Sadly, no gaming to report.
I just don't have time to play any games right now, unfortunately. And I am, really, sad about it. Actually, I'm just sad to be leaving behind the community of gamers I've come to know over just the past few months.
I do have downtime at work to think about games, though, and boy have I been using it.
Just from random reading of boardgamegeek, I came across a new game today that really piqued my interest. It's Canal Mania, from Ragnar Brothers. On it's way to the U.S.A. right now, apparently. I'll let you look it up on BGG, but it is consistently referred to as using elements of Age of Steam and Ticket to Ride, simplified, to create a route building/pickup and deliver game based on a theme of 18th century British canals. A rail game without the rails.
Looking at Boardgamenews today, I found out that Eagle Games is going out of business, and their inventory is being liquidated at auction. There are a couple of games they publish that I've been interested in - Railroad Tycoon and Struggle of Empires. So, now, I'm thinking, should I look at placing some sort of order?
So, I'm thinking about getting games. I thought I'd put my "want list" up here, and anyone who's interested could post and give feedback. I'm not including Canal Mania, because it doesn't appear that any of the U.S. distributors have it yet.
- These aren't really in any particular order -
-Commands & Colors Ancients (40% off at Thoughthammer until the end of July)
-Struggle of Empires (could it become hard to find?)
-Age of Steam (another rail game, similar to, and by the same designer, as Railroad Tycoon)
-Santiago (an interesting game I've wanted since the first time I played, a gamer's game with a crop irrigation theme)
A couple games on the list that aren't widely available currently:
-Reef Encounter (A heavy game that I've really enjoyed playing on sbw)
-Caylus (A gamer's game of city building, should be avaiable any time)
Well, help me out. Look them up and give me some comments. Who knows, maybe I'll get to bring them back when I visit...
GG, GL
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Monday night at Kurt's, July 17th, 2006
For some reason, I again agreed to playtest a game during a very busy time in my life. I've had a responsibility to put Tide of Iron to the test for a couple of weeks now, and with the wedding and everything it's been hard to organize. On top of being busy, I think there are just too many good games to play right now. It seems not many of the usual suspects are anxious to play an early version of a forthcoming game, when they each have a handful of tested, award-winning games they are trying to get to the table! Kurt graciously agreed to run the rule over the game with me, and invited me over to his new house to boot.
I'm bound by NDA not to talk about Tide, so I'll just say we played a nice, quick, game, and had fun talking, as usual. Kurt's kids were having fun running around the new house, and his daughter was a bit of comic relief serving as a cheering section for her dad. We got done with the game and playtest forms with enough time to play another quickie. Kurt's sizeable collection was still mostly packed, but a brand-new Rio Grande edition of Thurn and Taxis, winner of the 2006 Speil Des Jahres earlier that very day, was looking lonesomely down at us from Kurt's shelf, and we were unable to resist putting it on the table.
We ran through the rules real quick (neither of us had played) and got started. I've read comparisons between this and Ticket to Ride, but I think I'd have to side with those who have opined that, though there might be a couple of similar mechanics, these are quite different games that can occupy happily different niches in one's collection. They have about the same weight, and should, generally, be hits with the same groups. I, for one, am one of those people for whom TTR is a hit...
For those not in the proverbial know, Thurn & Taxis is a game by Rudiger Dorn, the author of Puerto Rico. It is a set collection/sequencing game with elements of area connection/control. It is themed aroud development of stagecoach routes for postal service in eighteenth century central Europe. Each turn, you draw city connection card(s), claim connection(s), and, if you choose, score a route. You may use one of four special actions each turn, either drawing or playin an extra card, claiming a coach (they build up in size based on progressive length of routes scored) for up to two cities less (in size), or getting rid of all six face-up city cards and replacing them before drawing. Whenever a route is scored, you have a choice of building stage stations in either each city in a region that you are connecting to, or one city in each region that you are connecting to. There are bonus tiles for route sizes 5/6/7, for building a station in all the cities in an or two regions, or for building at least one station in each region. These bonus tiles exist in descending multiples, addig a race element as players try to fulfill the conditions first, to get more points. In a two player game, you are really fighting for every point. At the end of the game, the houses you have left over will be deducted from your total score. The game ends at the end of a turn when someone gets the largest (seven) carriage, or builds thir last station. That person also gets one bonus point.
In the early going, I think both of us had some neurons misfiring regarding evaluating the relation between route building and station placement. I started building a route, and only after I had put a few cards in it did I really realize that I wasn't going to be able to put houses on ALL the cities. At that point, it was time to decide whether to build big routes, going for the 5/6/7 bonus tiles, or to build successive smaller routes, trying to push the race to the endgame. Happily, both of us, it seemed, were more interested in playing the big routes, which made the game a little longer.
I connected to multiple regions in the SW part of the map, including two that were only once city. This allowed me to place a number of stations, and gave me a jump on the big bonus tile (six points) for one station in each region. Kurt built in the center, and actually claimed the first bonus tile for the big seven route. For the second set, I chose a bit of a new area, but Kurt really went in the middle. He got to claim the big (five point) tile for having a station in every city in the big, central, gray region. I didn't have a great hand, but a couple good tiles came up, and I was able to finish off another decent sized route, and claim a couple bonus tiles, including the giant six-pointer for a station in each region. From this point, we started to push a little more, trying to get through the coaches and score points. I ended up having to use the "build with two less cities" action to get my seven coach and trigger the endgame. With the extra point from ending the game, and with Kurt having three more stations left than me, I ended up pulling out the victory by five points.
I would say that it played really well for a first session. It only really took us about one turn to develop some ideas about how to play, and we certainly had a decent grasp of strategy by the midgame. I think the next play might be a little different, but not too much. I certainly haven't played every game released this year, but, knowing the kind of games that have won in the past, this seemed a deserved SDJ winner.
Another night of gaming at Kurt's wound to a close, and I was spared having to say another goodbye to a good local friend by the probability that I'll be stopping back by to pick up some of Kurt's discarded boxes to help with our move. It's also quite likely that, as Kurt put it, given the nature of our hobby, we'll continue to stay in relatively good touch in this relatively small world. BGG T & E here I come!
As one last comment, I'll add that I'm quite happy for the opportunities that the internet provides to stay in touch with/keep track of people spread far and wide, via boardgamegeek, brettspielwelt, spielbyweb... even myspace and friendster. Not only am I much better able to stay in touch with old friends, but it seems I'll have a variety of connections in North Carolina before we even get there!
GG, GL
For some reason, I again agreed to playtest a game during a very busy time in my life. I've had a responsibility to put Tide of Iron to the test for a couple of weeks now, and with the wedding and everything it's been hard to organize. On top of being busy, I think there are just too many good games to play right now. It seems not many of the usual suspects are anxious to play an early version of a forthcoming game, when they each have a handful of tested, award-winning games they are trying to get to the table! Kurt graciously agreed to run the rule over the game with me, and invited me over to his new house to boot.
I'm bound by NDA not to talk about Tide, so I'll just say we played a nice, quick, game, and had fun talking, as usual. Kurt's kids were having fun running around the new house, and his daughter was a bit of comic relief serving as a cheering section for her dad. We got done with the game and playtest forms with enough time to play another quickie. Kurt's sizeable collection was still mostly packed, but a brand-new Rio Grande edition of Thurn and Taxis, winner of the 2006 Speil Des Jahres earlier that very day, was looking lonesomely down at us from Kurt's shelf, and we were unable to resist putting it on the table.
