Couple of more Cuba Libres. Two 4-player games, both won by Government. First one was a bit shock for everybody (during first Propaganda spent most of the OPs for securing the support/points from the cities and couple of provinces, then just hold the positions until next Propaganda - which arrived fast!) but second was quite narrow - both Government and Syndicate achieved the victory condition but Government had slightly better margin - by 1 point! Love this game. When playing solo, Syndicate has loads of money but when played by player (like I did this time) the situation is suddenly totally different. Perhaps I should play them by following strictly the non-player AI chart :)

Gears of War: The Board Game is a forgotten gem we have. Started the scenarios from the beginning and after fifth try succeeded in completing the first mission. Especially good if you have played the GoW on console - you can imagine then how Boomers make those "Boom!" sounds and why Tickers should be kept at distance.

I believe I have mentioned earlier that I'm probably one of the few people who don't like Agricola. It's too long for what it is and too boring as well. 2-player Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small, on the other hand, is a game I've played already 11 times and I strongly believe there will be lots of plays in the future as well. Base game alone can become a bit repetitive after some games but expansions add a lot of replayability. A lot. Really like them.

Last time I played Indonesia was something like 3 years ago - and yesterday had another chance to try. Excellent game. I was left last (in 3p game) despite my oil monopoly and shipping network that covered most of the board. Seems I spent too much when acquiring the monopoly :) Nevertheless it was interesting game with practically no downtime and multitude of decisions - really good one. Recommend for everybody who likes something meatier with mergers and acquisitions but not 18xx-heavy.

And also...

...please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.
I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2014, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures.

Aaaaaaaaand, we're back.

COIN has been the magical word here lately, with Andean Abyss and Cuba Libre sharing similar gameplay but being totally different beasts. I'm not even sure if they are 'proper' wargames as there are basically no battles but - hey! - they're fun to play! Actually I haven't played the full game (i.e. with 4 players) of Cuba Libre yet, just a couple of solos and one 2p game - but even based on those I already like it. This is also a game that restored my faith to playing solo - so far I thought that soloing is (mainly) analytical math/probability exercise but CL proved that it could be fun as well. I have played two 4-player games of Andean Abyss and I believe this gives me enough experience to declare this game completely utterly broken: ARC has 100% win ratio. And yes, it's sore loser speaking :)

Managed to try out Nations, as well. It is often referred as "TTA light" but in my opinion it isn't. As a friend described - "Nations and TTA are like Brass and Age of Industry - they are similar in theme but still with different gameplay". I totally agree and I like this game. I also understand why it is described as 'the game that hates you from the beginning' - but I wouldn't call it 'hating' but 'decisions' instead :)

Trains and Stations, on the other hand, is a game I don't get. I have played it only once but the feeling was... meh. Usually I like innovative mechanics but this one... quarriors meets track building... well... there shouldn't be dice in a proper train game! Yes. I said it out :)

I bought second game from Discworld series - The Witches - from Essen already and now have several times played it as well. First it seemed like a bit disappointment as "the lightest game evar" but after using advanced rules it's quite proper push-your-luck game. So far it keeps going better and better more I play it. Haven't tried the coop version yet.

And lets finish this post also with wargaming - Musket and Pike Series. I was happy to try out one of the scenarios from Under the Lily Banners - and was completely hooked, as a result. It has quite logical (after you manage to get through the rules) gameplay with interesting command chain and wing activation - and lots of decision. At least in my opinion it simulates well the battles of this era (although I haven't researched how they might've been fought) and gives players a multitude of decisions. Normally (i.e. with other games) when you have some über-strong unit opposed by several lightish units, you just keep crushing them one-by-one. But no, not in this game - because you'll never know when your cavalry feels like it's enough fighting for a day and better to have some looting instead :) Excellent series, high on my recommendations list.