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Sunday, February 23, 2014

Farewell to an old companion

When I was a university student I used to live in Christchurch, New Zealand.  I had a favourite second hand bookstore in Cashel Mall, and I used to go in there whenever I had a chance.  That and the two second hand record stores were the places you'd see me then (unless I was in the pub). In about 1997 I went into this particular bookstore and found that there was a game there called Terrible Swift Sword.  It looked battered, but I decided I had to get it and used up a night's beer money to grab it for $25.

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!



the box

the battlefield

a certain town

a certain eminence


at

7 comments:

  1. TrebianFebruary 24, 2014 at 1:13 AM

    I remember that game when it came out. Opinion was divided...."Terribly Slow Stuff" was how some referred to it.

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    1. Jonathan FreitagFebruary 24, 2014 at 2:09 AM

      Trebian, 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.

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    2. PrufrockFebruary 24, 2014 at 8:58 AM

      It's one of those games that those who liked it remember very fondly and those who didn't, don't (he says sagely ;-)).

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  2. Jonathan FreitagFebruary 24, 2014 at 2:06 AM

    "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.

    I didn't get through the soapbox game of TSS but I DID manage two complete Bloody April twice!

    Good memories!

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    1. PrufrockFebruary 24, 2014 at 9:01 AM

      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 ;-)

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  3. bradFebruary 24, 2014 at 8:36 PM

    This 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.

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    1. PrufrockFebruary 24, 2014 at 8:46 PM

      I think there's a short story or two in that, Brad; perhaps in Roald Dahl's unsettling style!

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