We ran through the rules real quick (neither of us had played) and got started. I've read comparisons between this and Ticket to Ride, but I think I'd have to side with those who have opined that, though there might be a couple of similar mechanics, these are quite different games that can occupy happily different niches in one's collection. They have about the same weight, and should, generally, be hits with the same groups. I, for one, am one of those people for whom TTR is a hit...
For those not in the proverbial know, Thurn & Taxis is a game by Rudiger Dorn, the author of Puerto Rico. It is a set collection/sequencing game with elements of area connection/control. It is themed aroud development of stagecoach routes for postal service in eighteenth century central Europe. Each turn, you draw city connection card(s), claim connection(s), and, if you choose, score a route. You may use one of four special actions each turn, either drawing or playin an extra card, claiming a coach (they build up in size based on progressive length of routes scored) for up to two cities less (in size), or getting rid of all six face-up city cards and replacing them before drawing. Whenever a route is scored, you have a choice of building stage stations in either each city in a region that you are connecting to, or one city in each region that you are connecting to. There are bonus tiles for route sizes 5/6/7, for building a station in all the cities in an or two regions, or for building at least one station in each region. These bonus tiles exist in descending multiples, addig a race element as players try to fulfill the conditions first, to get more points. In a two player game, you are really fighting for every point. At the end of the game, the houses you have left over will be deducted from your total score. The game ends at the end of a turn when someone gets the largest (seven) carriage, or builds thir last station. That person also gets one bonus point.
In the early going, I think both of us had some neurons misfiring regarding evaluating the relation between route building and station placement. I started building a route, and only after I had put a few cards in it did I really realize that I wasn't going to be able to put houses on ALL the cities. At that point, it was time to decide whether to build big routes, going for the 5/6/7 bonus tiles, or to build successive smaller routes, trying to push the race to the endgame. Happily, both of us, it seemed, were more interested in playing the big routes, which made the game a little longer.
I connected to multiple regions in the SW part of the map, including two that were only once city. This allowed me to place a number of stations, and gave me a jump on the big bonus tile (six points) for one station in each region. Kurt built in the center, and actually claimed the first bonus tile for the big seven route. For the second set, I chose a bit of a new area, but Kurt really went in the middle. He got to claim the big (five point) tile for having a station in every city in the big, central, gray region. I didn't have a great hand, but a couple good tiles came up, and I was able to finish off another decent sized route, and claim a couple bonus tiles, including the giant six-pointer for a station in each region. From this point, we started to push a little more, trying to get through the coaches and score points. I ended up having to use the "build with two less cities" action to get my seven coach and trigger the endgame. With the extra point from ending the game, and with Kurt having three more stations left than me, I ended up pulling out the victory by five points.
I would say that it played really well for a first session. It only really took us about one turn to develop some ideas about how to play, and we certainly had a decent grasp of strategy by the midgame. I think the next play might be a little different, but not too much. I certainly haven't played every game released this year, but, knowing the kind of games that have won in the past, this seemed a deserved SDJ winner.
Another night of gaming at Kurt's wound to a close, and I was spared having to say another goodbye to a good local friend by the probability that I'll be stopping back by to pick up some of Kurt's discarded boxes to help with our move. It's also quite likely that, as Kurt put it, given the nature of our hobby, we'll continue to stay in relatively good touch in this relatively small world. BGG T & E here I come!
As one last comment, I'll add that I'm quite happy for the opportunities that the internet provides to stay in touch with/keep track of people spread far and wide, via boardgamegeek, brettspielwelt, spielbyweb... even myspace and friendster. Not only am I much better able to stay in touch with old friends, but it seems I'll have a variety of connections in North Carolina before we even get there!
GG, GL
Gamicon Lite, Sunday, July 16th, 2006, Critical Hit Games, Coralville
The Gamicon organizers got together and decided to run a pre-con gathering. I suppose this was for organizers and GMs to socialize, and to be a bit of a pre-registration drive. It was certainly a successful day of gaming that raised the profile of the con a little. I'm not sure if anyone actually pre-registered.
They had a nice slate of events, and I was happy to have the Sunday off to do some gaming. The first slot, at noon, provided me with a bit of a choice: Nexus Ops or Union Pacific? Nexus Ops I own and like, but don't get to play enough. On the other hand, I had only played UP once, and really liked it, and don't have many chances to play. So.... UP it is! Actually, after I arrived, it turned out it didn't really matter, as the Nexus Ops GM didn't show up and the game never happened.
Union Pacific
UP ended up being Chris S. (GM), Erin, Gare, Adam, and myself. Gare went first. I was fourth. UP is primarily a stock game, with a rail theme. Sort of like Acquire is a stock game with an hotel (or big corporation) theme. You strengthen train lines while acquiring stock in them, but there's generally a threat that someone could get more stock than you, ruining all your work, or that, if you don't lengthen a train system, you could get blocked off. A nice game with action choices every turn, with good player interaction on multiple levels.
To get into a little more detail, you have a map of the U.S., with several different kinds of track and, I think, eight different train lines. On your turn, you can lay track, expanding a train line, and acquire stock from the shares available -or- you can play stock from your hand (either two of any type, or any number of one type). There are four scoring rounds shuffled into the stock deck. Each scoring round, you get points (money) for each train (track extension) in a line that you have the most stock in, or half for second place. After the fourth scoring round, the game is over. I like limited action games, as they really put pressure on. Random scoring rounds tighten the game up even more, as you are forced to weigh your chances of expanding and getting stock you want, or needing to play stock to the table (you only score the stock on the table). There's also a chance, at the end of each turn, to trade any one stock from your hand for a Union Pacific stock, which is not tied to a train on the table and has a set (high) value in each scoring round except the first.
The opening of the game saw people growing routes for which they clearly had stock in their hands, and pushing the acquisition of UP stock. In each of the turns, as the roudn started I was really thinking about giving up on UP, but then someone ahead of me would do it, creating a loophole of opportunity to leapfrog them in the UP race. This turned out to be mostly Gare and Adam, who, it turned out, were going to compete over the largest (green) train system. With the cards I had, I decided to push the second largest, or red, system. The first scoring round came without most of us having much on the table, but I managed to earn four dollars, several less than the leader's (Adam's) nine (iirc). The round came quick enough that most people hadn't had a chance to lay much and, though most of us were clearly investing in a couple of lines, there was a lot of room to move.
With Adam and Gare both laying down multiple stocks in green, and picking up everything they could, nobody else wanted to fight with them. Erin started to get into red a little bit, pushing me to take some extra stock. She and Chris diversified trying to pick up 1st and 2nd places on numerous small lines. Chris is especially adept at this. I tried to get into the black train that Gare was really working on, but so did Chris, and they were always one train ahead of letting it be worthwhile for me to lay the stock in my hand. Instead, I got lucky and got to get in on the grey line that Erin, and Gare to a lesser extent, ended up maxing out. There are only six stocks in this line, and there were only two on the table, so the two I managed to snag were, in some ways, lucky, and in other ways a vulnerability of investment in that line - the turn I took control, I was able to make $8 (a decent amount) for a line I'd laid no track for. I'm getting ahead of myself, though, as none of this happened before the second scoring round. In the second round, I think Adam and Gare split green, and Erin took the lead, with, I think, myself in second with my growing red line.
After the second round, I noticed that Gare and Adam, who were working on green, were also working on, respectively, black and white, two lines that work up against green and can limit it expansion. They sort of stopped paying attention, I think, to their growth options (probably because there are so many for green), and I was able to sneak in and basically cut them off. From here, Erin and I fought over red and gray a little. Honestly, the timing of the third scoring round, and Gare taking some red stock, were probably the main things that allowed me to win the game. I took the lead in round three, with control of gray.
