Torpedoes Away

          Our apartment was the scene of another few games of Revolution, this time involving David, Alaric, Sean, and me. To give a touch of background (though I recommend purchasing the game yourself, it's that great) (I received no compensation for this or any other product endorsement), Revolution is a turn-based game of strategy in which one attempts to build support in key areas of a town. Each turn, players secretly bid their limited resources on different people in the town, who typically provide additional bidding resources and/or control in an area. Controlling the majority of an area confers an end-game support bonus (not unlike Risk's), and whoever has the most support at the end wins. The game is sneaky, tactical, almost as backstabby as Risk, and certainly ends more quickly. With some moves calculated far in advance, I crushed everyone in the first round. At this point, I'd won every game played so far and my number was definitely up. Rather than letting myself be teamed up on and humiliated in standard gameplay, I pulled an Eric and became the Lord of Chaos. Of the seven control areas, I ignored six and focused all of my efforts on acquiring the tavern, the smallest and least significant area. ("You guys can revolt all you want, I just want a drink.") Once I'd fought tooth and nail to control the tavern, I spent the rest of the game messing with the leaders and being a wrench in the gears.
          In the afternoon, Nathan, Alaric and I went to play baseball and soccer at the Columbus fields. (The phrase "play baseball and soccer" is used loosely.) I still have a decent swing, though my throwing accuracy on fast, straight pitches has become horrid over the years. In time, we moved camp to the West Village volleyball court, joined by Sarah, Lauren and a random dude. We ended up playing against a group that I believe included parts of the volleyball team, and they were destroying us every round. They were apparently bored by our team's lack of skill and continually served to the random guy, who had the most talent on our side. The way I see it, they brought it on themselves by declining when I suggested that we go half-and-half for the teams. Eventually, we were bolstered by the addition of that guy's friend (similarly talented); Jared arrived and was slotted into the other team, and while spirited, he provided another weak point at the minimum. Even so, I was soon tired of the others' obvious contempt for our amateurish ways and took off. People who win and still conduct themselves like assholes are awful. Also, I was locked out of the apartment for a while, so that blew.