Happy New Year ! - 2010

Happy New Year to All!!

After a year of not posting anything on this blog I have decided to write something again! The reason for the dearth of blog posts was just plain laziness on my part as well as the new facebook page that Philboardgamers got this year where it seems to be easier to post things and get feedback quicker.

One of the new year resolutions I made for 2010 will be to write more regularly. Expect to find this blog to get filled up more this year as I narrate, opine, comment on the wargames I will get to play this year.

While 2008 was the year I was introduced into the board wargaming hobby, 2009 was the year I went crazy and bought and played a number of games. While I don't exactly remember exactly all the games I bought and played this year (you can check my boardgamegeek profile to see all the games I have and played), I will just highlight some of the more memorable events for this year:

1. Wargame Meet is now a regular gaming event. It is held every 2nd saturday of the month. Its still a small gathering with attendees averaging from 10-15 people. We were able to get some interest from the Euro/Amerigames crowd as they discovered the wonders of multiplayer card driven games such as Here I Stand and Napoleonic Wars, block games such as Hellenes, Hammer of the Scots and Crusader Rex and traditional hex and counter games such as ASL Starter Kit.

2. Philboardgamers Facebook Page was put up this year to help spread the word to anyone interested in the Philippines about the presence of a board wargame group that meets regularly to play. So far, we are close to a thousand members but only a handful are active. Some have expressed interest in attending and we hope to see them attend an upcoming gaming event.

3. The presence of ASL Guru, Jeff Coyle, in the country has the few ASL enthusiasts happy as he patiently teaches us the rules and tactics to become better players. We get bitch slapped by Jeff in almost every game but its still fun. ASL has become my most played wargame as there is also a regular ASL group that plays every Saturday at Mark's house. I have to admit that I like this game a lot despite the complexity of the rules. It has so many scenarios and covers all sorts of weapons, troops, terrain, situation and can be played 2 or more players, campaign style (which we have to do before Jeff leaves the country). I have also won 1 more game of ASL as well!!

3.1 A number of VASL games were played this year contributing to ASL being the most played wargame for me this year. In order to avoid the traffic jams, long travel times and at the same time be at the comfort of one's house and have games neatly saved in electronic file, the ASL enthusiasts played ASL online using VASL software with the help of Skype for communication. Hopefully VASL games will be played regularly every week while a continuous VASSAL game (for the other wargames) will be running for a few months.

4. Mark's wargame sale throughout the year gave the rest of us the chance to get some rare or out of print games without the trouble of shipping and customs. Mark has been a long time avid gamer since the 70s as much as a collector. I was able to get around 7-10 game from him alone this year. Some of the notable games sold in my opinion were The Longest Day, Caesar at Alesia, Dune and Caesar's Legions

Well, that will be all for now. I'll update this page once more as 2010 unfolds and more games are purchased and played. Until then, have a good day!

Vlad