18Chesapeake

I finally got to play 18Chesapeake. Compared with the 18XX games we usually play, it is fairly simple, but I never felt as though it were serving a half portion. It was a complete meal, with all the expected fanfare, and in a very fair running time.

There was track laying, companies dying, and the familiar squeeze of stations blocking spaces and plans. So even if its overall structure is more approachable than that of other 18XX titles, that feeling that you need to watch what everyone else is doing and take nothing for granted is still very much present.

Our own opening, of course, was pure YOLO. We approached the privates and the starting companies so blindly that the opening became a case of “in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.” That did not make it any less fun; if anything, it was amusing to watch our choices unfold and then try to survive their consequences.

I would definitely play it once more, mostly to see how an opening with better company and private choices holds up. But probably only that far: I enjoyed it a lot, it just did not convince me that I need to keep playing it endlessly.