After the third round, Erin and I started adding to train lines that we didn't share, trying to make money that the other couldn't get a part of. She also grabbed another gray stock, to tie me for first. With even money in a lot of areas, and me only holding on to a $2 lead, it was a tense finale. Thankfully, the scoring round came with me still holding the lead in the red line. I've forgotten to mention that Erin and I spent the whole game tied for first in UP, which ended up being a significant factor in the two of us jumping out front of everyone, and basically fighting for first. In the end, I held onto my $2 lead, and won by that slim margin.
Chris had purchased the brand-new Goa reprint, and was very excited to play. I would really have liked to have gotten in on the game, but felt I should wait for the Game of Thrones draft. I've spent a lot of time with the AGOT community, and figured this might be my last time to play with them. Unfortunately, only three of them showed up...
A Game of Thrones CCG
So, we had a four person booster draft with Jeremiah, Sarah, Chad, and myself. I first picked Forever Burning, and second picked Dothraki Sea. This put me pretty firmly in Targ. Unfortunately, it wasn't really followed up with any strong characters. Oddly, there weren't a lot of neutrals either. I wandered into Martell, and ended the 1st pack with a pretty sorry looking set of cards. In pack two, I moved further into Martell with Student of Subtlety. I picked up a multi-influence producer in Doran's Palanquin. Unfortunately, I never got the big Targ removal I was hoping for. I grabbed some big armies as the packs went around, including two of the Martell army that draws when it strength is raised or lowered, which would turn into a machine with Dothraki Sea and/or Forever Burning. When the packs were all done, though, I was pretty character-lite, and ended up putting in a couple of attachments and locations I wouldn't normally play with.
First game vs. Chad - He was playing the same houses as me, and had gotten better cards, as simple as that. He played Red Viper on turn one, and the game was pretty downhill from there. I played my copy of The Wall, and Cotter Pyke, hoping to set up to kill the Viper. I held off a turn, as I could Student away his one military icon, lose noone, draw two cards off the Martell army that draws with a NW in play, and then kill the Viper next turn (as opposed to losing a good character to a military icon, killing the viper right away, and not drawing two cards). Of course, he drew removal for Cotter next turn, and the game was all downhill from there, and he locked it up with the attachment that gets him a power every time he loses.
Second game vs. Sarah - Sarah had a slow start, my deck came out, and it was a slow, steady battle to victory for my men.
Third game vs. Jeremiah - I suffered a deadly combo of drawing no reducers and having a bunch of five cost armies in my hand. He drew plenty of reducers, and wasn't thin on characters. I had one turn to maybe get back in when I Wildfire Assaulted, but he just drew two dudes off the top, and I could still only play one man. Oh well. Third place out of four, and a Robert's Deathbed for my troubles. Since I probably wouldn't be running any more tournaments myself, I gave away a bunch of the extra promo cards I had left over, and then gave the rest to Jerod.
Memoir '44
Nobody wanted to play constructed at six (the tournament I had scheduled), so I talked to Drew about playing Memoir '44. He very kindly taught me the rules, and we were off to battle in France. I had played Commands & Colors: Ancients with Kurt, and this was pretty similar. I have to say, I like CCA better. The wider unit variety is a big plus. There's something about just having one type of generic vehicle and infantry that left a little bit wanting for me.
On the other hand, this was a fun game. I like the card system these games use, as it seems to simulate the limited options available to the combat commander during the course of battle. It seemed to me that when I played CCA, the cards were a little more limited, with each of us generally moving only 2-4 units per turn. In this game, Drew really got to press me hard with multiple Assault cards, which allowed him to move all the units in an area. In the early game, I drew mostly Probe cards, that allowed me to move 2, or sometimes 3, units in one area. Even with that advantage, though, we were fairly even, with each of us managing two trophies. I drew a card that let me attack with four armor units, with each of them getting an extra die in close assault. I managed to get three more trophies, and would have gotten the fourth, and the win, except I rolled two flags on my last attack, pushing the one remaining piece in his unit back two spaces, where I couldn't follow up. I was still in fairly good shape, though. On his turn, Drew countered with, I think, another Assault card, and was able to make several attacks. He was pretty successful, and took three trophies with two units left to attack to take the fourth. His tanks failed to eliminate my unit, and it came down to his last infantry. They had a shot with three dice at one of my infantry units with three pieces in it. Drew took a shot, and the dice came up three hits, giving him the win! This was a nice, exciting conclusion to the game. Honestly, I was happy just to be in it after the very slow start, and to be so close to winning on two turns was very nice.
Out of pure luck, Nate, whom I used to coach wrestling with, was in town from Maryland and happened to wander into the store. We ran down to the Vine for some food, and stayed up way too late talking. Overall, a great day of gaming and fellowship.
GG, GL
The Gamicon organizers got together and decided to run a pre-con gathering. I suppose this was for organizers and GMs to socialize, and to be a bit of a pre-registration drive. It was certainly a successful day of gaming that raised the profile of the con a little. I'm not sure if anyone actually pre-registered.
They had a nice slate of events, and I was happy to have the Sunday off to do some gaming. The first slot, at noon, provided me with a bit of a choice: Nexus Ops or Union Pacific? Nexus Ops I own and like, but don't get to play enough. On the other hand, I had only played UP once, and really liked it, and don't have many chances to play. So.... UP it is! Actually, after I arrived, it turned out it didn't really matter, as the Nexus Ops GM didn't show up and the game never happened.
Union Pacific
UP ended up being Chris S. (GM), Erin, Gare, Adam, and myself. Gare went first. I was fourth. UP is primarily a stock game, with a rail theme. Sort of like Acquire is a stock game with an hotel (or big corporation) theme. You strengthen train lines while acquiring stock in them, but there's generally a threat that someone could get more stock than you, ruining all your work, or that, if you don't lengthen a train system, you could get blocked off. A nice game with action choices every turn, with good player interaction on multiple levels.
To get into a little more detail, you have a map of the U.S., with several different kinds of track and, I think, eight different train lines. On your turn, you can lay track, expanding a train line, and acquire stock from the shares available -or- you can play stock from your hand (either two of any type, or any number of one type). There are four scoring rounds shuffled into the stock deck. Each scoring round, you get points (money) for each train (track extension) in a line that you have the most stock in, or half for second place. After the fourth scoring round, the game is over. I like limited action games, as they really put pressure on. Random scoring rounds tighten the game up even more, as you are forced to weigh your chances of expanding and getting stock you want, or needing to play stock to the table (you only score the stock on the table). There's also a chance, at the end of each turn, to trade any one stock from your hand for a Union Pacific stock, which is not tied to a train on the table and has a set (high) value in each scoring round except the first.
The opening of the game saw people growing routes for which they clearly had stock in their hands, and pushing the acquisition of UP stock. In each of the turns, as the roudn started I was really thinking about giving up on UP, but then someone ahead of me would do it, creating a loophole of opportunity to leapfrog them in the UP race. This turned out to be mostly Gare and Adam, who, it turned out, were going to compete over the largest (green) train system. With the cards I had, I decided to push the second largest, or red, system. The first scoring round came without most of us having much on the table, but I managed to earn four dollars, several less than the leader's (Adam's) nine (iirc). The round came quick enough that most people hadn't had a chance to lay much and, though most of us were clearly investing in a couple of lines, there was a lot of room to move.
