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Zen and the Art of WBC Time Management
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I don't know about you, but I usually like to enjoy my boardgaming experiences and not think too much about real life while I'm gaming. That was my plan for this WBC, but real life has a way of imposing itself into our pleasure time, and we just have to deal with it. My step-mom died of breast cancer on July 31, 2008 as I was preparing to depart for Lancaster, so I spent the weekend leading up to WBC helping my dad make the arrangements and keep an even keel. Needless to say, I rolled into WBC even more motivated to just have fun and forgot about the real world for a while, but along the way some interesting life lessons wormed their way into the craziness that is WBC.
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Posted On: 2008-08-20 23:53:22
Edited On: 2008-08-20 20:44:54
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Like lots of other people, the first step was actually getting to Lancaster. From Montpelier, VT its about 450 miles - we were a little bit further south in Massachusetts, so we saved a little bit of time, but still had to drive about 400 miles. Some nice time to process with my 11 year old daughter, Willow, who was attending her 2nd WBC and was very excited to get into the gaming action.
LESSON: Every journey starts with a single step (in this case on the gas pedal) |
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Posted On: 2008-08-20 20:53:37
Edited on: 2008-08-20 23:11:49
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After checking in at the Continental Inn across the street, Willow & I braved the dragway to make our way over to the Lancaster Host (I could probably do another geeklist based on the adventures we had crossing that road . . . ) to get her signed in to the Juniors Room. She had played this game at her first WBC, and really wanted to teach me how to play so we kicked off our week of gaming with a game of Elk Fest and had a blast. It was a great way to decompress from the drive, and the kids who gathered around while we were playing gave Willow her intro to the Juniors crew.
LESSON: Our children are the future (and they play some pretty fun games, too!) |
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Posted On: 2008-08-20 20:59:25
Edited on: 2008-08-20 21:00:50
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My first foray into tournament play came later on Tuesday evening with the first heat of March Madness. I had a good run in the PBeM tournament in 2006-2007, finishing 2nd (although I didn't fare as well in the 2007-2008 tourney, where I posted a couple of one and outs . . .) so I thought I would give the game a run in face to face action. I like this game, and I wanted to meet folks I played with on-line so it seemed like a no-brainer.
Ultimately, I ended up playing in 2 heats, losing badly in my first heat to Terry Coleman (dice gods hate me!) and not so badly to John Coussis in my second heat. A scheduling conflict knocked me out of the 3rd heat, and I slept through the 4th heat (but that's another story - see the Memoir '44 entry below for more details).
LESSON: When playing a game the goal is to win, but it is the goal that is important, not the winning.
OK, OK, its a Reiner Knizia quote but it is very apt, and a fairly recurring mantra for me for the remainder of the week  |
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Posted On: 2008-08-20 21:16:53
Edited on: 2008-08-20 21:20:24
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I don't normally play a lot of sports games, but I always end up playing them at WBC. My next stop was the Superstar Baseball draft - I played in the tourney in 2006, and I enjoy the format Chris Palermo has instituted, with free form play that allows you to fill in down times with some fun dice-rolling baseball action.
I was pleasantly surprised to find the Boston Red Sox still on the table when it was my turn to draft, and being a life-long fan I snatched them up. Thus began my unexpected quest for wood at WBC. During the course of the week, I played/rolled 21 games on my way to a 12-9 record, which qualified me for the playoffs with a 5 seed.
This was particularly ironic, because by Friday I had rolled so many dice, and looked at so many charts, that I wasn't sure I could continue (yep, I played in the B-17 tournament). Frankly, I also felt like I was spending way too much time playing (at 45-60 minutes a game, that's a lot of hours devoted to a "filler") and wasn't spending enough time playing the games I was supposed to be playing (whatever that means, right?).
Anyway, I went to see Chris to turn in my dice, and he gave me a serious locker-room lecture about walking away from the game when I was in play-off contention (which apparently I had done in 2006 as well  ) I had to do some real soul-searching about my own expectations and how to adapt them to the circumstances that unfolded as the week rolled along. I think sometimes it is easy to confuse what we enjoy doing and what we think we should be doing, and I was having that problem as I advanced in the tournament. I decided at that point that I wanted to try to do the best I could in the baseball tournament, and to hell with my plans + schedule.
So, I finished up my slate of games and waited for the results on Saturday night. I was paired up with Roderick Lee, who had the Houston Astros for the quarterfinal game, and was able to win the game behind the strong pitching of Roger Clemens to advance to the semi-finals. My next opponent was Rich Moyer, whose path I had already crossed as he was my squadron partner in B-17. If the dice gods were angry with me in most of the other games, they certainly smiled on me during most of the baseball tournament. And they certainly smiled on Rich, as his Giants absolutely crushed me to move on to the World Series (Willie Mays, the lead off batter hit a home run of Cy Young, and they never looked back, winning something like 16-4). The end of the run, but I was pretty happy as I would be leaving WBC with some laurels, and Rich is a great guy to play with so I was happy for him as well. As I was getting ready to leave, Rich's wife came up to me and informed me that there was a 4th place plaque as well - bonus! Much fun had, life lessons learned + some wood to bring home in the bargain 
LESSON: Sometimes the path you are on takes you to unexpected destinations - travel the path and find them, and have fun along the way.
