Good day gamers,

Feedback: Thanks for the positive feedback from a few of you. Keep it coming. There apparently was an issue with posting yesterday as well, so hopefully I have figured that out and it won’t happen again. However, if it wasn’t for your help, I may not have known.

Twilight Struggle: Got a chance to play Twilight Struggle last night at a friend’s house. It was great. I taught it to my friend, Bill, so that took a little time, but he really wanted to check out the game. It was worth it. In fact, having taught the game 4+ times, I had only played twice before, so I was still learning the nuances of the strategies and how the cards work together. We even discovered a rule I was teaching/playing wrong. Great night. I did end up winning, but Bill did great, lasting until Turn 9. We almost went to Nuclear War a few times. I only won because I got four scoring cards right at the best time for me, including two Asia scoring cards one right after the other as we shuffled in the discard pile. I had Dominance in the region, so that was great for me, not so great for Bill. 🙂 Thanks Bill for the fun night. We played four hours though. Twilight Struggle is NOT for the casual gamer.

Dreamation, The Grizzled: On Saturday night at Dreamation a couple weeks ago, I ran The Grizzled, which is a World War I card game. This game is also not for the feint of heart and I got a good suggestion from players after I taught it. The game can take up to five people and I only had four sign up, so I got a chance to play. One player had a tough time grasping the concept, which is not uncommon. I’ve had other people not appreciate the theme and find the game disturbing. Basically, you are trying to keep the morale of a French squad up, while they deal with threats and injuries in the trenches. If any player dies, everyone loses. You go through a series of missions where you have to play a card, but every card is absolutely horrible. You really feel for the soldiers that are represented and can see why, if they survive, they would have PTSD. I know some fellow veterans who have PTSD and it is horrible. However, this is just a game, but I did like the suggestion as I mentioned earlier. Perhaps the next time I teach it, I should mention a warning for people that may be sensitive. I could see the one player was really negatively affected and didn’t want to play the second game. One of my friends refuses to play the game again, due to the stress level. However, I do suggest you check it out sometime. It has a very unique game system and I do like the game. I can totally understand the concern though. By the way, in the two games, we lost. This is not uncommon. The Grizzled can leave you feeling frazzled.

Christmas? So, earlier today, I was singing Christmas carols. I don’t know why. So, Ginger just came over to me out of the blue and put a ‘Ho, Ho, Ho’ necklace on me. LOL She is too much fun. Where did she find this necklace? Too funny.

LITabletop Twitch: So, I have been busy with Twitch! Last Thursday, on the Weekly Word, I taught Splendor. Then this morning, I was on Over Coffee. Earlier this morning, on my Twitch channel, I played some HOI4. Then tonight, I’m on We Built This City. Then tomorrow night, I’m on D&D 5.0 Moroder with AJ. Having too much fun. We are looking for guests for most shows and a player for the D&D game. Send me a note at dave@gamemastergames.com

Thanks for reading. Until we meet again across the internet, keep you mice dry, your keyboards ready, and your gaming communities strong!!!

• Game Master Dave