both on his own as an only child and with his parents and friends. He plays out adventures (“movies” or “episodes”) with his Godzilla, Doctor Who, and Star Wars toys, often mixing them up and substituting other toys for missing characters. With his introduction to more formalized games we started small and worked our way up from kid-level fare like Dino Hunt Dice to more sophisticated fare. We’ve rarely turned to children’s board games like Candyland that rely on random mechanics and severely limit player choice (though the completely random Destroy Death Star game proved – and continues to prove – a delightful diversion despite its total lack of player choices). He’s grown over time as we’ve explored new games, particularly ones that merge mechanics he can grasp with themes he loves.

A Bounty of Holiday Gaming Gifts

Throughout my life the December holidays have always provided a host of gaming gifts. Even as a child, before discovering the rich potential of the adventure gaming hobby, we always received some board game or other (as I was reminded by the piles of old game boxes my parents cleaned out of their attic and brought during a recent visit). This year my family was very generous and creative in making it a game-filled holiday.

This year's bounty of holiday gaming goodness.

I fondly recall several holiday presents in my gaming collection from Christmas past. The first year I was into Dungeons & Dragons my brother went down to our local gaming store, the long lost Branchville Hobby, and bought me a Grenadier Wizards Room miniatures boxed set and module A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords (even though I only had A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity and A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade...). A great aunt got me Avalon Hill’s Kingmaker (no doubt with some guidance from my parents) to set me on my path toward wargames. More recently my well-advised in-laws sent me the Star Trek: Attack Wing miniatures game and some extra ships. The holidays also brought game-related materials to fuel my efforts, including reference books, fantasy and sci-fi novels, and inspiring movie soundtracks.

A Very Gaming Holiday Break

The Little Guy has spent the past several months in kindergarten – heck, they started August 10! – and now he’s looking forward to a bit of a break from school over the holidays. Two and a half weeks of break, in fact, this entire week leading up to Christmas, the week between Christmas and New Year’s, and even the first Monday of the new year. Although I have a short list of excursions and activities to keep us busy, I also expect I’ll fall back on gaming to help keep him occupied on his long winter’s break.

The Little Guy contemplating a move
in a tank game at Historicon.

His day at school offers him a good deal of structure which we’ve noticed he misses during the weekends and occasional days off. No doubt the dose of “toy-pocalypse” he gets having a birthday and Christmas so close together will give him a host of new toys to keep him busy plus a slew of new DVDs to watch. He also got his own kid-friendly tablet as a present, loaded up primarily with educational apps and a few fun bits (he loves Angry Birds). But even with his favorite PBS Kids shows and a tablet with limited battery time I expect he’s going to hit a point where he’s still bored during the day, when he gets pokey for something junky to eat every 30 minutes, and won’t let Dad alone until he’s focused on some other fulfilling activity.

I expect we’ll spend some time – possibly even develop a daily routine – playing games. We have a good repertoire of titles we play during our weekly family game nights, including Forbidden Island, Best Treehouse Ever, Qwirkle, Tsuro, King of Tokyo, and Castle Panic; some of these seem passable with two players, but not quite ideal play experiences. I’m hoping to push our bounds in the two-player game field with some new board games. The Stratego Battle Cards game is on my radar since he’s learned his numbers and concepts such as “less than” and “greater than.” I also acquired a Stratego board game set a while back he might enjoy trying. I also just got my Kickstarter-supported copy of Less: Like Chess, but Less from Slovenia, a clever little two-player abstract game with a variable board made of coasters. I also expect he’ll want to help me explore some of the childhood board games my parents rescued from their attic and brought during their latest visit, particularly the Raiders of the Lost Ark board game. If Santa decides to bring any new games for Daddy I expect the Little Guy will want to give them a try.