With Adam and Gare both laying down multiple stocks in green, and picking up everything they could, nobody else wanted to fight with them. Erin started to get into red a little bit, pushing me to take some extra stock. She and Chris diversified trying to pick up 1st and 2nd places on numerous small lines. Chris is especially adept at this. I tried to get into the black train that Gare was really working on, but so did Chris, and they were always one train ahead of letting it be worthwhile for me to lay the stock in my hand. Instead, I got lucky and got to get in on the grey line that Erin, and Gare to a lesser extent, ended up maxing out. There are only six stocks in this line, and there were only two on the table, so the two I managed to snag were, in some ways, lucky, and in other ways a vulnerability of investment in that line - the turn I took control, I was able to make $8 (a decent amount) for a line I'd laid no track for. I'm getting ahead of myself, though, as none of this happened before the second scoring round. In the second round, I think Adam and Gare split green, and Erin took the lead, with, I think, myself in second with my growing red line.
After the second round, I noticed that Gare and Adam, who were working on green, were also working on, respectively, black and white, two lines that work up against green and can limit it expansion. They sort of stopped paying attention, I think, to their growth options (probably because there are so many for green), and I was able to sneak in and basically cut them off. From here, Erin and I fought over red and gray a little. Honestly, the timing of the third scoring round, and Gare taking some red stock, were probably the main things that allowed me to win the game. I took the lead in round three, with control of gray.
After the third round, Erin and I started adding to train lines that we didn't share, trying to make money that the other couldn't get a part of. She also grabbed another gray stock, to tie me for first. With even money in a lot of areas, and me only holding on to a $2 lead, it was a tense finale. Thankfully, the scoring round came with me still holding the lead in the red line. I've forgotten to mention that Erin and I spent the whole game tied for first in UP, which ended up being a significant factor in the two of us jumping out front of everyone, and basically fighting for first. In the end, I held onto my $2 lead, and won by that slim margin.
Chris had purchased the brand-new Goa reprint, and was very excited to play. I would really have liked to have gotten in on the game, but felt I should wait for the Game of Thrones draft. I've spent a lot of time with the AGOT community, and figured this might be my last time to play with them. Unfortunately, only three of them showed up...
A Game of Thrones CCG
So, we had a four person booster draft with Jeremiah, Sarah, Chad, and myself. I first picked Forever Burning, and second picked Dothraki Sea. This put me pretty firmly in Targ. Unfortunately, it wasn't really followed up with any strong characters. Oddly, there weren't a lot of neutrals either. I wandered into Martell, and ended the 1st pack with a pretty sorry looking set of cards. In pack two, I moved further into Martell with Student of Subtlety. I picked up a multi-influence producer in Doran's Palanquin. Unfortunately, I never got the big Targ removal I was hoping for. I grabbed some big armies as the packs went around, including two of the Martell army that draws when it strength is raised or lowered, which would turn into a machine with Dothraki Sea and/or Forever Burning. When the packs were all done, though, I was pretty character-lite, and ended up putting in a couple of attachments and locations I wouldn't normally play with.
First game vs. Chad - He was playing the same houses as me, and had gotten better cards, as simple as that. He played Red Viper on turn one, and the game was pretty downhill from there. I played my copy of The Wall, and Cotter Pyke, hoping to set up to kill the Viper. I held off a turn, as I could Student away his one military icon, lose noone, draw two cards off the Martell army that draws with a NW in play, and then kill the Viper next turn (as opposed to losing a good character to a military icon, killing the viper right away, and not drawing two cards). Of course, he drew removal for Cotter next turn, and the game was all downhill from there, and he locked it up with the attachment that gets him a power every time he loses.
Second game vs. Sarah - Sarah had a slow start, my deck came out, and it was a slow, steady battle to victory for my men.
Third game vs. Jeremiah - I suffered a deadly combo of drawing no reducers and having a bunch of five cost armies in my hand. He drew plenty of reducers, and wasn't thin on characters. I had one turn to maybe get back in when I Wildfire Assaulted, but he just drew two dudes off the top, and I could still only play one man. Oh well. Third place out of four, and a Robert's Deathbed for my troubles. Since I probably wouldn't be running any more tournaments myself, I gave away a bunch of the extra promo cards I had left over, and then gave the rest to Jerod.
Memoir '44
Nobody wanted to play constructed at six (the tournament I had scheduled), so I talked to Drew about playing Memoir '44. He very kindly taught me the rules, and we were off to battle in France. I had played Commands & Colors: Ancients with Kurt, and this was pretty similar. I have to say, I like CCA better. The wider unit variety is a big plus. There's something about just having one type of generic vehicle and infantry that left a little bit wanting for me.
On the other hand, this was a fun game. I like the card system these games use, as it seems to simulate the limited options available to the combat commander during the course of battle. It seemed to me that when I played CCA, the cards were a little more limited, with each of us generally moving only 2-4 units per turn. In this game, Drew really got to press me hard with multiple Assault cards, which allowed him to move all the units in an area. In the early game, I drew mostly Probe cards, that allowed me to move 2, or sometimes 3, units in one area. Even with that advantage, though, we were fairly even, with each of us managing two trophies. I drew a card that let me attack with four armor units, with each of them getting an extra die in close assault. I managed to get three more trophies, and would have gotten the fourth, and the win, except I rolled two flags on my last attack, pushing the one remaining piece in his unit back two spaces, where I couldn't follow up. I was still in fairly good shape, though. On his turn, Drew countered with, I think, another Assault card, and was able to make several attacks. He was pretty successful, and took three trophies with two units left to attack to take the fourth. His tanks failed to eliminate my unit, and it came down to his last infantry. They had a shot with three dice at one of my infantry units with three pieces in it. Drew took a shot, and the dice came up three hits, giving him the win! This was a nice, exciting conclusion to the game. Honestly, I was happy just to be in it after the very slow start, and to be so close to winning on two turns was very nice.
Out of pure luck, Nate, whom I used to coach wrestling with, was in town from Maryland and happened to wander into the store. We ran down to the Vine for some food, and stayed up way too late talking. Overall, a great day of gaming and fellowship.
GG, GL
Monday, July 17, 2006
Follow-up for Funny Friends for four
Saturday was long and hot, as the days have tended to be lately. After I got home from soccer, showered, recovered, ate, and napped, I took care of some stuff around the house and decided to run up to the store and see if I could get a game going. I took the same bag I had hauled to Dan's the night before.
Steve, Tim, and myself headed over to Taco Bell for some fuel. When we returned, Tim, Jerod, and Gigi all expressed interest in Funny Friends, so we gave it a go. I thought it was a pretty good sign that Tim was interested in playing a second time in two days, and that I was actually kind of anxious to see how it would change. I'm not one of those people that likes to play a different game all the time - I like to play a game a few times to get a feel for it before I set it aside.
I should say a little more about FF, since I failed to adequately describe it in the last entry. It's co-designed by the designer of the popular Power Grid, Friedemann Friese (sp?). It's sort of like the card game version of the Sims. Each player goes through life, working toward life goals by meeting characteristic requirements. Characteristics are altered via life events, which players get through auction. The first player to achieve five life goals (and/or mega-goals) wins.
It was nice to see some changes from the night before. There was more competitive bidding - or just bidding to make people pay. There are a lot of situations limiting competition in this game, which is one of the drawbacks of the auction element. Sometimes, nobody else has the requirements, and just can't compete. Other times, nobody else can take the effects, and they just let you have something. Depending on the life goals, you could be encouraged to compete or to ignore each other. In this case, we had some heavy competition a couple times, including one bid that Jerod won at six, which would have won me the game.
Another difference in this second play was use of call tokens. Nobody called to force someone else into an event, but we all used most of our tokens to get in on other peoples' effects. This actually made the game more exciting, as it increased the networks of connection and strange circumstances between players. I made a big mistake in this game, passing up the "totally wasted" mega-goal when I could have played it, and instead taking a life event I needed for two goals in my hand, which I could have, of course, waited on. That probably would have given me the game. As it was, Tim played his fifth life goal with me at four and ready to play my fifth goal on the next turn.
