Myth II has a long list of ways to kill each other. These are the six we play on order nights, what each one is, and how Blackwind goes about it. The record after each one is ours for the summer, June through last night, ranked and unranked together. It matches the Ledger, because Lantern checks.

Whatever the game, read the primer first. Every one of these is lost the same way: by standing too close together.

What it is: plain killing. When the clock runs out, whichever side has done the most damage to the other wins. No flags, no balls, no hills.

How we play it: badly, by the numbers. Body Count rewards the side that takes the first big trade, and we're built to wait, not to trade. What works for us is picking one place on the map, setting up the archers behind the warriors on the high side of it, and making them come to us. When they don't come, we lose on the clock. We've lost three of five this summer, which tells you we'd rather hold a hill than count corpses. Marrow says it tells you he's been lagging. Both are true.

What it is: there's one ball somewhere on the field, the "bacon." Your units can push it along, and explosions knock it around. The side that touched it last when time runs out wins.

How we play it: Harrow goes for the ball with something fast the second the game starts, and everybody else forgets the ball exists and gets between Harrow and the other team. The ball is the easy part. The hard part is the ten minutes after you have it, when every man they've got is coming at you from three directions. Make a ring around the bacon, spread wide, and don't let a dwarf get a clear throw at the middle. Do not, under any circumstances, stack your whole army on the ball. One bomb and you're short an army and somebody else is touching your bacon.

What it is: every side has its own flag at home. Lose yours to the enemy and you're out of the game.

How we play it: split down the middle. Half the order stays home and makes a wall around the flag. Crowbait's thrall are perfect for it, since all they're good for is standing in the way and not dying fast. The other half goes out to hunt, as one group but not a bunched one, and picks off whoever the other team sent out after our flag. The temptation is to send everybody, because sitting at home is boring. Sitting at home is how you win. Ask us about July 15.

What it is: a hill on the map is marked with a flag. You take the hill by getting your units close to the flag with no enemy units there with them. The side that holds it for the most time, all added up, wins.

How we play it: get there first, then get comfortable. Warriors on the slopes, archers up top shooting down, journeymen in the middle. The trap in this game is getting greedy for every second of hill time and sending everybody to sit right on the flag. It's a hill. Everybody knows where you are. Dwarves know where you are. Hold it from a little ways back, and run down to clear it every time they try to sneak a man onto it.

What it is: there are a number of flags out on the field. The side holding the most of them when time runs out wins.

How we play it: this is the game where splitting up is right, which drives Rook crazy because it's the only time we let him go off on his own. We grab the flags nearest to us with two or three units each, then one strong group goes to take the one flag in the middle that everybody wants. You don't have to hold every flag. You have to hold one more than they do at the end. Count them every minute or so.

What it is: a hill with a flag, like King of the Hill, except nothing counts but the end. Whoever owns the hill when time runs out is the winner. Hold it for ten minutes and lose it with five seconds left and you lose.

How we play it: this is our game. Undefeated all summer. The secret is that you don't go near the hill for most of it. Let the other teams fight over it early and kill each other on it. Keep your army alive and spread out somewhere nearby, picking off stragglers. Then, with a minute or two to go, everything we've got goes in, and whatever can still stand gets onto the hill and stays there. Thrall are wonderful for this. They don't have to win. They only have to still be there.

There are other games on the list. We tried some of them once and then went back to these. Lantern likes the one with the chickens. We don't talk about the one with the chickens.

Summer total, all six: 15 won, 7 lost.