SnV Revival games

Quite a while ago (I think it was a New Year's resolution for 2003), I came up with the idea of Schild en Vriend Revival games. This was a period when we were discussing the future of Schild en Vriend (the original Leuven crowd), now that Phil had returned to Leuven's shores.

No formal decision resulted from this, but I did make a resolution to occasionally put on games in the mold of the games of the golden age. This were to be the Schild en Vriend Revival games.

These games would follow the main SnV ethos: they should be good looking (_Visual appeal is everything_) and be somewhat 'more' than a standard equal points and line'em up battle. Back then, we did not always adhere to those standards, of course. I well remember Napoleonic and other games played with unpainted Airfix plastic figures glued to cardboard, and there were the occasional evenings where neither of the two main scenario suppliers had come up with something. However, for the SnV Revival games, I vowed to strictly adhere to these standards.

Initially, I had the idea of organising monthly or bimonthly games. However, time constraints and lack of room to play at led to a significantly reduced schedule. So far, almost two years down the road, I have put on three S&V Revival games. Here's a short overview.

* Game 1: Epsilon Eridani VII - Full Thrust

This was a Full Thrust spaceship game, played at Phil's place on the Dijle's shores in Leuven. The players each commanded a fleet (Human, Gorn, Xirin) sent to the Epsilon Eridani VII sector to investigate the mysterious disappearances of a number of convoys and warships. During the game, they discovered the 'blobs', an alien species whose ships have the ability to remain invisible and seemingly effortlessly redistribute energy between their various systems.

More importantly, however, this game saw the start of renewed hostilities between the Xirin and the Human-Gorn alliance, started by the now famous words '_Get out of Xirin air space_' uttered by Graham K during the game. To be continued.

* Game 2: Bridges of Mechelen County - Rapid Fire

This was a [Rapid Fire](http://www.rapid-fire.co.uk) game, hosted at my place in Mechelen. It was a thinly veiled adaptation of the Arnhem battle during Operation Market Garden, but centred around the bridge across the Leuven - Willebroek canal in Mechelen. This game was very well received by the players, judging by the amount of after game discussion on the [mailing list](http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/int_brigade). This game was a narrow German victory, allowing a future game where the Germans south of the canal have to retreat across it in the face of the attacking Allied armies.

* Game 3: [Exploring the Congo](http://www.nirya.be/snv/ttm/archives/000018.html) - Darkest Africa

This game was played last Saturday, [this entry](http://www.nirya.be/snv/ttm/archives/000018.html) describes it well enough.

So far, the S&V revival games have been well received, and I hope the only complaint will be that there are not enough of them :) The next game will be a cooperation between Alan and myself, and features a return to the island of Little Vettusia for a single day [HoTT](http://www.btinternet.com/~alan.catherine/wargames/strong.htm) campaign. See you all there.