My life was a little different this time - I was profoundly impacted by my bible study group, later becoming married to the sweetheart that I met there. An accident early in life apparently led to a painkiller addiction, which haunted me and caused some bizarre twists, about which I wrote my memoirs. I had a variety of relationships and life-changing events, and ended up becoming a monk after the shock of a strange relationship. Unfortunately, the donning of the frock kept me from completing my fifth goal in hand - relationship - but, I was planning on winning with the mega-goal, as Tim was so close. Too bad he beat me to it.
I still feel I have some aspects of the rules ironed out, but I think this one will go over pretty well with Kristins' friends, if we have a chance to get it on the table.
GG, GL
Saturday was long and hot, as the days have tended to be lately. After I got home from soccer, showered, recovered, ate, and napped, I took care of some stuff around the house and decided to run up to the store and see if I could get a game going. I took the same bag I had hauled to Dan's the night before.
Steve, Tim, and myself headed over to Taco Bell for some fuel. When we returned, Tim, Jerod, and Gigi all expressed interest in Funny Friends, so we gave it a go. I thought it was a pretty good sign that Tim was interested in playing a second time in two days, and that I was actually kind of anxious to see how it would change. I'm not one of those people that likes to play a different game all the time - I like to play a game a few times to get a feel for it before I set it aside.
I should say a little more about FF, since I failed to adequately describe it in the last entry. It's co-designed by the designer of the popular Power Grid, Friedemann Friese (sp?). It's sort of like the card game version of the Sims. Each player goes through life, working toward life goals by meeting characteristic requirements. Characteristics are altered via life events, which players get through auction. The first player to achieve five life goals (and/or mega-goals) wins.
It was nice to see some changes from the night before. There was more competitive bidding - or just bidding to make people pay. There are a lot of situations limiting competition in this game, which is one of the drawbacks of the auction element. Sometimes, nobody else has the requirements, and just can't compete. Other times, nobody else can take the effects, and they just let you have something. Depending on the life goals, you could be encouraged to compete or to ignore each other. In this case, we had some heavy competition a couple times, including one bid that Jerod won at six, which would have won me the game.
Another difference in this second play was use of call tokens. Nobody called to force someone else into an event, but we all used most of our tokens to get in on other peoples' effects. This actually made the game more exciting, as it increased the networks of connection and strange circumstances between players. I made a big mistake in this game, passing up the "totally wasted" mega-goal when I could have played it, and instead taking a life event I needed for two goals in my hand, which I could have, of course, waited on. That probably would have given me the game. As it was, Tim played his fifth life goal with me at four and ready to play my fifth goal on the next turn.
My life was a little different this time - I was profoundly impacted by my bible study group, later becoming married to the sweetheart that I met there. An accident early in life apparently led to a painkiller addiction, which haunted me and caused some bizarre twists, about which I wrote my memoirs. I had a variety of relationships and life-changing events, and ended up becoming a monk after the shock of a strange relationship. Unfortunately, the donning of the frock kept me from completing my fifth goal in hand - relationship - but, I was planning on winning with the mega-goal, as Tim was so close. Too bad he beat me to it.
I still feel I have some aspects of the rules ironed out, but I think this one will go over pretty well with Kristins' friends, if we have a chance to get it on the table.
GG, GL
Funny Friends for four from Friday
As wedding gifts, several of our thoughtful friends showered Kristin and I with store credit at Critical Hit Games. I tried to pick out some games that we could play together, or that both of our groups of friends might enjoy. For the first instalment, I grabbed one of the Kosmos two-players: Odin's Ravens, as well as the new (in English) Friedemann Friese game Funny Friends, which I thought her circle of friends would get a kick out of. Unfortunatley, Kristin is way too busy finishing her dissertation right now, so the games will have to wait a couple weeks for her.
In the meantime, I have to kill some hours while she's writing. To that end, I rang up Dan on Friday night, and found that he, Drew, and Tim were up for some gaming. I took three games over: Tikal, Nexus Ops, and Funny Friends, and, after looking the box over, FF was the choice.
I had punched and sorted the game bits, but had not really gone over the rules. The tokens and cards are all high quality, with the player boards and cards being quite humorous. The game rules are just mildly confusing. Primarily, taking current friends, and getting new ones, to/as a result of life events took some discussion. Once we'd gone through everything, we got to playing pretty quick.
Drew and Tim took to the game pretty well, and the three of us were having fun making up stories about the interacions between our "characters." Dan was a little distracted, seemingly more interested in playing with his dog. One point where this game has a little drawback is player downtime. If someone passes out of a round early, they really might not have much to do but watch for a few minutes. On the other hand, since the cards and their interactions prompt some funny comments and stories (sort of like Illuminati but more so), it can be fun just to be involved. On the other hand, if your not really into the mood of the game, this downtime could just push you further away.
I've generally found that in our first plays of auction games, we drastically undervalue and undercompete on the auction items. That was certainly the case here, as far too many life events went for zero. Later in the game, we started to make probing bids to make people pay, but it seemed too late to really have an effect. We also underused our "call" tokens, with, I think, only one of them being utilized during this first play.
It was a interesting the related life events that seem to form a sort of personality profile of your persona while he tries to fulfill his life goals. I deviated only slightly from a path of debauchery: I had many friends, went to lots of parties, took a school trip, a trip to Amsterdam, went to Carnival, etc.. I got up to three life goals total, with another ready to play, when Drew managed to lay down his fifth and win the game, in the middle of maybe the third or fourth turn, I think.
Overall, the game was well received, even if Dan wasn't really in the mood for it. At first glance, it really looks like a party game, but it's got some "gamer" qualities tucked away in good spots. I think it will hold up and grow as a game, and hopefully, as the cards begin to grow a little familiar, we'll see the expansions that this box certainly seems ripe for.
This is certainly the most risque game in my collection. If the game has been "watered-down," from the German edition, as some have suggested it would be... well, I'm looking forward to seeing that version! This is a game that will certainly provide laughs for mature gamers, whether they're serious Euro gamers, party gamers, or RPG/Gamer-gamers who're just looking for a quick, easy evening of fun. Looking forward to more plays.
GG, GL
As wedding gifts, several of our thoughtful friends showered Kristin and I with store credit at Critical Hit Games. I tried to pick out some games that we could play together, or that both of our groups of friends might enjoy. For the first instalment, I grabbed one of the Kosmos two-players: Odin's Ravens, as well as the new (in English) Friedemann Friese game Funny Friends, which I thought her circle of friends would get a kick out of. Unfortunatley, Kristin is way too busy finishing her dissertation right now, so the games will have to wait a couple weeks for her.
In the meantime, I have to kill some hours while she's writing. To that end, I rang up Dan on Friday night, and found that he, Drew, and Tim were up for some gaming. I took three games over: Tikal, Nexus Ops, and Funny Friends, and, after looking the box over, FF was the choice.
I had punched and sorted the game bits, but had not really gone over the rules. The tokens and cards are all high quality, with the player boards and cards being quite humorous. The game rules are just mildly confusing. Primarily, taking current friends, and getting new ones, to/as a result of life events took some discussion. Once we'd gone through everything, we got to playing pretty quick.
