That bookshop now no longer exists, after being destroyed in the great earthquake of 2011, but I still have the game, or will do until tomorrow.
Because, not without a sight tinge of nostalgia, I've decided to part with it. It's not just that I've taken it around the world with me without ever having played it, but also that I know a fellow who had it when he was a young buck, would love to have it again, and will put it to good use on the table.
As Tennyson said:
How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!
So tonight I got the map out for a look for old time's sake, took a few photos, and readied it for the post.
I'm very pleased that it's going to a good home and hope it will bring back some happy memories and help create a few more.
And here she is, in all her 1976 SPI glory!
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| the box |
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| the battlefield |
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| a certain town |
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| a certain eminence |
I remember that game when it came out. Opinion was divided...."Terribly Slow Stuff" was how some referred to it.
ReplyDeleteTrebian, one thing to remember when classifying these games is to account for the time period in which they were produced. 1970's and early 1980s were a time when the Monster lived. Games were large and luscious as Nicky Palmer said. I played many of them during that time but probably couldn't today.
DeleteIt's one of those games that those who liked it remember very fondly and those who didn't, don't (he says sagely ;-)).
Delete"Old friend" indeed! The Great Battles of the American Civil War series (GBACW as affectionately known to its converts) is one of my all-time favorite systems. Cedar Mountain is still one of my Top 10 boardgames to pull off the shelf and have a go. Your box looks much more worse for wear than mine but your map looks pristine. Are the counters unpunched too? If so, then you have a very fortunate friend.
ReplyDeleteI didn't get through the soapbox game of TSS but I DID manage two complete Bloody April twice!
Good memories!
Bloody April would have been a feat! Well done. The bloke who I'm sending it to used to play TSS with his mate just at that stage in life when you have time and intellect to burn, before those peripheral things like work and family get involved ;-)
DeleteThis may sound strangely animistic but there's a weird feeling that comes from playing a game that's hasn't been played in many years. I bought a used copy of Starshp Troopers, published in 1977, with the chits unpunched and everything in immaculate condition. The first time I had it out on the table for my first playthrough, I could almost sense the joy of the game itself from finally being played after all that time sitting on a shelf collecting dust.
ReplyDeleteI think there's a short story or two in that, Brad; perhaps in Roald Dahl's unsettling style!
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