New games have arrived. Scythe, Lost Ruins of Arnak and Pax Pamir. Broken ankle doesn’t allow much table time though. Playing Three Sisters and Lost Cities: Roll and Write for now.
@marinou but it does give you plenty of time to read rules and prepare for playing those games. Pax Pamir is such a good game and it looks great on the table. There is a good online implementation as well for it.
@sirideain @marinou bingo, I'm biased, but if you can get 4 to the table it really shines, arguably more than anything else in your mail call.
@gpage @sirideain Good to know, thanks! Is it easy to teach? Would it be a good game for 4 new players? Or should we try with 2 players before going all the way?

@marinou @sirideain the nuance of factions and that aspect of the game is decimated at less than 3 (and you don't get the friction portion until you hit 4).

I'm not sure I'm qualified to answer the teach question for Pamir2, sorry. The biggest thing is understanding when to jump factions, it's not an engine building game. I've won games never being the dominant person in a faction, but instead taking second in all but one check (which was unsuccessful, and I had cylinders to take 3vp that way).

@gpage @marinou The rules are written in more of a conversational style and I found them easy to follow. Teaching isn't too bad, but does benefit from walking through a round or two.

Fully agree on it being the star of the mail call for me. I have enjoyed it at all player counts, but it does play differently at each. Two players is much more chess like unless you add in the Wakhan for chaos element.

@gpage @marinou https://rally-the-troops.com/pax-pamir may be the easiest way to learn since the rules are enforced. If you are interested in trying it out, I am always up for a game.
Pax Pamir

Play Pax Pamir on the web.

@sirideain @marinou good call! I forgot about the Rally online implementation.