Drew and Tim took to the game pretty well, and the three of us were having fun making up stories about the interacions between our "characters." Dan was a little distracted, seemingly more interested in playing with his dog. One point where this game has a little drawback is player downtime. If someone passes out of a round early, they really might not have much to do but watch for a few minutes. On the other hand, since the cards and their interactions prompt some funny comments and stories (sort of like Illuminati but more so), it can be fun just to be involved. On the other hand, if your not really into the mood of the game, this downtime could just push you further away.
I've generally found that in our first plays of auction games, we drastically undervalue and undercompete on the auction items. That was certainly the case here, as far too many life events went for zero. Later in the game, we started to make probing bids to make people pay, but it seemed too late to really have an effect. We also underused our "call" tokens, with, I think, only one of them being utilized during this first play.
It was a interesting the related life events that seem to form a sort of personality profile of your persona while he tries to fulfill his life goals. I deviated only slightly from a path of debauchery: I had many friends, went to lots of parties, took a school trip, a trip to Amsterdam, went to Carnival, etc.. I got up to three life goals total, with another ready to play, when Drew managed to lay down his fifth and win the game, in the middle of maybe the third or fourth turn, I think.
Overall, the game was well received, even if Dan wasn't really in the mood for it. At first glance, it really looks like a party game, but it's got some "gamer" qualities tucked away in good spots. I think it will hold up and grow as a game, and hopefully, as the cards begin to grow a little familiar, we'll see the expansions that this box certainly seems ripe for.
This is certainly the most risque game in my collection. If the game has been "watered-down," from the German edition, as some have suggested it would be... well, I'm looking forward to seeing that version! This is a game that will certainly provide laughs for mature gamers, whether they're serious Euro gamers, party gamers, or RPG/Gamer-gamers who're just looking for a quick, easy evening of fun. Looking forward to more plays.
GG, GL
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Caylus at Critical Hit, Wednesday the 12th of July
Finally, back to Coralville for Wednesday boardgaming, and Caylus to boot! I was pretty excited about this, as I have only been able to get in on a game of Caylus once, and I liked it a fair amount. I wanted to play it again to see if I really wanted to buy it or not. Also, I was eager to visit the store as one of the games I had on order, Funny Friends, came in - hopefully there'll be a session report for that up here soon!
It turned out that Chris couldn't make it for some reason, but had left his copy of Caylus with Jerod. Gare and Erin, two experienced players, were there, so they went over the rules with Jerod and I, and we started building.
Caylus is a good thinker, with there always being more to do than you can manage. Money is tight, especially at the beginning, and you have to be careful to use your workers the right way. I passed too quickly on the first turn, and Gare and Erin jumped out to an early lead. Gare consistently took building favors throughout the game, a path which I followed, while Erin took victory point favors, eschewing building.
We moved forward in this way, with Jerod building buildings and making money and resources, but not really getting vps. Notably, he failed to build in the castle in the first turn, costing him points/favors. We moved through the next couple turns pretty quickly, with Gare and Erin pulling ahead in first and second, and me following fairly close in 3rd. Jerod started to fall far behind in vps, but he was collectin lots of money and resources. He made particularly good use of having a worker in the Inn, as he had a couple turns using all his workers.
Gare and I kept pushing the building with favors, and we started getting vps from people using them. I jumped intothe lead with about three turns to go. In the second to last turn, I picked up four vps that way. Jerod got to build the castle for 25 vps, pretty much catching him up with everyone. I took first play position, and jumped on stone building for the last turn. I figured I might have it here, as I had blocked Erin out of the stone buildings. Gare built a big vp building with a favor, to make it interesting. Jerod built twice in the castle, robbing Erin of a favor and keeping it tense. I got my big building off, giving me some breathing room. However, Erin had bought two gold in the last turn, and, with the one she was sitting on, had nine vps to the four I was sitting on. After end game scoring, she had the game, with me in second, Gare in third, and Jerod in a close fourth in his first game.
This was really a fun game, with people exploring different strategies to work toward vicotry. The tense finish was great, too, with all of us feeling we had a chance, and that everyone else did, also, going into the last turn. One thing that's a little odd about Caylus for me is that I don't seem to really ever think about the theme while I'm playing. I'm just trying to make the best use of my pieces/money/actions, but now in the context of building the city/castle. I wonder a bit, with no real hidden information or random game mechanics, if you couldn't get down and script out a lot of the possible moves. That said, I think this one stays on the buy list, just waiting for another Rio Grande reprint...
GG, GL
Finally, back to Coralville for Wednesday boardgaming, and Caylus to boot! I was pretty excited about this, as I have only been able to get in on a game of Caylus once, and I liked it a fair amount. I wanted to play it again to see if I really wanted to buy it or not. Also, I was eager to visit the store as one of the games I had on order, Funny Friends, came in - hopefully there'll be a session report for that up here soon!
It turned out that Chris couldn't make it for some reason, but had left his copy of Caylus with Jerod. Gare and Erin, two experienced players, were there, so they went over the rules with Jerod and I, and we started building.
Caylus is a good thinker, with there always being more to do than you can manage. Money is tight, especially at the beginning, and you have to be careful to use your workers the right way. I passed too quickly on the first turn, and Gare and Erin jumped out to an early lead. Gare consistently took building favors throughout the game, a path which I followed, while Erin took victory point favors, eschewing building.
We moved forward in this way, with Jerod building buildings and making money and resources, but not really getting vps. Notably, he failed to build in the castle in the first turn, costing him points/favors. We moved through the next couple turns pretty quickly, with Gare and Erin pulling ahead in first and second, and me following fairly close in 3rd. Jerod started to fall far behind in vps, but he was collectin lots of money and resources. He made particularly good use of having a worker in the Inn, as he had a couple turns using all his workers.
Gare and I kept pushing the building with favors, and we started getting vps from people using them. I jumped intothe lead with about three turns to go. In the second to last turn, I picked up four vps that way. Jerod got to build the castle for 25 vps, pretty much catching him up with everyone. I took first play position, and jumped on stone building for the last turn. I figured I might have it here, as I had blocked Erin out of the stone buildings. Gare built a big vp building with a favor, to make it interesting. Jerod built twice in the castle, robbing Erin of a favor and keeping it tense. I got my big building off, giving me some breathing room. However, Erin had bought two gold in the last turn, and, with the one she was sitting on, had nine vps to the four I was sitting on. After end game scoring, she had the game, with me in second, Gare in third, and Jerod in a close fourth in his first game.
This was really a fun game, with people exploring different strategies to work toward vicotry. The tense finish was great, too, with all of us feeling we had a chance, and that everyone else did, also, going into the last turn. One thing that's a little odd about Caylus for me is that I don't seem to really ever think about the theme while I'm playing. I'm just trying to make the best use of my pieces/money/actions, but now in the context of building the city/castle. I wonder a bit, with no real hidden information or random game mechanics, if you couldn't get down and script out a lot of the possible moves. That said, I think this one stays on the buy list, just waiting for another Rio Grande reprint...
GG, GL
Friday, July 7th San Juan
Wedding dust was still clearing, with the last of the Norwegians leaving town today. Az, who couldn't make it to the ceremony due to work commitments at Origins in Ohio, was going to be on his way through town, headed for the Coldsnap pre-release in Des Moines, to judge. He stopped in to grab some chow, and just hang out a little.
The good people at MidAmerican Energy let me off early, so that I could go hang out with the windy city nomad. We grabbed some lunch at Jimmy Jack's, and, with bellies full of bbq, picked up a couple games and headed over to CHG.
We sat and chatted with Jerod for a bit, and then launched into a 2-player game of San Juan. Az seemed to have a strategy pretty well worked out for this, apparently having played and discussed the game with the crowd up in Madison, who will really take a game apart trying to figure out correct play. I, on the other hand, hadn't played in some time, and couldn't really remember too much about formulating an overall strategy.