Hey Chris - thanks for the pep talk!! 
Final Results
1. Rich Moyer, Giants
2. Bill Beckman, Indians
3. John Welage, Reds
4. Bob Menzel, Red Sox
5. Roderick Lee, Astros
6. Andy Lewis, Red Sox |
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Posted On: 2008-08-20 21:40:41
Edited on: 2008-08-20 23:37:55
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One of the games that I have been wanting to play for quite some time is Vegas Showdown, but for some reason it never seems to make it to the table at our group. In fact, my copy was still in the shrink. So, I set out Tuesday night to break the shrink and play the game. I attended the demo, which was very clearly explained by GM John Weber and attended the first heat. I had an enjoyable game with Keith, John, Steph + a guy on my right whose name escapes me, but my 4th place finish spelled the end of my VS action at WBC - but we got that shrink off!
LESSON: It is good to actually play some of the games that you own |
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Posted On: 2008-08-20 21:49:23
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Well, I play a lot of Amun Re on SBW, but you wouldn't have known it by my performance in the Wednesday heat. I overpayed for everything in the Old Kingdom, sprinting out to the lead, only to fade into oblivion (and last place) during the New Kingdom.
In some ways, I feel like this particular game symbolized the first half of the week for me at WBC, because I was holding on to my expectations and "schedule" so much that I was sprinting around and not taking time to really savor the experience. This would turn out to be the only heat I played in, as baseball consumed my time, but it is still one of my favorite games and I will be back at it on SBW and next year at WBC.
LESSON: Slow and steady wins the race (or at least it allows you to enjoy it and finish in style).
This might be the most important lesson of all for WBC newbies -- and this was my 3rd WBC !!  |
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Posted On: 2008-08-20 21:58:56
Edited on: 2008-08-20 22:05:17
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After rolling all those dice playing baseball, it seemed only natural to play another game that involved rolling dice
This game is a family favorite, but the dice gods were apparently reserving their favor toward me only as it related to baseball. Our table was very ably won by a cute 11 year old, and once again I very ably filled the role of filling the 4th seat 
My daughter Willow had a good run at her table, closing 2 numbers well before anyone else was close, but she was left with the 3 and the 11 to close it out -- apparently the dice gods visit the sins of the fathers on their daughters, because she couldn't roll either of them to save the game.
LESSON: The tiger cub is cute and fuzzy, but he will eat you given the chance. |
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Posted On: 2008-08-20 22:04:58
Edited on: 2008-08-20 22:05:50
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B-17 is the only game that is an absolute must play for me at WBC. I love the game, and the GM crew does a fabulous job recreating the feel of a bomber squadron during the tournament. And it is the best group of guys (and gal!) to game with, and laugh with afterwards that you could ever hope for.
I was paired up with Rich Moyer (remember the guy who crushed me in the semis of Superstar Baseball? , and apparently the dice gods decided that I was going to be Rich's good luck charm at WBC this year, as I was his foil in B-17 as well. Try as I might, I couldn't shoot his bomber down  , while my own plane was having problems of its own. I had a decent first mission, but I took an engine hit early in the 2nd mission and had to abort so I was really going to have to have a high scoring mission on Mission 3 to have any hope in the tourney. I was positioned as "tail end charlie" in Mission 3, which was a double edged sword - I would be in a position to fight a lot of enemy fighters, and rack up points but by the same token . . . I would be in a position to be attacked by a lot of enemy fighters. I'll spare you all the details (I'll be posting a session report soon), but the significance of my position was that Rich was in the 5 spot, which meant if I went down he would become the "tail end charlie" and get relentlessly attacked. Well, my pilot died in zone 4 (of 8) heading toward the target zone, and my bombardier was killed in zone 5. My tail gun was also shot out in zone 5, so I really became a sitting duck. Survived a hit on my bomb bay over the target zone, and I think at one point 8 of my 10 crewmen were dead or injured. Of course, now I wanted to try to get my plane back, because I have never returned my plane on all 3 missions. Plus with Rich in front of me, I was running cover for him and squadron success boosts the morale of all in the squadron, right? Well, my crew made it back to zone 6 on the way home, but took another engine hit which developed into a raging fire, forcing them all to bail out to their deaths. Rich slid into the tail end charlie spot, and racked up a ton of fighter kills on the way home, and finished up in 2nd place. Our squadron had a good year, as 3 of our fliers finished in the laurels - of course the other 3 got shot to pieces, but such is the way of B-17.
LESSON: Sometimes the rewards we gain in life are measured by the sacrifices we make on behalf of others. |
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2 Comments []
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Posted On: 2008-08-20 22:17:11
Edited on: 2008-08-20 23:53:05
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Posted On: 2008-08-21 08:45:45
-M