I was supposed to be in New Orleans this weekend for a little retreat with the SDHistCon board members and the other advisory board members, but I decided it was best for me to hang back. To minimize the FOMO, I had to bust out a beefy historical game...
BOARD GAMES
Gandhi
I (finally) played Gandhi: The Decolonization of British India, 1917–1947 – a game I've been wanting to play since I got it back in 2020. I know...crazy. COIN games can be difficult to get to the table. But after the joyful brain tingles I felt today playing Gandhi, I'm scheduling a monthly "COIN Club" game day to make sure COIN games hit the table a lot more frequently.
Gandhi is a historical game for 1 to 4 players exploring India's struggle for independence from the perspectives of four asymmetric factions – the British Raj, the Revolutionaries, Gandhi and the Indian National Congress, and the Muslim League. I rounded up four friends and we fumbled our way through a long, but super fun learning game. The vibes at the table were soul-soothing – great game, great banter, great people. Without being too sappy, it really felt like the four of us were meant get together today to play this game.
I played as the Indian National Congress, one of the non-violent factions (#teamgandhi). I was rallying activists with Gandhi's leadership and doing what I could to peacefully oppose British Raj rule in India. Unfortunately, it was too late when I realized I probably helped the Muslim League too much with opposition in Muslim states/spaces, and that player ended up winning the game. Like all COIN games, the gameplay for Gandhi is driven by a deck of historical event cards that dictate turn order via a dope eligibility system, and they have powerful effects dunking players head first into a plethora of tough, thinky decisions. Each faction has their own victory conditions corresponding to their political motivations, yet there are many opportunities to form temporary alliances with other factions. By the end of the game, my brain was buzzing so much from all of the fascinating interactions between all four asymmetric factions. If you have any COIN game experience, you'll probably find Gandhi fairly straightforward rules-wise, but super deep in terms of strategy. We all learned so much by the end, and I can't wait to play it again soon.
AUG-25-2020 ...the day my custom game table arrived! I guess I took this photo of Gandhi's beautiful board in anticipation of actually playing it almost 5 years later.
To Be Hero X is one of my recent favorite anime. The opening track INERTIA is a hooky-"pep you up"-banger. I love how it makes me feel motivated and inspired. Although, it may be more meaningful when you watch the show, which I highly recommend.
I'm so grateful my dad exposed me to a variety of awesome music...which in all fairness, I thought was lame when I was a kid, until my brain fully developed and I got it. A couple years before he passed away, we were listening to Return to Forever's album The Romantic Warrior...and I could tell he was FEELIN' it. In that moment I realized, this was his Mars Volta...and I gradually started appreciating more and more "dad music". Mahavishnu Orchestra is one of my favorite "dad music" discoveries. Those guys, led by guitarist John McLaughlin, blow my mind...especially their first two albums, The Inner Mounting Flame, and Birds of Fire. Soooo, today I popped on some Shakti, which is one of John McLaughlin's other fusion bands with some all-star Indian musicians including tabla master Zakir Hussain. ...and since I teased some other "dad music", I'll share those too.
I have a handful of new game arrivals (i.e. Nemesis: Retaliation, Wroth, Vantage) that I'm super pumped to check out. ...and I cannot wait to play more Primal, especially now that I have the terrain pack (Thanks Reggie Games!).
...but first, I must finish up my Purple Haze How to Play video, which I'm in the midst of editing.
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