Az went straight into building purple. He never built a production building the whole game, and only produced/traded off my plays. His goldmine drew hima few extra cards, and he also made good use of an early (forgot the name-lets you keep two on the counselor). However, I got the only library in the first run through the deck, which was quite an advantage. I built coffee and silver, and traded every other round for lots of cards. I also drew one of each big building, and played them all to end the game. I was a little worried as Az had a lot of cards under his chapel(?), but ending the game and scoring all the big building points pulled it out for me.
Az was pretty tired from his night shift job, and took this time to head out West to DM. When I saw him on Sunday, it didn't look like the set was all that impressive. I think my Magic hibernation will continue a while longer...
GG, GL
Wedding dust was still clearing, with the last of the Norwegians leaving town today. Az, who couldn't make it to the ceremony due to work commitments at Origins in Ohio, was going to be on his way through town, headed for the Coldsnap pre-release in Des Moines, to judge. He stopped in to grab some chow, and just hang out a little.
The good people at MidAmerican Energy let me off early, so that I could go hang out with the windy city nomad. We grabbed some lunch at Jimmy Jack's, and, with bellies full of bbq, picked up a couple games and headed over to CHG.
We sat and chatted with Jerod for a bit, and then launched into a 2-player game of San Juan. Az seemed to have a strategy pretty well worked out for this, apparently having played and discussed the game with the crowd up in Madison, who will really take a game apart trying to figure out correct play. I, on the other hand, hadn't played in some time, and couldn't really remember too much about formulating an overall strategy.
Az went straight into building purple. He never built a production building the whole game, and only produced/traded off my plays. His goldmine drew hima few extra cards, and he also made good use of an early (forgot the name-lets you keep two on the counselor). However, I got the only library in the first run through the deck, which was quite an advantage. I built coffee and silver, and traded every other round for lots of cards. I also drew one of each big building, and played them all to end the game. I was a little worried as Az had a lot of cards under his chapel(?), but ending the game and scoring all the big building points pulled it out for me.
Az was pretty tired from his night shift job, and took this time to head out West to DM. When I saw him on Sunday, it didn't look like the set was all that impressive. I think my Magic hibernation will continue a while longer...
GG, GL
July 1st - The Wedding Game
I've been waiting to get to this one for a long time. We finally got all the available players together at Old Brick on Saturday, the 1st. One thing that bears discussing in relation to the wedding is the long, complicated setup. There are a lot of fiddly bits that have to be put into just the right place. Also, even though it takes a lot of players, determing who is going to be involved can be grueling, as you always want to fit some more players in. At some point, though, you just have to make the decisions and get on with it.
We had a pretty nice day. Sunny, a little hot, but not too humid (unlike today, when the mosquitos are swimming through the air outside). We got everything together all right. The food, booze, and guests arrived, along with the officiant, and we got going pretty much on time. We had an experienced GM, so, I figured, we'd be OK, even with inexperienced players.
Things went pretty smooth. There were a couple snafus with the music, and, of course, my eyes were putting off water like a sprinkler system. It all went by nice and happy, though, and we finished with a high-five and a little dance down the aisle.
We moved into the reception phase seemlessly, and people really managed their resources well. In the second part of the phase, after food consumption, drink consumption began in earnest, with Norwegian guests pacing my DeKalb friends. They really turned it up when the dancing portion began, with the field dazzled by the exploits of young Sigurd Thoresen, who was on fire. Sugar high or natural? Since Sigurd doesn't speak English, I couldn't really ask...
In the end-game, we moved to the Foxhead down Market street, and closed it out with beers, stories, and laughs. When everything was over and we were all ready to head off into the night, it pretty much came out that we were all winners in this one.
I had a great time, and would say this exceeded my expectations. I would recommend it to anyone with an inclination to try it out. On the other hand, I hope that this is the only time I'll get to play this particular role in such an adventure!
Thanks to everyone who came from far and wide to make our wedding so wonderful. We had a great time, and, Steve and Melissa, you were right, it's just great!
GG, GL
I've been waiting to get to this one for a long time. We finally got all the available players together at Old Brick on Saturday, the 1st. One thing that bears discussing in relation to the wedding is the long, complicated setup. There are a lot of fiddly bits that have to be put into just the right place. Also, even though it takes a lot of players, determing who is going to be involved can be grueling, as you always want to fit some more players in. At some point, though, you just have to make the decisions and get on with it.
We had a pretty nice day. Sunny, a little hot, but not too humid (unlike today, when the mosquitos are swimming through the air outside). We got everything together all right. The food, booze, and guests arrived, along with the officiant, and we got going pretty much on time. We had an experienced GM, so, I figured, we'd be OK, even with inexperienced players.
Things went pretty smooth. There were a couple snafus with the music, and, of course, my eyes were putting off water like a sprinkler system. It all went by nice and happy, though, and we finished with a high-five and a little dance down the aisle.
We moved into the reception phase seemlessly, and people really managed their resources well. In the second part of the phase, after food consumption, drink consumption began in earnest, with Norwegian guests pacing my DeKalb friends. They really turned it up when the dancing portion began, with the field dazzled by the exploits of young Sigurd Thoresen, who was on fire. Sugar high or natural? Since Sigurd doesn't speak English, I couldn't really ask...
In the end-game, we moved to the Foxhead down Market street, and closed it out with beers, stories, and laughs. When everything was over and we were all ready to head off into the night, it pretty much came out that we were all winners in this one.
I had a great time, and would say this exceeded my expectations. I would recommend it to anyone with an inclination to try it out. On the other hand, I hope that this is the only time I'll get to play this particular role in such an adventure!
Thanks to everyone who came from far and wide to make our wedding so wonderful. We had a great time, and, Steve and Melissa, you were right, it's just great!
GG, GL
Thursday, June 29th, CHG
People were really starting to arrive for the wedding. I hadn't had a bachelor party, as most of the people involved were widely separated geographically, and wouldn't be arriving until just before the wedding. As a sort of surrogate event, I set Thursday aside to do a little gaming with a couple out-of-towners, as well as whoever of the locals happened to be around.
Chris Lackey showed up from California around 5pm, and we headed over to CHG to wait for Sean Wolfe to get in from New Hampshire. Sean was pretty delayed. Chris and I played two games (six rounds) of Lost Cities, with me coming out the winner in both contests, although they were close, and Chris did win several rounds. I still like Lost Cities as a nice, casual game to throw down with someone when you want to have some of your faculties free to dedicate to conversation.
Sean still wasn't there, so Chris and I joined Peter Franke for some Alpha Magic. Peter only had two decks, so I took his green cards and made a third deck real fast. My deck wasn't very interesting, and I figured I just might be able to play some kingmaker. In the first game, I piled on Pete a little bit, and we eliminated him, with me following him out in fairly short order. The second game Chris was pretty mana screwed, and didn't have much play. With Pete drawing Phantom Monsters and Sengirs right and left, it just took a few turns to finish us both off.
Steve Groom showed up, and Sean was walking in the door not long after. Sean, Chris, and I went down the street to House of Aromas for a late-night caffeine boost. This was a really good chance to sit and talk with old, seldom-seen friends, getting up to speed a little on Sean's family and store (www.tripleplaynh.com), and Chris's current film project (www.thechosenonemovie.com).
Returning to the store, Jerod generously offered to let us play in the back as long as we liked, under the special circumstances. He closed up, and then joined Steve, Sean, Chris, and myself for a game of Arkham Horror.
