Samoa Playtest and Roadside America

The Sunday out of my "Weekend with the Girls" was a lot less worry, as I shipped my youngest, Millie to my wife's cousins for an day of bounce houses and getting doted over by the extended family.  Maja and I went off to a nice breakfast at Austie's in Nanticoke as we attempted to plan our day.  Originally this was to be the Allentown Train Show, but possibly gaming venues as far south as Trenton made me reorganize my Saturday.  

Breakfast could have been sufficient for a great day.  I have many happy memories of sitting up at a diner counter with my Dad on the weekend mornings after my paper route was finished, and to have my little lady be big enough to do that with me makes all of the worries of the world go away.

Our potential gaming day was pretty much scrapped over miscommunication, thus saving me a lengthy drive, and testing my daughter's patience.  Per Maja's request, she wanted to see "more trains," so off we went to Roadside America.

Again, another rose-colored glasses view of my childhood, but this was a regular stop before we visit Christmas Village each December, and since we couldn't make the trip this year, this was a great time to make up for it. 

Maja's definitely my kid.  We took two trips around, one high/one low, before encountering the "night show" which comes from a time when such feelings of faith and patriotism were not exploited or disregarded for political gain.

Picture taken from http://www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com

After getting stuck in traffic in Allentown for the latest and greatest craze in PennDOT construction, "Emergency Bridge Repair/Inspection", we made it to my buddy Brian's for a quick playtest of the CLA rules.

Using a shortened table with only five palm trees and no battlemat down, we ran through my Cold Wars scenarios, looking for adjustments I needed to make.  Let's just say, the mini-version played close, although the Samoan Loyalist were a bit too competent.

High point of the game for us was a unit of Samoan rebel speamen who managed to flank the (unpainted) British sailors, yet, despite outnumbering them, were slaughtered to a lone figure.   The warrior, the mythical Dontnowhento'gogo survived multiple morale tests and managed to re-engage into hand to hand before finally getting gunned down.

The Marines make it to the tree line outside Vailele

With the "historical" events of the battle never coming to fruition, and the Marines' Marksman ability, Brian was forced to get aggressive with his troops and actually advanced into the jungle.  In the end it was a rebel victory, and I have just enough tweaks to ensure this will work even smoother in two weeks.

On the way home, we searched far and wide for Wawas with Diet Lemonade Ice Tea for my wife, sang some songs, and basked in the glory off the truest statement Maja has ever said:

"You're the best Daddy in the whole wide world!" 

To make things even better, Girl Scout cookies arrived, and I couldn't help but set up this picture.   Two good nights and I'm just about done.