Rethinking that plan...

Sometimes I think my motto should be: "Anything Worth Thinking About is Worth OVERTHINKING About"....  or.... something like that...? Immediately after posting Game Plan 2021 - Q4 I posted an addendum suggesting I'd work on ORKS this month - as I kind of decided I should do that at the last minute. I haven't really not been working on Orks. (I've  been busy trying to do drawings and paintings  for inktober/artober/generic-october-daily-drawing/art-challenge). And so since I haven't been playing games or painting toys, I've been THINKING more about playing games and painting toys. I mean, THINKING about games and toys is my next favourite thing to actually playing with and painting them!? 

I've been thinking a LOT about campaign systems = and I have a post (or two!?) in the works about that... but I thought this might be quicker to finish up, so.... here it is... 

I LIKE the idea of 10x10 Game Challenges. I like the idea of picking ten games and playing them LOTS. It takes time and playing to really learn games and i often feel like I wish I could play this game or that game more as I might get more out of it if I actually could figure out HOW to play the damned game. 

The problem is, with my constantly shifting interests, it is nearly impossible for me to guess WHICH games will hold my interest throughout a year and completely ignores the fact that there may be a new game that could come out during the year that I could not have forseen, but will buy and LOVE and play lots of. 

So I have shifted to wuarterly 5x5 challenges... which I don't even often bother to define at the beginning of the quarter... because... shifting interests... life... time... so many unknowns... the plan OFTEN develops and/or changes part way through!? 

AFTER I thought about and posted my Game Plan 2021 - Q4  I started wondering - What games HAVE I played the most so far this year? ARE there any games that I am eve CLOSE to playing 10 games of. Could I shift any part of my Q4 Plan to make it possible to have played 10 games 10 times!? 

So, looking at the BoardGameGeek stats, my top ten (or so) most played games so, so far, this year, are:

1. Wingspan 

21 Games Played - Boom! DONE! 

2. Warhammer Underworlds: Direchasm 

12 Games Played

3. Kingdom Builder 

9 Games Played 

4. Retro Loonacy 

9  Games Played

5. Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team 

8 Games Played

6. Azul 

7 Games Played

7. Terraforming Mars 

6 Games Played

8. Warhammer Underworlds: Nightvault 

6 Games Played

Strange feature of Board Game Geek - All the Warhammer Underworlds games Shadespire, Nightvault, Beastgrave, Direchams, the new "Two-Player Starter" and the upcoming Harrowdeep are listed as separate games - there is no"Warhammer Underworlds" core set that I can record games under. 

So far I've been recording any games played in the SETTING of Beastgrave as Warhammer Underworlds: Direchasm (as it's the most recent, and the one I started with and we use the RULES from Direchasm when playing, regardless of whether we're playing with Beastgrave or Direchasm boards or mixing the two. 

Same goes for Nightvault/'Shadespire - despite the fact that I now OWN both, I record any games played in the Shadespire setting as Warhammer Underworlds: NIghtvault plays - as they use the most recent rules and that's the one I started with (and acquired Shadespire later).

So on one hand I feel like I should combine these to be EIGHTEEN plays of Warhammer Underworlds...because, really, is is the SAME GAME and we use warbands from all settings in either - and cards from all settings...  I'm probably going to keep them separate... just so I know how many games I'm playing in each Setting. 

Harrowdeep will add a third setting. 

9. London 

5 Games Played

10. Necromunda 

5 Games Played

11. The Arrival 

4  Games Played

12. Warhammer Age of Sigmar (Third Edition) 

4 Games Played

13. The Castles of Burgundy 

3 Games Played

14. Century: Golem Edition – An Endless World 

3 Games Played

15. Kingdomino 

3  Games Played

So.. The Plan... 

So, how many of each of these games would I need to play to get in 10 plays... 

Kingdom Builder + 1 - no problem

Retro Loonacy +1 - also not a problem

Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team +2 - Totally going to happen

Azul +3 - easy-peasy

Terraforming Mars +4 - This could happen... I really like Terraforming Mars. I'll play any time we have time and someone suggests it. 

Warhammer Underworlds: Nightvault +4 - I REALLY WANT TO get playing Warhammer Underworlds again... I'd LOVE to have a chance to play 4 more games this year! Can I make it happen in the Shadespire/Nightvault setting...? I don't see why not!? There IS Warhammer Underworlds: Harrowdeep coming out soon, though... it might be November, and I'll definitely be playing it before the end of the year, but I doubt I'll get to playing TEN full games in THAT setting.... 

London +5 - NOPE! this was part of our Q1 Challenge and Amanda and I found there was serious flaws/balance issues when playing with only two... and that's who I'd be playing most of these games against (This is exactly why I included MORE than just the top ten) 

Necromunda Rulebook +5 - I've kind of shifted away from Necromunda with the release of Kill Team... but I still love this game and it would be a good excuse to play a few more games. 

The Arrival +6 - Not so sure about this one... I'm glad I finally got to try it out. It was an interesting game and doesn't take a tonne of time to play... but still.. I didn't even manage to get a fifth game in when it was part of one of the Quarterly Challenges... it might be a struggle to get in SIX games of this... I think it would be easier to get in MORE games of some of the other options... 

Warhammer Age of Sigmar (Third Edition) +6 - I like this game... but the interest and motivation isn't really there... I find Miniatures Games require a bit more effort to set up... and I can't just NOT do a game report for this blog (is IS, in theory, a MINIATURE WARGAMING BLOG, after all!) which means MORE effort... when I already have a few others on the list. 

The Castles of Burgundy +7 - This would be a bit more of a challenge... though Amanda and I know the game well enough that just the two of us can get in a game in less than 1.5 hours... It COULD happen... but it's a game I've kind of tired of and, though I've only played it 3 times this year, I feel like I played it a LOT last year. (nope, looking back at Looking Back at 2020, I only played if five times) So... I like the game, but I don't LOVE it enough to play it seven more times this year... 

Century: Golem Edition – An Endless World +7 - Maybe... I do like the Century games. Is this one my favourite, probably not. If it was just seven more century games... that would be easy... seven of THIS ONE...? Might be a challenge... but COULD happen...? 

Kingdomino +7 -  this could happen. The games are quick... 

Other Possibilities.... 

Wrath & Glory or FATE (Condensed?) - I REALLY want to get a weekly(-ish) role-playing game going on again this fall! If that happened, it would be easy to get in 10 games of a game I haven't even played this year. 

I DID play a bit of Soulbound at the beginning of the year... but I just can't see reviving that one this year. Someday... but not this year... 

SO.... THE PLAN...!? 

If I had to guess which games are going to get their ten plays this year, I would guess the following:

1. Wingspan (Done!)

2. Warhammer Underworlds: Direchasm (Done!) 

3. Kingdom Builder (+1) 

4. Retro Loonacy (+1)

5. Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team (+2) 

6. Azul (+3) 

7. Terraforming Mars ( +4)

8. Warhammer Underworlds: Nightvault (+4)

9. Necromunda Rulebook (+5) 

10. Role-Playing Game (probably Wrath & Glory +10) 

That's THIRTY games I need to play. It's MORE than a regular 5x5 Quarterly Challenge would generate (25 games) but it's spread out over 8 games and I almost always play MORE than 25 games in three months... it just isn't always focused on the 5 games for the challenge. 

This seems do-able. 

Let's DO IT!!