I haven't played AH since the old Chaosium edition in the eighties. I was impressed with the production while I was punching this - lots of nice, thick, colorful cardboard bits and cards. I was a little worried it would be pretty clunky, but the gameplay didn't disappoint, even when we were faced with the knowledge that Hastur was lurking just a few turns away...
I ended up playing the psychologist, whose ability to regenerate sanity came in pretty handy. We knocked around trying to buff our characters and pick up clues the first couple rounds, and then settled into a strategy of having a couple tanks clear the streets, while another couple players ran around getting clues, then either using them themselves or dumping them to me to get gates locked.
We benefited from a few lucky draws of gates opening where gates already existed, and were able to win. I had a really good time over the several hours this game ended up taking us, as we played casually, talked a lot, and partook of refreshments. I can't thank Jerod, or recommend his store (www.criticalhitgames.net) enough.
GG, GL
People were really starting to arrive for the wedding. I hadn't had a bachelor party, as most of the people involved were widely separated geographically, and wouldn't be arriving until just before the wedding. As a sort of surrogate event, I set Thursday aside to do a little gaming with a couple out-of-towners, as well as whoever of the locals happened to be around.
Chris Lackey showed up from California around 5pm, and we headed over to CHG to wait for Sean Wolfe to get in from New Hampshire. Sean was pretty delayed. Chris and I played two games (six rounds) of Lost Cities, with me coming out the winner in both contests, although they were close, and Chris did win several rounds. I still like Lost Cities as a nice, casual game to throw down with someone when you want to have some of your faculties free to dedicate to conversation.
Sean still wasn't there, so Chris and I joined Peter Franke for some Alpha Magic. Peter only had two decks, so I took his green cards and made a third deck real fast. My deck wasn't very interesting, and I figured I just might be able to play some kingmaker. In the first game, I piled on Pete a little bit, and we eliminated him, with me following him out in fairly short order. The second game Chris was pretty mana screwed, and didn't have much play. With Pete drawing Phantom Monsters and Sengirs right and left, it just took a few turns to finish us both off.
Steve Groom showed up, and Sean was walking in the door not long after. Sean, Chris, and I went down the street to House of Aromas for a late-night caffeine boost. This was a really good chance to sit and talk with old, seldom-seen friends, getting up to speed a little on Sean's family and store (www.tripleplaynh.com), and Chris's current film project (www.thechosenonemovie.com).
Returning to the store, Jerod generously offered to let us play in the back as long as we liked, under the special circumstances. He closed up, and then joined Steve, Sean, Chris, and myself for a game of Arkham Horror.
I haven't played AH since the old Chaosium edition in the eighties. I was impressed with the production while I was punching this - lots of nice, thick, colorful cardboard bits and cards. I was a little worried it would be pretty clunky, but the gameplay didn't disappoint, even when we were faced with the knowledge that Hastur was lurking just a few turns away...
I ended up playing the psychologist, whose ability to regenerate sanity came in pretty handy. We knocked around trying to buff our characters and pick up clues the first couple rounds, and then settled into a strategy of having a couple tanks clear the streets, while another couple players ran around getting clues, then either using them themselves or dumping them to me to get gates locked.
We benefited from a few lucky draws of gates opening where gates already existed, and were able to win. I had a really good time over the several hours this game ended up taking us, as we played casually, talked a lot, and partook of refreshments. I can't thank Jerod, or recommend his store (www.criticalhitgames.net) enough.
GG, GL
Monday, June 26th, Hammer of the Scots
Things were growing a little hectic, with the wedding approaching. Kristin's mother, Eli, arrived late Sunday night. I spent Monday chatting with the two of them, and building my playtest set for FFG's Tide of Iron. After some hickups with getting dinner coordinated, I made my way over to Coralville for an eagerly anticipated parcticipation in the Scottish rebellion.
Kurt and his family are moving to a new house soon, so he had his share of stuff going on also. I think the two of us were happy to sit down and focus on a game. I know I was...
I really liked the look of the map and pieces for this game. Of course, the map could be a sturdier board, and the pieces could be, at times, a little easier to differentiate. We sat down and casually selected Kurt to direct the English forces and myself to lead the Scotts.
The first turn was a little rough for me. I ended up with, I think, a three, a two, and three ones. Kurt managed to draw the Hobelar (sp?) and Edward. I tried to make an early push with the bigger cards to combine forces and take some territory. This had limited success, but was followed by the decimation of Wallace and the forces with him, as they were unable to escape the rapidly advancing King.
After a sorry first turn, I tried to get to grips with the wintering concept, finding a balance between strengthening existing units and bringing new units to play. I had great luck on my draw, bringing the vikings to play.
The second and third turns saw me trying to consolidate my hold on the North, while Kurt kicked me out of the South and felt out the maneuvering of infantry up the board. He was able to draw quite a few units that would stick around, and he started moving a wall of English swords up the island.
Special cards made quite a difference. I think Kurt drew the one that changes a noble's allegiance twice. That said, although it looked like I might be able to bring the North together and expand slowly, my inability to bring forces to bear and win a major victory against his threatening units. This was partially due to cards, partially due to bad luck, and certainly to some sub-optimal decisions on my part.
I think we played five or six turns total before I conceded, with very few units remaining and Kurt presenting a strong front line with plenty behind it. There was just no way I was going to be able to get back in the game.
Overall, this was a fun time. I liked the game, and would love to try the system again. It seemed like it would have failry high replay value. For games in this broad category, Commands and Colors: Ancients stays on top of my buy list, however. Hopefully, I'll have another chance or two to game with Kurt before leaving the state.
Things were growing a little hectic, with the wedding approaching. Kristin's mother, Eli, arrived late Sunday night. I spent Monday chatting with the two of them, and building my playtest set for FFG's Tide of Iron. After some hickups with getting dinner coordinated, I made my way over to Coralville for an eagerly anticipated parcticipation in the Scottish rebellion.
Kurt and his family are moving to a new house soon, so he had his share of stuff going on also. I think the two of us were happy to sit down and focus on a game. I know I was...
I really liked the look of the map and pieces for this game. Of course, the map could be a sturdier board, and the pieces could be, at times, a little easier to differentiate. We sat down and casually selected Kurt to direct the English forces and myself to lead the Scotts.
The first turn was a little rough for me. I ended up with, I think, a three, a two, and three ones. Kurt managed to draw the Hobelar (sp?) and Edward. I tried to make an early push with the bigger cards to combine forces and take some territory. This had limited success, but was followed by the decimation of Wallace and the forces with him, as they were unable to escape the rapidly advancing King.
After a sorry first turn, I tried to get to grips with the wintering concept, finding a balance between strengthening existing units and bringing new units to play. I had great luck on my draw, bringing the vikings to play.
The second and third turns saw me trying to consolidate my hold on the North, while Kurt kicked me out of the South and felt out the maneuvering of infantry up the board. He was able to draw quite a few units that would stick around, and he started moving a wall of English swords up the island.
Special cards made quite a difference. I think Kurt drew the one that changes a noble's allegiance twice. That said, although it looked like I might be able to bring the North together and expand slowly, my inability to bring forces to bear and win a major victory against his threatening units. This was partially due to cards, partially due to bad luck, and certainly to some sub-optimal decisions on my part.
I think we played five or six turns total before I conceded, with very few units remaining and Kurt presenting a strong front line with plenty behind it. There was just no way I was going to be able to get back in the game.
Overall, this was a fun time. I liked the game, and would love to try the system again. It seemed like it would have failry high replay value. For games in this broad category, Commands and Colors: Ancients stays on top of my buy list, however. Hopefully, I'll have another chance or two to game with Kurt before leaving the state.
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