I’d also like to help him with some more difficult fare to expand our family’s game repertoire. I expect these might challenge his nascent reading and math abilities (which kindergarten is aggressively cultivating). He’s asked about Spearpoint 1944 (the illustrated box for the Village and Defensive Line Map Expansion has caught his eye, as will the nice components when I open it for him); while the game doesn’t require a whole lot of reading, he does need to follow a host of rules. I’d love to teach him Memoir ’44 but I’ll have to consider whether the text-heavy cards and numerous units might be too much for him. He’s also asked about Ticket to Ride Europe (I don’t have the original one for America), though that requires some reading and geography skills, something I’m not averse to teaching him. We’ve played some simplified games of Wings of War/Wings of Glory before (the World War I flavor); I might see if he’s interested in more of that or trying out the World War II planes. He has a particular affinity for the larger bombers.

He’s requested to play Valley of the Ape several times since we playtested it as part of our nearly year-long development, so I hope indulging him in that might satisfy his urges for gaming activities. I’m also playing with some mechanics for a basic-level, kid-friendly skirmish wargaming rules; my interest in these focuses on the various historical periods I enjoy and for which I have 54mm figures (French and Indian War, American War of Independence, Civil War, and British colonial skirmishes with Zulus and Dervishes)...but the Little Guy will most likely be tempted by my 54mm Star Wars Command figures in battles between hapless Imperial scout troopers and hordes of Ewoks (which the system can handle with minor modifications).

The Little Guy has also asked me about designing his own games (and bringing them to conventions to run and sell...), so I might indulge him with some basic game-design concepts or even a craft project based on a theme he likes. This is a big “if” fraught with complications and the possibility of consuming huge swaths of time. I’ve discussed managing game design concepts with kids before, so exploring this first-hand with a six year-old may offer some new insights or strategies.

Perhaps a slightly less daunting challenge comes from my urge to expose him to some basic roleplaying game experience. Although I have a host of roleplaying games, most remain beyond his grasp. As I mentioned in my recent “Share Gaming during the Holidays” post, I need to suppress my urge to run something I like in favor of a game with mechanics and theme more attuned to his ability and interests. Hero Kids seems just about his speed with a nice graphic representation of the characters and stats. I’ve been meaning to print out the game the entire year and never quite got around to it. The Little Guy’s had a stigma about them because he needs to be able to read, but as he’s already learning in kindergarten it might be a good introduction.

Unfortunately having the Little Guy home each day for two and a half weeks isn’t going to give me much time for my own writing and game design, let alone my explorations of B/X D&D, OSR titles, various wargames, and solitaire gaming. During the December holidays, however, I usually resign myself to having little time for personal pursuits; at least I can engage in gaming on some level and hopefully cultivate in the Little Guy an enjoyment of a few new games.

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Share Gaming during the Holidays

The holidays seem like a great time to share our adventure gaming hobby with others, especially those not yet initiated into such enjoyable entertainments. Families spend time visiting, we receive games as gifts, kids have a few weeks off from school, and we seek some sense of the season’s fantastic wonder in escapist games. We’re often sorely tempted to invite non-gamers to try our latest pursuits, often prompted by queries of “Hey, what’s that?” upon unwrapping a new acquisition or “That looks neat, can I play?” as we show off our game libraries or peruse our rulebooks. But sharing our adventure game hobby with the uninitiated through a positive play experience takes a bit of restraint

I recall from my youth a host of unsuccessful holiday games with my brother and cousins who shared some similar interests and were easily convinced to try something new by their oldest siblings. One year while visiting I tried to run the AD&D scenario A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity. Even using the module’s pre-generated characters the effort quickly devolved into a morass of bored players, long rules explanations, and not much adventuring. My oldest cousin didn’t fare much better. His attempt at running the Avalon Hill Dune board game – newly received for Christmas – had everyone’s head spinning with no clue how to proceed. The back-up plan of Risk fared no better in the confusing explanation of how the dice resolved combat; the experience probably contributed to my life-long distaste for the game (not a bad thing in my estimation).