Board game night: We played 1812: Invasion of Canada, and Lancaster. For 1812, this was the first time playing for 4 of the 5 of us. Cody had brought the game, and taught us. Lots of fun! Let’s classify it as a “light” territory-control game. Two sides, American and British. The American side has two armies: Regular and Militia. The Canadian side has three: Canadian Militia, British (Redcoats), and Indian. I played Canadian, with Steve and Phil playing Indian, British. Cody and Pete played American. My faction liked to flee from battle a lot (you use specialized dice, and two of the sides cause your one of your armies to “flee” the battle. That’s better than being killed, but not helpful for the current battle. Lots of “French” analogies bandied about. :)

The game lasted about 90 minutes (British defeated the Americans); it would have been only about an hour, but it was our first play. Highly recommended! 8/10 stars.

Next we played Lancaster. Phil, Steve, Pat and I had played before; Cody joined us. I’d classify this as another light game. Basically you try to advance your knights’ by winning counties or fighting with France, etc. Most victory points at end of game wins. Multiple strategies to gain points; you basically compete with other knights to win counties, or defeat the French. While Cody was not a real fan, the rest of us like the game (we’ll be playing again). :) Recommended. 7.5/10

Fun night!